The Vision of the Tabernacle |
Within the Veil |
Now that we have mentioned teaching the biblical truths in the small meetings, we must take notice of one fact, namely, that the gift of being a teacher always accompanies the gift of being a shepherd. In reality, these two gifts are one. When we teach someone the truths in the Bible, we are also feeding them. This is only possible when we minister the word not as doctrine or dead knowledge, but as Spirit and as life (John 6:63). As we are teaching the truth, we are also transmitting life. In 1 Thessalonians 2:7 Paul is likened to a nursing mother cherishing her own children. In verses 11 and 12, however, Paul is compared to a father exhorting his children. When we care for the saints, we must be both a mother who feeds with the spiritual food and a father who teaches the biblical truths.
In John 21 the Lord Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. To Peter's answer in the affirmative the Lord Jesus said, "Feed My lambs, shepherd My sheep and feed My sheep." To feed is to nourish the saints with the word of God and to shepherd is to care for them in a personal and intimate way. Actually, the best way to care for the saints is to feed them with the living word, with the word that has become our experience and enjoyment, not with mere theoretical knowledge.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:9 Paul asked the saints in the church to remember his labor and travail, how he labored day and night proclaiming to them the gospel of God. When we are teaching the truths or shepherding others, we must be like this, doing it with labor and travail, day and night. If we really want our brothers to grow spiritually, we need to give ourselves for them. We need to spend ourselves with labor and travail in order to supply them. Just like Peter, a flock has been entrusted to us and we need to be patterns of the flock (1 Peter 5:2-3). For example, if we want the saints to pray and read the Bible, we must be those who pray and read. It is useless to order and exhort, we simply need to be patterns of the flock.
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