Friday

Related Verses
Acts 20:28
28 Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood.

2 Cor. 12:14-15
14 Behold, this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden; for I do not seek what is yours but you. For the children ought not to store up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
15 But I, I will most gladly spend and be utterly spent on behalf of your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved less?

Phil. 2:17
17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and I rejoice together with you all.

1 Pet. 2:25
25 For you were like sheep being led astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

1 Pet. 5:1-4
1 Therefore the elders among you I exhort, who am a fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory to be revealed:
2 Shepherd the flock of God among you, overseeing not under compulsion but willingly, according to God; not by seeking gain through base means but eagerly;
3 Nor as lording it over your allotments but by becoming patterns of the flock.
4 And when the Chief Shepherd is manifested, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Related Reading
The content of God’s entire New Testament economy is Christ as the Son of Man cherishing us and as the Son of God nourishing us. 

The Jesus who is portrayed in the four Gospels is very cherishing…All people need Him to cherish them, to make them happy, comfort them, and give them rest…Even the most sinful tax collectors could sit with Him as friends, eating and talking with Him (Luke 15:1; Matt. 9:10). 

God sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins in His humanity (1 John 4:10)—cherishing. As the Son of Man, Christ came to be the sin offering to appease the situation between the sinners and God. 

God sent His Son to us that we may have life and live through Him in His divinity (v. 9)—nourishing. This is confirmed by John 3:16: God gave us His only begotten Son that we who believe into Him may not perish through His redemption in His humanity (cherishing) but may have eternal life in His divinity (nourishing).  God gave His only begotten Son to redeem us in His humanity judicially so that we may have eternal life in His divinity for Him to save us organically. (CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” pp. 131-132, 136) 

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I believe that not having the Father’s loving and forgiving heart and not having the Savior’s shepherding and seeking spirit is the reason for our barrenness…The Lord said, “By the fruit the tree is known” (Matt. 12:33), but we are a tree without any fruit…A good, gentle pastor may not have a particular gift, such as the gift of speaking; he may simply visit people and welcome them when they come to his meeting, but according to statistics, he will have a ten percent yearly increase. We…do not have even a ten percent increase. Can you see how barren we are? Many of you are good speakers, knowing the higher truths…However, we do not have fruit, because we are lacking in the Father’s loving and forgiving heart and the Son’s shepherding and seeking spirit. We condemn and regulate others rather than shepherding and seeking them. We are short of love and shepherding. These are the vital factors for us to bear fruit, that is, to gain people…We have to consider our ways, as Haggai said (Hag. 1:5). Our way is not right; something is wrong. (CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 5, “A Word of Love to the Co-workers, Elders, Lovers, and Seekers of the Lord,” p. 31) 

The first gospel preacher, Christ, carried out His ministry by shepherding. He went to Jericho just to visit one person, a chief tax collector (Luke 19:1-10). He did not go there to hold a big gospel campaign with thousands of people. His desire was to preach the gospel to gain one person, and His preaching was a shepherding. 

John 4 says that while the Lord was on His way to Galilee, “He had to pass through Samaria” (v. 4). He detoured from the main way to Sychar, near Jacob’s well, in order to contact a sinful Samaritan woman, who previously had five husbands. The Lord foreknew that she would come to the well of Jacob. The well of Jacob is a type of Christ, who is the fountain of water springing up into eternal life (v. 14b). We have to learn of the Lord’s pattern in purposely detouring to Sychar to gain only one person. 

To spend three years to gain one person is worthwhile. If you spend three years to visit one person continually, you will gain him. After twelve years you will have four new ones following you to the church meetings. (CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” pp. 113-114) 

Further Reading: CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” chs. 7—11; CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John,” chs. 7, 13