Section 9
laid down His soulish life that His sheep might have His divine life and be brought together as one flock. To bring all His sheep together as one is truly the building. In 1 Peter 2, Peter says that we, as newborn babes, must be fed with the pure milk of the Word that we might grow up to be built up together as a spiritual house. Finally, in 1 Peter 5, Peter, as one of the elders, charges the elders to care for the sheep by feeding and shep herding them. Feeding the sheep is different from shepherding them. In 21:15 the Lord said, "Feed My lambs"; in 21:16, He said, "Shepherd My sheep"; and in 21:17, He said, "Feed My sheep." To shepherd means to take care of the sheep, and to feed means to supply food to the sheep. While we are serving the Lord today, we must not only care for His sheep, but also feed them with spir itual food. It is not sufficient simply to care for and to look after the brothers and sisters; we must also feed them. In verse 15 the Lord said, "Feed My lambs," and in verse 17 He said, "Feed My sheep." By this we see that both the young believ ers and the more matured believers need the feeding. If the Lord has committed to us the bur den of His flock, we must be sure to do two things—to feed them and to care for them.