Section 8
to feed others we need to enjoy the riches of the Lord's divine life. This requires that we love Him. To believe in the Lord is to receive Him, and to love the Lord is to enjoy Him. The Lord came as life and as the life supply to us. We need to have faith in Him and love toward Him. According to the Gospel of John, these are the two require ments for participating in the Lord.
Lamb-feeding is by the nourishing with the riches of the inner life, and sheep-shepherding is for the building of the church. Shepherding is for the "flock" (10:14, 16), which is the church (Acts 20:28). Therefore, it is related to God's building (Matt. 16:18). Later, in his first Epistle, Peter indicated this by saying that growth, by feeding on the pure milk of the Word, is for the building of God's house (1 Pet. 2:2-5), and by charging the elders to shepherd the flock of God (1 Pet. 5:1-4). The growth by nourishing is for the building. The Lord is still working with His disciples in this way. Today, by lamb-feeding and sheep-shepherding, the Lord is working with us for the building of the church.
By considering three chapters, John 10, and 1 Peter 2 and 5, we shall see that feeding the lambs and shepherding the sheep are for the building up of the church. According to John 10, the Lord