Crystallization-Study of Ezekiel (1)
Message Eleven
God’s Recovery by Life through His Shepherding
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
I will feed them with good pasture, and their dwelling place will be upon the mountains of the heights of Israel; there they will lie down in a good dwelling place, and on rich pasture they will feed upon the mountains of Israel; I Myself will shepherd My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, declares the Lord Jehovah—Ezek. 34:14-15.
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—1 Pet. 5:2.
Word of Appetizer
How does God do the work of the recovery by life on us?
In Ezekiel 34 the Lord Himself comes as the Shepherd to search for His sheep and seek them out; 16a says “I will seek the lost one and bring back the one that was driven away and bind up the broken one and strengthen the sick one”. Christ is the real David, the real Shepherd, set up as the one Shepherd to feed us and cause us to be filled and satisfied.
Spiritual Burden
Christ is the good Shepherd, the great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, and the Shepherd of our souls. Through the experience of His shepherding, we have God’s presence; we are His and He is ours in our fellowship with Him in oneness for the mingling of God and man.
First Peter 5:2 speaks of shepherding the flock of God according to God. In order to shepherd according to God, we need to become God in life, nature, expression, and function.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
To shepherd is to take all-inclusive, tender care of the flock.
In Ezekiel 34 the Lord Himself comes as the Shepherd to search for His sheep and seek them out.
Christ is the good Shepherd, the great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, and the Shepherd of our souls.
John 21, a chapter on shepherding, is the completion and consummation of the Gospel of John; shepherding is the key to the Gospel of John.
First Peter 5:2 speaks of shepherding the flock of God according to God.
For eternity we will have the experience and enjoyment of Christ as our eternal Shepherd.
The Experience of Life
Christ is the good Shepherd, the great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, and the Shepherd of our souls. As the good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly .
As the Shepherd of our souls the pneumatic Christ shepherd us in our soul in order to take care of our mind, emotion, and will and our problems, needs, and wounds.
Practice and Application
In order to shepherd according to God, we need to become God in life, nature, expression, and function. According to God means that we live God.
To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to God’s nature, desire, way, and glory, not according to our preference, interest, purpose, and disposition.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
For thus says the Lord Jehovah, I Myself, even I, willsearch for My sheep andseek them out…And I will bring themout from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them into their own land, and I willfeed them upon the mountains of Israel by the streams and in all the inhabited places of the land…I Myself will shepherd My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, declares the Lord Jehovah—Ezek. 34:11-15.
Thus they will know that I, Jehovah their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people, declares the Lord Jehovah—Ezek. 34:30.
Shepherd—take all-inclusive, tender care of the flock;
The Lord Himself comes as the Shepherd to search for His sheep and seek them out
I. To shepherd is to take all-inclusive, tender care of the Flock.
II. In Ezekiel 34 the Lord Himself comes as the Shepherd to search for His sheep and seek them out:
.The Lord brings us out from among the unbelievers to Himself.
.He brings us back to the streams, signifying the living water of the life-giving Spirit.
.He feeds His flock by the streams, signifying His feeding us with His riches.
.He causes us to lie down, giving us inward rest.
.Through the experience of His shepherding, we have God’s presence; we are His and He is ours in our fellowship with Him in oneness for the mingling of God and man.
Key Verses (2)
I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep—John 10:11.
20 Now the God of peace, He who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of an eternal covenant—Heb. 13:20.
And when the Chief Shepherd is manifested, you will receive the unfading crown of glory—1 Pet. 5:4.
For you were like sheep being led astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls—1 Pet. 2:25.
They will not hunger any more, neither will they thirst any more, neither will the sun beat upon them, nor any heat; For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and guide them to springs of waters of life…—Rev. 7:16-17.
Christ is the good Shepherd, the great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, and the Shepherd of souls, eternal shepherd
. III. Christ is the good Shepherd, the great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, and the Shepherd of our souls:
.Asthe good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly.
.God raised up from the dead “our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of an eternal covenant”.
.As the Chief Shepherd, Christ shepherds His flock through the elders of the churches.
.As the Shepherd of our souls, the pneumatic Christ oversees our inward condition, caring for the situation of our inner being.
VI. For eternity we will have the experience and enjoyment of Christ as our eternal Shepherd.
Key Verses (3)
…He said to him, Feed My lambs. He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Shepherd My sheep—John 21:15-16.
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—1 Pet. 5:2.
John 21, a chapter on shepherding
First Peter 5:2 speaks of shepherding the flock of God according to God
IV. John 21, a chapter on shepherding, is the completion and consummation of the Gospel of John; shepherding is the key to the Gospel of John:
.After His resurrection, the Lord shepherded Peter and commissioned him to feed His lambs and shepherd His sheep; this is to incorporate the apostolic ministry with Christ’s heavenly ministry to take care of God’s flock, the church, which issues in the Body of Christ.
V. First Peter 5:2 speaks of shepherding the flock of God according to God:
.“According to God” means that we live God;
.To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to God’s nature, desire, way, and glory, not according to our preference, interest, purpose, and disposition.
.To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to what God is in His attributes.
.In order to shepherd according to God, we need to become God in life, nature, expression, and function.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 Feeding and shepherding (John 21:15-17)
(Please explain the difference between shepherding and feeding.)
T2 To shepherd is to take all-inclusive, tender care of the flock (John 21:15-17)
(Please explain that shepherding includes much more than feeding.)
D2
T1 Whereas the rivers signify the life-giving Spirit, the pasture signifies Christ (Ezek. 34:13-14)
(Please explain that we are under the care of our Shepherd, drinking by the rivers and feeding in the pasture.)
T2 He will feed them, and He will be their Shepherd (Ezek. 34:23)
(Please use experience to explain that He takes care of us not only in spiritual things but in all things related to our human needs.)
D3
T1 With Him as our Shepherd, we have no yokes (Ezek. 34:27)
(Please use experience to explain that the more we enjoy the Lord’s shepherding the more we are liberated from every kind of slavery.)
T2 He will cause us to become a source of blessing to others (Ezek. 34:26)
(Please explain that the Lord promised not only that His people would receive His blessing but also that He would make them a blessing.)
D4
T1 Christ is the good Shepherd, the great Shepherd (John 10:11; Heb. 13:20)
(Please explain that the Lord is the good Shepherd who came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.)
T2 Christ is the Head, the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4)
(Please use experience to explain that all the believers, regardless of their stage of spiritual growth, need shepherding.)
D5
T1 The pneumatic Christ is the Shepherd of our souls (1 Pet. 5:25)
(Please explain that Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit, shepherds us in our soul in order to take care of our mind, emotion, and will and our problems, needs, and wounds.)
T2 Shepherding is the key to the Gospel of John (John 21:15-17)
(Please explain that after His resurrection, how the Lord shepherded Peter and commissioned him to feed His lambs and shepherd His sheep.)
D6
T1 Shepherding the flock of God according to God (1 Pet. 5:2)
(What does it mean by saying that to shepherd according to God?)
T2 Christ is our eternal Shepherd (Rev. 7:16-17) (Refer to Outlines VI)
(Please explain that for eternity we will have the experience and enjoyment of Christ as our eternal Shepherd.)
