Week Four
Shepherding the Flock of God
according to God by Being Patterns of the Flock
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
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
For I did not shrink from declaring to you all the counsel of God. 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—Acts 20:27-28
Word of Appetizer
In 1pet. 5:1-2 said that to shepherd God’s flock according to God. What does according to
God mean?
According to
God means that we must live God. We must have God on hand. We have God in our understanding, in our theology, and in our teaching, but we may not live God when we are shepherding people. When we are one with God, we become God. Then we have God and are God in our shepherding of others. To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to what God is in His attributes. God is love, light, holiness, and righteousness. “According to God” is at least according to these four attributes of God. We must shepherd the young ones, the weak ones, and the backsliding ones according to these four attributes. Then we will be good shepherds.
Spiritual Burden
God is faithful in leading us into His economy, and His economy is for us to enjoy Christ, to absorb Christ, to drink Christ, to eat Christ, and to assimilate Christ so that God may increase in us for His expression.
We must shepherd the flock of God by being patterns of the flock; the apostle Paul, as a pattern to all the believers, the members of the Body of Christ, lived Christ for His magnification as His continuation.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
To shepherd the flock of God according to God is to shepherd the flock of God according to God’s desire. We must see that the heart’s desire of God in His economy is to be the fountain, the source, of living waters to dispense Himself into His chosen people for their satisfaction and enjoyment; the goal of this enjoyment is to produce the church, God’s counterpart, as God’s increase, God’s enlargement, to be God’s fullness for His Expression.
We must shepherd the flock of God by being patterns of the flock; the apostle Paul, as a pattern to all the believers, the members of the Body of Christ, lived Christ for His magnification as His continuation.
The Experience of Life
To enjoy Christ as our life supply should be the primary matter in the church life; the content of the church life depends upon the enjoyment of Christ; the more we enjoy Him, the richer the content will be.
The Christ whom we enjoy today is the all-inclusive One, and included in His being is the
killing death. As long as we enjoy Him, we get killed, not in a negative way but in a positive way. When we enjoy Him every day, we get killed every day.
Practice and Application
We must shepherd the flock of God by being patterns of the flock;
depending on the Body, doing everything in the Body, through the Body, and for the Body.
living by the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus for his preaching ministry.
living a life of always rejoicing in the Lord, praying unceasingly, and thanking Him in everything.
cherishing the saints in the humanity of Jesus and nourished them in the divinity of Christ with all the truths of God’s eternal economy.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
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
For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, which hold no water—Jer. 2:13
God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord—1 Cor. 1:9
I. To shepherd the flock of God according to God is to shepherd theflock of God according to God’s desire
- We must see that the heart’s desire, the good pleasure, of God in His economy is to be the fountain, the source, of living waters to dispense Himself into His chosen people for their satisfaction and enjoyment;
- Instead of drinking Him to become His increase for His expression, we can become like Israel by forsaking God as the fountain of living waters to hew out cisterns (typifying idols) to replace God as our enjoyment.
- Our peace, safety, health, and possessions may become idols to us, but God is faithful in His purpose to take these things away so that we might drink of Him as the fountain of living waters.
- we need Christ as our enjoyment; we also have to help others to know how to enjoy Christ, and we have to bring the distracted believers back to the simplicity of the genuine appreciation, love, and enjoyment of the precious person of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as their life and everything.
Key Verses (2)
And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him so that he may receive his sight—Acts 9:12
But Saul, who is also Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him—Acts 13:9
And Paul, looking intently at the Sanhedrin, said, Men, brothers, I have conducted myself in all good conscience before God until this day—Acts 23:1
And about midnight Paul and Silas, while praying, sang hymns of praise to God; and the prisoners were listening to them—Acts 16:25
But Barnabas took hold of him and led him to the apostles, and he related to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus—Acts 9:27
II. We must shepherd the flock of God by being patterns of theflock; the apostle Paul, as a pattern to all the believers, lived Christ for His magnification(1)
Paul was a disciple of Christ—seeing Christ, hearing Christ, and learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
Paul was a chosen vessel of Christ to contain Him, be filled with Him, and overflow with Him for His fullness.
Paul was a man of prayer; Paul depended on the Body, doing everything in the Body, through the Body, and for the Body; Paul practiced calling on the name of the Lord.
Paul lived by the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus for his preaching ministry, a ministry of suffering carried out among human beings and for human beings in the human life for the building up of the Body of Christ.
Paul lived in his mingled spirit; Paul was filled with the Spirit of joy, essentially for his existence, and with the Spirit of power, economically for his function.
Key Verses (3)
Therefore watch, remembering that for three years, night and day, I did not cease admonishing each one with tears—Acts 20:31
For I did not shrink from declaring to you all the counsel of God.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—Acts 20:27 – 28
… in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ
and to die is gain—Phil. 1:20-21
II. We must shepherd the flock of God by being patterns of the flock; the apostle Paul, as a pattern to all the believers, lived Christ for His magnification(2)
Paul cherished the saints in the humanity of Jesus and nourished them in the divinity of Christ with all the truths of God’s eternal economy.
Paul was a pattern to the elders in Ephesus, a pattern of what the elders should be to the church; “take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, to shepherd the church of God; He contacted each one of the saints, telling the elders to remember that
“for three years, night and day, I did not cease admonishing each one with tears”; the unique goal of God’s calling is the building up of the Body of Christ.
Paul’s fourth ministry journey shows in a particular way his life of living Christ, magnifying Christ, doing all things in Christ, and pursuing Christ in order to be found in Christ.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 Seeing God’s heart’s desire in His economy (Jer. 2:13; John. 3:29-30) (Please illustrate that what is God’s heart’s desire in His economy)
T2 Christ is the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls (1 Pet. 5:1-4)
(Please illustrate that to shepherd the flock of God according to God is to shepherd the flock of God according to God’s desire.)
D2
T1 We need Christ as our enjoyment; we also have to help others to know how to enjoy Christ (2 Cor. 11:2-3)
(Please illustrate that to enjoy Christ as our life supply should be the primary matter in the church life.)
T2 If we enjoy Christ, we will be nourished, and the negative elements within us will be killed (1 Cor. 1:23-24)
(Illustrate that the enjoyment of Christ solves our problems by killing the germs within us with experiences.)
D3
T1 “Serving the Lord as a slave with all humility and tears and trials which came upon me…” (Acts 20:19)
(Please illustrate that how Paul is the real pattern to all the elders in Acts 20:19-20)
T2 “Teaching you publicly and from house to house.” (Acts 20:20b)
(Please illustrate that Paul set up a pattern for the elders by teaching the saints publicly and from house to house.)
D4
T1 “For I did not shrink from declaring to you all the counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27)
(Please illustrate that all the elders must learn what God’s Testament economy is and point this out to the saints.)
T2 “Take heed…, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God.” (Acts 20:28)
(Please illustrate that an overseer must be aware of the situation of the church and must oversee each member of the flock.)
D5
T1 The precious love of God for the church (Acts 20:28)
(Please illustrate that the value of the church as a treasure to God, a treasure which he acquired with His own precious blood.)
T2 The unique goal of God’s calling is the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-12)
(Please illustrate that the building up of the body is not the work of the apostles alone, it is the responsibility of all the saints.)
D6
T1 Paul expected to be found in Christ by all who observed him (Phil. 3:9; 1:20)
(Please illustrate that only when we are found in Christ will Christ be expressed and magnified.)
T2 Paul in his voyage lived and magnified Christ (Phil. 1:20-21)
(Please illustrate that apparently, the apostle, as a prisoner in bonds, is actually the ambassador of Christ with His authority.)
