Crystallization-Study of Jeremiah and Lamentations
Message Eleven
Shepherds according to God’s Heart
OPENING WORD
OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Jer. 3:15 And I will give you shepherds according to My own heart, who will feed you knowledge and understanding.
Isa. 40:11 He will feed His flock as a Shepherd; in His arm He will gather the lambs; in His bosom He will carry them. He will lead those who are nursing the young.
John 10:10-11 …I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly. I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Word of Appetizer
Jehovah promised to give Israel shepherds according to His own heart; what is the shepherd according to God’s heart like?
Such shepherds would give the people of God proper knowledge and understanding of God; Both the Old Testament and the New Testament reveal Christ as the Shepherd according to God’s heart. As the mighty One, the ruling and judging One, Christ comes to be a Shepherd; He cares for His flock by ruling and correcting His sheep and by feeding His flock, gathering the lambs in His arm, carrying them in His bosom, and leading those who are nursing the young.
Spiritual Burden
Christ is the Shepherd according to God’s heart. He, the great Shepherd of the sheep, continues His shepherding by incorporating the apostolic ministry with His heavenly ministry to shepherd God’s flock. We must realize that the shepherding that builds up the Body of Christ is a mutual shepherding. We must shepherd one another according to God, taking all-inclusive, tender care of the flock.
CONCLUDING WORD
OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
The Revelation of the Truth
Jehovah spoke through the prophet Jeremiah concerning the shepherds, the rulers.
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament reveal Christ as the Shepherd according to God’s heart.
In His heavenly ministry the Lord Jesus continues the shepherding that He began in His earthly ministry.
Those who shepherd the flock of God should shepherd according to God.
The shepherding that builds up the Body of Christ is a mutual shepherding.
The Experience of Life
When the Lord Jesus comes as the Shepherd to care for us, He comes also as the King to govern us; the issue of the Lord’s caring for us as our Shepherd is that we obey Him as our King and come under His kingship and His throne within us.
As the Shepherd of our souls, the pneumatic Christ oversees our inward condition, caring for the situation of our inner being. Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit, to shepherd us in our soul, to take care of our mind, emotion, and will and of our problems, needs, and wounds.
Practice and Application
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.
All of us need to be under the organic shepherding of Christ and be one with Him to shepherd others. We need to shepherd the flock of God according to the Father’s loving and forgiving heart and according to the Son’s seeking, finding, and shepherding spirit.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—
TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1: As the mighty One, the ruling and judging One, Christ comes to be a Shepherd (Isa. 40:11; John 10:11).
(Please illustrate that in a shepherd’s care for his flock, he rules over the sheep to correct them.)
T2: “For thus says the Lord Jehovah, I Myself, even I, will search for My sheep and seek them out” (Ezek. 34:11; Luke 15).
(Please use your experience to illustrate that as the Shepherd, the Lord not only seeks but also searches.)
Day 2
T1: As our Shepherd Christ takes care of us, including all our problems (Psa. 23).
(Please use your experience to illustrate that the Lord takes care of us not only in spiritual things but in all things related to our human needs.)
T2: When the Lord Jesus comes as the Shepherd, He comes also as the King (Ezek. 34:23-24).
(Please use your experience to illustrate that the issue of the Lord’s caring for us as our Shepherd is that we obey Him as our King.)
Day 3
T1: In John 10:10-11 two different Greek words are used for “life” (John 10:10-11).
(Please illustrate that these two verses indicate that the Lord Jesus has two kinds of lives: the human life and the divine life.)
T2: The Shepherd, the divine life, and the human life are all for the flock (John 10:14-16).
(Why are the Shepherd, the divine life, and the human life all for the flock?)
Day 4
T1: Christ is the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls (1 Pet. 2:25).
(Christ mainly shepherds us by taking care of our soul.)
T2: As the Shepherd of our souls, the pneumatic Christ oversees our inward condition, caring for the situation of our inner being (1 Pet. 2:25).
(Please illustrate that the pneumatic Christ takes care of our mind, emotion, and will and of our problems, needs, and wounds.)
Day 5
T1: In His heavenly ministry the Lord Jesus continues the shepherding that He began in His earthly ministry (1 Thes. 2:7-8, 11-12).
(Please illustrate that the apostle Paul is a pattern of shepherding the saints in cooperation with Christ’s shepherding in His heavenly ministry.)
T2: Those who shepherd the flock of God should shepherd according to God (1 Pet. 5:2).
(Please illustrate that to shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to what God is in His attributes.)
Day 6
T1: The shepherding that builds up the Body of Christ is a mutual shepherding (Cor. 12:23-26).
(Please illustrate that all believers, regardless of their stage of spiritual growth, need shepherding.)
T2: We are both sheep and shepherds (John 10:10; 21:15-17).
(Please use your experience to illustrate that we are both sheep and shepherds, shepherding and being shepherded in mutuality.)
