Living a Christian Life and Church Life
Under the Government of God
for the Economy of God
Message Four
Becoming a Reproduction of Christ
and Experiencing Christ
as the Shepherd of Our Souls
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
1 Pet. 2:21-23 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered on your behalf, leaving you a model so that you may follow in His steps; who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth; who being reviled did not revile in return; suffering, He did not threaten but kept committing all to Him who judges righteously.
1 Pet. 2:25 For you were like sheep being led astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Word of Appetizer
Do you experience the Lord’s comfort and sense His comfort in your spirit or in your soul? why it is our soul that needs the Lord as the Shepherd?
Because our soul is very complicated, we need 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 our problems, needs, and wounds.
It is our soul—our mind, our emotion, and our will—that needs the Lord as the Shepherd.Our problem was that we were like sheep being led astray. But now we have returned, turned back, to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.
Spiritual Burden
As believers in Christ, we may become a reproduction of Christ as our model, and we can experience and enjoy Christ as the Shepherd of our souls.
In order to become a reproduction of Christ as our model, we need to experience Christ as the One living in us, being formed in us, and making His home in our hearts.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
As believers in Christ, we may become a reproduction of Christ as our model.
As we become a reproduction of Christ, we can experience and enjoy Christ as the Shepherd of our souls.
The Experience of Life
As the Shepherd of our souls, the pneumatic Christ oversees our inward condition, caring for the situation of our inner being. As the Shepherd of our souls, the Lord gives rest to our soul. As the Lord shepherds our soul and restores our soul, we not only experience Christ but also enjoy Him.
Practice and Application
The living of the Lord Jesus under the government of God is a model so that we may follow in His steps by becoming His reproduction. We need to become Christ’s reproduction, copies of Christ, by a process that involves the riches of the divine life; when this process is completed, we will become a reproduction of Christ.
In order to become a reproduction of Christ as our model, we need to experience Christ as the One living in us, being formed in us, and making His home in our hearts.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The Lord Jesus has set His life before us as an underwriting for us to copy by tracing (1 Pet. 2:21-23)
(Please illustrate that it is not God’s intention, however, that we try to imitate Christ by our own effort.)
T2 As we enjoy Christ day by day, we are undergoing the process of spiritual reproduction (1 Pet. 2:21-23)
(Please illustrate that to become the reproduction of Christ is very different from trying to imitate Him.)
Day 2
T1 Christ is not only our life; He as a person lives in us (Gal. 2:20)
(Please illustrate that Christ became the life-giving Spirit in order that He might live in us.)
T2 Christ lives in us through our living with Him (John 6:57, 14:19)
(Please illustrate that Christ lives in us and with us. He lives in us by enabling us to live with Him.)
Day 3
T1 To have Christ formed in us is to have Christ grown in us in full (Gal. 4:19)
(Please illustrate that to have Christ formed in us is a living, organic matter.)
T2 Christ desires to spread from our spirit to all the parts of our heart (Eph. 3:17)
(Please illustrate that what Christ making His home in our hearts means.)
Day 4
T1 Our soul is our inner being, our real person (1 Pet. 2:25)
(Please illustrate that Christ is the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.)
T2 Christ our Shepherd takes care of the needs of our soul (1 Pet. 2:25; Psa. 23:3)
(Please illustrate that Christ mainly shepherds us by taking care of our soul. He takes care of our mind, emotion, and will.)
Day 5
T1 To take the Lord’s yoke is to take the will of the Father (Matt. 11:28-30)
(Please illustrate that the rest that we find by taking the Lord’s yoke and learning from Him is for our souls.)
T2 Experiencing the Lord Jesus as the Shepherd (Matt. 11:28-30)
(Please illustrate with experiences that our minds, emotions, and wills need the Lord’s leading and guiding.)
Day 6
T1 The way to enjoy Christ (Phil. 2:2)
(Please illustrate that in order to enjoy Him, we need to deal with every part of our soul, especially with our mind.)
T2 In order to be our living Shepherd, it is necessary for Christ to dwell within us [as the life-giving Spirit] (Phil. 2:2, 3:1)
(Please illustrate that how the Lord was the Shepherd to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus.)
