THE VITAL GROUPS

MESSAGE SIX

SHEPHERDING AND TEACHING—THE OBLIGATION OF THE VITAL GROUPS
THE BASIC WAY ORDAINED BY GOD IN THE BUILDING UP OF THE BODY OF CHRIST TO CONSUMMATE HIS ETERNAL GOAL—THE NEW JERUSALEM

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OUTLINE

1. In Christ's ministry for carrying out God's eternal economy:
   1. Shepherding outwardly:
      1. Seeking the lost sheep for His rejoicing and the joy in heaven—Luke 15:4-7.
      2. For the reaping of God's harvest—Matt. 9:36-38.
      3. For the care of God's flock:
         1. To be the door in and the door out for God's elect—John 10:2-5.
         2. For their salvation and nourishment (the pasture) that they may have His life and have it abundantly through His giving up of His human life as the good Shepherd—John 10:9-15, 17-18.
         3. Flocking them together as one flock—one church—John 10:16.
      4. As the Chief Shepherd shepherding through the elders of the churches—1 Pet. 5:4.
      5. As the great Shepherd through whom God, based upon His redeeming blood of the eternal covenant, perfects the sheep of God, the churches, in every good work for the doing of His will, doing in us that which is well pleasing in His sight—Heb. 13:20-21.
      6. Shepherding the sheep led astray and returned to Him, overseeing their inward condition as the Overseer of their souls (1 Pet. 2:25). This should be a part of His inward comforting of the believers as follows.
   2. Comforting inwardly:
      1. Becoming the Spirit of reality as the second Comforter—John 14:16-17a; 15:26.
      2. To constitute the divine organism, the incorporation of the processed and consummated Triune God with His regenerated and transformed elect—John 14:17b-20.
   3. Teaching to strengthen the shepherding and reach its goal:
      1. In Matthew:
         1. Concerning the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens—chs. 5-7.
         2. Concerning the mysteries of the kingdom—ch. 13.
         3. Concerning the manifestation of the kingdom—chs. 24-25.
      2. In John:
         1. Concerning the flowing Triune God to be the living water for the enjoyment of the believers in Christ—chs 1-7.
         2. Concerning the mingling and the incorporation of the processed and consummated Triune God with His regenerated and transformed elect and the issues—chs. 14-17.
      3. All these divine and mystical teachings of our great Shepherd and Comforter are not only His unveiling and enlightening but also His nourishing to us for our growth and maturity in His divine life that the eternal economy of God may be consummated through us.