Home | First | Prev | Next

5. As the Great Shepherd

Christ is 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). This is the only place in the whole book of Hebrews which speaks of the Triune God being in us.

6. As the Overseer of the Believers' Souls

Christ shepherds 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.

B. Comforting Inwardly

When the Lord's shepherding goes deeper in us, it reaches our soul to take care of our inward condition for the doing of the will of God in us. Christ as the Shepherd of our soul oversees the inward situation of our soul, which is composed of our mind, emotion, and will. We need Him to perfect our mind, adjust our emotion, and correct our will.

1. Becoming the Spirit of Reality

Christ became the Spirit of reality as the second Comforter (John 14:16-17a; 15:26). The first Comforter was Christ in the flesh, and the second Comforter is Christ as the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit of reality.

2. To Constitute the Divine Organism

Christ comforts us inwardly to constitute the divine organism, the incorporation of the processed and consummated Triune God with His regenerated and transformed elect (John 14:17b-20). As the second Comforter, Christ is the Spirit of reality who comes not only to be with us but also to be in us, the redeemed ones of God (v. 17). Then the Son in whom we believe is in the Father and we are in Him and He is in us (v. 20). These four ins show the Triune God incorporated with His redeemed and transformed people to be one entity.

C. Teaching to Strengthen the Shepherding and Reach Its Goal

1. In Matthew

a. Concerning the Constitution of the Kingdom of the Heavens

The constitution of the kingdom in Matthew 5 through 7 charges the believers of Christ, the kingdom people, to be poor in spirit (5:3), to be pure in heart (v. 8), and to have the righteousness which exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees (v. 20).

b. Concerning the Mysteries of the Kingdom

The Lord's teaching concerning the mysteries of the kingdom is in Matthew 13. This chapter reveals that we need to be the good ground to grow Christ and be transformed into the great pearl (vv. 23, 45-46).

c. Concerning the Manifestation of the Kingdom

Matthew 24 and 25 reveal the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens and speak of the overcoming believers being taken in the first rapture, being rewarded as faithful servants of the Lord, and entering into the kingdom as the wise virgins.


Home | First | Prev | Next
The Vital Groups   pg 24