THE VITAL GROUPS

MESSAGE SEVEN

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

2. In the gifts (among the gifted persons) given by Christ the ascended Head to the churches for the building up of His Body, the essential functions are:
   1. Shepherding:
      1. Among the four kinds of gifted persons, the ministry of the first three, that is, of the apostles, prophets, and evangelists, depends upon shepherding. This is confirmed by the Lord's charge to Peter in John 21:15-17.
      2. Contacting and taking care of others, sinners and believers, as the apostle Paul, the top apostle, did in contacting people and taking care of people's need—2 Cor. 1:23-2:14; 11:28-29.
   2. Teaching:
      1. The apostle Paul taught in his personal visits to the churches—1 Cor. 4:17b; 7:17b.
      2. Paul also wrote fourteen Epistles to the churches and individuals concerning God's eternal economy with Christ as its centrality and universality and the Body of Christ as its central line to consummate the New Jerusalem.
3. In the eldership:
   1. In addition to the shepherding by the main function of the gifted persons, Christ as the Head of the church also charged the apostles to appoint elders (overseers) in all the local churches to carry out His shepherding of His flock—1 Tim. 3:1-7; 5:17a.
   2. The obligation of the elders in the churches is:
      1. Shepherding (1 Pet. 5:2a), as Christ did and as the gifted persons do.
      2. Teaching to strengthen the shepherding and carry out its goal (1 Tim. 3:2b; 5:17b) according to what Christ taught in the four Gospels and what the gifted persons taught in the Epistles.
   3. The elders shepherding the churches by taking the lead should not lord it over them, God's allotments to the elders, but should become patterns of God's flock—1 Tim. 5:17; 1 Pet. 5:2-3:
      1. Girding themselves with humility to serve the saints—1 Pet. 5:5-6; cf. 2 Cor. 4:5; Matt. 20:26-28; 3 John 9-11.
      2. Their willing and faithful shepherding will be rewarded with the unfading crown of glory at the manifestation of the Chief Shepherd—1 Pet. 5:4.