Enter into Christ’s Wonderful Shepherding for the Fulfillment of God’s Dream, the Church

We need to enter into Christ’s wonderful shepherding for the fulfilment of God’s dream, the church as the mutual dwelling place of God and man.

In the church life, we need to be careful about directing others or controlling them related to their marriage, who to marry, and what to do; we are here simply to minister life to others and help them to contact the Lord, in morality, in life, in human living, etc but not to match them with a partner.

As believers in Christ who love the Lord and love the church life, we are entrusted by God with the stewardship of God, which is to give others food in the house of God, so that the young ones may grow, be perfected, and be built up.

However, we are not here to tell others what to do; we should not take the place of Christ, the Head, in the matter of telling others where to go and what to do.

Concerning any move that we or someone else makes in the Lord’s recovery, we must go directly to the Lord Himself and pray.

We need to have the assurance that the Lord is sending us; we cannot merely “follow the flow” by going where others are going or doing what others are doing.

It is very important for us to contact the Lord personally in prayer and seek His leading; then, we need to fellowship in the Body to get the feeling of the Body.

And if others come to us concerning doing this or that, or concerning moving to a certain place for the Lord, we should not simply tell them to go there or do that, but encourage them to contact the Lord.

And if we have any feeling concerning that matter after they contacted the Lord, we could present our feeling, but again, the basis is the Lord’s personal leading and bringing all things to Him in prayer.

It is an insult to the Lord for us to make decisions by ourselves, and it is an insult to the Head of the Body when any member directs another member to do something or go somewhere.

It is so wonderful in the church life when there’s a certain service to be taken care of, that we don’t assign people but rather, ask for volunteers.

Similarly, if there is a burden for the Lord’s move to Germany or to any other country in Western Europe, we don’t tell others to just get ready and go but rather, we pray about it, each one contacting the Lord and opening to Him, and then we fellowship in the Body concerning the feeling we receive from the Lord.

It is so safe and wonderful for us to be in the Body and under the Head! It is so sweet and encouraging to be helped by others and to help others to just go to the Lord about everything, and then to learn to fellowship in the Body, so that we may be balanced in what we do and where we go!

Being Careful about Directing the Young Saints Related to their Marriage: we are here only to Minister Life and Render Help

Many times young saints go to the elders concerning who to marry, and the temptation for the elders or the older saints is to try to “match” the young ones together, according to their feeling and experience.

Sometimes the younger saints come to fellowship and get help concerning their choice in marriage or even concerning dating; we need to be saved from falling into directing them or somewhat controlling them, for this is very dangerous.

In the matter of marriage, choosing our partner, and who to marry, we need to realize that it is only the Lord who knows who is a good match for another person; we don’t know.

We are here simply to minister life to others and render them help concerning practical things; we are not here to be “match-makers”.

We need to help one another to pursue the Lord, seek His leading, and be proper human beings, not try to match saints for their marriage union.

The more we live in the church life, the more we have a heart for the Lord and for the saints, the more we have a certain feeling that maybe this brother and that sister are good for each other.

This feeling may be from the Lord, but we should not do anything except pray and then help them to pray to seek the Lord’s leading.

There’s a temptation that the older ones among us would think that they could help the young ones, and they know who to marry who; this, however, is the human hand and not the Lord’s hand.

When it comes to matching a brother and a sister in marriage, such a matter is very complicated and with many implications; we should simply be objective and render life to the young ones.

In all these things, though there’s such a need for the young brothers and sisters to get married, we need to pray to the Lord and help one another contact Him and seek His leading, instead of matching brothers with sisters or directing the young saints related to their marriage.

We shouldn’t control, we shouldn’t direct them, neither should we indicate who would be best for them; leave this matter to the Lord and simply minister life and render help.

There is a need, however, to help others when we see that they are dating in an improper way; there’s a need to help them see that it is not safe for a young brother to be with a young sister in a loose way.

There is a need to give them some guidance concerning not indulging in the lusts of the flesh, and not being involved in fornication or adultery.

Also, we need to help the young ones consider their future, and consider things such as their family, their parents, their job, their financial situation, and their other responsibilities.

On one hand, we need to minister life to others; on the other hand, we need to render them help humanly.

Much prayer and fellowship are needed related how to pray for our marriage and how to look to the Lord to restrict our indulgence and lust.

There’s much help needed in the matter of morality, in the human life, in spirituality, and in the Lord’s way.

We shouldn’t interfere with their decisions or influence whom they should choose as a spouse, but we should minister life to them and help them in morality, in life, in human living, in taking care of the future, concerning their parents, and in seeking the Lord who to marry.

If they need help with practical things related to their wedding, we can help; if they need someone to co-sign the marriage papers and be with them through this whole process, we can be there.

But we are not there to give our own opinion, direct them what to do, or control them; rather, we are there to support, minister life and render help as much as we can humanly.

May the Lord have a way to make us the shepherding ones even in this crucial matter in our human life and Christian life – may we cooperate with His wonderful shepherding to care for the saints according to God in this specific matter.

Lord Jesus, we want to cooperate with Your wonderful shepherding by caring for the saints according to God even in the matter of getting married. Save us from directing others what to do or controlling them. Make us those who help others contact the Lord and look to Him concerning who to marry and what they should do. Amen, Lord, we trust in You regarding our marriage and concerning the marriage and coming together of the young saints. We want to see many families in the church life for the Lord’s move and spread on earth. Make us those who minister life to them and render them help in spirit but without controlling or directing them what to do. Keep us one spirit with You, dear Good Shepherd, to shepherd the saints according to God!

Entering into Christ’s Wonderful Shepherding for the Fulfilment of God’s Dream, the Church

May we not be outsiders but insiders, that is, may we see the Lord’s wonderful shepherding in His heavenly ministry and be encouraged, energized, inspired, and motivated to enter into Christ’s wonderful shepherding.

Christ in His heavenly ministry is shepherding the church of God as a Slave of God for the fulfilment of God’s dream, the church as the Body of Christ, the dwelling place of God.

God has a dream, and man’s dream is a reflection of His dream.

We may have a childhood dream to grow up and design and build our own house, and we may work really hard until that happens; when we step into our house designed and built by us, we will be the happiest person on earth.

The same is true with God; He has a dream, and when His dream comes true, He is the happiest person in the universe.

God’s happiest moment will be when His dream will be completed. God’s dream is seen in Jacob’s dream in Gen. 28 – Bethel, the house of God.

According to 1 Tim. 3:15 and Heb. 3:6, the church is the house of the living God – we are God’s house, His dwelling place.

The dweller of this house is a living Person, God Himself, and His dwelling place are also living persons, the transformed Jacobs.

We are the New Testament Israel of God, the regenerated and transformed believers who are the living stones built up together as a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5).

God’s dream is to make man His eternal dwelling place; He doesn’t dream of staying in heaven forever or to build heavenly mansions for man to join Him in heaven.

Rather, God wants to work Himself and build Himself into man to obtain a corporate man to be His dwelling place on earth, not only in time but also in eternity.

God revealed His dream to Jacob because He wants His dream to be made known to man, so that this dream would become man’s dream, to show man that He needs man to fulfill His dream, that man would cooperate with God and meet God’s need, so that His eternal purpose would be fulfilled.

God’s dream is to have a mutual and corporate dwelling place with man; though man fell into sin, God came in Christ to redeem us for the fulfilment of God’s dream.

Now as His purchased slaves, our job description is to shepherd the church of God as slaves of God for the fulfilment of God’s dream.

May we all enter into Christ’s wonderful shepherding to shepherd the church of God for the fulfilment of God’s dream; may we enter into this shepherding to take care of at least one sheep, one person.

The Lord is the best Shepherd – He is our pattern, and we work together with Him. He’s the Chief Shepherd, the Head of the church, His Body, and He is carrying out His wonderful shepherding in His heavenly ministry.

We must be His little shepherds, the members of His Body cooperating with His wonderful shepherding here on earth.

He promised us that, if we are faithful in the matter of shepherding to the end, we will receive the unfading crown of glory.

In this age, we need to do the shepherding, and in the next age, we will receive the reward, which is the kingship.

We can see this with David, who was first a shepherd and then a king – he was a king-shepherd, see 2 Sam. 5:2 and 7:8.

This is the kind of king that God wants to rule over His people, someone who knows how to shepherd them so that he would rule over them.

Christ as our King is not a tyrant or a dictator; He is a King-Shepherd, and He shepherds us so that we may shepherd others, and then to make us His kings.

For us to gain the kingdom reward and reign with Christ in the coming age, we first need to be little shepherds today, working together with Christ in His heavenly ministry.

What a wonderful blessing, that we as shepherding ones become kings in the kingdom of God!

Today we are little shepherds learning to shepherd the saints according to God by cooperating with Christ in His heavenly ministry, but in the next age, we will be glorious kings ruling in God’s kingdom together with Christ – co-kings with Christ!

May we enter into Christ’s wonderful shepherding in His heavenly ministry for the kingdom reward and for the fulfilment of God’s dream.

May we labor on the all-inclusive Christ as the good land allotted to us so that we may have something of the unsearchable riches of Christ to minister to others for the building up of the church.

May we learn to shepherd the saints according to God by not only caring for their needs outwardly but also caring for their soul, even overseeing the inward state of their being.

And may we be saved from lording it over the flock of God; we are not the boss, the manager of a big corporation called the church, where we can hire and fire people according to how we feel – we are simply those who shepherd others by being one with Christ for the fulfilment of God’s dream.

Christ is the unique Lord and Head and King; in all the decisions and direction, in all our fellowship, we come to Him and we direct others to come to Him to pray and seek His leading.

May we take the lead to shepherd others according to God, being patterns of the flock, and diligently and faithfully shepherd people so that the saints may follow, be perfected, and enter into the wonderful shepherding of Christ.

May all the saints in the church life enter into Christ’s wonderful shepherding for the fulfilment of God’s dream!

Lord Jesus, we want to enter into Your wonderful shepherding in this age for the fulfilment of God’s dream to have the mutual place of God and man. Amen, Lord, we want You to be happy and have Your dream fulfilled, for Your dream is also our dream. Make us the little shepherds who are one with the Chief Shepherd to shepherd the flock of God according to God, not under compulsion. Amen, Lord, may all the saints enter into Christ’s wonderful shepherding in His heavenly ministry for the kingdom reward and for the fulfillment of God’s dream! May we be the shepherding ones today and the co-kings with Christ in the coming age!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a message given by the brothers on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 4: Other Crucial Matters concerning the Practice of the Lord’s Recovery,” ch. 9, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Meeting God’s Need and Present needs in the Lord’s Recovery, week 5, entitled, Our Need to Walk in Newness of Life, to Serve in Newness of Spirit, and to Be Renewed in Our Inner Man Day by Day.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Christ is our rest and enjoyment, / Here we have nothing to fear; / Here all the sheep dwell securely, / Kept by His presence so dear. / Glorious church life, / Feasting from such a rich store! / Here where we’re dwelling in oneness / God commands life evermore. (Hymns #1221)
  – There’s always been something hidden deep in Your heart, / Yet I had not given it one single thought, / I only knew that I was wand’ring, feeling lost, / Dreaming were You, and I was too, in the wilderness, / Until one day You revealed Your dream in my heart. / Your heart’s desire is with man to mingle as one, / To dwell with man, an eternal bond to form, / ’Twas for this dream You became man, uplifting man, / That God and man, heaven and earth, be joined for aye, / God’s house, heav’n’s gate, now descends, Your dream to attain. (Song on, God’s Dream)
  – Make my spirit strong I pray / Others’ spirits to revive; / Lift my spirit high and free, / Others’ spirits then may thrive. / Every time I speak, O Lord, / May my spirit actuate; / And whatever I may do, / Let my spirit motivate. (Hymns #782)