Shepherd the Flock of God according to God for the Building up of the Body of Christ

The apostle Peter was so impressed with the Lord’s commission that he would shepherd His sheep that he told us we have returned to the Shepherd of our souls, and he charged the elders to shepherd the flock of God among them according to God.

In John 21, which is seemingly an appendix to the gospel of John, the Lord Jesus came in His resurrection and met Peter and the disciples who went fishing.

The Lord’s calling for them was that they would be fishers of men, so they dropped their boats and nets and followed the Lord, but now it seems like Peter wanted to go back to his old profession and do some more fishing.

So the Lord came to Peter and shepherded him in his situation. Peter must have been shameful, for He realised that he was backslidden, leaving the Lord’s calling and falling again in his habit of fishing, and even taking other disciples with him.

The Lord didn’t just help them get more fish as they were fishing, but He prepared breakfast for them to nourish them. He didn’t condemn Peter, He didn’t ask him why is he back to fishing, and He didn’t criticize him for what he has done.

Rather, the Lord asked Peter a seemingly simple question, Peter, do you love Me?

If someone asks us that question, we may answer, Yes, you know I love you. But the Lord asked Peter this question three times, and after each time He commissioned Peter to feed His lambs, shepherd His sheep, and feed His sheep.

The Lord came to Peter in his low estate and shepherded him and commissioned him to shepherd the flock of God, to shepherd the Lord’s sheep.

This shows us that the apostolic ministry was to be in cooperation with Christ’s heavenly ministry, which is mainly to shepherd the flock of God, to shepherd the saints so that they would enjoy God and fulfill God’s purpose.

Shepherding is not something we do as a work but it should become our living. When we live Christ, when we contact the Lord and live one spirit with Him, we will express Him, and we will reflect Him in His heavenly ministry.

In His heavenly ministry today Christ is mainly shepherding His people, and He’s tenderly taking care of His flock so that they would be built up into the church consummating into the New Jerusalem.

Therefore, when we touch the Lord and love Him, live Him, and walk according to the spirit, we will cooperate to shepherd according to God the flock of God in oneness with Him.

Actually, we all are commissioned by the Lord to shepherd the flock of God, and this commission did not come because we are qualified but because the Lord loves us and we love Him.

Peter was met by the Lord and commissioned by Him to shepherd His sheep when he was not in a good condition but was caught red-handed, going back to fishing. The Lord knows we love Him, and He comes to rekindle our love and to commission us to shepherd His sheep in oneness with Him, the One who is the great Shepherd, even the chief Shepherd.

The Lord doesn’t commission the qualified ones but the ones who love Him but know that in themselves are a failure and cannot do anything without Him.

Learning to Shepherd the Flock of God According to God in Cooperation with Christ’s Heavenly Ministry

Peter was so impressed with the commission the Lord gave him on the seashore in John 21 that in his first epistle he tells the believers that they were like sheep bring led astray, but now have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls (1 Pet. 2:25).

Christ is the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls, and when we repented and believed into Him, we have returned to Him. As believers are suffering persecution, they need to be reminded that they have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls.

Furthermore, Peter exhorts the elders to shepherd the flock of God among them so that, when the Chief Shepherd is manifested, they will receive the unfading crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:14). He tells the elders that their obligation is to shepherd the flock of God according to God which is among them (1 Pet. 5:1-2).

How deeply the Lord’s commission on the seashore penetrated Peter, that he both encouraged the believers that they returned to the Shepherd of their souls, and he charged the elders to shepherd the flock of God among them according to God!

What does it mean to shepherd according to God? It means that we must live God and have God on hand. We can’t shepherd the church according to ourselves. We are failures, and even our best efforts to love the Lord and express our love for Him result in causing problems, as in the case of Peter.

But Christ commissioned us, so we need to shepherd according to God the flock of God, and not shepherd according to our qualifications or our strength.

When we are one with God, we become the same as He is in His life, nature, expression, and function, but not in the Godhead, so we have God and even are the acting God in our shepherding of others.

When we shepherd others we need to live God and express God, so that we shepherd according to God and not according to our feeling, concept, or opinion.

To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to what God is in His attributes. God is love, light, holiness, and righteousness, and when we shepherd others we need to shepherd them according to what God is.

To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to God’s nature, His desire, His way, and His glory, not according to our preferences, our interest, and our purpose.

Shepherding is not merely a work we carry out for God in the church life but a living, our living Christ and expressing Him in shepherding others according to God.

Peter’s word indicated that the heavenly ministry of Christ is mainly to shepherd the church of God as His flock, which issues in His Body, consummating in the New Jerusalem.

We need to shepherd the young ones, the weak ones, and the backsliding ones according to God’s nature, His way, His preference, and His feeling. May we learn to contact the Lord, love Him, pursue Him, be before Him, and let Him commission us and empower us to shepherd the flock of God according to God.

Lord Jesus, we love You and we love the saints, Your flock. We want to learn to shepherd the flock of God according to God which is among us. May we shepherd according to God’s nature desire, way, and glory, and note according to our preference, interest, and purpose. Oh Lord, may we be those on earth who correspond to Your heavenly ministry of shepherding by shepherding the saints as Your flock according to God until You gain a built up church, the Body of Christ, consummating in the New Jerusalem!

Shepherding God’s Flock for the Building up of the Body of Christ Consummating in the New Jerusalem

The matter of shepherding God’s flock for the main purpose and ultimate consummation of God’s eternal economy is referred to in the book of Song of Songs. In this book we see the life experience with the Lord of a loving seeker who is brought into God’s building.

In such a short book we see a miniature of the entire Bible; this book lays out the pattern of how a lover of Christ would grow in life, gain Christ, and is built up for God’s building. As the lover of Christ goes through this process, shepherding is mentioned repeatedly.

In Song of Songs 1:7 it says, “Tell me, you whom my soul loves, Where do you pasture your flock [for satisfaction]? / Where do you make it lie down at noon [for rest]?” And the Lord answers, “Go forth on the footsteps of the flock, / And pasture your young goats / By the shepherds’ tents” – v. 8b.

Under the Lord as the Chief Shepherd there are many other shepherds; they pasture their young by their tents, that is, where they live.

In Song of Song 2:16 it says, “My beloved is mine, and I am his; / He pastures his flock among the lilies” [the seekers of Christ who live a life of trusting in God with a single heart]. The Lord is shepherding His seeking ones by pasturing them as lilies; He takes care of them, He feeds them, and He shepherds them that they may grow.

Finally, in Song of Songs 6:3 it says, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine; / He pastures his flock among the lilies.”

Without shepherding, the lover of Christ cannot grow in life or be built up into God’s building. Shepherding plays a key part for the seeker to progress in life and attain to the building. Shepherding is part of God’s organic salvation to bring us to the consummation of God’s economy.

The main purpose and goal of the apostolic ministry incorporated with Christ’s heavenly ministry are to build up the Body of Christ, which will consummate the New Jerusalem for the accomplishment of the eternal economy of God.

When we shepherd the flock of God according to God , we cooperate with Christ’s heavenly ministry, and the goal is not merely to care for the needs of the saints but to build up the church and consummate the New Jerusalem.

The Lord cares for our needs and shepherds us not in an aimless way; His goal is the church, the Body of Christ, and the New Jerusalem.

He wants to bring us all into one flock under Him as the Shepherd, and as we all learn and practice to shepherd according to God the flock of God among whom we are, the church is built up to be the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem!

Thank You Lord Jesus for coming as the good Shepherd to bring us into Your flock. Hallelujah, we have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. You make us lie down for rest, and You lead us to pasture for satisfaction. Thank You for coming where we are to shepherd us, and You pasture us among those who live a life of trusting in God with a single heart. Lord Jesus, we love You, and we want to cooperate with Your heavenly ministry by shepherding the flock of God among whom we are!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message given by James Lee for this week, and portions from, The Vital Groups, ch. 7 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Taking Christ as our Person and Living Him in and for the Church Life (2018 spring ITERO), week 6, The Apostolic Ministry in Cooperation with Christ’s Heavenly Ministry .
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Jesus, our wonderful Shepherd / Brought us right out of the fold / Into His pasture so plenteous, / Into His riches untold. / Glorious church life, / Feasting from such a rich store! / Here where we’re dwelling in oneness / God commands life evermore. (Hymns #1221)
  # Tell me, you whom my soul loves, / Where do you feed your flock? / Where do they lie down at noon? / Where do you pasture your flock? / If you yourself do not know, / Go by the flock’s footsteps, / Feed your young, O fairest one, / By the shepherds’ tents. (Scripture song)
  # Oh, my Beloved’s mine, and I am His; / I am a lily and my Shepherd He; / May daybreak come, the shadows flee away, / Him on the mountains as a hart I’d see. (Hymns #556)