SHEPHERDING AND TEACHING—THE OBLIGATION OF THE VITAL GROUPS (2)
[Teaching to Strengthen the Shepherding and Reach Its Goal. In Matthew,] 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)…. 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)… 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.
[In John,] John 1 through 7 is concerning the flowing Triune God to be the living water for the enjoyment of the believers in Christ. We enjoy the Triune God with the Father as the fountain, the Son as the spring, and the Spirit as the river flowing into the totality of the eternal life, the New Jerusalem (4:14b)… John 14 through 17 is concerning the mingling and the incorporation of the processed and consummated Triune God with His regenerated and transformed elect and the issues. The issues of this mingling and incorporation are the believers’ participating in the Father’s house, in the Son’s vine, and in the Spirit’s child to be in the oneness of the Body of Christ incorporated with the oneness of the Triune God.
Christ came to seek the sinners that they might have His life and have it abundantly, so we should not go out to reach people in a shallow and empty way. We should go out full of the divine life so that people may have Christ’s life through us. We must be filled to the brim with Christ’s life so that His life flows out of us to be dispensed into others… We also need to teach the divine truths to people to strengthen our shepherding and reach its goal. We may share with a theological professor concerning the four ins in John 14:17-20. Our going out as Christ to give people life and truth will attract and convince them. We need to be discipled to be such a Christ. On the one hand, we should shepherd people by dispensing the divine life into them. On the other hand, we should teach them the divine truths in the divine, mystical realm. This is my burden.
If we practice these things, there will be a real revival in the Lord’s recovery. We must be shepherds with the loving and forgiving heart of our Father God in His divinity and the shepherding and finding spirit of our Savior Christ in His humanity. We also must have the heavenly vision of all the divine and mystical teachings of Christ. Shepherding and teaching are the obligation of the vital groups and the basic way ordained by God to build up the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem. (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups”, ch. 6, pp. 107-109)
The church in Zamboanga 