Page 21 - The Christian Life and the Church Life_Government of God
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The Universal Government of God                            20


        their disposition, their powerful person. This is serious. We know from Acts
        20 that Paul gave a word to the elders from Ephesus at Miletus (v. 17) to
        shepherd the flock of God over whom the Holy Spirit made them overseers
        (v. 28). It has to be according to God. It is one thing for me to have a failure
        and, in a sense, damage myself; but for me to deeply wound a brother or sister
        because I let myself take the lead in contacting with them, this is another
        thing. Shepherd according to God. Some of us can testify that after we have
        passed through a particular kind of dealing, we sense our spirit is stronger,
        more vital; there is more flow, and there is a positive purpose here.
            IN HIS WRITINGS PETER COMBINING THE CHRISTIAN
           LIFE AND GOD’S GOVERNMENT, REVEALING THAT THE
            CHRISTIAN LIFE AND THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD GO
                            TOGETHER AS A PAIR
            In His writings Peter combines the Christian life and God’s government.
        One aspect of the training is that we are combining them. We are looking to
        the Lord that step by step, not in one weekend, your Christian life will be
        combined with God’s government. You will sense that you are in another
        realm,  a wonderful realm.  It is serious but it is blessed; it is wonderful,
        peaceful, joyful, full of light, and full of life. Peter reveals that the Christian
        life and the government of God go together as a pair.
         The Triune God Having Passed through a Long Process in Christ and
          Having Become the Life-Giving Spirit to Indwell Us; This Being for
                               Our Christian Life
            The Triune God has passed through a long process in Christ and has
        become the life-giving Spirit to indwell us; this is for our Christian life. What
        a process He went through to breathe Himself into us! This is all grace. It is
        wonderful.

                   At the Same Time; the Triune God Still Being
                     the Creator of the Universe and Its Ruler

            At the same time; the Triune God is still the Creator of the universe and
        its Ruler. Because physically we are still in the old creation, we are still part
        of it; we are subject to God’s government as every other creature is.
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