Week 15 The Practice of Service
LESSON FIFTEEN
THE PRINCIPLE OF NOURISHING NEW ONES
Hymn 1278
Scripture Reading:
Col. 1:28-29 Whom we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ; for which also I labor, struggling according to His operation which operates in me in power.
CONTACTING PEOPLE WITH THE SPIRIT TO ENLIVEN THEIR SPIRIT
After a person is saved, we have to have long conversations with him. During the conversation you have to tell him, “We have a spirit within us. The Lord has died on the cross for us to be our Savior. He has resurrected from the dead to become a life-giving Spirit to live in our spirit. These two spirits are now mingled to become one spirit.” …Following this, we must open them up further by telling them that we need to call on the Lord and to pray. …Our spirit is the source of our calling on the Lord. We have to call from our spirit, “O Lord Jesus!” In this way, we will have a certain sensation; we will feel different within. In this calling we touch our spirit, and we exercise our spirit. (Messages in Preparation for the Spread of the Gospel, pp. 55-56)
In order to fulfill the New Testament priesthood of the gospel, we must learn how to bring people to have a personal contact with the Lord by their spirit directly. This is the central, crucial point of our contact with people. We must learn this skill and practice it. (Elders’ Training, Book 11: The Eldership and the God-ordained Way (3), p. 75)
LOVE PREVAILING
1 Corinthians 12 reveals that love is the most excellent way (v. 31b). Love is the most excellent way for us to prophesy and to teach others.
The church is not a police station to arrest people or a law court to judge people, but a home to raise up the believers….The church is a home, a hospital, and a school, the co-workers and elders should be one with the Lord to raise up, to heal, to cover, and to teach others in love. (The Vital Groups, pp. 74-75)
FEEDING THE NEWBORN BABES WITH BABY FOOD
The primary point, the prerequisite, is that you consider a newly baptized one as a babe in Christ. …A new one may ask many questions, yet you must always have the concept that you are dealing with a babe in Christ. If you can learn this secret, you will be welcomed by every new one….He will open himself up to you, listen to you, and take your word.
When you go to hold a home meeting with the little babes …you must have the attitude that you are coming to “play” with these little babes. You must learn this. You may even sing a simple children’s song with them.
Do not think that the matter of idols is an easy item to handle. This is a very difficult matter. A number of the newly saved ones have been stumbled by this matter. …While you are talking to him as to a babe, you have to look to the Lord for the wisdom to handle the situation without stumbling him. Eventually, you will be able to convince him, but not like a professor convincing a student.
Another difficult question is regarding the matter of marriage. …One secret you have to learn and always remember is that you are dealing with babes. …Do not forget that the new ones were deeply fallen sinners, so it is not so easy for us to rescue them out of their fallen situation and condition in a quick way.
LEARNING TO CARE FOR THE HOME MEETINGS IN A FLEXIBLE WAY
Whatever we do in all kinds of meetings must be living, stirring, and something the Spirit can use to inspire and unveil something to people concerning the mystery of God. We should do nothing merely as a religious activity.
Before visiting the new ones in the home meetings, some time should be given for preparation. In that time of preparation, there should be some fellowship among the members of the visiting team concerning the goal of the home meeting. You should not go to the home meetings without a definite purpose.
The new way is something living and altogether outside of religion. The new way is unveiling, revealing, and inspiring. The new way is not a work in the style or form of any type of religion. It is something altogether in the reality of life. (The Exercise and Practice of the God-ordained Way, pp. 171-177, 182-184)
FAITHFULNESS, LABOR, AND STRUGGLE FOR THE LONG RUN
The spreading of life needs a certain amount of time and labor. If you do not till the ground, sow the seed, water, and add fertilizer, the seeds may not grow well.
We must announce Christ to the sinners. Then we must present them as matured believers to Christ. We sow the seed and take care of the seed until it grows unto maturity. …We in the Lord’s recovery should be laborers and strugglers. (Messages to the Trainees in Fall 1990, p. 97)
LEARNING TO BECOME THE RIGHT KIND OF PERSON—
WE OURSELVES FIRST MUST BE THE KIND OF PERSON
New believers, especially young people, really like to imitate spiritual people. …As long as we are proper people, when we go to visit two households for forty to fifty minutes every week, we will have a great influence on them. They might not say anything, but unconsciously they will be affected and will even pay attention to and imitate our way of dressing. …We should not merely have a heart. We must also, more importantly, be right, and we must be the kind of person we want the new ones to be. (The Furtherance of the New Way for the Lord’s Recovery, ch. 6)
References: Messages in Preparation for the Spread of the Gospel, ch. 5; Elders’ Training Book 11, The Eldership and the God-ordained Way (3), ch. 8; The Vital Groups, msg. 8; The Exercise and Practice of the God Ordained Way, msgs. 19-20; Messages to the Trainees in Fall 1990, ch. 14; The Furtherance of the New Way for the Lord’s Recovery, ch. 6.
