TAKING THE SHEPHERDING WAY
TO PREACH THE GOSPEL AND REVIVE THE CHURCH

SERIES FOUR
SHEPHERDING PEOPLE ACCORDING TO GOD
TO BRING IN A NEW REVIVAL

Message Seven
Continuing Steadfastly in Practice with One Accord

Scripture Reading:

Acts 2:46-47     And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they partook of their food with exultation and simplicity of heart, praising God and having grace with all the people. And the Lord added together day by day those who were being saved.

THE ONE ACCORD BEING THE MASTER KEY
TO EVERY BLESSING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

In the book of Acts the one hundred twenty prayed together in one mind, in the same mind, in the same will with the same purpose around and within the soul and the heart. Whenever we pray, we surely should exercise our spirit, but we also should be in the same mind and the same will with the same purpose around and within our soul and heart. This means that our entire being is involved. After the Lord’s ascension, the one hundred twenty became the kind of persons who were in one mind, in one will, with one purpose around their soul and heart. For them to be in one accord meant that their entire beings were one. (Elders’ Training, Book 07: One Accord for the Lord’s Move, ch. 1)

THE ONE ACCORD BRINGING IN THE MORALE AND IMPACT

The preaching of the gospel is the first step in the spreading. Following this we need to have home meetings and the nourishing of the new believers. We also need to build up the small groups and teach the truth. Finally, we need to have the practical manifestation of the Body life. These four things must become the “family tradition” among the churches in the Lord’s recovery. In order to develop this “tradition,” we must have the same view and the one accord. This is reason that I have presented to you the matter of the ultimate and completed vision. Today we should no longer emphasize different ways. We should not have any different leadings. We are all in the Lord’s recovery, and we have all seen today’s concluded vision. Even if some cannot follow and do not see clearly, they should not say anything. As long as they follow, they will obtain the blessing. The sons of Noah did not see the vision that he saw, yet they were in one accord with their father. They closely followed him, and they were saved in the same way that their father was saved. Peter was also one who blindly followed the Lord. He did not know anything. He only knew that the vision was with the Lord, and he followed. In the end he received the blessing.

If we have different emphases and different ways of doing things, our energy will be dissipated, and our faith will be weakened. We will lose the one accord, and our morale will be gone. However, if we are in one accord and we preach the gospel desperately, we will become hotter and hotter; our mutual burning will heighten our determination. Even the new ones will be brought into the proper function. We will have an invincible morale, and we will march over all obstacles. Wherever we go, we will more than conquer. This is what we must have today. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 1: The Vision and Definite Steps for the Practice of the New Way, ch. 3)

Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint, because there is no one accord. It is true that many people love the Lord and serve God, but everyone has his opinion and his own vision. As a result, there is no way to have the one accord. This is the reason that Christianity has become so weak. God’s people are divided and split apart. There are divisions everywhere. Although everyone says that he loves the Lord, there is no clear vision, and men are “carried about by every wind” (Eph. 4:14).

Our vision should be one that matches the age. It should also be one that includes everything that has gone before us. It should include the godliness of the Jews, the zeal of the evangelicals, and the genuine service. Only then will we be able to practice an all-inclusive church life, the church life Paul revealed to us (Rom. 14). We are not divided into sects, and we do not impose any special practice on anyone. We only live an all-inclusive church life. If we do this, we will have the genuine one accord.

Today we can be in one accord because we have only one vision and one view. We are all in this up-to-date, all-inheriting vision. We have only one viewpoint. We speak the same thing with one heart, one mouth, one voice, and one tone, serving the Lord together. The result is a power that will become our strong morale and our impact. This is our strength. Once the Lord’s recovery possesses this power, there will be the glory of increase and multiplication. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 1: The Vision and Definite Steps for the Practice of the New Way, msg. 2)

BEING STEADFAST IN PRACTICING THE HOME MEETINGS

We should not carry out the home meetings sporadically; rather, we should do it steadily and continually, fifty-two times a year. Even though there may be conferences, trainings, and joint meetings, we should try not to interrupt the time of our home meeting. If one thousand homes in the church in Taipei maintain such a practice, the long-term impact and benefit will be immeasurable. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 1: The Vision and Definite Steps for the Practice of the New Way, msg. 6)

In order for the gospel teams to carry out a successful work, they must go out in a regular and consistent way. All school teachers know that students must attend school regularly. If the school term is four and a half months long, the students must go to their classes daily and weekly. Occasionally within one school semester students may need to ask for a leave of absence or remain home due to sickness. That is common and excusable. However, if the attendance of a class often ranges from a high of sixty to a low of thirty, it will be difficult for any proper lessons to be taught to that class. If our gospel team attendance is not regular, we may have results, but those results will not be satisfactory. (Talks Concerning the Church Services, ch. 8)

All of us know that students at school must learn to study in a regular way. No student can successfully finish his schooling by studying one night until midnight and not studying at all for the next few days. He needs to receive the proper instruction. Therefore, he must faithfully do his homework for two hours each day. By studying a few hours a day in a regular way, he will surely be a top student.

Those who go out to visit people should go in a regular way, according to their vow to the Lord. We should make this a kind of habit. As the descendants of Adam, we are all the same. One day our wife may make us very happy. Due to this we are more than excited to go out. We pray and become filled with the Spirit and go out rejoicing. Another day we decide to go out visiting, but a few minutes before we go, our wife does something to make us unhappy. So we decide not to go. Whether we are happy or unhappy, up or down, we must endeavor to keep our vow to the Lord. No appointment, friends, telephone calls, or even the weather should stop us from going out. If we are not consistent in our going out, our labor will never be successful. We must have an attitude that we will not be disappointed. If we do not gain anyone this week, then we will go out next week just the same. A carpenter who does his carpentry work in a regular way will soon produce a coffee table or a chair. (Talks Concerning the Church Services, ch. 9)

DOING THIS REGULARLY, ORDINARILY,
AND ACCORDING TO A SPECIFIED TIME

Strictly speaking, we do not need everyone to serve the Lord with their full time. According to the natural law in God’s creation, we cannot work continuously for twenty-four hours a day.…As Christians and as those who love the Lord, we also need to have a part of our time in our living for recreation and amusement. Our recreation, our amusement, is our church life. What a joy it is to come to the meetings to have mutual fellowship with the brothers and sisters, singing, praying, and testifying! When there is no meeting, we can go to preach the gospel to lead people to salvation, or we can visit the new ones to nourish them in their homes, bring them to the small group meetings to perfect them, and bring them to the Lord’s Day meeting, teaching them how to prophesy in the meeting. This is our most noble “amusement.”

I believe that according to God’s arrangement, every brother and sister can afford at least two nights every week either to visit people for gospel preaching, to nourish the new believers, to bring them to the small group meetings, or to help them to learn to prophesy. If we can do this every week, we will have a normal Christian life. If we live in this way, we can bring at least two people to the Lord every year and equip them to be perfected. (The Church Life in the Lord’s Recovery Today, msg. 5)