LESSONS ON THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY
Lesson Thirteen
Contacting People through Living a Life of Blending
Scripture Reading:
John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Acts 2:46 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.
Acts 2:47 Praising God and having grace with all the people. And the Lord added together day by day those who were being saved.
John 21:15 Then when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My lambs.
1 Cor. 9:22-23 To the weak I became weak that I might gain the weak. To all men I have become all things that I might by all means save some. And I do all things for the sake of the gospel that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
1 John 3:17-18 But whoever has the livelihood of the world and sees that his brother has need and shuts up his affections from him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue but in deed and truthfulness.
I. Contacting one another in love is the blending—John 13:14, 34:
II. Making the church life our daily living—Acts 2:46-47:
A. People need a proper social life; the church social life in the recovery leads to light, to the deeper and higher truths, and the divine life.
B. The church life should become a part of our normal life; such a practice will cause the church life to be full of vitality and impact.
C. The foundation of the practice depends on considering one another in life so as to incite one another to love and good works—Heb. 10:24-25:
1. We need the intimate fellowship with one another with the practical care and shepherding—James 2:15-16.
2. This kind of caring will stir up our love and our good works—1 John 3:17-18.
D. A life of blending will revolutionize the church and we will convert the church into a new one—1 Cor. 12:24-26.
III. The way of blending in the daily life—1 Cor. 9:20-22; Phil. 2:1-4:
A. We should contact one another every day, every week, every month, and every year.
B. Calling on the phone, contacting people before and after meetings, inviting people to love feasts and desserts, accompanying new ones, attending activities (to exercise, to see the doctor, and to go shopping), and so forth.
C. Practicing the fellowship to lay the foundation for the blending—Phil. 2:1:
1. Fully opening ourselves to one another.
2. Fellowshipping to know one another thoroughly.
3. Having thorough fellowship and practical care.
D. Blending together by praying short prayers with a released spirit—Matt. 18:19.
E. Being blended by much and thorough prayer, as fine flour of the wheat, with all the members of your group, with the Spirit as the oil, through the death of Christ as the salt, and in the resurrection of Christ as the frankincense, into a dough for the Lord—1 Cor. 5:6-7.
IV. Learning to blend in the daily life—John 21:15; 1 Pet. 2;2; 1 Cor. 9:22-23:
A. Knowing that the new ones are infants in Christ—John 21:15.
B. Nourishing the new ones with the guileless milk of the word—1 Pet. 2:2.
C. Learning to “play” with the new believers—1 Cor. 9:22-23.
D. Spending our time in a wise manner—Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5.
Excerpts from the ministry:
CONTACTING ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE IS THE BLENDING
We spoke of the Lord’s need to have a new generation. This cannot take place merely by prayer but by our contacting of people. You should contact me, I should contact you, and we all should contact one another every day, every week, every month, and every year. When we contact one another, we are meeting. To meet is to blend, and to blend is to know each other. Whoever shepherds the Lord’s flock should know every sheep.
We need to be trained to contact people. If a brother is very cold toward the Lord, how can we make him burning? We can invite him to our home or go to visit him. One day the Lord washed His disciples’ feet to show them that He loved them to the uttermost (John 13:1), and He charged His disciples to do the same to one another in love (vv. 14, 34). Today, the world is dirty, and we, the saints, are easily contaminated. For us to maintain pleasant fellowship with the Lord and with one another, we need spiritual foot-washing with the washing Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) and the washing word (Eph. 5:26). This can be carried out when we contact one another in love. Our contact with people should not be formal and official but normal and living in every way. (The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups, p. 74)
MAKING THE CHURCH LIFE OUR DAILY LIVING
In the past our church life has been too dead, and not many people have functioned. Even when some did function, they functioned in a formal, religious, and organizational way. The church life has not been a part of our daily life. For example, in the past when a person wanted to be baptized, we arranged for a baptismal meeting, set up a formal façade, prepared the baptistery, and baptized the person in a formal way. All of our meetings were conducted in a proper order. There were definite assignees to call a hymn, sing, pray, or preach. Everything was in order, yet when such meetings were dismissed and the saints returned to their daily life, they behaved in the same way as before. There seemed to be no connection between the church life and their daily life. However, everything is changed now. If there are two hundred people meeting in a hall, all two hundred people have to function. One can be baptized anywhere and at any time. (Ministry Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 5)
People Need a Proper Social Life
Our groups should not be dormant, lifeless, and cold. If our groups are like this, no one will want to attend them. We have to keep our group meetings so interesting, so living, and so attractive. People need a proper social life, but to be social in a worldly way leads to sin. The church social life in the recovery leads to light, to the deeper and higher truths, and to the divine life. I believe if we could get our practice exposed to others, they will be attracted. The group meetings which are living, attractive, and full of activities will be used by the Lord to gain others for the increase and building up of the church. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, p. 235)
The Church Life Should Become a Part of Our Normal Life
The church life has become common “every day affair” and is easily within everyone’s reach. Such a practice vitalizes the church life and increases its impact.
Recently Sister Lee said to me, “After dinner tonight I will go and watch my old classmate get baptized. She was saved, and tonight she will be baptized at Hall Six.” I asked, “Is there a baptismal meeting?” She answered, “No.” This is very different from what we used to have. However, this is still not good enough. We have to be more spontaneous and normal, so that our church life is a part of our daily life. I hope that every day the saints will see people baptized into the Lord in their own bathtubs. This will bring a great revival into the church. (Ministry Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 5)
The Foundation of the Practice Depends on Considering One Another in Life
So As to Incite One Another to Love and Good Works
Verses 24 and 25 of Hebrews 10 are the basis for our practice of the group meetings. These verses say, “And let us consider one another so as to incite one another to love and good works, not abandoning our own assembling together, as the custom with some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more as you see the day drawing near.” These verses first say that we need to consider one another. This implies that we have a genuine care for all the members of our vital group. To care for one another means to consider one another. Today we may not care for others. We do not really care whether or not a certain brother comes to the meeting or whether or not a certain sister is sick. The genuine care for one another needs to be recovered among us.
Proper wives always have their husbands in their consideration. A sister may make sure that her husband has a coat to wear as he is leaving the house. This means that she is considering her husband, caring for her husband. We need to have this kind of practical care for one another. To consider one another in a practical way is to love one another. We say that we love one another, but in what way do we love? We may not care for anyone in a practical way. Love means practical care and consideration. When we consider one another, we incite one another to love and good works. We stir up one another. If someone cares for me, that spontaneously stirs me up, incites me, to love and good works. To love here is not an infinitive. Love is a noun just as good works is a noun. We incite one another to love and good works by caring for one another, considering one another. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, p. 163)
We Need the Intimate Fellowship with One Another
with the Practical Care and Shepherding
We need the intimate fellowship with one another with the practical care and shepherding. One sister may point out that another sister in the group is absent because she is having some particular trouble. After sharing with the other group members the nature of the problem, the group can pray for her and fellowship about how to give her the practical care and help.
If a brother has lost his job, we should pray for him. We should also consider his material situation. This is real love. James in his Epistle said, “If a brother or sister is without clothing and lacks daily food, and any one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, yet you do not give them the necessities of the body, what is the profit?” (2:15-16). In his first Epistle, John said, “But whoever has the livelihood of the world and sees that his brother has need and shuts up his affections from him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue but in deed and truthfulness” (3:17-18). If we see brothers who are in need and merely tell them that the Lord will take care of them, that is not love. That is vain talk. We should care for one another, consider one another, in a practical way. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, pp. 163-164)
This Kind of Caring Will Stir Up Our Love and Our Good Works
This kind of care stirs up our love and our good works. These good works may refer to small things or big things which are related to God’s economy. A saint in your group may not think about God’s economy. God’s economy seems too abstract and unattainable to him. He thinks that we talk much about God’s economy, but that this has nothing to do with our present need in our daily life. Through our loving care for this brother, he will be incited to consider God’s economy. Without such a loving care and consideration of one another, we may be very indifferent toward the things of God’s economy concerning Christ and the church. But once a brother is loved in some practical care, that impresses him and incites him to think about the Christian life and about God’s economy. When a brother who is Italian cares for another brother who is Chinese, this is a marvelous testimony. This shows that the different races are swallowed up in the new man and testifies of the practical love among the members of the Body of Christ. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, p. 164)
A Life of Blending Will Revolutionize the Church
and We Will Convert the Church into a New One
The Lord urged His people, His disciples, to love one another (John 13:34). He brought a group of Galileans together to follow Him every day for three and a half years. They dropped their jobs and followed the Lord Jesus all the time. The Lord blended them together. In the Acts and the Epistles, we can see that the early apostles also carried out the same kind of blending among the saints. I am burdened to help us become blended together. We can do this by three ways: by calling others on the telephone, by contacting others on the Lord’s Day morning, and by inviting others to our home and being invited by others to their home.
When we invited others to our home, we do not have to prepare a rich feast. We should just prepare a simple meal. We are not getting together for eating. We are coming together for blending. When we come together, we talk about the Lord Jesus, about His holy Word, and about our spiritual experiences. This kind of contact will revolutionize the church. We will convert the church into a new one. (The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups, pp. 73-74)
THE WAY OF BLENDING IN THE DAILY LIFE
Practicing the Fellowship to Lay the Foundation for the Blending
If we would practice the blending, we should not forget the matter of fellowship. Fellowship is the basis for blending. Thus, we must practice the fellowship. By so doing we will lay the foundation for the blending. However, instead of practicing the fellowship, we have practiced hypocrisy for years; we have all been hiding ourselves under a mask. Without the foundation of intimate and thorough fellowship, there can be no blending.
We should not be afraid of being known by others. The more we are known in a proper way, the better. This will put down our pride, take away our boasting, annul our superiority complex, and even put aside our inferiority complex. However, most of us are not willing to expose ourselves. Instead, we prefer to cover ourselves by pretending to one another. Because of this, it is difficult for us to have an intimate and thorough fellowship that results in our being blended together.
Without the blending, the Lord has no way to go on with us. Blending is the Body, blending is the oneness, and blending is the one accord—it is all these things. But we prefer to remain untouched and unknown by others. Because we do not like people to know us, we have become very sensitive, and our being sensitive causes us to be very touchy. Such a condition has forced us to be very cautious in our speaking, for fear of offending one another.
Because of this, we do not have the impact. The impact is with the one accord, and the one accord actually is the blending. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, pp. 87-88)
Fully Opening Ourselves to One Another
Although you may have met in the same church for years, you may not know how many children each other has. Furthermore, you may not know that the wife of one of the brothers has been ill for a considerable time. If you had been practicing the proper grouping, within one hour after one of the group members became ill, you would have known it. In grouping together, the first thing to do is to know one another. Whenever you come together, you should ask concerning the present situation of each group member. We may say that we know each other, but actually we do not. When one of our family members is sick, we may avoid telling others. We may say that everyone in our family is well, when actually some are not well. Instead of opening our situation to one another, we hide things from one another.
After opening to one another concerning our present situation, we should pray for one another and care for and help one another. This is a further step in the practice of the group meetings. Because we do not open ourselves to one another and do not have the mutual care for one another, we have lost our impact. If you will practice the new way, immediately you will have the impact. After forming a group, you should not go the next day to visit people by knocking on new doors. Rather, the group members should pray together. The Lord is living, and He is real. He is with us; but He is not with us in the old way. In the old way He is not living and He is not real to us, because we do not practice His organic way. When we come together to fellowship, we still do not fully open ourselves to one another. Thus, there has been little result from our fellowship. It seems that the Lord is not with us, or that He is with us only partially. Yes, the Lord is gracious, and He is broad. He takes care of us, but that does not mean that He is happy with us. He is happy with us to the extent that we open ourselves to our fellow members. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, pp. 11-12)
Fellowshipping to Know One Another Thoroughly
We might have met in the same locality with certain saints for years without knowing their name or the name of their spouse. This is not real fellowship. We are merely “skating on the ice.” We never got through the ice to the bottom of the water. This time in the group meetings the fellowship should be first ice-cutting and then ice-removing. Then all of us need to dive into the current to know one another thoroughly. This is the real fellowship. The real love is here. If we do not know one another, we cannot love one another. We cannot love anything that we do not know. But the more we know one another in the proper way, the more we will love one another. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, p. 72)
Having Thorough Fellowship and Practical Care
The first thing we have to do in the vital group meetings is to have a thorough fellowship together so that we can know the members of our group in an intimate way. The more thorough our fellowship is, the better. Do we know the occupations of the saints in our vital group and where each one works? Do we know the first and last names of every member of our vital group with their proper pronunciation? By considering these questions, we can see that our fellowship has not been thorough. To love one another involves a lot. We need to endeavor to know one another intimately in the Lord. If someone is absent from our vital group meeting, we should immediately ask where he or she is. We say that our group should be blended, but our blending has not been completed, because we do not know each other thoroughly. When you take action together in serving the Lord, you will see that this is very important. Week after week we have been meeting together, yet we still do not really know one another.
We should know each other’s situation and condition in an up-to-date way. Then we will realize there is the need of practical care. If we realize a sister is sick, we can fellowship about how to render a proper and practical care to her. We can fellowship about who would be burdened to go or about who could and should go. In the larger prayer meetings of the church, we pray in a general way, but the prayer for one another in the groups is specific with a view to the practical care and shepherding. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, p. 165)
Blending Together by Praying Short Prayers with a Released Spirit
Today we need to be blended together by much and thorough prayer. In our prayer we should not merely exercise our spirit but also release our spirit. Praying is the unique way for us to exercise our spirit and even the more to release our spirit. When our spirit is released, we can be blended together in this released spirit. Actually, when our spirit is released, there is no need to talk about blending. The released spirits are a kind of blending. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, p. 106)
Being Blended by Much and Thorough Prayer
The way to be blended is by much and thorough prayer, as fine flour of the wheat, with all the members of our group, with the Spirit as the oil, through the death of Christ as the salt, and in the resurrection of Christ as the frankincense. We need to pray over all these points with much and thorough prayer. We need to be blended into a dough for the Lord. Our becoming dough implies our being broken, our being ground, and our being blended. According to the type of the meal offering in Leviticus 2:1-13, to be blended requires the adding of oil so that the flour will not be dry. It is impossible to blend fine flour that is dry; oil is needed to make the flour moist. In the same way, we need the Spirit as the oil to “moisten” us so that we can be blended together.
To be blended together, we also need the salt, that is, the death of Christ, to kill all the germs within us. We need to realize that we have many germs in our being. All these germs need to be killed by the death of Christ. Then, we also need to be in the resurrection of Christ. In the blending we need to experience the Spirit as the oil, and we also need to pass through the experiences of the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ. If by the Lord’s mercy we are able to experience such a blending, we will be absolutely different from what we are today. It is not enough just to put people together and call them a group. That can be done very quickly. The proper grouping with the blending of the members will take time. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, pp. 80-82)
LEARNING TO BLEND IN THE DAILY LIFE
Knowing That the New Ones Are Infants in Christ
You must try to treat these newly baptized ones as nursing mothers treat their babes. This is one of the secrets of how to practice the God-ordained Way, but it is a hard lesson to learn. You must learn to always have a subjective realization concerning every new believer, considering that they are babes. If you teach kindergarten, you realize that these students are little children, and you treat them accordingly. If you teach graduate school, you realize that these students are all college graduates. To treat them like little children would be wrong. You must have a proper psychological understanding.
The primary point, the prerequisite, is that you consider a newly baptized one as a babe in Christ. A new one may ask, “What is the Bible?” This may not sound like a babyish question, but you must answer as you would answer a baby; you must have this kind of concept. You must say the right words, and your attitude and tone must also be right. 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. They would like to hear your talk. In this way you can open the way to feed them. Sometimes after a meeting, I went over to see how the saints were talking to the newcomers. Many times the saints’ expression and tone were wrong in talking with these ones. You must speak something that will help a new one to open to you. He will open by saying something. Right away, you may realize that he has been newly saved. Then you have to talk to him by considering him as a babe. If you have learned this secret, after only two or three sentences, you will be warmly welcomed by him. He will open himself up to you, listen to you, and take your word. He will become very interested in whatever you say. (The Exercise and Practice of the God-ordained Way, pp. 171-172)
Nourishing the New Ones with the Guileless Milk of the Word
The home meeting is the kindergarten, but you were teaching something in graduate school. Do not have home meetings on such a high level. Do not forget that in the home meetings, you are taking care of babes; you are feeding the newborn babes with baby food. You used the Word of God, but you used too many verses. In most cases, three or four verses is enough. When you feed these little babes, you cannot feed them too much. You should always keep them a little hungry. If you overfeed them, they will lose their appetite.
You must feed babes something with a good flavor, something sweet to make them happy. If the food you offer them is sweet to the taste, they will eat. The first thing you have to learn is how to make people feel pleasant. Do not forget that nourishing must go along with cherishing. You have to cherish them first.
The best way to bring the new ones into calling on the name of the Lord is by singing. You can simply take the lead to sing. Everyone, both young and old, likes singing. Do not explain that much to them; explaining is often sour, not sweet. Singing is very sweet. You must be like a nursing mother, making your little ones feel pleasant by giving them something sweet. It is better if you do not need to use the hymnal. You must learn some short, simple songs and choruses that are easy to sing. You may need to sing a chorus quite a few times. The first time you sing it, the new ones may be surprised. The second time, they may listen and begin to enjoy it. Then the third time you sing it, they may begin to join you.
The principle is this: if you are going to help the newborn babes, you must always try to make them happy, to make them feel good. Then they will take what you give them. (The Exercise and Practice of the God-ordained Way, pp. 196-197)
Learning to “Play” with the New Believers
In speaking with the new believers, you should never forget that they are babes and that they must be fed with baby food. When they raise a question concerning Christmas, you should use the subject of Christmas to feed them. You should not try to adjust them harshly, since this would not be treating them as babes. The nursing mothers not only feed their little ones, but they also cherish them by playing with them. To play with them is to cherish them. This cherishing makes them happy. Once they are cherished and feel happy, the mothers feed them. You must learn how to “play” with the new believers. Your aim in playing with them is to feed them; therefore, you should not become too occupied with the subject of Christmas. You may say in a tender and loving manner, “Christmas is here because of Christ. Without Christ, there would be no Christmas holiday. The story of Christmas began because Christ came to be our Savior. Although you may have a Christmas tree, you must make sure that you get Christ.” You should gradually turn them from the false things of Christmas to the reality of Christ. As you turn them to Christ, saying something about Christ, spontaneously you are injecting them with Christ. Eventually, through this kind of tender fellowship, they will feel happy that they know something about the real meaning of Christmas, and soon they will forget about exchanging Christmas gifts. You should exercise your patience and wisdom, but you should not forget your goal of ministering Christ into the new believers as their nourishment. (The Exercise and Practice of the God-ordained Way, p. 204)
Spending Our Time in a Wise Manner
Sometimes the new believers may ask you to engage in their sports activities. In principle, you should first determine whether or not you have the time. Then you should decide whether or not your intention is to be with that new believer or to participate in the sports activity. If you simply want to engage in the sports activity, you have fallen into another realm. Your burden should be to seize the opportunity to spend time with the new believer in order to talk with him, perhaps to and from the sporting activity. If you do not have the time to do this, but want to spend some time with the new believer, you may suggest another time to get together with him. He may want to spend time with you, but you should not spend yourself or your time in a vain manner. Whenever you spend time with the new believers, you should take the opportunity to render some help to them spiritually. (The Exercise and Practice of the God-ordained Way, p. 182)
References: The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups, Msg. 6; Ministry Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 2; Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, Msgs. 2, 9, 10, 12, 17, 24, 25; The Exercise & Practice of the God-ordained Way, Msgs. 19-22.
