LESSON ON THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY

Lesson Four

An Overall View of the God-ordained Way

Scripture Reading:

Acts 5:42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and announcing the gospel of Jesus as the Christ.

Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Matt. 28:19 Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

1 Thes. 2:7 But we were gentle in your midst, as a nursing mother would cherish her own children.

Eph. 4:11-12 And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.

1 Cor. 14:31 For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.

I. The God-ordained way is the way to practice God’s New Testament economy—1 Tim. 1:4b; Col. 1:25; John 15:16:

A. For us to practice the New Testament economy, we need to see the divine economy; this economy is clearly revealed in the holy Word—1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10; 3:9; Col. 1:25; 1 Cor. 9:17.

B. Our going out to visit people by knocking on their doors is for this economy and should be linked with the divine economy—John 15:5, 16; Luke 10:3-6.

C. God’s eternal economy involves and includes millions of sons of peace; these sons of peace need us to go to visit them in their homes—Eph. 3:6-11.

II. The success of the new way depends upon bringing the church into our homes and bringing all the saints into the truth—Acts 5:42, 2:42:

A. The early churches met in the homes of the saints; if we take this organic way, whatever we do will be organic and not organizational—Rom. 16:3, 5a.

B. To bring the meetings into the homes is the very heart of the God-ordained Way—Acts 5:42:

1. Thus, we hope every family would take the initiative to participate in this move.

2. This should include the homes of the new believers and even of the gospel friends.

C. To bring all the saints into the truth—once each new one is saved, he can pursue the truth; as a result, the Lord’s church will have a firm foundation and be built up in the truth—1 Tim 2:4.

III. The four steps of the God-ordained Way are begetting, nourishing, perfecting, and building up—Eph. 3:8-11; 1 Thes. 2:7; Eph. 4:12; 1 Cor. 14:26:

A. To beget is to gain people by going to contact them:

1. We need to beget others, to bear fruit, by preaching the gospel for the organic building up of the Body of Christ—Eph. 3:8-11.

2. We must go and disciple all the nations—Matt. 28:19.

B. To nourish is to care for others in the home meetings:

1. As mothers we must cherish the new believers—1 Thes. 2:7.

2. Newborn babies need special care.

C. To perfect is to instruct and equip in the small group meetings—Heb 10:24 25:

1. In the small group meetings, the believers have mutual fellowship, prayer, care, and shepherding; they teach and instruct one another, learn the truth together, and pursue the growth in the spiritual life to promote the various services in the church life, such as preaching the gospel, taking care of the new ones, and leading the small groups.

2. The small group meeting is the major part of the church life and the church services—Acts 2:42.

D. To build up is to prophesy in the church meetings—1 Cor. 14:31:

1. Prophesying is to speak for God and to speak forth God, supplying Christ to others.

2. To speak words for building up, encouragement, and consolation is for the building up of the church—1 Cor. 14:3-5.

IV. The living of the new way is—Lam. 3:22-23; 2 Cor. 4:16:

A. To be revived every morning—Lam. 3:22-23:

1. The first step in the exercise of the spirit is to call upon the name of the Lord.

2. The second step in the exercise of the spirit is to pray-read the Lord’s word.

B. To be renewed every day—2 Cor. 4:16.

V. The life-pulse of the practice of new way is the homes—Acts 2:46:

A. In the age of the apostles, the churches were built up in the saints’ homes—Rom. 16:5 and note 1.

B. The mouthpiece of the gospel is man, and the outlet of the gospel is the homes—Acts 2:46, 5:42.

C. We not only need to preach the gospel but also need to open our homes to give a great reception for Jesus to preach the gospel—Acts 10:1-5; Luke 5:27-29.

D. In this way, blessing will come to us even unto generations after generations—Exo. 20:6.

 

Excerpts from the ministry:

THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY
IS THE WAY TO CARRY OUT THE NEW TESTAMENT ECONOMY

The Lord’s new way is a dream that we all need to be brought into. I have been dreaming this dream, and my burden is to bring you into this dream. We all have to bear the responsibility and the burden to bring this dream to the whole earth. If we are faithful by the Lord’s mercy to practice the New Testament economy according to the God-ordained Way, we will see the fulfillment of this dream.

For Us to Practice the New Testament Economy, We Need to See the
Divine Economy; this Economy is Clearly Revealed in the Holy Word

In order for us to practice the New Testament economy, we need to see the divine economy. This economy is clearly revealed in the holy Word (1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10, 3:9; Col. 1:25; 1 Cor. 9:17). The center of the entire New Testament is God’s divine economy. God’s economy is God’s plan, His divine arrangement, to dispense Himself into His chosen people. Our going out to visit people by knocking on their doors is for this economy and should be linked with the divine economy. Since the Lord brought me to the United States in the early sixties, every message I have given has touched this point of God’s economy. I was sent to the United States by being linked to this economy, and I did not do anything that was independent of this economy.

Our Going Out to Visit People by Knocking on Their Doors is
for this Economy and Should be Linked with the Divine Economy

When we go out, we must hold on to the concept and deep feeling that we are going out to visit people for God’s economy. Without knocking on people’s doors, it would be hard for us to seek the sons of peace for God’s eternal economy (Luke 10:3-6)…

God’s Eternal Economy Involves and Includes Millions of Sons of Peace;
these Sons of Peace Need Us to Go to Visit Them in Their Homes

God’s eternal economy involves and includes millions of sons of peace. These sons of peace need us to go to visit them in their homes. We go to knock on people’s doors by having ourselves linked to the divine economy, linked to eternity, linked to the heavenlies. We need a clear vision and deep impression concerning God’s economy, which involves the completion of Christ and the propagation of the pneumatic Christ for the producing of the church (Eph. 3:6-11). (The God-ordained Way to Practice the New Testament Economy, pp. 7-8)

THE SUCCESS OF THE NEW WAY DEPENDS
UPON BRINGING THE CHURCH INTO OUR HOMES
AND BRINGING ALL THE SAINTS INTO THE TRUTH

The burden in this message is first to bring the church to the homes, and second to bring the saints into the truth. If we can achieve these two points, the new way will succeed, the gospelization of Taiwan will be realized, and there will be a bright future in the Lord’s recovery. Therefore, we have to give our all to do these two things. We must build up the home meetings, and we must teach the truth. I hope that we will pray much before the Lord for these two matters. (The Ministry Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 3, p. 19)

The Early Churches Met in the Homes of the Saints; if We Take this
Organic Way, Whatever We Do Will be Organic and not Organizational

Acts tells us that the early churches met in the homes of the saints. The Epistles tell us of four different homes in which the churches met (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philem. 2). To meet in the homes is organic. If we only have a meeting hall with a definite, regular schedule, this will bring the entire church into the “box” of organization and causes us to lose the organic ability. If we take the way revealed in Acts, whatever we do will be organic, not organizational. I encourage you all to go out to visit people and meet with them organically and not by being organized. (The Excelling Gift for the Building Up of the Church, pp. 56-57)

To Bring the Meetings into the Homes is the
Very Heart of the God-ordained Way

To bring the meetings to the homes is the very heart of the God-ordained Way. It is a great failure in the Lord’s recovery if we cannot bring the meetings to the homes. For the past twenty years in the Lord’s recovery, we have been bringing people to the meeting halls. The more we work in this way, the fewer people we have, and the worse the condition of the homes becomes. More and more our meetings have become a kind of Sunday morning service. In Christianity, many people “go to church” to listen to the music, the hymns, and to attend the “service,” but their homes are deplorable; their tables may still be scattered with mah-jongg game pieces. In morning the family attends the service, but in the afternoon the mah-jongg game goes on in the homes. In order to overturn this degraded situation, we must bring the meetings to the homes. I hope that every home will be mobilized, that everyone will become a soldier, and that together we will become an army of the Lord. (The Ministry Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 14-15)

A mother who has just delivered a child needs to cherish and nourish this child. Likewise, we have to cherish and nourish the new believers in their homes. The new believers are cherished and nourished by our having home meetings with them (Acts 5:42). Every home will become sweet by having meetings. (The Present Advance of the Lord’s Recovery, pp. 33-34)

To Bring All the Saints into the Truth

I feel that for the long range for the Lord’s recovery in such a top country as the United States, which is full of culture, education, scientific knowledge, and biblical knowledge, the greatest need we must meet is to bring the saints in the Lord’s recovery into the truth to carry the Lord’s recovery on. For a country to be strong there is the need to bring its people into the proper education. If the people are behind in education, that country is also behind.

Today we are here for the Lord’s recovery. For the long run, we surely have to help the saints in the Lord’s recovery to get into the top spiritual education. You must remember that we still uplift the living Christ, the life-giving Spirit, life itself and its riches, and the church in a living way. To promote these things, to carry these things out, and to bring people into these things so that they remain there, we need the Word and we need the truth. (Elders’ Training Book 3, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, p. 104)

THE FOUR STEPS OF THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY

To Beget is to Gain People by Going to Contact Them

The service that God ordains for us in His New Testament economy is first to “Go therefore and disciple all the nations” (Matt. 28:19). The meaning of the word “go” is very extensive. When you go, surely you have to visit people. After our prolonged study, we have discovered that to visit people by knocking on their doors is the most effective way to carry out the going.

How do we bear fruit by bringing people to salvation? During the past four years or more, we have practiced the visiting of people by knocking on their doors to save men through the preaching of the gospel. Strictly speaking, it is not a matter of knocking on doors. Rather, it is a matter of contacting people. To save people, we have to contact them. The Lord says in Acts 1:8 that “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the remotest part of the earth.” In preaching the gospel, we work from the center to the circumference, and then to the remotest part of the earth. Hence, you must first preach the gospel to your close relatives. Next you should go to your cousins and in-laws. In addition, your neighbors, classmates, and colleagues are all good potential targets. There are also lots of people in the public parks on the weekends. You can stop by one of the parks and preach the gospel to someone there. The opportunity abounds everywhere. The question is whether or not we are willing to do it.

If you are to preach the gospel to your classmate, first you have to build up a reputation. When they know that you are a “Jesus-fanatic,” and that the more you speak about Jesus, the more people change, they will begin to trust in you and will gradually believe in what you preach. There was a brother who used to work in the Telegraph Company. He preached to others all the time. His colleagues nicknamed him “Jesus,” When he came into the office, everyone made fun of him by saying, “Hi, Jesus!” One day, the Telegraph Company encountered a problem. There was a sum of money that needed to be entrusted to someone. Everyone agreed that it should be entrusted to “Jesus.” After all, it was “Jesus” that they trusted in. When you preach the gospel and others mock you, there may be the feeling of being ill-treated. However, others know in their heart that you are actually the reliable one. (The Organic Practice of the New Way, pp. 12-13, 23-24)

We must look to the Lord for the salvation of our in-laws, relatives, friends, neighbors, classmates, and colleagues. We do not necessarily need to knock on “new doors” when so many of those related to us and around us need the Lord’s salvation. The point is that we need to beget others, to bear fruit, by preaching the gospel to save sinners for the organic building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 3:8-11). If we preach the gospel in this way, the ones saved through us will be organic. Once they have been begotten, we need to be like nursing mothers to nourish them so that our fruit will remain. If we bear fruit yearly, we will live a joyful life. To see people saved is a real joy. Furthermore, when we see the new ones under our care growing in small things and in great things, we will be very happy. (The Practical and Organic Building Up of the Church, pp. 31-32)

To Nourish is to Care for Others in the Home Meetings

After visiting people, preaching the gospel to them, and bringing them to salvation, you should care for them in the home meetings. This is like a mother who has just given birth to a baby; she has to nurse the baby. All the mothers know that it is very easy for a child to die during the first three months after he is born. The mother must care for the baby carefully and cautiously. After three months, the condition is more stable. In the same way, after you baptize a person, you should preferably spend one to two hours to nourish and teach him. Within three days, you must go back to him. Thereafter, you should visit him on an average of once every three days, or two times a week. If you care for him in this way for a month, his condition will become stable. To get the best result, the same person should beget, nourish, and care for the new one.

As soon as a person rises up from baptism, you need to have a long time of fellowship with him. This is his first home meeting. I suggest that you talk to him about the Lord being the life-giving Spirit and being one spirit with us. You should tell him, “The Jesus whom you have believed in has become the life-giving Spirit today. Originally, He was God becoming the flesh on earth. But for the bearing of our sins, He died on the cross for us and shed His precious blood. After He died and was buried, He resurrected again after three days to become the life-giving Spirit. This Spirit is just like the air; He is everywhere. Although He cannot be touched or seen, He is more real that everything else. Everyone needs Him. Moreover, this Spirit is personified; that is, He is a person, a divine person. That is why if you call on Him today, He will enter into you. In addition, when God created us, He created us with a spirit. Not only do we have an outward body; we have a soul within also. Inside the soul, there is a spirit, which is our innermost person. Today, this pneumatic Lord has entered into our spirit and has regenerated our spirit, so that the two spirits are now one spirit. Now your calling and praying must be from this spirit.” Following this, you can lead him to pray. By then, he may feel ashamed of himself. You can then lead him to confess his sins to the Lord. As long as a person is willing to confess his sins, everything will work out. This is like a person who has taken the wrong kind of food into the stomach. When the wrong food is vomited out and the stomach is cleared, everything will be recovered. When a person has “vomited out” all his sins, the result is the filling up of the Holy Spirit. With all these words, you have enough to talk about for the first home meeting. After this, you should set up an appointment for the next meeting. Preferably, it should be within the next one or two days. The reason for this is that newborn babies need special care. (The Organic Practice of the New Way, pp. 14, 25-26)

To Perfect is to Instruct and Equip
in the Small Group Meetings

How should the small group meetings be conducted? The key is to be organic. The small group meeting should begin from your own home. Although the time of the meeting may be scheduled at 7:30, you should begin praying at home before seven o’clock. While you are on the way to the meeting, you should continue to pray and praise. When you arrive at the brother’s house, you may find that some brothers are there already. You should then begin the meeting by praising, praying, or fellowshipping. The content of the meeting should be of the following items only: the first is fellowship; the second is prayer; the third is mutual care; the fourth is the teaching of the truth; the fifth is the pursuit of life; and the sixth is the mutual encouragement and teaching, and the preaching of the gospel by going out to visit people. Every time the small group comes together, whatever it does, the content should be one of these six things.

Not only do you have to feed a newly baptized one, but you must bring him to a nearby small group meeting as well. You need to tell him, “Christians are communal. They are not like the butterflies. Rather they are like the bees and the sheep. Let me take you to see a group of Christians nearby.” However, by bringing him to the small group meeting, you should not let the others take over your job; you have to continue feeding and caring for him.

Concerning the small group meetings, I would first beg you to drop the all too legal practice that you have had before. The principle of attending the small group meeting is the same as that for the home meeting. You must be a person who is revived. Before you go to the meeting, you must first pray and have yourself enlivened. You must confess your sins thoroughly and be filled with the Holy Spirit completely. In this way, you will be a praying, singing, and living person. The small group meeting should consist of the following five things: fellowship, prayer, mutual care, the teaching of the truth, and the guidance in life. The Chinese are traditionally taught to be quiet. But when we come to the small group meeting, the minute we see each other, we have to speak. One may say, “The Bible is wonderful. This morning I read Matthew chapter one. The name Jesus Christ is really sweet.” Another may say, “Yes, I also realize that Jesus Christ is wonderful. However, maybe I could share something with you. I don’t know why, but for the whole day today, I have had a problem with coughing.” In this way the fellowship begins. Perhaps by that time not everyone has arrived yet. You do not have to wait for everyone to be there. Instead you can start praying, “O Lord, remember our brother’s cough.” After the prayer, perhaps one brother would say that he has a good remedy, that it is not expensive, but is very effective, and that this brother can try it. This is what we mean by mutual care.

In this way, the brothers and sisters will get to know each other and will care for each other like members of the same family. This way will capture, support, and perfect people. The brother that you have invited may ask a question, “I have read the Bible, and I have listened to you speaking on justification and reconciliation. But what do all these terms mean?” Once this question is raised up, everyone will answer. After one finishes, another may add on, with more points. The older and more mature ones can speak something deeper at the end. We must build up an atmosphere where everyone answers. In this way, everyone speaks and will not take up much time. Perhaps some may bring out a question, “What does the life of God mean?” Everyone begins to answer again. In the answer there is the teaching of the truth as well as the guidance in life. If throughout the fifty-two weeks of the year there is this kind of teaching week after week in the small group meetings, everyone will receive much edification in truth and life. Moreover, everyone will be able to tell others about these things. This is what we mean by an organic practice. (The Organic Practice of the New Way, pp. 15, 29-30)

To Build Up is to Prophesy in the Church Meetings

To prophesy is to speak for the Lord and to speak forth the Lord. It is to supply Christ to others. This is the main work in the church meetings. The whole chapter of 1 Corinthians 14 talks about prophesying. It promotes, uplifts, recommends, and encourages prophesying. Verse 1 says, “Pursue love, and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy.” In the end, verse 39 says, “Therefore, my brothers, desire earnestly to prophesy.” Once you prophesy, you excel (v. 12), and the meeting becomes rich.

What God wants is a corporate vessel, which is the church, the Body of Christ. We have paid much attention to this matter in the past. During the past two years we have also studied much concerning this. In the end, we see that there is one chapter in the Bible that talks about the building up of the church. It is 1 Corinthians chapter fourteen. It mentions the word “building” at least five times. This chapter deals with nothing other than prophesying. Only prophesying builds up the church. A few verses are particularly important. Verse 1 says, “Desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy.” Verses 3 and 4 say, “He who prophesies speaks to men for building up and encouragement and consolation. …he who prophesies builds up the church.” Verse 12 says, “Since you are zealots of spiritual gifts, seek that you may abound to the building up of the church.” Verse 24 says, “But if all prophesy and some unbeliever or unlearned person enters, he is convicted by all, he is judged by all.” Verse 31 says, “For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all be encouraged.” From these verses, we see that the most important thing with our meeting is the prophesying, which is to speak for the Lord, to speak Him forth, and to speak the Lord into people. Through the speaking of the Lord’s word, the riches of Christ are released and are dispensed into all the attendants. Finally, verse 39 says, “Therefore, my brothers, desire earnestly to prophesy.” From this, we can see that this whole chapter is on prophesying from beginning to end. (The Organic Practice of the New Way, pp. 16, 39-40)

THE LIVING OF THE NEW WAY

To Be Revived Every Morning

In today’s world, there is no one who is not busy. We have to use our time just as we use our money. There must first be a budget. We have to devote the first part of our time to the Lord. The first thing we do every morning when we rise up is to exercise our spirit, because today the Lord is in our spirit. For us to enjoy the Lord, to receive Him, to gain Him, and to experience Him is altogether a matter of the spirit. If our spirit is not functioning today, our relationship with the Lord is through. For this reason, every morning when we wake up, the first thing we must do is to exercise our spirit. We have to call on the Lord. If circumstances permit, we have to take up the Bible and pray-read. If it is inconvenient to do so, we have to pull out some verses from our memory and pray-read with them. Whatever we do, we have to spend some time pray-reading. This way of exercise is like having a thorough bath from inside out in the Lord’s word. It is like taking a spiritual shower; we are washed from head to toe in the Lord’s word, and our whole being is fully refreshed. (The Organic Practice of the New Way, p. 50)

To Be Renewed Every Day

We have been talking about all kinds of practices in the new way: the preaching of the gospel by knocking on doors, the home meetings, the small group meetings, and prophesying in the meetings. All these are but outward ways and activities. The new way is actually a way of life. Today, all of us have to live a life of touching the Lord every morning to be revived every day. Every morning we need a new beginning. To us every day should be new. In this revived and renewed living, we will spontaneously care for others, and we will spontaneously share with others the Christ whom we enjoy and the Savior whom we have received. In this way, others will be able to enjoy with us the portion that God has given to us. God has not given the privilege of preaching the gospel to the angels. Rather He has given this utmost honor to us. Therefore, in our daily life, we spontaneously go out to visit people. This visitation is to bear gifts to others’ homes. We politely offer the Christ that we enjoy throughout the day as a gift to others. This is our duty. It is also our honor. (The Organic Practice of the New Way, p. 52)

THE LIFE-PULSE OF THE PRACTICE OF THE NEW WAY IS THE HOMES

In the Age of the Apostles, the Churches were Built Up in the Saints’ Home

The crucial thing about the new way is to have the Lord’s salvation realized in a practical way by every saint. We know that the only way anything can be sustained in human society is for it to be carried out in the homes. The home is the place where everything related to human existence is sustained. If we only have individuals in a society without the existence of the homes, nothing related to our human living will last; society will be short of the vessel needed to hold it together. The home is the basic unit of society; it is the foundation of a nation. According to God’s Word, the church of God is firstly the house, household, or home, of God (1 Tim. 3:15). After that it is the kingdom of God (Rom. 14:17). It is hard for God’s kingdom to exist without the existence of the homes. Without the home as a basis, it is hard for individuals to exist, and it is difficult for a nation or kingdom to be established.

Christianity has fallen prey to the wiles of Satan; it has completely overlooked the homes. In Christianity one cares only for the big meetings without any thought of the home meetings. A person in Christianity finds no vessel to hold his experience together. There is no vessel to uphold the testimony and no vessel to keep and maintain the truth. Consider Romans 16. Without a doubt, during the time of the apostles, the church was built up in the believers’ homes. We know that the book of Romans is a book dealing specifically with the spiritual life in Christ and the spiritual living in the church. At the end of this book, one entire chapter is devoted to Paul’s greeting of the saints. From his greetings, we can see that quite a number of homes were opened to the church. This shows us that the church life at the time of the apostles had a very strong home atmosphere. Under Satan’s influence, Christianity has completely annihilated this spiritual atmosphere of the homes.

This is the reason that we must endeavor with all the energy, strength, and time that the Lord has given us to recover the proper atmosphere of the homes. The first thing we must do is to make every saint’s home a place for meeting. At the present moment, many saints are burdened to open up their homes. This is a great step forward. Yet we cannot be satisfied with this initial step. We must not only open up the homes of those who are burdened, but we must also bring the meetings to the homes of those who are not burdened. We hope that every home can be opened to become a place for meeting. Each opened home means one more place for meeting. The smallest places of meeting in a church are the homes of every brother and sister in that church. (The Ministry Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 5, pp. 4-5)

The Mouthpiece of the Gospel is Man,
the Outlet of the Gospel is the Homes

What is the mouthpiece of the gospel? The mouthpiece of the gospel is man. We are the mouthpieces of the gospel, and the outlet of the gospel is the homes. Our home is the outlet of the gospel. If your home is not given for the Lord’s use, you are one who preaches the gospel individually, and you have the mouthpiece but not the way. Acts shows us that in the time of Peter, the disciples not only broke bread from “house to house” (2:46), but that they also announced the gospel of Jesus as the Christ from “house to house” (5:42). In Greek, the word announce is the verb form of the word gospel, meaning that they announced the gospel of Jesus as the Christ. If every house announces the gospel of Jesus as the Christ, then every house will speak Christ. Hence, we not only need to preach the gospel, but we also have to open our homes.

We Not Only Need to Preach the Gospel but also Need to Open Our Homes
to Give a Great Reception for Jesus to Preach the Gospel

Luke 5 gives us an excellent example. When the Lord Jesus saw a tax collector, a slave of money, Levi, He called him to follow Him. After Levi heard the Lord’s calling, he left all, rose up, followed the Lord, and was saved. Once Levi was saved, he gave a great reception for the Lord Jesus in his house. He did not invite Jesus alone or any prominent officials and famous people; instead, he invited many tax collectors and sinners (vv. 27-29). Because he himself was a sinner, his friends were not good men but a bunch of troublemakers; he invited them also to recline with the Lord. The Lord was the guest of honor, and all the other guests were sinners. This is a good example of opening the homes for the preaching of the gospel. Once we open our homes, the gospel will have an outlet; without the homes, the gospel will have no outlet. Now that we have a lot of mouthpieces, what we need is an outlet; hence, we must open our homes.

In this Way, Blessing Will Come to Us even unto Generations after Generations

Therefore, I hope that all of you will open your homes to give a great reception for Jesus, inviting “sinners” as your guests, and preach the gospel to them. …If you open your homes, you will not suffer any loss; on the contrary, you will be blessed. The Lord Himself said that He would show lovingkindness to thousands of generations of those who love Him (Exo. 20:6). Hence, for the sake of eternity, we all should open our homes and provide an outlet for the gospel of the Lord. In this way, blessings will not only come to us but to generation after generation following us. (Rising up to Preach the Gospel (Chinese), pp. 76-77, 79-80)

References: The God-ordained Way to Practice the New Testament Economy, ch. 1; The Vision and Specific Steps for the Practice of the New Way (Chinese), chs. 10, 12; The Excelling Gift for the Building Up of the Church, ch. 4; Elders’ Training Book 3, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, ch. 10; The Practical and Organic Building Up of the Church, ch. 3; The Organic Practice of the New Way, chs. 1-6; Rising up to Preach the Gospel (Chinese), ch. 4.; The Present Advance of the Lord’s Recovery, ch. 3; The Ministry Magazine,
Vol. 3, No. 3 and 5.