TAKING THE SHEPHERDING WAY
TO PREACH THE GOSPEL AND REVIVE THE CHURCH
SERIES THREE
TAKING THE SHEPHERDING WAY
TO PREACH THE GOSPEL AND REVIVE THE CHURCH
Message One
Taking the Shepherding Way to Preach the Gospel and Revive the Church
Scripture Reading:
John 21:17 He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? Peter was grieved that He said to him the third time, Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep.
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.
TAKING THE SHEPHERDING WAY TO PREACH THE GOSPEL
The preaching of the gospel is the top shepherding of sinners. The Lord Jesus was the first New Testament preacher.…He did not go there to hold a big gospel campaign with thousands of people. His desire was to preach the gospel to gain one person, and His preaching was a shepherding. (The Vital Groups, msg. 7)
GOING OUT TO PREACH THE GOSPEL EVERY WEEK WITHOUT FAIL
We need to preach the gospel regularly as a part of our Christian life.…This God-ordained way of preaching the gospel as a part of our Christian life is very workable.
We must be very definite in our going out to preach the gospel. We must make a budget.…Set your budget to go out twice a week during two set days, each time for two or three hours. Do it regularly, constantly, and definitely, unless you are too ill to go out. Disregard your emotions and just go out. Budget yourself in this way.
If we live a regular life and budget our time, we can easily separate two periods of two or three hours each for fruit-bearing. This is the keeping of the commandment of the One who loves us, who has exalted us to such an extent that we can be His expression. (The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, msg. 6)
No matter what happens in our homes, we should always adhere to the principle of spending two hours a week to go out door-knocking. There are no excuses; nothing is so important that it can keep us from going out. No matter how busy we are, we must go out for two hours a week. There are fifty-two weeks a year, and as long as we are able to go, then we should practice this principle every week without fail. (The Furtherance of the New Way for the Lord’s Recovery, msg. 1)
TAKING CARE OF THE NEW ONES
IN THE HOME MEETINGS EVERY WEEK
In order to nourish the new believers and lead them to grow in life that they may become remaining fruit, we need to go to their homes to meet with them by personally leading and nourishing them.…As we go, time after time, to nourish and take care of the new believers, eventually every one of them will become like us, not loving the world but only loving the Lord and always being filled with the Lord to such an extent that they present themselves to God as sacrifices. (The Ministry of the New Testament Priests of the Gospel, msg. 2)
First, we should consecrate ourselves to the Lord and set aside a definite time, two to three hours a week, to go out door-knocking. This time should be used either to lead people to be baptized or to meet in the home of a new believer. After our initial contact with a new believer, we should meet with him ten times in the first month and once per week thereafter. We should do this every week for one year. After twelve months the new one will be established. Then he will beget and teach others in the same way that he was begotten and taught. This will make him remaining fruit. (The Proper Way for Believers to Meet and to Serve, msg. 5)
We need to practice taking care of the new ones in the home meetings and small group meetings until we become experts. We have to practice and exercise in a regular way by caring for the new ones in the home meetings week after week. This has to be our habit. We should pick up one or two new ones and consider them as our babes. If we care for them week after week…, we can keep the new ones living and seeking in the church life. I believe that many of us, as we endeavor in the new way, will even be raised up to train the new ones. (Speaking Christ for the Building Up of the Body of Christ, ch. 11)
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. (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)
LOVE BEING THE MOST EXCELLENT WAY
The end of 1 Corinthians 12 reveals that love is the most excellent way (v. 31b).…How can one be a co-worker? Love is the most excellent way.…We should love everybody, even our enemies.…We must be perfect as our Father is perfect (Matt. 5:48) by loving the evil ones and the good ones without any discrimination.
When the scribes and Pharisees brought an adulterous woman to the Lord, He said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). After all of them left, the Lord asked the sinful woman, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you” (vv. 10-11). Who is without sin? Who is perfect? Paul said, “To the weak I became weak that I might gain the weak” (1 Cor. 9:22). This is love. We should not consider that others are weak but we are not. This is not love. Love covers and builds up, so love is the most excellent way for us to be anything and to do anything for the building up of the Body of Christ. (The Vital Groups, msg. 8)
To spend three years to gain one person is worthwhile. If you spend three years to visit one person continually, you will gain him. After twelve years you will have four new ones following you to the church meetings. If one hundred saints in a local church practice this, their number can be increased to five hundred after twelve years. In this light we need to consider how much increase we have had in our locality in the past twelve years. Where is the increase among us? The proper increase is due to the gospel shepherding, and shepherding means that we have to go and visit people. Christ visited the sinners by coming down from heaven to earth to find the lost sheep, one by one. We have to learn of Him.
Without shepherding, there is no way for us to minister life to others.…If we want to enjoy life and minister life to others, we must shepherd them. The real ministering of life is shepherding by visiting and contacting people. (The Vital Groups, msg. 7)
THERE BEING A GENUINE REVIVAL
BY OUR RECEIVING THIS BURDEN
I hope that there will be a genuine revival among us by our receiving this burden of shepherding. If all the churches receive this teaching to participate in Christ’s wonderful shepherding, there will be a big revival in the recovery. (The Vital Groups, msg. 4)
I hope that we would pray, “Lord, I want to be revived. From today I want to be a shepherd. I want to go to feed people, to shepherd people, and to flock people together.” (Crystallization-Study of the Gospel of John, msg. 13)
If we practice these things, there will be a real revival in the Lord’s recovery. We must be shepherds with the loving and forgiving heart of our Father God in His divinity and the shepherding and finding spirit of our Savior Christ in His humanity. We also must have the heavenly vision of all the divine and mystical teachings of Christ. Shepherding and teaching are the obligation of the vital groups and the basic way ordained by God to build up the Body of Christ consummating the New Jerusalem. (The Vital Groups, msg. 6)
