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

SERIES One
Practicing the Church Life
according to the Framework of the God-ordained Way

Message Three
Being Serious and Desperate to Go Forth and Bear Fruit

Scripture Reading:

John 15:16      You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and I set you that you should go forth and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you.

Rom. 15:16     That I might be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, a laboring priest of the gospel of God, in order that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, having been sanctified in the Holy Spirit.

BEING SERIOUS AND DESPERATE TO GO FORTH AND BEAR FRUIT

If we see that we have been charged by the Lord, we will have a heart to carry out a successful contact with the sinners. We must be serious, earnest persons. We all have to do a job to make a living. The sisters, as wives and mothers, have to take care of their households. But if they have seen that they have been charged by the Lord, their hearts will not be fully occupied with their households. Although they take care of their responsibilities properly, their deep desire should be to go out to visit people with the gospel, to contact and gain sinners.

We have to realize that we have been charged by our Master, and then we must be serious and desperate to go forth, to bear fruit, and to keep our fruit. This depends upon the Lord’s appointment in John 15:16. This appointment indicates that He has prepared an environment to accommodate our every need so that we can bear remaining fruit. The Lord has prepared and arranged all of our situations so that we can carry out our appointment.…We must take this very seriously. It is not a matter of merely fulfilling our duty; it is a matter of life or death. We must be serious, earnest, and desperate to go forth to gain people for the Lord.

THE WAY TO GO FORTH AND BEAR FRUIT

As a Team

When we go to contact the sinners, we should not go by ourselves but as a team. According to our study, it is best to have a team of three with two brothers and one sister or one brother and two sisters. Because we are going to baptize people, there should be a brother to do the baptizing. Furthermore, the ideal team would have an old one, a young one, and a middle-aged one. To have these three different age levels is very useful. It may be hard to form such an ideal team, but we should do the best we can. Once we have formed a team, each member must learn to bear his own particular responsibilities.

With the Proper Coordination

The team members must be frank with one another in determining who is the best for each responsibility. Who is the best one to ring the doorbell? We should not be too polite or humble but frank and honest with one another, and we should not be offended by the other team members. One on the team is the best to ring the doorbell in a way that does not offend people. Another may be best at greeting people when they come to the door. We have to learn this as a team. We all were born with different dispositions and appearances. We should have a person greet them with a smiling face that would make everyone happy. Among the three on a team, one may be best at ringing the doorbell, another may be best at greeting people with a pleasant face, and the third may be very smart in answering people. This is a team with a proper coordination. In principle, we must practice in this way. These small steps lay a foundation for our contact with sinners.

Answering according to the Spirit

If we want to be successful, we must learn to answer people in a proper way. The way we answer means a lot. If we answer properly, this man will be saved. If we do not answer properly, this man may perish. It is a matter of life or death. For this matter we have to pray very much, “Lord, help us in answering people.” If we pray much and trust the Lord, the Holy Spirit will surely give us the best words at the right time. It depends upon how the Lord would lead us. Sometimes the Spirit may lead us to say, “We are not Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses,” because at that moment, they were considering that we might be Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses. They were tired of that kind of person. We must learn not to speak in a common way. By following the leading of the Spirit, we can answer people properly. Then our speaking will not offend them, but it will stir up some interest within them.

Taking Control of the Situation

After we go into someone’s home, we should not be shy or fearful. We do not need to be afraid. If they will not ask us to sit down, maybe one on the team would say: “Let us sit down. We would like to read this little booklet with you, The Mystery of Human Life.” When we get into their home, we should not leave the situation under their control. We must learn to take control of the situation in a pleasant way. Then it will be easy for us to speak. We can go directly to the booklet The Mystery of Human Life. To use this booklet, we must become very familiar with its contents, and we should not follow it legally or read every word. In a living way, in a striking way, in an attracting way, we should present the points to them from this booklet. Then when they are ready, we can lead them to call upon the name of the Lord. We should not speak too much, and we should not waste any time.

Selecting the Promising Ones to Raise Up

In our going, we should not be anxious to get many people baptized. We should not bring forth too many children. If we baptize twenty-one, these twenty-one will exhaust us. We will not be able to raise one properly. If each of us baptize only three, we can spend all our energy to raise up these three children in a proper way.

The Need for Instruction

Visiting people in this way is not easy. We cannot do it according to our natural way. It is something we must learn. In order to do anything skillfully, we must be trained. If we desire to play basketball, we cannot play it in a natural way. We must be coached. If we want to play the piano, we need instruction and training. In like manner, to preach the gospel successfully, we must be trained.

Immediately Spending Time with the New Believers

After we baptize someone, we should stay to talk to him. If time allows, we should talk to him for two hours. We should not go away quickly. After a mother delivers a child, she should nourish this little babe with milk right away. We have to stay as long as possible to give the new ones their first feeding. Then we should go back at least within three days. If we do this, we will surely raise up some of these new believers. In raising them up, we must try to bring them into the church life. If we carry out the proper feeding, nourishing, and cherishing of the new ones, there will be a good possibility that they will be brought into the church life.

This is the way for us to carry out a successful contact with the sinners. When I say successful, I mean that we would not only bring them to Christ and baptize them but also raise them up as genuine believers growing in life and bring them into the church life. I hope we would all try to take this way and practice what we have fellowshipped in this message. (The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, msg. 5)