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.
Fulfilling the New Testament Priesthood of the Gospel
There are four steps in the way that God ordained according to the entire New Testament. The first step is to fulfill the New Testament priesthood of the gospel (Rom. 15:16; 1 Pet. 2:9). In the Old Testament priesthood the priests got cattle from the herd and sheep from the flock in order to offer them to God. All the sacrifices and offerings are types of Christ. Thus, in God’s eyes the Old Testament priests offered Christ to God. Today we, the New Testament priests, also offer Christ to God by offering saved sinners as members of Christ. Eventually, what we offer to God are the members of the corporate Christ. As long as we are regenerated, we are New Testament priests. The main thing the New Testament priests must do is to offer to God the parts of Christ, the members of Christ, that is, the sinners who have been saved and have become members of Christ.
Feeding and Nourishing the Spiritual Children
The second step in the practice of the God-ordained way is to feed, to nourish, the spiritual children (John 21:15). In Song of Songs 1:7 the seeking one asked the Lord where He pastured His flock. The Lord’s answer was that if she did not know, she should follow the footsteps of the flock and pasture her young goats by the shepherds’ tents (v. 8). Here the shepherds’ tents signify the church. We should not simply seek the Lord by ourselves; as we pursue the Lord, we should bring our “young goats”, our spiritual children, with us. We should be spiritual nursing mothers with two or three spiritual infants (1 Thes. 2:7).
As a seeker of the Lord, we must have some spiritual kids who need our feeding. When we come to the Lord’s table meeting, we should have one young goat on our right and another on our left. How wonderful it would be if we would bring at least two young goats to the meeting to feed them. Such feeding is the nourishing and the cherishing (Eph. 5:29). This kind of feeding can best be carried out through the word (1 Pet. 2:2) in meetings held in the new believers’ homes.
After baptizing a new one, you can tell him that two days later, in the evening, you will come to his home to have a home meeting with just him and his family. It is better to take such a step not by yourself alone. The Lord’s way is to send His disciples two by two (Luke 10:1; Acts 13:1-3). Thus, it is better for you to go to that home meeting with a companion. You should not wait to begin the meeting after you enter through the door. Even while you are knocking on the door, you can sing. Those inside may hear your singing and open the door. That will be the beginning of the home meeting.
Grouping Together a Number of the Saints
Who Have Grown in Life by Being Nourished
Then, third, after one has been saved and nourished for several months, he surely will have a certain amount of growth in life. At that time he will have entered into another stage, a stage in which he can be perfected. The perfecting of the saints takes place in group meetings (Heb. 10:24-25). For the group meetings we can group together a number of the saints who have grown in life by being nourished. This should not be something done officially and formally by the church. This kind of grouping of the saints does not work well. To group the saints together in a spontaneous way is another definite step in the practice of the God-ordained way.
Having a Burden to Practice Prophesying
The last definite step in the practice of the God-ordained way is to prophesy. Some of the saints may not have the burden to take up the step of offering the saved sinners as members of Christ, or the step of feeding the young believers, or the step of taking care of the grouping of the grown saints, but they may have a burden to practice prophesying. Those who have such a burden should dive into this matter, learn it, and investigate it day and night. Before giving a message, I often consider how to give the message for two or three days, morning and evening, before writing the message outline. Some of the saints need to dive into and become soaked with the matter of prophesying, leaving the other steps of the God-ordained way to others. They need to pick up the definite step of studying, improving, and carrying out one thing, that is, to prophesy in the Lord’s Day morning meeting. Some of the young people need to take the lead to set up a model, an example, of how to prophesy in the church. (The Practice of the Church Life According to the God-Ordained Way, msg. 11)
Bringing the Church to the Homes
and Bringing the Saints into the Truth
The burden is first to bring the church to the homes, and second to bring the saints into the truth.
To bring the meetings to the homes is the very heart of the God-ordained way. It will be a great failure in the Lord’s recovery if we cannot bring the meetings to the homes. For the past 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 order to overturn this degraded situation, we must bring the meetings to the homes. I hope that every home will be mobilized. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 1: The Vision and Definite Steps for the Practice of the New Way, msg. 10)
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, ch. 3)
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, ch. 10)
