Lesson 5

Shepherding the New Believers
in Home Meetings

Scripture Reading: Acts 5:42; 20:20; John 15:16; 21:15; 1 Thes. 2:7; 1 Pet. 2:2; Col. 1:28; Eph. 4:13

I. The second step in the God-ordained way is to have meetings with the new believers in their homes; we must have proper home meetings in order for our fruit to remain—John 15:16, footnote 3; Acts 5:42; 20:20:

A. There are four elements that constitute a meeting: the Word of God, the mingled spirit—our spirit mingled with God’s Spirit, singing and praying—John 1:1; Rom. 8:16; Acts 4:10.

B. The more we have the living Word, the more we exercise the spirit, and the more we sing and pray, the more the meeting will be strengthened and built up—1 Thes. 5:16-18.

C. We need to be normal and spontaneous by living in the spirit; we must learn to forget religion and live in the spirit; once we enter the home we must be very living and spontaneous; if you learn to practice in this way, you will already be halfway to a success—Acts 2:46; 20:20.

D. We must be able to speak the proper word or sing the proper song so that the meeting can begin in a very living way—1 Cor. 14:26; Eph. 5:19.

E. We must learn to grasp the time to speak something of the Word even if it is only for a few minutes; it is always best to use a verse from the Bible; we must impart this verse into the ones we are visiting to fulfill our main purpose—1 Cor. 14:31.

F. To take this way is not easy because it requires us to be properly equipped with much knowledge of the truth and the experience of life—Prov. 23:23; Rev. 3:18.

II. We need to realize that the new ones are babes in Christ—1 Pet. 2:2; 1 Cor. 3:1:

A. The first requirement to have a proper home meeting with these newly baptized ones is that regardless of how old they are in the physical life, how high a position they may hold, or how high an education they may have received, we have to consider them as babes; this is one of the secrets of how to practice the God-ordained way, but it a hard lesson to learn—cf. 1 Cor. 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:2:

1. For example, if we bring an older man to the Lord and baptize him, we should respect his age because this is the proper humanity, but we must also realize that because he has been saved for only a few days, he is very young in the Lord; our purpose in meeting with him should be to feed him, not to teach him; we must have the realization that he is a newborn babe and feed him with spiritual “baby food”—v. 2.

2. This does not mean that we should despise the new believers; we have to respect them, but within we must realize their spiritual condition; we should not be carried away by their talking because, spiritually speaking, they are babes—v. 2.

B. While we are talking to a new one as to a babe, we have to look to the Lord for the wisdom to handle the situation without stumbling them—Col. 1:28; Prov. 25:15:

1. There are some very difficult situations that we will encounter in preaching the gospel and caring for the newly saved ones, including the matters of idols, the clearance of the past, and marriage—Col. 1:28.

2. We should not stumble or damage the new ones; if we learn to hold home meetings always with the realization that we are dealing with babes, this will safeguard us, and this will open the way for us to render the proper help to them—1 Pet. 2:2.

3. We should not forget that the new ones were deeply fallen sinners, so it is not so easy for us to rescue them out of their fallen situation and condition in a quick way.

C. We should pick up one or two new ones and consider them as our babes; we must be prepared to spend two years to get someone saved, nourished, fed, raised up, and to some extent perfected to be one who is fully in the church life—Col. 1:28; 1 Pet. 2:2.

D. We need to teach the divine truths to people to strengthen our shepherding and reach its goal—Psa. 23:6b; John 10:11, 14-16; 14:2:

1. Shepherding and teaching should be like two feet for our move with the Lord; our shepherding should always be with teaching and our teaching should always be with shepherding—cf. Eph. 4:11b.

2. On the one hand, we should shepherd people by dispensing the divine life into them; on the other hand, we should teach them the divine truths—1 Tim. 5:17b; 2 Tim. 2:2.

3. Without shepherding, our work for the Lord cannot be effective; we must learn all the truths so that we may have something to speak and go to contact people to shepherd them—Heb. 13:20-21; John 21:15-17.

E. In order to help people in a definite way, we first need to determine their need and which stage of the spiritual life they are in; then we should find a way to help them or to meet their need—Matt. 24:45; 1 Cor. 9:17.

F. When we feed these little babes, we cannot feed them too much; in most cases, three or four verses are enough; we should always keep them a little hungry—1 Pet. 2:2.

III. We must all learn to work together as a team without any opinion; then our team can become a “family,” working year-round to raise up the Lord’s children—1 Cor. 12:12-13, 24:

A. The first item regarding raising up children is that we cannot care properly for too many; as a team of three, we should be able to take care of six to ten new ones, with each team member having only about three new ones to take care of—1 Thes. 2:7, 11.

B. We should go back to them frequently to feed them and to care for them; mothers know that their feeding of their little ones must be regular, constant, and continuous—Acts 2:46.

C. We should go back to visit these new ones again and again until we realize that they are settled in the Christian faith—Eph. 13-14.

D. We should not leave the raising up of our children to others; the work of raising up the new ones must be under our direct care—1 Thes. 2:7, 11.

E. We should fall in love with our children and be willing to sacrifice ourselves for them; without the sacrifices of its mother, no child could be raised properly—cf. 2 Cor. 12:15.

III. We need to prepare the atmosphere in the home meeting—Matt. 9:10; Rom. 12:15:

A. The best way to carry out the home meeting is simply to cause this new one to feel happy; we must have a kind of attitude, appearance, and gesture that is so pleasant to make them also feel pleasant—Matt. 9:10; 11:19.

B. To nourish and cherish the new ones, we have to be fine and gentle; we must know how to take care of people in a way that their hearts would be open to us—Rom. 12:15.

IV. We need to know the new ones and speak according to their need—Gen. 45:4-5:

A. We should not merely make the new ones pleasant or happy; that is not the purpose.

B. We must be on the alert while we are talking to them in order to know what kind of persons they are; the best way to do this is to leave some time for them to say something; we should not occupy all the time—Gen. 42:6-28.

C. By listening to them, we can sense their feelings about their situation—43:15—45:24.

D. The best way to help the new believers is just to take their words and speak something definite and particular to them according to their need—45:4-5.

V. We need to learn to care for the home meetings according to a definite goal—Eph. 4:13-14:

A. The main purpose of the home meetings is to nourish the new believers, but each mother who nourishes her new baby does so with a definite goal—John 21:15; Gal. 4:19.

B. We should not conduct the home meetings in an aimless way; we should mainly try to help the new believers according to the lessons in the Life Lessons—John 6:63, 68.

C. We should keep each lesson in the “pocket” of our heart; then whenever there is a need, like a medical doctor after the diagnosis, we will be able to meet any patients need—Matt. 24:45.

Excerpts from the Ministry:

HAVING HOME MEETINGS FOR REMAINING FRUIT

We have seen that the first step of God’s ordained way is to preach the gospel by visiting people in their homes. The second step of the God-ordained way is to have meetings with the new believers in their homes. In Acts 5:42 and 20:20, the words “from house to house” indicate home meetings. We must have proper home meetings in order for our fruit to remain.

The Word, the Spirit, Singing, and Praying

There are four elements that constitute a meeting: the Word of God, the mingled spirit—our spirit mingled with God’s Spirit, singing, and praying. These are like the four legs of a table. If one leg is missing, the table will not stand. The Word, the spirit, our singing, and our praying are the four “legs” that support a meeting. Without these four elements, a meeting will be flat like a tabletop lying on the floor with nothing to support it. However, the more we have the living Word, the more we exercise the spirit, and the more we sing and pray, the more a meeting will be strengthened and built up…

Being Normal and Spontaneous by Living in the Spirit

When we go to visit the homes of ones whom we have recently baptized, we should not go in a religious way according to our usual practice, habit, or custom. We may plan to pray for a certain amount of time before going out to visit people. However, even this can become part of our religion. It is easy for us to take any way and make it a religious practice.

We all must learn to forget religion and live in the spirit. Then we will be quite living in a very normal way. We may arrive home from work only half an hour before our appointment with a new one. Then we will not be able to have our planned time to pray. We may not even have time to eat, so we might take a sandwich to eat on the way. While we are going and while we are eating, we can be praying, calling on the Lord, and singing. We can go in a very spontaneous way because we are persons living in the spirit.

When you arrive at the new ones’ home, you may knock on the door and begin singing. You should sing the hymn, the song, or the chorus that you sang with them on your last visit when they were baptized. They are already familiar with the tune, and before they open the door, they can realize who has knocked. If they have a small child, he may join in your singing. You would be singing outside, and their small boy would be singing inside. In this way the meeting has started even before the door has been opened.

Once you enter the home, you must be very living and spontaneous. Instead of sitting on the sofa, you may sit down on the carpet in front of the boy to talk to him. Then after a short talk, you may get up. To act in this way shows you are so normal, so human, and so spontaneous. There would be no sign of religion and no sign that you are a preacher. If you learn to practice in this way you will already be halfway to a success. The entire household will be prepared to receive your word because they will regard you as a friend. By acting in such a normal way, you can make yourself a friend to them within a short time. They will love you, feeling that you are so easy to contact.

You must also be very rich in the Word and in knowing the hymns and songs. If the mother is upset for some reason, you may feel to sing the chorus:

Then rejoice evermore, rejoice evermore,

It is better to sing than be sighing:

It is better to live than be dying;

So let us rejoice evermore. (Hymns, 717)

Regardless of the situation or the atmosphere, you must be able to speak the proper word or sing the proper song so that the meeting can begin in a very living way. This kind of home meeting should be neither religious nor formal but very spontaneous.

At this point the small boy may interrupt you to show you that he has a small Bible. This is a good opportunity. By talking to this small boy concerning the Bible, you can present a proper verse to the whole family. You might turn to Acts 16:31—“Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household”—and ask the boy to read it. After his reading you might ask him what this verse says. Based upon this verse, you may check with him: “Have you believed in the Lord? Have you been saved?” This kind of talk will turn his mother from her anxiety or hard feelings to a joy or happiness concerning her son’s salvation. Then you can also turn to the others to help them to know that once they have believed in the Lord Jesus, they are saved. In this way you can cover one definite point with these newly saved ones—the assurance of God’s salvation. This is the way to have a home meeting…

Grasping the Opportunity to Impart the Word

We must learn to take the opportunity to minister the holy Word. Regardless of how much you would act in a spontaneous way, you must grasp some time to minister something of the holy Word…We should not go too fast, yet we should not waste our time. We must minister something of the holy Word to these ones concerning Christ, concerning God, and concerning God’s salvation. On the one hand, we must be so spontaneous, so ordinary, and so human, not giving people any impression that we are pushing something. On the other hand, we must learn to skillfully grasp the time to speak something of the Word, even if it is only for a few minutes. It is always best to use a verse from the Bible. We must impart this verse into the ones we are visiting to fulfill our main purpose…

To merely read to the new ones does not work very well. We must develop our skill so that we can impart a verse into them. This is like nailing a piece of wood to something. You have to nail it properly, or it will come off. We must develop the skill to impart a verse into someone perfectly and completely. This will capture the new ones, and they will never escape because such a verse is in them. This is why I am very repetitious in my speaking. When I speak something, I speak it repeatedly to impress the hearers so that they can never forget. Often I will speak one thing from many different angles.

Do not think that to go to people’s homes and have home meetings with them is an easy thing. First, we must learn to be spontaneous, and second, we must learn how to grasp the opportunity to minister something of the Word into the people we contact…

Being Equipped in the Knowledge of the Truth

and in the Experience of Life

To take this way is not easy because it requires us to be properly equipped with much knowledge of the truth and experience of life. You must be so experienced and so knowledgeable that you can take care of any situation. We must also learn to be very keen and alert to know people’s feelings and desires. We must know what is within the ones to whom we are going to talk. This requires much experience. I know that when some of the young saints have an appointment to visit someone, they are very anxious. All day they may pray concerning that appointment, and they may also read some messages or some books on the way to talk to people. By all these things they get themselves very much prepared, but that is not the same as being equipped. That is a kind of temporary preparation which could kill the home meeting.

You all must be equipped, not by only one day’s labor but by over two years’ labor. You must get yourselves equipped in the knowledge of the truth and in the experience of life. Then you will be rich, and you will also be so keen to know people’s feelings and intentions. You need to pray much that the Holy Spirit will be with you to help you to realize the real situation of the new ones. Then when you go, you can speak something rich according to the situation and according to the real need of the ones you are contacting. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Exercise and Practice of the God-ordained Way,” ch. 15, pp. 317-324)

REALIZING THAT THE NEW ONES ARE BABES 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. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Exercise and Practice of the God-ordained Way,” ch. 19, pp. 358-359)

KNOWING THE NEW ONES

We should not merely make the new one pleasant or happy; that is not our purpose. We must be on the alert while we are talking to him in order to know what kind of person he is. The best way to do this is to leave some time for him to say something. We should not occupy all the time. While we are making him feel pleasant, we must give him some time to say something. By his speaking we can get to know him by realizing what his feeling, thinking, and intention are. We should learn to encourage him to speak more. Then we will know what we should say. We will realize whether or not this is the right time to get our time with him “on track.” If this is the proper time, we can introduce a subject related to spiritual things. We must learn all these things. It is not so simple, but if we have a good preparation, it will be easy to talk to this person on the “right track.” (CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Exercise and Practice of the God-ordained Way,” ch. 13, pp. 305-306)

TAKING THE WAY OF INDIVIDUAL FAMILIES

The home meeting is for raising up the newborn believers, not only as your children but also as God’s growing children. This is the unique shortage among us and also among all of Christianity. Wherever there is a group of Christians, and among them there is the proper care for the new ones, that church will become quite large. However, this work cannot be carried out on a large scale by the church as a whole; it must be done through the individual families.

In society it is difficult to raise up children on a large scale. If every family raises three or four children in their home, eventually, many proper persons will be produced to benefit society. Every team is a family. If you are a team of three members, you must become a family raising up the new ones as your children, yet considering them as God’s children. You are simply nursing mothers doing the work of raising up these children for God.

To carry out this kind of work, you must keep certain principles. You should not leave the raising up of your children to others. Do not go out to do other things, leaving your children under others’ care. You must “stay home” and take care of your children directly by yourself. To leave your children in the care of others for even a short time may cause some damage; they may suffer and not grow so well. The work of raising up the new ones must be under your direct care.

Then you should not try to care for too many at one time. As a team of three, you should be able to take care of six to ten new ones. Once you have this many to care for, you should stop going out to baptize more and concentrate your energy, time, and attention on these six to ten. It is best to care for these new ones for about two years. For the first half year, you should render intensive care, visiting them twice each week for two months and then once each week for four months. During this period of time, to leave your children as orphans to be raised by others would cause much damage. Instead, you should fall in love with your children and be willing to sacrifice yourselves for them. Without the sacrifices of its mother, no child could be raised properly.

Based upon my study and our history of nearly sixty-five years, I have found that the only way to raise up a proper church life is by begetting babes and raising them up as children. This is the way to fulfill the Lord’s commandment to go and disciple all the nations (Matt. 28:19). To disciple the nations, we must start by discipling individuals, yet we cannot go alone; we must go as a team. The best number to have in a team is three. On the one hand, to have too many on a team may allow too many opinions to come in, but on the other hand, to have only two on a team would be too few because these two may quarrel. Therefore, a third member is needed to balance them. Also, if the members are not the same age, this will help to balance the team. We all must learn how to work together as a team without any opinion. Then our team can become a family, working together year-round to raise up the Lord’s children. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Exercise and Practice of the God-ordained Way,” ch. 21, pp. 379-380)

LEARNING TO CARE FOR THE HOME MEETINGS

ACCORDING TO A DEFINITE GOAL

When we go to work in the home meetings, we should always have a definite purpose. The main purpose of the home meetings is to nourish the new believers, but each mother who nourishes her new baby does so with a definite goal. The kind of nourishment a mother uses depends upon the situation of the baby. To nourish the new believers without any purpose is to run the risk of damaging their spiritual health in the long run. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Exercise and Practice of the God-ordained Way,” ch. 20, pp. 372-373)

References and Further Reading:

1. The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1989, vol. 3, “The Exercise and Practice of the God-ordained way,” chs. 13, 15, 17-21.

2. The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1989, vol. 2, “The New Testament Priests of the Gospel,” ch. 8.