THE FOURTH PART: THE PATHWAY OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY
God-ordained Way
Message Eleven—Preaching the Gospel in the Way of Life in the Vital Groups
Scripture Reading: John 3:16; Phil. 1:5-6, 19-27; 4:22; Acts 1:8; 1 Thes. 1:3, 5; Acts 5:20; 2 Cor. 12:15
I. Those of us in the vital groups need to have a twofold burden; being burdened with God’s concern for sinners and with converting sinners into members of Christ for the carrying out of God’s economy—John 3:16, 30; 1 Tim. 2:4, 3:15; 1 Pet. 2:5: (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, msg. 16)
A. Today in the Lord’s recovery the greatest need, the primary need, is to gain the increase; we need to save sinners through the preaching of the gospel that they may become material for the building up of the church as the house of God—1 Tim. 3:15: (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, msg. 19)
1. In these days I am greatly burdened for the raising up and the going on of the vital groups; we need to get ourselves prepared to go out to gain people for the increase and building up of the church. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, msg. 16)
2. We should get ourselves prepared by making a list of our relatives and close acquaintances; then we need to pray and ask the Lord which ones we should concentrate on first as candidates for our gospel service. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, msg. 16)
B. “God desires all men to be saved;” our vital groups should learn how to be burdened with our Father’s loving concern toward the sinners; we have to learn to be burdened with the loving concern of God’s heart toward the perishing sinners—John 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:4. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, msg. 16)
C. Paul preached the gospel for the increase and building up of the Body of Christ; he was a priest offering saved ones to God as the living members of the Body of Christ; we need to preach the gospel for the increase of the Body of Christ, not to merely win souls—Rom. 15:16; John 3:30; Hab. 1:8. (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, msg. 16)
II. God’s intention is that a local church would have fellowship unto the furtherance of the gospel, not only for one period of time but continually, until the day of Christ Jesus, that is, until He comes back—Phil. 1:5-6: (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
A. The Christ-experiencing and Christ-enjoying life is a life in the furtherance of the gospel, a gospel-preaching life, not individualistic but corporate; hence, there is the fellowship unto the furtherance of the gospel—Phil. 1:5-6. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
B. The more fellowship we have in the furtherance of the gospel, the more Christ we experience and enjoy; this kills our self, ambition, preference, and choice. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
C. The move of the preaching of the gospel must be a matter in fellowship because it is a matter of the Body: (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
1. As the branches of Christ, the true vine, we must love one another in order to express the divine life in fruit-bearing; no branch of the vine bears fruit individually—John 15:1-5, 12, 17. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
2. When we live by Christ, in Christ, with Christ, and for Christ, Christ is expressed through us as love for one another, and this mutual love becomes a strong testimony to the people of the world that we are the disciples of Christ—13:34-35. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
3. Our preaching of the gospel is by the Body life and in the Body life; how fruitful we are in our preaching depends on how much of the reality of the Body of Christ we have. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
D. Paul charged the saints to conduct themselves “in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” and to “stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together along with the faith of the gospel”—Phil. 1:27: (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
1. When all the members in the church are “in one spirit, with one soul,” this oneness will be convincing, subduing, and attractive to others for their salvation; if there is no harmony among us, this will kill the saving Spirit. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
2. The word “together” has the sense of “as one man, shoulder to shoulder in absolute cooperation” and the sense of “contending as a team of athletes do, in perfect co-operation with one another” (Wuest). (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
E. The phrase striving together indicates that the gospel is a matter of labor and endurance; the vital groups should press on according to Paul’s prayer in 1 Thessalonians 1:3 concerning the work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
III. The genuine preaching of the gospel is in the way of life; the gospel is not only the preaching of the word but also a life of enjoying the supply of the Body, the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, to live and magnify Christ—Phil. 1:19-21a; Acts 5:20: (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
A. The preaching of the gospel is the expression of Christ, and bearing fruit is the outworking of the inner experience of life—John 15:5; Acts 16:23-25. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
B. When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he was living in prison and not outwardly working; his speaking of “fruit for my work” indicates that his work was actually his living—Phil. 1:22: (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
1. The fruit for Paul’s work was Christ being lived out, magnified, ministered, and transfused into others through him. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
2. Paul’s living work was to minister Christ to others and to transfuse the Christ whom he magnified into them; through Paul’s magnification of Christ, even some in Caesar’s household were saved—4:22. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
3. Paul told the Philippians that his imprisonment would also work to the advancement of the gospel—1:12, 18. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
C. Paul fed his spiritual children with his own living of Christ; the best way to shepherd people is to give them a proper pattern—1 Thes. 2:1-12: (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
1. Paul and his co-workers were a pattern of the gospel that they spread—“you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake”—1:5b. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
2. The apostle Paul stressed repeatedly their entrance toward the believers; this shows that the apostles’ manner of life played a great role in infusing the gospel into the new converts—vv. 5, 9; 2:1, 11. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
D. Acts tells us that the preachers of the gospel are the Lord’s witnesses, His martyrs; this means that we testify to others at a cost, even at the sacrifice of our life—1:8; 2 Cor. 12:15: (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
1. To live a clean and upright life (1 Thes. 2:3-6, 10) and to love the new converts, even by giving our own souls to them (vv. 7-9, 11), are the prerequisites for infusing them with the salvation conveyed in the gospel that we preach. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
2. Paul was willing to spend not only what he had but also himself, his very being, on behalf of the saints. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
E. Because of Paul the churches could have the growth in life and could be filled with the enjoyment of Christ; this should also be true of us today—Phil. 1:25. (2009 MDC, msg. 5)
IV. We, the preachers of the gospel are the martyrs of the Lord; but to testifying; not only by word but by our life and living and even the sacrifice of our life; we are living here for this, and our living is our preaching—John 15:5; 2 Cor. 12:15. (Preaching the Gospel in the Way of Life, ch. 10)