Message Nine—Building Up a Model of God-ordained Way

THE FOURTH PART: THE PATHWAY OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY

God-ordained Way
Message Nine—Building Up a Model of God-ordained Way

Scripture Reading: Rom. 15:16; 1 Thes. 2:7; Eph. 4:11-12; 1 Cor. 14:31; 2 Tim. 1:12; 1 Cor. 9:17; Col. 1:29

I. The God-ordained way to practice the New Testament economy—1 Tim. 1:4b; Col. 1:25; John 15:16:

A. In order for us to practice the New Testament economy, we need to see the divine economy; this economy is clearly revealed in the holy Word—1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10; 3:9; Col. 1:25; 1 Cor. 9:17.

B. Our going out to visit people by knocking on their doors is for this economy and should be linked with the divine economy—John 15:5, 16; Luke 10:3-6.

C. God’s eternal economy involves and includes millions of sons of peace; these sons of peace need us to go to visit them in their homes.

II. God’s eternal purpose is to have the Body of Christ, and the steps to arrive at this purpose are the begetting through the preaching of the gospel, our nourishing through the home meetings, our teaching through the small group meetings, and our building up through the church meetings—Rom. 15:16; 1 Thes. 2:7; Eph. 4:11-12; 1 Cor. 14:3-5, 31:

A. Begetting—preaching the gospel to save sinners—Mark 16:15-16; Luke 10:2-3a, 5-6:

1. We need to beget others, to bear fruit, by preaching the gospel to save sinners for the organic building up of the Body of Christ—Eph. 3:8-11.

2. Go and disciple the nations—Matt. 28:19.

B. Nourishing—caring in the home meetings, feeding the lambs as a nursing mother—1 Thes. 2:7; John 21:15:

1. To nourish the new ones as a nursing mother—1 Thes. 2:7.

2. Newborn babies need special care.

C. Teaching—instructing and perfecting in the small Group Meetings—Heb. 10:24-25; Eph. 4:11-12:

1. In the small group meetings, the believers having mutual fellowship and intercession, mutual care and shepherding, mutual teaching and studying of the truth, and mutual instruction in the pursuit of the growth in the spiritual life, for the promotion of the preaching of the gospel, the care for the new ones, the conducting of the small group meetings, and all other kinds of service in the church life.

2. The small group meetings being the main part of the life and service of the church—Heb. 10:25; Acts 2:42.

D. Building—prophesying in the district meetings; through prophesying to speak for the Lord for the building up of the church—1 Cor. 14:1, 3-5, 12, 24, 31:

1. To speak for the Lord and to speak forth the Lord; it is to supply Christ to others.

2. To speak to men for building up and encouragement and consolation, that the church may be built up—vv. 3-5.

III. Christ is the reality of every section of the God-ordained way:

A. Christ is the reality in the fulfilling of the New Testament priesthood of the gospel—Rom. 15:16; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9.

B. Christ is the reality in the feeding of the new believers—John 21:15.

C. Christ is the reality of the perfecting of the saints in the vital groups—Eph. 4:12; Heb. 10:24-25.

D. Christ is the reality in the building up of the church, the Body of Christ, by prophesying in the bigger meetings of the church—1 Cor. 14:3-5.

IV. We must build up a model; we need to grasp this golden opportunity to participate in the move for the spread of the gospel through the propagation and increase; we also need to build up a model—Phil. 1:5-6; John 12:24; Acts 11:21, 24:

A. Our goal is to mobilize the whole church; every one of us must have a part—Eph. 4:16.

B. In conclusion, we need to be aggressive to preach the gospel in our homes, to children, to students, and to those with whom we work; we also need to recover the dormant saints; in this way the church will increase—Matt. 28:19; 24:14.

C. We also need to lead the brothers and sisters to focus on knowing the truth, growing in life, and living Christ; moreover, the saints should also take part in the church life so that there will be a testimony of a golden lampstand in every locality—Eph. 4:13; Rev. 1:11, 20.

D. This should be our common burden; the churches need to rise up and take action; this will produce a model; then all the churches in the Lord’s recovery will see this model and know how to spread and propagate in order to gain people.

V. The God-ordained way must be our burden today—2 Tim. 1:12; 1 Cor. 9:17:

A. The God-ordained way is the Lord’s leading among all the churches in His recovery today.

B. We should not consider this matter to be Brother Lee’s burden alone.

C. Instead, all of us have to change our concept and accept this burden as our burden—2 Tim. 1:12; 1 Cor. 9:17.

VI. The God-ordained way is carried out by labor—Col. 1:29; 1 Thes. 1:3:

A. Our Christian work should eventually become a labor, something that is deeper and harder than work—Col. 1:29.

B. The labor of love involves endeavoring and struggling—1 Thes. 1:3.

C. “We in the Lord’s recovery should be laborers and strugglers. Anything that needs labor or struggling will not go very fast or grow very fast” (Messages to the Trainees in Fall 1990, p. 97).

D. “You must not practice the new way according to the tide of your emotions. To take the new way, you must labor definitely and regularly in a practical way. Then eventually you will see the fruitful result. This result is not a matter of fortune; it is a matter of laboring day and night” (pp. 105-106).

VII. We should not excuse ourselves, but should have an aggressive, bold, and daring spirit to carry out the Lord’s commission—”The secret to my work is that I do not know what difficulty is. I only know to give myself to work. I do not care for the result; I only care to labor diligently. You can say that my secret is simply to work. I do not care about the circumstances; I only care to work. For the past sixty years you can see the result of such work. As long as we work, there will be the result” (The Ministry, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 14-15).

Ministry Excerpts:

PRACTICING THE NEW TESTAMENT ECONOMY
ACCORDING TO THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY

Our desire is to see and enter into the God-ordained way to practice the New Testament economy. Related to this practice, there are two crucial items. The first item is that we go out to visit people in their homes. We are not merely going to knock on people’s doors, but we are going to visit people in the same way that the Lord Jesus did. He came far away from the heavens to this earth to visit people, so He also gives us the order or commandment to go to visit people (Matt. 28:19; Luke 10:3). Because we are going to visit people in their homes, we need to knock on their doors. The second thing we have to do in the new way is to set up home meetings with the ones we have just baptized. Two words are very crucial in the new way for the Lord’s new move: go and home. We go to visit people in their homes, and we set up home meetings with them. We need to go to people’s homes and bring the meetings to them.

All of us need to dream about the new way for the Lord’s new move so that God’s New Testament economy can be carried out and practiced. We need to learn to dream for the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s new way is a dream that we all need to be brought into. I have been dreaming this dream, and my burden is to bring you into this dream. We all have to bear the responsibility and the burden to bring this dream to the whole earth. If we are faithful by the Lord’s mercy to practice the New Testament economy according to the God-ordained way, we will see the fulfillment of this dream.

In order for us to practice the New Testament economy, we need to see the divine economy. This economy is clearly revealed in the holy Word (1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10; 3:9; Col. 1:25; 1 Cor. 9:17). The center of the entire New Testament is God’s divine economy. God’s economy is God’s plan, His divine arrangement, to dispense Himself into His chosen people. Our going out to visit people by knocking on their doors is for this economy and should be linked with the divine economy. Since the Lord brought me to the United States in the early sixties, every message I have given has touched this point of God’s economy. I was sent to the United States by being linked to this economy, and I did not do anything that was independent of this economy.

When we go out, we must hold on to the concept and deep feeling that we are going out to visit people for God’s economy. Without knocking on people’s doors, it would be hard for us to seek the sons of peace for God’s eternal economy (Luke 10:3-6). God’s eternal economy involves and includes millions of sons of peace. These sons of peace need us to go to visit them in their homes. We go to knock on people’s doors by having ourselves linked to the divine economy, linked to eternity, linked to the heavenlies. We need a clear vision and deep impression concerning God’s economy, which involves the completion of Christ and the propagation of the pneumatic Christ for the producing of the church (Eph. 3:6-11). (The God-ordained Way to Practice the New Testament Economy, msg. 1)

PREACHING THE GOSPEL TO SAVE THE SINNERS

Now let us look at the procedure in the service of the Body. The first step is the preaching of the gospel for the saving of sinners (Mark 16:15-16; Luke 10:2-3a, 5-6). In the past we preached the gospel by visiting people at their doors. Now I would strongly recommend the way of preaching the gospel by telephone. You must first study to find out how we should get the telephone numbers. This kind of gospel preaching is easier and faster than preaching the gospel through visiting people. Over the telephone we do not have to force people to come. We can say, “We are believers of the Lord Jesus, and we love the Lord. We like to, number one, preach the gospel to people, number two, introduce the truth, and number three, help people to know the Bible. Which one would you like? If you would tell us, we can arrange a time to come and talk to you. And if you would like to, we can pray together now over the phone.’’ If you do this, and especially if the sisters do this, you will surely meet some willing receivers. You can try this out. Another way is to write gospel letters. With the letters you can enclose a return mail response card. On the response card there can be a few suggestions. For example, one can be, “Can we come to your home to discuss with you the gospel of Jesus Christ?’’ Another may say, “If you have believed in Jesus, we would like to discuss the Bible with you face-to-face.’’ You can add other things as well. The goal is to get an answer to your letter. All three methods are useful. Those of you who do not want to go out to visit people can write gospel letters. Those who do not like to write letters can make telephone calls. Whichever way you take, you can find willing receivers. In short, you have to practice a lot and study a lot. Later on, others may find other ways of gaining people.

FEEDING THE LAMBS AS A NURSING MOTHER

The second step is the feeding of the lambs as a nursing mother. The Lord Jesus asked Peter in John 21, “Do you love Me?’’ If he did, he should feed the lambs (v. 15). Not only do we have to save the sinners, but we also have to feed them, as nursing mothers cherish their own babies (1 Thes. 2:7). I met a couple who brought sixteen people to salvation within a few months after they were baptized. Among them one- third attend meetings regularly. When this couple stands up to give testimonies, they are like a mother to a group of children. Hence, the new way works. But no matter how much it works, it depends on man taking this way. As long as we labor and strive, we can keep people and help them to grow in life.

PERFECTING THE SAINTS UNTO THE BUILDING UP
OF THE BODY OF CHRIST

The third step is the perfecting of the saints unto the building up of the Body of Christ. This step is the fulfillment of Ephesians 4. There it says that all the gifts are for the perfecting of the saints. The perfected saints will then go out to perfect others. Eventually, everyone will be able to do the work of the ministry, which is the building up of the Body of Christ. In the Body service, we must perfect the saints to be able to do what the gifts, that is, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the shepherds and teachers, can do. The gifted ones work first for a while. When the saints can work by themselves, they can go away to perfect others. At a certain point, everyone will be able to work and perfect others.

PROPHESYING FOR THE LORD
FOR THE BUILDING UP OF THE CHURCH

The fourth step is the prophesying for the Lord unto the building up of the church. Concerning prophesying, Paul said clearly in 1 Corinthians 14 that first we all have to desire prophesying (v. 1). To prophesy is not to foretell; rather, it is to speak building up and encouragement and consolation to men (vv. 3-5). Furthermore, this prophesying is something that every one of us can do, so that “all may learn and all be encouraged’’ (v. 31). Prophesying is not only the capability of every believer, it is also the most excellent gift for the Body (v. 12). If there is no prophesying in a local church, there will be no excelling gift. The practice of the old way did not apply this excelling gift. Now for the service of the Body we all have to learn, exercise, and use the excelling gift of prophesying to speak for the Lord, to speak the Lord forth, and to speak the Lord into others for the building up of the church, the Body of Christ. (Oneness and the One Accord according to the Lord’s Aspiration and the Body Life and Service according to His Pleasure, msg. 4)

THE UNIVERSAL PRIESTHOOD IN THE NEW WAY

The building up of the Body of Christ does not depend on a few people. It does not depend on the responsible brothers in a church. Nor does it depend on the co-workers or the full-timers. Rather, every one of the perfected saints should participate in the work of the building up of the Body of Christ. Begetting, nourishing, teaching, and building are the four major steps in the new way. When every one of the saints in the church can beget, nourish, teach, and build, God’s eternal purpose is fulfilled. God’s eternal purpose is to have the Body of Christ, and the steps to arrive at this purpose are the begetting through the preaching of the gospel, our nourishing through the home meetings, our teaching through the small group meetings, and our building up through the church meetings. (The New Testament Priests of the Gospel, msg. 2)

THE GOAL OF SERVING—
BUILDING UP A MODEL OF GOD-ORDAINED WAY

Mobilizing the Whole Church to Build up a Model

Our goal is to mobilize the whole church. The full-timers are not the only ones who can have a part in the gospel activities and church services. Every one of us must have a part.

If everyone functions in the ways that we have fellowshipped, the whole church will be mobilized to gain people. In conclusion, we need to be aggressive to preach the gospel in our homes, to children, to students, and to those with whom we work. We also need to recover the dormant saints. In this way the church will increase. We also need to lead the brothers and sisters to focus on knowing the truth, growing in life, and living Christ. Moreover, the saints should also take part in the church life so that there will be a testimony of a golden lampstand in every locality.

This should be our common burden. From now on the churches in Taiwan need to rise up and take action. This will produce a model. Then all the churches in the Lord’s recovery will see this model and know how to spread and propagate in order to gain people … how the churches in the Lord’s recovery increase in number.

How we promote this matter is important. It seems as if the world has become smaller, because what happens in one place can quickly spread to other places. Once the church in Taipei begins to practice, the five hundred churches will know. We must build up a model in Taiwan, because the condition in other places is not as favorable as the condition here. We need to pray for the spread of the gospel. We need to grasp this golden opportunity to participate in the move for the spread of the gospel through the propagation and increase. We also need to build up a model. (Guidelines for the Propagation of the Lord’s Recovery, msg. 5)

MANAGING THE SMALL GROUPS— COMING OUT OF A BURDEN, PUTTING HIS WHOLE BEING

Every businessman knows that no one can succeed if he works merely eight hours a day in the office. Every good businessman works even in his dreams. When he is walking on the street or drinking coffee in a coffee shop, he is considering his business. This is the way his business can be successful. A businessman who works only eight hours in the office will never be successful. This is true in every occupation. Everyone who is successful in business puts his whole being into his business. …if we cannot generate business, we should go and pray to the Lord.

All our work should come out of a burden, just as a mother who cares for her children sets her heart on them day and night, hour by hour, and moment by moment. Only this kind of mother will be able to accomplish something in her children. Likewise, as serving ones we should put our heart in our work, our service, day and night, hour by hour, and moment by moment. We should put our whole being into our service. (The Church as the Body of Christ, msg. 21)

THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY— A WAY OF LABOR

The God-ordained way is carried out by labor. The Lord Jesus labored strenuously during the last three and a half years of His life on this earth. He labored to overcome two great obstacles. These obstacles were the Jewish religion and the misuse of the Word of God. The misuse of the Old Testament became a big obstacle to the work of the Lord Jesus. Religion and the misuse of the holy Word were not only a frustration to the Lord Jesus in the beginning of the New Testament, but also a frustration to the apostles’ work. Peter and John confronted these two obstacles in the beginning of Acts, and the frustration of these two obstacles intensified with Paul. Wherever Paul went, the religious Jews persecuted him. Some even made an oath that they would not eat or drink until they had killed Paul (Acts 23:12). The obstacles of religion and the misuse of the Bible are still with us today. In order to take the God-ordained way, we have to labor as the Lord Jesus and the apostles did. If we do not labor like this, we will not have a way.

The new way, which includes preaching the gospel, feeding new ones in their homes, perfecting the saints in the group meetings, and prophesying for the building up of the Body of Christ, was initiated in 1984. At the present time, six years later, the majority of the saints in the recovery are convinced that the new way, the God-ordained way, is right and scriptural, but the practical outworking of the new way is still lacking. The reason for this lack is that we are short of labor. In this matter, we should not consider others; we should consider ourselves. (Messages to the Trainees in Fall 1990, msg. 15)