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: (The God-ordained Way to Practice the New Testament Economy, ch. 3)
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. (The God-ordained Way to Practice the New Testament Economy, ch. 1)
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. (The God-ordained Way to Practice the New Testament Economy, ch. 1)
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. (The God-ordained Way to Practice the New Testament Economy, ch. 1)
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: (The New Testament Priests of the Gospel, msg. 2)
A. Begetting—preaching the gospel to save sinners—Mark 16:15-16; Luke 10:2-3a, 5-6: (The Oneness and the One Accord according to the Lord’s Aspiration and the Body Life and Service according to His Pleasure, msg. 4)
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. (The Practical and Organic Building Up of the Church, ch. 3)
2. Go and disciple the nations—Matt. 28:19. (The Life for the Preaching of the High Gospel, ch. 1)
B. Nourishing—caring in the home meetings, feeding the lambs as a nursing mother—1 Thes. 2:7; John 21:15: (The Organic Practice of the New Way, msg. 1; The Oneness and the One Accord according to the Lord’s Aspiration and the Body Life and Service according to His Pleasure, msg. 4)
1. To nourish the new ones as a nursing mother—1 Thes. 2:7. (The Practical and Organic Building Up of the Church, ch. 3)
2. Newborn babies need special care. (The Organic Practice of the New Way, msg. 2)
C. Teaching—instructing and perfecting in the small Group Meetings—Heb. 10:24-25; Eph. 4:11-12: (The Organic Practice of the New Way, msg. 1)
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. (The New Testament Priests of the Gospel, msg. 10)
2. The small group meetings being the main part of the life and service of the church—Heb. 10:25; Acts 2:42. (The New Testament Priests of the Gospel, msg. 10)
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: (The Organic Practice of the New Way, msg. 1; The Ministry of the New Testament Priests of the Gospel, msg. 4)
1. To speak for the Lord and to speak forth the Lord; it is to supply Christ to others. (The Organic Practice of the New Way, msg. 1)
2. To speak to men for building up and encouragement and consolation, that the church may be built up—vv. 3-5. (The Organic Practice of the New Way, msg. 1)
III. Christ is the reality of every section of the God-ordained way: (The Crucial Contents of God’s New Testament Ministry: Training Outlines, msg. 5)
A. Christ is the reality in the fulfilling of the New Testament priesthood of the gospel—Rom. 15:16; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9. (The Crucial Contents of God’s New Testament Ministry: Training Outlines, msg. 5)
B. Christ is the reality in the feeding of the new believers—John 21:15. (The Crucial Contents of God’s New Testament Ministry: Training Outlines, msg. 5)
C. Christ is the reality of the perfecting of the saints in the vital groups—Eph. 4:12; Heb. 10:24-25. (The Crucial Contents of God’s New Testament Ministry: Training Outlines, msg. 5)
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. (The Crucial Contents of God’s New Testament Ministry: Training Outlines, msg. 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: (Guidelines for the Propagation of the Lord’s Recovery, msg. 5)
A. Our goal is to mobilize the whole church; every one of us must have a part—Eph. 4:16. (Guidelines for the Propagation of the Lord’s Recovery, msg. 5)
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. (Guidelines for the Propagation of the Lord’s Recovery, msg. 5)
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. (Guidelines for the Propagation of the Lord’s Recovery, msg. 5)
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. (Guidelines for the Propagation of the Lord’s Recovery, msg. 5)
V. The God-ordained way must be our burden today—2 Tim. 1:12; 1 Cor. 9:17: (2000 ITERO-F, EVENING SESSIONS, msg. 1)
A. The God-ordained way is the Lord’s leading among all the churches in His recovery today. (2000 ITERO-F, EVENING SESSIONS, msg. 1)
B. We should not consider this matter to be Brother Lee’s burden alone. (2000 ITERO-F, EVENING SESSIONS, msg. 1)
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. (2000 ITERO-F, EVENING SESSIONS, msg. 1)
VI. The God-ordained way is carried out by labor—Col. 1:29; 1 Thes. 1:3: (2001 ITERO-S, EVENING SESSIONS, msg. 2)
A. Our Christian work should eventually become a labor, something that is deeper and harder than work—Col. 1:29. (2001 ITERO-S, EVENING SESSIONS, msg. 2)
B. The labor of love involves endeavoring and struggling—1 Thes. 1:3. (2001 ITERO-S, EVENING SESSIONS, msg. 2)
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). (2001 ITERO-S, EVENING SESSIONS, msg. 2)
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). (2001 ITERO-S, EVENING SESSIONS, msg. 2)
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). (2000 ITERO-F, EVENING SESSIONS, msg. 2)