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Scripture Reading: Luke 14:21-23; 19:13; Rom. 1:14-15; 1 Cor. 9:17, 21-25; Phil. 1:27; Col. 1:27-29
In order to emphasize the importance of the preaching of the gospel, the New Testament uses different figures of speech in referring to it. In Luke 14:21-23, which contains several crucial points regarding the gospel, the Lord used the figure of an invitation to a great dinner. These verses say, “The slave came up and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and told his slave, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame. And the slave said, Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room. And the master said to the slave, Go out into the roads and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.” Verse 21 says that the master of the house became angry. The Bible does not often say that our God is angry; thus, it is not a small thing for the Lord to be angry. He is angry because of the vacant seats at His dinner. He has prepared the dinner of the gospel, but not enough people have come.
The master of the house charged his slave to go out quickly to bring in others. The word quickly is significant. However, almost two thousand years have passed since this word was spoken. The Lord has been angry yet patient for a very long time. The master told his slave to go into the streets and lanes of the city. The front door of people’s houses is usually accessible from the streets, whereas the back door often is approached from the lanes. This indicates that we must go to people at their front door, their back door, or in any way that we can. We must do everything we can to gain people. The slave brought in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame, but still there was room at the dinner. Because of this, the master of the house, still angry, sent his slave out again into the roads (the highways) and hedges outside the city to find those who were idle and to compel them to come in, that his house might be filled.
In Luke 19:13 the Lord used the figure of a master and his slaves. The master made his slaves businessmen and gave them the capital with which to do business. Verse 13 says, “He called ten of his own slaves and gave them ten minas, and he said to them, Do business until I come.” I appreciate the word Do business until I come. The phrase until I come literally means “while I am coming.” While the Lord is on His way to come, we must be on our way to do the business of the gospel.
In Romans 1:14-15 Paul uses the figure of a debtor. In these verses Paul says, “I am debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to foolish; so, for my part, I am ready to announce the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”
First Corinthians 9:17 says, “If I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a stewardship.” The word stewardship is another figure of speech used in reference to gospel preaching. Every preacher is a steward. Verses 22 through 25 of the same chapter say, “To the weak I became weak that I might gain the weak. To all men I have become all things that I might by all means save some. And I do all things for the sake of the gospel that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run on a racecourse all run, but one receives the prize? Run in this way, that you may lay hold. And everyone who contends exercises self-control in all things; they then, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible.” In these verses Paul uses the figure of contending in the Olympics to describe the importance of gospel preaching.
Philippians 1:27 says, “Only, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether coming and seeing you or being absent, I may hear of the things concerning you, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together along with the faith of the gospel.” We need to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Our conduct must match the gospel. We also must stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together, struggling like Olympic athletes, along with the faith of the gospel.
Colossians 1:27-28 says, “To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ.” Again, many different terms are used in these verses to refer to the gospel. The center of the gospel is Christ in us as the hope of glory, but we must bring this news to people and make it known to them. Thus, we must announce Christ as the center of the gospel, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom. Here the terms announce, admonishing, and teaching are used in reference to the gospel. The phrase in all wisdom indicates that we must exhaust our wisdom so that we may present every man, one by one, full-grown in Christ. Verse 29 says, “For which also I labor, struggling according to His operation which operates in me in power.” In this verse the words labor, struggling, and operation are used in relation to the gospel.
In the past several years many messages have been given regarding the new way, which is actually the God-ordained way to meet and to serve. Through all these messages the God-ordained way has been made very clear to us. At first there was a certain amount of opposition and criticism against the new way, but now there is not much opposition. Almost all the leading ones in the churches in the Lord’s recovery are very clear concerning the new way. However, in relation to the practicing of the new way, we can see many “clouds,” but we have not yet seen the “rain.” The new way has been made clear to us, yet our response has not been quick, adequate, and prevailing.
Many dear saints have a heart to take the new way, but they feel that it is not easy to do so. It is wrong to say that the new way does not work. The new way does work. In a sense, however, it is not easy to take the new way. Christianity has made every believer idle. When a person first enters into Christianity, he may be busy for a short while. Certain denominations require that a new member learn a number of doctrines and pass an examination before he can be baptized. However, after being baptized, a believer may become idle for the rest of his life. All that may be required of such a believer is that he come to the Sunday morning service, leave an offering, and behave properly. By the Lord’s mercy and grace, however, there are still a number of seeking ones in Christianity who realize that they are in a situation that is inadequate. This is true especially among those who love to read the Bible. In reading the Bible they discover that they are lacking many spiritual things. They may go to their pastor for help, but many pastors may only quench their seeking, because the pastors themselves have no way to go on.
The situation in the Lord’s recovery is not like this. Since the Lord’s recovery began in the second century, it has not allowed people to be idle and at peace. The recovery always stirs up people to see what is in the Bible and to seek after it. Throughout the past nineteen centuries, seeking ones have been raised up to discover new truths from the Bible. Many of them put their discoveries into writing, and over the past seventy years we have spent much time and money to find and collect these scattered writings. These discoveries are a part of the Lord’s recovery today. As a result, in the Lord’s recovery there is much stirring up, and there are many requirements and demands. The Lord’s recovery does not allow us to be at ease.
In the past five years we have “dug out” more truths. In particular, we have discovered the New Testament priesthood of the gospel (Rom. 15:16). We have found that the preachers of the gospel should be laboring, energizing, ministering priests of the New Testament. In Romans 15:16 the Greek word for priest has a prefix that means “energizing,” “laboring,” or “ministering.” Such a priesthood of the gospel is a new discovery. Once we see this, we can never be at rest.
The priests in the Old Testament had to offer something every day. They could not cease offering the sacrifices. Their main offerings were the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. Besides these there were many minor offerings. We Christians today, the New Testament believers, also are priests; thus, we must offer something. What we offer should not be merely our praises to the Lord, our material things, or our good conduct. These things are minor offerings. In the New Testament the main offering is saved sinners, who will be transformed to be the members of Christ’s Body. In the Old Testament the priests offered the types of the individual Christ; in the New Testament we offer the members of the corporate Christ. For our offering to God we need the saved, sanctified, and transformed members of Christ. The discovery of this truth has changed our understanding of the significance of gospel preaching.
We have also discovered that we must have new ones under our care whom we are feeding. Feeding the new ones is the practice of feeding the lambs (John 21:15) and the practice of a nursing mother feeding her babes (1 Thes. 2:7). Paul says that the apostles were like nursing mothers to the new believers, cherishing and nourishing them so that they might grow. Such a practice is absolutely new among us.
I have said that each one of us should have two or three young “lambs” under our care, but we are still short of this kind of feeding. If we do not have at least two or three under our caring hand, then we must “go fishing” to gain some new ones. When I was young, I was desperate to bring new believers to the Lord. If I did not gain some new ones, I could not eat or sleep well. After praying and fasting, I would rise up and go into the streets to speak to people, regardless of what kind of people they were. Where there is a will, there is a way. However, we may not be desperate enough. Consequently, the Lord may be angry with us because there are still vacant seats at His dinner.
The Lord has also shown us that we must practice the building up of the church through the perfecting of the saints by the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers (Eph. 4:11-12). Without exception, every saint must do the same work that the gifted persons do, which is the work of the New Testament ministry, the building up of the Body of Christ. Moreover, we have discovered that there is no way to perfect the saints in big meetings. The perfecting must be carried out in small groups.
We must go to get people saved; we must “get married” in order to bring forth children. After bringing forth children, we need to feed, nourish, and cherish our babes. Then we must perfect them and build them up to speak the word of Christ, to speak Christ, and to speak forth Christ to others, that is, to prophesy. If we have such a practice according to the New Testament teaching, no one among us will be idle. However, I am concerned that many of the saints are idle. We may not realize the seriousness of our situation, but one day we will. The Lord said, “Do business until I come.” If the Lord would return today and ask us to settle our account with Him, we all would be very serious. The Lord is coming, and we will have to meet Him and give an account to Him (Matt. 25:19; 2 Cor. 5:10). However, today many of the saints are at peace. The new way is a troubling way, not a peacemaking way. We must realize that the new way does not give us rest; rather, it causes us to be busy.
Today our urgent need is to practice the new way diligently. The elders, the full-timers, and the co-workers should be the first ones to take the new way. All the elders should take the lead to get new ones saved and to always have two or three new ones under their caring hand. Simply to manage the affairs of the church is not adequate. In a sense, the Lord is not for that. The Lord is for bringing sinners to be saved, regenerated, sanctified, and transformed to be His living members. It is not sufficient merely to have a large number meeting in a local church, because they may be meeting in the way of Christianity, coming together on the Lord’s Day merely to constitute a good attendance. We should not shout “Hallelujah!” for merely a good attendance. We must ask whether the attendants are being nourished, sanctified, renewed daily, and transformed. Some may say that they are not able to follow so quickly what I am speaking; they need more time before they can begin to practice this kind of care for new believers. However, we will not be able to say this to the Lord when He comes to settle accounts with us. The Lord has already waited for nearly two thousand years.
The most pleasant thing to the Lord is that those who love Him and seek Him would have two or three new ones under their care. After their children get married, parents always like to see a new child come forth. If a son has been married for three years but does not have a child, his parents may not be happy to visit him. Parents do not want to see their children’s rose garden; they want to see grandchildren. If there are two or three grandchildren in a home, the grandparents will want to stay all day to play with them. The Lord desires that two or three new ones be raised up under our caring hand. We may make excuses, saying that it is too hard to get people saved, but the Lord may simply admit that He is a hard man, reaping where He did not sow (Matt. 25:24-26).
Today in every place there is the urgent need of a new beginning. The elders should not wait for the younger ones, and the younger ones should not wait for the elders. We all need to begin to practice this way. I would propose that all the elders, full-timers, and trainees take the lead to get people saved at any cost, forgetting about the other saints and leaving them to the Lord and to themselves.
I do not like fishing, because it requires much patience. In fishing, one must spread a net and then draw it in, and there may or may not be fish in it. One may also have to cast a line and wait for a whole day. Fishing is a real test. Likewise, getting people saved is not easy. However, it is also not too difficult. We may visit people by knocking on their doors, or we may call them on the telephone or ask the saints to recommend their relatives to us. We should try our best to find someone to visit for the gospel. In one way or another we need to begin to practice the new way.
After we baptize people, we will treasure them. They will be our treasure and our babies. Then we will have to take care of them, to cherish and nourish them, not just for a few days but for a considerable period of time. Some new ones will need us to care for them for half a year, whereas others will need our care for a whole year. The goal is to feed them so that they may grow. We must practice this.
It is not necessary that we go out to care for others every day. To do this once a week for two or three hours is adequate. On the Lord’s Day we should meet for about two hours in the morning to have the Lord’s table and to speak the Lord’s word to one another. All the saints, new and old, should attend the Lord’s Day morning meeting to take the Lord’s table, to enjoy Him corporately, and to learn to speak for Him. While we are speaking, we will also be listening to others. In this kind of meeting we will hear the word, and spontaneously we will experience much building up. We should try our best to leave the Lord’s Day morning free for this. Then one evening a week we should attend the prayer meeting. Do not despise the prayer meeting. By praying only once in the prayer meeting, we may receive more edification than by attending another kind of meeting. We also will receive much enlightenment and exposure for our help. Then one evening a week we should attend a group meeting for fellowship, for our perfecting, and for the perfecting of others. The Lord’s Day morning meeting, the prayer meeting, and the group meeting are the three basic church meetings. This still leaves five evenings, two weekend afternoons, and one weekend morning open. Even if we use the entire Saturday for sundry affairs, we will still have five evenings and one afternoon free. We should use one of these six openings to go out for the gospel, either to knock on doors to visit people, to call them on the phone, or to go to the new ones to feed them. This is easy to carry out. It would be even better if we would go out twice a week, one afternoon and one evening, or two evenings a week.
Some may still say that this is difficult to carry out in practice. In the school at which I studied, there were many kinds of sports, but I did not like to play most of them. Many of the sports were difficult for me to play simply because I did not practice. We must practice to go out once or twice a week for the gospel. Even if we do not know how to do it, we should simply do it. We may never have been trained to knock on doors, but we should not care about this. After going out for about one month, we will feel that it is easy. When we see the Lord, we will not be able to excuse ourselves by saying that the new way was too hard. We need to practice.
For many years I have told the saints that we must learn to contact new people, especially after the meetings. However, we have had little practice of this. After a meeting a sister may go to talk to a sister who is familiar to her. However, in that meeting there may be several new ones who are not being cared for. To talk only with a familiar saint is offensive to the Lord and to the church. After a meeting we should look around to find the new ones. This is pleasing to the Lord and pleasing to the church. We must have the habit of taking care of the new ones. To practice this is not difficult. It is not like learning Hebrew or Greek. We may simply go to a new one, introduce ourselves, and invite him to lunch. This requires that a habit be built up. We do not need to know how to feed someone after baptizing him. We simply need to do it. We should not ask, “With what shall I feed him?” We should simply go to feed him. Most of the new ones appreciate being visited. By doing this we will learn. The first and second time we go, we may not know how to feed the new ones, but gradually we will learn. I did not study in a seminary, and I was not taught to speak. I simply practiced, and the more I practiced, the more I learned by doing it.
We should go to get two or three new ones under our care. If we cannot do this, we should come back to pray and fast and then go out again. Our service in the practical affairs of the church may be godly and pious, but it may not be as pleasing to the Lord as going out to knock on doors to gain people. It is better to get sinners saved and baptized and bring them to the church meeting. We have been here for years, but we still see the same faces. Even in the group meetings the same eight or ten saints may repeatedly come together, with no new ones. We need some new ones. We need some lambs that we can feed.
