In taking care of the new believers by nourishing them, first we need to lead them to know who the Lord is. He is God, who is over all and blessed forever (Rom. 9:5). Our Lord Jesus is the only, genuine God; besides Him, there is no God. Furthermore, the Lord is man (1 Tim. 2:5). He is God becoming man to be the wonderful God-man with both the divine nature and the human nature. He is the complete God and the perfect man. The Lord Jesus, who is both God and man, is our Savior and Redeemer (Luke 2:11). He was crucified and resurrected to redeem and save us. Furthermore, in His resurrection He has become the life-giving Spirit to dwell in us, His believers (1 Cor. 15:45b).
After we have led the new believers to know the Lord as God, as man, as the Savior, and as the life-giving Spirit, we should help them to know that they have a regenerated spirit. We may tell them that when we believed in the Lord and were regenerated, the Spirit of God came into us to enliven our spirit and dwell in our spirit that we may worship God in spirit (John 4:24). We may also tell them that since the Lord Jesus as the Spirit of God lives in us, we can take in the riches of the Lord by calling on His name and praying to Him, because He is rich to all who call upon Him (Rom. 10:12). At this time, we should lead the new believers to call upon the Lord, crying, “O Lord Jesus!” This is not only to confess with our mouth but also to call from deep within our spirit. By calling in this way, which can be compared to taking a deep breath, we receive the supply of life from the Lord. We may also lead the new believers to pray to the Lord: “O Lord Jesus, I need You. O Lord Jesus, You are my Savior. I open myself to You. O Lord Jesus, come into me to be my life supply.” When we help the new believers to have a basic knowledge concerning the Lord and to contact the Lord with their spirit, thereby taking in the Lord’s riches, they can receive the Lord’s supply constantly and grow in life (1 Pet. 2:2) to such an extent that they can present themselves to God as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1).
In order to nourish the new believers and lead them to grow in life that they may become remaining fruit, we need to go to their homes to meet with them by personally leading and nourishing them. Thus, over a period of time they will be perfected as we are. The condition of those whom we nourish and care for will be the same as our own condition. If we are those who love the Lord and have constant fellowship with Him so that we are very intimate with Him and are even joined with Him as one, then as we go, time after time, to nourish and take care of the new believers, eventually every one of them will become like us, not loving the world but only loving the Lord and always being filled with the Lord to such an extent that they present themselves to God as sacrifices. At the beginning, we help them to be saved through the gospel and offer them up to God as sacrifices. Then, having grown in life by being nourished and cared for, they also present themselves to God as living sacrifices. To nourish and take care of the new believers by meeting with them in their homes is the pattern revealed in the New Testament (Acts 5:42). This is also the second step needed for us to minister as the priests of the gospel of God. This is what every brother and sister can and should do. What a glorious matter this is!
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