We must all realize that a proper Christian life is a life of handling the gospel to produce the members of Christ. We must continue to feed them, perfect them, edify them, and build them up. We should do this year after year for our entire life. According to our physical life, if we do not have children, we become miserable, especially when we grow old. Without children we have no interest to live. Spiritually speaking, the principle is the same. As Christians we should have spiritual children. Two or three children should be under our care all the time. This must not be according to our likes or dislikes, but our duty and responsibility. Those who do not have any physical children have a great deal of time to produce and care for spiritual children.
We need not adopt anyone, for we can go to the sinners, beget them, and make them our real children. Those who have no physical children are blessed because they are not that occupied. They are not occupied, exhausted, or troubled by their children because they have none. They should go to gain spiritual children, not by adopting them but by getting them regenerated.
Although we may have physical children, we may still be barren in the spiritual sense. We should not spend all of our time and self with our own children, but share our time, heart, energy, and ability on spiritual children. The Lord cares very much for His own children and He desires that we gain more for Him. If we live such a Christian life, surely all of us will have one remaining fruit each year. This one will be a solid, real, living member for the building up of the organic Body of Christ.
The proper Christian life and proper church life are to carry out the New Testament priesthood of the gospel. Four steps are needed for the fulfillment of this New Testament priesthood. First, we must preach the gospel to gain sinners and make them members of Christ. Second, we should hold home meetings to feed and nourish the new believers in order to raise them up. Third, we must educate and perfect them that they may know how to live the Christian life, function as living members, and do the work of the ministry to build up the Body of Christ as the gifted persons do. Fourth, they will be raised up to speak for the Lord, that is, to prophesy for the direct building up of the Body of Christ. This is the New Testament priesthood in full and the complete gospel that we must carry out. This matter will be accomplished by the Lord. It has not been recovered yet, even among us in the Lord’s recovery. Today is the time for the Lord to recover this. What is happening today in eastern Europe and other countries is a tide. No one can stand against the tide of democracy. In the same way, no one can stand against the God-ordained way. It will become and has already become a tide to flood over the entire Christianity.
We must change our concept of the Christian life. The practical way to have such a change is to begin practicing the priesthood of the gospel by going forth to visit people and bearing remaining fruit. This is accomplished by having the home meetings, the group meetings, and prophesying in the larger meetings that the Body of Christ may be organically built up.
As we have fellowshipped before, we can go forth to visit people in teams of three. It is good for each team to contact other saints in the church who are not able to go out. They can stay at home to pray. It is best to have three at home praying for the three who are going out. In this way all six can have thorough fellowship. The teams of three who go out should let the others know when they go, where they go, and what they will do. After visiting people, the teams should pass the names of their contacts on to those who are praying. As a result, each team’s work will be strengthened by others’ prayer. This is the way for the entire church to be brought into the same activity, even though a number are not directly involved in the going out.
In addition, the best way to have an impact and keep the morale high is for all those who go out to come together once a week and fellowship together. Then some brothers can be in the meeting to give further training and remind those present how to carry out their New Testament priesthood. This will serve to increase our impact and uplift the morale among us.