Weekly Pursuit – Week 4 of April
Verses:
John 10:10-11 “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly. I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
Excerpts:
Among the four kinds of gifted persons, the ministry of the first three, that is, of the apostles, prophets, and evangelists, depends upon shepherding. This is confirmed by the Lord’s charge to Peter in John 21:15-17. The functions of these leading gifted persons depend upon shepherding. Without shepherding, the apostles, prophets, and evangelists cannot function.
The preaching of the gospel is the top shepherding of sinners. The Lord Jesus was the first New Testament preacher. John the Baptist was the forerunner. The first gospel preacher, Christ, carried out His ministry by shepherding. He went to Jericho just to visit one person, a chief tax collector. He did not go there to hold a big gospel campaign with thousands of people. His desire was to preach the gospel to gain one person, and His preaching was a shepherding.
John 4 says that while the Lord was on His way to Galilee, “He had to pass through Samaria” (v. 4). He detoured from the main way to Sychar, near Jacob’s well, in order to contact a sinful Samaritan woman, who previously had five husbands. The Lord foreknew that she would come to the well of Jacob. We have to learn of the Lord’s pattern in purposely detouring to Sychar to gain only one person.
To spend three years to gain one person is worthwhile. If you spend three years to visit one person continually, you will gain him. After twelve years you will have four new ones following you to the church meetings. (The Vital Groups, ch. 7)
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