Have a Rich Deposit of the Lord’s Healthy Words to Shepherd and Teach the Saints

In 2 Timothy we see that in these last days before the Lord’s coming we need to be empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus to be faithful men who have a deposit of the Lord’s healthy words, and we should train the faithful ones that they may have a good deposit and be competent to teach others also. Amen!

The subject of the second epistle of Paul to Timothy is inoculation against the decline of the church.

Paul wanted to perfect and equip Timothy to be an inoculator, one who dispenses the riches of Christ into others to inoculate them against the decline of the church.

The church today is in decline, and the degradation among Christians is at its peak.

The Lord wants to gain inoculators, those who cooperate with God to be inoculated themselves and then become inoculators in the church life to help others be inoculated against the degradation and decline in the church.

In 2 Tim. 2:1-15, we see that Paul regarded both Timothy and his co-workers as teachers, soldiers, contenders, farmers, and workmen.

Each of these qualifications is meaningful in a particular way, for we as inoculators need to be teachers and shepherds, soldiers of Christ in His army to fight the good fight, contenders for the faith, farmers patiently labouring on the land, and workmen.

May the Lord grant us His grace and mercy that we would be the faithful ones, those who are faithful to the Lord in His economy and faithful to the church so that we may coordinate with God and be coordinated with the saints to be the inoculators of today.

May we be the faithful ones.

Even during a period of decline, when the downward trend of the degradation of the church is more and more apparent and most of God’s people are carried away from God’s economy and His original intention, may we be the remnant who cooperates with God.

We need to be among the remnant of God’s people who receive mercy from the Lord to remain faithful to Him.

We may not have such a large portion as the apostle Paul, but we can be like Onesiphorus, overcomers who resist the general trend to refresh the saints in spirit, not being ashamed of the Lord’s servant.

We may also be like Timothy, those who are fully perfected and equipped to minister the word of God, even being like-souled with the co-workers to genuinely care for the church with all the saints.

We can be like Luke, the beloved physician, as faithful companions to care for others.

We can be like Titus, walking in the same spirit and in the same steps as the apostle Paul to care both for the saints and for the churches.

Or we can be like Mark, being useful to the Lord and to the co-workers for the ministry.

Having a Deposit of the Lord’s Healthy Words and Shepherding the Saints with the Teaching of God’s Economy

May the Lord make us those in the local church who have a good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words, those who train the faithful ones that they too may have a good deposit from the Lord and be competent to teach others so that they may be good stewards, dispensers, of the varied grace of God (2 Tim. 2:2; 1:12-14; 1 Tim. 6:20; Eph. 3:2; 4:29; 1 Pet. 4:10).

The first qualification of an inoculator is being a teacher.

A teacher is not just someone who can teach; it is someone who has a good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words, the healthy teaching of God’s New Testament economy.

We need to have a good deposit and guard the good deposit, even to enrich the good deposit.

We need to pray that the Lord would enrich and increase the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words in us so that we may be able to teach others by shepherding the saints with the teaching of God’s economy.

When we have the healthy words and hold to them, these healthy words of God’s economy become a good deposit.

We need to be under the healthy teaching and speaking of God’s New Testament economy and we need to have a good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words.

Then, we need to pass it on to others, cooperating with the Lord to perfect others to have this good deposit.

We may think we don’t know how to teach, for we are not a teacher by profession; however, if we have a good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words, we will be equipped to teach others by shepherding the saints with the teaching of God’s economy (Eph. 4:11; Col. 1:27-29; cf. 1 Tim. 3:2; 4:11-16).

Shepherding and teaching go together.

We cannot just teach others and that’s it; we teach them by shepherding them with the healthy words of God’s economy.

May we advance in our teaching of the Word and specifically in teaching God’s economy by being shepherd-teachers, those who care for the saints in love, cherish them in the humanity of Jesus and nourish them in the divinity of Christ, so that they may gain a good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words.

Paul’s writings are full of teaching, but this teaching is also a shepherding, for Paul did not just expound the truths in God’s economy but shepherded the saints with the words of God’s economy.

For example, in 1 Corinthians we see at least twenty items of what the all-inclusive Christ is to us; the way Paul presented such a rich Christ was not by giving them doctrines but by shepherding the saints and nourishing them with Christ.

We all need to aspire to follow this pattern so that we may be constituted into those who shepherd the saints and minister the riches of Christ to them.

We should shepherd people by dispensing the divine life in the humanity of Jesus to cherish them and by teaching them the divine truths in the divinity of Christ to nourish them (Eph. 5:29).

In our teaching and shepherding, we need to be one with Christ, even we need to be Christ, for only He as the great Shepherd and our Teacher can both shepherd and teach others.

We need to shepherd the flock of God by declaring to them all the counsel of God, the economy of God, to protect the church from the destroyers of God’s building (Acts 20:26-30; Eph. 4:14; 1 Tim. 1:3-4; Rom. 16:17; cf. Ezek. 33:1-11; 34:25; Zech. 11:7).

When we do this, the saints are mingled with the Triune God as grace, and they are bound together in His oneness.

Today there are such things and such persons that destroy God’s building.

Our shepherding and teaching, on the one hand, need to be positive to dispense grace and life to nourish the saints.

On the other hand, by giving the ones under our care a taste of life and the healthy words of God’s economy, we are equipping them and inoculating them against the destroyers of God’s building.

Sometimes we are in the meetings of the church and we hear someone speaking, even with good words from God’s word and the ministry, but we realize that there’s a different taste there. Oh, Lord.

May the Lord save us and save the saints from the destroyers of God’s building.

May we stress nothing else but the healthy teaching concerning God’s economy.

May we stay away from those who speak different things, those who teach heresies, the sectarian and factious ones, those who make divisions, and from those who are like wolves, not sparing the flock.

May we gain the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words and may we shepherd the saints and teach them for them also to be brought into the enjoyment of Christ to be constituted as inoculators today, those who have a good deposit of the Lord.

Furthermore, may we perfect and equip the ones under our care to be competent to teach others so that they may be good dispensers of the varied grace of God.

Lord Jesus, we want to gain a good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words and guard this deposit. May the good deposit increase in us and be enriched in us so that we may be able to teach and perfect others. Amen, Lord, make us those who train the faithful ones in the church so that they too may have a good deposit from the Lord and be competent to teach others also! Lord Jesus, we come to You in Your word to receive Your healthy words. We give ourselves to You to become the inoculators You need in this age of the degradation of the church. Make us the good stewards of the varied grace of God, those who enjoy the grace of God and dispense this varied grace to others also! Oh Lord Jesus, have Your way among us that the destroyers of God’s building may be kept away as the saints remain in the healthy teaching of God’s eternal economy! Release the shepherding and teaching in love in the church life. May we learn to shepherd people by dispensing the divine life in the humanity of Jesus to cherish them and by teaching them the divine truths in the divinity of Christ to nourish them!

Being Empowered in the Grace in Christ and Exercising our Spirit to Live Christ and Speak Christ in our Daily Life

The first thing Paul charged Timothy in 2 Tim. 2 is to be empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus.

Paul was an inoculator and he sought to gain Timothy, even to perfect and equip him, to be an inoculator against the decline of the church.

The first thing we need to do in order to become inoculators is to be empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus.

We need to be empowered not in knowledge or in gifts but in grace.

The supply that we need is grace. Grace is God’s provision in life given to us for us to live out His purpose.

Instead of being discouraged, we need to be empowered in the grace, even as Paul was not discouraged when in prison but was empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 2:1).

What is grace? Grace is more than an unmerited favour.

Grace is something related to God Himself, even the Triune God Himself who was processed and consummated to become our everything for our enjoyment.

Grace is nothing less than the Father embodied in the Son and the Son realized as the indwelling Spirit to come to us to be our enjoyment as our everything.

2 Cor. 13:14 shows us the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity into us for our full enjoyment and participation.

Grace is not a thing given to us by God; grace is a unique person; grace is the living person of the Triune God who was processed to be the all-inclusive, life-giving, indwelling Spirit.

God in Christ as the Spirit dwells in us as grace to empower us to be someone who teaches and shepherds the saints to inoculate them and equip them with the healthy words of God’s economy.

May we be those who are empowered by the grace which is in Christ Jesus to gain the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words, and may we shepherd the saints and teach them with the healthy words of God’s eternal economy.

Each one of us in the church life has a good deposit; we have a good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words, and the more we read the Bible and are under the speaking of the ministry, the good deposit increases in us.

Thank the Lord that in the church life we have been taught and nourished with the riches of grace, and we have a good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words to minister to others.

We all can testify that, as we read the Bible, prayerfully study it together with the footnotes in the Recovery Version, and read the life-study messages, we gain a good and rich deposit of the Lord’s healthy words.

The more we remain in the Lord’s word and in the teaching of God’s New Testament economy, the more we have a way to not only gain the good deposit but also shepherd and teach others that they may be faithful men who are competent to teach others also and bring them into the enjoyment of Christ to be constituted with the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words.

May we be empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus, receive the good deposit, and pass on the riches of grace to others.

May we learn to be teachers and shepherds in the church life by enjoying and experiencing Christ, and by being empowered in the grace.

The teacher, as a good minister of Christ Jesus, is nourished with the words of the faith and exercises his spirit to live Christ in his daily life for the church life (1 Tim. 4:6-7).

On one hand, we ourselves are nourished with the words of the faith; on the other hand, we minister these words to others, exercising our spirit to live Christ and speak Christ in our daily life.

Lord Jesus, cause us to be empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus. We want to be nourished with the words of faith and be filled with the enjoyment of the Triune God as our everything! Thank You, Lord, for going through a process to become the all-inclusive, life-giving, indwelling Spirit to be our life and our everything for our enjoyment. Yes, Lord, fill us with grace and cause the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words to increase in us so that we may be able to minister the riches of Christ to others. Hallelujah, in the church life we are taught and nourished with the riches of grace and we are learning to commit the healthy words of God’s economy to others so that they would be competent and faithful to carry on the same ministry. Amen, Lord, keep us in the healthy words of God’s eternal economy. Keep us enjoying You with the saints, and may the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words increase in us. May all the saints be filled with the good deposit and spread the riches of God’s economy throughout the earth!

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References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 2 Timothy, msg. 3 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Being a Vessel unto Honor, a Fully Equipped Man of God, by being Empowered in the Grace which is in Christ Jesus to Fully Accomplish our Ministry in the Unique Ministry of God’s Economy (2024 April ITERO), week 3, Being Empowered in the Grace Which Is in Christ Jesus to Be Teachers, Soldiers, Contenders, Farmers, and Workmen.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The perfecting work of the gifted persons, a portion from, The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, Chapter 23, by Witness Lee.
  – 6 Functions of the Living Word of God, via, Bibles for America blog.
  – God’s economy in light, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Being Daily Constituted with the Truth in the Morning Revival, via, Living to Him.
  – 8 – The Ministry Abounding with Glory (5) – From chapter eight of The Ministers in the Lord’s Recovery – Genuine Ministers of the New Covenant, via, Shepherding Words.
  – God Gave Us a Guarantee, a Foretaste, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Apt to teach, a portion from, All Ages for the Lord’s Testimony, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
  – Is It More Important to be Faithful or Powerful in Serving the Lord? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Eternal grace, the incorruptible life, the healthy words, and the indwelling Spirit, a portion from, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Chapter 13.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Oh, healthful teaching, wholesome words: / The truth of godliness! / Oh, good deposit, common faith, / And life of holiness! / Lord, make us now those faithful men / Who pass on what we’ve heard; / Make us examples of the saints / In spirit, faith, and word. (Hymns #1285 stanzas 5-6)
  – Lord, speak to me, that I may speak / In living echoes of Thy tone; / As Thou hast sought, so let me seek / Thy erring children lost and lone. / O lead me, Lord, that I may lead / The wandering and the wavering feet; / O feed me, Lord, that I may feed / Thy hungering ones with manna sweet. (Hymns #903 stanzas 1-2)
  – Grace in its highest definition is / God in the Son to be enjoyed by us; / It is not only something done or giv’n, / But God Himself, our portion glorious. / This grace, which is the living Christ Himself, / Is what we need and must experience; / Lord, may we know this grace and by it live, / Thyself increasingly as grace to sense. (Hymns #497 stanzas 1 and 5)