Offering Up the Sacrifice and Apt to Teach
Cherishing in Love and Shepherding the Flock
Brother Wu, you came to the small-group meeting dragging your weak body, accompanied by your wife. You said your blood pressure was low and you were afraid of falling, so you asked your wife to come with you. We asked you to go home and rest, but you said that at home, whether lying down or sitting, you were not comfortable; coming to the meeting, on the contrary, you could overlook your bodily condition. Although for a long while after you were seated you were unable to speak, and your eyes were unable to read, yet after resting you could still keep up with the reading of the Word and with the sharing. In the fellowship you stressed even more that the function of the small-group meeting lies in "building up"; to build up in reality, one must prepare before the meeting, and to prepare is to enjoy Christ as the good land—in the morning revival, in the reading of the Word, in evening prayer, and in all the pursuit, bringing one's harvest to offer to the Lord. What the Lord delights in most is that we offer up Christ as the sacrifice; you taught us to have a heart of godliness and fear, to live a life that matches the Lord's heart's desire.
You came to the prayer meeting in a wheelchair, and at the close of the meeting you fellowshipped that, because your blood pressure was low and your head would grow dizzy, you had no choice but to sit in a wheelchair, and you told us not to worry. Moreover, you had already been examined and were scheduled for a catheter operation; yet you entirely disregarded your own sickness and pain, and instead stirred us up to serve well, leading us to sing the hymn "Dost Thou Love Me?"—this was the last teaching you left us!
John chapter twenty-one records the Lord's third appearing, in which the Lord personally led Peter, who had lost his direction, to be recovered to the ministry of the gospel, in order to accomplish His heart's desire. Brother Wu, the impression you gave us was that of teaching the saints with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength, by the truth.
The Scripture says that one requirement of an elder is that he be apt to teach. Paul also charged that one should "labor in word and teaching." Your living was itself a spiritual teaching.
In the district meetings you also personally led us. However busy you were, you were willing to set aside time to visit the saints, to shepherd us and nourish us in the various meetings; you arranged and led us in blending and in love feasts, that we might draw nearer to the Lord and be joined to the brothers and sisters, with building up; in daily life you cared for us in every way. You would often inquire of me concerning the condition of individual brothers and sisters, showing that you placed every saint upon your cherishing heart—such love is Christ Himself!
This is a picture: what you left us is to love the Lord regardless of cost and to follow Him to the very end without sparing any sacrifice. You longed that we would all so follow the Lord, and you looked for us to accomplish the Lord's purpose in the church life, to nourish His lambs and to nourish and shepherd His flock (which is the church).