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In order to perfect the home meetings, we should first learn to teach people how to sing hymns. In Life Lessons, which was compiled for the perfecting of the home meetings, a suitable hymn is included in each lesson. When we go to the home meetings, the first thing we should do is to teach the attendants to sing those hymns.
Some among us may be willing to bear the burden to compose some new hymns. This is very good. For this, we should have some basic knowledge about hymns. First, we need to know about the rhyme of hymns. To maintain a proper rhyme, the long lines have to rhyme with the long ones and the short lines with the short. In some hymns the first line can rhyme with the second, and in other hymns this is not possible. Sometimes the first line has to rhyme with the third, and the second with the fourth. We need to pay much attention to this because the initial emphasis of a hymn lies in its rhyme. Chinese poetry is very concerned with the four phonetic tones. However, when a long poem is put to a tune, there should not be such a concern for tones. Since a hymn is a poem for singing, we do not need to care for the tones. As long as the words with the four tones are rhymed, it will be fine.
Another concern for the hymns is rhythm. The tempo and rhythm should correspond with each other. Putting lyrics to a tune is based on these two considerations. The rhythm of Chinese poems is according to the Chinese writing style. For example, a ten-syllable sentence pattern can be in the combination of five and five or of four and six. The four-six pattern can be changed to six and four or five groups of two. These are all patterns that fit a ten-syllable sentence. Four and six, six and four, and five groups of two are all even-numbered patterns. However, the pattern of five and five is odd, so it cannot be put together with one of the even-numbered patterns. For example, in the Chinese supplemental hymnal, the first line of stanza 1 of hymn #835 reads, “What mercy that my eyes have seen the true God!” This sentence consists of eleven syllables arranged in a four-seven pattern. What mercy that my eyes have seen is four groups of two syllables, and the sentence ends with another three syllables. The following line of the hymn says, “What grace that I can freely have salvation!” This perfectly matches the pattern of the first sentence. Such a hymn is rhythmic and pleasant to our ears. This demonstrates that a hymn must have a proper rhythm.
With these points in mind, we will not compose hymns with strange combinations of mismatched rhythm, such as putting a three-five pattern together with a four-four pattern. Hymns, #1080 is one that has a good rhythm. Stanza 1 reads, “What profit all the labor here? / There’s nothing new for you and me! / Remember not the former things, / They’re all vanity!” These lines are in a three-five pattern in Chinese, and the tune and rhythm are well-matched. The last stanza says, “Remember God in days of youth! / Fear Him, and such will be your gain! / With Him you will be satisfied, / For He is not vain!” Although the first three lines are composed of eight syllables, in Chinese they all are in the pattern of three and five, not four and four. This provides a consistency in the rhythm.
If you are the one out of every four saints who is willing to go door-knocking and visiting, you should consecrate the Lord’s Day to the Lord. Then during the week you should offer three evenings. Since you have “joined the army,” you should set aside your time; otherwise, you should not join. The three evenings during the week all have different purposes. The first evening is to be trained in how to knock on doors, lead a home meeting, and use and teach from Life Lessons. Then having learned this, you should set aside two evenings to go out. One and a half evenings should be devoted to leading home meetings, and the remaining half evening should be used for door-knocking. You should not do too much door-knocking. We may compare this to having children. If you give birth to too many children, you will not be able to raise them. However, you should not stop begetting; you should continue to beget, but you should raise up the ones whom you have begotten. After two or three years you can beget two more and raise them gradually. In this way, life will propagate continuously. Never practice this out of a momentary excitement. Do not act only when you feel like doing it and then become cold when the excitement subsides. This is not the way. You must be steadfast until the Lord comes.
In all our service we need to learn to have no opinions. Those who like to talk a lot and have many opinions often do not work much. Those who truly work do not talk much and do not have opinions. The capable ones among the co-workers usually do not have opinions. They simply do whatever is fellowshipped. The quiet ones are usually the ones who work; the talkative people are usually the ones who do not. We may illustrate this with the printing of Life Lessons. The last word was completed recently on a Friday at 9:05 P.M. Then the serving sisters immediately started working. Those who typed did the typing, and those who proofread did the proofreading. They worked until 2:00 A.M. because the manuscript had to be ready by Saturday morning for imaging, typesetting, and printing so that the book could be ready by the coming Monday. That was a good coordination. The serving sisters did not say anything. Every one of them worked silently and diligently without any opinions. They worked entirely according to the instructions. Especially in proofreading, the sisters paid much attention to the use and choice of diction in the manuscript that I gave them. They all worked according to instructions without any opinions.
In theory, “every road leads to Rome”; there is not only one way. However, if everyone has something to say, and if everyone has his opinions, it will never be possible to “get to Rome.” In American culture the one who drives the car is properly respected. The one with the steering wheel in his hands is the one who drives, and everyone else in the car should not talk. This makes it very easy to get to the destination. If someone keeps giving opinions and argues, this will only waste time. Therefore, we should learn to work without opinions. Even if we know that the directions are not quite right, the “steering wheel” is not in our hands, so we should still remain silent. In this way, even though we may end up taking a few more turns, we quietly follow the “driver.” Then we experience that all things are under the Lord’s sovereign hands. He never fails us.
The capable ones do not talk much, and those who give opinions do not work much. This is an unchanging principle. Those who work know that there are different ways to do things, so it is not necessary to insist on a certain way, and there is no need to spend much time to study how to do things. For example, if we want to go to Yang-ming Shan, some may sit down to discuss which way is the shortest. As a result, they will discuss for over half an hour before they set out. Those who work faithfully will drive there right away and arrive in ten minutes, or twenty minutes at the most. What we need is only to “drive the car” and get there. From the beginning, the many young full-time serving ones among us need to learn the lesson of having no opinions and not giving any opinions. This is the proper attitude.
To perfect a home meeting, the first thing we need to learn is to sing the hymns. We ourselves must be familiar with the tune of a hymn and sing it well before we can lead others to sing. If there are children in the homes, we need to encourage them to sing with us, because children are the fastest learners of hymns. Upon hearing the hymns, the children will start humming them, and they will pick them up very quickly. They are truly the ones whom we can count on to start singing and lead the singing at home. Once they have learned the hymns, they can lead others to sing together. It is not very easy for older people to learn to sing hymns. Therefore, when we lead a home meeting, we need to encourage the children to sing and ask them to lead the singing. This is very needful.
Although Life Lessons has its own sequence of lessons, we do not need to be rigid about the sequence when we use the book. We can choose any one of the topics from it. The principle is that the choice should be based on our knowledge of the particular home and their practical needs. However, there are some lessons, like “Knowing the Church,” that we must teach them. I believe that all of us who are leading a home meeting feel the need to teach this lesson. Basically, we need to learn every lesson well.
In order to use Life Lessons appropriately, we need to know the way the book is compiled. First, the Scripture Reading in each lesson is very rich. The Scripture Reading as the basis is the most outstanding feature and the richest part of the book. Second, the explanation of the Scripture Reading is very simple. It is better to be simple. Because it is simple, it is easy for the new ones to understand, but it still has a crucial meaning and certain main points. Before we go to lead a home meeting, it is better for us to study one or two lessons. We not only need to study the verses thoroughly, but we also need to understand the main points in the explanation. In this way we can understand the book thoroughly. Moreover, no lesson exceeds six pages. Some lessons have only three pages. On average, each one is four to five pages. The portion is just right. At the end of each lesson there is a hymn. This is the summary of the whole compilation. It is best for us to follow this line when using the book.
The one who leads the meeting must be living. If he is not living, the meeting will definitely have no vitality. If we are a burning person, everyone will be burning once we enter the meeting. If five or six people are together talking and laughing excitedly, and someone comes in weeping, they will hardly be able to continue laughing. After a while others may begin to shed tears. This illustrates that one person’s situation can greatly affect the meeting. If we are a weeping person yet try to give a message to make people laugh, no one will laugh. On the other hand, if we are a laughing person, yet we try to give a message on repentance, confession, fasting, mourning, and lamenting, we can shout at the top of our voice, but no one will cry or feel sorrowful.
In this matter we cannot pretend. If we pretend, we will just be performing like actors. We are not actors, so we should not act. Even if we act well, it will still be false. We should not put on a mask, let alone give a performance. Whether or not the leading ones are living depends on their daily living. If we walk according to the truth and the Spirit in our daily life, as time goes by we will be a certain kind of person. Then when we are in the home meetings, we will be those who walk according to the truth and the Spirit. Whether or not we speak, we will be such persons. The kind of living a person has is the kind of person he will be.
A person who is filled with the Spirit will bring the Spirit wherever he goes. When he speaks, the Spirit will come out. When he cries, the Spirit comes out, and when he laughs, the Spirit also comes out. When he reads the Bible, the Spirit comes out, and when he sings, the Spirit also comes out. This is the most important matter.
We also need to train our character in our daily life. We not only seek the constant filling of the Holy Spirit, but we also need to have a good training of our character. Please consider the bookshelves of hymnals and Bibles for public use in various meeting halls. Are the books torn or falling apart? This kind of condition is not appropriate, and this tells us that we do not have a good character. We should know that when a proper person attends a Christian meeting, he will more or less pay attention to the clothing, speech, and behavior of the Christians and the setting of the meeting hall. We need to give people a grave, neat, proper, and dignified impression. All these are related to our spiritual character.
I was trained in my character since childhood. When I came home, I would arrange my shoes properly. I would return things to their original places after using them. Several days ago someone called me in Taipei from Anaheim. I was able to tell them clearly what I put in the right bottom drawer of the desk in my study and what I put in the second drawer on the left of the mirror in my bedroom. I asked them to bring me those things, and they made no mistake. I am an old man of eighty years of age. I say this in hope that the young people among us will train their character when they are young.
Character is cultivated. Man’s character is a matter first of inward nature and second of outward expression. In 1953 I spoke about thirty-two items related to character. At that time I emphasized to the trainees that character is the development of our inborn nature and our acquired habits. While thirty percent of our character is our inborn nature, seventy percent is our acquired habits. Therefore, we all need to learn to be proper people, not only when we visit others in their home but also in our daily life. We should not be loose most of the time and then put on a performance when it is needed. We must continually build up our character in our daily living and seek to always be filled by the Holy Spirit. In this way we will succeed in leading the home meetings.
Currently, we have about seven thousand new ones under our care, and there are still about ten thousand new ones whom we are not able to care for, mainly because we do not have enough people to take care of them. I tell you this in order to show you that whether or not the new way will succeed depends completely on the home meetings. If the home meetings are good, the new way will succeed, but if the home meetings are not good, the new way will fail. We believe that in some places the new way will be very successful, and in other places it will not succeed. In yet other places the new way will half succeed and half fail. It all depends on how the elders and co-workers lead the church in their locality. The key is that they must lead the church in a proper way in order to succeed.
It is difficult for the trainees to live with several hundred people, let alone be trained twenty-four hours a day. However, this is to train their character and help them to exercise their spirit in order to adapt to the environment. Perhaps some of them are the only son or daughter at home, and they were spoiled by their parents and allowed to do whatever they liked. Today, however, since they have chosen to serve the Lord full time, they must know that in serving the Lord there is not a single thing that will go according to their will. They must be prepared to have a mind to suffer.
A person who is as fragile as an egg cannot serve the Lord. Every person who serves the Lord must be like an egg of marble, even of steel that can withstand a nuclear attack. Only such a strong person can serve the Lord. If we hear a word that wrongs us or does not please us and become hurt and disappointed, we will not be welcome anywhere. Therefore, we need to learn to be strong in our spirit within and meek without in order to adapt to every environment. This is to have a proper character. If people arrange that we sleep in a room by ourselves, we will be fine. If the arrangement is that we share a room with another person, even with two or three people, we are still fine. If we have to get up early, we are fine, and if we have to get up late, we are also fine. We should be adaptable in all things, whether tough or soft, square or round. Then we will be useful in the hands of the Lord.
In using Life Lessons during a home meeting, we need to remember not to speak too much about other things. It is not even necessary to bring up other Bible verses because all the necessary verses are contained in the lesson. We need to share only what is in the lesson. Some of the contents do not require much time to read. The remaining time should be used to practice singing hymns with the new ones, and at the end we can have a little more time of fellowship with them.
When we read, we should read section by section. For example, the introduction of lesson 12, “Knowing the Church,” says, “The church is the goal that God wants to obtain in His eternal economy.” We should not read this rigidly. Since God’s eternal economy is a major point, we need to read this several times and in a living way. For example, we can say, “Lord, thank You that the church is the goal God wants to obtain in His eternal economy. This is the goal that God plans to obtain in His eternal economy. Every saved person has a part in this goal. Thank You, Lord, we all have a part in God’s eternal purpose.” Lead everyone to read together, not just one person reading. This is the main thing to do. At the same time do not expect to explain the lesson thoroughly the first time. We need to learn that if we cannot explain the lesson thoroughly, we should leave the questions temporarily. Do not attempt to solve them. The new ones will gradually understand.
We must learn to lead the new ones to livingly read concerning the five basic items that Christians must know: first, to know the true God; second, to know Christ; third, to know the Holy Spirit; fourth, to know the cross of Christ; and fifth, to know the church. Every Christian must be completely familiar with these five points. In knowing the church, we first need to know that the church is the called-out assembly. Second, the church is the Body of Christ. Third, the church is the counterpart of Christ. Fourth, the church is the house of God. Fifth, the church is the new man. Then we need to explain that the first title, the called-out assembly, is a general term. Then to Christ, the church is His Body and His counterpart, and to God, the church is His house. Finally, for the fulfillment of God’s will, the church is a new man. By leading the new ones to read and speak in this way, it will be easy for them to remember the five main aspects of the church.
Next we need to come back to read section by section. For example, in the section on the Body of Christ, Ephesians 1:22b-23 says, “The church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” The content of this section says, “The church is...constituted for Christ in His life and Spirit with all those who have believed into Him.” Such a phrase as in His life and Spirit is an important point, and we need to read it a few more times. Life Lessons is written in a concise way. Every phrase is like a gold nugget that requires repeat-reading with emphasis. Constituted for Christ means not for others but for Christ. Furthermore, the church is constituted not by organization or coincidence but with life; therefore, it says, “In His life.” It is also constituted with Spirit, so it says, “...and Spirit.”
We should not read this passage too fast. All the important points need to be read repeatedly. Sometimes we need to read loudly or even proclaim, but sometimes we may need to read softly. We should practice this kind of reading privately and not wait until we come to the home meeting. To practice repeat-reading is to read over and over again. We also need to practice reading loudly, softly, slowly, quickly, and in a proclaiming way. The lesson itself already gives a clear explanation, so it is not necessary to speak more. It is sufficient simply to read in various ways to express it. Some of the sentences in particular cannot be explained and should not be explained. Once you attempt to explain them, you will deviate from the right meaning. We only need to read them as they are.
The way a child learns to speak is wonderful. For example, when he learns to say “water glass,” he may not fully understand what water is and what a glass is, but he understands “water glass.” Perhaps he once pointed to a water glass and asked what it was. After people said “water glass” a few times, he learned it. It would be redundant to explain that water is a fluid and that a glass is for containing things, and this kind of explanation might confuse the child. We only need to teach him to repeat “water glass” after us a few times, and he will learn. Therefore, do not overly elaborate. I believe that this example will help you understand and receive the benefit.
When we first start reading with the newly saved ones, they may feel that they do not know what they are reading. Nevertheless, simply lead them to read a few times. You do not need to say too much. It is enough to say only a little, and they will understand. This lesson can be used for twenty minutes, fifty minutes, or even an hour. The speaking of twenty minutes has its benefits; the speaking of fifty minutes has its benefits; and the speaking of one hour has its benefits. The more closely we follow the lesson, the more they can understand. Do not speak anything other than the words from the lessons and the Bible. I hope that we can all see that this is the way to constitute God’s truth into people. If we do this every week for fifty-two weeks a year, we can expect a result.
This step is the high mountain of the new way, and we must climb it in one accord. If the home meeting is successful, the blessing of the Lord will be with us.
At the present time we have more than ten thousand saints meeting in the church in Taipei. There are more than three thousand saints meeting in twenty-three meeting halls and more than seven thousand saints meeting in thousands of homes. In the coming years we hope that there will be more than one hundred thousand saints meeting regularly in Taipei. How glorious it would be to have this many saints meeting on a single Lord’s Day. Whether or not the new way will be successful is a matter of God’s eternal purpose, and it depends on whether or not we are willing to do it. The problem today lies not with the way but with whether or not we are willing to take this way and how we take it. I hope that we would all have the same feeling and be in one accord, willing to put our shoulders to the task and take this new way, which is ordained by God.
On the other hand, we still need big meetings. If the Lord has mercy on us, He will allow us to build a big meeting hall in Taipei that can accommodate fifteen to seventeen thousand people so that we can blend with one another.
In any case, we must take this new way. Whether or not this way will be successful depends very much on the trainees. When they go back to their own localities, they should spread the new way and become teachers to train the saints in every place. In this way, after five years this will become our “family tradition.” Then it will not be as difficult as it is today. We may compare this to the way education has been made universal in Taiwan. Because a complete educational system has been established, it is easy to make education universal. We should do something of the same kind. We should work out the crucial points so that the new way can be universalized. Once the new way is universalized, the result will be amazing. Then in a few years hundreds and thousands, even tens of thousands, of saints in Taiwan will go to many places to gospelize the world.
Five hundred thousand saints in Taipei can produce twenty-five thousand full-timers. Since Taiwan does not need this many, these full-timers can go to the whole world. They can go to the Arab nations, India, South Africa, East Africa, and West Africa. Some can go even to northern Europe. If possible, one day we will send some to Russia to gospelize the people there. This is our prospect. We must believe that this will work. Moreover, if the one hundred thousand saints who regularly meet are faithful with regard to their income and consecration to make financial offerings, the supply for the full-timers should be more than adequate.
Finally, we need to declare that this is the proper way. When this way starts flowing, it will be not only a few drops of water but a flood. We all must press forward to succeed in the home meetings, to gospelize Taiwan, and to gospelize the whole world. This is too glorious!
