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Scripture Reading: Heb. 10:24-25; 2 Tim. 2:2; Eph. 4:11-12
In this chapter we will continue to fellowship concerning the third main step of the God-ordained way — the group meeting. In previous chapters we have covered the basic elements of such a meeting. When we come together in a group meeting, we must have the mutual fellowship, intercession, care, and shepherding. After this, there must be the mutual teaching by all the saints. This mutual teaching is the crucial part of the group meeting because, through it, the saints will gradually be perfected week after week. As they are being perfected, they will spontaneously learn to speak the word of the Lord; that is, they will learn to prophesy.
Although some among us have been meeting in smaller groups for the past three or four years, for the most part those meetings were still in the old way. We may pick up all the items of the new way and yet practice them in the old way. Our group meeting may have fellowship, intercession, mutual care, shepherding, and teaching yet still be according to the old way. In the new way, when we come to the group meeting, we must be those who are living a life of morning revival and daily victory. If we are not revived by the Lord in the morning and are defeated by the enemy in our daily life, how can we be victorious and living when we come to the group meeting? If everyone comes to the group meeting in a defeated condition, that meeting will surely be empty.
If we mean business with the Lord to practice the group meeting in the new way, we must be revived, victorious, and overcoming people. Then our spirit will be living and uplifted, and our person will be altogether in the spirit. Then when we come to the group meeting, we will come in the spirit, praying, praising, and shouting Hallelujah. Even before we enter the meeting place, the meeting will have already started in our home or on our way to the meeting.
The group meeting should be something real in the spirit. It should not be anything as a performance. Therefore, we must be revived, victorious, and living in our spirit. A proper Christian is a very peculiar person, even a “crazy” person. When others laugh, they would not laugh; when others weep, they would not weep. The New Testament, based on the Old Testament (Deut. 7:6; 14:2; 26:18), calls us the particular personal possession of God (Titus 2:14; 1 Pet. 2:9). To be a Christian is to be something particular. We should not be this kind of person through mere performance. We are particular, even crazy, because we are saturated with the Triune God. This causes us to be crazy with joy. We are so happy, joyful, and rejoicing because the Triune God is saturating us with Himself. If we are such persons in reality, nothing will bother us. Regardless of what our outward environment or situation may be, we will be at peace and will always be eager to attend the meetings.
The old way is cold, dumb, dead, and deadening. In the old way we may have come to the meetings deadened within ourselves and deadening to others. But the new way is living, revived, overcoming, shouting, and rejoicing. We cannot learn to be crazy in this way; it must be the issue of our living. Then when we come together in the group meetings, we are living, fresh, and refreshing. We come singing, praying, shouting, and praising; we are crazy in the most positive sense. Then, spontaneously, there will be the proper fellowship with intercession, mutual care, and shepherding. Then the mutual teaching will come forth from all the saints through the mutual answering of one another’s questions.
Because we are so living, we will have many good questions. Then all can and must answer. Do not think that some brothers are so mature and knowledgeable that no one can teach them. This kind of thought is wrong. Quite often, I have received much teaching from the younger ones. If we mean business with the Lord to follow the Bible, we must practice this way. Hebrews 10:24-25 says that we should not abandon our own assembling together. We should have our own meetings, and they should be full of mutuality. We must consider one another, incite one another, exhort one another, and teach one another.
The perfecting work in the group meeting is carried out mainly through the mutual answering of one another’s questions. Every member can answer according to his capacity, and every member can be taught. Within God’s people there are many riches. However, many times when we go to a group meeting, we do not speak. Although we are rich, it seems that when we come together, many of us leave our riches at home and appear to have nothing. This is due to the marriage between our disposition and religious tradition. To have a proper group meeting, we must dissolve this marriage. The Lord wants us to meet in the group meetings so that we can release what is within us. Some young ones may answer in a way that is not so right, yet this is still a kind of teaching that can help others. No matter who we are or how young we are in the Lord, we all can and must speak something in the group meeting.
Sometimes an interesting question can open the way for the saints to pour out the riches that are within them. Therefore, you all must learn how to ask a proper question in order to help the meeting. If no one else asks a question, this puts the responsibility upon your own shoulders. You must initiate the mutual teaching by asking a question. You might ask, “Why does the Bible tell us that Christ became the life-giving Spirit?” There are many answers to such a question, and every believer, old or young, can give an answer.
Every one of us should feel obligated to speak in the group meeting. Such a meeting always affords us the time and the opportunity to pour out the riches we have within us. By this we both teach one another and are taught by one another. Sometimes we are taught unconsciously. By simply listening in the group meetings week after week, we receive the riches from the saints. Whenever we open our mouth and exercise our spirit to say something, the Holy Spirit within us will be one with our spirit. Sometimes it seems that we are speaking something out of ourselves, but actually it is something out of the Holy Spirit. We must learn to do this; then we can have a proper group meeting.
The most difficult aspect of the group meeting is the matter of leadership. We do not need any leader in the group meeting, but there is the need for leadership. We all must learn to take care of the meeting yet not have the thought that we are leaders. In the home the mother does not consider herself as a leader, yet she realizes that she needs to take care of the family. When the mother is gone, the older children spontaneously pick up the responsibility to take care of the family. When one of us goes to a group meeting, he should not consider himself as a leader; he should not consider himself as being better than others. However, he must feel that he has the responsibility to take care of that meeting.
Someone may ask, “Suppose fifteen come together, and each one has the feeling that he has to take care of that meeting. Wouldn’t there be too many leaders?” Not at all. I would like to see fifteen come together and there be fifteen leaders. This would be marvelous! This means that every saint is bearing the responsibility for that meeting. They are not only functioning in the meeting but also bearing the meeting. How much someone can do in bearing a meeting depends on the capacity that the Lord has measured to him, but as long as he has such a burden, he will surely do his best to serve the meeting. Whatever he has and whatever he can do according to his capacity will be poured out. Then the meeting will be rich.
Do not say to yourself, “I am not the one responsible for this meeting. It is not up to me to make this a good meeting, and if it is a bad meeting, it is not my fault.” This kind of attitude is wrong. When you come to any Christian meeting, you must have the feeling, the realization, that you must take care of the meeting. This is the best aspect of the new way. The new way stirs up the believers to care for God’s interest. In the new way every saint has the feeling, the realization, that he is responsible for the meeting.
Many things can be done when there is a “gap,” or silence, in the meeting. What you can do depends on your capacity. Whether your capacity is large or small does not matter. A new one may ask, “I have heard you talk about God’s economy. What do you mean by this?” This is actually a very deep question, yet a young one can also give a very good answer. He may say, “God’s economy is just to make sinners His children.” This is a good teaching out of the mouth of one who has been saved about four weeks. He was a sinner, and he became one of God’s children. According to his knowledge, God’s economy is simply to make sinners His children. This is such a simple answer, yet many may learn from it.
Regardless of my spiritual maturity, as long as I do not hold back what God has given me to speak, I have fulfilled my responsibility, and the meeting will be enriched. If every saint has this realization, all the riches within them will be ministered to the other members of the Lord’s Body according to each saint’s capacity.
We all must endeavor to start a group meeting. However, to form a group meeting is not easy. You probably will not succeed on your first attempt. You have to try again and again. You have to collect all the new ones who are under your care, and if you do not have that many, you can work together with other teams. Three teams may need to gather all their new ones together in one group meeting.
Once you all come together, you have to help the new ones by bringing them into the proper practice of the group meeting. You must be their “coach” because they are all new learners. You can help them by proposing things to them or by asking them questions. You may ask, “Brothers, what troubles have you had in these past few days?” This will help them learn how to fellowship, how to open up to one another. You may say, “In today’s society no one wants others to know his problems, but as Christians we are ‘no longer strangers and sojourners, but...members of the household of God’ (Eph. 2:19). We are brothers and sisters in Christ; therefore, we like to open ourselves to the other members of our family. It is good for us to open up to let others know about our situation.” If one of the brothers opens and lets you know about a problem, what should you do? It may be better if you do not take the lead to pray for him. Instead, you may ask the others, “What shall we do?” Then someone may say, “Well, we have to help him.” You may say, “That is very good.” Then another may say, “Sisters, what do you feel that we should do?” A sister may answer, “We should pray for this brother.” Another will agree, “That’s right. We should pray for him, and we should pray for each other.” This brings them spontaneously into the matter of intercession.
After praying, we may be able to say something in order to usher them into the matter of the mutual care. If the brother has some sickness, you may say, “Brother, can we do anything to help you? Can we help you go see a doctor or help in some other way? Maybe you have some things you need to do, but you need some help. We would like to help you.” This is to have the mutual care. This kind of care shows our genuine love to one another. Regardless of their situation, love always touches people; love always builds people up. If we only stress something so high like “the two great mysteries in God’s economy,” many people may not be able to identify with something so high. They may think, “These people must be angels. I cannot be like that.” However, if you simply come to them with tender, loving, mutual care, everyone will be deeply touched.
However, we must be balanced. If we practice only the mutual care, we will not have a high experience of Christ. We must stress the great mysteries in the Bible, yet we must practice the mutual care with tenderness and love toward one another. This will keep people, and this will build people up. In the past we have been short of this, because to exercise this kind of mutual care without meeting in small groups is very hard.
The mutual care can bring you into the practical shepherding. You may say, “Maybe tomorrow, Brother So-and-so, you can go with me to help this brother.” This is shepherding. In this way you can take the lead in the group meeting. However, you should not have any feeling, any consciousness, that you are taking the lead. Once you have this consciousness, you will become the leader, and this will kill the meeting. No one should feel that you are a leader. They should feel that you are the same as they are. Then they will follow you to do the same things.
If you show the new ones the way, they will learn to follow your example. If they do not know how to ask a question, you can show them. You may ask, “Do you all know that you have a human spirit? Do you all know what your human spirit is?” Give them this question, and let them answer. Their answers are a kind of teaching to one another. Then you may need to add something, but do not answer too quickly. If you speak too soon, it may prevent the new ones from speaking. You must encourage them to speak and give them the opportunity to say something. After their answering, you can add something, then another one may add something, and so forth. Eventually, you will have a complete answer to this question, and that becomes a very good teaching. By this all the new ones will know, see, and understand that they have a human spirit. Also, by asking in this way and answering in this way, you set up an example for them to follow.
At the end of the meeting one of you may say, “Brothers and sisters, this is the way we have our Christian meetings. We hope to have this kind of meeting once a week. In this meeting we will have fellowship as we did tonight. We will get to know the situations of all the dear ones who meet with us. Then we will be able to pray for them, that is, to intercede for them. Then we can take care of one another and also shepherd one another. I may have some need that I cannot take care of by myself. Then I would need someone to help me. Some others may have needs that I can help them with. Because we are a big family, we like to help each other and to shepherd each other.”
One of you may say, “Tonight, a question was raised for all of us to answer. Do you know that all our answers were a kind of teaching? All the answers together made up a complete teaching. According to Ephesians 4:12, it is in this way that we are perfected. Although we are not apostles, prophets, evangelists, and so forth, we believe that there are some gifted persons among us tonight who are able to do what we cannot do. However, after about four months, because we are being taught and perfected, we should be able to do many of the same things that they can do. We call this kind of meeting the group meeting, and we consider this meeting as a great part of the practical church life.” Then in the next meeting, you can introduce the basic practices of the Christian life and the church life, such as having morning watch and going out to visit people for the preaching of the gospel.
To change our way from the old practice to the new is not easy. We may want to begin a group meeting with a small number, even four or five can be enough. The best way is to begin mainly with the new ones. Then after we have set up that group meeting, we can bring in more saints. We all must try our best to have group meetings according to these few steps. First, we have to let the attendants open up that we may have fellowship. Following fellowship we will know the situation and condition of the saints so we can pray for one another. This is intercession. Then based on our fellowship and prayer we can render some practical care to one another, and we can practice the mutual shepherding. In every group meeting we must have some points to talk about or a question to answer. This is the mutual teaching, not by one person but by all the attendants. Everyone can say a little bit, and even this little bit should be considered as a part of the teaching. We must try our best to practice the group meeting in this way.
A vital matter that is crucial to the practice of the church life in the new way is our living a life of morning revival and daily victory. We should not consider that to have a personal morning revival is difficult. To be revived is simply to be touched by the Lord anew. Whenever the Lord touches us, we are revived. In only two minutes the Lord can touch us and revive us. You may not have been revived for a long time, and you may feel that you are very far from the Lord. However, the Lord promises that, regardless of what we are, where we are, or how we are, He is always near to us. We may not have a pure conscience, but the Lord’s blood is ready to cleanse us. If we simply confess our failures, defects, wrongdoings, and shortcomings, the Lord will forgive us and cleanse us. Then immediately we touch Him, and He touches us. This is to be revived, and this kind of revival must be fresh every day.
We stress that this should be a morning revival based on God’s natural law. Every twenty-four hours there is a morning to begin the new day. The sun rises anew every morning, and we also must rise up every morning. Therefore, it is good for us to go to bed earlier at night so that we can rise up earlier in the morning. Every morning we should get up, make our bed, and then spend some time with the Lord. If we can give the Lord ten minutes in the morning before doing anything else, surely we will be revived. If we normally get up at six o’clock, we should get up at five fifty. Then we could have ten minutes to contact the Lord and be revived.
In our time with the Lord, the main thing is to clear up our conscience, to get rid of our inner condemnation. This is done by making a thorough confession of all of our failures, defects, defeats, wrongdoings, mistakes, even sinfulness to the Lord. Then we can take one or two verses from the holy Word to use in our prayer. This is pray-reading. Do not be concerned about too many things, and do not care that much for your understanding. Take care of calling on the Lord, contacting the Lord, and touching the Lord with a proper inner sense. This keeps you in a direct, fresh, intimate, loving contact with the Lord. Sometimes as you are enjoying the Lord in this way, you may have the sensation that the Lord is speaking to you. Then you can be silent, listening to His speaking. This is to fellowship with Him. In ten minutes you can do a number of things, yet you should not try to do too much. Use this ten minutes mainly to contact the Lord directly; then you will be revived. Because you have been revived, when you go to work, you will go with the Lord. In this way you will be victorious the whole day.
Because we have such a daily practice, we should help all our new ones to do the same. Do not think that because they were just baptized, they cannot have morning watch or a morning revival. Everyone can have a morning revival. You only need to give them some simple instructions. We found out that a good way to help the new ones build up this practice is by using the telephone. You can encourage a new one to have a time of morning revival and explain what this means as I have done in this message. Then you can help him set a time for this. Many people do not get up early, so you may have to encourage him. If he usually gets up at seven o’clock, then you can say, “If you get up fifteen minutes earlier, you can make your bed, and then I will call you at six fifty. Then we can pray together over the phone.” If you practice in this way, you may be able to take care of two or three new ones every morning. You should also fellowship with them and select a book from the New Testament to go through in your morning revival times. When you begin to help them in this way, it may seem somewhat lifeless. However, after one or two days, this new one will be revived and become living. Whether he becomes living this morning, tomorrow morning, or the next morning, you should not care for that. If you are faithful to call him every morning, eventually, he will be fully revived. Through your example, he will learn to pray and to pray-read. If you will practice with him, he will learn. If you have a morning revival with an overcoming daily life, you can take the lead to bring the new ones into the same practice.
