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Scripture Reading: Matt. 4:4; Jer. 15:16; John 6:63; Psa. 119:103; Rom. 10:12b
1. Lead them to call on the Lord.
2. Lead them to masticate the Word by pray-reading the Bible verses quoted in our publications.
3. Lead them to mingle the Word with prayer.
4. Lead them to share with others in the meetings what they have received from the Word.
5. Lead them to give testimonies of their experience.
We have spent much time since October of 1984 to study the matter of the increase and spread of the church. Until that time the increase and spread in the churches was somewhat disappointing. There had been very little increase or spread for years. In 1962 Taipei had twenty-two thousand members. By 1984 the number had decreased by fifty percent. Many new ones had been saved, but the total number had not increased. At the same time we had about a hundred churches in the United States and Canada, yet the number of the saints was very small, not over ten thousand.
Since that time I began to consider the proper way to have the increase and spread, and the Lord began to show me the way of the homes. In the New Testament, when the Lord Jesus ministered for three and a half years, He used people’s homes (Matt. 10:11-13; 26:6). Even the more, on the day of Pentecost three thousand were added and right away began to meet in their homes, from home to home (Acts 2:46). This was a new beginning; the meetings in the Old Testament were not carried out in this way (Deut. 12:5-14). According to history, the Christian groups that have met in the homes were profited.
Because of this, throughout all these months my burden has not been on anything besides the homes. I consider the homes all day. I love the homes. I do not think that in the Lord’s new move the big meetings are much needed.
Every brother or sister who would go out to knock on doors for the gospel could establish a home meeting every four weeks. You do not need to be a job-dropping full-timer to do this. Take care of your job, but every week spend two to three hours going out. The best time is on Saturday or the Lord’s Day. If you went out for two or three hours every week for four weeks, you could gain one home. If not within four weeks, then at least within eight weeks you could get a home. This means you will get six homes a year. There are about one hundred twenty thousand saints in all the churches around the globe. If only one-fourth of these saints would mean business to go out to knock on doors, we would gain one hundred eighty thousand homes after one year. This will increase us not merely by a small percentage but by one-and-a-half-fold. Quite possibly each home will bring in two persons; even if each home only has one person, we will still gain one hundred eighty thousand persons. Yearly we will have a one-and-a-half-fold increase. Even if we only gain half this number, we will still have ninety thousand. Everyone will be very happy to see this happen. This would be a seventy-five percent increase.
If within the coming year you would have a seventy-five percent increase in your locality, would you not be happy? Will you be one of the four going out? Even to speak of a one-and-a-half-fold increase is very conservative. We have a wonderful way to nourish people, but if nobody would do it, then what is the use of the way? It all depends upon our doing. We are coordinating and cooperating with the Lord. The Lord is ready. He has been ready for years, simply waiting for our response. The increase is in the homes, but you must go to knock on doors.
To have the home meetings is not to ask others to come to our meetings. Do not ask people to come to you. To have the home meetings is to take the meetings to them. First, take the gospel to them, and then take the meetings to them. Our former practice of inviting people to our love feasts has not worked. We should rather have “food-to-go.” We should not invite people to our feast; we should bring our food to their home and put it on their dining table. In the Gospels God did not merely take the way of inviting. Rather, God came in the flesh to this earth to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). He went to the home of Zaccheus (vv. 1-10), and in John 4:1-42 He went to the Samaritan woman. He sent and He gave. Now we must learn of the Lord. Do not remain so high. Lower yourselves down (Phil. 2:5-7). Come down to reach people where they are (Luke 10:33-34). From now on we would not invite people to come to our meeting. We will send the meeting to their homes as food-to-go!
When you send spiritual food to people’s homes, you must have the boldness to “put it on the table.” Do not think that you will offend them. You must have the boldness to ask everyone in that home to eat. This way requires your faith and your confidence. You must have faith and boldness to knock on people’s doors. Before the Lord Jesus told the disciples to go and disciple all the nations, He said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18). Then He continued, “Go therefore” (v. 19). All authority has been given to the Lord, and because we are His members, the authority is transmitted to us. Therefore, we go, not with shaking but with boldness and power. You need the faith, and you need the boldness. You should pray, “Lord, I do not believe my fears. I have the authority. Before my knocking at the door I give commandment to all the demons to leave this house. Demons, you have no right to remain here. I have the authority.”
Sometimes it is not the one with whom you speak that would not believe; it is you who would not believe. When you say, “Let us be baptized,” you have to say it with faith. Before a newly saved one hears your speaking, he may have said that he would not be baptized. But when he hears your speaking, this word would convince and subdue him. Immediately he would change his mind.
Do not ask people if they would be baptized. If you ask them, they would probably say no. You must say something positive. Your word will become power and authority, subduing them. You must have the faith, and you must be willing to see them baptized. Always have the boldness. You do not know how subtle the demons are. While you are talking to people, the “flaming darts of the evil one” will come (Eph. 6:16). One dart will bring the thought, “He will not understand.” Another dart will be the thought, “Even if he understands, he will not believe.” Another dart will be the lie, “Even if he believes, he would not be baptized.” Do not listen to all the lies. Every lie is a dart. Simply reject them. You have to say, “Lord, I take the helmet of Your salvation. I do not take all the darts. I believe that this one understands, I believe that this one will believe, and I believe that this one will be baptized.”
You must command the demons to leave. When you talk to a sinner for their salvation, there is a battle. The Lord Jesus told us that when one sinner repents, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God (Luke 15:10). This may indicate that before the repentance of the sinner, there was a battle between the good angels and the evil spirits. This is the reason that the Lord Jesus, before charging the disciples to go out to disciple the nations, told them that all authority had been given to Him in heaven and on earth. We go out not just to preach the gospel; we go out to command the demons to leave and to command people to believe.
Be trained in this way. Do not forget that you are not going out alone. You are going out with Him. Actually, He is going out with you (Matt. 28:20). Be aggressive and bold in the spirit to obey the Lord’s command to go and disciple the nations. Do not leave any ground to the enemy. Always be aggressive and on the offensive. Do not be defensive. Do not invite or take a negative thought. Even if the situation is very dark, you should say, “I do not believe the darkness. The darkness is a lie. With me there is no darkness. Wherever I am, there must be light.” This should not be your outward preaching but your inward practicing. While you are talking to sinners, you have to practice in this way. Take the food-to-go, and have the confidence that this is the best food and that everyone would take it.
Throughout our many years in this work, both in the Far East and in the United States, our going out sometimes produced little result. However, since we have begun to go out in the new way of knocking on doors to establish home meetings, many people have opened to us. When we do this, we exercise the Lord’s authority. This is a strong proof that what we are undertaking is something of the Lord. Do not care about losing your face. When you speak, speak with faith and boldness.
You must go with the food-to-go. You must go with the gospel. You must go with believing. You must go baptizing. Go, believing that everyone would take what you would offer. You must have the belief. When you shoot a basketball, you must have the faith that it will go in the basket. If you are doubting, the ball probably will not enter the basket. When you are doubting, the ball will also “doubt.”
We may love the Lord and His recovery, yet could we be for the Lord’s recovery and not care to see the increase and spread of the church? Forget about inviting others to your meeting. The way to have the increase and spread is by going to knock on doors, door-to-door, with boldness, with faith, and full of confidence. A person who would go in this way will always convince people.
The home meetings are the home meetings of the new converts. You must help them to consider that it is their meeting. It is not your meeting. It is not that you invite them to come to your meeting, but it should be that they would invite you to go to their meeting.
To nourish the new converts in their home meeting, you have to tell them that the Bible is the word of God. In one visit, you can read them the verses at the beginning of this chapter and help them to pray-read, telling them that we live not only by physical food but by “every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). For our physical body we need the physical food, but for our spirit we need the word of God. Do not say too much. Read Jeremiah 15:16, which says, “Your words were found and I ate them, / And Your word became to me / The gladness and joy of my heart, / For I am called by Your name, / O Jehovah, God of hosts.” Then explain a little concerning eating the word. You could tell them that Matthew 4:4 tells us that the word of God is our food and that Jeremiah 15:16 tells us to eat the word. Eating the word is not merely to read or to study but simply to eat. Then read John 6:63, where the Lord Jesus said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life,” and tell them that the way this word becomes spirit and life is by our taking it into us. Then you could also read to them Psalm 119:130: “The opening of Your words gives light” and explain that the word is not only spirit and life, but by entering into us through our eating, it becomes light to us.
You may then need to read to them Romans 10:12b: “The same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him.” You may explain to them a little concerning what calling on the name of the Lord and pray-reading are. Do not say too much. After you do this, right away you could say, “Let us pray-read these few verses.” In one visit simply spend the entire time leading them to learn how to call on the name of the Lord and how to pray-read the Word. It is not too hard, but it depends on your practice. You yourself must be a person who calls upon the name of the Lord and who pray-reads the Word. If you are such a person, it will be so easy. Begin to lead them to call on the name of the Lord with you. You do it first by exercising your spirit to say, “O Lord Jesus!” Do not say in a common way with no exercise of the spirit, “Lord Jesus, thank You. Thank You I am here to help this friend.” This does not work. You have to call from the depths of your being, “O Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus, thank You. Lord Jesus!” They may only listen to you at first, but you must do it. Then direct them to do it. Every human being is a follower. When one comes to the United States from another country and stays here for twenty years, he will learn many American things because there are so many Americans to follow.
When you enter into a home, you must be one with such a character that everyone would be subdued by you. You must take the role of influencing the entire family. This could be accomplished only by the Holy Spirit. Even if you are quiet by nature, when you look at them, your eyes should be very convincing. We all have to learn this. Then you could pray-read and call on the name of the Lord. Your calling will be subduing, and they will follow you. You do not even need to ask them to follow you. If you say, “O Lord Jesus,” they will say, “O Lord Jesus,” and they will improve their calling. If you do not know how to call, you must go home and practice calling. The more practice you have, the more effective you will be. Then when you go out, you will subdue people. You will look at them, and your look will subdue them. When you open up your mouth, your calling will subdue them, and they will follow and go along with you. Then you could open up Matthew 4:4 and begin to pray-read: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.” Give them a short word; then go on to pray-read, “Oh, every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God! Oh, the word, the word, that proceeds out through the mouth of God!”
The first thing you have to lead them to do is to call on the Lord. The second thing is to lead them not only to eat the word of God but to masticate it. Do not merely teach them. Teaching alone does not work so well. Rather, you have to take the lead to do it. This will convince and subdue them, and they will spontaneously learn to follow you. In one visit you will bring them into calling and pray-reading. The new converts should learn to masticate the word by pray-reading the Bible verses quoted in our publications. In the beginning it is better to use the New Life Lessons. There are many crucial verses there.
We must also lead the new converts to mingle the Word with their prayer. Lead them into prayer that mostly does not use their own wording but rather the terms, the phrases, and even the clauses of the Bible verses quoted in our publications. This is not merely to read or to repeat but to mingle the word of the Bible with their prayer, that is, to make their prayer one with the word of the Bible. This is the best prayer. By this way you will “kill two birds with one stone” — this prayer touches the Word, and this prayer also touches the Spirit. The Word and the Spirit will both get into you. Then the Lord’s words will be spirit and life to you, and you will have the light of life (John 8:12 cf. 1:4). Three things will be in you — the Spirit, life, and light. The new converts will be nourished with food-to-go if we lead them to mingle the word with prayer. Perhaps you could not do all these items at once. In one visit you can cover two or three, leaving the rest for another visit. Do not go too fast. You have much time ahead of you. Go back again and again, continually.
Also, we should lead them to share with the others in the meeting what they have received from the Word of God. You must set forth yourself as an example of one who does this. Share something with them, and then they will learn from you. This will be a deep digestion of the word. To share with others what you have received is not only to eat and not only to masticate but also to digest. Any food that gets into us needs digestion. After digestion it becomes our nourishment. We must help them to digest by sharing with others something that they have received of the Word. This is also the way to build up their home meeting. By doing this, after three to five months, they will be so acquainted with the way to have a living home meeting. Then they also will go out to establish new home meetings.
Leading the new converts to give a testimony is not only for them to share something. To share is to tell others what they have received instantly. To give a testimony is to testify what they have experienced in their daily life. By your third visit they surely should have experienced something. Let them speak out what they have experienced.
If you could do all these things, you will not only lead them into the nourishment, but you will also lead them into the proper way to have a living home meeting. Perhaps after two or three months they would not need you to come more than once every two or three weeks, because they will have learned how to have a home meeting. They will have been brought into the proper practice. However, you must be faithful to continue going to the same home for at least eight or nine weeks.
What we have seen concerning the going out is very good, but this will bring to you a heavy burden. After going out to knock on people’s doors for one year, you may have six homes that you must care for. After you have gained homes, you will need to visit them throughout the week. Every weekend you should go out to get new homes, but on the weekdays you have to go out to visit the homes you have gained. Be prepared for this. You cannot deliver a newborn child and give it no nourishment or care. If you do this, all the newborn children will die. The Bible tells sinners to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38) and to believe and be baptized (Mark 16:16), but you must take care of the ones baptized by you. You need to nourish them.
Perhaps three who go out as a team would gain a home each week. Within four to six weeks the three will gain three homes. They must keep going out to knock on doors, but at the same time each of the three should take care of one home. However, for only one to go to a home would be inadequate. Therefore, the one needs to pick up a dormant brother or sister. While you are going out to knock on doors, you have to work with the others who do not have the burden to go out. Perhaps out of four hundred saints only one hundred will go out. This one hundred, while they are going out, will also have to work with the three hundred, to testify to them, to convince them, and to bring them into this practice. When you have a home that you need to take care of, you can ask a certain brother or sister to go with you to help you. Most of them would not reject you; they will go with you. It is in this way that you will stir them up and bring them into this flow. You will bring them into this new move of the Lord, and you two will go together. Not only will you be gaining the new homes, but you also will be stirring up the dormant ones.
If you would learn all these things and practice all these things, you could take care of a home for six or seven weeks. Then the ones in that home will learn these things, and they will begin to take care of other homes. On the one hand, we must get new homes, but on the other hand, we must produce more saints to take care of the new homes. You will have many things to do. Out of four thousand active saints in Taipei, one thousand may go out. Within one year they will bring in ten thousand homes. Who will take care of the ten thousand homes? You can see the great burden. It is in this way that every saint will be brought into the service. No one will be left idle. At that time everyone will love the homes because they will realize that in the homes they could better render their service to the Lord.
In this new way the Lord is going to change us. We will forget about always coming together to meet in large gatherings. We have been coming together for many years. Many faithful ones came to the big meetings four or five times a week, yet we have not accomplished much in the way of bringing all the saints into function or for the increase and spread of the church. However, the new way will open the door and bring in a new way of service, which will require all the saints to rise up and do something. When you do something as part of a definite service in the homes, the Bible will be new and sweet to you. When you are going to nourish others, the messages will become your nourishment. Then the whole church will be a living church and a serving church. Everyone will be busy. Everyone will be occupied, not with the worldly things but with the service of the Lord, either to bring people to the Lord, to nourish them, or to teach them.
We need the foresight to see the long-term goal, and we have to reach the goal. We also have to learn to help the home meetings practically in a detailed way. The new ones will be nourished and built up and then will be taught and trained to do what you are doing. This will increase not only the number of saved ones but also the number of serving ones. Every new convert under this kind of nourishing will be a good serving one within half a year. They will begin, at least, to help to take care of a home.
This will arouse within you many prayers. I believe you will pray much more because you will have a burden. You will have someone that you have to pray for. While you are driving your car, you will pray. Quite often many have considered for whom or for what they should pray. It may have seemed that everything was right and settled, not requiring any prayer. But now every week there will be new homes and new persons requiring our prayer. To touch the homes and to gain the homes is the way for us to go on. We must go along with the Lord in this way. If we will be faithful, He will have a way to come back.
