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Scripture Reading: Acts 2:22-24, 32-33, 36-38, 41-42; 5:42; 1 Cor. 2:2; 14:23, 26; 1 Tim. 1:3-4
In this chapter we will see the content of the small group meetings. In the previous chapter we saw that our spiritual work includes six items: the small group meetings, the gospel work in the homes, the gospel work on the campuses, the gospel work in the community, the children’s work, and visiting and shepherding. Of these six items, the most difficult one to work out is the small group meetings. This is a high mountain; it has been the most difficult thing for the church to practice over the last two thousand years. In Acts 2 and 5 the church meetings initiated by Peter were under God’s direct work. What He worked out is the best and highest. The highest standard for the church meetings was to have both big meetings in the temple and small meetings daily from house to house.
In the beginning the church meetings consisted of both big meetings and small meetings. The big meetings were held in a public assembly place, the temple, while the small meetings were held from house to house. This does not mean that the content that was spoken and taught in the big meetings was different from what was spoken and taught in the home meetings. On the contrary, what was spoken in the home meetings was a continuation of what was spoken in the big meetings.
The small group meetings are very much related to Acts 2:42, which says, “They continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Under the ministry of Peter, the meetings of the church began and continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. This was the typical content of the early church meetings.
Also, Acts 5:42 says that “every day, in the temple and from house to house,” the apostles “did not cease teaching.” The three thousand who were saved at Pentecost “continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles” (2:42). Therefore, the contents of the fellowship in the homes must have been the teaching of the apostles. After reading Acts 2:22-24, 32-33, and 36-38, we should realize that the saints must have been speaking about the content of Peter’s first message, in which he spoke only of Christ, announcing the gospel of Jesus as the Christ (5:42). This message set the foundation of the content of the church meetings.
When the church was first established, the believers preached only Christ’s incarnation, His human living on the earth, His being crucified, His entering into the suffering of death, and God’s raising of Him from the dead, exalting Him to the heavenlies, and making Him both Lord and Christ, whereupon He poured out the all-inclusive Spirit. This was the content of the church meetings; the basic principle of the church meetings was simply Christ.
After hearing this message, the multitude was pricked in their heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What should we do, brothers?” (2:37). Peter said to them, “Repent and each one of you be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ” (v. 38). Many of those who heard then believed, repented, and were baptized. After that, these three thousand believers continued steadfastly in the teaching that they had heard when they were saved (vv. 41-42).
For generations the Jews had been preaching about Moses, the Ten Commandments, the offerings, and the worshipping of God in the temple. Now, suddenly, on the day of Pentecost, they heard Peter speak, saying, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man shown by God to you to be approved by works of power and wonders and signs,...you...nailed to a cross and killed; whom God has raised up, having loosed the pangs of death,...having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this which you both see and hear...Therefore...know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ” (vv. 22-24, 33, 36). Those who heard and believed simply received this teaching, which was the teaching of the apostles. They were saved, and then they continued steadfastly in this teaching as the content of the church meetings.
Peter spoke this teaching in the temple, but the three thousand newly saved ones continued steadfastly in this teaching from house to house. What was spoken in a big meeting was continued in the small meetings. This was the practice. What Peter spoke in a big meeting was repeated again and again in the small meetings from house to house as the believers daily spoke of Jesus Christ. Among the three thousand who were baptized, there must have been at least five hundred households. If Peter had been the only one speaking from house to house, he would have been unable to visit all these households without being totally exhausted. The practice in that day involved the believers speaking from house to house the same teaching and fellowship that Peter spoke in the temple. It may seem that this was not possible, but it is recorded in the Bible.
In practice, we still have many natural concepts. We like the Lord’s Day meetings because we can sit and listen to the preaching of experienced brothers. The more we listen, the more we enjoy. In contrast, we do not like the small group meetings. At first, the small group meetings recovered some who had not been meeting for a long time. It was so dear when some who had not met for twenty or thirty years came back, and it was so sweet to sing, “Blest be the tie that binds / Our hearts in Christian love; / The fellowship our spirit finds / Is like to that above” (Hymns, #860). When a sister who had not been meeting for twenty years sang this song, she burst into tears along with everyone else. However, beautiful flowers fade, a full moon wanes, and good things do not last. This kind of meeting was good the first, second, and even the third time, but by the fourth time the meeting was rather tasteless, and old-womanish myths began to creep in by the fifth time (1 Tim. 4:7). Because of this, many saints who desired to seek the Lord felt that the small group meetings were not so enjoyable.
Our concepts concerning an enjoyable meeting, however, are derived from fallen Christianity. We need a change in our concept of the content of the small group meetings. According to the Bible, Peter’s focus on the content of the meetings was continued by Paul. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 Paul says, “When I came to you, brothers,...I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified.” The content of Paul’s speaking to the church in Corinth was Jesus Christ, and this One crucified. Paul did not speak about ethics, morality, philosophy, law, or Old Testament doctrines; he spoke and preached Jesus Christ, and this One crucified.
In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul speaks about Christian meetings. In verse 23 he speaks of the whole church coming together in one place; this is a reference to big meetings. However, in verse 26 Paul says that whenever we come together, “each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.” The word has in this verse indicates something that each one has presently. When coming to a meeting, even before leaving home, we should have a psalm, a teaching, or a revelation to bring to the meeting. Before the meeting begins, we should already have something. We should not bring just our Bible and come empty-handed because we have had a terrible week and feel as if we have nothing, while hoping to receive grace in the meeting. We should not sit in our seats and wait for the grace of the Holy Spirit to move and inspire us to choose a hymn. Instead, before we even leave for the meeting, we should already have something, as described in a hymn: “Whene’er we meet with Christ endued, / The surplus of His plenitude / We offer unto God as food, / And thus exhibit Christ” (Hymns, #864). This hymn was written based on the type of the Old Testament feasts. Each year the Israelites brought the produce of the good land to the Feast of Tabernacles. They brought cattle, sheep, grain, and new wine. They brought the produce of the good land and then exhibited all these riches (Deut. 16:13-17). All the produce typifies Christ. The riches of the produce that they brought typify the Christ we should bring to the meetings. Our meetings should be an exhibition of Christ.
The big meetings that Paul spoke of were meetings in which everyone would bring something of Christ. However, our big meetings are not like this. We are somewhat like Christianity, with one man speaking and the rest listening. In Paul’s ministry there were not only big meetings but also home meetings. We know this because in his Epistles he mentions the church being in the home of a certain brother at least four times (cf. Rom. 16:3-5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philem. 1-2). If the church was in a brother’s home, there certainly must have been home meetings. From this we can see that there were big meetings and small meetings under the ministry of both Peter and Paul. The content was the same for big meetings and small meetings. It is not accurate to say that the saints can open their mouths in the small meetings but that only one man can speak in the big meetings. First Corinthians 14:26 proves that when the whole church comes together, every member has something. The emphasis is not on one man speaking and the rest listening.
Today in Christianity and even among us, if a gifted brother is not invited to speak in the big meeting, it seems that many are unwilling to attend. Such a situation even occurred before the end of Paul’s ministry. There were many Christians with itching ears who enjoyed listening to doctrines and who subsequently fell into a degraded condition (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3-4). This was a precursor to the so-called Sunday services in Christianity. The Sunday service in Christianity involves the believers coming and listening to a professional preacher. Since 1957 our meetings have evolved into a situation of one man speaking and the rest listening. This is not going upward but going downward. This is not the original condition of the church meetings but rather a result of the church’s degradation.
Big meetings allow people to slip in, but after not too long a time, they also slip out. Big meetings have difficulty keeping people, because they do not have a proper foundation to support them. After a person is saved or revived, he should live a normal Christian church life by being built up practically with others in the small group meetings.
All the saints who love the Lord should see the importance of the small group meetings; otherwise, the Lord will have no way to advance. If we emphasize only the big meetings and neglect the small group meetings, we will let the Lord down. If we love the Lord, we should not do this. Please do not decide the future of the small group meetings based on your assessment of their present condition. I hope that the brothers and sisters would all get into this burden. The small group meeting is like the Ark, and it requires all our shoulders to help carry it. Please accept this burden to participate in the small group meetings in order to enrich them. When you attend a small group meeting, you should not try to strengthen it according to your natural concept but according to the types of the Old Testament and the clear revelation in the New Testament. In this way each small group meeting may prosper.
What are the types in the Old Testament, and what is the revelation in the New Testament? The types and the revelation speak of our daily need to fellowship with the Lord and to daily experience and enjoy Him. This is a daily matter, not a matter that we can relegate to one day a week. When an Israelite family was allotted a piece of land, they had to get rid of weeds, chop down trees, and remove stones. Then they had to level and till the ground in order to sow seed. Then they had to irrigate and continue to nurture their fields on a daily basis. Eventually, the fields would be filled with golden grain, but the family still had to reap the harvest in the field before bringing the grain to the storehouse.
This grain, however, was still too coarse to be brought to a feast, so the Israelites had to grind it into flour and make it into cakes for their own enjoyment and to bring to God as an offering for His enjoyment. Herdsmen similarly had to work daily. In the early morning they had to take the flock out, and every evening they had to bring the flock back into the fold. Then when the great day of the feast came, they could bring an animal from their herd of cattle or flock of sheep to the mount of Jehovah to offer up to the Lord. When God told the people that they should come to worship Him three times a year, He said that they should not appear before Him empty-handed (Deut. 16:16). This indicates that we should come together at appointed times and bring Christ with us; we must not come empty-handed.
In order to not come empty-handed, we need to daily labor on Christ as our good land. We need to fellowship with Him every morning, worship Him, pray to Him, read His Word, and wait in His presence. If we cannot spend half an hour laboring on Christ, I hope that we could spend at least fifteen minutes. If we labor daily, we will reap a harvest in due time. This harvest is not for our own enjoyment but for us to offer to God and to share with our fellow members in His presence. This is the Christian meeting.
When the Israelites met together, there were priests who would speak to them, but the foundation of their feast was not the priests’ exposition of the Scriptures; rather, it was the accumulation of the riches from every household. This was the foundation of the big meetings. Today the foundation of our big meetings should be our daily experiences of Christ, which we bring when we come to meet. The church is built upon such meetings.
Even with this focus, there is a need for the gifts who have received revelation from the Lord to release the word. We must see both sides. What is most needed, however, is that everyone bring the rich produce of their labor to the feasts. Then, even if there were no priestly speaking, our feasts would not be greatly affected. Today, if everyone has experienced Christ and everyone brings Christ to the meetings, the content of our meetings would not be affected. Let me repeat: the way of depending on a great evangelist does not work. People will swarm like bees to listen to a sermon, but when the evangelist leaves, the crowd will leave as well. I hope that we all would go back to the small group meetings.
This does not mean that we should go back to the small group meetings and drop all the big meetings. We need two wings to fly; we cannot violate God’s law of creation. The big meetings are one wing, and the small group meetings are another wing. Both wings are needed. However, in the long run, there are more dependable results from the small group meetings than from the big meetings.
From my spirit I am asking you to receive the Lord’s leading today. If we cannot follow the Lord to meet His need, He will find others, just as He found us in the beginning. If we go back and repeat the history of Christianity, the Lord will say, “This is enough. I must go to others.” Big meetings cannot reach God’s goal. To reach God’s goal, we must depend on the small group meetings.
Today is a scientific era. We are all accustomed to specialization. When we are sick, we go to a doctor; when we are sued, we go to a lawyer; and when we need prayers, we go to a pastor. This is because we think that only doctors know medicine, only lawyers know the law, and only pastors know how to pray. These concepts are natural. The poison of Christianity has spread into us. Subconsciously, we want a “specialist” to preach to all of us. However, sixty years ago the Lord called us out to be His testimony. This testimony is different from this age, and it is absolutely different from today’s Christianity. The Lord’s recovery is absolutely not a work in Christianity.
For more than twenty years the brothers in the churches in Taiwan have faithfully tried to “keep the family property” by emphasizing the big meetings and not having small group meetings. Even though everyone has been endeavoring to testify for the Lord, we have been going downhill even though the road seems level. After twenty years this downward trend is quite noticeable. I beg us all to change our concept, to turn our attention from the big meetings to the small group meetings. We should try our best to do this. There is no other way. If we depart from this way, we will only go further downhill on the same road as Christianity, and we will be unable to keep the Lord’s present testimony.
If we are faithful to keep the Lord’s present testimony, we must do our best to build up the small groups. We should not think that people cannot be saved through the small groups. In the eleven years since we moved to Anaheim, we increased during the first three years. However, because of the opposition, hardly any English-speaking ones were brought in during the following eight years. After the small group meetings began in January 1985, forty to fifty were added within three months. All of these were brought in through the small groups. We have also discovered that the people brought in through the small groups are remaining fruit. People who slip in through the big meetings also slip out of the big meetings. In comparison, the effort spent on saving people in the small groups produces more dependable results than the effort spent in the big meetings.
We do not plan to drop the big meetings. On the Lord’s Day, when everyone has a day off, we should use the big meetings to preach the truth, spread the gospel, and seize the opportunity to propagate the work of the Lord. However, if we totally depend on the big meetings as we have in the past, we will give up the future of the Lord’s recovery.
From now on we must turn and pay attention to the small group meetings. This is the foundation of the church meetings. On this solid foundation we can expand. The big meetings are useful but not dependable, whereas the small groups are dependable. I hope that this kind of fellowship will get into us. Please receive this vision and revelation. Let us spare no effort, but with one heart work in coordination to strengthen and enrich the small group meetings. Then the Lord will have a way. I know that if the Lord speaks these words into our being, the blessing will be upon us, and our horizon will be glorious and full of expectation.
