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The purpose and goal of the group meetings is the perfecting of the saints through teaching in mutuality, and the best way to carry out the teaching is by asking and answering the proper questions. However, it is better to begin the group meetings with fellowship, intercession, care, and shepherding; these constitute the foundation of the group meetings. In order to build up anything, there is the need to first lay a foundation. In order to teach one another, there is the need for us first to know each other. When people know each other, there is a pleasant feeling between them. Their hearts are opened and softened. If someone who does not know the brothers and sisters is invited to speak to them, they may receive what he speaks, but his word will not be intimate or very effective. The saints will not feel at home with the speaker. Such a lack of intimacy will frustrate the mutual speaking and mutual understanding in the meeting. Thus, every time we come together to have a group meeting, we must warm each other up and become intimately acquainted again. Then the saints will be prepared to be taught by one another. They will be open, and there will be no uneasy feeling and no frustration to the mutual speaking and mutual understanding. This is why such a foundation is needed in every group meeting.
In the group meetings we should not neglect the fellowship regarding the personal situation of the saints; however, neither should we overemphasize this fellowship. An overemphasizing of the fellowship will damage the meeting. When we come to the group meetings, we must open ourselves and make ourselves known to one another, but in doing so there is the danger of going too far. If we go too far in our fellowship, we will bring in looseness. When we open ourselves, we should not do so without restraint. We must learn the proper way to open ourselves and not use too great a part of the meeting for this purpose. Since we are only one of many persons in the meeting, we should control ourselves and use only a brief time for our speaking concerning ourselves.
In asking questions in the group meetings, we need to consider whether the subject of our questions is profitable to all the saints. We should avoid asking questions that are peculiar. If a peculiar question is asked in a group meeting—for example, someone may ask when mankind began to have different colors of skin—we should not answer it but should pray and seek for a proper way to redirect the speaking to a more profitable line. There are many things that we do not understand even concerning ourselves. Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The things that are hidden belong to Jehovah our God.” The Lord keeps many things hidden from us and permits us to know only the things that are profitable for us. Our questions should concern profitable matters, such as the truths in Romans 8. The truths in this chapter are deep and, to some extent, mysterious, but they are logical and very profitable.
The old way of meeting kept everyone in a deadened and regulated condition; for the most part, this prevented peculiar things from taking place in the meetings. For the group meetings in the new way, however, we should be released. We should be free and not bound. When a group meeting becomes prevailing, everyone in it will be free, but this may open the door for certain peculiar things to come in. Thus, in the group meetings we should not be bound, but neither should we be free without limitation.
The most valuable and difficult aspect of the group meetings is the teaching through the raising and answering of questions. When we answer questions in the group meetings, we need to consider them very much and answer with the best utterance and in the most excelling way. Paul says, “Seek that you may excel for the building up of the church” (1 Cor. 14:12). We must seek the excelling gift so that whatever we have may excel for the building up of the church. Therefore, we all need to learn the truth, and for this we all must study the Bible. When Brother Nee was a student, he determined that he would read through the New Testament every week for a year. Wherever he went, he carried a New Testament and would read a small portion at a time. He later said that that year of reading the New Testament was the most profitable time in his life in knowing the Bible.
In expounding any book of the Bible, even a book such as Daniel, which contains many prophecies, my main burden is to speak concerning Christ and His salvation and concerning our enjoyment of Christ and His salvation. However, it is difficult to see these matters in a book without reading it a number of times and studying it thoroughly. We all need the thorough and continual study of the Word year after year. Even if we have a certain understanding of a book of the Bible, we should still read it again and again. Many of us have a good understanding of the book of Romans, but if we would read it again once a week for three weeks, our understanding of it would become solid and crystal clear. It is good to read the entire Bible once a year. At least we can finish the New Testament once a year and read through the Old Testament every two or three years. To read the New Testament once a year and the Old Testament once every three years requires that we read only one chapter from the New Testament and one from the Old Testament each day. In order to read through the Bible in this way, we need to read it quickly, taking only a few minutes to read each chapter. If we carry a pocket-sized Bible, we can take a few minutes of our lunch time to finish one or more chapters. In this kind of quick reading, we do not need to ponder, meditate, or dwell on the verses as we do in morning watch. If during our quick reading we do not understand certain portions of the Word, we do not need to be concerned; we may understand these portions when we read them the second time, or we may understand them after additional readings.
Reading through the Word of God in this way does not mean that we should read without help from reference books. Without the proper references it is difficult to understand the Bible. We cannot understand the Bible through our own thought alone. Often we may find a word that we do not understand properly. Instead of relying on our own consideration in deciding on the correct denotation of the word, we should consult the proper reference books.
Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” We need to let the word of Christ, the Bible, dwell in us richly. At the same time we should also read the proper spiritual writings. In the Lord’s recovery there are many worthwhile publications. A number of good books have been written by other writers also over the past nineteen centuries. Brother Nee took the lead to read many of these books and laid a good foundation for us in knowing the best ones. After Brother Nee, we continued to read the proper writings, and we now have an accurate understanding concerning which books are the most profitable.
To be a proper person in society, we must be educated for many years. We need to study for approximately seventeen years in order to receive a bachelor’s degree. To receive one or more advanced degrees requires two to six more years of study. This is not a waste of our time. If we do not study for the required number of years, our education will be inadequate. It is the same in the spiritual life. My intention in setting up the full-time training is not to teach people a set of beliefs and practices as the seminaries of the denominations do; it is to help the saints to know life and to have the proper knowledge of the holy Word. In order to have the proper knowledge, we must read the Bible, the publications in the Lord’s recovery, and the proper spiritual writings of others. By doing so we will be helped, built up, and equipped not only in life but also in truth. Then our presence in the group meetings will be a great benefit.
During the teaching in a group meeting, someone may ask an important question, such as, “What is the most crucial point in the Bible?” We should all pay our full attention to a question of this nature and answer it in an all-inclusive way. One brother may say, “The entire Bible unveils to us that the Triune God, after being processed, has become life to the tripartite man for the fulfillment of His eternal economy concerning the church.” This answer covers the entire Bible. It requires much explanation, so a second brother can explain how the Triune God was processed, a third can speak regarding what it means for God to become life to man, and a fourth can give a word about the tripartite man. Then a fifth brother can speak something concerning God’s eternal economy, a sixth can speak concerning the church as the Body of the One who fills all in all, and a seventh can speak a word concerning the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy. In this way the first answer can be followed by six or seven teachings. After that, there may be many other smaller portions given as part of such a combined teaching. If the teaching in a group meeting reaches this standard, the church in that locality will be strong and high. To answer a question in this way, however, requires much reading of the Scriptures and of the proper spiritual publications and the receiving of the divine revelations.
Other questions may be asked that restrict the fellowship in the meeting instead of releasing it. For example, in a group meeting a sister may ask what head covering is. This question should not be rejected, but it must be answered in a way that will turn a somewhat “cold” subject such as head covering into a “warm” one. How well we can do this depends on our ability, which comes out of our capacity. If we have studied the Bible and the proper publications, we can turn a “hard” subject into a “soft” one. In answering a question concerning head covering, we should not speak merely about the covering on a sister’s head. Rather, we may begin by saying, “Sister, this is a good question because it touches God’s headship.” Such a word, spoken in a pleasant tone, will “warm up” the meeting. We can then go on to speak from several angles concerning our being subject to God.
Regardless of how much we can do in the group meetings, we will often feel that we are inadequate. This indicates that we all need much learning. In the old way of meeting we came together year-round with little improvement. The meetings were repetitious and uninteresting, and they were full of oldness and staleness. In the group meetings in the new way, it should not be like this. There should be something new in each meeting. However, we should not depend on all the attendants in the group meetings to produce something new. Out of ten attendants there may be only one or two who can cause the atmosphere to be uplifted and refreshing. We must be this kind of person. For this we need not only the proper knowledge but also the experience and the excelling way to present what we have. This means that we must learn.
I do not like to see the churches always remain the same. We need to progress, and we need to advance. We need to advance in knowledge, and we need to advance in the way in which we present what we have. We should not tell people that we have taken the new way, and yet we ourselves remain the same. Concerning life, Paul says, “Walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4), and concerning service, he says, “Serve in newness of spirit” (7:6).
It is easy to be a Christian in the old, traditional way. In the old way there is little requirement or demand, but in the new way there is a great demand. However, we should not be anxious about this. If we were not able to meet the demand, the Lord would not require it of us. The fact that He requires something of us and charges us to do it indicates that He will also carry it out (1 Thes. 5:24). We have seen the positive results of the new way, but there is still the need for greater improvement.
