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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 14:26; Heb. 10:25; Matt. 16:18; Eph. 4:12-16; Matt. 24:35; Rev. 2:5, 7; 3:1, 15-20; Col. 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:22; Rom. 10:12; Eph. 5:18-19; Rom. 8:4; Phil. 1:20-21; 2 Tim. 1:8; 4:2; Eph. 1:22-23; John 15:1-5
The title of this chapter is “Endeavoring to Have Church Meetings Rich in Mutuality.” The words church and mutuality are complicated. The Greek word translated “church,” ekklesia, denotes “a called-out congregation.” The word church has been damaged by its usage in traditional Christianity and has lost its original meaning. When the Brethren were raised up in Great Britain over a hundred years ago, they felt that the word church was inappropriate. Hence, based on the notion of a congregation, they used the word assembly instead of church. Some believers in the Pentecostal movement in America do not use the word church and thus call themselves the Assemblies of God. Some of their missionaries who went to China around 1930 used the word assembly.
When we were raised up by the Lord in China, we knew that the Chinese term for church, which is jiao-hui, was coined by the Western missionaries for the translation of the Bible. This term was not in the Chinese vocabulary. Hui means “gathering,” and jiao means “religion”; hence, this term means “religious gathering.” Christian meetings should not be religious gatherings but gatherings of the called-out ones. According to the meaning of the Greek word, in our Chinese publications we use the term zhao-hui, which means “a called-out assembly.” We made this change because the Lord’s Body is not a religious gathering; it is the assembling together of those who have been called out by God. We have been called out of the world to become God’s called-out congregation, the church as the Body of Christ for the expression of God. This is the significance of the church.
The word mutuality is used in relation to church meetings and is the basic principle of the meetings of the church. This is shown in three portions of the Word. Colossians 3 says that we need to practice “teaching and admonishing one another” (v. 16). Teaching one another means that you teach me and that I teach you; admonishing one another means that you admonish me and that I admonish you. This indicates that as believers, we should be full of mutuality when we come together. Hebrews 10:25 says that we should not abandon “our own assembling together...but exhorting one another.” Since we are the Lord’s disciples, we should not abandon proper Christian meetings. Moreover, whenever we meet, there should be mutuality. First Corinthians 14:26 says that whenever we “come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.” This verse refers to the gathering of the whole church (v. 23). In such a gathering there should not be only one person speaking; rather, each one should function for building up (v. 26), that is, for mutual building up.
A meeting with one person speaking and the rest listening does not refer to a meeting of the church. Rather, it refers to a meeting related to the work. The purpose of such a gathering is to listen to God’s speaking. Meetings related to the work may have one or two speakers, because their main purpose is to teach. In the Bible such meetings were not held regularly. On the day of Pentecost Peter stood and spoke to all the people. That was not a church gathering. The meetings of the church have a different setting.
In Acts 20:5-11 the apostle Paul spent seven days with the church in Troas. On the Lord’s Day the church gathered together to break bread. Because Paul was planning to leave the next day, and being concerned that he might not return, he grasped the opportunity in that meeting and spoke until daybreak. During such an all-night meeting, Paul spoke for the first half of the night, then they broke bread, and he spoke again until daybreak. Such a meeting with one person speaking and the rest listening was not a regular meeting of the church.
In this conference one person is speaking, and the rest are listening. However, this is not a meeting of the church. It is a Chinese-speaking conference. As such, these meetings are not regular church meetings but special gatherings. Regular church meetings should not have only one person speaking and the rest listening. Instead, church meetings should be mutual in nature, that is, everyone speaking and everyone exhorting. In other words, there should be mutual teaching and mutual exhorting. There may also be the speaking of hymns to one another (Col. 3:16; Eph. 5:19). Regrettably, such a practice has been abandoned by Christianity.
I was born in a Christian family, and from my youth I attended the so-called services with my mother. In those services I never saw believers speaking to one another. Even in our meetings it is rare to see such a practice. At the most we have one person calling a hymn and all the saints singing together. The Bible says that we should not only sing hymns but also speak them. This does not mean that I alone speak to all of you but that we all speak to one another—you speak a line, and I speak another line. This kind of mutuality should not have rules or regulations. As soon as there are rules and regulations, the practice of mutuality will become mechanical and lose its sweetness. Genuine mutuality is without regulations and causes the saints to be released and to touch the Lord.
Meetings related to the work, with one person speaking and the rest listening, are not suitable for mutual speaking because there are too many people present. The best setting for the practice of mutuality is the small meetings of the church, such as a home meeting with three to five people, a group meeting with eight to ten people, and a district meeting with not more than fifty people. In a meeting with around eight hundred people, speaking to one another would become shouting at one another in a disorderly manner. In such a large meeting it would be best to divide into groups for the practice of speaking to one another. We need to be trained in this matter.
We have never practiced speaking hymns to one another. However, in a conference in Indonesia twenty years ago, I asked the saints to speak a hymn to one another. Since then I have not seen another meeting like that one. The Holy Spirit did a powerful work that day, for the mutual speaking was full of enjoyment and supply, even though several hundred saints were present.
I would encourage the married couples to practice speaking to one another. A husband can say to his wife, “You should love the Lord,” and the wife can respond, “You should also love the Lord.” The husband may say, “We should pray,” and the wife can respond, “Yes, we should also praise!” Such mutual speaking is wonderful because it will eliminate quarrels and arguments. Sometimes if a husband notices that his wife is about to quarrel, he can say, “You should pray.” If his wife becomes angry and says, “You should pray too,” he can take the opportunity to say, “Right! Let us pray together.” She will surely agree with him. Such mutual speaking would be wonderful!
Married couples often argue when they eat together. If a husband criticizes another sister’s cooking, his wife will not be offended, but if he appreciates another sister’s cooking, his wife will become suspicious. She might say, “Are you saying that my cooking is not good?” Eventually, this will lead them to argue. If at such a time they would speak to one another with hymns or with verses, the works of the flesh will be abolished.
The Bible teaches us to speak hymns to one another. Hymns are rhythmic and can be compared to proverbs. In Chinese the hymns have couplets and rhymes and are appealing to the ear. Hence, they are inspiring and suitable for speaking to one another. We should constantly practice speaking hymns to one another so that in the meetings our speaking to one another will be enjoyable. Christian meetings of the church should be rich in mutuality. They should not have only one person speaking and the rest listening.
The practice of one person speaking and the rest listening is a heavy burden to the speaker. It is difficult to be a pastor or a preacher. After studying theology, some people prepare fifty-two sermons to use while they are learning pastoral duties with their first congregation. Having to prepare sermons is a suffering to the young pastors. However, congregations are happy when their pastor is knowledgeable, eloquent, and able to tell stories. If the pastor is not eloquent and does not use parables or tell stories, the congregation will get tired of listening to him. Although there are advantages to one person speaking and the rest listening, there are more disadvantages.
The apostles’ teaching in the Scriptures does not instruct us to practice having one person speaking and the rest listening in the meetings of the church. Rather, it teaches us to practice mutuality. I was very zealous when I was first saved. The denomination that I attended had a prayer meeting and a message every Tuesday night. The pastor had been there for over a decade and had exhausted his messages, so he proposed that another person should be asked to speak or that everyone should take turns to speak. I was known in that denomination as a person who loved the Lord and the Bible, so I was asked to speak. However, that was still one person speaking and the rest listening.
Christianity cannot avoid the practice of one person speaking and the rest listening. But according to the teaching of the apostles, whenever the believers gather together, each one has (1 Cor. 14:26). We have practiced each one having a psalm in the sense that we have the right to select a hymn for everyone to sing. In the worship services in the denominations, only the person designated by the pastor can call a hymn. This is against the apostles’ teaching.
The apostles’ teaching is with a view to the mutual building up of all the saints. A feast is not composed of only one dish. Regardless of how much one person speaks, it is still only one “course,” not many “courses.” A meeting in mutuality may be likened to a rich feast with numerous courses of delicious food. A real Chinese feast has at least twelve courses. If there are only three or four courses, it is considered as an ordinary meal. When we invite people to a feast, we should not prepare only three or five courses. We must prepare at least twelve courses; twenty courses would be better. Not only so, the twenty courses should be in “mutuality”; if every course is steak, people will not like it. A good restaurant always serves a variety of dishes. The Lord’s arrangement is much better than the arrangement in a restaurant. His Word says that when Christians come and meet together, each has to prepare a “dish.” These “dishes” should be in mutuality. This will express the riches of the church and enable all the saints to be built up.
Some people think that such a practice would cause chaos in the meetings. If this were true, we would lose the Lord’s presence. When we come together, there should be the supply of grace, not disturbance or confusion. Such meetings will cause everyone to learn and to be encouraged. Such meetings will be full of peace, not chaos (vv. 31, 33). In order to supply grace, we must first have grace. A brother once suggested that we ask a restaurant to cater our love feasts. I was greatly opposed to this suggestion because it would annul our love feasts. We have the most enjoyable and rich love feasts when every saint prepares a dish. This also applies to our meetings. We should never serve “catered food”; instead, each person must prepare something.
In America every household is asked to bring one dish to the love feast. With this kind of arrangement there is not much variety; hence, it cannot be considered a love feast. In this respect, the Chinese saints are better than the American saints. When the Chinese saints have a love feast, every home will prepare different kinds of food. As a result, a hundred homes will bring more than a hundred dishes. Even if two households bring the same dish, they are prepared differently. Whether steamed buns, boiled dumplings, fried dumplings, stir-fried beef, or spicy chicken, every household prepares them in different ways. This kind of love feast is truly rich! This is a picture of the church meetings. When three hundred saints meet together, there should not be only one person speaking. Everyone should speak, and everyone should listen; we speak to one another, and we listen to one another. This is not confusion; it is active mutuality. The richness of such a meeting is indescribable.
Most of us have probably not tasted such a meeting. If we would taste it, we would not like the meetings with one person speaking and the rest listening. We would hate such meetings. Suppose I am your pastor, and I must preside over and speak in every meeting. Regardless of how eloquent I am, after half a year you will be tired of listening to me. But the taste would be different if everyone would speak. It does not matter whether or not we know how to speak. If we would practice this, at least twenty out of a hundred saints would learn to speak, and the meetings would be enjoyable. This is the strong point of mutuality; it is for the building up of all the saints.
Hebrews 10:25 says that we should not abandon our own assembling together. This word was written to the Jewish believers, and it urged them to not shrink back to Judaism. For them to go back and meet in Judaism was to abandon their own meeting as believers. Not only so, in the meetings they needed to exhort one another. When I was with the Brethren, they frequently quoted this verse without emphasizing the phrase exhorting one another. They applied this verse to a “one-way” exhorting, that is, the speaker exhorting the congregation instead of everyone exhorting one another. At that time I did not see this light. Later, I heard Brother Nee say that the meeting spoken of in Hebrews 10:25 is mutual, not “one-way.” It is not a meeting with one person speaking and the rest listening, but at least eight or ten people speaking in order to have mutuality.
Hence, the believers’ meetings must be mutual and should not be like the meetings of a conference. During conferences the workers or apostles who have received a burden from the Lord invite people to listen to God’s speaking. However, due to our fallen nature, we like such meetings. We are not saying that such meetings are wrong, because they meet a particular need related to the work. But genuine church meetings must have the characteristic of mutuality.
My burden for this conference is our changing the system and taking a new way. We need a change in three matters. First, our former way of preaching the gospel by inviting people to come is wrong. The Bible says that when we preach the gospel, we need to go; that is, we need to go to people’s homes and deliver the gospel to them. Our inviting people to come did not have much result, and if we had some fruit, very few remained. We must change this practice.
Second, after someone is baptized, we should continue to visit him and have home meetings with him. This is the way to keep the new believers and make them remaining fruit. In the past we compelled people to come and listen to the gospel, to believe in the Lord, and to be baptized. But when we asked them to come to the church meetings, they would stop attending after a few times. Over time we also would lose interest in them and give up. As a result, they died a premature death. How can babies grow without being fed? Preaching the gospel by inviting people to come is a mistake, and not meeting with a new one in his home in order to feed him after he is saved and baptized is also a mistake. We should deliver the gospel to people in their homes and also send the meetings to their homes. We should not only lead people to salvation; we must also nourish them.
Third, our former way of practicing the church meetings with one person speaking and the rest listening is also wrong. Even if two or three speak, it is still wrong. A new believer is burning in spirit and has a strong desire to testify, but he is not given the opportunity to testify. Our former way of meeting makes it easy for people not to speak. When a person is saved, he wants to speak, but because only one or two function while everyone else is silent, he does not dare to speak.
The practice of one person speaking and the rest listening is a traditional way that has advantages and disadvantages. The first advantage is that it maintains a pleasant façade. I used to invite people to come and listen to the gospel. If someone came, I expected the gospel meeting to have a particular façade. The meeting hall should look nice, the seats should be arranged neatly, there should be at least several hundred attendees, the singing should be pleasant, and the brother who gives the message must be eloquent so that he can capture everyone’s attention. I was happy to sit with my friend in such a situation. Everyone likes such an impressive front.
If I invite people to my home to listen to the gospel, people might be disappointed without something impressive. A large meeting with a great façade has the power to move people. The first time I went to America, I stayed in San Francisco. Some brothers took me to a gospel campaign by Billy Graham. It was my first time to attend such a campaign, and the environment was inspiring. There were thousands of people in attendance. The environment was so compelling that everyone was moved to tears when the piano began playing the hymn. Nevertheless, the church cannot depend on a great façade.
The second advantage of one person speaking and the rest listening is that the believers receive some nourishment. A new believer does not know the truth concerning God, Christ, incarnation, redemption, crucifixion, or resurrection. He needs to listen to messages concerning these matters in order for him to be nourished and edified. We cannot deny that the meetings with one person speaking and the rest listening can meet such a need.
The disadvantages to one person speaking and the rest listening outweigh the advantages. I admire Billy Graham. His presentation and application of the gospel are appropriate, and his utterance is excellent. However, he has noticed that depending on evangelistic campaigns is not effective. He found out that many people are moved by the gospel, but when they are sent to different denominations, they eventually “enter into a refrigerator” and become “frozen.” Therefore, he proposed that the believers should have small prayer meetings and small Bible-study meetings in their homes. These small meetings were very popular in Southern California. However, they did not have a way to continue, because there was no content; the spirit of prayer was weak, and the living Bible was dead to them.
The first disadvantage to one person speaking and the rest listening is that it annuls the spiritual function, the organic function, of the believers. It is not easy to understand spiritual things; therefore, the Bible often uses physical things as an illustration. The Bible says that after we are saved, we need to grow until we are full-grown (Eph. 4:13). This verse uses the growth of our physical body as an illustration of a spiritual matter. There is a saying: “A sparrow may be small, but it has all the vital organs.” A child may be very small at birth, but he is still complete. He has the sense of hearing, the sense of sight, and the sense of smell. He also has the ability to eat, to speak, and to walk. However, a newborn child does not know anything and cannot function; he cannot see distinctly or hear clearly. He needs to grow for the development of his organic functions.
Every mother longs for her child to say Mama because she does not want her child to be dumb. When a child begins to grow, his mother teaches him to say Mama. If after nine months the child cannot say Mama, his mother begins to worry that the child may be dumb. The longer it takes for a child to speak, the greater a trial it is to the mother. When the child finally opens his mouth and says Mama, his mother is very happy. Before the child had sufficient growth, he could not speak, because his ability to speak was not adequately developed. If a person covers his eyes for five years, he will become blind. If a person lies in bed for five years, he will lose his ability to walk. Children need their eyes and legs to develop properly. When I contracted tuberculosis, I was confined to complete bed rest for a full year. A year later when I got up, I was not able to stand, let alone walk. My legs were so withered that I needed an extended period of time to learn to stand and more time to learn to walk again. I was over forty years of age, but I had lost the function of my legs in only one year. This shows the importance of the development of our organic functions.
If in all the meetings of the church, only one person speaks and the rest listen, after five years no one will be able to speak; they will become dumb. This is our situation. When I returned to Taipei in 1984, I noticed that many of those in the meeting had listened to my speaking for over thirty years. Some of them had been listening to me before they were married. I saw them get married and raise their children. Some of their sons are serving as elders in the churches. If these saints were asked to speak, they would say that they are unable to speak. For thirty years these saints were “ruined,” for they were not told to “walk,” or to speak. Therefore, they are not able to function. This is our situation.
The saints who have been saved for more than twenty years would say that it is Brother Lee’s responsibility to explain the truth of sanctification and other such fundamental truths. If they have been listening to messages for twenty years but cannot give a message on sanctification, why should we still care for such a system? Our practice has annulled the organic functions of the believers.
We need to have a revolutionary change. If we continue in this way for another twenty years, our situation will worsen. In the past we led people to be saved and asked them to come to the meetings. On the surface it seemed as though we were feeding and teaching them, but it was a lazy way. If we want to feed, take care of, and teach the new ones, we must learn and be equipped.
Someone once said to me, “We will not succeed if we try to have our meetings in mutuality, because everyone is busy making a living in order to feed a family. People are exhausted after six days of working, so on the seventh day they want a good worship service. They like to go to a nice chapel with a good atmosphere and comfortable seats that are arranged nicely. They want someone who can sing, someone who can pray, someone who can read the Scriptures, and someone who can speak and minister a good message. Such a situation refreshes everyone. But instead of providing that kind of meeting, we want everyone to function. How can you expect a banker to give a message? A banker goes to a worship service for entertainment and relaxation, and he gives a lot of money, hoping that the chapel would be better equipped. It is better to have a music pastor and an assistant pastor. Then people will be pleased with the service.” According to this person, my fellowship concerning the change of system will not work.
Twenty years ago a responsible brother in San Francisco said to me, “This is an age of specialization, and students major in different fields. Therefore, in spiritual things some people should study to be pastors, and others should learn to preach the word, just as only some people become medical doctors. Since no one is capable of doing everything, how is it possible that you want everyone to speak in the meetings? This way will not work.” I replied, “The Bible says that each person should speak in the meetings. For our work we need to major in a particular field, but we cannot do that in our living. Is it possible for some to major in eating and for others to specialize in drinking? Who is saying that we have to major in speaking? Regardless of a person’s profession, he needs to eat, to drink, and to speak. Likewise, as long as you are a believer, you have to speak whenever you meet in the church.”
Our living is not divided into different fields. Everyone has to eat, to drink, to breathe, to wear clothes, and to speak. Our worship and our service are not a profession; they are our living. Meeting together is not our job as Christians. Meeting together is our living, and it is the expression of our living. Therefore, it cannot be considered a field of study.
One person speaking with the rest listening annuls the life functions of the believers. For this reason, when I went back to Taipei in 1984, I repented sincerely. I confessed that I have damaged everyone because it was I who brought such a practice from mainland China. Such a practice is not only in Taipei; even churches in the United States and in other places around the world have learned this way. I am the one who caused this harm. But I thank the Lord that now a saint who has been saved for only two months or even ten days can praise, testify, and speak for the Lord. The trainings that we have had in Taiwan since 1984 are teaching us to abandon all the old things.
The training charges the trainees to baptize a person in his home after leading him to believe in the Lord; they should not bring him to the church meeting in which one person speaks. We do not want a new one to be influenced negatively in the meetings. A new one who attends a Christian meeting with one person speaking and the rest listening will feel that it suits his natural human nature, and if the content is not bad, he will be deeply impressed. As a result, it will be difficult to change his concept later. Learning to speak English is a good example. If a person does not learn proper pronunciation from the beginning, it will be difficult to correct his pronunciation later. When he is accustomed to the wrong pronunciation, it will be impossible to correct him. Likewise, after a person is saved, we should meet in his home and teach him some basic lessons and life practices. After three to five months we can bring him to the church meetings. Many new ones do not like to attend the church meetings. They prefer to meet at home because everyone can speak. They like the new way of meeting.
Let me illustrate my point with a true story. Over thirty years ago I set up a workers’ home in Taipei with forty-eight beds. The new full-time serving ones stayed there to receive training and learn to work. The cook had a problem because the forty-eight people came from different provinces in China. The Szechwan people liked spicy food, the northerners liked steamed buns, the southerners liked rice, and the Shantung people liked dumplings. When the cook served dumplings, the northerners were happy, but the southerners were not. When he served spicy food, the Szechwan saints enjoyed it, but the northerners could not eat it, and those from Shanghai suffered. These different reactions are the result of different habits. The workers had developed certain dietary habits since their childhood; hence, they found it difficult to accept other kinds of food.
In the same principle, if a new believer attends worship services and listens to sermons, after two months it will be difficult for him to change. He will develop the habit of listening to sermons. However, if immediately after a person is saved he begins to speak, to testify for the Lord, and to praise, give thanks, and sing hymns, he will enjoy such practices. If at this time he comes to the church meetings where he must sit and listen, he will feel uncomfortable, because he has a different taste. In this respect, for one person to speak and the rest to listen is not the right way. The right way is to have mutual encouragement and mutual teaching.
The practice of one person speaking and the rest listening not only annuls the life function of the believers; it also chokes and kills the believers’ spiritual life so that they do not sense the need for the growth in life. As a result, the meetings are for recreation and are the fulfillment of their duty. The believers simply flow with the tide. Some brothers regret serving as elders, because in every meeting they have to sit on the front row and take care of the meeting, which includes calling a hymn, praying, and speaking. Before they were elders, some of these brothers always sat at the back and never opened their mouth for three or five years. But once they were made elders, they immediately had to sit on the front row and function in every meeting. For this reason I have said that the best way to make the brothers function is to appoint them as elders. As soon as they are appointed as elders, they function in the meetings. I have also observed that when some elders who were active in the meetings withdrew from the eldership, they stopped functioning. We no longer see them in the meetings or hear their voices. The moment a person ceases to be an elder, he is no longer active and stops functioning. This is wrong, and it shows that their spiritual life was choked and killed. This is the second drawback to our old practice.
The practice of one person speaking and the rest listening can build up only a social group, which is an organization. It cannot build up the Body of Christ, which is an organism. According to our practice of one person speaking in the Lord’s Day meeting, the rest of the believers merely sit and listen, give money, and then go home. This way of meeting can maintain a social group and build up an organization, but it cannot build up the Body of Christ. An organism needs to eat, to drink, to rest, and to exercise. An organism also needs training to learn how to move according to its inward supply and outward expression. A wooden desk is an organization. It can be built by nailing a few pieces of wood together, and it can retain its original appearance even if it is put aside for thirty years. Our body, however, is organic and requires activities in order to be maintained and built up.
For example, I speak with my mouth, but my eyes, my eyebrows, and the rest of my body are also moving. When a person dies, his body is motionless; when he is alive, the body is always moving. If I were to lie down for a long time without moving, I would appear to be dead. But if I am speaking and jumping, you can be sure that I am alive; even my hair seems to be alive. This is the expression of an organism. Therefore, the church as an organism should not meet in a way that is similar to a social organization. The church should meet in the way of the members supplying one another out from the Head. In the church meetings there should be the mutual supply by everyone speaking to minister life. This is the manifestation of an organism and the practical building up of the Body of Christ.
In the Lord’s recovery today we should recover what is revealed in 1 Corinthians 14:26 and Hebrews 10:25. These verses are the Lord’s divine speaking and ordination, but they are not being practiced in Christianity. These two verses are in the Bible but not in Christianity; hence, they must be recovered.
In Matthew 16:18 the Lord said, “Upon this rock I will build My church.” Then through the apostle in Ephesians 4:11 He said that He “gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers.” These are gifts who, instead of building up the church directly, perfect the saints to do the work of the ministry (v. 12). In the New Testament there is only one ministry, and this ministry carries out the work of the building up of the Body of Christ (v. 16). This one ministry is the work of the gifts. After the saints are perfected, their work is also this ministry, which is for the building up of an organism, the Body of Christ, not the building up of a social organization.
In verse 15 the apostle says, “Holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ.” Meetings with one person speaking do not give the believers the sense that they should grow in life. But the main goal of the church meetings is to minister life in order for the saints to grow. This growing is the building up. The growth of a newborn child is his being built up. In order to grow, the child must eat, drink, and exercise. This growth, development, and edification is for the building up of his human body. Likewise, as members of the Body of Christ, we need to grow through the spiritual supply for our development. Such a need cannot be met by meetings with one person speaking and the rest listening. Rather, meetings where everyone functions to supply one another for the manifestation of the functioning of every member of the Body will cause everyone to grow up into the Head, Christ.
Verse 16 says, “Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.” Out from whom refers to the Head, Christ. All the Body includes you and me. The phrases through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part indicate that we all have to function so that we can be joined together and knit together. Joining is through the joints, and knitting is through the operation of each part. Both result in the gradual growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. The gifts do not build up the Body directly; rather, they perfect every member of the Body so that the members can carry out their function for the direct building up of the Body. This building is the growth. In order to grow, there is the need of a life supply. Without the life supply, the Body cannot grow, and without growth, the Body cannot be built up. This word in Ephesians 4:16 is very clear.
We must see that if we continue to meet according to our old way, we will not have the building up of the Body; instead, we will only have the sustaining of an organization. The harm caused by the old way includes annulling the organic function, choking and killing the spiritual life, abandoning the building up of the Body, and abolishing the reality of everyone functioning. When we speak of recovery, we mean the recovery of the organic building up of the church by restoring what has been annulled, choked and killed, abandoned, and abolished.
If we desire to take the way of recovery, we must cooperate with the Lord. First, we must have a revived living and an overcoming life. As believers, we must have a revived living. To be revived is to be enlivened within and to live solely for the Lord. Such a revival will lead us to live an overcoming life. In Revelation 2 and 3 the Lord said seven times that we need to overcome all the negative situations and have an overcoming living.
Second, we need to live a life of daily pray-reading the Word and calling on the Lord’s name to enjoy His riches (Col. 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:22; Rom. 10:12). This must be our practice in our daily life. It is regrettable that we have neglected this. We often do not read the Word for several days, nor do we pray-read. We should read the Word daily and also pray-read the Word by turning the Word into prayer. Then the Word will become living to us and will be our food (Jer. 15:16). Reading the Word may be a mental process, but once we turn the Word into prayer, we will receive the supply of life. In addition, we need to call on the Lord’s name, but many of us may not call for a number of days. We should call on the Lord every day and in everything (Eph. 5:20). Sometimes while I am writing an article, I call on the Lord from deep within. Then I am inwardly supplied and able to enjoy the riches of Christ.
Third, we need to be filled in spirit, walk according to the spirit, and live Christ continually so that we may experience Christ (v. 18; Gal. 5:16, 25; Phil. 1:20-21).
Fourth, wherever we are, whether in season or out of season, we should testify for the Lord, speak Christ, and proclaim the gospel (2 Tim. 4:2). This should be manifested in our living throughout the day.
Fifth, we should increase our spiritual constitution daily through spiritual exercises and learning. I would again propose that we use ten to fifteen minutes every morning to pray-read two verses from the Bible. It is best to do this with two or three others. Husbands and wives are the best companions for pray-reading. This kind of pray-reading is a surety, a disinfectant, and an antitoxin. If a couple can read two Bible verses together every morning, it will be very easy for them to live in the spirit the rest of the day, and they can avoid quarreling with one another. As a result, they will have some spiritual constitution.
In addition to pray-reading, we need to speak to whomever we meet, whether in season or out of season. This is also a good way to be constituted spiritually. If we can increase our spiritual constitution every day, we will spontaneously supply others in large meetings and in small meetings. Such a living will make it possible for 1 Corinthians 14:26 and Hebrews 10:25 to be recovered among us and for Matthew 16:18 and Ephesians 4:12-16 to be fulfilled for the building up of the church, which is the Body of Christ and the organism of the Triune God. The church can be built up only through meetings in mutuality.
In order to change the system for everyone to function and for the building up of the church, we need to be revived. On the one hand, we do not need to wait for a revival. As long as we are willing to receive grace, we can be revived. On the other hand, being revived requires that we take the initiative to obtain grace. First, we must be determined to live for the Lord. Then we need to consecrate ourselves to set aside a specific time to go out every week either to visit people, to preach the gospel, or to lead a home meeting. Finally, we need spiritual exercises every day so that we can have spiritual experiences and be enriched in our spirit to increase our spiritual constitution. As a result, we will have something with which to supply others when we come to the meeting.
Husbands and wives should pray-read two Bible verses together. Then they will live in the spirit and walk according to the spirit. They should also speak the Lord, proclaim the gospel, and testify of the Lord to whomever they meet. This will increase their spiritual constitution so that whether in large meetings or in small meetings, it will not be difficult for them to speak. If we have such a living, spontaneously some will call hymns, some will pray, and some will teach. After the meeting different ones will share. The result of practicing mutuality is that we grow in life and build up the Body of Christ as the organism of the Triune God.
