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Whenever we the believers meet, we have three precious things. First, we have the Lord’s name. The Lord said that whenever we are gathered into His name, He is in our midst (Matt. 18:20). Therefore, whenever we come together, we should believe that the Lord is with us. His name is our enjoyment. Second, we have the Lord’s Spirit. The Lord’s Spirit is with us all the time and everywhere, but when we meet together, the Lord’s Spirit is doubly present with us. Third, we have the Lord’s word. Whenever we meet, we have the Lord’s speaking to us. Furthermore, these three things—the Lord’s name, the Lord’s Spirit, and the Lord’s word—are the Lord Himself. When we draw a deep breath by calling, “O Lord Jesus,” we feel refreshed in our body and clear in our heart. This is neither a superstition nor something of our imagination; it is God Himself coming into us to be our supply.
I would like to tell you a little about our history. Up to the present time, the Lord’s recovery has been among us for almost seventy years. The first meeting was started in 1922 in Foochow by Brother Watchman Nee and others. Brother Nee was the first to bring in the Lord’s recovery, whereas I was the one who raised up the first church among us in the north, in my hometown, Chefoo, in 1932. Brother Nee and I both came out from the background of Christianity. Brother Nee’s grandfather was a pastor, and my mother was a third-generation Christian. We were alike in that we were born in Christianity, we grew up in Christianity, and we were educated in Christianity. Therefore, it was not easy for us to escape the influence of Christianity. At that time we were still young. It was an unstable time—the country was segmented by the warlords, the government was corrupt, and the people were suffering. Seeing the international situation and considering the future of the country, many young people really desired to do something. At that time the Lord did a particular work in China and raised up a number of young people who loved the Lord and who lived for the Lord. They were all our age. However, after a time most of them did not take the way of the Lord’s recovery. By the Lord’s mercy, we remained. We surely saw the revelation of the Lord and knew the deviation of Christianity. Therefore, we determined to have only three things—the Bible, the Lord’s name, and salvation; the rest we could do without.
Although we had made such a determination, there was still the question of how we should meet. From our childhood we had not seen any kind of meeting outside Christianity; we had already seen enough of the whole order of things in Christianity. Therefore, when we desired to meet, naturally it was difficult for us to be rid of the “color” of the denominations. I can still remember that when I was twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, a meeting was raised up in my mother’s home, and I took the lead there. Although I had not studied in a seminary, nor had I been a pastor or a preacher, I had to give a message and lead the prayer. Therefore, the way of meeting in Christianity was spontaneously brought over to our meetings. In October of 1933, after I gave up my job, I went to Shanghai to see Brother Nee, and I stayed there. I very much appreciated some of the things that I noticed in the way they met that we did not practice in the north. However, for the most part, their way was about the same as ours: someone led the meeting, someone gave a message, someone concluded the meeting, and all the rest listened to the message. It was always like this.
In 1949 I was sent to work abroad—first to Taiwan and the next year to the Philippines. Probably in 1953 or 1954 we began to practice praying over the hymns; that is, after singing a hymn, the brothers and sisters would utter some prayers according to the hymn. Everybody felt that this was very enjoyable, and as a result, everyone became living. Ten years later, I went to the United States. Then in 1966 I returned to Taiwan, and it was at that time that the saints in Tainan began to practice pray-reading, joining the reading of the Word with prayer, that is, not only reading but also praying. Because of this, many saints were released, and the situation became very flourishing. This practice spread rapidly to San Francisco, and when the saints there received it, they too were benefited. Thus, we have the praying over the hymns and the pray-reading of the Lord’s word. One time, before the Lord’s Day morning meeting, while everyone was sitting quietly and waiting, as was our custom, I stood up and said, “Everyone who came to the meeting can say four words.” As I was speaking, I still did not know what the four words were. While I was speaking, I was considering. Then I spoke the following four words: “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!” Everyone practiced this on the spot, and some immediately composed some songs concerning it. Then this became prevailing. I knew that this was the Lord’s leading. So at that point we added another item—calling on the Lord’s name. At that time we were meeting in Elden hall in Los Angeles. Many saints had moved to the neighborhood of the meeting hall. In the early evening one could hear the voices of the saints calling, “O Lord Jesus!” Everyone was calling—calling in the homes, calling on the streets, and calling in the meeting hall. That fervent situation lasted for a considerable time. In 1968 I was invited to Jakarta, Indonesia. In a meeting there, I spoke concerning Ephesians 5:19, which says that we can speak to one another in psalms. Out of this came the speaking of the hymns one to another. As a result, the meetings became even more living than before.
I hope that we all can be clear that we Christians have God with us. God’s presence is like the air. Thus, we do not need to seek for any feeling. The more any matter is related to life, the more it needs to be normal. The thing we need the most is air, yet our breathing is a very ordinary thing, without any special feeling. The more experience I have, the more I sense that our spiritual life is similar to our physical life—the more normal it is, the fewer problems there are, and the less need there is for any feeling. After we finish eating a meal, digestion begins to take place in our stomach, yet we do not feel it at all. If we feel something, that is a sign that there is something wrong. The more we regularly experience the spiritual things, the richer we become, yet there is no spectacular sensation. Now we are gathered here into the Lord’s name. Although we do not particularly sense the Lord’s presence, we have to admit that the Lord is with us. His being with us is like the air’s being with us. The Lord’s name is the Lord Himself. When we are gathered into the Lord’s name, we come into the Lord’s presence.
Therefore, I hope that from this day on in our gatherings, no one would wait. Once we come into a meeting, we should call on the Lord, praise the Lord, and begin to pray. When someone begins and another continues, the meeting begins. Some may pray, some may call hymns, and some may testify. Whoever comes into the meeting first should begin the meeting. Then those who come later should continue. As more and more people come, the meeting will become richer and richer. There are no forms or rituals, for the letter kills (2 Cor. 3:6b). The letter refers to the ordinances of the Old Testament law. The Old Testament is the age of the law. What the Old Testament speaks about is just the law. But when we come to the New Testament, nothing is of the law, but everything is a matter of the Spirit. Hence, whenever we meet, our meeting must be living and must have the Spirit.
I would like to speak concerning another matter. Formerly, when we were leading people to salvation, we first considered them as seeking friends. After hearing the gospel and believing and receiving the Lord, they had to successfully pass through an interview concerning baptism. It was only after they had passed the interview that they could be baptized and saved. Now we have changed. As long as a person believes, he can be baptized immediately, and he is regenerated and saved. Furthermore, the Bible says, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). It does not say that one is baptized after he is saved. Baptism is not carried out after a person is saved; baptism is part of the process of being saved. It is not that one believes and is saved and therefore should be baptized. Rather, it is that one believes and is baptized and therefore is saved. We must be clear concerning this matter.
Moreover, we have tried many ways in the Lord’s recovery related to the preaching of the gospel for fruit-bearing. Thus far, I can say that the most effective way is not merely to love the Lord and have a heart to save souls but to be revived every morning and to overcome daily. To have a morning revival means that every morning, following the sequence in the Bible, you use two or three verses of the Word to enjoy the Lord, not only by reading but even more by praying. You should not merely read, nor should you pray with your own words. Rather, you should turn the words in the Bible into your prayer to the Lord. In this way you will receive a supply, and your entire being will be revived. This is like the sun rising again every day to re-enliven all things. This is a law of life. Then, based on such a revival, during the whole day you will have these few enjoyable verses of Scripture in you as your sustaining strength for the supply of your daily walk. Then you will overcome daily.
After you experience the morning revival and the daily overcoming, you will receive the burden to preach the gospel. Whether or not you have the opportunity, you will preach the gospel. You can make a list of the names of twenty of your relatives, colleagues, classmates, and neighbors and pray for them. These are “warm doors” for you to visit. You also may coordinate with other saints to preach to those who have not yet believed, even though you have been contacting them for a long time. Moreover, you may also bring them to the group meetings to give them the opportunity to contact others and listen to testimonies. Then, you may preach the gospel to them individually and exercise the Lord’s authority to lead them to believe in Christ, to call on the Lord’s name, and to be baptized and be saved. After their baptism you should give them a lesson to show them that today the Lord is the Spirit dwelling in them. You need to teach them how to exercise their spirit to call on the Lord’s name at any time and to pray to Jesus in everything. Then you may make an appointment with them to call them every morning to have a morning revival, and you may also tell them that from that night on they should read one chapter of the Bible every night before they go to bed. After you have led someone to salvation, he becomes a child begotten by you through the gospel. Therefore, you need to take care of him and nourish him. You need to visit him personally every three to five days. You should be concerned about him and supply him with life and lead him on. After you continue to do this for two or three months, he will become a remaining fruit, one who remains in the church life.
I hope that after hearing this kind of speaking, every one of you will mean business to practice it and do it in a thorough way. If you really do this, the church will increase yearly and will be full of riches and glory.
