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Scripture Reading: Acts 4:8; 13:9; 2 Cor. 4:13; Rom. 10:12-13; 2 Tim. 2:22; 2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 14:26; Heb. 10:25; Rom. 10:9; Eph. 5:18-19; Col. 3:16
The most crucial step to lead people in the new way is the step of meeting. How should we meet? In the last two thousand years this has been a matter that every seeker of the Lord has been concerned about, and this has also been a big problem that all the denominations of Christianity faced when they were first established.
Concerning the believers’ meetings, we may take some of the Old Testament principles as reference, but we cannot follow the Old Testament in details; otherwise, we will be trapped in dead letters. Therefore, concerning the matter of meetings, we must completely follow the revelation and pattern in the New Testament.
Among the four Gospels at the beginning of the New Testament, only the Gospel of John mentions the matter of worship. Chapter 4 records the conversation between the Lord and a sinful, immoral woman. When the Lord Jesus asked her concerning her husband, she changed the topic to the matter of worship, attempting to cover up her immoral and sinful history. At that time the Lord Jesus told her that the worship of God was not on the mountain in Samaria nor in Jerusalem but in the human spirit (vv. 21, 23). We ought to believe that when the Lord Jesus was speaking with her, He brought her into the true worship. The true worship of the believers is to contact God the Spirit with the human spirit (v. 24). This is also to drink the Lord as the living water. This is the worship of God mentioned in the Gospels.
In Acts we cannot find the term worship services. Although sometimes the disciples went to the temple, that refers to the services of the Jewish people according to the Old Testament and not to the meetings of the New Testament believers. In the Epistles the term worship services is not used, but rather meetings or gatherings is used. In Revelation there is no mention of worship services at all; instead, it mentions numerous times the matter of eating. Verse 7 of chapter 2 says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.” Verse 17 says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna.” Verse 20 of chapter 3 says, “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.” Revelation 22:17 says, “Let him who wills take the water of life freely.” This eating and drinking is the worship that God wants in the New Testament.
Today there is a big mountain standing before us. This is the worship service established by Satan in the past two thousand years through degraded Christianity. This has become a great hindrance to us in the Lord’s recovery who desire to meet according to God’s New Testament economy. The concept of attending worship services has already been deeply rooted within people. Once a person has repented and believed in the Lord Jesus, he immediately has a reaction within himself, saying, “I have to find a chapel to attend services.” I believe that when you go to the community to lead newly saved ones to have home meetings, you will encounter some asking the same type of question, “Where do you go for worship services?” They think within their heart that since they are Christians, they should join a certain church. The best would be one that has a good reputation, is proper, and has a decent chapel with a solemn atmosphere so that upon entering, people will pay great respect. This kind of concept is already deeply rooted within most people, even ourselves. Subconsciously, we would rather have a beautiful meeting hall with believers filing in each Lord’s Day morning, being seated in an orderly manner, and waiting quietly for the responsible brothers to call the hymns to begin the meeting. But what is revealed in the Bible is not like this. First Corinthians 14:26 says, “Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.” The phrase each one has nullifies the matter of attending the worship services of Christianity. Therefore, in talking about the steps to lead people in the new way, we must first understand that attending worship services is absolutely not of God. In the New Testament there is not such a thing as attending worship services.
Now I want to show you a portrait of the true worship of God in the New Testament so that you may have a clear vision. When the Lord Jesus was thirty years old, He came out to fulfill His ministry for God. He went back and forth between Galilee and Judea leading people to know God. In those three and a half years, the Jews were there worshipping God in the temple in Jerusalem as usual in an orderly manner according to the rituals and regulations of the Old Testament. Yet the Lord Jesus had nothing to do with their worship. Although sometimes He went to the temple in Jerusalem, He did not go to attend the services of the Jews. Rather, when everyone came together for worship, He took a whip of cords to cast out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling the doves (Matt. 21:12). Those who were buying and selling in the temple were related to the worship of God, but the Lord Jesus cast them out one by one. This shows us clearly that He was outside of the worship in the temple.
Suppose you were there at that time. Would you be following Jesus the Nazarene to know God, or would you be going to the temple of Judaism to worship God? I do not believe that any among the ones seated here could break the traditional concept, would cease going to the orthodox temple to worship God but, instead, would follow Jesus to know God and even would follow Jesus to the temple to cast out those buying and selling with a whip. I am afraid that you might instead condemn the Lord Jesus for going to the place of worship to disturb the order for worshipping God. However, you have to realize that in those three and a half years God was not in the temple in Jerusalem to be worshipped, but He was following Jesus and was with Jesus to be worshipped by man.
In the three and a half years of His work on the earth, the Lord did not go to attend any church services; He did not even have any sequence or order to His work; He seemed to be at ease under any circumstance. When the disciples went into the boat, He also went into the boat. When the boat was near the shore, and the disciples left the boat, He also left the boat. When He saw someone possessed by demons, He went to cast them out. When He knew people were trying to force Him to be king, He stayed away from them. There was a time when many were following Him, and after having been with Him for three days in the wilderness with nothing to eat, He was moved with compassion and performed a miracle. He used seven loaves and a few small fish to feed them (Matt. 15:32-37). On another occasion the disciples were in a boat crossing over the sea at night, and due to the contrary wind, the boat was under attack by the waves. Suddenly, Jesus was walking on the sea toward them. The disciples thought it was a ghost and cried out. “But immediately Jesus talked to them, saying, Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. And He said, Come. And Peter, coming down from the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the strong wind, he became frightened; and as he began to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me! And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him...And when they got up into the boat, the wind ceased. And those who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying, Truly You are the Son of God” (14:24-33). Do you know that this is the worship to God? The genuine worship to God is to have His presence. It does not matter whether you are in the wilderness, at the seashore, or on the sea. As long as you have the presence of God, and you enjoy Him and He enjoys you, that is the genuine worship. This Jesus Christ is just God Himself. He was the very God whom the Jews were trying to worship in the temple, but He was not there with them. In the temple they only had the name of God in vain, void of His presence. The presence of God was with the walking on the waves; the presence of God was with the distribution of bread and fish to the multitude in the wilderness. If you were in that situation, you were in the presence of God. In that situation God came to give Himself to be received and enjoyed by men. We should receive and enjoy Him in His presence that He may be happy and that we may be satisfied. This is the best worship in the universe.
I hope that your concept can be thoroughly changed so that you no longer would appreciate the traditional things of Christianity, such as the magnificent chapels and the sermons given by famous preachers. We have to remove completely from our midst the habit of attending worship services. I studied the Bible over and over again, but I could not find any record of attending worship services. Instead, I found that the church in the home is mentioned a number of times (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philem. 2). This shows us that the primary meeting place of the church in the early days was the homes of the saints. That kind of meeting had neither regulations nor the need of rituals. I hope that our home meetings will have no restrictions; people can even sit on the floor. Some may feel that this way is too disorderly and that it makes it difficult to bring people to be saved. The bankers, general managers, professors, doctors, and those with money and position may not be willing to come. That is correct. There may be some not willing to come, but those who are willing to come are not few. Actually, there are not that many who are rich and have position; rather, most are ordinary people. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1 says, “Consider your calling, brothers, that there are not many wise according to flesh, not many powerful, not many wellborn. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world...and God has chosen the weak things of the world...and the lowborn things of the world and the despised things...things which are not” (vv. 26-28). At any rate, we have to change our concept toward meeting. The way of meeting as revealed in the New Testament is absolutely not like that being practiced by Christianity today.
By God’s mercy I will boast a little. Through over sixty years of effort, I may say that I have studied the Bible thoroughly. In the United States I spent twelve years to write footnotes in English for every one of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. I have studied dozens of the reference books in Christianity, such as the most authoritative translations of the Bible, dictionaries, word studies, and concordances. Sometimes, just to write one footnote, I spent over a week’s time and searched through nearly all the reference books. I have also spent time to study the history of Christianity; I have thoroughly studied the practices and beliefs of various groups and denominations in Christianity in the Western world. I say all this to you so that you will know that the decision we made three years ago to change the system was not a light matter. I have had over fifty years of experience in working for the Lord. I traveled through many places during twenty years in mainland China. After I went to Taiwan, I traveled back and forth for a period of ten years between Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Then I went to the United States where for twenty-six years I saw, heard, observed, and studied from coast to coast and from the north to the south. Therefore, I have great assurance concerning the matter of changing the system. We have to push out from our midst this high mountain of attending church services. Then we can be delivered, and the Lord will have a way.
Some have said that the change of system that I have been speaking about for the last three years is scriptural in every respect, but they do not believe that the change of system can succeed. Brothers, can the Lord’s word not be fulfilled? Because it has not been fulfilled in the last two thousand years, does this mean that it will never be fulfilled? I believe that the heavens and earth will pass away, but every iota and every serif of the word spoken by the Lord will be fulfilled. Sooner or later the Lord will have to clear the path and fulfill His own word. May every one of us by faith declare that this way will be successful. If it is not yet successful today, tomorrow it will be successful; if it is not successful with us, it will be successful with others.
Now I want to continue talking about the steps to lead people in the new way. First, you need to lead people to know the Lord Jesus as the Spirit and to call upon His name. When you go out to visit people to preach the gospel, right after getting them saved or in the next visit, you need to lead them to know this Jesus in whom we have believed. When He was on the cross, He was our Savior; now in resurrection He has become a life-giving Spirit to enter into our spirit to be the Spirit of life within us. Therefore, we have to lead the newly saved ones to call on the Lord Jesus from deep within. Upon waking up every morning, they should begin calling on the Lord Jesus. Then in their daily life, in whatever they are doing, they would continue calling while they are working. This kind of calling on the Lord is like deep breathing, which definitely makes us feel very comfortable within.
Second, you need to lead people to confess their sins that they may be filled with the Holy Spirit. We have to lead people to realize that the Spirit of the Lord Jesus cannot tolerate sins. Wherever He is, no sins are allowed. Therefore, we have to lead the new ones to confess their sins; the more they do it and the more thoroughly they do it, the better it is. They need to confess their sins every day, even when they do not feel sinful. The more they confess, the more sins they will realize; the more sins they realize, the more they will confess. Eventually, they will be filled and taken over within by the Lord.
Third, you need to lead people to learn to speak the Lord. They should first learn to confess the Lord’s name. After they know how to say, “Jesus Christ,” they can add a few more words like, “Jesus Christ is my Savior.” Then a few more words can be added: “Jesus Christ is my Savior. This Savior today is the Spirit, and He lives in me to be my life.” This is like a little child learning to speak. Every word is taught by the mother. The mother teaches him every day, and he listens every day. Gradually, he will understand the meaning of the words and will know how to speak. We need to teach the newly saved ones to speak the Lord’s word, just as the parents teach their children.
We can also lead people to learn to speak the Lord by the words of the Bible. The Chinese Recovery Version of the New Testament will soon be available. I hope that it can be in each one’s hand. This will definitely be a great help to our learning to speak the Lord. Besides, we can speak the Lord also by means of the hymns. We must realize that the hymns are primarily for speaking, not for singing (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). In our practice of speaking the Lord’s word, the more we speak, the more we are filled with the Spirit. Eventually, there will be a river of living water flowing out of us unceasingly. This is just like what one hymn says, “Spirit begets spirit, spirit worships the Spirit, / So that the Spirit fills me; / The Spirit also has become the word with life abundant, / Flowing out as rivers of living water” (hymn #450 in the Chinese hymnal). I hope that the brothers and sisters in the Lord’s recovery, as well as the newly saved ones under their leading, will be able to speak the Lord. As soon as they open their mouths, they should be able to speak without ceasing so that thousands of people may believe in the Lord and be saved.
Now I would entreat you, whether or not you agree with the change of system, to accept the fact that the old system is not fruitful. Formerly, for over thirty years we have been in the old system, and the number of people has not increased much, nor the number of churches. The brothers and sisters all loved the Lord and fervently gave themselves, but their service has not had much effect, and the meetings have not had much influence on people. Today the Lord is leading us to take the new way. This requires every one of us to be an overcomer in our daily life and to bear fruit in order to arrive at the increase and spread of the church.
To be an overcomer is not as difficult as you formerly thought. As long as you are saved through calling on the name of the Lord Spirit, and you know that this Lord is now the Spirit, He will live within you. When you commit sins, you must confess your sins and allow His blood to cleanse your sins daily; in this way there will be no barriers between you and Him at any time, and you will walk according to the Spirit. Then you will be an overcomer. Romans is a book on the Christian life, and it emphasizes our walking according to the Spirit (8:4). Are you angry? Are you going to lose your temper? Try simply walking according to the Spirit. If the Spirit is not angry, you will not be angry either. If the Spirit does not lose His temper, you will not lose your temper either. What the Spirit does not do, you will not do either. This is to walk according to the Spirit.
Romans 12:11 says, “Burning in spirit, serving the Lord.” If you would walk according to the Spirit in every matter, your spirit will be burning from morning until evening. This is an overcomer. Once your spirit is burning, you will definitely speak the Lord’s word unceasingly. The more you speak, the more you have to speak, and you will keep speaking. You will speak at home, and you will also speak in the group meeting; you will speak in the neighbors’ home, and you will also speak on the bus. If you speak unceasingly in your daily life, you will be an overcomer. Since what is within will be manifested without, this kind of person will spontaneously be full of the Lord’s word when he comes to the meeting.
I feel that in the various meetings of the church, there is no need of definite topics. Formerly, with one person speaking and the rest listening, one week the speaker might speak on justification, and another week he might speak on sanctification. When he speaks on justification, he may not necessarily have the reality of being justified; when he speaks on sanctification, he may not necessarily have a sanctified living. Now, we may not be speaking on justification or sanctification, but if we are calling on the Lord’s name every day, walking according to the Spirit, burning in spirit, and speaking the Lord’s word to people, this is the justified behavior and the sanctified living. When we come together, you speak, I speak, and everyone speaks the Lord’s word. Then the meetings will be living, and the church will also be living. This is the way the Lord wants to take today.
