Author: livinglywrong
The seven-layer tomb that hinders us from living Christ
HINDRANCES TO LIVING BY CHRIST
You may feel that for years you have heard of living by Christ. You may have a heart to do so. In fact, you may have tried and tried again to live Him. Yet your efforts have been unsuccessful and you have given up. Why is it that you have not succeeded?
It is because we are buried in a seven-layered tomb! The first layer is the fall of man. The second layer is our natural life. After man was created, he fell; because of the fall, he has his natural life, with its own inclinations and intentions. The third layer, and the thickest, is human culture. To live by the culture into which we were born comes naturally; but to live Christ seems like a strange notion to us. The fourth layer is religion, which also affects all mankind. Whether we are very set in our religion, like the Moslems, or consider ourselves atheists, we nonetheless are religious. The fifth layer is ethics or morality. The concept of morality is imbedded deep in our being. To be pleasant and considerate of others is needed in human society, but in order to live Christ we must be above ethical considerations. The sixth layer of our tomb is our virtues, closely related to ethics. What we esteem as virtues others may not agree with. We may appreciate patience, but others may regard quickness as a virtue. We may like humility, but others may think ambition is desirable. Whatever our virtues, they are a layer of the tomb in which we are buried. The last layer of the tomb is spiritual seeking. To seek holiness, victory, and spirituality can be a layer of the tomb that buries us from the living Christ.
(Life Messages, Vol. 2, chapter 13)
How do we know if we are built with others?
Because the church is a corporate entity, we need to be built with one another (Eph. 2:22). Two indicators that we are built with others are that we have no problem with them and that we care for them. As long as we have a problem with any saint, we are not built with others. By the Lord’s mercy I can testify that as far as it depends on me, I do not have a problem with any saint (cf. Rom. 12:18).
(CWWL, 1982, vol. 1, “Miscellaneous Messages in Anaheim”)
How can we save people effectively?
The way that can save people effectively must be by small vital groups, and everyone in this small vital group must be a shepherd. After a short time the church will be revived. No other way is more prevailing than this shepherding way.
I hope that we would pray, “Lord, I want to be revived. From today I want to be a shepherd. I want to go to feed people, to shepherd people, and to flock people together.”
(CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John”)
How should we meet as Christians?
“How then should we meet? First, if we would meet properly, our meeting must be related to the church, and our meeting must belong to the church. Our meeting must be standing with the church and be a part of the church. The purpose of our meeting must be to execute the decision of the church.
…If you read the book of Acts, you will see that whatever decision was made by this one group of elders was taken by all the believers, because they were all one church. Acts 8:1 says, “The church which was in Jerusalem.” Why do I stress this matter so much? Because it is so basic to the matter of meeting. The first thing we must care for in the matter of meeting is that our meeting must be a part of the local church. We must meet by taking the stand of the church and by carrying out what the church intends to do. We may have scores of home meetings. I would like to see in the city of Los Angeles more than one hundred home meetings, yet all one church under one eldership. In the city of Taipei, on the island of Taiwan, there is an actual example of this at the present time. In that city there is one church, the church in Taipei, with thousands of believers and more than sixty home meetings, yet all under one eldership. All those home meetings are not isolated and independent meetings; they are in full relationship one to another and to the one church there. The first thing we must care for in regard to our meetings is that we meet in this way. By being related to the local church, we are right. This is a basic matter.
…This matter has very much to do with the oneness of the Body. If a few brothers meet here and there in the Lord’s name without caring for the church, the Body of Christ is divided. We must all meet with a proper and positive relationship to the local church. Then our meeting will not be a divisive meeting; it will be a meeting that stands with the church and executes the church’s will. We cannot begin any meeting carelessly. We cannot start any meeting without taking care of the church. Whenever we begin to meet, we must meet for the church: either we meet as the church or as a part of the church. That means that we are absolutely one with the church and that there can be no divisions. It is in this way that our meetings will be kept in the church in oneness. The Lord be merciful to us.”
(From How to Meet, chapter 1: “On the Position of the Church”)
Nothing is as real as spiritual matters
Our being broken and living before the Lord, His being built within us, and the church being the expression of Christ’s Body cannot be faked. People can sense this immediately when they meet with us. Similarly, the condition of our locality cannot be faked. It is cold or hot, poor or rich, in the flesh or in Christ. As soon as people touch us, they will touch the inward reality. Nothing is as real as spiritual matters; they cannot be faked at all.
Some people are in Christ, allowing Him to rule in them and to overflow out of them. They are persons who are broken, restricted, and ruled by the Holy Spirit. When we come into their midst, we are released and freed, regardless of how heavy a burden or how difficult a situation may be pressing upon us. As soon as we enter into a meeting with them, our entire being is released and freed. This is because there is freedom in the fullness of Christ. If the Son of God sets us free, we are free indeed. Of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. If we live in Him and allow His fullness to be expressed, there will be something in us that sets others free.
(The Church as the Body of Christ, Chapter 11, Section 3)
God wants to be the Giver and the Doer
Luke 15:21-24a:
“The son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his slaves, Bring out quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fattened calf; slaughter it, and let us eat and be merry, because this son of mine was dead and lives again; he was lost and has been found.”
WORDS OF MINISTRY:
When the prodigal returned home after wasting all of his substance on riotous living, the father did not have a word of rebuke concerning the waste or a word of inquiry regarding the substance. He did not sorrow over all that was spent; he only rejoiced that the prodigal’s return afforded him the opportunity to spend much more. God is so wealthy that His chief delight is to give; His treasure-stores are so full that it is painful to Him when we refuse Him an opportunity to lavish His treasures upon us. It was the father’s joy that he found a willing applicant in the prodigal son for the robe, ring, shoes, and feast; it was his sorrow that he found no such application in the elder brother. It is a grief to the heart of God when we try to give things to Him, because He is so rich. It is a joy when we simply allow Him to give and give to us. It grieves Him when we try to do things for Him, because He is so able. He longs for us to simply allow Him to do everything. He wants to be the Giver and the Doer eternally. If only we saw how rich and how great He is, we would leave all the giving and doing to Him.
(The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 46, “The Christian’s Relationship to the Law,” pp. 1161-1162)
Why do people in the Lord’s recovery say “Amen” in the meetings so much?
Answer from ChatGPT:
In the Lord’s recovery, “Amen” is used very frequently because it is understood not merely as a way of ending a prayer, but as a way of actively responding to the Lord and agreeing with what is being spoken.
The practice has several layers:
1. Biblical meaning: “Amen” basically means “truly,” “surely,” or “so be it.” It is a Hebrew word carried directly into the New Testament. When someone says “Amen,” they are affirming, “Yes, this is true,” or “May this be so.”
2. A corporate response: Recovery meetings emphasize that the church is not primarily an audience listening to one person minister. Everyone is encouraged to function. Saying “Amen” is a very simple way for everyone to participate.
3. Affirming the Lord rather than merely the speaker: Ideally, when someone shares something concerning Christ or the Word, the “Amen” is directed toward what is true of the Lord—not simply, “I agree with that brother.”
4. Praying with the speaker: If someone prays, “Lord, we love You and want to enjoy You more,” others may say “Amen” because they are making that prayer their own.
5. Receiving the Word: Someone might read a verse and then make a short declaration about it. Others say “Amen” as an expression of receiving and agreeing with the truth.
6. Spiritual exercise: The Recovery places considerable emphasis on believers exercising their spirit in the meetings rather than remaining passive. Vocal responses—“Amen,” “Praise the Lord,” “Hallelujah,” etc.—are part of that practice.
There is actually a particularly relevant verse:
“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes; therefore also through Him is the Amen to God, unto the glory of God through us.” — 2 Corinthians 1:20, RcV
The Recovery’s understanding of that verse is that Christ Himself is God’s “Yes” to us, and our “Amen” is our response to God through Christ.
Why it can sound like a lot of Amens:
There’s also a cultural/meeting-practice component. In a typical Recovery meeting, people have been trained to respond audibly and frequently. So you might hear:
“The Lord Jesus is so wonderful!”
“Amen!”
“We just want to love Him!”
“Amen!”
“We need to exercise our spirit!”
“Amen!”
And sometimes it can become almost automatic.
That’s worth distinguishing from the biblical principle itself. The New Testament certainly supports corporate verbal affirmation—Paul explicitly says that the other believers should be able to say Amen to someone’s prayer (1 Corinthians 14:16). But the Bible doesn’t prescribe a particular frequency or meeting style for saying it.
So there are really two things going on:
1. Biblical principle: Amen = “Yes, I agree; may it be so,” and it can be a genuine corporate response to the Lord.
2. Recovery culture: frequent audible “Amens” have become one of the characteristic ways that Recovery meetings express corporate participation.
And, frankly, the second can sometimes continue even when the first isn’t happening very consciously. A person can say “Amen” because everyone else just said “Amen.” That doesn’t necessarily mean the practice itself is wrong; it means the spiritual reality behind the practice matters.
Related Bible verses:
“Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, From eternity to eternity. And all the people said, Amen, and praised Jehovah.” (1 Chronicles 16:36)
“And Ezra blessed Jehovah the great God; and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshipped Jehovah with their faces to the ground.” (Nehemiah 8:6)
“Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, / From eternity to eternity. / And let all the people say, Amen. / Hallelujah.” (Psalm 106:48)
“Otherwise if you bless with the spirit, how shall he who fills the place of the unlearned in tongues say the Amen at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?” (1 Corinthians 14:16)
“For as many promises of God as there are, in Him is the Yes; therefore also through Him is the Amen to God, for glory through us to God.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)
“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.” (Revelation 22:21)
What is the optimal size for a small group? 
It is preferable for a small group to have no more than twelve people. Five or six is the best, seven or eight is fine, and even eight or ten is good. Because we love Him and mean business with Him, we should daily pray, read the Word, learn the truth, see the light, experience Christ, and labor on Christ. Then when we come together, we will have experiences to share, rather than being an “audience” waiting for others to speak.
(On Home Meetings, chapter 1)
Why do we have to know the hymns?
“In order for us to enrich, strengthen, enliven, refresh, and uplift our meetings, we need to use the hymns. We have seen that according to 1 Corinthians 14:26 and Hebrews 10:25, we need both speaking and singing in our meetings. The speaking is not only the speaking of the word of God or the speaking forth of Christ but also the speaking of the hymns. The first item listed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:26 is a psalm. A psalm is poetry. In both Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, we are charged to speak in hymns. This indicates that the saints in the early Christian meetings used a lot of hymns. Many times we may not be able to find a verse or some verses in the Bible to meet the real need in the meeting, but we can easily find a hymn to meet the need. This is why we have to know the hymns. If we use the hymns adequately and properly in our meetings, they will be uplifted, enlivened, and refreshed.”
(Speaking Christ for the Building Up of the Body of Christ, p. 73)
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