Daily Church Life

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How should we meet according to God’s economy?

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“And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the 1temple and 2breaking bread from 3house to house, they partook of their food with exultation and 4simplicity of heart” (Acts 2:46)

Acts 2:461 temple
In the initiation of God’s New Testament economy, the early believers and even the first group of apostles were not clear that God had forsaken Judaism with its practices and facilities, including the temple (see Matt. 23:38 — “your house,” referring to the God-forsaken temple). Hence, according to their tradition and habit, they still went to the temple for their New Testament meeting.

Acts 2:462 breaking
The early believers remembered the Lord by breaking bread daily in their houses; this showed their love and enthusiasm toward the Lord.

Acts 2:463 house
Or, at home; in contrast to in the temple. Meeting in homes as the Christian way of meeting together is fitting to God’s New Testament economy. This way differs from the Judaic way of meeting in the synagogues (6:9). It became a continual and general practice in the churches (cf. Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philem. 2).

Acts 2:464 simplicity
Or, singleness; describing the heart’s being simple, single, and plain, having one love and desire and one goal in seeking after the Lord.

“Now Peter and John were going up into the 1temple at the ninth-hour prayer” (Acts 3:1)

See note 461 in ch. 2 [above]. It was not only the early believers who were not clear concerning God’s New Testament economy in relation to the Judaic temple; even the early apostles did not have a clear vision concerning God’s abandoning of the Judaic things. Hence, even after God poured out the Spirit upon them on the day of Pentecost to initiate a new dispensation, they still would not separate themselves from the Judaic temple. At the initial stage God tolerated their ignorance in this matter. But this led to a mixture of the church with Judaism, which was not condemned by the early church in Jerusalem (cf. 21:20-26). Eventually, the temple was destroyed by Titus with his Roman army in A.D. 70, as prophesied by the Lord in Matt. 23:38 and 24:2. That destruction cleared up the religious mixture.

Where should we find the real meaning of life?

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 “...I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.” (1 Tim. 3:15)

“God lives, God moves, and God works out His life in the Church; and the testimony and the reality stand upon the Church. We must consider these two aspects: inwardly, God’s dwelling in the Church; and outwardly, the Church bearing the testimony and the reality. These two aspects show the real mingling of God with man. Within the Church—this group of redeemed, regenerated, and transformed people—God dwells; and upon this group of people, there is the reality of the universe. All the reality of the universe is centered in this group. If anyone wants to know what life is, he must come to the Church and see. If some would like to know what love is, they too must come and see. If the reality of humility and kindness is to be known, the Church is the place to see it. Upon this group of people is seen the reality of the all-inclusive Christ. The testimony of the Church is not in doctrine but in bearing Christ as the reality. The more we exclaim “Christ,” yet have not the inner reality, the more Christ is gone. We only have Christ in shouting, in talking, and in teaching. We do not have Him in our inner life, nor do we experience Him in our outer living, our daily walk. The Church must be the pillar and ground, bearing Christ as the only reality of everything. If we do not know the real meaning of life, we must be able to come to the Church to find it.”

(The Economy of God, ch. 23)

We need the 70-80-90 church life

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We need the 70-80-90 church life:

The group meetings should be eighty percent of the church life

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The group meetings should be eighty percent of the church life. If we do not build up the group meetings, the church will be very weak. Among us there are some older saints who love the Lord and the church but do not have the habit of attending the group meetings. They have the habit of coming only to the Lord’s table meeting, the ministry meeting, and sometimes the prayer meeting. Some may come only to take the Lord’s table on the Lord’s Day and leave an offering in the offering box. To charge, encourage, and exhort them to come to the group meetings will not work since they do not have such a habit. However, some of the older saints do have the burden to come to the group meetings. Many of them, though, have been in the traditional, old way for years. Their traditional way of meeting may be compared to speaking English with a foreign accent. Because of my old, traditional background, my English is somewhat poor. It is difficult for me to get rid of my old way of speaking. Likewise, it is difficult to drop the traditional way of meeting.

These older saints with the traditional ways will eventually be in the same group meetings as the newly baptized ones. The way to build up the group meetings, therefore, is first by going out to gain new ones. It is best not to raise up a group meeting with the older saints as the foundation. We should first go to gain new believers. After one or two new ones are gained, we should go to their home to feed them in their home meeting. This home meeting will become a group meeting. Then we may invite some older saints to join us. In this way we will have a mixed attendance with some new ones and some older ones.

We must let the new ones know that we do not care as much for the big meetings as we care for the group meetings. The group meetings are the “lifeline,” the “pulse,” of our church life. At the same time we should have a thorough fellowship with the older saints in the group, either in our home or in their home. We can tell them that they should forget about the old way of meeting and that they need to pick up the new way. In the first few group meetings we need to explain what the new way is and how to have a group meeting. We should explain that we come together not in formality but in a released spirit to fellowship, pray, care for one another, and shepherd one another.

Even though our current group meetings may have the element of oldness, we should not dissolve them. This will not be good for the attendants in those meetings. We still need to maintain the present meetings, but at the same time we should form a group in the new way. Our time and energy should be concentrated on the new group meeting. If some saints would raise up group meetings in the new way, after a few months many others will follow them to do the same. At that time the meetings in the older way will fade away by themselves.

We should not depend upon the church to arrange a group meeting for us. If we want a family, we should simply get married and bring forth children. We do not need to wait for our parents to arrange a family for us. An arranged family is not a genuine family. We need to produce the group meetings ourselves. Then we must learn the new way to have the group meetings. It is not sufficient to maintain a number of home meetings with only two or three members present. These smaller meetings will not be as effective as the group meetings and will not last for the long term. We need to go along with the need of the new ones, but in going along with their need, we must bring them into the new way. Then a proper, genuine group meeting will be built up with them. A group meeting formed and built up in a proper, spiritual way will endure for the long term. The church life depends upon this kind of group meeting. We need to learn the best way to have the group meetings, and we need to spend time to labor according to what we have learned.

(The Practice of the Group Meetings, Chapter 1, Section 4)

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Fellowship on opening our homes with Andrew Yu in Diamond Bar, 9/11/2011

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What is to practice the church life according to the God-ordained way?

  1. Work the truth into all the saints
  2. Work the church life into the homes
  3. Work the gospel into our living

In order to do this, we need to move away from the “meeting” mentality to the “person” mentality.

Four new words to replace the word “meeting”:

  1. Prayer (together in the homes)
  2. Care (for one another in the homes)
  3. Share (the Lord’s riches in the homes)
  4. Bear (fruit in the homes)

This is the essence of the church life!

“Do you know what is the universal language? Not Chinese, not English. Love! Love is the universal language. It transcends all barriers. It doesn’t matter. You know as long as you love, I don’t care what color of skin you are. Then you open up, and then you have the real Body life.”

What does it mean to be blended?

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“When we blend together, we have the cross and the Spirit. Without the cross and the Spirit, all that we have is the flesh with division…. We may come together without much blending because everyone stays in themselves. They are afraid to offend others and make mistakes, so they keep quiet. This is the manner of man according to the flesh. When we come together, we should experience the terminating of the cross. Then we should learn how to follow the Spirit, how to dispense Christ, and how to say and do something for the benefit of the Body. To be blended means that you are touched by others and that you are touching others. But you should touch others in a blending way. Go through the cross, do things by the Spirit, and do everything to dispense Christ for His Body’s sake. We should not come to a blending meeting to be silent. We have to prepare ourselves to say something for the Lord. The Lord may use us, but we need to be tempered and crossed out, and we need to learn how to follow the Spirit to dispense Christ for His Body’s sake. Such a blending is not social but the blending of the very Christ whom the individual members, the district churches, the co-workers, and the elders enjoy, experience, and partake of. The blending is for the building up of the universal Body of Christ (Eph. 1: 23) to consummate the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21: 2) as the final goal of God’s economy according to His good pleasure (Eph. 3: 8-10; 1: 9-10).”

(CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “The Divine and Mystical Realm”)

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Old Way/ New Way

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 Old Way New Way
Caring for the meeting Caring for people
Being isolated in my home Opening my home to saints and /or visiting saints in their homes
Only staying in or thinking about my district/locality/state/country Blending, visiting, migration; praying for the Lord’s move all over the Earth; being Body-conscious
Being set, settled, and occupied Being open to migrate
Big meetings Twos and threes
Charismatic speakers Every member functioning
Scheduled activities / special events Everyday activities done together
Big Small
Meeting hall Homes
Individual spirituality Corporate building up
Criticizing the elders and/or other saints Being a pattern of the healthy church life
Spiritual giants Vital groups
Trying to become a five-talented member Investing my one talent
Regulating behavior Growing in the divine life
The principle of the tree: outward display, deeply rooted in the earth, a lodging place for birds (Matt. 13:32) The principle of the mustard seed: small, sojourning, good for food
Having meetings Wanting to be with the saints
Taking care of meetings Taking care of people (saints, new ones, unbelievers)
Hierarchy/clergy-laity Mutuality
One-directional working on a few “promising” ones Mutual caring among all
Top to bottom: having a top-down one-directional organized church structure Bottom to top: everyone actively initiating and functioning
Small to big: making one home meeting bigger and bigger Few to many: multiplying one home into many homes
Meeting once or twice a week Contacting saints regularly throughout the week (because I need them)
Dressing up and putting on a performance for the big meetings Being genuine with one another, getting to really know one another, loving one another
Brothers doing everything, sisters being left out (including husbands and wives) All members especially sisters functioning, couples and families serving together, brothers heading up and covering
Inviting new ones to our meetings and conferences Visiting new ones where they are, especially in their home
Only meeting with saints who are from my cultural background or language Being open to blend with all the saints
The 20% church life The 80% church life
Brothers being 2/3 of the saints Sisters being 2/3 of the saints
Looking to a “pastor” or leading brother to run the home meeting and give a teaching/message Every member functioning in mutuality in the homes, learning by asking and answering questions
Focusing only on college students All saints being cared for
Living to our children Living with the tabernacle (Christ and the church) as our center
Not letting others care for our children Caring for one another’s children so the sisters can make it to the meetings
Barrenness Corporate bearing of remaining fruit
Formulaic meetings (pray-eat-sing-read) Organic functioning of every member, following the leading and flow of the Spirit
Focusing on the Lord’s Day meetings Daily church life
Following our jobs Following the Lamb

What is the foundation of the church meetings? ​

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“THE HOME MEETINGS BEING THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH MEETINGS

When the church was established, three thousand people were saved, and later five thousand men were baptized (v. 41; 4:4). Altogether, at least eight thousand people received salvation. How did they live the church life? The church met together, but how did this many people meet? In other words, what was the foundation of their meetings?… What is the foundation of the church meetings? The eight thousand who were saved met in the temple and from house to house, from one house to another (2:46; 5:42). When they were in the temple, mainly Peter, John, and the other apostles spoke. But there was no way for Peter and John to meet with all eight thousand people, comprising a minimum of a thousand homes; the believers needed to meet from house to house.

Acts 5:42 says, “Every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and announcing the gospel of Jesus as the Christ.” Those who were saved for even a day or two began to meet in their homes, and they did not speak the teachings of Moses or Elijah. Every household was speaking what they heard from Peter in the temple.

The crucial point is that the meetings in the homes were the foundation of the church meetings. A big meeting in the temple was not the foundation. The believers who were produced by the speaking in the temple were brought to meetings in individual homes. In other words, the building up of the church did not depend on the big meetings in the temple; rather, the building up of the church depended on the meetings in the homes, the meetings from house to house.

In Acts 8, not long after the eight thousand were saved, a great persecution arose in Jerusalem. The believers all left Jerusalem, and only the twelve apostles remained. It is hard to believe, but the Bible says that “all were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles” (v. 1). The propagation of the gospel and the spread of the testimony of the church did not depend primarily on the apostles but rather on the newly saved ones who were dispersed. We have to believe that even in their dispersion, they were not able to hold big meetings because of persecution. It should be clear that big meetings were not the foundation of the church. The meetings from house to house, the meetings with three to seven people in the homes, were the foundation of the church. The big meetings are like skating in an ice rink; it is easy to skate in, and it is easy to skate out, but the home meetings can actually keep people. This light is very clear in the Bible.

THE SMALL GROUP MEETINGS STARTING IN TAIWAN

In the Lord’s recovery we saw this light from the beginning. Thus, we encouraged the saints to migrate for the gospel…. In Taipei we first began to meet in one hall. When we gained more people, we met in several locations. When even more were added, we divided them into homes and then into groups for visitation and shepherding. These homes and groups brought in tens of thousands of people and were able to retain them. From 1949 to 1957 the number of saints in the churches on the island of Taiwan increased from four or five hundred to forty or fifty thousand; there was nearly a hundredfold increase. However, in 1958 we were distracted and started to go downhill. This downward slope was not steep; rather, it was a gentle decline. However, we have been going downhill for twenty-seven years.

GOING DOWNHILL BY PAYING ATTENTION TO THE BIG MEETINGS AND IGNORING THE HOMES AND GROUPS

When we began to leave the big meetings, which were according to the practice of the denominations, we began home meetings and small group meetings; it was not an easy mountain to climb. But before we could reach the peak, we were distracted and could not climb any further; instead, we went downhill. We went downhill to such an extent that we paid attention only to big meetings and eloquent speakers. Good speakers attract people, and the saints acquired a habit of listening to sermons. Before going to a meeting, we often would ask about the speaker. If “Paul” was speaking, everybody would go, but if “Mark” was speaking, many would say, “I don’t have the time to go.” Thus, the foundation of the church gradually shifted from small groups in the homes to speakers in a big meeting. This is like degraded Christianity.

MEETINGS WITH SPIRITUAL GIANTS NOT RETAINING PEOPLE

In Christianity there is little emphasis on home meetings or group meetings. Mainly, congregations hire a pastor who has a seminary degree, some human capability, likableness, and eloquence and who can speak on many topics. With such a pastor, the congregation will flourish and prosper, but if the pastor is not capable or eloquent, the congregation will dwindle. This is the general situation in Christianity; there is some growth, but the direction is ultimately downhill. It is hard to retain people by relying on gifted preachers or spiritual giants. When a great preacher comes, tens of thousands may come and listen, but when he leaves, everyone leaves as well. When the great preacher leaves, the thin ice that everyone is skating on melts.

People hold revival meetings in Christianity because they are deflated. The purpose of a revival meeting is to give a heart-strengthening injection. The foundation of today’s Christianity is not with small groups but with big meetings. When I was young, I went with my mother to a Sunday service for nearly twenty years. I never talked to anyone, and no one talked to my mother and me. Everyone was dressed up and sat quietly in the pews. There were hymn numbers posted on a board, and someone would begin the service by calling out these hymns. After the singing, someone would preach a sermon, and then someone would make announcements. Finally, there was a benediction to end the service. After the benediction everyone got up and left. I did not say anything to anyone, and no one spoke to us; we simply went our own way. There was no mutual fellowship, much less a steadfast continuation in the teaching of the apostles (Acts 2:42).

Sixty years ago the Lord showed us the mutual fellowship of all the members of the Body. This cannot be practiced only through big meetings. Even if we met in this way for ten years, it would not be easy for every member to be contacted. However, once we meet in a home, there is a need for everyone to speak. Even if we have never had a thorough conversation with another member, we will spontaneously have many such conversations in the homes. This is the advantage of the small group meetings.
….
HOME MEETINGS AND GROUP MEETINGS BEING THE FOUNDATION TO KEEP PEOPLE

Big meeting halls have their usefulness, but if we focus only on this aspect, we will not have the foundation of the church. Our current way is like skating in an ice rink, and it is easy for people to skate out the door. If we bring people to the home meetings and group meetings, they will be rooted and grounded. Only the home meetings and group meetings can keep people. This is God’s wise design; it is not a method conceived by man.

The Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, and He led the believers to meet from house to house. The beginning of God’s work always reveals what is best, because after His work is handed over to man, it begins to go downhill. The beginning in Acts was the best. Now the big meetings are like a skating rink, and many skate in, but many also skate out. In Acts there were meetings from house to house as a foundation to bring people into the church. Once a person met from house to house, he was surely kept. This is God’s wisdom.

…. I beg you all to pick up the burden to pray and to strive together. Do not belittle the small group meetings. Whether we can succeed, that is, whether the Lord can work out a way among us, depends on our efforts now. Otherwise, the Lord will have to look for some other people, and we will go downhill, becoming yet another group in Christianity.
….
SMALL GROUPS BEING THE WAY TO BUILD UP THE CHURCH

In the church all the brothers and sisters love the Lord, and based on this love for the Lord, I have the burden to lead you. Since you love the Lord, you must mean business with Him; your love for the Lord should not just be vain talk. The Bible shows that the Lord has only one way to build up His church, to reach His goal—the small group meetings. The building up of the church cannot be accomplished with big meetings. The big meetings of Christianity are like the age of the judges, who were like spiritual giants. When Samson rose up, it was good. When he died, Israel declined (Judg. 13—16). The age of the judges in the Old Testament prefigures today’s Christianity. If we pay attention only to big meetings and neglect the home meetings and group meetings, we are returning to the old way, reenacting the age of the judges and depending on spiritual giants. We must change our concept. We do not want judges; we want homes. Every home and every group must be strong, and we must be strong in order to have strong homes and groups.

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.
….
SIX COMMISSIONS FOR THE SMALL GROUP

First, we must change our concept; this is the most difficult thing. We must realize that the small group meetings are not a method or merely an additional meeting. We should neither uplift the big meetings nor despise them. We need to regard them equally. Presently, we need to stress the small groups because the saints still overemphasize the big meetings. We need to be balanced. We should not consider that recovering someone means to bring a person back to the big meetings on the Lord’s Day. Of course, this would be good, but it is not required. As long as a saint can come to a group meeting, this is good enough.

Second, the group meetings should strive to recover those who have not been meeting for a long time. In Taipei there are tens of thousands of brothers and sisters who have not been meeting. The three to four thousand who meet regularly should be in group meetings in order to recover those who have not been meeting for a long time.

Third, we need to preach the gospel widely. The home gospel must go out from the small groups. The community gospel must go out from the small groups. Even the campus work can go out from the small groups. The small groups are the foundation. When the small groups are not strong, it is hard to perfect people to help with the gospel on a campus. If the small groups are not strong, who can shepherd when there is a need for shepherding? If the small groups are not strong, the children’s work also will not be carried out. In order for a nation to be strong, its families must be strong. Likewise, for a church to be strong, the home meetings and group meetings must be built up as the foundation, the base, of our spiritual work.

Fourth, the small groups must be able to keep and uphold people and cause them to want to come back. We have to work on the small groups to the point that they have the power to attract and keep people. Fifth, we need to strengthen the riches in the small group meetings. The content of the small group meetings must be rich. When the small group meetings become rich, we will attain the highest goal of expressing Christ.

The small group meetings are not easy to build up. This great and high mountain is not easy to climb. When we change our concept and begin to recover those who have not been meeting for a long time, to widely preach the gospel, and to uphold, strengthen, and enrich the content of the meetings, we will reach God’s highest goal for the church—expressing Christ. May the Lord have mercy on us. May we all pray for this matter.”

(On Home Meetings, chapter 1)

Who is able to coordinate with others?

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“Those who can coordinate are those who deny themselves, reject themselves, regard themselves as nothing, and trust in God’s grace, power, and work in everything and for everything. These ones can easily coordinate with others. Actually, there is no need for them to endeavor to coordinate; they coordinate spontaneously and effortlessly because they are in God, not in themselves.”

(Life-Study of Ezekiel, p. 85)

Are we satisfied with the Lord Jesus alone?

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Brothers and sisters, what is the meaning of being thirsty? When one is thirsty, it means that he is not satisfied. Those who drink of the water that the Lord gives will never thirst again. Thank and praise the Lord! A Christian is not only a contented person but a person who is forever satisfied! It is not enough for a Christian to merely be contented. Everything that God gives to us makes us eternally satisfied. But how many times have we crossed the main streets without feeling thirsty? When we pass by the great department stores, are we thirsty? If we crave for this or that, is this not being thirsty? Are we thirsty when we consider our classmates or colleagues and envy their possessions? Yet the Lord said, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water gushing up into eternal life.” [John 4:14] What He gives to us is one kind of life, yet we experience something else. The Lord says that He is all we need, but we say that He is not enough. We need this and that before we can be satisfied, but He said that He alone is enough. Is what we received from the Lord wrong or is our experience wrong? One of the two must be wrong. The Lord cannot possibly write us a bad check. Whatever He promises, He will surely give. Our experience in the past was, in the words of one hymn, “a half salvation” (Hymns, #513, stanza 2). Why does the Lord say that a believer will not be thirsty again? This is because he has become different inside. Within him, there are new demands and new satisfactions. Brothers and sisters, are we living before God and serving Him in holiness and righteousness all our days? Are we living before God every day in holiness and righteousness, as the priest Zachariah spoke of in Luke 1:75? Do we have something within that gushes forth all the time to quench others’ thirst? The Chinese have an expression, wu-wei, which means “to do nothing.” Christians have to be those who are asking for nothing. We can say that the Lord is enough for us. Are we satisfied with just the Lord? Are we really satisfied with the Lord Jesus alone? If we are not satisfied, it means that there is something wrong with our living.

(The Overcoming Life, chapter 2)