Migration

In order for the gospel to go forth, we have to move

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Although God has made many preparations in the environment in order for us to migrate, we still have problems practicing migration. Such problems include our nature, habits, family relationships, relatives and friends, work factors, geographic factors, and property. There is also the inability to adapt to different languages, different customs, and new environments. In addition, there are hardships, costs, and losses suffered when we migrate. These matters cause us to hesitate. Furthermore, according to our natural disposition, Chinese people do not like to move. It is difficult to leave our native land. In general, migration is relatively easy for Caucasians but difficult for the Chinese. Unless we are forced to move, we are unwilling to go even to a nearby region, let alone to a faraway land. Our natural disposition, habits, environment, and human relationships make us inclined to stay in one place. Hence, we need the Lord’s deliverance in relation to migration.

We do not have to move for our sake or for the sake of our family, but we do need to move for the Lord’s sake and for His gospel. If we do not move, the gospel cannot go forth; if we stay in one place, the gospel will be held back. In order for the gospel to go forth, we have to move. In order to move, however, we must overcome the problems that hinder us. We need to be delivered from these problems by allowing the Lord to break our natural disposition and our lack of desire to move. We must also ask the Lord to enable us to overcome every factor that restrains us from migrating.

We need the Lord to break our natural disposition and habits in relation to migration. We ask the Lord to enable us to overcome sin and the world, but we must also ask Him to enable us to overcome all the things that restrain us from migrating. Most people would rather stay in one place than suffer moving to different places. We need the Lord to deliver us from this preference. We need the Lord’s grace to make us willing to move so that we would not be half Christians, ones who come but do not go. By the Lord’s grace, we need to be sojourners on earth who follow the footsteps of Abraham.

When Abraham was called, he obeyed and went from his land to Canaan, the land that God promised to give him. Abraham dwelt in Canaan as a foreigner; he was a sojourner who moved from place to place in a tent, thus confessing that he was a stranger and a sojourner on the earth (Heb. 11:8, 13). Wherever Abraham went, he pitched a tent and built an altar to Jehovah; he also called on the name of Jehovah and maintained God’s testimony on the earth (Gen. 12:6-8; 13:3-4, 18). The tent and the altar were inseparable in the life of Abraham. The tent was a symbol of his life of sojourning on earth, and the altar was a testimony of his calling on the name of Jehovah. Abraham built an altar only after he pitched a tent. He had the testimony of calling on Jehovah only when he lived a sojourning life. Likewise, if we want to serve God, declare His gospel, and maintain His testimony, we must live as sojourners; that is, we must move. If we stay in any place for a long period of time, we will lose the characteristic of a sojourner and the life of the tent. When we lose the life of the tent, we also lose the testimony of the altar. Hence, we cannot maintain God’s testimony when we lose the characteristic of being sojourners.

Whenever we stay in a place for a long time, we will be in danger of being rooted on earth. When we received salvation, the Lord uprooted us out of the world. However, some saints have not allowed the Lord to pull their roots out of the earth. Abraham obeyed God’s command immediately after he was called by going from the land of his birth, that is, from Ur of the Chaldeans (11:31). Some brothers and sisters have been called to be God’s children, but they have not obeyed God’s command to go out from their “Ur,” the place where their roots are in the earth. If they would be willing to migrate, the Lord would pull their roots out of the earth…

May we follow the example of Abraham, the father of faith, by always moving, living the life of a sojourner who pitches a tent and builds an altar as a testimony of God.

(CWWL, 1950-1951, vol. 2, “Serving According to Revelation,” ch. 8)

The price we pay by migrating cannot compare with the Christ we will gain

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‘To move for the Lord involves a certain cost. Moving involves not only our jobs, our businesses, our homes, our families, our schooling, and other matters but also the paying of a price. We must consider what we are on the earth for. We are here not for our job, schooling, or home but for the Lord’s recovery. Therefore, it is worthwhile to pay the price to move.

The price we pay by migrating cannot compare with the Christ we will gain. When you pay one hundred dollars in order to buy a diamond that is worth one thousand dollars, you do not feel that you are paying too high a price. Likewise, if we pay the price to move for the Lord’s present testimony, we will gain the unsearchably rich Christ as our everything. We may say that this is to strike a “holy bargain” (Hymns, #473).

The day of the Lord’s coming back is approaching. Since the day of His return is very close, we should not waste our time seeking individualistic spirituality. Instead, we should enter into the flow of the Body of Christ. It is worthwhile to enter into this flow. By entering into the Lord’s flow, we will gain Christ as our everything. Everything depends on His flow. We should not worry about our future, for it is in the Lord’s hands. If we enter into His flow, He will take care of our future.’

(The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1969, vol. 3, The Lord’s Recovery of the Church Life, chapter 6)

If the saints in a certain locality do not migrate, eventually that locality will become a “Dead Sea”

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“For some years many of the saints in this country were reluctant to migrate. But we thank the Lord that recently the saints have begun to migrate again. In the last year a number of churches have been raised up through the migrating of the saints.

The saints in all the churches should be encouraged to migrate. If the saints in a certain locality do not migrate, eventually that locality will become a “Dead Sea.” The Dead Sea is a reservoir for the water from the river Jordan. Once the water from the Jordan reaches the Dead Sea it does not proceed any farther. If the church in a particular locality is to avoid becoming such a Dead Sea, a “canal” must be dug to allow the “water” to flow out. Perhaps ten percent of the saints in a locality may migrate each year. This will allow for the necessary outflow without devastating the church. Furthermore, if water is allowed to flow out, more water will flow in.

Using the illustration of a hose, we may say that every church should be like a hose that is open at both ends. When a hose is open in this way, water is able to flow in and out. But if water is not able to flow out of a hose, nothing more will be able to flow in. How much water flows in depends on how much flows out. If we want the church to increase, there must be the outflow. Only when there is an outflow can the church in a certain locality be preserved from becoming a Dead Sea.”

(Life-study of Acts, pp. 180-181)

Open Letter from brother Andrew Yu (May 29, 2020)

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Download Open Letter from Brother Andrew (29_5_2020)

An open letter (Fellowship from Brother Andrew Yu on May 29, 2020). Translated from original in Chinese, not verified with speaker.

NOTE: An updated version of this letter is available at https://www.churchinalhambra.org/en/2020/05/31/br-andrew-yu-an-open-letter2020-5-29/. Reprinted here:

Dear brothers and sisters,

“The time of the Lord’s return is at hand. For this reason we are reevaluating many matters in the light of the judgment seat.”

The above quote is from “An Open Letter” in Issue No. 1 of The Present Testimony by Brother Watchman Nee published in January of 1928. Today, ninety-two years later, we are even closer to the time of the Lord’s return. Today, seeing all the things happening around us, we feel even more deeply that the time of the Lord’s return is closer than any of the previous ages. The instability of the world situation, the global spread of the pandemic, the panic in people’s hearts, the uncontrollable environment, and the economic crisis all indicate that this age is nearing a fundamental turning point. At this solemn moment, it should be a time for us to have a reevaluation. To reevaluate means that what was formerly the standard can no longer be the standard for today; what’s considered acceptable living can no longer be our living today; the former goals in our lives can no longer be our goals today; our former mode of valuation can no longer be the mode of valuation today; and our former ways can no longer be our ways today. Everything needs to be reevaluated in the light of the judgment seat. This means that everything needs to be reevaluated according to the Lord’s return and the consummation of the age. Our former church life, former services, and former ways of living all need to be reconsidered and reevaluated.

First we need to reevaluate our living. The Lord said, “Do not be anxious for tomorrow,” but “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33, 34). Do we trust in God in everything to live the life of the tent on the earth, having a living that is uprooted from the earth and storing up our treasures in heaven? Or are we still anxious for tomorrow? The young people are anxious for their employment after graduation, as well as their marriage and family. The middle-aged people are anxious for their career and their business performance for the next quarter or next year. The elderly people are anxious for their health, savings, and relationship with their children and grandchildren. We need to reevaluate. The apostles called people to be delivered from sins and turn to the Lord, but the Lord called people to be delivered from mammon to follow Him (Matt. 6:24). Many preach the gospel of prosperity, but the Lord preached the gospel of poverty. The age is coming to an end, and one of the signs of the Lord’s coming is that people are storing up treasures (James 5:3). The ten virgins are “going out of the world” to meet the bridegroom (Matt. 25:1, note 5). The harvest needs to be “dried of all the earthly water” (Rev. 14:15, note 2) to be ripe for reaping. Brother Lee, in his diary right before the great revival in Chefoo, wrote on December 23 of 1942: “We should not be concerned with what we will eat, what we will drink, or what we will be clothed with; this is what the worldly people seek. We should care only for God’s kingdom and His righteousness. The worldly people lack clothing and food because they care only for their own living and not for God’s kingdom and His righteousness” (CWWL Vol. 2, p. 28). A day earlier, he wrote: “How desolate is the situation on earth today! Even more desolate is the condition within man! How many hearts and souls have suffered to the extreme? How many souls are perishing every day? The church has lost her function…The church is like this because her consecration in the past was not thorough” (p. 27). On December 26, he wrote: “The reason we are quiet, have no aspiration to spread the Lord’s kingdom, have no power and courage to spread the Lord’s gospel, have no living faith, and are timid is all because we have not had a thorough consecration, have not stopped living for ourselves, and have not lived entirely for the Lord!…If we live entirely for the Lord like Peter on the day of Pentecost, we will also be able to say as Peter said, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene rise up and walk’ (Acts 3:6b). But to say this, we must also be able to say, ‘Silver and gold I do not possess’ (v. 6)!” (p. 29)

We need to reevaluate: does our living today have dispensational value? Do we, our person, have a dispensational significance before the Lord?

In order to have this kind of living, we need to be filled with the Spirit inwardly and outwardly every day (see The Way to Practice the Lord’s Present Move, ch. 2). If a balloon is not filled with air, it cannot ascend. Why do we need to have much and thorough prayer? It is for us to be filled both inwardly and outwardly. Why do we need to confess our sins and repent? It is because they are the requirements for us to be filled with the Spirit. Without a living that is daily filled with the Spirit both inwardly and outwardly, we cannot have a living that has dispensational value. In order for the virgins to meet the bridegroom, the requirement is that their vessels be filled with oil (Matt. 25:4). In order for us to redeem the time, we must be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:16, 18).

During these days, the more difficult the outward environment is, the stronger we feel inwardly that now is the time for God’s children to be uprooted from the world and to live the life of the tent. The benefit of migration is to cut off our old background and to learn to simply look to God to live a life of faith. The spreading of the kingdom is inextricably linked to being cut off from the world. The persecution in Acts 8 suddenly uprooted all the disciples and scattered them everywhere, which put the Lord’s command in chapter 1 into action. In order for the gospel of the kingdom to be preached to the whole inhabited earth, there is the need for some to live the kingdom life. For the Lord’s return to become real, man must “go out of the world” as the virgins did in Matthew 25. One hundred fifty years ago the gospel of grace was preached to China. One reason for that was that some in that age saw that the Lord might return in that generation and that the gospel needed to be preached to the whole world in that generation. Today, the gospel of the kingdom needs to be preached to the whole inhabited earth because the time of the Lord’s return is even closer. At this juncture, should we not reevaluate how we should spend our remaining days on the earth? Should we not cut off the old ties at this time to practically live the life of the tent, live for the gospel, and move for the Lord?

At this moment, we also need to reevaluate our church life. Whether the Lord is satisfied with our church life is one thing, we should first ask ourselves whether we are satisfied with our current church life. True, we have very good truths, and we also have a church life that we have been comfortable with for many years. However, what we need to reevaluate is whether or not this kind of church life can satisfy the Lord’s need, whether it can usher in the Lord’s return. In the church where we are, has the number of saints grown? Are the saints vital?

In 1992 and 1993, Brother Lee was deeply dissatisfied with the church life at that time, so he released the messages on the vital groups, hoping to produce the overcomers outside of the infrastructure of the church life at that time, who would be delivered from the three great enemies of death, lukewarmness, and barrenness. Unfortunately, although the messages were released, the practice has yet to be seen. In the past twenty-three years, although the church life in each locality has gone on steadily, they are still mainly composed of meetings and mainly carried out by way of asking people to come to the meetings, and what is treasured among us is still the great number of attendance. Please consider: in the light of the Lord’s return, shouldn’t this kind of church life be reevaluated?

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the brothers and sisters have been limited physically. All physical meetings have stopped, and the saints can only communicate mostly over the internet in smaller settings. But in this process, many found out that brothers and sisters actually prefer this new mode of church life. Over the internet, everyone prays for one another, has mutual fellowship, and cares for the new ones. Everyone is able to function, and everyone practices begetting, nourishing, perfecting, and building in an organic way. This is actually the vital groups that Brother Lee talked about, which is for everyone to function and for everyone to serve as a priest. In this way, many new ones have been saved, and many who have not been meeting have been reconnected. In many localities, the number of people has increased, and many members of the Body have been enlivened. It turns out that this is the way for the Body of Christ to be built up. Of course, we are not saying that we should not resume the physical meetings after the pandemic. However, in light of this new situation brought in by the pandemic, isn’t it worthwhile for us to reevaluate our church life? Shouldn’t we turn more from “meeting” to “people,” from “coming” to “going,” and from “big” to “small”?

In the light of the Lord’s return, we should also reevaluate our service. The ultimate goal of our service is to perfect people. The work of the ministry is to perfect the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ. Today our work is not to raise up a work but to raise up people. The effectiveness of our work today is not measured by how much work is done but how many people have been raised up. Strictly speaking, our work today is not to do the work but to distribute the work. Today the question is not how much we ourselves have done but how much others have done. The parable of the slaves in Matthew 25 reminds us that the question is not how much we have maintained but how much we have reproduced. The five- talented one perfected another five-talents, and the two-talented one perfected another two-talents. Thus, they received the Lord’s approval. But the one-talented one did not perfect anyone, and he was cast into the darkness. The Lord is coming to settle an account with each one of us.

Today in the light of the Lord’s return, we all need to reevaluate our service and see whether our service, in the light of the judgment seat, will be approved or not. The good and faithful slaves were not those who merely maintain their portions but those who reproduced themselves. The evil and slothful slave was not one who abandoned his service but one who did not reproduce himself. Whether in the church or in the vital groups, our duty is to perfect others unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ. We need to use all wisdom to perfect others. We need to use all those whom people regard as useless. We need to dig out all the one-talented ones from the earth, so that their talents are no longer buried in the world. The growth in life is gradual, but the trading of one’s talent is immediate (Matt. 25:16). In the light of the Lord’s return, we need to evaluate our service to see whether it is up to the Lord’s standard.

Lastly, in the light of the Lord’s return, we need to reevaluate our work. There are two basic questions: whether our work is of a maintenance nature or of a pioneering nature, and whether our work is static or dynamic. The pattern of the brothers who went before us is that they were always moving and progressing. At the outset of the Sino-Japanese War, Brother Nee founded the magazine called The Open Door. He reminded the co-workers that they should not merely try to cope with the environment; instead, they should preach the gospel everywhere to spread the Lord’s testimony. The co-workers should not stay in one place but should travel everywhere. Actually, the testimonies today in many places throughout Southeast Asia were all started at that time.

The Lord’s testimony has been on the island of Taiwan for over seventy years. From the beginning Brother Lee’s hope was that Taiwan would be a starting point where the Lord’s testimony would spread to the whole world. Today in this special time, should we not reevaluate the direction of our work? Actually, just in Taiwan alone, there are still quite a few cities and towns that do not have a church and require propagation there. The needs outside Taiwan are even greater. Now is not the time for us to stick to our own place. Now is the time for us to spread the gospel of the kingdom with a view of the whole earth. Should we allow ourselves to be stuck in one place till the Lord comes? If Abraham had not left his own land and his own country, God’s move on earth could not have begun. What the Bible gave us is not the biographies of the apostles but the acts of the apostles. Recently after the three rounds of 24-hour prayer and the 30-day global prayer, a brother in China saw lightning and heard voices of thunders in his prayer and immediately consecrated himself and migrated with his factory to a place in Southeast Asia where there is not yet a church. Is this a precursor of the Lord’s move?

May the Lord cause us to see the opportunity afforded to us today to cooperate with His move. At a time when the whole world is facing an unprecedented challenge, may we reevaluate our living, meetings, service, and work in the light of the Lord’s return.

Andrew Yu

May 29, 2020

(keyword: Zoom)

Excerpt from Working Saints Fellowship at 2018 Thanksgiving Day Conference in Charlotte, NC

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Transcript:

… I’m very burdened for this group of saints, and as one of the brothers pointed out, the working saints, it is really a reality that the working saints are the backbone of the Lord’s recovery. And in my observation of the saints and of the churches, many times the the young people are very active: the high school, the college students have a lot going on. They have college trainings and internships and college conferences, robust church life for the college students and even the younger than college students. And they can be very active in the church life. And then you look at the older saints — at least in the locality where I am — faithful older saints who serve in the practical service, day in and week in and week out. When we have our prophesying meeting, often the first ones to prophesy are the older saints, who have been around for 30 years, 40 years in the recovery.

But it is conspicuously obvious that there is a group that is at least not fully employed in the church life, and it’s the working saints. The ones who should be the backbone of the church life and should be bearing the bulk of the burden among the churches are somewhat retired. It’s strange how, very active is young people, active is older saints, but this period of time that we call working saints, often there is a kind of a retirement, a spiritual retirement that goes on. Or at least an under-employed situation among the working saints.

And I tell you I don’t think this is an accident. I believe the enemy knows this as well, that this group is really the critical and crucial group in the Lord’s recovery, the working saints. You know we have a lot of blessings in the Lord’s recovery. We’ve been blessed a lot, the Lord has blessed us with some wonderful factors in the Lord’s recovery. One is, like we’re enjoying this weekend, the word in the Lord’s recovery is so rich. The ministry is open to us, the word is open to us, there’s no shortage with the word, no shortage in the ministry. Besides just the plethora of ways to get the ministry: the books, electronically, songs, there’s all kinds of ways to enter into the ministry, it’s all in our hands. Besides that, we have such a oneness in the Lord’s recovery. I’ve been in the church life since I was eight years old and in my years I’ve never seen such a oneness among the churches. The blending really works! Certainly we need more blending, but we have some blending that has resulted in a oneness. There’s a oneness among the coworkers that is maybe unprecedented. There’s a oneness and blending among the leading brothers in the churches. We have a lot of positive things in the Lord’s recovery.

But if we have all of these positive things, saints, we have to ask ourselves — why is the Lord’s recovery not more prevailing in the United States? Why is it not? If we have the Word, we have oneness, we have the riches. We don’t have persecution in the United States to preach the gospel, we don’t have persecution to practice the church life. All this is so well laid out for us to flourish in the United States. Why have we not flourished? Why are there still too few churches? And why are churches so small?

I don’t claim to be the expert to answer this, but I have considered this: I think it has to do with the working saints as being one factor at least. There is a great, great temptation when you’re working, I know. I worked for 28 years and I know it is a great temptation. Everything that you will give to your job, they will take. Every hour you give them they’ll take two. There’s no limit to what you can give to your profession. And frankly the tide of the age is such that there is no limit to what you can give to your family, to your children! To practices and sports and music and all that goes on and on and on. And eventually what does that do to a person? Your job is demanding everything from you, your family’s demanding everything from you, well what’s left over for the church life? Go to church on Sunday morning?

And so for the next 30 years you’re around, you’re positive, you’re not against it, but the consecration isn’t there. And brothers and sisters I just say this because I know this from my own experience: unless we reconsider our living and reconsider — what are we doing here? What is our family for? What is our job for?

When I was in high school, Brother Lee shared the messages from Genesis about the pillar builders, and that was a big wake-up call in the Lord’s recovery because at that time I remember a lot of brothers — you know the stories, they were pool cleaners and yard maintenance guys, because they wanted to be available for the trainings and the conferences. This was the heart of the brothers. And Brother Lee said, “No, you need to get the best education, the best training the world has to offer you, and then lay it at the Lord’s feet.”

Well, we got the first part of it. A lot of brothers got educated, got the best jobs. But maybe we didn’t take the last part of his fellowship and then lay it down, and let our Tyrenean father die. We forgot that part of it. And we ended up with good jobs, making lots of money, with a nice house, and good family and children, living the American dream. And the Lord’s house lies waste.

Brothers and sisters, I realize we’re probably here talking to the choir, so to speak. Because if you’re at this conference you paid a price to be here, and if you’re here in this meeting today I’m sure you paid a price to be here as well.

But this group of saints in the Lord’s recovery must reconsider your living. This is just my feeling. You must reconsider: what are you living for? What is your family for? What is your job for? Between a husband and wife, to sit down and… you know sometimes we get so busy and the world is spinning so fast around us, you never stop and say, “Wait a minute! Is this the life we signed up for? We’re running to practices, we’re running to soccer and piano and this and that and working overtime. We can’t make the prayer meeting, we certainly can’t serve on Saturday morning, we can’t get to the ministry meeting because we just have too many….”

Is that the life that we dreamed about when we were in college? I don’t think so. I just don’t think that that is what we were aspiring to. We were aspiring to live to the Lord! We were aspiring to give everything to the Lord, we had patterns in front of us who did that, who gave everything to the Lord.

I just hope as a response, at least, you would reconsider your living today before the Lord in a very sober-minded way: how am I spending my time? I know when you’re young it doesn’t seem like it, but time is fleeting. The years start clicking by, and pretty soon you’ll be saying I retired last year.

Brothers and sisters, consider your participation in the church life, your function in the church life, your participation in the church meetings. I won’t ask, but I’d like to know: how many are in the prayer meeting of the church every week? Brothers and sisters, this is not a small thing. This is where the church is doing battle and fighting for the Lord’s interest on the earth.

I’ll just end with this: in a very practical way to respond, certainly to reconsider and re-consecrate your life to the Lord, and your family’s life, your children’s life to the Lord. But on top of that, saints, consider this:

Migration is a wonderful way to have a restart. It is a wonderful way to go from under-employed to fully employed overnight, to migrate to a new city. And I believe in the coming year even, and coming years, there’s gonna be more opportunities for migration to good cities, good places to live and raise families, but good places to go fishing. Good places to gain people.

And some of us, you’re young, but you’re already set, settled, and occupied. You’re already immovable. Don’t become immovable! Be available to the Lord’s move. Be available to migrate, to be uprooted, to leave all the things that are occupying you and have a restart, where you’re moving there not to make money. Yes, you’ll find a job, you’ll get a job — you’re moving there for the Lord’s interest.

There are two ways to move: you can move for a better job, or you can move for the Lord’s interest. And many of us have no qualms about moving for a better job. Oh of course, that makes total sense. Move to start the church in another city?! Why would I do that? I can’t do that! I have a job, I have kids.

Well, in the beginning, it was not so. That’s not our history. That’s not where we came from. That wasn’t the generation that I saw ahead of me. My parents, we migrated… my dad never met a migration he wasn’t burdened for. We moved and moved and moved. I went to a different school every year of my life until 11th grade. Not one move was for a better job. Not one move was for a better house. Not one move was for better schools. It was for the Lord’s move. That’s our history. That’s my history, but that’s your history as well.

Brothers and sisters, don’t let this age suck you in. Don’t let it occupy you. The tide of this age is strong one way. We are against the tide. We’re not living here to make more money. We’re not living that our kids would have every single perk available to them! That’s not what our life is about! We are here for the Lord’s recovery! We’re here for His interest on the earth and there’s a battle for you in this stage of your life. Amen.

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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.
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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.
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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.
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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)