Vital Groups

How should we fellowship?

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“After we come together, we should spontaneously fellowship. The fellowship will bring in the need for intercession, and from this fellowship and intercession the mutual care, concern, and shepherding will develop. After that there will be some studying and teaching of the truth, with the rendering of some help in life…. All this must be done in an organic and spontaneous way. The mutual fellowship should be open and spontaneous. The mutual intercession also should be sincere and spontaneous…. This kind of organic meeting is what Hebrews 10:25 describes as ‘our own assembling together.’ Such a meeting is like a family gathering with spontaneous, mutual fellowship in which some may ask questions and others may all answer. There is mutual teaching and mutual learning…. Whether a person has been saved for a long time or for a short time, he can speak like all the others.”

(CWWL, 1989, vol. 2)

Why do the saints not function in the meetings?

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“If all the saints live Christ by walking according to the spirit, there will be a great increase in the church. Much gospel preaching will spontaneously issue from our walking according to the spirit. Several years ago I proposed that the saints in a certain locality go out at least once a week to contact others. Everyone listened and agreed, but eventually no one practiced it. I found that it does not work to charge the saints to go out regularly to preach the gospel. However, if the elders in a locality take the lead to walk according to the spirit, and they minister such a life to the other saints, the saints in that locality will also walk according to the spirit and regularly preach the gospel.

Our primary concern should not be how to do things such as preaching the gospel and shepherding the new believers. Instead, we need to see that God wants a people who live Christ by walking according to the spirit. If we practice to continually walk according to the spirit throughout the day, everything else will spontaneously issue forth from such a living…. Our gospel preaching and shepherding should not be activities but should be the issue of a daily life of walking according to the spirit…. All such aspects of the Christian life should be part of our living. For instance, a daily life of walking according to the spirit will issue in our functioning with a released spirit in the meetings. If we do not live Christ in our daily life, we will have no surplus of Christ to bring to the meetings. In order to exhibit Christ, we must gain Christ in our daily life by walking according to the spirit. If the saints are living Christ, they will spontaneously function in the meetings.

We need a clear view from the heavens to see that what the Lord wants is a group of people who walk according to the spirit. The Lord’s desire is not for many co-workers, elders, or activities, or much organization. As leading ones, we primarily need to walk according to the spirit in our daily life and help other saints to enter into this kind of living.”

(CWWL, 1982, vol. 1, “The Importance of Living Christ by Walking according to the Spirit,” pp. 388-390)

The sisters are more important for the accomplishment of God’s economy than the brothers

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“In God’s administration of His economy, a very important position is assigned to the women. After man was created, what happened to man was very much related to the woman. By this we can see that whether or not God can have His way today in His purpose depends very much upon what the sisters will do. If the women, or the sisters, will function properly, God will have a success; otherwise, there will surely be a failure or a loss. After the fall of man, God came in, not to do something through the man but to do something through the woman. The subtle serpent, the enemy of God, came in through the woman. Therefore, God chose to defeat the enemy also through woman—through the same channel by which he came. In Genesis 3 the serpent came in through the woman, and in the same chapter God promised that this woman would bring forth a seed who would bruise the head of the serpent (v. 15). Thus, the fall occurred through the woman, and the deliverance was promised also through the woman. This shows us the importance of the sisters’ position in the Bible.

The first account in the New Testament concerning a direct relationship with the Lord is related to a woman—Mary. The story of the life of the Lord Jesus begins with this woman. Of course, we know that this is the fulfillment of the promise given in Genesis 3:15. In Genesis God promised that the woman would bring forth a seed who would destroy the damaging serpent. This promise is fulfilled at the very beginning of the New Testament.

Mary the mother of the Lord Jesus is not the only Mary mentioned in the New Testament. Do you realize that there are at least six Marys mentioned in the New Testament? The first Mary is the mother of the Lord Jesus, and the second Mary is the sister of Lazarus. The third Mary is Mary the Magdalene, out from whom seven demons were cast out. While the Lord Jesus was dying on the cross, a few sisters were standing there with Him. Besides Mary the Lord’s mother, there were two other Marys. One was Mary the Magdalene, and the Gospel of John tells us that the other Mary was the wife of Clopas (19:25). This fourth Mary, with the other sisters, saw the death of Christ. On the morning of the resurrection, Mary the Magdalene went to the tomb. The Gospel of John mentions only that Mary the Magdalene went there, but the other Gospels tell us that there was another Mary (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10). This other Mary was the first Mary, the Lord’s mother (Matt. 13:55). The fifth Mary was the mother of John Mark. In Acts 12:12, after Peter was released from prison, he went to Mary’s home, where many saints were gathered together praying. The sixth Mary is in Romans 16:6. Here Paul says to greet the Mary who labored much for the church.

These six Marys are very meaningful. One Mary gave birth to the Lord Jesus; another loved the Lord Jesus and followed Him, ministering to Him; two other Marys saw the Lord’s death and prepared something for His burial, to anoint His body. They saw the resurrection and also received the vision of the ascension of Christ. Another Mary was related to the church, praying all the time. Finally, a Mary was laboring over so many in the church life. In the New Testament there are not so many Peters or Johns, but there are so many Marys. This simply means that to fulfill God’s purpose and accomplish His economy, there is a great need for the sisters. In a sense, the sisters are more important for the accomplishment of God’s economy than the brothers.

The little family at Bethany spoken of in John 12:1-9 is a type of the church. That family was composed of one brother and two sisters. This means that it consisted of one-third brothers and two-thirds sisters. A strong, normal, proper church should have one-third brothers and two-thirds sisters. In the church life we need more sisters.”

(The Six Marys, pp. 1-4)

Each member of the Body needs the function of all the others

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“So we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (Romans 12:5)
“The purpose of God’s salvation is to have Christ reproduced in millions of saints that they may become the members of His Body, not separate and complete individual units but parts of a living, functioning, coordinated, corporate whole. Although these parts have different functions, they are not detached from one another. Rather, they are “individually members one of another.” Each member is organically joined to all the others, and each needs the function of all the others. All the members must be coordinated together to practice the Body life that is revealed in this chapter.”

Can you name others with whom you are inwardly and practically one?

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“In all the dimensions of the tabernacle we see these two numbers, five and three, signifying that the building of God is constituted of the Triune God in resurrection mingled with man. Now notice: the width of the boards is not three cubits but one and a half cubits, or in other words, one-half of three. This is most significant. It means that you are not a complete person; you are just a half. You must be joined to someone else. The Lord Jesus always sent out His disciples two by two. Saul and Barnabas were sent out together, not separately. Peter and John served together. It was always two by two. If you go by yourself, you are just half.

For example, when a brother comes into the meeting, we may say that he is just a half. When his wife follows a few moments later, there is the other half. When they sit together, you have the completion.

You must be deeply impressed that you are not a complete unit; you are only a half. You need to be coordinated in the Body. You can never simply be an individual. If you are individualistic, you will be spoiled.

It is rather difficult today to learn this lesson. Independence and individualism are stressed so much, and the Lord’s children have been greatly influenced. But as the people of God we can never be independent. If we are, we commit spiritual suicide.

Suppose my ear could say to my body, “I don’t want to be joined to you. I want to be separated and independent.” What would be the result of its independence? It would mean death to the ear. As a member of the Lord’s Body, we must be united with others, not theoretically, but actually and practically. This ear must be united to a piece of skin, this piece of skin must be united to another part, and that part to still another, and so forth until you have the body. No part can be independent of the others. We must see this reality. It is not a nice thought or a teaching, but reality.

Let us seek to apply this principle to ourselves in a practical way. You are a member of the Body of Christ. Praise the Lord, we have been regenerated as members of His Body! Can you tell me, practically, to whom you are united? Can you name a brother or certain brothers with whom you are really one, with whom you are inwardly and practically one? Perhaps you will answer that you are united to the Head of the Body. But if my foot should answer in such a way, then it must be in the wrong position. It must be moved from the lower extremity of my body and joined directly to my head. But that is not God’s arrangement. The Lord did not ask Peter to go with Him as a pair. God did not ask Paul to go with Christ as a pair. You must be united with someone other than Christ, some member other than the Head.

Wherever I go, if it is at all possible, I speak about this matter. But it is almost impossible to hear someone respond, “Brother, thank the Lord, I am definitely and practically united to a certain brother.” If you live in Chicago, you cannot say that you are united to all the saints in Chicago. Practically, you are not. If you say this, it means that you are not united to anyone. We must be definitely united and practically built up with certain brothers and sisters.

Suppose we have the tabernacle here with its forty-eight boards and could ask the first board to whom it is united. It would answer without any hesitation that it is united to board number two, and we could clearly see that indeed it is. Then suppose we could ask board number two to whom it is united. It would immediately answer that on one hand it is united to board number one and on the other hand to board number three—it could name definite boards to which it is united. All the boards could answer in such a way; therefore, they are all composed together to form God’s dwelling place.

Brothers and sisters, if you can answer that you are definitely and practically related and united with certain others, it is a wonder of wonders. If so, we can really praise the Lord. The Lord will greatly bless your locality.

For the past thirty years, I can testify that by the Lord’s grace I have been truly united with other brothers and sisters. If you were to ask me or if Satan were to ask me to whom I am united, I could immediately point to certain ones. I could say, “I am actually, definitely, and practically related to those very brothers and sisters in the Lord.” Oh, this threatens the enemy! How he hates this! Wherever there are two or three who are really united together, it is a wonder and a testimony to the whole universe. Any two who have been really united can never be separated; they can never again act as individuals.

Oh, we must learn this lesson. This is the way to possess the good land. This is the way to enter into the all-inclusiveness of Christ. You must realize that you can never go on any further to enjoy Christ by yourself. At the most you can enjoy Him as the lamb, as the manna, and as the rock. That is all. Then you are finished. If you would enjoy Him more, you must be a board, one of many boards united together. How can you enjoy Christ as the Ark, the testimony of God, and the tabernacle as His enlargement if you are not united in the tabernacle? If you are not built into the tabernacle, you are cut off, you are kept out. You have nothing as far as the further and more solid enjoyment of Christ is concerned. When the tabernacle was reared up among the children of Israel, the Lord was not far away in heaven, nor was He in the wilderness; He was found in the tabernacle, in “the tent of meeting.” In spiritual reality today, He is found in the practical building together of the saints in Him as His dwelling place. If you would enjoy Him as the Ark, you must be the boards united to be the tabernacle. He is not only a lamb; now He is the Ark. He is not only a little piece of manna; now He is the Ark. And where is He as the Ark? He is in the tabernacle.”

(The All-Inclusive Christ, ch. 13)

Seventy percent of the building of the practical church life depends on the sisters

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“Romans 16 is a chapter on the practical church life, not in doctrine but in practicality. Until we could see the real serving sisters and so many mothers, our church life is not practical, it is not on the top.

If you sisters would be serving as Phoebes and loving as mothers, I can assure you that the church would be seventy percent built up right away. Seventy percent of the building of the practical church life depends on the sisters. Without such a coordination with the sisters in this way, no matter how much the brothers would labor in the church life, there would be very little result as far as the building goes. When the sisters would be serving and would be the mothers, right away the church will be built up. Through this there will be a strong connection in the spiritual building, and a prevailing revival will spontaneously be brought in. Satan will be defeated. It will be fully proved how much depends on the sisters. Seventy percent of the practical building depends on the sisters. We all must pray that the Lord will have mercy upon the church that all the sisters will be Phoebes and will be mothers.”

(Loving Mothers in the Church Life)

How do we have a genuine revival?

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“The only way to have a revival, a new beginning, is to be open. This is the only way to be fresh. We need to open and be released instead of being locked inside the self. It is very simple to open ourselves. For example, instead of being shut within our oppressed self, we can tell a brother that we feel oppressed and old. If we would open to one another whenever we meet together, there would be a revival among us. There are many serving ones in the churches. On the one hand, we know one another because we see one another nearly every day, but on the other hand, we do not know one another, because we are closed. I do not open my inner spiritual condition to you, and you do not reveal your inner spiritual condition to me. How can there be a revival among us under such circumstances?

…We should not think that the revival will come to us from heaven or from the abyss; it simply needs to flow out of us. The impression that we receive from reading the history of revivals in the church is that believers anticipate that revivals would descend from above. However, those who have experience realize that the power they thought would descend from above actually flows out of their inner being. Hence, the key to revival is being open. The power in us is an explosive force. As long as we are willing to open and let it explode from within us, we will have a prevailing revival.

It is right to say that we need to pray in order to have a revival. However, I must repeat that the key, the secret, of having a revival is not in our asking the Lord to give us something from above but in our opening to Him and letting Him flow out. Being open is the basic principle for allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us. The more we are reserved and closed, the less likely we are to receive grace.

…This is where our problem lies. When we come together for fellowship or in the meetings, we are closed. Most of the saints who come to the prayer meeting on Tuesday night come with a closed attitude. They have made up their mind not to open their mouth to pray. How can we have a strong prayer meeting? Perhaps in the prayer meeting and the bread-breaking meeting we should give messages concerning being open in order to encourage the saints to open. Some saints might feel reluctant to speak because they are not “inspired” by the Holy Spirit. However, as long as we are open, inspiration will come. The less we open, the more difficult it will be to open, and the more we wait for inspiration, the less inspiration we will receive.

We have a treasure in us, but it is locked up. It does not matter whether we are weak, strong, cold, or burning. When we are burning, this rich source is in us, and when we are cold, this rich source is still in us. This source never changes. The question is whether we would let it flow out.

When I was young, I liked to play with firecrackers. I would get about a dozen firecrackers and use a pin to open the paper wrapping around the fuse so that the gunpowder was exposed. Then I would set off a couple of firecrackers and let them explode. The sparks from these firecrackers would touch other firecrackers and kindle the gunpowder. As a result, all the firecrackers would explode. This analogy is fitting for Christians. Each of us is a firecracker, and Christ is our gunpowder. Our problem is that Christ is securely wrapped within us, and we are neither willing to be broken nor to open. We pray for a revival, but we keep ourselves tightly closed. Hence, we cannot “explode,” and even our earnest prayer does not avail. If we want to pray, we should pray that the Lord would cause us to open.

We must submit to the Lord and humbly ask Him to give us a vision. We should not merely have enjoyment, satisfaction, and a sense of sweetness in our pursuit of the Lord. We need to see that the Lord is in resurrection. We need a vision of resurrection so that we would be able to leap upon the mountains and skip upon the hills. In spite of the things pressing on our spirit and the difficulties in our environment, we need to see that the Lord is living and strong in us; He is leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills. If we would know resurrection and be open, we would be like unwrapped firecrackers. Once one firecracker explodes, it can kindle the others. If I am open, I can burn someone else until he is open, and then he can burn me. As a result, we will have a genuine revival.”

(The Law of Revival, chapter 2)

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We do not open up to others, because we are afraid to be known by them

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“… When we come together in the vital groups, we should release ourselves by opening up to one another. We may have been with one another for years, but we do not really know one another. Instead, we like to hide ourselves in certain things from the saints. I am afraid that not one of us is really open. All of us are pretending to be “good” members of the vital groups. We may show up on time and behave ourselves as nice ladies and gentlemen, but this is seclusion. We do not want to talk openly with the saints in our vital group because we are secluded. To talk openly with the intimate and thorough fellowship in Christ is to be released.

We do not open up to others, because we are afraid to be known by them. As a result, we cannot receive the inner healing from the Lord. We may be sick of “gangrene,” but we want to cover and hide our sickness from others. We need to realize that the other members of our vital group are our doctors. If we open ourselves up in a proper way to the other saints in our group, we will be healed. But instead of opening up, everyone is hiding. Some of us are released, but we are not absolutely released, because we are not used to being open to others. We are not open, but closed and secluded.

When we come together, we may feel that there is not much to do. I have said that the group meetings are eighty percent of the church life, and the first item of the group meetings is to come together to fellowship in an intimate, thorough, and spontaneous way. Maybe a sister would open up by saying, “I can’t tolerate my children. Would you tell me how to overcome my temper?” Why would we not open up to one another in this way? Instead of seeing a scenery of intimate fellowship in the vital groups, I see a very behaving scenery. Everybody behaves. No one wants to make a mistake. Everyone wants to be a “good boy” and a “good girl.” I have seen this for many years, and I am disgusted with this. I want to see a group of seeking saints coming together to gain the Lord Jesus.

But where can we see a group of saints practicing the New Testament revelation today? Who is denying himself? Who is being renewed, transformed, and conformed to the image of the One who has passed through death and resurrection? Gradually, we have drifted into practicing a routine church life, but where is the Spirit and where is the leading of the Lord? There is not much leading of the Spirit among us. Instead, you act by your way, and I act by my way. You pray by your way, and I pray by my way. Who is going to be adjusted? Who is going to learn? If we are not inwardly adjusted and transformed, then where is the church life?

We have lost the impact in winning the sinners because we are a group of behaving people. We do not have the real spirituality as the power from on high, as the impact. In nearly everything, we have lost our spiritual impact. This is why we need a strict training. Otherwise, there will be no remedy to our situation. We love the recovery, we love the Lord, we love the church, and we are so good. We behave ourselves so that we do not offend anyone or make mistakes in the church life. But this is not the church life. This is a kind of top social club. The church life, however, is a group of Jesus-lovers who seek after Him.

These lovers of Jesus are ones who, after being regenerated, go on to learn the lesson of denying themselves in everything so that they can be renewed. They are living, serving, and meeting not by their doing and adjustment but by the Holy Spirit’s leading. They are being renewed even in the way they deal with their children and in the way they talk to their spouse.

… We need to be transformed in everything. The Lord needs a group of people who have been regenerated, renewed, transformed, and conformed to the firstborn Son of God so that they can be built up together. This building is the Body and the practical church life.

I appreciate that the Lord has raised up so many churches on the earth, but the actual situation of the churches with respect to the practice of the God-ordained way is not that much up to the standard. This is why we need to raise up the vital groups. The remedy is here. In our vital groups, we must have much and thorough prayer to get ourselves blended with others in love. Whenever we come together, we should open up to one another to have an intimate and thorough fellowship.”

(Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, Chapter 15)

The church is a home, hospital, and school — not a police station

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“The church is not a police station to arrest people or a law court to judge people, but a home to raise up the believers. Parents know that the worse their children are, the more they need their raising up. If our children were angels, they would not need our parenting to raise them up. The church is a loving home to raise up the children. The church is also a hospital to heal and to recover the sick ones. Finally, the church is a school to teach and edify the unlearned ones who do not have much understanding. Because the church is a home, a hospital, and a school, the co-workers and elders should be one with the Lord to raise up, to heal, to cover, and to teach others in love.

Some of the churches, however, are police stations to arrest the sinful ones and law courts to judge them. Paul’s attitude was different. He said, ‘Who is weak, and I am not weak?’ (2 Cor. 11:29a). When the scribes and Pharisees brought an adulterous woman to the Lord, He said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’ (John 8:7). After all of them left, the Lord asked the sinful woman, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you’ (vv. 10-11). Who is without sin? Who is perfect? Paul said, ‘To the weak I became weak that I might gain the weak’ (1 Cor. 9:22). This is love. We should not consider that others are weak but we are not. This is not love. Love covers and builds up, so love is the most excellent way for us to be anything and to do anything for the building up of the Body of Christ.”

(The Vital Groups, Chapter 8, Section 4)

Do we want one or two leading ones to do everything for us?

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“If we would neglect the home meetings and only care for the big meetings, we would not need much practice. One or two leading ones would do everything for us. They would become the clergy and everyone else would become laymen. That is not the church life. There would be no way for the Lord to build up His Body. The building up all depends upon the home meetings. So all of us have to practice the filling of our spirit and the strengthening into our inner man. Then we will be full of the Triune God, full of His attributes, and we will be strengthened in our spirit. Then when we come together, everyone will be equipped to carry the home meeting on. This is the way. I hope that this would not be just a message to you, but rather a kind of instruction that you would practice. Practice daily to be filled in your spirit and to be strengthened into your inner man.”

(The Home Meetings, chapter 2)