THE FOURTH PART: THE PATHWAY OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY

God-Ordained Way
Message Seventeen—The Eight Major Items of Managing a Small Group (2)

Scripture Reading: Prov. 4:18; Dan. 6:10; Eph. 6:18; 4:12, 16; Rom. 15:16; 1 Thes. 2:7; 1 Cor. 14:31

VI. Fifth, build up corporate morning revival and partner’s prayer—Prov. 4:18; Jer. 3:22-24; Dan. 6:10; Eph. 6:18:

A. A vital matter that is crucial to the practice of the church life in the new way is our living a life of morning revival and daily victory; to be revived is simply to be touched by the Lord anew; whenever the Lord touches us, we are revived—Psa. 119:147; Rom. 8:37:

1. We need to build up the practice of mourning morning revival, that is, of being revived in the morning; we ourselves need to rise early in the morning to spend time in the Lord’s presence by praying and reading the world; then we will be able to bring others into a life of being revived every morning—Prov. 4:18; Lam. 3:22-24; Psa. 119:147-148.

2. When we pray-read not only individually but also in larger groups, we apprehend the riches of the word; to spend our time pray-reading with someone we are burdened for is to set up a table for him so that he may taste the Lord—Psa. 23:5a; 1 Pet. 2:2-3.

B. To have a prayer partner (or partners) not only can help us to pray better but also can help to sustain our prayer life—Matt. 18:19-20; Dan. 2:17-23:

1. According to the examples in the Bible, it is better to have more than one time set aside for prayer daily; for example, Daniel prayed three times a day; also the psalmist spoke of praying in the morning, at noon, and in the evening—Dan. 6:10; Psa. 55:17.

2. We need to exercise our spirit to rise up over our body and our psychology, taking heed to the Lord’s word to watch and pray, praying at every time in spirit and being watchful, on the alert, for the maintaining of our prayer life—Matt. 26:41；Eph. 6:18.

3. We should ask the Lord to bring our entire being into the light and be dealt with by Him to become a person of power, full of the Spirit within and without, essentially and economically—Eph. 5:18; Acts 4:8.

C. Before you practice the new way and have the three levels of meetings in the homes, the small groups, and the districts, you must first be a revived person; in addition to a revival every morning and overcoming every day, you must pray, follow the Spirit, live Christ, and labor diligently.

VII. Sixth, bring everyone into serving, to put everyone to use—1 Cor. 12:20-27; Eph. 4:12, 16:

A. Everyone is brought into function; this is the proper way to build up the church; in order to bring the saints into serving, the elders need to pray patiently and teach and perfect the saints;we must not give up on anyone—1 Cor. 12:20-27; Eph. 4:12, 16.

B. The principle is that we should do our best to bring people into function; if the elders cannot lead the saints to function, everyone standing idle will become a problem.

C. When the saints do things in the church, they will be interested in the church, love the church, and care for the church, because they feel that they have a part in the church.

D. We should include other saints; if the saints do not know how to serve, we should guide them; if they make a mistake, we can adjust them; we should not ask them to quit as soon as they make a mistake; the more mistakes they make, the more we should bear them; we should always lead the saints into the service.

E. Then according to the needs of the various services, we can bring the saints into their function; we should also consider the desire and condition of the saints before the Lord so that everyone functions. Then the service of all the members of the church will be manifested.

VIII. Seventh, build up the basic framework of the gospel, the homes, the small groups, and the districts; we have spent more than four years in Taipei to study the new way; today we can say that the basic framework is here in the church in Taipei; the church is now on the right track; there is now the basic framework of the gospel, the homes, the small groups, and the districts; but the content must go up to match the basic framework—Rom. 15:16; 1 Thes. 2:7; Eph. 4:11-12; 1 Cor. 14:31:

A. The four major steps in this way are all revealed in the Bible and are ordained by God, that is, (1) the begetting of people through the preaching of the gospel, (2) the nourishing of people through the home meetings, (3) the perfecting of people through the small group meetings, and (4) the building up through the prophesying in the big meetings.

B. These four steps comprise the structure of our meetings, worship, service, and living for the Lord; to put the matter in a simple way, this structure is of one kind of gospel preaching and three kinds of meetings—the home meetings, the small group meetings, and the district meetings.

C. As long as we all would strive, the new way will not only be here with a basic framework but will be rich in its content as well; in this way, the reality of 1 Corinthians 14 and Ephesians 4 will be fulfilled among us in a living way, and God’s goal will be attained.

IX. Eighth, those leading the group meetings need to exercise to direct the content of the meeting, and there is a need to have some ministry of the word each time; that is, to bear the responsibility for the meeting:

A. We should not appoint someone to be a leader to take the lead in the meeting; actually, however, there is a leader in the meeting who is taking care of it; on one hand, we should not control the brothers and sisters, and on the other hand, we need to learn to “direct the rudder” in the meetings:

1. Without monopolizing or replacing; our functioning is only to take the lead, and not to replace the saints; the most difficult aspect of the group meeting is the matter of leadership.

2. We do not need any leader in the group meeting, but there is the need for leadership; while you are doing this, do not replace the others.

3. When you go to a group meeting, you should have the feeling, the realization that you have to take care of that meeting; in the new way, every saint has the feeling, the realization, that he is responsible for the meeting.

4. The group meetings need at least one person who is released, living, fresh, and unshackled; if such a person meets with a group for two or three weeks, the entire group will be affected by him.

B. To direct the content of a small group meeting requires having something of the Lord’s word to minister at every time; the principle of the group meeting is: the Word, the spirit, singing, and praying:

1. Every time we have a group meeting, we need to have some amount of the ministry of the Lord’s word; only the Lord’s word is able to supply people, even if it lasts for just five or ten minutes, because only the Lord’s words are spirit and are life.

2. Group meetings needing to include singing and praying but without any form; only when there is no form can the new ones feel related to the saints and be drawn to the meeting—2 Cor. 6:4; 1 Cor. 15:58.

3. Flexible in application, quick in response; when you take care of a group meeting, you need to consider the practical environment and the need and supply people according to their need.

C. The goal of the group meetings being to bring the believers into mutual acquaintance, fellowship, encouragement, strengthening, care, and intercession; personal testimonies and fellowship concerning actual situations are very beneficial to the attaining of this goal—Heb. 10:25.

D. The main purpose of the group meeting—the perfecting of the saints; in the group meeting, everyone is both a teacher and a learner; everyone is both an asker and an answerer.

E. The group meeting is a meeting of mutuality in which all the saints participate; everyone can start the meeting in his home, everyone can fellowship, everyone can intercede, and everyone can render the mutual care and the shepherding.

 

Ministry Excerpts:

THE LIVING OF THE PRIESTS OF THE GOSPEL OF GOD

Being Revived Every Morning

In order that we may be the New Testament priests of the gospel, we must have a living that matches our priesthood. To be a certain kind of people, we must have a certain kind of living. To be the priests of the gospel, we must have the living of the priests of the gospel. First, we need to be revived every morning. Psalm 119:147 says, “I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.” Morning is the beginning of a day; in the morning everything is fresh. If we desire to enjoy the Lord’s fresh supply, like the psalmist, we need to rise early to call on the Lord and to look to His word—to eat, drink, and enjoy Him through His word. You do not need to spend too much time or read too many verses; two or three verses a day are sufficient. At the same time, do not skip in your reading. Rather, read book by book. The best way is to start with the books that are easy. Books such as the Gospel of John, Romans, Galatians, and Philippians are very good material for morning revival. Read two or three verses every morning. Then, on Saturday go back to review the verses for the previous five days, and try to put your impressions and feelings together and arrange them so that they become the contents of your prophesying in the Lord’s Day meeting.

Overcoming Every Day

As the priests of the gospel of God, we need not only to be revived every morning but also to overcome every day. Romans 8:37 says, “But in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us.” Although Paul encountered many problems in his experience, he could always give thanks to God because he had found the secret. In his living he adopted an overcoming attitude with an overcoming standing. We also should be like this in our living. Regardless of what happens, we should have an overcoming faith, take an overcoming attitude, and stand on the position of the Lord’s victory to boast to our environment.

Being Filled with the Spirit Every Moment and Speaking Christ Everywhere

To be revived every morning and to overcome every day has become our motto in all the churches around the globe today. As priests of the gospel, we must have this kind of living. Not only so, we need to be filled with the Spirit every moment (Eph. 5:18b) and to speak Christ everywhere (2 Tim. 4:2a). This truly is the most beautiful and best living in the world. (The Up-to-Date Presentation of the God-Ordained Way and the Signs Concerning the Coming of Christ, msg. 4)

BRING PEOPLE INTO FUNCTION

Bring Everyone into Serving, to Put Everyone to Use

Bring everyone into serving, to put everyone to use. In society the capable ones are valued and promoted, but the incapable ones are ignored and put aside. It is pitiful that such a worldly practice has been brought into many local churches.

The elders should not administrate the church in the way that people do things in society. The church is not administrated in that way. In the church everyone who seems foolish in our eyes must be put to use; such a one can learn to wipe the chairs. The more foolish a person seems, the more we should welcome and treasure him. He may make a mess the first time he cleans the chairs, but we should not give up. We should teach him and ask him to clean the chairs again. If he does not succeed the first week, we can help him the next week. Although he learns things slowly, we must not put him aside, for once he knows how to do it, he will be faithful, and we can fully depend on him. Those who seem to be foolish do not play clever tricks and do not have gimmicks. We may need to spend four or five weeks to teach them, but they will save us much trouble in the future.

In the church everyone must be put to use. The more the elders ask the saints to bear responsibility and do things, the more involved the saints will be. When the saints do things in the church, they will be interested in the church, love the church, and care for the church, because they feel that they have a part in the church. If the elders do not let the saints do things, the saints will feel useless and indifferent and will lose their interest in the church.

Everyone is brought into function. This is the proper way to build up the church. In order to bring the saints into serving, the elders need to pray patiently and teach and perfect the saints. We must not give up on anyone, because the saints are children of God; they were created and redeemed by God. If God treasures them, how can we abandon them?

The only way for the elders to minister life, to help others to grow in life, and to perfect others is not to consider anyone useless but to bring everyone into serving. (The Administration of the Church and the Perfecting of the Saints, msg. 5）

The principle is that we should do our best to bring people into function. If the elders cannot lead the saints to function, everyone standing idle will become a problem. (The Administration of the Church and the Perfecting of the Saints, msg. 4）

We should include other saints. If the saints do not know how to serve, we should guide them. If they make a mistake, we can adjust them. We should not ask them to quit as soon as they make a mistake. The more mistakes they make, the more we should bear them. We should always lead the saints into the service. (Shepherding the Church and Perfecting the Young People, msg. 3)

The service of all the members can never be carried out solely by a few responsible saints; it can only be carried out by all the saints. We must hold on to this principle. Then according to the needs of the various services, we can bring the saints into their function. We should also consider the desire and condition of the saints before the Lord so that everyone functions. Then the service of all the members of the church will be manifested. The responsible saints must pray much for this matter. We must spend our time and energy to bring in enough suitable persons for every service in each district and thus bring every saint into a service. We must be patient and active to bring the saints in one by one, but we must not be anxious.

If we have seen this revelation, we will be compelled to seek the Lord to find a way to bring the saints into service so that they would serve together with us. Whether we bring in one saint per week or a few saints per week, all the saints need to be brought into the service. (Serving According to Revelation, msg. 2)

We must change our concept and raise up the saints by handing things over to them. We must not be fearful of their mistakes. I handed over the responsibility of a conference to the young saints in Los Angeles and told them that making mistakes is the way to be perfected. The most precious thing in our work is to produce useful saints.

Because most matters are kept in the hands of a small number of co-workers. The co-workers must hand things over to the saints. Then the co-workers can instruct and oversee the saints and let the saints do the work. In this way, many useful saints will be produced, and they will all participate in the service. (Shepherding the Church and Perfecting the Young People, msg. 2)

It is regrettable, however, that we have neither learned to bring the saints into the service nor learned to perfect the saints. Instead, we do everything by ourselves and thus unconsciously replace the saints. As a result, the saints do not know how to function, and the responsible ones do everything.

As co-workers, we should be able to teach others and also to coordinate with them. A co-worker serving in a local church should be able to serve and also to teach others to serve. A skillful carpenter can produce something useful out of any type of wood. Similarly, a co-worker should be able to use any saint, no matter what their situation is in life.

If the Lord can open our eyes to see this matter and to have a fundamental turn, it will not be difficult for the churches to increase twofold in two years. However, those who are capable should teach the saints instead of doing the work alone. The co-workers should also perfect the saints, regardless of the saints’ ability. It is better for the saints to make mistakes than for them to be idle. If we cannot turn, we will not increase. We will only maintain the status quo because we will limit the work. (Shepherding the Church and Perfecting the Young People, msg. 3)

BRINGING THE SAINTS INTO FUNCTION

Not being able to perfect the saints is a lack. The saints are capable, but they are not being perfected. Unintentionally, the brothers are serving in a natural way, according to their temperament. As a result, the saints are not being perfected.

For example, there is a district in Taipei with enough capable brothers to administrate ten local churches. In other words, if the saints in this district were perfected and sent to ten places to sow the seed of the gospel, after several years there would be ten local churches with a manifold increase. It is regrettable that these capable ones have still not been brought into function. The co-workers are able to work, but they do not know how to perfect the saints. The elders know how to administrate, but they do not know how to perfect the saints. The same is true with respect to the responsible ones in the districts. This indicates that the brothers know how to serve, but they do not know how to bring the saints into the service. If a father and the older siblings do all the work in a family, the generation that comes after them will follow their pattern. The basic principle in the work and in the church is the same as the principle of a family. In a family the mother cooks whether or not she knows how to cook. The church is a family, and everyone in this family has to “cook,” regardless of how well they can cook. This means that every member in this family must function. Those with greater capacity have to function according to their capacity, and those with lesser capacity should function according to their capacity. In a family even a blind member can function. The problem in the past has been that the co-workers, elders, and responsible ones in the districts served with those saints who matched their taste and not with those who were not according to their taste. Neither did they serve with the weak and less capable saints. In the end, no saint was brought into function. We must bring every saint into function.

If we have this kind of spirit, the work will increase. However, our situation is that we reject different saints and select only those whom we consider to be capable. Our consideration of who is capable is based on our disposition; that is, we select whom we like. This limits the number of saints who can be perfected because too many are eliminated. Hence, the co-workers, elders, and responsible ones must change their attitude.

If the co-workers, elders, and responsible ones would go elsewhere and meet, they will give other saints the opportunity to serve. If they would hand an entire district over to the saints, the doors of the meeting place would not close. The co-workers, elders, and responsible ones should be able to form teams and go out. (Shepherding the Church and Perfecting the Young People, msg. 3)

Bring All Saints into Function

The elders can always come up with reasons for not putting people to use. Based on these excuses, no one can be used. Hence, the saints are set aside. The elders must bring the saints to the right track by perfecting them. A piece of wood cannot become a door by itself. It requires a carpenter to work on it before it can be installed into a building. This is the meaning of perfecting. The more the elders bring the saints into function, the fewer problems there will be in the church. The materials that are used to make furniture will not become a problem.

In building up the church, it is critical for the elders to use all the different kinds of materials, regardless of whether they are good. Sometimes, the well-behaved saints cannot carry out a task, but the naughty ones can carry out the task. The function of the saints depends on how the elders perfect them and build them up. The elders need to perfect, shepherd, and teach the saints and then assign responsibility for things to the saints. The elders need to identify the things that need to be done in order to assign them to the saints so that the saints can function. (The Administration of the Church and the Perfecting of the Saints, msg. 4)