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: (2012 TGC, msg. 4)
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: (The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, msg. 28)
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. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 3: Miscellaneous Fellowships in Los Angeles, ch. 6)
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. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 2: Bearing Fruit in a Living and Coordinated Way for the Building Up of the Body of Christ, ch. 14)
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: (2012 TGC, msg. 4)
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. (The Lfe Study of Ephesians, msg. 4)
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. (2006 ST, msg. 11)
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. (2004 ITERO-S, msg. 4)
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. (The New Testament Priests of the Gospel, msg. 1)
VII. Sixth, bring everyone into serving, to put everyone to use—1 Cor. 12:20-27; Eph. 4:12, 16: (The Administration of the Church and the Perfecting of the Saints, msg. 5)
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. (The Administration of the Church and the Perfecting of the Saints, msg. 5)
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. (The Administration of the Church and the Perfecting of the Saints, msg. 4)
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. (The Administration of the Church and the Perfecting of the Saints, msg. 5)
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. (Shepherding the Church and Perfecting the Young People, msg. 2)
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. (Serving According to Revelation, msg. 2)
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: (The New Testament Priests of the Gospel, msg. 1)
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. (The Organic Practice of the New Way, msg. 2)
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. (The Organic Practice of the New Way, msg. 2)
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. (The New Testament Priests of the Gospel, msg. 1)
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: (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 2: Leading the Saints to Practice the New Way Ordained by the Lord, msg. 5)
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: (The Advance of the Lord’s Recovery Today, ch. 8; Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 2: Leading the Saints to Practice the New Way Ordained by the Lord, msg. 5)
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. (Words of Training for the New Way, vol. 2, msg. 19; The exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, msg. 28)
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. (The exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, msg. 28; Words of Training for the New Way, vol. 2, msg. 19)
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. (The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, msg. 28)
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. (The Practice of the Group Meetings, msg. 4)
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: (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 2: Leading the Saints to Practice the New Way Ordained by the Lord, msg. 5; The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, msg. 15)
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. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 2: Leading the Saints to Practice the New Way Ordained by the Lord, msg. 5)
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. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 2: Leading the Saints to Practice the New Way Ordained by the Lord, msg. 5)
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. (Words of Training for the New Way, vol. 2, msg. 21)
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. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 2: Leading the Saints to Practice the New Way Ordained by the Lord, msg. 5)
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. (The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way, msg. 25)
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. (Elders’ Training, Book 09: The Eldership and the God-Ordained Way (1), msg. 11)