Today the Bible is in our hands, but I am afraid that the way to use it still remains a big question. Consider the many publications we have put out. According to the statistics, it takes someone at least four years to read through all of this material. It seems that all these riches are so abundant today that we do not know how to use them. When we go to lead and perfect a home meeting, we may not even know what kind of truth materials we have and how to use them. There are at least three to four kinds of materials for the edification of the new believers, but we need to decide which one to use. This shows us that to properly use spiritual materials is not an easy matter.
Moreover, we all have a heart to take the leading of the new way and go out to perfect the home meetings, but we find that the way to speak in a home meeting is a very difficult lesson to master. Speaking too much is not right, but neither is speaking too little. Speaking too profoundly may be unacceptable, but speaking too shallowly is not good, and speaking nothing is even worse. This causes us to be unsure about what to do; it is hard to find a principle to follow. The key to the matter depends on two things. First, we all need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and go out with the Spirit. Second, we need to be well-prepared with the Word. However, dealing with the Word is truly a problem. Our difficulty lies in how to use the Word of God properly. Once we use it properly, everything is fine.
Six thousand years of the development of human culture have produced an educational system that is commonly used throughout the whole world today. Education begins from kindergarten and continues through six years of elementary school, six years of middle and high school, and four years of university. Since this system is used worldwide, students who graduate locally can go to another country to further their education with more advanced research. This is the result of a scientific approach to education.
Spiritual education should be the same in principle, but where is our scientific approach? How can we arrange the truths in the Bible in a systematic way so that someone who has a heart to learn can enter into the depths in a simple way and study in a progressive, consistent, coherent, and logical way? If we can carry out such a way, this will be very good.
Christianity has been on the earth for two thousand years, and the truth in Christianity is unshakable. We can compare the truth of the Bible to the earth itself. Men can build bridges and roads, fly airplanes, and launch satellites into the sky, but no one can change the earth itself; it is God’s creation, and there is no way to change it. The Bible cannot be changed; however, the way to interpret the Bible and use the Bible requires much consideration. In these two thousand years, no one has dared to make a definite conclusion regarding the proper way to meet and to preach the gospel, nor would anyone dare to say that he has been altogether successful in these matters. Even the giants of the gospel do not say that they are absolutely right. Therefore, even until now there is no definite way to preach the gospel. It is still in the stage of study and research.
It was not until the last few years that we definitely saw that the gospel of God and the salvation of God revealed in the Bible take the household as the unit. For example, Acts 16:31 says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household,” and Luke 19:9 says, “Today salvation has come to this house.” It does not say that today salvation has come to this man, but to “this house.” The types in the Old Testament also take the household as the unit. There were eight in Noah’s household. He did not enter into the ark by himself, but his whole household entered (Gen. 7:1). At the Feast of the Passover, there was not a lamb for a person but a lamb for a household (Exo. 12:3). These all took the household as the unit.
The New Testament shows us that from the beginning the believers, who were brought in through the New Testament economy, had meetings in their homes, and they met from house to house. The Bible gives detailed descriptions of the content of the home meetings of the saints at that early stage. They were teaching in the homes, breaking bread in the homes, praying in the homes, fellowshipping in the homes, and preaching the gospel in the homes (Acts 2:42, 46; 5:42). Besides these five things, there was not much need of anything else in the Christian meetings. Although they still met in the synagogue, they may not have done it willingly, and there was no record of what they did there. In conclusion, it is clear that meeting in the homes is the most basic and complete way to meet. Because we have clearly seen this point, we changed the system that we have been practicing for years.
Meanwhile, we also saw that our former practices, though not absolutely according to the denominations, were not completely detached and different from the form and the element in the denominations. We can say that we are still much the same as they are. We have changed in form but not in content. Therefore, we have fallen into the same pitiful condition as the denominations. With regard to multiplication and propagation, our progress has been very slow. This is because we took the wrong way. If we were still using an ox cart to travel from Taipei to Kaohsiung, it would take at least two days to get there. In contrast, flying from Los Angeles to Taipei today requires only thirteen hours, which includes crossing thousands of miles over the Pacific Ocean. This illustrates why we must change our method and change the system.
In the past sixty years we have inherited and have been following the old way for too long and to too great an extent. To continue to conduct our meetings and preach the gospel according to the old way would be like going back to the ox cart. Not only is it outdated, but it is also unable to meet the need. However, changing one’s nature is harder than changing mountains and rivers. It is hard for a man to change. We say that the ox cart is not good, but those who are accustomed to it still like to use it. They consider that taking the train is too troublesome; they say they are too limited by time and might miss the train. The ox cart, they say, is much more flexible; it is always available and can go and stop anywhere as one wishes. Yes, the ox cart has its advantages. We do not mean that the old way has no advantage at all, but when we compare the two ways, it is clear to us which way we should take.