Man is communal. Christians are all the more communal. None of us would like to live by himself on a high mountain. We like to see people and to speak to people. Once we have the life of God within us, we spontaneously love other Christians. We cannot explain why this is so, but it is a fact. It does not matter what color skin they have, whether they are black, white, red, brown, or yellow. As long as they are brothers, we love them. Some have asked me, “Brother Lee, how many brothers and sisters do you have?” How should I answer? How many brothers and sisters do I really have? More than hundreds of thousands! They are countless! Wherever I go today, I have brothers and sisters!
Christianity has robbed the Christians of this great blessing. When they go to the worship service, even those sitting beside them would not acknowledge them. After the service is over, everyone goes home. I attended a worship service for two years in a denomination. Besides the pastor, I did not talk to anyone. I was not the only one who was like that. All the others were the same. In that kind of setting, no one needs to speak to another. But if you come to a home meeting with eight brothers sitting in a brother’s living room, it would be impossible for you not to speak. At least you have to greet each other. Once you greet each other, the blessing comes! In time you begin to know me and I begin to know you, and we become acquainted with each other’s condition and difficulties. Spontaneously a mutual love and care will be developed.
But this is not all. There are many things that you can practice in the home meetings. In the big meetings you can not pray, but in the home meetings you can pray. In the big meetings you cannot speak, but in the home meetings you can speak. In the big meetings you cannot sing, but in the home meetings you can sing. All these are functions that cannot be fulfilled by the big meetings. For this reason I advise you not to despise the home meetings. Since we are saved and have become the children of God, we should not give up this blessing. I know that you are all very busy. According to the present arrangement of the church in Taipei there are not too many meetings. On the Lord’s Day morning there is a meeting to learn the truth; we must all go there to learn the truth. Besides that, we have the Lord’s table meeting on the Lord’s Day evening; this is a meeting to remember the Lord, and it is very proper for us to attend that meeting. Other than these two meetings we have a home meeting once a week. This is a must for all of us. Attending such home meetings will refresh us all the time.
For me to go now to a service to listen to a pastor speak for an hour is a punishment. But if I go to the home meeting, where I meet the brothers and sisters, where we pray, sing, and fellowship together, there is much refreshment, enjoyment, and satisfaction! I hope all the brothers and sisters would attend these three important meetings. We should learn the truths, remember the Lord, and build up one another through the home meetings.
If anyone does not love the home meetings, he must forgive me to say that he must have a problem with his love towards the Lord. I am afraid such a one does not really love the Lord. I am not condemning you, picking on you, or exposing your shortcomings. I admit that you do love the Lord, but your love today is not fresh. I honestly believe that if your love towards the Lord is still fresh, you will surely love the home meetings. I myself have the same experience. For a while I did not like to see the brothers and sisters. I became tired of meetings. Invariably my love towards the Lord was not fresh at such times. However, once I would pray a little, be enlightened a little in my prayer, and confess my sins and plead for the cleansing of the blood, I immediately would be refreshed. The first thing that comes to me after I am refreshed is that I want to go to the meetings! This is why I say that to be tired of the home meetings shows that our love towards the Lord is no longer fresh.
In the Christian’s experience, if there is a problem with one’s daily life, his love towards the Lord will not be fresh. This is a symptom of a disease. When your love towards the Lord is fresh, when you have such a sweet fellowship with Him in the morning, you wish that the evening would come sooner so that you may go to the meeting. It seems as if you cannot wait until the evening. As soon as you finish with your business in the afternoon, you rush through your dinner so that you can make it to the meeting. But sometimes the situation is exactly the opposite. We are afraid of the meetings. We do not want to see the faces of the brothers and sisters. This is a symptom. It means that you are spiritually sick. Sometimes, by the Lord’s mercy, the sickness is over in three or five days. But if the sickness persists, then you must beware. If you are weak and underweight for a long time, and you cannot diagnose the problem, perhaps you have developed spiritual cancer.
The best way is to go to the Lord to contact Him. Once you contact Him, you will discover your sins. Even our reluctance to go to meetings is a sin. We will see that even our lack of prayer and our not walking according to the Spirit are sins. If we would confess our sins before the Lord, we will be forgiven and there will be an immediate revival within. Once we are revived, we will want to come to the meetings. In simple terms, the key to the home meetings is a fresh love towards the Lord. Whenever we feel that we are not fresh, we must contact the Lord and confess our sins. His blood will cleanse us. This cleansing is always effective; it is an instant cure. Nothing will annul this law. If we would do this, we will live daily in the fellowship with the Lord.