I have told you before that the home meetings should not have any leader. Now I would add that there should not even be any so-called core members. Everyone should be a capable member. Everyone of us loves the Lord. Everyone has fellowship with the Lord and receives enlightenment from the Lord. If there is sin, we ask for forgiveness. Constantly we maintain a fellowship with the Lord and always exercise ourselves to say “O Lord, Amen.” In this way we remain fresh within. The Lord is calling us every day. Daily He is calling us out from all the things other than Himself. He is gathering us into Himself. All that is needed are two or three that are gathered into His name. The Lord is longing for us to come constantly to Him and to fellowship with Him.
Besides this, the Lord has given us a Bible. We should spend ten minutes a day to read it. In time we will experience an inward renewal and transformation, and we will have an unveiled face, beholding the Lord’s glory. We will then be transformed into His image, from glory to glory. Then when you come to the meeting, you will not be without words. You will surely have songs to sing, words to speak, Bible verses to share, and testimonies to give.
Last, I want to add one more point. Every home meeting should have one or two persons to give a conclusion, summarizing that portion of the Scripture or Life-study message. This conclusion does not have to be long. At most it should take ten minutes, but it should not be less than five minutes. This kind of summary is like cream on the pie. When we invite others for a meal, after everyone is filled, we serve them some pudding or a cup of almond tea. This will top off their satisfaction. If our home meeting is like this, it would be impossible for people not to be attracted. Please take my word. If we come to the home meetings in this way, our number will surely increase.
Dear brothers and sisters, you must change your concept. The home meeting is not difficult at all. I have thoroughly considered this matter. I have also practiced this way again and again. In the end I have to say that it is easy to have the home meetings. We are all Chinese here. Please tell me, is there anyone among us who ever complains that it is difficult to learn Chinese? As long as you are willing, and as long as you would put into practice in your daily life all the key points concerning the home meetings, you will not sense any difficulty. Please remember the words I gave you the last time: “Heaven can be annulled, and the earth can pass away, but the home meeting must not be forsaken.”
God desires that there be three kinds of ministries among His people. The first is the priesthood, the second is the kingship, and the third is the prophethood. In the Bible we see that both the priests and the kings require the prophets. If a priest cannot speak, he will be a weak priest. Who was the first prophet in the Bible? It was Abraham. Genesis 20:7 tells us that Abraham was a prophet. Hence, he could pray for the household of Abimelech. The emphasis with the prophets is not to speak prophecy, but to speak for God.
In Exodus 7:1 God said to Moses, “I have made you God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.” The definition of a prophet is a spokesman, one who speaks for another. Since we are God’s people, we are the descendants of Abraham. As such, we should be prophets. If in our meeting no one speaks, how can we say that we are priests? The first thing for the priests to do is to pray before God. This is the burning of the incense.
The second thing the priests do is to light the lamp. After the lamp has burned for a while, the wick becomes black and the light does not shine so brightly. Hence, there is the need to trim the burnt wick and to add more oil. The oil is the Holy Spirit. Daily we need to burn the incense by praying, and daily we need to trim our lamp by reading the Lord’s word.
The third thing the priests do is to sing praises. In stanzas four, five, and six of hymn 791, these three things are put together:
I’ll offer prayers as incense burns,
Christ’s resurrection bring therein,
God’s wish thus meet, His heart give joy,
And I’ll rejoice with Him.
I’ll read His Word, His light receive,
E’en as the lamp before Him lit,
His holy light illumining me
To others I’ll transmit.
Unto the Lord His praise I’ll sing
As holy priests their songs did raise;
O may my heart be filled with Him
His love and grace to praise.
Hymns, #791
The first priest in the Bible was Abraham. Ezra was another priest. Ezra 7:11 says, “Ezra the priest, the scribe.” In chapter eight of Nehemiah he read God’s law to God’s people and led everyone back to the Old Testament. He was a priest, and he was also a scribe who spoke for God.
In 2 Samuel chapter twelve we see that Nathan was a prophet. King David became weak and sinned. Hence, he needed a prophet to come and help him. God sent Nathan the prophet to rebuke him. Being enlightened by Nathan’s rebuke, David repented. All these verses show us that today we are priests and we are kings. If we do not speak, our priestly service will be very weak. When we are a prophet, it helps us to be a priest and a king. This is why the Bible says, “Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets.”
Paul also said that we can all prophesy one by one (1 Cor. 14:31), and 1 Corinthians chapter twelve says that the Holy Spirit operating in each person has a manifestation. The first manifestation is the word of wisdom. The second is the word of knowledge (vv. 7-8). If I can speak a word of wisdom and a word of knowledge, this proves that I have the Spirit. We have to exercise to speak. We also have to exercise to read the Bible. After much reading, the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge will come. We will all become priests and kings. If we are not prophets, we can never be priests or kings properly. The latter two ministries are based upon our being prophets.