In the previous message we talked about a living that is out of the Holy Spirit and through the human spirit. In this message we will continue to see a living that is solely according to the spirit. These two kinds of living are both for the strengthening of our present practice of small group gatherings in the homes.
The small group gathering is the foundation for the building of the church life. However, in Christianity today most people only pay attention to the big meetings. The big meetings are used to gather people together. After the people are gathered together, very little attention is paid to the work of building. For this reason, among most Christians the element of building is lacking and is almost nonexistent. The history of Christianity is a history of revival. This history is similar to the record in the book of Judges. When a judge was raised up, everyone was revived for a while. But when the judge was gone, everyone fell back to the same condition as before.
The Bible shows us that from the beginning of the church life there were two kinds of meetings. The big meetings were held in the temple, while the small meetings were held from house to house. The big meetings raised up and brought in the people, who were then put into the small meetings. In the small meetings they were nurtured and edified. There they coordinated together to be built into the house of God. Hence, the foundation of the building of the church is in the small group gatherings.
However, we have a wrong concept concerning the small group gatherings. We think that there is the need for a few able preachers to conduct these meetings. Actually, it is impossible to have enough preachers for all the homes. Even the seminaries cannot produce the required number of preachers. At Pentecost after the three thousand were saved, it is possible that the same night they began to meet in the homes. If that were the case, there might have been at least six or seven hundred small meetings in the homes. During the day they probably listened to a message from Peter in the big meeting. Then at night they returned home to preach the same message. Because of this practice, they all could testify, and they all could preach and teach (Acts 8:1, 4).
Today’s Christianity puts too much emphasis on the big meetings. As a result, the small meetings are neglected. Even among us we have the same situation. Although we attempted to have the small group meetings in the past, they were not very successful. It was not difficult to have seven or eight people come together to discuss the news and chat about their families. But when the time came to talk about spiritual things, they became lost. They found that they did not know how to conduct themselves. After a few meetings everyone became discouraged, and no one wanted to come together any longer.
The reason for the failure of the small group meetings is that believers are not saved in a thorough, strong, and living way. A child does not become full-grown the day he is born. There must be the daily feeding and care. Only then will he grow up properly. When my youngest daughter had her first baby boy seven or eight years ago, we visited our little grandchild in the hospital. The baby was so thin and small in the incubator that we were concerned whether he would be able to grow up at all. But today the child is lively and healthy. This tells us that life is wonderful; it can grow and flourish.
Although the human life is wonderful, we Christians have a more wonderful divine life in addition to our human life. Medical doctors have made such a thorough study of human birth that even babies born three to four months premature can survive if they are given the proper care. Unfortunately, Christians have not been as thorough in the study of the spiritual birth. Some people are saved in such a poor way that their salvation may be likened to the birth of a premature baby. Among us it is especially easy to have premature spiritual births, because after we talk with people concerning the gospel, we ask them to call on the name of the Lord. The Bible does say that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom. 10:13). But while some are nine months in the womb already when they call, others are less than four or five months old. When we try to persuade them, we are forcing a premature birth. Actually, the time is not yet ripe. We should have waited a little longer. If a person is born prematurely, it will be difficult for him to grow well.
The realization of many Christians concerning the matter of salvation is that we were fallen sinners who were in need of the Lord. By outwardly stretching forth His hand, He delivered us from sins, the world, and hell. In their concept, the Lord’s salvation is like pulling a drowning man out of deep water. Actually, the salvation of the Lord covers all the processes that He has passed through: His incarnation, His thirty-three and a half years of human living, His crucifixion, and His tasting of death for us all. He entered into the Hades of death, passed through death, and came out victoriously from it. Then He rose from the dead to become the life-giving Spirit. After this He ascended to the throne and poured Himself out upon His believers. Today He is not only on the throne, but He is also the Spirit waiting for you to believe in Him, call upon Him, and receive Him. If you call on His name out of a sincere heart, this life-giving Spirit will enter into you to be your life and will be in you as your salvation, saving your entire being from sin and the world. This is the real salvation. This is also called regeneration. Regeneration is to receive the divine life in addition to the human life that you already have. This divine life will be in you as your salvation and supply.
Life is wonderful. Even a lower form of life such as the plant life, which has neither sense nor consciousness, is very wonderful. For example, the different fruit trees bear different kinds of fruit of various shapes, tastes, and color. The many kinds of flowers are also adorned beautifully with so many different colors. The human life is of course much more mysterious than the plant life. But even more excellent and mysterious than this is the life of God. A regenerated person has received this excellent and mysterious life.