Big meetings allow people to slip in, but after not too long people also slip out. Why do big meetings have difficulty keeping people? Because there is not the fundamental level of the home meetings to hold them. I hope that you brothers and sisters who love the Lord can all see this. Otherwise, the Lord will have no way. If we only emphasize the big meetings and neglect the home meetings, we will let the Lord down. We who love the Lord should not do such a thing. Please do not decide the future of the home meetings according to the present condition. Because of this very burden I came to Taiwan three times in less than three months. I know what the need is, and I also know where the difficulty is. I hope that the brothers and sisters would all get into this burden. The home meeting is like the ark of God, and it requires your shoulder to help carry it. If you have the desire, please accept this burden to participate in the home meetings to enrich them. When you attend a home meeting, do not strengthen the meeting according to the natural concept, but rather strengthen and enrich it according to the types of the Old Testament and according to the clear revelation in the New Testament, in order that each home meeting may prosper daily.
What are the types in the Old Testament? What is the revelation in the New Testament? They are for us to fellowship with the Lord daily and to enjoy the Lord and experience Him daily. This is a daily matter, not merely a matter for one day. In the case of the Israelites, after every family was allotted a piece of land, they had to first get rid of all the weeds, chop down the trees, and clean out the stones. Besides all this, they had to level the ground and till it for the sowing of the seed. Then they had to work out a way of irrigation. After the irrigation they had to weed further and nurture their fields, staying busy daily for about three to four months. Finally, the fields would be filled with golden grains. At this time they still had to reap the harvest and dry the grains in the field before storing everything in the barns. However, these grains were still too coarse to be brought to the feast, so they had to grind them into flour and make them into cakes for their own enjoyment as well as bring them to God as an offering for God’s enjoyment. The herdsmen also had to do the same. Early every morning they had to take out the flock, and every evening they had to bring it back into the fold. Then when the great day of the feast came, they would be able to bring a herd of cattle or a flock of sheep to the mount of Jehovah to offer them up to the Lord one by one. Therefore God told the people that they must come to worship Him three times a year, but they should not appear before Him empty (Deut. 16:16). This indicates that we should come together at appointed times and bring Christ with us; we must not come empty.
How could you not come empty? It all depends on your laboring on the good land. It all depends on how much you have labored. Do you fellowship with Him every morning, worshipping Him, praying to Him, reading His Word, and waiting in His presence? If you cannot do so for half an hour, I hope you can do it for at least fifteen minutes. If you labor daily, in due time, you will naturally be able to reap the harvest. The harvest is not for your own enjoyment, but for you to offer to God and to share with your fellow members in the presence of God. This is the Christian meeting.
When the Israelites met together, there were also priests who would speak to them. However, the fundamental level was not built on the priests’ exposition of the Scriptures. The fundamental level was the households. Everyone brought his year-long accumulation of riches; this was the foundation of the big meetings. Today the foundation of our big meetings should be the brothers and sisters experiencing Christ daily and thus having the riches of Christ, and everyone bringing these riches with him when he comes to meet. The church is built upon such a fundamental level.
At this time, to have some gifted ones who have received revelation from the Lord to release some messages is also an urgent need of the church. We must see that there are two sides. In the case of the ancient Israelites, suppose each household were to bring the rich produce to the feasts. Then, even if most of the priests were dead, that would not have greatly affected their feasts because they already had the fundamental level which could not be shaken. Today in the church meetings, if everyone has experienced Christ and everyone has brought Christ to the meetings, then whether there is anyone among us who can give messages or not, that would not affect the foundation of our meetings.
Today our situation is like the Israelites coming empty. Your two hands are empty, and mine are also empty. You look at me and I look at you. We have nothing. What are we doing here? All the eloquent ones are gone. The fundamental level is gone. Let me repeat: the way of depending on a great evangelist does not work. People will swarm like bees to listen to the sermon, but when the evangelist is gone, the crowd also goes. As the swallows fly to the south, so they will return to the north. When I came this time, I was very clear that I did not want to have any big conferences. I am here only to speak about the condition of the church and to turn everyone’s concept. After the turn, we must go back to the home meetings.