After the small groups are established, the brothers and sisters have to start meeting in the small group meetings. The first thing to do in the small group meeting is to see whether or not everyone is revived. This revival is a morning-by-morning revival, a day-by-day overcoming, a life that lives Christ, that speaks Christ, and that attends every meeting there is. The revival that we talk about in the Lord’s recovery is easier than all the revivals that Christians have sought after throughout the previous centuries. All we need to do is go to the Lord every morning when we wake up and pour out everything we have in us in a genuine way from the depth of our being. In this way, we will be cleansed and will be enlightened by the Lord’s word. The Lord will fill us, and we will be able to consecrate ourselves to Him to live the overcoming life. After ten minutes, our whole being will be revived.
Following that, we should move on with the sun, which means to walk according to the Lord Jesus who is rising up within us. In the end, we will become like the sun, just as the Lord Jesus is. In at least three places the Bible compares those who love the Lord and follow Him to the sun. Proverbs 4:18 says, “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Judges 5:31 also says, “But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.” Matthew 13:43 says, “Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Hence, every morning we need to have a new beginning before the Lord to be revived anew. For this, we all have to make a vow to the Lord and to consecrate ourselves.
We must be revived. Only then can we be living persons. In order to walk the new way, we must be the new man. The new man is the living man. The old man will not work. The oldness I am talking about is not oldness in age. Some have said that Brother Lee does not want old folks anymore. This is a total misunderstanding. I never reject those that are old in age. I am only rejecting the old man. The old man cannot take the new way. Hence, the first thing to make clear in the small groups is that everyone has to be revived and have clear dealings before the Lord. Everyone has to consecrate himself honestly to the Lord and live for Him, that God’s New Testament economy may be realized in us. Only by this can we walk the new way. The new way requires a revived and living people to walk in it.
The second thing the small group has to do is consider whether or not there are new ones among them. If not, the small group meeting cannot go on. Where do the new ones come from? The only way to gain new ones is by preaching the gospel through visiting people. Three persons will be grouped into a team and will go out to preach the gospel by knocking at others’ doors. There can be two to three teams in a small group. Every week they should go out at least twice, the more the better. After doing this consecutively for a few weeks, surely a few new ones will be gained. Next, they should distribute the new ones among them, and the saints in the small group should start caring for them specifically one by one. I hope that every one will have at least two new ones in their hands. Preferably, each should have three to care for. If the base number for a small group meeting is twelve, with eight to nine being the regularly active ones, they can care for at least eighteen new ones.
After we baptize the new ones, we should begin having home meetings with them. At the beginning, if possible, we should go to nourish them once every two to three days. After a month, we can visit them once a week. When we go to the home meetings, we have to lead the new ones to attend the small group meetings and the Lord’s Day district meetings. In other words, within a week after a person is saved, we should work into him all four things: the begetting, the nourishing, the teaching, and the building. Furthermore, we should continue to do this every week. Of course, among the new ones, there are better ones and worse ones. Their condition also varies from time to time. As soon as the number you care for becomes less than two or three, you should look for others to go with you to preach the gospel by knocking on doors. This will replenish the number of new ones. If we would all do this, the number will surely increase. A small group that originally has twelve people will bring in over ten new ones after six months, and those twenty or more people will be established in the small groups. By then, we can divide this small group of twenty or more people into two small groups.
As soon as the small group is divided, we repeat the same thing. Begin by considering whether or not everyone is consecrated and whether or not everyone is revived. Then go out to preach the gospel by knocking on doors and gain some new ones. Furthermore, care for and help the new ones. If there is a shortage, replenish the number immediately. In this way, after another half year, we can divide again. Originally there was only one group. After half a year, it becomes two. By the end of the year, it becomes four groups. In the four groups, there are at least forty people. In this way we have a two and one-half times increase. If you will all practice this way, you will find that such a result is not that hard to achieve. Even if we take a big discount, we may still have, with a base number of twelve at the beginning of the year, an addition of fourteen by the end of the year. In all we will have twenty-six. This is surely attainable. Why were we not able to do such a thing in the past? It is because we did not have the way. There were too many blueprints. Everyone was wasting his time on useless ways. Now I am presenting before you this way of building according to plan. I hope that you will all build according to this plan and will practice these three steps. They are the three phases of the small group. Number one is the morning revival. Number two is the gaining of the new ones. Number three is nourishing and helping the new ones to have home meetings, small group meetings, and district meetings.