Prayer: Lord, we truly need Your mercy and Your grace. We do not know what to do or how to go on, so we look to You to lead us. As we are fellowshipping, cause us to touch Your leading and Your heart’s desire. We are not clear concerning how to go on in the bread-breaking meeting, the prayer meeting, and the gatherings in the small groups. Show us Your way so that we may go on faithfully to learn and practice. Lord, cleanse us again, and anoint us bountifully with Your rich anointing. Bless our fellowship, and bless us in our practice. Lord, fight for us against the attacks and troubles from the enemy, especially His attacks on our bodies. Bind the evil one, and rebuke the demons. We reject all the demons in Your victorious name. Amen.
We will study how to have a small group gathering. In a small group gathering we can break bread, pray, and fellowship. In function the small group meeting covers all the aspects of the church life. In the small groups there can be teaching, which is related to the aspect of the truth; there can be shepherding, which is related to the aspect of life; and there can also be care and support, which are related to the aspect of practical living. In addition, in the small groups we can also preach the gospel. If a church can be thorough in its teaching of the truth, in its shepherding in life, and in its care and support in practical living, then it can be considered as being established. If a church as large as the church in Taipei relies only on the leading by the elders in large corporate meetings, the church will not be able to function in these aspects. The church must be divided into small groups for the teaching of the saints. It is inappropriate to teach in the Lord’s table meeting, the prayer meeting, or the gospel meeting; teaching involves fellowship. Teaching, shepherding, care, and support involve fellowship. Hence, fellowship is all-inclusive and multi-purposed in nature; it is complete in nature. For this reason, meetings involving fellowship are the most difficult.
Teaching cannot be separated from the truth in the Bible. Moreover, shepherding and teaching are a twofold cord that is actually one. In Ephesians 4:11 shepherds and teachers are the same group of people. In order to shepherd people, one must know how to teach, and in order to teach effectively, one must be a shepherd. Therefore, when shepherding and teaching, as two cords of a rope, are combined, there is strength. For this reason, it is necessary to use the Bible when we fellowship in the small groups; otherwise, we can neither teach nor shepherd. When teaching and shepherding are carried out properly, there will be care and support. Hence, the key is how to use the Bible when we fellowship in a small group.
In the fellowship meeting of the small groups we can use the Recovery Version and the Life-study messages as materials. Life is the line, the focus, and the content of the Life-study messages. The Bible is a book of life, the history of the Bible supports the line of life, and the characters in the Bible are illustrations of life. Everything in the Bible centers on life. Bible scholars throughout the centuries have expounded the Bible from the aspect of knowledge, from the aspect of people, from the aspect of history, and from the aspect of proverbs or teachings. The focus of every exposition is different. I have read many books of exposition, but I have not found one that takes life as its center. Because of the Lord’s unveiling, I understood that the expounding of the Bible should take life as its focus and its line. Hence, this was my focus in my writing the Life-studies.
I began to use the term life-study in 1950. After we finished the first formal training in 1953 in Taiwan, I felt that we should have a life-study of the Bible. Therefore, beginning from 1954 I conducted the life-study of the Bible for about one year, and it was blessed by the Lord. We did a rough study of the Old Testament, but we were more detailed when we came to the New Testament. Thus, life-study became an official term among us; I also wrote the outlines of the life-studies.
From 1974 I began to lead a formal life-study training in America. So far, we have spent eleven years writing the Life-study of the New Testament, taking life as the focus and the line. Since this is an exposition of the Bible, we paid attention to the readers’ understanding of the Bible. If we do not understand the words when we read the Bible, we can stay only on the surface, and it will be difficult for us to get into the depths. It is not so easy to understand the words in the Bible, because the Bible contains a vast number of special terms. Furthermore, the Bible uses unique and profound words; hence, they are not so easy to explain.
For decades I have spent my time and energy studying the Bible, consulting the writings of many well-known authors of the past centuries. Hence, I feel assured that I am able to provide a proper explanation of important phrases and words, especially in the New Testament. Hence, many footnotes of the New Testament are expository in nature. For instance, in Romans 1:2 there is a footnote for the word holy. Because the word holy is an important term in the Bible, I provided a thorough explanation. There are quite a number of footnotes like this. This kind of exposition is not for those who read the Bible casually but for those who desire to devote themselves to studying the Bible.
When we fellowship in a small group, we must use the Bible. However, when we use the Bible, it is best to use the text and the Life-study messages, rather than focusing on the footnotes or the cross references. Suppose we are reading the book of Romans. Initially, the saints may be interested in reading it, but if we try to explain the word holy in great detail, they may not understand it. Hence, we must understand that the text of the Recovery Version is the starting point for everyone, because some of the footnotes are not easy to understand. If we desire to serve the Lord full time, we must labor in the Bible. This is a requirement that cannot be evaded. However, when we go to a small group meeting, we should not use it to show off our knowledge.