I have been exploring the situation among us. Generally speaking, the brothers and sisters are all very good; especially those who are stable are quite seeking. But why is there a condition of stagnation? The reason is that our system of meeting and service is wrong. This is why I have come back to the Bible again to look at this matter. The meetings spoken of in the Bible are occasions for people to be encouraged, to be stirred up, to speak, and to function (1 Cor. 14:24-25, 31). When you want to speak in the meetings, you may discover that your personal condition is not right. Hence, you must seek for a revival; you must pray, confess, and consecrate yourself to God, and you must adjust your spiritual life so that you would have a new beginning before the Lord. You will see that although you are in the Lord’s recovery, yet your family life is loose and sloppy, and your spirit is not strong and aggressive. Therefore, you will not be able to function in the meeting. For this reason you must live an overcoming life every day.
Brothers and sisters, please remember that the way of meeting as revealed in the Bible is one that enlivens people. It revives man’s spirit and develops the organic function in man. It develops from within man the initial gift received from God. This initial gift is the divine life of God, which is capable of growing within us in the same way that the life within a baby will grow. When this life grows, the functions of life are developed from within the baby gradually, causing the baby to see, to hear, to speak, to work with his hands, and to walk with his feet. However, the system of meeting in today’s Christianity does not develop the spiritual function of life within us, the regenerated ones. On the contrary, it restricts, limits, and suppresses our spiritual functions, with the result that they are reduced or annulled.
The way to meet as revealed in the Bible establishes and builds up the function of life in us, and it stirs up all the gifts of the divine life that the saints received from God; the result will be that they are nourished and supplied. By this the saints grow, and the growth of the saints is the building up of the church. However, I have seen some brothers and sisters among us who come to every meeting, who participate in all the services, who are very faithful in listening to messages, and who love the Lord; yet, we do not see much growth in life in them. The reason is that there is not much supply and nourishment in the meetings, and also there is the lack of the release and exercise of life. For this reason, in the meetings under the old system, it is difficult to see any growth in life, and there is very little building.
All of you as trainees must understand that this training is to bring us back to the way of meeting as revealed in the Bible. By this the saints will be supplied and nourished in the meetings, and they will have the opportunity to exercise and to develop their functions. As long as the saints are supplied and nourished in a timely way, and as long as they have the proper exercise and development, the life in them will spontaneously grow. The result will be building. This building, strictly speaking, is not individual but corporate, for it is in the meetings that we are built up together. In other words, as we grow together in the church, the Body will be built up. Individually speaking, we grow by being nourished and exercised in the spiritual life; corporately speaking, we are built up in the Body. By this, the testimony of the Body of Christ will be manifested.
We all must see that the development of the organic ability and function within the saints is the most crucial item of the way to meet as revealed in the Bible. In the process of this development of their organic ability, the activities of the brothers and sisters may not be on the right track. But we should not limit them too much, neither should we be too restrictive. The less we restrict and limit them, the more they will have the development. When their functions are developed, we can then guide them into the proper way to function. Then their activities in the meetings will be proper.
The way to meet as revealed in the Bible requires us to do three things. First, we must be revived. In order to have a revival, we must live daily in the Spirit, walk by the Spirit, and conduct ourselves according to the Spirit. Only then will we be able to have any activity in the way of meeting as revealed in the Bible. Our activity is based on our being living, and this livingness is not a performance. Rather, it is the result of our fellowship with the Lord in our daily life. Formerly, in the old way, even though we might have been dead for years and might not have prayed for three months, we could still come to the meetings. However, in the new way, you cannot afford to be out of the spirit for even half a day, not to say a whole day. If you had a good morning but were out of the spirit in that afternoon, you would feel inadequate when you come to the meeting in the evening. Hence, the new way requires that we be spiritual and that we live in the spirit all day long. The success of the new way does not depend on how much we know the techniques, and it does not depend on us teaching others about the Word, the Spirit, singing, and prayer. Rather, it depends on us being a living person before the Lord, one who lives in the spirit. Second, we must enjoy the Lord’s word. The Lord has given us not only the Holy Spirit within, but also the Bible without. The Bible is a wonderful book that enables us to enjoy the Lord. Therefore, we must learn to enjoy the word of the Lord daily. If our spirit is living, and we have the Lord’s word, then we can learn to sing and pray. This is not an outward method. Rather, it is a matter of being living, of living in the spirit, fellowshipping with the Lord, and enjoying the Lord’s word constantly. Third, if we are this kind of person, surely we will love to go to meetings. In the meetings, we will be able to function freely. Whether it is a home meeting, a group meeting, or a district meeting, we will be able to meet the needs of others.
Our training here is not to teach you a method. Neither are you here to learn any new methods to take back to your locality. That is worthless. If you do this, it is not “the new man walking the new way.” Rather, it is the dead man changing the coffin. The goal of our training is to enliven the old man that he may become the new man to function in the meetings. As long as the saints would supply life by functioning in the meetings, the result will be the growth of life and the building up together. Furthermore, the individual building up will issue in the building up of the Body.