THE PRACTICE HANDBOOK FOR THE DISTRICT SERVING ONES
SERIES TWO
THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY AND VARIOUS KINDS OF MEETINGS
Message Five
The Group Meetings in Mutuality
Heb. 10:24-25 And let us consider one another so as to incite one another to love and good works, Not abandoning our own assembling together, as the custom with some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more as you see the day drawing near.
Eph. 5:19 Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord.
“NOT ABANDONING OUR OWN ASSEMBLING TOGETHER”
Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “Let us consider one another so as to incite one another to love and good works, not abandoning our own assembling together, as the custom with some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more as you see the day drawing near.” The more we study these two verses, the more we can realize that they refer to the group meetings. The meetings spoken of here are meetings in mutuality. Verse 24 speaks of inciting one another to love and good works, and verse 25 mentions “exhorting one another.” Verse 25 tells us to not abandon the meetings—not the meetings in a general sense but in the sense of “our own assembling together.” This indicates that as Christians we should have “our own” meeting. Before the Hebrew readers of this Epistle were saved, they had the Jewish way of meeting. Now, as Christians, they needed to have a Christian meeting, which they should have considered as “their” meeting. As Christians, we should take care of the Christian meeting, which these verses call “our own assembling together.”
THE GROUP MEETINGS NEEDING TO BE
EIGHTY PERCENT OF OUR CHURCH LIFE
In the church we have different kinds of meetings. We have a meeting on the Lord’s Day. On Tuesday we may have a prayer meeting, and on Wednesday we may have a mid-week meeting. Besides these, we have the group meetings. Among these four kinds of meetings, we should consider that the group meeting is our own meeting. The number who attend the group meetings should be higher than the number who attend the other kinds of meetings. Most brothers and sisters attend the Lord’s Day morning meetings because the majority of them came from a traditional background. According to this background, “Sunday” is the time for Christians to worship God. If one does not come to the Sunday morning meeting, he is not regarded as a faithful Christian. However, the group meetings should be eighty percent of our church life. If in a local church the attendance in the Lord’s Day morning meeting is higher than that in the group meetings, the saints in that church are still religious and in their traditional way. When in a local church the attendance in the group meetings is higher than that in the church meetings on the Lord’s Day, that church is in the proper way. Whether a local church is in the proper way or not depends in part on the attendance in the group meetings.
MEETING IN SMALL GROUPS IN MUTUALITY
Acts 2:46 says, “Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they partook of their food with exultation and simplicity of heart.” Acts 5:42 says, “Every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and announcing the gospel of Jesus as the Christ.” These verses tell us that the Christians met in their homes, and the number of home meetings was according to the number of homes. They met in this way for preaching Christ, teaching, breaking bread, prayer, and fellowship. However, there is no indication of the way that they preached and taught. In principle, it must have been in the way of mutuality.
Acts 5:42 says that in the homes “they did not cease teaching and announcing the gospel of Jesus as the Christ.” We may ask how there could have been enough teachers for all the home meetings. According to the principle in the New Testament (1 Cor. 14:26), it is doubtful that only one person in each group taught and all the others listened. The newly saved and baptized ones, being full of the Lord, must have had something with which to bubble over. They all could have said something regarding their salvation. It is doubtful that all the many new believers were dumb, waiting for Peter or John to say something. Peter and John could not have been in every group meeting. The first meetings of the church must have been “bubbling” meetings. Everyone there must have been beside himself.
“BUBBLING” AND BEING BESIDE OURSELVES
IN THE GROUP MEETINGS
Group meetings in which the saints “bubble” are the proper church meetings and the proper church life. A group meeting is a meeting full of mutuality. In such a meeting everyone speaks, and everyone “bubbles.” Such meetings are full of activity. It is doubtful that the meetings of the thousands of new believers on the day of Pentecost kept a certain sequence, with a particular brother praying, another brother calling a hymn, and a designated brother reading the Scriptures. They simply “bubbled,” sang, and testified in their group meetings.
Many times if no one instructs the saints to begin to read the Bible, to pray, or to sing, no one will do it. We should not need to be instructed as to what to do in the meetings. We are living persons. We should come singing and praising. However, in many of today’s meetings, if no one says, “Let us read the Bible,” no one opens the Bible. That kind of meeting is still very much in the traditional way of religion. Many times our reading of the Bible in the meetings is done in a set way. It is of the flesh to do something with the purpose of being different from religion, but we do not need to be the same every time. If a certain verse is wonderful to us, we can read it in a living way. If in a long list of verses we find Hebrews 10:24-25, we can say, “Hallelujah for Hebrews 10:24-25!” and read it before we read the other verses. Then when we come to the phrase incite one another to love and good works, we can say, “Oh, incite! We need to incite one another!”
The quiet way of meeting is the tradition of religion. Traditional Christianity has influenced us to meet in this way. Before we were saved, we already knew how to worship God in the traditional way. Even a Muslim knows how to meet in a “Christian” way. If a Muslim becomes a Christian, he will feel that he already knows the way he should worship as a Christian. However, the many new believers on the day of Pentecost had no idea how to meet. They knew how to meet in the Jewish way, but on that day they saw something that caused them to be beside themselves. They no longer cared for the Jewish things. Therefore, they met in their meetings in a “bubbling” way. Our meetings should be full of shouting, praising, singing, and speaking in a “bubbling” way. This is the way for Christians to meet. When we bring new believers to this kind of meeting, they will receive a proper impression of the way to meet, and they will never forget that impression.
HAVING THE CAPACITY TO HAVE PROPER GROUP MEETINGS
Praying and Confessing
Young children do not need to be introduced and formally organized in order to play together. If they are simply put together for a few minutes, they will mingle together and become a lively group. Living children play well together. Even if you charge them not to play too actively, they will still do it because they are so living. When we go to the group meetings, we also should be living. We should not go in oldness. If we are dead and stale, we lose our capacity to have a proper group meeting. We were regenerated years ago, but now we need to be transformed and renewed. We need to get out of the old habit, thought, concept, and logic. We need to get out of the old Christianity. The only way to do this is to pray. We should not pray superficially but from our spirit. When we pray, we should also make a thorough confession of all our failures, defects, shortcomings, wrongdoings, mistakes, and transgressions. We should confess our criticizing of others, our backbiting, our gossiping, and our vain, idle words. Our confessing should not be once for all. We need to confess every day, several times a day. In this way we will pray ourselves into our spirit. We will be happy, rejoicing, and joyful the whole day. We will be persons filled with the Spirit and possessed by the Spirit. We will become different persons. We should not speak negatively but always speak positively. We should no longer gossip, criticize, or speak idly. We should simply speak Christ, speak grace, speak mercy, speak God, and speak the holy Word. This will change the very essence of our being. We need such a change. I hope we would all live in this way.
Living in this way will cause us to be Christians who meet all the time. Even when we are not in a meeting, we will be joyful and rejoicing persons. Then when we come together with others, we will still be this way. We will be very willing to open ourselves and fellowship. We will be able to present to the saints what we have, what we are, and what we know. When we come together with others, we will take the lead to be such a person. Then the others, especially the new ones, will follow us.
Learning to Not Quench Our Spirit
We should come together with six to eight brothers or sisters to practice this kind of group meeting. If we are not able to have this kind of meeting with one another, then we will not be able to do it with the new ones. Instead of taking the lead to be living, we may take the lead to be dumb. After five minutes of dumbness we may say, “Let us open up to fellowship,” but no one would fellowship. This kind of meeting is dumb, calm, and cold. There is no warmth, no spirit, and no life. In such a meeting the Spirit is quenched. First Thessalonians 5:19 says, “Do not quench the Spirit.” We quench the Holy Spirit by quenching our human spirit. Sometimes when everyone is singing “Hallelujah!” in the meeting, we do not join in, or we sing in a cold way. This quenches our spirit. We need to join in and open up. Then our spirit will be stirred up. When our human spirit is stirred up, the Holy Spirit within us rises up, and we receive the benefit. We must learn to not quench our spirit.
Our spirit is our most tender part and our most excitable part. No other part of our being can be excited in a proper way as our spirit. Every spiritual person must be able to be beside himself in his spirit. If we are too composed, we cannot be spiritual. The apostle Paul knew how to weep (Rom. 12:15; Phil. 3:18) and, at the proper time, how to be joyful (4:4). A person who is too sober-minded never laughs and never weeps. It is difficult for the brothers to be spiritual, because they control themselves too much. The sisters, however, do not control themselves as much. In this sense it is easier for them to be spiritual. In the four Gospels women such as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna (Luke 8:2-3) were all spiritual. Judas, on the other hand, had a very clear, sober mind, a mind that considered how much money he could gain by betraying the Lord. We must learn to not quench our spirit, and we must learn to release our spirit. We should all learn to be “females.” Then we will have the capacity to have proper group meetings. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “The Practice of the Group Meetings,” msg. 2)
THE GROUP MEETINGS HAVING THREE MAIN FUNCTIONS
The group meetings have three main functions. First, they are for fellowship and prayer (Acts 2:46). In the home of Mark’s mother, Mary, a group of saints was praying for Peter, who was in prison at that time (12:12). After Peter was released, he went to the house of Mary. Acts 12 indicates that there must have been many groups in Jerusalem praying for Peter (v. 5). Second, the group meetings are for teaching, edifying, and gospel preaching (5:42). Edifying is different from building up. Edifying is mainly to educate for the purpose of building character, not for building up a building. In the small group meetings, there is much edifying work. We also may preach the gospel in the group meetings. Third, the group meetings are for perfecting the young saints to do the work of the ministry, which is the work that the gifted persons do to carry out the New Testament ministry to build up the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). In the group meetings we have to edify the new believers to build them up in all the characteristics of the Christian life. We have to educate them, train them, perfect them, equip them, furnish them, to do all kinds of Christian services, helping them to reach the standard of each one of them prophesying, speaking for the Lord. The result of the small group meetings should be that all the attendants will be able to preach the gospel, to have home meetings and group meetings, and to prophesy, to speak for the Lord. This kind of situation can be produced only by the small groups, not by the big meetings or the home meetings.
Because we do not like to have any organization, we do not want to appoint leaders for the group meetings. We need to leave such matters open to the Holy Spirit. We should charge the saints to behave spiritually and to do their duty in bearing their responsibility. The leader of a small group will be manifested according to the Spirit, according to who is bearing the real burden and responsibility. For the church to go on in a prevailing way, there is the need of many group meetings. The more groups there are, the more spreading, increase, and improvement the church will have. Then the church service, the church burden, the church responsibility, will not be limited to the hands of a few elders but will spread into the hands of many saints. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Present Advance of the Lord’s Recovery,” ch. 3)
THE PRACTICE OF THE GROUP MEETING
Speaking and Singing Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs
Now we need to consider the way to have a group meeting. Ephesians 5:18 tells us to be filled in spirit. We believers who love the Lord Jesus, who are seeking His purpose, and who are burdened for His recovery should be persons filled in our spirit all day long. We should be filled with the Triune God, who is today the all-inclusive Spirit to us. When we are filled within, surely we will utter something out from our spirit. Ephesians 5 tells us to be filled, speaking and singing. Our speaking and singing are not in common language. We may speak or sing a psalm, which is a long piece of poetry. It may be like Psalm 119, which has one hundred seventy-six verses. There are twenty-two sections with eight verses in each section. Twenty-two is the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Each section of Psalm 119 is according to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. We may speak or sing a hymn, which is somewhat shorter than a psalm, or we may speak or sing a spiritual song, which is shorter still.
We need to speak and sing these psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs long before coming to the meeting. Even in our home it is very good to be speaking and singing. The husband may say, “This is my story, this is my song, / Praising my Savior…” Then the wife may respond with, “All the day long” (see Hymns, #308). Or she may say, “I have passed the riven veil, / Here the glories never fail.” Then the husband responds with, “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! / I am living in the presence of the King” (see Hymns, #551). If we are filled in spirit, we will have something to utter. The small group meeting may begin at 7:30 P.M., but if a couple begins to sing at dinnertime, around 6:00 P.M., the small group meeting will have already begun. Such a meeting can continue as they drive together to the meeting with the other saints.
If I go to the meeting place and no one else has arrived, I should not sit quietly and wait for others to arrive. I should begin to speak, pray, or sing. At least I have an angel with me, so I am not alone. The Bible says clearly that when Peter was released from prison and went to Mary’s home, some there thought it was his angel (Acts 12:15). The Lord Jesus said that even the little ones in the kingdom have angels (Matt. 18:10). The group meeting can be started very spontaneously by speaking, praising, or singing.
Fellowship, Interceding, Mutual Care, and Shepherding
By considering the Word, we can see that there was much fellowship, interceding for one another, mutual care, and shepherding. The fellowship brings the awareness of one another’s condition and situation. This will lead into prayer for one another. This will then cause us to go to one another to render a mutual care. Through the fellowship we may find out that a brother has been in an automobile accident. This leads us to pray for him and his family. Then we may consider his financial needs and be burdened to care for his health needs. All of this should not be in a formal way. It should be a spontaneous issue of the Spirit. I hope that from now on we can have all our group meetings in such an organic way.
Teaching in Mutuality
For the perfecting of the saints, there is the need of teaching in the group meetings, and in the group meetings all are teachers. There should not be a particular teacher. Even one who was saved two weeks ago can be a little teacher. After there has been some fellowship, interceding, mutual care, and shepherding with the exercise of the spirit in the small group meeting, a brother may suddenly ask a question. He may ask what God’s dispensing is. All the eyes may turn to the oldest one in the meeting, but it may be better for one who has been recently saved to answer the brother. This gives him the opportunity to speak. This newly saved one may say, “God’s dispensing is for Him to distribute Himself into our spirit.” Suppose such a one has been saved for only one or two months. Everyone would be encouraged by his speaking. It is much better if six or seven speak for a few minutes than if one person speaks for a longer time. This kind of teaching is rich and all-inclusive. Its many aspects are much better than a meeting where only one is speaking. If everyone speaks, all the saints will be happy, and all will learn. This is the way for all to be perfected. If there is someone there who is really high in spiritual knowledge and in the experience of life, he may give a conclusion of perhaps ten minutes.
If the saints will come to this kind of meeting forty-five times a year, much teaching will be gained by all. The new ones will be perfected in this way. Furthermore, because this is a group meeting, many things will be worked out. This kind of practice is the proper way to fellowship, to intercede, to give mutual care, to shepherd, and also to perfect one another by the mutual teaching.
Carrying Out the Church Service
If we are experiencing the riches of such a meeting, we may pick up a burden to take the first step of the God-ordained way to go out to visit others. Then we must take care of the new ones whom we gain. This means the group meeting will carry on the church service. Eventually, this will make the small group meeting just a miniature of the church life.(CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Exercise and Practice of the God-Ordained Way,” msg. 24)
THE BEST WAY TO CARRY OUT THE TEACHING BEING
BY ASKING AND ANSWERING THE PROPER QUESTIONS
The purpose and goal of the group meetings is the perfecting of the saints through teaching in mutuality, and the best way to carry out the teaching is by asking and answering the proper questions.
Asking Profitable Questions in the Group Meetings
In asking questions in the group meetings, we need to consider whether the subject of our questions is profitable to all the saints. We should avoid asking questions that are peculiar. If a peculiar question is asked in a group meeting—for example, someone may ask when mankind began to have different colors of skin—we should not answer it but should pray and seek for a proper way to redirect the speaking to a more profitable line. There are many things that we do not understand even concerning ourselves.
Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The things that are hidden belong to Jehovah our God.” The Lord keeps many things hidden from us and permits us to know only the things that are profitable for us. Our questions should concern profitable matters, such as the truths in Romans 8. The truths in this chapter are deep and, to some extent, mysterious, but they are logical and very profitable.
The old way of meeting kept everyone in a deadened and regulated condition; for the most part, this prevented peculiar things from taking place in the meetings. For the group meetings in the new way, however, we should be released. We should be free and not bound. When a group meeting becomes prevailing, everyone in it will be free, but this may open the door for certain peculiar things to come in. Thus, in the group meetings we should not be bound, but neither should we be free without limitation.
Answering Questions according to Our Learning
During the teaching in a group meeting, someone may ask an important question, such as, “What is the most crucial point in the Bible?” We should all pay our full attention to a question of this nature and answer it in an all-inclusive way. One brother may say, “The entire Bible unveils to us that the Triune God, after being processed, has become life to the tripartite man for the fulfillment of His eternal economy concerning the church.” This answer covers the entire Bible. It requires much explanation, so a second brother can explain how the Triune God was processed, a third can speak regarding what it means for God to become life to man, and a fourth can give a word about the tripartite man. Then a fifth brother can speak something concerning God’s eternal economy, a sixth can speak concerning the church as the Body of the One who fills all in all, and a seventh can speak a word concerning the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy. In this way the first answer can be followed by six or seven teachings. After that, there may be many other smaller portions given as part of such a combined teaching. If the teaching in a group meeting reaches this standard, the church in that locality will be strong and high. To answer a question in this way, however, requires much reading of the Scriptures and of the proper spiritual publications and the receiving of the divine revelations.
Other questions may be asked that restrict the fellowship in the meeting instead of releasing it. For example, in a group meeting a sister may ask what head covering is. This question should not be rejected, but it must be answered in a way that will turn a somewhat “cold” subject such as head covering into a “warm” one. How well we can do this depends on our ability, which comes out of our capacity. If we have studied the Bible and the proper publications, we can turn a “hard” subject into a “soft” one. In answering a question concerning head covering, we should not speak merely about the covering on a sister’s head. Rather, we may begin by saying, “Sister, this is a good question because it touches God’s headship.” Such a word, spoken in a pleasant tone, will “warm up” the meeting. We can then go on to speak from several angles concerning our being subject to God.
Needing Much Learning
Regardless of how much we can do in the group meetings, we will often feel that we are inadequate. This indicates that we all need much learning. In the old way of meeting we came together year-round with little improvement. The meetings were repetitious and uninteresting, and they were full of oldness and staleness. In the group meetings in the new way, it should not be like this. There should be something new in each meeting. However, we should not depend on all the attendants in the group meetings to produce something new. Out of ten attendants there may be only one or two who can cause the atmosphere to be uplifted and refreshing. We must be this kind of person. For this we need not only the proper knowledge but also the experience and the excelling way to present what we have. This means that we must learn.
I do not like to see the churches always remain the same. We need to progress, and we need to advance. We need to advance in knowledge, and we need to advance in the way in which we present what we have. We should not tell people that we have taken the new way, and yet we ourselves remain the same. Concerning life, Paul says, “Walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4), and concerning service, he says, “Serve in newness of spirit” (7:6). (CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “The Practice of the Group Meetings,” msg.7)
Discussion:
1. How to begin the group meeting that the attendees may open their heart and release their spirit?
2. How to have mutual care through intercession and fellowship?
3. How to encourage everyone to speak in the group meeting?
4. How to raise proper questions to get everyone to participate?
