HOW WE MEET
Our meetings must be a show window of our Christian life. God’s economy ordains that we should live, grow, and produce Christ. We live this way, so we meet this way. There is no need to discuss what kind of meeting to have. This matter is resolved in our daily life—in our married life, in our business life, and in our school life. If we do not live Christ in our personal, private lives, how can we release Him in the meetings? Even if the attempt to release our spirit is sincere, the meeting still is only a performance.
FRUIT-BEARING
The fruit-bearing of the branches is not a labor but the outflow of the inner life. Our preaching of the gospel must be our living. Living this way will attract the best people. We have put forth much effort, yet our fruit-bearing has been meager; this indicates there has not been much living of Christ.
A FALSE LIBERTY
These past few months I have been deeply concerned about the course of the recovery. The Lord has troubled and burdened me that its nature has been changed from life to activities, concepts, and arrangements.
For the sake of the Lord’s recovery, we must drop our opinions. Do not be distracted by any concept. Do you not realize that you sacrifice the oneness by supporting your concept?
You say the meetings are boring. You say that to attend all the meetings is religious. You say that you can enjoy the Lord at the beach. I ask you, is the family not your family whether it is good or bad? Which do you think you will regret in the age to come—attending boring meetings or not attending the meetings? Have you ever received grace by staying away from the meetings, by going to the beach, by watching television, or by engaging in sports?
Do drop all such damaging concepts. A number of times when the meetings were low and I had no heart to go, I went anyway because I make it a point to attend the meetings. (In my whole church life there are very few meetings I have missed.) In those low meetings especially, I have often received the Lord’s grace.
TAKING IN THE WORD
Nothing honors our Father more than when we take His Word and keep it. The Bible is the Word of our Father. Suppose you receive a letter from your mother. When you come to read it, you have the sense that you are coming to her. In a similar way, when you come to the Bible, you have the sweet consciousness that you are coming to your God, your Father, your Lord. Furthermore, if you take in the Word, you get the reality of the Triune God. Even the Spirit who dwells in you is embodied in the Word.
TOUCHING THE SPIRIT
Within us there is an inner consciousness. If we take care of this when we are praying over the Word, we are touching the Spirit. For example, if the sense comes that we are wrong or mistaken in a certain matter, we must confess and be cleansed by the blood. Then there may be a consciousness of something else; take care of that. Don’t argue; just take care of the inner consciousness. To take the Word and to touch the Spirit in this way is to abide in the vine and to enjoy all the riches of the Triune God as your portion.
(Life Messages, Vol. 1 (#1-41), Chapter 11, by Witness Lee)
