HOME MEETINGS
Chapter 3
THE WAY TO EQUIP OURSELVES FOR THE
HOME MEETINGS – 2
WEEK 2 – FRIDAY
Bible Reading: Eph. 3:8; 1 Thes. 5:17
Pray-reading: “And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and announcing the Good News: Jesus is the Christ.” (Acts 5:42 – Jerusalem Bible)
The reason why Christian meetings are very weak and poor is because most Christians do not have this kind of experience of Christ. Every seeking saint is a genuine believer with a thirsty spirit created by God. Only God, that is, the details of the riches of Christ, can satisfy us. This is the experience we must have of Christ. For when we go to the small meetings, we can all spontaneously say something and minister something that is Christ.
Recently I read the testimony of a prominent government official in Taiwan. When he was nearly forty, it seemed that he lacked nothing outwardly, but inwardly he lacked something concerning the real human life. At that time he and his wife visited many Christian meetings in Taipei, but it seemed to them that they received nothing.
One day they were brought by some brothers to the church meeting in Taipei. At their first visit they realized that the Spirit of God was there. From that day on, he was saved and began to attend the meetings. I gave you this testimony only to show you what we need in our meetings.
We must have in our spirit something to pray or sing or say that can satisfy the hunger of the true seekers. This hunger is not in our mind but in the depths of our being, that is, in our spirit which was created by God and which seeks God. For the home meetings we need the Christ that you and I have experienced.
How can the home meetings be strengthened, refreshing and renewed? How can they become very attractive, full of power and sustaining power? There is no other way but to experience Christ. Having only a list of all the details of the riches of Christ does not work. What really works is what you have experienced. I hope this has been made clear.
I hate to give you another doctrinal message. I hope you all take this message and pray: “Lord, minute by minute I want to live a life of praying to You all the time.” This is why Paul said, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17).
For years I did not understand what it meant to pray without ceasing. How could it be? Even though I had not received any knowledge, little by little I groped and found the solution. To pray without ceasing is simply to pray all day long in all things.
When I am writing, I pray: “Lord, be one with me in this writing. I am going to study a verse that is very deep. It is difficult for me to understand. Lord, be one with me. I am studying a Greek word that is very deep. I exhausted all the reference books and could not find the correct, adequate spiritual meaning. Lord, be one with me.”
While I am speaking, I have a praying spirit: “Lord, at this moment, be my eloquence. Be my instant eloquence, my all-day eloquence and my now-eloquence, my eloquence for certain people. Lord, be my sentences for the people I do not know.”
I often pray in this way. The Lord answers and honors this kind of prayer. Frequently some come to me and say, “Brother Lee, tonight just one sentence that came out of your mouth captivated me. It was exactly what I needed.” We must be those who are confirmed in the Anointed of God and are one spirit with Him. Then we will live such a daily life, and in all things we will experience Him in specific ways.
In certain situations, you may need humility, wisdom, forbearance, prudence or quickness. If you pray in the way I have described, you will experience Christ in certain details. In a certain environment you will experience Him as your forbearance. In others you will experience Him as your wisdom, your humility or your long-suffering.
With some who are weaker, you may experience Him as your pity, as your mercy, as your compassion. In all the different occasions, and in everything, you will be one with Him and realize that He is one with you.
After this range of experiences we will go to the meetings with something of Christ. We will go to the meetings with the riches of Christ, not in our mind, but in our own being, for we have experienced and enjoyed Him.
If we go to the meeting with such riches, surely we will have something to share. This is why we must learn how to speak the phrases, the terminology and the expressions of the Bible. This is why we all must study the Bible. We may all have something to say, but if we do not have the proper expression, we will not have the adequate way to express Him.
For example, if I am in an English-speaking meeting, but I am not English, I may have something of Christ, but it may be impossible for me to express Him to you. Even if I have some knowledge of English, I also need the terminology, the expressions, the words, the phrases and the sentences of the Bible.
This is why we all need to read the Bible and valuable spiritual books. From such books we spontaneously acquire many things. Today in primary schools teachers teach children by means of reading. They must read, read and read. In the same way, we must have the experience and enjoyment of the riches of Christ as a deposit, a storehouse within us.
Then we must read the Bible, and this will enrich our storehouse. Also we must read some spiritual books such as the Life-studies to acquire not only knowledge but also the expressions and the terminology to express what we have enjoyed of Christ.
Then surely the home meetings will be rich. We will not be able to avoid them. We will have the riches and the eloquence that will help fill the spirit and strengthen the inner man. If we have these four details, we will be the factors that enrich, strengthen, refresh, and renew the home meetings.
Now we are equipped with four things: the filling of our spirit with the all-inclusive God; the strengthening in our inner man with the power of the Holy Spirit; the experience and enjoyment of the riches of Christ; and speaking.
We must understand that when we speak the experiences of the riches of Christ, our speaking is simply the preaching of Christ as the gospel. Everything we speak will be the gospel, the good news.
Acts 5:42 says: “they did not cease teaching and bringing the good news of Jesus as the Christ” [translation from the Spanish version]. In this verse, the Greek word translated “bringing the good news” is the same word translated as “preaching the gospel” (lit.).
In Ephesians 3:8 it is to preach the riches of Christ as the gospel; in Acts 5:42 it is Jesus Christ as the good news. This Greek word means something stronger than preach. Darby translated it as “announce.” Some other translations use the word “proclaim.”
The Greek word is preach, which indicates that we are announcing, proclaiming, preaching—we are speaking Christ and His riches as the gospel, as the good tidings, as the good news. The Concordant Literal Version translates this word as “bringing the evangel.” This means the good tidings, the good news.
To evangelize is to preach. That is, to evangelize with the riches of Christ. To evangelize means to preach, proclaim, announce something as the gospel.
Therefore, in all the home meetings, everything we speak must be the gospel, the good news to the hearers. Generally there is hunger to receive something in the home meetings. If someone speaks Christ, it will be good news to me.
If we go to the meetings and are full of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ, when we open our mouth, it will be the announcing of the riches of Christ as the good news to the participants. Surely this will enrich, strengthen, refresh, and renew our home meetings and make them attractive and full of power to keep and sustain all.
🌿 Enjoy more:
Hymn: Worship to the Father – “His Choice”
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