Obtaining the Present Christ with His Presence Corporately (2)

Being in the Meetings to Obtain the Lord's Presence

1. It is good to bring the present Christ to the meetings.

2. It is even better to come to the meetings with weaknesses and limitations to obtain the present Christ.

It is good to bring the present Christ to the meetings, yet it is even better to come to the meetings with weaknesses and limitations to obtain the present Christ. To our feeling, we should have a victorious day and then come to the meeting. In actuality, however, we often come to the meetings feeling dead and having suffered defeats. Should this prevent us from coming to the meeting? Not at all; bring all your death, for the Lord said that when we gather with even two or three, He will be there with you. Therefore, when you argue with your boss, when you have problems with your spouse, the more things go wrong, the more dirty or defeated you feel, that is the time you MUST be in the meetings. The meeting of the saints is the place where the Lord renders His presence to His corporate Body. Therefore, you must come to the meetings with your weaknesses and limitations to obtain the present Christ.

3. Obtaining the Lord's presence to operate properly for the testimony of Christ through different kinds of meetings:

In the church life there are basically three kinds of meetings: the prayer meeting, the neighborhood or small group gatherings, and the Lord's Day meeting, during which time most churches have the Lord's table. In addition the church may have other kinds of meetings, such as gospel meetings or new beginners' meetings, but these first three are the three we will consider.

a. Gathering for prayer to execute the divine operation together with the heavenly Christ through means of our prayer and fellowship in His presence.

I am afraid that many of us do not realize why we go to the prayer meeting. It is not merely to pray for what the elders tell us to pray about. The prayer meeting should be a time for us to execute God's economy. As we are praying in His presence, we know what He is doing. This kind of prayer is a fellowship, and we pray according to this fellowship. As we pray, more fellowship out of the Lord's presence comes forth. We then pray accordingly. To pray and fellowship together in this way enables all the saints to carry the burden of the church together. The elders' fellowship produces a direction for the church, but all the saints are needed to carry it out practically. This is accomplished through the prayer meetings.

At the end of the prayer meeting, all the saints should be clear as to what the direction of the church is and what the needs are. Through the prayer meeting, many saints should be brought into the same burden, exercise, view, and struggle. This is possible because of the Lord joining in with our prayer and leading us in our fellowship together as we come together to pray. Thus, in His presence, the church becomes an army led by the heavenly Christ through the prayer and fellowship.

b. Gathering in the neighborhood groups.

The prayer meeting is an executive meeting. The neighborhood meeting, however, is a sweet household gathering for mutual enjoyment and care. In such a gathering the practical and spiritual matters related to each individual are cared for in sweet fellowship. You should know everyone's situation. (I am afraid, however, that in many neighborhood gatherings, you may not even know who is in your meeting!) You should know what each saint's condition and history is; you should be able to tell me a lot about each person in your group. If you don't know who is in your household, you will never be able to build it up.

Whenever I talk about my son or daughters, you can tell that my person is involved with them. It should be the same with our neighborhood gathering. You should live for those in your gathering and should spend your being on them. And they should do so for you. This is a household gathering.

In such a gathering, you are not only together in a spiritual way; you are also together in practical matters. Whether you are spiritual or practical when you are together depends upon the individual need. Some saints need help in practical matters, such as school, practical household, or family matters. We should, however, also have a spiritual pursuing together. Pursue the truth together. Sing hymns together. Even develop the ability to prophesy together. If you are dry, open to the saints. You should be able to get the help together. Learn to go through spiritual experiences together. Everything should be fellowshipped in His presence with a view to obtain His presence.

c. Gathering for the Lord's testimony.

The prayer meeting is for the execution of the Lord's will, the neighborhood gathering is for the household care, and the Lord's Day morning meeting is for the Lord's testimony.

(1) When the whole church comes together to remember the Lord and worship the Father through hymns, thanksgivings, praises, testimonies, and even brief fellowship related to experiences and truth

During this time the whole church comes together to remember the Lord and to worship the Father through hymns, thanksgiving, praise, testimonies, and even short fellowship related to truth and experience. For instance Brother Lee, when in Chefoo, would share on the matter of the Lord's table as the bread and wine were being passed.

(2) Ministering by those who have ministry, according to their portion

Furthermore, on the Lord's Day there should be ministering by those who have ministry, according to their portion. According to my feeling, those who are able to minister should minister for forty minutes if they can. You may say that this is not "in the flow," but Brother Lee himself has told me that he is not against this kind of preaching. In Taipei Brother Lee openly wondered who would be able to minister in all of the halls. He said, "Preaching must be according to ministry, according to the portion!" Brother Lee is not considering a way; he is considering what would be the top blessing to the Body of Christ. When the church is healthy, everyone should operate according to their measure.

If I were to tell an experienced brother who had some ministry that he could only share the same length of time as a brother who had very little, would that seem right? Can their measure compare? We must see that the way is for the organic Body, not for the way itself. It is very good for those who have a greater measure to minister a little more, if the Lord so leads.

The Lord may lead me to ask the brothers to give me four Lord's Day mornings to share something in detail with the saints. The Lord may also lead at another time for the more experienced ones to refrain from any speaking for eight weeks and give all the time to the younger ones. Which one of these is in "the flow"? It depends upon how the Lord is leading.

You need a church life in which the Spirit leads. We should all function and operate according to our portion and measure. Three minutes for each saint to speak may not fulfill the need for educating the saints. On the Lord's Day morning, the saints should share according to their portion. For some, one minute may be enough. Others might share much longer for the sake of the saints.

(3) All prophesying one by one according to our portion and through our daily labor, experiences, and inspirations with proper utterance

We should honor our portion, and we should also respect the portion of others. Brother Lee could share every day of the year and in every meeting. We should all go to Anaheim to listen to him from morning to evening, for that is his portion. But he respects us also. That is why he tells us to all feel free to share, in addition to sharing as he is led by the Lord according to his portion.

Conclusion

Whether it is gospel preaching as the overflow of life, or prophesying through the meetings, these exercises will grant us the present Christ with His presence. It will also grant us a higher level of satisfaction and enjoyment in His presence with its fullness. This corporate enjoyment is different than our individual enjoyment. When you pray-read, you enjoy Christ for your need. When you prophesy in the meeting, however, you are not only satisfying your need, you are also satisfying the Body's need. This is higher. May the Lord bring all of us into such an enjoyment of the presence of the present Christ! It is through such exercise that the Lord will gain a people who can carry out His move and economy on the earth.