Recovery Is Revival

Verses to pray-read today

Eph. 4:16

Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.

Rom. 12:1

I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.

Rom. 12:4

For just as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function,

Rom. 12:5

So we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

1 Pet. 4:10

Each one, as he has received a gift, ministering it among yourselves as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

1 Cor. 14:26

What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

1 Cor. 14:31

For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.

Today’s burden

Lord Jesus, recovery is revival! On the one hand, we do not need to wait for this revival; if only we are willing to receive grace, we are revived. On the other hand, we must take the initiative to gain it. First, we must make up our mind that from now on we are willing to live for the Lord and to live a revived life.

Brothers and sisters, this revived life has two sides. On the first side, every day we need spiritual exercise: to enjoy the Lord and His riches, to gain a spiritual reserve, to be rich in spirit, to experience Christ, to live Christ, and to walk according to the spirit. On the second side, we need to set aside time and give ourselves to the Lord, going out every week to visit people, to preach the gospel, and to shepherd and perfect others one on one. This second side is the first side of the revived life expressed all day long.

Lord Jesus, a life of pray-reading Your word, exercising the spirit, and living in the spirit must be joined to a life of speaking You to everyone we meet, preaching the gospel, and bearing witness. Only then will our fellowship be full of mutuality, so that we grow in life, build up the Body of Christ, and become the organism of the Triune God.

Lord Jesus, such a life must reach everyone in the church; everyone must be raised up. The opposite of this is Satan’s scheme.

Brothers and sisters, what Satan does is annul our function, keeping us from growing and being transformed and from bringing forth our own function, so that only a few among us are active and serve, while most of us become laymen. Today we all must see through this scheme and rise up against it. Every one of us must have good fellowship, living fellowship, with the Lord; every one of us must give the Lord ground within and be transformed by Him; every one of us must grow, bring forth our function, and be coordinated.

Oh, the church life in the new way is not for making a great show for people to watch, but for truly stirring up every saint to function, so that the church may increase. Lord Jesus, lead us all to go all out, holding nothing back because we cling to our old ideas and so giving Satan an opportunity, so that all the churches, large and small, are set on fire in the practice of the new way!

Fellowship from the ministry

It can only set up a congregation, not build up the Body of Christ

The practice of one speaking and all listening can only set up a congregation—an organization; it cannot build up the Body of Christ—an organism. When one speaks and all listen, everyone else just comes on the Lord’s Day to sit and hear a sermon, gives an offering, and goes home. Such people coming to the meetings can only keep a congregation going, at most setting up a society among others; it can never build up the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is an organism. An organism needs to eat, drink, rest, and move, and it also needs exercise, learning, and activity as its inward supply and outward expression.

I hope all the brothers and sisters will see that if we keep to the old way, there will be no building up of the Body, only the perfecting of an organization. This is the harm of the old way: it annuls the organic function of the spirit, kills the spiritual life, cancels the building up of the Body, and abolishes the reality of every member functioning. What we call the recovery is the recovery of the church’s organic building, restoring all that has been annulled, killed, cancelled, and abolished.

Seeing through Satan’s scheme to gain the recovery

What Satan does is annul our function, keeping us from growing and being transformed and from bringing forth our own function, so that only a few among us are active and serve, while most of us become laymen. Today we all must see through this scheme and rise up against it. Every one of us must have good fellowship, living fellowship, with the Lord; every one of us must give the Lord ground within and be transformed by Him; every one of us must grow, bring forth our function, and be coordinated. … We must clearly recognize the way of the Lord’s recovery: to recover Christ as everything, every member functioning, the fellowship in the spirit, the growth in the Lord, the coordinated building, and the oneness of the Body of Christ on the proper ground.

(The Goal of God’s Economy, chapter 5: The Saints Growing in Life, Bringing Forth Their Function, and Being Coordinated and Built Up on the Proper Ground)

Every one a priest, every member functioning

Every saint is a priest, exercising the spirit to praise God and worship the Lord. If only every member functions—singing, pray-reading, proclaiming, speaking to one another, reading to one another, sharing, and testifying, and so forth … We must understand that from now on our meetings are not any one person’s meetings, nor meetings led by any of the leading brothers. From now on the meetings among us are meetings of all of us. You can no longer say that you have no part; not only do you have a part, but the more you enjoy, the more responsibility and the more function you have to fulfill your portion. Every one of us must bring out our own portion.

Learning and exercising

All of us need exercise and learning. Generally speaking, whatever we do can be done in two ways: the natural, instinctive way, and the way of exercise and learning. The natural way alone does not work. … For example, when parents want a child to help sweep the floor, they will never let him sweep carelessly; they first teach and train him. In the same way, today, to serve God as priests and to function as members of the Body of Christ, we must learn and exercise. Never think that singing, pray-reading, proclaiming, speaking to one another, and testifying in the meetings are too easy, as if we only need to open our mouth. You should know that whether singing, pray-reading, proclaiming, or speaking to one another in the meetings, there is something to it; every bit must be learned and exercised.

(Breaking Away from Ritual and Exercising the Spirit, chapter 10: Everyone Functioning in the Meetings)

The way to cooperate with the Lord: living a revived, overcoming life

If we are willing to take the way of the recovery, we must cooperate with the Lord. First, we must live a revived, overcoming life. Since we are saved, we must have a revived life. To be revived is to come alive within and live for the Lord alone. Such a revival will lead you to live an overcoming life. In Revelation 2 and 3 the Lord says seven times that we must overcome, overcoming every negative situation and having an overcoming life.

Pray-reading the Lord’s word and calling on His name every day

Second, we must live a life of pray-reading every day, calling on the Lord every day, and enjoying the Lord and His riches (Col. 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:22; Rom. 10:12). This must be the practice of our ordinary daily life, but sadly almost everyone neglects it. We often go several days without reading the Lord’s word, let alone pray-reading it. We should not only read the Lord’s word every day but also pray-read it, turning it into prayer; then the word becomes living to us and becomes our food (Jer. 15:16). Merely reading it is a matter of the mind; once it is turned into prayer, God’s word enters our spirit and becomes the supply of life. Besides this, we should call on the Lord’s name often; yet some may go many days without calling. Truly, we should call on the Lord every day and in everything (Eph. 5:20).

Being filled in spirit all the time

Third, we also need to be filled in spirit all the time, walking according to the spirit and living Christ, so that we experience Christ (Eph. 5:18; Gal. 5:16, 25; Phil. 1:20-21).

Preaching the gospel

Fourth, in season and out of season, at any time and in any place, we should testify for the Lord, speak Christ, and preach the gospel (2 Tim. 4:2). This must be the expression of our life all day long.

Adding to our spiritual reserve every day

Fifth, through spiritual exercise and learning we must add to our spiritual reserve every day. I propose again that every morning we take ten to fifteen minutes to pray-read two verses of the Bible well, preferably two or three together. Thank the Lord, our husband or wife is the best partner for pray-reading together. Such pray-reading is a guarantee, a disinfectant, and an antitoxin. If every morning husband and wife first pray-read two verses together, it is easy to live in the spirit all day and to avoid arguing and debating with each other, and the result is a spiritual reserve.

Taking the initiative to be revived

To change the system and practice the new way, to reach the goal of every member functioning, and for the church to be built up, we must be revived. On the one hand, we do not need to wait for revival; if only we are willing to receive grace, we are revived. On the other hand, we must take the initiative to gain revival. First, we must make up our mind that from now on we are willing to live for the Lord and to live a revived life. Next, we must set aside time and give ourselves to the Lord, going out every week to visit people and preach the gospel, or to lead a home meeting. Then we also need spiritual exercise every day, so that we gain a spiritual reserve and become rich in spirit. Then, when we come to the meetings, we will surely have something to supply.

The way to exercise is for husband and wife to pray-read two verses together every morning, and then to live in the spirit all day, walking according to the spirit, and speaking the Lord, preaching the gospel, and testifying to everyone we meet. This will add to our reserve, so that when we come to the meetings, large or small, opening our mouth will not be difficult at all, and we will have something to say. If we come to the meetings this way, quite naturally someone will call a hymn, someone will pray, someone will teach, and then one will share a little and another will share a little. The result of this mutuality is that we grow in life, build up the Body of Christ, and become the organism of the Triune God.

(The Normal Way for the Believers to Meet and Serve, chapter 6: Endeavoring to Make the Church Meetings Full of Mutuality)

The church life in the new way is not for making a great show for people to watch, but for truly stirring up every saint to function, so that the church may increase. … If someone asks your opinion about changing the system, you should affirm that this way works. Answering this way lights a fire and makes the fire of the change burn even hotter. Go all out, holding nothing back because you cling to your old ideas. All the churches, large and small, must be set on fire in the practice of the new way. Never be afraid that the fire will cause trouble. A small fire is of no use; it must burn until people feel it, until people come alive. If the brothers in the churches everywhere lead in this way, the brothers and sisters will follow, and the churches will surely have a genuine revival.

(The Training and Practice of Bearing Remaining Fruit, message 4: Every Member Functioning, Knocking on Doors to Visit People, and Teaching the Truth)

The ministry excerpts and book titles on this page are translated from the Chinese.