Changed Generation

Today in the ministry meeting I enjoyed a message on the vital group. This brings me back to the basics of the Bible in the practice of the God-ordained way. I was freshly nourished by the Lord's speaking through brother Witness Lee.

What is a vital group? 

My understanding of a vital group may be a group that is living, burning and bearing fruit. But this is too doctrinal an answer without vision. Actually, a vital group is a group of normal Christians. To be vital is not about super spirituality or a special kind of people. A vital group is simply a group of normal Christians, living a normal Christian life in a normal church life. Everything about them is just and simple normal. But the fact is, today most Christians are abnormal, including myself and many other saints who are in the church life.  

Brother Witness Lee testified that his burden in endeavoring to carry out the vital groups is to change the generation. When he went to Taiwan in 1984, he told the elders that he could not go on in the present dormant situation of the recovery. He told the elders, "We need to come out of the deadness of Sardis (Rev. 3:1-2), the lukewarmness of Laodicea (vv. 14-16), and the barrenness of the degenerating believers (John 15:2a). I want to bring the recovery into another age with a new generation, a new people." 

After reconsidering the holy Word, brother Lee found out the way in which Christians should serve and meet. This is the God-ordained way, the way ordained by God in the Bible. This way ordained by God has four steps. 

Begetting: The first step is to preach the gospel to get sinners saved so that they can become members of Christ. This is the begetting stage to bring forth, to beget, members of Christ. When sinners repent, believe, and are regenerated, they become like newborn babes who need to be nourished by us. This is not merely soul-winning, but to beget spiritual baby.

Nourishing: The feeding stage, the nourishing stage, is to take care of the newborn baby to nourish as a nursing mother. 

Perfecting: After the feeding stage comes the teaching stage to educate them. The teaching stage takes a long time. Humanly speaking, education takes a good number of years. In India, as for my self, I took twenty years from preparatory to high school, then higher secondary, then college, and finally university. Spiritually speaking, as much as we spent time, money, and energy for secular education, much more, we need to invest our money, time, energy for a proper healthy spiritual education, to be educated in the divine truths for the Christian life and the church life. This is the teaching stage, which is called the perfecting of the saints in Ephesians 4:12. After a certain period of time, the saints become “graduates” in the church life. The length of time it takes to “graduate” differs from people according to their desire for the Lord, their endeavoring, and their capacity.

Building: After the begetting stage, the nourishing stage, and the teaching stage comes the building stage. After graduating with a college or university degree, one takes up a job or a business. This "job or business" in the church life is to build up the church of Christ, the Body of Christ, by prophesying. This is fully developed and presented in 1 Corinthians 14. 

The church is not built by one minister, one preacher, speaking all the time. All the members of the Body must grow in life and function to build up the Body in oneness and in sweet coordination. The concept of one man speaking nullifies the headship of Christ and makes the church nothing. The practice of one man speaking and the rest listening does not build up the church, the Body of Christ. Instead, it builds up a hierarchy, a kind of religious system with rank and position. This is not only improper but harmful and dangerous for the Body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul says that we should all desire to prophesy, to speak for the Lord (v. 1). Paul says that we can all prophesy (v. 31). To prophesy in 1 Corinthians 14 means to speak for the Lord and to speak forth Christ. We need various functions from the many members of the Body. 

Changed Generation: The God-ordained way of four stages: the stages of begetting, feeding, teaching, and building, practiced step by step will usher in a changed generation and when we begin to practice it step by step, we will be a changed generation. This will bring us out of the old generation to the new generation. This will get us out of the deadness, lukewarmness, and barrenness. We must get out of the oldness, the staleness. We must get out of the routine, the formality, the silence, and the prayers of the traditional way. We hate deadness, lukewarmness, and barrenness. We are struggling to fight them down. We need a change from the old way to the new way, from the old age to the new age in God’s ordained way with four steps: begetting, feeding, teaching, and building. We need a change of generation. 

A vital group is a group of normal Christians. A normal Christian always lives a holy life in the church and he lives in the Body. A normal Christian lives the normal church life and preaches the gospel in a normal way to save people into the church, into the Body. O how I need to be normalized in my Christian life and church life! There are many things that I still need to be dealt with. Thorough repentance from my abnormality and confession before God for my sins, mistakes, wrongdoings, shortcomings, defects, transgressions, trespasses, sins, and evils needed to be carried out day by day. An intimate fellowship with the Lord and with my fellow believers are needed. Then I can be perfected in my prayer life, in my reading of the Word of God, in my calling upon the Lord’s name, and in my exercising my spirit. In this way I can become vital—living, burning, and fruit-bearing. 

May the Lord grace me and my fellow believers in the local church I am in, to be vital, to be normal, to be the changed generation, practicing the God-ordained way to build up the church, and to bring the Lord back. 

The Age of Faith

I freshly enjoyed the matter of faith as I was assigned to share on the same topic in a serving one's training we had last weekend. To speak or to select a portion to speak was not my choice. The message was assigned to me and I need to choose a point from the message. But a brother had already chosen one point out of the two points the same message assigned to both of us. So I had no choice. The portion for my study and speaking was, "The Age of Faith".

The age we live in right now is the age of mystery. The God we believe in is a mystery. The mystery of God, the embodiment of this mysterious God, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is also a mystery. The mystery of Christ, the church, is also a mystery. Every spiritual thing today is a mystery. Yet these mysteries are made known to us by faith! Faith substantiates, assures, and proves that all these mysteries are real, true, knowable, experienceable, and enjoyable. The mysterious things of God are made real by faith! 

In fact, our Christian life and church life are mysteries too. Our Christian life and church life began by faith. We live by faith, we serve by faith, and we walk by faith. From the beginning of our Christian life till the end, is being lived out by faith. Therefore, the Christian life is a life of faith. Our Christian life is a life of things unseen. The Lord's recovery is the recovery of the Church from the things seen to the things unseen. The unseen has been made real by faith. 

Now faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Heb. 11:1

But without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to Him, for he who comes forward to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Heb. 11:6

Whom having not seen, you love; into whom though not seeing Him at present, yet believing, you exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. 1 Pet. 1:8

Faith is the unique way to carry out God's economy. 1 Tim. 1:4. Faith is God's requirement for us related to everything in the New Testament. Faith is also the divine requirement for overcomers to meet the Lord Jesus in His coming again and to receive the reward of the Kingdom in the coming age. Faith brings us into organic union with the Lord where we can experience and enjoy Christ. Genuine faith is Christ Himself infused into us to be our faith. Praise the Lord for this faith infused into us!

As we began our Christian life by faith, the Lord will grace us to finish this life by faith as the apostle Paul did. 

I have fought the good fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith. 2 Tim. 4:7

Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. Heb. 12:2

Day by day, we must look away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith. The more we look way unto Him, the more He will dispense Himself into us to become our faith. The faith that He began in us to begin our Christian life, He will also complete it, to make us overcomers.

A few other points on faith that impressed me are:

Remember the ones leading you, who have spoken to you the word of God; and considering the issue of their manner of life, imitate their faith. Heb. 13:7

That you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and long-suffering are inheriting the promises. Heb. 6:12

So that the proving of your faith, much more precious than of gold which perishes though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 1 Pet. 1:7

Night and day petitioning exceedingly so that we may see your face and complete the things that are lacking in your faith? 1 Thes. 3:10

In fact, I declared that I am not ashamed to confess that I imitate the pattern of faith set before me by some brothers including Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, and other brothers who are still alive and some who were already taken to glory. They imitate Christ, I imitate them, and in fact, I am initiating Christ in imitating the pattern. Even if the Lord allows, in His sovereignty, to pass through sufferings because of my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, this will be the proving of my faith and He will grace me to overcome every hardship on my pathway of faith. As many are pattern to me, I should be a pattern in turn to others and the generations to follow. Therefore, I should even be able to declare like Paul, to complete the lacking in faith in the saints that Lord grace me to shepherd.

These were all the points I released when my turn came to minister the word to all the brothers. I enjoyed the truths and I released the very truths I enjoyed. 

May the Lord increase my faith and the faith of the brothers as we look away unto Him, day by day, moment by moment as we live in this age of faith.

The Ministry of the Word

The Ministry of the Word sounds familiar to me and this has been a tagline for me in my official service in the literature distribution. Yet little did I realize that this has very deep connotations in relation to God's move on the earth today. When we were informed that there would be a Serving Ones Training in which we were to read messages from chapter 8 to 14 of the book by brother Watchman Nee, The Ministry of God's Word, I decided to read the entire book. I took that as an opportunity to dive into the truth which I used to distribute. Sadly enough, though I had been promoting that book in the past, I had not read it once. This was the time for me to read before the training.

As I began reading from chapter 1, I was ushered into the depths of the word of God. I could see things which I never saw before. The depth of the spiritual understand brother Nee had was amazing. If not for the Lord's special anointing I do not believe that any human can reveal such deep revelations. As I read the book, perhaps studied the book, word by word, phrase by phrase, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, page by page, and even chapter by chapter, I was altogether in a different realm. I am running out of words to describe the feeling I had while reading the book. On the one hand, I regret that I did not read that book earlier, yet on the other hand, I thanked the Lord that I did not read it earlier as I would not have appreciated it as I did this time. To read and understand this book, I am deeply convinced, one has to attain a certain degree of spiritual maturity. By the Lord's mercy, I have attained that and that's the reason why I could appreciate the Lord's speaking through the ministry of brother Watchman Nee.

The ministry of the word has very much to do with the minister himself. If the minister is not proper, there can never be the proper ministry of the word. The minister must have attained a certain level of learning, dealing, and substantial growth in life to be a vessel for the Lord to flow through. He must have light from the lord concerning the word of God. That light is the revelation the Lord reveals to him through the word. As he muses not the revelation and even prays over, the Lord will give him the thoughts which are being conveyed into the inner word understood by him. As he considers even more on the fine and minute detail of the word, the Lord would give him the outer word, the utterance, to describe the revelation in words intelligible and understandable to man, the target of the minister's ministry of the word. To pass through these processes require definite and specific learning and dealing from the Lord. The breaking of the outer man is of utmost importance here for the release of the word that can become the Rhema word to the hearer of the ministry of the word.

O how I long and desire to be such a minister of the word! Only the Lord can deal with me and perfect me to be such a minister of the word. The Lord in His mercy may grace me to be such a minister. From my part, with this aspiration, I would pursue the Lord in His word diligently and with much prayer. I am in the Lord's hands. May He mold me and shape me according to His heart's desire.

From the deep spiritual lesson I have learned, I was assigned to apply in a way of ministering the word in the Serving Ones Training conducted by the work in India for the responsible brothers in all the local churches. Twelve brothers were assigned to learn and exercise to minister the word, of which I was one to exercise as well. I took that as an opportunity to learn and practice whatever the Lord has taught me especially in the reading of the book, The Ministry of God's Word. I had prepared and prayed over the message assigned to me. I have no idea how much of my exercise had really benefited the brothers who listened to the word. Only the brothers may know and the Lord knows. But from my side, I really enjoyed the flow of life in my exercise to minister the word as we were taught so. 

Thank the Lord for gracing me the opportunity to learn and also to practice by exercising to minister the word of God to the brothers. I should and must exercise daily, and even all the days of my life to learn the word and minister the word to whoever the Lord would bring His people. 

Lord, grace me to be a minister of Your word! 

Seekers' Seminar

On the 24th of September, we had a Seekers' Seminar which was conducted by the churches in North India to follow up on the seeking believers who have downloaded eBooks from Rhema website. This was the new way taken to reach out to the seekers in different parts of India. Despite the lockdown when traveling has been very much limited and even gospel preaching one on one, face to face has been restricted due to the global pandemic raging the world, the Lord has His way and many more could be reached through electronic media.

The Seekers' Seminar was significant in at least two points. First, it was a unique way paved by the Lord to gain His remnants among the Hindi speakers. We have been very burdened for the Hindi speaking people of North India. The spread of the gospel is very less in comparison to other parts of India and much less, the Lord's testimony in His recovery. Second, the coordination among the churches, the work, and the literature serving ones was greatly strengthened. This time our coordination was so sweet and strong. I enjoyed the Lord's presence and anointing in all the coordination while we delivered the word of God. A brother and I were assigned to do the speaking. While preparing the message and the presentation (PPT), I enjoyed the Lord's presence and anointing richly.

The message we spoke was on "Calling on the Name of the Lord". A very common and basic truth in the church life. Yet as I prepared and spoke the truth again, it was very living and fresh. I felt as though I am hearing the message for the first time again. Though I was very familiar with the points of truth, I was not so deeply impressed as it should have been in the past. But this time, every point became living and fresh. It became a fresh message to me.

Through this seminar, the sisters in Gurugram too came to sing the hymn and we all gathered together in the meeting hall despite the ongoing pandemic. We all exercised to participate in the meeting and enjoyed the Lord's rich blessing. Praise the Lord!

Besides, the attendance of the online meeting was very significant. About sixty to seventy new ones joined the meeting, which is a big number for us as we endeavor to reach out to the Hindi speaking people of North India. In fact, even if only one attended, it would have been worth all the labor. Now, sixty to seventy is a very big number. May the Lord speak to them and gain them for His testimony.

Some of the points I was so deeply impressed with were:

The Purposes to Call on the Name of the Lord.

• To be saved 
• To be rescued
• To receive the Spirit
• To enjoy the riches of the Lord 
• To participate in the Lord’s plenteous mercy

To be saved (Rom.10:13) Psalm 116 “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord” (v. 13). “Call upon His name!…Cry out and give a ringing shout” (Isa. 12:4, 6). “O Lord Jesus, You are so good to me!”

To be rescued from distress (Psa. 18:6; 118:5), from trouble (Psa. 50:15; 86:7; 81:7), and from sorrow and pain (Psa. 116:3-4).

To receive the Spirit (Acts 2:17a, 21).

To participate in the Lord’s plenteous mercy is to call upon Him.  The more we call upon Him, the more we enjoy His mercy (Psa. 86:5). 

To enjoy the riches of the Lord (Romans 10:12) The Lord of all is rich to all who call upon Him. (1 Cor. 12:3; 1:2).

The best way to experience His presence with all His riches is to call on His name.

The Way to Call on the Lord

• Call on Him out of a pure heart 
• Call corporately (2 Tim. 2:22)
• Call with a pure lip (Zeph. 3:9)  For then I will change the language of the peoples / Into a pure language / That they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, / To serve Him with one accord. 
• Call with an open mouth (Psa. 81:10) I am Jehovah your God, / Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt; / Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
• Call His name daily (Psalm 88:9) My eye wastes away at the affliction; / I have called out to You, O Jehovah, every day; / I have spread out my hands to You.
• Call as long as you live (Psalm 116:2) Because He inclines His ear to me; / Therefore I will call upon Him all my days.

Shepherding: A Local Family

The Lord has sovereignly placed us in this city, Gurugram, for His testimony. We have been praying and taking the stand to bear the Lord's testimony here. We have also been praying for the salvation and gaining of many local people who will also stand for the Lord's testimony. The Lord has been adding new believers into the church and a good number of local families have also been gained. Our prayer has been for more and more local people to be saved and gained. In fact, we have been doing our best to preach the gospel among the locals and shepherding open families. Though the rate of salvation has not been that great, still the Lord has been adding new ones, one by one.

Two weeks ago, I received a fellowship from a brother to contact a seeking believer who was contacted through online Rhema eBooks promotion in Hindi. From our city, this is the only one contact we have. First, I called the number which was not answered, then I called again a few days later which was still not answered. I assumed the person was either busy or not interest to receive a call from an unknown number. A week later, a brother fellowshipped with me to call and send him a text message. I tried calling again and since it was not answered, I texted him instead. Then I received a call back from another number but from the same person. Then the contact was established.

I spoke to him over the phone stating that his number was passed on to me. I introduced myself as a Christian serving the Lord in Gurugram. Then he asked me two questions. What is the name of your Chruch? and What is your doctrine? I did my best to explain to him in my simple and broken Hindi that we are, as Christians, the called-out believers, and that we do not have any name like the denominational churches. In fact, we came out of the division of denomination and are gathered together to meet as the church in Gruugram. Then for the next question, I told him that the Bible is our basic belief, and every teaching in the Bible we uphold it faithfully to the best of our ability as the Lord graces us on. With these simple answers, he seemed to be satisfied. 

From the phone call, I sensed that he is a seeking one the Lord reserved as a remnant for His testimony. Therefore, I fellowshipped with two brothers with whom I am coordinating and serving together. And one brother came along with me to visit him at his home in Kanhai gaon, a locality of the local people of Gurugram.

In our meeting with this brother for the first time, after a brief introduction, I further answered the two questions he asked me over the phone. We had a wonderful time of fellowship on the church on her different aspects, especially, the church as the Body of Christ in Ephesian 1:23, and the church as the One New Man in Ephesians 2:15 and  Colossians 3:11. Then, I further fellowshipped on the teaching of the Bible that we adhere to and abide by. To make the points of truth clear to him and requested that we all use our Bible to read the key Bible verses. I even asked him to read the verses in Hindi by himself and I did the interpretation based on the revelation I received through the ministry.

He was very impressed and felt satisfied that we could meet him. In fact, he confessed that he has been looking for a proper Christian group to fellowship with. He has been a Christian for the past twenty years and has served with a couple of Christian groups. But for some reason, he did not stick around with any of them, though he conducted some kind of Christan leaders gathering now and then. He was glad that we could meet him, and perhaps, he has found the group he has been looking for. Or, the Lord has finally brought him into fellowship with the church in his own locality.

The Lord only knows how far this brother would be gained for His economy. Though he has his own group of believers, he seems to be dissatisfied in his Christian life. From my side, I felt very joyful and thankful to the Lord for this brother. Whether he will be gained to bear the Lord's testimony of not, is all up to the Lord. But one thing for sure was, I really enjoyed flowing out the truth of the Bible that I have been enjoying and being constituted with. By the Lord's mercy, I have been pursuing the truth day by day. The word of God has been accumulated in my being and the constitution of the truth has been growing. I definitely enjoy the word of God. Much more, the flowing out of the word of God to a needy and hungry seeker has been such a joy. I think, more than the brother I minister the word of God to, I enjoy more of the very word I ministered. After being locked down physically for months altogether, overflowing my enjoyment of the word of God to hungry and thirsty believers is such a joy!

May the Lord preserve this brother and gain him fully for his testimony here in Gurugram!

Life Lesson: Marriage Proposal

As brothers bearing responsibilities in a local church, we have been very burdened for the single saints to get married as we have a good number of unmarried brothers and sisters. In fact, in my family prayer, I have been praying for them, and in our group meeting on Tuesdays, we have been praying for the single saints to get married. Once the brothers or sisters are not fully open and are willing to take the fellowship, it is difficult for us to make any arrangement for marriage. Saints are simple in truth but very complicated in marriage matter. Everyone has their own natural choices and preferences which we could do nothing about. At best, I can only fellowship and pray with them for their marriages. The rest, the Lord has to come and lead them personally.

We have been considering a particular brother and sister for marriage. But we were very careful in bringing the matter to each one of them. Since the two are aging and we wanted to shepherd them in marriage matter. But because of the complicated situation of the brother's family, we tread so cautiously and slowly. We did not want a sister to be led astray should they get married as the family believes in a cultic teaching that do not believe in Jesus Christ as the true and living God. But for the sake of the brother we have been trying to shepherd him in marriage matter. Therefore, we had multiple rounds of fellowship with the sister and the brother separately. 

But when we revealed our burden for them to come together in marriage union, the brother expressed a very strong disagreement without any specific reason. He simply said he did not have peace at all. In fact, he said since the time the proposal was made known to him he lost his peace and could not even sleep in the night. He requested that the matter be stopped. We were shocked and could not understand him for his negative reaction. Since the brother showed forth his strong disagreement we had no choice but to stop.

This experience made me consider how much I could practically help the saints. I may have feeling concerning certain brothers and sisters but if they are not ready to take the fellowship I really don't know how to help further except to pray for them. So we stopped the marriage proposal and left the matter to the Lord.

What next? A lesson I am still learning. I have been married but how to help the young saints in a proper way for their marriage? This is still a mystery to me. Perhaps, I need to grow more mature enough to be able to discern the will of the Lord, not just for me but also for the saints. Hope, the Lord will come in and reveal who's for whom and all the single saints can get married and be established as a family and bear the Lord’s testimony. 

Tears of a Sister

The past few days I received a frantic call from a sister who has been going through a lot of marital issues and family problems. Her husband is a bother I have been shepherding, of late. The two of them opened up to me for fellowship about their personal matters. The brother would call me whenever he was in a desperate situation and the sister would also call me whenever she could not bear the situation she has been going through. As far as I am concerned I open myself to both of them; I prayed for them and prayed with them and shepherded them with the word of God every time they called.

A few days ago this sister pour out all the pain and struggle she has been going through with tears for over an hour. I patiently lent my ear to whatever she had to say. She had been deeply troubled by her husband whom she claimed had become very worldly. To the extent that he had gone back to all the bad habits, he used to do before he was saved in their pre-marriage life. She poured out all her pain and concern and confided in me as she shared her anxieties as she was also aware that I have also been in fellowship with her husband. As I listened to her woes, on the one hand, I sympathized with her and on the other hand, I was very burdened for her and her husband. According to all that I have heard, right or wrong, one thing is for sure, the enemy's hand was behind both of them, trying to separate them and even to point of divorce with sinful moral issues. 

I only take grace from the Lord to be able to bear with all the sisters had to say. My only consolation was that the Lord would remember her tears that she has been shedding for her husband and for her family. The Lord would turn her bitter tears of Bacca to tears of joy one day, perhaps, very soon. Then I encouraged her not to take any action in herself or by herself, knowing fully well that that will not solve the problem at all. It rather might complicate the matter instead. In fact, she called to confirm from me if she should take action against her husband by leaving him for a while or file a police complaint of domestic violence. My soft answer was neither of them. But to simply leave all the matters to the Lord. Then we prayed together., and she also prayed with tears. 

The same day, after the phone call fellowship, she called me again narrating another family problem of her husband with her in-laws, a case of verbal fight resulting in family chaos. What else could I do except to pray? So we prayed over the phone again. Then, a few hours later, I received a call from her husband. The brother called me up to confess his sinful situation and was seeking for fellowship. I was glad that he called. I reckon that as the immediate reply from the Lord of the tears shed by the sister. I need not correct him of his immoral deeds based on his wife's fellowship. He himself confessed that he was wrong in the way he behaved with his family, though he did not get too much into detail. And he expressed that he needed a fellowship. That's why he called me and also his wife; all of us on a conference call. 

I simply ministered the word by declaring the truth in the Bible that we should live and walk by the Spirit else everything is a problem. The enemy is so subtle that he can attack us from all angles, deceive us, and even drive us to commit heinous sins. Only in the Spirit can we not live and walk according to the flesh. Our only safeguard is in the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Spirit in our human spirit. So w must exercise to live and walk by the spirit. I encourage both of them to spend adequate time to pray personally and also to pray together daily. I also encouraged them to send a copy of HWMR for their daily pursuit, nourishment, and enjoyment of the Lord. And we all prayed together.

The tears of this sister were very genuine and it sprang forth from her deepest being. I had the confidence to assure her that the Lord would sure remember her and would wipe away all her tears. The Lord will indeed turn all her tears of pain and sorrow to tears of joy and gladness. And her marital issues will be resolved and her family will be restored. Perhaps, even revived that they will become pillars to bear the Lord's testimony. Amen.