Leave Routine Behind and Rise Up as Corporate Overcomers

Today’s Main Verses for Pray-reading

Sardis had a name of being alive, but was dead

Revelation 3:1

Address the messenger of the church in Sardis: The One with God’s seven Spirits and the seven stars says that He knows their works; though they have a reputation for being alive, they are dead.

Lukewarmness is an enemy for the overcomers to overcome

Revelation 3:15

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.

Abide in the Lord to bear fruit

John 15:4

Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you unless you remain in Me.

Rise up together to rebuild Jerusalem’s wall

Nehemiah 2:17

Then I said to them, You see the bad state we are in, that Jerusalem lies in waste and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.

Keep the fire on the altar burning

Leviticus 6:12a

The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it must not go out.

Preach the gospel of the kingdom throughout the earth

Matthew 24:14

This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations; then the end will come.

Today’s Prayer Burden

Those who live the church life only as a routine are defeated. May many rise up as corporate Nehemiahs, overcoming themselves and helping others to overcome. Overcoming means more than defeating sin; it also means overcoming the three great enemies. We do not wait for a miraculous revival. As soon as we hear the Lord’s call, may we enter the present flow of exercise and, through the practice of the vital groups, spread a small personal revival into a great corporate revival, producing companies of overcomers throughout the earth!

Today’s Prayer

1. Leave routine church life and rise up to take the vital way

Lord, show us that merely attending the church meetings each week as a routine requires little striving and can make us too comfortable. Some practices met the needs of the past but may not meet today’s needs. Those who live the church life only as a routine are defeated; they do not overcome. We must rise up and take the vital way. Make us vital ones in our local churches, able to produce and establish vital groups. Then the Lord will gain overcomers where we are, and He will have a way to accomplish His eternal economy. This is the corporate Nehemiah!

2. Overcome deadness, lukewarmness, and fruitlessness

Lord Jesus, we thank and praise You! Your return is drawing nearer; enable us all to keep up with Your move on earth. Shine on us and save us from being satisfied with past experiences, habitual practices, and a routine church life. We do not want to be merely Christians who attend meetings regularly and behave properly. Make us overcomers who are one with You, move with You, and answer Your present call. Lord Jesus, strengthen us to overcome the three great enemies in today’s church life: the deadness of Sardis, the lukewarmness of Laodicea, and fruitlessness. Show us these enemies. Save us from gradually declining in our habits, losing our pursuit through self-satisfaction, and losing the burden of the gospel through ease!

3. Let the altar fire burn in us and multiply the gospel fruit

Amen. We must be one with God—vital, living, and active. When God is vigorously operating and moving in His overcoming lovers, we must be one with Him. Lord, may no one be content to live without spiritual children. Let the burden for people burn within us like the fire on the altar, never going out! May the fire of the gospel burn stronger and overcome more. Strengthen the faith and vitality of the brothers and sisters; raise up more who are willing to exercise continually and become corporate Nehemiahs today. Save us from being spectators. Make us Nehemiahs today, praying in our homes and vital groups, preaching the gospel, shepherding people, and perfecting new ones together. Produce more corporate overcomers who bear responsibility, build, and fight together.

4. Enter the present flow of exercise and spread personal revival corporately

Lord, we do not want to wait for a miraculous revival. As soon as we hear Your call, make us rise up and enter the flow of exercise. Give us a fresh consecration, exercise, and breakthrough every day. Lead us from individual spiritual vitality to vital companions, vital families, vital small groups, vital groups, and vital districts, until the whole church life is brought into vitality. Give everyone a clear goal. Save us from running aimlessly; make us press on for the spread of the gospel, the multiplication of spiritual children, and the preparation of the bride. Lord Jesus, make us overcome the tide of the world. Save us from loving the world and from lying down spiritually; may we spend our whole being to gain Christ!

Lord, cause the saints in every place to rise up as companies of corporate Nehemiahs. Spread from one vital person to a vital group, from a vital group to a district, and from a district to the whole church, blending and burning until the whole earth is reached! Gather each person’s small revival into a great corporate revival. Spread the gospel of the kingdom, bring the number of the saved to completion, and produce more overcomers. Help us seize every opportunity today, without delay or retreat. May we exercise and live together, pursue and run together every day, overcome in the corporate exercise, prepare the bride, and welcome Your return!

Ministry Fellowship

Do not be satisfied with a routine church life

I am concerned that we have become used to a routine church life in which nothing is fresh. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the saints at Elden Hall in Los Angeles adopted some scriptural practices and gained considerable increase. Some of those saints later left the church life, but the faithful ones who saw the vision concerning the Lord’s recovery remained. Regrettably, from that time on, many of them lived the church life routinely. Some practices met the needs of the past but may not meet the needs of today.

In 1984, when I learned that the saints in the local churches had been living the church life routinely, I went to Taiwan to study the scriptural way to meet and serve. We should not be satisfied with such a church life. Routine things are not necessarily wrong. A family, for example, has certain regular activities, but doing things routinely does not keep a family fresh. The co-workers and elders should take the lead to practice God’s ordained way. We should not be content merely to maintain a routine church life. Simply attending the church meetings each week as a matter of routine requires little striving.

Someone in your locality needs to rise up and take the vital way

There may be many people in your locality who live only a routine church life. All who live such a routine church life are defeated; they do not overcome. You must rise up and take the vital way. Then you will be a vital one in your local church, able to produce and establish vital groups. The Lord will gain some overcomers in your locality and have a way to accomplish His eternal economy.

Being merely a good brother or sister is not enough today

Our living, daily conduct, education, occupation, and career must all be part of God’s history on earth today in His wonderful and excellent move. To be a normal Christian, an overcomer today, one who answers the Lord’s present call and meets His present need in the recovery, it is not enough merely to be a so-called good brother or sister, attend the church meetings regularly, behave uprightly, and live a life that seems quite complete in the eyes of others.

Be one with God in His move on earth—vital, living, and active

When God is vigorously operating and moving in His overcoming lovers, we must be one with Him. This means that in life, in our living, and in all our activities on earth today, we must be one with God. We must write God’s history today! We must be one with the vigorously operating God and move forward with Him—in Him, with Him, through Him, and for Him. We must be vital, living, and active. We must be today’s Joshua and Caleb, gaining the promised land for Christ as an inheritance so that we may become His possession. We must also be today’s Ruth, turning to God’s economy and entering the land of Immanuel to be joined to Christ and bring Him forth to meet people’s need today.

Overcome the three great enemies: deadness, lukewarmness, and fruitlessness

We need to consider three particular enemies today: deadness, lukewarmness, and fruitlessness. This is why we urgently need to look to the Lord to make us vital. We must be living, burning, and fruitful.

These three enemies are mainly directed at good Christians, at brothers and sisters who attend the meetings regularly. They are not the enemies of worldly Christians who live in their own pleasures and entertainment. We may love the Lord and attend the meetings faithfully and regularly, yet we must see that deadness, lukewarmness, and fruitlessness are our habitual enemies. We may not even regard them as real or deadly enemies.

The first enemy is the deadness of Sardis (Rev. 3:1–2). It must be overcome in the Body life (Rom. 12:3–10). If you do not live in the Body, you are finished; you cannot conquer deadness. Christians today are dead because they do not live in the Body.

We must also overcome the lukewarmness of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14–16) by seeking the riches of Christ (Rev. 3:17–18, 20). We may enjoy Christ to a certain extent, but we need to enjoy Him more deeply, highly, broadly, and richly. We should tell the Lord that we want new experiences of Him. Some among us may enjoy the Lord in the same way they did ten years ago. This means that they have become lukewarm and self-satisfied.

We must overcome the fruitlessness of aging believers. Many believers today have become old and worn out.

Fruitlessness is a more subtle enemy. Some couples cannot have children, and this becomes a great problem for them. According to human desire, having children is part of the meaning of a couple’s life. Likewise, if we do not bear fruit and beget spiritual children, our church life has little meaning. Without fruit-bearing, there is no practical church life. If fifty-eight new ones were baptized in the church meeting next Lord’s Day, we would all be excited and joyful in the Lord. But we do not have much joy now because we are not bearing fruit. Fruitlessness is the greatest enemy, annulling the proper church life.

The genuine church life is manifested only through fruit-bearing. If we bear no fruit for three, five, or even ten years, our enjoyment of Christ should be questioned. If we are fruitless, something must be wrong. ... The hardest thing is to get us to strive. The most important thing today is to press on and overcome the deadness of Sardis, the lukewarmness of Laodicea, and the fruitlessness dealt with by the Lord in John 15.

Reassess whether our church life meets the Lord’s need

At this time we should reassess our church life. Before asking whether the Lord is satisfied with it, we should ask whether we ourselves are satisfied with our present church life. We have good truths and a church life that we have practiced for many years, but we need to reassess whether this church life can meet the Lord’s need and welcome His coming. Is the number in our locality increasing? Is there vitality?

Brother Lee was greatly dissatisfied with the church life at that time in 1992–1993, so he released the messages on the vital groups, hoping to produce overcomers outside the existing framework of church life, overcoming the three enemies of deadness, lukewarmness, and fruitlessness. Regrettably, although the word was released, the practice had not yet appeared. During the past twenty-eight years, the church life in many places has continued steadily, but the main emphasis has remained on meetings, bringing people to meetings, and valuing large attendance. In the light of the Lord’s coming, should this kind of church life be reassessed?

At that time Brother Lee brought in an unprecedented great revival. Today, if you are willing to consecrate yourself to the Lord and say, “Lord, in the coming year I am willing to practice these matters according to the blueprint. I cannot do as much as Brother Lee did, but I am willing to be steadfast, continuous, and faithful in my place. At least I can have a small list, invite a few people, and perfect a few,” the result will be a small revival. If each of us has a small revival and they are all added together, that will become a great revival.

If you and I are not revived, do not overcome, and do not live in the spirit, we are finished. To walk well on this way, we must be overcoming and spiritual, living in the spirit and having fellowship with the Lord. Moreover, we hope to influence the brothers and sisters so that everyone may be revived. If we faithfully complete the Lord’s new way, the result will be a great revival.