The Church in Homes – Why Home Meetings

[00:00:00] Well, read together in the word of God in the book of acts and chapter two. [00:00:18] And we will read from verse 41. Verse 41 in acts chapter two. [00:00:32] And they. [00:00:34] I'm sorry, verse 41. They then that received his word were baptized. And there were added unto them in that day about 3000 souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching and fellowship in the breaking of bread. And the prayers and fear came upon every soul. And many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And all that believed were together and had all things common. And they sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all according as any man had need. And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread at home they took their food with gladness, singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to them day by day, those that were saved. [00:01:37] I want this evening to say something of really basically a very practical nature for those of you who are not here in this part of the family of God. It may not have so much application. [00:02:02] But I want to speak about our home gatherings and look at this matter from one or two angles. [00:02:19] I think it is very, very important that we should ask ourselves why we have home groups, or whatever you like to call them, what is the point and significance of them? [00:02:35] And the first thing I want to underline tonight is that it is a question of principle and not a matter of convenience. [00:02:50] It is amazing to me how many people think that this matter of our meeting together for prayer and fellowship in our district groups or home groups is just a matter of convenience. [00:03:09] That really if we could, it would be much better for us all to be together in a central place. But as we are growing larger, it is no longer convenient to do so. And therefore it is better for us to have some gatherings where we are split up, especially the matter of prayer. [00:03:31] But I think we need to see that this is not a matter of convenience. There may be certain things that are convenient about it, but it is not merely and only a matter of convenience. It is a question of principle. Now, this is vital because our whole attitude towards these times will be governed by our conception as to their significance. We often say it, conceptions govern behavior. If you think of these times as being just a matter of convenience or someone's got some bee in the bonnet and is seeking to impose it upon us all, some like it, others are not so keen on it, well, then our attitude towards these times is going to be somewhat sort of hazy, somewhat abstract to us. They're not going to have very much significance or very much importance. On the other hand, if once we see that it is a matter a question of principle our whole attitude towards these times will undergo a radical and a revolutionary change. [00:04:52] Why did the early church in Jerusalem break bread from home to home? As we have read in acts chapter two and verse 46 and day by day continuing steadfastly with one accord in the Temple and breaking bread at home they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved. [00:05:26] Why did they break bread from home to home? Why didn't they have all their meetings in the temple? Now you must remember here one small point that may not have come home to you all and that is that of course the early church was considered by the authorities to be a jewish movement. In fact, of course it was a jewish movement, totally a jewish movement. And the authorities, the temple authorities, the jewish establishment looked upon it as a rather dangerous but totally jewish movement, a messianic movement within Judaism. Now in the temple all jewish groups could meet and it was a fact of life that in Solomon's porches there could be teaching, there could be worship, there could be exposition, there were all kinds of things happened apart from all the merchandise and everything else that we know about from when our Lord turned over the tables and all the rest. We know that a tremendous amount went on there. And of course, for some of you who've had the privilege of going to Jerusalem you know just how vast an area it was. It was a really large area, well able to take many more than 3000. When Nasser died there were 20,000 people on that plaza and even then it wasn't totally filled at its northern end. So you realize just how large an area it was. Now the early believers used to meet in Solomon's porches and they had teaching there and so on. We read some of these things. For instance, we have read already acts chapter two, verse 41 that were added unto them in that day about 3000 souls. So we know that right at the very beginning on the day of Pentecost the church in Jerusalem numbered about approximately 3000 people. Then if you turn to chapter four and verse four it says, but many of them that heard the word believed and the number of the men came to be about 5000. Well, now, if we reckon on one lady to every man we reach the figure of 10,000. If in those days the men were in a preponderance then we might say they might have been about 7000. But it is an extraordinary number. Even giving ground for those who were passing through, getting saved and moving out and on to other places. It still means that the church in Jerusalem must have numbered about five 6000 people. Then in chapter six and verse seven we read and the word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly. And a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. Now does that mean then that the numbers soared above the previous 5000 men that were mentioned? [00:08:54] In other words it is totally wrong to think of the early church as some small sort of group of about 3400 500 people who had some problems as they grew larger. They had problems right from the very beginning. Problems on accommodation. [00:09:16] They were almost from the beginning they sprang from 120 to 3000. Within a matter of a week or two they'd grown to over 5000 men. And then beyond that they multiplied exceedingly. So they were a very large company. [00:09:35] But in spite of this they not only met together in the temple but they broke bread from home to home. [00:09:46] In other words they found that for the breaking of bread some might think it's just a matter of having a meal. But we know that in the very early church the custom was to have a meal and to have either the breaking of bread that is, communion at the beginning of the meal or following it. And you will remember the instructions that later the apostle Paul had to give to the church at Corinth. All the churches adopted this matter of the love feast going into the Lord's table that he had to say to them because some of you have been getting drunk its better for you to stay at home and eat your own food there and drink whatever it is you drink there rather than come together. And some of you get tipsy and merry and then the Lord's table is dishonored and devalued. [00:10:36] But it was the custom at the beginning for them evidently then to break bread to have the Lord's table in the homes. They found it too big a crowd to have it gathered in the temple to make it of significance. Now we also have another very interesting little snippet in acts chapter four and verse 23. And it says, this is when Peter and John were arrested. And when you remember this group were praying for the release of them. And it says and being let go they came to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. Now in the Greek the word company is not there. You will notice that in your new american standard Bible it says, to their own companions. But really it just means and being let go, they came to their own ones or their own group. It can mean company group, their own folks or what. But it's clear that coming to their own they found this group together. It seems to me, taking the whole matter into the context, into consideration that in fact these two belong to a particular home group. And being let go, they went to their own home group and found them at prayer, praying for them. And so they reported what had happened and there was a tremendous prayer meeting with which you read of here. Now, there are many things in this that we ought to think about. [00:12:18] It does not seem that it was merely a matter of convenience for these ones to meet in homes, not just simply a matter of numbers. [00:12:38] They appear to have used the temple, Solomon's porches for their main gatherings. And if you look at acts chapter five and verse 42 we have it quite clearly. And every day in the temple and at home they cease not to teach and to preach Jesus as the Messiah. [00:13:02] Now I find that very interesting because youve got the two things and every day in the temple and at home they cease not to teach and preach Jesus as Messiah. [00:13:18] Now, over the years the details may change, but principles never change. They always remain the same. [00:13:30] What then are the principles that governed the early church and which therefore govern us in this matter? [00:13:41] As someone may well ask? We shall come to it in a moment. [00:13:45] Wouldn't the simplest thing have been to split all this vast number up into a number of churches? [00:13:53] That would seem to be the obvious suggestion. It's what we've done today. [00:13:58] I mean, we wouldn't think of it normally. Five, six, seven, 8000 in one church. We would say, well, isn't it better that the people in the south quarter had their church and the north quarter had theirs and the east and the west quarter and perhaps, if necessary, have three or four? [00:14:17] Much easier, but not so. We shall come to that in a moment. What I want to attack first of all is what are the principles that lie this matter? I've said it's not a matter of convenience, not just a question of such large numbers that we've got to cut them down into a smaller group. There's something more than convenience here. And the first thing I'd like to say is the principle seems to be a gathering or company small enough to be intimate in which every member of the body can function. [00:14:56] The main gatherings fulfill their function. But these home gatherings also have a very real and vital function. [00:15:11] It is a gathering or company small enough to be intimate in which every member of the body can function. Now, Ephesians, chapter four and verse 16 we read these words from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth. According to the working in due measure of each several part maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love. Now note that according to the working in due measure of each several part maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love. Then again, look at one corinthians. Back to one corinthians, chapter 14 and verse 26. [00:16:07] What is it then, brethren, when ye come together? Each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto building up. Now, each one has something. If you have a meeting with 5000 people and each one has something you will certainly not get it in within the 24 hours of the day. [00:16:37] Here each one has something to give. [00:16:41] Now there must therefore at some point be some kind of gathering small enough to accommodate this kind of gathering where everyone can share, everyone can participate. [00:16:56] Then again, look at one Peter, chapter four and verse ten. [00:17:06] Well, we read from verse nine using hospitality one to another without murmuring according as each hath received a gift ministering it among yourselves as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speaketh, speaking as it were oracles of God if any man ministereth, ministerings of the strength which God supplieth that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ whose is the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Now, these are just a selection of scriptures. Youve only got to look at Romans chapter twelve to find that you begin with much bigger ministries and then you taper right down to just sort of loving one another showing mercy, having understanding, being good givers and so on and so forth. The point is the main gatherings although important and vital could not give scope to the participation of many. It would be impossible for even half of them to have contributed. I mean, think of this. Supposing you were to take yourself back in imagination to Jerusalem right at the beginning and suddenly there you were amongst the 120 faithful ones and you had been praying that the purposes of the Lord would be fulfilled and that the Lord Jesus Christ would be known. And then on the day of Pentecost, that glorious coming of the Holy Spirit. And then in the next moment you had your first big problem. 3000 people got saved in an afternoon. [00:18:41] Think of the 120 they must have been bold over. I bet some of them had some problems. Can you imagine it? Suddenly the little meetings that were so pleasant, that was so intimate. I mean, 120 is big enough but at least you can be somewhat intimate with 120. You get to know everybody's name. Suddenly there were 3000. Who was so and so over there? I don't know. So and so was. How do you expect me to know all those thousands? [00:19:09] It's bad enough getting to know the 120 over 40 days but now we've got 3000 on our hands. Then to make matters worse, within a week it was 5000 men. [00:19:22] Those poor 120 must have gone around sort of holding their heads thinking, oh my, it's too much for us. And I've often thought that the Lord in his goodness doesn't always answer our prayers. People earnestly pray, Lord, save Richmond. Save Richmond. I wonder what would happen if 100,000 people got saved in a week or two. Just think of the work, think of the pressure, think of the counseling. Think of the special meetings. Think of the matter of baptism. I mean, alone. I mean, people sort of say, oh dear, baptism. And then you would. We would have. We would have to. Well, the way we do things, we'd have to go for years. [00:20:05] You see, we pray, but we don't always understand the consequences of it. Now the point is this, that in a meeting with all the 3000, 5000 or whatever it is even at a minimum, shall we say, say, 4000 how could they in a meeting of an hour or 2 hours half of them couldn't contribute? [00:20:29] They could be positive in their attitude. [00:20:33] They could lift up their voice together in one accord as they did and all praised the Lord together. [00:20:43] But how could these other things really function? That we read of in one corinthians twelve, in one corinthians 14, in Romans twelve in one, Peter 410 and eleven, or Ephesians four and verse 15 and 16. [00:21:03] The point is that there has got to be some smaller gathering, a home gathering small enough to be able to accommodate this kind of participation. It's quite the same with us. I mean, perhaps a quarter of those present could participate and contribute in our main gatherings. It would be very interesting, but I've never wanted to do it because it seems a dreadfully scientific way of sort of approaching the matter. But I mean, it would be very interesting to know just the number, the percentage of those who do participate in one of our bigger gatherings. [00:21:47] I would think it must be about a quarter. And that's good. [00:21:53] A quarter to a third. I wouldn't have thought it was more. [00:21:58] Now that means that, generally speaking, every time we gather, it's a quarter to a third. And may I say straight away, without transparency, treading on anyone's corns. [00:22:09] That the length with which some of our older ones take part. Would cut down if everyone did it the time to well below a quarter. Taking part, I mean, you see, it would be impossible, wouldn't it, if we think about it now, it is in our home gatherings. That it is possible for everyone to get to know everyone else. To build the right kind of relationships. To take care of one another and to be cared for by one another. To participate in building up the body of Christ. And so on and so on. Now, note carefully that Ephesians four and verse 16, the revised version, puts it like this. Working in according to the working in due measure of each several part. Now, the. A new american standard Bible. Puts it much more simply and directly like this. The proper working of each individual part. The proper working of each individual. Now, I wonder whether that can be said of you. The proper working of each individual part. If every single part in the body of Christ here were to function properly. [00:23:44] Where would they be able to do it? [00:23:52] What kind of gathering could give expression. To the proper working of each individual part? [00:23:58] Now, of course, you realize that our gatherings. Are only expression of this thing. You do realize that we are the body of Christ, whether we meet or not. And we are functioning as the body of Christ. When we are at college or work or nursing or a mother at home. We are still the body of Christ. Our gatherings give expression to that. But what kind of gathering could do. Give expression. To the proper working of each individual part. Unless it is the home gathering? Note also this word. Building up itself in love. See, the body is to build up itself in love. And how can we build up the body in love? Maketh increase unto the building up of the body in love. [00:24:48] The principle is that there must be a sphere. In which every member of the body. May be effectively exercised for the building up of the whole. [00:25:03] Now, what do we mean? Simply this. That if the members of a body are to be healthy, they must be exercised. If, for instance, we do not exercise our body. There comes a stiffness and in some cases, a wasting away. For instance, if a person lies in bed all day for three, four months. They cannot just get up and run around the block. They can't even go downstairs without failing, feeling faint and weak. Their point is, they have ceased to exercise their legs. You've all seen somebody who has a manual job. Where they use either one arm or both arms and nothing else. They have enormous shoulders and arms and spindly everything else. [00:25:52] And it's the same with people who use their legs, for instance, a lot you see runners or others. They've got great legs and sometimes very narrow shoulders. I mean, the point is, what you exercise gets developed. [00:26:06] And so it is in the body of Christ. If some members are only going to get exercise, the body is going to have marvelous proportions in some parts and spindly proportions elsewhere. And when I think of us all here, there are an awful lot of spindly proportions to the body. [00:26:23] There are members. They're spiritual. [00:26:30] I believe some are trying to remedy that, even physically. Could you open that door, please? [00:26:37] The point really is. [00:26:40] The point really is I'm not opening it so you can all run around the block. You're not. [00:26:48] What I'm trying to say is this, that there has to be a gathering. This is the principle of this matter. There has to be a gathering small enough so that every member can be effectively exercised for the building up of the body in love. [00:27:11] Now, that is the point of the home gathering. That it might be dull, it might be heavy, it may be rather poor is another matter. [00:27:24] But the principle is that we need such a gathering as that. Then there is a second matter. [00:27:34] I have firstly said a gathering or company small enough to be intimate in which every member of the body can function. Now, I want to take it a step further. A sphere in which it will become quite apparent that every member of the body must play his or her part. Now, that's the step on a sphere in which it will become quite apparent that every member of the body there must play his or her part. In the large main gatherings, there can be many problems, many weaknesses, many lacks or failings, and it can all be masked and hidden. For instance, we have a prayer meeting. It can be a marvelous prayer meeting. Why? Because in those hundred people gathered, there are 15 people who have authority in prayer. [00:28:38] And those people can get the mind of the Lord together and flow together, so much so that those who are called what I call the red herring prayers, always bringing things in, don't do too much damage, because those folks know just how to handle it in the spirit. They say, oh, so and so has gone off to grandma's sort of upset stomach. But now we come back to the matter of the kingdom of Nepal. And this whole question of whether or not the gospel is going to go on being preached in the kingdom of Nepal. You see the point. It masks the weaknesses you have. 1516, 2025, out of 100 150 who know how to pray. Now, the weaknesses are not apparent. They are hidden, but not in the home gathering. You split up that prayer meeting into all the home gatherings and immediately the people who have never taken part, the people who are spectators, the people who run the fringe, the people who have got such great fear of man that they can't even open their mouths to praise the Lord, let alone pray. [00:29:42] Immediately it becomes apparent you are now face to face with reality. It was there in the big meeting. No wonder some people say, oh, I'd much rather have the big meeting. Of course, because in the small home gathering you're face to face with reality. And the trouble is it comes home. [00:30:04] Now, you see, this is just why we've got to have home gatherings where people are made to face up to the fact that unless they function, the thing will collapse. [00:30:20] And we don't like that. [00:30:23] We don't like it. [00:30:25] Much easier to have the big guns and let them boom away and get quite excited when things get answered. Wasn't it a wonderful time yesterday? [00:30:38] We prayed, we prayed, we prayed about sorcerer. And you know, we woke up the next morning and the answer was there. [00:30:53] You may have been half asleep, sort of listening to others praying, sort of saying amen. [00:31:01] I can remember that famous occasion, one of our prayer meetings where one dear sister, who will remain anonymous, unnamed, fell asleep and snored until her beloved got too bothered and gave her a nudge and she woke up with, amen. Amen. [00:31:25] Fortunately, it was the wrong point. [00:31:35] You see, these things, these weaknesses, these failings, they can be masked and hidden in the larger gathering. [00:31:45] It is quite foolish to say, oh, now we're in our smaller gatherings. Oh, dear, dear, dear, dear, dear. There's no such thing as real prayer anymore. We're just dithering. No, no, no. That was the reality of the situation when we were together. Except that certain people who knew how to pray carried the whole. [00:32:03] I'll come to it again in a moment. Leave it for a moment. [00:32:07] Now, this hiding of such problems cannot be in the home gathering. People who are spectators, people who are being carried by the rest. People who have an inability through fear to participate, people who have an inner antagonism toward another believer present, people who have a lack of power or authority or an inability to see matters through to a conclusion or weakness in executive prayer and action, or just plain non discernment or insensitivity to the mind and will of God. Those things become painfully apparent in the home gathering. In other words, we come face to face with reality and there we have to face the whole matter of our own spiritual stature, our own spiritual ability or inability. [00:33:15] We are forced to face that. And if we mean business with the Lord, we shall start to seek his face. [00:33:25] Now this may not seem to be convenient, but it is essential. [00:33:35] I would have thought that it would be far more convenient to have the bigger gathering first because then we can get on with praying things through and getting things done and not have to face perhaps the immaturity of men, to put it more kindly, if not the plain reluctance of quite a few to contribute and participate and shoulder responsibility. But it is essential in the light of the night that comes, that we face these realities. Now then, there is a third point. All these points are linked and it is this. There is the need to be trained and educated spiritually in the home gathering. It should become quickly apparent that one needs to be trained and educated, for example in intercession, in executive prayer and action, as we call it. In having dominion, ruling and reigning with Christ. [00:34:50] In taking responsibility for other lives in practical ways we need training and educating. [00:35:00] And it is in the home gathering that we are to have that training and education. [00:35:12] Now you see, this to me is a very real burden. [00:35:18] Let me put it this for getting things done in prayer it would be far easier and as I see it, far better to have centralized prayer meetings. And let's get on with the job of attacking 1001 things locally, nationally and internationally. [00:35:46] That on the short term would be very good. [00:35:51] But in the long term it would be disastrous for. What it would mean is this, that the people who really know how to pray a few more will be added to their number over years, but gradually they will go to be with the Lord. [00:36:11] I mean, it's a humbling thing, but every one of us has finally to die. [00:36:19] And then there will be those who have not really been trained to take their place. [00:36:32] I remember speaking at one time with Brother Kong about this whole matter saying, do you think it'd be better if we went back to have central prayer meetings and really get out of so many vital issues? I said, we're having plenty of prayer at present, but we're not actually executing things in the place of prayer. We're more or less waiting till we all get together to do it. Then we sort of, when we have a special time of prayer. He just said, well, in the short term it would be very, very good and very convenient to go back to the old. But in the long term it would be a tragedy because it would be better for the whole church here to suffer for a year or two and allow and for the enemy to come in through our own stupidity like a flood and rob us of all kinds of things. Until finally we all woke up that we couldn't rest on a few. But that unless we shouldered the responsibility together and attacked the thing in the name of the Lord, everything would be lost. Then in the end we would have learned the biggest lesson of all. Then instead of 15 prayer warriors there would be 100 prayer warriors, 180 prayer warriors, 200 prayer warriors. Because we would all start to look to the Lord. Train me Lord, teach me. [00:38:00] Sometimes it is better to be left, isn't it? You know when you bring a child up there's a point where you can over care for that one. There must be a point when somehow or other you just let them go out to make their own experience. And you see them have a bad time and fall and get into trouble. And then they begin to learn, if you do everything for them, what happens? They don't learn the value of things. [00:38:29] Everything is always done. [00:38:31] They're not trained in responsibility. So you see, this matter of being trained I think is a very very important matter. [00:38:43] It would be better to suffer until everyone realizes that the responsibility rests on each one of us. [00:38:54] And that's the whole point of home gatherings. [00:38:57] Well, we lose the glamour and sometimes the power of a central gathering. We don't see things done. Of course, if your vision isn't on bigger things, if your vision is just on having a nice little sort of cozy chat with a cup of tea and a little bit of a cuddle in a corner with another saint. I mean, of course normally your own sex, I mean that kind of thing. Well, of course, I mean you'll be happy with the home gatherings. But if you've got a vision of something of the church having dominion of the church occupying till the Lord come of the church wielding weapons of our warfare mighty through God to the pulling down of satanic strongholds casting down imaginations and every high thing that's exalted against God. If you've got that kind of vision, if you've got the vision of the church of God really preparing herself as the bride for the coming of the Lord. Then you're going to be rather sad with some of the home gatherings. You're going to feel, well, what is it? Isn't it just a little bit of social chit chat? Haven't we just come down to a level where it's all mundane and dull and petty? [00:40:08] We've lost what we had of seeing far off things of seeing something of the purpose of God and battling for it together and degenerate it into something more like a sunshine hour. [00:40:31] Well, you know, the idea we people have, it's a question of vision. [00:40:38] But, you see, it would be better for us all to suffer that until we finally wake up to the fact that it's no good resting on brother so and so, or sister so and so, who've had such an experience of the Lord. But it's time for me to experience the Lord. It is time for me to take responsibility. It is time that I were trained by the spirit of God. It is time that I began to care for my brothers and sisters. It's time that I became sensitive to what is the mind of the Lord. It is time for me to rise up with my brothers and sisters and take my place in the family of God. [00:41:22] There is another point here that I would like just to add, and it is this. I have said a certain amount of the last year when speaking about reigning with Christ, about being trained for eternal vocation, and I would just like to come back to it. In this matter of homeland, you may not see it like this, but so often in our main gatherings, you can sit there imbibing and imbibing and imbibing and not really being trained. You can get into a place of delusion where you think that because you hear things and because you're associated with others who really are shouldering the burden, you yourself are being trained. And you may not be. You may be a spectator or a non operative member. Now, my point is this. In the home gathering, it will become quickly apparent whether you're functioning or not. [00:42:29] You understand? [00:42:31] And then you see, when you wake up, the Lord can start to train you and you will be eternally thankful for that home gathering because that has related you to the purpose of God for eternity. [00:42:51] So if we mean business with the Lord, our home gatherings are just such a sphere in which we can be trained and educated. [00:43:02] There is a fourth matter I would like to underline in this matter, in this question of it being principle, not convenience, it may seem to some to be rather extreme. But I will go on with this. It is this. It is a preparation for going underground if the need should ever arise. [00:43:26] Now, we pray God that the need will never arise. [00:43:30] But I would not be at all surprised in the next conflict, world conflict, that Britain will suffer. [00:43:44] For over 900 years, Britain has not seen the occupation of her island by alien forces. [00:43:59] But in those 900 years, she has, by and large, honoured God. [00:44:08] Now, for the first time, London has become the queen of pornography instead of Paris. [00:44:17] The british people are a byword amongst the nations of Europe for laziness. [00:44:26] And for much else. [00:44:29] We dont know what will happen in the next conflict. But this, we can say, to have learnt our lessons in the small gathering. Means that we can so much more easily survive. In days of trial and persecution. [00:44:45] There may be no main gatherings. Or if there are main gatherings, they may have been utterly compromised. [00:44:55] So that they are just puppet services. [00:45:00] But we may be able to meet in small numbers in homes for fellowship, for strengthening one another, for sharing the things of the Lord. Just quietly and for a little while. And for prayer. [00:45:13] It is very encouraging to hear how in China, when the churches, all of them, including the ones we know associated with watchman knee. [00:45:30] Were finally compromised and became communist mouthpieces. [00:45:39] And when, in the end, even those communist mouthpieces themselves decided not to meet anymore. [00:45:48] And so the purpose of the marxist authorities was accomplished. That there should be no church meetings in the mainland of China. Except after President Nixon's visit. Two churches reopened in Peking. One in Shanghai, mostly attended by the diplomatic corps. [00:46:10] But we have heard in just the last year or two. That the believers have been meeting only in twos, threes at the most, five in a home. [00:46:22] Just for half hour, sometimes as much as an hour. To pray together, strengthen one another, and then disperse. [00:46:33] Now, that cannot just come. [00:46:36] When people have been used to the one man ministry. And the whole one man structure. Of our normal evangelical church. All you have to do is to take the leader, and the whole thing is decapitated. The saints just don't know what to do. They are not used to ministering to one another. They're not used to sharing the things of God with one another. They're not used to flowing together. They're not used to finding the mind of God together. It was all done for them. [00:47:01] So they're lost their prey to be taken over. [00:47:06] Or at least confused, bewildered. But when saints have learned how to know the mind of God for themselves, how to distinguish the anointing, how to follow the anointing, how to obey the spirit, how to flow together, how to take hold of a matter in prayer and pray it through together, it will be that much easier. [00:47:31] Now, it is an interesting fact that the church in Jerusalem. Was to be a persecuted church. [00:47:37] The churches, by and large, throughout the roman empire. Lived from year to year. In fear of purges, of trial, of persecution. But they had an inborn ability to go into the catacombs and survive to somehow just break up and break up and break up and break up and still know how to function. [00:48:04] And I believe that one of the purposes of our home gatherings is to get us to the place where we're not all just simply dependent even on a number of those who really know the Lord better. But can function by depending upon the Lord himself. Now, let me say about this matter that our home gatherings are a question of principle and not a matter of convenience. It is much easier to escape from reality in the large gatherings of the church. Than the home gatherings. It may sometimes be dull or weak or heavy or most uncomfortable. And I don't mean physically uncomfortable. I mean simply this. That you may discover that in your home gathering is the one person you cannot get on with. [00:49:08] Now, when you're in a group which is 200 strong or more. And the place is overflowing with people, you can escape from them, can't you? I mean, if you're a little shrewd and a little bit of know how. I mean, you ought to be able to somehow give them the slip all the time. And so there's no point. I mean, it's easy to smile at someone in a somewhat theatrical manner from across a room, or at least be civil. But when you find yourself in a group of twelve people and someone that really you just don't get on with, is there now you are face to face with reality. It's no good talking about how blessed and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious oil dew of Hermon that comes down upon the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord commanded the blessing forevermore. When there's someone there you can't bear someone who rubs you up the wrong way. Even by the way they pray. [00:50:12] As soon as they start, you think, oh, I remember two mission. I don't remember them personally, but I remember the stories about them. For they were famous. [00:50:22] One who was searching well, they were both great saints of the Lord. Both of them. Both of them did a tremendous work for the Lord in India. But one was an absolute warrior, steel like, shrewd, to the point. And the other was the sweetest, most lowery sister who knew the Lord in such a gentle and beautiful way. These two couldn't bear each other. [00:50:48] On one occasion in a friend of mine's house in India, where they were at the same table. And my friend thought it was a miracle to get them at the same table to a meal she didn't know what to do about asking which one to pray for. They always prayed at the end of the meal so she thought, well, I'll ask her, I won't give you the name. [00:51:09] Miss so and so. Miss so and so began and prayed so beautifully. And my friend thought to herself, oh, how beautiful, how powerfully she prays until she heard down the other end. Silly woman, why doesn't she get to the point? Instead of beating around the bush, these two are going to spend eternity in the same bedroom. [00:51:36] They were very blessed in one working in northwest India and the other in the south parted by quite a few hundred miles from one another. But it is most uncomfortable where we find ourselves in a home gathering with the person we least can get on with. And we've got to get on there. We are praying for the unity of the people of God in Japan and there's someone just across, you could touch him across the room and he irritates you like mad. [00:52:13] But it's much better to have to face realities. [00:52:19] Now that's just one thing, but there are many other things. [00:52:24] If we don't know how to really bring something true to a conclusion, it's going to come out in that home gathering. Nothing will ever come to a conclusion. That group will never ever execute the will of God in the place of prayer until they learn. [00:52:42] Or again. You see, people often say to me if I ask them, and I don't often, but now and again I say to someone, you know, we never hear your voice, you know, praising the Lord, never hear you open your mouth and praise the Lord. And someone always say, they normally always say, well you know, it's such a big meeting, I mean I just can't do it, it's such a big meeting. [00:53:05] I've always been afraid of people. [00:53:08] But then you put them into a group with twelve people and they still don't open their big mouths. [00:53:14] It's a very, very strange thing, especially when some of these people have an awful lot to say on every other matter outside of worship and prayer. [00:53:26] But you see, in our home gathering we have to face realities. Then in the end we have to come, it has to come home. Oh dear. It's not the large crowds, it's not only it's me, it's just me. And maybe there may come a point where may it happen many, many times where you open your mouth and ask the others. I just find it. I am unable to take part in worship. Will you all pray for me then for the first time there's reality. [00:54:05] Well now I'd like to just say something. In the ten minutes we have on another matter. [00:54:11] Move on from there to, I believe another very important matter springs out of this first, and it is this. Listen carefully. I've entitled it one church, many homes. [00:54:24] One church, many homes. [00:54:28] It is of the very. It is of very great interest to us to note that the church in Jerusalem was always referred to as the church in Jerusalem, and never the churches in Jerusalem. Now, people say, well, of course, Jerusalem was very small, but in actual fact, Jerusalem was, by its standards then, a pretty sizeable place. It was certainly the size of our Richmond upon Thames in population. [00:55:00] Even more interesting, we know from the Talmud that there was a synagogue for every single lane and corner in the city of Jerusalem. [00:55:14] It was called the city of synagogues. [00:55:21] Now, isn't it interesting that it was not that the church in Jerusalem, the people of God in Jerusalem, were never called the churches in Jerusalem, which would have been the natural thing. [00:55:31] We come, of course, immediately to this whole point of the oneness of the people of God. [00:55:37] Even when they numbered so many thousands, they were still the church in Jerusalem. [00:55:46] Yet, although they were one church, there were many home gatherings. [00:55:53] Furthermore, it seems, may you not all die at the thought, and I am not suggesting that we should do it, but it seems that they met daily in both main and home gatherings. Now, how on earth they survived, I don't know, but it seems perfectly clear that they had both a home meeting every day and a main meeting in the temple. How long it went on, I do not know. [00:56:22] People often build on certain details here, and I think we have to be a little careful of that kind. Those are the details, not the principles. [00:56:34] But it is an important matter, this matter, of the one church, but many home gatherings, because it would be easy, through wooliness of vision, for the home gatherings to become so many churches. [00:56:53] In other words, it could be easy if we weren't clear on this matter, for us in the end, to look upon our home groups as really almost the development of separate churches. [00:57:07] Or there can be the danger of cliques. [00:57:10] It can just so happen that in a particular group you get quite a clique, who see alike, think alike, feel alike, or even worse. [00:57:21] Some of the groups can be masterminded by strong willed and powerful personalities, or ambitious people who have particular axes to grind. [00:57:37] However many home gatherings, there is only one church in a locality and one eldership. Now, you see this in acts 1522. It's only just a verse, but it is interesting because it gives you at least a little insight into the matter. Acts 1522. [00:58:05] Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders with the whole church to choose men out of their company and send them to Antioch. [00:58:19] So what I'm trying to say is this. Now listen carefully because if you get this, it has to come, I think, by enlightenment. But if you get it, it will transform your whole conception of these home gatherings. [00:58:34] When we see this, we understand that the home gathering is just simply the church in such and such a home. [00:58:44] For instance, when we meet here, it is the church meeting in this house. When we meet in so many houses, the church is meeting in eight houses. Do you get it? [00:58:58] It's as simple as that. [00:59:01] I think it will help us quite clearly and it will be a corrective to any dangers such as we have mentioned. The government of the church is always in the hands of the elders. [00:59:13] The church in Jerusalem may meet in a hundred homes, but it is still the church in Jerusalem. And it is the elders of the church who finally decide on the many issues. [00:59:26] Now it follows, therefore, if we get this, that we have at least as much responsibility towards the home gatherings of the church as toward the main gatherings of the church. You see, sometimes in people's mind there is this. When we meet together in our central meetings we have a very real responsibility to be there. But when we meet in our home gatherings, well, that's more optional. [00:59:55] It is amazing how we all associate things with places, isn't it? Here we are meeting like Quakers in the house. That's very much like a Quaker house to a certain extent. But even so, it is amazing how our tendency always is to associate place here. I'm always amazed how some feel that they should wear something on the head here but not in the home gathering. [01:00:16] That certainly immediately goes to the point of what a person sees as the church. [01:00:23] Very interesting. [01:00:26] It's of course, when you've been meeting in an ecclesiastical structure that generally called churches, you know, we have all kinds of ideas about it, don't we? We often say, well, I met some and so in the church or I left my handbag in the church or my umbrella, oh, I forgot my bible in the church. Because you have no such use of the word church in the New Testament. No one ever left anything in the church. [01:00:52] The only thing you could ever deposit in the church was something of Christ. [01:01:00] But I mean, here's where we need help. [01:01:03] When we see that the church is just a matter of the believers in an area. Of course we can't be the whole church because there are lots of them that meet in other groups in the area with various labels and so on. I mean, practices and so on. We are just part of that. But we do seek to meet on that one foundation, which is Jesus Christ. And we seek to keep our arms and hearts open to every believer in the area. Now, our point is this. When we meet in those homes, we are really the church meeting in those homes. That's why we find in the church in Rome that it met in two homes. [01:01:44] I won't go into that now and give you all the details, but it is interesting that they met in, as we can see it from at least the New Testament. When Paul wrote the letters, they met in two houses. Perhaps they were too large. [01:01:55] To me, there may have been no central place where they could meet. We don't know, but it was still the church. Because it says the church that meets in your house doesn't mean it is a church that meets in your house. He said, the church that meets in your house. Do you get it? Oh, it's thrilling once you begin to get it. Because it's only one body. There's only one body. There's only one body in Christ. There's only one Christ. So when we begin to see it like that, it becomes rather exciting. [01:02:22] And I think it transforms our whole attitude to the homes that we. You see, there's no difference in principle, only in location. [01:02:38] Here we are met together. Here there's no difference when we meet in the home groups. Only the question that we're located in eight different homes. That's all. But we're one church now. It would be good here just to define the purpose of main gatherings. [01:02:55] And the purpose of the home gatherings. The main gatherings are a matter of testimony. That is, testimony to the invisible powers, testimony to the earth, to the world. A united testimony of all the believers. Together. It's much more powerful when it's a larger gathering and everyone comes together. It's a matter of evangelism. Evangelism comes very much within this matter of testimony. That it is not just a word of, not just what we see. I was saved so long ago. I mean, it is a fact that when we meet together, the Lord is present. That's the testimony we hold, the testimony of Jesus. And when unsaved people come in, they touch the Lord. And it is tremendous when there's a great crowd. Because the world is always attracted by a crowd. When it sees a crowd, it feels it can be lost. [01:03:41] When it comes to a home, they find a great, great problem about coming into a home. This doesn't always follow the exceptions, but generally speaking, unsafe people are very afraid. Just to go into a meeting in a home, they don't know what's going to happen to them, how they're going to be caught. But when there's a large meeting, overflowing, they feel a little safer. They feel they can go in, sit at the back, be lost in a crowd, watch everything, take it all in. Do you understand? And that's one of the main purposes of those bigger gatherings. And then there is the question of cohesion, the fact that by coming together, we all get, we are at least together, we can't all get to know everybody, especially if we're numbering thousands. But there is some sense of our expressing our basic unity. And also there is the matter of teaching. Obviously, when there are teaching gifts in the church, it's much easier when everyone can come together. [01:04:33] That is then the sphere of the main gifts. You've got those in Ephesians chapter four, verse eleven. Apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists. They're generally speaking, found in the main gatherings the exercise and fulfillment of those gifts in the main gatherings. What is the purpose of the home gathering? It is for reality, in other words, to bring everything down to reality, to the real level and the true temperature, to the outworking of what we believe and profess. [01:05:14] The purpose of that home is intimacy. Don't be afraid of that. That's the purpose of it. Intimacy and participation. It is the sphere for sharing, for contribution, for the exercise of gifts, spiritual gifts as well. [01:05:32] And. But this doesn't mean we shouldn't exercise any gifts on a Sunday morning. Not at all. But you see, there is a sphere in which every one of us can much more easily in the home gathering. Now, I think we will leave this matter here and I will finish what I have to say. I'd like to say something about carrying over the pattern of the main gatherings into our home gatherings. Terrible mistake. People have got the idea, ah, well, we're one church. So now they take over the pattern and try to make the little home gathering a model of what's done here on the lodge. That's a great mistake. We'll say something about that next week. And then the need of originality, true originality. There are dangers, but we need to say something about this matter of originality. And then I'd like to say something about leadership. It's placed in the home gathering, and also to talk about the home gathering itself, its character. And so I'll say a few more things, but we'll see how the Lord will lead us next week. Shall we bow together in prayer? [01:06:46] Lord, we do lift up our hearts to thee. We've talked tonight about an intensely practical matter. As far as we are concerned. In this part of thy family here in Richmond. And, o Lord, we do pray. That thou wilt help us to see something of this. Where there has been a need, lord. Of correction. Or balancing. Or enlargement of understanding. Come in by thy spirit, lord. And grant, we pray. That we may begin to see the point of these home gatherings. Not just as some nice, smaller gathering. But, lord. To see the purpose of it. And the significance of it. And the principle of it. [01:07:27] Lord, we need thee. And we pray that together we might be enabled, Lord. To do thy will. [01:07:36] And fulfil the ministry thou hast given us. And we ask it now together. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.