Exercise and Live Together in the Vital Groups to Build Up the Reality of the Body

Today’s Main Verses for Pray-reading

In one Body we are members one of another

Romans 12:4–5

For just as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function,
So we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

God has placed the members in the Body as He willed

1 Corinthians 12:18

But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, even as He willed.

The members that seem weaker are necessary

1 Corinthians 12:22

But much rather the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.

God has blended the Body together

1 Corinthians 12:24b

But God has blended the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member that lacked,

If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it

1 Corinthians 12:26–27

And whether one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually.

The cloud covered the tabernacle, appearing like fire by night

Numbers 9:15–16

And on the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony; and in the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle until morning.
So it was always; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

Today’s Prayer Burden

May there be an organic relationship among the vital groups in exercising, living, and overcoming together, with a sharing of testimonies and burdens. May the practice of the vital groups in one place receive continual support from many places, and may the testimony and lessons of one group become a blessing to many. The law of revival in the vital groups is the law of the Body—the law of circulation: when a group becomes closed in, it weakens; when it is blended, it thrives.

Today’s Prayer

Exercise together to overcome in the circulation of the Body

Lord, we praise You as the Head of the Body and the Head of the church! No one can practice overcoming alone, and no church can practice the vital groups alone, because we are all in the circulation of the Body. Hallelujah, the rise of the vital groups and the blending of the churches are the way the Lord is carrying out His move today!

Lord Jesus, may the churches and the vital groups establish an organic relationship in exercising, living, and overcoming together, sharing testimonies and burdens. May the practice of the vital groups in every place continue to break through in the impact of the reality of the one Body. May the practice in one place receive support from many places, and may the testimony and lessons of one group become a blessing to many. The law of the vital groups is the law of the Body, the law of blending: when a group becomes closed in, it weakens; when it is blended, it thrives!

Let all the places bear the burden together, and may the practice grow stronger

Lord, we praise You! During this period You have raised up many churches to practice the vital groups. Some churches have just begun, some have the desire to begin, and some are speaking about or learning the messages on the vital groups. May no vital group and no church practice in isolation. Bring us into an organic relationship of exercising, living, and overcoming together with other vital groups and churches, so that the practice in any place will not gradually fall away, weaken, and lose its fire.

May each place bear its own burden and also exercise together, share, study together, pray together, blend, live together, burn together, bear the burden, build, gain, and overcome together. May we grow stronger as we practice, with more heat, more reality of the truth, more reality of the Body, more increase of the Body, and a greater revival. May this hasten Your return.

Pray, blend, and live out the life of the Body together

Lord, lead us to pray together, intercede for one another, watch continually, and consecrate ourselves without ceasing, so that the fire will not go out but burn more strongly. Where we pray, there You accomplish. Keep us blending and enjoying the impact of the reality of the Body. Bring in the blending of fire, the gathering of the flow, the encouragement of the testimony of the Body, and breakthroughs in the spread of the gospel.

Lord Jesus, may we live to You together, live in Christ and express Christ together, and live the vital group life together. May we live the corporate God-man living and the life of the reality of the Body. May we enjoy together the seven lamps of fire before the throne—the seven Spirits sent forth to burn over all the earth. May the cloud in the form of fire cover the church as the Body, and may the witnesses in every place surround their blending companions and churches like a cloud, running together the race of overcoming.

Be in one place but bear the burden for the whole earth

Lord Jesus, may we be in one place in body but in our heart for the whole earth. May we bear the truth, the burden, and the spreading of the reality of the Body together, so that the vital groups may prevail throughout the earth and the reality of the Body may gradually fill the earth. Building up the local churches is a procedure; building up the reality of the Body is the goal. Lead us to do what You desire in this hour, today, and this year. May we gain the flow of the Holy Spirit together and become outlets of the Spirit, so that the flow may surge and the corporate strength of the Body of Christ may be manifested.

Lord, make us overcomers together in the church in Philadelphia. Starting from having a little power, may we love the brothers, support and help one another, and become pillars in the temple of God together. Transform us into perfected and matured God-men, and accomplish Your economy. Amen.

Ministry Fellowship

The vision of the vital groups and blending

In principle, it is right for the local churches to follow one another in their practice. This principle applies to the raising up of the vital groups. The model we establish will present a picture that enables the saints to see what a vital group is. The rise of the vital groups and the blending of the churches are the way the Lord is carrying out His move today.

(Based on The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1993, vol. 1, “Fellowship with the Co-workers and Elders in Southern California,” ch. 2.)

Blending helps the churches reach the peak of Zion

The present condition of the Lord’s recovery may be like Jerusalem, but without Zion. The overcomers in the New Testament are like Zion. In Revelation 14:1 the 144,000 overcomers are not merely in Jerusalem; they are at the peak, on Mount Zion. The overcomers, the vital groups, are today’s Zion. Our burden is to help the saints reach the peak of the vital groups, the Zion of the overcomers. We may have a good church life, but among us there may be little realization, practice, and reality of the Body life. This is the need in the recovery today.

(Based on The Practical Points concerning Blending, ch. 2.)

The law of the Spirit’s work is the law of the Body’s functioning

When the church preaches the gospel, if it knows the law of the Spirit and works according to it, there will be no problem with people being saved. When the church comes forth, people will be saved and the church will be revived.

There is only one circulation of blood in our body, and all the members have an organic relationship with one another. In the same way, the Body of Christ, the organism of the Triune God, has one life enjoyed by all the members, who have an organic relationship with one another.

(Based on The Adequate Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, ch. 22; The Building Up of the Body of Christ, ch. 2.)

Those who do not go on to maturity will fall back into decline

All who do not go on to maturity will fall back to a state of decline.

(Based on The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 4, “The Christian (2): Meditations on Revelation”, ch. 5.)

Twelve Points for the Vital Groups to Exercise and Live Together

1. Each place bears its own burden

Each place should respond flexibly to its local need and bear the burden urgently, so that local talent may emerge and increase gradually. Through organic and vital blending with one another, the reality of the Body is produced.

If the brothers see this vision, they will bear a burden to bring the saints in their locality into the spirit and into the Lord’s up-to-date flow, leading the local church to keep pace with the Lord’s way today.

(Based on Serving in the Flow of the Age, ch. 1.)

Without the vital groups, how can there be overcomers? Without the vital groups, how can the church be living? For the churches we serve to minister people one by one into the building up of the Body of Christ, the practice of the vital groups is indispensable.

(Based on the transcript summary of the 2023 Fall Elders’ Training, message 6.)

The neighboring churches should blend and move together as much as possible, without abolishing the local administration of practical affairs. This blending strengthens the churches and brings in impact. It also encourages neighboring churches to love one another, care for one another, pray for one another, and shepherd one another.

(Based on The Lord’s Recovery and Our Present Need, ch. 2.)

2. Exercise together

Exercise unto godliness, experience the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh, and give everyone the hope of overcoming and a share in the reality of the Body of Christ.

We can exercise unto godliness, and it can even be easy for us to do so. We have no excuse for not exercising ourselves unto godliness. By these two spirits—the Holy Spirit and our spirit—we can fulfill God’s economy.

(Based on The Divine Spirit with the Human Spirit in the Epistles, ch. 10.)

The way of the Body is to let the blood circulate. The blood must flow in and flow out for the circulation to continue. In the body, it is abnormal for blood to accumulate in one organ; the blood must keep flowing for the body to be healthy. Spiritually, we need the same realization and learning: we should not draw boundaries between one another. The circulation of the blood in the Body cannot be divided. We cannot say, “This is the blood of the arm; the foot cannot use it.”

(Based on The Supply of the Word and the Increase of the Church, ch. 4.)

3. Share

Share materials, models, procedures, tools, fresh testimonies, timely fellowship, and accumulated, specific supply for the situations encountered in each stage and setting of the vital group practice. One person’s resources are limited, and so are those of one locality. May everyone become a source of blessing and every place an outlet of the Body’s supply.

In the first stage of the group gatherings, everything must be made into a model.

(Based on Fellowship concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, ch. 9.)

After about a year, your church will become a model. When we tell people about the vision we have seen, they may ask, “Where is there such a church?” We can say, “I will take you to a place where you can see that model.”

(Based on Living a Life according to the High Peak of God's Revelation, ch. 4.)

Why can we not improve our work today? People are flying in 747s, while we are still riding an old ox cart. If this is so, we are working behind closed doors and thinking we are right. We need to study new and scientific ways together. Our work should improve and must advance.

(Based on The Establishment of the Service Groups in the Church, ch. 1.)

By enjoying the all-inclusive Christ, laboring diligently on Him day by day, and bringing the rich produce of Him to share with God and all the saints, we can turn defeat into victory.

(Based on The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 15.)

4. Study together

Study the bottlenecks we face, develop successive improvements, break through one station after another, and climb one step after another until Zion is completed.

The Lord must take the new way, and we need to cooperate with Him. The practice of the new way has no end; it is also a great science. We keep studying and improving. Our way is undoubtedly according to the Bible, but it still requires much learning and practice. If we work diligently and over the long term, we will find that the way of knocking on doors works and is full of the Lord’s blessing.

(Based on The Ministry of the New Testament and the Apostleship, ch. 1.)

This flow has always been up-to-date and new, and it is still flowing today.

(Based on The Proper and Adequate Service to the Lord, ch. 2, The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1964, vol. 2.)

5. Pray together

Pray as the Body, intercede for one another, watch continually, and consecrate ourselves without ceasing, so that the fire will not go out. Where we pray, there the Lord accomplishes.

My burden is much heavier than I can express. My only burden is for the groups. If I pray, I will pray for one thing—the vital groups.

(Witness Lee, Fellowship concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, ch. 11.)

We should spend every drop of our blood, every ounce of our strength, and every minute of our time to strengthen the vital groups, making them beautiful, high, and attractive. We must be desperate to practice the vital groups and desperate to pray. Through blending together, the saints learn of the needs among the churches and receive the burden to pray for them.

(Based on Fellowship concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, ch. 24; The Training and Practice of the Vital Groups, ch. 2; and The Lord’s Recovery and Our Present Need, ch. 2.)

6. Blend together

Blending brings in the reality of the Body, vitality, the blending of fire, the gathering of the flow, the encouragement of the testimony of the Body, and advancement in the spread of the gospel.

To be living and powerful, we need to be blended with one another—not only as individuals, but also as churches. By being blended together, we learn how to be enriched, living, powerful, and active.

(Based on The Lord’s Recovery and Our Present Need, ch. 1.)

The rise of the vital groups and the blending of the churches are the way the Lord is carrying out His move today. We need to establish vital groups in our localities so that when we go to other places, we can help people establish vital groups there as well.

(Based on The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1993, vol. 1, “Fellowship with the Elders and Co-workers in Southern California,” ch. 2.)

7. Live together

Live to the Lord, live in Christ, and express Christ together. Live the vital group life, the corporate God-man living, and the life of the reality of the Body.

The reality of the Body of Christ is a corporate living, not an individual living. This corporate living is the aggregate of many saints. The reality of the Body is the corporate living of the perfected God-men. They are genuine men, but they do not live by their own life; they live by the life of the processed God, and His attributes are expressed through their virtues.

The vital groups should be companies of people who live this way. By living this God-man living, we will save people, build them up, establish the local churches, and even build up the Body of Christ.

(Based on Living a Life according to the High Peak of God's Revelation, ch. 5.)

8. Burn together

The seven lamps of fire before the throne are the seven Spirits sent forth to burn over all the earth. The cloud covers the tabernacle, the church as the Body, in the form of fire. The witnesses are like a cloud surrounding us and showing us the way.

The whole church, the Body of Christ, is covered by a cloud in the form of fire.

The cloud covered the tabernacle in the wilderness, and the glory of Jehovah filled it. At night the cloud became a pillar of fire. The cloud signifies God Himself, and the pillar of fire signifies God’s power.

(Based on The Operation of God and the Anointing, ch. 11.)

9. Bear the burden together

Bear the truth, the prayer burden, and the spreading of the reality of the Body together.

May God have mercy on us so that we will not become outdated regarding “the present truth.” We are here to see, live out, and practice the present truth—the high peak of the divine revelation. When the God-man living is reproduced in us, we become the reality of the Body of Christ, and this will bring the Lord back. This is the present truth and the place of our burden.

(Based on Crystallization-study of the Gospel of Mark, ch. 1.)

Paul is a pattern of one who bore the truth. In Galatians 2:11–14, Peter was older and more experienced, yet at that time he did not walk according to the truth. Paul rebuked him and thus bore the truth, becoming a pillar and base of the truth. The Bible does not say that only the apostles are pillars and bases of the truth. Rather, it reveals that the church—including every believer—must bear the truth. The saints should honor the eldership and those who take the lead, but if a leading one acts contrary to the truth, the saints should bear the responsibility to uphold the truth.

(Based on Crucial Principles for the Christian Life and the Church Life, ch. 7.)

10. Build together

Cause the vital groups to prevail throughout the earth and the reality of the Body to fill the earth gradually. Building up the local churches is a procedure; building up the reality of the Body is the goal.

God’s ordained way to build up the Body of Christ is through the vital groups. Without the vital groups, we may have only an ordinary building up; if we want genuine building up among us, we must practice the vital groups. Without the vital groups, the church life in a locality may largely be a performance, lacking genuine building up. Every church should establish many vital groups. The more vital groups a church has, the more living it will be.

(Based on the 2003 Fall Elders’ Training, message 8, and The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1993, vol. 1, “Fellowship with the Elders and Co-workers in Southern California,” ch. 7.)

I believe that sooner or later the vital groups will prevail throughout the earth. When that day comes, the saints everywhere will rise up to pray to become vital and to make others vital.

(Based on The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1993, vol. 1, “Fellowship with the Elders and Co-workers in Southern California,” ch. 8.)

11. Gain together

Do what the Lord desires in this hour, today, and this year. Gain the flow of the Holy Spirit together and become outlets of the Spirit, so that the flow may surge and the corporate strength of the Body of Christ may be gained.

Praise the Lord that in these years the brothers and sisters have risen up to do what God desires in this age, gaining the flow and becoming outlets of the Spirit. “We have seen God gaining outlets in many places in these days, like rivers flowing. This truly fills our hearts with joy.”

(Based on a circular fellowship by Watchman Nee, October 3, 1950, in The Collected Works of Watchman Nee.)

“I was greatly encouraged by the testimonies and fellowship just shared. I believe this is exactly what the Lord desires to do now, today, this year, and this month. We should continue practicing this matter next year and encourage everyone to go on.”

(Fellowship by Brother Yu on the morning of December 2, 2020, after hearing testimonies concerning the vital group practice and migration for the spread of the gospel.)

12. Overcome together

Be overcomers together in the church in Philadelphia. Starting from having a little power, love the brothers, support and help one another, become pillars in God’s temple, and be transformed into perfected and matured God-men.

To overcome the degradation of the church, we must pursue love with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. We must pursue love together with a company of seekers. This is the vital group.

(Based on the 2022 Fall Training, message 1.)

We need to see, live out, and practice the present truth, the up-to-date truth, to turn the age and bring Christ back. The overcomers in Philadelphia are characterized by their endeavor to live the God-man living through enjoying the riches of Christ as the treasure indwelling them. They are also characterized by brotherly love. Love is effective among them: they shepherd people according to God, cherish them with God’s pleasant presence, and nourish them with the healthy teaching of God’s economy.

(Based on the 2022 Fall Training, messages 1 and 8.)