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Today the way to become vitalized is to answer the Lord’s call to be an overcomer; an overcomer is a vital person, and a vital person (one who is living and active) is a praying person—119:88, 159; Dan. 11:32b:
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Our intention in forming the new groups is to have groups of overcomers; this is the reason that the groups are called the “vital groups”; the full- time training is also for the producing of the overcomers, those who are desperate to conquer the deadness of Sardis (Rev. 3:1), the lukewarmness of Laodicea (vv. 15-16), and the barrenness dealt with by the Lord in John 15 concerning the vine and the branches (vv. 1-8, 16).
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If we are going to be vitalized, we need to have close, intimate, and thorough fellowship with the Lord and with the seeking saints; we need the Lord to lead us to some companions, with whom we can labor, just as Daniel had three companions—Dan. 1:6.
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Within today’s church life (typified by Jerusalem), we must be the Lord’s overcomers (typified by Zion); this is to be in the age of the overcomers according to the Lord’s calling (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 20-21; 21:7); it is one thing to be in the church life, but it is another thing to be an overcomer in the church life (14:1-5).
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We have to make a resolution to be the overcomers, the vitalized ones; an overcomer is one who overcomes anything that is replacing Christ or that is against Christ—Judg. 5:15-16; 1 John 2:18-20, 27.
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As today’s overcomers, we should be like the children of Issachar, “men who understood the times that they might know what Israel should do” (1 Chron. 12:32a); see Brother Lee’s applicable experience on the next page.
On the eve of the revival in Chefoo, when the Japanese had invaded China and had made life in China, which was hard enough, to be even harder, Brother Lee wrote the following in his personal notes in Chefoo, 1942:
People on earth are suffering calamities, and the churches are in hardship; this is not the age of God’s heart’s desire but the age of God’s procedures. God is using His procedures to fulfill His heart’s desire. To turn from the age of procedures to the age of God’s heart’s desire, man must pray the age-turning prayer. Daniel was such a man.
The earth is suffering calamities because people on the earth do not want God and do not care for God’s affairs. Therefore, if the saints are to pray to end the time of calamities, they must answer God’s demands and care for God and His needs. Oh! These many calamities today should wake us up to no longer live to the earth! Oh! Today we should truly consecrate ourselves to answer God’s demands on behalf of the church so that God may have a way to come in and to turn this age of procedures into the age of His heart’s desire. (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1932–1949, vol. 2, p. 27)
On the eve of the revival in Chefoo, when the Japanese had invaded China and had made life in China, which was hard enough, to be even harder, Brother Lee wrote the following in his personal notes in Chefoo, 1942:
People on earth are suffering calamities, and the churches are in hardship; this is not the age of God’s heart’s desire but the age of God’s procedures. God is using His procedures to fulfill His heart’s desire. To turn from the age of procedures to the age of God’s heart’s desire, man must pray the age-turning prayer. Daniel was such a man.
The earth is suffering calamities because people on the earth do not want God and do not care for God’s affairs. Therefore, if the saints are to pray to end the time of calamities, they must answer God’s demands and care for God and His needs. Oh! These many calamities today should wake us up to no longer live to the earth! Oh! Today we should truly consecrate ourselves to answer God’s demands on behalf of the church so that God may have a way to come in and to turn this age of procedures into the age of His heart’s desire. (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1932–1949, vol. 2, p. 27)
Morning Nourishment
Psa. 119:88 Enliven me according to Your lovingkindness, and I will keep the testimony of Your mouth.Dan. 11:32 …But the people who know their God will show strength and take action.
1 Chron. 12:32 And of the children of Issachar, men who understood the times that they might know what Israel should do…
We need to remember that our groups must be vital groups. The Bible talks about vital people…. An overcomer is a vital person…. A vital person, an overcomer, is a praying person. You must have the real burden for the real prayer…. If we come together just to shout a few sentences, is this a burden of prayer? This is formality. It is a formal performance.
Our intention in forming the new groups is to have groups of overcomers. This is the reason that the groups are called the “vital groups.”…There is still the need for some vital groups to fulfill the purpose of the groups and to discharge our burden. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, "Fellowship concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups,” pp. 562, 405)
Today's Reading
We must carry out the practice of the vital groups in desperation. We should pray desperately for the Lord to give us some fruit and remove our barrenness. This should be a matter of life or death with us. If we are desperate, I believe that the fish will come to us. The Lord will send them to us. But if we are indifferent, no fish will come to us….The most crucial thing for us today is to be desperate to conquer the deadness of Sardis, the lukewarmness of Laodicea, and the barrenness dealt with by the Lord in John 15.We need to have close, intimate, and thorough fellowship with the Lord and with the seeking saints….We need to get companions with whom we can labor. According to the example in the Bible, Daniel had three companions (Dan. 1:6). I would encourage you to get three companions. Do not ask the elders to give them to you. Ask the Lord to lead you to someone, making this one your companion in fellowship. Then you can get a few others. Spontaneously, you and your companions will be a very good small group.
There are two ways before us today. We can either choose to be vitalized or choose not to be vitalized….Which way will we take? Are we going to be vitalized or not? We have to make a resolution. In Judges 5:15 Deborah said, “Among the divisions of Reuben / There were great resolutions in heart.” We have to make a resolution to be the overcomers, the vitalized ones. An overcomer overcomes anything that is replacing Christ or that is against Christ. In the Bible there is the age of the overcomers, and there is the calling for the overcomers. Furthermore, there is a way for us to be vitalized so that we can be the overcomers. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, "The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups,” pp. 283, 272, 275)
People on earth are suffering calamities, and the churches are in hardship; this is not the age of God’s heart’s desire, but the age of God’s procedures. God is using His procedures to fulfill His heart's desire. To turn from the age of procedures to the age of God’s heart’s desire, man must pray the age-turning prayer. Daniel was such a man.
The earth is suffering calamities because people on the earth do not want God and do not care for God’s affairs. Therefore, if the saints are to pray to end the time of calamities, they must answer God’s demands and care for God and His needs. Oh! These many calamities today should wake us up to no longer live to the earth! Oh! Today we should truly consecrate ourselves to answer God’s demands on behalf of the church so that God may have a way to come in and to turn the age of procedures into the age of His heart's desire." (CWWL, 1932- 1949, vol. 2, p. 27)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, "The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine Economy for the New Creation,” ch. 3