AWAKE, SLEEPER, AND ARISE FROM THE DEAD, AND CHRIST WILL SHINE ON YOU (2)
I have said that you have to get a companion. But you should not go to get a companion before going to the Lord. You must have a start by going to the Lord until He enlightens you, until He shines on you. Then you will fully realize where you are and what you are. Spontaneously, you will begin to repent by saying, “Lord, I am dead.” While you are saying that you are dead, the Lord will say, “You are dead because you are sinful. You are dead because you are dirty and filthy.” The Lord will shine on you and show you that you are like a person buried under the earth with layer upon layer of dirt. You have to get out of that by making a thorough and detailed confession to the Lord so that you can be forgiven, washed, and released to emerge from the depths of your fall. This thorough repentance and thorough confession will bring you into an intimate fellowship with the Lord. You must start the vital groups in this way.
If you have started from here, you then need to get a companion. Before going to get a companion, you need to pray. Do not do this hastily. If you do this hastily, you will not gain someone who is a real companion. You have to pray, “Lord, give me someone as a companion or send someone to me. Lord, You lead me. Bring me into contact with the one whom You choose.” Everything in the God-ordained way is always by prayer, not by our initiation or by our activity. Do not think that you can get a companion within a short time. You need to spend more time to pray. Do not believe that just by one contact you can get a companion.
I want to see that each of you is fully enlightened by God. You need to go to Him. Even if you have not been enlightened by Him, you still have to go to Him. He is the real source for you to start. If you go to Him again and again, He will shine upon you. He will enlighten you. He will bring you into the light. He will expose you to the uttermost. Then you will repent to the uttermost and even weep before the Lord. You will tell the Lord, “Lord, I am so dirty and sinful. I am rotten and corrupted.” Spontaneously, you will make a thorough confession to the Lord. You may confess to such an extent that you would forget to eat. While you are driving to your office, you may still be repenting to the Lord with tears. I wonder how many of us have passed through this stage. If you have not passed through this stage, the vital group has not started yet.
The God-ordained way is not a matter of hearing some teaching, going to get another brother, and then making a decision to go out to visit people. This is an outward work, not the carrying out of the vital groups. We did things like this in the past to gain people, but where are these people today? Most of them were not remaining fruit. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1993, vol. 2, “The Training and Practice of the Vital Groups”, ch. 8, pp. 324-326)
The church in Zamboanga 