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Scripture Reading: 4-5, 1 Cor. 14:26
The most crucial point that we want to fellowship in regard to the district meetings is that we should exercise to function in the meetings. This refers not only to elders and co-workers but to all the saints. Elders and co-workers should be the head sheep who take the lead to function in the meetings of the whole church and in the district meetings. They need to function in every meeting. Every meeting lasts approximately one and a half hours, and there is plenty of time and opportunity for the saints to function. These meetings should not be the same as our meetings in the past in which one person spoke and everyone else listened. In the end, one person occupied all the time. In our meetings today, the one and a half hours are for everyone to function. Some may speak something from a hymn, others may share what they have received in their reading of the Bible, and still others may give their personal testimonies or minister the word. A saint may pray at the beginning of the meeting; then after a while, he may call a hymn or simply a chorus. He may then read two verses or speak a few words to point out their significance. It is not too much for a person to function in such a way three to four times in a meeting. The more the saints function in this way, the livelier and richer the meetings will be.
This kind of meeting makes it possible for everyone to function and to not sit quietly in the meetings as we did in the past. Formerly, only a few, if any, shared in the meetings; now we are divided into districts, and the condition of the sharing in the meetings has greatly improved. The functioning of the saints has become more widespread, and the ratio of saints who speak has increased to roughly forty percent. It has not yet reached a hundred percent, but it is definitely an improvement when compared to the past. In any case, an atmosphere in which everyone can function is on the rise.
All the elders need to function in the meetings. There is no excuse for an elder not to open his mouth in a meeting in which everyone functions. Likewise, all the full-time trainees are now learning to serve the churches. Based on the actual situation, the most important aspect in serving the churches is to open one’s mouth and function in the meetings. Hence, whether in group meetings or in district meetings, we all need to open our mouth; opening our mouth will always be of benefit. We must exercise in this matter.
As a result of our continuous speaking and promoting, the atmosphere of functioning in the meetings has already undergone a big change. We can say that it has changed from winter to spring. Although it has not yet changed to summer, summer is almost here. Anything we promote will advance. I want everyone to pay attention to this matter: whether in the district meetings or in the bigger meetings of the whole church, when we come together, we need to try our best to function, either by praying, choosing hymns, giving testimonies, or reading the Scriptures; we need to practice according to 1 Corinthians 14:26.
The most needed function in district meetings is to prophesy, that is, to speak for the Lord and speak forth the Lord; prophesying is not mainly for prediction. We need to know that our speaking in the meetings is not something ordinary; we are neither chatting nor talking about the world situation, much less about the weather; rather, we are speaking things related to God and the Lord. This is to speak for the Lord and to speak forth the Lord, to minister the Lord. Hence, this kind of speaking is not ordinary.
Some saints are bothered by brothers and sisters prophesying in their local accents. This should not be a problem. When the apostles of the New Testament were carrying out their ministry, they spoke with a Galilean accent, and they were marked out by their accent (Acts 2:7). I believe that on the day of Pentecost, Peter still spoke with a heavy Galilean accent. On the day of Pentecost, after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, his Galilean accent did not disappear, and he did not begin to speak with the accent of Judea or the accent of Jerusalem. According to the New Testament principle, God and man work together; that is, God and man are mingled.
For the Chinese translation of the Recovery Version of the New Testament, we referenced different English and Greek versions and entered into the depths of the text. Through this, we realized that Peter’s proficiency in Greek could not compare with Paul’s or even with James’s. However, he still spoke for the Lord and wrote two Epistles. Hence, we should not think that someone who speaks with a local accent is ordinary and unable to be a prophet; this kind of thinking is not correct. Local accents do not affect the taste of what is spoken.
We need to endeavor to prophesy; to prophesy is to release God’s word. Christianity has no way in this matter, so seminary students are hired to be preachers and pastors to speak for half an hour or even to take the entire time. However, this is not according to the biblical revelation. The Bible says, “Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation” (1 Cor. 14:26). Psalms and teachings are ordinary, whereas tongues and interpretations are miraculous. Concerning tongues, Paul says clearly in 1 Corinthians 14, “I would rather speak five words with my mind, that I might instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue” (v. 19). When a person speaks in tongues, what is spoken must be interpreted in order to build up the church; otherwise, tongues should not be spoken in the meeting. To prophesy is to speak for God and to speak forth God, which is different from speaking in tongues.
First Corinthians 14:1 says, “Pursue love, and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” Here Paul says that prophesying is the highest gift. At the end of the chapter, he charged the Corinthian believers again, saying, “So then, my brothers, desire earnestly the prophesying” (v. 39). In verse 12 he was even stronger, “Since you are zealous of spirits, seek that you may excel for the building up of the church.” This verse is difficult to render, and many Bible translators have been troubled by Paul’s words because he uses the plural form of spirit when he says, “Zealous of spirits.” This causes many Christians to wonder why Paul spoke in such a way.
There was a background to Paul’s word in verse 12. At that time the Greeks were very superstitious, and according to history, people in Corinth were superstitious to the uttermost. Among them there was even the practice of consulting spirits. People practiced necromancy because of superstition; this was the condition of the Greeks at that time. Although some were later saved and had a new life, they still had such a background among them. Hence, Paul told the Corinthian believers that they were not involved with the unique Spirit but with various spirits. Since they were zealous of spirits, he exhorted them to seek to excel for the building up of the church and not to bring in things that might be related to the spirits. Paul wanted the Corinthian believers to know that they all had the Holy Spirit within them and that they needed to speak from the Holy Spirit; such a speaking is excelling.
When Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 14 concerning speaking in tongues, he was inwardly concerned that speaking in tongues might invite in evil spirits. In England, when speaking in tongues was first introduced, Mrs. Penn-Lewis warned the believers in her writings that to speak in tongues might invite in evil spirits and bring in Satan’s attack. Concerning this point, I had a thorough conversation with Brother Nee; however, even to this day, I still do not understand this matter. Brother D. M. Panton, who was believed to be the most accurate Bible expositor of this century, once said that he had tested over eighty people who spoke in tongues and found that a result of their speaking in tongues was always to say that Jesus is accursed. Brother Nee told us about this after he read the article. One day, Brother Nee and I talked about this matter, but it was difficult for us to understand it. Brother Panton personally had contacted those who spoke in tongues and charged them to say whether Jesus is accursed, and all answered “yes” without exception. Mrs. Penn-Lewis and Brother Panton were more or less of the same era, but Brother Panton outlived Mrs. Penn-Lewis for nearly three decades. During the flourishing period of tongue-speaking in England, these two pillars had great influence among the believers; hence, the Pentecostal movement did not spread much within England.
At the beginning of 1900, the Pentecostal movement came from England to the United States and began in Massachusetts. Soon it reached the West Coast, in the vicinity of Los Angeles. The Pentecostal movement had a great impact in the United States and was prevailing for a time. Out of that movement many groups were produced, and one of them was a group of brothers led by Brother A. B. Simpson. Although they joined the movement, in the end they saw that some matters in the Pentecostal movement were not according to the truth. For example, the Pentecostal people said that a person is not filled with the Holy Spirit until he speaks in tongues. Brother Simpson did not agree with this. The Pentecostal movement went even further to claim that if a person did not speak in tongues, he was not regenerated. The group of brothers with Simpson felt that they could no longer stay with the Pentecostal movement, so they withdrew and formed the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Of all the missionaries who came to preach in China, those from the Christian and Missionary Alliance were the best. Furthermore, today the best Christian group in Hong Kong is the Christian and Missionary Alliance; their headquarters are in New York.
Concerning the Pentecostal movement, there is much confusion among the Pentecostal groups; the most stable group is the Assembly of God, which was founded in 1915. This group is stable and proper. When we visited Brazil in 1965, we saw their work. For half a century, from 1915 to 1965, the Assembly of God had the highest rate of increase in the world. This is a brief review of the situation within the Pentecostal movement.
Regardless of its origin, by the time the Pentecostal movement reached northern China, it indeed involved evil spirits. Because of this kind of situation, Paul charged the believers in Corinth to not merely desire spiritual gifts but to earnestly desire a higher and excelling gift, that is, to prophesy. Prophesying is the most excelling gift, but not in reference to foretelling, tongue-speaking, or interpretation. Rather, prophesying excels in regard to using normal human language to speak of God, speak for God, speak forth God, and speak God into man to supply man. This is the most excelling gift.
We have read 1 Corinthians 14 for many years, but we have never been as clear as we are today. From now on, we must prophesy more in the meetings; especially the young full-time trainees must all practice to prophesy. Moreover, we need to see that the principle of the New Testament is incarnation; prophesying requires man’s cooperation. If we do not cooperate, God will have no way to speak. The Triune God has been consummated as the Spirit, and this Spirit is now within us. The Spirit who indwells our spirit desires that we speak for God; that is, the Spirit is mingled with our spirit to speak for the Lord. We may use a three-legged race as an illustration of the mingled Spirit. When I was a young boy, I liked to tie my leg to another boy’s leg, and then we would walk together with three legs. This was quite difficult because if one person was too quick, he would cause the other person to stumble, and there could never be the proper coordination. Today God and we have become one spirit. He always desires to move, yet we may not move. Likewise, if we do not speak in the meetings, God is limited. God and we are tied together; if we do not move, God will be limited, and it will be difficult for Him to do anything.
Throughout church history fundamentalists do not encourage people to speak; they want only one person to speak and everyone else to listen and to keep their mouth shut. The Pentecostal movement encourages people to shout, but in the end, their shouting brings in the spirits. Hence, Paul says that when a person prophesies, he must discern or judge (v. 29). At the time 1 Corinthians was written, it was prevalent to consult the spirits, and sometimes the spirits would speak; therefore, Paul charged the Corinthians believers to discern. According to our observation, Taiwan does not have much problem in this regard, and the situation is rather simple.
We all must practice to speak for the Lord in the meetings. For this reason, prior to the meetings, we must first pray, confess our sins, have proper fellowship with God, and allow the Holy Spirit to have the ground within us; in this way, when we come to the meetings, we will be able to cooperate with God. If we are people who truly have God and the Spirit of God within us, we will surely open our mouths and let the Spirit come out in the meetings. Not only will our spirit come out, but the Spirit of God in our spirit will also come out. Hence, the proper way is for everyone to open his mouth but not in the way of senseless shouting, such as speaking in tongues, because it is rather dangerous.
We must avoid giving tediously long prophecies; otherwise, we will occupy too much time and take away the opportunity for others to function. According to our experience, especially in the initial stage of the practice of prophesying, three to five minutes is sufficient. In Luke 1 and 2 three people prophesied. None of the three were giving a prediction. This is not to say that there was no prediction in their speaking but that principally they were prophesying. The first to prophesy was Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist; the second, was Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus; and the third, was Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist. Elizabeth’s speaking was the most simple and probably did not exceed two minutes, yet it was an excellent prophecy. Mary’s speaking was probably about two minutes in length, and Zachariah probably spoke a little longer. His speaking was probably no more than seven minutes. None of them spoke in a lengthy way; rather, they were appropriate in speaking the Lord into others.
Prophesying requires learning. First, we must learn to be skilled in God’s word. In order to be skilled in God’s word, we must be well versed in the Scriptures. Consider the speaking of Elizabeth, Mary, and Zachariah. Mary’s speaking, in particular, was made up of over thirty quotations from the Old Testament; it can be said that her speaking was entirely a composition of quotations from the Old Testament. The fact that this young woman was so familiar with the Old Testament and was able to speak according to the Scriptures is a proof that she belonged to a learned family. God’s choosing was right. He chose such a woman to give birth to the Lord Jesus. Her son James was very pious, and her other son, Jude, was well versed in the Old Testament. The Epistles they wrote contain numerous references to the Old Testament. The Epistle of James speaks of many things related to the Old Testament, and although Jude’s Epistle consists of only one short chapter, it mentions many stories from the Old Testament. This proves that the whole family was familiar with the Bible. As far as the Scripture is concerned, they were a well-read family. If we desire to learn to prophesy, we need to be well versed in the Bible.
Second, we need to have experience. The words of Elizabeth, Mary, and Zachariah all contain a considerable amount of experience. Their speaking out of their experience and their applying of God’s word produced wonderful prophecies. It is amazing that at the beginning of the New Testament, when John and the Lord Jesus were conceived but were not yet born, these three persons prophesied. They did not speak predictions nor did they speak in tongues; rather, they prophesied. Their prophesying was a cooperation between God and man; it was man speaking for God in coordination with God. It sets the New Testament principle of speaking for God in the meetings. Hence, when we prophesy in the meetings, we need to be familiar with God’s written word, include our experience, and have an instant inspiration. When we speak in such a way, it is prophesying. We need to have more practice and learning based on our seeing.
It is best if the elders in the various localities are able to serve full time. I absolutely believe that Mary, Elizabeth, and Zachariah must have all been “full-timers,” meaning that they contacted the Holy Scriptures and read God’s word all day long, without being distracted by other things. Zachariah was a priest. A priest should be well versed in the Scriptures. If he had not been familiar with the Scriptures, he would not have been qualified to be a priest. Moreover, the words spoken by Elizabeth, Zachariah’s wife, and by Mary prove that they too had spent much effort studying the Old Testament.
The elders among us have to hurry to work every day, and after a week of work they are physically exhausted. The fact that they are able to enjoy a verse or two in the Bible every morning is quite good. However, to merely enjoy two verses from the Bible in the morning cannot make them rich in the Word. If they want to have something to share in the meetings, they need to diligently memorize the books of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. They need to be so familiar with these important Epistles that when they open their mouth, they will be able to prophesy as those whose tongue is the pen of a ready writer (cf. Psa. 45:1). Understanding the Bible and having personal experiences makes prophesying an easy matter.
Perhaps some may ask, “Does this mean that all the brothers and sisters should be full-timers?” Of course, this would be best. If there were thirty thousand people on the earth doing nothing but studying the Bible every day, it would be marvelous. When this group of people would meet together, every one of them would be able to prophesy, and the effect would be immeasurable. Today all of Christianity lacks this kind of people. As a result, all of their meetings involve only one person speaking with everyone else listening. Consequently, their condition is very poor.
The district meetings are generally fresh and living and are different from the past; more saints are speaking in the meetings, and the atmosphere is more open. However, as a whole, the speaking is not rich enough, so the content of the meetings is rather poor; this is a shortcoming that requires our further study. From now on we will spend more time focusing on the ninety-six districts in Taipei; we will study these districts one by one and present the condition of each district to the saints. This may be likened to our appearing before the Lord’s judgment seat in the future. At that time the Lord will ask us what we have done since the day of our salvation. Romans 14:10 says, “We will all stand before the judgment seat of God,” and verse 12 says, “Each one of us will give an account concerning himself to God.” Moreover, in Matthew 12:36 the Lord spoke even more severely, saying, “Every idle word which men shall speak, they will render an account concerning it in the day of judgment.” God records all the words that we speak in our entire life. Today man invents equipment such as audio machines and computers to record sound and information, but God does not need to invent anything; He has already recorded what we have spoken. This is what the Bible reveals to us.
I hope that the saints will make progress in the matter of prophesying. Although we all speak in the meetings, we still need to improve. What we lack is rich content in our speaking. This can be compared to a ball game. Sometimes though every player is capable, because of the weather conditions, everyone feels spiritless on the field, and in the end they lose the game. We have at most fifty people in each district meeting. If all fifty would speak, the meetings would be marvelous. However, one of the responsible brothers may not be happy when he gets up in the morning, another brother may be upset, and many others may have their own situations. In the end, although everyone speaks, every person’s speaking was poor, and the entire meeting was flavorless.
At such times, if one of the brothers is watchful, he will be able to turn the condition of the meeting. In a basketball game, when there are only fifteen seconds left and the result has not yet been determined, the coach will ask for a time out to instruct the players, presenting them with a strategy so that they can score in the last fifteen seconds. Sometimes, because of the speaking during the time out, the team gains the final victory. It is the same with the condition of the meetings. Someone must be on the alert and speak something in spirit so that we all can learn and be encouraged.
When we older ones first began to serve in the church, we led in this way; that is, we exercised to be alert. Fifty years ago we learned to “direct the rudder” in the meeting; though the directing may have not been visible outwardly, we were absolutely in control of the rudder in a hidden way. For example, when a prayer in the meeting was off the mark, we would inwardly ask the Lord to bring the prayer back to the burden. When some saints were not functioning properly, we would ask the Lord to find someone to uplift the meeting. The Lord always answers this kind of prayer. Today in the process of changing the system, we must be on the alert while directing the rudder of the meeting. When we see that the condition of the meeting is not proper and that there are only three or five minutes remaining, we should stand up and speak a word to supply the saints. This depends on our labor in our daily life. If we speak well, we will be able to supply others. Our meetings must be like a feast to which we all gather. On the table there is food, not empty bowls and plates; however, the food may be tasteless. Nevertheless, if in the last few minutes someone would open his mouth to speak the Lord’s word, everyone will be supplied. The Lord has revealed this way to us, and if we take it, every group meeting and district meeting will be enriched. This requires that we all labor.
We must labor over the Lord’s word, grasping every opportunity to redeem the time and get into the riches in the Lord’s word. After we have prepared a ten-minute prophecy, we can practice by speaking it to people. If we do not have a person to speak to, we can speak to the wall. We need to practice unceasingly so that we can quickly learn to speak the Lord’s word in the meetings with a rich content. The sisters should not think that because they are sisters, they do not have a responsibility. Although the sisters cannot be elders, they should be prophets who prophesy for the Lord. There were many prophetesses in the Old Testament. For instance, the first one who took the lead to praise God after the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea was Miriam, a prophetess (Exo. 15:20-21). There are also prophetesses in the New Testament. According to Acts, Philip the evangelist had four daughters who prophesied (21:9); this, I believe, was due to Philip’s family being a learned family. Hence, we see that the habit of prophesying must be promoted.
Whether we are a brother or a sister, we should prepare ourselves to prophesy in the district meetings on the Lord’s Day. We should not wait until the Lord’s Day; instead, we should prepare our prophecy by Thursday. Then when we come to the meeting, we should speak it before the brothers and sisters to supply them. Preparing to prophesy in this way is worthwhile. Some may wonder if this kind of preparation involves too much human effort. However, if we consider Mary as an example, we will realize her familiarity with the Old Testament required human effort. Not every Jewish woman could have prophesied as she did; she truly was a blessed woman. We should also see that Mary did not prophesy as people had prophesied in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament when the Spirit of Jehovah fell upon someone, he was able to give a word of prophecy (Num. 24:2-9; 1 Sam. 10:6; 19:20; 2 Chron. 15:1-2). From the outset, however, Mary’s prophesying was in the principle of the New Testament, which involves the cooperation of God and man, man working in coordination with God. God needed a woman like Mary who spent much effort to study the Scriptures, was well versed in God’s word, loved the Lord inwardly, and had fellowship with the Lord. Only such ones are suitable candidates, and only such human effort coordinates with God’s work. This is what we are shown in the beginning of the New Testament.
In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul exhorts the brothers and sisters to desire earnestly to prophesy; he exhorts them to desire not only the Lord but to speak for the Lord and to speak forth the Lord. All the trainees should practice much in this matter; like the pious Mary, they need to consecrate themselves to love the Lord, study the Lord’s word, and not waste time. If we waste time doing other things, we will not be right with ourself, and even more we will not be right with our parents. Our parents have the expectation that we will not waste our time, and we should not let them down; therefore, we must also firmly grasp the time and diligently exercise in every matter. We not only need to be familiar with the Bible, but we also need to thoroughly know the outlines and footnotes of every book. If the majority of us have this kind of spirit, what is within us will be manifested outwardly when we come to the meetings. We will be able to put forth what we have when the opportunity comes. This is to have our human work cooperate with God’s work to speak forth God’s word and speak it into people so that they may be supplied. How rich such a meeting will be!
In the past, under the influence of the tradition of Christianity, our meetings became somewhat deformed and were the same as the so-called Sunday worship services. Although we used the term meeting and everyone came with their Bibles, no one was concerned about what they should do because the responsible brothers made all the arrangements. It was not the saints’ responsibility to call hymns and pray, much less to speak; their responsibility was simply to sit and listen. After over thirty years of listening, we became numb, and a tradition of not speaking became established among us. This is the reason that it is so difficult to promote prophesying today. Hence, we should all enter into and promote prophesying, speaking for the Lord. In the past, we did not have the opportunity to do this, but now we have been given the opportunity in the district meetings. Whether we are brothers or sisters, we can join a district meeting, and when the opportunity comes, we can open our mouth to speak for the Lord and speak Him into others.
After serving the Lord for more than sixty years, I have seen that the saints, whether in the East or in the West, have been greatly influenced by Christianity. We know that the Lord’s salvation enlivens man, but the practice in Christianity deadens man. Even if people are saved and enlivened through the gospel preaching of some great evangelists, they seem to become frozen once they are sent to the denominations. Although many have seen this outcome, no one has called out loudly to overturn the degraded tradition and let the saints rise up to function. Do not think that my speaking is too much. The burden within me is too heavy.
What causes my heart to ache the most is that some people have doubts concerning the new way. I must tell them to wait and see; the new way will succeed. We can be sure of this because we know that the new way is according to the Lord’s word. Matthew 5:18 says that until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota or one serif will pass away from the Lord’s word. First Corinthians 14:26 says, “Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.” Though this word is very familiar to us, it has not yet been fulfilled. Can this word be in the Bible but not be fulfilled by the time the Lord returns? Moreover, Hebrews 10:25 says, “Not abandoning our own assembling together...but exhorting one another.” Do we have any meeting in which we exhort one another? We can say that in all Christianity there is nothing like this; nevertheless, I have a deep conviction that these two verses in the Bible will be fulfilled. Even if I do not see the fulfillment and accomplishment of this word of the Lord in my lifetime, those who continue the recovery will surely see the success of the new way. The Lord will definitely fulfill this matter.
If we are wise, we should not adopt a wait-and-see attitude; rather, we should all endeavor and strive together. Even if we cannot see the success in our generation, the next generation will see it and be grateful that we who preceded them endeavored in this matter. History tells us that the reforms carried out by Martin Luther did not originate with him but were begun by a few pioneers who had brought in some reforms before him. The battle we are fighting is supported by the truth; no one can deny that. Even those with a wait-and-see attitude acknowledge that we are speaking according to the Bible; nevertheless, there is a big “but” — they are unable to keep pace with us. I hope that all the elders and co-workers among us will say Amen instead of “but.” Let us all push this “old car” together. Even if the “mountain road” is difficult, we will be able to push the car uphill if several hundred are in one accord. This is our spirit; we all should have such a spirit.
I am not being proud when I say that in the early days, I was the first one to take this way in northern China. When we first took this way, we had such a spirit, and no one was able to shake us. Some in Chefoo said that they did not need to pay attention to us because we were merely a group of youngsters leading other youngsters and that we would come to an end. However, this was not the case; the situation of the whole church changed completely within as little as one or two years.
After I came to Taiwan, some people told me that the church ground of which I spoke would never work. Later, when I came to America, some people also tried to persuade me that if I spoke about the church ground, no one would accept it. Nevertheless, I was clear inwardly that they needed to wait and see. Although some may not accept it, they do not represent the whole world. It is true that some may not want to take this way, but there are many more who desire to take it. What matters is whether or not we are speaking the truth according to the Scriptures. If some could prove that my speaking was not according to the truth or the revelation in the Bible, I would immediately kneel down to pray, confess my sins, and ask the Lord for His forgiveness and the saints’ for their forgiveness. However, if my speaking is according to the Bible, none should put a question mark on it. In particular, those brothers who are my fellow workers should not have this kind of attitude. To do so is to be wrong and unfaithful. If some are my co-workers, they should be in one accord with me; otherwise, they are not my co-workers.
From now on, all the responsible ones in the district meetings need to direct the rudder and supply the meetings; otherwise, they cannot be considered responsible ones. To be a responsible one in the district meetings means to be one who prepares a “dish” in case everyone else fails to bring their “dishes” to the meeting. It also means being one who can put out some “dessert” even if everyone else has brought something. The responsible ones need not be in a hurry to prophesy; they can save their prophecy for the end and give priority to others. In this way the district meetings will not be poor. A long message cannot supply people; everyone functioning is what supplies people.
A lengthy message may not supply people, but if in the last ten minutes of the district meeting a responsible one rises up to speak a finishing prophecy, it will be most edifying. The food we offer to people when they are hungry is the most delicious. They may be listening for forty-five minutes without receiving anything, but when a responsible one stands up to speak eight minutes, he can give them a sense of freshness and of being full of supply. I truly believe and have the assurance that this can be attained to.
Through this kind of fellowship, I hope that we are all clear and understand the direction we should take from now on. We are serving the churches; if we receive this burden, the meetings in all the churches will not be a problem. Furthermore, I hope that we can study and come together for fellowship concerning the increase or decrease in number within the ninety-six districts in the church in Taipei. In this way we can receive the light for the future progress of our meetings. We are still in the process of investigation and improvement, and we want to receive help and revelation from these words of fellowship so that the churches may reap a great benefit.
