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Scripture Reading: Matt. 28:20; Acts 2:42; 5:42; 2 Tim. 3:7; 1 Tim. 2:4; Col. 3:16; Heb. 5:13-14; 2 Tim. 2:2
At present, the most important thing for the church is what Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 14:4: “He who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but he who prophesies builds up the church.” For the building up of the church, the most necessary thing is prophesying. To prophesy is to speak for the Lord and to speak forth the Lord. Although our testimonies in all the districts of the churches may be good, the content of the meetings is not rich enough. The content of the meetings is not rich because the speaking is not rich. If the speaking is rich in the church meetings, especially in the district meetings, the content of the meetings will also be rich.
Our problem today is related to our speaking; the proper speaking is not an ordinary speaking. In every district everyone is now exercising to speak, either to give a testimony or to prophesy. They are trying their best to exercise to speak a short word. This is good. Some speak with the help of a “cane,” using Truth Lessons, Life Lessons, or the Life-studies, all of which are helpful. However, the speaking is not rich enough. Hence, although all the brothers and sisters speak in the meetings, some speak on one topic, and others speak on another topic; at the end there is the need for a responsible brother to “tie a knot,” that is, to release a rich word to conclude the meeting. This is very necessary.
There are different ways to tie a knot; just as it is not simple to tie a knot, it is also not simple to conclude a meeting. Fifty years ago in mainland China, the suitcases and handbags that we carried on long trips were not as convenient and stylish as they now are. Today everything is so convenient. The luggage and suitcases that we carry on the plane from the United States to Taiwan vary in size and style and are all well equipped and elegant looking. However, when we traveled for a long distance fifty years ago, we had to tie a knot around each piece of the old-fashioned suitcase or bag in order to secure them. Sometimes the knot was not tight enough and became loose in the middle of the journey; sometimes, because of hastiness, the knot became tangled and was difficult to untie. Hence, a great deal of consideration is needed in regard to properly tying a knot.
With regard to our meetings, there is the need to tie a knot at the end, that is, to conclude in a proper way; however, this requires much consideration as to who should tie the knot and how to tie it. Not everyone can conclude a meeting, and not every conclusion is satisfying, supplying, and edifying. Hence, through careful study we have realized that in order to meet the long-term need related to the district meetings and group meetings, the concluding word of each meeting must have content. The content depends upon the speaking, not the testimonies. The Lord’s word is what edifies and nurtures people the most. While testimonies may be helpful to the saints, they do not adequately nurture the saints, because they do not contain much of the Lord’s word. The concluding word must have the truth as its basis; such a word imparts truth into the saints so that they feel solid within. Without the Lord’s word the meeting is not solid; with the Lord’s word it becomes solid and secure.
It is not easy to speak the Lord’s word in a meeting. Fifty years ago Brother Nee saw the light and realized that the big meeting on the Lord’s Day morning, in which one person speaks and everyone else listens, is not proper and that having such a meeting is to follow the customs of the nations. However, at that time he clearly said we should not stop this kind of meeting, because we were not able to find an adequate substitute for it. If the meeting in which one person speaks and the rest listen had been stopped, we would not have known how to meet. At that time he pointed out that in order for us to have the kind of meeting described in 1 Corinthians 14:26, we would need to experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Once the Holy Spirit was poured out, psalms, teachings, revelations, and even tongues would come. Our change in system in these past few years is based upon our repeated study and exercise to practice 1 Corinthians 14:26. Eventually, we have been able to change the format of the meetings from having one person speak and everyone else listen to having a meeting in which everyone speaks and listens, that is, to a meeting full of mutuality.
When we delved into 1 Corinthians 14, the Lord revealed several crucial points. First, in verse 1 Paul says, “Pursue love, and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” If a saint can prophesy only when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon him, there is no need for him to desire earnestly to prophesy. To desire earnestly implies learning. Second, to prophesy is not to speak in tongues. Speaking in tongues does not require much learning. Speaking in tongues usually occurs while someone is praying, and the Holy Spirit suddenly descends upon him, causing him to speak in tongues. Hence, it is a miraculous speaking. Prophesying is different. It is to speak forth God with ordinary words. This cannot be acquired merely by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; rather, it depends upon the daily learning of the speaking one.
Luke 1 contains the prophecies of Elizabeth, Mary, and Zachariah. As we ponder over their prophecies, we can see that without a foundation of God’s word in their daily lives, it would have been difficult for them to prophesy with words matching the standard they displayed. Mary must have been especially familiar with the Old Testament because her prophesy quotes from the Old Testament extensively. In 1 Corinthians 14:26 Paul also points out the way in which all can prophesy. He says, “Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation.” This does not mean that whenever we come together, we will spontaneously have something. That would be impossible. Even if someone has a hymn, he still needs to be familiar with the numbering and the content of the hymnal; he also needs to have a deeper learning and knowledge regarding the hymns in order to be able to call a proper hymn in the meeting.
In 1 Corinthians 14:12 Paul says, “Seek that you may excel for the building up of the church.” If we desire and seek to excel, we must learn. The Corinthians liked to speak in tongues, which does not require learning. However, if someone wants to prophesy, he needs to study and know the Bible. In this verse Paul indicates that speaking in tongues does not excel but is relatively inferior. In other words, although a person may have the gift of tongues, it is not an excelling gift, whereas to have the gift of prophesying is excelling. This truly indicates that prophesying includes learning. At the end of chapter 14, Paul says again, “So then, my brothers, desire earnestly the prophesying” (v. 39). I hope that we would all earnestly desire to prophesy.
In regard to learning the truth for prophesying, we need to pay attention to several matters.
First, in Matthew 28:20 the Lord personally charged His disciples saying, “[Teach] them to observe all that I have commanded you.” This clearly says that we need to teach the believers all that the Lord commanded. When there is teaching, there is the need to learn. If someone is teaching but no one is learning, the teaching is useless. Moreover, concerning observing, not only we ourselves should observe; we should also teach others to observe.
Second, the believers need to continue steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles. Immediately after Pentecost in Acts 2, the condition of the saved ones was that of continuing “steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles” (v. 42). The teaching of the apostles is the teaching concerning the Lord Jesus, and it is the teaching the Lord commanded the disciples to observe in Matthew 28:20. On the day of Pentecost Peter, James, and John observed the Lord’s word and taught others concerning what the Lord had commanded them. Their teaching became the apostles’ teaching.
Third, apostles need to teach unceasingly in big meetings and in home meetings. In Acts 5:42 we see that the apostles taught wherever they were, whether in the temple or in the homes, and they “did not cease teaching.”
Fourth, the believers need to always learn and to come to the full knowledge of the truth. Second Timothy 3:7 says that there are people who though always learning are never able to come to the full knowledge of the truth. To come to the full knowledge of the truth requires our learning; our learning should enable us to know the truth. First Timothy 2:4 says that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.” Here full knowledge means an adequate knowledge. The truth requires our learning; it is insufficient to have only inspiration. While inspiration can touch one’s spirit, it does not help one’s mind. Only when one’s mind is exercised continuously can he know the truth, the reality.
Fifth, we need to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16). How can we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly? If we read the Bible merely in a routine way, the Lord’s word will not be able to dwell in us. We need to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom and by means of all wisdom. This indicates that by means of all wisdom we need to exercise our mind, to exercise our ability to comprehend, to read, to listen, to write, and to learn, as well as to exercise other means so that the Lord’s word may enter into us.
If we want to speak in the meetings and exercise the gift of prophesying, we need to have a certain amount of learning. Without learning, it will be difficult for us to prophesy well. Fifty years ago we thought that a person would be able to speak whenever there was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is true in regard to speaking in tongues and foretelling, but it is not true in regard to prophesying. Because of this, some Bible translators in the past translated prophesying as “speaking the word as a prophet.” In order to speak the word, a person must learn the word; without learning the word, a person has no way to speak the word. Likewise, a person cannot prophesy simply by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; rather, a prophecy results from an inspiration that is joined to the Bible as its base, that is, to a person’s knowledge of the Bible that he already has within him. Prophesying is carried out in the principle of incarnation, the principle that God and man cooperate together; a man can speak for God and speak forth God only according to this principle.
Sixth, we need to be experienced in the Lord’s word through exercise and practice (Heb. 5:13-14). Hebrews 5:14 says, “Who because of practice have their faculties exercised for discriminating between both good and evil.” Here faculties can mean “senses,” implying the powers of perception. Our faculties can become experienced by our exercise and practice. Hence, when we study the Lord’s word, we need to exercise our mind, apprehension, memory, and understanding; if we are willing to exercise properly, we will become experienced. As long as some people have the Bible in their hands, they can skillfully link Hebrews to Matthew and then link Matthew to Romans. Sometimes they may even be able to link these books to the Old Testament. A person can do this if he is experienced in using the Bible, whereas this is extremely difficult for one who has just begun to study the Bible. Therefore, if we want to be prophets in the word of God, we must have a foundation in the words of the Bible.
Seventh, those who are learned in the Lord’s word need to commit what they have learned to those who will be competent to teach others also. Second Timothy 2:2 says, “The things which you have heard from me through many witnesses, these commit to faithful men, who will be competent to teach others also.” If a person knows the Lord’s word and also knows that a certain brother is a faithful one, he should teach that brother; moreover, the purpose of his teaching that brother is so that the brother would teach others also. However, if a brother does not learn what he has been taught, it will be difficult for him to teach others. We need to learn whatever we are taught; then after we learn, we can teach others. In short, if we want to learn to prophesy in the church, we need to labor on the Lord’s word and learn how to speak for God and speak forth God. No one can teach others without first learning himself. Hence, we all need to endeavor to learn to prophesy and then teach others to prophesy.
Through the study of the new way in the recent years and through the revelation the Lord has shown us, we have seen that prophesying is the most important practice for the building up of the church. Hence, we are considering before God how to train the elders in regard to leading and speaking so that all the elders may be apt to teach. If we were able to train one thousand elders to be apt to teach, it would be an easy task to gospelize the whole island of Taiwan. If these one thousand elders were sent to five hundred places, I believe that five hundred churches would be raised up within a year. We truly hope to be able to carry this out. However, not only the elders need to learn but all the saints in the church life also need to be serious learners.
The secret to being an elder lies in being able to lead the church and in being one who is apt to teach. If an elder has learned these two items, it will be easy for him to administrate the church. Thus, an elder who means business will realize that it is not easy to be an elder because it is not the same as being a civil servant who works from nine to five and only takes care of his assigned duties. In contrast, it is easy to be a nominal elder, one who sleeps peacefully every night and cares for nothing. It does not matter to him whether the singing is proper, whether the saints understand the Scriptures, whether there is a supply in the meeting, or whether the condition of the saints is good. To be this kind of elder is easy and comfortable.
Nevertheless, this kind of elder will make the saints suffer and cause them to murmur. When the church has problems, such an elder cannot handle them. When the saints have troubles, such an elder cannot bear the burdens. He will not only cause the church to suffer but also stir up murmurings. Eventually, such a brother may say that he does not want to be an elder any longer. Therefore, the most difficult thing in the church life is for the elders to lead the meetings and be apt to teach.
It would be wonderful if all the elders from the more than one hundred churches in Taiwan were able to pass through a two-month training in which they could learn how to lead the churches. First Timothy 3:2 uses the words apt to teach and 5:17 speaks of taking the lead well. If all the elders learn to be apt to teach and to take the lead well, the church will flourish. Concerning these two matters, taking the lead well is not as difficult as being apt to teach. Experience tells us that it is somewhat easy to serve and to lead people, but it often takes great effort to teach others. For instance, if we want to teach a person mathematics, we must first learn mathematics; if we want to teach someone how to use a computer, we must first have some knowledge of computers. In the same principle, in order to teach others to be prophets, to speak for God, we must first labor on the Lord’s word. I hope that all the young people, including the sisters, will receive this word, be trained, pursue the Lord, love the Lord, give themselves to the Lord, and most importantly, enter into the Lord’s word and be able to speak the Lord’s word. We all need to learn how to speak the Lord into people by speaking His word.
Concerning speaking, every elder must speak in the meetings. No one can escape this. At the very least, the elders need to give announcements in the meetings; thus, it is necessary for them to learn to speak in the meetings. This kind of speaking is different from speaking at home or conversing with people. When we speak in the meetings, we need to raise our voice and speak loudly so that others can hear us. Sometimes in the meetings people speak in a low and soft voice. This causes people to suffer; this kind of voice is a burden to the ears. Not only should we prophesy loudly in the big meetings, but we should also lift up our voice and speak loudly even in a small gathering of eight to ten people. This means that our throat must be clear and our voice strong. We should not speak softly; rather, we should lift up our voice and speak with certainty and assurance.
Another point concerning speaking is that our spirit must be released. Generally speaking, when people are angry, they cannot release their anger unless they shout. The louder they shout, the more they let their anger out. When we release our spirit, we also need to lift up our voice and speak loudly. Just as people need to release their anger by raising their voice when they are angry, we also need to raise our voice when we exercise our spirit. In this way people can hear us. This is what we must learn and practice. Seminary students are required to take a class concerning methods of preaching, which teaches them how to preach. This class teaches them to pay attention to their voice and tone while preaching. When I was younger, I realized the importance of these points, so I purposely used to go to the seashore where there was no one else. There I would practice speaking, especially paying attention to my voice and tone. At times, I also stood in front of a mirror and paid attention to my gestures while speaking. All these exercises related to speaking are helpful.
Since the elders are in the position of elders, they should carry out the duties relevant to their position. In other words, since they are elders, they must speak, and they must speak in a way that people can understand. Now that we know the importance and necessity of speaking, we should all the more encourage the saints to learn and to exercise. This will be a great help to our meetings. The result of our exercise over the span of a few months and years will have a great impact on the building up of the church. Moreover, there is one point that we need to pay attention to; that is, while we usually compose with a pen, we must now compose with our mouth. Thus, we must begin to exercise and learn to speak well. Whether a written composition or a speech is considered good or bad depends very much upon how it begins. Like a basketball or soccer game, if there is a bad start, it is difficult to continue in a good way. Hence, the beginning is extremely important. If there is a good beginning, whatever follows will be easy. This is a principle.
Therefore, when we are going to give a message or prophecy, we need to carefully consider the beginning word or sentence; we should never consider this casually. Some people speak casually, so their words have no impact. The renowned preacher C. H. Spurgeon once spoke of a person whose heart had grown feet. This utterance captured everyone’s attention, causing them to desire to know how a person’s heart could grow feet and what Spurgeon was actually referring to. Spurgeon spoke this in reference to not loving the world. A heart that has feet is able to run after many things. Hence, a person whose heart has feet is one whose heart has been attracted to the things of the world and who has begun to love and pursue after these worldly things. This kind of eloquence in speaking leaves people with a deep impression that is difficult for them to forget.
Many of Spurgeon’s sermons are full of good utterances. When speaking of forgiving others, he used an illustration of people burying a dead dog but leaving the tail above the ground. Although the dog is gone, there is still a reminder. This often is our experience. We may tell people that a certain brother once seriously offended us but that we have forgiven him. This is to bury a dead dog but not bury its tail. Although we may have forgiven the brother, we still frequently mention the matter to others. This is not genuine forgiveness. Although Spurgeon’s example was small, it left people with a lasting impression. In this regard, we not only need to learn to speak in the meetings, but we also need to consider and exercise in every aspect of our speaking so that our words may be effective.
