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Scripture Reading: Acts 5:42; 1 Cor. 12:1-3, 7-10; 14:1, 3, 4b, 12, 19, 23-26, 31; 2 Cor. 4:10-14
In this chapter we will consider the way to practice the home meetings. The way to practice any meeting is to first have mutuality and, second, speaking. These two things are very useful and prevailing in practicing any meeting.
Due to the history of Christianity nearly all Christians today, including us, are not used to having mutuality in their meetings. Mostly in the so-called Christian services we see that one or two persons speak, and the rest are just the audience. This is altogether not according to the scriptural teaching.
In the New Testament there are two main categories of Christian meetings. The first one is the meeting of the ministry, the meeting of the apostles, the meeting of any gifted persons such as Peter on the day of Pentecost. The meeting on the day of Pentecost was a meeting for the ministry. This kind of meeting cannot be considered as a meeting of the church and in the church. On the other hand, when 1 Corinthians 14 speaks of the meeting, it is referring to the meeting of the church and in the church. Verse 23 says, “If therefore the whole church comes together.” This is the meeting of the church and in the church. When we speak of the home meetings, we are surely referring to the meetings in the church and the meetings of the church.
In the preaching or teaching of the meeting of the ministry, there is not much mutuality and not much speaking one to another. But according to 1 Corinthians 14, in the church meetings there is the basic need, the basic factor, of mutuality. First Corinthians 14:23 says, “If therefore the whole church comes together.” Then verse 26 says that in this kind of meeting “each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.” This shows us that the meeting of the church and in the church depends upon mutuality. There is always the feeling of one to another.
We must keep it well in mind that the home meetings surely are not meetings of any ministry. The home meetings are absolutely the meetings of the church and in the church. They depend one hundred percent upon mutuality. If there is no mutuality, there is no home meeting. To have a home meeting without mutuality causes that home meeting to lose its nature; it would not be a home meeting of the church. It might still be a home meeting but only of a small ministry where one speaks while all the rest listen. A speaker would be there with a small audience, but there would be no mutuality. First Corinthians 14 is the unique chapter in Paul’s writings that teaches us something about the church meetings. In this unique chapter there is the basic factor of mutuality.
The second factor needed for the church meetings is speaking. If nobody speaks, that kills the church meeting. The lack of speaking kills the church meeting. The church meeting depends upon mutuality and speaking. The Scripture references for this message provide a base to fellowship concerning these two factors.
Acts 5:42 says, “Every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and announcing the gospel of Jesus as the Christ.” This took place at the very beginning of the church life, following the day of Pentecost. After the thousands of new believers were saved, they met in the temple. The meeting in the temple was for the ministry, for Peter and John to minister, to speak, to preach, and to teach. Then verse 42 goes on to say that they met from house to house, in every house. What did they do there? They met to teach and to preach. No doubt they were teaching Christ, teaching the things concerning Christ. On the day of Pentecost after Peter’s preaching, three thousand were saved and right away began to meet. Surely they did not talk about the Jewish religion. They surely talked about what they had heard in Peter’s one message. They taught and they preached. They preached Jesus Christ as the glad tidings. In their meetings these two things were done; both involve speaking. To teach is to speak, and to preach is also to speak.
First Corinthians 12:1 says, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.” Paul was very wise, and he was a great teacher in a particular and profound way. When he touched the matter of spiritual gifts, he began in this way. In our version the word gifts is in italics. This indicates that this word is not in the Greek text. Paul only used the adjective form of pneuma, spiritual. This expression has bothered all the translators, but nearly all agree to fill in this word gifts.
Verse 2 continues, “You know that when you were Gentiles, you were always being led away to dumb idols, whenever and however you were led.” Paul is saying, “When you were Gentiles, you had a kind of service. You had a kind of worship, and that was to idols. All the idols are dumb. This means that you Gentile people did not worship a speaking God. You worshipped idols who do not speak, dumb idols. Therefore you also became dumb. But when you worship the living God who is speaking, by this worship you will be made to speak.” And this speaking is what Paul refers to by the word spiritual in verse 1. Although it is not wrong to insert the word gifts in verse 1, we have to study why Paul wrote only “spiritual.” He is not only talking about spiritual gifts. When we touch or when we exercise the spiritual gifts, we touch a spiritual realm, we touch spiritual things, not only the gifts. We touch an entire situation that is pneumatic, an entire situation that is spiritual. Not only the gifts but also the situation, the environment, the atmosphere, the sphere, the realm, the items, and the contents are spiritual. I believe that Paul used the word spiritual to indicate all these things. Whenever we touch or exercise spiritual gifts, a kind of environment, situation, or atmosphere is involved. The environment, the situation, the atmosphere, and even the persons should all be spiritual. We must be spiritual persons to exercise spiritual gifts. The environment should be spiritual, the atmosphere should be spiritual, the situation should be spiritual, what we speak should be spiritual, the speaker should be spiritual, and even our wording, utterances, and expressions all should be spiritual. Verses 2 and 3 show why this is so. When we were Gentiles, we worshipped the dumb idols. Nothing there was involved in the spiritual realm. There was no need of any spiritual environment, spiritual situation, spiritual atmosphere, spiritual person, spiritual words, spiritual elements, or spiritual items. We did not need anything spiritual because there was no speaking.
Because I was born into a Christian home, I do not believe that I had ever gone to an idol temple more than ten times. However, in 1935 a number of co-workers stayed on a scenic lake for two weeks, resting and studying the Word. While we were there, I visited the temples of the idols. At that time I saw that the worship of the idols was entirely dumb. From that day I understood Paul’s word. In that kind of dumb worship there was no need of anything spiritual. But today we, the Christians, worship a living God who is speaking all the time. Our worship to Him surely makes us speakers. Those dumb worshippers do not have a Bible because their god is not the speaking God. But we have a thick volume of sixty-six books. There are so many pages because our God is the speaking God. Hebrews 1:1-3 says that our God speaks. He has spoken in the Old Testament, and now He is speaking in the New Testament. He is the speaking God, so we Christians have to speak. If you are just a dumb worshipper, you do not look like a Christian. You do not practice as a Christian; you practice as a dumb worshipper, worshipping the dumb idols.
First Corinthians 12:2 and 3 say, “You know that when you were Gentiles, you were always being led away to dumb idols, whenever and however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking in the Spirit of God says, Jesus is accursed; and no one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.” Apparently the composition of these two verses is not logical, but if you get into the spiritual fact, Paul is more than logical. In verse 2 he says that to worship the idols makes you dumb. But when you come to God, God makes you speak. Then you speak, and the principle is that whenever you speak “Lord Jesus,” you are in the Spirit. Time after time I saw some seeking Christians crying to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, I love You, Lord, but I feel empty. I have to be filled with Your Spirit.” Right after such a one prayed, some would come asking, “Have you received the Spirit?” Most of the ones answered, “No, I don’t feel so.” What would you say? The reason you would say no is that you do not feel that you have received the Spirit. But after reading verse 3, what would you say? You have cried, “Lord Jesus, I love You!” Have you received the Spirit? Yes! How do you know? “For the Bible tells me so.” Do not say, “Because I feel so.” I tell you, feeling is just like the weather. It comes, it goes, it fluctuates. It is like the air, the clouds, and the fog. It comes and it goes. Do not trust in your feeling. You must trust in the Word. “No one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.” Can you say, “Lord Jesus”? Try to say it from the depths of your being. “Lord Jesus!” Have you received the Spirit? “Yes, I have.” How do you know? “The Bible tells me so.” Where does it tell you? First Corinthians 12:3.
For the practice of the home meetings, we must learn to say, “Lord Jesus.” Some brothers have advised me, “The strangers, the new ones, are not used to our way. When they come in and hear someone say, ‘Lord Jesus,’ this will scare them away.” If we all would say “Lord Jesus” from our spirit, the strangers may not agree with what we say, yet after hearing it, something will be impressed into them. They may go away, but they will go away with a certain impression. If you do not say, “Lord Jesus,” but instead you are so polite, so cultured, and so nice, the strangers would not be scared away. They would stay, yet they stay with an impression that is altogether meaningless. What they would say is, “Well, the meeting in that home is very polite, very nice, and all those people are so cultured.” It would be better to have a meeting calling, “O Lord Jesus!” and scare people away with an impression of something. They would say, “I don’t understand what that was, yet they had something there. Their speaking did something to me.”
Now from verse 3 we go to verse 7: “To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for what is profitable.” In what way is the manifestation of the Spirit given? “To one through the Spirit a word of wisdom is given” (v. 8). The number one manifestation of the Spirit is in the word of wisdom, not in miracles, not in healings, nor in tongue-speaking. The first manifestation is the word of wisdom, then, “to another a word of knowledge.” The first manifestation is the word of wisdom and the second is the word of knowledge. This should impress us that in our home meetings we should be full of the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge. In the meetings the word of wisdom is on the top, and the word of knowledge is not as high. Wisdom is mostly related to our spirit, and knowledge is related to our mind. Wisdom comes from our spirit, where the Holy Spirit dwells. Knowledge mostly comes from the mind, where our thought is. But do not despise the word of knowledge. These are the two top manifestations of the Spirit in the Christian meetings.
Verse 9 says, “To a different one faith in the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing in the one Spirit.” The faith here is the kind of faith that can remove mountains. Verse 10 continues, “And to another operations of works of power.” These are surely miracles. Three things are mentioned: faith to remove mountains, healing of diseases, and operations of works of power. Then it says, “And to another prophecy.” To prophesy is also to speak. The word of wisdom is for speaking, the word of knowledge is for speaking, and prophecy is for speaking. Following this it says, “To another discerning of spirits.” This is to discern what spirit is of God and what spirit is not of God. Then it says, “To a different one various kinds of tongues.” We know that all tongues are for speaking. It continues, “And to another interpretation of tongues.” Interpretation of tongues is also for speaking. These are nine items of the manifestation of the Spirit. Five are for speaking: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, prophecy, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. These five are all for speaking. Then you have faith to remove some obstacles, the healing of diseases, the operations of the works of power, and the discerning of spirits.
Then 1 Corinthians 14:26 says, “What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation.” A psalm is not only for singing. Ephesians 5 tells us to speak to one another in psalms and hymns. Psalms are not only for singing but also for speaking. Teachings surely are for speaking, and revelation is a kind of speaking. First Corinthians 14:26 continues, “Has a tongue, has an interpretation.” These are all for speaking. A psalm is for speaking and singing. A teaching is for speaking. A revelation is for speaking. A tongue is for speaking. An interpretation of a tongue is for speaking. All of the five items that are mentioned in relation to the Christian meetings are for speaking.
We have to study the word in the Lord’s divine revelation very, very carefully. In chapter 12, when Paul talks about the manifestation of the Spirit, he talks about nine items. Of the nine, four are miraculous things: faith, healing, miracles, and discerning of spirits. Five are for speaking: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, prophecy, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Then when he talks about the meetings in chapter 14, he does not say a word concerning healing or concerning miracles. Instead, everything he says concerns speaking. You have to psalm. That means you have to speak or you have to sing. You need to voice it. Then you need to teach by speaking. You need to give a revelation by speaking. You need to speak a tongue and interpret the tongue by speaking. It is all by speaking.
Then what are we to speak? Concerning all these kinds of speakings, Paul says in 14:1, “Pursue love, and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” The word prophesy, both in Hebrew and in Greek, in both the Old and New Testaments, denotes three things. First, to prophesy is to speak for God, to tell people something for God. Second, it is to speak forth God, to tell something forth concerning God. Third, it is to foretell, to tell beforehand, that something will happen. The third denotation is a matter of prediction. Today many Christians understand this word prophesy only to mean “predict” or “foretell.” But if you read 1 Corinthians 14, you can understand that the word prophesy in this chapter does not refer mainly to foretelling but rather to speaking forth Christ and to speaking for Christ. To prophesy in this chapter is just to speak forth the things concerning God and to speak for God, or you may say, to speak forth the things concerning Christ and to speak for Christ. Then verse 3 says, “He who prophesies speaks building up and encouragement and consolation to men.” This is surely not a prediction but rather a kind of speaking in the word of wisdom or in the word of knowledge to build others up and to encourage, comfort, and console others.
Then verse 4 says, “He who prophesies builds up the church.” To speak forth Christ and to speak for Christ builds up the church. Verses 23 through 26 say, “If therefore the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak in tongues, and some unlearned in tongues or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are insane? But if all prophesy and some unbeliever or unlearned person enters, he is convicted by all, he is examined by all; the secrets of his heart become manifest; and so falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that indeed God is among you. What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.” Each one has! You have a psalm. I have a teaching. He has a revelation. Another has a tongue. And a fifth one has an interpretation. This is mutuality. A basketball team has five players. However, if one player keeps the ball to himself and never lets it go, that is not mutuality but rather individuality. The principle is the same in the meetings. We must practice mutuality. If during a meeting only one person speaks the entire time, everyone will leave feeling poor. But if everyone speaks mutually, the meeting will be very much enriched.
The word tongue in verse 26 means a real tongue that can be interpreted. The tongue must be a dialect that bears a certain meaning that can be translated. In Acts 2:6 we can see that tongue-speaking was the speaking of a dialect. All the hearers were amazed that they could hear in their own language: “We hear them speaking in our tongues the magnificent works of God” (v. 11). First Corinthians 12 and 14 are also portions in the New Testament that talk about tongue-speaking. In this portion Paul says that if one speaks in tongues in the meeting, there must also be an interpretation: “If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two, or at the most three, and in turn, and one should interpret; but if there is no interpreter, he should be silent in the church, and speak to himself and to God” (vv. 27-28). These verses show that any tongue spoken in a meeting must be a distinct dialect.
Once I was invited to speak to a Pentecostal group. I stayed with them for quite a few days. While I was there, I observed a speaking in tongues and an interpretation of it; however, the interpretation was several times longer than the speaking in tongues. Even the pastor admitted that this was not genuine. Later, I observed one person repeating the same tongue-speaking on three occasions, yet each interpretation was greatly different. This kind of tongue-speaking is altogether false. When we speak of tongues, we refer to the genuine tongues, not just a sound produced with the tongue but syllables that are meaningful that can compose a language. This is a genuine tongue. This is what the Bible reveals.
In 1 Corinthians 12 nine different items are mentioned as the manifestation of the Spirit. The first is the word of wisdom and the second is the word of knowledge, but the last two are tongue-speaking and interpretation of tongues. Then in 1 Corinthians 14:26 there are five things related to the meetings; there is firstly a psalm for speaking and singing, then a teaching for speaking, then a revelation for speaking. These are the first three. Then the last two are tongues and interpretation. In Paul’s writings, tongues and their interpretation are at the tail of every list, but today’s practice makes the tail the head. In the Pentecostal movement they make tongues not only the head but nearly everything. The most important thing in a Christian meeting is not tongue-speaking; it is the speaking of the word of wisdom, the speaking of the word of knowledge, the speaking of a teaching, and the speaking of a revelation that can reveal something, that can instruct people, and that can build up the saints and the church.
For the home meetings we need mutuality and speaking for the building up. But many of you will say, “Brother Lee, we just don’t have the gift of speaking. Thank the Lord that He has given you such a gift that you can speak for many hours at a time. But I cannot do this. I am not so gifted. I do not have the speaking gift.” Due to our feeling that we are unable to speak in the meetings, we need to consider 2 Corinthians 4:10-14. In these verses Paul speaks about Christ’s death and His resurrection in a subjective way, in a way that identifies us with Christ’s death and resurrection. Verses 10 through 12 say, “Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who are alive are always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death operates in us, but life in you.” How could Paul speak in this way? In verse 13 he gives us the secret: “And having the same spirit of faith.” What is the “spirit of faith”? Alford in his New Testament for English Readers states that the spirit of faith is “not distinctly the Holy Spirit, — but still not merely a human disposition: the indwelling Holy Spirit penetrates and characterizes the whole renewed man.” Vincent in his Word Studies in the New Testament says, “Spirit of faith: not distinctly the Holy Spirit, nor, on the other hand, a human faculty or disposition, but blending both.” The spirit of faith is the mingling of the Holy Spirit with our human spirit. We must exercise such a spirit to believe and to speak the things we have experienced of the Lord, especially His death and resurrection. Faith is in our spirit, which is mingled with the Holy Spirit, not in our mind. Doubts are in our mind. The “spirit” in verse 13 indicates that it is by the mingled spirit that the apostles live a crucified life in resurrection for carrying out their ministry. This spirit of faith was Paul’s secret.
Verse 13 continues, “And having the same spirit of faith according to that which is written, ‘I believed, therefore I spoke,’ we also believe, therefore we also speak.” Do not believe your feelings. Do not believe your habit. We have to exercise our spirit to believe that we have experienced something of the Lord. Have we not experienced the death of Christ? Have we not experienced the resurrection of Christ? We have! Now we need to exercise our spirit to speak. First, we must exercise our spirit to believe what we have experienced; then we must exercise our spirit to speak what we believe. We all need to speak in this way.
Perhaps one would say, “Well, you know that I am just a sister. I don’t know if I have something to speak about. Maybe I don’t.” This is a lie from the usurping enemy. The enemy has been usurping us, the Christians, for years. He has made us all dumb. We have gone for years without speaking in the meetings. Now is the time for us to revolt, to stand up and declare to the enemy, “Get away from me, Satan. I don’t believe that. I am not dumb. I am not serving a dumb idol. I am worshipping a speaking God, and He is speaking within me. His speaking Spirit is mingled with my spirit. Now I can exercise my spirit to believe that I have experienced Christ. I have experienced something of Christ. I have experienced Him in His resurrection as my patience, as my endurance. I have experienced Him as life. Christ is my life. I have experienced this, so I exercise my spirit to believe in this and to speak what I have experienced.” This is the secret of speaking.
In the following chapters I will tell you how to get the terminology, terms, expressions, phrases, utterances, and even sentences for your speaking. But in this chapter we have to pick up the matter of the mutuality as the factor in our meetings for speaking. The secret is to believe that we have experienced something of Christ. Then we have to exercise our spirit to speak what we believe. This speaking will build up the saints and the church. When we speak, we speak by exercising our spirit. We exercise our spirit to believe what we have experienced of Christ and to utter what we believe. Try to practice this.
