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When we consider the matter of meetings, it is very difficult to depart from the book of 1 Corinthians. Just in this one book meeting together is mentioned at least eight times. Verse 4 of chapter 5 speaks about coming together; chapter 11 refers five times (vv. 17-18, 20, 33-34) to coming together, or meeting together; and chapter 14 mentions this matter twice (vv. 23, 26). First Corinthians is not just a book which deals with gifts but a book which deals with meetings. In fact, if you read the context of this book, you will see that the apostle Paul deals with gifts just because he is dealing with the meetings. Gifts are not the main point; the meetings are. The gifts are for the meetings.
Now I would ask you to look at some verses from this book so that you might obtain a proper understanding of the overall thought and intention of the author. Let us start with 2:2: The apostle Paul said that when he came to the Corinthians, he “did not determine to know anything...except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified.” Then in verse 4 he said, “My speech and my proclamation were not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” Suppose a philosopher with a Ph.D. degree was speaking among us here. Immediately you could sense the mind of this man coming forth. But suppose that we had the apostle Paul here with us. I do believe you would sense that his spirit was so strong. The more he would speak, the more the Spirit would come forth from his spirit. His speech would be a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. The apostle’s speech and preaching were not from his mind with words of speculation but from his spirit with the release and exhibition of the Spirit and, hence, of power.
Now let us look at 4:21: “What do you want? Should I come to you with a rod or in love and a spirit of meekness?” The apostle Paul did not ask, “Should I come to you in love and a clear mind?” No, but “in love and a spirit of meekness.” We must realize that the apostle undoubtedly was one who was always in the spirit — I do not mean in the Holy Spirit, but in his regenerated human spirit.
Now let us go on to chapter 5. Have you ever been impressed with verses 3 and 4 of this chapter? These verses reveal to us how much the apostle Paul was in the spirit. “I, on my part, though being absent in the body but present in the spirit, have already judged, as if being present, him who has thus done this, in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you and my spirit have been assembled, with the power of our Lord Jesus.” It is quite interesting: when Paul was away, he still attended the meeting at Corinth. How? His spirit was there. Look at verses 4 and 5: “When you and my spirit have been assembled, with the power of our Lord Jesus, to deliver such a one to Satan.” You see, while Paul was away, while he was absent from them, he did two things: (1) he attended their meeting, and (2) he delivered to Satan the sinful one, whom the church would not deliver. Paul did these two things in his spirit. He did not say, “Brothers, you must realize that I am so concerned for you. I remember you all the time before the throne of God.” No, he said that when they came together, he was with them, in his spirit. He said, when you come together, my spirit comes with you, and at that time I do something which you would not do. He must have been so strong in his spirit.
Now let us go on to chapter 7. I am so happy that we have such a chapter as this in the Bible. Let us firstly read verse 10: “To the married I charge, not I but the Lord.” What does this mean? Is this the apostle Paul commanding, or is it the Lord? The meaning is this: when I command, the Lord commands with me; the Lord commands in my commanding. Do you think that if Paul commanded by the exercise of his mind or emotion he could say, “Not I but the Lord”? It must be that he commanded in the spirit. “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit” (6:17). He was one with the Lord in his spirit; so when he commanded in his spirit, he could say, “Not I but the Lord.” When I command in my spirit, the Lord commands with me, for I am one spirit with the Lord.
Now let us read 7:12: “To the rest I say, I, not the Lord.” If I were there, I would say, “Brother Paul, if it is not the Lord who is speaking, you should not speak.” But Paul said clearly and definitely, “I say, I, not the Lord.” Would you dare to say this? Would you dare to say, “I am going to speak something to you, not the Lord.” Paul makes it clear that the word he is about to speak is not spoken by the Lord, but by himself. But I would ask you, do you take the word which he goes on to speak as of Paul or as of the Lord? I believe you take that word as of the Lord, and I do too.
Let us go on to verse 25. “Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my opinion.” Paul had no commandment of the Lord, yet he gave his opinion “as one who has been shown mercy by the Lord to be faithful.” He was saying in effect, “I do not have the commandment of the Lord, but I have an opinion as one who has been shown mercy by the Lord to be faithful. So within my opinion, there must be something of the Lord’s opinion. I have no commandment from the Lord, but I am one with the Lord; so whatever my opinion is must be the Lord’s opinion too.” If this one chapter was not in the Bible, and what we are saying here was something of our speaking, all Christianity would rise up and accuse us of heresy. They would say, “If you do not have the commandment of the Lord, you must wait till you have the inspiration.” This is the way of today’s Christianity. But here is a man who tells us clearly that he does not have the commandment of the Lord, yet he speaks. What kind of teaching is this?
Let us go on now to verse 40: “She is more blessed if she so remains, according to my opinion; but I think that I also have the Spirit of God.” This means that Paul not only had an opinion, but he also had the Spirit of God. But notice that he said, “I think that I also have the Spirit of God.” He did not say that he was certain he had the Spirit of God. If the apostle Paul were here, I would check with him: “Paul, tell me, do you have the Spirit of God or not?” The apostle Paul did prophesy in this chapter, and at the end of this long prophecy of forty verses, he says, “This is my opinion, and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.” Sometimes I would like to hear a brother in the meeting prophesy for fifteen minutes and at the conclusion say, “Brothers, this is my opinion, yet I think that I also have the Spirit of God.” That would not be like the Fundamentalists or Pentecostals of today’s Christianity. The Fundamentalists would say, “Now Pastor Smith has a word from the Lord for us.” The Pentecostals would say, “Yea, thus saith the Lord, O my people...” Paul did not speak like this. Too much assurance means that we are not in the Spirit. The more you could say like Paul, “This is my opinion, yet I think that I also have the Spirit of God,” the more spiritual you are. Suppose that I stand up to speak, and after speaking, a brother asks whether or not I am in the Spirit. If I answer, “Yes, brother, I am in the Spirit,” be assured that I am not in the Spirit. But if I answer, “Brother, I dare not say that I am in the Spirit — I just feel that I must utter something; it may only be my opinion, but I think I have at least a little of the Spirit of God,” I tell you, if I could answer in this way, I am a real and spiritual prophet. What is involved here is the principle of incarnation. While Jesus was on this earth, He acted as a human being: He was so human, yet God was with Him, God was in Him, God was one with Him. The same principle of incarnation has been applied to us. Christ has been incarnated into all of us: He dwells in our spirit, and we are one spirit with Him. It is rather difficult for me to tell you whether it is only I who am speaking, or that when I am speaking it is also He speaking in me. I have no assurance whether I am speaking in the Spirit; yet as one who has been shown mercy by the Lord to be faithful, I have confidence that He is one with me so that when I speak, it may be that He speaks too. This is real spirituality.
Now let us go on to see more verses in this book regarding the human spirit. In 7:34 we read, “The unmarried woman and the virgin care for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit.” We need to have a holy human spirit. Then in 8:12 we read, “Sinning in this way against the brothers and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.” We know that the conscience is the main part of the spirit. By this verse we see how careful the apostle Paul was in dealing with others’ conscience. He did this in order to maintain their spirit. Now notice 10:28-29: “If anyone says to you, This has been offered in sacrifice, do not eat, for his sake who pointed it out and for conscience’ sake. Conscience, I say, not your own, but the other’s. For why is my freedom judged by some other conscience?” These two verses prove again that in order to take care of others’ spirit we must take care of their conscience. We must not only maintain a strong spirit in ourselves, but see that others also have a strong spirit. When we are weak in our conscience, we are weak in our spirit. If we have a hole in our conscience, our spirit is broken.
Now go back to 9:11: “If we have sown to you the spiritual things...” This word spiritual things is the same word used in 12:1 and 14:1 for “spiritual gifts.” The apostle Paul is saying that he has sown something spiritual. What was it? Spiritual gifts? Spiritual knowledge? We must realize that the spiritual thing sown by the apostle Paul was Christ. Why? Because according to 2:2, the apostle said that he did not determine to know anything among them except Christ. This proves that what the apostle sowed was none other than Christ.
Now let us look at the verses in chapter 11 relating to the matter of meeting. Verse 17 says, “You come together not for the better but for the worse.” Verse 18 says, “When you come together in the church...” Verse 20 says, “When therefore you come together in the same place...” Then verses 33 and 34 say, “So then, my brothers, when you come together...that you may not come together for judgment.” Five times in this one chapter meeting together has been mentioned.
Finally, let us read 16:14: “Let all your matters be done in love.” Then verse 18 says, “They refreshed my spirit and yours.”
By picking up all these verses, we get a full scope of the thought of the writer in this book. We cannot just take a few verses from chapter 12 or 14 and isolate them from the context of the whole book. As I have already indicated, 1 Corinthians tells us clearly that God’s intention is to put us into Christ and make Christ everything to us. We have seen in chapter 1 that Christ to us is the power and wisdom of God (v. 24), and of God are we in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom — righteousness, sanctification and redemption (v. 30). Then Paul goes on to tell us that this Christ who is the last Adam has been made a life-giving Spirit (15:45). Now all that He is to us must be realized, must be experienced, not by any other organ of our being but the spirit. Thus, chapter 2 tells us what kind of person can apprehend Christ. It is not a soulish person but a spiritual one (vv. 14-15) — one who lives and acts in the human spirit. Following chapter 2, the apostle Paul tells the Corinthians, “I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshy, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to receive it. But neither yet now are you able, for you are still fleshly (3:1-3). In chapter 4 he asks if they want him to come to them with a rod or in love and a spirit of meekness (v. 21). By this he tells the Corinthians that although they are not spiritual, yet he is spiritual. They are not acting in the spirit, yet he must act in the spirit. In chapter 5 he tells them, “I, on my part, though being absent in the body but present in the spirit, have already judged, as if being present, him who has thus done this, in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you and my spirit have been assembled, with the power of our Lord Jesus” (vv. 3-4).
If we would be a right person and meet together in the right way, we must be this kind of person, like the apostle Paul. If we are people like the Corinthians, whatever way we meet will be wrong. If we are carnal, if we are fleshly, regardless of how we meet, we are utterly wrong. To meet in the right way, we must be the right person, and the right person is one who lives, walks, and has his being in the spirit.
In chapter 6 we are told that the Holy Spirit of God dwells in us (v. 19) and that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit (v. 17). Then we have chapter 7, which as we have seen, is so wonderful. Do not think that one who is walking, living, moving and having his being in the spirit is so sure that he is spiritual. In chapter 8 we have these verses: verse 1 tells us that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Then another verse tells us that we must take care of others’ conscience (v. 12). We should not spoil, damage, or weaken the spirit of others. Chapter 9 tells us that what Paul has sown as a spiritual thing is Christ (v. 11). Chapter 10 tells us that Christ is the spiritual rock, not only following us but also within us. He is also the spiritual food and the spiritual drink (vv. 3-4) — praise the Lord! In chapter 11 we see that when we are not meeting in the spirit, we are meeting not for the better but for the worse (v. 17). Then from chapters 12, 13, and 14, we have seen that the two main things we need are love and prophecy. Love is the life, and prophecy is the function. Finally, in chapter 15 we are told that this Christ who is our love and our life, our prophecy and our function, is the life-giving Spirit (v. 45). In chapter 16 Paul said that the brothers have refreshed his spirit and the spirit of others (v. 18). He said, “Let all your matters be done in love,” and, “My love in Christ Jesus be with you all” (vv. 14, 24).
We have gone through the entire sixteen chapters of 1 Corinthians, chapter by chapter. This is the foundation, this is the basis, for our meeting together. It is not just a matter of gifts. The so-called Plymouth Brethren pluck out 14:26, and the Pentecostal brethren take just a few verses from chapters 12 and 14 referring to the gifts. But we must take the whole book. By looking into the context of all the chapters and obtaining a full scope, we realize that the function in the meeting depends on the life in our daily walk. The way to meet together properly is to live properly. This simply means to take Christ as our life and our everything in our spirit. Therefore, we must learn how to exercise our spirit constantly. We have seen that the apostle Paul was one who did this very thing. He was so strong in his spirit; he was forever exercising his spirit. This is the proper way to live, and this kind of living is the first necessity of the proper way to meet.
Let me illustrate. Suppose that we have a few brothers here who like to play basketball. They always spend their weekends and spare time engaging in the sport of basketball. Then suppose there is another group of brothers who like to have parties, to go to the beach, to see the movies, etc. Other brothers and sisters are always shopping for new clothes, new cars, new homes, new gadgets, etc., etc. Then on Sunday they all come together and ask me to speak to them concerning how to meet. Do you think that such people could meet in a proper way? If I encourage them to raise a building fund, to obtain the best and most eloquent speakers, or to build a temple or a cathedral, that would be easy, but to tell them to exercise their spirit that they may all prophesy one by one would be impossible. They would chase me away.
I believe now we are all clear: in accord with the whole book of 1 Corinthians, the proper way for us as Christians to meet depends upon the proper living, the proper life. First Corinthians 14 is not the first chapter or the last chapter of this book. There are so many chapters preceding it, telling how Christ is everything to us and how we must exercise our spirit to enjoy and experience Him in so many ways. Following chapter 14, we still have two chapters, telling how Christ is the life-giving Spirit, how our spirit needs to be continually refreshed with Christ, and how we need to live, move, and do everything in love. If we are such persons, taking such a way to live day by day, we are qualified to meet together; then we have the right foundation, the right basis, for our meeting. Do not pick out a verse here and there in the book and speak about gifts, tongues, and healing, etc. That is not the message of 1 Corinthians. Where there are saints who mean business with the Lord, who have the real experience in their daily walk of taking Christ as their life, the meetings will be so proper and living. There is the life to support the meeting.
What is the proper way to meet? (1) We must have the proper life. We must exercise our human spirit all the time to take Christ. We must be so accustomed to exercising our spirit. It is not just a matter of doing this in the meetings, but in our daily walk with our children, our husbands, our wives. We must forget about exercising our minds and turn rather to exercising our spirit. Then our spirit will be so strong, living, and aggressive. By taking Christ as our life and experiencing Him as everything day by day, we will have a spiritual savings account. We will continually deposit something of Christ into this account and have a rich surplus of our experience of Him. We will come to the meeting with a strong spirit and a rich surplus. Then, (2) we only need to exercise our spirit to stand up in the meeting to function, to prophesy. It will be so spontaneous for us to do so; it will simply be an overflow of what we have been experiencing of Christ all day. There will be no strain; it will just be a continuation of our normal, daily experience of Christ. Whatever we do in the meeting will be living and rich with Christ in the spirit. Of course, it is also necessary in the meeting to drop all our old background. We must be delivered from the influence of thinking we are not capable of saying anything in the meetings, delivered from thinking we are not qualified, we are not committed with something from the Lord. No one else can function on our behalf in the meeting. We need to come to the meeting with a new concept, realizing that we are in something new, that we are out of the old Christianity. We need to come in a new and living way, accustomed to exercising our spirit, with Christ as our life and with a rich surplus of Christ. This is the way to meet.
