THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians

Message Five
The Excelling Gift for the Building Up of the Church—Prophesying

Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 14:1, 3-5, 12, 24-26, 31-32, 37, 39; Matt. 16:18; Col. 2:19; 2 Tim. 3:17; 1 Thes. 5:17-20; Eph. 1:17

I. Prophesying is the excelling gift produced in the growth in life through the enjoyment of Christ for the building up of the church—1 Cor. 14:12; Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 14:4b:

A. Prophesying in 1 Corinthians 14 is not in the sense of predicting, foretelling, but in the sense of speaking for the Lord, speaking forth the Lord, to dispense Christ into people—vv. 1, 12, 39a.

B. God’s desire is for all of His saints to prophesy—Num. 11:29; 1 Cor. 14:31.

II. Prophesying is the excelling gift among all the gifts, making its seekers excelling—v. 12:

A. Prophesying is excelling in revealing God’s heart, God’s will, God’s way, and God’s economy to His people—cf. 12:8.

B. Prophesying is excelling in convicting people, exposing people’s real condition, and showing people their spiritual need.

C. Prophesying is excelling in speaking forth Christ to minister and dispense Christ to people for their nourishment.

III. All the believers have the capacity, the ability, to prophesy, and all have the obligation to prophesy—14:31, 24:

A. The capacity to prophesy is in the divine life, which the believers possess and enjoy and which needs to increase within them so that this capacity may be developed unto their ability—Col. 2:19; cf. 2 Tim. 4:5.

B. The obligation to prophesy is the fulfillment of our spiritual service, in which we are indebted to God’s salvation—Rom. 1:14-15.

IV. All the believers have been charged by the apostle to pursue, to seek, and to desire earnestly to prophesy— 1 Cor. 14:1, 12, 39a:

A. We are enabled to prophesy by learning in the Word of God, in the growth of life, and in our contact with God—v. 31; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 1 Thes. 5:17-20; Gal. 5:16, 25:

1. We need to be revived every morning—Prov. 4:18; Lam. 3:22-24; Psa. 119:147-148.

2. We need to live an overcoming life every day by calling on the Lord’s name in every place and living in the index of His eyes—1 Cor. 1:2; 12:3b; 2 Cor. 2:10.

3. To live an overcoming life is to live a prophesying life by loving the Lord to the uttermost, fellowshipping with Him moment by moment, walking according to the spirit, and speaking the word of the Lord in season and out of season—1 Cor. 2:9; cf. 1 John 1:6; Rom. 8:4b; 2 Tim. 4:2a.

B. We are enabled to prophesy by being perfected by the prophets—Eph. 4:11-12.

C. We are enabled to prophesy by practicing to speak in all the meetings and by telling people about Christ—1 Cor. 14:26; Phil. 2:16a; 2 Tim. 4:2a, 5.

V. In order to practice 1 Corinthians 14, there is the need for the highest meetings of the church, meetings in which “each one has”—v. 26:

A. The proper church meeting is a “one another” meeting, a “round table” meeting, in which we speak to one another, teach and admonish one another, consider one another and exhort one another, and listen to one another—Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; Heb. 10:24-25; 1 Thes. 5:20.

B. The proper church meeting makes the believers living by developing their organic ability and function—Eph. 4:16.

C. Before coming to the meeting, we should prepare ourselves for the meeting through our experience of the Lord or through our enjoyment of His word and fellowship with Him in prayer.

D. After coming into the meeting, we need not wait, and should not wait, for inspiration; we should exercise our spirit and use our trained mind to function in presenting what we have prepared to the Lord for His glory and satisfaction and to the attendants for their benefit—their enlightenment, nourishing, and building up.

E. We must labor on Christ, our good land, so that we may reap some produce of His riches to bring to the church meeting and offer to God—Deut. 16:16.

F. Thus, the meeting will be an exhibition of Christ in His riches and will be a mutual enjoyment of Christ shared by all the attendants before God and with God for the building up of the saints and the church.

VI. We must speak with the three constituting elements of prophesying—2 Tim. 3:16-17; 1 Cor. 14:32. 37a; Eph. 1:17; 1 Cor. 2:11-12:

A. We must possess a knowledge of the Word of God—the human element of learning—2 Tim. 3:16-17; Ezek. 3:1-4.

B. We must have the instant inspiration of the Holy Spirit—the divine element of inspiration—1 Cor. 14:32, 37a; 1 John 1:6-7; Rom. 8:4.

C. We must have a vision concerning God’s interest and economy, concerning the church as the Body of Christ, concerning the local churches, concerning the world, concerning the individual saints, and even concerning ourselves—the view through the enlightening of the divine light—Eph. 1:17; 1 Cor. 2:11-12.

D. We speak what we see with the living words of this life under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and with His enlightenment—Acts 5:20.

E. For the sake of the building up of the church, we need to build up a habit of speaking the word of the Lord by letting His word dwell in us richly—Col. 3:16; cf. 1 Tim. 6:20.

 

Ministry Excerpts:

PROPHESYING FOR THE BUILDING UP OF
THE CHURCH AS THE BODY OF CHRIST

The Excelling Gift Being Produced in the Growth in Life
Through the Enjoyment of Christ

The excelling gift produced in the growth in life through the enjoyment of Christ is prophesying (14:12). First Corinthians 14 stresses that the top gift, the gift that excels all the other gifts, developed by our enjoyment of Christ is prophesying. Prophesying in chapter 14 does not mean predicting. This is proved by verse 3, which says, “He who prophesies speaks building up and encouragement and consolation to men.” If a brother is speaking building up, encouragement, and consolation to others, this proves that his prophesying is not predicting. To prophesy in 1 Corinthians 14 is to speak for the Lord, speak forth the Lord, and speak the Lord into others, ministering (dispensing) the Lord to others (vv. 3-5). As proper, growing believers whose spiritual gifts are being developed, we must speak the Lord into others every day. If we practice this every day, we will all have something to share when we come together for fellowship. This will be the fulfillment of 1 Corinthians 14:26—whenever we come together, each one has.

The first item that we should have for the church meetings, according to 1 Corinthians 14:26, is a psalm. The New Testament shows us that psalms and hymns are first for speaking, not singing. Ephesians 5:18-19 says that we are filled in spirit by speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. To speak the composed, poetic writings is more accurate, concise, and powerful than ordinary speaking. This is why we have to learn how to speak the hymns in our meetings. First Corinthians 14:26 also speaks of having a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, and an interpretation. All these items are for speaking. The last two items, a tongue and an interpretation, are miraculous speakings. They are not by learning but by the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit. A psalm, a teaching, and a revelation require learning.

Speaking for the Lord, speaking forth the Lord, and speaking the Lord into others

Speaking for the Lord, speaking forth the Lord, and speaking the Lord into others is for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ. With only one man speaking and the rest listening, a congregation can be built up, but the Body of Christ as an organism can never be built up. To build up the organic Body of Christ, all of us need to speak. If we come together every week to listen to a pastor give a good sermon, this may build us up as a congregation, as a big façade to make a show. This kind of practice is prevailing in Christianity. For us to come together to build up the Body of Christ organically, the practice of one man speaking and the rest listening is not prevailing. All the members need to speak for the Body of Christ to be built up. One saint can speak for two minutes, another for five minutes, and another for three minutes. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Excelling Gift for the Building Up of the Church,” ch. 1)

THE EXCELLING GIFT AMONG ALL THE GIFTS,
MAKING ITS SEEKERS EXCELLING

Prophesying is the excelling gift among all the gifts, making its seekers excelling (v. 12). The Greek word for excel in 1 Corinthians 14:12 can also be translated “abound.” The way this word is translated depends on its context. When this Greek word is used for matters of quantity, it means to abound. When it is used for matters in comparison, it means to excel. First Corinthians 14 does not talk about matters of quantity. It talks about the quality of spiritual gifts in comparison. In particular Paul is comparing speaking in tongues with prophesying. He talks about the superiority of prophesying over speaking in tongues. Comparatively speaking, speaking in tongues is very low, but prophesying is very high. The value of speaking in tongues is minimal. To prophesy is much higher and more valuable than speaking in tongues, because prophesying builds up the church. Therefore, Paul tells the Corinthians that since they are zealous of spirits, they should seek to excel for the building up of the church. We become excelling when we seek to prophesy, because prophesying builds up the church as the organic Body of Christ.

Excelling in Revealing God’s Heart, God’s Will, God’s Way,
and God’s Economy to His People

Prophesying is excelling in revealing God’s heart, God’s will, God’s way, and God’s economy to His people. When we prophesy, we speak what is on God’s heart, and we speak God’s will, God’s way, and God’s economy. Actually, all the Epistles written by the apostles are books of prophecy, not in the sense of prediction but in the sense of speaking for God and speaking forth God into people. There are some predictions in the Epistles, but mainly they speak for Christ, speak forth Christ, and speak Christ into people, dispense Christ into people.

Some may consider that the entire book of Revelation is merely a book of prediction, but this book is a speaking forth of the Lord to His people. Whenever I read the book of Revelation, Christ is ministered to me. When I read this book, I have the feeling that Christ is dear and near to me, that He is so intimate and lovable. The more we read the book of Revelation, the more we will love Christ. If you read the book of Revelation, and you receive an impression only of predictions, that proves that you do not know how to read the Bible properly and that you do not understand the Bible. If we know how to read the Bible and understand the Bible, our impression from reading Revelation will not be of predictions but of a dear One and a near One, who is so lovable and intimate to us. If we know the New Testament, whatever book or page we read, we will be impressed with the present Christ, the Christ today, the Christ this hour. Paul prophesied by writing his fourteen Epistles. Peter prophesied by writing his two Epistles. James, John, and Jude did the same by writing their Epistles. All the Epistles are prophesyings. In the Epistles we can see God’s heart, God’s will, God’s way, and God’s economy.

Excelling in Convicting People, Manifesting People’s Real Condition,
and Showing People Their Spiritual Need

Prophesying is also excelling in convicting people, manifesting people’s real condition, and showing people their spiritual need. When people read the twenty-two Epistles of the New Testament, including the book of Revelation, they are convicted, examined, and all the secrets of their hearts are manifested, especially the evil secrets. Such speaking shows people their real need, not in material things but in spiritual things. This is why we encourage people to read the New Testament. The four Gospels plus the book of Acts may be considered as historical books. The twenty-two Epistles that follow these books are all prophesying. Each Epistle manifests our condition and shows us our real spiritual need in Christ.

Excelling in Speaking Forth Christ to Minister and Dispense Christ
to People for Their Nourishment

Prophesying is excelling in speaking forth Christ to minister and dispense Christ to people for their nourishment. To prophesy is to dispense Christ into people, just as a waiter or a waitress in a restaurant dispenses food to people. When we prophesy, we are dispensing Christ as food to others. What people receive from our prophesying is not a prediction but food for their nourishment.

Perhaps a brother would stand up and say, “Christ today is our portion. God has given us, His saints, Christ. This Christ has been allotted to all of us. He is our lot, our portion, and God has called us into the fellowship of this portion, the enjoyment of this portion. We all have been put by God into Christ, and God has made Him our wisdom. In this wisdom God allotted Christ to us as our righteousness to cover our past, as our sanctification for our present daily walk, and as our redemption in the future so that our body can be redeemed in transfiguration. Thank the Lord for Christ as our portion.” This is a direct speaking of Christ. When a brother speaks in this way, he is speaking forth Christ and speaking Christ into people. This kind of direct prophesying dispenses, distributes, Christ as our enjoyment into all the believers. As we all prophesy in this way, we dispense Christ mutually into one another.

Excelling in Building Up the Church in the Organic Way That It May Be Built Up as the Organism of the Processed Triune God for His Fullness, His Expression

Prophesying is excelling in building up the church in the organic way that it may be built up as the organism of the processed Triune God for His fullness, His expression. The four factors that we have pointed out above show that prophesying is the excelling gift for the building up of the church, making its seekers excelling.

I have no doubt that the Lord is going to recover the practice of 1 Corinthians 14. Eventually, what the Lord spoke in 1 Corinthians 14 will be fulfilled. The fellowship printed in this book will exist for years to come. If what I am speaking here is not fulfilled in this century, it may be fulfilled in the next century. To the Lord one thousand years are like one day (2 Pet. 3:8). What I have spoken in this book will remain on this globe. Many of the saints will fellowship about this, will be brought into this, and will practice this because it is in the holy Word. Besides God Himself, nothing in this universe is more valuable than the holy Word. First Corinthians 14 is a particular chapter in the holy Word. Paul stresses the matter of all prophesying in this chapter, and he tells us we need to pursue, desire, seek, excel, and learn to prophesy. We all have to receive the heavenly enlightenment. We should pray, “Thank You, Lord. Thank You for Your speaking. Thank You for Your revelation. Thank You for opening 1 Corinthians 14. Have mercy upon me, Lord. Bring me into the practice of this chapter. While I am living on this earth, I want to be a person who is always prophesying, speaking Christ.” (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Advance of the Lord’s Recovery Today,” ch. 6)

ALL THE BELIEVERS HAVING THE CAPACITY
AND THE OBLIGATION TO PROPHESY

The Capacity Being in the Divine Life, Which the Believers Possess and Enjoy and Which Needs to Increase within Them That the Capacity May Be Developed unto Their Ability

All the believers have the capacity to prophesy and have the obligation to prophesy (vv. 31, 24). The capacity is the ability. First Corinthians 14:31 says that we can all prophesy one by one. The word can indicates the capacity, the ability, to prophesy. Any kind of life has a certain capacity. The peach tree has its life, and in this life there is the capacity to produce peaches. In our human life there are many capacities. There is the capacity to hear, to see, to smell, to speak, and to eat. A normal child’s organs are complete at his birth. With all the organs are the capacities. These capacities need growth, development, and practice. A little infant learns to walk through growth, development, and practice. His capacity to walk is developed based on the growth in life with the help of some instruction from his parents. By practicing, he is gradually able to progress from crawling to standing to walking. Eventually, he is able to run and jump. This is an example of the capacities in our human life.

There are also capacities in the divine life that we have received. Through regeneration we received another life, the divine life, which is the eternal life. The divine life is eternal in space, in time, and in quality. It is altogether unlimited. This life is full of capacities, and the most striking capacity is the capacity to speak for God, to prophesy.

The capacity to prophesy is in the divine life, which the believers possess and enjoy and which needs to increase within them that the capacity may be developed unto their ability. Because we have the divine life, we have the capacity to speak Christ. We possess and enjoy the divine life, and this divine life needs to increase within us. We all need to grow with the increase of God. The increase of God within us increases our capacity so that this capacity is developed unto our ability.

Right after someone receives the Lord Jesus and is regenerated, a desire is put within him to speak something for Christ. He may not know how to speak, but this desire is within him. As he begins to speak in the meetings of the church, his speaking function develops. As he continues to practice speaking, he is like a babe who learns to stand, to walk, and eventually to run and jump. His spiritual function is developed through his practice.

The Obligation to Prophesy Being the Fulfillment of Their Spiritual Service, in Which They Are Indebted to God’s Salvation

The obligation to prophesy is the fulfillment of our spiritual service, in which we are indebted to God’s salvation. Verse 24 says that if all prophesy, the unbelievers and unlearned persons are convicted and examined. Verse 31 says that we can all prophesy one by one. These verses show that we all should bear the responsibility to prophesy. We all have the obligation to prophesy. It is so good that we have the capacity to prophesy. This should encourage us. But we also have to realize that we have the obligation to prophesy. We owe something to God and to His dynamic salvation. His salvation is with, by, and in the divine life. In this dynamic salvation there is the capacity to prophesy. Furthermore, since we are enjoying such a salvation, we are indebted to this salvation. It is our duty to prophesy for the building up of the church. We have received the dynamic salvation, yet we have been annulled by the traditional practice that made us passive. We have to drop the way of the clergy-laity system and come back to the way of every member functioning for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Many of the saints have never prophesied according to the revelation of 1 Corinthians 14. When any of us speaks in a meeting, that meeting becomes the top meeting to us. A certain meeting may be high, but if we do not speak in that meeting, we do not appreciate it that much. A high meeting may be poor in our sight because we did not speak. Even if a meeting was low, if we spoke in that meeting, it became the best meeting to us. To us it was the best meeting because we spoke something. If all of us come together as “pew members,” that meeting will be full of death. But if all of us come together, and all of us exercise to speak one by one, that meeting will be in the heavens. It will be the highest meeting.

ALL BELIEVERS BEING CHARGED BY THE APOSTLE TO PURSUE,
TO DESIRE EARNESTLY, AND TO SEEK TO PROPHESY

All the believers have been charged by the apostle to pursue, to desire earnestly, and to seek to prophesy (vv. 1, 12, 39). In verse 1 is the word pursue. In verse 12 is the word seek. In verse 39 the words desire earnestly are used.

By Learning in the Word of God, in the Growth of Life,
and in Their Contact with God

We can pursue, desire earnestly, and seek to prophesy by learning (v. 31) in the Word of God, in the growth of life, and in our contact with God. First Corinthians 14:31 says that we can all prophesy one by one that all may learn. When we prophesy, others learn. This proves that before we prophesy, we have learned something. We are enabled to prophesy by learning.

At this point I would like to say a word of love to all of us. We have been chosen by God. We have been called by Him. We have been regenerated by Him and have become sons of God. We must spend sufficient time in the holy Word. We have to do it. We should not say that we do not have any time for this. As long as we have time to eat, we should have time to study the Word of God. Some saints had a proverb that said, “No Bible, no breakfast.” This proverb should always be in front of us. Perhaps we should even put it on our desk or hang it on our wall where we can see it every day: “No Bible, no breakfast.”

If we desire to prophesy, we must learn the holy Word in the Bible. We must get ourselves fully acquainted with all the terms in the Bible. We need to be soaked in the holy Word so that we can be knowledgeable of the holy Word. In Luke 1 there is a record of the Lord’s mother, Mary, visiting Elizabeth. Both of them prophesied to one another. Nearly every clause and every phrase of Mary’s prophecy was a quotation from the Old Testament. This proves that Mary as a young woman was very knowledgeable of God’s Word. We all have to learn the holy Word. If we do not have the holy Word, we do not have the expressions with which to speak. We may have the feeling and the inspiration within, but we will not have the utterances and the wording. All of us have to endeavor to learn the Word.

We also learn to prophesy in the growth of life. A person who has been saved only two months should not expect that he will be able to speak that much. In order to do things properly even in our human life, we have to grow. In the spiritual life it is the same. Spiritually speaking, we pass through stages of infancy, babyhood, childhood, teenage, and then we become a full-grown man. How much we can prophesy depends upon the degree of our growth in life. This is why we must seek the growth in the spiritual life.

We also learn to prophesy in our contact with God. We have to contact God, to fellowship with God. If we get into the Lord’s Word, pursue the growth in life, and keep ourselves in contact with God, we will learn to prophesy.

By Being Perfected by the Prophets

We are also enabled to prophesy by being perfected by the prophets (Eph. 4:12). There are some among us who can do the prophesying work. We should receive the perfecting from these ones. The gifted prophets among us should contact some of the dear saints. Then these saints can be perfected to prophesy. We all must have a new start in speaking for the Lord. The gifted ones among us can go to some promising saints to teach them to prophesy. After a number of weeks a nucleus of saints can be perfected to prophesy by learning.

By Practicing to Speak in All the Meetings and to Tell People about Christ

The saints need to be perfected and instructed, and they must put their instruction into practice. They need to practice by speaking in all the meetings. They should also tell people about Christ to practice prophesying.

THE NEED FOR THE HIGHEST MEETINGS OF THE CHURCH

In order to practice 1 Corinthians 14, there is the need for the highest meetings of the church. To nourish and cherish the new believers, there is the need of mainly the home meetings. After a person believes in the Lord and is baptized, we need to go back to his home to have home meetings with him so that he can be fed and nourished. We need to be the nursing mothers, nourishing the new ones as our babes. To fellowship with, teach, and perfect the saints, there is the need of mainly the group meetings. The group meetings are a little bigger than the home meetings. A group meeting is a gathering of about twenty saints. In this meeting the saints can fellowship with one another, intercede for one another, and care for and shepherd one another. The teaching and perfecting of the saints also takes place in the group meetings. In these group meetings everyone teaches, and everyone learns.

To build up the church by prophesying, we need the bigger and higher meetings of the church. The church meeting must be a prophesying meeting. We need to labor together in the Lord and with the Lord so that we can have church meetings in which we all come together to prophesy. If the number in the larger church meeting is too big, we can divide this meeting into sections. In Taipei these sections are called district meetings. Each district meeting has about fifty saints. We should not set up a rule in this matter. This is not a law but is for the convenience of our practice. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Advance of the Lord’s Recovery Today,” ch. 7)

Having a Psalm, a Teaching, a Revelation, a Tongue and an Interpretation and Letting All Things Be Done for Building Up

In verse 26 Paul says, “What is it then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” “Has,” used five times in this verse, is the translation of the Greek word echo, a word widely used, with many meanings, three of which are the main ones: (1) to hold, to possess, to keep a certain thing; (2) to have a certain thing for enjoyment; (3) to have the means or power to do a thing. The first two meanings should be applied to the first three of the five things listed in this verse—a psalm, a teaching, a revelation—and the third meaning to the last two—a tongue and an interpretation of a tongue. This indicates that when we come to the church meeting, we should have something of the Lord to share with others, whether a psalm to praise the Lord, a teaching (of the teacher) to minister the riches of Christ to edify and nourish others, a revelation (of the prophet, v. 30) to give visions of God’s eternal purpose concerning Christ as God’s mystery and the church as Christ’s mystery, a tongue as a sign to the unbelievers (v. 22) that they may know and accept Christ, or an interpretation to make a tongue concerning Christ and His Body understandable.

Preparing Ourselves for the Meeting

Before coming to the meeting, we should prepare ourselves for the meeting with things like these from the Lord and of the Lord, either through our experience of Him or through our enjoyment of His Word and fellowship with Him in prayer. After coming into the meeting, we should not wait for an inspiration; there is no need to wait. We should exercise our spirit and use our trained mind to function in presenting what we have been prepared with to the Lord for His glory and satisfaction and to the attendants for their benefit—enlightening, nourishing, and building up.

Laboring on Christ That We May Reap Some Produce of His Riches
to Bring to the Church Meeting to Offer

This is like the feast of tabernacles in ancient times: the children of Israel brought the produce of the good land, which they reaped from their labor on the land, to the feast and offered it to the Lord for His enjoyment and for mutual participation in fellowship with the Lord and with one another. We must labor on Christ, our good land, that we may reap some produce of His riches to bring to the church meeting to offer. Thus, the church meeting will be an exhibition of Christ in His riches and a mutual enjoyment of Christ shared by all the attendants with one another before God and with God for the building up of the saints and the church.

According to the stress and emphasis of this Epistle, all five things listed in this verse should be focused on Christ as God’s center for our portion and the church as God’s goal for our aim. The psalm should be the praise of God for giving Christ as wisdom and power to us for our daily life and church life. The teaching from a teacher and the revelation from a prophet should teach and minister Christ with the church as His Body to others. A tongue and its interpretation should also have Christ with the church as its center and content. Any emphasis on things other than Christ and the church will confuse and distract the church from the central lane of God’s New Testament economy and make the church like that in Corinth.

In verse 26 Paul tells us that everything should be done for building up. Whatever we do in the church meeting must be for the building up of the saints and the church. To exhibit Christ and to enjoy Him in our meetings for the building up of His body must be our unique purpose and goal.

THE COMPOSITION OF A PROPHECY ACCORDING TO
THE WAY IN FIRST CORINTHIANS 14

The Knowledge and Experience of God, Christ, and the Spiritual Things

The composition of a prophecy according to the way in 1 Corinthians 14 comprises, first, the knowledge and experience of God, Christ, and the spiritual things. If we are going to prophesy, we must have some knowledge and experience of God, Christ, and the spiritual things.

The Utterance to Speak Forth What We Know and Have Experienced of God, Christ, and the Spiritual Things

Second, the composition of a prophecy comprises the utterance to speak forth what we know and have experienced of God, Christ, and the spiritual things. First we need the knowledge and experience; then we need the utterance, that is, the word and the expression. We can compose a brief prophecy and then practice speaking it to ourselves at home. We may even speak it to ourselves ten times. After speaking it several times, we will know how to correct and improve it. Through this kind of practice we will have the proper utterance.

The Sight under the Divine Enlightenment concerning
the Situation and Environment in Which We Are

The composition of a prophecy also comprises the sight under the divine enlightenment concerning the situation and environment in which we are. Many among us are not clear about the intrinsic contents of the present turmoil in the Lord’s recovery, and some prefer not to be clear. Their attitude is that others should be clear about the situation but that they should take care only of enjoying Christ. Such an attitude is wrong. The church is our home and our family. If there is a turmoil in our home among our family, we cannot say, “I do not want to know about it. I simply want to enjoy.” We must have the sight to see the things taking place among us and the situation of all the saints. If we cannot see clearly, we need to pray, “Lord, show me the real situation. Shine over me and enlighten me. Give me the full enlightenment that I may know the intrinsic contents of the present situation.” We must know what is happening in the church, not so that we may take sides with one group of saints against another but so that we may know the real situation.

The Instant Inspiration of the Indwelling Spirit That Stirs Up Our Spirit to Speak

The knowledge and the experience of God, Christ, and the spiritual things, the utterance to speak forth what we know and have experienced, and a clear view concerning our situation and environment are the basic preparation for our speaking. In addition, we need the instant inspiration of the indwelling Spirit that stirs up our spirit to speak. We are different from the Old Testament prophets. In the Old Testament the saints did not have the Spirit indwelling them. They had to wait until the Spirit came upon them before they could speak for the Lord (2 Chron. 15:1; Ezek. 11:5). However, the New Testament says, “The Lord be with your spirit” (2 Tim. 4:22). We do not need the Spirit to come upon us, because we always have Him in our human spirit. Therefore, we should not wait for the Spirit to come upon us; rather, we should exercise our spirit. When we exercise our spirit, the Holy Spirit who is indwelling our spirit will be moved by us, and we will have the inspiration. It is not He who moves us, but it is we who move the indwelling Spirit. If we remain clear with the Lord by confessing our failures, we will have a direct, open fellowship with Him. He is in our spirit, and we are in Him. When we come to the meeting, we need only to exercise our spirit and say, “Lord Jesus, I want to speak.” Then He will rise up, and we can speak according to our experience with the utterance that we have gained and with the enlightenment that we have. If we do this, everyone will have something to speak in the Lord’s Day morning meeting.

We need to practice composing a prophecy according to the way in 1 Corinthians 14. To help us in this matter, we have prepared the book The Holy Word for Morning Revival. If we use the contents of this book with the knowledge and experience of God, Christ, and the spiritual things, the utterance to speak forth what we know and have experienced, the sight under the divine enlightenment concerning our situation, and the instant inspiration of the indwelling Spirit through the clear and open fellowship with the Lord in the exercise of our spirit, we can easily compose a prophecy and speak it in the church meeting. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “The Practice of Prophesying,” msg. 1)