LESSONS ON THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY

Lesson Eighteen

The Prophesying (1)—Everyone Prophesying for Building Up

Scripture Reading:

Eph. 3:9 And to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things.

1 Cor. 14:1 Pursue love, and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

1 Cor. 14:3-4 But he who prophesies speaks building up and encouragement and consolation to men. He who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but he who prophesies builds up the church.

1 Cor. 14:5 I desire that you all speak in tongues, but especially that you would prophesy; and greater is he who prophesies than he who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, that the church may receive building up.

1 Cor. 14:23-24 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.

1 Cor. 14:31 For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.

I. The denotation of prophesying—Eph. 3:2, 9:

A. To speak for God and Christ, to speak forth God and Christ, and to minister and dispense God and Christ to people—Eph. 3:2, 9.

B. In 1 Corinthians 14, foretelling not being included—1 Cor. 14:3, 24.

II. Not following the customs of the nation—Lev. 20:23.

III. The two categories of Christian meetings—the meeting of the ministry and the meeting of the church—Acts 2:14-36, 46; 1 Cor. 14:1, 26.

IV. Prophesying in the way of 1 Corinthians 14 being carried out in the church meetings and being for the building up of the church—1 Cor. 14:3-5, 23-24.

V. Prophesying in the way of 1 Corinthians 14 causing a seeking one to excel for the building up of the church—1 Cor. 14:12.

VI. Having the capacity, the obligation, and the earnest desire to prophesy—1 Cor. 14:24, 31:

A. All believers having the capacity to prophesy—1 Cor. 14:24, 31; Rom. 12:6-8.

B. All believers having the obligation to prophesy—1 Cor. 14:23-24.

C. All believers needing to pursue, to seek, and to desire earnestly to prophesy—1 Cor. 14:1, 12, 39a.

VII. The composition of a prophecy according to the way in 1 Corinthians 14:

A. The knowledge and experience of God, Christ, and spiritual things.

B. The utterance to speak forth what we know and have experienced of God, Christ, and the spiritual things.

C. The sight under the divine enlightenment concerning the situation and environment in which we are.

D. The instant inspiration of the indwelling Spirit that stirs up our spirit to speak—2 Chron. 15:1; Ezek. 11:5; 2 Tim. 4:22.

VIII. The basic constituents of a prophecy—1 Cor. 14:26:

A. The personal knowledge of the Scriptures.

B. The personal experience of life.

C. Not adhering to personal experiences, testimonies, feelings, thoughts, opinions, affections, and reactions to any persons, matters, and things.

IX. The way to prophesy for the Lord—1 Cor. 14:26, 31.

 

Excerpts from the ministry:

THE DENOTATION OF PROPHESYING

To Speak for God and Christ, to Speak Forth God and Christ,
and to Minister and Dispense God and Christ to People

Beginning with Brother Nee…we have come to the clear understanding that prophesying in 1 Corinthians 14 does not denote foretelling or predicting. To prophesy in the sense of 1 Corinthians 14 denotes to speak for God and Christ and to speak forth God and Christ. To speak forth God and Christ is to minister and dispense God and Christ to people in the same way that a waiter ministers food. To dispense God and Christ into people may be somewhat different from ministering to them. It is possible for a waiter to offend people in such a way that they will not eat the food that he ministers to them. Such a waiter ministers food but does not dispense it into people. Likewise, a minister of the Word may minister Christ to people but not dispense Christ into them. A nursing mother, on the other hand, not only ministers food to her babies but dispenses it into them. Babies sometimes do not want to eat the food given to them, but mothers have a way to compel them to eat. We must learn not only to speak God and Christ, but also to speak forth God and Christ. Moreover, in speaking forth God and Christ, we should not only minister God and Christ to people, but also dispense into them what we are speaking forth.

Experienced doctors are skilled at dispensing medicine into their patients. Often, by the mercy of the Lord, I have the assurance that when people listen to my messages, they receive a dispensing. Even if they go away opposing, criticizing, and rejecting, they have received an “injection.” I have the assurance that I will eventually see the result of such a dispensing.

To speak forth implies to dispense. Paul was the top dispenser. He knew that while he was speaking to people, he was dispensing something into them. In Ephesians 3:2 he said that “the stewardship of the grace of God” was given to him. In Greek, the word for “stewardship” in Ephesians 3:2 is the same as that for “dispensation” in 3:9. The Greek word here, oikonomia, denotes an arrangement for dispensing. The word “dispensation” refers to this arrangement, whereas the word “stewardship” refers to the service of God’s dispensing. When we read any portion of Paul’s writings, something is dispensed into us. He had a particular skill in dispensing by speaking forth Christ. While he was speaking forth Christ, he was dispensing Christ to people. The Lord’s ministry today also is a dispensing ministry. When we read a page of the ministry, we cannot avoid receiving an “injection” of Christ. (The Practice of Prophesying, pp. 8-9)

In 1 Corinthians 14, Foretelling Not Being Included

In 1 Corinthians 14, to prophesy does not include to foretell. This is proved by verses 3 and 24. Verse 3 says, “But he who prophesies speaks to men building up and encouragement and consolation” (lit.). Building up, encouragement, and consolation are not predictions. Building up is for the church, encouragement is for the work, and consolation is for our daily life. For the church we need the building up, for the work we need the encouragement, and for our daily life we need consolation. These definitely are not predictions.

Verse 24 says, “But if all prophesy and some unbeliever or unlearned person enters, he is convicted by all, he is judged by all.” In this verse to prophesy is not to foretell, but to convict and judge people, to make their situation clear to them. When an unbeliever or unlearned person comes into a meeting, he may be confused, mistakenly thinking that he is right with God; but by listening to the prophesying, he is made clear. The prophesying convicts and judges him. (The Practice of Prophesying, p. 10)

NOT FOLLOWING THE CUSTOMS OF THE NATION

In 1933, for the first time I went to Shanghai, which was the place where Brother Nee was working. In that place was the largest church, the leading church in the whole of China at that time. After a certain time, I heard Brother Nee say that the way of meeting we were practicing was following the customs of degraded Christianity; it was not according to God’s desire nor according to the Bible. He cited the words of the type in the Old Testament in Leviticus 20:23: “Ye shall not walk in the manners of the nations, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.” He said that the whole system of meetings in Christianity today is the customs of the nations. The nations he spoke of were not the Gentile nations in the New Testament age today; rather, he referred to the many denominations of the deformed Christianity. These many denominations are the denominated assemblies in Christianity. They are typified in the Old Testament by the nations that became problems to the Israelites. After hearing Brother Nee’s word that day, for the past fifty years we have been trying to eliminate this thing from among us. Nevertheless, not only have we not eliminated it, but we have unintentionally strengthened it. From the time Brother Nee saw the error of the customs of the denominations, he began to condemn the system of meetings at that time and also endeavored to find out from the Bible the way of meeting for the believers. He also spent time to study the practices of the various denominations. Until his departure from the earth, however, he had not found a way to practice. This brother who brought the Lord’s recovery into our midst saw clearly fifty-four years ago that, although we had left Christianity, the customs of the nations as seen in the meetings of Christianity were still following us. We have not yet eliminated this thing; even until this morning, we have not been fully freed from it. I would like to speak a frank word to you trainees, especially those who have received training for the past two terms and are now in the communities concentrating on home meetings, small group meetings, and district meetings. I am very concerned for those meetings in which you are serving, whether they are totally according to the new way, or are partly old and partly new. How do you actually carry out the meetings? What do you do? What kind of results have you produced? We should know that in anything we do, the natural way is very simple. But if you have to work by absolutely following instructions, then it is not so easy. I am afraid that after all you have done, it is still the same way, the old way. Therefore, I would like to remind you and also offer you some materials for further study. (Words of Training for the New Way, Vol. 1, pp. 66-67)

THE TWO CATEGORIES OF CHRISTIAN MEETINGS—
THE MEETING OF THE MINISTRY
AND THE MEETING OF THE CHURCH

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 l 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. (The Home Meetings, p. 47)

PROPHESYING IN THE WAY OF 1 CORINTHIANS 14
BEING CARRIED OUT IN THE CHURCH MEETINGS
AND BEING FOR THE BUILDING UP OF THE CHURCH

Prophesying in the way of 1 Corinthians 14 is carried out in the church meetings (vv. 23-24). Verse 23 says, “If therefore the whole church comes together in one place….” This refers to a church meeting, not a home meeting or a small group meeting. Moreover, the prophesying in the way of 1 Corinthians 14 is for the building up of the church (vv. 4-5). According to our experience and observation, the best way to build the church is to prophesy, that is, to speak for Christ and to speak forth Christ, ministering and dispensing Christ into people. For one man to speak while all the others listen is a form of prophesying, but it is carried out in a wrong way. The proper prophesying should be carried out by each attendant in the church meetings. (The Practice of Prophesying, pp. 10-11)

PROPHESYING IN THE WAY OF 1 CORINTHIANS 14 CAUSING
A SEEKING ONE TO EXCEL FOR THE BUILDING UP OF THE CHURCH

Prophesying in the way of 1 Corinthians 14 causes a seeking one to excel to the building up of the church. Verse 12 says, “So also you, since you are zealots of spiritual gifts, seek that you may excel to the building up of the church” (lit.). It is good to speak in tongues, but it is not excelling. However, for one to give a short message as a prophecy is excelling. To prophesy is the highest gift, causing the speaker to excel. We must learn to speak not only so that we can excel, but also so that the church can be built up. (The Practice of Prophesying, p. 11)

HAVING THE CAPACITY, THE OBLIGATION,
AND THE EARNEST DESIRE TO PROPHESY

First Corinthians 14:31 says, “For you can all prophesy one by one.” This verse is one of the clearest verses in the entire Bible. It says that all the believers have the capacity to prophesy. Capacity denotes an ability by birth. Dogs do not have the capacity to speak human language; they have the capacity only to bark. Human beings, however, have the capacity to speak. We, members of the Body of Christ, all can prophesy one by one. Romans 12:6-8 mentions seven gifts, including prophecy, and says that these gifts differ according to the grace given to each member. These verses, however, refer to the exercise of the gifts outside the meetings. In the Body of Christ, we have different gifts and functions outside the meetings. The gifts in Romans 12 are not the gifts exercised in the meetings. In the meetings all the members can prophesy (1 Cor. 14:24, 31).

Many saints among us may feel that all can prophesy except them. However, there are no exceptions. We may not be eloquent, but we can still prophesy. Verse 31 does not say, “You can all prophesy eloquently.” There is no such adverb in this verse. It simply says, “You can all prophesy.” It does not matter how we speak; it is sufficient simply to speak. The Lord wants all of us to speak. For over five years we have been ministering on the new way to meet and to serve, but our progress in the new way has been very slow because we do not all speak. If we all would speak, immediately the practice of the new way would be among us. (The Practice of Prophesying, pp. 11-12)

THE COMPOSITION OF A PROPHECY
ACCORDING TO THE WAY IN 1 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 Practice of Prophesying, pp. 13-14)

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 Practice of Prophesying, p. 14)

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 Practice of Prophesying, pp. 14-15)

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 abiding 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 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. (The Practice of Prophesying, pp. 15-16)

THE BASIC CONSTITUENTS OF A PROPHECY

The Personal Knowledge of the Scriptures

The first basic constituent of a prophecy is the personal knowledge of the scriptures. To gain such knowledge, we need to get acquainted with the Word of God literally. We should even memorize many crucial verses in the Bible. For example, we should memorize the first verse of books such as Genesis, Psalms, Matthew, John, and Hebrews. We should also memorize verses such as John 3:6, 16, and 36; John 14:26 and 15:26; and John 15:16 and Romans 15:16. In addition, we need to devise a particular way that will enable us to remember the book, chapter, and verse number of the crucial verses.

To have the personal knowledge of the Scriptures, we must know not merely the text of the Scriptures in letters, but the deep denotations and spiritual significances of the Word of God. Many people can understand certain verses such as John 3:16 superficially, but they do not know the deeper denotations in these verses. Nearly everyone can understand a verse literally, in the black and white letters, but one must have the insight, the deeper sight, to see the deeper denotations. Nearly all the verses of the Bible bear a deeper denotation. Verses such as John 3:16 not only bear a denotation on the surface, but they also contain something deeper. The Bible is deep, and no one can understand it completely. Underneath its surface are many secrets and mysteries. If we attempt to understand the Bible in a superficial way, we will not arrive at an adequate understanding. The depth of the Bible is endless. (The Practice of Prophesying, pp. 29-30)

The Personal Experience of Life

The second basic constituent of a prophecy is the personal experience of life. We must have the experience of life personally. Knowledge by itself is empty; our knowledge should be filled with our experience.

In the Christian life there are two categories of experience. The first is the personal experiences of the Lord’s doings and blessings in physical things and environmental occurrences. In the Lord’s Day morning meeting, many of the testimonies given are related to this category of experiences. Many saints experience the Lord’s merciful doings and blessings to them in physical or material things. These merciful doings and blessings, however, are not grace. Grace is not something in the physical realm. Grace is the Triune God Himself embodied in Christ and given to us as life for our enjoyment.

We need to have the second category of experiences, which are the personal experiences of God’s redemption and salvation, Christ and the church, preaching the gospel, nourishing the new believers (feeding the lambs) in the home meetings, perfecting the saints in the group meetings, prophesying for the building up of the church, and other experiences, by the exercising of our spirit in faith. We should have many testimonies concerning this category of experiences, the experiences in life. Even the healing of our physical body is something in the physical realm. It is better to hear a testimony of a brother who was in spiritual deadness for many years but got revived in the holy Word, became bubbling, and went out to visit people to get them saved. Such a brother may testify that before he was revived, he could not help others to be living, but since he has been revived, everyone he contacts is revived also. This is a prophecy according to the personal experience of life. (The Practice of Prophesying, pp. 36-37)

Not Adhering to Personal Experiences, Testimonies, Feelings,
Thoughts, Opinions, Affections, and
Reactions to Any Persons, Matters, and Things

In speaking forth a proper prophecy, we should not adhere to personal experiences, testimonies, feelings, thoughts, opinions, affections, and reactions to any persons, matters, and things. When we prophesy, we should reject our personal feelings, thoughts, opinions, and even affections. We should also stay away from our reactions to our spouse, our neighbors, the elders, and the brothers and sisters. To prophesy, in principle, is not to speak for oneself, not to speak forth oneself, and even the more, not to dispense oneself into people. Often we may dispense ourselves to people in our speaking in order to impress them with our experiences and affections. This kind of speaking is not to speak the Lord but to speak ourselves, and it is not related to Christ but to ourselves. This is not to prophesy but to promote ourselves.

To prophesy is mainly to speak for God and Christ, to speak forth God and Christ, and to dispense God and Christ into people for people’s nourishment and supply. Sometimes we may use our experiences to illustrate what we are speaking. In actuality, to prophesy is to release some spiritual vision as a revelation and some spiritual enlightenment as a light to shine over others, either to bring certain things of God to light, that is, to make certain things known to people, or to bring people into the enlightenment of God. These are the main principles that govern our prophesying. We should do our best to speak for God and Christ, and the less we speak of ourselves, the better.

The basic constituents of a prophecy constitute a very high standard for our prophesying. This is why there is almost no Christian group today that practices prophesying according to 1 Corinthians 14. However, if we cannot practice prophesying, it is a shame. …To prophesy with the basic constituents of a prophecy is difficult. However, we should do our best to speak. The messages released through this ministry are printed in publications and recorded on tapes. I believe that all these messages will remain…We must have patience and do our best. Eventually, we will come up to the standard of prophesying with the basic constituents as revealed in the holy Word. (The Practice of Prophesying, pp. 37-38)

THE WAY TO PROPHESY FOR THE LORD

Prophesying is constituted with three matters. First, we must have the knowledge of the Bible and be familiar with the Bible. Second, we must have the experience in the Lord, not only entering into the truth in depth but also having the experience of life. Third, we must draw near to the Lord to have fellowship and union with Him. It is best if we draw near to the Lord in the morning by reading His word and fellowshipping with Him. We do not need to read too many verses each morning, perhaps only seven or eight. Then we should choose two of the most meaningful of these verses to pray-read. If we spend fifteen to twenty minutes doing this, we certainly will have some inspiration, which we should then write down. If we enjoy the Lord in this way every morning for all seven mornings of the week and receive inspiration from His word, then on the Lord’s Day we can put together all the inspirations from the seven days as a written prophecy, and in the meeting we can prophesy according to what we have written. This is a good way, especially when we are still beginning to practice prophesying, and everyone can do it very easily. As long as we read the Lord’s word and fellowship with Him every day, we will receive light from Him. Eventually, when we combine our knowledge of the Bible, our experience of life, and our spiritual light, we can prophesy for the Lord.

I hope the elders and co-workers would take the lead in practicing this way. Then they should train all the brothers and sisters to practice in this way. It is best if the brothers and sisters write out their prophecies and show them to some trainers for reviewing and correcting. Then after the prophesying on the Lord’s Day, there should be a time of evaluation. Although the saints have something written as a draft when they are prophesying, they should not merely read it in a stiff way but should try to speak normally. If they have some instant inspiration while they are speaking, then they can add a sentence or two. This will make their prophesying more living and more full of light. If we are willing to be trained in this way, I believe that we will all be able to prophesy after one month of practice. Then we can change our meetings from having one person speaking with the rest listening to having everyone speaking and listening to one another. There will be times when mutual speaking and mutual listening will not be enough to ensure that the meetings are rich and enjoyable and that each one has something to say. Therefore, the leading brothers will still need to be prepared. If the brothers and sisters are able to prophesy richly enough so that all the attendants are satisfied and fed, then that is sufficient. Otherwise, the leading brothers will still need to speak a word for eight to ten minutes at the end of the meeting. It should be a strong, rich, living message based upon the sharing of the brothers and sisters, and it should supply and satisfy everyone. Such a preparation is to fill up the lack in order to maintain and strengthen the prophesying meetings of the church.

If we practice this for a few years, the prophesying in the church will be rich and will have a solid base. Furthermore, everyone will be revived daily, get into the Lord’s word, and have a rich enjoyment of the Lord. Thus, the entire church will be revived. All will become the New Testament priests of the gospel, and all will do the work of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. No one will be lazy and barren. Everyone will be a member of the “clergy,” and no one will be a part of the laity. If we have three thousand believers who are like this—everyone being able to beget, nourish, and teach—and if each one can bring in only one new one each year, then we will double our number in one year; three thousand will become six thousand. If we can do this year after year, the church will truly flourish. Every believer is a New Testament priest of the gospel, with everyone preaching the gospel, everyone feeding the Lord’s lambs, everyone perfecting the saints, and everyone prophesying for the Lord. In this way the church will be built up. (The Ministry of the New Testament Priests of the Gospel, pp. 46-47)

References: The Practice of Prophesying, chs. 1, 3; Words of Training for The New Way, Vol. 1, ch. 7; The Home Meetings, ch. 4; The Ministry of the New Testament Priests of the Gospel, ch. 5.