First Corinthians 12:4 says: “But there are distributions of gifts, but the same Spirit.” From this we can see that the spiritual gifts are distributed by the Spirit. This is why we have to learn to live in the spirit and not in ourselves, so that the Spirit will have the ground to spread within us. This spreading Spirit will become our gift. For this reason, when you come to the meeting, I would strongly exhort all of you to first learn to pray. This is the simplest thing to do. Second, you have to learn to testify. Third, you have to learn to prophesy for the Lord. If you would practice this way and would seize the opportunity to pray, testify, or prophesy in the meeting, the gift of the Holy Spirit will be able to spread within you, and spontaneously your function will be realized.
For many years, among us we have spoken about the church services, and we have encouraged the saints to participate in them. But the church services that we talked about were mostly business affairs, such as cleaning, hall arranging, ushering, and hospitality. These things do have their place. But the real service of the church lies not so much in the business affairs as in the spiritual matters. While you are taking care of this special conference, it is right for you to do your best to meet the needs in the business affairs. But when you come to the meetings, you should release your spirit, and you should pray in a strong way, one after another. Your testimonies should be to the point, and your prophesying should be with much content. If you practice this way again and again, exercising your spirit, your mind, your utterance, and your boldness, the meetings will be rich. Only then will the whole church be able to enter the spiritual service. The main thing with the spiritual service is the preaching of the gospel to save sinners, the feeding of the lambs, the mutual shepherding and perfecting, and the prophesying for the Lord. When all the saints have been equipped by the spiritual gifts distributed by the Spirit, the gospel will spread more prevailingly, and more saints will be nourished, cared for, and perfected, and the meetings will become more living and rich.
First Corinthians 12 shows us that Christ is the Head of His Body, equipping and supplying every one of His members with the Spirit who distributes the spiritual gifts, that they would not only be able to participate, by the gift and capacity of the distributing Spirit, in the Lord’s ministry of the building up of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:5), but by the same gift and function, would also be able to participate in the operation which is for the accomplishment of His eternal economy (1 Cor. 12:6), unto the building up of the Body of Christ. For this reason, we have to continually receive the dispensing of the Spirit within us and to go along with the operation of the Spirit, so that the gift of the Spirit can spread within us. By this, the spiritual function will be realized, and we will have a part in the ministry of the building up of the church.
Thus, we can see that today, it is not a matter of our waiting for God or for the Spirit; rather, it is Christ, the Spirit, who distributes the spiritual gifts, who is waiting for us. Hence, in the meetings, or outside the meetings, we have to move with the Spirit when He flows within us. By this way, not only will all of us be able to serve in the meetings, but we will be full of spiritual service outside the meetings.
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