First Corinthians 14:12 says that we have to seek to speak for the Lord by the excelling Holy Spirit—“Since you are zealous of spirits (lit.), seek that you may excel to the building up of the church.” If we seek to prophesy, our seeking will be excelling. Our seeking of the spiritual things will not be so low, but it will excel. Prophesying is sought by the seeking believers. The top function for the building up of the Body of Christ is to speak for the Lord. To prophesy is to excel because it is of the excelling Holy Spirit.
Paul began 1 Corinthians 14:12 by saying, “Since you are zealous of spirits....” J. N. Darby has a note on this portion of the Word that makes Paul’s meaning clear. During Paul’s time, the unbelieving Greeks were zealous of devilish spirits. After they became Christians, they needed to be zealous of the Holy Spirit. There are many devilish spirits plus the Holy Spirit. This is why Paul says that if you are zealous for spirits, you must be zealous for the excelling Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit. The excelling Holy Spirit should be sought by the seeking believers. To speak for Christ, to speak Christ forth, to speak Christ into others, is to practice a function that excels. This is the highest function.
Prophesying is for others’ learning (14:31). For others to be able to learn by our prophesying, we have to learn something first. A teacher cannot teach unless he has learned something. If he has not learned something, how can his students learn something? When we prophesy for others’ learning, we speak not only by the inspiration of the Spirit in our spirit but also by our seeking and learning with the mind (14:19). We must learn how to speak. My secret in speaking is that whenever I speak I pray in this way: “Lord, infuse me with Your intention, with Your feeling, and with Your thought. Lord, infuse me with Your word and Your expression. Infuse me, Lord, with Your instant utterance.” The Lord is faithful to hear this prayer. We all have to learn to say something for the Lord. Then when we speak Christ to others, they will learn something. Speaking for the Lord is not a sudden or miraculous thing. To speak for the Lord we have to learn just as if we are studying in a college. We have to learn to speak, try to speak, desire to speak, and seek to speak since prophesying is excelling.
Prophesying is for the practical building up of the church (14:3-5, 12, 26), the organic Body of Christ. Prophesying is not for the building up of a congregation, an organization. The way of one man speaking and the rest listening is the old way. The way of Christianity is to build a congregation, an organization, which is a facade. Everyone prophesying builds up a body—the Body of Christ, an organism. This organism can only be built up in the organic way by practicing 1 Corinthians 14:26 through the perfecting of the saints by the four gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4:11-16.