We all must taste this heavenly gift, we all must taste the good Word of God, we all must taste the power of the age to come, though we have not entered into that age (6:4, 5). Some versions use the word “tasted,” and some “tasting.” In a sense we have tasted, but we are still tasting. Some say the heavenly gift is this, and some say it is that, but the book of Hebrews does not say this or that; it just says the heavenly gift. The heavenly gift is something heavenly in contrast with earthly things. This is a book written to Jewish believers, to people who were so concerned for earthly things. The writer says that they have tasted something heavenly, something with the nature of the heavens. They have not just received this gift, they have tasted it. Haven’t you tasted something heavenly? Perhaps it is eternal life, heavenly peace and rest, or a kind of comfort and inner strengthening. We all have tasted something heavenly. Hallelujah, we have tasted! We have tasted the heavenly gift through pray-reading. By pray-reading, the Word becomes so tasteful to us. If you merely read the Word with your mentality, it may be sweet, but it could never be so sweet as it is by pray-reading. The more you pray-read, the more you taste and enjoy the tasting of the heavenly gift. The good Word here is not the Word as established doctrine, but the living Word, the up-to-date Word. It is the living Word that meets the need of the present time, and it is something for us to taste, not just to know or learn. Infants know very little, but they taste a great deal. They taste many things without knowing what they are. I hope that we all may taste more than we know. If so, we will be filled with experiences which are so adequate and suitable for composing praises to God about Christ. Christ is the sacrifice in our praise, not in an objective way, but in a subjective way. Who can stop us from bubbling over like the Psalmist in Psalm 45:1 when we are so full, not with knowledge in the head, but with experience in the spirit. We will be filled with praises not only in the meetings, but also in our daily life.
Psalms and hymns are like the cream of the milk. If you do not have milk, you can never have cream. The cream comes from the milk, the milk comes from the cattle, the cattle feed on the grass, and the grass grows on the ranges. So we need the range to grow the grass, the grass to feed the cattle, the cattle to produce the milk, and then from the milk we get the cream—the psalms, hymns and songs. Do not think that to write a hymn is so easy. A proper hymn can never be composed by mental knowledge; it is the cream of the experiences of Christ. The church is the ranch: much grass is growing there and we have many cattle feeding all the day. The cattle produce the milk, and out of the milk we have the cream, the praises. If we would have adequate praises, we need the adequate experiences of Christ. We need the ranch, we need the grass, and we need so many living cattle feeding on the grass to produce the milk. Then we will have an abundance of praise. If you are void of Christ in your experiences, it is impossible to offer praise when you come to the meetings; you are simply flat and empty. If you experience Him daily, if you are filled with the subjective experiences of the sweet enjoyment of Christ, you will have the milk, and out of the milk it is so easy to obtain the cream. When you come to the meeting, and even while you are coming, you will be singing, “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, praise the Lord! Oh, little Benjamin! Oh, the man who was lower than the angels and crowned with glory and honor! Oh, Judah, the conquering lion!” You will be singing all the way. You will certainly make a joyful noise.
The proper way for us to meet is with the cream of praises which issue from the adequate experiences and enjoyment of Christ. It is not a matter of learning, knowledge, sound teachings or scriptural doctrines.
The Lord Jesus said to the Jewish leaders in John chapter five, “Ye search the scriptures...and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life” (vv. 39-40, ASV). Undoubtedly there is no teaching better than the Bible. But even the Bible can be just the written code which kills. Who crucified the Lord Jesus? The Jewish leaders who knew the Old Testament so well. They knew all the doctrines; they not only searched, but researched the Scriptures; yet they would not come to the living Christ for life. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. What we need today is the Spirit, the life-giving Spirit.
I do not say that we have no need whatever of proper teachings. But I do say that we need to be balanced: we need a sound mind and a strong spirit. The mind needs to be taught, but more than that, the spirit needs to be strengthened. We need the strengthening in our inner man, our spirit. This is the urgent, desperate need today. We are not today in the age of doctrine, but the age of the Spirit. What the church needs today is the living Spirit, the life-giving Spirit. And the best way to enjoy this Spirit is to praise. Learn to praise, learn to sing the praises; then you will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and we will have the proper meetings with the rich enjoyment of Christ.