The third kind of meeting is for the exercise of gifts as presented in 1 Corinthians 14:26-40. The bread-breaking meeting is a meeting of the church where all the saints function in mutuality. The prayer meeting is a meeting of the church for all the saints to function in mutuality. The meeting for exercising our gifts is also a meeting of the church for all the saints to function in mutuality. In the past we held a weekly fellowship meeting that was similar in nature to a meeting for the exercise of gifts spoken of in 1 Corinthians 14. Initially, we separated the brothers and the sisters. The brothers had their meeting, and the sisters had theirs, but later these two meetings were combined. Regardless of whether the brothers and the sisters met separately or whether their meetings were combined, the meeting was not successful. It did not have the practice of everyone exercising his gift according to 1 Corinthians 14.
Even though the church in Taipei has a bread-breaking meeting, prayer meeting, and also a ministry meeting, we do not have the kind of meeting spoken of in 1 Corinthians 14, which is for the exercise of the gifts. According to the principle of the Bible and the teaching of the New Testament, there should be many such meetings in the church because this kind of meeting affords the saints an opportunity to supply others and receive the supply from others.
For example, the church in Taipei is always concerned about how to lead the newly baptized brothers and sisters. Many are baptized, but few remain. I feel that one of the reasons for this is that the church has no specific meeting for them to give their testimonies. They have received the Lord’s grace but are not given the opportunity to express it. Thus, they continue to hold back the grace within them. After holding back this grace for a long time, they become depressed, deadened, and cold, and they lose their freshness and vitality. Eventually, it is difficult to take them forward. Therefore, even if it is only for the sake of newly baptized brothers and sisters, there is a need for this kind of meeting for the exercise of the gifts, testimonies, and fellowshipping.
Concerning the meeting for the exercise of gifts, there are a few points that require our attention.
First, this is not a meeting for the display of gifts but for the edifying, the building up, of the church. It is not for someone to sing a spiritual song so that others will know how well he sings. No, but when a spiritual song is sung, it should be for the edification of those who are listening. We should not bring anything that cannot edify others to this meeting. This is not an exhibition or a performance but a meeting for the exercise of the gifts for mutual edification.
A more accurate translation of the word edifyin the Bible is “build up.” However, being built up is slightly different than being edified. Building up includes edification, but edification may not involve building up. Edification only perfects an individual, and it does not necessarily build many individuals up together. The exercise of gifts that we are speaking of should be for mutual edification, not individual edification. Thus, the building up includes edification, but the ultimate goal is the building up of all the saints as God’s dwelling place. We must have this kind of realization concerning edification.
Second, everyone can exercise his gift. In this meeting every person has an equal opportunity to exercise his gift. The meeting should not be taken over by a few. We must bear in mind that this is not for an exhibition or a performance. On the contrary, it is for the building up of the saints. Hence, even though everyone can exercise his gift in the meeting, the principle of building should not be violated. Some brothers may be timid even though they have a gift; hence, they need some encouragement. It may be easy for other brothers to stand up and speak because they are too bold. Their boldness may issue in the exercise of a debate, not a gift. Two brothers may even debate openly until their faces are red. This is not building up. It is tearing down. We must avoid this. The principle in this meeting is that all the saints have an opportunity to exercise this gift, neither burying nor frustrating it and neither misusing nor abusing it.
Third, every gift should be exercised. Everyone can exercise his gift, and every kind of gift should be exercised. Someone may stand up to speak from the Scriptures. This is the gift of a teacher. If his expounding of the Scriptures is proper, logical, and full of light and supply, this gift should be exercised. If someone can speak in a tongue, he should speak a few sentences in the tongue by spiritual inspiration. Then another who can interpret the tongue should interpret it so that everyone can benefit spiritually. In this way, the meeting will be very rich because the various gifts in the church are given the opportunity to be exercised.
Fourth, as for prophesying, the principle is that there should be only two or three, and they must speak in order. This is explicitly instructed in the Bible. There should not be too many who speak, and there should not be any confusion in the order.
Fifth, in a meeting for the exercise of gifts, sisters are not permitted to teach, that is, to preach the word. This is God’s governmental arrangement. First Corinthians 14:34 says, “The women should be silent in the churches.” This means that the sisters are not permitted to teach or preach the word as teachers. This is because the sisters, typifying the church, should stand in a position of being subject to authority and not stand in the position of teaching and instructing others as the head.
Finally, a basic principle of this meeting is that all things must be done properly and in order, without any confusion. Such a meeting should not be like a secular meeting where everyone competes to be the first to speak. If someone wants to sing, there is no need to preempt him by preaching the word, or if someone wants to preach the word, there is no need to preempt him by offering a prayer. Every person in this meeting should learn to be restrained. According to the principle in 1 Corinthians 14:29-30, we should be willing to stop as soon as another is led to speak. Even if we are speaking, we should be willing to stop if another wants to speak. All our activities should be in the principle of being led by the Spirit. If everyone keeps this principle, there will not be any striving to speak while another is speaking. Since a person is being led, we should go according to order and not cause confusion.