The way to be spiritual is to speak for the Lord and concerning the Lord. The more we speak, the more we shall be filled in our spirit. However, if we remain silent, we shall find that we cannot be filled in spirit. In our daily living we need to be those who speak. We can speak concerning the Lord even when we are alone. If you speak in this way day by day, you will see that it produces in you a genuine spirituality and that it causes you to be filled in your spirit. When we have no other person to whom to speak, we can speak to our pets or even to inanimate objects. For example, you may say to a flower, “Little flower, you are very pretty. But your beauty is vanity. The real beauty is the Lord Jesus Christ.” How important it is that we all learn to speak!
We especially need to speak in the meetings of the church. In 1 Corinthians 14:23 and 24 Paul says that if we all prophesy when the whole church comes together into one place, the unlearned one will be convinced of all and judged of all. In verse 25 he goes on to say, “And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is among you of a truth” (Gk.). Many believers regard 1 Corinthians 14 as a chapter that deals with speaking in tongues. However, in this chapter more attention is given to prophesying than to tongues-speaking. In verse 3 Paul says that prophesying is for the building up, exhortation, and comfort of the saints. Furthermore, the one who prophesies builds up the church (v. 4).
The more we speak for the Lord, the more our inward being is filled with Him. Often the reason we are offended by others is that our soul is empty. We are not occupied in a proper way. But when we are filled through speaking of the Lord, our being will be properly occupied, and there will be no room for anything negative to come in to usurp us.
Concerning this matter of speaking for the Lord, some believe that they should wait until the Spirit comes upon them. This was the practice in the Old Testament. But it is not the way revealed in the New Testament. In the Old Testament the Spirit of God came upon people, but the Spirit was not dwelling in them. In the New Testament age, however, as believers in Christ, we have the Spirit within us. Hence, there is no need to wait for the Spirit to come upon us. In 1 Corinthians 14:32 Paul says, “And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” Since our spirit is subject to us, there is no need for us to wait for inspiration. Why should we wait for the Spirit to come upon us when we already have the Spirit in our spirit? We should take the initiative to exercise our spirit, giving our spirit the command to act. Then we should speak, not according to our thought, but according to the sense deep within. Every believer in Christ can speak in this way. This is the reason Paul tells us that we all can prophesy.
In the meetings of the church we all need to speak for the Lord and regarding the Lord. Everyone should be bubbling over with the Lord. If this is the experience of every one of us, there will be no need for so much singing or preaching in the meetings. In many Christian meetings singing and preaching are used to fill up time. Without singing and preaching, there would be large gaps in those meetings. The situation among us in the Lord’s recovery must be altogether different. We must be those who experience Christ, who live by Him, and who are filled in our spirit with Him. If we are filled with Christ in our spirit, we shall overflow by speaking of Christ and for Christ. Whenever we come to the meetings, we shall speak to one another of our experience and enjoyment of Christ. Of course, we shall still sing, but not because we have nothing else to do. We shall not use songs and hymns to fill the gaps caused by the shortage of speaking regarding Christ.
We need to labor on Christ day by day just as the children of Israel labored on the good land. Through their labor, they gained produce to offer to the Lord at the time of the feasts. When they came into the Lord’s presence, they had something in their hands to present to Him. The principle is the same with respect to experiencing Christ. Because many Christians do not labor on Christ, they do not experience Him in their daily living. Thus, when they come to meetings, they have nothing of Christ to present to God or to share with the saints. They have nothing to speak on behalf of the Lord.
May the Lord be merciful to us in the church life that we may contact Him day by day and live according to the index of His inner being. If we live by Christ, we shall be filled in our spirit unto all the fullness of God. Then spontaneously we shall overflow by speaking for the Lord. Through this kind of speaking we shall offer Christ to God and share Him with one another. Meetings that are filled with this speaking of Christ will be the expression of the living Christ. In principle, this is the proper way to have the church meetings.
I believe that the time is coming when the meetings of the local churches will be carried out in this way. However, we can do this only through experiencing Christ in our daily living. Only when we experience Christ do we have something to speak for Christ.
Many of the testimonies given by Christians concern miracles or material blessings. Some may testify about a good job or about a physical healing. But this is not the kind of testimony we need in the church meetings. We need testimonies of the experience of Christ. For example, we need to hear testimonies about how the saints have experienced Christ in a particular way, perhaps as their tenderness, meekness, or gentleness. Furthermore, we need testimonies about living and acting according to the index of the Lord’s inward being. We must confess that as far as such testimonies are concerned, there is still a great shortage among us. May the Lord be merciful to us that we in the local churches will be rich in the experience of Christ. Day by day we need to experience Christ as our life, our person, and our everything. Then we shall be filled with Him and spontaneously speak of Him. I encourage all the saints to practice speaking for Christ and of Christ. The way to take the Lord into us is to speak of Him. The more we speak, the more we shall be filled with Him; and the more we are filled with Him, the more we shall speak of Him. May we all be filled with Christ and be overflowing with the riches of Christ.