First Corinthians 14:26 says, “Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” Psalms are for singing, and teachings are for speaking. The proper way to meet is not in the way of Christianity where one speaks and all listen. It is in the way of every saint speaking. Each has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, and even has an interpretation. Each one of these five items involves speaking. One is even speaking with the words of psalms, that is, with words of praises to God.
Although I am speaking here tonight, I am not satisfied. I hope very much that every one of you sitting here would compete to speak. Moreover, I hope that they would not be long speakings, but would be in the way where I speak a few sentences, you speak a few sentences, and every one stands up and speaks a few sentences. Some may stand up to sing a hymn; another may stand up to read a song. If this is the case, our meeting will become living and enjoyable, and you will see the riches of Christ displayed here. I hope that every one of us would see this.
First Corinthians 12:7-8 says, “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for profit. For to one through the Spirit is given a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit.” First we have the word of wisdom, then we have the word of knowledge. Here we see that in a meeting there should not be only one speaker. Rather, all the brothers and sisters should speak. The Spirit is already operating in us; we cannot say that we have nothing. To each one of us is given the manifestation of the Spirit, and we all have a word of wisdom and a word of knowledge to speak.
Matthew 18:20 says, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name.” The preposition here should not be “in,” but should be “into.” We must be gathered together into His name. Every time we meet together we are gathering together into His name. Wherever two or three gather together, we have a small group meeting, and we are told that we must meet into the name of the Lord. In the Bible, especially in the New Testament, the name denotes the person. Hence, to meet into the name of the Lord is to meet into the Person of the Lord. Christ is the center of our meetings. He is also the content of our meetings. We do not gather with any other center or content. Christ is our unique center and content. For this reason when we come together, we have the inner sense that we are gathering together into the Lord.
Many times when we read the Bible or pray at home, we experience a certain measure of enjoyment and sweetness. But this enjoyment is different from that which we enjoy in the meetings. The flavor of our enjoyment at home is not that strong. But when we come to the meeting, the flavor is much stronger. This is because we are gathering together into the Lord. This is what it means to have a living of meeting by Christ.
Today Christ is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). Furthermore, He is living in our spirit. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit,” and 2 Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit.” Therefore we all must exercise in our speaking to release this spirit. If I come to you today and stand before you silently, no matter how much I look at you, my spirit will not be released. How can I release my spirit? I must open my mouth. As soon as I open my mouth, the spirit comes out. I often say that if one does not know what it is to release his spirit, all he has to do is to lose his temper. If you would say, “I just hate you!” right away your spirit will be released. When you talk politely with others, your spirit will not come out. But if you shout in your anger, your spirit will be released. Of course that release of the spirit is not the proper kind. But the principle is there, and it is very applicable. When you open your mouth to release one or two sentences in the meeting, your spirit must be released. That means you have to utter something from the depths of your being. You must use your mouth, because your spirit is connected to your mouth. When you speak some words, the words will carry the spirit with them. When you shout in your temper, the spirit of anger will come out through the words of anger.
The Christian meeting is a part of our entertainment in our daily life. Moreover, this meeting is one where we meet into the Lord’s name. The Lord is the Spirit; hence, for us to meet into Him is for us to meet into the Spirit. This Spirit is today in our spirit. In order for this Spirit to come out, there is no other way than to open our mouth. Brothers and sisters, if you do not open your mouth, even God has no way. Although you can have a strong wind blowing outside, without opening the windows, there is no way to have any air. Today the Triune God has been incarnated, has died, and has risen from the dead to become the Spirit. This Spirit has been breathed into us (John 20:22), and has also been poured out upon us (Acts 2:1-4; 10:44-46; 1 Cor. 12:13). But there is no response on our side. This is our problem.