Our speaking in the meetings should avoid the tone of preaching. We have to learn to speak forth our experience of Christ by our spirit in a simple way. This is most helpful in the small group meetings. A lot of times when you stand up to speak there is no spirit, and there is no faith. As a result there is no content, and there is no power. The reason is that you have not practiced enough. First, we have to learn to open our mouth. Whether we speak well or not is another thing. This is like learning English; if you do not speak, you will never learn. Even if you are wrong, you should still speak. If you speak often enough, you will not be wrong any longer. You will be familiar with the language, and you will find out the secret of speaking the language. Then you have to learn to push your words out by the spirit. This kind of speaking is surely with faith; it will surely be full of power and content.
For many of us, our difficulty is first that we do not speak. Second, when we do speak, our spirit does not come out. Third, the content of our speaking is mostly in the tone of preaching. We have to speak, and our spirit has to come out, and there should not be the tone of preaching. Especially in the small meetings, doctrines do not help others that much. The best thing to do is to speak the factual experiences of Christ.
For example, in the context of 2 Corinthians 4:13, we do not see any preaching in Paul’s words. He was giving his own testimony. Verse 10 says, “Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body.” Then he continued, “For we who live are always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death operates in us, but life in you.” All these words are Paul’s testimony of his experience of the death of Christ and the life of Christ. Then in verse 13 he said, “And having the same spirit of faith...therefore also we speak.”
We have to learn to open our mouth, and we have to push out our spirit. Furthermore, we should avoid the tone of preaching. We should only speak of our experience. I do not believe that we who trust in the Lord and love Him can have no experience of Him. What makes me experience the Lord the most in my daily life is when others speak things different from my speaking. At such times I am unhappy. Likewise, when others do not act according to my way, I also get bothered. These things happen frequently. They are all good experiences. If we would learn to live Christ in our daily lives, we will not be bothered when others speak things contrary to our will and act contrary to our desire. It is not a matter of cultivating a certain kind of behavior; it is a matter of who is living in you. If you are living in yourself, you will talk about cultivating a certain attitude or behavior. You will not give others a bad face, and you will not rebuke others. Most Christians are like this; but this is not living Christ. A person who lives Christ has Christ living in him. He is not influenced if others speak things suitable to his taste, and he is not bothered if others speak things contrary to his will. I hope that you will give this kind of testimony. Do not preach doctrines. What happened to your spirit today while you were putting on your shoes? What happened to your spirit when you went to the barber? What happened to you when you were negotiating with others? There should be a lot of testimonies of this kind. If you do not have this kind of testimony, you are merely a Christian who comes to meetings; you are not one who lives Christ and experiences Him in your daily life.
I would like to tell you that although I have a lot of burdens for prayer, when I wake up every morning I set aside all these burdens. I pray only one quiet prayer to the Lord, “Lord, thank You for giving me another day to live You. Lord, grant me the grace to live in the spirit and to live You today.” This prayer helps me every day to realize that I am not living according to the spirit and am not living Christ in many things. Before the Lord I would confess my sins and ask for forgiveness. Actually, in my daily life, most of the time there is only Sister Lee with me alone. Sometimes others would come and visit a little. However, many times I feel that I am not living Christ in this or that way, and I am not walking according to spirit in many things. We all need this kind of practice. We should experience what the Bible says, that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20), so that we can all walk according to the spirit.
I hope that you would all take these words to heart, and bring them to the Lord in prayer. Make them your daily exercise. You have to pray sincerely, asking and telling the Lord that you really desire to walk according to the spirit in everything, and that you truly desire to live a life that is no longer you, but Christ living in you. When you pray this way, you will see that during the day, maybe only five percent of your living is Christ, but even if you would bring that five percent to the meeting, the meeting would be filled with a lot of testimonies. Everyone should bring a little and everyone can speak a little. This is like the children of Israel in the Old Testament during the feasts; everyone brought his produce and ate, drank, and enjoyed it before God.
This is what is lacking in Christianity. Christians are accustomed to worship services and preaching meetings. This has become their custom and habit. There is not the situation where, when everyone gathers together, each one testifies of his personal experience of the Lord in his daily life. In the small group meetings we do not need preaching; everyone can testify of his daily experience of the Lord. We can also use the hymns to read and speak to each other. In this way, the small group meetings will become rich and living. I hope that all of you can take in this word.
A concluding prayer: Lord, we really need Your mercy. We know that You are doing something here to change the age. Lord, may You break forth from among us. We all want to be those who love You. We do not want to hinder You here. Lord, kindle our love for You from deep within. Deepen our desire for You. Grant us a deeper thirst, so that we would not be satisfied with the present situation, and that we would not be content with the condition of our church meetings or the home meetings. Lord, be merciful to us all, so that we would all seek after the abundance of life, that we would all be filled in spirit, clear in truth, and exercised in speaking. When we speak, may we be speaking from the spirit of faith, with the spirit going out, and the faith matching. Lord, be merciful to us all. May all of us, family by family, one by one, whether young or old, newly saved or not, exercise in this matter. May You grant us all the blessing. By Thy name we pray, Amen.