In the Old Testament Moses led about two million Israelites out of Egypt into the wilderness (Exo. 12:37-38). Due to the heavy burden of daily affairs, Moses began to complain a little (Num. 11:10-15). God then charged Moses to gather together seventy elders to the Tabernacle. When the elders were gathered together, the Spirit of Jehovah descended upon them, and they all prophesied (vv. 16-17, 24-25). However, two of the seventy elders remained in the camp; they did not go to the Tabernacle of Jehovah. Nevertheless, the Spirit of Jehovah also rested upon them, and they also prophesied in the camp. When a young man saw this, he came and told Moses. After Joshua, the helper of Moses, heard this, he said, “My lord Moses, forbid them” (v. 28). But Moses said to him, “Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them” (v. 29). Moses seemed to say, “Even you, Joshua, should prophesy. Would God that every one of God’s people would prophesy in that way.”
The words of Moses reveal the desire of God. God desires that every one of His people would prophesy. This is similar to what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:31, “For you can all prophesy one by one.” Again, in 1 Corinthians 14:1 he said, “Desire earnestly...that you may prophesy.” These words of Moses and Paul reveal to us the mind of God. God desires that all of us who believe in Him would prophesy.
When we prophesy, we do not speak ordinary words. Rather, we speak for and speak forth the Lord. Christ is a mystery. No one can understand Him, and no one has ever seen Him. But if you have experienced Christ, He will become a fact and a reality in you. In this way you can speak Him forth.
First Timothy 2:4 says that God “desires all men to be saved and come to the full knowledge of the truth.” God’s intention is not only that all men be saved, but that they would all come to a full knowledge of the truth. Many Christians have a wrong concept in that they think that only the preachers need to know the truth. According to their concept, ordinary people who are not pastors do not need to know the truth. But God’s desire is not only that all men be saved, but that they would come to a full knowledge of the truth. His desire is that all men would not merely know the truth, but come to a full knowledge of the truth.
Every regenerated believer has a desire to please the Lord. But we cannot please Him merely by being saved. We must strive to go on to have a full knowledge of the truth. Only then will God’s desire be met. Actually, if we do not know the truth, we have nothing to prophesy for the Lord.
Recently I have heard the same words from two or three different sources. I was told, “Brother Lee, for all these years we have been listening to your ministry. Every year we attend two big trainings for ten days, each covering thirty messages. We have been doing this for over ten years, but we still do not feel that we know very much of the truth. However, one day when we were put in a situation that required us to open our mouth, we realized that the more we spoke, the more there was in our spirit. Only then did we realize that over the past ten years so many truths have been deposited into us.”
If you do not open your mouth, you do not know how much deposit there is in you. But if you do have some deposit, then once you open your mouth, you will not be able to stop. The sad thing is that many of our brothers and sisters, especially the Chinese among us, would never open their mouths. The Chinese are naturally conservative; they do not like to make a show of themselves. From our youth we were taught by the older generation not to open our mouth lightly. We were told that all troubles come out from the mouth. We were taught, “More speaking, more mistakes; less speaking, less mistakes; no speaking, no mistakes.” This has become our social norm and habit. We may have a lot to say in private, but when we come to the meetings, we become completely silent. We were influenced from our youth by this kind of teaching. Because of this, it is very difficult for us to speak in the meetings. However, do not think that this is your quietness, politeness, or decency. This is the subtlety of Satan. He is using these things to shut your mouth, so that you will not speak forth for the Lord.
In the Old Testament the Spirit of Jehovah had to fall upon men before they could prophesy. But in the New Testament, we do not need to wait for the Spirit of God to come down upon us. This is because on the day of Pentecost, and later in the house of Cornelius, the Lord once for all poured out Himself as the all-inclusive Spirit upon His Body, which includes all those who believe in Him throughout the ages (Acts 2:1-4; 10:44-47; 1 Cor. 12:13). Today this all-inclusive Spirit is already upon us. I truly believe that as I am speaking to you the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. I also believe that the Spirit of the Lord is not only upon me, but also in me.
We all need to claim the word of the Lord by faith. Since the Lord has said that His Spirit is poured out upon us, we should simply believe. This is the same as the Lord saying that He has died for us. To that we say “Amen.” He does not need to be crucified for us again. He has already been crucified and has already accomplished redemption. This is a fact that has been accomplished once for all. All we need to do is simply to believe, and we will come into the enjoyment of this fact.
The Bible also says that the Lord has already risen and ascended. To this we say “Amen.” Again, the Bible says that we are seated with Him in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:6). To this we also say “Amen.” Then the Bible says that the Lord Jesus has breathed the Spirit of life as air into His believers (John 20:22). To that we say “Amen.” Moreover, the Bible says that after the Lord Jesus ascended to heaven, He poured out the Spirit of power upon His believers. To that we say “Amen.” The Lord Jesus has died for us, He has risen and ascended, and His Spirit is within us as well as upon us. Today we do not need to seek after these spiritual facts. All we need to do is to seek after the experience of these facts. The best way to experience all these riches is to speak forth all these facts by the spirit of faith (2 Cor. 4:13).