A Christian meeting is not a “Sunday service”—it is like a basketball game. Since we come to the meeting to “play ball,” the first thing we should do is to put on the uniform. Second, we need to be in position, ready to play. What is the “ball” in a meeting? It is speaking. We meet to speak the word of God. We do not meet merely to speak, but we meet to speak the word of God. If we come together merely to talk, there is no need for me to labor so much to teach you. On the way to the meeting, have you not been talking constantly? You have talked all the way up to the door of the meeting hall, but when the meeting is about to begin, all the mouths close. We come to the meeting to speak the word of God. Brothers and sisters, do you know how to speak the word of God? Are you able to speak the word of God? Do you want to speak the word of God? Do you love to speak the word of God? I hope that from today our meetings will have a change.
If you would all come to the meetings to speak the word of God, then my burden would be released. Do not think that I am too much. Today’s Christianity is short of the word of God. Much of what you can hear in a “church” building are stories and parables. Everyone laughs heartily and then goes home. Perhaps you will say, “Praise the Lord, there is so much speaking in the church in the Lord’s recovery!” It is true that in the church the Lord’s speaking is abundant. However, I would like to ask, Do you speak the word of God? Would you speak the word of God? Can you speak the word of God? Do you love to speak the word of God?
The key to having a good home meeting is to have everyone speak the word of God. If each one in the home meeting speaks the word of God, this meeting will surely grow with much increase in numbers. Recently, a leading brother in Anaheim told me that he had counted the occurrences of the term “the word of God” in the book of Acts and found that it is mentioned more than “the Spirit” or “the Holy Spirit.”
In Acts at least three times it is said that “the word of the Lord grew.” Acts 19:20 says, “The word of the Lord grew mightily and was strong.” Although the Lord’s word is rich in His recovery, we cannot say that the Lord’s word has been propagated through us nor that the word of the Lord is growing and is strong or prevailing. The reason that it is not prevailing is that you do not speak the word of God and others do not speak the word of God. Nearly no one speaks. Only the elders and the co-workers speak a little. With only a few speaking, it is difficult for the word of God to grow mightily and prevail.
Suppose the four thousand brothers and sisters who meet with us regularly in the church in Taipei all speak every day, everywhere, and at all times. When you see people, speak to them. If there are no people available, speak to the cats, the dogs, the flowers, and the grass. Just keep speaking. Speak to the angels. Speak to the Devil. If everyone speaks unceasingly, do you not think that the word of God will grow in Taipei? In the past years it is not as if we have not preached the gospel. We preached the gospel every year, and people were saved and baptized every year. But why were there not many who remained? We kept delivering babies, yet the survival rate was not high. This should alert us to thoroughly change our ways. Our supplying the word of the Lord must be divided into different levels with different teaching materials at each level. In this way, thousands of young people can be sustained and fed. From now on, our service is to labor on the word of God. We all need to learn to play this ball game.
From now on I hope that all the churches in the Lord’s recovery on the island of Taiwan would practice this, that is, that everyone would speak the word of God as soon as he arrives at the meeting. No one should wait for the leading brothers to arrive. The young ones, as well as the older ones, should learn to speak the word of God. The elders and the co-workers should never replace others. To replace others is to have class structure. There should be no replacing among us. We have many “players,” with some older ones and some younger ones. If twelve hundred saints come to the meeting, these twelve hundred should all be players. Once you come, play the ball one by one, each proclaiming the word of God.
Our meetings should not have any form. A particular meeting could be started by anyone. Whoever comes first should begin to play the ball game. You may pray-read, sing a hymn, or stand up to speak something. You may say, “No one is here yet. To whom will I speak?” You can speak to the meeting hall, “O Lord! Fully sanctify this meeting hall. Anoint every seat so that whoever sits on it will touch You, will sense Your presence.” Brothers and sisters, we do not realize how much we have been poisoned by religion. The New Testament did not tell us to sit still in the meeting and wait quietly for the pastor to arrive. On the contrary, 1 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.” It says that we should not wait for others to bring something, but everyone “has” something.
At Paul’s time, if there were five hundred Corinthian believers gathered together, do you think that they would all arrive at the same time like an army troop? Of course not. It must have been that some came early, “had” a psalm, and began singing it. The ancient psalms might not have been numbered, so they would just begin singing whichever one came to their mind. In this way they would start the meeting. Then a few sisters would arrive and join the singing even before they sat down. Then a few more saints would arrive, and, hearing the singing from downstairs, they would also start to sing. How wonderful, living, and fresh such a meeting would be, and how the Spirit would be flowing out!