I would like to ask, Which do you have first, the Spirit or the word? I tell you that first you have the word, and then you have the Spirit. The electric current runs from the power plant to the meeting hall. I ask you, Do you first have electricity, or do you first have the cables? You cannot say that, since there is no electricity in a certain place, there is no need to install any cables; neither can you say that, since there is no current, it would be a waste to install cables. To say this seems reasonable, but you need to know that if you do not speak, the Spirit will not move.
Especially we Chinese have been taught from our youth not to talk very much in public. Remember the Chinese sayings: “Sickness comes from what you eat; calamities come from what you speak,” “Don’t embarrass yourself if you have no goods,” and “For a person like you, to speak is just to lose face.” Consequently, we have developed a habit of listening to others. We have become dumb in public. If tonight, I would only look at you and you would only look at me, with no one speaking, how could the Spirit move? But on the contrary, suppose that one by one everyone here would speak. As soon as one person would speak the Spirit would move, and when another would speak the Spirit would come. The Spirit would be prevailing here and we would all ascend to the heavens. How wonderful that would be!
Acts 5:42 proves that meeting is for speaking the word of God: “And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and bringing the good news of Jesus as the Christ.” To teach is simply to speak the word of God. As long as you speak the word of God, you are teaching, even if you have no intention to teach. You are not only teaching, but you are also preaching the gospel of Jesus as the Christ. Teaching is speaking; preaching is also speaking. They taught and they preached. Every day they met from house to house doing just this one thing—speaking the word of God, which is simply teaching and preaching the gospel.
The second instance which proves that meeting is for speaking the word of God is found in 1 Corinthians 14:23-24: “If therefore the whole church comes together in one place, and...all prophesy.” Paul said, “All prophesy.” This means that everyone in the church can speak the word of God.
The third verse which proves that meeting is for speaking the word of God is 1 Corinthians 14:26: “Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.” “Each one” here means not just a few, but everyone. Everyone has a psalm. Ephesians 5:19 says, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord.” A psalm is not merely for singing; it is for speaking, even speaking to one another. Speak to one another, not in common talk nor merely in Scripture verses, but in psalms.
The fourth proof that meeting is for speaking the word of God is in Hebrews 10:25, which says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together...but exhorting one another.” All those who meet regularly are very impressed by “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,” yet very few have the concept of “exhorting one another” in the meetings. The Lord’s word here indicates that exhorting is a mutual matter.
Not only is there proof from the Bible, but the Spirit also manifests that the meeting is for speaking the word of God. First Corinthians 12:8-10 says, “For to one through the Spirit is given a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge...and to another prophecy...to a different one various kinds of tongues, and to another interpretation of tongues.” Nine items are mentioned in these verses. Among them five are a matter of speaking. The first two are the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge. The last two are tongues and the interpretation of tongues. The most crucial items among the nine are the first two: the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge. We all have to dig into the Word of God. When you dig deeper, you will not only gain the word of knowledge but also the word of wisdom.
I hope that the fellowship in this message has given you a deep impression that our coming to the meeting is for speaking the word of God. Only by everyone speaking the word of God in the meeting can clerical rank and religious organization among us be torn down. Only by everyone speaking the word of God can death, tradition, and habitual ways of doing things thoroughly be eradicated from among us. This all depends on our rising up one by one to speak the word of God.