The purpose of the Christian meeting is to prophesy, to speak. This is just like saying that the purpose of a ball team is to play ball; the ball is the focus of a ball team. When a ball team comes together, it does so to play ball. If there is no ball, there is no reason to have a ball team. Hence, we have to see that the Christian meeting is not a so-called worship service but a gathering for all to prophesy, to speak Christ.
Sixty years ago when we were raised up by the Lord in China, we were all young people. Today we are very happy because we see that in the church there are also numerous young people. This encourages us very much. If in a worldly profession there is no younger generation, then that profession has no future. Similarly, the rise or fall of a family depends on the next generation. No matter how able and capable the older generations-the grandparents and the parents-of a family are, if there are no heirs to continue the family line, then the family will not have any future.
We thank the Lord that in the church there are many older saints, because without them the church would not have any descendants. Therefore, we should not be ungrateful toward the older saints. Nonetheless, it is very good that we have many young people in the church. When I see these young people, I feel like I am a coach teaching these young ones how to play ball. We Christians are a ball team, and our meeting is a ball game. Even when we are not competing, we are still practicing. The ball is the word, the ball game is our meeting, and our ball playing is our speaking.
To play ball well, one must play skillfully and accurately. Likewise, to speak in the meetings we have to be able to speak the word clearly. In the past we came to the meetings without bringing the “ball.” Instead, everyone came empty-handed, coming only to “go to church.” However, in our “going to church” there was no prophesying, no speaking. The Christian meeting is not for “going to church” but for speaking, for prophesying. Traditional Christianity has been deceived and has been utilized by Satan to completely discard the treasure of our heritage-the Bible, the speaking of God. We have to recover this. We must see that the purpose of the Christian meeting is speaking. When Christians meet together, there should be speaking.
The Christian meeting is not for the worshipping of dumb idols (1 Cor. 12:2). If the Christian meeting is for “going to church,” then it is the worshipping of dumb idols. Before I was twenty years old, I was saved and delivered out of the worldly system; at that time I began to love the Lord and to study the Bible diligently. Now it has been over half a century, and I have studied the Bible quite thoroughly. Besides reading the Bible, I have also read and studied in depth the history of the church, biographies of famous people throughout the generations, and the orthodox teachings. From my readings I saw the subtlety of Satan, particularly in the Middle Ages, when European architecture was altogether focused on building cathedrals. Nearly all the European-style cathedrals, as well as the cathedrals from earlier time periods, have a towering outward appearance, stained-glass windows, and a dark interior. The purpose of this is to produce a psychological effect on people so that once they step into the building, they are struck with awe and dare not make a sound. All they can do is just find a seat and then sit down and begin to have the “worship service.” In doing so, they are worshipping dumb idols.
The European architecture in those days was the result of much study; it was altogether for the purpose of accommodating man’s psychological desire to “go to church.” This shows us that it was the work of the devil. The devil’s activities are very much involved in many architectural structures. For instance, when people go into a Chinese temple, not only do the things inside the temple arouse fear in them but even walking into the temple gives them a gloomy feeling. The stratagem of the enemy is to make the Christian meeting place exactly like a temple for idols, causing the Christian meeting to become a dumb service of one man speaking and all the rest listening.
I hope that we all can see the light, so that we can see the Lord’s desire, Satan’s strategy, and the degradation of the church. Christianity has fallen into such a pitiful condition that the Lord has no position and no freedom to speak there. All the chapels and cathedrals, whether big or small, have been constructed in a way that causes people to remain silent. Consequently, the believers not only do not know how to preach the word, they do not even know how to pray and do not dare to pray. This exposes the subtlety of Satan in annulling the functioning of the children of God, even to the extent that it is impossible for the Body of Christ to exist. We know that the existence of the Body depends on the functioning of all the members together; if the members of our physical body do not function, there is no way for our body to exist.
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