Because the meetings of the Old Testament were of the law, of the letter, and of knowledge, there was a need for teaching, just like people attending schools need to be taught. However, since the meetings of the New Testament are of the Holy Spirit, of life, and of reality, strictly speaking, there is no need of teaching. This is clearly pointed out in the New Testament. First, Hebrews chapter eight tells us that God has put His new covenant, which is the law of life, in us so that we would know the Lord and would not need the teaching of the outward letter. Second, 1 John chapter two shows us that we have received the anointing from the Lord. This anointing abides in us, and we do not need other people to teach us. The anointing teaches us in all things. From this you can see that the New Testament meeting does not require teachings.
Although the New Testament meeting does not require teachings, it requires transmission. For example, the meeting place here is very hot now, and we need air conditioning. Suppose we invite a brother to teach us about air conditioning. We may not have felt uncomfortably hot before he spoke, but the more he talks, on the contrary, the hotter we feel. Before he has spoken for half an hour, we have become so hot that we cannot tolerate it any longer. We will all say, “We do not want you to teach us about air conditioning; we want air conditioning.” What should we do? We simply need to locate the switch for the air conditioner and switch on the power source. Once the electricity is transmitted and the motor is turned, the cool air comes out. Degraded Christianity has made the serious mistake of returning to the Old Testament from the New Testament, so that among them they nearly have only teachings with no transmission or infusion. To some extent, among us we have also committed the same mistake.
We need to know that the key to the New Testament meetings is with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Triune God. He is not at all objective to us. He is not only in the heavens, nor only present with us saved ones; He has entered into us. To speak of this matter, the New Testament uses a word that was not used in this sense in the Old Testament. This word is “filling.” The Holy Spirit, who is God Himself, not only enters into us, but also fills us. This is not a small matter. Where is God filling us? It is not in our mind but in our spirit. Therefore, Ephesians 5:18 tells us that we should be filled in spirit. According to the revelation of the entire book of Ephesians, to be filled in spirit is to be filled with the Triune God. The Triune God will fill us to such an extent that even the Father and the Son will come to make home in us (John 14:23). Ephesians 3:17 also says that Christ the Son is not only in our spirit, but even the more, He wants to make home in our hearts. Acts 13:52 says that the disciples were all filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
When we put these verses together, we can see that the Triune God—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit—desires to make home in us and indwell us to become our inward joy and completely fill our whole being. The result of such a filling is what is mentioned in Ephesians 5:19, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord.” Therefore, the result of being filled with the Holy Spirit is to overflow with words of praise. The psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs referred to here by the Apostle Paul are not ordinary words. Therefore, we all need to learn. Recently, I heard that some of you are memorizing Bible verses. I hope that you would also memorize hymns. For example, consider the words from Hymns, #397:
More gratitude give me,
More trust in the Lord,
More zeal for His glory,
More hope in His Word,
More tears for His sorrows,
More pain at His grief,
More meekness in trial,
More praise for relief.
If these words are thoroughly memorized within you, when you are filled in spirit and moved by the Spirit, you will spontaneously sing out, “More gratitude give me, More trust in the Lord...” Sometimes you may not necessarily sing all three stanzas. It may be that you will sing only the last stanza and think of the Lord’s return:
More victory give me,
More strength to o’ercome,
More freedom from earth-stains,
More quest for the throne,
More fit for the Kingdom...
From this point of view, the hymns are more useful than the Bible verses. Another example is Hymns, #717:
O let us rejoice in the Lord evermore,
Though all things around us be trying,
Though floods of affliction like sea billows roar,
It’s better to sing than be sighing.
Then rejoice evermore, rejoice evermore,
It is better to sing than be sighing:
It is better to live than be dying;
So let us rejoice evermore.
Once you sing like this, your coldness will turn to zeal, your deadness will turn to life, your weakness will turn to strength, and your sorrow will turn to joy. Therefore, you should memorize the hymns thoroughly. At the same time, you need to be filled within. If there is no filling, there will be no overflow.
Here is another hymn we should also sing:
Hallelujah! Christ is Victor,
Tell with every breath,
That the Savior still is conqu’ror
Over sin and death.
Hallelujah! Christ is Victor,
Tell where’er you go,
That the Lord is still the conqu’ror,
Over every foe.
(Hymns, #890, stanza 1)
When I have a little sickness, I like to sing the second stanza the most:
Hallelujah! Christ is Victor,
Pain and sickness flee,
When we plead the mighty victory
Won on Calvary.
The fourth stanza is also very good:
Hallelujah! Christ is Victor,
No defeat nor fear
Evermore must dim thy vision!
Christ the way will clear.
I am one who does not know how to sing, but I love to sing hymns. First, I sing to myself; second, I sing to the angels; and third, I sing to the demons surrounding me. I would like to sing again:
O let us rejoice in the Lord evermore,
When sickness upon us is stealing,
No cordial like gladness our strength can restore,
For joy is the fountain of healing.
(Hymns, #717, stanza 3)
This is indeed wonderful! It is good to memorize Bible verses; nevertheless, by that memorization alone, we simply cannot get the taste that we have with singing and praising.