This morning we will consider the focal point of the change of the system, which is the speaking of the Lord’s word. The degradation and failure of Christianity and its greatest lack lies in the fact that the believers do not speak the Lord’s word. The principle of the New Testament is that every saved person is a member of the Body of Christ and a priest of God. As such, everyone should serve God and speak for God. Therefore, we all have to learn to speak the Lord’s word and to teach others to do the same.
We were all originally born in Adam to be the descendants of Adam, a part of Adam, and even the members of Adam. It does not matter in which country we were born and what language we speak; we are speaking for Adam, and are even speaking Adam. It does not matter whether one belongs to a high class speaking refined words, or to a low class speaking coarse words; he is speaking Adam. The whole world is a kingdom of Adam, a sphere of Adam. This was our condition not merely before we were saved, but even after we were saved, it could be possible that we still speak for Adam.
After we were saved and regenerated, we were transferred from Adam into Christ and joined to Christ, to become members of Christ. The vision and light are very clear among us, but we are short of a living in Christ. The revelation and the teachings are here, but the reality is lacking. If we do not live in Christ, we may be in Christ in name, but in reality we are still in Adam. The only difference is that before salvation we were free to sin; but now, after salvation, and especially after we are stirred up to love the Lord and are brought into the church life, we begin to refrain from sinful things and to behave more properly. But in our daily walk we are still in Adam.
In Paul’s Epistles, the believers are exhorted to refrain from murmurings and reasonings (Phil. 2:14). They are also exhorted not to judge (1 Cor. 4:5). This shows us that there were often many such things among the brothers and sisters at that time. In Greek the word for reasoning has the sense of arguing and debating. Today even among the churches in the Lord’s recovery, it is still difficult to avoid reasoning, arguing, and debating. In Colossians, Paul even said that there were complaints one against another (Col. 3:13a). If there are complaints among us, this proves that we are not living in Christ. If we live in Christ, we will be closely knitted together, but if we live in Adam, there will be complaints, opinions, and frictions. All these things are in Adam, proving that we are speaking for Adam. We do not have to learn to speak for Adam. All of us are perfect representatives of Adam.
Since we are saved and are the members of Christ, it is reasonable that we should speak for the Lord; however, most of us are still not speaking. This is because we lack the knowledge of the truth. Therefore, the Bible tells us that God “desires all men to be saved and come to the full knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). As soon as a person is saved, he should learn the truth and should come to the full knowledge of the truth. When we were born, we knew nothing of the truth. Even after we become a Christian, if we do not learn the truth, we will not know the Lord, and consequently we will not be able to speak for the Lord. For this reason, immediately after we are saved, we should learn the truth; then we will be able to speak God’s word in Christ.