According to our experience, although the meetings with one speaking and the rest listening can meet certain people’s needs and maintain a certain kind of situation, in reality, they do not edify the saints, much less do they perfect the saints as described in Ephesians 4:12. Among us in the past decades, this kind of meeting with one speaking and the rest listening has killed much of the organic function of the brothers and sisters. Consequently, today it is so difficult for them to speak in the meetings. Everyone speaks a lot before the meeting. But once they come into the meeting, they have nothing to speak. Then after the meeting they start speaking again. I have been observing you, the full-timers. Although you do speak in the meetings, your speakings consist only of testimonies or some humorous words. Forgive me for pointing this out, but you have often spoken humorous words to make everyone laugh in the meetings. This is useless. According to Paul’s word there are “revelations” and “teachings” and “exhortations.” It is interesting that Paul did not mention “testimonies.” The problem today is that what the Bible has, the Christians do not have, while what the Bible does not have, the Christians usually have, or would like to have.
This is the reason I told you three years ago that this matter of speaking to one another and listening to one another is a big hurdle. It is a brass door with an iron lock that is very difficult to get through. We have already conducted two terms of training for experimenting and studying the new way. At this point, nothing is in the final form yet; we still need to continue to study. Our training is now in its third term, and the church in Taipei has been preparing itself for over two years. During this period, although some places have used the Truth Lessons as material for mutual speaking in the meetings, I do not yet feel that those meetings are according to 1 Corinthians 14.
Simply speaking, the meeting according to 1 Corinthians 14 is one in which we all speak the Lord’s word. We all read the Bible in our daily life. But when we speak, we seldom speak the Scriptures that we have read, and seldom do we speak the Lord’s word; we have not yet built up this habit. Luke 1 shows us that when Mary the mother of Jesus went to see Elizabeth, the mother of John, as soon as they met, they opened their mouths to speak the Lord’s word; their whole conversation was the Lord’s words. Mary did not quote the Scriptures in a dead way; rather, she put together the words of praise in the Old Testament in a living way to comprise a praise to God. This is not something that we can do easily; we have not been guided and taught in this way from the beginning. I have often said that after a child is born, as long as the mother keeps speaking to the child and teaching him, sooner or later, whether the child understands or not, he will be able to speak. But most of us Christians do not have this kind of environment, neither have we seen this kind of situation. All we have seen is someone reading the Scriptures in the meeting and preaching in the meetings. We do not see people speaking the Lord’s word in their daily life or in the meetings.
At least ten years ago, I saw that the Bible wants us Christians to speak the Lord’s word. Concerning this matter, there are the clear words from the two sister passages in Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:18-19. Ephesians says, “Be filled in spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” Colossians says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” This shows us that Paul taught us to speak the Lord’s word. There are two kinds of words of the Lord. One is the words of the Bible; the other is the words of the hymns.
In our experience we do not have the habit of speaking these two kinds of words; therefore, we do not know how to speak. Neither can we find this pattern of practice among Christians during the past nineteen hundred years. For this reason, it is not at all easy for us to speak the words of the Bible and of the hymns in a mutual way in the meetings. This is my heavy burden. Our training here must have a breakthrough in this point. Whenever you go to a meeting, whether large or small, you have to practice speaking mutually to one another with the Bible and by the hymns.
At present, those brothers and sisters that meet regularly in the church in Taipei still need help. Concerning the practice of the new way, we cannot depend on them yet. Those we can depend on are first, the elders; second, the co-workers; third, the full-timers; and fourth, the college students. These four groups are the main force for the practice of the new way. This morning, you are all among these four groups of people. You have to bear the responsibility of every meeting. The success of the meetings and of the new way in the coming days depends entirely on you. You must actively participate and function in all the district meetings.
I hope that right away you would practice speaking the Lord’s word. All of you have to build up this habit. It is true that in all the meetings you need the testimonies. But to speak the Lord’s word is needed more. We should also build up an atmosphere among us so that when anyone has a spiritual question, he can ask about it in the meeting. There is no need to wait until the end of the meeting to ask questions. This will encourage the mutual exhortation and encouragement. However, we should not bring these questions of the brothers and sisters outside the meetings and use them as subjects for gossip. That would give Satan a means to damage the church life.
I hope that you will all go back to practice these three things. First, pick up the burden for the meetings. If the one thousand of us go to the meetings passively, without functioning, the meetings will be through. If we learn to pick up the burden for the meetings to speak the Lord’s word, the meetings will be living and rich. We have to perfect all the trainees to function in the meetings and to speak the Lord’s word. However, in our functioning, we must avoid lengthy speakings. Second, not only should we speak in the meetings, but we also should speak the Lord’s word in our daily life. Third, we have to encourage the brothers and sisters to bring all their questions to the meetings in order to arrive at the result of mutual encouragement. If we would practice these three things, I believe the success of the new way can be expected.
A message given by Brother Witness Lee in Taipei on October 11, 1987.