What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
If any man speaketh in a tongue, let it be by two, or at the most three, and that in turn; and let one interpret:
but if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
And let the prophets speak by two or three, and let the others discern.
But if a revelation be made to another sitting by, let the first keep silence.
For ye all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted;
and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets;
for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints.
Lately, we have been sharing together on 1 Corinthians, chapters 12 and 13. This morning, we would like to continue with chapter 14.
In 1 Corinthians 12, we see the body of Christ. This tremendous statement says, “Ye are Christ’s body, and members in particular.” We are—not we shall be, but we are—the body of Christ today.
There is the unity, the oneness, of the body. But we are also members in particular: one body, many members; many members, yet one body. It is unity in diversity. We are all different. We are all different members of the body. We are all given different gifts, and yet we are one: one body, many members.
Then, in 1 Corinthians 13, we find the law of the body. The law of the body is love. Love is the more excellent way for the different members to exercise the gifts God has given to each one.
And then, in chapter 14, you find the body assembled: the body coming together.
Now, of course, brothers and sisters, we know that the body of Christ is a living reality. Whether God’s people are assembled together or are in their various places, the body of Christ is a reality.
In other words, when we come together, we are the body of Christ. But even when we are not physically together—some may be in their homes cooking, others may be in offices working, or some may be in school teaching or studying—these things do not affect the reality of the body of Christ.
The body of Christ is more than just assembling together. And yet, the assembling together of the saints is of vital importance.
We find in Hebrews 10:25:
Not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.
The assembling together of the body of Christ is for the upbuilding of that body. It is for the exercising, the functioning, of the various members of the body of Christ.
Even though the body of Christ transcends time and space, and is far greater than assembling together, yet the body assembled is a vital part of the life of the body.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we will not limit the body of Christ merely to the time when we come together. Nor will we limit the functioning of the members of the body merely to the place where we are together.
We need to function as members of the body of Christ even though we may not be assembled together, because the body of Christ is much bigger than the assembling together.
But, on the other hand, we will say again how important it is that we assemble together, because this is the best time when we can build up one another. We can exercise our gifts for the upbuilding of the body in love.
But, you know, brothers and sisters, it is very interesting. In the whole New Testament, there is only one place where the meeting of the saints is described or prescribed, and that is in 1 Corinthians 14.
It is so strange. All of God’s people are to meet together, and yet 1 Corinthians 14 is the only place where a meeting of the saints is described or prescribed.
Of course, there is another place in Acts 15. Acts 15 is the only place where we are told how the business of the church is conducted.
The church has its business. Things need to be decided. Now, how are they to be decided? It is given in Acts 15.
God’s people must meet together. They assemble together and exercise their gifts. But how should they assemble? This is given only in 1 Corinthians 14.
I think it is also important to notice that Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half. He met with them all those days, and it seems that he never told them how to meet.
They met together for a year and a half with Paul in their midst. Even after Paul left them, up to the time he wrote 1 Corinthians, he never told them how to meet. Is that not strange?
They met, but they were never told how to meet. It was not until he wrote 1 Corinthians to correct some problems in their midst that we find how the church should meet.
I think it is very important to notice this. Why? Because if Paul had laid down rules and regulations for the saints in Corinth as to how they should meet—perhaps ten rules, perhaps one hundred regulations—you would find that life would have been hindered from the very beginning.
God just asked His people to assemble together. God wanted His people to exercise their gifts. God wanted His people to encourage one another. But how? He did not say.
He just left His life in these people to be freely expressed. Let life grow without rules or regulations. Let life grow freely, without limitation.
It was not until life had grown to a certain degree that some instructions were given to regulate life, that life might grow more beautifully and more healthily.
It is just like a vine. The husbandman will prune the vine so that the branches may bear more fruit. Where there is no life, what is the sense of laying down rules and regulations?
If there is life, then let life grow. After it has grown to a certain degree, then you need to regulate it, channel it, and help it, that life may grow more beautifully and there may be more fruit.
This is the reason why you find that Scripture has been silent about how the saints should meet until they had met for a certain time. Then Paul came in to give them a few guidelines to regulate the growth of life and to govern the exercise of the gifts—the functioning of the members of the body of Christ.
So I hope we shall bear these things in mind.
Now, 1 Corinthians 14, as I said, is the only place where instructions concerning how the saints should meet are given. Of course, it is given for a certain type of meeting. We will call it a fellowship meeting.
Basically, there are two different kinds of meetings. One kind we will call a ministry meeting. That is, God gives to the church some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints.
God gave these ministers of the Word to the church to perfect, to mature, the saints. The way they exercise their ministry is that they speak the Word of God to the body. In other words, they minister to the body of Christ.
When they minister to the body of Christ, it is a ministry meeting. It is the one who ministers to the body, and the body receives the ministry. It is almost like a one-way street, even though it is not entirely so, because there must be a response from the body of Christ.
Then you find another kind of meeting, which we call a church meeting. Now, what is a church meeting? A church meeting is when the saints are being perfected; that is to say, when the saints are growing up, then they minister to one another.
They fulfil the ministry of the body. It is not someone, or some persons, ministering to the body; it is the saints, the members of the body, each doing his or her part for the upbuilding of the body in love.
This is called body ministry. Body ministry is not someone ministering to the body. Body ministry comes out of the body. It is the members of the body ministering to one another.
So we call this a church meeting. The principle is mutuality. It is not a one-way street; it is mutuality.
So, brothers and sisters, what is described here in 1 Corinthians 14 is concerned with church meetings.
Now, of course, when the church meets, there are different types of meetings, as we find in the Bible. Sometimes the church comes together to worship the Lord, to break bread, and to remember the Lord.
It is the time when the church does not ask for anything, but tries to give to the Lord the love, adoration, appreciation, and remembrance that are His due.
Sometimes the church comes together to pray, to take up the burden of the Lord—God’s burden, not just our individual burdens. The church comes together to take up the burden of the Lord, to pray and to intercede that the will of God may be done on earth as it is in heaven.
So you know that there are various types of meetings. There is one kind of meeting given in 1 Corinthians 14 which we call a fellowship meeting. It is the time when the saints come together to exercise their gifts for the upbuilding of the body of Christ.
Even though this concerns the fellowship type of meeting, the guidelines and principles are applicable to all church meetings.
This morning, we would just like to mention a few of the guidelines and principles given in 1 Corinthians 14 concerning how we should meet.
First of all, you find in verse 26:
What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation.
The first principle of meeting is full participation by all. That is to say, when God’s people come together, when the church assembles, it is a time in which each and all participate.
It is not a time when only one or a few participate. It is a time when all the members of the body of Christ—everyone, each one of the body—come together to participate.
No one comes with a passive attitude. You know, sometimes when we come together, we come with a passive or even negative attitude. We come expecting to be edified. We come waiting to be helped. But we do not come with a positive attitude.
That is to say, we come to contribute. We come to add something to the body of Christ. We come to help in the upbuilding of the body of Christ.
Everyone—the old, those who are advanced in Christ, those who are young in Christ, even babes in Christ—when we come together, we are like a family. We all have a part to play, and we all come with a positive, active attitude. We come to participate.
Now, of course, when we come together, we do not all have the same thing, because we are different members of the body of Christ.
During the week, the Lord teaches us, impresses things upon us, shows us things in His Word, and leads us through our life experiences. We are all different. Therefore, when we come together, we do not all have the same thing. We are not supposed all to do the same thing.
And yet, each has.
I believe the word has means that before you come to assemble with your brothers and sisters, you have already had something.
Brothers and sisters, I feel there is a misconception today. We all like to be spiritual geniuses. By that I mean, when we come together, nobody prepares. Nobody comes having anything. Nobody comes bringing anything.
We just come together, sit there, and wait for the Holy Spirit to stir the water. At the moment of the stirring, we jump. We are all geniuses.
We do not need to labour before God. We do not need to plant. We do not need to till. We are all geniuses. We just come here, the Holy Spirit stirs, and we jump. That is it.
Brothers and sisters, this is a wrong concept.
It is true that the Holy Spirit does move in a mysterious way. It is true. Sometimes, when we sit here, the Holy Spirit gives someone a revelation at the moment.
Because 1 Corinthians 14 tells us that when a prophet is speaking and the Holy Spirit gives a revelation to one sitting there, then the prophet shall sit down and let the one with revelation speak. It does happen.
But this is not the rule. This is the exception that proves the rule. The rule is that before we come together, we need to have something to contribute.
You know, when the children of Israel came to worship the Lord in the temple, they were bidden to bring something to God. No one would come with an empty basket. Everyone would bring something in that basket.
Where did they get the things in the basket? Of course, they sowed, they tilled, and they laboured.
So, brothers and sisters, during the week, when we are not assembling together, this is the time that we should labour before the Lord. This is the time that we should go to the Lord to get something.
When we have our morning time with the Lord, during the day when the Lord is dealing with us, when we have problems and come to the Lord in prayer, when we read the Word and the Lord begins to show His Word to us, or when the Lord gives us a song to sing or a revelation—whatever it may be—it is during the week, during the time when we are not assembled together.
Oh, brothers and sisters, do not think that the body of Christ is real only when we assemble together. The body of Christ is real when we are not assembling together. It is a reality that transcends time and space.
Therefore, we cannot be the body of Christ only when we meet together. We have to be the body of Christ even when we are not meeting together. This is the time that we gather the fruit. This is the time that we learn to have something.
Each has. One may have a psalm; another may have a teaching; another may have a tongue; another may have a revelation; another may have an interpretation. God shows here that before we assemble, we already have something. We do not gather empty-handed.
Now, I think this is a real problem with the assembling of God’s people today, because most people come without bringing anything. That is the reason why you find our fellowship so poor.
If everybody has something, our fellowship will be so full and so rich. We will have much more fellowship.
You will find that everyone has something different. There is variety there, and variety brings in fullness.
So first of all, let us see: when the church assembles, it expects full participation. Do not ever come sitting there passively and negatively.
Do not say, “What do I have to contribute?” If you have a life with the Lord through the week, can you say that the Lord has not given Himself to you even a little bit?
If through the week you have not got anything from the Lord, I think it is time that you really need to repent. Something is drastically wrong. How can you pass a week and get nothing from the Lord? The Lord has not spoken a word to you; the Lord has not dealt with you. He lets you go. He does not care. What kind of spiritual condition are you in if this is true?
Oh, brothers and sisters, will not the very thought that we will come together stir you up to seek the Lord and seek His face, that He may give you something which you will bring when you come to the house of God?
Full participation means that opportunities must be given to all the brothers and sisters to contribute whatever the Lord has given. It may be a song, a teaching, a tongue, a revelation, or an interpretation. Opportunities must be given that all these gifts may be exercised.
So first of all, let us remember: the first guideline for a church meeting is full participation.
Now, probably you will say, “If that is true, then our meetings must be whole-day meetings. How can you have full participation if we have only an hour or two hours?” We will talk about that later.
Number two: in the same verse, verse 26, we are told:
Let all things be done unto edifying.
First, there must be full participation. But it does not mean that you just participate. In other words, you may not really have anything from the Lord, but you want to participate, so you bring in something of your own.
No. All things must be done for edification.
I always remember what Brother Sparks said: “It is edification, not self-edification.”
If we try to exercise our gifts without love, it will be self-edification, not edification. We may come to exercise our gifts without the substance, without the life of Christ which we can minister to our brothers and sisters through these gifts. Then all we can do is build up ourselves, more than anybody else.
What is edification? The word edification is actually not a very good translation. It is a beautiful translation, but perhaps too beautiful. The word should be building up.
Let everything, let all things, be done unto building up. We come together to build up one another, not to destroy one another.
Sometimes, you find that when God’s people come together, they try to destroy each other. How often in a meeting you hear—even in prayer—that people pray against each other. They try to destroy each other. But this is not the purpose.
When God’s people come together, they should do all things to build up each other. You have a little faith, so somebody comes in to build up your faith a little more. You have a little love, so somebody comes in—whether it is in a song, a teaching, or a revelation—and your love is built up a little more.
To build up the body: this is the purpose of our coming together.
Of course, there is only one way to build up one another, and that is to impart Christ to one another.
If it is a song, it is not merely something beautiful and yet empty. It is not merely a beautiful thought with no substance. If it is a teaching, it is not merely a good teaching, or even a sound teaching, and yet there is no light in it.
Whatever we do—whether it is a song, a prayer, or a word—whatever it may be, through the song, through the prayer, through the praise, and through the words, Christ must be imparted.
It is the impartation of Christ. When Christ is contributed to the meeting, you find the body is built up.
So we are not imparting ourselves; we are imparting Christ. We are not even imparting our gift; we are imparting Christ.
Look at the church in Corinth. How rich they were in gifts, especially tongues. Everybody seemed to want to speak in tongues, and what confusion it caused in the church at Corinth. Why? Because they were displaying their gifts instead of building up the body.
Of course, it does not mean that you cannot speak in tongues. Certainly you can, if Christ is imparted.
So the second guideline is that all things should be done for the upbuilding of the body.
Here in 1 Corinthians 14:20, we are told:
Brethren, be not children in mind: yet in malice be ye babes, but in mind be men.
Be not children in your mind. Now, what does it mean? It means that when we come together, we need to have a certain kind of mentality—not the mentality of children.
Now, of course, unless we are converted and become like little children, we cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That is true. We have to be humble like children; we have to be childlike.
But there is childishness. There is a childlike mentality, and the childlike mentality is self-centred. A child can only think of himself: “What do I get? What is good for me? Everything is for me.” That is a child’s mentality.
The mentality of a grown-up is, “What can I do for others?” You are not thinking of what you get; you are thinking of how you can help others.
So here you find: do not have the mentality of a child. In malice, yes, be babes. Do not be too clever in evil things. Rather, be foolish, ignorant, innocent of these things. But when we come together, we need to have the mentality of grown-ups, and the mentality of grown-ups is to build up other people.
So, brothers and sisters, the second guideline as we come together is this: let us not always think only of ourselves.
Perhaps you are thinking, “What is my spiritual status? I do not want anyone to know how deep or shallow I am,” so you close your mouth. No, this is a child’s mentality, because you are just thinking of yourself.
Forget yourself. Think of what the body needs. Think of what the body will receive. If you really love the Lord and really, really love the body of Christ, then you will not think of yourself. You will not hold back anything that the Lord has given to you.
Whatever small thing it may be, we ought to put it into the body of Christ, that the body may be built up. So the second guideline is for building up.
Number three: in verse 15:
What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
Else if thou bless with the spirit, how shall he that filleth the place of the unlearned say the Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he knoweth not what thou sayest?
For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.
The third principle, or guideline, for assembling together is to meet with the spirit and with the understanding.
When we come together, we have to come with the spirit. Of course, this is so basic. If we do not come with the spirit—if we just come physically, without our spirit being ready, without our spirit being open, without our spirit being in tune with the Lord—what kind of gathering will it be?
If we come with a closed spirit, all we can do will probably be to go through the motions. It will be routine. Everything will be merely formal. It will be dead.
So, as we come together, everything has to be done with the spirit. Not merely something out of your mind; it has to be something in your spirit.
In other words, the Spirit of God touches your spirit. Your spirit is in tune with the Spirit of God. As the Spirit of God moves upon your spirit, then out of your spirit you pray; out of your spirit you contribute. It has to come from your spirit. You need to exercise your spirit.
Otherwise, everything is just academic. Everything is just dead. Without the spirit, you have to program everything. Without the spirit, everything has to be according to routine. Otherwise, you cannot do it.
So, brothers and sisters, when God’s people come together, everything has to be done with the spirit. Whether it is singing, it must be with the spirit—not merely singing according to the hymnbook.
Of course, we sing according to the hymnbook and according to the tunes, but when you sing, your heart must be in it. Otherwise, you merely move your lips, and if your heart is not in it, it is vanity. It is nothing.
With the spirit.
But it is also said here, “with the understanding.” It is not only with the spirit; it must also be with the understanding.
If you are all by yourself, you can sing with the spirit without understanding. In the spirit, you can sing even with tongues, and you edify yourself. You may be speaking of the mysteries of God. It does not matter, because there is nobody else there.
But when the brethren are assembled together, you have to sing with the spirit and with the understanding. Why? Because if you sing with the spirit without understanding, you may edify yourself in your spirit, but the brothers and sisters around you do not know what you are singing.
They cannot enter into the spirit with you. To them, you are a stranger, and they will be strangers to you. They will not be built up.
Therefore, in the assembly, you have to sing with the spirit and sing with the understanding. You have to pray with the spirit and pray with the understanding. The understanding is important here.
Now, of course, the understanding is the mind. We understand. What do you understand? First of all, you understand what you are doing.
Therefore, it is said that if you are speaking in a tongue which you do not understand, nor the rest understand, you need an interpreter. If there is no interpreter, so that you may understand and the other brothers and sisters may understand, then you should keep quiet. It is speaking between you and the Lord.
But because we are in the assembly, brothers and sisters, what a difference it is. Sometimes we do not know the difference between private time and public time. We do not know the difference between the time when you are alone with the Lord and the time when you are with the brothers and sisters together with the Lord.
Sometimes we pray our private prayers in a church prayer meeting. We forget that there are other brothers and sisters. Sometimes we do things publicly which we can legitimately do privately, but to do them in public is without understanding.
The result of spirit without understanding will be confusion—confusion.
Just as Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 14, if everybody speaks in tongues in a meeting, and some unlearned people come in—those who are not familiar with tongues—when they come in and cannot understand anything, they will say that you are all mad. Where is the edification?
There is no understanding there.
So, brothers and sisters, how important it is that when we come together, there should be a balance: a balance between the spirit and the understanding.
Often, you hear people say, “It is the spirit that is important. When we come together, do not prepare anything. Just wait upon the Spirit, and when the Spirit moves, each person follows.” They say that is how we should meet.
Dear brothers and sisters, what confusion it would be. God is not a God of disorder; He is a God of peace.
The Spirit moves, but He moves in a certain way. Is it not in John 3 that the Lord says that when the wind blows, you do not know where it comes from or where it goes, but you know that it has come?
When the wind blows, it blows with a certain direction. It is true that sometimes it changes, and sometimes it may be a whirlwind. That is true. But still, you find that there is always a direction.
When the Spirit moves in a meeting, dear brothers and sisters, I do not know whether you have ever experienced it. I hope you have. When God’s people meet together with spirit and with understanding, and when the Spirit moves among them, there is a direction in which the whole meeting is proceeding.
There is no confusion. All the prayers, all the words, and all the songs are added on, added on, added on, until the meeting comes to a climax. This is the time when we break the bread.
There is no confusion. It is not a free-for-all, where everybody does whatever he or she feels at the moment.
Brothers and sisters, do you watch where the wind blows? Do you try to touch the spirit of the meeting?
When God’s people meet together, there is a spirit of the meeting. The Holy Spirit is in the meeting, and when He is in the meeting, He moves in a certain way. We need to discern His direction.
Oh, there is much to learn when God’s people come together. We need to wait upon the Lord. We need to come prepared, so that when we come together, our spirit is ready. When the Spirit moves, we understand His direction, and we go with Him.
That is why we do not need to meet for a whole day. We all come with something. You come with something; I come with something. We all come with something of the Lord, and the Lord is so rich.
We bring all kinds of things in our baskets: some bananas, some cherries, some peaches, some vegetables, corn, meat, and all kinds of things. We all bring them together. It is up to the Holy Spirit to decide which things will be brought out.
So there is no confusion. It does not mean that because you have something, you must put it in. We have eternity to do that. But it means that you have to have something, so that the Holy Spirit may have the liberty to touch this one and that one, to bring this out and bring that out.
When the Holy Spirit is touching people and bringing things out, you find that everything comes together. There are no jarring notes; there is no conflict. It is such a harmony.
Sometimes, when God’s people come together, the spirit of the meeting may be the sufferings of Christ. When the Spirit is moving in that direction, our feeling goes with Him. Oh, how we feel His affliction, His suffering.
But while we are feeling that, suddenly a brother or sister comes out with something entirely different—something that is not in harmony with the movement of the Holy Spirit. Will that not interfere with the movement of the Holy Spirit?
When you go to a house of mourning, you do not go there laughing and joking around. But when you go to a house of gladness—suppose there is a wedding there—you do not go there with a long face. You enter into the spirit of the occasion.
Dear brothers and sisters, when God’s people come together and really allow the Holy Spirit to move among His people, everyone is open, everyone is ready, and the Holy Spirit is free to move among His people.
He can take this and take that, and you find everything adding, adding, and adding, until there is a crescendo and such beauty. That is the way the Holy Spirit leads—with understanding.
Of course, it does not mean that you only need understanding and have no spirit. You may try to find out where the Spirit moves, and because you are using your mind and trying to figure it out, your spirit is gone. If that is the case, it is just too bad.
It simply means that we need to be alert. Brothers and sisters, let us remember: do not go to one extreme or the other. Do not go to the extreme of understanding without the spirit.
If you do that, probably everything will be artificial and mechanical. It may be very correct, but if that is the case, it would be better to have everything programmed. Of course not.
We need to meet with the spirit. This is most important, but also with understanding. We need to keep the balance.
Some brothers and sisters say, “Suppose we come to a meeting, and it seems to be a free-for-all. What shall we do? Is it because of this that we do not worship, because our spirit is overwhelmed and depressed?”
Oh, not at all. If that is the case, take it as a whirlwind. It goes in all directions, but let it go. Just look to the Lord, forget about everything, and worship the Lord as your spirit feels. It is a whirlwind.
So here you find that we need to meet with the spirit and with the understanding.
Again I say, every heart must be open. Sometimes the Spirit is moving, touching this one and touching that one, but some people quench the Spirit. If you quench the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is not free to do what He wants to do.
So there is a basic thing that everyone has to remember: we need to be open. Everyone has to be open and ready. If that is the case, you will find that He will move in such a way that there will be beauty.
Number four is the principle of two or three.
It says that if there is a tongue, let two or three speak, and separately, by turns. Evidently, in the church in Corinth, when they spoke in tongues, perhaps twenty or thirty people all stood up and spoke in tongues at the same time. Of course, when they spoke at the same time, nobody could hear anything.
Not only could they not understand; they could not hear anything. It would be such confusion.
Let two or three speak, separately and by turns. And if there are prophecies, let two or three speak, and let the others discern. It is the principle of two and three.
What is it? Well, it is just common sense.
Sometimes we feel that we Christians should not have common sense. Sometimes we feel that when we come together to meet, there should be no common sense exercised. Not at all.
We are still in this mortal body. Being in this mortal body, we need common sense. In other words, we cannot go on for days and nights meeting—unless the Spirit of God should do something special. Of course, He is free to do that.
But ordinarily, you find that our concentration and our capacity to absorb are limited. Our physical strength is limited. Therefore, if you prolong things too long—if there are twenty or thirty tongues, or twenty or thirty prophets, and the meeting extends to six or eight hours—how much can people really take?
Our concentration is limited. Two and three. After two and three, you need variation.
Perhaps two or three prayers, and then a song. Perhaps two or three songs, and then two or three prophecies. You need variation. That is common sense.
Brothers and sisters, sanctified common sense—that is what we need.
Sometimes we hear people say, “We live in eternity, not in time.” Well, not yet. One day we will live in eternity, and at that time our concentration will be unlimited. But today we are still in this mortal body. We still live in time.
It is sanctified common sense that keeps us from overdoing anything. We need to exercise our common sense and see how much people can take, how much we should do. Two and three.
Perhaps you say, “Well, the Lord has given us twenty tongues. The Lord has given us twenty prophecies, and I must give it. If I do not give it, why should the Lord give it to me?”
It says, “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.”
Back in China, at that time there was only the Pentecostal movement. There was no charismatic movement yet. We were told that when a spirit comes, then you have no control whatsoever.
You are controlled by the spirit, and you have no control. If he wants you to laugh, you just laugh and cannot stop. If he wants you to weep, you just weep and cannot stop. If he wants you to speak in tongues, you just speak and speak and cannot stop. In other words, there is no control. That is what we were told.
Oh, how wrong, dear brothers and sisters.
The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet. In other words, you do have the spirit of the prophet. The spirit of the prophet is upon you, and yet that spirit is subject to you.
Why? It is not the Holy Spirit in Person; it is His power. The Holy Spirit in Person dwells in you, and you have to obey Him. But the spirit of the prophet, or the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, is His power, not His Person. Therefore, it is subject to the prophet.
You have to exercise control. Control. You can control it. If you want to stop, you can stop. If you cannot stop, something is wrong. Something is wrong.
You should be in full control of the spirits of prophets, or of the spiritual power. Therefore, use your common sense. There are already two or three; then you keep quiet, because you can control yourself.
I often hear people say, “I cannot help it. I cannot help it. I must say it.” Brothers and sisters, it is true that when one is really constrained by the Holy Spirit, he should do it.
But sometimes it can be out of order. The meeting is already closed, and someone says, “I have to say it. I have to say it.” No, you can wait. We have a good eternity yet to come.
So, brothers and sisters, here you find the beauty of it. On the one hand, it is the Holy Spirit; yet, on the other hand, the Holy Spirit never, never sets aside our personality.
Two and three.
And then number five: verse 33.
For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
God is a God of order and of peace.
Now, how shall we describe order? I think the best way to describe order is a symphony.
It is just like an orchestra playing. When an orchestra is playing, you find all kinds of instruments: some pipe instruments, some string instruments. Every instrument gives a special tone, a special sound.
Yet, when they play together under the direction of the conductor, you find harmony. That is order.
God is a God of order, not of disorder. It does not mean that everyone plays his own instrument—whether it is strings or pipes—and everyone plays according to what he or she likes. No.
Everyone plays under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Then you find harmony. All these sounds blend together into a beautiful symphony.
There are no jarring notes, no conflicting notes, nothing interfering. Everything simply adds and adds together. Oh, brothers and sisters, that is order.
Now, order does not mean that we have an order of meeting—a program: first this, then that, then a doxology, then a benediction. No, not that kind of order. That is man-made order.
This order is under the ordering of the Holy Spirit.
And peace. There is no strife, no complaint. Sometimes we strive against one another. But there should be no striving. Everything is peaceful, because it is the Holy Spirit who is in charge.
Therefore, when the church meets, there should be order—not man-made order, but order that comes out of our submitting ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, you find in verse 40:
Let all things be done decently and in order.
Decently—beautifully. When God’s people come together, it is a beautiful thing. Beautiful.
When everything is done according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, when we are open to the Lord and let the Spirit of God move in His direction, and we move along with Him, the result will be beautiful.
When the meeting is over, you will feel as if you have been to a beautiful concert, or as if you have seen beautiful scenery, a beautiful picture. There is a certain satisfaction; there is such peace and sweetness within you. This is what it should be.
It should not be that after the meeting is over, everybody says, “What a meeting!” and begins to blame this one and that one. Brothers and sisters, we should never do that.
If the meeting is spoiled, go on your knees. Confess yourself, not your brother or sister. Confess your sin. That is what we should do.
Suppose we have a bad meeting. Do not brood over it. Do not murmur. Do not try to blame one another. We will have such meetings, because we are not always with spirit and with understanding.
But when we have a bad meeting, brothers and sisters, look to the Lord. Learn the lesson. Ask the Lord to show us how we may meet together for the upbuilding of the body of Christ.
So may the Lord help us.
Our heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou hast called us to be the body of Christ. What a privilege, what an honour, what a glory it is.
We do praise and thank Thee that Thou shouldst gather us together for the upbuilding of the body. Lord, what a responsibility it is.
Oh, we do desire that, by Thy grace, all of us may be concerned with the building up of the body of Christ. Deliver us from being self-centred and selfish, just thinking of what we get.
Lord, we ask that Thou wilt give us a grown-up mentality, that we may be concerned with this: How can I contribute to the growth of the body?
Lord, we do pray that even in our daily life, when we are not together, Thou wilt not allow us to forget that we are the body of Christ.
We ask that Thou wilt allow us to use our time to accumulate, to get fruit from Thee, that we may have something to bring to the assembly—that we each may have something to add to the growth of the body of Christ.
And, our Lord, as we come together, teach us how to put ourselves under Thy lordship, Thy headship, and under the authority of the Holy Spirit, that we may learn to do everything with the spirit and with understanding.
Oh, we pray that there may be peace, there may be order, there may be beauty; that Thy name may be glorified and Thy church may be edified.
We ask Thee to bring all these things not only to our memory, but, Lord, may Thy Holy Spirit lead us into all truth. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.