«　WEEK 11　DAY 3　»

　　1 Cor. 14:1 Pursue love, and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

　　12 So also you, since you are zealous of spirits, seek that you may excel for the building up of the church.

　　31 For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.

　　Not only do you have to feed a newly baptized one, but you must bring him to a nearby small group meeting as well. You need to tell him, “Christians are communal. They are not like the butterflies. Rather they are like the bees and the sheep. Let me take you to see a group of Christians nearby.” However, by bringing him to the small group meeting, you should not let the others take over your job; you have to continue feeding and caring for him.

　　The principle of attending the small group meeting is the same as that for the home meeting. You must be a person who is revived. Before you go to the meeting, you must first pray and have yourself enlivened. You must confess your sins thoroughly and be filled with the Holy Spirit completely. In this way, you will be a praying, singing, and living person. The small group meeting should consist of the following five things: fellowship, prayer, mutual care, the teaching of the truth, and the guidance in life.

　　The Chinese are traditionally taught to be quiet. But when we come to the small group meeting, the minute we see each other, we have to speak. ……Perhaps by that time not everyone has arrived yet. You do not have to wait for everyone to be there. Instead you can start praying ……. After the prayer, …… This is what we mean by mutual care. n this way, the brothers and sisters will get to know each other and will care for each other like members of the same family. This way will capture, support, and perfect people. The brother that you have invited may ask a question, ……once this question is raised up, everyone will answer. After one finishes, another may add on, with more points. The older and more mature ones can speak something deeper at the end. We must build up an atmosphere where everyone answers. In this way, everyone speaks……Everyone begins to answer again. In the answer there is the teaching of the truth as well as the guidance in life. If throughout the fifty-two weeks of the year there is this kind of teaching week after week in the small group meetings, everyone will receive much edification in truth and life.

　　To prophesy is to speak for the Lord and to speak forth the Lord. It is to supply Christ to others. This is the main work in the church meetings. The whole chapter of 1 Corinthians 14 talks about prophesying. It promotes, uplifts, recommends, and encourages prophesying.

　　What God wants is a corporate vessel, which is the church, the Body of Christ. ……In the end, we see that there is one chapter in the Bible that talks about the building up of the church. It is 1 Corinthians chapter fourteen. It mentions the word “building” at least five times. This chapter deals with nothing other than prophesying. Only prophesying builds up the church. A few verses are particularly important. Verse 1 says, “Desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy.” Verses 3 and 4 say, “He who prophesies speaks to men for building up and encouragement and consolation....he who prophesies builds up the church.” Verse 12 says, “Since you are zealots of spiritual gifts, seek that you may abound to the building up of the church.” Verse 24 says, “But if all prophesy and some unbeliever or unlearned person enters, he is convicted by all, he is judged by all.” Verse 31 says, “For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all be encouraged.” From these verses, we see that the most important thing with our meeting is the prophesying, which is to speak for the Lord, to speak Him forth, and to speak the Lord into people. Through the speaking of the Lord's word, the riches of Christ are released and are dispensed into all the attendants. Finally, verse 39 says, “Therefore, my brothers, desire earnestly to prophesy.” From this, we can see that this whole chapter is on prophesying from beginning to end.

　　Although prophesying is not an easy matter, we know that what is recorded in the Bible must be fulfilled. The Lord says that “the heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall by no means pass away” (Matt. 24:35). First Corinthians 14 is the word of God. If this word is not fulfilled, the church will not be built up, and the Lord will not return. This is why Paul said that we have to pursue love and to desire earnestly the matter of prophesying.