«　WEEK 9　DAY 5　»

　　1 Cor. 14:3 But he who prophesies speaks building up and encouragement and consolation to men.

　　5 I desire…especially that you would prophesy…that the church may receive building up.

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

　　Among all the gifts that are developed in the growth in life through the enjoyment of Christ, the top gift is prophesying. This is the excelling gift because it builds up the church (1 Cor. 14:4b-5). In the last verse of 1 Corinthians 12, a chapter on the gifts, Paul tells us to earnestly desire the greater gifts. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4,”The Excelling Gift for the Building Up of the Church,” p. 455)

　　In the New Testament 1 Corinthians 14 is a chapter that especially speaks concerning prophesying. Because prophesying is the excelling gift, this chapter of forty verses begins with this word:”Pursue love, and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy” (v. 1). Verse 12 says,”Since you are zealous of spirits, seek that you may excel for the building up of the church.” The word excel in Greek denotes”to become full, to abound, to overflow,” hence”to excel”…We should pursue the Lord to such an extent that we can prophesy, speaking for the Lord, speaking forth the Lord, and speaking the Lord into others, that we may minister Christ for the building up of the church. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 2,”The Ministry of the New Testament Priests of the Gospel,” p. 256)

　　The New Testament believers are saved by God to be kings, priests, and prophets who prophesy for God (Rev. 1:5-6; 20:4b; 1 Cor. 14:31). God desires that each of the believers prophesy, that is, speak for and speak forth Him. (Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 2, pp. 122-123)

　　The speaking Spirit of God is earnestly expecting that we would speak. In the New Testament, God operates through the principle of incarnation. God does not do anything by Himself, especially in the matter of speaking. He prefers to speak through us and speak within us….When we speak, the very Lord whom we speak forth is speaking with us and within us. If we do not speak, God has no way to speak, but whenever we open up to speak, the Spirit who expects to speak immediately follows us and joins with our speaking. Eventually, it is difficult to tell whether it is He or we who is speaking.

　　The Spirit is always ready and expects to speak with us and through us, but we would not always cooperate with the Spirit to speak. Whenever we come to the meeting, we must try to speak. In a good sense, it does not matter whether we speak properly or wrongly, well or poorly. As long as we speak, God will be happy. Parents always like to hear their young children speak….For many years our Father in heaven has not seen us speak much in the meetings, and this should have bothered Him. If we come to the meetings speaking, even in an incorrect way, He will be happy. To speak incorrectly is much better than not to speak. When someone speaks, even incorrectly, he is learning to minister to others. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 2,”The Practice of Prophesying,” pp. 367-368)

　　To prophesy in the sense of telling for and telling forth requires much growth in life. For this, we need to know God and experience Christ. If we do not have the adequate knowledge of God and experience of Christ, we do not have anything to say for Him, and we cannot speak Him forth. Whenever a prophet speaks for God, speaks forth God, or speaks in the way of foretelling, he must speak by the Spirit of God. If we speak for God or try to speak forth God without the Spirit of life, our speaking will be ordinary human speaking, not prophesying. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2172)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol. 4,”The Excelling Gift for the Building Up of the Church,” ch. 2; CWWL, 1989, vol. 2,”The Ministry of the New Testament Priests of the Gospel,” ch. 4; CWWL, 1985, vol. 4,”Meeting to Speak the Word of God,” chs. 1, 3