«　WEEK 8　DAY 6　»

　　1 Cor. 14:24-25 But if all prophesy and some unbeliever or unlearned person enters, he is convicted by all, he is examined by all; the secrets of his heart become manifest; and so falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that indeed God is among you.

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

　　Prophesying in 1 Corinthians 14 does not mean predicting. This is proved by verse 3, which says, “He who prophesies speaks building up and encouragement and consolation to men.”…To prophesy in 1 Corinthians 14 is to speak for the Lord, speak forth the Lord, and speak the Lord into others, ministering (dispensing) the Lord to others (vv. 3-5). As proper, growing believers whose spiritual gifts are being developed, we must speak the Lord into others every day. If we practice this every day, we will all have something to share when we come together for fellowship. This will be the fulfillment of 1 Corinthians 14:26—whenever we come together, each one has. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Excelling Gift for the Building Up of the Church,” pp. 448-449)

　　With only one man speaking and the rest listening, a congregation can be built up, but the Body of Christ as an organism can never be built up. To build up the organic Body of Christ, all of us need to speak….One saint can speak for two minutes, another for five minutes, and another for three minutes.

　　Suppose that we have two hundred meeting together always with one speaker. Regardless of how good, how marvelous, and how excellent this speaker is, many would become tired of his speaking after two years…. Suppose that, on the other hand, two hundred meet together for ninety minutes, and everyone bears the responsibility to have something to speak for the Lord….This will be a refreshing meeting. Whenever a new one speaks, his speaking is especially fresh and refreshing. Everyone will say Amen to his speaking. To build every part of the Body of Christ, we all need to rise up to speak for the Lord.

　　Our church meetings should be a feast of the riches of Christ…. A feast is full of many different kinds of food…. If we had many kinds of dishes in a meeting, how wonderful that would be! None of us would get bored of such a meeting.

　　A meeting in which all the saints are speaking for the Lord is full of nourishing, cherishing, adjusting, and correcting. A brother may be in the meeting who has a habit that is not so fitting for the church life. With only one person speaking and the rest listening, a message may never be given that touches this brother’s habit. But if twenty or thirty saints speak in the meeting, eventually someone will speak something that touches this brother’s habit. Because many portions are presented in the meeting, many things can be touched. In such a meeting, the saints get corrected without anyone knowing. Furthermore, the saints get built up, supplied, furnished, and equipped. This is why the apostle Paul had the burden to stress prophesying.

　　In building up the Body of Christ, you are not excelling if you do not prophesy. Prophesying is the excelling gift for the building up of the Body of Christ.

　　Our prophesying is so that “all may learn” (1 Cor. 14:31). If we do not learn first, how can we say something for others to learn?…We learn to prophesy through experiences, by being equipped with the Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17), by praying unceasingly (1 Thes. 5:17-20), by praying ourselves into the Spirit, by living and walking by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 25), and by practicing. If we do these things, we will learn to speak in a particular way for the Lord. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Excelling Gift for the Building Up of the Church,” pp. 449-452)

　　Further Reading: Prophesying in the Church Meetings for the Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ (Outlines); CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Advance of the Lord’s Recovery Today,” chs. 6-7