«　WEEK 5　DAY 6　»

　　1 Cor. 12:13 …In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body…and were all given to drink one Spirit.

　　Eph. 5:18-19 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissoluteness, but be filled in spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord.

　　First Corinthians 12:13 reveals that Christ has baptized us in the Spirit into the Body, and now we all are drinking the one Spirit. On the one hand, Christ has put us into the Spirit. On the other hand, we are drinking this Spirit. Therefore, we are in the Spirit, and the Spirit is in us. The result is that we are soaked and saturated with this Spirit. This makes us fully qualified and able to function in the meetings by speaking for the Lord and even by speaking Him forth. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity,” p. 449)

　　In Ephesians 5:18 Paul charges us to “be filled in spirit.” As members of the Body of Christ, we need to be filled in our spirit unto all the fullness of God. If we are filled in spirit, that with which we are filled will overflow from within us. We overflow by speaking to one another [v. 19]. If we are filled in spirit unto all the fullness of God, we shall spontaneously speak to one another concerning Christ.

　　Christians must be a speaking people. We should not be dumb, or silent, for the God we worship is the speaking God. Idols, on the contrary, do not speak; they are dumb. In 1 Corinthians 12:2 Paul mentions “dumb idols.” Because idols cannot speak, those who worship idols are also dumb. A dumb god needs dumb worshippers… But our God is not dumb; He is the speaking God. Therefore, those who worship Him must also speak. However, many who attend the so-called services in Christianity do not speak. Instead, they worship the Lord in a dumb way. What is our situation in the meetings of the church? Are we silent, or are we bubbling over with words about the Christ we have experienced in our daily life? In the meetings we should praise the Lord and speak of what He is to us in our experience.

　　Since our God is a speaking God, we as His worshippers must also speak. At times, we should even make a joyful noise to the Lord, as we are charged to do in Psalm 100:1.

　　As we speak to one another of our experiences of Christ, we should not wait for some kind of formal beginning of the meetings. To do this is to remain under the influence of traditional Christianity. If we have been set free from tradition, we shall speak spontaneously as we come together in the meetings of the church. Some may even begin to speak on the way to the meeting. The meetings need to be filled with speaking concerning the riches of Christ.

　　Ephesians 5:19 also refers to “singing and psalming” to the Lord. Such singing and psalming are not only the overflow of being filled in spirit, but also the way to be filled in spirit. Whenever we are filled in our spirit unto all the fullness of God, the first thing we shall do is speak. Then we shall sing and psalm with our heart to the Lord. The way to be spiritual is to speak for the Lord and concerning the Lord. The more we speak, the more we shall be filled in our spirit . However, if we remain silent, we shall find that we cannot be filled in spirit.

　　The more we speak for the Lord, the more our inward being is filled with Him. Often the reason we are offended by others is that our soul is empty. We are not occupied in a proper way. But when we are filled through speaking of the Lord, our being will be properly occupied, and there will be no room for anything negative to come in to usurp us. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 703-705, 707-708)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1985, vol. 3, “The Home Meetings—the Unique Way for the Increase and Building Up of the Church,” chs. 4-5