Message Four
Living a Prophesying Life
to Speak the Word of God in Ten Major Categories
for the Building Up of the Church
Scripture Reading: Psa. 45:1; Num. 11:29; 1 Cor. 14:3, 12, 31; 1 Pet. 4:11; 1 Cor. 12:8
Psa. 45:1 My heart overflows with a good matter; / I speak what I have composed concerning the King. / My tongue is the
pen of a ready writer.
Num. 11:29 But Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? Oh that all Jehovah¡¯s people were prophets, that Jehovah
would put His Spirit upon them!
1 Cor. 14:3 But he who prophesies speaks building up and encouragement and consolation to men.
1 Cor. 14:12 So also you, since you are zealous of spirits, seek that you may excel for the building up of the church.
1 Cor. 14:31 For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
1 Pet. 4:11 If anyone speaks, as speaking oracles of God; if anyone ministers, as ministering out of the strength which God
supplies; that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the might forever
and ever. Amen.
1 Cor. 12:8 For to one through the Spirit a word of wisdom is given, and to another a word of knowledge, according to the
same Spirit.
I. The speaking God, the Word of God, created us in His image to be a speaking people¡ª
Gen. 1:26; John 1:1; Heb. 1:1-2a; Acts 8:4; 1 Cor. 14:31.
Gen. 1:26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the
earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Heb. 1:1 God, having spoken of old in many portions and in many ways to the fathers in the prophets,
Heb. 1:2a Has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son.
Acts 8:4 Those therefore who were scattered went throughout the land announcing the word as the gospel.
1 Cor. 14:31 For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
II. ¡°My heart overflows with a good matter; / I speak what I have composed concerning the
King. / My tongue is the pen of a ready writer¡±¡ªPsa. 45:1:
A. If we have an affectionate love for the Lord Jesus, our tongue will be the pen of a ready
writer, ready to write our love and our praise.
B. Our heart should overflow to speak the full ministry of Christ in the stages of His
incarnation, inclusion, and intensification as the content of God¡¯s eternal economy¡ªJohn
1:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rev. 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of
the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.
1 Cor. 15:45b The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
Rev. 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and
who was and who is coming, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne.
Rev. 3:1 And to the messenger of the church in Sardis write: These things says He who has the seven
Spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works, that you have a name that you are living,
and yet you are dead.
Rev. 4:5 And out of the throne come forth lightnings and voices and thunders. And there were seven
lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Rev. 5:6 And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the
elders a Lamb standing as having just been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are
the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
III. Matthew 16:18 says, ¡°I will build My church,¡± and 1 Corinthians 14:4b says, ¡°He who
prophesies builds up the church¡±:
A. To prophesy is to speak for the Lord and to speak forth the Lord, that is, to dispense Christ
into people¡ªvv. 3, 12, 31.
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1 Cor. 14:3 But he who prophesies speaks building up and encouragement and consolation to men.
1 Cor. 14:12 So also you, since you are zealous of spirits, seek that you may excel for the building up of the
church.
1 Cor. 14:31 For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
B. God¡¯s desire is for all of His people to be prophets¡ªNum. 11:29; 1 Cor. 14:31.
Num. 11:29 But Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? Oh that all Jehovah¡¯s people were
prophets, that Jehovah would put His Spirit upon them!
C. Christ first builds the church by dispensing Himself into us as the regenerating word of
God through those who prophesy by speaking Him forth as the good news of the gospel¡ª
1 Pet. 1:23; Rom. 10:14-17.
1 Pet. 1:23 Having been regenerated not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the living and
abiding word of God.
Rom. 10:14 How then shall they call upon Him into whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe into Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without one who
proclaims Him?
Rom. 10:15 And how shall they proclaim Him unless they are sent? As it is written, ¡°How beautiful are the
feet of those who announce the news of good things!¡±
Rom. 10:16 But not all have obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah says, ¡°Lord, who has believed what he has heard
from us?¡±
Rom. 10:17 So faith comes out of hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
D. Christ continues to build the church by overflowing from within us in the church meetings
to speak forth Christ into one another¡ªto prophesy¡ªfor the increase of Christ within us
so that we may grow with the growth of God for God¡¯s building¡ªJohn 7:37-39; Col. 2:19.
John 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone
thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
John 7:38 He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of
living water.
John 7:39 But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to
receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Col. 2:19 ¡holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by
means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.
IV. We must live a proper, normal Christian life¡ªa prophesying life¡ªso that we may be the
proper speaking ones in the church meetings¡ª1 Pet. 4:11:
1 Pet. 4:11 If anyone speaks, as speaking oracles of God; if anyone ministers, as ministering out of the strength
which God supplies; that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the
glory and the might forever and ever. Amen.
A. We must love the Lord¡ªJohn 21:15-17:
John 21:15 Then when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you
love Me more than these? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to
him, Feed My lambs.
John 21:16 He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? He said to Him, Yes,
Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Shepherd My sheep.
John 21:17 He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? Peter was grieved that He
said to him the third time, Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord, You know all things;
You know that I love You. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep.
1. The more we love the Lord, the more we are qualified, equipped, and perfected to
speak for Him.
2. Our love for the Lord is the factor, the element, and the very basic essence of our being
powerful in speaking forth the Lord.
3. If we love the Lord, we will surely be filled with Him, and we will surely have
something of Him to pour out, to release the One who has filled us within.
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B. We must be revived by the Lord¡ªRev. 3:1-2, 15-17:
Rev. 3:1 And to the messenger of the church in Sardis write: These things says He who has the seven
Spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works, that you have a name that you are living,
and yet you are dead.
Rev. 3:2 Become watchful and establish the things which remain, which were about to die; for I have
found none of your works completed before My God.
Rev. 3:15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
Rev. 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spew you out of My
mouth.
Rev. 3:17 Because you say, I am wealthy and have become rich and have need of nothing, and do not
know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
1. Once we are revived, we will have a desire to go fishing for men and to go to the
homes where the fish are¡ªMatt. 4:19.
Matt. 4:19 And He said to them, Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.
2. To have a local church in the Lord¡¯s recovery that is living and prevailing with
everyone speaking, we all need to be revived day by day¡ª2 Cor. 4:16.
2 Cor. 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is
being renewed day by day.
C. We must live a victorious life, an overcoming life¡ªRev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21.
Rev. 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to
him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the 7fParadise of God.
Rev. 2:11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall
by no means be hurt of the second death.
Rev. 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to
him I will give of the hidden manna, and to him I will give a white stone, and upon the stone a
new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it.
Rev. 2:26 And he who overcomes and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority
over the nations.
Rev. 3:5 He who overcomes will be clothed thus, in white garments, and I shall by no means erase his
name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His
angels.
Rev. 3:12 He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means
go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My
God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
Rev. 3:21 He who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat
with My Father on His throne.
D. We must abide in the fellowship with the Lord daily and hourly¡ª1 John 1:3, 6; 2 Cor.
13:14.
1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard we report also to you that you also may have fellowship
with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and are not
practicing the truth.
2 Cor. 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be
with you all.
E. We must be a praying person¡ªCol. 4:2; Rom. 10:12-13.
Col. 4:2 Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving.
Rom. 10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to
all who call upon Him;
Rom. 10:13 For ¡°whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.¡±
F. We must enjoy the Lord every day early in the morning to have a new start of each day¡ª
Psa. 119:147-148.
Psa. 119:147 I anticipated the dawn and cried out; / I hoped in Your words.
Psa. 119:148 My eyes anticipated the night watches, / That I might muse upon Your word.
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G. We must learn to walk by and according to our spirit mingled with the Spirit¡ªGal. 5:16;
Rom. 8:4.
Gal. 5:16 But I say, Walk by the Spirit and you shall by no means fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Rom. 8:4 That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according
to the flesh but according to the spirit.
H. We must live Christ for His magnification by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ¡ªPhil. 1:19-21a; Gal. 2:20.
Phil. 1:19 For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful
supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
Phil. 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with
all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or
through death.
Phil. 1:21a For to me, to live is Christ.
Gal. 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me
and gave Himself up for me.
I. We must speak Christ to all kinds of people daily in season and out of season¡ªActs 5:42;
8:4; 2 Tim. 4:2.
Acts 5:42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and
announcing the gospel of Jesus as the Christ.
Acts 8:4 Those therefore who were scattered went throughout the land announcing the word as the
gospel.
2 Tim. 4:2 Proclaim the word; be ready in season and out of season; convict, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering
and teaching.
J. We must deal with our sins thoroughly¡ª1 John 1:5, 7, 9; Acts 24:16.
1 John 1:5 And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light
and in Him is no darkness at all.
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the
blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
Acts 24:16 Because of this I also exercise myself to always have a conscience without offense toward God
and men.
K. We must be filled with the Spirit inwardly¡ª13:52; Eph. 5:18.
Acts 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Eph. 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissoluteness, but be filled in spirit.
L. We must be filled with the Spirit outwardly¡ªActs 4:31, 8; 13:9.
Acts 4:31 And when they had so besought, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders.
Acts 13:9 But Saul, who is also Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him.
M. We must accumulate the experiences of Christ¡ªPhil. 3:8-10, 12-14.
Phil. 3:8 But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them
as refuse that I may gain Christ.
Phil. 3:9 And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is out of the law, but that which
is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith,
Phil. 3:10 To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
conformed to His death.
Phil. 3:12 Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue, if even I may lay hold of
that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Phil. 3:13 Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things
which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before,
Phil. 3:14 I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward.
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N. We must keep a rich storage of the Lord¡¯s word¡ªCol. 3:16; John 15:7; 1 John 2:14.
Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another
with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.
John 15:7 If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for
you.
1 John 2:14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I have written
to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have
overcome the evil one.
O. We must know some of the hymns on Christ, the Spirit, the church, life, etc., in our hymnal
¡ª1 Cor. 14:26; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16.
1 Cor. 14:26 What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a
revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.
Eph. 5:19 Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with
your heart to the Lord.
Col. 3:16 See point N above.
P. We must desperately endeavor to build up a habit of speaking in any meeting¡ª1 Cor.
14:26, 4-5, 12, 31.
1 Cor. 14:26 See point O above.
1 Cor. 14:4 He who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but he who prophesies builds up the church.
1 Cor. 14:5 I desire that you all speak in tongues, but especially that you would prophesy; and greater is he
who prophesies than he who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, that the church may
receive building up.
1 Cor. 14:12 So also you, since you are zealous of spirits, seek that you may excel for the building up of the
church.
1 Cor. 14:31 For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
Q. We must always have something to speak in all the meetings as a freewill offering to God
and to the audience¡ªv. 26 and footnote 1.
1 Cor. 14:26 What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a
revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.
V. We must be those who speak ten major categories of the word of God:
A. The word of grace¡ªActs 20:32.
Acts 20:32 And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and
to give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified.
B. The word of truth¡ªEph. 1:13.
Eph. 1:13 In whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in Him also
believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise.
C. The word of the gospel¡ªActs 8:4.
Acts 8:4 Those therefore who were scattered went throughout the land announcing the word as the
gospel.
D. The word of life¡ª1 John 1:1; Phil. 2:16; Acts 5:20.
1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life
Phil. 2:16 Holding forth the word of life, so that I may have a boast in the day of Christ that I did not run
in vain nor labor in vain.
Acts 5:20 Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.
E. The healthy word¡ª1 Tim. 6:3; 2 Tim. 1:13.
1 Tim. 6:3 If anyone teaches different things and does not consent to healthy words, those of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and the teaching which is according to godliness.
2 Tim. 1:13 Hold a pattern of the healthy words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love which
are in Christ Jesus.
F. The edifying word¡ªEph. 4:29.
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Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for building up,
according to the need, that it may give grace to those who hear.
G. The good word¡ªHeb. 6:5.
Heb. 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
H. The word of righteousness¡ª5:13.
Heb. 5:13 For everyone who partakes of milk is inexperienced in the word of righteousness, for he is an
infant.
I. The word of wisdom¡ª1 Cor. 12:8.
1 Cor. 12:8 For to one through the Spirit a word of wisdom is given, and to another a word of knowledge,
according to the same Spirit.
J. The word of knowledge¡ªv. 8.
VI. The two most important items of the manifestation of the Spirit in the believers are the
word of wisdom and the word of knowledge:
A. According to the context of 1 Corinthians, the word of wisdom is the word concerning
Christ as the deeper things of God, predestined by God to be our portion¡ª1:24, 30; 2:6-
10.
1 Cor. 1:24 But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God.
1 Cor. 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness
and sanctification and redemption.
1 Cor. 2:6 But we do speak wisdom among those who are full-grown, yet a wisdom not of this age nor of
the rulers of this age, who are being brought to nought;
1 Cor. 2:7 But we speak God¡¯s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God
predestined before the ages for our glory,
1 Cor. 2:8 Which none of the rulers of this age have known; for if they had known, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory;
1 Cor. 2:9 But as it is written, ¡°Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not
come up in man¡¯s heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him.¡±
1 Cor. 2:10 But to us God has revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the
depths of God.
B. The word of knowledge is the word that imparts a general knowledge of things concerning
God and the Lord¡ª8:1-7.
1 Cor. 8:1 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge
puffs up, but love builds up.
1 Cor. 8:2 If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he has not yet come to know as he ought to know;
1 Cor. 8:3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
1 Cor. 8:4 Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in
the world and that there is no God but one.
1 Cor. 8:5 For even if there are so-called gods, either in heaven or on earth, even as there are many gods
and many lords,
1 Cor. 8:6 Yet to us there is one God, the Father, out from whom are all things, and we are unto Him; and
one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we are through Him.
1 Cor. 8:7 But this knowledge is not in all men; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat the
food as an idol sacrifice, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
C. The word of wisdom is mainly out of our spirit through revelation, and the word of
knowledge is mainly out of our understanding through teaching; the former is deeper than
the latter.
D. However, both of these, not speaking in tongues nor any other miraculous gift, are listed as
the first gifts and the topmost manifestation of the Spirit because both are the most
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profitable ministries, or services, for the edification of the saints and the building up of the
church to carry out God¡¯s operation.
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