The Constituents of the Vital Groups (5)
The constituents of the vital groups are also the brothers of Christ. Romans 8:29 says that Christ is the Firstborn among many brothers. In John 20:17 the resurrected Christ told Mary, “Go to My brothers.” Before His resurrection Christ never called His disciples His brothers. But in resurrection He recognized that all His disciples were His brothers. He is the firstborn Son of God, and we are the many sons of God, His many brothers.
In His New Testament economy the speaking God speaks in the Son (Heb. 1:2).
The divine sonship of glory is a corporate matter. Romans 8:15 and 23 speak of the sonship. Then John 17:22 gives us the definition of the sonship. The sonship is the divine right to express God in His life and nature for His glory. The divine sonship of glory is corporate, consisting of Christ as the firstborn Son of God (Rom. 8:29) and His believers as the many sons of God (Heb. 2:10).
As the firstborn Son of God being the Word of God (John 1:1) is God’s oracle for the speaking and dispensing of God to carry out His eternal economy, so the many sons of God being members of the Word of God are God’s oracle, speaking and dispensing God for the spreading of God and the increase of Christ. The firstborn Son of God is the oracle of God, and we are the many sons. This means that all the sons are God’s oracle so that God may have a spread and Christ may have an increase.
The constituents of the vital groups are also the prophets of God (1 Cor. 14:1, 31). Since all the sons of God are God’s oracle, they become God’s prophets, the ones who speak God, speak for God, and speak forth God. A prophet is a speaking one. The Greek word for prophesy means “to speak for or speak forth.”
According to 1 Corinthians 14, the meetings of the believers should be meetings for God’s speaking. The meetings in Christianity are for one speaker to speak, but according to 1 Corinthians 14, all the saints should be speakers (vv. 26, 31).
The first verse of 1 Corinthians 14 says that we should pursue love and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that we may prophesy, speaking God, speaking for God, and speaking forth God.
First Corinthians 14:31 says that all the believers can prophesy, speaking God, speaking for God, and speaking forth God, one by one. I am concerned that many of us have never spoken in a church meeting. We may use only our eyes and ears in the meeting and leave our mouth at home. We have to exercise our spirit and use our mouth in the meetings to speak for the Lord.
Verses 3 and 4 unveil that prophesying, speaking God, speaking for God, and speaking forth God, builds up, encourages, and consoles people.
Verse 5 says that the apostle Paul desired especially that we would prophesy, speaking God, speaking for God, and speaking forth God, and that greater is he who prophesies, speaking God, speaking for God, and speaking forth God. (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups”, ch. 3, pp. 83-85)
The church in Zamboanga 