总题：神在信仰里的经纶
GOD'S ECONOMY IN FAITH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Message Five
Speaking by the Spirit of Faith
Scripture Reading: Heb. 1:1-2a; Acts 1:8; 4:20, 29, 31; Rom. 10:14, 17; 1 Cor. 12:13; 14:26, 31; 2 Cor. 4:10-13; Eph. 5:18-19
I. Our God is a speaking God—Heb. 1:1-2a:
A. The whole universe came into being by God's speaking—Rom. 4:17; Heb. 11:3; Psa. 33:9.
B. The essence of the Epistle to the Hebrews is God's speaking in the Son—1:1-2a:
1. God speaks in the Son, the Son speaks as the Spirit to the churches, and ultimately the Spirit speaks with the church—Rev. 2:7a; 22:17.
2. It is altogether by this speaking story that God is brought into man and man is brought into God—John 1:14; 6:63.
3. God's speaking to us proves that we are under His blessing—cf. 1 Sam. 3:1, 10, 21.
4. The life of the believers hinges totally upon the Lord's speaking—Heb. 1:3; Matt. 17:5; Rev. 2:7a; S. S. 8:13; Heb. 5:13-14.
5. The living God imparts and infuses Himself into us by speaking—2 Tim. 3:16-17; Ezek. 37:4-6:
a. When God speaks, the light shines, bringing us understanding, vision, knowledge, wisdom, and utterance—Psa. 119:105, 130.
b. When God speaks, life is imparted, and this life includes all the divine attributes and human virtues of Christ—John 6:63; 1:1, 4.
c. When God speaks, power is transmitted, and this is the growing and reproducing power of life—Mark 4:14, 26.
C. Since God is a speaking God, when He created man in His image, He created man with the ability to speak just like Himself—Gen. 1:26-28:
1. In God's creation of man, the most marvelous thing that He created was a spirit within man, and the second marvelous thing was that man was given the ability to speak—2:7, 19-20, 23.
2. God shows us clearly in the Bible that His purpose in creating man was that man would speak for Him—John 12:50; 14:10; Acts 4:20, 31.
3. God wants us to express Him and represent Him mainly by our speaking for Him—Gen. 1:26.
4. As God's representatives, we must speak God's words—John 3:34; Acts 2:40; 5:20.
II. "Having the same spirit of faith according to that which is written, 'I believed, therefore I spoke,' we also believe, therefore we also speak"—2 Cor. 4:13:
A. Speaking by the spirit of faith in our practical life is a great, crucial point.
B. Spirit of faith is a very particular expression used only once in the Bible—v. 13.
C. The spirit of faith is a mingling of the Holy Spirit with our regenerated human spirit—1 Cor. 6:17:
1. The phrase spirit of faith places spirit in apposition to faith—2 Cor. 4:13.
2. Faith is of the spirit; therefore, the spirit of faith is faith—v. 13.
3. Our faith is the mingled spirit—1 Cor. 6:17; 2 Cor. 4:13.
D. We must exercise such a spirit to believe and to speak, like the psalmist, the things we have experienced from the Lord, especially His death and resurrection—Psa. 22:1-22.
E. Faith is in our spirit, which is mingled with the Holy Spirit, not in our mind; doubts are in our mind—1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 8:6; Eph. 4:23.
F. Our believing faith becomes the speaking faith; when we turn to the spirit, we believe—2 Cor. 4:13b.
G. Second Corinthians 4:10-13 indicates that it is by the mingled spirit that the apostles lived a crucified life in resurrection for the carrying out of their ministry:
1. From the context of verse 13, we know that Paul was talking about his experience concerning the Lord's death and resurrection:
a. The apostle Paul testified concerning the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body—v. 10.
b. In verse 11 he went on to say that we who are alive are always being delivered unto death for Jesus' sake so that the resurrection life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
c. Paul also said that death operated in us in order that His resurrection life may be dispensed into others—v. 12.
2. Paul spoke all these things in the spirit of faith—v. 13.
H. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes from the preaching of the word—Rom. 10:14:
1. The source of faith is the word; this is why we must get into the Word—v. 17.
2. The more we get into the Word, the more we will have faith, and this faith is the spirit—2 Cor. 4:13.
3. By the spirit of faith we may speak the Word that is the source of our faith.
4. Here is a cycle: the Word produces faith, faith is the spirit, and by this spirit we can speak the Word—Rom. 10:14, 17; 2 Cor. 4:13.
III. Christians are a speaking people; a genuine Christian is a speaking Christian—Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 12:3, 13; 14:19, 26; Eph. 5:18-19:
A. The speaking God created the universe and continues to do all things through His speaking; therefore, everyone who has been saved, has been begotten of God, and has His life should learn to speak for Him and to speak His word—Acts 5:20; 2 Cor. 4:13.
B. As Christians, we all are able to speak for the Lord—Acts 4:20, 29, 31.
C. We need to realize that as believers we have been made witnesses of the living Christ; witnesses are speakers—1:8, 22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32:
1. A witness is a speaking one, one who only speaks things concerning the one he is testifying—1:8.
2. We should speak God's word in season and out of season for the carrying out of God's eternal economy—2 Tim. 4:2.
3. We are His witnesses, and we have to speak Him, speak for Him, and speak forth Him on every occasion.
D. In the church meetings, all the saints should be speakers—1 Cor. 14:19, 26, 31:
1. As speaking people, we should not be dumb or silent, for the God whom we worship is the speaking God—v. 26.
2. Christian meetings should be full of mutuality in speaking—Eph. 5:19.
E. As members of the Body of Christ, we need to be filled in spirit—v. 18:
1. That with which we are filled will overflow from within us; this overflow is "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord"—v. 19.
2. If we are filled in spirit unto all the fullness of God, we will spontaneously speak to one another concerning Christ; therefore, speaking is the way to overflow.
F. First Corinthians 12:13 reveals that Christ has baptized us in the Spirit into the Body, and now we all are drinking of the Spirit:
1. We are in the Spirit, and the Spirit is in us—Rom. 8:4, 6, 10-11, 14, 16.
2. This makes us fully qualified and able to function in the meetings by speaking for the Lord and even by speaking Him forth—1 Cor. 12:13; 14:26, 31.