"In 1954 I held a conference in Hong Kong. A Western missionary from the Brethren who was teaching in Japan had contacted the brothers. He was attracted by the brothers and therefore came to the conference. Afterward he said, “I really admire this conference. But there was one thing I did not agree with. In your meetings the prayer after the singing of hymns is too loud and noisy.” I said, “Brother, shouting is truly in the Bible. Please look at the record where the children of Israel rebuilt the temple after their return from captivity, when the foundation of the temple was laid. All the people shouted with a great shout and the noise was heard far off.” Moreover, the book of Isaiah says, “Cry out and give a ringing shout, / O inhabitant of Zion,” and “With a voice of shouting declare” (12:6; 48:20). The New Testament also says that when the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time, riding on a donkey, “the crowds who went before Him and those who followed cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! And…all the city was stirred” (Matt. 21:9-10). The religious people such as the chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees held these things in disdain. They were indignant about what they saw, and said, “Do you hear what these are saying?” (vv. 15-16). The Lord answered and said, “I tell you, If these shall be silent, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40). This is the mystery of the Word of life. At the very beginning of John’s Epistle, he speaks of “the Word of life.” This means that when we hear “the Word of life,” we obtain eternal life and never die. “The Word of life” refers to the Lord of grace who is God incarnated to be a man called Jesus, whom men could approach and upon whose bosom His disciples even reclined. The four Gospels tell us that of all the times He met with people, there was not even one time when they had a so-called worship service. The Bible never says that this incarnated God displayed His power by sitting in the highest place, telling people to worship Him, but instead it says that every time He met with people, He was informal. We may all have the religious concept that whenever we come into a meeting we should be very quiet. If someone shouts, “Hallelujah,” we may think he is out of order. However, the Psalms tell us that we should shout loudly and joyfully to the Lord: “Make a joyful noise to Jehovah, all the earth” (100:1). To make a noise is to speak not in a normal voice but to shout loudly. When we come to the meetings every Lord’s Day, we should not keep religious rituals and perform orderly ceremonies. We have to realize that we are coming to the Lord of grace to hear and enjoy the Word of life, so we should not feel restrained and remain quiet; we all should shout praises together." (Abiding in the vine and enjoy His Life)
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:39:07 +0000
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