The Ministry of Gods Word

The Ministry of Gods
Word
WATCHMAN NEE
Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc.

New York
Copyright 1971
Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc.
New York
All Rights Reserved
ISBN 0-935008-28-4
Available from the Publishers at:

11515 Allecingie Parkway
Richmond, Virginia 23235
PRINTED IN U.S.A.
CONTENTS
Part ONE: THE MINISTER
1 Three Kinds of Ministry
2 The Contents and Delivery of the Word
21
3 The Course and Ministry of Paul
33
4 The Peak of the Ministry of the Word
47
Part TWO: THE WORD OF GOD

5 The Basis of the Word
61
6 The Need for the Holy Spirits Interpretation
73
7 The Need for the Holy Spirits Revelation
87
8 Gods Word in Christ
105
9 Knowing Gods Word through Christ
121
Part THREE: THE MINISTRY

10 The Foundation of Ministry
137
11 Revelation and Thought
151
12 Burden and Word
169
13 The Discipline of the Holy Spirit and the Word
189
14 The Word and Memory
205
15 The Word and Feeling
219
16 The Word and the Release of the Spirit
233
17 Some Helps in Speaking
259
Part FOUR: THE OBJECTS OF THE WORD

18 The Objects of the Word
289
The contents of this volume comprise a series of messages which

were delivered in Chinese by the author during a training period for
workers held in Kuling, Foochow, China, in 1948.
All quotations from the Old Testament are from the American
Standard Version of the Bible (1901), unless otherwise indicated.
All quotations from the New Testament are from the New
American Standard Bible: The New Testament (1960), unless
otherwise indicated.
PART ONE
THE MINISTER
Three Kinds of Ministry
But we will devote ourselves . . . to the ministry of

the word (Acts 6.4). The matter of serving people with
Gods word is called the ministry of the word; the
person who so serves is called a minister. Ministry
points to the matter, while minister speaks of the
person. The ministry of the word occupies an important place in the
work of God. There are definite principles to be learned by those
who preach the word of God and serve people with Gods word.
From the Old Testament time to the New, God always is found
speaking. He spoke in the Old Testament days; He spoke while the
Lord Jesus was on earth; and He continues to speak in the New
Testament church. We learn from the Bible that God has a prime
work to perform on earth, which is, to utter His own word. If the
word of God is taken away, then almost nothing is left of Gods
work. No word, no work. When the word is eliminated, the work is
reduced to near zero. We must therefore recognize the place of Gods
word in His work. Once the word is removed the work of God ceases
immediately, for God operates through His word; He treats His word
as His work. The work of God is filled with His word.
How does God utter His word? This is a very special and quite
remarkable method: Gods word is spoken through the mouth of
man. Not only is there the word in the Bible; there is also the
minister of the word. Were God to speak directly by Himself, He
would have no need for the minister of the word. Since His word is
delivered by man, the minister of the word becomes a real concern.
How very significant is man, therefore, in the work of God. God
employs no way other than man to deliver His word. God is in need
of a special class of people to be the ministers of His word.
The Ministry of God's Word
Briefly stated, one can find throughout the whole Bible three
different kinds of people whom God uses to preach the word. In the
Old Testament Gods word is spread by the prophets; hence we have
the ministry of the prophets. Once again, at the time of the earthly
pilgrimage of the Lord Jesus, Gods word became flesh; and thus we
have the ministry of the Lord Jesus. And finally, in the New
Testament Gods word is propagated by the apostles; with the result
that we have the ministry of the apostles.
The Old Testament Ministers of the Word: The Prophets
In the Old Testament God chose the prophets as the men to speak
His word. These many prophets spoke according to the visions they
received. Even a person such as Balaam could speak for God, for
Balaam was a prophet; his prophecies were some of the greater ones
in the Old Testament. The way by which the Old Testament prophets
could serve as ministers of Gods word was through the word of God
coming to them. Balaam, for example, prophesied as the Spirit of
God came upon him. He spoke in spite of himself. God set aside his
feeling and his thought and gave him revelation. The word of God
came to him irrespective of his condition. He neither added his own
opinion nor mingled his own feeling or thought in with Gods word.
In other words, God merely employed the mans mouth to utter His
word. This is typical of the Old Testament ministers of the word. The
Holy Spirit gave the word to a particular individual and so controlled
that person that there could be no error in Gods word as propagated
by him. Though God used the person, there was little, if any, human
element involved in this type of revelation. Man merely spoke the
word of God without adding anything to it.
Nevertheless, in the Old Testament we do find people such as
Moses, David, Isaiah, and Jeremiah whom God employed as
mouthpieces in a way which was more advanced than that of Balaam
and other prophets. The words which Moses wrote were mainly what
God had commanded him. As the Lord spoke, so spoke Moses.

Isaiah recorded vision after vision which the Lord had shown him. In
this respect these prophets functioned under the same principle as
Balaam. But in another respect Moses and Isaiah were quite different
from Balaam. For we know that whenever Balaam himself came
forward, his personal feeling was so wrong that he was condemned
before God. While under revelation, Balaam spoke the word of God;
but as soon as he spoke by himself, he manifested sin, error and
darkness. This was not true of Moses. Though he largely spoke
according to what God commanded, yet there were times before God
when he spoke as he felt. During these occasions he was not looked
upon as doing anything wrong; instead, his word was recognized as
also being Gods word. This shows that Moses was more used by
God than was Balaam. The same is true of Isaiah. Most of his
prophecies came directly from the visions he received from God, but
sometimes he himself began to speak. David and Jeremiah expressed
their own feelings before God even more than Moses and Isaiah. All
of these prophets approached the way of the later New Testament
ministers; even so, they acted mostly under the same principles as the
rest of the Old Testament prophets. They spoke when the word of
God came to them.
The Minister o f the Word in the Gospels: The Lord Jesus
When the Lord Jesus came to the earth, the Word became flesh
(John 1.14). The Lord Jesus Himself is the word of God. He clothed
Himself with flesh and became a man in the flesh. Whatever He did
and said were all Gods word. His ministry was the ministry of Gods
word. The way Gods word was spread through the Lord Jesus is
totally different from that through the Old Testament prophets.
Earlier God merely engaged mans voice to propagate His word.
Even John the Baptist, the last of the prophets, was but a voice in the
wilderness. The word of God simply used his voice.
10
Not so with the Lord Jesus. He is the Word become flesh. The
very Person is the word of God. In the Old Testament the word came
upon man. The word and the man were two separate entities. The
former was simply spoken by the latters voice. Although with
Moses and David it was somewhat different, the basic principle of
the Old Testament was that God merely engaged the human voice. In
incarnation, however, the word of God was clothed with a human
body; Gods word became man. It was no longer the word coming to
man, nor was it Gods word using the human voice. The word
instead was dressed in man; therefore it had human feeling, thought
and opinion, though it remained Gods word.
If mans opinion had entered into Gods word during the Old
Testament period, that word would have ceased to be the word of
God. For in the instant that human feeling, thought or opinion is
mixed in with Gods word, the latter turns imperfect, impure, and
unclean. It is the ruination of Gods word. To maintain the purity of
His word, nothing of mans opinion, thought and feeling may be
mingled in. When the word of God was voiced by Balaam it became
a prophecy. But if Balaam had attempted to add his own feeling and
idea to it, it would have immediately ceased to be Gods word, for
the nature of the word would have been changed. This fairly well
sums up the Old Testament situation.
With the Lord Jesus, however, Gods word used not only mans
voice but his thought, feeling and opinion as well. His human
thought was Gods thought; so too were his feeling and opinion
Gods. This is the ministry of the word which God was able to obtain
in the Lord Jesus. How vastly unalike it was from the Old Testament
way. God did not want His word to be merely word; He wished it to
be like a person. He delighted in having His word become flesh. This
is one of the greatest mysteries in the New Testament. It was Gods
desire that His word should carry human feeling, thought, and idea
through a personality. It was this kind of ministry which the Lord
Jesus possessed.
11
In the Lord Jesus Gods word was not objective, but rather,
subjective. It possessed human feeling, thought, and idea; yet it
remained Gods word. In this do we find a great principle of the
Bible: that it is possible for the word of God to be unimpaired by
mans feeling. The presence of human feeling does not necessarily
ruin Gods word; it does so only when such feeling is inadequate.
Herein lies a tremendous problem. The great principle is that
human elements must not be of such a nature as to hinder Gods
word. In the life of the Lord Jesus who is the Word become flesh the
thought of His flesh is the thought of God. Naturally speaking, the
thought of the flesh is only mans thought; but in incarnation the
word became flesh in a Man, so that this Mans thought is fully
adequate. When it is blended with Gods word it fulfills rather than
spoils the word of God. The word of God in the Lord Jesus rises
higher than the Old Testament word. You have heard, spoke Jesus
one day, that the ancients were told thus and so (Matt. 5.21). This
tells us that the Lord God spoke to Moses, giving His revelation to
His servant. Yet the Lord Jesus proceeded further with, But I say to
you . . . . (v.22). We find here that Jesus Himself was speaking on
earth, using His own thought and His own idea. And in so speaking,
far from overturning Gods authority, He fulfilled it. He did not
overthrow Gods word, but raised it to a height beyond that of the
Old Testament.
The characteristic of the Lord Jesus as the minister of Gods word
lies in the fulfilling of Gods word. Not only is there a voice, there is
likewise feeling and thought emanating from a sinless person. Gods
word in the Lord Jesus is no longer a revelation; it has become a
Person. It not only engages a Mans voice but is the Person of the
Lord Jesus Himself. The word of God has taken up personality. It is
united with mans word. And when that Man speaks, God speaks.
How glorious is this union! When Jesus of Nazareth speaks, God
speaks! None has ever spoken like Jesus of Nazareth, nor will any
ever afterward speak like Him. He knows absolutely no sin. He is the
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Holy One of God, and He is wholly of God. The word of God is

upon Him because He is the Word become flesh. He is Gods word.
What He says is said by God. In Him the word of God is absolutely
subjective, for He is Gods word.
In the Old Testament we can find certain prophets who spoke the
word for God, but in the Gospels we can point to the Lord Jesus and
say, this Man is Gods word. In the first instance we are only able to
testify that when the prophet opened his mouth the word of God
came forth. As to the Lord Jesus, though, we can refer to Him as the
word of God. His feeling was the feeling of Gods word, and His
thought, the thought of Gods word. When he opened His mouth
there was Gods word; even when He shut His mouth, Gods word
was still there, for as a Person He is the word of God.
Through our Lord Jesus the word was advanced from revelation to
personality. Upon the Old Testament prophets the word of God came
as revelation, but in the Lord Jesus it was personified. In the Old
Testament the word and the person were two separate entities.
Although the word was using him, the man remained a man. At the
coming of the Lord Jesus, the word of God became flesh. This
fleshly Man was Gods word. What He spoke was the word of God.
To Him revelation was unnecessary, for He Himself was the word.
There was no need to have the word of God come to Him from
outside before He could speak Gods word. For was not His word the
word of God already? He did not need anything extra, because He
Himself was Gods word. In Him Gods word was unaffected and
unrestricted by man. The word He spoke was the pure word of God.
Jesus was a man; even so, the word of God never suffered because of
Him. Indeed, Gods word found its fullest expression through Him.
This is the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.
13
The Ministers o f the Word in the New Testament: The Apostles

The ministry of the word in the Old Testament is entirely
objective, whereas that of the Lord Jesus is absolutely subjective.
Beginning with the apostles, however, the ministry of the word
follows the nature of that of the Lord Jesus together with the addition
of Old Testament revelation. The difference between the ministry of
the word in the New Testament and the ministry of the Lord Jesus is
as follows: in the Lord Jesus it is the Word become flesh, that is, first
the word, then the flesh to fit the word. His consciousness, feelings,
and thoughts are harmonious with Gods word. However, in the New
Testament ministry of the word we have the flesh first; in order to
make it a minister of the word, this flesh must be transformed
according to the requirements of Gods word. The feeling, thought,
and idea of the flesh must undergo a change that it may be suitable to
Gods word. Hence, this New Testament ministry is different from
both the Old Testament ministry and the ministry of the Lord Jesus.
That of the Lord Jesus is wholly subjective, for the word is Himself.
The New Testament ministry is that of the Lord Jesus added to that
of the Old Testament prophets. The word of God comes to man as
revelation along with that mans feeling, thought and idea. It is
consequently Gods revelation plus human elements.
Those who are chosen in the New Testament are not holy as is the
Lord Jesus, who alone is the Holy One of God with no impurity,
whose word is the word of God. God must not only put His word in
these New Testament ministers but must deal with them as well. He
needs to raise them to the level He demands. He will use their
thoughts, feelings and characteristics, but these have to be dealt with
first. So God deals with these New Testament ministers in respect to
their experiences, words, feelings, cleverness, opinion, characteristics
and other areas, in order that His word might be communicated
through them. The word of God is not just imparted through a human
voice but is also manifested in deed through these various areas of
the man. God takes pleasure in putting His word in man and then in
14
letting it be exhibited through man. The Lord Jesus is the Word

become flesh; the New Testament ministers have their flesh wrought
upon for the sake of conveying the word of God.
Human Element in Revelation
It is a mistake to assume that there is no human element in Gods
revelation or that the first necessarily destroys the second. The
revelation of God does indeed contain the human element, for Gods
word is manifested in it. Even with respect to Old Testament
prophetic ministry, however small a place the human element
occupies, we cannot say there is absolutely none of it present, since
the word of God at least needs to be uttered by mans mouth. In
incarnation, the Word has become flesh, and so the entire human
element of Christ is now the word of God. Today God desires that
His word, delivered through New Testament ministers, should be
blended with human elements.
In carefully perusing the New Testament we discover that certain
words are constantly employed by Paul which were never employed
by Peter or John or Matthew. Likewise, Luke has his favourite
words, and so has Mark. In their writings, each maintains his
peculiarity: The Gospel of Matthew is different from that of Mark,
Mark from Luke, and Luke from John. Pauls writings have their
own definite tone; Peters are in another strain. But the Gospel of
John and Johns Epistles share the same subject and are continuous
in nature. For instance, the Gospel of John commences with In the
beginning. . . ., and his First Epistle opens with What was from the
beginning. . . . One refers to the very beginning, the other starts
from that beginning and proceeds onward. And his Revelation joins
these two together, using the same style of writing.
Pursuing this matter further, we find that each writer of the Bible
possesses his own idiosyncrasies. As a physician Luke invokes
certain medical terms with which to describe various sicknesses,
15
while the other three Evangelists employ common words. Again,

because the Book of Acts is also written by Luke, medical words
once more appear. Each Gospel possesses its special phraseology and
has its particular topics. In Mark, immediately is frequently found;
in Matthew, the kingdom of heaven; in Luke, the kingdom of
God. On each book the writer leaves his indelible mark; yet all are
the word of God.
The New Testament is full of human elements; still, it is Gods
word. Each writer maintains his emphasis, uses his special phrases,
and retains his characteristics. Through these, Gods word is
delivered without suffering any loss. Having mans marks and
possessing human characteristics, but nonetheless remaining Gods
wordsuch is the New Testament ministry. Gods word is entrusted
to man and is conveyed through that mans elements. God does not
turn man into a tape recorderfirst recording every word and
subsequently sending them out verbatim. He does not wish it so.
Since the Lord Jesus has already come and the Holy Spirit has now
entered into the believing man, God will work in man until his
human elements do not damage Gods word. This is the basis of New
Testament ministry. The Holy Spirit so operates in man, so controls
and disciplines him, that the latters own elements can exist without
impairing Gods word; on the contrary, they fulfill it. Were no
human element involved, man would become a tape recorder. Today
the human element is in Gods word, and the word is fulfilled by
man.
Do we know why Paul does not stress that all believers must
speak in tongues in the meeting? Yet are not tongues a gift of God?
The explanation is because, in the speaking in tongues, mans
thought is not involved. In other words, human thought is not
included. This makes it more like the Old Testament ministry than
that of the New; because this is God putting unknown tongues on the
lips of man. Gods emphasis in New Testament ministry is in
bringing into play the human element in the word. Under the
16
discipline, control and work of the Holy Spirit, all human elements
can be properly engaged by God. The word of God is to be released
through man. It is Gods word, yet it also involves human elements.
Let us use an illustration. Suppose a musician is capable of
playing piano, organ, and violin. He may perform the same music on
different instruments. Since each musical instrument possesses its
unique characteristics, the sounds are distinctly unique. The various
characteristics of these musical instruments help to express the
feeling of the music. The ministries of the New Testament word
somewhat resemble these musical instruments. Some are like pianos,
others like organs or violins. The same music played produces a
distinct sound according to the different instruments employed. From
one minister the word of God comes through with his particular
human element; from another there is a different sort of human
element. Each and every one of those who are used by God has his
own human element implanted in the word. Under the discipline,
government and education of the Holy Spirit, this personal element
of man no longer hinders the coming forth of Gods word but on the
contrary renders its manifestation more glorious.
In view of the fact that Gods word is to pass through man using
human elements, it is obvious that the elements of all those who have
not been dealt with by God are unusable. If the personal element is
questionable before God, His word cannot come through that person.
He is unsuitable; he cannot be a minister of Gods word. In the Old
Testament God once spoke through an ass, but today the New
Testament ministry is quite different. In New Testament times Gods
word comes through the human element; as a consequence the Lord
must be strict in selecting His instrument. We cannot propagate
Gods word like a tape recorder. God desires to change us. If we are
not up to His standard, we are not usable.
To be one who delivers Gods word we must be pruned and
refined. God has to lay aside those whose human makeup contains
17
many uncleannesses, fleshly things, and matters condemned by God.

Others He has to bypass because they have never been broken before
God, or their thoughts are not straightforward, or their lives are
undisciplined, their necks stiff, their emotions untamed, or they have
a controversy with God. Even if these individuals receive Gods
word, they are not able to deliver it for it is blocked within them.
Should they force themselves to preach, the word is ineffective.
Hence mans condition before God is a basic problem for New
Testament ministers.
Today God wishes His word to be uttered like mans word. It is
truly Gods word, yet it is also mans word. Which verse in the entire
New Testament is not spoken by man? A characteristic maintained
from the beginning to the end of the New Testament is that all words
spoken by men are human to the nth degree, yet also divine to the nth
degree, being purely the word of God. This is the New Testament
ministry of the word.
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you
with many tears, said Paul (2 Cor. 2.4). Paul here is ministering
Gods word to the Corinthians. He wrote under much affliction. He
wrote with many tears. Here was one whose whole being was
involved in the word. What he wrote was full of human feeling. The
word of God in him made him suffer and caused him to shed many
tears. When he wrote, his human element was mingled with Gods
word and magnified it. He was not void of feeling or thought. His
was not like one speaking in tongues with the word coming in and
going out without so much as touching the thoughts of the heart. He
wrote with his inward being full of thought and feeling. As the word
of God came forth, word after word, he was in much affliction and
with many tears. This represents the New Testament minister of the
word.
Since Gods word is to pass through man, his characteristics,
idiosyncrasies, tone, and experiences before God may all be
18
manifested in the word. The degree of discipline he has received

from the Lord and the measure of trial he has undergone may
likewise be disclosed in the word. A minister of the New Testament
word may, without any error, add his personal element to the word of
God which comes to him. After years of learning before the Lord, he
may be brought to a place where he can be freely used by Him as a
channel of the word. Should that which man puts into the word be
flesh or something of the natural man, the word of God will be
adulterated as it passes through man.
Gods word contains human elements; only then will it come forth
as the perfect word of God. Never misconstrue Gods word to be
merely one commandment or ten commandments. The Bible
demonstrates to us clearly that it possesses a human flavor. God
gives His word to man and lets the latter speak. If mans condition is
right, God puts him into the word too. The basic law of Gods
speaking is: the Word became flesh (John 1.14). It is Gods desire
today that there be not only His word but that His word become
flesh. This does not suggest that Gods word is lowered to be mans
word; it simply means that His word has the flavor of humanity
without the least sacrificing of its purity. Truly it is Gods word, yet
it is in addition mans word; mans word indeed, but Gods word too.
In New Testament ministry men propagate Gods word. We find this
in Acts, in Corinthians, in Timothy, in Titus, in Philemon, and so
forth. Gods word is unveiled through mans word and is magnified
through the human element. It is man who is speaking; nonetheless,
God recognizes it as His own word.
How very great, then, is the responsibility of those who preach
Gods word! If the man is wrong and mingles his own unclean things
in with the word, he defiles the word of God, greatly damaging it.
The fundamental problem in preaching rests not on how much one
knows of the Bible, for the mere knowledge of doctrine is of little
avail. Knowledge may be wholly objective; it can be delivered
without being personally involved. As ministers, though, we can
19
never be like the Lord Jesus who is the Word become flesh; still the
word of God is deposited in our flesh and is to be released through
this flesh. This flesh must therefore be wrought upon by God. We
need to be daily disciplined. Any defect in us will defile the word
and destroy its power.
Do not think that just anybody can preach the word of God. We
know of only one kind of person who may preach itthose who
have been dealt with by God. The greatest difficulty we confront in
preaching the word is not whether the subject is proper or the
phraseology correct, but whether the man is right. If the man is
wrong, all which emanates from him is likewise wrong. May God
show us the true way of the ministry of the word. Preaching is not as
simple as we usually regard it. It is to serve Gods people with Gods
word. Only when the word is not adversely affected by us can people
hear the pure word of God. We know the stories of Paul, Peter,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and many other servants of the Lord.
They blend their personal elements with Gods word, yet we do not
touch blood or flesh through them; instead we sense that the word of
God is all the more glorified. How marvelous it isGods word is
mans word, and mans word is Gods word.
The Contents and Delivery of the

Word
Gods way of proclaiming His word transcends

completely the thought of man. According to mans
thinking, God might adopt one of two different ways if
He desires man to know His word.
First, God might create a giant tape recorder and hang it in the
universe to proclaim His word. If it is within mans ability to invent a
tape recorder, how far easier for God to create such an instrument to
announce word by word what He intends to say. Each time it could
deliver verbatim the word of God. And after a few days it could
repeat itself. Were this the means of propagation, there would be no
possibility of error and the people could accurately hear the pure
word of God. But God has not chosen to do so.
Or second, He might command the angels to proclaim His word.
The Bible does record some instances of angels delivering the word
of God, but these are very rare and only used as an exceptional or
emergency measure. This is not the normal and regular way of Gods
speaking. Nevertheless, should it please God to propagate His word
by the angels, He could simply compile many articles similar to the
Ten Commandments and command the angels to deliver them to men
to learn. No personal experience would be involved, and no human
error would be possible. We might think this would eliminate many
theological problems, arguments, and heresies. How simple it would
be if Gods word were reduced to the form of a law of five or six
hundred articles. By hearing or reading these items men would know
Gods word in total. Perhaps many believe that the Bible would be
easier to comprehend if it were one thousand one hundred and
eighty-six articles instead of that many chapters. It would not be
unlike a handbook of Christianity. A quick glance would give a
general summary of the Christian faith. But God has not so done.
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We realize that were God to use a recorderlike mechanism to

deliver His word there would be little likelihood of mistake and the
word could be proclaimed continuously. Gods word would not be so
scarce, nor would men be able to say that His vision is infrequent.
His word would always be in the earth. At the same time, though,
there would also be a basic lack: in such a word as this there would
be no human, personal element. God alone would be able to
understand His word. Since no relationship would exist between God
and men and no place would be provided for the conversation of the
two parties, how would man be able to apprehend what God is
saying? The word would sound like thunder to us, beyond human
power to decipher. But as a matter of fact, God does not adopt this
manner of speaking.
Neither does God systematize His word into many doctrines or
articles and impart them through His angels. Yes, Gods word does
include doctrines, quite true; but it is more than something merely for
mental understanding. Yet how people today delight to choose the
doctrinal part of the word of God, deeming it the best. Many
unbelievers are annoyed by the you or the we or the they of
the Bible, but how they are attracted to the Ten Commandments.
Men always expect God to compile His words into many articles,
which include the words of the angels as well as the utterances of
God: thunderous and lightning words, but devoid of any human
flavor. We ought to recognize, however, that one characteristic of
Gods word is the fact that there is the human, personal element in it.
Which book is any more personal than the Word of God? How many
times Paul uses I in his letters! In ordinary letters we consider too
many instances of I to be impolite and unrefined. But we find the
Bible to be full of this personal aspect. God chooses men to be His
ministers in order that His word may carry a human flavor. This is
very basic.
The Contents and Delivery of the Word
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The Contents of the Word

Let us explain what we mean by human element. Looking at the
contents of the Bible we discover that it is full of human element.
Take that away and very little is left of the Bible, so great in
importance is the human element in the word of God. For example:
Galatians speaks of the promise of God, but illustrates it with the
story of Abraham. Take away Abraham, and the promise of God
descends into abstraction. The Lord Jesus is the Lamb of God who
redeems the world, but in the Old Testament men offered bullocks
and sheep as sacrifices, from the first offering of Abel to the many
offerings in Leviticus. These types show us how the Lord Jesus as
Gods Lamb makes propitiation for our sins.
Or again, we see in the Old Testament a man called Davidhow
he triumphed in battle, how he obeyed God and became a man after
Gods own heart, and how he prepared materials of gold, silver, and
precious stones in abundance for Solomon to build the temple. We
see David and we see Solomon. These examples enlighten us as to
how the Lord Jesus fights to victory and how He is ascended to
heaven to be crowned King. Take the records of David and Solomon
away, and we can barely see the Lord Jesus. He is greater than David
and greater than Solomon, yet He needs to be preceded by both
David and Solomon; otherwise people cannot understand Him. Also,
the Scriptures record in detail how Moses led the Israelites out of
Egypt and through the wilderness, how Joshua guided them into
Canaan, and how they overcame the thirty-one kings of Canaan.
Remove these records, and very little will be left of the books of
Exodus, Numbers, and Joshua. Without the book of Joshua it would
be difficult to understand the Letter to the Ephesians. All these
indicate to us the significance of the human element in the word of
God.
The distinctive feature of Gods word is that it includes many,
many human elements. His word is not spoken abstractly, it is
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instead uttered through man. It is manifested through the many

affairs of men. Hence it is simple, easily heard, and easily
understood. Whenever God speaks, men are able to hear, for the
word of God is not only spoken by God but is also comprehensible to
men. It is both supernatural and natural, divine and human. Through
the lives of various men we may see the words of God and
understand the words He is speaking.
In the book of Acts we find very little preaching. Its narrative is
preeminently concerned with the works the apostles performed under
the leading of the Holy Spirit. We behold what Peter was like, and
that is the word of God. We see also what Paul did, and again it is
Gods word. We notice the beginning of the church in Jerusalem, in
Samaria, and also in Antioch; these are not only histories but the
word of God as well. Men work out the word of God in history; they
speak Gods word in history too. In history the Holy Spirit reveals
Gods word through the lives of men. The word of God is full of
human element. Such is the peculiar feature of the Bible. The Bible
is not a collection of devotional articles; it is men performing or
living out the word of God.
The governing principle of the Bible is the Word becoming flesh.
For those who do not know the meaning of incarnation, it is
extremely hard for them to understand what the word of God is.
Gods word is neither abstract nor spiritual to such an extent that it
eliminates all human savor. It is not so elevated that it is beyond
human sight or touch. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, opens Johns Gospel; but he goes on to add that the
Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth
(John 1.1,14). This is the word of God. The Word dwells among
men. The basic principle which controls the ministry of the word is
the principle of the Word becoming flesh. Consequently although it
is most heavenly, nevertheless it is not in heaven but on earth.
Though intensely heavenly, the word is definitely manifested through
men. Heavenly, yet it can be seen and touched by men. This is the
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testimony of the apostle in 1 John, where he declares: What was

from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our
eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled concerning the Word of
life (v.l).
To use another example: we at one time did not know what
holiness is. But today holiness is no longer an abstraction, for in the
life of the Lord Jesus we have seen holiness, how it lives and walks
among men. By seeing the Lord Jesus we know what holiness is.
Holiness, as it were, has become flesh. Similarly, we did not know
patience, but in the Lord Jesus we have seen patience. God is love,
yet we were ignorant of how He loves. Now we have beheld this love
in Jesus of Nazareth. We misunderstood spirituality, thinking a
spiritual person should neither smile nor cry and should be totally
devoid of any feeling; now, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth we
comprehend what spirituality in actual fact is.
We do not know the holiness of God, but we can comprehend the
holiness of the Lord Jesus. So it is with Gods love, patience, glory,
or spiritual nature. All need to be understood in the Lord Jesus. This
is the meaning of the Word becoming flesh. Holiness, love, patience,
glory, or spirituality must all become flesh. As we touch this flesh,
we touch God. The love of Jesus is Gods love, the glory of Jesus is
Gods glory, and so forth. If something is merely in God, we are
unable to apprehend it; but we shall know it when we see the Lord
Jesus.
Hence the Word becoming flesh is the basic principle. It governs
all the dealings of God with men, and it regulates the communion
between the two. Though the word had not yet become flesh in the
Old Testament, God was pushing in that direction. Today the
incarnated Word has already ascended to heaven, nonetheless God is
still working according to this principle. God at this present moment
is not an abstract God, One who is intangible and who hides Himself.
Not so; He has become flesh, He has come. How gladly do we
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proclaim to the world that God has already come. In the Old
Testament it seems as if God were yet to come, for He made
darkness his hiding place, his pavilion round about him (Ps. 18.11).
In our day, however, God is in the light; He reveals Himself in that
light for us to see. When He hid Himself in darkness, none could see
Him; but in these latter days He is seen in the light. God has come
forth. He has come in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ.
The Delivery o f the Word
Since the word of God is full of the human element, its delivery
must be by human beings. God does not enlist a tape recorder,
thunder and lightning, or angels to proclaim His word; rather, He
uses man to propagate it, and not as a machine but as an integral part
of the word. He does not ask men to merely send out the voice He
gives, for His word needs to pass through mans spirit, thought,
feeling and understanding until it becomes that mans word. Only
then may it be delivered. This is called the ministry of the word.
Receiving with one hand and handing out with the other hand is not
considered to be the ministry of the word. If so, it would be similar to
a sound machine. No, God does not want us to announce His word
mechanically. He puts His word in us that we may meditate on it,
feel after it, be afflicted by it, or rejoice in it, before the word is
released by us.
On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried
out, saying, If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink
(John 7.37). If I am thirsty I can come to the Lord Jesus and drink.
But His proclamation continues with, He who believes in me, as the
Scripture said, From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living
water (v.38). When I am thirsty I may go to the Lord Jesus and
drink of Him. But if I meet others in need, do I simply pour out a
cupful to them? No, the Lord indicates that whoever drinks of Him
shall find the water in the deepest part of his being, and that out of
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his depths the living water shall flow. This constitutes the ministry of
the word. The word of God first enters a person, then out of his
depths it flows to others. Such a turning becomes the ministry of the
word. It does not depend on how many Scripture verses we can recite
to others, nor on how many sermons we can give; rather is it the
turning of the living water deep down within us. Such a process
demands a costly price. Sometimes the living water fails to flow out
after it has flowed in; at other moments it ceases to be living after it
has entered in; and at still other times it may issue forth with many of
the impure things of the heart. Under all these circumstances the
ministry of the word is arrested.
Thus the ministry of the word is not the mere delivery of sermons
we memorize. We must allow the word to come to us, to drill and to
grind us, until it flows out withyes, our personal elements in it
and yet not spoiled or corrupted in the least. The Lord wishes to use
us as a channel of living water. The very depth of our being is the
channel. For the living water to flow freely from us we must be right
before God; otherwise we will hinder His word. True preaching
never brings in cleverness or eloquence. It depends on whether we
perfect or corrupt the word of God as it passes through us and
mingles with our personal makeup. The great problem is that many
living waters cease to be living after they flow through men! How
extremely necessary, therefore, is the discipline of the Holy Spirit in
our lives. Should anyone fail to see the necessity of having himself
dealt with by God, fail to see how his habits, temperament and life
need to be pruned and refined, he is of no use to the word of God.
How very far from the truth it would be if you should accept
eloquence and cleverness as the prerequisites of a minister of the
word! The word of God comes to you. You are satisfied as it passes
through you, yet you are at the same time being tried, drilled, ground,
and dealt with by the word. You undergo much affliction, pay some
costly price, till gradually you begin to be clear in regard to that
word. In this manner Gods word is being increased in you. Word
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after word and line upon line is knit and woven into you. The time
arrives for its delivery. It issues forth not only with words but also
with the spirit. The water remains pure, being wholly of God. Your
words do not lessen but rather increase the perfectness of the word.
You do not diminish, but instead add to, its holiness. You, as a
person, have come forth; so also has the living water. You are
speaking, but God is speaking too. This, then, is the ministry of the
word.
In the ministry of the word two streams instead of one seem to
flow, and they flow together. It is the consequence of the working of
the Holy Spirit within us as well as His disciplining us through the
arrangement of our environment. We become channels of living
water only after the Holy Spirit has succeeded in breaking and
grinding us down. Our outward man needs this breaking by God. It
needs drastic and thorough dealings. Whereupon our spirit may begin
to breathe freelythe Holy Spirit being freed within usand the
word of God may commence to flow from us. The word of God and
ourselves are consequently like two streams merging and flowing
together.
Never forget what the ministry of the word is. It is the outflowing
of the Spirit of God in man as well as in the word. One part of it
consists of Gods word and the other part of mans ministry. The
word of God comes to man, who adds in his ministry, and then the
two flow out together. Gods word is not delivered if it is just the
word without the human ministry.
Some might think they could preach the word if they managed to
learn how to speak well. We would reply, It is not that simple. The
ministry of the word is a convergent, not a single, flow. It is not
Gods way to flow singly, because this would be contradictory to the
basic principle of the ministry of the word. Without man, Gods word
cannot be released. God needs man. Yet because of our peculiar
temperament, hardness of heart, uncleanness of mind, or rebellious
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state, might we not be correct in saying that it would be more

convenient for God to use an ass than to use us? Nevertheless, God
still wants to use man. He has decided to have the human element in
both the content and the delivery of His word.
He chooses man to proclaim His word. It therefore follows that
today if there is a minister, there can be a word; otherwise there can
be no word. If God can find a minister, He will speak; otherwise, He
will not speak. We cannot expect God to speak without supplying
Him with usable ministers. The appointed way of the Lord is to
entrust His word to the minister, to one who has been dealt with by
the Holy Spirit.
We all know that the Spirit of God abides in Gods word, but He
also dwells in us. In other words, Gods Spirit is in the minister as
well as in the word. He begins to work when His abiding in the word
and dwelling in the minister are joined in one. The seven sons of
Sceva tried to cast out a demon in the name of Jesus whom Paul
preached. Not only could they not cast out the demon, but two of
them were even overwhelmed by the evil spirit. The word was there,
yet the Spirit did not work. Word alone is futile; there must also be
the minister. When Gods Spirit joins the minister and the word
together, living water flows.
All the problems today rest on the shoulders of the minister.
Neither is vision infrequent nor the word rare, but the minister of the
word is hard to be found on this earth. How often Gods light
disappears when it is discharged from our mouth. Some ministers
may speak of the Holy Spirit, yet people touch the flesh and not the
Holy Spirit. Some may speak of Gods holiness, but what the
audience touches is not holiness but a lightness of spirit. Still more
may talk about the cross, yet where are the marks of the cross on
them? They are undisciplined persons. And others may preach on the
love of the Lord, yet the impression conveyed to their hearers is not
of their love but of their temper.
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These all suggest problems which are with the ministers. Were all
the messages on earth today truly the ministry of the word, how rich
the church would be! But alas, there is much preaching yet so little
word! This is the difficulty in the church of today. Since there is no
minister, there can be no revelation. Many messages are far from
revelation. God does not want to speak alone, yet man is unusable
this is the crux of the problem.
Brethren, if God wills not to speak alone, and if the ministers are
incompetent to speak, what must be the condition of the church? All
the barrenness, poverty, and corruption found in her are due to the
inadequacy of the human element in the word of God. Would that
God could find those who are broken and stricken to the ground so as
to allow His word to flow out from them. We are always trying to
find Gods word, but God is continually looking for those whom He
can use. We are seeking for the word of God, but God is seeking for
His ministers.
If we have not been chastened we cannot do the work of the Lord.
Let us not think that whether we are dealt with or not does not
matter. Let us not imagine that we may deliver as many messages as
we have heard. If we are not right, the word of God is blocked. The
Holy Spirit does not side with the word alone; He also sides with the
man who is broken and bears the marks of the cross. A broken,
stricken human spirit is a usable spirit. Should the Holy Spirit fail to
be released, it is because of the hindrance of our outward man. Our
emotions, temper, and will can each one hinder the word. We may
speak well, yet it actually can be merely word, doctrine or teaching
not the word of God. Gods word needs to enter into your being, into
your feeling, understanding, heart, and spirit. It needs to make a turn
in you and flow out again. Then the word is intimately knit with you,
it is pressed and pushed forth in you. But if there should be any
defect in your emotion, thought, understanding, heart, or spirit, the
word of God will be damaged by you. Not only will your word be
defective but the whole church will be adversely affected. You will
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have ruined Gods word as well as despoiled Gods church. We must

learn to let His word pass through us without hindrance. If God is
merciful to us, we shall see light.
The Course and Ministry of Paul
We have already seen the nature of the word of God,

that it includes the human touch of many people yet is
not thereby in the least spoiled. The word still remains
eternal, transcendent, divine, holy, and pure. We have
seen the ministry of the word as being the delivery of
this word containing human elements through men, that is, through
mens memory, understanding, thought, heart, and spirit. We earlier
stressed the fact that the minister of the word must be in a right state
before God if the word is to be proclaimed, because any improper
condition in the minister will automatically corrupt the word of God.
Now let us focus our attention on Paulwho was most used by
the Lord according to the record of the New Testamentthat we
may learn how he was used to be a minister of Gods word.
First
I have finished the course, said Paul (2 Tim. 4.7). The course
which Paul had finished had been well planned and laid out. God
gives to each of those whom He wants to use a definite course to run,
a course which is carefully calculated and specifically appointed both
as to the road and the distance. Paul received such mercy from God
that he was able to finish this course just before his departure. He
could say, I have finished the course.
We believe God put this course before Paul on the first day Paul
trusted the Lord. We know, of course, God worked in his life long
before he was saved. Paul himself told the Galatians, But when He
who had set me apart, even from my mothers womb, and called me
through his grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me, that I might
preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with
flesh and blood (1.15,16). He first mentioned, He who had set me
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apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, to
show that he was actually set apart from his mothers womb; then he
continued to tell how he became a minister of Gods word. Even
when he was in his mothers womb God had set him apart and
prepared a course for him. And the moment he was saved he began
to run. We thus realize that the preparation and beginning of a
minister are determined by God even while he is still in his mothers
womb.
Hence all which happens to us before we are saved has a definite
meaning. Whatever may be your characteristics, temperament,
inclination, and strength are prearranged and prepared by God. There
can be no accident, for everything is within Gods providence.
Nothing comes by chance. Even a mans natural ability and
experience are prearranged for future service. God had set Paul apart
before he was born and had ordered his course beforehand; even the
profession he learned before regeneration was prearranged.
Peter was fishing when he was called. Accordingly, his life work
was to bring men to the Lord. The keys of the kingdom of the
heavens were given to him that he might open the door to the
kingdom. He opened the door of the kingdom at Pentecost, and he
did it again in the house of Cornelius. A fisherman is therefore for
the purpose of bringing people in.
John too was a fisherman, but when he was called by the Lord he
was not fishing but mending nets. The Gospel of John is the last one
written of the four Gospels; it tells people what eternal life is. Should
there be only three Gospels, with Johns mending one left out,
people probably would never know what eternal life is. John wrote
his epistles several decades after Peter and Paul wrote theirs. During
that period the Gnostics tried to mix in human philosophy with the
pure gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why John led people back to
review eternal life. He wrote of the conditions and the manifestations
for one to be born of God. In the beginning of apostasy he was called
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to mend the nets by re-emphasizing eternal life. John also wrote the
book of Revelation as the last of the sixty-six books of the Bible.
Were this volume missing, how incomplete the Bible would be, for
many things would remain without endings. So, again John mended,
this time with the book of Revelation. God shows us that Johns
ministry is one of mending.
Let us now return to Paul. His course was determined by God;
even his earthly profession was divinely prearranged. He was a
tentmaker, not a weaver. He made use of available materials, cut and
sewed them together to make a habitable home, a mobile house. Here
we see a ministry which follows the work of the Lord Jesus and that
of Peter. It stands between the work of Peter and the work of the
coming kingdom. The days of the kingdom are yet to come, but
people have already been saved, so they should be built up as the
church. Pauls ministry is like tent-making, putting the materials
together to build a habitable home. His was not to weave a large
piece of cloth but to make something habitable. This profession was
also prearranged by God.
Having been set apart as a minister of Gods word from our
mothers womb, none of us can afford to be foolish before God. Each
must know what the Lord has arranged for him. A persons
environment, family, profession: each of these human matters has
Gods arrangement in it. God never intends to destroy these human
aspects. He does not want us to be spoiledto be pretentious and
unnatural. He desires us to be innocent people, though at the same
time He will work to break down our outward man. That about you
which is the human element is something established by the Spirit of
God; but you as a person, that is, your natural skill, your natural life
with its thought, will and emotion, must assuredly be broken down
by God. The breaking of the outward man does not at all imply that
God also rejects our human elements.
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The great problem is: we do not know where to start and where to
end; that is, we know not how much in our life is to be retained and
how much is to be broken by God. But those who have been taught
before Him can quickly discern if a ministry is clean or unclean. This
way is not as simplistic as we usually think. We all need to submit
ourselves under the discipline of God, under the cross. The cross has
already set aside all which He condemns and hates; it has broken
everything which He wishes to break. We must learn to submit,
praying: Oh Lord, I have many problems in me which I do not
know how to solve. I ask for your light to enlighten, to slay, and to
deal, so that I may be brought to the place where my personal
makeup does not hinder your work but can be used to release your
work. Pauls life from beginning to end was arranged by the Lord.
His salvation was exemplary: Gods light cast him to the ground.
This is a tremendous salvation. After he arose from the ground Gods
word came out continuously from him. He wrote so many of the
books of the New Testament. Gods word kept coming from him. He
indeed was a minister greatly used by the Lord.
Second
Let us read especially the first letter to the Corinthians to discover
what kind of a ministry of the word Paul had. For some observers
contend that in the Corinthian letters, particularly in Chapter 7 of 1
Corinthians, the Bible reaches its peak so far as human experience is
concerned. This is quite true. Pauls experience bears out this
judgment. Note the following passages.
This I say by way of concession, not of command (v.6). Plainly,
Paul himself was speaking.
I wish that all men were even as I myself am (v.7). This wish
was Pauls own. Verse 6 showed Pauls own word; verse 7 revealed
his own wish. He did not say God had commanded or God had so
decided. He even mentioned later on, But each has his own special
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gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. God worked
differently in different people, but according to my personal opinion,
Paul mused, I wish that all were as myself.
I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if
they remain even as I (v.8). Again, Paul spoke the word.
To the married I give instructions; not I, but the Lord, that the
wife should not leave her husband (v.10). He first said, I give
instructions; immediately afterwards he caught himself by saying,
not I, but the Lord. Of the entire Bible only 1 Corinthians 7
contains this way of speaking. Paul was here giving a charge, and yet
he insisted that it was not he but the Lord who gave the charge.
To the rest I say, not the Lord (v.12)Paul was once again
speaking. From verse 12 through 24 it was Paul who spoke, not the
Lord. How did he dare say these things? How bold he was! On what
authority did he give such a charge? Paul tells his readers in the
succeeding verses.
Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord (v.25).
He did not lie, but honestly confessed that he had no command of the
Lord. But I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is
trustworthy. This was the opinion of one who had received the
mercy of the Lord and who was given power by God to be faithful.
The Lord had done a deep work in his life that he might be
trustworthy. Paul was saying: since God through his mercy has made
me a trustworthy person, I can today give my opinion. There is no
command of the Lord, it is solely my opinionit is only the way I
look at these problems.
I think. . . that this is good in view of the present distress (v.26).
Paul was telling his opinion here.
And I am trying to spare you (v.28). Again, Pauls own opinion.
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And this I say, brethren. . . . (v.29). It was Paul who said this.
I want you to be free from concern (v.32). Pauls word again.
And this I say. . . . (v.35). And still Paul speaking.
But in my opinion. . . . (v.40). Pauls personal judgment here.
Finally, let us return to verse 17. And thus I direct in all the
churches. Paul had not only the Corinthians but all the churches in
view when he gave charge.
All of this may seem strange to us. Is it not contrary to what we
usually understand? I do nothing on My own initiative, said Jesus,
but I speak these things as the Father taught Me; the things I
speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me. (John 8.28,, 12.50). If
this was the guiding principle in the life of the Lord Jesus then how
was it that Paul dared to say, I wish, In my opinion, even, I
direct in all the churches? Here we touch either the highest or the
lowest of spiritual experience. Thank God we are touching the
height, for 1 Corinthians 7 is unique in the Bible. After Paul had said
these words, he ended on this note: And I think that I also have the
Spirit of God (v.40). He knew very clearly he did not have the
command of the Lord. He knew the Lord had not spoken, because he
spoke according to the mercy which God had shown him. His sole
basis for speaking rested on the mercy and grace which God gave
him. He therefore concluded his words by saying, I think that I have
the Spirit of God.
This of which we have been discussing is a distinctive illustration
of how that which we call the human element is used in the word of
God. Here was a man who had been so disciplined, controlled, and
dealt with by the Lord that he could speak, though knowing the Lord
had not spoken, and that what he spoke was after all the words of the
Holy Spirit. Paul said, I wish, In my judgment, yet the result was
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that the Spirit of God likewise so wished and so judged. Because he

was completely yielded to the Spirit of the Lord and allowed Gods
Spirit to work in him so thoroughly, the words he spoke became the
words of the Holy Spirit.
How vastly opposite is this to the speaking of Balaams ass! The
latter only spoke when Gods word was put in its mouth. When God
took His word away there was nothing left but an ass. But Paul had
followed the Lord for many years and had received mercy to be
trustworthy. When he spoke, the Holy Spirit spoke. Paul confessed
that it was his opinion, but the Holy Spirit acknowledged it as Gods
opinion. God had so worked in Pauls life that it was possible for him
to speak His word even though the word had not been given to him.
What is this? This is the ministry of the word.
Most servants of the Lord can speak only when the word is put in
their mouth, but Paul reached the point where he had the word of the
Lord whether or not it was put in his mouth. He was so edified that
he could be trusted by the Lord. For this we seek the mercy of God
today. Brethren, we must not speak as an ass, able to say something
only after the word has been put in our mouth. How are we ever to
establish a more intimate relationship with the word? Here was one
who was so closely related to Gods word that his thought became
Gods thought. How perfectly one was he with the Spirit of God!
When he spoke, he spoke for God. Indisputably Paul had arrived at
the highest spiritual plateau. Consequently, we can only conclude
that a minister of the word is not one who simply proclaims the word
of God, but that he is additionally one who himself is rightly related
to His word. He has Gods thought; he has Gods idea. What he
wishes represents the wish of God. So that this is not the same as our
doing the will of God after we have come to know it. Rather, this
means God has disciplined a person to such an extent that He can
own the persons thought and idea as his.
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This that we have just said is what we have stressed throughout

these years as the incorporating work of the Holy Spirit. God is
incorporated in us. As the golden lampstand is of beaten work, so is
God beaten into us. Let us remember that God gives to us on the one
hand and beats into us on the other. After we are repeatedly
hammered, we cease to be a formless lump of gold but take on the
shape of a lampstand. The work of the Holy Spirit includes beating
Gods desired form into us as well as putting Gods word in our
mouth. The problem which confronts us here is deeper than that of
having Gods word put in our mouth, because it involves our being
beaten to the degree of being entrusted with His word. Paul had God
so wonderfully incorporated into him that his opinion and thought
became trustworthy in expressing Gods word. When the word of
God was put in this man, it would not suffer loss.
Thus, a minister of the word is one whom God can trust. Such
ministry requires not only the word, but also a suitable minister in
whom Gods word will neither be corrupted nor misunderstood. He
has received such dealings that his opinion, thought, and demand are
trusted by God. His human elements can be blended with Gods
word without producing any adverse effect. Are we contradicting
ourselves when we state this? Earlier we said we should not mix in
any human thing with the work of God. Now we maintain that the
word of God contains human elements. We are not suggesting that
we can blend any and every human element into Gods word. The
truth is, only the human element of those persons who have been
dealt with by God can be combined with the word of God.
Let us return to Pauls words. He claimed that by the Lords
mercy he had become trustworthy. Mercy came from God;
trustworthiness was the result of mercy, being the incorporation of
God in him. God had so worked in his life that he became almost like
Gods word; and he was able to utter His word in many places
afterwards. How could he say, I wish, I say I direct in all the
churches? Because he as a man had met God and knew God;
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therefore, when he spoke, God spoke. Let us be reminded that Gods

word does not come forth supernaturally; it emerges from man and
carries with it human elements. If the person is wrong he cannot be
successful in being a minister of the word, for the word of God will
not be released through him. Never for a moment imagine that one
can deliver a message simply because he remembers it. Gods word
must churn about within the man. In case the man is unfit, Gods
word is damaged as it turns about within him. It is corrupted when
mans frivolity and flesh are added to it. Hence man must be brought
to a place where there is the incorporation of God in him; then the
word of the Lord will not be damaged when it passes through him.
In 1 Corinthians 7 the word of God suffered no loss in Paul,
because he was a mature person. We know he was right when he
said, In my judgment, I say, My rule in all the churches,
because the word of the Lord came through him when he gave
charges. It was not he alone who came forth. He was trusted by God.
A minister of the word needs to rise very high before God; only then
will His word come through. The pureness of the word released
depends on the amount of discipline received before God. The more
the man is broken, the purer the word; the less that has been learned,
the more corrupt its release. The ministry of the word is based on the
condition of the man before the Lord.
Third
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment.
But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, let the first keep
silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and
all may be exhorted; and the spirits of prophets are subject to
prophets (1 Cor. 14.29-32). Prophesying is the highest among all
ministries of Gods word. The Holy Spirit gives this word to the
prophet. The Holy Spirit is upon him, and the spirit of the prophet is
also with him that he may speak Gods word. Certain observations
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are made, however. The one who speaks first should notice if another
is given revelation. If so, he has to make room for the next.
Moreover, should four or five persons have been given revelation,
only two or at the most three may speak. The rest should remain
silent, for the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
Herein lies a fundamental rule concerning the word of God: the
Holy Spirit determines what to say, but the prophet decides how and
when to say it. If, in a meeting, two or three persons have already
spoken according to revelation, the fourth or the fifth person who has
equally received revelation should remain silent. Although he is
given the word by the Holy Spirit, he himself must decide when to
speak. He should not be careless. Even if he is speaking, he must be
ready to stop and let anotherwho has just received revelation
speak. All of this indicates that the word is given by the Holy Spirit
but that the time and the manner of speaking is left to the prophet to
decide. The spirit of the prophet is subject to that prophet.
How extremely serious, then, is the responsibility of a minister of
Gods word. Many responsibilities rest on his shoulder, not on
Gods. The word will be damaged if he is incompetent, if his attitude
is not right, or if his speaking is untimely. The word will fail to be
released if he is untrustworthy. It would be easy for him if he could
just speak whenever the word of the Lord comes to him and keep
quiet if the word does not come. But the Lord leaves it to the prophet
to decide how and when to speak. Unless one has been dealt with by
God and has the work of the Holy Spirit incorporated in him, he will
surely corrupt Gods word. Let us never overlook such a serious
responsibility.
The word of God was never meant to be broadcast by a tape
recorder. It is entrusted to man for him to consider how and when to
say it. The spirit of the prophet is subject to that prophet. The Lord
wills that the prophets spirit should obey that prophet himself. How
to speak and when to speak are the responsibilities of the prophet, not
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of his spirit. Except the prophet has been disciplined, the spirit of the
prophet will cause trouble during its operation. The question today is
more than whether or not a man is a prophet; it preeminently comes
to this, what kind of a man is the prophet? The differentiation is not
between prophets and ordinary people, but between prophets and
prophets, such as between a Jeremiah and a Balaam. This
fundamental principle we must learn clearly before God. Today there
is need not only for the word, but also for the ministers of the word.
If there is no word, there can be no ministry of the word; if there is
no suitable person, there will not be such ministry either.
The main trouble in the church is the lack of ministers of the
word. It is not the rarity of Gods word nor the infrequency of vision
and light, but the scarcity of those who can be used by the Lord. God
wants the spirits of the prophets to be subject to the prophets. What
kind of a prophet can command the subjection of his own spirit? Can
the spirit of the prophet be subject to him who is licentious, selfwilled, heady, or excessively emotional? He who has no mark of the
cross in his spirit and who remains wild and proud after many strokes
by the Lord is disqualified. Is vision infrequent? Is light scanty? Or is
the word rare? Not at all! The sad fact is, usable prophets are what
are scarce.
The distinctive feature of Paul is that he was suitable and faithful.
How can God trust His word to those who are unfit? How would you
deliver the word if it were given to you? Would you speak by
yourself? What if your thought were not right, your emotion not
fitting, your intention not pure, or your opinion not correct? You
know that if your spirit is not right, what is released will similarly not
be right, even though you do say the right word. How much the word
of God has suffered in the hands of men!
The more dealings we receive the nearer we approach revelation.
When the Holy Spirit finds it possible to put the word in a persons
mouth because the emotion, thought, will, and spirit of that man are
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under His control, then there is revelation. The revelation mentioned

in the Bible points to that ministry of the word in which all the
human elements of man are under the control of the Holy Spirit.
Every area of our life must therefore be dealt with by God. Always
remember that to be a minister of the word is not a cheap matter.
Never think for a moment that it can be cheap. Can a clever person
be a minister of the word? No such thing. Do not imagine that mans
wisdom, knowledge, and eloquence can help in Gods word. We
need to be beaten, pressed, and broken by God. All who know the
Lord can see that His hand is heavy on those whom He wants to use.
This is because He must bring them to the place of utility.
We know some who have been dealt with by God for many years,
perhaps twenty or thirty years. The Lords hand has always been
heavy on them. He has dealt and dealt and dealt with them. Are we
so unusable? Are we like those who slumber? We really need to
prostrate ourselves before God, saying, I am an unfit person. I need
to be beaten and broken by Thee that I might be usable. Otherwise,
how can I ever serve Thy purpose?
In conclusion. What the Holy Spirit does is to put the word of God
in you that you may know what to say, but He entrusts you with the
decision of how and when to say it. God trusts you and commands
that your spirit be subject to you as a prophet. How great is the
prophets responsibility! The way of the ministry of the word lies in
the release of the word through the mind and word of man. But what
if we mix in things which are improper? These matters will change
the nature of Gods word. It would be very simple if God just spoke
from heaven; it would be equally plain if He merely spoke by the
angels; but God has chosen men such as we. How sad that the word
meets obstacles in us at each and every turn. We often are unsuitable.
Let us look to God for mercy that He may obtain His ministers.
Without mercy we are simply undone, and the word of God is
blocked in us.
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Todays entire responsibility rests on us. We may claim we have

preached for ten or twenty years, but how many times have we really
proclaimed the word? The basic principle of the ministry of the word
is found in the word becoming flesh. The word cannot bypass the
flesh. There is word when there is a minister; there is no word when
no minister can be found. Hence the responsibility of the minister is
serious before God. If you are a minister, you know the responsibility
is yours.
Today God does not speak directly, nor does heaven open its
mouth, neither do the angels raise their voices. Should men refrain
from speaking, the world will not be able to hear Gods word. During
these two thousand years, the Lord speaks whenever He finds a
usable person. If He can get a minister today, His word will come out
copiously. We need to be brought to where Paul was: we are
speaking, yet the Lord also is speaking. Then shall we see the
abundance of Gods word. May the Lord be merciful to us in giving
us word. May He also raise up many ministers of the word.
The Peak of the Ministry of the

Word
First
Besides the Lord Jesus who Himself is the Word

become flesh, there are two other kinds of ministers of the word: the
Old Testament ministers and the New Testament ministers. In
principle, Old Testament ministry is entirely objective, that is, the
ministers do not have any subjective experience. Though prophets
like Jeremiah and Isaiah did have many subjective experiences, these
were only their personal experiences and are not to be considered as
touching the principle of Old Testament ministry. So far as this
principle goes, God puts His word into the mouth of man for him to
utter, thus constituting him as one who proclaims the word of God.
Man receives word on the one hand and sends the same out on the
other. Even Saul and Balaam ranked among the prophets. So in the
principle of Old Testament ministry, we do not find much
relationship between the word of God and the one who delivers the
word. Man in this case is like a water pipe through which water
flows in and out. So long as the word is accurately passed on, Gods
revelation is preserved without any other complication.
The New Testament ministry, however, is quite another story.
Should it succeed in attaining Gods purpose it excels the Old
Testament ministry in glory; but should it fail to arrive at Gods aim,
it exceeds the Old Testament ministry in danger. In the New
Testament God commits the word to man for him to exercise his own
thought, feeling, understanding, memory, and words in the delivery.
If he is able to deliver Gods word in pureness, his glory far
surpasses that of the Old Testament ministers. For though man has
been blended in, the outcome is still Gods word. The word has not
been changed or damaged. This is manifestly most glorious. But
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contrariwise, should there be any defect in the messengereven the

slightest defectthe word of God immediately incurs loss.
Perhaps some will wonder why God employs such a troublesome
way to proclaim His word. A question of this kind belongs to the
same category of questions often asked by unbelievers, such as: Why
does God not take away the tree of knowledge of good and evil?
Why does He not create a species of man who cannot sin? For would
not man then avoid the plight of sinning and God escape the dilemma
of atonement? The same answer can be given to the question
concerning the ministers of the word as to these similar inquiries.
God does not will that the man He creates be like a machine, having
no freedom of choice but having to obey perfectly. It would be easy
for Him to make such a perfect machine. There would be no trouble
with man, but neither would there be glory for God. Such obedience
and goodness have no spiritual value. There may not be any fault or
sin, yet neither can there be holiness, for the obedience is passive.
God rejects such a thing.
What God desires to have is the kind of man who knows his right
hand from his left. He accordingly creates a mankind that is capable
of choosing the evil as well as the good, the wrong as well as the
right. If the man God created were capable of choosing obedience to
Him only, the glory he would render to God would not exceed that
which a machine can present. God gave man a free will, capable of
choosing good or evil. In such a circumstance, if man should choose
good, a glorious thing is done by him. Although the possibility of
doing evil is a great danger, that of doing good is of exceeding glory.
This explains why God does not create a machine-like man who can
only do good and obey God, but why instead He makes a man free to
choose good or evil. God decrees it to be a matter of glory for man to
choose good and to choose to obey under his own initiative.
Now God applies this same principle to ministry of the New
Testament order. In terms of difficulties, it surely gives God much
The Peak of the Ministry of the Word
49
trouble to speak through man. He would have no trouble, though, if

He were to speak directly, nor would He incur any trouble if He used
angels to communicate His word. Even speaking by an ass is less
troublesome than speaking through man, since an ass is far less
complicated and, therefore, poses less obstacles in the areas of the
mind, understanding, memory, intention, and so on. Nonetheless,
speaking by an ass is an exceptional case. God used the ass to speak
only after the prophet failed. He never intended to make an ass a
prophet, because He always calls man to be the prophet.
Gods wish is to use man. Man was created for Gods specific
purpose. As He did not make an obedient machine at the time of
creation, so He now rejects the use of a preaching machine. He does
not want an automaton; He wants a man with free will. It is a
calculated risk with God to choose man as a minister of His word.
Yet in spite of the complexity of man and his many problems such as
sin, defilement, weakness, the outward man, and natural resistance,
God still entrusts His word to man. Through the greatest rigor God
obtains His highest glory.
Second
1 Corinthians 7 shows us how perfect it was that Paul was chosen
to be a minister of Gods word. His ministry is ministry which is
apocalyptic and accurate to a letter. Not only his words contain
Gods word, but every word of his is Gods word. How does he
attain to such a ministry? It is through his being personally dealt with
by God. He has been brought by the Lord to the place where all his
thought, decision and opinion are correct and accurate in His sight.
This is not the precision of a machine, but the precision of a man.
God does not put His word in man for him to repeat verbatim. He
puts His word in man for the latter to search out with his mind. He
gives light to man that man may grasp it and think on it. He places a
burden in man for him to find appropriate words to express that
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burden. It is man who thinks, searches, and speaks; even so, God is
able to acknowledge that it is in truth His very own word.
New Testament ministry does not come through God reading His
word to you for you to recite word by word to others. Gods word in
the New Testament comes forth through the following process: first,
God sheds light in your spirit, causing a burden in the spirit. The
light flashes as a fleeting ray; it requires your thought to fix this light
firmly or else it will simply fade away. After the thought succeeds in
fixing the light, you need to seek God for wordsperhaps just a few
wordswhich can interpret that light. While thinking, you may think
of some words which you later write down. Or you may sense
something which you utter afterwards. Then you voice the decision
or opinion you have in a particular matter. As you express your
inward feeling, decision or opinion, the burden in your spirit begins
to diminish. The more you talk, the more the light in your spirit
which has been fixed by your thought is released. You keep on
speaking till your burden is completely discharged. You are talking
in your own words, expressing feeling, decision or opinion of your
own, yet after you have finished speaking God acknowledges it all as
His word.
Do you see the difference between this and the human concept of
reciting articles of faith? You are speaking, writing, or thinking, but
God accepts it as His word because you have been so thoroughly
wrought upon by Him. This is the ministry of the word. You only
receive light and burden in you; the opinion, decision and feeling are
your own. As you think, feel and decide, God gives you a few words
to enable you to express your thought. But as you speak, He is able
to acknowledge it as His word. How imperative, then, for man to rise
up high so as to be a minister of the word. Any defect in thinking,
feeling, or emotion will disqualify you from being a minister of the
word. If you as a person have not been pruned and refined by God,
your opinion will not be dependable. Any bit of its projection will
spoil the word of God.
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How God has trusted you as His minister! He gives you light and
burden, and then allows you to think out and feel His word, even
permitting you to form your own opinion. He trusts you. He so works
in you that all your opinion, thought and feeling will be like His. This
is New Testament prophesying, New Testament ministry of the
word.
Third
Let us review Pauls condition in 1 Corinthians 7: This I say by
way of concession, not of command (v.6). He knew the operation
within him. He merely permitted; he did not command. How very
delicate and distinctive was his inner operation. Paul was clear not
only of the rightness of this matter but also of his permitting, not
commanding, what had been proposed to him. And I think that I
also have the Spirit of God (v.40). Here the Holy Spirit agreed to
that to which Paul had consented. Paul felt this thing could be done,
and the Holy Spirit acknowledged this feeling as His own. God here
was using Pauls delicate feeling. This is similar to all of us, when in
referring to the authority of God we say the Lord Jesus has given His
name to us. It is a weighty thing.
It is likewise a weighty thing for God to commit His word to us.
For instance, if people have some difficulty and seek your help, you
can send a young brother to them by telling him, You go and speak
to them. When the young one remonstrates with I do not know
what to say, you can simply reply, Whatever you say is reckoned
as mine; it represents my opinion. How serious is such a
commitment! What a disaster it can create if the man in question is
unusable. This is the way God trusts His ministers today. God does
not predetermine every word, asking you to repeat them. Should this
be the way, there would not be much difficulty, for you would
discharge your responsibility by simply repeating every word. No,
God does not wish to proclaim His word in this fashion. He puts His
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word, like living water, in us to be taken in first before it flows out.

He gives us light, burden and a few distinctive words, that we may
stand before men and proclaim them. It is as if in sending you from
heaven to earth to speak to men, God allows you to say whatever you
feel like saying. Those who know God dare not be careless.
The responsibility of a minister of the word is great, since he is to
speak for God according to his inward feeling, thought, opinion and
judgment. What if his feeling, thought, opinion, judgment or spirit is
wrong or doubtful? All that he says will be wrong or doubtful. How,
then, can he be a minister of Gods word? Therefore, the basic
problem is to bring a person to the place where his most delicate
feeling can fully represent Gods feelingit is independent and
personal, yet dependent and of God. The way which Paul spoke in 1
Corinthians 7 is unquestionably not a small matter.
In verse 7 of that chapter, Paul said I wish, and this was
repeated in verse 32, I want. This indicates to us that Paul had a
definite feelinghe wished all were as he himself was. This feeling
was endorsed in verse 40 as that which the Holy Spirit wished. So,
what Paul wished was what God wished. How careful must this
wish operate in Paul. Should there be any blemish, the word of
God would be totally confused. This wish is a most delicate
spiritual sense. It allows for no deviation. God Himself regulated the
delicate feeling of this man so that he would sense what the Holy
Spirit desired to have. His feeling was usable, and the Lord had
confidence in his feeling.
Brethren, is our feeling usable? Can the Lord trust us? We need to
be broken indeed, or else the Lord cannot trust our feeling. How
usable and trustworthy was Pauls feeling. To the rest I say, not the
Lord. . . . (v.12). He did not have the distinct sense that the Lord
was speaking, hence here he said, I say, not the Lord. But wait till
the end; He concluded with, and I think that I have the Spirit of
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God. How marvelous that a man like Paul had arrived at such a
position!
In verse 25 Paul revealed his own situation before the Lord. He
declares: Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord,
but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is
trustworthy. Here was one who had followed the Lord for many
years and had received mercy to be trustworthy. In what respect was
he trustworthy? His ministry was trustworthy. He was a servant of
Christ and steward of the mysteries of God. He was entrusted by God
with His mysteries and word.
What is important to a minister of the word is trustworthiness.
Paul meant here that since the Lord had been merciful to him and
made him a faithful servant, he would like to communicate his
opinion to the Corinthians. The Lord had not given command, so this
was simply how he, Paul, wished. Though he dare not say anything,
for God had not commanded him, yet he would share his own
opinion concerning certain matters on the basis of his having
proclaimed the mysteries of God many times in the past. It was as if
he were saying that having been in touch constantly with spiritual
things through the mercy of God and having somewhat learned
before God, he would now like to communicate what he had seen
and learned through the years in spite of the fact that he had not
received any fresh command from the Lord. He dare not presume
this to be the Lords command; he only presumed to tell his own
opinion. Nonetheless, God endorsed his opinion. How glorious is this
endorsement! We praise God for such a man who by the mercy of
God became trustworthy and whose opinion was endorsed by the
Lord.
Fourth
At this point we must take note of one matter, which is, what is
the inward fashioning work of the Holy Spirit in us? We know the
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Spirit of God not only dwells in man but also does the work of
fashioning and incorporating Christ in him. What the Holy Spirit
incorporates in man cannot be taken away. The Holy Spirit dwells in
man and is joined in one with him; He never ceases to fashion man
according to the image of Christ. How could anyone treat the Spirit
of the Lord as a guest when He has been living in his house for ten or
twenty years? He is in the manfashioning, building, and organizing
till the character of the Lord is gradually stabilized in him.
After a house has been occupied by a person for a long while it
begins to reveal the character of that person. Though the gift of the
Holy Spirit may not transform a man, the indwelling Spirit will
enable him to bear the fruit of the Spirit, thus manifesting a heavenly
character. The Holy Spirits fruit in man is the transformation of his
character, for God builds up mans character through His Spirit. The
Spirit of God works in his thought and effects a change there; in just
the same way are his feeling, opinion, and judgment transformed.
The Spirits work of fashioning and incorporating is for the
transformation of mans character.
The Holy Spirit was not only able to speak through Paul as a
minister of His word, He in addition could use this mans character.
He succeeded in building something out of the mans character. This
is the fruit of the triune God. He works day after day, fashioning and
forming in man until a new character is developed. The character is
the mans; yet it is built in the man by the Holy Spirit. It is
completely personal though it is produced by the Holy Spirit. As the
Holy Spirit works and builds, the man is changed from glory to
glory.
We need to see that transformation is a basic doctrine and
experience of the Bible. Both the third chapter of Philippians and the
third chapter of 2 Corinthians refer to basic experiences. On the one
hand we acknowledge the unchangeableness of the flesh, yet on the
other hand we believe the Lords transforming work and His building
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work in our character. The Spirit of God not only dwells in us, He is
also our life. It would be most strange indeed if a person had been
indwelt by the Lord as his life for ten or twenty years without having
undergone any change. Due to this fact that the Spirit of the Lord
dwells in you as life, your thought, your feeling, your judgment, your
opinion, your heart, and your spirit are each and all transformed.
Formerly, you were inwardly full of the flesh; now, there is a new
incorporation, there is new fruit in your feeling, thought, judgment,
heart, and spirit. It came through the cross having dealt with, and
having overcome, your flesh. What then is the incorporating task of
the Holy Spirit? It is what God has worked and built and inwrought
in man; it is that which can never be lost.
Paul became a trustworthy person through the merciful workings
of the Lord. This trustworthiness points to his ministry. He confessed
that he had no command of the Lord but that he would tell his own
opinion. This opinion of his came from the incorporating work of the
Holy Spirit in him. What Paul said was not ordinary revelation but
was Gods incorporation in him, which, as we see, was equal to
revelation. This is a wonderful feat. When one is under the revelation
of the Holy Spirit, he knows this is Gods word; but when he is under
the incorporating work of the Holy Spirit, he does not sense that it is
God who is speaking. Rather, he seems himself to be giving opinion,
nevertheless, what he says is reckoned as being of the Holy Spirit
because of the Holy Spirits incorporating action in him. Hence Paul
summed up by saying, I think that I have the Spirit of God. What
we need is the incorporating work of the Holy Spirit. We need Him
to work in us and to so fashion us that all our opinions, words,
thoughts and feelings do not contradict Gods word. Thus shall we be
ministers of His word.
The character incorporated by the Holy Spirit in man varies with
different persons. Thus Pauls preaching had its own characteristics,
and Peters preaching had its distinctiveness. Peters letters differed
from Pauls in style; so were Johns different from all the rest. Each
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had his own style; style was something wholly personal. Upon
experiencing the incorporating action of the Holy Spirit, a persons
style can also be used by God. Had the sixty-six books of the Bible
been written only in one style, how dead it would be. Today the glory
of God is manifested in permitting each man to have his own style so
that, no matter how it is said, it is the result of the Holy Spirits
incorporating work in him.
Each mans special characteristic is brought out only when he is
subject to the Holy Spirit. Consider the grass God has created; no
two blades are alike. Of the many trees, no two of them are the same;
of the countless stars, each has its own glory; and of the endless
faces, every one is unique. Similarly, the incorporation of Christ in
you is distinct from that in me. Paul was full of the love of the Holy
Spirit, so was John full of the Spirits love; yet all who have learned
of the Lord know that each of them exhibited a different aspect of the
love of the Holy Spirit. God has no need for uniformity. Each one
who has the incorporating work of the Spirit in him maintains his
own peculiar features.
Brethren, do not misconstrue what has been said to mean that we
can all imitate Pauls way of speaking in 1 Corinthians 7. It is unique
in the entire Bible; it represents the greatest height to which one can
reach. If we speak without Gods sanction, we commit a serious
mistake. 1 Corinthians 7 shows us what kind of person Paul was, that
we may better understand such writings as Ephesians, Colossians,
Romans, and Galatians. It opens up Paul as a man to us, that we may
know the person behind the writings. This is the preciousness of that
chapter. We find here a man whose feeling, thought, opinion and
word were trusted by God. When the word of God was put in him it
became the highest revelation and suffered no loss. Without that
chapter we would only see what the Holy Spirit does through Paul,
not what the Holy Spirit does in him. His personal feeling, thought
and word were so trustworthy that the word of God encountered no
difficulty in Paul.
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God is unable to entrust His revelation to some, for they are not
dependable. He cannot appoint them to be ministers of His word
because their thought, feeling, opinion and word are not trustworthy.
In Pauls letters such as Romans, Galatians, Colossians, and
Ephesians, we behold great revelations, but in 1 Corinthians we see
what is the kind of man to whom God can entrust such revelations.
The kind of person governs the degree of revelation. If we had all the
other letters except 1 Corinthians with its Chapter 7, we would never
know what kind of man Paul is. He is so trustworthy that not only
has Gods revelation not suffered loss in him but the word of God
has even been more glorifiedin the style, personality, and
peculiarities of this man. How glorious that man can be used by God,
that his personal elements may be blended with the word of God
without causing any trouble but instead glorifying, enriching and
perfecting it.
May God be merciful to us that we may be used in releasing His
word. There is hardly any greater need today than the word of God.
Let brethren recognize the way of Gods ministers of the word. We
should ask God to give us inward light and word, and the kind of
dealing that is deep and drastic, chiseling and grinding us so as to
make the most delicate of our feelings trustworthy. Then when we
express our feeling, it will be the Lords feeling; when we show any
inclination, it will be the result of the Holy Spirits working in us;
and when we exhibit love or patience, it will be the fruit of the Holy
Spirit. Due to the many deep and thorough undertakings of the Spirit
in us we will be able to exhibit these fruits. Because of what He
incorporates in us, we can become such people. Bearing fruit is a
natural process: the consequence of an inner working.
Brethren, after God by the Holy Spirit has done His work in you,
you will naturally feel as the Holy Spirit feels, think as the Holy
Spirit thinks, and desire as He desires. When God puts His word in
you and sends you out, you will be able to give great glory to God by
causing people to hear His word.
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The root question today then is this: Can the Lord trust us? We
shall see that the difficulty is not in Gods word, rather does it reside
in the minister. Without ministers there can be no word. God speaks
in our day as He always has. He has no intention to take the ministry
of the prophets away from the church, even as He never intends to
remove the ministries of the teachers and the evangelists from the
church. But there is a scarcity of the ministers of the word today.
Whether there can be ministry and more ministry in the church
depends upon us. The poverty and darkness of the church is due to
our condition. May we solemnly pray: Oh Lord, break us that Thy
word may flow through us.
May God be gracious to us.
PART TWO
THE WORD OF GOD
The Basis of the Word
To be a minister of Gods word, as we have seen

already, is not as simple as is usually understood. The
word of God cannot be communicated by just anyone.
A fundamental issue in being a minister of Gods word
is the man himself. Let us now turn to another matter,
the word of God itself.
(1)
When we spoke earlier about the ministry of Gods word, we did
not assert that there could be Gods word outside of the Bible. As we
categorically deny that beyond the sixty-six books of the Bible
someone could write a sixty-seventh book, we equally reject the
notion that men today can receive revelation not found in the Bible
or can possess ministry additional to what the Bible permits. We
firmly believe Gods word is in the Old Testament and His word is in
the New Testament; we do not intend to add anything to the Bible.
Even so, we additionally understand that not all who are familiar
with the Bible can preach Gods word. It is therefore necessary for
every minister of Gods word to know what the word of God is. The
lack of such knowledge precludes him from being Gods minister.
The whole Bible contains sixty-six books, written by
approximately forty persons. Each of the writers has his own
peculiarities, style, and phraseology; each possesses his personal
feeling, thought, and individual traits. When the word of God came
to these writers, God used their personal human elements. Some
were used more while some were used less. But all have been used
by God, and all have received revelation. The word of God is like a
symphony and the writers are like the musical instruments. There are
many and various musical instruments in an orchestra, each emitting
its own sound; but when they play together they render harmonious
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music. We can still distinguish the sound of the piano, violin,

trumpet, clarinet, or flute. Yet what we hear is not a jarring discord
but a symphonic blending. Each of the instruments has its individual
characteristics, yet all play the same musical score. If they each were
playing independent musical numbers there then would be the jarring
notes and the unbearable sounds. The same is true of the ministers of
the word. Each has his personal characteristics; nonetheless, all speak
the word of God.
From beginning to end the Bible maintains an organic unity. It is
not a chaotic compilation. Though each minister says a little, they all
nevertheless come together into an organic oneness. Many are those
who speakalmost forty in numberbut the Word is one. There is
absolutely no confusion, nor are they unreconcilable bits and pieces.
Many instruments, but one music. Something extra added in would
hurt our ear and make us sense that something is wrong. Gods word
is one. There can be different voices but no jolting notes. Not
because one knows how to make some sound can he justifiably stand
up and deliver Gods word. The word of God is an organic unit. The
ministry of the word in the present is one with that of the past.
Nothing foreign can be added. Gods word is the Lord Jesus Himself;
it is livingly and organically one. No one can mix anything else into
it; any addition would be confusion and disturbance and impairment
to the word of God.
There are thirty-nine books in the Old Testament. Chronologically
the book of Job may have been the first one written, but the five
books of Moses stand at the very beginning of the compilation. Let
us grasp a very significant point herethat all who wrote after
Moses did not write independently, but wrote according to what had
been written before. Moses wrote his Pentateuch independently, yet
Joshua set down his book on the foundation of the Pentateuch. In
other words, Joshuas ministry of the word of God was not an
independent one; he became a minister according to what he knew of
the Pentateuch. So was it with the one who wrote the Books of
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Samuel; he too based his ministry on the five books of Moses. This is
to say, therefore, that aside from Moseswho was called of God to
write independentlyall those who followed became ministers of
Gods word according to the word already given. Every book in the
Old Testament was composed in this fashion. The writers are
various, yet they all write on the basis of the previous writings. Every
minister of the word after Moses speaks in accordance with the
words already uttered. The word of God is one; no one can speak
what he wants to; those who follow must speak according to the
words given by their predecessors.
We now come to the New Testament. Except for the mystery of
the Gentiles and the Jews forming one body, as unfolded in the Letter
to the Ephesians, nothing is new; all else can be found in the Old
Testament. Any revelation of truth can be located in the Old
Testament, even that of the new heavens and the new earth. There is
a certain edition of the Bible which capitalizes all of the many Old
Testament quotations in the New Testament. It becomes quite
evident that many words used in the New Testament were already
seen in the Old. Many are direct quotations, and many more repeat
what the Old Testament had already expressed. There are more than
a thousand five hundred places in the New Testament which are
quotations of Old Testament words. Let us remember that the
ministry of the New Testament word is based upon Gods word in
the Old Testament; they were not independently spoken. Hence if
anyone should stand up today and claim to have received an
independent revelation, we would know for sure that it was
undependable.
No one today can have Gods word extraneous to the Bible; even
the New Testament cannot exist alone, nor can the words of Paul.
You cannot cut the Old Testament away and retain much of the New
Testament; neither can you excise the four Gospels and keep the
letters of Paul. We must see that all the later words follow those
previously uttered. The words spoken later arose from light in the
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former words; they were not isolatedly spoken. Should another word
ever come forth independently, it is heresy and not Gods word. All
the ministries in the Bible are interdependent; none possesses an
unconnected revelation totally unrelated to the others and entirely
disconnected. Even the twenty-seven books of the New Testament
are based on those of the Old Testament. The subsequent ministers
received what was handed down to them by their predecessors.
(2)
We should understand that any independent revelation and
ministry is basically wrong. No prophecy of scripture is of private
interpretation (2 Peter 1.20 ASV). The word private points not to
man but to prophecy. It means no prophecy of Scripture is explained
by its own meaning. For example: Matthew 24 cannot be explained
by itself but must be interpreted by combining with it the other
places in Scripture which have bearing on it. No prophecy is selfinterpreting. Daniel 2 cannot be explained by Daniel 2 alone, nor can
Daniel 9 be interpreted exclusively by Daniel 9. To do so would
cause us to fall into private interpretation. We must always remember
that Gods word is one. It cannot be privately interpreted, that is,
based upon itself; it must be explained by joining it together with
many other passages. Today God has already put His word in the
Bible; hence we are not allowed to speak independently nor give any
word which is unable to be joined to the word already spoken by
God. To do so would be heresy, a deception of the evil one.
The first group of ministers was used by God to speak in an
independent fashion, for there was no one preceding them. The
second group, though, spoke according to what the first group had
previously said. They repeated and enlarged upon the words spoken
earlier. The third group of ministers spoke on the basis of the first
and second groups. They do not speak independently; they only
expand on the light received from the first and second groups. No
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doubt God had given them new understanding and new revelation;
nonetheless these are all founded on what He has already before
spoken. The nobility of the Jews in Berea was shown in their
eagerness to examine the Scriptures daily to see if these things were
so (Acts 17.10-11). God does not say one thing yesterday and say
another thing today. His word is one; there is no change from the
beginning to the end. He adds one word after another, because He
aims at establishing His own work. Those who were used by God to
enlarge on the light, both of the Old and the New Testaments, did not
have independent revelations; they all based their enlargement on the
revelation given first. Light continued to flow out from the initial
revelation. It shone brighter and fuller until we have before us the
entire Old and New Testaments.
Therefore, all who wish to speak for God today must receive His
word from the Old and New Testaments; they are not to obtain
anything from outside the Bible. This is a most important axiom: just
as the ministers of old were not independent, neither are todays
ministers of the word to be independent. Each one must depend on
what God has already said. None are able to secure any revelation
outside of the scope of the Bible.
Some of Gods children harbor a great misunderstanding with
regard to the Old and New Testaments. They think these Testaments
are contradictory; they look upon law and grace as opposites. Are
they really so? The mere reading of Romans and Galatians reveals to
us especially that the Old and the New are one. How many misjudge
that Gods ways of dealing with people vary from the Old to the New
Testaments, that He acts differently under law and grace. What they
do not realize is that the New Testament is a progression from, not an
opposition to, the Old Testament; so too is grace in relation to law.
The New Testament is the continuation as well as the expansion of
the Old Testament. These two are not in the least contradictory.
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Paul reminds us that grace does not begin with the New
Testament. By reading Galatians we know that at the time when God
called Abraham the promise was already there. In other words,
God preached to Abraham the gospel that through the coming of
Christ the whole earth would be blessed. There was not any trace of
the law. Galatians plainly indicates that what God gave to Abraham
was not the law but the promise which is the gospel (3.8). According
to Galatians, todays gospel is based upon the gospel spoken to
Abraham; our blessing is founded on the blessing of Abraham; the
promise we have today is traced back to Gods promise to Abraham;
and even the Christ we receive is the seed of Abraham. Paul
demonstrates to us that the Old Testament and the New form a
straight line.
Why, then, we may ask, was the law ever given? It was added
because of transgressions (Gal 3.19). God first gave man grace and
the gospel. But after man fell, he could not tell what sin was, hence
he was unable to receive grace and the gospel. The law was then
added to condemn sin in order that man might be made partakers of
Gods gospel and promise. This is the gist of Galatians. To put it
differently: God has not at one time given us grace and at another
time law; neither has He bestowed His promise and then demanded
work for awhile. Gods work from start to finish has never changed.
The Letter to the Galatians consequently shows us that the grace we
today receive is not something new but is the same grace which
Abraham received. We have become children of Abraham, so we
today inherit the grace and promise which God gave to Abraham.
Thus the promise at first, the law in between, and the finished work
of Christ afterwards all fall into one straight line. The word of God is
one, not two, and is progressive in nature.
God first promised Abraham and later gave the law to the
Israelites. Are these contradictory? Not at all. They are actually
progressive. Today God has given grace to us. Is there any
discrepancy? No, it is progress. Gods way with men becomes
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clearer and clearer. The promise God gave Abraham cannot be

annulled by the law given four hundred and thirty years later. The
later law does not annul the promise but on the contrary fulfills it, for
men can accept promise only after they have known their sins. But
now God has kept us all in custody under the law that we may accept
the grace which comes from the Son sent by God. As the Old
Testament is progressive, so the New Testament continues on from it
and is also progressive. The New Testament is not in opposition to
the Old. Gods word is one. The later ministry is but to enlarge on
the past revelation of God.
Todays ministers of the word must know what God has said in
the Old Testament as well as in the New. It is evident that those
ministers of the word who wrote the New Testament were familiar
with the Old Testament. Todays ministers must be well acquainted
with both. By knowing the words of our predecessors we are able to
utter what harmonizes with these two Testaments. We will not speak
independently. God does not put an additional word in our mouths;
He only gives us new light on what He has already spoken in the Old
and New Testaments that we may stand before men and deliver His
word.
Whenever we begin to speak, we should already be in possession
of many Old and New Testament words. When the first group of Old
Testament ministers rose to speak they did not have Gods previous
word. When the second group came along, though, they could quote
what the first group had saidbut nothing more. Generation after
generation, group upon group keep arising to minister the word of
God. What they can quote to support their words increases in
quantity, because many utterances have proceeded from God. We
may say that in our day we have the richest deposit of Gods word.
But to be a minister of His word one must at least be acquainted with
the Bible that he may put it to living use. If one is not familiar with
the Scriptures and has not seen new light in it, the word he speaks
has no basis. And if he speaks wrongly he will not be conscious of it.
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Hence we must know the Bible well, else it becomes difficult to be a

minister of Gods word.
We stress that a minister of the word needs to be familiar with the
Bible. If we do not hear what God has spoken in the past we have no
way to obtain revelation. Revelation is born out of previous
revelation, never isolatedly given. First God puts His revelation in
the word said before, then Gods Spirit enlightens that word and
enlarges the revelation. Thus the process continues. This is the way
of revelation. It is not a light given in isolation, but is a light which
comes from within the word and increases in brightness as time goes
on. This is Gods revelation. Without past revelation Gods light has
no ground in which to operate. Gods revelation today cannot be
given in the same way as at the very first. When He revealed to the
first man He spoke without there being any previous background on
mans part. In the advanced word of today, however, He speaks only
on the basis of what He has already said. All His subsequent
revelations are derived from the first one.
(3)
Psalm 68.18 is the Old Testament passage on the gifts which
would be poured out upon men at the ascension of the Lord Jesus.
When Paul wrote the first and fourth chapters of Ephesians he
derived his message from that portion. In Ephesians 1 he speaks of
Christ being ascended to heaven and made to sit at the right hand of
God the Father (vv.20-21). In Ephesians 4 he describes how at His
ascension Christ led forth a host of captives and gave gifts to men
(v.8). In looking back further, we find that Peter on the Day of
Pentecost said the same word: Therefore having been exalted to the
right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise
of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and
hear (Acts 2.33). So both the outpouring of which Peter spoke on
Pentecost and the gifts to build the church resulting from the
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ascension of which Paul spoke, come from an understanding of the

light in Psalm 68. God did not give the light directly to Paul; on the
contrary, He gave to the apostle the light which He had stored in
Psalm 68. In order to get that light one must be familiar with Psalm
68.
The Book of Hebrews ably explains many offerings to us and
shows us that the Lord Jesus is the offering. If one is unfamiliar with
the Old Testament sacrifices, how can he understand Christ as the
sacrifice? Gods light is hidden in the Old Testament offerings. The
writer of Hebrews knew the revelation in the Old Testament;
otherwise he would have been unable to write Hebrews. The light of
God is deposited in the Old Testament; this means it is deposited in
Abraham, in Isaac, in Jacob, in Joseph, in Moses, in Joshua, in
Samuel, in David, and in Solomon. If we fail to see these men, we
fail to see all that light. For example, light is contained in the candle.
Without the candle how can there be light? Light is shown through
the lamp and lampstand, and without these there can be no light. We
need to see that the Old and New Testaments are where God deposits
His light. We shall not be able to meet todays need if we do not
know the word in these Testaments. To repeat, the word of God is
one; in it God puts His light that shines forth unceasingly.
Abraham believed (God), and he reckoned it to him for
righteousness. This is found in Genesis 15.6. This word is used
three times in the New Testamentin Romans 4, Galatians 3, and
James 2. The word once spoken in the Old Testament is repeated
thrice in the New Testament. There are three key words in this
statement: believe, reckon, and righteousness. First God gives His
word in the Old Testament; in this word is hidden Gods light. When
Paul wrote Romans he stressed the term reckon; whoever believes
is reckoned as righteous by God. In writing Galatians, he again
quoted the same statement but his emphasis this time was different,
for he underscored the term believebelieve unto righteousness.
But when James was speaking, he neither took up the word reckon
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nor the word believe; he took up instead the term righteousness: a

person is undone without righteousness. Hence Gods light shines
forth in three different directions. It emits from three distinct points.
If Paul had never read Genesis 15, if he had forgotten what he had
read or if he had read without receiving any revelation, then the word
would surely have been lost. Should one be careless with Gods word
in the Scriptures he will not be qualified to be a minister of His word.
A minister must be able to discover many facts in the Bible, and
the more the better. He must search into the delicate parts of the
word of God. One obtains Gods light by first entering into Gods
factswithout the facts of the Bible there is no way to obtain the
light. Without the lamp how can there be light? If the lamp is not lit,
how can the light be manifested? We need Gods previously spoken
word in the Bible to help us in speaking the word of God.
Another instance is in Habakkuk 2.4, the righteous shall live by
his faith. This too is quoted three times in the New Testament: in
Romans l, Galatians 3, and in Hebrews 10. It also has three key
words: the righteous, faith, and live. Romans 1 lays stress on the
righteousthe righteous shall live by faith. Galatians 3 emphasizes
faithonly by faith can man live. Hebrews 10 takes up liveby
faith the righteous shall live. God again deposits His light in the Old
Testament but releases it in the New. The light is released once,
twice, and three times by the word in the Bible. It is therefore
established beyond question that revelation is light emitted from the
word which God has earlier spoken. It is never independent but
always has its foundation.
(4)
As we have mentioned before, the New Testament includes
nothing new except that which pertains to the mystery of the body
composed of the Gentiles and the Jewsas described in Ephesians.
What the New Testament has is but the enlargement of the Old. The
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operating rule here is: God deposits His light in His word. We must
therefore learn to know more of the word of God already given and
recorded in the Scriptures. If those who are quite familiar with the
Bible are not necessarily Gods ministers of the word, how much less
qualified are we if we are not thoroughly acquainted with the Bible!
We cannot be lazy in this matter of knowing the Scriptures. We need
to seek for spiritual understanding; knowing the letter alone is
insufficient. We must read the previously given word of God before
the Lord, asking for light that the Book may be an enlightened one.
Oh that the word already spoken may speak again in us. This alone is
effective. Where can we meet Gods light if it is not in His already
spoken word which is to be found in the Bible? Todays word is
hidden in the New Testament word, even as the New Testament
word is hidden in the Old Testament word. Just as the word of the
apostles is derived from Moses and the prophets, so our word comes
from the apostles. We need to learn to get a word from the apostles
word.
All the revelation today is but the light regained from the word of
the past. At the beginning God gave His word; thereafter it is word
begetting word. The governing rule for our day is for us to obtain a
word from that which was once spoken and for us to attempt to speak
something else. If we are unable to gain a word from the word
already given, then we cannot be ministers of the word. We need to
approach Gods word as the apostles did, not as the scribes and
Pharisees. We must see light in the word of the past, and word must
beget more word. The first grain of wheat was created by God; from
this initial grain all other grains were produced. The first grain
produced many grainsfrom singular to plural. And the process
continues on. The first one came from God; it was created, for it
never existed before.
The same principle can be applied to Gods word. The first word
was created by God, for it had no precedent. This word then beget
many subsequent words as it continued forth. Generations have
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passed with the word becoming clearer and clearer. It has increased
enormously. Just as we cannot expect God today to create a new
grain to sow, neither can we wait for Him to create a new word. We
get our words from Gods previously spoken word; we obtain light in
the light already given; we receive revelation from the revelation
once shown. This is the way for todays minister of Gods word.
Anyone who trespasses this principle falls into heresy.
Beloved, do not accept indiscriminately those who claim
themselves to be apostles or prophets. We know that anyone who
surpasses the Scriptural word of God is heretical and devilish.
Serious error can be produced by careless speaking. Todays light is
included in the light already given, todays word is hidden in the
word previously spoken, and todays revelation is implied in the
revelation once shown. What issues from the Bible is right; what
does not come from the Bible but from another source is wrong.
Todays word must come from the previous word. This is not the day
of creation. The principle for today is one of begetting. Revelation
begets revelation, light begets light, and word begets word. We are
learning step by step, hoping that we may begin to have the ministry
of the word.
The Need for the Holy Spirits

Interpretation
We have observed that ministers of Gods word

today must not speak independent words, words outside
the scope of the Bible. All Gods latter day utterances
are based upon His earlier statements. The New Testament words are
derived from those of the Old Testament, while todays words are
grounded in the New and Old Testaments. The word of God is living
and organically one. If anyone, being unfamiliar with the Old and
New Testament words and failing to form an organic unity with these
past words of God, attempts to speak independently, he is
undoubtedly propounding heresy, the doctrine of the devil. Even so,
God still has ministers of His word today; none of them speaks
carelessly without a proper foundation.
Now we wish to proceed further to see that the words these
ministers speak are not only rooted in Gods former words but are
also interpreted by Him. The ministry of the word requires Gods
interpretation as well as Gods written word. His former words alone
are not sufficient. One who has laid hold of Gods speaking in the
past is not necessarily thereby qualified to deliver Gods word. He
who is familiar with the Old Testament is not automatically enabled
to write the New Testament; neither is one who is well versed in the
New Testament necessarily competent as a minister of todays word.
Upon the basis of Gods recorded word there needs to be Gods
interpretation. God must explain His own past word to His minister;
otherwise there can be no ministry.
Just as we must set aside all words which have no foundation, so

we cannot accept anything that does not come from Gods
interpretation. God alone is able to explain what He has said before.
We should not depend upon our good memory, lucid thought, and
diligent study of the Bible. It is not the one who can recite by
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memory the 150 psalms who is able to speak on Psalms, nor is it he

who knows the Song of Songs by heart who is competent to lecture
on it. A person may remember all the prophecies of Isaiah, or
recollect vividly the book of Daniel after having spent five to ten
years on it; yet such a one does not automatically become a qualified
expounder of either of these writings. We should not only know that
no one can preach Gods word if such preaching is not based on the
past speaking of God, but also realize that not all who have a
Scriptural foundation are necessarily ministers of Gods word either.
He who does not speak according to Gods former word is
unquestionably rejected; but he who does so speak may likewise not
be accepted. In the early days many were the scribes and Pharisees
who were well versed in the Old Testament, but none of them
became a minister of the word. It is possible today for us to be well
acquainted with the Bible and yet fail to be ministers of the word. A
minister is one who has Gods interpretation as well as Gods word.
He must have a foundation to his speaking and likewise an
interpretation.
How does God interpret the Bible? How does He explain the
words of the Old Testament to the New Testament minister? There
are at least three distinct ways of interpretation in the New
Testament: (1) prophetic interpretation, (2) historical interpretation,
and (3) comprehensive interpretation. When the New Testament
ministers study the Old Testament words, they will approach the
Scriptures from these different angles: they look to the Holy Spirit
for interpretation of prophetic words, historical records, or
comprehensive messages.
Pertaining to Prophetic Interpretation
Let us illustrate this method by seeing how Matthew wrote his
Gospel.
The Need for the Holy Spirits Interpretation
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The Holy Spirit controlled Matthew in his narration of the story of

the Lord Jesus. In the first chapter he quoted from Isaiah 7: Behold,
the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call
his name Immanuel. At the moment of writing his Gospel, Matthew
was enlightened by the Holy Spirit with these words from the Old
Testament. He did not spend time in attempting to arrive at some
interpretation of the Old Testament. As a tax-collector Matthew
might not have read much of the sacred scrolls, but afterwards he
must have read a lot. It was the Holy Spirit who brought to his
memory the words in Isaiah. But what did this word mean? It
required the Holy Spirit to interpret this word as pointing to the birth
of the Lord Jesus. Hereafter God is to be with us. In the past, God
was not with us; but now, through the coming of the Lord Jesus, God
is with us. This is the Holy Spirits interpretation. The Spirit alone
determines the meaning of Gods word.
In 2.15, Matthew referred back to Hosea 11.1. A cursory reading
of Hosea might not give us the impression that it points to the Lord
Jesus, but the Holy Spirit explained to Matthew that it was so.
Again, in 2.18 the words of Jeremiah 31.15 are quoted: A voice
was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachael weeping
for her children; and she refused to be comforted, because they were
no more. We would not have knownunless the Holy Spirit had
given His interpretationthat these words in Jeremiah prophesied
about Herod setting his heart on killing Jesus.
Chapter 3 cites Isaiah 40.3The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths
straight! How would we have known that this referred to John the
Baptist if the Holy Spirit had not expounded it as such to Matthew?
In recording the journey of the Lord Jesus to Capernaum by the
sea in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali (4.13-16), Matthew used
the word in Isaiah 9.1: This was to fulfill what was spoken through
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Isaiah the prophet, saying The land of Zebulun and the land of
Naphtali, by way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the
Gentiles. The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light,
and to those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death upon
them a light dawned. Who would have thought of Isaiah 9 as
referring to the Lord Jesus? But the Holy Spirit so interpreted it, and
by His interpretation we realize it does speak of the Lord Jesus. Thus
are we shown that the minister of Gods word needs the Holy Spirits
interpretation as well as Gods past word. Without His interpretation
the Bible is sealed; it can serve no ground for further speaking.
In Chapter 8 we observe that the Lord Jesus healed many who
were sick and cast out demons from the possessed. Matthew took up
the words in Isaiah 53.4 by stating: in order that what was spoken
through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, He Himself
took our infirmities and carried away our diseases (v.17). The
words of Isaiah were opened to Matthew and became the ground for
speaking. Only the Scriptures opened gives one the ministry of the
word.
In Matthew 12.10-16 the Lord Jesus is recorded as again healing
the sick. He saw a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath and
commanded him to stretch it forth. The man did so, and it was
restored whole like the other. The Lord withdrew from them. Many
followed Him and He healed them all. However, He ordered them
not to make Him known. Whereupon the Gospel writer immediately
quotes the words from Isaiah 42.1-4 as follows:
Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with
whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and
he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel, nor
cry out; nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A battered
reed he will not break off, and a smoldering wick he will not put
out, until he leads justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles
will hope. (vv.18-21)
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It is the Holy Spirits interpretation which joins the two passages

of Isaiah 42 and Matthew 12 together. The Holy Spirit gave the
explanation and Matthew became a minister of the word.
Consequently, in the ministry of the word it is imperative to have
the Holy Spirits interpretationan interpretation which ordinary
people do not see and which neither the Pharisees nor the scribes so
understood. God Himself gives the interpretation and makes one a
minister of His word. As a minister of Gods word Matthew did not
speak arbitrarily. He based his words on the Old Testament. But
how? Before he could take the Old Testament words as his ground
for speaking, he first had to be thoroughly acquainted with them and
then be given the Holy Spirits interpretation or unveiling. The
ministry of the word is therefore based upon the Biblical word of
God as interpreted by the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel of Matthew there
are many quotations from the Old Testament, some of them cited by
the Lord Jesus Himself. But the passages referred to above were all
spoken exclusively by Matthew. He often said that such-and-such
was to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah or that something else fulfilled
the words of some other prophet. It is very precious to find that one
who by training was a tax-collector is quoting so many Old
Testament words. Though not reared a scribe, nor educated a
Pharisee as was Paul, he nonetheless had the ministry of the word.
Matthew spoke once more in Chapter 27. The Lord Jesus was
soon to depart from the world; Judas had hanged himself; and the
chief priests were taking counsel to buy the potters field with the
betrayal money. Wrote Matthew, For this reason that field has been
called the Field of Blood to this day (v.8). Let us note especially
that this was Matthews own judgment. But immediately afterwards,
however, he said this: Then that which was spoken through
Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, And they took the thirty
pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set by the
children of Israel; and they gave them for the Potters Field, as the
Lord directed me (vv.9-10) He declared this incident to be the
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fulfillment of what Jeremiah had said. We would hardly draw such a

conclusion, yet the Spirit of God gave Matthew such an
interpretation, and thus he was able to make the judgment. Matthew
had the ministry of the word.
Pertaining to Historical Interpretation
1 Timothy 2.13-14 mentions the story of Adam and Eve. For it
was Adam who was first (formed), and then Eve. And it was not
Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell
into transgression. Satan had not tempted Adam directly; this he did
to Eve. Satan tempted Eve, and Eve, Adam. As Eve fell when
tempted by Satan, so Adam fell when tempted by Eve. The Old
Testament merely records this fact, but in the New Testament the
Holy Spirit explains it by showing us that no woman should be the
head or have authority over man. In the incident set before us a basic
principle is involved. Sin was brought into the world by a woman
turning to become head. This indeed is a part of history. But the
unveiling of such an historical fact forms the basis of the ministry of
the word.
In narrating the story of Abraham, Paul in Romans 9 cited the
words of Genesis 21: Through Isaac your descendants will be
named; At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son
(v.7,9). These are historical events as recorded in the Old Testament.
But the Holy Spirit expounded them to Paul so that the apostle now
realized that not all who were descended from Israel necessarily
belonged to Israel since not all the seed of Abraham were children of
Abraham just because they were his descendants. Only those who
were born of Sarah were considered as Abrahams descendants. Isaac
was born of promise and he alone was Abrahams seed. In like
manner are those who believe in the Lord Jesus. Since they are born
of Gods promise they alone become children of God. The Holy
Spirit had thus opened up the history of how Abraham had begotten
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Isaac, and so Paul was given the ministry of Gods word. Had Paul
merely read the story of Abraham and Sarah, without the Holy
Spirits interpretation, those words would have remained a mere
story and Paul would not have had the ministry of the word through
them.
The narrative of Isaac was explained even more clearly in the
Letter to the Galatians. If you belong to Christ, then you are
Abrahams offspring, heirs according to promise (3.29); And you
brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise (4.28). These were
Pauls words as one who had the ministry of the word. His words
were derived from the episode in the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit
interpreted that particular section of history to him, unfolding to Paul
the secret of the promise. Wherein was this secret? It was in
Genesis 18.10: The Lord said, I will certainly return unto thee (in
the spring); and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. This was Gods
promisenot today, but next year. Hence Isaac was born of promise.
We all, like Isaac, are born of promise. This matter is crystal clear.
The reason Paul could supply us with Gods word was because the
Holy Spirit had explained this Old Testament word to him. It is not
only prophecy that needs the Spirits interpretation; history too
requires explanation. All Old Testament history needs such
comments.
Another matter is made quite plain in Galatians 3. Brethren, I
speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a mans
covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds
conditions to it (v.15). Paul meant by this to say that not only in
divine, but even in human, affairs a will once ratified cannot be
annulled or addition made to it. Now the promises were spoken to
Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, and to seeds, as
referring to many; but rather to one, and to your seed, that is,
Christ (v.16). Notice how careful a man Paul was. In Genesis God
told Abraham that He would bless the nations of the earth through
his offspring. In Galatians the Spirit of God has explained it even
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more precisely to Paul. The word offspring or seed in Hebrew is

singular in number. The opening up of this one word gave
understanding to Paul. God was not going to bless the nations by the
many seeds of Abraham. For if this be the meaning, then the grace of
God is solely for the Jews, and only the Jews can spread the
blessings to the whole world. What is said here is seed or offspring in
the singular, that is, Christ, because through Him alone shall
blessings come upon all the earth. The fact is rather simple: merely in
the singular or plural number lies the difference; yet in this simple
fact is hidden a most important truth. It was the Holy Spirit who
expounded such a simple fact to Paul, and it made him a minister of
the word.
Let us mention one further matter. Abraham believed God and it
was accordingly reckoned to him as righteousness. This was
recorded in Genesis 15. Paul now shows us through this record that
God does not reckon mans righteousness as his righteousness but
accounts mans faith as his righteousness. This is Pauls ministry. He
shows us today that the way Abraham was justified is the way all his
descendants shall be justified. As Abraham was justified by faith, so
all who are likewise justified are children of Abraham. The record in
Genesis 15 is more than a fact of history; it in addition embodies the
principle of justification by faith.
Let it be understood that the Old Testament with its history is as
valuable as Old Testament prophecy. Some may think of the biblical
prophecies, laws, and teachings as highly valuable, while considering
the histories included therein to be mere stories. But we should
remember that the histories narrated in the Scriptures are equally the
word of God. If the Bible is entrusted to an unbeliever, he may
choose Proverbs and discard Genesis. But we know the prophecies,
teaching, laws, and histories recorded in the Old Testament are all
Gods word. His word is one, and the inner principle is also one.
What is spoken through history is the word of God as much as what
is spoken through prophecy. Both require the Holy Spirits
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interpretation. Many New Testament truths and revelations are

derived from the opening up of the Old Testament history. In Pauls
ministry we discover that sometimes the Holy Spirit unveils Old
Testament prophecies to him while at other times, Old Testament
histories.
Pertaining to Comprehensive Interpretation
Comprehensive interpretation is especially used by God in the
ministry of His word. Let us see how Peter ministered Gods word on
Pentecost. A most wonderful thing happened on that daythe Holy
Spirit was poured out and gifts were distributed. Man spoke in
tongues and many tongues were spoken. The one hundred and twenty
persons received what the Israelites had never received before.
Formerly the Holy Spirit might come upon one or two prophets or
even upon a group of prophets. Yet on that Pentecost day all one
hundred and twenty were filled with the Spirit as though drunk with
new wine. At that time God distinctly placed the key of heaven into
Peters hands. Of the eleven, he unmistakably walked at the front. He
seized this opportunity to testify. Peter stood up and told the Jews
what had taken place. He explained the days happenings and
exhorted his listeners to receive the same thing themselves. Peter was
on that day a minister of the word. He received words from God
and not words from just one part of Scripture but words from three
parts combined. In grouping these three parts together light began to
shine. It was not an analysis but a synthesis. God did not explain
simply one thing to him; He instead brought three parts of the
Scriptures together and so revealed His thought.
On that day of Pentecost, Peter based his message on Joel 2,
Psalm 16, and Psalm 110. The Holy Spirit combined these three
passages and expounded them to Peter, thus giving light to men. It
accordingly indicates that when one is ministering he does not need
to limit himself to just one passage. Oftentimes He explains several
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passages together. In todays

interpretation plays a major role.
ministry
this
comprehensive
For instance. In the Old Testament there were four objects which
the people had vicariously worshiped: the golden calf, the brazen
serpent, Gideons ephod, and Micahs graven image. If you are going
to give a message on unlawful worship, you could gather together
these four cases in the Old Testament and comment on them. Many
matters are solved in this way.
Peter took this comprehensive line at Pentecost. He used Joel 2 to
speak on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Psalm 16 on the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and Psalm 110 on His ascension. He
joined these three passages together, saying that the Lord Jesus had
been resurrected, had ascended to heaven after the resurrection, and
that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which his hearers now
witnessed was the result of His ascension. Upon being raised from
the dead the Lord must ascend to heaven. Death having no power to
bind Him, He went up to the Father, awaiting His enemies to become
His footstool. The heavenly Father presently glorified Him and the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit is this day the evidence of this
glorification. By these three passages having been expounded to him
by the Spirit, Peter could speak with authority.
We can find quite a few messages in the Book of Acts whose
words are of this comprehensive nature. Although but few words of
the message are recorded in Chapter 3, it nevertheless puts
Deuteronomy and Genesis together. In Chapter 7 Stephen had a very
special ministry of the word. He spoke with great power, yet he
rarely explained. He merely related some history of the Old
Testament, beginning from the call of Abraham in Genesis 12, then
touching upon the period of Moses in Egypt, and ending with the
rebellion of the Israelites in the Wilderness. He spoke from Genesis
to Exodus and from Exodus to Deuteronomy, quoting the words of
Amos and Isaiah as he narrated. He gave little interpretation, and yet
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his message so roused the anger of his listeners that they stoned him
to death. This shows us that a special ministry of the word does not
require much explanation; all which is needed is to marshal the facts
one after another. Stephens message was pressed out of his spirit,
hence it was irresistible. As recorded in Chapter 13, while preaching
in Antioch of Pisidia Paul cited words of 1 Samuel 13, Psalm 89,
Psalm 2, Isaiah 55, Psalm 16, and concluded with a word from
Habakkuk. On the basis of these comprehensive words, he drew a
conclusion for his listeners: they must receive Jesus of Nazareth as
their Savior.
Now of the three different modes of interpretation which we have
mentioned, we would place special emphasis on the comprehensive
way. The book of Hebrews is written in this fashion, and so are
Romans and Galatians. When the Holy Spirit directed an apostle to a
certain subject, He selected numerous Scripture verses and
expounded them to him. This principle still governs todays ministry
of Gods word. Just as Peter, Paul, Matthew and many other apostles
ministered with the words which the Holy Spirit taught them out of
the Old Testament, so today we have our ministry of the word by
following what the Holy Spirit instructs us from both the New and
the Old Testaments. The apostles never spoke carelessly, because
they always spoke according to the interpretation which the Holy
Spirit gave concerning Gods former words. Todays ministers of the
word should observe the same rule. We speak what God would have
us to say today by our having both the words of the New and Old
Testaments and with them the Holy Spirits interpretation. This
constitutes the ministry of the word.
However, not all who at that time read the Old Testament could
speak like Peter, Paul, or Matthew. The ministry of the word came
only after the Holy Spirits interpretation. The Spirit would enlighten
one of them, expound the meaning of a particular word to him, show
him the fact in the Old Testament word, and point out to him its
characteristic.
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As those in the New Testament had the ministry of the word, we

today must have such ministry. Should we desire to be ministers of
Gods word we must diligently read the recorded word of God, and
not merely with our head but looking to the Spirit of the Lord to
reveal to us what characterizes His word that we may take of the
facts and receive the interpretation. When a minister of the word
speaks, he must speak from background. Never speak without
foundation, nor consider familiarity with Gods past words as
sufficient. Always seek for the Holy Spirits interpretation.
Let us remember that ministry of the word in our day ought to be
richer than that of those who wrote the New Testament. This does
not mean that today we see deeper than they did. The Bible was
completed when the Book of Revelation was written. All Gods
truths have been released, the highest as well as the deepest. How,
then, do we say that todays ministry of the word should be richer?
Because Paul had in his hand only the Old Testament as the basis of
his speaking, but we have in our hand the writings of Paul and Peter
and others in addition to the Old Testament. Paul had only thirty-nine
books in his hand, but we have sixty-six books. Hence our ministry
should be richer in word. We have more materials at the disposal of
the Spirit of God, more opportunities for Gods Spirit to explain. Our
ministry therefore ought not be poorer but richer.
We need to study the Bible carefully; we also need the Holy Spirit
to interpret the Bible to us. In the past many have spent time studying
the Bible, and the Holy Spirit has given them much light. Some have
noticed differences in words, such as the difference between Christ
and the Christ, law and the law, faith and the faith. Others
have discovered that before His resurrection the Lord Jesus is Jesus
Christ, but that afterwards He is Christ Jesus. Nowhere in the
whole Bible is there the phrase in Jesus; it is always in Christ.
We should allow the Spirit of the Lord to speak to us and show us
how accurate the Bible is. No one can carelessly change the word of
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the Bible, not even the pronouns. Each time the blood is mentioned it
relates to redemption; but every time the cross is used it has
reference to the dealing of mans self. Crucified on the cross
speaks of the dealing of the old creation; bearing the cross speaks
of the dealing of the natural self. Never is there any confusion.
Confusion comes from us, it is not in Gods word. As to the works of
the Holy Spirit, His constituting and His forming are inward,
whereas the gift is outward. All these prove to us the accuracy of the
Bible. Just as the writers of the New Testament saw the accuracy of
the Old Testament when the words were explained to them, so we
shall see the accuracy of the New and Old Testaments when the
Spirit of the Lord interprets His recorded word to us.
To be a minister of the word is not to receive independently a
great revelation never before given, rather is it seeing increased light
in the word already spoken by God. Some ministers came before
Paul, and Paul and other apostles have come before us. The sixty-six
books are the word of God already written down. Todays revelation
must coincide with the revelation those preceding us have received.
Todays light must be one with the earlier light given. Todays word
must be united with the word spoken by our predecessors. If Paul
became a minister of the word through the Holy Spirits
interpretation, we too must have His interpretation in order to be
ministers of the word. Gods word passes on from generation to
generation; His word begets further word. No one speaks
independently. Those who come later see more than the earlier ones.
God did something independently in the first man, but the second
man follows the first and so walks farther, while the third follows the
second and moves on still more. Gods word comes forth endlessly;
His word begets word till there are many words. Today we have
more words.
If God is gracious and merciful to us we shall see His former word
and be the minister of His word on this basis. The ministers are
many, but the word is one. Ministers are raised up from generation to
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generation, yet all ministry comes from the same word. Hence those
who come later should ask God to interpret the word spoken by their
predecessors so that their word may be united with Gods greatest
wordthe Bibleand that they themselves may join the ranks of the
many, many ministers. The fundamental truth is: one word but many
ministers.
The Need for the Holy Spirits

Revelation
We have already seen how a minister of the word

must speak according to Gods former word and with
the interpretation of the Holy Spirit. We will now
venture a step further: the minister of the word must fulfill another
basic requirement: he must have revelation. Without the spirit of
revelation, no one can be a minister of the word. He should have both
revelation and the Holy Spirits anointing in order to minister Gods
word.
One
The Bible is a wonderful book. Its special characteristic rests in
the fact that it speaks with human words, yet is truly Gods word.
Though written by human hands, it is nevertheless recognized as
having been written by Gods hand too. Its many terms, phrases and
statements are all God-breathed. The original for inspired by God
(2 Tim. 3.16) is God-breathed. The Bible is God-breathed, as men
moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Peter 1.21). When
God was creating heaven and earth, He formed man of dust of the
ground; but man was not a living soul until God breathed the breath
of life into him. Though the Bible was written by human hands and
spoken from human mouths, even so, God breathed on it and made it
a living book. It became a living word spoken by the living God.
This is the meaning of inspiration in the Bible.
There are human elements and mens words in the Bible. Many, in
reading it, touch these elements and words, but they so often miss
what God intends to say through them. The distinctiveness of this
Book is its dual feature: on the one hand the Bible has its outer
shellthe physical part of the Biblesimilar to that part of man
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which is made of dust; on the other hand it has its spiritual part, that
which is in the Holy Spirit, what is God-breathed and God-spoken.
The outer shell is something which comes from mans memory
(hence it can be memorized by man), from the human mouth (hence
can be heard by mans ears), which is written in human language (it
may be apprehended by mans understanding), and was also spoken
by man as doctrine or teaching (it can thus be remembered,
understood and propagated by more people). This, however, is the
outer shell of the Bible, that which is merely physical. Even doctrine
and teaching are included in this realm, because they are the physical
part of the Book, able to be memorized and understood by the wise.
But the Bible has still another part. The words that I have spoken to
you are spirit and are life, declared the Lord Jesus (John 6.63). This
is the spirit and life side. It is God who speaks in man. Neither the
wise nor the understanding know it. It requires an organ other than
the eyes, ears, or brain for its apprehension.
A minister of the word is not to serve the church with the physical
part of the Bible. He is to minister the spiritual portion. He who
serves only with the physical is not a minister of Gods word. Were
there no physical side to the Scriptures, the matter of whether or not
one is a minister of Gods word could easily be settled. But since the
Bible has a physical part comprised of human elements, and since it
can thus be understood and accepted by man, there arises a great
danger and difficulty. Man may use his human elements to propagate
whatever in the Bible corresponds to him regarding this as being a
ministry of the word. He merely selects the human elements of the
Bible and places these before the church. Since what he preaches is
undeniably Scriptural, orthodox and fundamental, he regards himself
as serving the church with the word of God. We ought to know,
however, that such human aspects do not belong to the spiritual part
of the Bible and therefore constitute things which are in a far
different realm.
The Need for the Holy Spirits Revelation
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Some young people think they will unquestionably understand

Gods word if only they study Greek, not realizing that many Greek
scholars comprehend little or nothing of the true word of God. Not
all who are acquainted with Hebrew understand the Old Testament,
nor are those who are familiar with Hebrew and Chaldean
necessarily those who know the Book of Daniel. There is a word in
the Bible which is beyond Greek or Hebrew or Chaldean. It is the
word which all ministers seek to know. It is the word of God. To
know the language is one thing, but to know Gods word is a totally
opposite matter. One should never deceive himself by thinking he
can be a minister of Gods word if he simply reads the Bible. The
question is not whether he has read the Bible: it is instead, how has
he read it? Gods word needs to be heard before Him, His voice
needs to be recognized. Only such as have experienced this can be
ministers of His word.
We are called to preach the gospel, not to present the background
of the gospel. We serve people with the gospel, not with arguments
about the gospel. The Bible does furnish the background of the
gospel; it is the ground of Gods speaking. God has indeed spoken
once in the Bible. But today He must breathe on the written word
once again to make it alive. The Spirit of God must breathe upon and
quicken it. Only through revelation will the Bible become living. The
words in the Bible and the word of the Bible quickened today are
quite distinct. What is the word of God? It is what God is speaking
today, not what He has once spoken. Once He spoke; and so we have
the past word of God. Now, though, we need Him to breathe anew on
His former word. Gods word is more than what He once uttered; it
is in addition the word which He speaks today.
Let us remember that the word of God covers two disparate
realms. One includes the letters and the words, with the doctrine,
knowledge, teaching, types and various truths of the Bible. Things in
this realm can be heard by mans ears, can be memorized with his
mind, and delivered through his mouth. This is the physical realm.
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For example, you may have heard that Abrahams faith was reckoned
to him as righteousness. God reckons faith as righteousness. It is
possible for you to endorse this doctrine, and if your power of
memory and understanding is strong you may even propagate this
statement to others. You are merely speaking the physical external
part of the word, but this cannot be considered the ministry of Gods
word.
Let us note that the Bible is what God has once spoken, that which
the Holy Spirit breathed upon once before. When the word of the
Bible is released, some people will meet the word of God while
others may miss it completely. In Pauls letter to the Roman
believers we find two things. One is the physical side of his letter,
what we can read externally, written perhaps with ink made from sap
and recorded on lamb skin. When the Roman believers receive the
letter, they might read the mere letters of the epistle. What they
would then have would be just an epistle from Paul, not the word of
God. But if the breath of God were to blow once more on the epistle
at the time of their readingbreathing upon word after wordthen
they would see how they were sinners and how they could be
justified by faith. They would believe in Gods word and accept it as
such. This constitutes the ministry of the word. As they read they
meet the other word, that which Paul was trying to convey in the
epistle. It is possible for those who are clever and strong in memory
to be so familiar with the epistle that they can recite it verbatim, yet
they can be totally ignorant of what justification by faith in reality is.
They may even know the teaching concerning justification by faith
without in any wise touching its reality. Yes, men can touch the
physical part of the Bible without touching its spiritual counterpart.
They merely touch the doctrine of the Bible without touching its
contents. They know only the appearance of Gods word without
knowing its life.
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Two
What is inspiration? And what is revelation? Inspiration means
God has once breathed upon this book the Bible. Without inspiration
something cannot be written so as to become a part of the Bible.
Consequently, inspiration is the foundation of the Bible. God
inspired Paul to write Romans; that is, God breathed on him that he
might write the Letter to the Romans.
What, then, is revelation? Revelation means God again breathes
on His word when I read Romans two thousand years later in order
that I may know it as the word of God. Inspiration is given only
once; revelation is given repeatedly. By revelation we mean that
today God again breathes on His word, the Holy Spirit imparts light
to me; the anointing of the Holy Spirit is upon this word so that once
again I see what Paul saw in his day. God does something today to
make alive the inspiration of yesterday. This is a tremendous event!
It is a most glorious act!!
What again is revelation? Revelation occurs when God reactivates
His word by His Spirit that it may be living and full of life as at the
time when it was first written. As in the beginning when Paul, full of
life, was used by God to write and thus the word became so living, so
today the Holy Spirit once more anoints and fills His word that it
may have the same power, light and life as it had formerly. This is
revelation. It is futile to simply read, for a person can read through
the Book without ever hearing God speak once to him. The Bible is
the word of God: God has indeed once spoken these words. But to
make it living a person must ask God to speak afresh. When God
speaks again, things will happenGods word, light and life come
forth. Unless there is this speaking afresh, the Bible will remain a
sealed book.
Suppose a hundred brothers and sisters are gathered in a meeting.
God is speaking there. Not all, however, hear His word. All hear the
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sound and the sentences, yet some hear Gods word whereas others
do not. Some meet things in both realms; some meet things in one
realm only. Some have heard the doctrine, the truth, or the argument
expressed by voice; they understand and, if their memory is good,
can repeat these to others; yet they may not have heard the word of
God. To hear the word of God is something quite different. Gods
word is not simply doctrine or teaching. We need to hear something
beyond what we hear physically. This extra hearing comes from
Gods speaking to us. We have heard and accepted it; we can thank
God for letting us hear His voice. Thus do we know that we have
unquestionably met something.
Here is another illustration. A hundred people may be listening to
the gospel. Ninety-nine of them may understand the meaning,
doctrine, teaching, and truth of what is said and may even nod their
heads and show their approval; but perhaps only one person
apprehends that doctrine and word which is beyond what is
presented. That person, having heard the voice of God, will bow his
head and pray: I am a sinner; oh God, save me! This man alone has
heard Gods word; the ninety and nine touched only the human and
physical side of the word. How basically unalike these two realms
are.
The same is true of the Bible. It is indeed the word of God. God
has once spoken through Paul, through Peter, and through John. But
when one reads them today he may gain all the words, phrases,
doctrines, truths and teachings, yet God has not spoken to him. He
may read the Bible for ten years without ever hearing God speak one
single word to him. Have you not heard people confess, I have read
the Bible for twenty years, but I have to admit today that I know
absolutely nothing about it. Or you have heard someone say, I have
read the Bible for five (or ten) years. I thought I knew it all. But one
day I received Gods mercy; He spoke to me; then I knew I had
known nothing before. All who are experienced know the difference
therein described.
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In the ministry of the word there must be Gods word beyond

mans word; in addition to man opening his mouth, God must open
His mouth. Should God keep His mouth shut, nothing spiritual can
be done. These are two diametrical worlds. The one is the world of
doctrine, truth, teaching, letters, language, phraseology; those who
are diligent, clever and wise, and possessing a good memory, may be
able to comprehend the one world. But the other is wholly at
variance, for God speaks again what He had once spoken before. Do
we now see the difference? The Bible records without any error what
God once promised, but the word of God today is His speaking to us
again what He has said before. In Gods word there is the need for
Him to again speak to us; in Gods light there needs to be another
enlightenment from Him; in Gods revelation, there awaits a fresh
revealing of what has already been revealed. This is the foundation
of the ministry of Gods word.
To help some who may still not be clear as to the relationship
between the word of the Bible and the word of revelation today, let
us use the following illustration. Suppose you have had the
experience of feeling that the Lord had spoken through you. Though
the delivery might not have been strong, yet at least you had the
sense that the Lord gave you some special words during that time.
You had the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Two months later you meet
the same type of situation, facing the same kind of people with the
same kind of need. You are confident you can help them now, for is
it not true that you successfully spoke to such a group just two
months ago? Yet today, upon finishing speaking to them, you feel
defeated and powerless. Wherein lies the trouble? The trouble is you
surmised that if you delivered the same word as before, the Holy
Spirit would permanently anoint that which He had once anointed.
But this, to your surprise, was not true. There is no assurance that the
word previously anointed by the Holy Spirit will again be anointed
each time it is spoken. Let us remember that the word of revelation
we earlier receive is not guaranteed to always be such a word
whenever it is uttered. The word remains, but revelation does not
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linger. You may repeat the word, yet you cannot repeat the revelation
or the anointing. Revelation and anointing are in Gods hand. You
can only repeat words, you cannot recall revelation. Today you
preach to a sinner the Gospel of John Chapter three and verse
sixteen, and he may be saved. Subsequently you meet another
personperhaps in the same roomand to him you preach on the
same Scripture a second time. This time, though, the Holy Spirit is
silent, and thus the man remains unsaved. The Scripture has not
changed. The issue is whether or not there is an anointing or a
revelation.
Three
Every minister of Gods word must learn one lesson. Not because
I understand something of the letters of the Bible, not because I see
somewhat concerning the truth in the Bible, nor because I am able to
quote Scripture verses am I a minister of the word. I need to
understand, see, and be able to quote, but besides these there is a still
more basic requirement. The possession or lack of possession of this
basic requirement determines whether or not I have the ministry of
the word. This determining factor is the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
The ministry of the word requires the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
There must not only be similar words; there must also be
corresponding revelation. The absence of corresponding revelation
terminates the presence of ministry. This we must know deep in our
heart.
To secure results today similar to what He did once before, God
has to speak again. The word which may be repeated is effective only
when it is anointed afresh by God. In this can we see the balance of
truth. On the one side, God uses again what He once spoke before.
The one preaching the word of God today does not seek
independently for new words but bases his ministry upon the old
word given by God previously. On the other side, though, what he
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preaches is not the old word. It is the same word and yet not exactly
the same. It is the same word inasmuch as God will not speak if the
fundamental foundation is lacking, for the word of God is one.
Nevertheless, it is not the same word because there is now a fresh
anointing and a fresh revelation of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy
Spirits fresh anointing and revelation the same old word will not
produce the same result. This balanceof the old plus the new
must be carefully maintained before God.
A great temptation looms before man, which is, that man merely
seeks to speak the same word. He thinks by so speaking he will have
the same power, light, and revelation. Let it be recognized, however,
that these are worlds apart. One may use the same word with the
same truth, testimony, example, and presentationfor these can be
repeatedthey are within human ability to reproduce; yet God may
not return its effectiveness. One may be able to repeat the outward
things but he is totally unable to reproduce the inward. Gods world
remains Gods, while mans world belongs to man.
Perhaps an example will clarify the point. The principle of Gods
speaking is the same as that of resurrection. What is resurrection? It
is not giving life but is life out of death. When a child is born he is
not resurrected; only when a dead man comes out of the grave is
there resurrection. The daughter of Jairus, the only son of a widow in
Nain, and the man Lazarus, were all of them resurrected because they
had first died and had then been raised from the dead.
It is on the principle of resurrection that one ministers the word of
God. Once upon a time God put life in His word. Today this word
needs new life from God. This is the resurrection principle, quite
separate from the creation principle. The first speaking is according
to the principle of creation, but todays ministry of the word is
different. Gods word is already here, but God must speak again.
When God again puts life into the word so as to make it alive in man,
this is resurrection. Take for instance Aarons rod which represents
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resurrection. All the rods in the story were at one time living, for they
were made of wood. In the story, however, life has left them, so they
become dead rods. When placed before the ark, Aarons rod alone
sprouted, blossomed and bore fruit. This is resurrection.
Gods word stands on the ground of resurrection. It is not the
cutting of another rod, but the budding of the original one. Since
Gods word is one and only one, no person can preach His word if he
casts aside the Bible. It is still the same rod, but resurrection life has
entered into it. The rod must be the same one, nonetheless life must
enter into it the second time. The word is the same, yet life passes
through it time and again. Only as the word each time receives life,
light, and revelation is it living. Whoever casts aside the Bible is
himself rejected by God, for he has rejected the written word of God.
All Scripture is inspired by God and must therefore be respected.
Without the Bible as the foundation there can be no pure faith nor
any revelation of God. Yet even with the word of the Bible, man has
to seek still further revelation and enlightenment from God.
The principle is: one inspiration but many revelations; one word
but spoken repeatedly by God; one Bible but frequent anointings of
the Holy Spirit. Thus is the ministry of Gods word established.
Whenever anointing, enlightenment and revelation are lacking and
hence what is left is but the outward expounding of the Scriptures,
the ministry of the word has ceased. We must take note of this before
God. Useful indeed are mans diligence, memory, understanding, and
cleverness, yet these by themselves are inadequate. To be effective,
there must be Gods further mercy and renewed speaking. As a
matter of fact, unless God is willing to speak, men will never hear the
word of God. It is something beyond human ability. If the Lord is
silent, the speakings of all the ministers are in vain. It is therefore of
the greatest importance that the Lord should speak. Anyone who has
learned to speak in the spirit has seen the utter uselessness of human
competency alone. The words may be the same, even the tone or
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feeling seems to correspond, yet what is spoken can be vastly

different in effect.
Always remember that Gods word needs to be spoken by God.
The Bible is the word of God and it requires of Him to speak again.
The work of a minister is to allow God to speak through him. He is
to serve God in this spiritual realm. Ministering the word of God and
ministering theology are separated by an unbridgeable gulf.
Whenever listening to a sermon, do not pay attention only to the
correctness of the doctrine, teaching, or truth. We do not think lightly
of these things, but all who have learned before God and have had
their eyes opened search for something more. Perhaps the one who is
speaking has very good thoughts, but he just does not have the word
of God. Another speaker may not be as gifted in thinking; he
nonetheless has the word of God in his delivery. Whether God is
speaking or not marks the great divide.
If brethren today learn this lesson, there will not be such an overemphasis in the church on gifts; people will think more of ministry
instead. In our day the trouble is that many young brothers and sisters
do not know how to discern; and as a result, gifts are especially
welcomed in the church while ministry is overlooked. The words
may be exactly alike, even so, the realms are diametrically opposite.
Those with discernment can tell. A brother once said, I have
preached what brother so-and-so preached! He had a big brain; he
thought he had succeeded in preaching as the other one had; actually
he knew not in what realm he had been speaking. Some speak with
their mind, others in the spirit. These belong to two separate worlds.
Four
From church history we can see that God began the work of
recovery at the time of Martin Luther. He commenced it by raising
up Luther and his contemporaries to recover the truth of justification
by faith. Much later, especially after 1828, many more truths were
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recovered. Today, in the hearts of all throughout the world who love
the Lord, there is one question: How far has the Lord advanced on
this road of recovery?
To speak what the apostles spoke and to proclaim the truths the
Bible presents is not to be viewed as recovery. Proclaiming New
Testament truth may not bring in New Testament revelation, nor
does the preaching of apostolic messages necessarily mean the
carrying on of their word. Nowadays many may preach on baptism
without knowing what baptism really is, may expound on laying on
of hands without comprehending its meaning, may speak on the
church without actually seeing what the church is, and may touch
upon obedience without recognizing Gods authority. Do not
conclude that the same topic means the same content or the same
word gives the same substance. Much preaching is done in the realm
of the letter of the word. This is not the ministry of the word.
To be a New Testament minister one must have New Testament
revelation of the word. Only at the time when we receive the same
anointing as the apostles did do we have the ministry of the word.
Each fresh revelation in common with that of the apostles supplies us
with one time of ministry. Repeating the words of the apostles alone
does not give us the same word of God that they had, for Gods word
is something far beyond that. Suppose there is currently a church
which is being enticed waywardly in the same way as the Galatians
were. How would you help? Could you just copy the Letter to the
Galatians and send it off to them? The Letter to the Galatians was
written by Paul, but from it the Galatians received the word of God.
If you were to send a copy of this letter to that church today, they
might touch your copied wordsbut not the word of God. It is
possible for people to meet the Bible without in the least meeting
life. This, in fact, is quite a common occurrence. People touch the
letter God uses but not the word of God. They touch the Godinspired Bible, but not the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
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Why is it, brethren, that many read the Bible today but get little
from it, that many preach the Bible but rarely have Gods word? This
is because men only meet the outer shell of Gods word. They
encounter what God has once spoken, yet they lack the speaking
again of God through His recorded word.
We ought to see that getting God to speak through the Bible is the
responsibility of a minister of the word. He must be a person through
whom God can speak. When he opens the Bible and speaks, people
must hear more than what the Book says; they must hear the current
voice of God. Should the hearers close their own spirits, hearts, and
minds intentionally, they turn deaf to Gods voice; yet if they are
willing to be open, they cannot but hear His voice. Should people fail
to hear the word of God when we expound the doctrines of the Bible,
it indicates our complete failure as ministers of the word. When a
true minister of the word preaches from the Bible, God is willing to
speak to men. Then people will feel that God has spoken to them
today and they will be completely subdued.
The destitution of the church in these days is caused by the
poverty of the ministers. You may blame others for not possessing
more revelations, but why do you not give them revelation? Giving
them revelation is your job. You may accuse the church of poverty;
why however, do you not give her the needed abundance? To make
the church rich is your responsibility. The effectiveness of a minister
of the word is demonstrated by his enabling the people to hear the
word of God, not the word of the Bible alone. In his mouth the word
of the Bible becomes the word of God. It is life and light, not mere
letters. How can anyone be so mistaken as to view the ability to
preach Bible doctrines and expound Bible types as being the
qualification for a minister of the word? One who preaches in that
way gives only the outer shell of the Bible to others. He is not
recognized as a minister of the word.
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Some suggest that the church needs revelation; we acknowledge

the validity of this suggestion; but let us inquire who is going to
impart revelation to the church. We cannot place all responsibility
upon the brothers and sisters. This poverty of Gods ministers is what
makes the church poor. The lack of prophets and of vision deprive
Gods people of light. Since God gives light to the church through
His ministers, their task is tremendous.
Never assume that because you speak on the same Bible word as
the apostle of old that therefore you are a successor to the apostles.
Not so. You are a true successor to the apostles only when you
receive the same revelation and anointing as the apostles had. The
deciding factor is not in preaching the same doctrine but in receiving
the same anointing. What can be more serious in the church than that
there is no one to supply the people with Gods word, revelation, and
light? The ministers of the word must be responsible for supplying
the church with Gods word. A minister is one in whom there is light,
revelation, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. When he arises and
speaks on the Bible, God is willing to speak through the Bible. This
is how a minister supplies the church with Gods word.
The current trouble lies just here: many can preach on the Bible
but God does not speak. Knowing the word in the Bible is quite
different from obtaining the word of God. You may read the Bible
for days without Gods speaking. Then one morning the Lord speaks
to you. Everything is changed and turns to good. You exclaim, Ah,
for years I have read the Bible with such vagueness that I literally
knew nothingbut now I know. Hence the determining factor is
whether or not the Lord is speaking.
Some people never have spiritual insight other than the one time
when they are saved. Since God has not spoken much to them, they
are naturally strangers to spiritual things. Or, a certain person may
hear a message as much as ten times in the meetings with absolutely
no impression; then one day he hears a brother speak on that same
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message again and, strangely enough, he cannot bear it. This proves
that for ten times he heard only the word of the Bible, whereas this
time he heard the word of God. What a contrast! What is Gods
word? It is God Himself coming forth. God must speak to you, and
He must also speak through you. If God is silent, you will have no
way to deliver His word. A minister therefore needs to be one who
has revelation from God.
All the problems concerning the building up of the church so that
the body of Christ may attain to the full stature of Christ and be one
in faith are focused on the ministers of the word. God desires to
establish His ministers that they may perform the work of the
ministry. Does not Ephesians 4 reveal to us that the full growth and
unity of the church are realized through the work of the ministry?
Todays difficulty is the lack of ministers. It is possible that there is
no lack of preaching, yet how little the word of God is released. The
fact that Gods people currently lack light and revelation is a
responsibility which we cannot push onto the shoulders of other
brothers and sisters. The failure of the ministers to give out the word
is the reason for sinners unsaved and believers not edified. If the
ministers are incompetent, how can we expect the church to be
competent?
The crux of the matter is in our being closed to Gods revelation.
Because we are unenlightened we cannot help others towards
enlightenment. The difficulty is in us, not in them. How very serious
this is. One reason for the prevailing impotency of the church is that
our Lord does not find a way through us. The Lord is now looking
for ministers of His word. Gods word is not scarce, nor has His light
lessened; the difficulty lies in the lack in men. God is unable to
manifest Himself through us, and His light is blocked in us.
How absurd that many so-called spokesmen of God do not even
expect to speak Gods word nor anticipate His revealing Himself
while they preach on the Bible. Their whole interest is to display the
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doctrine they formulate. They are primarily if not entirely interested

in their own doctrine, in their own good thoughts. As long as their
doctrine or thoughts are released, they feel content. But let us not
forget that the word of God is the coming forth of God. If He does
not come out, people hear only your words. When He comes forth,
men begin to obtain revelation. Without God, whatever is said
merely passes from one person to another, from one mouth to
another, and from one brain to another.
Brethren, have you seen the difference between preaching the
word of the Bible and letting God reveal Himself to men? Do you see
that, though to you many words are most logical, clever and
precious, yet God does not speak in them? If and when you realize
this, you cannot but fall before God, saying, Oh Lord, I do not want
to do the work which is void of revelation, that which cannot impart
revelation to others I hate to do. Do not be a professional preacher.
Once you turn professional you speak not because you have
something to say from God but because you are obliged to utter
something. Unless you live before God you cannot be a minister of
the word. God must obtain His ministers in our midst. May we
receive mercy from Him that we may get revelation in His word and
that we may impart it to others. What else can we look for except for
Gods mercy? If all we have is a bookeven the Bibleit is dead. A
minister of the word must minister according to the Bibleyet he
needs more; he requires the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
Brethren, may we learn to expect the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
We need to pray frequently, Oh Lord, anoint Your word once again,
and give it to me. When we stand up to speak, let us tell the Lord,
Oh Lord, do anoint the word that I am going to speak. Today is the
time to ask for mercy. How the ministers have failed to bring Gods
word to men! The poverty of the ministers causes the poverty of the
church. Many are they who set their minds on truth and knowledge;
few are they who look for revelation. No wonder men are not saved
after they have heard the gospel. The life of God has not been
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released through the words. The words are empty, possessing no

value. We fail in that we allow people to praise us and to praise the
doctrine we preach rather than in our striking them to the ground
because of the tremendous light and revelation in the word. What is
urgently needed today is not to get people to admire Gods word, but
to have them stricken by Gods light. If the ministers of the word fail
to produce this result, something is wrong with them. May God be
merciful to us all.
Gods Word in Christ

One
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was

with God, and the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God (John 1.1,2). This definitely indicates that the
Son of God is this word; Christ is the word. Hence the ministry of the
word is the ministration of Gods Son. Serving the church with
Gods word is ministering the Son of God. If the seven deacons in
Acts 6 were those who served tables, the ministers of Gods word are
those who serve people with Gods word. But this word is more than
simply a word; it is a Person, even Christ Himself.
Some can only serve with the doctrines of the Bible. They have no
way to minister the Lord Jesus because they live in the realm of the
letter. Their service ends with truths, doctrines and teachings. It is
beyond their ability to minister the Christ behind the doctrine. This is
a difficulty to manythey cannot impart Christ to others. Yet the
written word of God is Christ. The Bible is more than simply a book
in whose pages certain doctrines and teachings can be found. If the
Bible is divorced from the Person of Christ it becomes a dead book.
In one realm it is just a book, but in another realm it is Christ
Himself. He who lives in the first realm, seeing the Bible merely as a
book, is not qualified to be a minister of Gods word. He can only
serve with doctrines, truths and teachings; he is unable to serve with
Christ.
Two
Pauls words are clear: Therefore from now on we (know) no
man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ
according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer (2 Cor.
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5.16). We no longer know Christ after the flesh but know Him after
the Holy Spirit. In other words, we know Him not merely as Jesus of
Nazareththe historical Jesusbut more so, we know Him as Christ
in the Holy Spirit. We should remember that those who knew Jesus
historically may not have known Him as Christ. In His earthly days
many Jews professed to have known Him. Is not this the carpenters
son? they said. Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers,
James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not
all with us? (Matt. 13.55,56) They assumed that in knowing these
things they knew Him. But we realize they did not truly know Him.
John the Baptist was sent by God. He testified by saying, After
me comes One who is mightier than I, and I am not even fit to stoop
down and untie the thong of His sandals. I baptized you with water;
but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1.7-8). To stoop
down and untie sandal thongs was a most menial job. During the
days of the Romans it was done by a slave; when the master came to
the door, the slave would kneel and untie the thong. John knew that
he was far inferior to the One who came after him. But though John
was clear about this he did not realize who it was who came after
him. He did not know that the Lord Jesus was the One. According to
the flesh John was a cousin of the Lords. They must have known
each other from childhood. Yet John had no idea that the Lord Jesus
was the One to come. I did not recognize Him, he confessed; but
He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, He upon whom you
see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the one
who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have borne
witness that this is the Son of God (John 1.33-34). At the time the
Lord Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended and remained on
Him; and by this sign John realized that Jesus, his cousin of thirty
years, was the Son of God. Though having lived so near and been so
close, John had not known Him. Only after the Holy Spirit opened
his eyes did he recognize this Jesus as the One to come. Hence it is
possible for men to live with the Lord Jesus for thirty years without
really knowing Him. For thirty years John was in constant touch with
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the Lord Jesus, yet all he knew was his cousin, the historical Jesus,
He who was of Nazareth. He never before knew that this Jesus of
Nazareth was God.
The Lord Jesus is God, but when He traveled incognito on earth
men did not recognize Him as such. It takes the unveiling of the Holy
Spirit to see Jesus as the Son of God, as Christ. In the same vein, we
can say that the Bible is just a book, though perhaps more special
than other books in the estimate of men; but when the Spirit of God
opens mens eyes they see the Bible as the revelation of Godthe
Book which reveals Gods Son. Since Jesus of Nazareth is the living
Son of God, the Scriptures reveal Him as such. If the Bible is but an
ordinary book to you, you do not know the Divine Oracle. Whoever
does not know the Son of God knows not Jesus; and whoever knows
not the Son of God does not know the Bible. Contrariwise, everyone
who knows Jesus knows Him as the Son of God; and all who know
the Bible also know the Son of God revealed by that Bible.
This book, the Bible, reveals Gods Son, the Christ. It is not an
ordinary book. While the Lord Jesus was living on earth his
contemporaries assumed varying views and criticisms toward Him.
Some said He was Jeremiah; others said He was one of the prophets.
Some insisted He was this while others maintained He was that. So
the Lord Jesus asked His disciples, But who do you say that I am?
Simon Peter replied, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
What did the Lord Jesus say afterwards? Blessed are you, Simon
Barjonas, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My
Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and
upon this rock I will build My church (Matt. 16.15-18). It takes
heavenly revelation, not human inspiration, to know the Lord Jesus:
without such revelation there can be no church, for the church is built
on that foundation. Having seen the historical Jesus as the Christ, the
Son of God then becomes the foundation on which the church is
built.
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Some may regretfully say, Alas! I was born two thousand years
too late. Had it been twenty centuries earlier I would have gone to
Jerusalem to see the Lord Jesus with my own eyes. I would have
believed in Him, even though the Jews did not believe Him as the
Son of God. We must answer in this way: even if you had lived
daily with Him, walking with Him and working with Him, you still
might not have known Him. You certainly would have known the
man Jesus, but you would not have recognized who He was. When
the Lord Jesus was on earth men held many ideas concerning Him.
They realized He was different from ordinary people, yet they did
not understand Him. Here is One who needs to be known, not to be
theorized about. But how can anyone know Him? First and foremost,
God must enlighten us for us ever to see that Jesus of Nazareth is
Christ, the Son of God.
Without the revelation of God not even following the Lord Jesus
is of any use. Men may follow Him to Caesarea but they still may
know Him not. People may stay with Him day after day, yet fail to
really recognize Him. To recognize who He is requires revelation,
because He cannot be known through outward familiarity.
Revelation, not familiarity, is the way to know Him. You need Gods
revelation, His speaking to you, His making you see, before you are
able to know this Man to be Christ, the Son of God. External
acquaintance does not give you a true knowledge of Him.
The same is true of the Bible, for the word of God is not only a
person but is also a book. Gods word is the Bible as well as Jesus of
Nazareth. If our eyes need to be opened by God to see Jesus of
Nazareth as Gods word, the Son of God, so they must be opened to
know the Bible as the word of God, as that which reveals Gods Son.
Even as one who has had a long acquaintance with the Lord Jesus
may not know Him, so he who has been familiar with the Bible
through many years of study and research may not necessarily know
this book. Gods revelation is a must; only what is opened up by God
is living.
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In the story recorded in Mark 5 of the healing of the woman who

had a flow of blood for twelve years, we find that many thronged
about the Lord Jesus but only one touched Him. This woman came
up behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For, said she,
if I just touch his garments, I shall (be made whole). This woman
had faith, and she had feeling too, because she felt in her body that
she was healed of her disease. Our Lord immediately inquired: Who
touched my garments? And His disciples said to Him, You see the
multitude pressing in on you, and you say, Who touched me? But
our Lord knew and felt the touch. There was no change in the many
who thronged around Him. It was solely the one who touched Him
who was instantly changed. It is therefore of no use if the Lord
stands by you today and you press in about His body. Jesus of
Nazareth is not known by pressing around Him. He who touches His
garments with conscious faith knows who He is. He is the Son of
God as well as Jesus of Nazareth. Alas, many press in on the
externalities of Jesus without touching the Son of God within.
By the same token, many throng the Bible but few touch the Son
of God. While the Lord Jesus was on earth He could be known in
two different realms: in the one sphere men heard Him speak, saw
Him walk, yet did not know Him one bit. In the other sphere a simple
individual touched His garments and was healed of her disease.
Many saw Him, yet only one knew that God was in Jesus of
Nazareth. Today we fear lest we only bring to men Jesus of Nazareth
according to the flesh; we equally fear to merely present the Bible as
a book. Just as crowding Jesus of Nazareth brings no relief, so
thronging the Bible produces no effect. Some, though, are
enlightened, and thus touch the Son of God in this book. The words
which the Lord utters are spirit and life. If you touch this you touch
the ministry of the word. The task is not simply presenting a book to
men, rather is it presenting the Son of God in the Book. When a
minister of the word serves people with Gods word, he
simultaneously serves with the Son of God. We minister with Christ.
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The Lord Jesus drew near to the two disciples on their way to
Emmaus and walked with them. They conversed with one another for
quite some time. The Lord also opened to them the Scriptures. As
they drew near to the village, they constrained the Lord Jesus to
remain, saying, Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and
the day is now nearly over (Luke 24.29). The Lord went in to stay
with them, and they invited Him to an evening meal. During this
entire lengthy period they failed to recognize that this was the Lord
Jesus. When He took the bread and blessed it, however, and broke it
and gave it to them, their eyes were at last opened and they
recognized Him.
This proves that men may walk and talk with Him and yet not
know Him. The Lord whom we desire to know must be known
deeper than what we can know of Him when we walk and talk with
Him. Only when He opens our eyes are we able to recognize Him.
Perhaps you regret that when the Lord was on earth you were not
there. Let it be understood, however, that even had you been present
you might not have known Him any better. Today the least and the
weakest of the saints can know the Lord Jesus as much as Peter knew
the Lord while they were together on earth. Remember, the Lord
Jesus whom the apostles knew in their spirit is exactly the same
whom you know today in your spirit.
The underlying question is this: how can we really know the Lord
Jesus? He cannot be recognized outwardly. It takes the revelation of
God to open our eyes that we may see Him and therefore really know
Him. This is where the responsibility of a minister of the word lies.
For one can spend time in searching the Scriptures, memorizing its
words, and clarifying its doctrines so that he is capable of answering
any question, and yet he may not, even in the smallest measure,
know the Son of God. It awaits the day when God opens his eyes for
him to see the Son of God. What we stress is that it is God who
opens our eyes to see the Son of God in the Bible and in Jesus of
Nazareth.
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This does not at all imply that the earthly work of the Lord Jesus
is unimportant. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a
child of God. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God is born
of God. We must not only see Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God; we
must also see Him in the Bible. None can divorce the Christ the Son
of God from Jesus of Nazareth; nor can anyone profess to know
Christ the Son of God by casting the Old and New Testaments aside.
For it is through the Bible that God enables us to know His Son.
Nevertheless, without revelation, even the studying of the Bible will
make us understand only the doctrines included, not the Christ
within.
The dilemma of Christianity lies in these two entirely contrasting
worlds. Were the outside world to be taken away and the inside
world alone to be left, things would then be very simple. But here is
the outside world of thronging as well as the inside world of
touching. Some throng, but some touch. Do you see the difference?
Thronging belongs to one sphere, whereas touching belongs to
another. Nothing is of any avail in the world of thronging; only in the
world of touching are diseases healed and problems solved. In the
first sphere there may exist persons with great learning who profess
to understand the Bible, its doctrines and teachings; but in the other
sphere we meet light, revelation, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Brethren, are you aware of these two worlds? In the first are the
scribes of the letter; in the second are the ministers of Gods word.
What you preach must be what you truly know. You need to be
brought by God to a place where you can touch the inside world. In
the other world of thronging no one can know the Lord Jesus nor the
Bible. Only the world of touch is effective, for only there is the
effectual word of God. It is rather interesting to note that the Lord
Jesus was not at all conscious of being thronged but He was
conscious of when He was touched.
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Compare two brothers. One is a simple believer. Fully aware of

his ignorance and nothingness, he approaches the Bible with fear and
trembling; and the presence of the Lord is with him, shedding light
upon the pages. The other brother lives in a quite opposite world. He
knows Greek and Hebrew as well as English. He reads the Bible
many times over and perhaps memorizes numerous passages, yet he
does not experience any light from God. He is not qualified to be a
minister of Gods word. The most he can do is impart Bible
knowledge to others; he is unable to serve the church with Christ.
The Bible is living; it is a Person, even the Son of God. If you have
not touched this living word, then all you know avails nothing.
Three
While the Lord was on earth He taught frequently and many heard
Him. For instance, after He had taught the Jews the lesson of
forgiveness He told them this: You shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free (John 8.32). They answered that they were
descendants of Abraham and had never been in bondage to anyone.
The Lord therefore answered them with: Truly, truly, I say to you,
every one who commits sin is the slave of sin (v.34). The Jews may
or may not have understood these words, but they certainly could not
deny that they had heard them. Their ears were not deaf, yet the Lord
Jesus said a peculiar thing about them, He who is of God hears the
words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are
not of God (v.47). Thus hearing is more than a matter of hearing the
sound. Some hear the word of God as well as the sound, while some
hear only the sound but not Gods word. These two are poles apart. If
you had asked these Jews whether they had heard what the Lord
Jesus had just said, they doubtlessly would have answered in the
affirmative. Nevertheless, the Lord Jesus commented that they had
not heard anything because they were not of God.
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How serious is this entire matter. The word of God is not

something people hear by just being present. Physical presence does
not insure the hearing of the word. The Jews were present and they
probably heard every syllable of what the Lord Jesus had said, yet He
categorically denied they had heard anything. The hearing He speaks
of is of a different sort. We have two kinds of hearing belonging to
two different worlds. One may hear the words of this world but fail
to hear those of the other world. This constitutes a basic problem.
Many may hear the words of the Bible but do not hear the word of
God. Those to whom the Lord addressed Himself were not fools or
idiots or deaf; they were quite ready and able to argue with Him
about His words. This they could not have done if they had not heard
nor understood. Yet the Lord Jesus insisted that whoever is of God
hears the words of God; the reason you do not hear them is that you
are not of God. Many can hear the voice of the one domain but do
not hear the voice from the other domain. They understand every
word of this realm but completely fail to apprehend that of the other.
Why do they neither hear nor understand? Because they are not of
God. Something very foundational was wrong with these people,
therefore they could not hear. The Lord explained: Why do you not
understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my
word (v.43). Physical ears can hear only physical words, that which
belongs to this world. It requires another kind of ear to hear the
words of the other realm. Only those who are of God may hear.
Many, in perusing the Bible, can only hear the outer letters of the
word of the Lord Jesus, but a minister of the word must hear the
inner word of God. We flatly deny that any who merely contact the
outside shell of the Bible can be Gods ministers of the word. The
word of God comes today by adding revelation to revelation.
Revelation alone is not enough, for the Bible is itself a revelation to
begin with. There needs to be revelation upon the revelation of God.
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Let us understand what the word of God means. It means that

there is a word behind words, a voice behind voices, and a
communication behind the letters. Its peculiar feature lies in the fact
that no natural ear can grasp it. Do you think a man hears the word of
the Lord Jesus because he is naturally endowed with cleverness and
capability? Please realize that that only enables him to contact the
outer shell of the word, the physical side of the Bible. The word of
God belongs to another world. It is heard by one who is of God.
Hence the question narrows down to the person himself. If my
physical ears are deaf I cannot hear the Lords words in the physical
sense; but if my spiritual ears are defective I am unable to hear His
word in the spiritual sense. Just as I belong to two worlds, so His
word spans two worldsone physical and the other spiritual. The
words I hear in the physical domain touch only the physical side of
His words. I may have heard and understood, but the Lord insists that
I have not heard anything. He does not want me to hear the words
only, He wishes that I may hear the other word also. Tens of
thousands may have heard the former, but those who hear the latter
may only be numbered in terms of eight or ten persons. This is the
difficulty in approaching the Bible; men may touch the outside of the
Bible without touching the Christ within, in the same way that some
thronged around Jesus physically without actually touching the Son
of God. Little use is it if we merely touch the Bible as a book.
We are (of) God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not
(of) God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and
the spirit of error (1 John 4.6). The word listen in this passage is
the same Greek word which is translated hear in John 8.47. John
candidly declared that he and those with him were sure they were of
God, and hence of the truth. Whoever knew God would listen to
them, but He who was not of God would not listen. The meaning of
the apostle is unmistakable. It was not by hearing the physical voice
of a man that one heard. At that time John was quite old. Perhaps
people were used to his voice. It was rather surprising for him to say
that only those who knew God heard him. This indicates that whether
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one hears or not does not depend on the physical ears. The word of
God belongs to another realm. Not all who are familiar with the
Bible know the word of God; neither do all who can preach on the
Bible proclaim Gods word; nor do all who accept the Bible receive
the word of God. One must have a special relationship with the Lord
before he is able to hear His word.
In this connection, there are three Scripture verses from Johns
Gospel which can be read together. God is spirit, and those who
worship him must worship in spirit and truth (4.24). That which is
born of the Spirit is spirit (3.6). The words that I have spoken to
you are spirit and life (6.63). The three instances of spirit being
mentioned here are very meaningful. God is Spirit, the words of the
Lord are spirit, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Because
the Lords words are spirit, it requires a person with spirit to
apprehend them, for only those of like nature can understand each
other. The outward word is merely a sound, something which one
can read or listen to and understand. But the inward word is spirit,
that which cannot be heard with the ears nor understood with the
mind. The words of the Lord are spirit; they are therefore beyond the
reach of ones mind or cleverness to understand or to propagate.
Only he who is born of the Spirit may hear them. A man with spirit
must learn anew how to listen to the word of God.
Brethren, do you now realize the absolute necessity of having the
outward man broken? Unless the outer man is broken, no one can
serve as a minister of Gods word. This outer man lacks that basic
relationship with God. None of ones cleverness, emotion, feeling,
thought or understanding is of any avail. (Later we shall see how all
these can be useful, though in this basic matter of receiving Gods
word they are useless.) Gods word is spirit; thus His word is
effective only when the spirit of man is exercised. Let us recognize
this principle: that God is Spirit and therefore He must be worshiped
in spirit; similarly Gods word is spirit, hence it must be received
with spirit.
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The disciples came and said to him, Why do you speak to
them in parables? And he answered and said to them, To you it
has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him
shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but
whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away
from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while
seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor
do they understand. And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is
being fulfilled, which says: You will keep on hearing, but will not
understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive.
For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears
they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes; lest they
should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
understand with their heart and turn again, and I should heal
them. (Matt. 13.10-15)
The disciples asked the Lord why He spoke to the multitude in

parables. The Lords answer was: To you it has been granted to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not
been granted. Why was this so? Because something had happened
in the preceding chapter; they had blasphemed the Holy Spirit. The
Lord had cast out demons in the power of the Holy Spirit, but those
among the multitudes insisted that He had cast out demons by
Beelzebub. They called the Holy Spirit Beelzebub, which meant
king of flies. Consequently the Lord Jesus turned to the use of
parables in Chapter 13. In other words, hereafter they should hear but
never understand. They heard of sowing, but they did not know what
was sown. They heard of the weeds planted by the enemy, yet they
could not figure out what these weeds were. They heard of a net
thrown into the sea, but they were at a loss as to what the casting of
the net meant. Though they heard of a woman mixing leaven in the
measures of meal, they were plainly puzzled as to what the Lord was
after. All these things did they hear, yet they understood nothing.
After the Jews had blasphemed the Holy Spirit they began to hear
many parables.
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Today we use parables to make people understand, but the Lord

Jesus at the first employed parables to deny to them an
understanding. The Lord used parables purposely to allow them to
hear the outward words without admitting them into the secrets of the
inward meaning. Nowadays many read the Bible in the same way as
the Jews at that time had heard the parables. All they know are the
sowing, the good soil, the thorns, the rocky ground, the thirty, sixty
and hundredfold. They have undoubtedly heard the words, though
they apprehend almost nothing. They see the external elements
without ever seeing the inward reality.
Four
What is the ministry of the word? It touches what is hidden behind
the parables or words and what can only be seen when the person is
right before God. If the peoples hearts have grown dull they
naturally cannot hear. A dull heart brings in closed eyes and heavy
ears. Todays difficulty does not stem from a scarcity of Gods word;
rather does it arise from a lack of understanding among Gods
children. How people incorrectly take parables and external words as
the word of God! Brethren, the man who touches the Bible does not
necessarily touch the word of God. It is a fact that to touch Gods
word one needs to touch the Bible. But touching the Bible alone is
not enough. You should ask the Lord, Oh Lord, let me see Your
word behind the words; let me see Your light in the light; and let me
receive revelation in Your revelation. If you fail to touch what lies
behind, then your words have little to offer to people, for you cannot
communicate Christ to them.
The Lord is not to be known by merely understanding the truth of
the doctrine of the Bible; He is known when you see the light of His
countenance. Because you know the Lord, so you know the Bible as
the word of God. This is the only way to supply the church with
Christ. After you have seen Christ you can easily find a given aspect
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of Him in the Bible. Hence it is said, and said truly, that there is no
page in the Bible which does not speak of Christ. Yes, when you
know Him, everything in the Bible becomes living.
So the issue here is whether or not you have the revelation of
Christ. If you have the revelation of Christ, Bible knowledge will
strengthen your apprehension of Him. Without that revelation, the
Bible and the Lord remain two distinct and separate entities. You
may supply the church with the Bible, but you are not able to supply
Christ to the church. How do you supply the church with Christ? By
presenting something of Him that corresponds to each portion of
Scripture which you use. You not only use Bible terms and words,
you actually supply Christ to the church. Oh, the futility of just the
bare studying and expounding of the Scriptures! Always remember
that helping others to know the Bible and helping others to know
Christ are two opposite matters.
The ministry of Gods word must be exceedingly subjective,
something of mans experience. The objective way of expounding
the Bible as written cannot be viewed as the ministry of the word.
Each and every minister must be a person with revelation, that is, he
must see something subjectively. After receiving revelation and
seeing something inwardly, he may, basing his word on the Bible,
preach Christ to others. To speak according to the Bible and to speak
according to Christ are two totally different things. Many currently
are preaching on the Bible: some expound it according to its letter
while some expound it according to Christ. Those who are able to
supply others with the Christ who has been revealed to them are they
who have received revelation from God and have found the
counterpart in the Scripture.
We acknowledge the usefulness of many expository messages
especially for those who have had little experiencebecause such
messages can deliver us from error and difficulties. But strength of
ministry and excellence of service are not to be found in the
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119
exposition as such. They are to be seen in the person who, knowing

the Lord and selecting the appropriate word in the Bible, supplies the
church with Christ.
Accordingly, a basic knowledge of Christ is required of a minister
of Gods word. Oftentimes you may know something inwardly
before the Lord before you know it in the Bible. It takes time for you
to find it in the Bible; but when you do, you know the word will be
released, because Christ has become the word. It may take a few
days or even a year or two before you see it in the Book. You will
then say, Oh, this is what I learned before the Lord on such and
such a day. One passage after another begins to come to youthe
Christ whom you know in revelation gradually becomes the word.
You are sure that the Lord wants you to minister this word and He
will providentially arrange the time and opportunity for you to
deliver it. And thus the word you preach shall become Christ in
others. This is the ministry of the word in us.
The Christ we know in revelation gradually becomes the word in
us. We have found Him in the Bible, perhaps in one, two, or nine or
ten different passages. We progressively see the reality of Christ in
the word, and so we are able to supply Him along with the word. By
the mercy of God, those people who receive such a word will find
the Holy Spirit working in them to transform the word into Christ in
them. This is called the supply of Christ, that is, Christ is supplied
through the word of the Bible; and men receive Him when they
receive the word. This forms the basis for all ministry of the word.
Brethren, you ought to recognize the disparity which so greatly
exists between the inner way and the external way of ministry. Word
is important to a minister, but this word must be something which
you see before God, something which you meet in Christ. Only then
will this Book be quickened into the living word. If all you see is the
Book, the best you can do is give some expository preachingyou
have no word from God. Though this may help some to understand a
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little, it is not adequate to bring men to the Lord. You can render help
on truth, but you cannot lead others to a living knowledge of the
Lord.
We consequently need to know what the word of God is, how to
touch it, and how to minister it. We must pay the price of not letting
out hearts be dull, our ears heavy, or our eyes closed. We have to
really see God so that we may hear and hearken, see and perceive.
We must touch both the outside and the inside worlds of the word,
for only so do we gradually become useful instruments in Gods
hand. May God be merciful to us, enabling us to see that just as Jesus
of Nazareth is Christ, so the written word of God is Christ; that just
as the Man in the flesh is Christ, so the Bible is likewise Christ. Both
the incarnate Son of God and the printed Scriptures are the word of
God.
Ministry opens up to those who touch the inside as well as the
outside of the word. Though they may receive into themselves the
Bible by memory, any who know not Christ are disqualified from
being ministers of the word. Hence we must fall before God and look
for His revelation. Only in this way shall the words which we speak
cause other people similarly to fall before Him. This is not a question
of degree but a matter of kind. Many ministers do not possess the
right kind of ministry. Should God be gracious to us, we shall begin
afresh in ministry. We will touch the Bible through knowing the
Lord, and thus be ministers of His word.
Knowing Gods Word through

Christ
One
A minister of the word is one who has the revelation

of Christ, one in whom God has been pleased to reveal His Son (see
Gal. 1.16). It is more than that he just says this is so, but he inwardly
knows that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. To say so
takes only two or three minutes to recite, but the Lord says: Flesh
and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in the
heavens. To know Christ is better than to know words; it is a seeing.
As one sees this vision of the Son of God everything but Christ
recedes, be it sanctification, righteousness, or life. Out of this entire
universe nothing can be compared with Christ; no spiritual thing can
vie with Him, for Christ is all and in all.
Outside of Christ there is neither life nor light, sanctification nor

righteousness. Once a man is brought by God into this revelation of
Christ, he begins to realize there is nothing apart from Christ. Christ
is everything: He is the Son of God as well as the word of God; He is
love, sanctification, righteousness, salvation, redemption,
deliverance, grace, light and work. He fills everything. All which we
have seen in the past, however much it may be, fades away before
Him. Nothing can stand its ground before this grand revelation.
Moses and Elijah disappear, so do Peter, James, and John. The Lord
Jesus alone remains. He fills all and is all. Christ is the center as well
as the circumference. Gods center and periphery are found in Christ.
After a person passes through this basic experience of being
brought by God to Christ for a true knowledge of His Son, he begins
to know the word of God. Thus shall he be able to supply Christ.
Without this revelation of Christ, no one is able to minister Him to
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others. One cannot minister the Christ one does not know, nor can
one serve with only a fragmentary knowledge of Christ. Ministry
cannot be based on fragmentary knowledge. From the days of Peter
and Paul up to this present hour, all who before God possess the
ministry of the word have had a basic vision of the Lord Jesus. To
minister Christ one needs to be brought into a face-to-face
knowledge of Gods Son. He must know the Son of God in the depth
of his being, know Him as preeminent over all things, as the All and
in all. Then and only then can he supply people with Christ. The
Bible thereafter becomes a living book to him.
Have you seen this fact that it is Gods revelation which gives us a
real understanding of Christ? Searching the Scriptures may convince
people that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of God, but it
does not guarantee they will have touched Christ. By reading the
Bible they may comprehend Him, but they do not necessarily have
revelation. Many are crowding Christ along this road; yet few really
touch Him. Today we are still in need of Gods mercy that we may
be enlightened and so receive grace. For God to reveal His Son in us
is not the result of research or searching; it is entirely a matter of
mercy and revelation. It is an inward seeing, an inner knowing. And
thereafter the Bible becomes a new and living book. Many puzzles
and discrepancies which you formerly found in the Bible are solved
once you have seen Christ. Indeed, the Scriptures become quite clear
and refined to you. By knowing Christ inwardly you can commence
to understand the Bible. Such basic revelation shows you who the
Lord actually is.
Two
What is meant by God revealing His Son in us? We cannot
explain it; nobody can, not even Paul. How do we know that some
have received this revelation of God while others have not? Some
can testify that they have seen, but others cannot so assert. Some are
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clear, some are blurred in vision. You may often spend time and
energy in thinking and seeking, yet nothing happens. Then one day
God is merciful to you and you begin to see without any effort. We
may have prayed, May You be my all, may You fill all and be all.
We were seeking, though we knew not what we were saying.
But one day God showed mercy to us and revealed His Son in us.
Now we can say quite simply and naturally, Thank God, Christ is
all. Today all my past experience and searching are gone. Gone are
my love, my faith, my righteousness, my holiness, and even my
victory, for Christ has become all to me. Thenceforward we are able
to declare that Christ is preeminent and all-inclusive. This is a basic
revelation resulting in our learning to understand Gods written
word. If we learn Gods Bible through Gods Son we shall
understand and appreciate so well that we may exclaim, Oh, now I
begin to know what was hidden from me before!
Let us be those who learn as little children. How, for example,
does a child learn to know an ox? There are two different ways: one
is to draw an ox on paper and write the word ox beside it; the other
is to show the child a real ox. Which of these ways enables the child
to really know an oxthe drawing of an ox or the living ox? Since
the drawing is only a few inches high, the child may easily
misconstrue the ox to be a small cow. But to see a living ox gives the
child an entirely different understanding. (It is true, of course, that
for the child who has seen an ox and so has an impression of it but
knows not its name, the drawing and its caption serve as a help.)
Even so, in like manner must we ask God to reveal Christ to us. After
we have once met Him we will find the Bible most clear and
profitable to us for it unfolds to us many things concerning Christ. If
the basis is correct, the rest is all right. With the foundation laid, all
else falls into its proper place and can be rightly related.
It is rather difficult to show people things in the Bible. It is like a
brother who read a great deal about plants. He found described in one
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book a certain plant with particular leaves and flowers, and off he
went to the hills to find this plant. But his search was without
success. Perhaps it is easier to learn words through pictures than to
find objects through pictures. The same thing can be said of
recognizing people. We would rather see the person first before we
see his photo, for it is the simplest way of knowing him. So it is in
the lives of all Gods children, including Paul and Peter: they all
came to know Christ through the mercy of God. The Lord Himself
declares that flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my
Father who is in heaven. It is through Gods mercy and grace that
we know Christ by His revealing His Son in us. After that happens
we can know the Bible, because the true knowledge of the word
comes through Christ.
Three
The salient question therefore is this: Are you merely supplying
people with the Bible or are you one who has met Christ and so
possesses that basic knowledge of Christ? If you are one who has
that basic seeing, you will naturally thank God for making many
words of the Bible clear to you. Daily you discover the accuracy of
the word as you pore over the Bible. You first know the Lord
inwardly, next you know Him in the Bible. Once you have had that
subjective knowledge of the Lord, you find all the words of God in
the Bible to be correctfitting in, one with the other. What you
considered in the past as difficulties now turns to be profitable; what
was unimportant before today becomes significant. Every point falls
into perfect place; none can be rejected. Henceforward your days are
days of knowing the Bible. You do not see everything all at once, but
gradually there is an increasing harmony between what you have
been shown and the word of the Bible. We know the things of the
Bible through inner light and revelation, not through the Bible itself.
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The folly of human thought manifests itself in following the way

of the mind, that is, in man considering himself competent to study
the Bible. If only he can spend time studying it, he feels he can
comprehend itwith or without prayer. This is the wrong way. At
the time the Lord Jesus was born many Jews were so thoroughly
conversant with the Scriptures that they could reply immediately
without need of further research at hometo Herods inquiry as to
where Christ should be born. They referred to the Old Testament by
quoting the prophet, And you, Bethlehem, Land of Judah, are by no
means least among the leaders of Judah; for out of you shall come
forth a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel(Matt.2.6). They
could recite Scripture by memory, yet did they know Christ? Their
familiarity with the Scriptures did not help them to seek Christ, it
instead helped to kill Christ by giving assistance to Herod in his
attempt to slay Gods Anointed. How absurd is such familiarity with
the Bible! And how distorted is the use to which such Bible
knowledge may be put!
When the Lord Jesus came to the earth He fulfilled the words of
the Bible one after another. All who know the Scriptures know for
certain, from all these fulfillments of prophecy, that Jesus of
Nazareth is the Son of God. But did the Pharisees know Him? They
neither recognized Him nor accepted Him. They inscribed Scripture
verses on their phylacteries and the fringes of their garments. They
possessed Bible knowledge and the ability to explain prophecies, to
expound and to teach doctrines, yet they shut out Christ. They
touched the Bible without touching Christ. They handled the Old
Testament as a book to be read, as something upon which to do
research work, yet they rejected the Giver of salvation!
During this same period there was another group of people,
including those such as the tax-collector Matthew and the fisherman
Peter. Even in the time of the Book of Acts these same people were
despised as uneducated and untrained men (4.13). Yet they truly
knew the Lord, because they had met Christ and because God had
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revealed His Son in them. God revealed His Son to Peter in the
district of Caesarea Philippi, enabling him to know from within that
Jesus was the Son of God, Gods Anointed. Now according to the
Lords ministry, Jesus is the Christ of God; according to His person,
He is the Son of God. So far as His work is concerned, Jesus is Gods
Christ; but as to His own self, He is Gods Son. These two
revelations are one, and are the greatest revelation of all; the entire
church is built upon them. The uneducated, common people knew
Gods Son; they all became experts on the Bible. Being a taxcollector, Matthew had little knowledge of the Scriptures. Yet after
he knew the Lord, great was his understanding of the Old Testament.
This is not learning words through pictures; this is learning pictures
through fact. First know the Lord, next find Him in the Book, even as
you would immediately recognize who was in a picture if you had
previously known the person. Know Christ first, then know His
Book.
Mans problem is that he reverses the order of Christ and the
Bible. Men insist on knowing the Bible first and knowing the Lord
afterwards. Consequently they may know the Bible without knowing
Christ. We may not fully appreciate this difference since we are not
Jews. Suppose we were Jews born in the land of Judea under the old
covenant. As we read the Old Testament according to its letter we
would find the whole book a giant puzzle. Even today the Old
Testament is still perplexing to many so-called theologians and
unbelievers. Not so with Peter, Matthew, John and James. They
understood the Old Testament clearly because they had met Jesus of
Nazareth, divinely revealed to them as the Son of God. As they read
their Old Testament they could say that this was that. From the first
chapter of Genesis through the fourth chapter of Malachi they
continually found Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ, the Son of God.
They knew the Bible, not directly from its pages, but through Christ.
All who know Christ just naturally know the Bible. Nowadays many
nominal Christians cannot make sense out of the Scriptures after
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even perhaps years of reading; but one day they see Jesus the Saviour
and immediately the Bible becomes a new book to them.
Knowing the Lord is therefore knowing the Bible, for revelation
comes from Christ. He who has the revelation of Christ has
revelation on the Bible, while he who professes to know the word
through the Book may not have any revelation at all. The experience
of many who know the Lord proves to us that studying the Bible
alone is inadequate. We need to remember that we must first know
Christ before we can know the Bible.
The experience of Paul supports this axiom. Though he was a
good and pious Pharisee, thoroughly acquainted with the Scriptures,
he nonetheless persecuted those of the Way everywhere. It is
possible for man to be so conversant with the sacred writings and
still persecute the Lord Jesus. Paul was not suddenly awakened to the
fact that Jesus of Nazareth was Gods Son only after he had
diligently studied the Scriptures. No, he knew the Lord when one day
Gods light shone on him. He was previously one who hated and
persecuted the Lord by searching out men or women who belonged
to the Way, bringing them bound to Jerusalem. In those days he may
have been looked upon as being the worst enemy of the church. How
he must have been in total darkness! Yet, as he was enlightened by
Gods light, he instantly fell to the ground. He heard a voice saying
to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And he replied,
Who are you, Lord?, followed by What shall I do, Lord? His
prostration was a genuine one. His entire being fell with his body.
The Paul of flesh and blood was weakened, the Paul within was also
weakened. What kind of Paul do you find in Acts and in his Epistles
after he had received this revelation? He persistently explained the
Old Testament by telling us Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son
of God. To him the Old Testament was an open and living book.
The Bible will become a sealed volume if the knowledge of Christ
is shut out. Many with good brains and great learning cannot make
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any sense out of reading the Bible. They shake their heads when told
how precious is this Book. You are clear but they are puzzled,
because they do not know Christ. The person who knows Christ is
the one who knows the word of God. This, however, does not
preclude the possibility of men finding God through the Bible. Some
have indeed found God this way. This is because God has mercifully
enlightened them. As they were reading the Scriptures it pleased God
to reveal His Son in them that they might be saved. Even so, the way
to know the Bible is through knowing Christ. As you read Romans,
Galatians, and Ephesians you will find a man who had great
understanding of the Old Testament. How did Paul come to such
knowledge? By his knowing Christ inwardly first.
Four
Once Paul had been enlightened to know Christ, he at once began
to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus is Christ. For several days
he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately
he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, He is the Son
of God. But when the Jews refused to believe what he proclaimed,
Paul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who
lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ (Acts
9.19-20,22). Since the Jews believed in the Old Testament, Paul
proved to them from its words that Jesus was the Christ. How strange
to find a man, who only a few days before had made havoc in
Jerusalem of those who called on this Name and had come to
Damascus to take them bound before the chief priests, now proving
with such strength that Jesus was the Christ by the words of the Old
Testament. This indicates to us that the ministry of the word is based
on knowing Christ.
Again and again we pledge our respect for the Bible. The
foundation of all the words of God is in that Book. But we also stress
that the use of the Bible alone does not make anyone a minister of
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the word. There is no word of God for those who do not read the
Bible; but familiarity with the Bible does not automatically constitute
a ministry of the word. Knowing Christ is the key to ministry. If you
are to proclaim the word of the Lord you need to have a strong and
thorough enlightenment which causes you to know that Jesus of
Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of God. Such knowledge makes you
fall to the ground and turn a hundred and eighty degrees. And so
shall the Bible become a new and open book to you.
After Peter had received this basic revelation of Christ, the Lord
Jesus told him: Upon this rock I will build My church (Matt.
16.18). This rock points not only to Christ but to the revelation of
Christ as well. Peters confession was not the outcome of what flesh
and blood had revealed, but was the result of what was revealed by
the Father who is in heaven. Through revelation we come to know
that the rock is the Christ, the Son of God. The church is built upon
this Rock. The foundation of the church is laid on Jesus as Christ, the
Son of God. The gates of hades shall not prevail against the church
because its foundation is Christ, the Son of God. But how is this
Christ recognized? How is this Son of God known? He is known as
such through revelation, not through Bible instruction given by flesh
and blood. Supposing someone is speaking on the Bible today, that is
to say, flesh and blood is teaching the Book; do you therefore know
Christ? No. You know Christ when the heavenly Father reveals Him
to you apart from the instruction of flesh and blood. As God speaks,
you come to know who Jesus of Nazareth is. Thus is the church built
upon this revelation of Christ.
Whether or not there is the revelation of Christ is a matter which
concerns not only Peter, Paul, John, and Matthew; it also concerns
the entire church. If we wish to serve God with His word we must
possess this basic revelation. Otherwise, we may teach the Bible but
we cannot supply Christ. A minister of the word is to serve people
with Christ. This work of imparting the Lord to others requires us to
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have a revelation of who Jesus is. Without this revelation the church
is without foundation.
What happened to Peter, Matthew, John, and Paul in the early
days must happen to a minister of the word today. We have some
brothers who do not possess much Bible knowledge; nevertheless,
they have a special experience, that is, they have been brought by the
Lord to such a place as to be prostrate before Him. They know Jesus
of Nazareth is Gods Christ who surpasses all works; they know
Jesus of Nazareth is Gods Son who transcends everything. And
when they begin to preach from the Bible they are truly ministers of
the word, because they know Christ. Do remember that the ministry
of the word is based not only on familiarity with the Bible, but also,
and more importantly, on the knowledge of Christ. This does not
dismiss the preciousness of knowing and expounding the Scriptures.
It only emphasizes the fact that there can be no ministry of the word
through touching the Bible outwardly without an inward knowledge
of Christ, for the ministry of the word is founded upon an inner
revelationnot on many fragmentary revelations of different
passages in the Bible but on one basic revelation of Christ.
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Who is a minister of the word? He is one who translates Christ
into the Bible; that is, he tells people of the Christ he knows in the
words of the Bible so that in those who receive the Bible the Holy
Spirit will translate it back into Christ. This may sound strange, yet
this is the fact. The Christ he knows is a living person, and the Bible
is also full of this living Christ. He sees the Lord Jesus through the
mercy of God, yet he sees Him in the Bible too. When he speaks on
the Bible he translates Christ into the Bible.
We know that as far as heaven is from earth, so far is the distance
between a word with a translation and one without a translation.
Some in their speaking move from the Bible to Christ, since they
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make the Bible the starting point; others, though, start with Christ
and transform the living Christ into the word of the Bible. They put
Him in the words of the Book and present this to the people. The
Holy Spirit is then responsible for opening up these words and
imparting Christ to the hearers. If there is no knowledge of Him the
presentation will stop short, with just the words of the Bible being
uttered; nothing will happen to the audience since only the Bible is
being passed on.
Men need to know Christ. One who possesses a basic knowledge
of Christ is able to send Him forth in the words of the Bible;
subsequently the Holy Spirit will take up His responsibility. Man
speaks and the Holy Spirit works. It is the Holy Spirit who breaks
open the word and supplies the people with Christ. This is called the
ministry of the word. We must be responsible in sending forth by
words the Christ we know and possess, and then the Holy Spirit will
be responsible to send out Gods word. If we begin with the doctrines
and teachings of the Bible the Holy Spirit will not be responsible for
the supply of Christ. Speaking on the Scriptures alone does not
supply Christ; it takes a knowledge of Him to make the supply. Only
at that moment is the word of the Bible living and effectual.
A minister of the word is one who is able to impart the Lord
through the words he speaks. As the words are given, the Holy Spirit
works to enable men to touch and to know Christ. Only in this way
can the church be profited. Do not say that the hearers must bear all
the responsibility. We ought to know better: that the primary
responsibility is ours. It has become almost habitual for people to
hear some teachings or expositions of the Bible. Everything starts
with the Book and ends with the Book. They are not shown the
revelation of Christ behind this Book. And consequently the church
becomes poor and desolate.
To translate the Christ we know into the words of the Bible and to
retranslate, by the Holy Spirit, these words back into Christ in people
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constitute the ministry of the word of God. We need to translate the

Personal Word into spoken word, and the Holy Spirit will translate
the spoken word back into the Personal Word. A minister of the word
is able to make the Personal Word and the spoken word one. When
he stands up to speak, people see the Christ of God in his words.
With his words the word of God is sent forth. The Bible is sent out
and so is Christ, for these two are one.
The poverty of the church today is due to the poverty of the
ministers. Let us therefore ask God to be merciful to us, that we may
see how fragmentary are our revelations and how very external and
superficial is much of our words and our expositions of the Bible.
The Christ we know is not full enough; the dealings we receive are
not sufficient and thorough. As a result we have little supply of
Christ. We may tell people the words of the Bible but we cannot
impart Christ Himself to them. But, brethren, if one day you are
really under the mercy of God, you will be enlightened to see that in
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. The Son of God is the Word, and the Word became
flesh; Jesus of Nazareth is the Word. The Bible is the word of God;
and so is this Man. Being chosen of God to be His minister, you
speak on this Book and you are speaking of this Man. As you give
the words of this Book to men you give this Man to them, for you are
preaching Christ.
True preaching is sending forth Christ. The supply of Gods word
is the supply of this Man. Unless one has been prostrated before God,
saying, Oh Lord, I am undone, he cannot be a minister of the word.
By looking at a persons attitude we can safely judge whether he is a
true minister or not. Who can listen to these hard words? It is not
preaching about Christ, but preaching Christ. It is not delivering a
message but delivering a Man. As people accept our words they
accept Christ, because the Holy Spirit imparts Christ to them. This
alone makes us ministers of the word.
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This is an enormous task, a task which far surpasses human

ability. Every servant of God must realize his incompetency. He
should prostrate himself before God, knowing how incompetent he is
in supplying Christ, even though he may be well able to speak on the
doctrines or teachings of the Bible. Let us look to Gods mercy
today. We need to re-evaluate everything. We must see how
absolutely useless we are. We are utterly helpless without His mercy.
To be a minister of the word is too serious a matter to be taken
lightly. It is not an easy task which can be fulfilled just by reading
the Bible so many times. A minister of the word must be able to
supply Christ and help people to touch Christ by his words.
PART THREE
THE MINISTRY
10
The Foundation of Ministry

Having considered both the minister and
the word of the Lord, we now turn our
attention more fully to the subject of
ministry.
As we have indicated before, in the ministries of both the New

and the Old Testaments there is something of human element. There
is a danger, though, if man, his ear and tongue not being instructed,
were to mix himself in with Gods word. Man could easily blend in
his thought and feeling with the word of God if he were not a person
who had undergone the dealing and cutting work of the Holy Spirit.
Gods word would then be contaminated and defiled by man. This is
in fact a great danger. To obtain a pure minister of the word God has
to so work in a person that his outward man is broken. Hence it is
necessary for a minister of the word to accept the discipline and
control of God; otherwise he will surely destroy Gods word by the
mingling in of his own undealt flesh.
But beyond this consuming work of the Holy Spirit we have seen
that there must also be the constituting work of the Holy Spirit. We
do indeed need the Spirit of God to apply the cross to us so as to rid
us of all which we should not have, but we in addition need Him to
incorporate the life of Christ in us. The Holy Spirit had so
incorporated Christ in Paul that he became a very different person
from that which he had been before conversion. This is not the
changing of the flesh; it is the Holy Spirit constituting Christ in man.
In Paul it had reached such a mature stage that when he spoke, the
Spirit of God spoke too. Said Paul, I give instructions, not I, but the
Lord (1 Cor. 7.10). This is ministry, and such a man as this is a
minister of Gods word. The human element must be so dealt with
that when mingled with Gods word it will not defile it. Gods word
remains pure. Not only is it not destroyed, it is even perfected. The
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Holy Spirit has been able to work to such a depth that when that man
stands to speak, people hear the Lord speaking. You feel safe to let
him speak, for the constituting work of the Holy Spirit in him is deep
and thorough, so thorough in fact that his speaking is Gods
speaking, his judgment is Gods judgment, and his refutation is
Gods refutation.
In considering the matter of the word of God we saw two
important factors. First, that all latter revelations must follow the
preceding ones. Since all the ministries of the New Testament words
are based upon those of the Old Testament words, todays ministry
of the word must be founded on the revelation of both the Old and
the New Testaments. The Bible is therefore the basis of the word.
God does not speak extraneously or independently; He speaks once
again through His word and releases new light from the light already
given. Today God does not give light independently. He imparts
fresh revelation according to His past revelations.
Second, that it is imperative for those who would be ministers of
Gods word to have a fundamental encounter with Christ. They need
to have this basic revelation before they can use the Bible as the
foundation to their ministry. These two factors are not at all
contradictory. On the one hand, todays ministry of the word must be
based unquestionably upon the past ministries of the wordeven as
the New Testament is based on the Old Testament; on the other hand,
we must also recognize the fact that all who minister the word must
first have met the Lord and received the revelation of Christ before
they can speak according to the word in the Bible. This latter point
cannot be overlooked. For me to speak by my merely taking hold of
the word already given in the Bible would be inadequate; I must first
possess this fundamental unveiling of Christ before I can minister
according to the word in the Bible.
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Each Ministry Issues from a Revelation

When we touch the subject of ministry we should understand that
there are two kinds of revelation; the basic, which is given once for
all, and the detailed, which is given time and again. When you
receive the revelation of Christ you obtain the basic revelation, the
same which Paul once received. Later on, you discover from the
Bible that what you have already seen before the Lord is this basic
revelation. In seeing the Lord your total being has fallen down before
God. You know that nothing you once possessed can now stand, not
even your zealousness in serving Godmuch as Paul had once done.
Let us realize that Saul of Tarsus was felled to the ground. This
prostration of his was not that of sin but was that of work, not of
coldness but of zeal. He knew the law, he was familiar with the Old
Testament, he was more zealous than his contemporary Pharisees. He
was so full of zeal that he laid aside everything to persecute the
church. He felt that this was serving God, and he served in an
absolute way. Setting aside his error for the moment, it must be
admitted that his zeal was very real. Yet he instantly fell down when
struck by light. He quickly saw that his past had been spent in
persecuting the Lord, not in serving Him at all.
Many may be saved and yet still be blind in this matter of service
or work, even as Saul was blind. Saul thought he was in the way of
serving God, yet when he was enlightened by the Lord he cried out
from the depth of his being, What shall I do, Lord? Perhaps this is
a question which many have never encountered. They have never
been moved by the Holy Spirit to address the Lord as Lord. They
may only be calling Lord, Lord, just as those in Matthew 7, but
never have called Jesus as Lord according to 1 Corinthians 12. Here
in Saul we see one who confessed for the first time Jesus of Nazareth
as Lord and who also asked for the first time, What shall I do,
Lord? He had fallen downdown from his work, his zeal, his
righteousness. Upon his experiencing this fundamental seeing, the
Bible became a new bookan opened bookto him.
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Many people depend on instructions or references in studying the

Bible; they do not know the Scriptures through meeting the Lord.
But how marvelous: as soon as anyone meets the Lord and receives
enlightenment the Bible becomes a new book to him. One brother,
speaking out of his experience, once said, When the Lord puts me
under His light, what I get that day is enough for me to speak for a
month. First you must have this basic revelation; and out of that,
many more revelations will be given to you. When you have received
this fundamental revelation you will discover God speaking here and
there throughout the Scriptures. Day after day you will receive many
fragmentary revelations which you can use in serving people. This is
called ministry.
Ministry, therefore, is based upon our getting a word before God.
We have met Christ, and we want to serve the church with the Christ
we know; and for this we need to have revelation each time we serve.
Ministry requires our seeing something before God and in freshness
presenting this thing to the church. Revelations, we have said, are of
two kinds: the basic and the detailed, the once for all and the time
and again. Without possessing the first it is impossible to have the
second. Only after you have secured the basic is your spirit usable;
only then is your knowledge of the Lord and that of the Bible usable,
and only then too are you usable.
Even so, you still cannot simply go out and minister. It is true that
this basic revelation makes you a minister, but when you do minister
you need detailed revelations added to the foundational one. Ministry
is founded on the basic understanding and revelation, but when God
sends you out to speak today you must learn how to receive the
particular revelation for that day before God. Not because I have
once received revelation am I therefore able to speak. Each time I
minister I need to receive special revelation for the occasion. Each
revelation brings in service, each revelation gives a special supply,
each revelation constitutes a ministry.
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The basic revelation once given will not supply enough for a
lifetime; it only serves as the basis for a fuller and continuous
revelation before God. The first revelation brings in many more
revelations. Without the first there can be no additional; but with the
first, many more will be given. Not because a person has once
received the basic revelation can he thereafter minister with that
revelation for years or for a lifetime. If we need to depend
momentarily on the Lord for our life, we in like measure need to do
so for our work. Each revelation we receive gives birth to each new
ministry. It requires many revelations for many times of ministry. Let
us keep in mind that each revelation is only sufficient for one
occasion of ministry, not for two. Nevertheless, all these detailed
revelations are based on the fundamental one.
These foundational problems must be solved before there is the
possibility of our being ministers of Gods word. Revelation after
revelation must continuously be added; no one revelation can supply
unlimited ministry. Each revelation affords ministry for one
occasion; each gives one service. It never means having several
sermons prepared in advance which we can use whenever an
occasion arises. It cannot be that I have one sermon memorized on
which I can speak at any time. We should understand that we speak
Gods word, not ours. You may have memorized a speech by heart,
yet if you are going to minister Gods word you need to have Him
speak to you first. Continuous revelation begets continual ministry.
Spiritual Things Are Nurtured through Revelation
After you have received this basic revelation for the first time, you
discover that the Bible is living. For example, you come to see that
Christ is your holiness. You are especially clear that Christ is your
sanctification, not that Christ sanctifies you nor imparts sanctification
to you, but that Christ is your sanctification. The man who sees this
is a man whose eyes have been opened by the Lord. He sees that his
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holiness is not a behaviour but a Person, even Christ Himself. The

same is true of righteousness. It is not the sum total of fifty good
acts, it is rather Christ my righteousness. God has made Christ my
righteousness; my righteousness is a Person.
Maybe two months later you go out to minister. You begin to tell
the brothers and sisters that Christ is our sanctification, that
sanctification as a thing and sanctification as a Person are two
different matters. To do this, of course, you cannot merely depend on
the revelation you obtained two months ago. You need to approach
the Lord once more, saying, What should I speak, Lord? After you
are shown that you are to speak on this topic, you then have the
ministry of the word. Each time God wants you to speak this word
He will rekindle the revelation formerly given so that you may see it
once again in such freshness that it is as if you had never seen it
before.
What is meant by revelation? It means we see something in
Christ. The Bible is full of Christ, and revelation shows us what is in
Him. Christ our sanctification is a fact already recorded in the Bible,
but when we see it for the first time we feel the newness of it.
Whatever is seen in revelation is the newest thing in the world, and it
is full of life and power. Revelation is new, and it renews old things
too.
We wish brothers and sisters to take note of this fact: that
revelation not only makes the letter living, the old renewed, and the
objective subjective; it likewise turns the subjective into a new
thing. The original revelation transforms all the objective truth in
Christ into subjective experience in ones life. Before that revelation,
everything in Christ was objective; but the moment one receives that
basic revelation, all these objective things turn subjective in him.
Nonetheless, when one comes to minister Christ, he needs to have
God renew that particular thing to him.
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Let us remember that all spiritual things must be nurtured by

revelation. God desires to have all things concerning Christ
maintained livingly and nurtured through revelation. Only Gods
revelation can ever make an old thing new in us. Whatever is in
Christ must always be kept in revelation; the absence of revelation
will deaden everything. You may assume that since you have seen it
before, surely you can speak on it today. But the result will be that
you are unable to give people anything. The same thing can be
applied to preaching of the gospel. You well recall how the Lord is
your Savior and how your sins were forgiven. And in preaching the
gospel you sometimes do touch this reality; but at other times the
longer you speak the less you sense it, like a paste which has lost its
adhesiveness. The one is in revelation while the other is not. Only
what is in revelation is fresh, living, and powerful. Remember, death
comes to all spiritual matters if separated from revelation.
Consequently, when we go before people to minister the word we
cannot depend on our memory, we cannot draw on the experience
and word which we once had. It may have been good during that first
time, but not for now. For if you speak in such a way as this, you will
sense that something is wrong. You have not touched the thing; it is
at a distance.
The wonder of revelation lies here: that it is not teaching. Many
people make a fundamental mistake. They think they can always
teach. But let us realize that mere doctrine or teaching is useless.
Never think because you are able to preach, that that is good enough.
You may preach the truth and others may tell you how much they
enjoy your preaching, but you should be your own judge, because
inwardly you will sense that something is amiss. Many people are
often vaguely, dimly helped; hence do not be elated if people tell you
they have been helped by you. They may say so, yet it may not really
be that they have gotten something. You yourself, though, will know
whether the word has been near or far, old or new, dead or living. If
you have received revelation from the Lord then you shall surely
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touch the thing when you speak. You will have touched the living
reality. You will know it was living, and that solves every problem.
So do remember that each time you minister, you need to have a new
revelation.
In 1 Corinthians 14 the question of the prophets is raised. All the
prophets can prophesy, but if a revelation is made to another who is
seated, let the first keep silent (v.30). Here are some prophets, and
one of them is speaking to the brethren. While he is speaking, one
sitting by receives a revelation. He asks the brother speaking to let
him speak, and so the first becomes silent. He who receives a
revelation is the freshest, the most powerful, having greater fullness
of life; hence he is to be allowed to speak. Though all are prophets,
yet whoever is given a new revelation is the most living. Therefore
ministry is based upon getting revelation time and again. The lack of
it deprives a person of good ministry.
Let us never entertain the thought that because I spoke once on a
given message with the anointing of the Lord I can speak again with
the same anointing. Never take for granted that many will repent this
time just because many were saved last time when that message was
given. The same message with the same delivery may not produce
the same result; only the same anointing will. It takes the same
revelation to emit the same light; sameness of word does not
necessarily produce the same light. How easy for a spiritual thing to
become dead in us, as lifeless as stagnant water. Because I am still
able to deliver the same message as three years ago does not mean
that I still have the same light I once had. I need once more to receive
the same revelation as three years ago if I am to speak that same
message. The ministry of the word depends not on whether I have
spoken the message before but on whether I have received new
revelation.
The greatest trouble in the church today is the false assumption
that with several messages in hand one can repeat them with the
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same result. We strongly attest to the impossibility of this. It is a

fundamental error to stress messages instead of revelation. Even if
one should use Pauls or Johns message he would not secure the
same result unless he had received the same revelation. Hence the
ministry of Gods word is not a matter of word but a matter of
revelation. We serve on the basis of revelation, not on the basis of the
word alone. The ministry God acknowledges is a ministry which
comes out of revelation. We should distinguish between doctrine and
revelation. What God spoke yesterday is doctrine, what He spoke the
day before yesterday is also doctrine, but what He speaks today is
revelation. That which we remember is doctrine, whereas that which
we see and experience is revelation.
We know the prophets do not deal with the past but only with the
present and the future. Prophetic ministry reveals the mind of God
for today and for the future. Hence the Bible calls those men
prophets or seers. A prophet is one who sees first. He is a seeing one.
In the Old Testament there are many prophecies, yet what many
prophets said actually did not foretell the future but foretold Gods
current mind towards the people. Take the case of Nathan. Nathan
the prophet of God spoke to David following the incidents
surrounding Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite. Aside from a little
prophetic message foretelling something about Davids wife and
child, Nathans main burden was to declare Gods current thought
concerning the matter in hand. The highest ministry of Gods word in
the Old Testament time is to prophesy. Let us keep well in mind that
if anyone admires this which is the highest ministry of Gods word,
he will need to see what God is after for today as well as for the
future. He must possess Gods current revelation; he cannot linger in
the old word. Many are in possession of things seen several years
ago, or seen several days ago. They lack todays revelation, and
accordingly they are unable to be ministers of the word.
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The Two Different Realms

We ought to recognize two different realms: one is that of doctrine
(which we can learn in school through textbooks and instructors),
and the other is that of revelation. The first can be attained with a
little effort, a little cleverness, and a little eloquence; the second,
however, is beyond human ability. We must see that in the ministry
of Gods word men are absolutely helpless if God withholds His
revelation. If God does not speak, nothing can be forced out. If God
does not give revelation, nothing can be done. With revelation there
is ministry; without it there is no ministry. Each time we minister we
have Gods present revelation as our foundation. In this realm we
have to be rightly related to God, we have to be before the Lord;
otherwise we cannot stand before men. But in the other realm, that of
doctrine, men are able to do something. Memory, cleverness and
eloquence will all help. Yet in the realm of revelation you cannot
minister if God does not speak. This is known by all those who have
learned before the Lord. They can easily discern in what realm one is
speaking. The ignorant person mistakes eloquence and cleverness as
the criteria. He thinks preaching is strictly a matter of eloquence.
However, the Bible shows us that prophecy is a matter of whether or
not there is revelation; it is not a matter of eloquence. Preaching
without revelation can only edify peoples mind and thought; it does
not produce revelation.
The difficulty can be explained quite simply: without the basic
revelation there can be no further revelations. He who has not
received the first unfolding is unable to obtain many other unfoldings
afterwards. He may deliver many good messages but he cannot give
people revelation. Since fruits are produced according to their
respective realms, then after people have heard such a speaker their
life and their flesh continue to remain undisciplined by his word. The
word spoken in one realm can only produce the fruit of that realm,
never that of the other realm. Within that one sphere the whole thing
is merely doctrine and interpretation. It can produce nothing but what
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belongs to its sphere. Not so in the other sphere. If you continue to

have revelation before God after you once have received it your
speaking will impart revelation to others. Only revelation begets
revelation and only light begets light. Only the word of God provides
opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work in mans life. Knowledge
produces knowledge, and doctrine, doctrine; revelation alone can
beget revelation.
It is not enough just to deliver doctrine to people; nor is it
sufficient to pass on the revelation of bygone days, for what is
doctrine but the revelation of the past? The word in the Bible was
once living, but it will not be living in each person today unless the
Holy Spirit speaks again. Many who read the Bible today touch
merely the letter of the Bible, not the living word of God. We need to
have the Holy Spirit speak anew. Only the person to whom God is
speaking can really hear. A hundred people may be listening to the
message, but perhaps only two are helped. Maybe God is speaking to
the two but the ninety-eight do not hear. If the Holy Spirit is silent,
the word in the Bible becomes doctrine. Let us not forget that all past
revelations are but doctrines. Even though God spoke to you and
revealed something to you in the past, nevertheless that word and
that revelation are merely doctrine today if the Holy Spirit does not
anoint them. It can only produce the fruit of doctrine, not the fruit of
revelation.
The challenge confronting us today is that while doctrines are
handed on from generation to generation, there is no revelation. For
instance, a believing father cannot beget a believing son. Through the
working of the Holy Spirit the first generation may be born again; in
like manner so may the second be saved; the third generation and the
fourth generation, however, may not believe; yet the fifth generation
may be born anew by the Holy Spirit. Each regeneration requires the
work of the Holy Spirit. This is not so with natural birth. Generation
upon generation of men are born without any work of the Holy
Spirit. These are two different ways. One way is the preaching of
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doctrines, and these can be passed on for several hundreds or even

thousands of years without any difficulty. Doctrine produces
doctrine. The preaching of it will communicate it to the succeeding
generation. It is like natural birth, not requiring the work of the Holy
Spirit. Not so with revelation and the ministry of Gods word. Each
time the word of God is ministered it requires the anointing of the
Holy Spirit. Each time a soul is born anew it needs the fresh working
of the Holy Spirit. Each occasion of ministry of the word demands
the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Whenever the Spirit ceases to
reveal, the word turns into mere doctrine. When the anointing fails,
there is no more seeing and hence no ministry.
Therefore let us pray to the Lord: Oh Lord, I am here, utterly
helpless. Lord, as far as Your word goes, if I do not fall down before
You, if I only press close the way most others do, but do not touch
You, then I can do nothing. Many today fail to realize how helpless
they are in Gods word. Many are like professional preachers. They
can speak on anything: doctrine, teaching, truth, the Bible. It is just
too easy, really too easy!
The ministry of Gods word is something beyond our power.
Unless the Holy Spirit works, none can be regenerated. You may be
able to communicate doctrine to others, but you need the revelation
of the Holy Spirit in order to be a true minister of the word. In this
realm, it never comes down to whether I am willing to speak or not;
the entire matter is in the Lords hand. It is not as simple as we think.
God is truly looking for ministers of His word. He wants men to be
his mouthpieces. Let us seek His face and confess to Him, I am
completely helpless, Lord, for I cannot speak. Mans flesh is useless
here. Only the foolish can be proud, for they do not see the
helplessness of men in spiritual things. They do not realize that
neither human hands nor human eloquence or talent can touch this
ministry. It belongs to a different sphere, and men are entirely
excluded.
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Beloved, God will bring us to the place where we realize the

absolute uselessness of man. We have no way to beget a born-again
child. Parents are able to beget a child in the flesh, but they cannot
produce a regenerated one. According to the same principle, you may
pass doctrines on to people, you may hand the interpretations of the
Bible down to the next generation, but you cannot choose by yourself
to be a minister of Gods word. To be a minister of His word needs
the speaking of God. If God does not speak, it is ineffectual merely
to explain the Bible. Only after God has spoken to us are we able to
communicate it to others. Oh! it is beyond us. Many can tell stories,
many can preach doctrines; but who is able to speak the word of
God? If God is merciful, we can speak. If He is not, we cannot. This
then is completely beyond our power; we are helpless before it.
Is it not true that God desires to do a work, that He looks for
ministers of His word? God has chosen you to be His minister, and
yet you are completely incompetent. It is God who is merciful to you
and gives you revelation so as to enable you to preach the word. You
must have that basic revelation, and then your spirit must be so
disciplined and controlled by the Lord that it is always open to Him
for further revelation. May the Lord so work in our lives that we bow
before Him saying, You do it Yourself, Lord. For without Your
mercy I am helpless.
We have seen how ministry is based on the revelation of the word,
which in turn is based on the revelation of Christ. Let us remember
that in spiritual matters such as the word of God and its ministry,
there can be no reserve. None can boast that he has so much that he
can hand out endlessly. Each time we must come to God with an
empty feeling so that we may be filled and poured out. Any who are
self-content are unable to be ministers of Gods word. On each
occasion after the word is given, you once again feel empty like a
newborn child. You know nothing before Godso you wait for
another filling, for more word and more revelation that you may pour
it out again to others. When you return after serving, you are once
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more completely empty. You need to be poured out in this way time
and time again. In being emptied is your ministry. In this spiritual
realm God alone can work; men are helpless. Never be so careless as
to speak the word of God casually. For this belongs to another
sphere. Except the Holy Spirit does this peculiar work once again, we
are undone. May the Lord be merciful to us that we may learn before
Him how utterly useless we are. May we not be fools. Pride makes us
fools, and our failure to see the basis of spiritual things also makes us
foolish.
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Revelation and Thought
The starting point of the ministry of the

word is revelation. When revelation comes
to us, it is God enlightening us; we seem to
receive a little light by which we are able to
see something. Nevertheless this light
appears to be fleeting. If we claim to have seen something it may be
that we have not actually seen anything; but should we say we have
not seen anything we seem to have distinctly seen something. We see
it one moment and then we do not.
This is how it is with enlightenment. When we are first
enlightened we seem to be very clear inwardly, and yet we cannot
express what we have seen. We understand it so perfectly within us,
but no matter how hard we try, we are unable to explain it. Inwardly
we are most clear; outwardly we are still dull. We act as though we
are two personsas lucid as can be, yet as confused as before. Then
after a while we forget everything except that God once shone upon
us. Perhaps a little later God again enlightens us. Light comes for the
second time and we seem to see something once more. What we see
may be exactly the same as before, or it may be a little different, or it
may even be completely different. But because we have had the first
experience, we try the second time to hold the light so that it will not
escape us again.
The Nature o f Light
Light has the peculiar nature of easily fading away. Light seems to
move very swiftly. It comes quickly to us, stays but a short while,
and moves just as rapidly away. It seems reluctant to stay. All who
minister the word share the hopeful thought of how good it would be
if only the light were to stay longer so as to enable us to see more
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distinctly: that until we have a full grasp of the thing, may the light
remain. But the strangest thing is, there is no way to hold the light.
This is the experience of many of Gods servants. Countless
matters can easily be remembered, but light is hard to recall. What
we have seen may not be what we remember. We sense the greatness
and the severity of Gods light, yet it quickly passes away. How can
we recall it? The greater the light, the less the memory. Many
brethren confess that it is extremely difficult to remember the things
they have read of spiritual revelation. So we do acknowledge the
difficulty in remembering light. Light is for eyes to see, not for
memory to fix upon. The more light we see, the less we are able to
recall. Memory cannot hold the light, because the nature of light is
for revelation, not for memory.
Let us observe the nature of this light. When light first shines
upon you it seems as though it will swiftly fade awayand so it
does. It requires many times of enlightenment to form a revelation.
Perhaps all that remains of the first light which has passed is the
mere fact that you have seen something. You may not even
remember what you have seen. Aside from the fact that you have
seen, your memory holds no other content. The second instance the
light comes, however, you may remember some of the content; yet
the light moves so swiftly that it is very difficult to anchor it down.
But on the third occasion the light may linger longer and you may be
able to see more distinctly; nevertheless you still have the same
trouble holding on to it. Whenever you receive enlightenment the
feeling is present that light quickly disappears; it easily fades and
rapidly becomes something of the past. You know you have seen
something, yet you cannot tell how you have seen it or what you
have seen. Sometimes the light comes directly to your spirit; it is
independent of any other channel. At other times it comes by way of
the Scripture; that is, when you are reading the Bible light enters into
your spirit. According to our experience enlightenment usually is
given directly to the spirit, although there are occasions when it
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comes through the reading of the Bible. Whether light comes directly
or indirectly, its characteristic remains the same: it easily fades away,
making it difficult to retain.
Light Translated into Thought
We will now see the second point, which is, how to translate light
into thought. When revelation comes, it is God who enlightens you.
This is the starting point of the ministry of the word. God has shone
in your heart; He has enlightened you. But this light has come and
gone so swiftly that you cannot remember nor hold it fast. How can
one utilize this swift-passing light in the ministry of the word? It is
utterly impossible to do so. Hence something needs to be added to
light.
This added element is thought. If anyone has been dealt with by
God so that his outward man is being broken, that person will
actually have very rich thoughts. Only the man with rich thoughts
can translate light into thought. Only such individuals can understand
the meaning of the light. It is similar to the idea expressed by some
brethren who say, Because I know Greek I am able to grasp the
meaning more precisely and translate it more accurately for my
understanding. In like manner, the light is the word of God, for it
represents Gods mind. If our thought life is poor we will not be able
to know the meaning nor understand the content when light is given.
But if our thought life is rich and strong enough, then we will be able
to interpret the light we see and translate it into something which we
understand. After we have translated light into something we can
understand, we will be able to remember what we have seen, since
we can only remember thoughtswe cannot do so with light. To put
it another way, the light which is remembered is that which has been
translated into thought. Before it is translated into thought we have
no way to know it or to call it back to mind. After being translated,
however, we are well able to recall the light.
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How important is the thought lifethe mindin the ministry of

the word. How very essential is our understanding! As we learn to be
a minister of the word we will see the significance of
understanding as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14. That chapter
draws our attention especially to this matter of prophesying. Why
pay such special attention to it? Because prophesying involves
understanding. Why is not speaking in tongues emphasized in this
chapter? For the simple reason that it does not involve understanding.
Verse 14 points this out: If I pray with a tongue, my spirit prays, but
my understanding is unfruitful. Continuing on, verse 15 says, What
is it then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray also with the
understanding; I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing also with the
understanding. And verse 19: In the assembly I desire to speak five
words with my understanding, that I may instruct others also, rather
than ten thousand words in a tongue. (Darby) Accordingly, in the
ministry of Gods word mans understanding plays a major role. God
desires that light may reach the understanding of him who is a
minister of the word.
Light first shines into the spirit, but God does not purpose to have
the light remain there. He wishes this light to reach the
understanding. After light has reached the understanding, it no longer
passes away but can be fixed. Revelation is not permanent in nature;
it is like lightning which flashes and passes away. But when light
shines and mans understanding takes it in and knows its meaning,
then the light is fixed and we know its content. When the light is only
in the spirit it comes and goes freely, but once it enters our thought
and understanding it becomes anchored. From then on we are able to
use the light.
Let us realize that when the light is only related to our spirit we
cannot use it, because it has not reached that place where we can use
it. To God, man is a living soul (Gen. 2.7). Unless something
reaches our soul we cannot use it, that is to say, it is not controlled by
our will. We are not spirits. We have spirit, soul, and body. When the
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light of revelation is in our spirit we cannot yet claim it as our own.

The light of revelation ought not to stay put in our spirit, it should
reach our outward man. Yet it should be clearly recognized, too, that
the outward man is unable to receive revelation; only the spirit can.
Even so, revelation must not remain in the spirit; it has to reach the
understanding of man.
This work of translating light into thought varies with different
individuals. Whether ones thoughts before the Lord are rich or not
makes a big difference. If ones thoughts lag behind Gods light, then
the light will suffer loss. If the vessel is unfit or insufficient, then
again loss will be incurred. When Gods light comes upon a person,
if his thoughts are not scattered or otherwise occupied, he will be
able to fix the light. A scattered mind cannot fix Gods light, neither
can a preoccupied mind do so. You may be conscious of the light, yet
you are unable to translate it into your thought because your mind is
burdened with other matters. Or perhaps your mind is neither
scattered nor preoccupied, but is dull. If so, then when light shines in
you, you are unable to discern what it is saying. A basic requisite for
all ministers of Gods word is that their mind must be renewed.
The difficulty with some lies in the fact that their thoughts are too
many and too confused. They are not able to translate Gods light nor
understand its meaning. With others the problem may be that their
thoughts are too low and mean, for they are always minding things of
low degree. How, then, can they fix Gods light or apprehend its
meaning?
God is light, for light is His nature. Gods light is as great, rich,
and superior as God Himself. If our thought is small, poor, low, or
confused, we will unquestionably miss much of Gods light when it
comes to us. God never intends to give us small revelations. If He
grants revelation, His revelation is big; its scope and content is rich.
How can anything inglorious come forth from the God of glory? The
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normal portion God gives man is a cup running over. God is forever
rich, great, and all-inclusive.
The problem today is the incompetency of mans thought to
contain the light which comes from God. The thought of man is
small and low, wholly inadequate to hold the great light of God.
Beloved, how dare we expect to fix Gods light with a mind which is
scattered and confused from dawn to dusk? Even were God willing
to give you light, your mean and low thought would be completely
unable to translate, understand, and hold Gods light.
Let us remember that before there can be ministry of the word
there must first be revelation from God. But since God wants to use
man as His minister, there is also the human element which must be
considered. The light of revelation enters into mans spirit and
afterwards is translated into human thought. Should our spirit be
defective we will be incapacitated from receiving revelation or light.
If our mind is incompetent the light will not be able to reach the
outward man nor be translated into thought. The light has shone in
our spirit, but it demands a sound and rich mind to interpret it in our
understanding and later translate it into words. If our mind is pressed
with care all day long or oppressed with the problem of food or
family, then where will we secure the extra strength to think of
spiritual things?
Mans mental strength acts like his physical strength. If his arm
can only lift fifty pounds of weight, then he cannot handle anything
heavier, not even one additional pound. So is our mental strength
limited. If we exhaust its energy on other things we will have nothing
left with which to spend on the things of God; and hence we will not
be able to translate Gods light into thought.
Some brethren set their minds on eating and drinking, on their
families, or on worldly pursuits; they have very little thought left for
God. Their minds are filled with these earthly matters and are
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oppressed by them all the time. It is not that their spirit is unable to
receive light; for even if they do receive light, what is received will
be wasted because they do not have a steady mind with which to
anchor the light. Enlightenment must be coupled with a mind free to
receive it. It takes a strong and rich mind to fix the light. When ones
mind is occupied with other problems he seems to be wandering in a
labyrinth, unable to extricate himself so as to discern the light. You
know the light has shone into your spirit, but there it has been
blocked.
Gods light follows a certain way even as Gods word follows its
certain way. If Gods word is going to become a ministration through
us, then it must pass through certain prescribed stages in us. If we
desire to serve God with the word, we must allow the word of God to
go through these required stages. Any defect in the mind can block
the light in the spirit from being translated into words.
It is rather strange that when light shines in our spirit we usually
do not apprehend its meaning. It fades away before we are able to
understand it. Our mind often proves inadequate in deciphering the
meaning of the light. We have seen something, yet we do not know
what we have seen. There is therefore the need in this case for a
second or third enlightenment before we can fix the light. Yet if our
thoughts are rich, we can easily hold the light when it first shines. If
our mind has no other burden or is unoccupied with other affairs, we
shall be able to perceive distinctly what is in the light.
All experienced ones will agree with us in this: that when our
mind tries to translate light, it would appear the light is always
fleeing; hence our thought must clear our mind swiftly or else the
light will escape us. The quicker our thought, the easier the
translation. Should the light escape, it may be that in Gods mercy
the light will come to us the second time. But if not, we have missed
something precious, and all because of the inadequacy of our mind.
Often we feel our thought is not keen enough. And oh! how
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frequently after we behold a light we try so hurriedly to translate it

into words as though we were snatching something out of the fire.
We may, indeed, be able to fix some of it, but the best escapes us.
Light never stays put long enough to allow us to think slowly and to
digest it gradually. Swiftly it comes and swiftly it goes.
Brethren, you will realize how inadequate your mind is when you
find you cannot hold the light. Before you attempt to link your
thought with Gods light, you may consider yourself to be quite
clever, you may even boast of your keenness. Nonetheless, you shall
discover your mental weakness when you are unable to translate
Gods light into meaningful words. The feeling will be the same as
an interpreter who finds himself at a loss for words to translate a
message into knowable language. In the case of interpretation, the
speaker can wait for the interpreter. Light, though, never waits for
you. If you cannot follow, it just fades away. We know not why it
should so act, but we are fully aware of the fact. Whatever of the
light becomes fixed, stays; the rest disappears. If the light should
return again, we may have another chance to anchor it down. Thank
God for that. But should it never return, we suffer loss and the church
suffers with us. The church will lose a precious ministry of the word.
Who, then, makes the choice of a minister? It is God.
Nevertheless, if our thought lags behind the light we shall lose an
opportunity to minister. Hence let us realize the importance of our
mind in respect to Gods word. How foolish for some to think it
requires no amount of thought to be a minister of Gods word. I
Corinthians 14 plainly indicates the need for understanding in those
who minister. No one can be a good minister of the word if he has
neither understanding nor thought.
The Breaking of the Outward Man
Perhaps some will raise the question as to how we should regard
the Scriptural teaching that in spiritual things mans wisdom should
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not be employed. This question points to the need for the outward
man to be broken. If our thoughts, like a servant standing at a door,
are waiting for enlightenment so as to understand the meaning of
what is revealed in the spirit, then they become the best of servants;
without them, there can be no ministry of the word. But if our
thoughts, instead of trying to understand the light, tend to advocate
their own ideas, then they turn into the worst master.
There is a great difference between thoughts as a servant and
thoughts as a master. When thoughts assume the role of a master,
they try in themselves to conceive Gods light, create Gods thought,
and manufacture Gods word. This is what we call mans wisdom.
For a man to think independently is human wisdom, but it is
condemned by God. Such independent thought needs to be broken.
Our thoughts ought to wait at the door as a servant waiting and ready
to be used by God. Do not think to conceive light; it is God who
shines in our spirits. Instead, our thoughts should be prepared to fix
the light, to understand and to translate it.
We may say that in the ministry of Gods word thought is an
indispensable servant. What a difference there is between conceiving
light and fixing light. Anyone who has truly learned before the Lord
knows immediately whether the thoughts of the person speaking are
master or servant. Whenever mans thought wedges itself into the
things of God and usurps the place of a master it becomes a
distraction to God. Therefore, the outward man needs to be broken.
When ones thought has been broken, it is no longer confused and
independent.
Simply realize that the power of thinking is increased instead of
destroyed once the outward man is broken. To have the thought
broken means to have that thought which initiates and centers upon
itself broken. Afterwards it will be more usable than before. For
example, one whose mind is taken over by one thing and is made to
think on that one thing day and night will soon become obsessed. In
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such a mental condition, how can he ever understand the Bible? Yet
from Gods viewpoint, our thoughts too are more or less like an
obsessed persons, because they always revolve around ourselves.
There is no strength left to think of the things of God. Brethren, do
you see the seriousness of this matter?
One important requirement for the ministry of the word is that a
minister have a fine mind and an unfettered understanding for God to
use. By the outward man being broken we do not mean to say that
our mind is so destroyed that we can no longer think. It only means
that we will no longer think in and of ourselves nor will we be
occupied with external matters. After the wisdom of the wise is
destroyed and the understanding of the prudent is brought to nothing,
then our mind becomes a usable instrument, for it ceases to be our
life and master.
Some take great delight in thinking. They aspire to be one of the
wise. Their thought becomes their very life, and they thrive on their
own ideas. You would be demanding their life if you were to forbid
them to think. Their mind revolves incessantly from sunrise to
sunset. Because of their continued thinking, the Spirit of God cannot
enlighten their spirit. Even if He should, we wonder if their mind
could accept the light. Let us know that it requires objectivity to see.
He who is subjective cannot see.
Here is a man whose life is in his own thought. How can he ever
perceive Gods light? It is impossible, because he is too subjective.
For a mind to be a useful organ it needs to be dealt with by God, it
needs to be smittenthis is the breaking of the outward man. If your
thoughts are central to you and if you are always thinking of
yourself, then your mind is totally unusable when Gods light shines
on your spirit. You do not know what God intends to say, nor can
you understand what He says. The road to ministry is blocked. It fails
to produce the ministry of the word because the word is blocked by
thought. The word must pass through you; you must be Gods
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channel. God employs living persons as His channels. Water flows,

but if one of the channels is blocked, it stops flowing. Many possible
ministries of the word are cut off by this failure in thought.
Brethren, do not think the wasting of thought is something
inconsequential. How many waste their thoughts! They think on
unimportant matters from morning till night. Such waste in thought
blocks Gods way. We thus do not mean to suggest that thought is
useless. On the contrary, revelation needs to be completed with
mans thought. Whatever is given by God is useful. Our mind is
created by God, hence its thought cannot be reckoned as useless. It is
only when thought becomes ones center of life, issuing forth in
many ideas, that it becomes unprofitable. It ought to be Gods
servant. It serves with profit if it remains a servant, but it becomes
Gods enemy if it attempts to be master. It can be a formidable foe to
God.
Taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, says 2
Corinthians 10.5. God does not intend to smash our thought; He only
desires to lead it captive to the obedience of Christ. The whole
problem rests with whether mans thought is under control or not.
Should you take pride in your wisdom, considering yourself able,
God will have to break it down completely. Do not misunderstand
the meaning of breaking. Such action does not destroy the organ,
nor does it eliminate the function; it merely breaks down the life, that
false center. As an organ and a function the mind will be used by
God. There is a vast difference between the soul as life and the soul
as a human entity. God forbids our thought to be the life which
controls, but He employs it as His servant. The soul as mans life
must be broken, but the soul as a servant of the spirit is very much
needed.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free
from the law of sin and of death (Rom. 8.2). How are we set free?
By the law of the Spirit of life. How do we acquire this law? By
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walking according to the Spirit. If you walk according to the Spirit

the law of the Spirit will be manifested in you; but if you walk after
the flesh instead, the law of sin and death will be manifested.
Whoever walks after the Spirit overcomes the law of sin and death.
Yet who is he that follows the Spirit? The one who sets his mind
on the things of the Spirit. He who minds the Spirit is he who walks
according to the Spirit; he who walks according to the Spirit of life is
he who overcomes the law of sin and death.
What is the minding of the Spirit? It is to think on the things of the
Spirit. If ones thought is scattered and confused the whole day long,
naturally he belongs to the flesh. If he is always thinking on matters
strange and alien to the Spirit, he of course is of the flesh. If one is
brought by the Lord to the place where he can think on the things of
the Holy Spirit, he will be a spiritual person, able to understand
spiritual things. How can one whose mind is fully occupied with
earthly matters live by the law of the Spirit? This is impossible. None
can live by the Holy Spirit if his mind is set on the things of the flesh
throughout the day and night.
Just remember that our thought ought not be the center of our
being. It should be a servant listening carefully to its masters voice.
Otherwise, we are not listening attentively to the Holy Spirit, but are
thinking of many things according to our own desire. And the natural
consequence is that we fall into that which we think. With the
breaking of the outward man, though, we no longer make our self the
center, nor do we think as we wish. We learn to hear Gods voice,
waiting before Him as an obedient servant. As soon as Gods light
flashes in us, our spirit catches the light and our understanding
apprehends its meaning.
Never is the ministry of the word to be merely a matter of
knowing doctrines. If such were the case, Christianity would be a
carnal religion. But Christianity is not a carnal religion; it is a
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spiritual revelation. Our spirit knows the things of God, and our mind
reads and interprets what is spoken to our spirit. Accordingly, our
thought cannot afford to be scattered. A scattered mind is unable to
fix the light of God, nor can a low mind hold Gods light.
Different measures of understanding produce varying degrees of
apprehension. For instance: God has revealed to us the matter of
justification. This is quite common and elementary. But notice when
people rise to speak on justification how differently they speak. The
ministry of the word is based on Gods light in mans spirit, yet the
minds which read the light are so very different. Some touch the light
with a low mind, others touch the same light with a noble mind.
What is touched is influenced by the varying levels of the meaning of
justification, and the nobler its representation in words. Though this
one or that one may be given light on justification, if his thought is
low he will apprehend it with only his limited mind and will deliver
it with restricted words. It is the word of God, but how the word has
suffered in him.
There is human element in the ministry of Gods word, and the
first and primary of these is mans thought. Gods word shall suffer
loss if our mind is not under strict discipline or if our thought is at a
low level. One major problem in the ministry of the word is the
adding of unsuitable words and unfitting thoughts to the word and to
the light of God.
Brethren, do you realize the greatness of your responsibility? If
your thought has been dealt with before, it will help the word. And
then the adding of your element will bring in more glory to Gods
word. Paul, Peter, and John were all used in this way. Here was Paul.
He had his character and personality. When the light of God shone
on him and the word came forth from him, we saw Paul as well as
the word of God. This is most precious. Gods word is completed by
man, and man perfects Gods word. Instead of being a problem man
adds to Gods glory. It was so with Peter too. When Gods word
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flowed through Peter it was the word of God, yet it had the flavor of
Peter. Gods word was perfected through Peter. It was not damaged
in the least. Todays ministers of the word must be governed by the
same principle as were those in the former days.
The question therefore narrows down to this: when Gods light
passes through our spirit and mind, how much is it damaged or how
much is it perfected? We truly need the mercy of the Lord. If our
mind lacks the dealings of the Lord, it will fail to read and interpret
fully Gods light. The result will be that the word of God will be
presented weakly. Our words cannot be strong if our thought is weak.
Our ministry will be weak because our thought is weak. We are
Gods channels, and channels determine the volume of water passing
through. Channels can be leaky and defective. Either we deliver the
word of God strongly to the brothers and sisters or we defile Gods
word and present it in damaged form. How serious is our
responsibility.
We shall always stress the necessity of having the wounds of the
cross upon us. We insist on having the outward man broken because
we are fully persuaded that without brokenness there can be no
ministry. This is so very basic that we simply cannot overlook it. If
you wish to be used of God as a minister of the word, your outward
man must be broken. If you expect to supply others with Christ, with
Gods word, your outward man needs to be dealt with drastically.
Again and again we come up against the problem of man. It is
unavoidable. If we are suitable we will be used; if unsuitable, then
we shall not. The issue is man.
Training Our Thought
We have said that we cannot afford to waste our thought. We must
preserve every ounce of our power of thinking. The stronger and
fuller our thought, the higher we climb. By all means let us not use
up our mind on unprofitable things. If we examine how a person uses
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his life we can fairly well judge how useful he is in the ministry of
Gods word. If he has already expended all his thoughts on other
matters, what is left to apply to the things of God?
We have also stated that a subjective person is useless, because he
continually thinks what he wants to think and sees what he desires to
see. As his mind revolves around these things, he loses control over
his thoughts. How can one wait on the Lord if his thinking is so
loose, so profuse, and so confused? What is left for God if ones
brain is set on lower things, that is, on the things of the flesh?
The ministry of the word requires thought. If our mind were
renewed we would be able to hold and to fix the light whenever it
shone in our spirit. Light tends to escape. How often we regret that
our thought fails to catch up with Gods light. If our thought is
preoccupied with other matters Gods light will escape us. Our mind
needs to wait at the door like a faithful servant. This is the way of
ministry.
Remember, light travels fast and is rich in its contents. A sound,
noble, and rich mind can take hold of and fix much of the light,
though no one can hold all of it. It is a strange experience to know
that there has been a word and yet to be unable to remember what it
was. If the best mind is incompetent in regard to Gods light, how
dare we waste our thought on unprofitable subjects? It is not good for
us to engage our thoughts carelessly. Light needs to be fixed by
thought; only after it is so fixed can it be profitable. Light is spiritual.
It takes rich and strong thought to hold it. God is so infinite that
when his light comes to us we cannot fathom what he wishes to
communicate. Our thought must be rich. How often we have come to
the Lord confessing the inadequacy of our thought. It is so poor that
it tends to lose many things. We have lost much light. How, then, can
we exhaust our mind on insignificant matters?
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We must daily train ourselves in regard to our thoughts. The way

we use our mind is closely related to the measure of our ministry of
the word. Some are barren in ministry because they have wasted so
much of their thought. They are like the man who has spent so much
of his energy in walking down the wrong road that he has little
strength left to walk in the straight path. Many exhaust their brain
power on other subjects so that they have nothing left for the
enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
Do not be ignorant, brethren, of the relationship between thought
and the light of the Holy Spirit. These two are intimately bound
together. It is true that thought is no substitute for the enlightenment
of the Holy Spirit, yet it is able to apprehend the Holy Spirits
enlightenment. Therefore let us waste none of our thought. The
reason for poverty of thought lies in thinking too much. Learn to
conserve your thought, not waste it. We do not suggest you should
not exercise your mind; we only advocate that you do not exhaust its
energy on insignificant things. So much brain power is spent on
unimportant matters that when one really wants to understand Gods
word, he finds his power already used up. Do not spend your mental
powers on some minor questions in the Bible. It matters little
whether you can explain them or not. Neither waste your thought on
spiritual problems, because these are not solved by thinking but by
Gods light. There are some who expend their precious mental
powers on Bible questions and on spiritual problems, and thus
dissipate their mental powers in reasonings and doctrines. Even if
they have thought the thing through, they can only give thoughts to
others. Their greatest loss, though, is in their inability to fix Gods
light. Real usefulness of thought lies in the power to hold Gods light
when it comes.
One important lesson to be learned by the minister of Gods word
is to know how to engage his mind most profitably and most
efficiently for Gods enlightenment. Do not waste your mental
faculty where God has not enlightened. No one can see anything by
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thinking. Do your thinking after God has shone upon you. Do you
now see this way? You do not know the Bible through thought. No,
you see only after God has shone on you and your thought has
succeeded in translating the light into words. Your mind is open to
God and so is receptive to Gods light. This is the first step in getting
Gods word.
Let us ask God to raise up ministers of the word. Without these
ministers the church is bound to be poor. Men must be raised up to
supply the church with Gods word. The issue which confronts us
today lies in man, in incompetent channels. When Gods light comes
to us, it must pass through our thought. Light enters into the spirit,
but it passes through the mind. How can we expect strong ministry if
the light has suffered loss in the mind? This is very basic. May God
show us this way of ministry.
12
Burden and Word
In addition to having the light of Gods

revelation and in addition to fixing this
light, a minister of Gods word must also
have burden in his heart. The Hebrew word
massam has two different usages. One is
that of a burden to be lifted or carried, as suggested in the
Pentateuch.
Examples
are
Exodus
23.5;
Numbers
4.15,19,24,27,31,32,49; 11.11,17; and Deuteronomy 1.12. The other
usage of massam is to convey the idea of an oracle or revelation to
the prophet, as found in such prophetic writings as Isaiah 13.1;
14.28; 17.1; 19.1; 21.1,11,13; 22.1; 23.1; 30.6; Jeremiah
23.33,34,36,38; Nahum 1.1; Habakkuk 1.1; Zecheriah 9.1; 12.1; and
Malachi 1.1. This indicates that the oracle which comes to the
prophet is the burden he gets. This matter of burden plays a very
important part in the ministry of the word. The prophet carries out
the ministry of the word through his massam, that is, his burden.
When there is no burden, there is no ministry of the word. Therefore,
a minister of the word must possess burden.
How a Burden Is Formed
We have already mentioned that the starting point in the ministry
of the word is enlightenment. The light which shines in our heart is a
sudden and somewhat elusive revelation. If our mind has been dealt
with before God we are able to fix the thing which comes from God
and translate what has shone in our spirit into meaningful words.
Such enlightenment and fixing constitute the burden in us. There is
no burden while the light is absent, neither is there burden when the
light fails to be translated into thought or when the light dissolves
into mere thought. A burden is formed by adding thought to the light.
Light alone does not create a burden, nor does thought alone form a
burden. It must be light together with the thought which comes from
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the light. The light must remain after it has been translated. This
gives burden to those who minister before God.
Why is it called a burden? Because inwardly we have touched a
thought while yet under enlightenment and so we feel heavy within,
uncomfortable and even pained. This is the burden of Gods word.
Such burden as the prophets have can only be discharged in words.
Without appropriate words this burden cannot be lifted.
In learning to be ministers of the word we cannot overlook the
relationship between light, thought, and word. First we receive light,
then we have thought, and finally we get the word. The usefulness of
the word is in the discharging of Gods light. From Gods side it is
light turned to thought in us; from our side it is thought precipitated
into word. When we try to share Gods light with others we seem to
be discharging a burden upon them. The light and thought in us are
like a burden upon us. Under this burden we cannot breathe freely,
for we feel heavily pressed even to the extent of pain. It is only after
we deliver this burden to Gods children that our spirit is once more
lightened and our thought is once again free. The burden upon our
shoulders seems to have been placed elsewhere.
Discharging Burden with Word
How can we discharge the burden in us? We need words to
discharge it. Just as physical burden is laid aside with hands, so
spiritual burden is shed with words. If we do not find the proper
word our burden remains heavy. In getting the appropriate word we
lift our burden and feel released. All who have ministered Gods
word have the same experience: thought alone is inadequate: there
must also be words in order to preach. Thought cannot
singlehandedly bring people to God. If all you get is thought, then
the more you speak the more confused your speech. You circle round
and round, finding no way to get throughas though lost in a
labyrinth.
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But when you have the words, the more you speak the clearer
your message. That is why sometimes a minister of Gods word with
a deep burden within may still find himself severely weighed down
even after he has been delivering the message for an hour in the
meeting. He carries away the very load which he earlier had brought
to the meeting. If it is not because of not finding the right audience,
then it is due to the lack of words. It is not that you have not spoken
(perhaps you have said too much!), yet the burden within you
remains untouched. This is because of a deficiency in word, not in
thought. Were you to have the words, how different the result would
be. Each sentence would help to lessen it until the whole burden were
lifted.
This is how the prophets discharged their burdens. Their
prophecies were their burdens. Their work was to shed those
burdens. How did they discharge their burdens? Through their words.
A worker unburdens himself with words. When words are missing,
he has no way to shed his burden. Though people may praise you and
say they were helped, you know that what was in you has not been
released. They have heard the voice of man but have not heard the
word of God. Referring the Corinthians to his ministry of the word,
Paul has this to say: Which things we also speak, not in words
taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit,
combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words (1 Cor. 2.13).
Hence no one can be a minister of the word without having Godgiven words. The utterance of the words so given discharges the
burden within.
Every worker must learn how to discharge his burden, but those
workers who work with their mind or according to mental knowledge
do not know this way. Whether the load is discharged or not depends
not on your words or thoughts, but on God-given words.
It is imperative that we learn to receive words from God. The light
which comes from God to our outward man becomes thought, and
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thought in turn is rendered into words which are delivered as the

word of God. Thus we need to know how our thought is turned into
words within us, and how these words within become spoken words.
In this matter of discharging burden we should learn to know the
difference between the words within and the words without. The
words within are what we receive inside; the spoken words are the
utterance by which the inward words are delivered.
The Relation between the Burden and the Words Within
Let us first consider the words within. When we receive light from
God and get a thought, a burden is formed within us. Yet the way of
discharging the burden is still missing. Light and thought are
sufficient to create a burden but totally inadequate to discharge it.
They must first be transformed into words within us; then with these
words we may be able to utter the burden in an audible voice.
Thought as such we cannot articulate, for we can only voice words.
Neither can we transform our thought into words extemporaneously;
it must first be converted into words within us before we can express
it outside us. This is the difference between the ministry of the word
and ordinary speech. Ordinarily we are able to speak out our thought,
for what we speak is based on our thought. Not so with the ministry
of the word. We must first convert the thought we have from God
into inward words before we can speak.
The Lord Jesus on earth is the supreme minister of the word. But
notice that He is not Gods thought becoming flesh; rather He is
Gods word becoming flesh. Hence a minister of the word should
seek words. Only after you have succeeded in converting the thought
you obtain from God into words will you be able to minister.
Suppose you receive a thought but try to utter it with your own
words; you have missed an intervening step and will fail in ministry.
This is a fundamental principle. There must be light, thought, and
words within. After you have fixed the light of God as thought, you
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173
should learn to seek before God for words. You need to be watchful,
praying and seeking for words.
What enlightens my spirit is revelation, for without revelation
there can be no enlightenment. Enlightenment is Gods work, but
fixing the light as thought is the work of one who is instructed of
God. Following the translation of light into thought there must be the
conversion of such thought into words. To interpret the light with my
thought and go no further is to serve my own purpose, but to
interpret thought by converting it into inner words is to minister to
others. For my own use, thought is enough; that is as far as it must
go; yet to help others, thought needs to be turned into words. Light
void of thought almost appears to be abstract to me, though
spiritually it is quite real. It becomes concrete in me only after it is
transformed into thought. In a similar manner, light becomes
concrete in others if thought is converted into words.
Before any ministry of the word there must be the process of
changing light into thought and thought into word. Now of course the
thought mentioned here does not refer to ordinary thought but refers
to what is revealed. My thought follows what I have seen. I cannot
pass on thought to others. I can only pass on words. It is therefore
necessary in the ministry of the word to translate Gods thought into
Gods words. Light is given by God. It is fixed by the thought of one
whose mind has been disciplined. The words which express that
thought, however, must as usual be granted by God. This shows that
sometimes revelation occurs in the spirit, sometimes in the word. Let
us now see what these two are.
Revelation in the Spirit vs. Revelation in the Word
What is revealed in my spirit is the enlightenment which I have
received. Such revelation does not linger; the light has to be fixed by
my thought. But if my natural mind is incompetent and fails at the
moment of enlightenment to convert the thought into word, what
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should I do? I should ask God for another enlightenment. But the
second enlightenment will not shine into my spirit and from that give
me a thought; instead, this enlightenment gives me a word, the
spiritual thought being transformed into words within me.
Here then we discover two different types of revelation: one in the
spirit and the other in the word. That which is in the word comes
when God gives us a few words. To illustrate. Perhaps while you are
praying you receive a light within you which is clear and distinct.
You are also able to hold that light and translate it into thought.
When you go out to tell others of this revelation, however, you find
you cannot express it clearly. It is clear to you, yet it cannot be made
clear to others. You yourself understand somewhat, yet you do not
possess the words to make others understand. So you commence to
ask God to grant you words. You pray watchfully and thoroughly.
Your heart is open to God without prejudice, and your spirit is
likewise free before God, unencumbered by other burdens. As you
are in this state, something happens: God gives you a few words to
fitly express the thought in you. These words unveil the revelation
which had previously been given to you. They fix Gods light for the
second time.
There are therefore two ways of fixing the light: first, I use my
thought to fix Gods light; or second, God gives me words to fix His
light. My mind holds fast the light shown me in my spirit or God
grants me words to hold His light. The revelation I get in word is one
with the revelation I get in my spirit. In my spirit I see for a split
second. The time for seeing is so short, yet the thing beheld is
timeless. What is seen in one second can never be expressed in one
second, for in my spirit I have seen a great deal in that split second. If
my understanding is strong and my mind is rich, I will be able to fix
more of Gods light. When God gives words, however, He seemingly
gives only a few words. God employs a few words to transfix His
light.
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These words may be few in number yet inclusive in content,

because they contain the whole revelation. In ordinary speech, if
there are eight or ten words you are finished after those eight or ten
words. Worldly speech is measured by counting words or counting
time. Words of revelation, however, are enormously different.
Perhaps there are but a few words, yet the words of revelation are as
rich as the revelation of God. What is revealed is rich, what is
enlightened in a split second is rich; so are the few words given by
God rich in content. just as God can reveal so much in a second, so
He is able to show that much in a word. Just as what is seen in a
second may take several months to unveil, so what is shown in one
word may require several months to deliver too.
Here is the distinction between the words within and the words
spoken without. The words within are never long but are rich in
content. They do not come in long messages for us to deliver, since
we are usually given only a few words. But what spiritual wealth is
hidden in those few words! When they come, they come with one
distinctive characteristic; which is, that these few words are lifereleasing.
What is meant by life-releasing words? When God imparts
revelation He gives nothing less than His life. He accords us life
through His revelation. In a minister, such revelation becomes a
burden. If this burden can be discharged, life is released; if not
discharged, life is detained. The heavier the burden, the greater the
power when discharged. But if the burden remains without any
means of being discharged, it will grow heavier. Here, for example,
is a leather bag full of water. It is very heavy in your hands. Suppose
you puncture a hole in the bag and let out the water; you will not feel
the weight any more. So it is with the word. If you have a burden in
you, you need some words to express just how you feel. This is like
puncturing a hole which releases the water. Such words of revelation
are words which release life. Life is shut up unless it is released
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through burden; it takes appropriate words to let out the pressure

within. How can life be released without words from God?
However heavy the weight, you must wait before God, for His
words shall come to you. Sometimes you may have to pray for days
before the words are given. At times you are able to fix the light with
thought but you have no way to express it. At other times words flow
with the thought: as soon as the burden is felt, appropriate words are
given. We cannot decide when we will have the words. God may
impart them immediately after you have seen the light, or He may
wait until your burden becomes nearly unbearable.
In any event, the words when given are most appropriate. They
hold the light which you have seen. The entire revelation seems to be
completely uncovered by these few words. The revelation is rich, and
so are the words. It is like unscrewing a corkthe entire contents of
the bottle can be poured out. You must seek to have these few words
granted to you. These we designate as the words within. They are
Gods, and they contain the whole of the revelation you have
received. God hides what He has revealed in these few words, and
through these same words His revelation is also unveiled. In the
delivery of these words of revelation, Gods enlightenment is also
delivered.
Let us understand beyond a shadow of a doubt that there can be no
ministry without enlightenment, no ministry without translating light
into thought by our understanding, and no ministry without having
the words of revelation to express the thought. This is what Paul
means by combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words (1 Cor.
2.13). The Holy Spirit grants us words. He imparts not only
revelation but the words of revelation as well. It may be only a few
words, yet these few puncture the vessel and let out life. You may
say many words, yet without these few God-given words life simply
will not flow.
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Gods life is released through revelation. Take the crucifixion of

the Lord Jesus as an example. The Lord has in truth already died for
the whole world. Yet why is it that not all the people of the world
have life? It is because not all have received this revelation. One can
endlessly recite the sentence that the Lord Jesus has died for all, but
if a person has no revelation he will not be in the good of the death of
the Lord. Another person who has received the revelation can thank
and praise God from the bottom of his heart, for such seeing has
given him life. The Holy Spirit quickens us through His word.
Today God desires to supply the church with His words. He
intends to give Christthe life of Christto the church. And this
life is released through the discharge of the burden in us. It requires
appropriate words to puncture a hole so that life may flow. A person
could be speaking for two hours and life would still not be released,
or a person could merely commence to speak and life at once begins
to flow. It all depends upon revelation and words. Each time
revelation is given, a few appropriate words must accompany it,
otherwise life will not flow. With such words, life is given. Without
them, life is not even touched.
If God accords you a burden, He must also grant you words to
discharge that burden. These two are both imparted by God. He who
gives burden is also the One who gives words to release the burden.
It is God who gives you burden, and it is God who helps you to
discharge it. He will supply you with words. With these few words
life is released. Hence do not go away still ladened with your burden;
learn how to release life or else you cannot serve God. Do not merely
bring the leather bag to your brethren, but puncture it so as to give
them water to drink. The way to let the water out is to obtain some
words from God. Frequently we meet a brother who speaks much but
says little. He speaks with great effort, yet he is not able to bring out
the thing within. He is going around in circles, always missing the
spot where the water can be let out. If only he could add a few right
words, life would flow; however, he does not possess the words
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within. He cannot be a minister of the word if he does not know how

to secure these necessary words. The longer he talks, the farther he
drifts.
How essential for us, therefore, to wait before God for these
words. It is best if we have the words the moment we are able to fix
the light with thought. But if no word is forthcoming at that moment,
we must ask God for it. The day will come when we will realize how
incompetent is our own eloquence. Is it not all too true that before we
begin to learn to be a minister of Gods word, we think very highly
of our eloquence? Let us admit that mans natural eloquence is good
for anything else except for the things of God. Mans eloquence is
futile in the affairs of God; no amount of it will impart life. The
words of life are only found in revelation.
We must acknowledge that Paul is naturally eloquent, yet he asks
in Ephesians 6.19 that utterance may be given to me in the opening
of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the
gospel. Paul requests the Ephesian believers to pray for him that he
might be granted words to proclaim the mystery of the gospel. In
things spiritual, natural eloquence is useless. God must give words;
and these words come from within. The difficulty with many is that
they talk a great deal but cannot express their inward feeling. Do not
try to find words while on the platform; have them within you
beforehand. Find the words and afterwards speak. A minister of
Gods word must learn to know the words within. May the Lord
make us those who have the appropriate words. We need burden
plus the words to discharge it.
In total, what is meant by burden? It means the enlightenment in
the spirit, plus the fixing of the light in thought, plus the words
within. These three constitute a prophets burden. Our concern must
be to impart Gods revelation to others, and this can only be
accomplished through the words of revelation. Oh that we may see
the relation between burden and the words within!
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How to Obtain the Words Within

Under what circumstances can we obtain these words within?
They are usually acquired at the time of Bible reading and waiting
before God. You have received an inward enlightenment and your
thought, being powerful and active, is able to hold Gods light. These
two steps are sufficient for your own benefit, because the revelation
you receive has already become a fruitful, substantial thought in you.
Even so, you cannot impart your thought to others; as a minister of
Gods word, you can only supply people with words. Such words do
not come from mans own thinking. They are revealed by God and
granted by the Holy Spirit. They are not given to you for you to
enjoy, but given to you for the sake of others that you may be a
minister of the word of God.
One thing is quite plain: we are members of the body of Christ:
hence the light God shines upon us never stops in us, but is for the
ministry. To obtain the words within we need to wait before God and
read the Bible. Our experiences may vary from time to time. On
some occasions it is very special; on other occasions it is fairly
ordinary. In ordinary days God will grant us a few words as we are
waiting before Him and are studying the Bible. He may give a few
words today and a few words tomorrow, but what words we receive
during Bible reading can sufficiently express what we have seen in
the spirit. These words will release life when they are spoken.
Hence we must wait on God and read the Bible, asking Him to
grant us the words. When the words do come, we are instantly
assured of what we should speak today. We have learned the secret
of utterance. We are able to express the light we have seen and the
thought which is within us. Before we secure the words, however
hard we try, we simply cannot speak forth the inward revelation.
There is no way to release the light of revelation other than by the
words of revelation. He who has the revealed light but lacks revealed
words should not attempt to release his light. The greater the lack of
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revealed words the longer should be the waiting before God. Pray,
commune, wait, and lay the Bible before God. This is not an ordinary
waiting, nor ordinary prayer and communion. This is waiting before
God with the Bible, praying to God with the Bible, and communing
with God over the Bible. It is a convenient time for the Lord to
speak, and so it is relatively easy to obtain the words of revelation.
As soon as you receive a few words you are able to win sinners to
Christ and to help the believers. These few words are Gods words,
not the word written much earlier, but Gods most recent word.
These can be used for life. Whenever you use these words, if your
spirit is right the Holy Spirit will honor them. They are Gods words;
the Holy Spirit is at the back. They are not common words; they are
extraordinary and powerful.
The Relation between Burden and the Spoken Words
The ministry of the word requires three steps: enlightenment,
thought, and words. Words are of two kinds: the words within and
the words without (that is, the spoken words). For the sake of
convenience, we may consider them as four different steps.
What are the spoken words? And what are their relation to the
words within? Their relation to the words within resembles the
relationship between thought and light. These are spiritual facts
which cannot be shaken. In the same way as the inward
enlightenment tends to fade away if it is not held firm by thought, so
the few words within need the spoken words without for delivery.
Inclusive as are these few words within in regard to what God desires
to say at that particular time, they cannot be understood by others if
they alone are spoken. It takes many spoken words to deliver these
few words within. So powerful are these words within that people
simply cannot assimilate them. To speak out the words within, it may
take perhaps two thousand spoken words, or five thousand, or even
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possibly ten thousand. It needs our word to deliver Gods word. This
is the ministry of the word.
We find here the blending in of the human element. Human
element is first involved in the process of the mind trying to hold the
light. Some minds are usable while others are incompetent. Human
element comes into the picture the second time when spoken words
are added. Some ministers possess sufficiently good words to express
Gods word, but others fail in this respect. The effect is tremendous.
The Words Within Need Spoken Words for Delivery
The words within are most concentrated, hence hard to receive;
the spoken words are relatively diluted, therefore easy to receive.
We are responsible for the outward spoken words. We are
responsible for diluting the concentrated words of God so as to make
them acceptable to men. The words within are few and concentrated,
while those spoken without are many and diluted. The first of these is
beyond mans assimilation; the second is able to be assimilated.
In the Bible we do not find much difference in the words which
the various people received directly from God, for they all are Gods
word. But when the word of God is delivered through Peter it carries
with it a Petrine flavor. This is equally true in John and in Paul. If we
are able to read directly in Greek we can easily detect which book is
written by Peter, which by John, and which by Paul. Why? Because
the outward expressions are varied even though the inner words are
the same words of God. Peter is different as a person from John and
Paul, and vice versa. When Gods word is deposited in Peter and
delivered through him, the doctrine is Gods but the taste is Peters.
The same holds true with John or with Paul. In the ministry of the
word God uses the human element. God looks for those whom the
Holy Spirit can use to deliver His word. God imparts words to men,
yet these relatively few God-given words require mans words for
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communication. Whoever is more instructed in God has more

instructive words to communicate.
Let us return to the principle of tongues. Why do we pay attention
to this matter? Because in the New Testament Paul compares tongues
with prophetic ministry. Why is not the speaking in tongues
forbidden? Because it is profitable to the one who speaks in tongues.
Yet why is it useless in the ministry of the word? For the simple
reason that there is no human understanding and no human element
involved in tongues. To speak in tongues depends entirely upon the
Holy Spirit, that is, the person speaks with his own spirit as Gods
Spirit gives him words. But it is nothing more. To our thinking,
tongues may be better than prophecy, for is it not better to speak in
Gods own words or in the words of the Holy Spirit? Nonetheless the
Bible views tongues as being inferior to prophetic ministry. God
places the latter above tongues. A prophetic ministry includes in it
Gods word plus the prophet himself. In other words, the living water
in the words flows out from the depths of the prophet; it does not
pour down from heaven. This is a very fundamental principle in the
New Testament.
God is concerned more with man. In studying the Scriptures
carefully you can easily conclude which book was written by Peter,
by John, or by Matthew. Each of them has that particular persons
traits, diction, and grammatical construction. God does not desire to
dictate His word. The doctrine is Gods but the words are of man.
How great is the responsibility of the minister of the word. If the man
is not right, what could he not add to Gods word? It is therefore
imperative for the man to be broken. Do not be mistaken as to the
nature of Gods word. It is not that Gods words are supernatural and
that is all there is to it. God first gives man a few words and these in
turn are delivered through mans many words. It depends very much
on how man dilutes these few God-given words.
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In speaking, we should remember that behind the spoken words

we already have three other things: enlightenment, thought, and the
words within. Whether we are speaking on the platform or
conversing privately with individuals, what is it we must do? We
must hold on to the one or two sentences which have been given to
us that they may be, as it were, the inspiration for all the other words.
Due to their intense concentration, we must dilute them to make
them receivable by people. It is like hammering a big rock into many
bits. As we speak, we break and grind the strong words within us into
small pieces, and then deliver them little by little. This is the way to
present the word of God.
The finer the inward words become, the better; the fuller the
words spoken, the stronger. It is not well if after two hours talk the
one piece within remains untouched. It is futile to deliver Gods
word with ones own words. There seems to be some discrepancy
here, and yet the fact remains true. On the one hand, mans words are
useless; on the other hand, they are precious. To speak the truth of
God with ones own words is absolutely vain, no matter how clear or
intelligent you are. But having Gods word within you, it takes your
words to deliver Gods words; otherwise the latter will remain intact.
Through your words the word of God is presented progressively.
Your outer spoken words are for the sake of releasing the words
within.
We discover that these four factors are inter-related in
functioning. As a minister of the word, you first receive the words
within, then you try to present them with outward spoken words. But
what really happens is actually not that simple. The mind needs to
think. How can you speak if you do not think? Yet your mind does
not think of the words, but rather of the revelation. You think of what
you have seen in your spirit. The Lord gives us two bases from
which to move: the enlightenment in the spirit and the words within.
We use our mind to hold fast the revelation but use our words to send
it out. There are all together four factors: two within and two
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without; two belong to God and two to us. When these four join
hands we have the ministry of the word.
How we have suffered in these respects. Often we have spoken
according to the words within, but our inner revelation is lost. The
words have come today, but the revelation is missing. Or sometimes
we have seen something inwardly, yet for months the burden is
unlifted because there are no words. Hence we need to have words
given us by the Lord but at the same time have our gaze fixed on the
revelation while speaking.
Brethren, let us see these two sides. Sometimes there is a
revelation and thought, but no word. We understand inwardly though
we cannot express it. Thoughts may be all around, yet words be
completely lacking. Who can apprehend thoughts? At other moments
we have words but the revelation in the spirit has faded away. When
people hear us they are as though chewing overnight manna; the taste
has changed. The sending forth of the words does not seem to
coincide with what is seen within. Thus it is essential both to have
words which express the thought and to not lose sight of the light.
Our mind is very important; even so, it is not an organ for
revelation. For receiving revelation all our wisdom is void. How the
church of God will suffer if our intent is to receive revelation with
our mind. We cannot do it with our mind. All four factors mentioned
above are indispensable. There must be the words within as well as
the spoken words without. They are like the double rails; the absence
of either one of them will derail the train. They run parallel. The
words within are sent forth through the spoken words without.
Should we have the enlightenment and thought but lack the basic
word, we will be like an ox at the grinding, moving in circles but
without any let up of burden. If we have the words within but not the
spoken words without, we will not be able to proceed further on just
the one rail; the word of God is stuck. There can be no preaching
with the light of revelation alone, nor with the inward words alone.
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These four factorsof revelation, thought, the words within, and the
spoken words withoutmust be joined together before the glorious
ministry of the word begins.
Speak According to the Scriptures
We must pay attention to the words of the Scriptures while
preparing for the spoken word. We ourselves do not have many
words to say, and our own words incline to travel in one direction
only. The words within are strong and concentrated, but when we
speak, our words are so poor and inadequate. If we repeat ourselves
over and over again, people will become tired; on the other hand if
we deliver only the few inward words they will be unable to
appreciate their preciousness. How utterly ineffective is mans
eloquence in speaking spiritual things! We may speak eloquently on
other matters, but when it comes to preaching, our eloquence is
quickly exhausted. Even after we have gone round and round, the
words within still go unexpressed. For this reason we need to read
the Bible diligently.
God calls us to be ministers of His word. He knows the
inadequacy of our words. Accordingly, He speaks in many portions
and in many ways to us (Heb. 1.1). We must spend time to read the
Scriptures. There is much of doctrine, knowledge, and teaching in the
Bible which can be added to our speech. We must have Scriptural
basis, Scriptural teaching and truth, to make what we say acceptable
to Gods children. There needs to be a ground for acceptance. Upon
receiving inward enlightenment with its corresponding thought and
words, we will think of quite a number of similar experiences and
similar subjects recorded in the Bible. We remember them and use
them to bring out our message. We may ourselves only have a few
words, perhaps ten-odd sentences, for what we say must be based on
our experience. But if we are familiar with the Bible we can use the
words there to help complete the delivery. This is not expounding the
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Scriptures objectively. It is on the contrary a highly subjective

approach to the understanding of the Bible. We are not talking about
the Bible but about the revelation we have received. We use the
Bible because we find in it things similar to our experience.
Something happened to Peter and to John; something was recorded
in Genesis or in Psalms. These fit in perfectly with what we intend to
say, and thus we clothe our message with them. We have noticed
how Paul, how Peter, how David, how Moses, and how the Lord
spoke about certain matters. When we are now given a few words
concerning a particular matter, we clothe them with the words of
Paul, Peter, David, Moses, and even our Lord. We still base our
speech on the light and burden we have received from God, so that in
speaking, the light shines out and the burden is discharged.
We do not read the Bible merely for the sake of expounding it.
How vain for people to talk about the Bible! The words in the
Scriptures are provided to release our inward burdens. We find the
appropriate words in the Bible for the discharge of our burden. Such
words may have been spoken ten to twenty times and in many
different ways. When we are burdened, we use the Scripture words to
relieve this burden. Is your burden heavy in you? If it is, try to find
more passages in the Book. If your burden is not as heavy, then less
passages may be sufficient. Try to use these varying ways to lessen
your burden. Perhaps after you have tried five different ways your
burden will be completely discharged. The ministry of the word
means that the weighty words within are delivered through the words
of the Scriptures. The Bible is consequently the best instrument.
Having said this, though, we must raise a warning: never deem the
words of the Bible alone to be sufficient. The words of the Scriptures
by themselves become mere doctrines. The basis for ministry is
revelationthe words within delivered through the words of the
Bible without. If one is lacking in inward revelations and merely tries
to expound the Bible, his source is of a very low degree. We should
not only talk about Pauls experience; we must see it ourselves
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before we have the ministry of the word. With revelation and words
within, plus the words of the Scriptures without, the burden is
released. With words inside yet without the words of the Scriptures,
the burden will remain heavy.
The Test for the Ministry of the Word
How do we know if we have spoken rightly? See whether your
inward burden is lessened, unchanged, or increased. This is very
important. You do not need to step down from the platform before
you know. Even as you are speaking you know. With the utterance of
each sentence there should be a corresponding lessening of your
burden; for the burden is to be discharged through the words spoken.
If the spoken words fail to lessen your inward burden you know
something is wrong. If after having spoken for a few minutes you
discover your burden unchanged, then you know you have used the
wrong way of delivery. It is better to stop than to continue for an
hour. Confess to the brethren that you have taken the wrong direction
and begin afresh.
Such difficulties will gradually be eliminated through practice.
You must learn how to lessen your inward burden. You should come
with a burden, but after you finish speaking, the burden should be
gone. You should not begin speaking with a burden and a half hour
later still have your burden. Nor should we have the rather peculiar
experience of coming with a burden, but because our words are
partly right and partly wrong discharge only a part of it. This too is
wrong.
The whole thing is of course more complicated than we think.
Sometimes your preaching not only fails to lessen your burden but
even increases it. Perhaps a wrong illustration adds to your burden.
Or you may carelessly bring in an untimely joke which arouses
uncontrollable laughter from the audience. Or a sudden thought may
increase your burden. For the above reasons, your eye must be
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single. You speak to lighten the burden, not just for the sake of
speaking.
A basic principle to remember in preaching is to keep your eyes
on how to discharge your inward burden. In the physical realm, we
know, no one carrying a load to a certain place wishes to carry it
back again. He expects to unload it there. The same is true in the
spiritual realm: every burden which reaches the heart needs to be
released through appropriate words. If, in speaking, the burden is
increased, then cease speaking. Failure to find appropriate spoken
words creates a real problem to the ministry of the word. If your
burden is lessened with each sentence, you know you have said the
right thing. You may say it in different ways a few times till your
burden is wholly discharged. Actually, you have only a few inward
words; all other words are there to dilute and to deliver these few
words.
May God be gracious to us and grant us accurate words, words
which bring out life and words which touch the height.
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The Discipline of the Holy

Spirit and the Word
Whence come the words when a minister

arises to speak? He need not churn up his
brain in order to find the many words, for
his words come from a different source. After he has decided on the
source, he is clear what words are unsuitable and should not be
spoken as Gods word. We have repeatedly mentioned the intimate
relationship between the ministry of the word and human element. It
is God who gives just a few words which are later developed into
many of our words. All the latter words are derived from the former.
Our speech is based on the inward words. We simply speak out what
God has spoken to us inwardly. Human element is definitely
involved; hence we must pay much attention to what sort of person
the speaker is.
The kind of person determines the kind of words spoken.
Sometimes God acknowledges as His word what is spoken;
sometimes He denies that it is His. The entire question seems to
revolve around what kind of man the speaker is. Here are two
persons. They receive the same inward enlightenment as well as the
same inward words, but when they stand up to serve they present a
profound contrast. Why? Because they are widely different persons.
Ministry varies according to the person. Where, then, does the word
come from? The word comes primarily from revelation, but it is
influenced by human element. If the person is right his words will be
right; if he is not right, neither can his words be right. The words of
an unfit person are bound to be of lower qualityweak and
immature, humanly clever and persuasive but not spiritual at all. That
of a fit man will naturally be spiritual, accurate, of higher quality and
able to touch God. In looking for the source of the spoken words we
must pay attention to the person himself. What kind of man one is
determines what sort of words he speaks.
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The Words Differ According to the Constituting Work of the Holy

Spirit
Were God through His Spirit to incorporate something of Himself
in youthat is, were the Spirit of God to do some work in you by
touching and breaking down your outward man so that your
character undergoes a change and you were thus able to touch
spiritual realitythen you naturally would speak out the words of
the Holy Spirit. What you utter would follow what He has
constituted in you. Without the Holy Spirits constituting work there
can be no Holy Spirit words. It is beyond us to utter His words unless
He rearranges and reconstitutes us. We are like a house entirely
renovated and even rebuilt after many years of the Lords working in
us. Take note of this: that the Holy Spirits words are founded on the
Holy Spirits work. If we have not been reconstituted our words will
remain the same old words. Only after we are reconstituted and
become new can we speak new words.
We may learn from Paul in 1 Corinthians 7. The Holy Spirit is so
successful in remaking Paul that to him revelation becomes natural.
He has advanced to such a spiritual state that he is unconscious of his
having received a revelation. Revelation is no surprise to him. He
receives enlightenment so often that he finds it hard to distinguish
between enlightenment and his own thought. The reason men today
are so far apart from Gods revelation is because there has not been a
sufficient reconstituting work of the Holy Spirit in them. How
strange the words of 1 Corinthians 7 sound to us. A brother is here
brought by God to such an advanced stagethe Holy Spirit has done
such a work of reconstitution in himthat his own feeling is not
much different from Gods feeling, his own thought is closely similar
to Gods revelation. He no longer senses anything special when he
receives the revelation of God. The human element has climbed so
high as to touch God Himself. Paul thinks these are his own words,
for the Lord has not spoken to him. Yet there is such a large measure
The Discipline of the Holy Spirit and the Word
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of spiritual constituting in him that he is able to conclude by saying,

and I think that I have the Spirit of God (v.40).
Here we recognize the close relationship between man and the
word. A man is here speaking the word of God. He has not received
any special revelation, yet he is already speaking Gods word
because he has reached a very high spiritual level. The principle
illustrated in Paul comes to this: if the person is right, the words
spoken by him will be right. Out of the constituting of God within
him flow from him the words of God. We must therefore be
especially careful in this respect that we may be dealt with to the
extent of such purity as to enable the words of the Holy Spirit to
come through our lips.
Due to the difference in God being constituted in men the words
come forth differently. Two persons may be equally usable, both
having attained to a high degree of spirituality, but the constituting
work of the Holy Spirit in them may not be alike. They may have
received the same revelation, been given the same inward words, yet
speak differently due to this variation in the Holy Spirits working.
Both are ministers of the word, yet each has his distinctive speech
because the human elements involved are different. John is different
from Paul, so is Paul from Peter; hence their spoken words are quite
different. They are all greatly used by God though they speak so
differently from one another. Within Paul is Gods word, on his lips
are his own words, and yet what is spoken is reckoned as the word of
God. This is true of Peter also. Both of them have undergone a deep
reconstituting work; as a result they can speak the word of God.
Judging from their outward spoken words, however, they appear to
be very dissimilar.
The Formation of the Word
Just as Gods word is a Person in the Lord Jesus, so it must today
be personified in us. The Lord Jesus is the Word become flesh; thus
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God spoke in the flesh. Today God intends to have His words
become flesh once more, that is, He still wishes to speak through
human flesh. That is why He deals with this flesh of ours, hoping that
through it His word may come forth. To arrive at this goal there must
be the constituting work of the Holy Spirit in us. By the indwelling
Spirit God is able to incorporate something in us so that when we
think and speak, the word of God comes through. What is
incorporated in us by the Holy Spirit converts Gods word into our
subjective words. A minister of the word must allow the Holy Spirit
to so reconstitute him that he may have this kind of subjective words.
His thought must not only agree with Gods thought but is to be
Gods thought. His words become Gods word, not just coincide with
Gods word. This is the result of the Holy Spirits incorporating work
in us. And this is New Testament ministry. The man is there, and so
is God. Man speaks, and God speaks too. What dealing must that
man go through if the word of God is destined to come through him!
Let us see just how God does this constituting work in us through
His Spirit. Words must be created within us by God. They are
formed through the daily trials which God arranges in our
circumstances. We may perhaps go through various trials these few
days or months. Sometimes we are victorious, at other times
defeated. We may seem to be getting through, and yet we seem to be
bucking against a wall. All these are actually arranged by the Lord.
Days pass and we begin to learn a little. Perhaps we start to have a
few words. These few words give us clarity as to what is happening
to us. They enable us to talk, for they are words imparted to us. God
has created a few words in us. This is how words are formed. They
belong to us as well as to God. It is vital that we know where and
how to learn to have words. For instance, in the early stages of
chastisement you may be puzzled because you have no word. You
may be quite perplexed over Gods dealing. But after a while you
begin to understand: Oh, this is what the Lord is after. He has been
dealing with me that I may possess this thing.
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Yet things are really not so simple, for you do not come to a
definite understanding all at once. You seem to be clear and yet you
are still unclear. It is as you are going through this ambivalence
between clarity and obscurity that you gradually become clearer.
When you are clear to a certain degree, you have the corresponding
words. What you are clear about becomes your words. Sometimes
the Lord accords you a very severe trial. You cannot get through. At
times you think you may get through, you really believe you may,
but you do not. Even so, in this process of getting through and not
getting through you unconsciously finally do break through. And
your coming through brings out words.
By this, then, let us understand that God is forming words in you
as He puts you through this dual process of clarity and obscurity. In
our trials, in the dual process we go through, God is creating words
in us. We appear to be getting through but nevertheless are stuck; we
appear undone, yet not completely beaten. After some days the Lord
finally carries us through. This carrying through constitutes Gods
word. The farther you get through the clearer you become and the
more words you possess. This is how words are formed. The word of
the ministry is not something thought out but rather created. How
different are thought out words from created words. You are groping
in the dark; you faintly see something; it becomes a little more
definite. By adding together these times of clarity, you secure the
word. What you have passed through becomes your word.
A minister of the word ought to be attentive to how he speaks.
The words he speaks must come through discipline, since God
creates the words for us through His disciplining us. The measure of
discipline determines the amount of words. Our experience before
God gives us a corresponding degree of words. We should now
understand that the Lord is chiseling this flesh of ours that we may
touch the word of God. Out of a chiseled flesh emerges the word of
God. How much you can speak depends upon how much you have
learned inwardly. Your words are based upon experience before the
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Lord. Gods aim is to unite you with His word. It is more than your
preaching His word; you as a person must be so chiseled and tested
by Him that the word which comes out of you is Gods word.
Let us proceed a step further. Where do you see the light of
revelation? Most likely you will say it is seen in the spirit. Why then
do you not always see it in the spirit? Why is it that your spirit
sometimes receives revelation and sometimes not? When is it that
your spirit receives revelation? It is when you are under discipline.
Perception in the spirit is governed by the dealing upon us. In the
time of chastisement the spirit sees light. The light of revelation is
seen and obtained as we experience the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
When the discipline of God is rare the enlightenment in the spirit
also becomes scarce. We receive light in a definite place and at a
definite time. We get light in the spirit, and it comes at the time of
discipline. Consequently each time of dealing supplies another
opportunity for revealing.
Missing a discipline means forfeiting the possibility of receiving a
revelation. When we accept a dealing by God we may receive a
revelation, a new revelation. We should recognize the hand of our
Lord. Frequently His hand is upon us, touching us and dealing with
us in point after point; and so we yield little by little. Or He may
have to touch us many times before we consent somewhat by saying,
Lord, now I am willing to yield and to strive no more. Then and
there we receive enlightenment. The Lord continues to deal with us
and so we gradually yield to Him. Each yielding brings
enlightenment to our spirit. Thus we see light, and in this light we
receive the word. Through testing, God gives us word as well as
light. The words we use in preaching are not something we ourselves
conceive; they are created through Gods discipline of us.
In your various times of ministering, therefore, watch to see if
your words grow. If there is progress in this respect you know you
have been progressively dealt with. The first times you speak for
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God you will have only a few words. No matter how clear you are,
how good your memory is, and how much information you have
received from others, when it comes to speaking you find yourself
wholly inadequate. In order to grant you word the Lord has to deal
with you, time after time and in point after point. Each chiseling
brings forth some words. God is giving words, ever progressive
words. After many such dealings you are not wanting in words when
you stand on the platform. But do notice how these words are
formedthey are formed through the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12 that he has received a very great
revelation, a revelation of the third heaven and of Paradise. The third
heaven is the highest heaven while Paradise is in the lowest part of
the earth. One is the heaven of heavens, the other is the center of the
earth. Paul received a revelation which includes both. Naturally such
a revelation tends to elate Paul. He is so afraid that anyone should
think too much of him that he refrains from speaking of it. Further, a
thorn is given him in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass him.
Three times he asks the Lord for its removal, and the Lords answer
is: My grace is sufficient for you, for (my) power is perfected in
weakness (v.9). This new revelation is not something mental but
spiritual. Hence Paul can say, Most gladly, therefore, I will rather
boast about my weaknesses, . . . for when I am weak, then I am
strong (vv.9-10). He had indeed received a new revelation and a
new knowledge. Perhaps this is a part of the wonderful revelation he
has received. He may find more help in this word than in what he has
seen and heard in the third heaven and in Paradise. We have never
been to Paradise; no one has ever been told of what is spoken there.
Nor have we been to the third heaven; we have no idea of all the
things which will occupy us in that realm. But for almost two
thousand years the church has received more help from what the
Lord told PaulMy grace is sufficient for youthan from the
apostles experience of the third heaven and of Paradise.
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Whence comes the ministry of the word? In the case of Paul it

comes from the testings and trials he underwent in being brought by
the Lord to such a state that his boast was that whenever he is weak
then is he strong. Paul has the ministry of the word when he
recognizes that Gods grace is sufficient for him. In this very manner
is his ministry produced. It comes through discipline. Such revelation
as found in 2 Corinthians 12.9 results from the discipline of the Holy
Spirit. No discipline, no revelation; no thorn, no grace.
The thorn upon Pauls flesh is a severe one, and not an ordinary
thorn but a messenger of Satan. The word harass means to buffet,
to beat, to oppress, ill-treat, make painful. Paul has gone through a
lot; he is not one who is afraid of sickness yet he is being sorely
tried. If he says it is painful, it must be very painful indeed. Paul had
a thorn, and Satan sends his messenger to harass Paul by making use
of that thorn. Under such a severe trial God gives him grace: My
grace is sufficient for you. Paul thus receives a revelation. He
recognizes the grace of God as well as the power of God. He also
knows his own weakness. Countless saints there are in the church of
God who have been carried through trials and testings by means of
this revelation of Pauls. If we only know how utterly weak we are!
As soon as weakness leaves us, power likewise departs. Where there
is weakness, there is power. This is a spiritual principle brought in by
discipline. We receive light through discipline; we also receive word
through discipline. We learn to speak time after time, not unlike a
child learning to speak.
God puts you through trials; He allows you to be tried at the hands
of many of His own children. As you begin to learn, you begin to
have a word. In the measure of your yieldedness is the measure of
your word. Immediately you yield, you gain the word. This word is
obtained from obedience; your obedience is the word. As you fall
and prostrate yourself before God you have the word. It is written in
your life; it is engraved in your very being. God allows His children
to go through many and varied trials. Sometimes you may be the
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very first one to be put through a trial, before the others. You are
tried first and the others afterwards. The trial you go through perfects
the word in you. You are able to rise up and speak the word tempered
through trial to your brothers and sisters who are now being tried and
seemingly unable to get through. The word you speak becomes light
and life and power to those who are in the same trial. Once more you
have ministered the word.
Let us realize that the minister of the word must be tried first.
Without any trial there can be no word. If other brothers and sisters
should enter into trial before you, you have nothing to help them.
Even if you should try to say something, it falls as an empty word.
What use is an empty word? Word is formed in fire. The church must
go through fire herself; thus God leads His ministers into fire first
that they may be burnt before the rest. He who is burnt first comes
out with the word. As you are burned you possess the word. Time
and again through burning and yieldedness words are added to
words. And subsequently you possess the word to help those who are
equally tried.
We therefore declare that a minister of the word ministers with
Spirit-taught words. Not only does the Holy Spirit speak words of
wisdom with my lips; He teaches me how to speak. I am instructed
by the Holy Spirit; I have learned in the fiery furnace; I have the
word. Otherwise, all which is said is merely empty words. How basic
this is: that we need to learn in each dealing. Our words must be
burned into being through fire, else they shall be ineffective. We
cannot comfort those who are sorrowful. What is merely external is
futile. In order to be truly useful, we must be those who have been
dealt with by God.
How is it that the church has been helped for two thousand years
by this word in 2 Corinthians 12? Thank God, it is because of the
thorn in Pauls flesh. Had the thorn been removed the help would
have vanished. The power of that chapter is manifested in this thorn.
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If there were no thorn in Pauls body there would be no spiritual

value. That power of life is manifested in the thorn. Only the foolish
tries to reduce his thorn. When the thorn disappears the word
disappears, and the ministry fades away. The power of our word lies
in the thorn we endure.
Hence the ministers of the word are those who are chosen by God
to be dealt with first, to be tried first, and to know the Lord first, so
that they may minister Christ to Gods children. Because they have
endured beforehand, therefore they can help others. Due to their
much endurance they are able to give to many. Unless we do not care
to be a minister of Gods word, we must be tried in advance and
endure much more than ordinary people are called to endure. God
has established us to be ministers, and not to a few but to the entire
church. We are called to supply the needs of many. We must
therefore endure before others do, and more than the rest. Otherwise,
how can we help the many?
Whether a minister has abundant words or not depends on how
much he has been tried by the Lord. We should not expect God to
deal with us slowly and fragmentarily. What we endure must provide
for the needs of many; thus we must endure all which the others will
be called to endure. Why are some brothers easily depleted in words?
It is because they have not received very much dealing from God.
One must be dealt with in a great amount before he can become a
minister of the word. If an individual has received much dealing,
then he will have a word for different brothers in various needs.
A minister should be rich in words. Richness in dealing produces
the richness in word. Fiery trials yield abundant words. A wide range
of testings enables one to meet the diverse needs of man.
Accordingly, it is the one who has who can serve; it is also the one
who has much who can serve. Merely having is inadequate to
supply the various needs of the man. We need to have rich reserves,
or else we are unable to solve peoples problems. Thank God, Pauls
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ministry is a comprehensive one, because he has come through a

great deal. What he has experienced makes up his comprehensive
ministry. If we expect to have a big ministry we should be ready to
receive more dealings.
The Aim of the Supply of Words
What is the aim of our supplying people with words? Is it solely to
help them through their difficulties? There is a specific purpose in
the supply of words, even to help people to know the Lord. All
revelations are the revealing of Christ; the absence of this reduces the
value of revelation to nothing. The ultimate end of the supply of
words is to bring dead men to knowledge of the Lord. God places us
in such an environment that we will meet difficulties. Our great need
drives us to seek the Lord. We must realize that the discipline of the
Holy Spirit indicates our need to us each time. The Holy Spirit shows
us our need through His specifically arranged circumstances. There
is no way to get through except by an intimate knowledge of the
Lord. How can people know Him if they have no need? Paul would
not be able to know the grace of the Lord if he did not have the thorn.
When one is tried in fire it is more than just a matter of how to get
through; he ought to know the Lord through this trial. Paul does not
bite his lips and say, All right! I will endure it! Instead he claims:
I have known grace. This is the way to know the Lord.
For this reason God consistently uses the discipline of the Holy
Spirit to make us realize a need which none but the Lord Himself can
supply. Each need enables us to know a particular facet of our Lord.
Pauls knowledge of the power of the Lord comes through his
weakness. In suffering he apprehends grace. The thorn makes him
weak, but it also shows him grace. The Lord puts him in weakness
that he might know power, puts him in suffering that he might know
grace. Need brings in knowledge. Each particular need imparts a
special knowledge.
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To be perfect in the knowledge of the Lord naturally requires

many trials. How can one know the Lord perfectly if his trials are
few? You may be familiar with many of the facets of the Lord, yet
you may still be lacking in the knowledge of a particular side of Him.
If you desire to know Him, then know Him perfectly. Any lack in
receiving the discipline of the Holy Spirit results in a deficiency in
the knowledge of the Lord. If the discipline you receive is imperfect
you will have no word to supply others. Let us ask God to discipline
us. Let Him place us in various environments so as to be tried on all
sides and yet allowing Him to carry us through them daily. As we
live daily in such conditions the Lord will give us plenty of
opportunity to know Him more. Each new dealing, each new
discipline, awards us with a new knowledge. Thus our knowledge of
Christ is increased day by day. We are able to supply the church with
the Christ we know.
What then is the word? The word is Christ. The word one gets in
trial and under discipline comes from ones knowledge of Christ.
How very lacking is the knowledge of Christ among millions of
Gods children today. Many know the Lord in only one or two
aspects. They need ministers of the word to help them towards a
richer knowledge of the Lord. Due to their manifold trials these
ministers of the word have come to know Him in His various facets;
hence they do possess many-sided words. Their words are for the
supply of Christ. Therefore, Gods word is Gods Son, Gods word is
Christ. What we recognize in the word is what we know of Christ. In
the church some are deficient in their knowledge of Christ in one
area, some are lacking in another area; but if we have received the
mercy of God and have had experiences in these particular areas, we
are able to use words to supply their needs. We can supply what they
lack because we have learned the lessons. If our ministry is
established on this foundation our word will be Gods word.
Sometimes we make use of others experience. But using the
experience of others is not an easy thing because it tends to over-
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activate our mind if we are not careful. Many clever persons, having
no experience of their own, are continually employing others
experience. They themselves are empty and useless before God. It is
necessary for us to have our own dealings in the Lord before we are
really able to utilize the experiences of other people. If we need to
nurture our own experience in the spirit, we must cultivate the
experience of others in the spirit. Only what is preserved in the spirit
is living.
You can only make others know the body of Christ if you yourself
know what the body of Christ is and also have nurtured that
knowledge in your spirit. You are permitted to use the experience of
others only if you have that thing in your own spirit. If you are an
individualist, having no understanding nor possession of the reality
of the body of Christ, you should not use the experience of other
people. You yourself must be living in the body of Christ, and you
must have nurtured this experience in your spirit before you can
supply others with the words of reality. Otherwise, all that you say
will be mere theories and of no avail. You might consider your
speech as most logical and coherent, but you have not touched the
real thing. And those who hear you are also unable to touch reality.
This same principle is applicable to the use of the Bible. Today
you wish to use the Scriptures. You are touched by a particular point;
immediately five or more verses come to you. You should nurture
these verses in your spirit, not in your mind. What you thus reserve
in the spirit is that which you can give to others. Having the thing but
not nurturing it in the spirit is useless. The experience you had five
years ago must be nurtured in your spirit. For only in this way can
your spirit use it when necessary. Even Scripture verses, if your spirit
is unable to use them, cannot be employed for ministry.
It all comes down to this: that our words must be created in us by
God. They are not what we ourselves conceive nor are they learned
from others; they are created in us by God. After many years of
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refining, a few words come forth. They are the product of years of
chiseling. They are constituted in us by the Holy Spirit. These words
are entrusted to us by the Lord. They are truly spoken by us;
nevertheless they are still Gods word. We have learned them
through deep valleys. They are words which have been washed and
purified by God. It is clear that the source of such words can be
traced to what we have seen and learned before the Lord. Such
enlightened words are based upon the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
Even if we quote the word of others, it must still be based upon the
Holy Spirits discipline. In order to speak forth something from the
heights we need to learn it down in the depths. Only what we have
seen in the spirit can become light for others. The words we speak
are all formed in the depths under pressure. Only the person who has
passed through a special kind of trial and has learned its lesson is
able to speak that particular kind of word.
Words are born in trial, suffering, defeat, and darkness. Let not a
minister of the word be fearful of being led by God into such an
environment. If one understands Gods ways he can begin to praise
the Lord, saying, Oh Lord, are You giving me words again? You
may be ignorant the first few times, not knowing why you have been
brought into such an environment, but thereafter you surely shall
begin to understand. You should know that each trial produces some
word. As the number of trials increase, so your word is enriched.
You become wise in the way of obtaining word. A minister of the
word must walk before the church not only in words but especially in
trials. If you fail to walk ahead in the discipline of the Holy Spirit,
you have absolutely no word to supply the church. This is a most
serious matter. You must walk ahead of the church in trial if you
would desire to have something with which to serve the church, else
all your words are empty. You are deceiving the church as well as
your own self. That beautiful hymn, Let us meditate on the story of
the vine, climbs higher and higher in its sentiment till it points out at
the end that he who forsakes most has most to give. If you have
forsaken nothing, you have nothing to give. The ministry of the word
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is founded on the words from within. There is the source of our

word.
Finally, let us not forget that fundamental law which Paul tells us
of in the first chapter of 2 Corinthians: We do not want you to be
unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we
were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we
despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within
ourselves (vv.8,9). What does the sentence of death work out in
him? He tells us by saying that God has a definite purpose, and that
this purpose is that under the circumstances he may be able to rely
not on himself but on the God who raises the dead, and that he may
be so comforted by God that he may also be used to comfort others
under the same trial: Just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in
abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we
are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are
comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient
enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope
for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our
sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort (vv.5-7)
This explains the underlying principle of the ministry of the word.
We are tested first in all sorts of trials so that afterwards we may
supply others with what we have learned. We ourselves are
comforted, so we may comfort others with our comfort. Dare we
speak on a lower level? We ought to speak with words which are
learned through many refinings. Many words and many illustrations
we cannot use, for in using them we will lessen the power of our
speaking. We must learn to speak accurately in our ordinary
conversation. The Lord will refine us until our words run fairly close
to the words in the Bible. Learn to use the words and phrases God
uses. The words of a minister of the word must be inwardly refined.
Since our words have their source in discipline, how can we
despise the discipline of the Holy Spirit? Whatever does not come
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from His discipline is empty words. They can never give supply to
the church. Brethren, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, but
learn the lessons of these fiery trials.
14
The Word and Memory

Another thing of which a minister of the
word must take note is memory, the power
to remember. It occupies a much larger
place in ministry than we usually think. We
have much to learn in this respect.
Need for Memory
When one is ministering he invariably senses the inadequacy of

his memory. He may be endowed with a strong memory naturally,
but when it comes to ministry he discovers his incompetency. This
incompetency affects the outgoing of the words, seems to keep such
outgoing covered as by a veil, and so hinders the burden from being
discharged. We can only say what we remember, not what we do not
remember. How does the inward word uphold the spoken word?
How does the former flow out? Without the support of the inner
word there will be no spoken word. If the inward word is absent, the
spoken word must change its subject, for the subject is in the inward
word and not in the spoken word. The second needs the backing of
the first, or else it will wither away. Here then is the significance of
memory. It is through recall that the inward word is transported to
the outside. Whenever our memory fails, our burden ceases to be
discharged.
A strange experience common to all the ministers of the word is
that the more you remember doctrine the less you recall revelation.
You may understand teaching, be quite clear on it, and remember it
well. But with revelation it is different. You receive an inner
revelation, you see the light, and succeed in fixing that light; you are
also given a few words with which to express what you have just
seen. Strange to say, though, you find it difficult to remember these
words. They may be simple, perhaps only five or ten of them.
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Humanly speaking they should be easy to remember. Yet to your

amazement, the truer the revelation and the greater the inward
seeing, the harder (in actual fact) for you to remember the words.
When you rise up to minister, you forget the words within a few
minutes. Frequently you mix up the order of the words; occasionally
you leave out some of them; and at other times you are able to
recollect them with great effort but forget the thing itself. Thus you
begin to realize how difficult it is to preserve Gods revelation in
mans memory. You start to learn to pray, Oh Lord, be gracious to
me that I may remember.
You have to support the spoken word with the inner word. Due to
the inadequacy of memory, however, you often fail to have the
supply ready. The longer you speak, the farther you drift away from
the inward word. After you finish delivering the sermon you find
your inner word remains untouched. You came with a burden, yet
you return with the same burden. You have not been able to
discharge it. This is a great suffering to you. Perhaps you say, I will
write it down in my notebook; then I will remember. This may or
may not help, for an unusual thing happens: as you read your notes
you recognize every word of them, but you cannot recall the thing
behind the words. How totally inadequate is your memory. If what
you have is mere doctrine or teaching you are well able to deliver it.
The more doctrinal it is, the easier you remember. But it is not easy
to recall revelation. In attempting to communicate your inward
revelation you must come to realize that you cannot remember what
you have just seen. The words you may remember, yet the thing
itself is forgotten. Our problem on the platform is that we forget the
thing we have seen. We may say many words, yet none
communicates the thing we see. The ministry suffers loss. How
necessary it is to have memory.
The memory we need is of two kinds: the outward memory and
the Holy Spirit memory. A minister of the word needs both. The
outward memory points to the memory of the outward man, that
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which is produced in a mans brain. It occupies a very important

place in testifying the word of God. The Holy Spirit memory is what
the Lord Jesus mentions in John 14.26: But the Helper, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all
things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. This is
the Holy Spirit memory, for it is the Holy Spirit who brings things to
your remembrance, not you yourself.
The Holy Spirit Memory
In our spirit we see something; we are able to fix it in our mind
and we are also given inward words. These inward words contain the
thought we have as well as the light we receive. God gives us a few
words which are called words of revelation. Revelation means
seeing, lifting the veil so that light shines and we see the thing behind
the veil. When we see that inner reality we at first cannot express it.
God grants us sufficient mental power to hold the light and translate
it into our own thoughtas though photographing the thing. He also
grants us words to embrace all the meaning of the revelation. The
words God gives include the whole meaning of what is behind the
enlightenment. Such words of revelation are therefore seeing words.
They are more than words, for they speak of our inward seeing and
inward revelation. These words in us are simultaneously a seeing.
What actually are these inward words? They are the utterance of
the revelation in me. They are more than simply five or ten words;
they utter what I have perceived within. Seeing originally was the
function of my eyes, not of my lips. I may be most clear inwardly but
unable to utter what is within me. Now God gives me words to
embody that light as well as to enable me to utter that which I have
seen.
Such words need memory to accommodate them. I must
remember two things: the words and the light. Let us call the
recollection of the words the outward memory, and that of the light
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the Holy Spirit memory. Wherein does our difficulty today lie? It is
that often we remember the words with our outward memory, but
lose the Holy Spirit memorythat is, we cannot recall the light.
Words we recollect, but sight we forget. There is no such problem in
the realm of doctrine or teaching, because we can memorize and
deliver every word and so our task is done. Doctrine stops at the
outward. The ministry of the word, however, is to touch life. The
more doctrinal, the easier to be remembered and to be uttered. The
more full of life the inward seeing is, the easier to be forgotten. We
may recall every word but lose sight of the reality. This is due to
some defect in our Holy Spirit memory. Only in this way will the
words be living. Whenever these inward words are separated from
the Holy Spirit memory they change from spiritual to material. All
spiritual things can turn material if care is not exercised.
Inward words may easily plunge into outward death. Spiritual
words may quickly be materialized. To insure their effectiveness
spiritual words must be kept alive in the Spirit. Words of revelation
need to be nurtured in the Holy Spirit or else you may recall the
words but not the revelation. It is relatively common, for example, to
know the uncleanness and the repugnancy of sin. Some see this on
the first day of their faith in the Lord; others are awakened to it at the
time of revival. The first ones see the repugnancy of their sin
immediately upon hearing the glad tidings, whereas the others live
such a loose life that it may not be until three to five years later that
they are revived by the Holy Spirit to be convicted of it.
Once a certain brother was convicted of his sin. He was so
overwhelmed by it that he rolled on the floor from eight in the
evening until dawn. Others had long left the meeting hall, but he
remained there rolling as though he had come to the gate of hades.
Even though I go to hell, he cried out, it still is less than I
deserve! During that night the Lord showed him the repugnancy of
sin. He saw it in his spirit, and he was able to tell others of the
hatefulness of sin. As is written in a hymn, he saw sin as black as
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smoke, and nothing is darker than smoke. With just those few words
he was able to utter his inward revelation. Many were helped. Even
so, after two or three years his revelation gradually grew dim. The
words sin black as smoke were still with him, but when he rose to
speak, the picture was no longer there. The revelation of the Holy
Spirit had faded away; it was no longer as distinct and powerful as
before. Formerly when he preached on the blackness of sin it was
with tears in his eyes; now he spoke with a smile. The taste was
different. The words were the same, but the Holy Spirit memory was
absent.
One day the Lord may show you the sinfulness of sin as found in
Romans 7.13that through the commandment sin might become
utterly sinful. You see the sinfulness of sin and you are terrified by
the word sin. It is possible, though, that within a few days
afterwards you may still recall the words sinful beyond measure,
and yet the picture is missing. At the time you see the sinfulness of
sin before God sin is present and is the image before you. When you
subsequently stand to speak on that subject, however, the words may
remain with you but the picture has disappeared. We call the picture
the Holy Spirit memory.
As a minister of the word you need the Holy Spirit memory which
enables you to recall not only the words but the picture also. Hence
each time you rise up to speak you should ask the Lord to grant you
the Holy Spirit memory so that when the words are uttered the reality
may also be sent forth. Otherwise, after you have spoken ten or
twenty times on the repugnancy of sin you yourself may become
confused. Only when you once again see the sinfulness of sin in the
Holy Spirit memory are you able to present the picture as well as
speak the words. That is the word of God. Words plus the picture.
Brethren, do you realize that Gods word needs to have that picture?
Words alone cannot be considered as Gods word. There must be the
reality behind them.
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Let us use another example. Suppose you are preaching on the

love of the Lord. While you speak you have the picture with you.
You speak according to the picture; and it is effective. Frequently,
though, you speak of how God loves you yet you yourself do not
quite sense that love. How then can you expect others to believe?
You are in need of the Holy Spirit memory. It is He who gives you
that picture, that reality of the Lords love. As you present the reality
to others, the more you speak the more that reality is touched and the
more abundantly life flows. Without the Holy Spirit memory, words
are only wordscorrect, yet not real. Therefore when you preach the
word of God you must look for the Holy Spirit memory to enable
you to recall both the revelation and inward words God has given to
you. Speaking according to the inward words will bring out life, and
people will see what you have seen.
Probably many have been saved through the words in John 3.16.
But suppose you merely recite the words, even to the tenth time; do
you think they will be effective? To make it once more effective it
requires the Holy Spirit to recall from your memory what you saw in
that verse when you were saved.
Many feel the preciousness and loveliness of the Lord after their
sins are forgiven. They receive an inward revelation which distinctly
shows them how very precious the Lord is, for the one whose many
sins are forgiven loves much. He has seen the Lord and he has the
words as well as the thought in them. He can speak for an hour or
two, pouring out what is within him; and those who hear feel the
anointing and are helped. After some days have passed, he may once
again speak on this subject. He remembers the words perfectly; they
are just the same; yet the more he continues speaking the less it
seems to be the real thing. He has forgotten the reality. The words are
there, yet the love is missing. He lacks the Holy Spirit memory. All
revelations must be kept in His memory.
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Hence the one who desires to be a minister of the word needs to

be one who has a good Holy Spirit memory. The better that memory
the richer the ministry, because there will be much that is living in
the minister. If our Holy Spirit memory is faulty, many of our
revelations will have to be re-revealed. This is a very pitiable
condition. Before God such a one must not only have the revelation
of the Spirit, he must have it again and again in ever growing.
measure. Thirty years ago when you were saved you received a
revelation from the Lord. Later on He gave you more and more
revelation. In other words, revelation grows. What you saw at the
time of salvation is the basic revelation which must grow
progressively. A minister of the word nurtures all the revelations he
has received in his Holy Spirit memory. And consequently all that he
has is living.
Let us use the hatefulness or abhorrence of sin once again as
another illustration. Such abhorrence must be fresh in your memory
when you speak; otherwise you may talk about it but it will be totally
ineffective because you are serving overnight manna or even last
years manna. Many brothers rise to preach the gospel; some, you
notice, have the Holy Spirit memory; others do not. This is
something beyond pretension. Its presence or absence is unequivocal.
However high and deep is the revelation, it must be kept alive in the
Holy Spirit memory. How strange it seems that even at the very first
delivery of a word we may have already forgotten the reality of what
we have beheld in the spirit. It may be forgiveable to have forgotten
the abhorrence of the sin which you saw ten or fifteen years ago, but
what about forgetting the revelation you received only last night? A
revelation must therefore be remembered in us by the Holy Spirit.
We can use still another example. Some years ago a brother saw
the big difference between touching the Lord and pressing the Lord,
between that which is spiritual and that which is merely objective.
He saw it most vividly at that time and he was full of joy. A few days
passed. He went to visit a sick brother. He tried to share with that
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sick brother what he had seen, but he was simply circling around. He
tried desperately to recall what he had seen; he even perspired; yet
the more he talked the less meaningful it felt in him. This is because
he had not learned to nurture the revelation in the Holy Spirit
memory. Only when the word of revelation is nurtured there can you
use it when you minister.
In addition to revelation, thought, and inward and spoken words,
there must also be the Holy Spirit memory. Its absence affects both
the inward and the outward spoken words. No one can depend on his
natural strength. Whoever you may be, your natural strength is
incompetent in the ministry of the word. Only the fool is proud of
himself. How can you boast if you cannot recall even what you saw
yesterday? You may try to recollect till your head aches, nonetheless
you still do not remember. To supply spoken words with the inward
words of revelation requires the Holy Spirit memory. This alone
enables you to speak what the Lord wants you to and to use spiritual
words instead of merely objective words. If this is not so, your spirit
will fade out at your speaking.
It is therefore evident that when the Lord is working in us, to be a
minister of the word is easy; but when He is not working, nothing is
harder than being a minister. Gods demand on a minister of the
word is exacting. May He be gracious to us that we may have His
memory so that we may remember the revelation together with the
words. As we speak we will have the reality with us. To lose sight of
the thing while speaking will upset us. The longer we talk the more
confused we will become. We will not know what we are talking
about. Brethren, let us acknowledge the futility of our natural brain.
The Outward Memory
Next we shall consider the outward memory. This may or may not
be employed by the Lord, as He pleases. We are not able to explain
why this is so; we can only mention the fact.
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Frequently your condition may be as follows: you have the inward

words, the words of revelation; you also have the Holy Spirit
memory. But the latter needs the help of your own memory. The
Spirit will bring things to your remembrance, but He does not create
another memory for you. Review what John 14.26 declares: and
bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. The Spirit of
God in you is living, and the revelation God gives is nurtured in the
Holy Spirit. Before you go to preach, God gives you two words, two
key words. If you are able to remember these two words the Holy
Spirit memory can also recall the revelation. If you forget these two
words the Holy Spirit memory will also be lost. To protect yourself
from forgetting you may write down these important words. Often at
the sight of these words your inner picture reappears and you again
see the revelation.
The outward memory is therefore at times used by the Holy Spirit.
However, what you have written may sometimes fail to bring back
the picture. That is why this outward memory may or may not be
used of God. If only the outward memory remains and the inward
revelation is gone, then of course nothing can be done. Usually the
more revelation you receive the more effective is your outward
memory. As the Holy Spirit memory increases in you your outward
memory is correspondingly purified. The purer the thing the easier to
be remembered, both inwardly and outwardly. At first your inward
memory may not be able to compare with your outward memory. Do
not be discouraged. For as your experiences multiply you will find
these two memories getting closer until they become one. Hence we
must humble ourselves before God. Pray much and wait more. After
you are clear within, go out and preach. The inward words must be in
the revelation of the Holy Spirit before we can ever speak.
Occasionally people praise you after your preaching, but you
yourself know you have not been able to recall the thing. Your
inward memory was disconnected from your outward memory. What
you have said was perfectly right, but the revelation was dim and
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blurred. As ministers of the word we need to learn before God to

have both the Spirit memory and the outward memory. The Holy
Spirit memory must be placed between revelation and the word so
that it may supply the inward words; while our own memory must be
placed between the inward words and the spoken words so that it
may support the spoken words.
We have noticed three steps (leaving thought temporarily aside):
first, enlightenment; second, the inward words; and third, the
outward words. Put the Holy Spirit memory between the first and the
second, and our own memory between the second and the third.
Between enlightenment and the inward words stands the Holy Spirit
memory, for it uses the enlightenment to supply the inward words.
The inward words need to be supplied with the enlightenment of the
Holy Spirit. Without that, the words are deadmerely objective and
unspiritual. Through the Holy Spirit memory, light shines on the
inward words, which in turn live in the enlightenment. Our own
memory then supplies the outward words so as to make us articulate.
But let us be reminded that this outward memory can never be a
substitute for the inward memory, since oftentimes the Holy Spirit
memory does not take up our outward memory.
A warning needs to be sounded here. Our outward memory may
sometimes strongly obstruct the Holy Spirit memory. Our inward
words may be full of light and life as the Holy Spirit enables us to
remember that enlightenment, but if we cannot recall outwardly
those few key words then they are blocked from going forth. Nothing
is wrong inside; the problem is with the outside. If you are busy with
many things throughout the day and evening, naturally you are
unable to recall many words. Or if your thoughts are loose or you
have many cares, the three or five words which the Lord gives you
will soon be forgotten. It may be a help if you write these words
down so that you may restore the thing and revitalize your inner
revelation.
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Each time you minister the word the Holy Spirit has many words
to say. You need to be careful not to over-emphasize one part while
overlooking another. For example, the Holy Spirit may have three
things in mind but you may let two of them slip from your memory.
These will become a load to your ministry. How can you minister
well if you lose something? Within a certain revelation God may
want you to mention two or three problems. If you forget and let
some slip by they will make you feel very uneasy. Hence in taking
down any word be sure that these few words cover all the things to
be mentioned, lest you skip over something. It is bearable if you miss
the last point, but it is disastrous to forget the first point. The entire
ministry would then be spoiled.
How serious is the ministry of the word! Let us not offend the
Holy Spirit in this. Do not think it does not matter if you skip over
only one of the five words. If you skip over what you should have
said, you will come to feel heavier and heavier as you drone on. This
is because you have failed to give the words which the Lord intended
for His children.
A minister of the word must not fail here. Mention three things if
the Lord wants you to speak on three things; five if He so wishes.
Any failure will intensify the load. If everything is said except the
one thing which ought to be said, the light of that one thing will
overwhelm you and make you miserable. Let us therefore exercise
our memory. We must guard against any defect in it. May God show
us the way of ministry. Our outward memory is only a slave to the
Holy Spirit memory. Yet if this slave fails, it impedes the usefulness
of the Holy Spirit memory. May our memory be renewed for the use
of the Holy Spirit. That is why our thought life must be dealt with.
Our memory must be disciplined until it is usable. How important
recollection is in the ministry of the word. Its failure means the end
of a revelation.
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Memory and Quoting the Scriptures

As we deliver the word of God we should be like the apostles
that is, we should quote the Scriptures. They quoted the Old
Testament, but we quote both the New and the Old. What we say
must be based on the written word, on the Old and the New
Testaments. A difficulty is present with us today, however. If we are
less careful, we may run away with the Biblewe may speak on the
New Testament as well as on the Old Testament but fail to discharge
the burden of the day. If so, our burden will become heavier when we
arrive home. We frequently have no control over our memory at the
time of speaking. We can easily be carried away by a passage in the
Old or in the New Testament. We return home deeply reproved in
our conscience because we have spent all our time in talking about
the Bible, in preaching on the doctrine, whereas we have not
discharged the burden which God laid upon us.
Consequently all the while we are speaking we should check to
see if our burden is being discharged. We speak one word or many
words; we quote from the Old or the New Testament; nonetheless all
of these are only engaged to draw out the word which God has given
us for today. Otherwise, people may as well gather and read the
Bible together; why should we come and speak? We must say not
only what the Old and New Testament say; we must also utter the
words God gives to us.
The ministry of the word is a most subjective thing in a man. We
have words to speak which God gave before, and we have words to
say which God gives today. We must let out not only the words of
the Old and New Testament but our words as well. We speak the
word through the Old Testament and through the New, and
afterwards with our own words. Our words should be strong and rich.
As they are delivered they should pierce and cut so as to let out life.
As life continues to flow, the burden is gradually discharged. By the
time we cease speaking, the burden is entirely released. Even if our
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words are not as we wish, so long as the burden is lifted the job is
done. There will be fruit. One thing is very certain: if a burden is
discharged Gods children will surely see light. Under such
circumstances as these failure to see light is due to some difficulty in
the audience, not to the speaker. But if the burden fails to be
discharged the difficulty lies with the speaker, not with the audience.
Let us learn something important before God: the minister of the
word has a burden, words are used to discharge that burden, and the
Holy Spirit memory is necessary for this discharge. But even with
the Holy Spirit memory, care should be exercised lest we be carried
away by the truth we find in the New or in the Old Testament.
Always keep in mind that our responsibility is to bring Gods current
words to men. We are not to teach the Bible and forget what God has
shown us. If we forget the word given to us, then no matter how
much we say and though strange as it may seem, we will continue to
have that one thing pressing in on us. It is possible Satan is trying to
obstruct. Our thoughts must be rich and our memory strong as we
give our very best for the discharge of the burden.
15
The Word and Feeling
As was mentioned earlier, a minister of

the word must be attentive to four things.
Two of these come from God:
enlightenment and inward words. Two
come from the minister himself: thought
and memory. Moreover, in the process of speaking he is in need of
two more things: a usable feeling and a usable spirit.
The Spirit Flows through the Channel o f Feeling
In reading the Bible we discover that those who were used to

write its words shared a common characteristic, which is that their
feelings did not obstruct them. On the contrary, their feelings were
expressed in their writings. One thing worth noticing is that whether
or not the spirit is able to come forth is often determined by our
feeling. If mans feeling is unusable his spirit has no way of flowing
freely. The outflowing of mans spirit depends not so much on his
will or on his mind as upon his emotions, for the spirit flows mainly
through the channel of the feelings. If the feeling is blocked the spirit
is obstructed. If the feeling is cold the spirit is likewise cold; if the
feeling is dry so is the spirit; if the feeling is calm the spirit too is
calm.
Why do Gods children frequently mix up spirit and feeling? They
can distinguish spirit from will, since that difference is great. They
can also divide spirit and mind, because the distinction in this case is
quite sharp. But to discern what is of the spirit and what is of
emotion seems to be extremely difficult. Why? Because the spirit
cannot come out independently; it often flows through feelings. What
the spirit relies on in expressing itself is not mans thought or will,
but his emotion. Hence many find it hard to distinguish spirit from
feeling. Though these are two absolutely different faculties,
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nonetheless one is expressed through the other. Let us use an

illustration. That which lights up is the bulb. Electricity and bulb are
two entirely distinct things, yet they cannot be separated. In like
manner is the relationship between spirit and feeling. They are two
separate entities; even so, the spirit frequently is expressed through
the feeling; they are inseparable. Yet this does not imply that spirit
and feeling are one and the same thing. Only to those unlearned in
the Lords way does feeling seem to be one and the same with spirit
and vice-versa, just as someone might consider electricity and the
bulb as one.
When a minister is speaking, his inner man must be released; but
this in turn depends upon his feeling. If the latter is unusable the
spirit is stuck. No matter how much electricity may be stored in the
power company, if there is no electric bulb there will be no light.
And by the same token, no matter how excellent is the condition of
our spirit, it will be severely hampered if our feeling is unusable. The
spirit flows through the channel of emotion. A minister of the word
must therefore have a usable feeling as well as a free spirit. If
emotion refuses to listen to the spirit or fails to cooperate with it, the
spirit is inevitably arrested. For the sake of letting his inner being
come out freely, man must have a usable feeling. Now we shall see
how a feeling can be useful.
We human beings have a will, but the will of man is rather
rugged. So have we a mind, which, though more refined than the
will, is nevertheless quite rugged too. But the emotion which we
possess is the most delicate part in us. We may ruthlessly make a
decision with our will, we may carefully think over a matter, but we
touch the tenderest spot when something touches our feeling.
Accordingly, in the Old Testament, especially in the Song of Songs,
the Spirit of God employs fragrance or savor to express the tender
feeling of man, for it can only be smelled with the nose. Smelling is a
most delicate act. It represents mans tender feeling. Nose in the
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Scriptures stands for feeling. Mans feeling is most delicate, though

it may or may not be useful.
Every time a minister speaks he needs to mix his feeling with the
words spoken, else his words are dead. Before he speaks, he must
have memory and thought; when he speaks, the first thing to be
added is his feeling. If it fails to flow together with his words, he is
finished.
The Lord Jesus told his disciples a parable. To what shall I
compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market place
and calling to their playmates, We played the flute for you, and you
did not dance; we (wailed), and you did not mourn (Matt.
11.16,17). This implies that if there is feeling, one has to dance when
he is piped to or has to mourn when wailed at. Even so, a minister of
the word cannot afford to have his feeling different and separate from
his words. Otherwise, this will disqualify him from speaking before
God. You cannot speak mournful words without mournful emotion.
If you do not possess the right emotion you cannot be a minister of
the word.
Now of course the emotion we here mention is not a matter of
performance. In any theatrical performance the feeling is something
put on. A minister should never use human ingenuity in putting on a
show while speaking. As he is speaking he must actually have the
feeling of each word. He should have a mournful feeling when he
uses sad words. How does a mans spirit give expression to its
mourning? Through his mournful feeling. And when happy words
are said his feeling should be one of happiness, for the joy of the
spirit comes through a joyful emotion.
Let us understand that the coming forth of words alone is not
enough; the spirit must also come out, and when it does it will do so
together with feeling. If our feeling lags behind, our words are
stripped of the spirit. If our feeling is too hard, it renders itself
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unusable. Feeling is the most delicate part of man. A little hardening

will deprive the word of its spirit. To be useful, a certain kind of
word must be accompanied by the same kind of spirit. If it does not
agree with the word the latter is damaged and becomes useless.
In speaking, we must send forth the right kind of spirit with the
right kind of word. Any discrepancy will render the word ineffectual
and the ministry void. The word and the spirit must be one. Yet the
spirit cannot express itself alone; it needs to be expressed through
feeling. How, then, can your spirit flow out if you have a feeling
other than that of the spirit? It is necessary for both our feeling and
our spirit to be one with Gods word.
Feeling Must Accompany the Word
Not because we have word can we therefore begin to speak. If
there is any obstruction in the realm of the emotions it must be
removed before our words can be effective. It presents a real
difficulty if Gods word requires one kind of feeling but we have in
us another kind of feeling. Today we are not touching the feeling of
the Bible from the outside; we are speaking the words of the Bible
from the inside, out from our feeling. Gods feeling is embodied in
His word; He demands us to have the same feeling in ourselves.
Then as we speak, our feeling will be one with our words. Thus shall
we be able to impart our feeling to others. Hence our feeling goes out
with our words and the Holy Spirit goes out with our feeling.
Where does our problem arise today? It is this: that we have both
revelation and word and yet we see no fruit. Why is this so? Because
our spirit fails to go forth. This in turn is due to the failure of our
feeling. The Holy Spirit does not find the proper emotion in us upon
which He may ride. There can be no fruit if the emotion is
unusable, even though we may have light and word. Bear in mind
that feeling is most necessary in the delivery of the word. Before the
delivery, we touch enlightenment, thought, inward words, memory,
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and spoken words; later, at the time of delivery, feeling must follow
suit.
The Holy Spirit touches men through right feeling. We would
repeat that trying to move men with only our emotion is a mere
performance, resulting in a dead ministry. Yet we use emotion to
move people as our spirit is released and as the Holy Spirit too is
released. To put it another way, the going forth of the word is
powerful only when it is coupled with a corresponding emotion, for
then the Holy Spirit will work in people. The first hurdle for a
minister of the word to overcome when speaking lies within
himselfhis own difficulty in the matter of feeling.
A brother may stand up to speak when he has a burden to
discharge, yet he meets his first hindrance in himself. His word does
not go far; it is obstructed; it is not free; it has no outlet. His main
difficulty is himself. He may be speaking on the love of the Lord, yet
he does not feel the love. The question is not as to whether he has
seen the Lords love but whether he senses the loveliness of the Lord
while speaking. Or, to take another example, he may have seen the
hatefulness of sin, but when he stands to speak on it he lacks a
corresponding feeling. His emotion is not one with his word. The
lack of feeling on his part will result in a lack of feeling on the part
of his audience.
Just precisely what is the purpose of supplying people with
words? Is it not because they are lacking in a particular feeling,
thought, light? You have seen the abhorrence of sin; they have not;
and you want them to see it. Even so, unless you have the sense of
the abhorrence of sin as you speak, your words will not produce the
same sense in others. You purpose to try to get through to their
feeling that they too may see. How can you pierce their feeling,
though, if you yourself lack this feeling or if your feeling is not
usable?
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George Whitefield specialized in the topic of hell. Once he was

speaking on that subject at a certain place. Before he had finished his
message some were found holding tight to the pillars of the hall lest
they fell into hell. This was because when he spoke he saw sinners
falling away into hell. As his words were sent out with his feeling,
the Holy Spirit as well as his own spirit sallied forth to convict
people of hell.
If you are careless about speaking you will not sense the
inadequacy of your feeling, for everything is basically wrong. But if
you truly come to minister the word you will see first of all that your
feeling will not do. You will then know that the most formidable
obstacle to your word lies in your own self. You may have a weighty
word in you, yet you find yourself defeated as you speak on, since
your feeling lags behind. Your words may be serious, nevertheless
the longer you speak the less serious they become. You simply are
lacking in that serious feeling. As you continue on you seem less and
less concerned. Since your emotion does not correspond to the
words, you try to raise your voice and shout. Many brothers shout
with their voices. However, they shout not to be heard by others but
to be heard by themselves. You are helpless, so you shout. You are
aware that your feeling is inadequate.
Many spend half their strength convincing themselves while
speaking on the platform. This is because their feeling is so unusable.
We need to bring our own feeling into conviction before we can
communicate Gods word to others. Though our words seem to be
directed at them we are actually speaking to ourselves, because we
are the real obstacle to that word. How necessary it is for us to
discover on the platform that we are the hindrance. We truly wish to
deliver Gods word; but we lack its corresponding feeling. Our
feeling is unusable, with the result that we hinder the word from
going out.
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How absolutely needful a usable feeling is to a minister of the

word. Any inadequacy there will hinder the outgoing of the word.
This is most serious. Frequently the trouble is that though we have
the word, our feeling is at variance with that word. We know quite
well the seriousness of the word, yet our feeling is not so serious. In
speaking, the feeling ought to come forth with the words; but our
feeling fails to follow. Who will believe us if we speak without
feeling it? We may raise our voice ever louder, yet all is of no avail.
We ourselves sense how tasteless it is; we may even feel like
laughing, for it appears to be a performance. How, in that event, can
we expect others to believe in our words? Only when we feel our
own words and believe our own words can we hope that others may
do so also. Otherwise our words are powerless; neither the Holy
Spirit nor our spirit is released.
How to Cultivate a Delicate Feeling
We need to know not only how to use our feeling but also how to
secure a usable feeling. This leads us back to the foundational
experience of having our outward man broken by the Lord. When we
were on the topic of the minister himself we especially noted the
significance of our outward man being broken. This alone insures the
going forth of the Lords word through us. If our outward man is not
broken the Lord can use very little of us. Here too must we
emphasize the necessity for the Lord to break our outward man that
our emotion may be made ready for the ministry of the word.
For the one who is under His dealing God orders all sorts of
circumstances by which to break him. Each stroke opens in him a
wound which gives him pain. His feeling is automatically wounded,
becoming more delicate than before. Mans emotion is naturally the
most sensitive area of the soul. It is more tender than will and mind.
Nonetheless it does not possess enough sensitivity to be useful to
God. It does not possess the degree of tenderness which is demanded
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of Gods word. If His word is to come through, we must be filled

with the feeling of His word. We must match our feeling with that of
Gods word. Our feeling must be able to cope with our words.
Whatever emotion the word requires must be fully supplied, else the
word will not be strong in others.
Upon our having received much dealing we begin to see how very
coarse our feeling is. Though it is the most sensitive facet of our soul
it is still too rough to be employed by God. Because of the
coarseness of our feeling the word of God which comes from our lips
is unevenly backed with feeling.
When a painter mixes some paint the powder must be fine. If it is
coarse it cannot be spread smoothly. With fine powder the paint can
be spread over all surfaces evenly. In like manner shall this happen to
a minister of the word. If his feeling is coarse he may speak ten
sentences, but eight out of the ten are void of proper feeling. If his
feeling is delicate each sentence will be accompanied by its
appropriate feeling. The Bible figuratively uses fine flour to speak of
the life of the Lord Jesus. This shows how very sensitive is our
Lords feeling. How terrible it is for a brother to say many words
without communicating the corresponding feeling. His emotion is not
usable. It does not follow the word. It is not delicate enough. Always
remember, Gods word will not be strong in its delivery if our feeling
is not sufficiently responsive.
We need the Lord to so work in our lives that our feeling is
brought to a delicate state. We will have to be broken before our
feeling will turn tender. In reading the Bible we not only see the life
experiences of the writers and the thoughts of the Holy Spirit; we
touch many of their spiritual feelings as well. The emotions of those
who ministered the word of the Bible came forth with their words.
This ought to be the same with us.
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Should our feeling fail to accompany our word, we cannot expect

our audience to hear us attentively. If our outward man has not been
broken by the hand of God our feeling cannot be tender and delicate,
for there is no wound, there has been no suffering. Where there is
tender feeling, there must be wounds and suffering. The grain must
be ground and broken before the powder can be fine. Under pressure,
the one grain of wheat is no longer a single grain. It has become
three, five, seven, even a hundred particles. It now is truly fine. The
more the wounds and the deeper the suffering, the finer the feeling.
Never anticipate fineness in sensitivity if you expect no wound, if
you experience no suffering before God. To have wounds you must
be dealt with.
Suppose there is a brother here. He has learned something in life.
He has advanced in the reading of the Bible and other matters. Yet he
has not developed a delicate feeling. Before God he lacks something;
there is an area which God cannot use. No matter how much he
seems to improve in behaviour or how much light he has seen, all
which he has learned thus far is shallow and superficial so long as his
feeling remains inadequate. He has not learned enough. One who has
had the cross worked into his life has been broken by the Lord. His
stubborn will is no longer stubborn; his big brain is no longer
inflated. The Lord will deal with our will; He may use a great light to
break us down. We consider ourselves clever and capable. The Lord
will deal with that big brain of ours. With one sweep of brilliant light
He may strike us to the ground.
Nevertheless, our emotion is not transformed by one
enlightenment. A fine feeling is the result of many dealings. Before
we face a problem, our feeling is not delicate enough. We are
careless about that matter. The Lord accordingly arranges our
environment so as to refine us in this particular respect. Time after
time we are ground like wheat till we are sufficiently broken.
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We need to have a broken spirit before God. What is a broken

spirit? It means that in us there is a broken feeling, for the spirit is
expressed in feeling. The Lord wishes us to live with a broken spirit
because He wants us to have a fine feeling. This we will not have
until we have been stricken. We must continually experience
ourselves so broken as though we were just stricken. The meaning of
being stricken will always be with us. Thus shall we have a godly
fear, a trembling feeling. We will not dare to be careless or flippant.
Each strike, every dealing, is for the purpose of making our emotion
more tender and more keen than before. This is one of the deepest
lessons in the breaking of the outward man. The breaking of feeling
is not as dramatic and prominent as that of will or mind, but it
certainly is deeper than either of them.
If we live with a stricken spirit we will have a wound in us and
sense its pain. This pain in turn will create in us a godly fear and
render our feeling delicate. After many such dealings you will be
able in your feeling to express fully and exactly what your heart is.
You will truly be glad when your heart is glad, and you will actually
grieve when your heart is grieved. Whenever the word of God comes
to you, and whatever the flavor of that word is, you will have the
corresponding emotion in you. Your feeling is able to catch up with
the word. How glorious this is!
The effectiveness of being stricken is shown in our oneness with
Gods word. What God intends to say is matched by a kindred
feeling of yours. As soon as Gods word comes, you immediately
sense it. When God moves, you respond. Your feeling is able to
follow Gods word right up to this point. And as the Lord increases
His dealings, you are progressively being ground until all your
emotions are made suitable to God. After you have been so trained in
the area of feeling, you will discover a marvelous thing, which is,
that you not only speak Gods word, you also begin to feel Gods
word.
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With the feeling within there comes the expression without. Peter
lifted up his voice when he addressed the audience at Pentecost.
His voice was raised because his feeling was deep. Perhaps some
have never once lifted up their voice while preaching, showing how
inadequate were their feelings. The depth of emotion in Peter made
him lift up his voice.
The word of God is full of emotion. It should not be recited
verbatim in a mechanical way. It ought to be pressed out through
deep feeling. Paul exhorted the church at Corinth with many tears.
Some may never have shed any tears in their preaching, for their
sensitivity is inadequate. A loud voice is indeed nothing; tears too are
nothing; but if one never lifts up his voice nor sheds tears, something
inside must be wrong. There is no merit in a loud voice, neither is
there any special credit in tears; but it is an indication of
unbrokenness if one has never raised his voice or shed his tears.
Ones emotion must be so refined that he can rejoice when Gods
word is joyful and wail when the word of God is sorrowful. His
feeling follows the word of God closely. This is not performance.
Please never learn to perform. People with discernment immediately
recognize a performance that has been falsely manufactured by man.
There ought never to be any human manufacturing because it
invariably spoils the word of God. What we stress is the need for
feeling. Whatever feeling the word of God has, we must have the
same feeling. Joy and sorrow are two distinctive examples. When the
Bible says rejoice, let us be joyful; when it indicates sorrow, let us be
sorrowful. This is normal and proper. Some have been tightly bound
in their emotion all their lives. They are so cold that they cannot
dance when piped to and cannot weep when wailed at. Because their
feeling lags behind, Gods word is obstructed in its delivery.
Why is it that the emotion of many cannot be used? Why must the
Lord bring people through so many trials? This is all due to the fact
that feeling is essentially the person himself. The issue with emotion
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is quite different from that of will or mind. The latter are more
complicated; the former is simple in that it is used for ones own self.
Most peoples emotions are spent only on themselves. They can
easily feel the things that concern them, but have no sensitivity for
things which concern others. Some may be extremely insensitive to
all things, yet when it comes to their own affairs they are most keen.
A brother may be very rude to others, but suppose you are rude to
him; he will deeply resent it and feel hurt. All the feelings of this
brother are spent on himself. He just loves himself and lives for
himself. If he meets any personal difficulty he will cry, though he has
absolutely no feeling toward others.
Brethren, unless the Lord has succeeded in breaking down our
feeling how useless we are in the ministry of the word. Often under
the discipline of the Holy Spirit the Lords hand remains on us until
we can feel for others. We need to channel all our emotion into the
ministry of the word. We have no time to spend them on ourselves.
Our feeling must grow in its sensitiveness. It ought not be exhausted.
Many people mistakenly believe only in themselves: they reckon
themselves as the center of the universe: hence all their feelings
revolve around themselves. God must deliver them out of such
confines. Feelings are limited by their reserves. If we spend them
wantonly we will have nothing left for the ministry of the word. God
will strike and deal with us till we do not feel just for ourselves, till
our emotion has become sensitive. The secret of a sensitive feeling
lies in not making ourselves the center. The finer we are ground the
more selfless we become and the more effective will be our feeling.
A minister of the word needs to possess a sufficiently fine and
rich feeling for God to use. Simply bear in mind that the richer our
emotion the richer will be our word, since the quality of the word is
controlled by our emotion. The amount of feeling within determines
the effectiveness of the words without. If we have more words than
feelings, our words will be restricted by our feeling. A mans word is
measured by his brokenness before God. A spiritual man is rich in all
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kinds of feeling. The more spiritual a man is, the richer his feeling. It
is not true that the more spiritual a man is, the less is his feeling. The
more lessons one learns before God the more enriched his feeling
will be. Compare the feeling of a sinner with that of Paul. You will
immediately see that Paul is superior in spirituality and so is he
superior in feeling. Increased dealing creates more feelings. If our
feeling is rich we can match whatever feeling the word requires
while we speak. Gods word has then found a way whenever the
feeling keeps up with the word. Otherwise, no matter what we say it
somehow is not good.
One who desires to be a minister of the word must receive
thorough dealing. Any negligence here will disqualify him. We must
be broken before God, else we cannot undertake any work. No
discipline, no work. Even if you are the cleverest person in the world,
it is of no avail. Only the broken man is useful. This is an extremely
serious matter. Our affections and feelings must go through repeated
dealings so that when we speak, our feeling is usable. Suppose the
Lord, for example, has dealt with you in the matter of self-love. After
several dealings, your feeling can follow the word if you should
stand up and speak on self-love. There is no hindrance to the
outgoing of the word. Or again, suppose your pride has been broken
by the Lord. Your feeling can easily match the word as you speak on
how the Lord resists the proud. In short, only after our emotion has
been touched by the Lord can it flow together with the word which
we speak. This is a necessary requirement for a minister of the word.
Match the word with feeling. Equalize the amount of words with the
same amount of feeling. The higher our words touch, the finer must
be our feeling. May God be gracious to us that all our feelings may
be used to support the word.
16
The Word and the Release

of the Spirit
The Relation between the Spirit and the
Word
We now turn to the subject of the word and the release of the
spirit. Whether the word comes forth as a revelation or a doctrine
depends on whether the one who ministers is able to release his spirit
or not. Whether people receive life in these words or not is also
dependent on the release of the spirit of the minister. Whether men
see light and are thus stricken or only hear the words and remain the
same is determined by this same factor of the emancipation of the
spirit. If the word and even the feeling are right but the spirit is not
released, then what men encounter is not God but only a perfect
doctrine.
The word may come forth void of the spirit, or it may come out
with a weak spirit. A most serious message becomes common if it is
delivered in a weak spirit. When the inner man is strong the word
will also be strong. If the word is already right, then it is a question
of under what sort of spirit the word is given. A minister of the word
may deliver the word with a weak spirit, a strong spirit, or even an
explosive spirit. The quality of the word is decided by the kind of
spirit which delivers it. The effect of the word on people is not
determined by the word itself but by the spirit with which it is
delivered. A minister is able to release his spirit or to check his spirit.
He can let it explode or keep it weak.
The relation between the spirit and the word is most intimate. If
the spirit is touched the word becomes touching; if the spirit is
checked the word loses its impact. We cannot say how much the
spirit affects the word. All we can say is that mans inner being is
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very delicate, something which should not be offended. In the

preaching of the word you may be prepared in every other respect,
but if your spirit is not ready your word has no way to be released.
The word needs your spirit to send it out.
All who know how to preach Gods word have this experience of
the release of the spirit. Let us say that a storm rages outside; the
wind blows hard and the rain falls heavily. It is also pitch dark
outside. Now suppose a man tries to go out but is beaten back by the
storm. In order to help him someone pushes him at the back, and out
he goes. This is the way the spirit sends forth the word. When you
stand up to speak you must push your spirit out, else the word will
suffer greatly.
Frequently you are able to give your spirit a push, and so you have
a strong word. People have not only heard the word but have also
met the reality in you. They touch your spirit as well as your word.
Sometimes after listening to a message you can remember every
word of it. Yet when you pass on the message to others you can
recite the words but cannot communicate the spirit.
The same applies to studying the Bible. Some merely read the
words while others meet the spirit of the Bible. Some read the words
of Paul without hearing his voice. Whether his voice is low or high,
light or strong, sad or glad, they are totally insensitive. But some in
reading the Bible know Pauls voice as well as his words. If Pauls
prayer or word is sorrowful, they know it. Whether Paul speaks with
wrath or joy, they can distinguish. They have touched the spirit of
Paul. When one reads the story of how Paul cast out the demon from
the slave girl (Acts 16), if he has not touched the spirit, then all he
knows is that the demon is cast out. Paul may be speaking with a
loud, shouting voice, nevertheless the reader has no knowledge of it
because he has not touched that spirit. We must enter into the spirit
of those who wrote the Bible if we desire to know what they have
written. All their writings are the expressions of the release of their
The Word and the Release of the Spirit
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spirit. No one can be a good student of the Bible unless he can touch
its spirit as well as its words.
Going still further, it must also be emphasized that at the time of
preaching it is necessary that we be dealt with by God. This is the
way to release our spirit. Should anyone be lacking in this discipline
of the Lord or if this discipline is not deep and pure enough, his spirit
will not be able to follow Gods word and he will have no strength to
push forth his spirit. Someone may be able to push out his doctrine
but he will be totally unable to push forth the spirit behind Gods
word. Let us be clear as to the nature of preaching. Preaching is not
simply delivering the word; it is in addition releasing the spirit. As a
minister of the word speaks he simultaneously releases his spirit.
Through the word comes his spirit, and of course Gods Spirit is
likewise released through the mans spirit. The Holy Spirit is
released together with mans spirit. If the latter is not released then it
poses a big problem, because the Holy Spirit is not able to come
forth either. Do not forget that listening to a message is not simply
listening to the words but trying to meet the spirit.
Let us take note of this principle: that if there is a ministry of the
word there must be spirit as well as word when the message is given.
As the word is released, the spirit is released as well. Those who
listen not only touch the words, they also touch the spirit. If only the
words were touched the message would be common and weak. Even
in regard to Gods recorded word, if a person does not touch its spirit
it will seem common to him. When the spirit is touched, life is
touched. The words that I have spoken to you, declared the Lord,
are spirit and are life (John 6.63). Only by touching the spirit can
anyone know the meaning of that word.
Hence in preaching Gods word we must learn how to release our
spirit. This does not mean that a person is able to release it at all
times, for to do so requires a heavy cost. Frequently the ministers of
the word fail to pay the cost. The stronger our spirit is before God the
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more able we are to release it. We trust that all who speak for God
have experienced something of its release. No person will be stricken
just because of words; it is only when a person has come up against
the spirit that he is stricken. Word alone can easily degenerate into
doctrine; even words which come through revelation are no
exception. We must deliver the words of revelation with our spirit so
that people may meet not only the words but also the spirit. Gods
Spirit comes upon men through our spirit.
The Training of the Spirit
The exercise of the spirit in a minister of the word hinges upon
two factors: one, the training of the spirit, and two, the willingness of
the minister. Whether or not he is able to use his spirit and to what
extent he can release it when he is ministering to the church depends
entirely upon how much he has learned of these two matters.
Let us discuss the training of the spirit first. No minister of the
word can release more of his spirit than he has learned before God. If
he has little training in this respect he can exercise his spirit only a
little. If he is deeply trained he can obviously use that much more of
his spirit. No one can push forth a measure of the spirit which he
does not already have. This is a lesson we must understand.
Accordingly, God spends much time on us in training our spirit to
be usable. He so arranges our environment that our outward man
may be duly broken. He places us in circumstances completely
beyond our ability to cope with, circumstances as serious as those
Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 1.8-9: we were burdened
excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;
indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves.
The situation which the Lord orders is usually greater than we can
endure. It is beyond our own strength. Whenever a thorn comes to us
it afflicts us more than we can bear. We have no way to get through.
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Such divinely ordained circumstances produce a two-fold result. On

the one hand the Lord uses them to break down our outward man.
Sometimes it is our thought which is broken, at other times it is our
emotion; and most often it is our will which is cast down until we
wholly yield to the Lord and acknowledge out total inability. These,
though, form the negative side. On the other hand, under the
discipline of the Holy Spirit God works out in us something positive.
As we are being broken, do we go down or do we get up? Are we
overwhelmed by the thorn or do we overcome it? When we say we
are so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despair of life itself, do we
thereafter rely on God who raises the dead?
Let us keep in mind that the environment which the Lord has
arranged for us is something beyond our strength. It does indeed give
us the sentence of death and renders us hopeless. Yet in our extreme
helplessness we learn a little of believing, of hoping, of trusting. In
ordinary days, how easy for us to say we believe, we hope, and we
trust; but only after we are placed in a hopeless situation do we begin
to learn to believe, to hope, and to trust a little.
Herein do we touch something of Gods grace, something of the
power by which we are unconsciously carried along. You may feel
your believing is in such weakness, your hoping is with such
trembling, and your trusting is with such little confidence. You
conclude that your faith, hope and trust are of no avail for they are so
weak. To your surprise, with this little faith, hope, and trust you
unwittingly touch a little of what grace and power are. You receive
mercy in your circumstances and are carried through. And your spirit
has received another time of training.
Yet it is more than having the outward man broken, since it has
achieved the purpose of training the spirit. It is without a doubt the
negative breaking down, but it is likewise the positive building up.
You discover here a circumstance which you have overcome, or
rather the Lord has caused you to overcome. The Lord has enabled
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you to rise higher than the difficulty and you have strangely solved
the problem. Although Satan spends all his strength in the
circumstance, your weak faith, hope, and trust have touched the
power of God. With the result that you can say to Satan, You have
done your best; though by myself I cannot overcome, thank God, I
have overcome. He has given me hope, for He raises the dead and
strengthens the weak. By going through this kind of experience your
spirit has gained a little more strength, received a little more training,
become a little richer, and is accordingly made more usable.
The Lord works in our lives not just once, but many times. After
these many dealings our spirit waxes stronger and stronger. He builds
up our inner man as well as crushes our outer man. Each time we
emerge from a trial it is due to the coming out of the spirit. The latter,
having been dealt with and trained by the Lord, is able to emerge
first, then the whole man follows suit. The Lord is daily building us
up. When we enter into trial we are hard-pressed, but when we
emerge we thrust the circumstance aside and transcend it. We enter
in weakness, we come out in strength. We enter in death but we exit
with resurrection life.
No trial can keep us in; and when we emerge from a trial we are
not the same. A trial will either break us into an unusable vessel or
make us more glorious. If it does not cause us to be better it renders
us worse. He who cannot stand trial is unusable. He who overcomes
a trial adds one more victory to his life.
Time and again the Lord brings us in and carries us over certain
circumstances. He gives us victory upon victory. There is always the
next time when He arranges some new circumstance, some new
difficulty, so as to give us a new victory. In other words, our spirit
has something new to learn continually. Each trial enables us to rise
once more above our circumstances. It gives us more strength to deal
with similar cases. In this manner the spirit keeps getting stronger. It
emerges from each trial sturdier than before. The Lord uses the
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discipline of the Holy Spirit to break our outward man; and when this
outer man of ours is broken, our inner man is strengthened to
overcome all difficulties.
When a hammer falls on us it breaks our outward man into pieces;
nonetheless it also is the same instrument which our inner man must
overcome. The Lord puts us in a certain environment. This
environment breaks our outward man, for that man cannot endure
any trial. Every test which comes along causes the outer man to
collapse afresh, yet it additionally gives the spirit within occasion to
secure one more victory. Through this dual process of the
environment overcoming our outward man and our inner man
overcoming environment, we emerge from the trial. This is the way
we go through difficulties. The Lord gives us a trial; He allows our
outward man to be broken. Yet His work does not end here; our inner
man must rise up and overcome the trial. The circumstance which
overcomes our outer man is the same which our inner man must
overcome. Each time this happens our spirit receives further training.
And in this way our spirit learns what the grace of the Lord is. Our
spirit waxes stronger than before. Through such training our spirit
becomes more usable at the time of ministry.
Hence a minister of the word needs the Lord to break down his
outward man on the one hand and to strengthen his spirit through
training on the other hand. Both of these are done by the discipline of
the Holy Spirit. Please note that each one comes out of a trial a
different personeither he is stronger or he is weaker. You either
murmur against God and go under or you emerge in victory.
2 Corinthians 12 shows us that when the thorn is on us God gives
us grace to overcome it. True, we may have known something about
grace before, but it is equally as true that we did not know grace over
thorns. In each trial we fall through the thorn yet also learn to know
the grace over a thorn. You may have known grace without trials
before, but now you know the triumph of grace over them. Suppose a
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boat requires two feet of water in order to float. It can sail in a river
which is two feet deep. But if a rock should jut up two feet from the
bottom the boat cannot pass through unless someone were to add two
more feet of water to the river. So is it with us too, we learn to know
grace as never before. Our spirit is verily strengthened. Paul
exclaims, I will all the more gladly boast of my weakness! When
we experience this weakness we find new strength. As we minister
we are able to draw upon this strength. To what extent each minister
of the word can draw strength from his spirit varies from one to
another, because what God has built up in each of them is different.
The word may be the same but the spirit is different. If we desire to
use our spirits they must be firm. True, we have been trained. Even
so, take note of the extent to which we are trained; this determines
the usability of our spirit. We can only exercise our spirit to the limit
of our training.
A minister of the word should know that God is building up his
ministry through each trial and difficulty. Do not be so foolish as to
deem it best to flee from trial. If no thorn, then no grace, hence no
power and little ministry. You may speak the word but you do not
possess the strength of the spirit to push it out. You need the word;
you also need a usable spirit.
The Willingness of the Minister
As a minister of the word engages his spirit he also uses his life,
for it actually requires his life. Ministering before God is not only a
question of having a usable spirit, it is a question additionally as to
the degree of willingness on the part of the minister to exercise his
spirit. Each time a person ministers the word with his spirit he pours
out his lifeas the Lord Jesus poured forth His own. During the
evening prayer at Gethsemane the Lord warned His disciples, The
spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matt. 26.41). On the part of
the disciples it was a case of being merely willing, but for the Lord
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Jesus He not only had a willing spiritHe was in addition ready to

pour forth His life. His sweat became like great drops of blood
falling upon the ground.
Consequently, the exercise of the spirit is the outpouring of our
life. We expend all our power in reaching out to the spiritually weary
and dead. Each time the spirit launches out, it touches mans
weakness and mans death. It goes forth at great cost. It goes out as a
burden, with pain and privation. The giving forth of the spirit
requires one to forsake something. Whether in private conversation
or in public speaking, he encounters spiritual weakness in many
people. So he allows his spirit to go forth, he pushes it out to meet
these weaknesses so as to destroy them. It is as if the one ministering
to these needs and lacks is wrestling with them. He senses spiritual
death, coldness, hardness and barrenness in many people, and his
spirit therefore goes out to suppress and overcome these deaths. He
rises above them and swallows up death.
Or take the case of when someone has a word from God and sees
those sitting before him full of darkness; his reaction will be to push
his spirit out, push it out mightily in order to break through the
darkness. As he preaches Gods word he is continuously under the
assault of darkness. The blindness of the darkness may consume his
spiritual strength; its death and weakness may swallow up all his
spiritual power. Yet he stands there pushing out his spirit to break
through darkness and to overcome it. This is a very costly task. It is
most tiring and demands a costly price. A minister of the word may
not find it necessary to pay such a heavy price each time he
ministers; nonetheless he must be willing to pay it if need be.
This exercise of the spirit is governed by just how much of it is
usable, for we can only use that part of it which is trained. Above
that, we are powerless. But how much of our usable spirit we can use
depends on whether we are willing. Sometimes we are deeply
pressed before the Lord, hence we are willing to pay a high price to
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get through. At other times we may not be willing to pay the price,
with the result that we send out our spirit carelessly.
It is not an easy thing for a minister to spend his spirit to the limit.
A brother who does it or nearly does it finds it most tiring. A minister
therefore inclines to be a little lazy, being unwilling to stretch
himself to the limit. Such a statement as that can only be understood
by those who know the cost of exercising their spirit. Only those who
know the heaviness of a burden can appreciate these words. How can
one who has never borne a load of two hundred pounds know how
heavy such a load is? Only the one who has had it on his shoulders
knows how much power he must exert. Each spiritual ministry, each
exercising of the spirit creates in him such a burden that it literally
exhausts his strength. For this reason, there is a controlling factor in
the exercise of the spirit; which is, how willing are we before God? If
we are willing, we may push the word out with strength. Whether our
words are strong or weak depends on how much of our spirit is
released. During the time of ministry the spirit is controlled by the
minister. He can either restrain it or send it forth. He can strengthen
or weaken the message he gives. If anyone is willing to pay the price
he can make the meeting strong; if he is unwilling, he makes it
common. To the one who is unlearned the working of the Holy Spirit
surprises him; but the one whose life has been wrought upon deeply
by the Lord knows that the Holy Spirit works according to that ones
willingness to pay the price.
If in a gathering you are not afraid to get tired, nor are you lazy,
neither is there anything that keeps you back, and you are perfectly
willing to pay the price, then, as one who has been dealt with by
God, you are willing and able to push out your spirit firmly. As your
words go forth your spirit goes forth, and so people meet forceful
words. On the other hand, if you feel tired and are somewhat lazy, if
you are not quite willing to serve or you merely intend to fulfill your
duty, then you have held back your spirit. You may say the same
words but with very little or no spirit. What people meet in that event
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are mere words, no spirit. They hear correct words, yet weak words
nonetheless.
What concerns the ministry of the word is not simply how you
should speak but whether you are also willing. Should you release
your spirit, people will hear strong words. But frequently the words
are rather flat, because the spirit is unable to break through. Only a
breaking-through spirit has impact upon people. A brother may be
praying and his inner man breaks through in his prayer. Whoever
stands in the way of that brothers prayer will be swept off their feet.
The same words are uttered, even so, due to the gushing forth of the
spirit, no one can resist.
A worker must learn how to speak accurately, but he should not
stop there. He should learn how to release his spirit. If at the time of
preaching your spirit is wounded or you are troubled by something,
then the words you deliver will be ineffective. The more you speak
the less are you in it, and the less effective your words upon those
listening. Your words are hindered by your wounded spirit. Under
such a condition people will not easily see Gods light. You are
wounded; your spirit is not released; hence your words become
empty and weak. Only words pushed out by the spirit are strong.
Your spirit must be mingled with your words, for they are sent out
through the spirit. As this is done, people will see the light and touch
the reality.
Since the release of the spirit constitutes the spiritual content of
the ministry of the word, a minister must try to push out his spirit in
the strongest possible way. In sending out your spirit you must call
upon every power in you. All of your emotion, thought, memory, and
words must be there, waiting on the spirit. At that moment no
discordant idea may be allowed. Every thought must be quiet and at
attention. Thought, memory, physical senses, all must be
concentrated. In a word, your whole beingall your memory, word,
emotion and feelingis waiting on tiptoe to be used by the Lord. All
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your own activities cease; only the spirit is in command; just as an

army waits expectantly for the commander-in-chief to give battle
orders. We will use our mind, but as a servant and not as a master.
The same is true with our emotion. Unless all the faculties of the
being are called together to be commanded by the spirit, the latter
will not have a free way. During the time of ministering, if a
necessary word is forgotten the spirit will be wounded; if an
appropriate feeling is missing it will also be hurt. It cannot be
released.
There is no work which demands such a high degree of
concentration as that of the release of the spirit. It requires the
focusing of every part of the entire being, not in the sense of coming
out independently of each part, but rather of following the lead of the
spirit. The spirit must have at its command every word and all else
that it needs, just as all parts of a whole army await the commanders
orders. Whenever the spirit gives an order, that particular part is
ready to obey. If the thought today is a little bit scattered, the
emotion slightly confused, or the memory somewhat dull, the spirit
will suffer and find it hard to be released.
A minister of the word must therefore learn not to let his spirit be
wounded. Whenever he desires to speak, his whole being should be
available. Not a single part should fall behind. Every segment should
be readily waiting to be engaged by his spirit. This unquestionably
demands a great price. For this very reason, a minister of the word
sometimes fails to exercise his usable spirit to the uttermost. When
he is willing, there is more release of the spirit; when he is unwilling
there is less release. At the time of his willingness he is able to
impart more blessing to others; at the time of unwillingness, he
brings less blessing to people. The measure of blessing which people
receive from us depends on the degree of our willingness to give. If
we will to impart grace, we shall help people to grace; if we will to
enlighten people, they will be exposed and broken. The question
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rests upon how far we ourselves have been brought by the Lord. The
more our spirit learns before God the greater is our spirit usable.
How much light people receive is governed by us; how low they fall
before God is again up to us; how deep they touch spiritual reality is
in our hand. The Lord has committed His work in us.
Push Out the Spirit
All who have truly been ministers of the word know what is
meant by pushing out the spirit. While you are speaking, you receive
the strength (but not the fleshly kind) to push out the spirit within
you. It itself is strong in you, and you try to send it forth. As your
words go forth, your spirit goes forth too. Only in this way will
people touch reality. Whether the audience hears the word of God or
merely hears a sermon depends on how you push out your spirit. If
you are willing to extend it they hear more than a message, because
they meet the reality behind the words. But if your spirit is not
released, then they will not touch the reality behind the words. This
explains why the ministry sometimes seems too common, too
ordinary; for though there are many words there is little spirit. Words
are spoken yet little spirit is released.
It is quite common to find in a message which lasts an hour or two
that only during a small portion of that time is there a strong spirit
pushing forth. This makes the ministry of the word rather ordinary.
In a forceful ministry the spirit watches the word. They are equal in
measure. As the words go out, the spirit is released. The words are
delivered in the spirit. All who hear touch the out-going spirit as well
as hear the words spoken. The strength of the words is wholly
governed by the speaker. What he has learned is what he possesses,
and his willingness measures out his gift to others. Some may
possess something but they are unwilling to give; others may be
willing to give but have nothing. We must have something and also
be willing to give.
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It is best if the words and the spirit collaborate. A special

condition might exist when there is more spirit than word. This may
happen in a certain special environment when God permits us to
release more spirit than words in order to meet a particular need.
This, however, is quite rare. Nonetheless, the ministry of the word
means the release of the spirit. Hearing the word means meeting the
spirit. Ministry is to serve in the spirit. As we speak, beyond merely
uttering words we release our spirit. It is not simply a ministry of
speaking, it is speaking with the spirit. It is not just opening the
mouth and making sounds; it is sending out by the spirit what word
we have in our heart.
Words without spirit degenerate into doctrine; this is not the word
of God. How absolutely impossible for one to minister the word if he
has no usable spirit. The ministry of the word is the release of the
spirit. God does not wish people to hear the word alone; He wants
them to touch the spirit of the word. The spirit rides along with the
words. God desires men to touch His Spirit and not merely to touch
His word. His Spirit goes forth in and with His word. Each time we
speak we need to push forth the spirit.
Particularly in all strong ministry, the spirit is not merely pushed
forth, it explodes. When the words are delivered the spirit is released
in such fulness that it simply explodes. Under such circumstances,
you find people prostrate before God. As your words flow forth you
overpower many opposing spirits, many cold and hard hearts. Your
spirit is exploding all along the way. No one, however strong he may
be, can stand up against this from God. He must be stricken to the
ground. Let us therefore note how much of the spirit is released while
speaking. Your spirit cannot be stronger than what you really
possess. Nothing can be forced. No word, no voice, no gesture can
counterfeit the spirit. Never attempt to imitate the manner of
speaking and the tone of voice, for people fall before God only when
the spirit is released.
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What, then, do we mean by the release of the spirit? We will now

mention a few points for our consideration together.
l. The release of the spirit is the release o f the Holy Spirit. The
Lord commits the Holy Spirit to the church, for He has ordained the
church to be the depths out of which the rivers of living waters flow
(John 7). The church is the vessel of the Holy Spirit. We ought to
know what the current task of the church is. It is the Holy Spirits
vessel. God does not pour His ointment at random on people; He
keeps it in the church that through the church it may anoint men. As
the vessel of the Holy Spirit the church is not merely a vessel to be
used by the Holy Spirit; it is primarily a vessel to hold or contain the
Holy Spirit.
But exactly how does God keep His Spirit in the church? His
Spirit is not held in any part of our being save in our spirit. It is clear
in Old Testament typology: (1) The dove which Noah let out of the
ark cannot alight upon the old creation. It must descend upon the new
creation. In our beings, the spirit alone is the new creation; hence the
Holy Spirit can only dwell there. (2) Again, in Exodus it is written,
Upon the flesh of man shall it (the holy anointing oil) not be
poured (Ex. 30.31-32 Darby). No part of the flesh can contain the
Holy Spirit. Mans spirit alone is the container. This truth is
especially made clear by the words in Ezekiel: A new spirit will I
put within you; . . .and I will put my Spirit within you (36.26-27).
The new spirit is our spirit; the my Spirit is the Holy Spirit.
Were there no new spirit in us there could be no Holy Spirit within
us. To have His Spirit we must have a new spirit.
In view of what has been said, the meaning of pushing out our
spirit is that the Holy Spirit goes forth with our spirit. All students of
the Bible acknowledge that in many places in the Greek original it is
impossible to distinguish mans spirit from the Holy Spirit. The place
where the word spirit is used most is Romans 8. There, it is
extremely hard to distinguish where is meant the human spirit and
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where the Holy Spirit. In the English versions we have the upper case
S and the lower case s, but in the Greek original there is no such
distinction. Mans spirit is already united with Gods Spirit. Due to
the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in our spirit, the more we are
instructed by Him the more spirit we can release. When our spirit is
released He too is released. So the coming out of the spirit points to
more than our spirit; it likewise points to the coming out of the Holy
Spirit. The amount He is released depends on the measure of our
spirits coming out. The Holy Spirit is limited by our spirit. Todays
problem lies not with the ointment but with the vessel.
Brethren, do not be so foolish as to place the entire responsibility
on the Holy Spirit. Today the Lord has placed the responsibility on
the church. Matthew 18.18 shows us the influence of the church. The
words of the Lord in John 20.23 and that portion in Matthew 18 are
quite alike. If you forgive the sins of any, I too will forgive; if you
retain the sins of any, I also will retain. How can this be? Because we
have received the Holy Spirit. The Lord desires the church to receive
the Holy Spirit. And after you receive Him, whom you forgive He
will forgive, and what you retain He will retain. The power of the
Holy Spirit is now given to the church to use. How tremendous is the
responsibility of the church!
If God were directly looking after His own affairs Himself it
would not matter if the church were incompetent. But He has
committed His affairs to the church. How terrible it will be if she
fails God. Were all authority in the hands of the Holy Spirit it would
matter little whether or not the church were capable; but He is
limited by the minister; if the minister is incompetent the Holy
Spirits way is blocked. Should God retain authority in Himself, even
though we all fail, it would make no difference. God does not hold
the work of the Holy Spirit in His own hand; He instead commits it
into the hands of the ministers of the word. When the spirit of the
minister is released so is the Spirit of God released. If his spirit fails
to come forth, Gods Spirit is shut in too.
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It pleases God today to commit His authority to the ministers of

the word. Only the foolish can be careless. Let us remember that the
problem today falls entirely upon the ministers of the word. Whether
the Holy Spirit is released or not is a matter which rests in the hands
of the ministers.
2. The release of the spirit is the release of power. Whether a
stubborn person yields to the Spirit or not depends upon the amount
of the power of the spirit you generate. If your spirit is robust he will
yield. Except for those who close themselves tightly in, even the hard
person can be overcome if your spirit comes out strongly. Never put
all the responsibility on others. Probably nine out of ten times the
difficulty is in you and not in them. Were your spiritual vigor greater
you would conquer. The greater your spiritual strength the lower
people fall.
3. The release of the spirit is the release of life. The release of the
spirit means the release of life as well as the release of the Holy
Spirit and of power. Whether people who hear you touch spiritual
reality or not relates to whether you release or retain your spirit. If all
you release is words, people will only touch a teaching and not the
Holy Spirit. But when you are willing to push out the spirit, they will
touch life as well as hear the words. Touching the outer shell of
words or touching life depends on your ability or inability to push
out the spirit.
4. The release of the spirit is the release of light. Light turns into
words in you, but it reverts to light in others. Your words spoken in
the spirit become light to men. Except for those who are so
prejudiced as to be unable to see light, the responsibility for not
seeing rests with the minister, not with the audience. If anyone
listening should close his eyes he alone is accountable for not seeing;
but if there is no light before the open eyes, then this is the ministers
responsibility. The other person is responsible for opening his eyes;
the minister is accountable for bringing the enlightenment. Nothing
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can be done for that one who shuts his eyes tightly. If, however, he
opens his heart and his eyes yet fail to see anything, it is the minister
who must be held accountable. When the word comes forth it will
become light to people if the spirit of the minister is strong and the
Holy Spirit is willing to accompany the word spoken.
Gods light is stored in Gods word. If by the human spirit and the
Holy Spirit the word is sent out, it will invariably become light to
men. If after one has heard a message he kneels down and prays, O
Lord, give me light, it indicates he has heard the teaching but has
not heard Gods word, for the word of God is light. This is where
Christianity fails. Doctrine has come forth, nevertheless the light is
absent. We understand it all, yet nothing is usable. We can speak on
it, but it does not work.
Let us understand that when people hear Gods word they ought to
see light. If they do not, the responsibility rests on the speaker. We
often try to push it onto the audience. This is wrong. We confess that
with the sole exception of those who have a special difficulty and
shut themselves in, the speaker is wholly accountable for the
enlightening of the hearers. After they have heard the word there is
no need for them to ask for light, because they have already beheld
the light. How must many ministers repent before God! They have
no light to give; light does not shine from them. They are responsible
for the lack. The brethrens responsibility is indeed to open their own
eyes; even so, the minister is responsible to give them light.
Whenever the spirit of the minister is released, light shines.
A minister of the word is able to decide how much light he will
send out. If he is one who has received dealings he can push his
inward revelation out through his own spirit. As it is released the
light shines forth. He may not only enlighten people to make them
understand; he may also slay them with the light. If his intent is
merely to prepare others for understanding, then his ministry will end
up in making them understand. But if he is ready to pay the price
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before God, he can push his spirit forth in such power that people
will not only understand, they will also be overwhelmed. Light is
able to strike people down. All this must be decided by the minister
of the word himself.
5. Pressure and the release of the spirit. The release of the spirit
follows certain laws. The degree of its release depends on two
factors; first, how willing you are, and second, how much pressure
you are under. When you come to the meeting you receive a burden
from God. If the pressure is heavy and tense you know God wants
your spirit to come out with an explosion. Owing to great pressure,
your words fail to come forth. In order to relieve the pressure your
spirit has to explode. Accordingly, pressure causes the abundant
release of the spirit.
Suppose you are conversing with a brother. How very dark and
blind he is, how proud and high-minded. You are greatly pressed in
your spirit. It gives you great suffering. You are pressed till you feel
angry within. You can endure no more. You open your mouth and
speak. Words come out impetuously. Your spirit comes out. The
amount of spirit released corresponds to the measure of pressure you
have endured. Hence the current problem is, firstly, whether you are
willing or not willing to speak this word, and secondly, if you are
willing, how intense is the pressure within you. If the pressure is
great, then as your spirit rushes out it will reprove that high-minded
brother until he falls before it. And we should realize that after each
exercise our spirit grows stronger.
Such was the case with Paul when he cast out the demon from the
slave girl. She shouted for daysThese men are servants of the
Most High God!till Paul had become so annoyed that he turned
and said to the spirit, I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to
come out of her! And it came out that very hour (Acts 16.17,18).
Many can raise their voices but not their spirits. This is utterly
ineffective. The principle of miracles is the same as that of the word.
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Paul was annoyed inside; the pressure gradually built up; and finally
he gave the charge and the demon was cast out. It is when the spirit
within is deeply burdened that the word pierces and cuts.
The Lord Jesus came to Jerusalem. He saw a fig tree without any
fruit. He said to it, May no one ever eat fruit from you again!
(Mark 11.14) Such words were uttered under great pressure in the
spirit, with the result that the fig tree withered away to its roots. A
minister of the word is not able to say such strong words carelessly.
You may rise up and speak only when you are pressed beyond
measure. This is the principle of miracles as well as the law of
reproof. When your spirit comes out, people will fall down.
The supply of the word is the supply of the spirit. When the spirit
is released, power, light, life, the Holy Spirit, and pressure are all
released. Only what comes from the release of the spirit is useful. All
else is vain. To preach, you need to add the spirit to thought, word,
memory, and feeling. When your spirit comes forth, then you can
speak. Then and there you have the ministry of the word.
6. The spirit needs to be cleansed. There must indeed be spirit in
the word. Yet in order to send out a clean spirit we need to learn to
receive dealings from the Lord. A most important matter to bear in
mind is that whatever kind of spirit there may be conveys the
corresponding facet of the Holy Spirit; whatever kind of person one
is communicates that particular aspect of the Holy Spirit. The
manifestation of the Holy Spirit differs in various persons. When He
comes to people He comes with the special character of the channel
being used. He comes with the quality of the carrier. Hence the Holy
Spirit is manifested one way in one person and another way in
another person; consequently, there are various ministries. His
manifestation through Paul is different from that through Peter. The
manifestations are from the same Holy Spirit, yet in Peter it bears the
characteristic of Peter, in Paul, that of Paul. This is evident. The Holy
Spirit never sets aside the human element. Nowhere in the Bible do
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we see that God annihilates the human factor. One individual may
exhibit the filling of the Holy Spirit in one way, while the other may
do so in another way. There is no such thing as uniformity in all.
Brethren, do you see our responsibility? If the Holy Spirit speaks
through us without carrying along our particular characteristics, we
have very little responsibility. If you merely pass the Holy Spirit on
to others without you yourself becoming involved, then it is all right
so long as you are able to pass Him on. But the experiences of many
saints show us that when the Holy Spirit comes to men He comes
with the special character of man. If so, then how our spirit must be
purified, or else people will receive an abnormal thing.
We ought to know the significance of the human element. The
Holy Spirit does not act independently, that is, He does not act
directly and on His own. He always carries our characteristic with
Him when He acts. If any man is thirsty, said the Lord, let him
come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture said,
From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water (John
7.37-38). The Lord indicates that the water is first taken into mans
innermost being and afterwards out of the depths flow the rivers of
living water. J.N. Darby explains that the belly is the innermost of
our being. From the depth of our being flows the Holy Spirit and He
always carries us with Him.
We need to be dealt with. The cross never comes to us in vain.
Each time when it comes, it cuts and carves us one more time, and so
we are cleansed once again. Each difficulty which crosses our path
increases our cleansing. Each fire brings in more purifying. The more
difficulties we receive before the Lord and the greater they are, the
cleaner our spirit is. Thus the Holy Spirit is able to carry a cleaner
spirit (even ours) with Him. Frequently the dealing with our peculiar
characteristic is not thorough enough; with the result that people
meet both the Spirit of God and our own impurity. We all have met
ministers of the word who have the word and are able to release their
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spirits, yet are too big in themselves, not having been sufficiently
reduced. And when the Holy Spirit comes out, their peculiarities are
mixed up in it as well.
How great is our responsibility, brethren. If the Spirit of the Lord
made no use of man or if He were to reject every man who had some
defect, things would be much simpler. It would be very easy to
distinguish what is the work of the flesh and what is the work of the
Spirit. The problem is compounded, however, because even though
our spirit is not clean and even though the work of the flesh is in us,
God nevertheless does not reject us outright. Instead, He uses us.
This in turn causes many young and proud men to think that they are
usable. They do not know that God often uses the weak. The more
God uses us the greater is our responsibility. If He does not use us
our problem is almost nil. Many times we know we are incompetent,
yet God still wants to use us. The Holy Spirit always goes out with
mans spirit; the Lord uses man with his characteristic. This is the
deep law of the working of God.
Let us be careful of one thing: let us not forget our incompetency
when we are utilized by God. Remember that our responsibility is
great. If I am not right, then all my wrong will be mixed in with the
word of the Lord. One day when we receive more enlightenment, we
shall prostrate ourselves before God and acknowledge: Never once
in my preaching have I been competent. Anyone who receives light
will see his utter helplessness. True, the Spirit of God works through
you, but you are not a clean vessel, you are not a perfect vessel. You
are an impure container in Gods hand. You need more and deeper
dealings. Hence you must seek for mercy before God, asking Him to
be gracious to you that you may learn daily under the discipline of
the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, your spirit will not be usable.
Perhaps the Lord wishes to make you a minister of the word; so
He works daily in you. Each and every dealing, trial and environment
is to increase your usefulness. All of these serve to make your spirit
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cleaner and more perfect so that when it comes out it may come with
a clean quality and be more usable to the Lord. The Lord in His
mercy may cause His Spirit to come through you. You consider
yourself as one greatly used. You become proud, not knowing that
you are only temporarily chosen by God.
Let us see that the training of the minister is a daily and lifelong
work. You may not be able to speak better, but certainly your spirit
can make more progress. You may say the same words as you did ten
years ago, yet your spirit in saying them now is vastly different from
that of a decade ago. Let not the young say, I can say the same thing
as the elder has said. You may say the same thing, but do you have
the same spirit? Do not ask, Can I say that word? Rather ask
yourself, Do I have that spirit? To a minister of the word, word alone
is inadequate. There must also be the spirit. The words that I have
spoken to you are spirit and life, says the Lord. Whenever a minister
of the word rises to speak for God, his spirit as well as his words
must be clean.
Therefore, the question is not whether I can speak or not, but with
what kind of spirit do I send out the word? Some do not even have
any spirit. Here is a fundamental distinction. They are of two
different realms. In one realm, a person is competent if he is clear,
eloquent and wise. In the other realm, he is inadequate without the
chastening of the Lord and the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Words
belonging to this second realm must be beaten into you by the Lords
hand. They are wrought in you and built up daily in you by the Holy
Spirit. Not because you find a good sermon to preach, therefore you
can preach. Not at all. You may say the same thing yet there may be
no effectiveness in your words. Someone may preach a certain truth;
you accept it and preach on it too, but where is the effectiveness?
The word may be the same but your spirit is wrong.
The words which the Lord speaks are spirit and life. Hence your
spirit must be disciplined before God. You yourself need to be
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carved and chiseled by Him. Then when the word goes forth your
spirit follows suit, and, thank God, the Holy Spirit is also released.
This is the way of the ministry of the word. Without this you will be
like a scribe preaching the Ten Commandments. Everything will be
reduced to doctrine, teaching, exposition. The spirit is missing. All is
vanity. God must bring us to the point where, when our words go
out, the spirit is released. Sometimes it needs to explode. Not every
time, but occasionally the spirit should explode in order to facilitate
the work of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, the word we preach is not the
same as the word the apostles preached.
Let us know what the task of the church is today. God has
entrusted Christ to the church that she may impart Christ to men.
God has committed the Holy Spirit to the church for her to give Him
out. God has deposited revelation in the church that she may cause
others to see. Today all the spiritual blessings of God are given to the
church for her to dispense to the world. This is Gods thought and
design. The church is the body of Christ on earth. As the body of
man expresses the thought of man, so the church as His body
expresses the thought of Christ. The thought of the head is
manifested through the body. Without the body the head has no way
to express itself. In like manner, Christ has no way to express
Himself without the church. In this dispensation God blesses men
through the church. Her responsibility is therefore enormous.
Do not mistakenly think that everything today is in heaven. How
can you forget Pentecost? How can you forget the cross? Todays
situation is entirely opposite to that of the Old Covenant. In Malachi
3.10 we read, Bring ye the full tithes into the storehouse, that there
may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah
of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you
out a blessing. This is the Old Testament principle, for the blessing
is in heaven. But in our age the blessing has come to earth and the
Holy Spirit is to lift the church to heaven. The Protestant forgets the
position of the church, while the Roman Catholic attempts to seize
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Gods blessing in the flesh. We now ask God to open our eyes that
we may see that every spiritual blessing is today vested in the church,
and that it is the church which should dispense the blessing to men.
The church ought to be dispensing gifts. The letter to the
Ephesians distinctly shows us that the blessing has descended and the
church has ascended; all spiritual gifts are now in the church. What is
ministry? It is the imparting of spiritual riches to men. The church is
now in possession and enjoyment of the riches of Christ. She should
share the Christ she possesses with others. A minister is to impart
what he sees and has of Christ to men. Let us not be so selfdegrading as to think everything is far, far away. Many are praying
as though the Holy Spirit had never descended to earth and that the
church had never been to heaven. That cannot represent the church.
The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (Rom.
10.8). Brethren, you have light; hence the light of God can be sent
out through you. You have Gods word, therefore you can send it
forth. The question is, are you willing to do so?
In these present years God needs clean vessels to send out His
word. It does not mean that God will never use you if you are
unholy. Over the past two thousand years countless carnal hands
have touched the work of God and have spoiled it. Brethren, you
know what you were ten years ago. You can only confess that even
though you were of the flesh, God had still used you. You know what
you were twenty years ago. You cannot but acknowledge that you
were an unclean and sinful person, and yet God used you. Do not be
so foolish as to think that because God used you, therefore you must
be usable. We recognize more and more the greatness of our
responsibility: O Lord, when we are used, we mix ourselves in and
defile and damage Your word. We mingle our sin and defilement
into Your work so as to confuse the work of the Holy Spirit with the
work of the flesh. Lord, we have sinned; we ask your forgiveness. Be
merciful to us.
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The Lord has committed Himself to the church; His way is upon
us. He desires to dispense His riches through mans spirit.
Accordingly, you should ask the Lord to make your spirit acceptable
before God. You should not be proud of the work you have done. We
have no reason to remain unclean or carnal. Always remember that
God has committed Christ, the Holy Spirit, the word, and light to the
church. Today she is able to give light, word, the Holy Spirit, and
Christ to men. The one difficulty is our uncleanness, our impurity.
Let us see our responsibility. We must be made holy vessels if we
wish to have the word, the light, the spirit, and the Holy Spirit all to
be released.
If we see before God what the church is, then we will naturally
know what a minister is. A minister is to dispense by word what God
has entrusted to the church. Consequently, his responsibility is
greater than the rest. Should we continue on in the mixture of the
flesh, we have no way. We shall greatly impair Gods work and
make it suffer. God needs men, but are we Gods servants and
ministers? May God have mercy upon us. We must learn what this
way is. When our words go out, light also shines forth. May we have
sufficient words to give, that all who hear may see light and fall
down before God.
17
Some Helps in Speaking
To be a minister of the word is a very

new task to us. We have never done it
before, just as a newborn babe has never
learned to speak. Indeed, we have lived on
earth for some decades now and have
spoken much during these many years, yet we have never spoken this
word. In order to speak this word, we must learn from the very
beginning. We should not entertain the thought that since we have
had experience in speaking, even in preaching, we can well make use
of it. Such a concept is disturbing because the ministry of the word is
something quite different from our past learning and understanding.
We ought not be so careless as to draw upon the past and try to speak
as we usually do.
Remember, in speaking for God, you are like a babe who has to
learn from the start. just as a babe learns to speak each and every
word, so you also must learn all the way up. Speaking in the flesh
possesses its characteristics; speaking in the spirit has its own
qualities too. You are not able to make use of your past experience in
speaking or in preaching. You will change the nature of the word of
God if you do. You must learn at the start. Many words, many
phraseologies, many thoughts have to be gradually learned; even
how to exercise yourself while speaking needs to be learned afresh.
This is neither engaging the old method nor replenishing it with a
new way. It is something entirely new, hence everything in relation
to this ministry of the word needs to be learned point by point.
When you deliver the word which God has given you, it is both
easy and hard. It is not unlike prayer. You may consider it easy, yet
even after a lifetime you have not succeeded in mastering it. But if
you say prayer is hard, one who is newly saved can easily pray on his
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first day of salvation. Thus to be a minister of the word is on the one

hand difficult, while on the other, not too hard.
Let us now consider a few of the things which we should be
attentive to in speaking.
1. Keep the spirit from being wounded. We speak not simply to let
the words out but to release the spirit as well. Our ministry will be a
total failure if only words come out and the spirit is missing. Of
course, it is equally impossible to release the spirit without the
words. The spirit and the words are both necessary. When the words
come forth they come with the spirit. It is the spirit that touches,
moves, and makes people see. If the spirit is strong it may cast
people down. The coming forth of the word is the coming forth of
the spirit. Without the spirit no amount of words will be of value.
Hence we must be careful lest the spirit is hurt and is unable to be
released.
The spirit should not be offended. A least offense will hold it back
and make what is left merely words. Sometimes we are not even
conscious that the spirit is already wounded. It is most delicate,
therefore easily hurt. The spirit is so intensely sensitive that it is far
keener than our own feeling. Once it is wounded, it fails to go out
with the words. We must accordingly be very careful in keeping the
spirit from being hurt. A few things may easily damage it, and some
of these we shall now proceed to point out.
(a) Your spirit is wounded and unable to be released if before
speaking you unknowingly touch a little sin or defilement. Though
we do not know exactly what sin or defilement can hurt the spirit, we
do know that the mere contact with many sins and defilements (not
to say committing these things) can wound it. As you commence to
speak you find you cannot, because you are conscious that your spirit
is hurt. Consequently, every minister of the word must seek for
forgiveness and cleansing before he speaks. All known sins and
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defilement must be confessed before God and forgiveness and

cleansing asked for. Even for that which you do not know you must
ask cleansing and forgiveness. In ordinary days you must learn how
to avoid these things, you must learn how to carefully keep yourself
from contacting them. The spirit is more sensitive than your feeling.
It may take three to five days before you know what sin or
defilement it was that your spirit had already sensed. Sometimes,
when you speak, you feel the word is right, the thought is also right,
but somehow you are not able to push your spirit out, as if it is
unwilling to come forth. You have the sense of not finding the spirit.
This is because it is wounded by the defilement of sin. It is thus
immovable.
(b) The spirit needs to be waited on before it can come forth. If
our thought is somewhat scattered and fails to concentrate on or to
follow a certain line of thinking, the spirit is hurt. Our mind must
wait watchfully on the spirit so as to be used whenever called for.
Scattered thoughts make the spirit heavy. Some ministers of the word
have their spirit wounded through their thought. We should keep our
mind entirely for the spirits use. It needs to wait wholeheartedly on
the spirit as a servant waits on his master.
(c) To keep the spirit strong and unhurt you must not use the
wrong word or words, wrong illustrations or divisions while
speaking. If you misuse two or three big words, you know your
message is spoiled. These few incorrectly used words have hurt your
spirit and hindered it from being released. (Sometimes it is not that
serious if only a few unimportant words are misused. Your spirit is
not hurt and can still be released.) Or perhaps you may use an
illustration which does not agree with the spirits thought. The spirit
can easily be wounded and refuse to go forth. Or you may simply tell
a story which is not according to the Spirit; your spirit will also be
hurt and held back. Or you may speak a whole section of words out
of touch with the Spirit; you again will find the spirit hurt and
withdrawn. In any case, let us realize that the spirit is easily
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wounded. If you are careless you shall find to your surprise that it
refuses to be pushed out. You may want to release your spirit but you
do not have the strength to release it. You are then clear that you
have wounded it today.
(d) Our attitude may also damage the spirit. Many, coming to the
meeting, are full of self-consciousness, and this easily hurts the spirit.
Suppose you are speaking at a certain place and you are full of selfconsciousness. You feel how awesome the people are who sit before
you; you are particularly fearful of a certain few. As you speak you
are conscious of yourself because of those people. This will stifle
your spirit so as to hinder it from coming out. As soon as the soul
commences to rule, self-consciousness begins to increase; as selfconsciousness rises, the spirit loses its control.
We should know how different is the trembling of the spirit from
the trembling consciousness of the soul. We need the first but not the
second. When we come to a meeting place we should be filled with
trembling, but certainly not the trembling of the souls selfconsciousness. Knowing our incompetency and lack of power, we
come with trembling. This trembling enables us to look up to God, to
believe and to trust. The soulish self-consciousness is not so. It looks
at man. Spiritual trembling causes us to lift up ourselves to God,
whereas soulish self-consciousness turns our eyes toward men. When
self-consciousness which belongs to the soul arises, our spirit is
immediately hurt. It becomes unusable and unable to be pushed
forth.
An evangelist must therefore not have any self-consciousness.
Throughout the ages, those who are used by God in preaching the
gospel are those who are void of self-consciousness. The less selfconscious the evangelist is, the more powerful is his spirit. While he
stands there he is not aware of the heaven he sees, nor the earth, nor
the people. He speaks what is in his heart. He is conscious neither of
the right nor the wrong attitude of his audience. Such total absence of
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self-consciousness is a basic condition for an evangelist. It will cause

his spirit to rise up. Hence a minister of the word must learn not to be
self-conscious. Should he rise up to speak Gods word and be afraid
of the peopleafraid they will not listen to his words, afraid of this
or afraid of thatsuch fear will invariably hurt his spirit and prevent
it from going forth. His inner man is not sufficiently strong to meet
the challenge. He will wither on the spot.
Suppose one who is preaching the gospel is all the time conscious
that those hearing him are senior in age, higher in position, greater in
learning, or more in knowledge than he is; how then can he succeed
in his preaching? The more he speaks, the more withered he
becomes. In preaching the gospel, if you make men a little bigger,
you make the gospel somewhat smaller. But if you think primarily of
the gospel, your consciousness of other men will soon be
overwhelmed. The spirit of an evangelist needs to be released. He
should not develop a consciousness of self-abasement, for this will
reduce the power of the word of God as well as render his spirit weak
and empty. The fear of man is not humility; it is a soulish feeling of
self-abasement. Spiritual humility comes through our being
enlightened by God to a real knowledge of ourself, whereas soulish
self-abasement is the result of looking at man, comparing ourself
with others, and being afraid of men. Under certain conditions such
self-abased persons can manifest an attitude of pride. This is never
humility. This hurts the spirit and makes it unusable.
Whenever you stand before men you must be in fear and
trembling on the one hand and courageous and sure on the other. You
need to have both; the lack of either will wound your spirit. A
wounded spirit disqualifies one from being a minister of the word.
2. The spirit and the word must not lose contact. Perhaps you have
four or five sections in your message or four or five verses in the
Bible to read or four or five items to mention. Which you put first
and which you put next can affect the release of the spirit. You have
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the word, but if you disturb the order which the spirit intends to take,
your spirit will not be able to come forth as you speak. There is a real
difficulty in speaking, in that our words tend to lose touch with our
spirit. Some words should be spoken first, yet you put them at the
last, and vice-versa. If such be the case you will find that though you
utter the words the spirit is restrained.
In addition, words sometimes need to pass from one section to
another as the thought turns in a different direction. Things may
happen during such a transition. The words may continue on but the
spirit may not make the turn. The spirit may stop short and become
separated from the word. Hence at the turning of thought, it is
necessary to keep the spirit in touch with the word. Suppose you
misuse a passage in the Scriptures. Your spirit fails to make the turn
and as a result loses contact with the word. This becomes a very
serious matter in speaking.
To those who have learned little before God the chief matter is the
wounding of the spirit; to the more experienced, however, the main
difficulty lies in the losing of contact between the word and the spirit.
When one is just beginning to learn, he often wounds his spirit; it
fails to come forth because he has hurt it. After a person has learned
somewhat, his problem is no longer that of wounding the spirit;
instead, it is the word and the spirit being mutually out-of-touch.
It is not an easy thing to keep these two constantly in touch.
Sometimes the message begins on the wrong foot and this causes the
word to lose contact with the spirit. On other occasions the order in
the speaking is confused; the words are delivered but the spirit is shut
in. The contact between the word and the spirit is most easily lost at
the point of turning. When the word commences to turn, our thought
may not be adequate, our spirit may not be sufficiently active, and
our feeling may not be sensitive enough to follow; the consequence
is that the word goes forth while the spirit lags behind. The contact is
lost. How necessary it is for us to learn to let the spirit go out with
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the word. As soon as we sense a loss of contact we should instantly

try to return the word to its former position.
Our spirit is keenly sensitive. At times, even after we have
returned the word to its original place, the spirit still refuses to come
along because once it is set aside it is wounded. How extremely
delicate is the spirit; how very careful we must be in speaking! We
need to look to Gods mercy that at the time of transition our spirit
does not lose the contact. As we speak to the brethren we must
maintain each turn according to the spirit. If any mistake is made we
must immediately withdraw our word. If the spirit still fails to be
recalled, we will have to sacrifice that section of the message and try
to locate where the anointing is, for there lies the direction of the
word. The spirit will then be released.
Whether a minister of the word turns rightly or wrongly depends
more on the mercy of the Lord than on mans own arrangement. It is
quite difficult for us to control the strength of the word and the
cooperation of the spirit with the word. It is not owing to our
knowledge and experience that we are able to make the right turn.
We may not know when we are right, but we certainly recognize
when we are wrong. In a matter of a few minutes we shall know.
As soon as we realize that it is not right, stop going on. Never try
to rescue the message. If you sense that the word has drifted away,
return at once. At other times you may feel as if you are standing at a
fork in the road; you do not know whether you are right or wrong.
Yet if you continue speaking, you will know after a few more
minutes. When the word and the spirit are divided, you realize you
are wrong. Though you are speaking outwardly, your spirit remains
immovable. How very sensitive indeed is the spirit; one slight error
makes it immovable. You cannot push it out. In this case, you should
return to the former position and start out afresh. How do you know
whether your word is right or wrong? It is judged by whether your
spirit goes out with the word. While you speak you are speaking the
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right word if your spirit is released; otherwise you are wrong. This is
the restraint the Holy Spirit exercises over you.
How helpless we are in ourselves; how we must wholly look to
the mercy of God each time we speak. We cannot help ourselves
speaking in Gods Spirit even for five minutes. We easily turn in the
wrong direction. It is beyond the control of human wisdom and
knowledge, and it is not under the control of mans experience.
Hence, if in our daily life we receive mercy from God by learning to
entrust ourselves to the God of mercy, then at the time of speaking,
we will find to our surprise that everything is right. We say again that
it is the mercy of God, because no one can maintain himself on the
right course. It is something controlled by the Master, not by the
servant; it is something we cannot do, only the Lord can. In spite of
your knowledge, learning and experience, you should place yourself
unreservedly at the mercy of the Lord; otherwise, you may be right
for three or five minutes but then make the wrong turn.
The least that a minister of the word must know is that in speaking
it is not so much the release of the word as the release of the spirit.
The words are uttered in order to send forth the spirit. A ministers
responsibility is not merely to discharge the word, it is more so to
discharge the spirit. You have not fulfilled the work of a minister in
only sending the word out, but you do accomplish the task if you
discharge the spirit by the word. The acid test is the degree to which
your spirit is released in your message today. The marvel is this: that
the more the spirit is released the lighter you feel afterwards; you
know the Lord has used you.
You need not be worried about the fruit, that is the Lords
business. Whether people are saved or not, helped or not, is in the
Lords hand and not in yours. The result belongs to the Lord, not to
you. Success is His concern, not yours. To us servants there is but
one subjective fruit, and this is, that during the time of speaking and
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afterwards, if I have discharged my burden I know the Lord has been

gracious to me.
The joy of a minister of the word is not in the amount of words
spoken nor in the nodding of peoples heads, nor in the fact of people
being helped, but in the release of the spirit in speaking. As the spirit
goes forth the burden is discharged. When the spirit is released the
heart is joyful. You know you have done your duty and have done it
right. If the word is uttered while the spirit is retained, then you will
come back with the same burden upon you. You may speak so loud
as to make your throat parched and your body weary, yet you return
defeated because your spirit is blocked. The reason for speaking is to
discharge your burden, to let your spirit out. The more it is released
the lighter you become and the happier you are.
With the release of your spirit comes the word of God. Without it,
your word is not Gods word; it is merely an imitation. Whenever
Gods word comes through you your spirit inevitably comes out with
it. Only the foolish look for fruit and the praise of men. The fool
admires his own words and touches not his spirit. If he is so foolish
as to desire to stay in darkness he shall be satisfied with the
excellency of his words. He forgets that a word void of spirit is
entirely empty.
Consequently, watch as to whether the spirit is released in the
word. Such watchfulness will help to maintain the contact between
the spirit and the word. Failure to watch may cause the word to lose
contact with the spirit. The negative rupture of contact is caused by
unwatchfulness; the positive maintenance of contact is through the
mercy of God. The spirit must go along with the word. Its release
will make the word right and cause the word to reach high. You need
to be watchful on the one hand and learn to look to the mercy of God
on the other. You will be totally lost if you try to arrange your
message and make your transitions yourself. If anyone should be
proud about his preaching there can be only one result: though he can
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preach well, he has no ministry of the word. He may feel elated after
his preaching but he will never be a minister of the word. Fools are
proud. Do not forget that only by the mercy of God is the word in
constant touch with the spirit.
3. The spirit follows the word and the word follows the anointing.
There are two ways of speaking. One way is to push the word out by
the spirit, that is to say, the spirit is put into the word spoken. The
other way is to have both the anointing and the spirit beforehand and
our word to follow the anointing. These are the two different ways in
which our spirit and the word unite together in the speaking.
When speaking, there is the possibility that God wants you to
release certain words. He will fill your spirit with these words. You
put your spirit into the words and send them out one by one. You as a
minister exercise your will to push out the words by your spirit.
When your words are uttered your spirit goes out with the words.
You use the spirit to push out the words, and your spirit goes forth
with the words. As these words come to men the spirit also descends
on them. By the mercy of God, such a way of speaking can be very
effective. The words are strong and the spirit is high. The mouth
utters the word while the heart pushes the spirit. This is one way.
There is another way: before you speak, the power of God is upon
youthe anointing is on you. The anointing precedes the word.
Under the influence of this power you speak according to the
anointing. The anointing flows out, and your words follow after.
Whenever there is some feeling in the spirit, you learn to speak
accordingly. In such a way of speaking, your spirit goes out
unceasingly. The special benefit is that you will never be wrong,
because the anointing always goes ahead of the word.
Your way of noticing the audience will differ with these two
ways. In the first way of speaking you watch the audience, notice
their facial expressions, and observe their condition; in the second
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way of speaking you cannot pay attention to the audience because

you must focus your whole attention on the spirit, waiting for the
anointing. You are like a watcher standing at the door. As soon as
you see the unction, your words immediately follow. You simply
flow with the anointing, disregarding completely mens facial
expressions, attitudes, and reactions. Under the power of the
anointing, you speak word after word. In this way of speaking, if you
were to turn your thoughts to the audience you would at once be
interrupted and unable to flow with the ointment.
All who learn to speak in the spirit need to learn these two ways
of speaking. Sometimes by the mercy of God you speak through your
thought, and at the same time you put your spirit in the word and
push it out. At other times the Lord causes you to gather up the
strength of your whole being in patiently waiting on the spirit to
which He gives anointing to lead the way. First there is the unction,
then you are able to conceive the corresponding words to utter the
feeling within. The anointing goes ahead; the words closely follow.
As you speak you may see the faces of the audience, yet you sense
nothing since your whole being is focused on the anointing. Such
release of the spirit causes Gods children to touch the spirit. A
minister of the word should use both these ways of speaking.
The best condition for the ministry of the word is to speak
according to the anointing but to push out the spirit at times of great
importance. Speaking by the anointing serves as the mainstay. You
send out words according to the anointing, completely disregarding
any reaction from the audience. The anointing is with you, so you
find the devices into which you pour the words. But during that time
you may add another way of speaking because you desire either to
bless or to break the audience. You send your spirit out with the
word. As the power of the anointing flows, your spirit as the content
of the word flows simultaneously. Then and there you shall see the
grace of the Lord. You are able to give revelation to the audience
when you wish; you are able to bless or to break them.
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Preaching to make people understand is the ministry of the word

at its lowest level. When it is exhibited at its highest level, people
shall see and shall fall. From making people understand to causing
them to see and to fall depends on how willing and to what extent
you are ready to pay the price. When you are ready to spend and be
spent, people shall receive blessing. Under the anointing plus the
pushing forth of the spirit people cannot but see and fall.
How much price you are willing to pay becomes a very significant
factor here. The basic issue for a minister of the word is to exercise
the spirit. We must pay close attention to this before the Lord. The
outward man needs to be broken, because this is the only way to
make the spirit usable. The breaking down of the outward man is the
one thing which the Holy Spirit aims at in discipline. We must allow
Him to work in us. If there is no disobedience or resistance to His
discipline, inevitably He will break our outward man and make our
inner man usable.
4. The thought must be under the control of the spirit. In speaking,
the matter of thought is worth noticing. It occupies quite a large place
in the ministry of the word. If your faculty of mind is efficient you
are able to so arrange your thought that the spirit is released while
speaking. Otherwise your spirit simply cannot be released. No
minister should be careless in not keeping his mind from harm. It is
as precious to him as two hands are to a pianist. In ordinary times we
ought to let the Spirit of the Lord freely use our thought. We should
not allow it to run wild. Things unreasonable and senseless should
not occupy our minds, nor should subjects low and base be the
objects of our mental exercise.
This does not imply that thought is the source of the word. If a
minister speaks according to what he thinks, his thought should be
condemned and totally dismantled. If anyone believes he has thought
through the Bible and can therefore teach, he must be set aside. All
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notions except that in the spirit need to be destroyed. All messages

which have their origin in thought are to be rejected.
This, though, is not meant to mean the annihilation of the function
of thought. Every book of the New Testament is written with thought
behind it. For example, in Pauls Letter to the Romans how abundant
is the thought, yet also how noble. This letter does not originate from
the mind; rather, it originates in the spirit; and the thought therein
follows the spirit. The source must be the spirit, not thought.
Ordinarily we need to take good care of our mind that it may be
usable when God wants it. Let us not therefore condemn wrongly.
We should condemn thought only as it becomes the source of
speaking. If anyone speaks by his mind he is to be condemned. But
for the spirit to use thought is normal and ought not be judged.
The more spiritual the message, the fuller must be the thought. All
spiritual messages are full of deep and noble ideas. When the spirit
comes forth it requires full and rich thought. Our mind must take its
rightful place in the ministry of the word. Which words should be
spoken first and which should follow next is the work of our mind.
What is first thought of will be spoken first, and so forth. Our
speaking follows our thought.
Now we know that the spirit does not directly command the word.
Were it so, it would be speaking in tongues. The spirit usually directs
our words behind the understanding of our mind. This alone is called
the ministry of the word. Hence our understanding must be usable. In
case it is not usable the spirit is obstructed and loses contact with the
word. That which connects the spirit and the word is our thought.
We need to carefully watch our thought before God. It needs to be
daily renewed. Let us not permit our mind to be habitually occupied
with mean and base matters, for this will disqualify us from being
used by the Holy Spirit. We must keep our thought holy. We touch
the reality of consecration in ministering the word. Consecration
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means presenting all of our being to the Lord for His use. It means
the offering of all our thoughts to God. Daily must we be watchful
lest they habitually take the lower level and are thus unable to reach
the high level in time of need. Train our thoughts daily to meet the
Holy Spirits use; do not allow them to be a hindrance to the spirit.
Let God so direct our mind that we may later think of the thing
which should be first spoken, and so on. Our word is governed by
our thought and our thought is directed by our spirit. In this order the
word shall come forth.
5. The peak of the word versus the peak of the spirit. In speaking,
it is easy to know when our words reach the peak, but it is not so
easy to recognize the peak of the spirit. The peak of the word is
known by our thought; that of the spirit is beyond the knowledge of
our thought.
A minister of the word should take note of the difference between
the peak of the word and the peak of the spirit. If our spiritual
condition is right we are quite clear as to which special words God
has given us; that is, certain words reach very high while the rest
remain ordinary. This is something we know, so while speaking we
aim at bringing in this peak of the word. However, the peak of the
word may not be the peak of the spirit. Sometimes they coincide;
sometimes they differ. This makes the ministry of the word more
complicated. In case of a coincidence of these two peaks, the
minister need simply watch that his words climb continuously
towards the peak, for his spirit is released with the word, and is as
strong and as powerful as the word. But sometimes the word has
reached its peak while the spirit is strangely restrained, or vice-versa.
What should we do when the peak of the spirit and that of the
word do not coincide? Bear in mind that this is the moment when our
thought has some work to do. In ministering the word, our thought
needs to be gentle and not rigid. Our thoughts must indeed be
focused upon the word, yet they are to be used by the Holy Spirit.
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They should be gentle and flexible to the degree of being able to

receive any unexpected thing. In ministering the word we often meet
unexpected elements. God may wish to speak something else
extemporaneously; He may want to add some words; or the Holy
Spirit may desire to do something unusual. If our thought is hard and
fixed as iron it is unable to receive the additional words of the spirit;
and so, we are bound in our own words. We may reach the peak of
the word, but we do not attain to the peak of the spirit. Our ministry
will be common and ineffectual. It is rather difficult to explain such
an experience, nonetheless we will certainly understand it when we
encounter it. Simply remember that a minister of the word should
have all his thoughts available to the word, while at the same time
these thoughts must be gentle and active before God so that
whenever the Holy Spirit indicates something else they are flexible
enough to follow. Then shall he succeed in reaching the peak of the
spirit in speaking.
Hence when you rise up to speak, your mind must be open and
flexible before God and your attitude must be ready to accept any
unexpected turn. Only in this way can you discover what God
intends to do today. You should anticipate that unexpected things
may happen. Accordingly, you should learn how to test your own
spirit as well as the Spirit of God. If after saying a few words you
feel released in your spirit, your thought should try to add more
words to it so as to release more of the spirit. When you speak a
word and the spirit flows copiously, you should follow this trend and
add additional words. As you speak, your mind searches for the
center of the spirit. Once it touches the center your thought tries for
additional words that more spirit may be released, and so on and so
forth. In other words, whenever your word releases the spirit your
thought should not attempt to change the direction. Both your
thought and your word must follow the trend. The more you speak,
the more anointing you receive and the more the spirit is released and
the stronger is the word. It touches the peak of the spirit.
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The two peaks do sometimes coincide, as we have said; but not

always. We can do nothing if the spirit reaches its peak before the
word. But if the word reaches its peak first we are able to do
something to greatly release the spirit. This can be likened to the
attempt to locate a fallen pin. You use a magnet to search everywhere
for the pin till the latter is attracted to the magnet. In the same way,
you use your word to test the spirit. If one word fails to activate the
spirit, try another word. Through experience you will know when the
word has activated it. You can detect the very delicate movement of
the Holy Spirit. You speak by your thought; you use your word to
test if the Holy Spirit is pleased with the word. If He is pleased you
will sense it. As you follow up with more words along the same line
you will see that the spirit is being released. In such times your
thought governs your word and follows up strongly, making no turn
but proceeding straight ahead. Words will draw out words, the spirit
will be more and more released until you touch the peak of the spirit
in the time of ministry.
We must therefore learn how to try the Holy Spirit with this or
that word, testing out which word will release Him to the peak of His
speaking. When a word touches the right point, then the more you
speak the more will the spirit be released and the more abundant will
be the anointing and the more accurate will be your words. Gradually
the word will lead you to the peak of the spirit which is the climax of
your message. When you see the presence of the Lords Spirit as well
as of His blessing, you are assured of touching the center of todays
message. If your spirit is strong you may be able to continue in the
word for a longer time after the climax is reached. However, if your
spirit is not sufficiently strong you will have to make a turn after a
while or else your word will fall flat. The problem is now the
strength of the spirit. The stronger the spirit the longer the peak is
maintained. Nevertheless, you must not force yourself in maintaining
the peak. Whenever the spirit is missing, though the word still
lingers, it is time for you to stop.
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To sum up, then, our mind should be focused and should be

adjustable before God. It must be so focused as to think of nothing
else, and yet so flexible as to be able to receive any unexpected thing.
Be on guard against falling into any fixed position in your thought,
for this will hinder you from touching the word or the unexpected
peak which the Lord may wish to give you today. How necessary for
us to exercise our thought daily in cooperating with Gods word and
the spirits movement, that during the time of ministry our word can
rise up to meet the spirits peak.
6. Memory must be perfect. In ministering the word our thought
controls our word. We speak according to what we think. But we
need materials for our thinking. No one can think something out of
the thin air. Our thought is based on our memory. What we have
learned and thought of and experienced in our daily life, these
become materials for the word. These materials are accumulated
through the dealings of the Lord in our ordinary movements. How
much the Lord has destroyed and built up in us serves as the material
in reserve.
We spend a lifetime to accumulate experience, discipline,
doctrines, and teachings of the Bible. One day, when we stand up to
speak for the Lord, the Spirit of God exercises our mind, and our
mind makes use of what is held in our memory. In other words, the
Holy Spirit directs the thought which in turn regulates the word. Our
thought supplies materials to our word, which materials are based on
our memory. If we are lacking in experience we have nothing of
which to remember later. One cannot recall what he does not possess.
What things we store up in our memory supply our thought and in
turn supplies our word. Behind the word is good and meaningful
thought, based on our memory. Nothing is extemporaneous; all is
spoken according to past experience.
Word depends on thought, thought on memory, and memory on
experience. When you rise to speak, you select usable material from
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your life experience. Your life experience appears as a reservoir. The

Lord has brought you through many things. He has given you many
lessons and many truths. These are all laid away in the storage room
of your experience. When you speak, your words are based upon
these experiences. How does this come about? The words come from
your thought, but your thought gathers its material from the storage
room through memory. Only your memory can enter the storage
room of your experience and select suitable materials from it.
Memory is like a storage keeper; it alone can bring out what you
have learned and stored away in the past. Then your mind organizes
these materials and presents them in order. Now you recognize the
importance of memory. All ministry of the word begins with the
Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit desires to speak, He uses our
thought. For whatever word He wishes to say, He searches to see
whether our thought is usable, whether we are able to supply the
right word, whether we can follow the right order of the word to be
spoken. More and more we discover the incompetency of our own
brain. We cannot think of the word the Holy Spirit wishes to say;
instead we conceive of words which the Holy Spirit does not desire
to use. No minister of the word can be proud, because once he
ministers he sees his own incompetency. It is like the gears of a
machine, the teeth of which do not fit. Sometimes we feel we are in
gear. Our mind is able to supply the word the Lord wants to say. But
such is not our daily experience. Frequently our mind is not usable.
Our thought is too dull to supply the Holy Spirit with the right word.
We should realize that the Holy Spirit directs the thought and the
thought directs the word. Without being under the direction of the
Holy Spirit our mind is utterly unable to direct our word. Yet when
our mind tries to direct our word it depends on memory. Thought
remembers what to say, it does not conceive what to say. These
words are not to be conceived miraculously; rather they are to be
recalled from storage. The Holy Spirit directs the thought, which in
turn recalls from memory the word to be spoken. If the memory is
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good the supplies will always be at hand. While ministering, the

Holy Spirit enables us to recall what we have learned in the past.
Suddenly He recalls that particular thing from our memory and puts
it in our mind so that there we may apprehend it once again and
express it in words.
Many experiences are stored in the memory with perhaps just a
few words. If our mind today is especially scattered we cannot recall
as we should, and this affects the release of the spirit. The spirit is
hindered if any one part of our being is unusable. One may still
preach, yet the spirit is not released. For the release of the spirit a
perfectly usable mind with a perfectly usable memory is necessary. If
either our thought or our memory is just a little defective our
ministry will be affected. This is very serious.
Let us suppose that the Lord wants you to say something today. It
may be seven or eight words. You are somewhat fearful lest you
forget these words. You try your best to memorize them. When you
come to the meeting you remind yourself repeatedly that you must
not forget these words. Your heart is fully occupied with them. But
to your surprise the spirit does not come out when you speak.
It is useless to memorize simply with our brain. The words
become empty, for the spirit remains inactive. The memory of a
minister of the word must be very natural. If any rein is put upon it it
becomes useless when the Holy Spirit wishes to speak. Instead, the
minister needs a perfect memory as well as perfect thought. Like an
electric wire, if one end is broken the electric current is shut off; even
so, the Spirit of the Lord fails to come forth if any point in the
memory is broken. However, we are undone if we take memory or
thought as the source of our ministry. It is only when the Holy Spirit
becomes the source that thought and memory become useful. Under
the enlightenment of the Spirit we realize how inadequate is our
thought, our memory and our eloquence. We should therefore ask the
Lord to transform our memory into the Holy Spirit memory that it
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may serve Gods purpose. Whether or not we can recall those few
words which the Lord wishes to speak will make a great difference in
ministry. If they can be recalled, then the words shall come forth and
the spirit will be released. If not, we will be suppressed as though we
are under a heavy millstone; neither the spirit nor the words can
come forth.
We must gather up everything which is to be used by the Holy
Spirit. We must collect all we have learned, read, heard, and been
shown through revelation throughout our life and make them
available to the Holy Spirit. This can be likened to a man who
manages to close all the windows so as not to be distracted by the
noises and activities outside the house. He offers all he has to the
Holy Spirit to be fully spent. In a relatively strong ministry, such a
man gathers up his whole life to be spent by the Holy Spirit within
five or ten minutes. Ministry is costly. Each and every release of the
spirit demands a price. Ones outward man must be closed up; all the
windows to the outside must be shut. He gathers up all his memory
and all he has so that it may be used by the Holy Spirit in time of
need. This is strong ministry. There ought to be no interference, no
scattering, no carelessness. Never in your life, it seems, have you
gathered together so much to be spent all at once by the Holy Spirit.
This is the time when memory does its work. In order to stock your
memory with supplies, you need to learn many lessons before God
and go through many experiences. The ministry of the word is based
on the discipline of the Holy Spirit; without such discipline you have
no material for the word. If you have stockpiled materials through
the discipline of the Holy Spirit your memory can move them around
as needed. If, however, you have received little discipline and
learned very little, your memory cannot possibly have enough
material in store to supply the need of the Holy Spirit.
Hence the richness of a ministry depends on the abundance of
discipline and learning. In case of such an abundance, memory
naturally has much to supply the thought, and thought has much to
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transform into word. There should be substance in our words. We are

not to say empty phrases. We must put all that we have learned into
them through our memory. Should the Spirit of God be in charge, all
we have learned in life turns out to be useful.
7. The feeling and the word must be one. We need to use our
feeling while ministering. The spirit will not be released unless it
finds our feeling and our word in one accord. When our feeling has
some reservation towards the word which the spirit desires to use, the
word will be hindered and the spirit will be held back. Often we find
our feeling has reservations. What are these reservations? Sometimes
we have a shy feeling, or a feeling of fear lest others will criticize.
We may sense peoples coldness towards us and their opposition
against us. All these curtail what we should say, for they prevent us
from mixing our feeling with the word. We are afraid to let our
emotion flow alongside our word.
Therefore, in speaking, we have to let loose our feeling. If we
have any reluctance, the word cannot freely flow and the spirit will
not be released. Should the word require us to shed tears, we simply
must shed such tears. Frequently the word requires them, yet we
refuse to shed them. Our feeling and our word simply are not one.
How very hard mans outer shell is. If mans feeling is held back
the spirit cannot come out. One of the great benefits of the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit is to free our emotion. The liberation of
mans emotion may derive from two different causes: one comes
from the outpouring and the other begins with brokenness. The
liberation through the outpouring is an outward liberation, hence the
person needs to let go of himself before the spirit can be released.
Brokenness too causes one to let go of himself. Discipline enables
one to let go even without outpouring. A young brother who has not
yet received deep revelation needs the outpouring for his liberation,
although he should not depend on such liberation. What is
exceedingly precious is when his outer shell is broken after being
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disciplined daily. Then he is able to let go of himself not only at the

time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit but even when the
outpouring is absent. In other words, if the Spirit of the Lord is upon
us and we have had sufficient discipline to break the outer shell of
our emotion, then whatever kind of feeling todays word requires we
are able to release that feeling.
We must coordinate the word with our feeling. Should our feeling
fail to accompany the word the spirit is frequently restrained. Why is
it that when Gods word requires the shedding of tears your tears do
not fall; or when it demands shouting you cannot shout? The main
hindrance is you yourself. Your feeling has been influenced by the
people who surround you so that it dare not correspond to the word.
Sometimes you need to shout in order to greatly release the spirit.
The Lord Jesus cried with a loud voice: On the last day, the great
day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out. . . . (John 7.37). On the
day of Pentecost Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his
voice (Acts 2.14). The pressure of the Holy Spirit was so heavy
upon themthe Holy Spirit had given them such deep feelingthat
they were pressed to lift up their voices. Their outward emotion and
inward sense were joined together in one. After Peter and John were
released by the Jewish leaders, they gathered with the brethren. They
lifted their voice together to God (Acts 4.23-24). The situation at
that time was exceedingly grave, hence they asked the Lord to look
upon the threatenings and give to them all boldness to speak the
word so that the Lord would stretch out His hand to heal, and that
signs and wonders take place through His name. This happened to
Paul when he saw the man who was lame from birth. He said with a
loud voice, Stand upright on your feet (Acts 14.10).
All these cases show us that in the ministry of the word the going
forth of the word must be accompanied by a corresponding feeling. If
our emotion is not released the spirit will be held back. The Lord
Jesus Himself, the early church, Peter, John, and Paulthey all had
sufficiently strong feeling to lift up their voice. To release the spirit
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demands strong feeling. Now we are not persuading people to shout

in their preaching; we are simply stating that when the spirit is
vibrant the outside voice is to be lifted up. If there is no inward
feeling, even though our voice fill the whole building, it is of no
avail. For some, the louder they sing the less the spirit; the louder
their voice in preaching the less spirit they have. Whatever is
artificial is useless. Artificiality has no place in the ministry of the
word. What is within should be released. Never imitate outwardly.
When our word comes forth let our emotion accompany it. For this,
though, we must be broken. And after the outer shell is broken we
may shout, rejoice, or cry as occasion demands. Such feeling arises
from within, it is not artificially manufactured from without. If the
Lord cannot penetrate the feeling of those who minister, how can He
ever reach the feeling of others? How cold, how dry, how opposing
their feelings are! We must thrust through their emotions each time
we speak. If the Lord cannot make us shed tears, He cannot make
others shed them either. If the pressure on us is not heavy enough to
make us cry, how can we expect the others to cry?
The first stronghold the word must penetrate is ourselves.
Frequently in preaching we sense the inadequacy of our feeling.
Why? We have not been broken. The ministry of the word demands a
high cost: the Lord must break us to pieces. If we are greatly affected
by the word whenever it touches us, our reaction becomes the
reaction of God. If a crying Jeremiah was unable to bring the Jews to
tears, how much less could a tearless prophet bring the nation to
tears? The prophet must cry first before the people of God can be
brought to tears. God loves to see a broken man releasing his feeling
in preaching. A minister of the word must therefore learn how to
effect this oneness of feeling and word.
8. The word should be clear and high. All who minister for God
should find out what the characteristics of Gods word are. Only then
can you know what your words should be like so as to be used by
God. Simply put, the word of the Bible has two characteristics: one,
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it can be easily understood, and two, it is high in quality. Gods word

is so plain that even the blind will not lose his way nor will the
cripple miss his step. The parables in Gods word are never puzzles.
God does not intend to make His word a puzzle, hence His word is
clear and easily understandable. He who desires to minister the word
must learn how to speak simply. In ordinary conversation he should
cultivate the habit of speaking simply, never in long drawn out
sentences. Watch whether people understand you or not. If they do
not understand, try to say it differently. Always remember that Gods
word is for men to understand, not for them to become confused
about. Matthew 13 is an exception. Due to their rejection of the Lord,
the word of God was hidden from those Jews.
You should practice the power of speaking. If you are given light
within the space of five minutes you should spend five hours to
meditate on it. When you speak, try to ask the brother if he
understands. If he does not understand, change to another way of
speaking. You must learn to speak until people can comprehend you
from the moment you begin. Do not speak for half an hour when
people only understand five minutes of it. On the contrary, speak
only the five minutes which they understand. It is better to speak less
than to waste twenty-five minutes.
So in ordinary times you need to learn how to say simple words
and cultivate the habit of speaking clearly. Never be tempted to
speak at length. Always try to make people understand. Ask God to
give you simple words or to give you an appropriate illustration to
bear out the thought clearly. To be easily understood is the nature of
Gods word. If your word is different in nature from Gods, you will
have trouble in speaking. In the event you do have difficulty in
speaking clearly, do not save your face but humble yourself to seek
the advice of your brothers and sisters. Learn to speak for five
minutes so as to ascertain whether people understand or not. Its
better to be criticized than not to be understood. You are speaking for
God, therefore the meaning must be perceptible and the word
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appropriate. God does not want His word to be a puzzle, like some
Old Testament parables which can only be interpreted after much
research. Do not be ashamed to ask the help of those who are more
experienced. Ask them to point out to you where your words are
unclear that you may improve upon them and make them
understandably simple.
Gods word is not only understandable, it is also high in quality.
God never says anything superficial, that is to say, God never says
anything which may be pleasing to men but lacking in spirit. A
minister of the word must strike high before he can hit Gods word.
If ones word is of low quality he cannot touch Gods word. Hence
words must be maintained at a high standard. Once we change its
quality we lose the touch of Gods word. Since words are used to
introduce the Lord of Hosts, they ought to rise high. If a brother
quotes a verse from the Bible and then proceeds to explain with
words of low quality, how can the word of God be released? There is
no chance for God to come forth through our words. Now it is
perfectly proper for you to say to a two or three year old child who is
just beginning to learn how to speak and listen: If you are a good
child, the Lord Jesus will delight in you, and will buy a piece of
candy for you tonight. But suppose you go to the platform and say,
If you all listen carefully the Lord Jesus will be pleased with you,
and I will treat all of you tonight with sweets. Do you see the
absurdity of persuading people in such a fashion? It is too low and
immature, too childish in language and thought. God expects His
servant to reach high. The higher you rise the deeper the interest of
the audience.
Hence a very important point in ministering the word is to climb
high before God. The higher we climb the more Gods word is
released. God rejects low thought, low-quality persuasion, cheap
metaphors or words. Reach high and yet be clear. Sometimes we may
have both light and a burden; we wish to speak with simplicity; yet
the pressure is so heavy upon us that we just cannot be simple. If we
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find it so difficult to be simple after much trying, how can we ever

speak simply if we never even try to learn? Let us cultivate the habit
of speaking simply, clearly and understandably, at the same time
reaching high that the word of God may come forth.
Making Constant Progress
It is harder to speak today than it was one hundred years ago,
harder for us to speak than was the case for Martin Luther four
hundred years ago. This is because the word of God is progressively
released, touching higher and higher as it is opened up. Since God
has already spoken up to a certain point, we cannot afford to go
backward in speaking. Our speaking must go forward. Said the Lord:
My Father is working until now, and I myself am working (John
5.17). God has never ceased working. He worked yesterday and He
works today. His work of today is more advanced than that of
yesterday, and His work of tomorrow will be more developed than
that of the present hourHe never works for less and less, but
always for more and more. His work is progressive, never regressive.
Martin Luther discovered justification by faith, even so, during the
last hundred years people understand that tenet even more than he
did. This is not an assertion of pride, only an indication that the word
of God is progressively revealed. Martin Luther received great
insight into the Letter to the Galatians, but todays saints see much
more in that letter. If the revealing of Gods word has advanced, how
can we retrace our steps and speak the thing of the past?
We know all truths are in the Bible, all bases for speaking are
found there, yet the discovery of Scriptural truth, the release of Gods
word, and the insight of the church before God are steadily
progressing. From generation to generation the children of God see
something more. For instance, in the early centuries the church
generally took the kingdom as Gods heaven. Since the last century,
however, this problem has been gradually solved. The kingdom is
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different from heaven. Today it is even clearer; the kingdom is not

only a reward but it also has its aspects of spiritual dominion and
authority. We believe all truths in the Bible were clear during the
apostolic time. Since then they are gradually once again being
released. We may use another illustration. Today we see more about
resurrection than those in the past did. As God gives grace to His
church, the word increases in richness. He intends to impart more
and more to the church.
We can compare the best lectures of the second and third centuries
with the ministry of the word today and discover the progress which
has been made. The Holy Spirit does not look back; He leads us on.
The church in appearance may have many difficulties, yet our God
marches forward. He has not ceased upon His having done one thing.
He is still working. Hence, what todays ministry of the word touches
ought to be deeper than what former ministry had touched. May we
see the infinite grace which God pours out upon the church. If the
church is to reach matured manhood so as to touch the riches of
Christ, todays ministry must increase in its fulness. Do not be
content, therefore, with a few careless words. God wishes to give the
highest to us.
PART FOUR
THE OBJECTS OF THE WORD
18
The Objects of the Word
We now come to the fourth and final

part, which concerns the objects of the
word. The word not only has its minister, it
also has those for whom it is intendedits
hearers. Whether the ministry of the word is
effective or not hinges additionally on the audience. No doubt the
minister himself is largely accountable, but the objects of the word
are nonetheless responsible too. If there is to be the release of the
word, both the minister and the audience alike have responsibility.
The latter can hinder the coming forth of Gods word as well as
cause it to flow. There are several places in the Bible where the
objects of the word are stressed. We hope to gain some insights from
these instances.
(1)
Let us look first at Matthew 13. The Lord is there speaking in
parables, since God cannot reveal Himself to the wise and
intelligent (Matt. 11.25). Such people cannot expect revelation from
God, therefore they are not able to receive supply from the word.
They are not only incapable of receiving revelation directly from
God, they are unable also to receive revelation from the minister of
the word. Whenever there are the wise and understanding among the
audience the word of God is either weakened or totally obstructed
from being released. The more people consider themselves to be wise
the harder for them to be enlightened. The stronger they depend on
themselves the more tightly is Gods word closed to them.
One thing we can observe: in Old Testament prophecies,
frequently the words are shut up and sealed (Dan. 12.9). This
shows that the word may be released, or be shut up after being
released. We will not try to explain the meaning of this shutting up
290
nor tell the duration of its being sealed. We merely want to establish
a spiritual principle which asserts that man may hear God speaking
and yet that word be shut up to him. He may touch Gods word,
nevertheless it is still sealed towards him. Daniel shows us the fact of
sealing, the Lord Jesus gives us its causemans own wisdom and
understanding. The Lord hides His word from the wise and prudent
that they may not perceive. Hence, whoever deems himself wise and
understanding, from him the Holy Spirit will hide the word in
accordance with Gods mind.
One basic principle is revealed in the Bible, which is, that after
man has eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
the tree of life is closed to him. Thereafter, the cherubim and a
flaming sword guard the way to the tree of life (Gen. 3.24). As soon
as man possesses the knowledge which comes from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, he is incapacitated from touching life.
Such a touch is then not only impossible to man, it is also forbidden
by God. This is the meaning of the shutting up. It means more than
mans inability; it is also Gods forbiddance. How serious this is.
Whenever a person focuses on knowledge, life escapes him. Bear in
mind that at the time you boast of your own wisdom and
understanding, considering yourself superior, the word of God is
hidden from you. You perceive not, you see vaguely, even if you
strongly desire it. This is Gods sealing. Recall what the Lord Jesus
prayed: I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou
didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent (Matt. 11.25).
God does this purposely. Consequently in the ministry of the word,
attention likewise needs to be directed to the condition of the hearers.
Perhaps in speaking to those who are newly saved we need not
exercise our spirit too strenuously, nor do we need to draw on much
light or words. But how about preaching the gospel to the unsaved?
You feel you have to drain much of your spirit and words. And
naturally if we touch upon the higher revelation of Godthose
higher and more practical spiritual thingswe obviously need to use
291
more words, more light, and more spirit. But suppose here comes one
who considers himself wise and understanding. From him God
wishes to hide these things. Not only will God not reveal them
directly to him, even the minister of the word is hampered by his
presence. If the occasion requires less release of the spirit, his
hindrance may not be too great. But if the demand on the spirit is
much, he becomes a formidable impediment to the ministry of the
word. The strong word of Gods revelation fails to come forth
because God does not wish him to perceive.
Besides the condition of the minister the hearers of the word
constitute another problem. Should one whose condition is adverse to
Gods blessing be in the audience, he will affect the release of the
word. The word will fall to the ground, however strong the minister
may be. We are not clear how the hearers affect the word, but we
know this is a fact. Therefore, when we learn to be ministers of the
word we should remember that sometimes the word is hindered by
ourselves while at other times it is due to others.
Suppose after having solved all your problems you are still unable
to release the revelation and the words. Then you know the difficulty
may lie in the objects of the word. To those beginning to minister,
the hindrance is largely in themselves, for their revelation is limited
and their light is inadequate. But to those who have received a strong
and pure revelation and have given sufficient words, their delicate
feeling is hampered and their words impeded when they touch those
with proud spirits or those debarred from Gods blessing.
The spirit is exceedingly sensitive. The one characteristic is that as
you deliver the word your spirit and the Holy Spirit, as well as your
words, are all released. But here is one in the audience who thinks
himself wise. He is an observer. He blocks the word from flowing
purely. Sometimes we wish to bring our brethren to the light of God
that they might know themselves, or we desire to lead them to the
Lord to see the glory within the Holiest. Notice how pure is such
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revelation. Here is no doctrine nor teachingjust revelation, pure

revelation. Now during the process of pure enlightenment and
burning away, if there be present three or five brothers who take the
attitude of observers (they are merely watching what you can do,
with their spirits shut up; they do not need Gods word, neither will
they gladly submit to God for His word), you will find your words
are so frustrated that you can hardly utter them. The more spiritual
the nature of your delivery the more easily you will be affected by
people; the less spiritual your message the less influenced you are. A
minister of the word dreads the wise and understanding. The Lord
will not bless such people. Hence it is most foolish to consider
oneself as wise and understanding.
And didst reveal them to babes, continued the Lord. The
tenderer the attitude of the objects of the word, the stronger the word
comes forth. The humbler the hearer the more powerful the word. If
he is most willing and readily obedient, the word will manifest more
light and revelation to him. It is hard to help those who do not want
to receive help, but relatively easy is it to help those who are easily
helped. This too is a basic spiritual principle.
Many are those who find it difficult to secure help. They resist the
word and its meaning; they challenge the Bible; obviously they can
hardly be helped, since Gods enlightenment must penetrate their
many layers of criticism and resistance before it can reach their
inward parts. The more childlike a person is the more inclined he is
to be helped by the Lord. The softer he is the less prejudiced he
becomes. He whose heart is open to God finds that his spirit also
opens to God. To him the ministry of the word will be strong and he
will receive much revelation.
God resists the hard-hearted but grants grace to the childliketo
those who seek humbly, simply, and tenderly. Why? Because God
will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever
will He thwart. (See 1 Cor. 1.19) The Lord will bring you to a place
293
where you can say: Neither my wisdom nor my cleverness is of any

avail. If you are in the mercy of God you may look back after three
or five years of discipline and confess how much you have suffered
under your own wisdom. You should have received more grace but
your wisdom stood in the way. How many are yet ignorant of the
damage human wisdom has brought to their lives. But on the day
they receive the mercy of the Lord they will know.
(2)
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the
clever I will set aside, God says in 1 Corinthians 1.19. His purpose
in so doing is that no man should boast before God (v.29). In a
word, God does not want anyone to be proud. He sets aside the wise
and the understanding. We have our own wisdom, but how we need
power. We are wise, yet weak. God turns our wisdom into
foolishness, but transforms our weakness into strength. This is a most
difficult task, yet God has done it. It is marvelous in our eyes. God
has destroyed the wisdom of men but given them His power.
How do we explain this? How in destroying mans wisdom is the
problem of power to be solved? How does God destroy the wisdom
of man in order to bring in His power? By the Lord Jesus Himself
becoming our wisdom. But by His (Gods) doing you are in Christ
Jesus, who (was made) to us wisdom from God, and righteousness
and sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1.30). In this verse there
should be a colon after the word God, for this wisdom includes
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. How does God make
Christ our wisdom? It is after our own wisdom has been destroyed
and we become fools for Gods sake that we accept Christ as our
wisdom.
The power of God is manifested in us in a threefold way: Christ
our righteousness, Christ our sanctification, and Christ our
redemption. It requires tremendous power to make us righteous and
294
holy and redeemed (the redemption here points especially to the

redemption of the body), and all this is embodied in Christ being our
wisdom. In other words, God reveals all His grace in Christ. What
we are in direct contact with is revelation, but the outcome will be
righteousness, holiness, and redemption. This solves the problem of
power as well as that of wisdom. When the problem of revelation is
solved, all spiritual riches are exposed while all spiritual poverty is
deposed. Seeing is basic to spiritual affairs. Once seen, all is solved.
We cannot touch righteousness directly, though we can receive
revelation that way. When there is revelation, the matter of
righteousness is also settled. We are to possess righteousness through
revelation, for this is the way God grants us righteousness.
Perhaps this may explain why the Lord rejects our wisdom.
Because when we are wise, the wisdom of the Lord has no entrance;
therefore, there will be no revelation. As revelation ceases, all
spiritual blessings are cut off. Spiritual strength decreases as spiritual
insight diminishes, but it is increased when spiritual folly is lessened.
The two are closely knit.
No one can receive the works of the Lord directly, since all His
works are placed in revelation. He who has revelation has
everything. If any should try to accept the Lords work apart from
revelation, he shall find it wholly ineffective. He may know himself
as a sinner and consent mentally that Jesus is the Saviour, but his
prayer is of no avail if there is no spiritual understanding. He may
even preach the doctrine of salvation to others; even so, it will fall
upon his hearers like cold water. This is attempting to accept the
Lords work apart from revelation. Yet should that persons eyes be
opened even slightly to see that the Lord has already died for him, he
may immediately and spontaneously accept the Lords death
irrespective of environment, whether he is praying alone in his room
or is listening to a message in a meeting. One who touches revelation
gains Christ. Similarly, he who has not touched revelation will not be
able to possess Christ. The question revolves around whether or not
295
he has received revelation. This constitutes the basic principle. God

has placed His work in revelation: hence only in revelation can men
be related to His work.
In learning this spiritual principle we can readily understand how
much the objects of the word can affect the ministry of the word.
Whenever people consider themselves wise and prudent, God hides
Himself from them. But if you come to the Lord as a childsimply,
humbly and tenderlythe Lord will just naturally be your wisdom.
As He becomes your wisdom your problem of power is equally
solved. To you who have Christ as wisdom, then righteousness,
sanctification and redemption also become yours. Spiritual reality
lies in the revelation of Christ. In touching revelation, you have
reality. All the problems concerning past righteousness, present
holiness, and future redemption are solved in wisdom. Having Christ
as wisdom, you have them all. However, if those to whom the
ministry is addressed are proud, self-conceited or spirit-closed, they
are unable to receive revelation, nor will God give it to them. For this
reason we must learn to be humble, gentle and simple before God.
The prouder we are the farther we depart from Gods revelation. The
minister of the word cannot help us; he may instead be hindered by
us. To the wise and understanding God hides all things, but to the
childlike He reveals Himself.
(3)
As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not
and ears to hear not, down to this very day (Rom. 11.8). This refers
to the Jewish nation which even to this hour can neither see nor hear.
Notice that the condition of Matthew 13 is much more grave than
that of Matthew 11. In Matthew 11 the hiding is temporary, whereas
in Matthew 13 it is permanentbased on what happened in Matthew
12. The situation in Matthew 12 is this: that after the Lord Jesus cast
out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit the Jews insisted He did
296
so by Beelzebub, for the Jews hated the Lord without cause. They
inwardly knew He cast out demons by the Holy Spirit, yet they hated
Him so intensely that they blasphemed against the Holy Spirit by
saying He cast out demons by Beelzebub. They harbored deep
prejudice within themselves. They knew they would have to believe
in the Lord if they were to acknowledge that He cast out demons by
the Holy Spirit. But they had already decided not to believe; and so
they would rather reject the Lord. Consequently they adamantly
remonstrated that He cast out demons by Beelzebub. Their hearts
were hardened as flint. Towards such as these there can be no
forgiveness, not in this age nor in the age to come. The unpardonable
sin is committed when people vehemently deny the distinctive work
of the Holy Spirit by speaking aloud that it is the work of Beelzebub.
Among the many names of Satan this is the foulest, because it means
the king of flies. How stony hard is the human heart. This is the
worst sin in the entire Bible. There is none comparable to it. This sin
will not be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come.
This explains why the Lord Jesus adopted the use of parables in
speaking afterwards in Matthew 13. The disciples came and said to
the Lord, Why do you speak to them in parables? And His answer:
To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, but to them it has not been granted. The stony-hearted heard
the parable of sowing, but they did not understand what it meant.
They heard about stones, birds and thorns, yet they were ignorant as
to their applications. They also heard of the good soil, but they did
not know what it represented. Here the Lord Jesus gives us a basic
principle. Due to the committing of such sin God shuts up His word,
that seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear, nor do they
understand. For the heart of this people has become dull, and with
their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes; lest
they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
understand with their hearts and turn again, and I should heal them
(Matt. 13.15). It appears as if God forbids them to even repent. As
long as a person holds to his own inclination and prejudice, refusing
297
to accept the light while attempting to find fault with the truth, the
light of God may indeed be closed to him. He who has no revelation,
no light, lives in darkness. Therefore we are afraid of sinning,
especially do we dread sinning without knowing it. Do realize that a
sinner can be saved, even a Pharisee can be saved, for God knows
how to deal with a sinner; but He has no way to help that one who
refuses to see.
Both Matthew 13 and Romans 11 show us this principle, that a
person may fall into such a position as to be completely shut out of
Gods light. This we call Gods forbiddance or Gods sealing. Some
are dabbling in the depth of error, not because of their folly but
because of their own wisdom. A fault due to folly can easily be
forgiven, but an error due to wisdom is hard to be forgiven, because
in the latter case the person has not only committed a wrong but
something is wrong with his heart as well. As his heart turns against
God, God seals up his understanding. This is a most serious matter.
To some God is unwilling to reveal himself, therefore He hides from
them. Should God treat us this way, how utterly lost we are. What
else can be compared with this estate? Let us therefore pray, Oh
Lord, never permit us to fall into such folly as to speak haughty
words; never allow us to be so foolish as to resist light, and never let
us approach the point beyond repentance.
How can there be repentance if there is no revelation? To seal up
revelation is to seal up repentance; and to seal up repentance is to
seal up forgiveness. Because they had already sinned against the
Holy Spirit, therefore no revelation or repentance was given to them.
Hearing they did not hear, seeing they did not see, nor did they
understand. In other words, there were only words but no revelation.
Some brothers and sisters are unwilling to accept or obey in certain
matters. They have their prejudices. Even if a matter is right, they
insist on saying it is wrong. How then can they receive revelation on
such matters? One who is able to receive revelation from God needs
to maintain an attitude that he might be wrong. He does not draw a
298
hasty conclusion for fear that he may be wrong. He who desires light
cannot afford to be arrogant. The Lord can easily enlighten him who
is gentle and meek. He will give to him both basic and advanced
revelations. Hence let us learn to open our hearts before God that we
may keep receiving from Him all the time.
(4)
Light never waits for man! We are too often like those who come
to the Lord to beg for bread. We are not sure whether we can obtain
it. Let us see that God has His work on earth, that the thread of His
work has never been broken, and that it continues on. Those with
spiritual insight can find out where the thread is. If any falls, he may
not be able to catch up. If he is prejudiced, he will not see. Suppose
we fail to catch up with what God has done twenty years ago; how
then can we keep pace with what God is doing today? Hence never
allow yourself to be out of line with Gods movings. Be humble and
learn. One thing is sure: God has His course and is working step by
step towards it. We must follow on year after year. Should our spirit
be kept in humility and gentleness, we will be able to touch a little of
Gods working. But if we should grow proud, arrogant and selfconceited, we shall be laid aside by God.
Ephesians 4 predicts that the church shall attain to mature
manhood. God desires to raise His own ministry to a noble level.
Some may have touched the higher things of God today, while others
may need to spend ten to twenty years before they know how to
reach these things. Many spiritual matters have a time element, and
we are yet far from having acquired them. So may we ask God for
mercy that He may grant us to learn something substantial and real.
May God give ministry to His church, and may we learn all that we
should learn.

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What are the three kinds of ministry mentioned in the document?

What are the three kinds of ministry mentioned in the document?

What are the four parts that the document is divided into?

What are the four parts that the document is divided into?

The Ministry of Gods

Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc.

Available from the Publishers at:

2 The Contents and Delivery of the Word

3 The Course and Ministry of Paul

4 The Peak of the Ministry of the Word

Part TWO: THE WORD OF GOD

6 The Need for the Holy Spirits Interpretation

7 The Need for the Holy Spirits Revelation

8 Gods Word in Christ

9 Knowing Gods Word through Christ

Part THREE: THE MINISTRY

11 Revelation and Thought

12 Burden and Word

13 The Discipline of the Holy Spirit and the Word

14 The Word and Memory

15 The Word and Feeling

16 The Word and the Release of the Spirit

17 Some Helps in Speaking

Part FOUR: THE OBJECTS OF THE WORD

The contents of this volume comprise a series of messages which

Three Kinds of Ministry

But we will devote ourselves . . . to the ministry of