Now we come to the healthy word. Some words are not healthy, but all healthy words contain life, and health pertains to life. No one would say that a house is healthy, for a house does not have life and therefore has nothing to do with health. If you desire to speak healthy words, you must have life. Healthy words surely are words with life. You must realize that in all the healthy food we eat there is the element of life. The things you eat must have an organic nature in order to make you healthy and supply you with life.
When Paul wrote 1 Timothy, the church had entered into a dangerous period. He knew that some had come out teaching differently; therefore, in chapter one he said to Timothy, “I urged you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach differently” (v. 3). For the believers to receive the different teachings would be like their eating stones or lumps of coal; these things are not nutritious. Paul also said, “Laying these things before the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus” (4:6). To be a good minister, first you yourself must eat nutritious and healthy food, and second, you must supply others with what you have eaten. Sometimes we talk at length with people, and we even quote verses from the Bible, but these things may all be husks. We must give people healthy food. Sometimes we do not need to talk so much; simply to give people an “egg” or a “glass of milk” would be good enough.
In 1948 I went to Foochow to hold a conference. After the first meeting I was given a glass of Foochow orange juice. Although I was very tired from speaking, after drinking that glass of Foochow orange juice I was immediately refreshed. I told Brother Nee, “Your Foochow orange juice is really wonderful.” Therefore, when you go out to speak, you must exercise to give people “a glass of Foochow orange juice.” Do not give them a large piece of “sweet potato”; that may not be as nutritious. You must learn to experience the words of God; they are nutritious.
Some of you have heard me preach for thirty-six years. I have preached in Taiwan for thirty-six years, but not until recently did I mention to you the seventy weeks in Daniel chapter nine. Why did I not mention this before? Because there is not much nutrition in the seventy weeks. Therefore, even though I mentioned this recently, I was not very interested in it. When I was young I met with the Brethren. They taught this matter daily. While I was with them, for years I experienced very little spiritual growth because the things I “ate” were not healthy enough. If I were to speak to you for a year concerning the seventy weeks, you would all die spiritually because you would all be eating unhealthy food. Therefore, we must exercise to select from the Bible words rich in nutrition, healthy words. These healthy words are the words of the Lord Jesus (1 Tim. 6:3).
Furthermore, we must speak words which edify people. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for needful building up, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Grace is God Himself. Words which contain God are good words, and they will build up people. You young people often like to pry into other people’s business. This does not build up people, and this does not dispense God into people. Older people even the more like to inquire about others’ business. This is a trap and a snare. Here I am not only speaking the truth, but I am also speaking about our experience. We do not know how many times we have been entangled by Satan’s snare. By being entangled in this way, we hurt others and we also hurt ourselves.
It is most difficult to speak about the good word and the word of righteousness. We might guess that the good word refers to some lovely or beautiful words spoken by the Lord Jesus; perhaps this is what is meant by the good word. This may be somewhat close, but it is still not adequate. The word of righteousness is the most difficult to understand. The book of Hebrews speaks of these two categories, the good word and the word of righteousness (6:5; 5:13). In this book Paul advised the Hebrew believers not to remain in the good word but to go forward to the word of righteousness. He likened the good word to milk and the word of righteousness to solid food.
You all can differentiate between the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom. These are the two kinds of words mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8. The deeper and higher word is the word of wisdom; the shallower and lower word is the word of knowledge. The words written by Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter one are somewhat general; thus they are the word of knowledge. They speak in a general way about the Lord Jesus’ dying for us, His accomplishing redemption for us, and His relationship with us. These are the words of general spiritual knowledge.
However, in chapter two Paul said, “But we speak wisdom... God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages for our glory” (vv. 6-7). This is deep. This wisdom is the deep and mysterious things of Christ, which are also the deep and mysterious things of God (v. 10). In chapter three Paul speaks on the deep and mysterious things. In verse 9 he said, “You are God’s farm, God’s building.” What grows on a farm are vegetables. How can vegetables become building materials? Paul also said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God made to grow” (v. 6). These words seem shallow and easy to understand, but their meaning is very deep. These are words of wisdom. However, to speak concerning the crucifixion of Jesus, concerning verses such as John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” and concerning the fact that we all are sinners—these are words of knowledge. But whenever life is mentioned, that is something deep and mysterious. In 1 Corinthians, from chapters three through ten what is spoken are words of wisdom; it is deep and mysterious. In 6:17 Paul said that we the believers have become one spirit with the Lord; this is very difficult to speak about, and this is not shallow or easy to understand. We need to labor properly upon words such as these.