In order to preach the gospel, we also need to be soaked with the Word of God through prayer and fellowship with the Lord (4:31). If we have the burden to preach John 3:16, we should spend at least half an hour to absorb this verse. This verse says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” We need to be soaked with every word. First, God, then so, then loved, and then the world; that is, God so loved the world. Then we should continue with that He gave, and then His only begotten Son, and so forth. We need to be soaked with this verse until it becomes our feeling, and we can express it from within. Then when we use this verse to preach, we will not speak empty doctrine or dead letter; rather, we will utter the words with which we have been saturated. This kind of speaking will be full of power and will touch people.
Christians say that we need the power of God in order to preach the gospel (Acts 4:8). But where is the power of God? The power of the gospel depends on our being released. If we are not released, we will not have power. The power of God is already upon us. Hence, unless we are released, the power of God will not be manifested. This applies to preaching the gospel and to ministering the word.
Here is a negative example of what it means to be released. When we are not angry, it is likely that we are not released when we speak with others. Even though we utter words that are audible, we are not released. When we are angry, however, it is easy for us to be released when we speak. Anger requires energy. The angrier we are, the more energy we use, and our entire being is released. However, the Spirit does not come out when we are angry, even though we are released. Hence, when we speak for the Lord, we need to use our whole being to speak His word. Then the Spirit will be released. This is the secret.
When believers in Christian seminaries learn to preach the gospel, they are instructed how to maintain a proper demeanor, to look directly at the audience, and when to raise or lower their voice. Seminaries do not teach people the secret of being released. It is insufficient to merely utter words. We also need to push out our person.
The Lord raised up Brother John Sung as an evangelist in China. He preached the gospel in a powerful way. When he preached the gospel, he did not care about proper demeanor or grammar. He jumped about on the platform as if he was crazy. He only cared to release his burden; he did not care about anything else. Once as he was preaching in a Lutheran Church near Hankow, he suddenly picked up the song-leader’s baton, pointed at a woman in the audience, and said, “You, a concubine.” It turned out that the woman was actually a concubine. That night she was unable to sleep but was enlightened and repented, because the Spirit convicted her. The following day she gave her testimony in the meeting.
Sometimes we cannot be too mild or proper when we preach the gospel. Some believers with a theological training are able to preach in a systematic and logical way. They have the right tone and attitude and do everything in a proper way, but no one is saved. In 1933 I heard Brother John Sung preach in Chefoo. The topic was the woman in Mark 5 who suffered from a flow of blood. He drew a big heart on the blackboard and then said, “Brother John Sung comes to preach, and everyone repents. As soon as you repent, the precious blood of Jesus washes your heart and cleanses it thoroughly...Then Brother John Sung goes away, and two weeks later the precious blood begins to leak out, leak out...” He did not say anything else. He merely used the drawing on the blackboard to illustrate his words a few times. Incredibly, the audience was moved, and many wept bitterly and repented. As far as the truth is concerned, I could not accept his message, but because I saw the result of the meeting, I respected him.
We need to be crazy when we preach the gospel. If we are too proper in our demeanor, we will be dead. Before John Sung preached the gospel, he spent half a day to pray on his knees and immerse himself in the message. This was his secret. Then when he spoke from the platform, his whole being came out with his words. We should not merely speak without being released. After listening to John Sung preach the gospel, I came to the conclusion that his preaching was questionable in relation to the truth, but his way of gospel preaching was right. When he preached the gospel, his spirit came forth. There is life in our spirit; hence, when our spirit comes out, life comes out. When life comes out, people will touch the Lord, repent, and believe in the Lord.
One year as I was preaching the gospel in Chefoo during the Chinese New Year holidays, I pointed at a lady in the audience and said, “You are a wicked woman.” I had no reason to say this. Then I said that her husband worked hard to support her, but she still insisted on wasting money. I thought that I was just giving an example; I did not know that that was her situation. The lady, who was a gospel friend of one of the sisters, was very angry and asked the sister how I knew her personal affairs. However, I did not know anything about her. That night the Holy Spirit worked in her, and she repented and was saved. When she came to be baptized, she gave her testimony.
On another occasion when I was preaching the gospel, I took a stick, pointed at a student in junior high school, and said, “You stole a few pieces of chalk from school and drew circles with them on the ground at home.” The student was the son of a sister in the church, and he was not yet saved. After the meeting he said, “I must believe in the Lord; Jesus is real. My mother did not tell Brother Lee about this matter, but I did exactly what he said.” Before this, his mother had preached the gospel to him, but he would not believe. This time, however, he believed in the Lord.
When we are released, the Holy Spirit is present. Hence, we cannot be a gentleman when we preach the gospel. This is the reason that the gospel is preached in a dead way in Christianity, not in a living way. We need to be released so that the gospel can come out. Today the Spirit is in and upon the believers. The essential Spirit is within us, and the economical Spirit is upon us. The question is whether we will be released. When we are released, the essential Spirit within and the economical Spirit without come forth. This is the power of the gospel.
On the day of Pentecost Peter, who was a fisherman from Galilee, stood up and spoke in Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish nation. He forgot that he was merely an uneducated fisherman. He became crazy. He did not become crazy intentionally; the Spirit was upon him. He was released, and the Spirit came out.