We also need to see the elements of the healthy word. A physical meal may be composed of three basic elements, such as meat, vegetables, and bread. In like manner, the healthy word is composed of three elements—Christ, His death, and His resurrection. The words of the faith, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, the word of the truth, and the words of the Scriptures always contain these three elements. Meat, vegetables, and bread may be prepared in many different ways, but the basic elements are the same. Likewise, the Bible apparently is composed of various stories, histories, parables, exhortations, teachings, doctrines, and forms. However, the basic contents are always the same—Christ, His death, and His resurrection.
Anytime we pray-read a portion of the Bible, we will receive Christ, the killing power of His death, and His resurrection power. If we pray-read John 1:1, 4, and 14, we will receive the riches of Christ as the Word, who was in the beginning with God, who is God, in whom is life, who became flesh to be our Savior and Redeemer, and who is full of grace and reality. Furthermore, when we pray-read concerning the light of life in verse 4, we will receive the killing of Christ’s death, for the light may expose us concerning a recent failure. Enlightening is the beginning of killing. The Lord within will not allow us to continue pray-reading until we confess our failure and ask for His forgiveness.
Every time I come to the Bible, my natural man is killed. The goal of the Bible is not to correct or adjust us but to kill our natural man. If we are only corrected, this implies that we are basically good but make some mistakes. However, the truth is that our natural man is good not for improvement but only to be killed. The Bible does not improve our natural man. Whether we are naturally good or bad, when we come to the Bible, our natural man will be killed. God does not want bad men or good men; rather, He wants reborn, spiritual men.
In the first few years after I was saved, the Bible gradually dealt with my bad natural man. I was very much adjusted, corrected, and improved. My second sister, who was a teacher in another city, was the first one in my family to be saved, and then I was saved through her prayer. Afterward, she shared a testimony with me about a preacher who had visited her school. She described him as a real man of God who walked slowly and always had a Bible in his hand. After walking a few steps, he would pause, look into heaven, and then walk on. He never said anything quickly. He was always careful and gentle. I was deeply inspired by this testimony. Because I was a quick person, I made up my mind and told the Lord that I would do everything slowly. I had some success. However, later I saw from the Bible that not only the bad aspects of our natural man should be killed but the good aspects also. In the first stage of my Christian life I received correction, but since then I have received the killing of Christ’s death through the word.
The healthy word in the Bible kills our natural man. This killing is sweet and precious. The death of Christ is different from the death of Adam. The death of Adam condemned us, but the death of Christ releases us. Christ’s death is the threshold of resurrection; it ushers us into resurrection. After receiving the killing of Christ’s death when pray-reading the word, we will also receive His resurrection. In our breathing of the healthy word, we take in the riches of Christ, the killing of His death, and His resurrecting power.
The healthy word with its contents is our safeguard, protecting us from taking in spiritual germs. An eloquent sermon that only excites or entertains the listeners is not a healthy word. Such a word may be likened to an unhealthy meal that makes a person happy but does not nourish him. The spiritually nourishing element is Christ. No matter how much eloquence, excitement, or humor a message may contain, it is not healthy if it does not convey Christ.
Mothers know that serving their children too many sweets will ruin their health and even negatively affect their behavior. Likewise, unhealthy speaking in the church life that does not contain the nourishing element of Christ may be exciting but will cause the saints to become unhealthy.
There is no killing of the cross in unhealthy words. There is no denial of the self and no dealing with the natural man. Without death there can be no resurrection. Without the breaking of the outer man there can be no release of the spirit (2 Cor. 4:16). If our natural man has not been broken, we will release not the spirit but the self. In an exciting message there is no killing. Rather, the flesh is promoted, and the natural man is stirred up. However, the healthy word contains a killing element. Any message without Christ, His death, and His resurrection is not healthy. Healthy words and healthy teaching always convey Christ, the killing of His death, and the power of His resurrection. The Christ in the healthy word includes the riches of Christ; His cross includes the denial of the self, the dealing with the flesh, and the killing of the old man; and His resurrection is the resurrection life.
My burden is to minister not only the food, the healthy word, but also the knowledge of what is healthy so that the saints may be able to discern whether a word is healthy or destructive. The principle is that the healthy word always ministers Christ, His death, and His resurrection—not opinions, concepts, questions, strife, or disputing. The oneness, harmony, and joy among the saints and the churches in the Lord’s recovery will be lost if the saints do not discern and reject opinions, concepts, and disputing that may come from the speaking of certain ones. Unhealthy speaking does not minister Christ. Healthy teaching always refers to the healthy words of the Bible and is always full of Christ. In every healthy message there is the killing of the old man, the flesh, and all natural things. Following the killing, there is the nourishing of the resurrection life. The content of the healthy word should become a God-ordained principle to us. We need to keep the house of God healthy by rejecting anything that is not healthy. We should receive only the healthy word—the words of the faith, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, the word of the truth, and all Scripture.