Since God’s word is full of human elements, He also includes man in the transmission of His word. Since God’s word is full of human elements, God cannot use a tape recorder, thunder, lightning, or angels to communicate His word. Human elements must be involved in the communication of His word. Because the content is so full of human elements, God must convey it through human elements. It is not a matter of receiving a voice from God and then sending this voice out. God’s word has to pass through our spirit and even our mind, feelings, and understanding and then be converted into our own words before it can be released. This is what it means to be a minister of the word. It is not a matter of receiving His word with one hand and sending it out with the other. That is not the ministry of the word. If we receive a word from God and send out the same word verbatim, we are acting merely as a recording machine. God does not want us to transmit His word like a machine. He wants us to receive the word and then dwell on it, feel it, be bothered by it, rejoice over it, and chew on it before sending it out.
John 7:37 says, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” If I am thirsty, I can go to the Lord and drink. But the matter does not stop there. In verse 38 the Lord said, “He who believes into Me...out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” When I am thirsty, I can go to the Lord Jesus and drink. But if others are in need, can I simply pour a drink for them? No, God’s Word says that after a man takes a drink, the water goes into his innermost being and then rivers of living water flow out of his innermost being. The ministry of the word is God’s word coming into us and then flowing out from our innermost being to quench others’ thirst. This indirect route constitutes the ministry of the word. It is not a matter of how many verses we can recite or how many messages we can deliver. It is a matter of the living water making an indirect turn and flowing out of our innermost being. The need for a turning within our innermost being and a subsequent flowing out from within our inner being tells us that a price is involved. Sometimes the living water flows into us but cannot flow out. At other times, it ceases to be living after coming into us. Still at other times, many impurities from our inner being are carried with it when it flows out. When this happens, we do not have the ministry of the word.
The ministry of the word has nothing to do with well-prepared sermons. When the word comes into us, it grinds and churns within us. When it passes through us in this way, human elements are added to the word. The word is not contaminated or damaged; it is enhanced. This is the meaning of having the ministry of the word. The Lord is making us channels of living water; water has to flow out from our very being. Our innermost being is the channel. In order for the living water to flow out of us, our very being has to be proper. If we are not proper, God’s word cannot come out from us. We should not think that the power of a message comes from intelligence or eloquence. No, intelligence and eloquence are not the point. The point is whether or not our human elements will enhance and complete God’s word when it passes through us. Does the word become human while still being divine, or do we damage God’s word when our human elements are added to it? This is the basic question that faces a minister of the word.
A big problem with many people is that the living water ceases to be living when it passes through their innermost being! This is why we emphasize the discipline of the Holy Spirit. If a man does not see the importance of being dealt with by the Lord and if his habits, character, and living are not dealt with, he will be useless as far as God’s word is concerned. If a man thinks that being a minister of the word is merely a matter of eloquence and cleverness, he is far from the truth! In fact, nothing can be farther from the truth! God’s word must first come to us, pass through us, fill us, and even bother us, grind us, rub us, and deal with us. We must first suffer these trials and pay this price before we can be brought to the clear realization of God’s word. In this way God’s word is added to us little by little. It is assembled in us and woven into us stitch by stitch like a quilt. Then when the word comes out of us, it will involve the release of the spirit, not just the repetition of words. The water that comes forth will be clear and pure, fully proceeding out from God. We will only enhance its perfection; we will not mar its perfection. We will only add to its holiness, not diminish it. As we are released, the living water will be released. As we are speaking, God will also be speaking. This is the meaning of the ministry of the word.
The ministry of the word is like a combined flow of two rivers; it is not a single river. In order for this to happen, the Holy Spirit needs to operate in us. We need the Spirit to direct our environment to discipline us in many ways. When the Holy Spirit works on us, breaks us, dismantles us, and molds us, we are formed into a channel through which the living water can flow. Our outer man has to be broken and dismantled by God; it needs to be thoroughly and drastically dealt with by God. Our spirit will acquire the understanding, and the Holy Spirit will have the freedom to release God’s word through us only after the Holy Spirit has accomplished such a work. God’s word will take up our human element, yet it will not be contaminated by our human element. Instead, His word and our word will be a combined flow of two rivers.
We must always bear in mind the meaning of the ministry of the word. The ministry of the word means the outflow of God’s Spirit in His divine word through man. It is not the independent release of God’s Spirit in His word but the release of His Spirit in His word in conjunction with man. This is the significance of the ministry of the word. It is something that contains God’s word as well as man’s ministry. God’s word is present in this utterance and so is man’s ministry. God’s word first comes to man. Man’s ministry is then added to this word. The two are released together. If there is only God’s word without man’s ministry, we do not have the release of His word.
Some people think that they can successfully transmit God’s word as long as they pick up a few phrases here and there. However, it is never that simple. The ministry of the word is a combined flow; it is not a single flow. A single flow will not work. God does not operate this way, because this is a fundamental contradiction to the principle of the ministry of the word. We must realize that God’s word cannot be released without man’s word; He has to use man. As far as our disposition and nature are concerned, we are stubborn, defiled, and rebellious. It is easier for God to use a donkey than it is for Him to use us, yet He still prefers man. In His ministry of the word and in the release of His word, God has a desire for man’s element to be involved. God has chosen man to release His word. We must remember that God’s word is present only where there are ministers of the word. Without ministers of the word, we cannot have God’s word. God must secure ministers before He can release His word; without ministers, there cannot be the word. We will be hoping in vain if we expect God to release His word without providing proper ministers for Him. God’s ordained way is to put His word first into ministers, those who have experienced the dealings of the Holy Spirit. We all agree that God’s Spirit is in His word. But His Spirit is also in us. In other words, God’s Spirit is both in His word and in the ministers. God’s Spirit is within the word. But if only this word is released, His Spirit will not do anything. He will only work when the word resides in and is combined with the ministers. The seven sons of Sceva tried to cast out demons in the name of the Jesus whom Paul preached, but they could not cast them out. Not only did the demons remain, but they even prevailed over two of the sons (Acts 19:13-16). The sons had the right words, but the Spirit did not do anything. It is not enough simply to speak the right words. There is also a need to be proper persons, proper ministers. God’s Spirit must first join Himself to the ministers. Then the living water will flow as His Spirit is released through the word.
Let me repeat: God’s word does not operate independently; it is expressed through human elements. Man is the channel, the channel of God. It is impossible to try to overturn this principle by presuming that God’s word alone is sufficient and that there is no need to consider man’s condition. Without the operation of God’s Spirit behind His word, the word will be a useless, empty shell. The crucial issue today is the ministers. The focus is on the ministers. The ministers must have the Spirit. God’s Spirit must accompany His ministers before the word will become effective. As a consequence, the fundamental problem is with the ministers of the word. The ministry of the word is not merely a matter of the word. If one emphasizes the word without emphasizing the ministers, what he has will not be the word. Such a word will be a loss, and it will not be a ministry.
The problem today lies entirely with the ministers. There is no scarcity of vision, light, or God’s word. The problem today is that God cannot find proper ministers. Many times God’s light ceases to be visible to others when it is put into our mouth. Many people speak about the Holy Spirit in their messages, but others do not touch the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, they touch the flesh. Many people speak about God’s holiness, but others do not sense any holiness in them. They only touch a frivolous spirit. Some speak about the cross on the platform, but others can sense that they have never passed through any dealings. There is not even a trace of the cross in them. Some like to speak of love, but only temper, rather than love, is expressed through them. All of these cases speak of a basic problem—something is wrong with the ministers. If all the preaching on this earth today were in the principle of ministry, the church would be very rich. It is unfortunate that there is very little of God’s word despite all of the preaching! This is the basic problem in the church today. Without ministers, there is no inspiration and no revelation. With many people, the more they preach, the further their speaking is from being an inspiration, from being the release of any light, and from being qualified to be called revelation. The problem is with the preachers; they are not the ones whom God can use. God cannot use such men, yet He does not want to speak alone. This is a problem. He has the word, yet He does not want to release this word by Himself. He does not want to be the minister of the word; He wants man to be the minister of His word.
Brothers, God will not speak by Himself. If ministers cannot speak His word, what will be the condition of the church? The church is desolate, poor, and in ruin because human elements have not come up to the standard of God’s word. If God can find a person who has been dealt with by Him, who is broken, and who is prostrate on his face, God’s word will flow through him. We are looking all the time for God’s word, but He is looking all the time for men whom He can use. We are looking for God’s word, while He is looking for ministers.
If we are unwilling to be dealt with, we will not be able to work for God. We must not think that such dealings are optional. We should not presume that, after hearing a certain number of messages, we can release the same word. No! If a person is not proper, his message will not be proper. Man can hinder God’s word. The Holy Spirit is not released through the word alone. When God’s word comes to us, we must be free from all hindrances. We must be broken, and we must bear the mark of the cross. Our spirit must be a smitten spirit. God can only use such persons, and the Holy Spirit will only flow through such persons. If the Holy Spirit is locked within us, the hindrance and frustration is our outer man, our emotion, and our temperament. When such things are present within us, surely God’s word cannot flow through us. Even if we deliver a wonderful sermon, in reality it is nothing but words, teachings, and doctrines; there is not the word of God.
God’s word has to penetrate our whole being—our feelings, our understanding, our heart, and our spirit. It has to flow in and out of us; it has to be identified with us, and then it must be released from us as a result of grinding, crushing, and pressing. If our emotion is misaligned, if our mind is impaired, or if our understanding, heart, and spirit are even slightly off, we will damage God’s word. Not only will our word be flawed, but the church will suffer as well. We will damage God’s word and affect the church. This is the way of the ministry of the word, and this is where our problem lies. We have to learn to allow God’s word to pass through us without any hindrance or contamination. If God is merciful to us, we will find light in this matter.