We have to take note, for our own sake as well as for the sake of others, that the word released by ministers of the word today cannot be independent from those that are found in the Bible. All of God’s subsequent words are based on His original words. All of the words of the New Testament are based on the words of the Old Testament. Hence, all of our speaking today must be based on the speaking of the New Testament and the Old Testament. God’s word is one living and organic whole. If a man claims that his word is independent, separate, and distinct from the New Testament and the Old Testament, that it bears no correspondence to God’s past words, and that it is not based upon them, we can say with certainty that this is heresy; it must be the doctrine of the devil. Today God still has ministers of the word. These ministers are building their ministry upon a certain foundation; they do not speak capriciously.
We need to go one step further. The words released by the ministers of the word must be based on God’s previously spoken words on the one hand; however, God must explain and interpret these words to the ministers on the other hand. The ministry of the word must not just have God’s word as its foundation; God Himself must open and explain this word as well. Hence, not everyone who bases his speaking on God’s word is a minister of His word. Neither can a person claim to be a messenger of God’s word simply because he has equipped himself with God’s previous speakings. A man may be well-versed in the Old Testament, but this does not mean that he can write the New Testament. In the same way, this does not mean that a person who is familiar with the New Testament can be a minister of the word today. God’s word must be the foundation, but God must also furnish the explanation. God must explain His word to His ministers before they can have the ministry of His word. We should set aside all words that do not have a proper foundation. But even when a word is based on the proper foundation, this does not necessarily mean that we can accept it. We must check whether or not it has God’s interpretation.
God’s previous words can only be interpreted by God Himself. We cannot trust in our good mind, good memory, or diligence in the Word. We cannot take God’s previously spoken word as it is and make it God’s present ministry of the word. A man who memorizes the one hundred fifty psalms in the book of Psalms may not be able to expound the psalms. Similarly, a man who memorizes the Song of Songs may not be able to interpret the Song of Songs. A man cannot expound the book of Isaiah simply because he has memorized it or expound the book of Daniel just because he has spent fifty years studying it. Those who do not base their speaking on God’s previously spoken word cannot be His spokesmen, but those who do are not necessarily ministers of the word either. Those who speak without the basis of God’s word are disqualified. But this does not mean that those who speak with such a basis are accepted. There were many scribes and Pharisees who were very familiar with the Old Testament, but none were ministers of the word. Today some people may have studied the Bible very thoroughly, but this does not mean that they are ministers of the word. Ministers of the word are those who are familiar with God’s Word and those to whom God has also explained and opened up the Word. A minister of God’s word must first possess a proper foundation. Next he must have the proper interpretation. Otherwise, he cannot be a minister of God’s word.
How does God explain His word? How did He interpret the Old Testament words to the New Testament ministers? In the New Testament there are at least three kinds of interpretation. The first is the interpretation of prophecies. The second is the interpretation of history. The third is interpretation by synthesis of a few passages of the Scripture. In reading the Old Testament, the New Testament ministers had these three kinds of words before them. The first was prophecies, the second was history, and the third was a combination of various passages. All three required the interpretation of the Holy Spirit.