We have seen that a minister of God’s word must have God’s Word as the basis of his ministry. He must also have the Holy Spirit to interpret God’s word for him. Now we have to go on to consider another, even more important, matter. A minister of God’s word must know God’s past speaking and have the interpretation of this speaking, but he must have another basic qualification: He must be a man of revelation. If he does not have a spirit of revelation, he cannot serve as a minister of the word. He must have revelation concerning God’s Word and must possess the anointing of the Spirit concerning this Word. Without revelation and without the anointing of the Spirit, he cannot serve as a minister of God’s word.
The Bible is an amazing book. One outstanding characteristic of this book is that it is made up of words spoken by men, yet it is God’s word in every sense. It was written by men, yet it was written by God’s own hand in every sense. It contains many expressions, sentences, and words, and God’s breath is upon all of these words. The word used in 2 Timothy 3:16, which is translated as inspiration by some versions, is breath according to the original language. The Bible is God’s breath. It is written by holy men of God under the leading of the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21). When God created the world, He created man out of the dust of the earth, but the created man was not alive. Man became a living soul after God breathed His living breath into him. The Bible is a book written by men. It is composed of words spoken by men, but God’s breath is upon it in addition to this. Therefore, it is a living book. It is the living word of the living God. This is the meaning of all Scripture being God’s inspiration.
This book, the Bible, contains human elements and human words. When many people read this book, they touch only the human elements and words; they do not sense God’s speaking in this book. What makes the Bible so unique is its dual character. On the one hand, there is the outward, physical dimension of the Bible. As far as man’s physical dimension is concerned, he is made of the dust of the ground. But on the other hand, there is a spiritual dimension of the Bible. The Bible is related to the Holy Spirit; it is God’s speaking and God’s breath. As far as its outward shell is concerned, it was written from man’s memory and can be retained in man’s memory. It issued from man’s mouth and is heard by man’s ears. It is written in human language and understood by human understanding. Man can preach the truths contained in this book, and these truths can be retained in man’s memory, understood by man’s mind, and passed on from one man to another. All of these things go on when one deals with the outward shell of the Bible. This is the physical aspect of the Word. Doctrines and teachings can be included in this category, because these are things that man’s mind can grasp, things that can be understood and comprehended by his intellect. This is the physical dimension of the Bible.
However, there is another dimension to the Bible. The Lord Jesus said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63b). The other aspect of the Bible involves spirit and life. In this dimension, God speaks His word within man. This is not something that a clever man can understand or a man with a good memory can grasp. Nor is it something that an intelligent man can fathom. This requires another organ for understanding. The ears, the eyes, and the mind cannot see or understand this dimension of things.
A minister of God’s word serves the church not by touching the physical dimension of the Bible but by touching the spiritual dimension of it. Those who serve the church by touching only the physical dimension are not ministers of God’s word. If the Bible did not have a physical side, a man would either be a minister of God’s word or not; there could be no mistake about it. But the Bible has physical and human elements. In this aspect, it can readily be understood and accepted by man. This is where the danger and problem lie. Man can preach the human elements in the Bible by the power of his own human faculties, and he can presume that he is a minister of the word. He can present all the human elements in the Bible to the church, and he can presume that he is serving the church with God’s word. He can presume that the truths he preaches are scriptural truths and that they are teachings that conform to the orthodox and pure faith. He can deceive himself by thinking that his teachings are orthodox teachings. But we have to realize that these teachings have nothing to do with the spiritual aspect of the Bible; they are of another realm.
Some young people think that as long as they can understand Greek, they can understand God’s word. Little do they realize that many people who understand Greek know very little of God’s word. In fact, they may not know anything at all. A man who understands Hebrew does not necessarily understand the Old Testament. A man who understands Hebrew and Chaldean does not necessarily understand the book of Daniel. A man who understands Chinese does not necessarily understand the Chinese Bible. The Bible contains words which are beyond the Chinese language and the Greek language. It contains words which the Hebrews or Chaldeans may not have understood. The words that a minister of the word has to strive to understand are God’s own words. Not everyone who understands Chinese can understand the Bible. Similarly, not everyone who understands Greek can understand God’s word. It is one thing to understand a language, and it is another thing to know God’s word. In fact, it is an entirely different thing to know His word. We should never have the misconception that the more we study God’s word, the more we can be a minister of His word. It is not a matter of whether or not we study the Bible, but how we study it. God has to speak His word into man before it can become God’s word to him. Man has to know God’s voice. Only God can speak God’s word. Man has to know God’s voice, and God has to speak to him before he can become a minister of God’s word.
In preaching the gospel, we preach the gospel itself; we do not preach the basis of the gospel. We serve others with the gospel, not with the basis of the gospel. The Bible is the basis of the gospel; it is the basis of God’s speaking. However, we cannot say in a general way that this is what God is speaking to us today. God has spoken through this book. Without a doubt, God spoke these words at one time. But God must breathe His breath through this book again today before it will become living to us. God’s Spirit has to breathe into His word before it will become living to us. Today we still need God’s revelation in His word so that this word can come alive to us. The difference between the word being living and dead is very great. We must see what God’s word is. God’s word is His speaking today. God’s word is not just His speaking in the past. His past speaking was His word, but today He must breathe His breath once again upon this word. God’s word is not just His speaking at some point in the past; it is His speaking today. We have to realize that there are two realms to God’s word. One is the realm of the written Bible. The written word, including all the biblical doctrines, knowledge, teachings, prophecies, and truths, is in this realm. But this is only the visible realm of the Bible. We may have heard that Abraham believed in God and that God reckoned him to be righteous. God’s justification of those who believe may be nothing more than an outward teaching to us. A man with a good memory and strong intellect can preach this; he may think that he is preaching God’s word. But actually he is merely preaching the superficial aspect of the word. This is not the ministry of God’s word.
We have to pay attention to what the Bible is. The Bible is God’s speaking in the past. At one time God spoke, and the Spirit’s breath was upon His speaking. When that word was released, some touched “God’s word,” but some did not. When Paul wrote to the Romans, two things happened. First he wrote his letter utilizing some physical things. He might have written it on a lamb’s skin and might have used some kind of tree sap for ink. The words were recorded in some form of written language. This is the physical side of the Epistle, and this is the realm we are in when we read it in an outward way. When Paul delivered this Epistle to the Romans, they might have been impressed with only the letter of the Epistle. If this were the case, it would only be a letter and nothing else; there would not be God’s word in it for them. But if while the Romans were reading it, God breathed His breath upon every single word, and every word was filled with God’s breath, they would realize that they were sinners and that justification would come by faith. They would believe in God’s word and receive it. This is the ministry of the word. While they were reading, studying, and trying to understand God’s word, they would touch the “word” that Paul was speaking through the book of Romans. Another person who was clever, intelligent, and born with a good memory might be able to read Paul’s Epistle with ease and might even be able to memorize it with little effort. Yet he would not know the meaning of justification by faith. He could understand the doctrine of justification by faith, but he could not touch justification by faith. He could touch the things that belong to the physical dimension of the Bible but not its spiritual dimension. He could only touch the doctrine of the Bible, the content of the Bible, and the surface of God’s word; he could not touch the life in His word.
We have to realize what the Bible is. The Bible is God’s past speaking. It is the ministry of God’s word by His servants in the past. The book of Romans was Paul’s past ministry of the word. At one time God spoke these words. But today when we read the book of Romans, we may only touch the surface of the Bible, the physical and outward side of it. Today God has to breathe His breath upon this word once again before we can know God’s word and before we can be a minister to Him. It is not enough for God to breathe His breath just once. He has to breathe again before we can touch His word.