What does a minister of the word do? We can say that a minister of the word translates Christ into the Bible, that is, he takes the word of the Bible and uses it to tell others about Christ. In the end the Holy Spirit translates the words of the Bible back into Christ within those who have received the word. This is what it means to be a minister of the word. You must know Christ, and you must have a basic revelation and fundamental knowledge. A minister of the word translates Christ into the words of the Bible. This may sound peculiar to you, but it is a fact. He knows Christ as a living person, and the Bible is full of Christ. He receives mercy from God to see Christ, and he sees Christ in the Bible. Having familiarized himself with the Bible, he can speak with assurance concerning a certain passage, a certain story, or a certain teaching. We should note that there is a world of difference between having and not having this translation process going on behind the word. Some people proceed from the Bible when they talk about Christ; the Bible is their starting point. Others have Christ as their starting point. For them the living Christ is transformed into the word of the Bible. They put the Christ they know into the words of the Bible and present these words to others. When these words are presented before men, the Holy Spirit opens up the words and conveys Christ to them. If you do not know Christ and you merely present to others the words of the Bible, your work ends when your words end; nothing more will happen. You have merely passed the Bible on to others. The Bible is your starting point.
A man needs to know Christ. Those who have a fundamental knowledge of Christ put this Christ into the words of the Bible and release them to others. The Holy Spirit acknowledges these words. On the one hand, the ministers are speaking the words, and on the other hand, the Holy Spirit does the work. The Holy Spirit releases the speaking through the ministers, and the audience sees Christ. This is what it means to minister Christ. This is the ministry of the word. We are responsible for putting the Christ we know, gain, and see into words and presenting these words to others. This is the only way for the Holy Spirit to convey God’s word to others. If our starting point is the Bible, doctrines, or teachings, then, when we are finished speaking, the Holy Spirit will not take up the words and will not be responsible for supplying others with Christ. We should not think that an exposition of the Bible alone ministers Christ. We can only minister Christ after we have known Christ. We must be thoroughly broken by the Lord. Only then do we have a way to go on. We must ask the Lord to give us a basic understanding, a knowledge of the basic revelation. We must know what Christ is like and what the Lord is like. Only then will our speaking of the Scripture be living.
What is a minister of the word? A minister of the word is one who ministers Christ by the words he speaks. When the word is released from his mouth, the Holy Spirit works, Christ is realized and known, and the church receives the benefit. We should not put all the blame on the listener. We should realize that we are the ones who should bear the full responsibility. The audience is used to teachings and expositions. For them a messages begins with the Scripture and ends with the Scripture, and it stops where the Scripture stops. They do not see the revelation or the Lord behind the Bible. This is why the church is poor and desolate. When we translate the Christ we know into the words of the Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to translate these words back into Christ, we have the word of God. We should translate the personified Word into spoken words. The Holy Spirit will then translate these spoken words back into the personified Word. Without such a translation work, there is no speaking. A minister of the word blends the personified Word together with audible words. When a minister of the word stands up to speak, one finds God’s Christ and God’s Son through the words he utters. A minister of the word puts Christ’s very person into the Bible and then delivers Him to others. When he supplies others with the book, he supplies others with the person as well. This is what it means to be a minister of the word. Such a man is chosen by God to be a minister of the word. When his word goes out, God’s word goes out. When the Bible is released, Christ is released. The two become one.
Today the church is poor because the ministers are poor. We have to ask God for mercy and light so that we will realize the meagerness of our revelation. Today many works are conducted in an outward way; many exegeses touch only superficial things. We do not know Christ deeply enough. We are not dealt with seriously enough. This is why the supply of Christ is meager along our pathway. We can tell others about the words of the Bible, but we cannot tell them about God’s Word, which is Christ Himself. When God grants mercy and light, we see that in the beginning was the Word and this Word was with God. This Word was God; the Son of God is the Word. This Word became flesh. In other words, Jesus of Nazareth is the Word. This Bible is God’s Word. This man is God’s Word. When God chooses us to be a minister of the word, we find out that as we are speaking from this book, we are speaking about this man. When we convey the words of this book to others, we are conveying His person as well; we are conveying Christ to others. Our preaching should be for the ministering and dispensing of Christ to others. The ministry of God’s word is the ministry of this very person.
One day when we find out what a minister of the word really is, we will realize that there is nothing we can do except to prostrate ourselves before God and say, “Lord, I cannot make it.” Whether or not a person can be a minister of the word depends on his attitude before the Lord. What a hard word this is! Who can take this? We speak Christ by speaking Him through the word. We are not speaking about Him but speaking Him forth. We are not giving a message but speaking a person; this person is conveyed through us. When others receive our word, they receive Christ. When others hear our word, the Holy Spirit conveys Christ to them. This is what it means to be a minister of the word.
This is a grave matter. It is something beyond our capacity, something absolutely beyond our capabilities. Every servant of God should be conscious of his own worthlessness. All ministers of God’s word have to prostrate themselves before Him. They should know that even though they can expound the Bible, preach the word, and teach others, they are powerless when it comes to supplying and ministering Christ to others through the ministry of the word. They can only prostrate themselves before the Lord. Today we have to look to God for mercy. We should make a fresh evaluation of everything we do. We have to see our worthlessness, our utter hopelessness. Unless the Lord grants us mercy, we can do nothing. It is a very solemn thing to be a minister of the word. It is not easy to be a preacher of the word. It is not a matter of how many times we have read the Bible. What we need is to minister Christ as a minister of the word before God so that others touch Christ when they touch the words we speak.