We have considered the subject of the person—the minister, and we have considered the word of the Lord. Now we turn our attention to the ministry itself.
We have seen that God’s speaking, both through the Old Testament ministry of the word as well as through the New Testament ministry, contains human elements. But there is a danger: If a man does not have an ear and tongue of “an instructed one” (Isa. 50:4), he will project himself into God’s word. If a man has not been dealt with and has not gone through the molding work of the Holy Spirit, it will be very easy to inject his own thoughts and feelings into God’s word. When this happens, God’s word is contaminated and defiled by man. What a danger this poses! Therefore, in order to secure a pure ministry of the word, God has to work on man; the outward man must be broken. A minister of God’s word must come under severe restriction and divine discipline. Unless he comes under God’s control, he will damage God’s word.
There is a need not only for the breaking work of the Holy Spirit but also for the constituting work of the Spirit in us. Not only must the Holy Spirit deal with us through the cross to remove undesirable elements, but God must constitute the life of the Lord Jesus into us. In the case of Paul, the Holy Spirit constituted Christ into him so that he became different from his unregenerated condition. Paul’s change was not due to a change in the flesh, but to a reconstitution of the Holy Spirit. When he spoke, the Spirit of God spoke. He stood on a high plane. He was so high that his speaking was the Lord’s speaking. He said, “I charge, not I but the Lord...” (1 Cor. 7:10). This is what it means to have the ministry. Here was a man who was a minister of God’s word. His human elements had been so thoroughly dealt with by the Lord that their addition to God’s word did not contaminate it. God’s word remained God’s word. Not only was it not damaged, but it was perfected through the addition. The Holy Spirit can work in a man to such an extent that when he stands up to speak, others realize that the Lord is speaking. Here was a man who was given complete freedom to speak his own words. Because the Holy Spirit had done such a deep constituting work in him, however, his speaking became God’s speaking, his judgment became God’s judgment, and his approval and disapproval became God’s approval and disapproval. This is the result of the deep work of the Holy Spirit in man.
Previously, we covered the subject of God’s word. We saw that two crucial matters are involved. First, all subsequent revelations are based on preceding revelations. All of the New Testament ministries of the word were based upon the Old Testament ministries of the word. All of the ministries of the word today are based upon the ministries of the word in the past. All of God’s revelations today are based upon His revelations in the Old and New Testaments. Hence, the Bible is the basis of all speaking. God does not speak additional words or independent words anymore; He speaks through what He has already spoken. He releases His light through His existing light. Today God does not shed independent light; He does not give men independent revelations. Rather, His revelations to men come through existing revelations. Second, in order for a man to be a minister of the word, he cannot base his speaking on God’s Word alone, that is, on the Bible alone. He must touch Christ in a fundamental way at least once. He must have a fundamental revelation before he can build up his ministry of the word upon the Bible. These two things do not contradict one another. Ministries of the word today are based upon ministries of the word in the past. The New Testament is based upon the Old Testament. That which is latter is built upon that which is former. This is a fact. However, we have another fact before us: All ministers of the word must first meet the Lord apart from the Scripture and receive His revelation, the revelation of Christ, before they can use the Scripture as the basis of their ministry of the word. We must not neglect this point. One should not presume that he can speak as long as he has a Bible and is speaking from it. He must have a fundamental revelation from God before he can serve as a minister of the word through the existing written words of the Bible. He must have a basic revelation; he must meet Christ in a fundamental way before he can quote the Scripture.