When a minister of the word stands up to speak, what is the source of his speaking? A minister of God’s word does not just use his mind to think of words to say; his words must come from another source. Let us now examine the source from which he derives his speaking. Once we know the source, we will realize that many things should not come out of our mouth; they cannot be considered as God’s word. We must repeat the fact that there is a strong relationship between the ministry of the word and our human elements. We should also remember that in the function of the ministry of the word, God first gives man a word or two, which he then develops into many further words. These many words are based on the one or two words. Their source is the one or two words, and they are built upon the basis of these one or two words. When a minister of the word stands up to speak, he uses his own words, yet he is speaking the word which God has spoken within him. This is the meaning of being a minister of the word. This ministry of the word contains human elements. This is why we have to pay attention to these human elements when we function as ministers of the word. We must realize that the words are being released through man.
When a man speaks from the platform, the kind of person he is will be seen in the kind of words he speaks. Sometimes, God will acknowledge a man’s speaking as His own. At other times, He will not acknowledge the speaking. The crux of the whole matter lies in the kind of person a man is. Suppose two persons have received the same light in their spirit and have acquired the same words. The ministry they render, however, may be completely different because the persons are different. This difference results in different ministers of the word. The inner revelation may be the same, and the inner word may be the same, but their ministries may be different because of the difference in their persons. This is the reason that we have to study the source of a man’s speaking. Utterance comes from revelation, yet such utterance is very much affected by human elements. The kind of person we are determines the kind of words we will speak. A right person will speak right words, but if a man is poor, his speaking will be low, weak, and childish. He will use human utterances, clever words, and unfocused speech. Thus, his words will not be “spiritual words.” If the person is right, the words will spontaneously be spiritual, lofty, and accurate; they will be words that come as a result of touching God. In order to track the source of our outward words, we have to pay attention to our very person. The kind of person we are has a direct bearing on the kind of words we speak.
The kind of person we are determines the kind of words we speak. If God has done some constituting work in us, that is, if His Spirit has operated in us, disciplined us, and dealt with our outward man and crushed it, to the extent that we begin to touch something spiritual and our character begins to change, our speaking will be the speaking of the Spirit spontaneously. The words we speak will be based on the constitution of the Spirit. Without the constitution of the Spirit, there can be no speaking of the Spirit. We cannot utter something of the Spirit by ourselves. There first must be the constitution of the Spirit within us; the Holy Spirit has to rearrange and reconstitute us. Once we were a certain kind of person, but after the Lord has worked on us for years, we begin to experience the Spirit’s rearrangement and reconstitution in our whole being. We become like a house that has been remodeled and even reconstructed. We should note that the speaking of the Holy Spirit is based on the constitution of the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit has not done a reconstituting work in us, our words will never be fresh. When the Spirit reconstitutes our whole being, we become new, and the things we speak are new.
This is the reason for Paul’s lofty attainment, which is revealed in 1 Corinthians 7. We can learn a singular lesson from this chapter. When the constitution of the Spirit in man reaches a dependable, spiritual, and advanced state, the man is no longer conscious of the revelation he has received. The constitution of the Spirit results in the spontaneous manifestation of revelation. This is why revelation was not an extraordinary thing in Paul. He received light in such an ordinary way that it was almost like his own thoughts. Today men do not have enough constitution of the Spirit. This is why they are so far from God’s revelation. First Corinthians 7 is very unique. Here was a brother who was under God and constituted by the Spirit to such an extent that his thoughts and feelings were almost the same as God’s. God’s revelation was almost the same as his own words; God’s revelation was no longer an extraordinary thing in him. Human elements can rise to such a height that they merge with God. According to Paul, his words were his own. He told others that he did not have a command from the Lord and that he was speaking from himself. Yet he was so highly constituted by God that he also could immediately follow this confession with the words, “I think that I also have the Spirit of God” (v. 40). We have to identify the crucial relationship between the person and the word. Here was a man who was fully constituted by the Spirit. When he spoke, God’s word was released. It seems as if he released God’s word without making reference to special revelation. This is the highest peak that can possibly be experienced by man. Paul’s speaking demonstrates the principle that when the person is right, the words are right. When a man is divinely constituted, his speaking is God’s speaking. We should pay particular attention to this. A man can be so thoroughly dealt with by the Lord, and his person can be so pure and clean that the Spirit’s utterance is released through him whenever he opens his mouth.
We all must pay attention to the fact that the basis of our speaking is the constitution of the Holy Spirit within us. Many people are altogether useless in the eyes of the Lord. But even among those who are useful to the Lord, we find differences in the constitution of the Holy Spirit. These differences in constitution result in differences in speaking. Two persons can be equally useful to the Lord, and both may have attained equal depth of spirituality in the Lord. Yet their constitution is different. The revelation they receive and the inner word they have may be the same, but the differences in constitution can mean different kinds of speakings. Both can be ministers, even lofty ministers of the word, yet the words that come from their mouths may be different. This is because the human elements they possess are different. John was different from Paul, and Paul was different from Peter. As a result, their speakings were different. These men were all used by God, not in an ordinary way but in the highest way. Yet when they opened their mouth, their speakings were different. When Paul spoke, God’s word was within him, but his own words were also in his mouth. Yet his speaking was God’s speaking. The same was true of Peter. God’s word was within him, but his own words were in his mouth. Yet his speaking was God’s speaking. Both Peter and Paul underwent a profound constituting work. When they spoke, they spoke God’s word. Yet the outward manifestations of their words were different.