Now let us turn to the matter of the word and the release of the spirit. Whether or not the spoken word is received as revelation or merely doctrine depends very much on whether the minister is releasing his spirit. Whether or not others hear just words or hear the words and see the light depends on whether the minister’s spirit is released. Whether or not a person falls on his face at the word or remains unchanged depends on whether the minister can release his spirit. The words may be right and feelings may be present, but if the spirit is not released, others will only touch a perfect doctrine or a high teaching. It is something that they can understand, but they do not touch God’s word. The word can be released without the spirit at all. It can be spoken in a very common way. If a serious word is spoken with a common, indifferent spirit, the word will become very common. But when a message is released with a strong spirit, the message itself will become strong spontaneously. The words may be perfectly right in themselves, but there is also a matter of the kind of spirit that accompanies the release of these words. This depends on whether or not the minister of the word has released his spirit. A minister of the word can release his spirit in an ordinary way or he can release it in a strong way. He can even let out his spirit in an explosive way. The quality of the word depends on the way the spirit is released. The result that the words produce in others depends not so much on the words themselves but on how the spirit is released. While a minister is speaking, he can release his spirit or he can withhold his spirit. He can release it in a strong way, or he can release it in an ordinary way. This decision is in the hands of the minister. A minister of the word has to learn to push out his spirit during his speaking.
There is a close relationship between the spirit and the word. When the spirit is affected, the word is affected. When the spirit is wrong, the word is wrong. It is difficult to clearly explain how the spirit affects the word. All we can say is that man’s spirit is very tender and fine; it must not be tampered with or offended. In preaching God’s word, one may have everything in place. But if the spirit is not ready, there is no way for the word to be released. A man must release his spirit before he can release God’s word. Every experienced preacher of the word knows what it means to release the spirit. If it is windy, rainy, and dark outside, and one hesitates to open the door of his house to go out, someone else must give him a push to help him go out the door. This is how the spirit is pushed out. When we stand up to speak in the meeting, it is possible that our spirit will not move, and we will have to push it out. If we do not push it out, there will be a marked deterioration in our speaking. Often when we push a little to release the spirit, the words become much more powerful. Others will not only hear the words but will touch the very thing behind the words. They will not only touch our words, they will touch our spirit as well. Sometimes a person can understand every word of a message, and he can even repeat and recite the message to others; however, he cannot repeat the spirit. At other times, when a person hears a message, he not only hears the words but touches the spirit as well. If a man does not touch the spirit, the word will have no effect on him.
The same can be said about reading the Bible. Some people only see words when they read the Bible, while others touch the spirit of the Bible. When some read the Bible, they only see Paul’s word but do not discern his tone. They cannot discern whether the tone is high or low, soft or loud. They do not know whether it is a tone of sadness or a tone of joy. When others read the Bible, they see Paul’s words as well as discern his tone. They know the sadness in Paul’s prayer or words. They also know whether Paul was speaking in anger or with joy. They touch Paul’s spirit. We may read through the book of Acts sentence by sentence, but we may not touch the utterance within the word. Paul cast out a demon from a slave girl (16:18). If we do not touch the spirit, we will only know that the demon was cast out; we will not know what exactly happened. We will not know whether Paul was speaking with a loud or strong tone of voice, because we have not touched the spirit. We must get into the spirit of the writers of the Bible before we can know the Bible they have written. The Scripture these ones have written is an expression of the kind of spirits they have. If we only touch the word without touching the spirit, we cannot read the Bible.
Similarly, we must experience God’s dealings before we can release our spirit in our speaking. If we have never been dealt with by the Lord, or if the dealing is not deep, pure, or clean enough, our spirit can never go out with God’s word. Even if we try to push our spirit out, there is nothing for us to push. We may push out doctrines, but we can never push out the spirit that lies behind God’s word. We have to remember the meaning of preaching. Preaching means the release of the word. But this is not all; preaching also means the release of the spirit. When a minister of the word releases the word, he is releasing his own spirit at the same time. His spirit is released through his speaking. Spontaneously, the Spirit of God is released through the spirit of man. The Holy Spirit is released together with man’s spirit. If man’s spirit is not released, the Holy Spirit is not released. This poses a great problem to the speaker. We need to remember that listening to a message has nothing to do with listening to the words; it has to do with touching the spirit.
We need to realize that when the word is released, that is, when the ministry of the word is released, not only is the word released, but the spirit is released as well. The listener should not touch just the word but should touch the spirit as well. If a man only touches the word without touching the spirit, what he has is something very common and mundane. If we have not touched the spirit, we will be indifferent to even God’s own speaking. Only when we touch the spirit do we touch life. The Lord said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). We have to touch the spirit before we can know the meaning of the word. In preaching God’s word, we must take care not only of conveying the right words but of releasing our spirit. It is a fact that a man cannot release his spirit continually. One has to pay a certain price to release his spirit. A minister of the word often cannot afford to pay such a price. This is the reason that no man can release his spirit continually. Of course, the stronger our spirit is before the Lord, the easier it is for us to release it; we can release it again and again. It is difficult to believe that a man can stand up and speak for God and yet never once release his spirit. At least once or more than once, he has released his spirit, forcing his spirit to go out with his words, and others have touched his spirit. No one prostrates himself before words alone. A man is humbled because he has touched the spirit. If all we have are words, these words will easily become doctrines. Even a word of revelation can easily become a doctrine. If we preach a word of revelation and release our spirit at the same time, others will touch not only the word but the spirit as well. God’s Spirit reaches others by passing through our spirit.