When a minister of the word opens his mouth, he may have four or five passages he wants to cover. He may have four or five verses he wants to speak or four or five things he wants to say. The order of the verses matters a great deal in the release of the spirit. The Spirit may want to place a passage at the end of his speaking, while he may put it at the beginning of his speaking. In such a case the spirit will not be released. One problem in our speaking is that our words frequently lose touch with our spirit. Some words should be spoken at the beginning, but we speak them at the end. Some words should be spoken at the end, but we speak them at the beginning. When this happens, the words are released without the spirit; the spirit is set aside. Words go forth, yet the spirit does not go along.
In our speaking, there are times when our words should make a turn. The subject should be changed from one to another; the thoughts should be turned from one to another. It is not uncommon that a man blunders at such turns. As the turn is made, the words and the spirit become separated. The word turns, but the spirit does not follow. The word has made the turn, but the spirit remains in the original place. The word and the spirit become separated. The word has gone on to the next point, but the spirit remains in the same place and has not moved forward. Hence, when the speaking turns from one passage of the Scripture to another, we must exercise care not to make any mistake. Once we make a mistake, the word and the spirit will lose contact with each other. If a certain passage of the Scripture should be used, yet we miss it, the spirit is unable to make the turn, and it loses touch with the word. The word and the spirit are separated; they are not joined together. This is a serious problem.
Those who are less experienced before God are stumbled mainly by injuries in their spirit. Those who are more experienced before God are stumbled mainly by the dislocation between the word and the spirit. At the beginning of one’s training, the problem is mainly with the injured spirit; the cause of bondage in the spirit is injury in the spirit. When a man becomes more advanced in the Lord, his problem no longer relates to injury in the spirit but to the separation between the word and the spirit. It is not an easy thing to keep the spirit and the word together. A speaker often has a bad beginning, and the spirit and the word are separated from the very beginning. In speaking, one has to know which word comes first and which word comes next. If he reverses the order, the words may come out without the spirit. The easiest place for the word to lose the spirit is at the turning points. When we make a turn with the word, our thoughts and feelings may not be agile and rich enough to follow the turn. As a result the word goes on, but the spirit lags behind. The words may be released smoothly, yet the spirit is left behind; it cannot follow the word and loses contact with it. When we speak, we have to learn to release both the word and the spirit so that the two do not lose touch with each other. As soon as we find that something has gone wrong, we have to turn our words back to the point of departure. The spirit is very sensitive. Sometimes when we return to the point of departure, the spirit still will not come back. Having cast it aside once, it is not only out of touch with the word; it is injured as well. There may be nothing wrong with the words in our mouth, but the spirit is not present. The sense of the spirit is very fine. We must exercise care, not speaking rashly or negligently. We have to pay attention to this matter. We have to look to God for mercy that our words make the right turns and that they do not lose contact with the spirit. Whenever we speak to the brothers and sisters, we have to turn with the spirit. Whenever we make a wrong or improper turn from one subject to another, we fail to keep our whole message in the spirit. Hence, as soon as we learn about the mistake, we have to turn our words back. Sometimes the more we try to turn the words back, the harder it gets. Sometimes it is better to just cut off an entire portion of the speaking. After a while we may find the direction again. We may find the anointing and the utterance again. Then when we speak in that direction, the spirit is released once again.
Whether or not a minister of the word can make the right turn in his speaking depends more on the Lord’s mercy than on man’s planning. It is difficult for us to dictate how strong our words will be or how much we can keep our entire message in the spirit. Most of the time, however, it is God’s mercy that we make the right turn. We do not make a right turn because we have knowledge or experience. We may not know when we have made the right turn, but we surely know when we have made the wrong turn. Once we make the wrong turn, we know within two or three minutes. As soon as we know that we are wrong, we have to stop immediately. We should never try to save our message. We are ministers of the word. When we feel that our words have gone off on a tangent, we have to turn back. Whenever we are wrong, we can sense it immediately. But when we are on the right track, we may not realize it until much later or when we step off the platform. Sometimes we are at a crossroad; we do not know if we are right or wrong. It takes a while for us to know whether we are right. After a while, we know whether we are right or wrong. If we go on for a few minutes more, we know that something is wrong. We realize that the word and the spirit are two different things; they are separate. Words are going forth, but the spirit is not following. The spirit is very delicate. As soon as something is wrong, it stops. Even if we can find the spirit, we are not able to release it. We feel a great resistance in pushing out the spirit. We realize that we only have the word; we do not have the spirit. As soon as we find out our mistake, we should turn back.
How can a man tell if his words are right or wrong? He can tell by the way the spirit is released. If his spirit is released while he speaks, the words are right. If his spirit is not released, they are wrong. This is the restriction the Spirit places upon us. We have said before that we do not know immediately when we are saying the right thing. When we stand at the crossroad, we do not know immediately what to do. After speaking for a few minutes with both the word and the spirit moving together, we know that we made the right turn a moment earlier. One does not know immediately whether the spirit and the word are moving along together. This is the reason we say that the whole matter has more to do with God’s mercy. The more we realize this, the more we have nothing to depend on. When we function as a minister of the word, we can do nothing except look solely to God’s mercy. By ourselves, we cannot guarantee that we will speak by the Spirit of God for longer than five minutes. It is easy for us to turn, and it is easier for us to make the wrong turn. Human wisdom, knowledge, and experience cannot help in this matter. If we are under God’s mercy during ordinary times and we learn to look to the God who is full of mercy and commit ourselves to Him, we will find that our words will be right spontaneously. But if God does not grant us mercy, we cannot keep ourselves in this way all the time. This is not something that a servant can dictate; it is something that only the Master can dictate. This is not something we can do; this is something that only the Lord can do. It does not matter how much experience we have had in the past or how much knowledge or training we have received from God; we have to commit ourselves unreservedly to the Lord’s mercy. Otherwise, we may be right for three or five minutes. But as soon as we make a turn, we are off again.
Before the Lord a minister of God’s word must see that his release of the word is not just for the sake of releasing the word; he is releasing it to release his spirit. The purpose of releasing the word is to release the spirit. No minister should think that his responsibility merely lies in the release of the word. The responsibility of the minister is to release the spirit. Speaking the word alone does not constitute the work of the minister; the work of the minister involves the discharge of the spirit through the word. A fundamental test that a minister of the word can apply to himself is to ask how much of the spirit was released after he delivered his message. The more the spirit is released, the more the speaker is relieved; he knows that the Lord has used him. He does not have to worry about the fruit because the Lord is responsible for the fruit. Whether or not someone is saved or has received help is a matter that is in the hands of the Lord; it is not in our hands. The result or the success is the Lord’s business; this should not be of concern to us. We are the servants. For us there is only one subjective fruit—the assurance, as we are speaking or after speaking, that the Lord has graced us and has granted mercy to us to discharge our burden.
The joy of a minister of the word is not in the number of words he has spoken, the nodding of the audience, or the help that others profess to have received. The joy of the minister of the word lies in the release of his spirit in his speaking. Once the spirit is released, the burden is gone, the heart is lightened, and he knows that he has fulfilled his responsibility and done what he should do. If the word is released without the spirit, the burden remains. He can raise his voice, strain his throat, and exhaust his energy. But he remains a total failure because his spirit is closed and bound. A man speaks to discharge his burden. He has to let the spirit flow. The more the spirit flows, the more the speaker is relieved, and the more he is relieved, the happier he is. When our spirit is released, we have God’s word. If our spirit is not released, our word is not God’s word; it is only an imitation of His word, not His very own word. Whenever God’s word passes through us, the spirit surely accompanies the word.
We should pay attention to the release of the spirit. Only foolish ones set their eyes on their fruit. Only foolish ones take in the praises of others or appreciate their own words. Foolish ones think that it is unnecessary to touch their spirit. A man has to remain in foolishness, darkness, and total blindness to appreciate and be content with his own words. Such a person has forgotten the fact that his words are altogether vanity if they are void of the spirit. We must pay attention to the release of the spirit in our words. If we pay attention to this, the word and spirit will be together. If we neglect this, the two will be separate. Once we are not watchful, the word and the spirit lose touch with one another. On the negative side, we have to watch out for the separation which is caused by the lack of watchfulness. On the positive side, we have to insure that the word and the spirit are joined to one another. This can only be accomplished through God’s mercy. Every word must be accompanied by the release of the spirit. As long as the spirit is released, the speaking is right and others touch something high. On the one hand, we have to be watchful, but on the other hand, we have to look to God for His mercy. By ourselves, we do not know how to make a turn. As soon as we make a turn, we lose our bearing. But if God continues to grant us mercy, we will not lose touch with the spirit when our words make a turn. If a brother takes pride in his own preaching, it can only mean one thing: He is merely a preacher; he does not have the ministry of the word. He can go home feeling great and elevated, but he does not have the ministry of the word. A foolish man is a proud man. We must remember that only God’s mercy can keep the word and the spirit together.