In our speaking, we must also pay attention to our mind. Whether a word should be spoken first or last is a decision that rests with the mind. In our service as a minister of the word, our mind occupies a very important place. If our mental faculty is versatile, we can place a word at the beginning of our speaking or at the end. Either place will fit, and the spirit will be released during the speaking. But if our mind is not so versatile, nothing works. In such a case, whether the word comes to our mind at the beginning of the speaking or at the end, the spirit is not released in our speaking. Every minister of the word has to guard his mind carefully from any damage. He has to treasure his mind like a pianist treasures his two hands. Some people are too careless with their mind; they can never be proper ministers of the word. We have to allow the Lord to freely direct our mind; we cannot allow our mind to go wild. We should not allow our mind to dwell on illogical things, vain things, or unimportant things. We must protect our mind like a pianist protecting his two hands. We should not set our mind on low or base things. If the Spirit cannot use our mind when He calls for it, we are frustrated from serving as a minister of the word.
This does not mean that the mind is the source of our speaking. If a minister of the word bases his activity on his mind, such activity should be condemned and destroyed to the uttermost. The thought that a thorough study of the Scriptures will qualify a man to teach is an abominable proposition. Any thought that is independent of the spirit should be destroyed. Any message that is based on the mind as the source should be annulled. But this does not mean that we should annul the function of the mind. Every book of the New Testament is written with rich expression of thought. Paul’s Epistles, such as his Epistle to the Romans, are full of thoughts. Yet the thoughts are high and lofty. The book of Romans does not originate from the mind; it originates from the spirit. Yet the thoughts contained in that book flow out with the spirit. The source must be the spirit, not the mind. We must take good care of our mind so that it can be available to God when He needs to use it.
We should not indiscriminately condemn our mind. We should condemn the mind as the source. It is wrong for a man to preach according to his mind. The proper way to preach is with the spirit by the help of the mind; no one should condemn this. The more spiritual a message is, the richer the thought behind it should be. All spiritual messages are full of thoughts. When the spirit is released, there is the need for rich and adequate thoughts to support it. We should give our thoughts the proper place. In our speaking, our mind has to decide the order and the way that the words are to be expressed. If a word comes to our mind first, we should speak it first; if it comes to our mind last, we should speak it last. We should speak according to where our mind leads us. We must realize that our spirit does not control our speaking directly. Direct control by the spirit would mean that we are speaking in tongues. Rather, the spirit directs our speaking from behind our thoughts and understanding. This is the meaning of the ministry of the word. Our understanding must be available for the spirit’s use. If it is not available, our spirit is blocked, and there is no medium between the spirit and the word. The proper medium between the spirit and the word is the mind. This is the reason that we have to carefully guard our mind before the Lord. The mind must be renewed daily. We must not allow our mind to habitually remain in a low place. Some peoples’ minds are habitually low, and the Spirit cannot use them. We have to preserve our mind. It is as we touch the ministry of the word that we know the depth of the meaning of consecration. Many people do not understand the meaning of consecration. Consecration means that our whole being is made available to God. In order to make everything available to God, every part of our mind must be made available to Him. Every day we have to exercise care before the Lord; every day we have to guard our mind from becoming low. If it remains low all the time, we will not be able to pull it up when we have need of it. We have to train our mind every day so that it will be available for the Scripture’s use. This is the only way to insure that our mind does not become a hindrance to the spirit. God must be able to direct our mind at will. By His mercy, He will direct our mind. He will let our mind recall what we should say. The things that should be spoken first will come to our mind first, and the things that should be spoken last will come to our mind last. Our words will be controlled by our mind, and our mind will be controlled by our spirit. If our spirit can direct our mind, everything will be right. It will be right if a word is spoken first, and it will be right if it is spoken last. It will be right if we speak more, and it will be equally right if we speak less. If the mind is proper and functional, the word will come out in any case.