A minister of the word must also exercise his feelings. We must realize that the spirit flows out of us only when our feelings match our words. If there is a little reservation in our feelings about the word we have received from the spirit, the word will not come out, and the spirit will not be released. We often have reservations in our feelings. What does it mean to have reservations? We may feel ashamed of something, or we may fear men’s criticism, cold shoulders, or opposition. We may discount our words or hold back the feelings we should have concerning our word. We hold back something and dare not match our feelings with our word. When we speak, we have to let go of our feelings completely. If we do not let go, we will have reservations, and as long as we have reservations, the word will never be released. No matter how hard we try, the spirit will never be released. If the word calls for tears, we have to shed tears. The word often calls for tears, but the speaker will not cry. When this happens, the feelings and the word do not match.
Man’s outward shell is very hard. As long as a man does not let go of his feelings, his spirit is not released. The most prominent mark of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the letting go of our feelings. There are two ways to let go of feelings. The first is through the outpouring. The second is through the breaking. The release that comes through the outpouring is an outward release. We ourselves must still learn to let go before the spirit can be released. Breaking and discipline enable a man to let go, even when he is not experiencing the outpouring. A young brother who has never received any deep revelation needs the outpouring; this outpouring will loosen him up. But he should not trust in this kind of release through the outpouring. He should accept all kinds of discipline day by day, until his outward shell is broken. This brokenness is indeed precious. One should be released not only when he has the outpouring of the Spirit; his feelings should be broken even when he does not experience any outpouring. In other words, if the discipline of the Lord’s Spirit is severe enough and if the shell of feelings is broken, we will have whatever kind of feeling the word requires of us. We must match the word with our feelings. If our word is released without our feelings, the spirit most likely will not flow out. Sometimes God’s word calls for tears, yet we cannot cry, or His word calls for shouting, and we cannot shout. This is because the self poses as a primary obstacle to the word’s release. Our feelings are affected by men around us, and our feelings cannot match our words.
Sometimes, in order to release the spirit in a strong way, a man has to shout and cry. The Lord Jesus once cried out. John 7:37 says, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out.” On the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:14 says, “Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke forth to them.” When the pressure of the Spirit is heavy upon a man and his feelings are pressed, he is forced to speak in a loud voice. His outward feelings and inward feelings become the same. When Peter and John were released from prison, the brothers gathered together and lifted up their voice to God (4:23-24). They suffered dire persecutions. They asked the Lord to look upon them and to grant them boldness to speak His word on the one hand, and to stretch out His hand to heal on the other hand so that signs and wonders would take place through the name of the Lord. Paul was the same. When he saw the lame man at Lystra, he said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet” (14:10). This shows us that when the ministry of the word is released, the word must be matched by corresponding feelings.
If we do not let go today and if we still have reservations in our feelings, we will find reservations in the spirit as well. The spirit will not be released. In the case of the Lord Jesus, in the prayer of the first church, and in the cases of Peter and Paul, strong feelings were released. They all spoke with a loud voice. When our spirit is released, it must be accompanied by strong feelings. We are not encouraging anyone to preach by shouting. We are saying that when the spirit is strong, the voice can be loud. If the spirit is not strong, the voice can never be loud. If we are inwardly void of feelings, even filling the whole room with our voice is useless. When some people sing, the louder they sing the less spirit they have. The same is true with some preaching. An artificial loudness will not work. Artificiality is useless in the ministry of the word. The inward reality must be released. We should never try to imitate the spirit in an outward way. When our word is released, our feelings must be released as well. This is the reason that we must be broken. If our outward shell is broken, we can shout as we please, rejoice as we please, and sorrow as we please. We do not have to act out these feelings; they flow out from within.
If the Lord cannot get through in our feelings, He will not be able to get through in others’ feelings. Others are cold, dry, and contradicting. When we speak, we have to break through their feelings. If the Lord cannot get through in our feelings, we cannot expect Him to get through in others’ feelings. If the Lord cannot make us cry, He cannot make others cry. If the pressure does not produce tears in us, we cannot expect it to produce tears in others. We are the first hurdle that the Lord’s word has to overcome. While we are speaking, we often feel that our feelings are not available to us. The highest price in the ministry of the word is the price of our breaking. The Lord has to break us into pieces before He can have a way through us. God’s word has to touch us in a strong way before our reactions can be God’s reactions. If a weeping Jeremiah could not make the Jews weep, a prophet who did not weep would surely not be able to evoke any tears from the whole nation of Israel. Jeremiah was a weeping prophet. If a weeping prophet cannot produce a weeping people, a prophet who does not weep will surely not produce a weeping people. In order for God’s people to weep, the prophet must first weep. God finds special pleasure in brothers who let go of their feelings when they stand up to speak. When a minister of the word stands on the platform, he has to learn to match his feelings with the word.