Christ as God’s word

One

  John 1:1-2 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Here we are told that the Son of God is the Word. Christ is God’s Word. Hence, the ministry of the word is the ministry of God’s Son. To serve the church with God’s word means to serve the church with God’s Son. A minister of God’s word dispenses God’s word. Just like the seven deacons in Acts 6 who served by dispensing food to the saints, a minister of the word is one who serves by dispensing the word to others. Yet this word is not merely words per se; this word is a person. This word is Christ Himself. For this reason, serving others with the word means to serve them with the Son of God. A minister serves the church by ministering God’s Son.

  Some people can only serve others with biblical teachings. They cannot serve others with the Lord Jesus. They live in the realm of letters. They can only serve others with truths, doctrines, and teachings. Their service only goes this far. They cannot serve others with the Christ who is contained in the word. They cannot minister Christ to others. This is the problem with many people. God’s word is Christ. The Bible is not merely a book; it is not merely pages of writings from which men receive doctrines and teachings. If the book, the Bible, is separated from the person, Christ, the book is a dead thing. In one realm the Bible is a book; in another realm it is Christ Himself. If a person remains in the first realm, all he has is the book, and he cannot serve as a minister of God’s word. He can only minister doctrines, truths, and teachings to others; he cannot minister Christ to them. Only those who are in another realm can minister Christ to others.

Two

  Paul’s word is clear. He said, “So then we, from now on, know no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him so no longer” (2 Cor. 5:16). Today we do not know Christ according to the flesh; rather, we have to know Him according to the Spirit. In other words, we do not know Him as the Jesus of Nazareth who walked on the earth, that is, the historical Jesus. Today we know Him as the Christ in the Spirit. We have to remember that those who know Him as the historical man do not necessarily know Him at all. Many Jews thought that they knew the Lord. They said, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?” (Matt. 13:55-56). They thought that they knew Him because they knew these things. But we know that they did not know Him.

  John the Baptist was a man from God. Yet he confessed, saying, “He who is stronger than I comes after me, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you in water, but He Himself will baptize you in the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:7-8). To stoop down and untie someone’s sandal was a work of slaves at the time of the Romans. When the master came to the door, the slave would stoop down and untie his sandals. This was a very humiliating work. John knew that the One who was to come after him was far greater than he. Did he understand it? Yes, he did. Was he clear about it? Yes, he was. Yet he did not know that the Lord Jesus was this very One who was to come after him. He was not clear about this. As far as their fleshly relationship went, John was Jesus’ cousin. They had known each other since their youth. But he did not know that the Lord Jesus was the One who was to come after him. He said, “And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water, He said to me, He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding upon Him, this is He who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God” (John 1:33-34). On the day when the Lord Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and John recognized this Jesus, who had been his cousin for thirty years, as the Son of God. Prior to this time he was close to the Lord and very intimate with Him. Yet he did not know Him. It was the Spirit who opened his eyes to recognize such a One. A man could be with the Lord Jesus for thirty years on earth and yet still fail to know Him. During those thirty years, John the Baptist kept up his acquaintance with the Lord. Yet he only knew Him as his own cousin. He knew the historical Jesus, the Jesus from Nazareth, but he did not realize that this Jesus of Nazareth was God.

  The Lord Jesus is God. At the time He walked on earth in disguise, men did not know Him. God was disguised among men, and men did not recognize Him as God. It takes God’s Spirit to open men’s eyes before they can recognize this Jesus as the Son of God and the Christ. The Bible, in a way, is like Jesus of Nazareth. Humanly speaking, it is a book. Perhaps it is a little more special than other books. But when God’s Spirit opens a man’s eyes, he will see that this is no ordinary book; it is God’s revelation. It reveals God’s Son. Just as Jesus of Nazareth is the living Son of God, this book is a revelation of the living Son of God. If we only see this book as a book, we do not know God’s Bible. Those who do not know God’s Son do not know Jesus. In the same way, those who do not know God’s Son do not know the Bible. Those who know Jesus know God’s Son. In the same way, those who know the Bible should know that the Lord Jesus is God’s Son. They should know the very Son of God spoken of in the Bible. This book — the Bible — reveals God’s Son; it reveals Christ. This is not an ordinary book.

  When the Lord Jesus was walking on earth, His contemporaries had many things to say about Him. They criticized Him in many ways. Some said that He was Jeremiah; others said that He was one of the prophets. Some said this and some said that. But the Lord Jesus asked the disciples, “But you, who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” What did the Lord say? He said, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens.” Knowledge of the Lord Jesus does not come from flesh and blood, but from the revelation of the heavens. Following this, the Lord said, “Upon this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:15-18). Without such a revelation there is no church. This is the foundation of the church. The whole church is built upon this foundation. When a man recognizes that the historical Jesus is God’s Christ and Son, this seeing becomes the foundation upon which the church is built.

  Some people lament, saying, “I was born two thousand years too late. If I had been born two thousand years earlier, I could have gone to Jerusalem and could have seen the Lord Jesus face to face. The Jews did not believe Jesus was the Son of God, but I would have believed.” But even if these ones had been able to live, walk, and work together with the Lord Jesus every day, they still would not have known Him. They would have known the man Jesus only; they would not have known who He is. When the Lord was on earth, men conjectured much about Him. They realized that He was quite special, that He was different from other men. But they did not know Him. Peter, however, was a man who did not have to guess about Him. He saw Him and he knew Him. How did he know Him? First God shone His light on him and showed him that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of God. Without God’s revelation, a man can follow the Lord everywhere and still not see. Even if a man followed the Lord to Caesarea Philippi, he still would not know who He is. A man can be with the Lord every day and still not know Him. He is not known through outward acquaintance but through revelation. The knowledge of the Lord Jesus is something that comes from revelation, not from acquaintance. If you do not have revelation, you may live with Him for ten years without knowing who He is. You will only know Him as the Christ and the Son of God when you have God’s revelation, when He speaks within you, and when He unveils your inner eyes. Your outward acquaintance of Him is not a true knowledge of Him.

  The same thing can be said of the Bible. God’s Word is a person, and God’s word is also a book. God’s Word is Jesus of Nazareth, and His word is also the Bible. We need God to open our eyes before we can recognize Jesus of Nazareth as being the Word of God and the Son of God. In the same way, God has to open our eyes before we will recognize the Bible as being the word of God and a revelation of His Son. Those who were acquainted with the Lord Jesus and who lived with Him for many years did not know Him. In the same way, those who are acquainted with the Bible and who have read and studied it for many years do not necessarily know the Bible. There is the need of God’s revelation. Only that which God reveals to us through revelation is living.

  The story of the healing of the woman with a flow of blood in Mark 5 shows us that many people were pressing upon the Lord Jesus, but no one touched Him. Among them all, only the woman with the flow of blood touched the garment of the Lord. She thought that if she could only touch the Lord’s garment, she would be healed. She had faith, and she was sensitive. She came to touch the Lord. As soon as she touched Him, she was healed. The Lord immediately asked, “Who touched My garments?” When the disciples heard this, they said, “You see the crowd pressing upon You and You say, Who touched Me?” (vv. 30-31). The disciples complained about the crowd that was pressing upon Him all around and wondered how the Lord could even ask who was touching Him. Yet as soon as someone touched the Lord, He knew it, and He could feel it. Many people pressed upon Him, but nothing happened to them. But the one who touched Him experienced an immediate change. Today, even if the Lord were to stand right next to you, He would do you no good if you were only pressing upon Him. Jesus of Nazareth is not known by pressing. Those who pressed against Him did not know Him. Only the one who had faith and discernment touched His garment and knew who He was. This man was Jesus of Nazareth, yet He was also the Son of God. Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God. Many people pressed upon Jesus of Nazareth, but they did not touch the Son of God. Many people touch the outward Jesus, but they do not touch the Son of God.

  The same principle can be applied to our reading of the Bible. Many people are pressing upon the Bible, but few touch the Son of God. You can touch God’s Son through Jesus of Nazareth. You can also touch God’s Son through the Bible. The problem with many people is that they only see the Bible; they have not touched the Son of God. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, men knew Him according to two different realms. In one realm men heard His voice and observed His movements but did not know Him at all. In another realm one person touched His garment and was healed. Many people saw Him, but only one knew that God was with this Jesus of Nazareth. I am afraid that when we introduce Jesus of Nazareth to others, we are merely introducing them to the Jesus of Nazareth who was in the flesh. In the same way, I am afraid that when we introduce the Bible to others, we are merely presenting a book to them. We should remember that those who pressed upon Jesus of Nazareth did not receive any benefit from Him. Many sick ones were not healed even though they pressed upon Him. Likewise, those who are pressing upon the Bible do not receive anything from this book. They receive nothing, just as the pressing crowd received nothing from Jesus of Nazareth. But some receive the light within, and they touch the Son of God within the book. The word that the Lord speaks to us is spirit and life. As soon as we touch this, we touch the ministry of the word. What we present to men should not be just a simple book. In presenting the book, we should also present the Son of God to them. A minister of the word is one who, while serving others with the word of God, also serves them with the Son of God. We serve men with Christ. Only as we present men with Christ can we serve as a minister of the word.

  Some people only know the historical Jesus. They do not know the Son of God at all. When many people read the Bible, they only see the historical Jesus; they have never touched the Son of God within the Bible. The Bible is not merely a book, inasmuch as Jesus was not merely a man. Within the Bible we find Christ. If a man only touches the book without touching the Son of God, he does not have the ministry of the word.

  In Luke 24:13-31 the Lord Jesus met two disciples on the way to Emmaus, and He walked with them. While they journeyed, the Lord asked them questions and they answered, or they asked and the Lord answered. The conversation was not short, and the Lord expounded the Scripture to them. When they were near Emmaus, they constrained Him, saying, “Stay with us, because it is near evening and the day is already gone by” (v. 29). The Lord went in and stayed with them. They even invited the Lord to their meal. During this long conversation, they did not recognize the Lord Jesus. Only when the Lord took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them were their eyes opened. Then they recognized the Lord. This shows us that even when a man walks with the Lord side by side, he still may not know who He is. Even when he talks with the Lord, he can still be ignorant of who He is.

  Brothers and sisters, even if the Lord were to speak to us, we still might not know who He is. Even if He were to stay with us, we still might not know who He is. We should know something about the Lord that is far deeper than the knowledge we can gain from staying with Him, walking with Him, or talking to Him. We will only know who He is when He opens our eyes. Walking with Him, talking with Him, and having Him expound the Scripture to us are not enough to guarantee that we will know Him. We must realize that genuine knowledge of the Lord is deeper than these things. We may lament in our heart that we were not with Him when He walked on the earth, but we should realize that even if we had been with Him, we would not have known Him any more than we would today. Today, one of the least or weakest of brothers knows the Lord Jesus as much as Peter. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, the twelve disciples knew Him but not in a way that was greater than the weakest among us can know Him today. We should not think that we will know Him just by staying with Him for a few years. We have to realize that the Lord the disciples knew in their spirit is no different from the Lord we know in our spirit today.

  The fundamental question is what constitutes real knowledge of the Lord. Real knowledge of Him does not come from the outside. We need God’s revelation before we can know the Lord. The Lord has to open our eyes and show us something before we can know Him. The Lord has to open our eyes. This is what being a minister of the word is all about. A man may spend much time studying. He may recite all the verses in the Bible and may be clear about all the doctrines in the Scripture. He may answer every question quickly, but it is possible that he does not know God’s Son at all. One day when God opens his eyes, he will see the Son of God. When God opens our eyes, we see Jesus of Nazareth and we see Christ. In the same way, when God opens our eyes, we see the Bible and the Son of God revealed in the Bible.

  This is not to say that the work of the Lord Jesus on earth was not important. We are saying that a man has to believe that Jesus is the Christ before he can be begotten of God. If a man believes that He is the Son of God, he is begotten of God. We not only must see that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, but we must see the Bible. One cannot take away Jesus of Nazareth and still have the Son of God or Christ. Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God; He is the Christ. In the same way, one cannot take away the Old Testament or the New Testament and say that he knows Christ. He cannot take away the Bible and say that he knows the Son of God. Through the Bible, God gives us the knowledge of the Son of God. If we do not have revelation, we may read the book but only have knowledge of doctrines; we will not know the Christ contained in the book. This is a very fundamental issue. We can understand everything about this book and yet have not seen Christ at all. It is possible for us to touch this book without ever touching Christ.

  What makes Christianity so complicated is the fact that there are two different realms. If all the outward things were taken away and only inward things were left, the situation would be much simpler: Those who have it would clearly have it, and those who do not have it would clearly not have it. But the problem is that there is a realm of “pressing” and there is also a realm of “touching.” Some are pressing, while others are touching. The two are completely different. Pressing upon Jesus is absolutely different from touching Him. Can we see the difference between these two? There are two different realms. The pressing ones are in one realm, and the touching ones are in another realm. Those who are in the pressing realm experience nothing, while those in the touching realm are healed of all their sicknesses and relieved of all their problems. In one realm there are intellectual ones who can understand the Bible, the doctrines, and the truth. But in the other realm, one encounters light, revelation, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Brothers, do we see this? There are two different realms. In one realm there are the teachers of letters. In the other realm there are the ministers of God’s word. We can only preach what we know. God has to bring us to a point where we touch the inner realm. We cannot know the Lord Jesus in the realm of “pressing”; we cannot know the Bible in that realm either. We must get into the realm of “touching” before we can be useful. Only in that realm do we find God’s speaking. Only that realm will issue in any results, and only that kind of “touching” will yield any results. The amazing thing is that the Lord did not feel anyone pressing upon Him, but He was very conscious of someone touching Him.

  A simple brother who has nothing and who knows nothing may come to the Bible and contact the word in fear and trembling, and in the Lord’s presence, he may see light. Another brother may be well acquainted with the Greek and Hebrew languages. He may be very good at Chinese and English and may have read the Bible from cover to cover many times. He may even have memorized the Bible. But if he has never received any light from God, he cannot be a minister of God’s word. The most he can do is pass on Bible knowledge to others. He cannot minister Christ to the church. The Bible is living; it is a person. In fact, it is the Son of God Himself. If we do not touch this living word when we read the Bible, whatever we know will not yield any fruit.

Three

  Our Lord taught many things when He was on the earth, and many heard Him. In John 8 the Lord Jesus said many things. He spoke of an adulterous woman being forgiven. Later He told the Jews that the truth would set them free and that they did not have to remain slaves but could be free instead. The Jews responded by saying that they were the descendants of Abraham and were not slaves. But the Lord replied that everyone who sins is a slave of sin (vv. 32-34). The Jews might or might not have understood this word. Yet they certainly could not say that they had not heard it. Their ears were not heavy, and they were not deaf. Yet the Lord Jesus said something very peculiar: “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God” (v. 47). Hearing something involves more than just hearing the voice. Some people hear the voice and have God’s speaking. Others hear the voice but do not have God’s speaking. These are two different realms. If we were to ask the Jews whether or not they had heard the Lord’s words, they would have said yes. Yet the Lord said that they had not heard anything, because they were not of God.

  This is a very sobering matter. One does not hear God’s speaking simply by being at the place where He is speaking. A man may be present at the site of the speaking and yet hear nothing at all. He may hear all the sounds and all the words, but the Lord Jesus may say that he has not heard anything. The hearing referred to by the Lord Jesus is something totally different. There are two kinds of hearing, and they belong to two different realms. One can hear things of one realm but may not hear things of the other realm. This is a basic problem with many people. They hear the words of the Scripture, but they do not hear God’s speaking. The Lord was speaking to these people. We cannot say that they were all fools. We cannot say that they were all sick in their mind or heavy in their ears. They all knew what the Lord was saying. Otherwise, how could they have rebuffed the Lord Jesus? They rebuffed Him because they had all heard His word. Nevertheless, the Lord Jesus said that those who are of God hear God’s words but that the others did not hear because they were not of God. This is where the fundamental problem lies. Many people only hear voices from one realm; they do not hear any voice from the other realm. They only understand words from one realm; they do not understand any word from the other realm. They do not hear because they are not of God. The Lord Jesus was saying that some do not understand His word because they are wrong in their person. In verse 43 the Lord Jesus said, “Why do you not understand My speaking? It is because you cannot hear My word.” Fleshly ears can only hear words of flesh; they can only hear words from one realm. Words from the other realm can only be heard with a different kind of ear. Only those who are of God can hear; those who are not of God cannot hear.

  When many people come to the Bible, they only hear the outward shell of the Lord’s word. They only grasp the appearance of His word. But God’s word is in an entirely different realm. We must deal with this matter. If we cannot hear His word, we cannot be ministers of His word. What do we mean when we say that a man does not hear God’s word? It is possible for the Lord Jesus to stand in front of you and speak for two hours, yet you hear nothing. This means that you have not heard God’s word. You may hear everything that the Lord says and write it all down. When you go home, you may memorize it all, yet you still have not heard anything. In other words, you have heard nothing of God’s speaking; you have only touched the outward shell of the word. You have heard it, yet you still do not understand it, and it has not entered into you. Some people are all the time touching the outward shell of the Bible; they think that they are ministers of God’s word. But we must emphasize that this is not what is required at all. Today inspiration must be complemented by revelation before it can become God’s speaking; inspiration alone is not enough. The Bible is God’s inspiration, but it must be complemented by revelation before it can be called God’s speaking. If all we have is inspiration, we do not have God’s speaking; instead, we only have the outward shell of the word. We may boast that we have read the Bible a great deal, but I do not know if we have heard God’s speaking. We cannot deny that those in John 8 heard the Lord’s word. Yet the Lord said that they had not heard it.

  We must understand what God’s word is. God’s word is the word behind the word, the voice behind the voice, and the language behind the language. What makes God’s word so special is that the natural ear, the ear of flesh, can hear His word and yet this hearing does not count. A man may be very intelligent in his natural makeup. He may be very capable, possessing very quick thoughts and a very good mind. Do you think that such a person can hear the Lord’s word? Please remember that his hearing may only touch the outward shell of the Lord’s word; it may only touch the things related to the physical side of the Bible. This hearing only brings a person into contact with the physical realm; it does not bring him into contact with the spiritual realm of God’s word. God’s word belongs to another realm. It is wrong to presume that anyone can hear God’s word. No, only those who belong to God can hear this word. Whether or not there is the capacity to hear depends on the very person himself. If my physical ears have a problem, I cannot hear the Lord Jesus’ word in one realm. If my spiritual ears have a problem, I cannot hear the Lord Jesus’ word in another realm. I can be in two realms, and His word can be in two realms as well. One of these realms is physical, and the other is spiritual. If I remain in the physical realm, the most I can hear is the physical side of the Lord’s word. I can hear and understand it, but the Lord will still say that I have not heard it. He does not want me to hear those kinds of words. He wants me to hear words of another realm. There may be thousands and millions of men who have heard one kind of words, but there may be only eight or ten people who have heard the other kind of words. This is the problem with many people when they come to the Bible. They only touch the outward façade of the Bible without touching the Christ who is within the Bible. This is like a man touching Jesus without touching the Son of God. It is useless to just see the Bible, the book, without touching God’s word or His Christ.

  Let us read 1 John 4:6: “We are of God; he who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. From this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.” John was not at all apologetic. He said that we should have the confidence that we are of God and of the truth. Those who know God will hear us, and those who do not know God will not hear us. This is what John meant. This shows us that the apostles felt that it was not just a matter of whether or not one heard the sound, the physical voice. At that time John was very old. Those who listened to him might have been very familiar with his voice. They could not have missed the voice of John. Yet the strange thing is that John said only those who knew God would hear him; those who were not of God could not hear him. This shows us clearly that it is not a matter of having or not having a voice or having or not having ears. There is no problem with the ears; they can hear very well. Yet John said that those who are not of God could not hear. God’s word is in another realm, another world. Not everyone who knows the Bible knows God’s word. Not everyone who can speak about the Bible can speak God’s word. Not everyone who receives the Bible can receive God’s word. A man has to build up a certain relationship with God before he can hear God’s word.

  Three verses in the Gospel of John can be put together and considered in parallel. John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.” John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 6:63 says, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” These three references to the word spirit are very significant. God is Spirit, the Lord’s word is spirit, and the Spirit begets spirit. The Lord’s word is spirit. Therefore, only a man of spirit can understand it. Only things of the same nature can understand each other. The word which is outside is merely a voice. A man can read the words of the Bible, study them, hear them, and know what they say. But within this word is something called spirit. It is something that the ears cannot hear and the mind cannot understand. The word of the Lord is spirit. Hence, it is impossible for the mind, the intellect, or any amount of human wisdom to understand this word. It is likewise impossible for the mind, the intellect, or any amount of human wisdom to convey this word. The Lord’s word is spirit. Therefore, only those who are born of the Spirit will hear it. Those who are born of the Spirit are men of spirit. They have something within them. With regard to God’s word, a man must be retrained and reconditioned before he can hear God’s speaking. This is something that belongs to another realm. It is not something that belongs to the ordinary realm.

  By now, brothers, do we see this? Why must the outer man be broken? Because without such breaking, a man can never be a minister of God’s word. The outer man has nothing to do with God’s word. Our wisdom, emotions, feelings, thoughts, and understanding are useless. (Shortly, we will see that they do have some use. What we are saying here is that they are useless as fundamental organs for receiving spiritual things.) God’s word is spirit, and only those who exercise their spirit will hear it. We must be very clear about this principle: God is Spirit and those who worship Him must do so with their spirit. God is Spirit, and those who receive His word must receive it with their spirit. We cannot receive spirit with the mind. Only things of like nature can receive each other. Nothing else will work.

  Matthew 13:10-15 says, “And the disciples came and said to Him, Why do You speak in parables to them? And He answered and said to them, Because to you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, it shall be given to him, and he will abound; but whoever does not have, even that which he has shall be taken away from him. For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘In hearing you shall hear and by no means understand, and seeing you shall see and by no means perceive. For the heart of this people has become fat, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and their eyes they have closed, lest they perceive with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart, and they turn around, and I will heal them.’” The disciples asked why the Lord would speak in parables. He answered, “Because to you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it has not been given” (v. 11).

  What is the reason for this? Something happened in Matthew 12. Certain ones blasphemed the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus cast out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit, yet these ones hated the Lord so much that they insisted the Lord’s casting out of demons was by Beelzebul (vv. 28, 24). They knew very well that it was a work of the Holy Spirit, but they insisted that it was a work of Beelzebul. They knew that the Holy Spirit was the One who had done this, but they insisted that Satan, “the lord of the dunghill,” was the one who had done this. To call the Holy Spirit Beelzebul, “the lord of the dunghill,” was a blasphemy to Him. Therefore, in chapter thirteen, the Lord spoke in parables. In other words, from that time forward, these people would see but not understand what they saw. They would hear that a man went out to sow, but they would not know what this meant. They would hear that an enemy came in to sow tares while the man slept, but they would not know what the tares meant. They would hear that a net was cast into the sea but would not know what the casting of the net meant. They would hear that a woman took leaven and hid it in three measures of flour but would not know what the leaven meant. They would hear everything but not understand it.

  From the time the Jews blasphemed the Holy Spirit, they no longer heard anything but parables. Today we speak in parables in order to make people understand. But when the Lord Jesus spoke to these people in parables, His intention was that they would not understand. The Lord intentionally used the parables to keep them in the outward realm without understanding what the words really meant. They only heard the outward letter of things, such as the sowing, the wheat, the tares, the net, and the leaven; they did not know what they meant. Many people today read the Bible in the same way that the Jews listened to the parables; they only know that the sower went out to sow. They only know about the good ground, the thorny ground, the shallow and stony ground, and the thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and hundredfold return. They do not know anything more than this. They hear the words, yet they know nothing. This is the way many people read their Bible. They only see the outward things, not the inward things. It is interesting that the Lord Jesus purposely spoke in parables to keep them from understanding anything. The Jews thought that they knew everything. Actually, they knew nothing.

Four

  What is the ministry of the word? The ministry of the word is related to the things behind the parables. It is related to the things behind the outward words. A man can only see these things when his condition before God is proper. The Jews’ hearts had become fat. Of course, they could not hear this word. Their ears had become heavy, and their eyes had become closed. The problem today is not the lack of God’s word but the ignorance among God’s children concerning His word. What men today consider as God’s word is nothing but parables and outward words. Brothers, a man can touch the Bible, but that does not mean he is touching God’s word. In order to touch God’s word, one has to touch the Bible. This is a fact, and this is necessary. However, it is not enough to just touch the Bible. We have to say to the Lord, “I want to see the word within Your word. I want to see the light within Your light, and I want to see the revelation within Your revelation.” If we do not touch the very thing behind the word, we can say all we want to others, but we will have nothing to minister to them. If we do not see the thing behind the word, we cannot communicate Christ to others. We have to see the Lord behind the word. We should not see the Bible only but the Lord Himself. Once we know the Lord, we know the Bible. One does not know the Lord simply by understanding doctrines. It is possible many of those who understand doctrines do not know the Lord. One does not know the Lord simply by knowing the truth contained in the word. Only as a person sees the light of glory on His face is he clear about everything. When we see the light of glory on His face, many of the problems with God’s word go away. When we know the Lord, we know the Bible. When we know Christ, we know God’s word. Unless we have this kind of experience, we have no way to minister Christ to the church.

  Once a man lives before God and finds out what the Lord is like, he will spontaneously find the same thing in the Bible. He will readily be able to relate a passage to something he sees in the Lord or to something the Lord has expressed through him. This is the reason someone has said that every part of the Bible is about Christ. Brothers, once we know Christ, the Bible becomes living. The crucial matter is whether or not we have the revelation of Christ. If we have the revelation of Christ, the knowledge of the Bible will confirm our knowledge of Him. Otherwise, the Bible will remain the Bible, and the Lord will remain the Lord. We will only be able to minister the Bible to the church; we will not be able to minister Christ to the church. But if in presenting a portion of the Scripture, we present Christ, we are ministering Christ to people. As we present a portion of the Word, we present Christ to men. As we present another portion of the Word, we present Christ again to men. We are not just quoting biblical terms and biblical words, we are ministering Christ to the church. If a man does not learn to know Christ, he cannot know the Bible. It is useless to engage in mere exposition, exegesis, or some superficial understanding of the Scripture. We must remember that leading people to a knowledge of the Bible and leading them to a knowledge of Christ are two entirely different things.

  The ministry of God’s word is a very subjective thing in man. It is not a matter of finding out what the Bible says and then telling others about it. This kind of telling is altogether objective; it cannot be considered as the ministry of the word. Every minister of the word has to be a man of revelation, one who has seen something subjectively. A man must have revelation, and he must see something subjectively. Then he can claim the Bible as his basis. Only then will he be able to minister Christ to others through the Scripture. One person may expound the Bible according to the Bible. Another person may expound the Bible according to Christ. These are two entirely different matters. Today we can find many people expounding the Bible. Their inward condition may be altogether different however. Some expositions may focus on the Bible, while others may focus on Christ. The latter is based on first receiving a revelation, a vision, or some kind of knowledge before God and then learning what the Bible says. The message that is delivered is based on a comparison of the two. This is to minister the Christ of revelation. It is not a mere presentation of the Scripture according to what is objectively understood. We admit that many exegeses are useful, and that these exegeses can save a young, inexperienced person from many errors and frustrations. But any serious ministry or service is not built merely upon exegesis. When a man lives before God, knows the Lord, and knows Christ, he can pick up a passage here and a passage there. He serves as a minister, and he has God’s word. He picks up various passages of the Scripture and puts them together. This is how he ministers Christ to the church.

  In order to be a minister of God’s word, one must have a fundamental knowledge of Christ. Many times, as a person’s knowledge of Christ before God increases, he finds that what he knows of Christ has gone beyond what he knows from the Bible. Eventually, he may find the very same thing in the Bible. Then he will know that he has a message to deliver, because Christ has become the word to him. This is a very basic factor in ministry. At the beginning the Lord reveals Himself to you and shows you what He is; you see something which you have not seen in the Bible. After a few days, perhaps a year or two, you see the same thing in the Bible, and you exclaim, “This was what I learned from the Lord on that day!” Perhaps one, two, three, or four passages of the Scripture will stand out, and gradually, the Christ you know in your revelation becomes the word, and you know that the Lord is preparing you to be a minister of the word. Perhaps after a few days, the Lord will arrange a situation for you to release this word. In this way, the words you release will become the embodiment of Christ to others. If God is merciful to them, these words will become Christ to them, and they will know Christ. This is the ministry of the word. The Christ we know by revelation gradually becomes the word in us. We search the Scripture, and gradually find this word in one, two, nine, or ten different places in the Bible. When this happens, we minister this word, which is the embodiment of Christ, to others. If God grants mercy and grace to the listeners, the Holy Spirit will operate in them when they hear such a word, and the word will become the Christ who ministers to their need. This is what it means to minister Christ. We minister Christ through the words of the Scripture. When others receive the word, they receive Christ. This is the basis of all ministry of the word.

  Brothers, we have to see and differentiate between the outward way and the inward way. In order to be a minister of the word, we must have the word. But this word is what we see before the Lord. This word is what we touch in Christ. Once we touch Christ, the Son of God, this book will spontaneously become the living word to us. If before the Lord we only see this book, the Bible, we will not have many words to minister to others. At the most we will only have exegesis. This may provide others some understanding of the Bible, but it is not enough to lead men to the Lord. It may render others some help in the truth, but it is not enough to lead them to Christ.

  We must realize what God’s word is. What does it mean to touch His word, and what is a minister of the word? We need to pay the price. Our heart must not become fat, our eyes must not be closed, and our ears must not become heavy. We need to see God. May our ears hear God and our eyes see Him. We should never be those who see, yet do not see, and who hear, yet do not hear. What is before us are two realms. We need to possess the things of both realms. We need the word that belongs to the outer realm, and we need to touch the word that belongs to the inner realm. If we do, we will gradually become a useful vessel in the hand of the Lord.

  May the Lord be merciful to us, and may we see that God’s word is Christ, just as Jesus of Nazareth was Christ. The man of flesh and blood who walked on the earth was Christ, and the Bible is also Christ. Jesus, the man who walked on the earth in flesh and blood, is God’s Word. In the same way the Bible, the written and printed Scripture, is also God’s Word. We must touch not only the outward things but also the inward things. Only then will we have the ministry of the word. Those who do not know Christ can memorize all the Scripture, but they still cannot be a minister of the word. We should prostrate ourselves before God. We need revelation. When our words go forth, God’s children should fall on their faces. It is not a matter of degree but a matter of one’s basic nature. The very nature of many ministers is wrong. If God is merciful to us, we will prostrate before Him, and we will have a new beginning. We have to touch the Bible through the Lord, and our service in the ministry of the word must be based on this. If we do this, we will have a way to go on.