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Those who serve in the ministry of the word need to supply the saints with God. Moreover, their words should be spirit and life and should pass through God and should have the experience in God. We must understand this basic matter in the ministry of the word.
Since we minister the word to supply the saints, we must always hold the central line revealed in the Bible, which is God as life to man. No matter how many messages we give, how logical our messages are, or how many topics we cover, we should always focus on God as life. Regardless of how we preach the word, we should always take this as the center. Therefore, we need a clear vision of God being our life. We need to see how God becomes our life. We need to see how God the Son became flesh, died, resurrected, and brought all that He had obtained and attained into the Spirit to be man’s life. Furthermore, God is now working in man to make man His counterpart, His dwelling place, His Body, as a vessel to express His glory.
If we lack the vision of the central line revealed in the Bible, our messages are winds of teaching. In other words, no matter how logical and eloquent our speaking may be, without this vision our message is a wind of teaching and belongs to the tree of knowledge. It will harm the saints and not benefit the church. Throughout the history of Christianity countless believers have been harmed and misdirected by winds of teaching. Most of what is preached in Christianity is harmful to people because it has delayed God. What the church needs the most is to echo the words of Peter, when he said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life” (John 6:68). When the Lord said to His disciples that His words are spirit and are life (v. 63), many disciples left Him and no longer walked with Him. The Lord then asked the twelve disciples, “Do you also want to go away?” (v. 67). Peter rarely spoke sensibly when the Lord Jesus was living on the earth. However, this time he spoke clearly, and he said that the Lord had the words of eternal life. The church needs the words of eternal life, not any other kind of words.
The sixty-six books of the Bible include many teachings. Many things are spoken of in the Bible, including heaven and earth, God and man, males and females, masters and slaves, the garden of Eden and the New Jerusalem, the old testament and the new testament, and eternity past and eternity future. The Bible spans a period of over seven dispensations. Many things are recorded in the Bible. There is not another book that covers as many topics as the Bible. It was written by more than forty authors in over sixteen hundred years, that is, nearly two thousand years. The Bible is truly an all-inclusive book. However, we must see the vision of the New Jerusalem. We need to see that God and the Lamb are seated on a throne in the New Jerusalem. We also need to see the river of water of life proceeding out of the throne and the tree of life growing on both sides of the river (Rev. 22:1-2). Everything in the Bible focuses on this vision and is developed for this vision. God rules in His life; He rules by being man’s life. This is the controlling factor.
Some may say that the saints need to be well-behaved, but this is only a result. It is not a source. We must show the saints that God needs to be our life in order for us to be proper. We may even speak about husbands loving their wives and about wives obeying their husbands, but if our speaking does not clearly present God as man’s life, our exhortation belongs to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It will not bear the fruit of the tree of life. We may also speak about serving in coordination. However, if we do not help others see that serving in coordination is the result of God being man’s life, our teaching belongs to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There are only two trees in the universe, and we are either on one tree or the other tree. Anything that is not the issue of God being our life is man-made and belongs to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
It is easy for believers to speak about the portions in Ephesians concerning human conduct, because it is easy to understand these portions. However, before speaking about human conduct, Paul says that we are in Christ (1:7), that Christ is in us (3:17), and that we are to be filled unto all the fullness of God (v. 19). He also says that the power of God operates in us (v. 20) and that we should walk worthily of the calling with which we were called (4:1). We need a deeper realization that God is in us and that He has called us to enjoy Him. God is for our enjoyment. This is the purpose of His calling us. God wants us to enjoy Him so that we would match Him.
God is in us; therefore, we should walk worthily of God. We should match Him. God lives in us, but a husband who mistreats his wife does not match God, who lives in him. Since God is in us as grace, our walk should be worthy of Him. In other words, we should let God live out of us. John 15:5 says, “He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit.” The love with which we love our wife should be the issue of Christ living in us. The fruit of our walk needs to be worthy of God, who indwells us. Our walk must match God. However, our understanding of Ephesians is that God is good to us, but if we are not proper in our walk, we will not be worthy of His calling. This understanding is according to the natural concept. The proper understanding is that since we are called by God and God indwells us, we should enjoy God so that we may match Him in our walk.
We know that God’s calling is related to His being in us, because Ephesians 4 begins with I beseech you, therefore. This continues the thought of what is said in chapter 3. We need to walk worthily of the calling with which we were called, because Christ is making His home in our hearts through faith that we may be filled unto all the fullness of God. This means that because the God of fullness indwells us and operates in us, our walk should match Him. He operates in us so that we may love our wife. In this way we match Him. Our living is the working out of the inner operating God.
In addition to our walk, all our activities, our work, such as our service in coordination and our preaching the gospel, are the working out of the inner operating God. Our activities are the fruit of God being our life and living in us. God as our life is the unique subject and center of our messages. If we depart from this center, we have no way to speak. Every message we give that is apart from this center belongs to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
It is difficult for some brothers and sisters to change their concept. Previously, we said that prophets preach the tree of life and call people to enjoy God. Then a brother said that prophets also exhort people to leave evil and cling to good, that is, to do good instead of evil. We need to discern the source and the inward content of doing good. For example, what is the difference between a disciple of Confucius honoring his parents and a Christian honoring his parents? If we do not know the difference, we are not qualified to minister the word. The honor that a disciple of Confucius gives to his parents belongs to the good aspect of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but the proper honor that a Christian gives his parents is Christ. The prophets do not want people to do the good that belongs to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand in order that we would walk in them.” This verse shows that God has prepared good works for us to walk in. But there are two different sources of good works. When we are the source, the good works come from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, when God, who lives in man as his life, is the source, the good works within man come from the tree of life. Some believers are naturally zealous. Such zeal is from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Some believers are zealous, because God operates within them. This zeal is from the tree of life.
The brothers who minister the word need to see that the word as the utterance of God is spirit and life and that God enters into man to be man’s life. The messages that we preach have to be controlled by this vision. We should not give messages that draw out people’s curiosity. We should also consider the kind of help that we receive from reference books. Do they help us give messages along the line of God being life to man? Or do they merely help us give messages on how to improve our outward behavior? If our messages only sustain the second kind of help, we should reject them because they are from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, not the tree of life.
In the Gospels a Canaanite woman asked the Lord for the crumbs that fell from the table (Matt. 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30). A book that was based on the Canaanite woman said that the Lord Jesus and His salvation are not only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles and that Jesus cared for the Canaanite woman even though He is the Son of David. This book included references to verses in the Old Testament that speak of the Gentiles and verses from the New Testament that speak of the salvation of the Gentiles. The author gave a logical presentation to prove that the Lord Jesus is the Savior not only of the Jews but also of the Gentiles. He used the story concerning the Canaanite woman to develop a great truth in the Bible. A message that merely repeats everything from this book, however, is from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It will not have the controlling factor of the tree of life.
What type of response does this book produce in us? We should never think that simply because a message refers to content in the Bible that it is related to life. Some brothers respond to whatever they read, even if it belongs to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We have to respond in a discerning way.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil indicates that good and evil cannot be separated from knowledge. What we minister must be controlled by a vision of the tree of life. A message that does not have this vision is in the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If we have a vision of the tree of life, we will know that the focal point of the incident with the Canaanite woman is related to the Lord as the bread of life for man to eat and have life. It is not about His caring for the Gentiles. The book I previously spoke of said that the Lord Jesus as the Son of David had become the light of the Gentiles. It also explained from the Old Testament and the New Testament that the Lord is the Savior of the Jews and the Gentiles. However, it did not say that He is bread for us to take in as our life.
The brothers who minister the word must be able to discern. We may have the desire to feed the saints, but if our messages lack life, they will poison the saints. According to my observation, many of the brothers’ preaching is similar to the situation described in 2 Kings 4. There was a famine in the land, and no food was available. An attendant of the prophet Elisha went out into the field to gather herbs, and he found a wild vine and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and he cut them up into the pot of stew. The disciples of the prophet ate and were poisoned (vv. 38-40). I am always concerned that when we are short of messages of life and the brothers and sisters are hungry, some “attendants of the prophet” will go out and find some “wild gourds.” These wild gourds do not necessarily look dangerous. There is nothing seemingly wrong with a message about the Lord Jesus being the Savior of the Jews and the Gentiles, but it can be compared to the wild gourds in 2 Kings 4:38-40. It does not give life. The story of the Canaanite woman does not focus on the Lord being the Savior of the Jews or the Savior of the Gentiles. People called the Lord the Son of David, but He said that He is the children’s bread (Matt. 15:26). He did not come to be a king. He wants to be man’s food; He wants to enter into man in order to be man’s salvation. The purpose of the incident with the Canaanite woman is to reveal that the Lord is the bread of life.
I once gave a message during the Sino-Japanese War based on the Canaanite woman. I said that the woman received grace because she took the position of a dog to eat the crumbs that fell from the table. The saints were touched and saw that they should take the position of a dog. Looking back on that message, I must condemn myself. The Lord did not want me to speak concerning taking the position of a dog but to speak concerning His being bread. That message did not give the saints the divine life.
I could speak such a word twenty years ago because I did not have this vision. Many saints responded to that message and understood the matter of being in the position of a dog. The Canaanite woman stood on the Lord’s word concerning being a dog; therefore, the Lord had to save her and heal her daughter. He was bound by His word. However, in that portion the Lord Jesus revealed that He is bread for us to eat. A message based on the Canaanite woman should focus on the Lord as bread. This is the word of life that will supply the saints. The brothers who minister the word must learn to discern whether a message or a book is from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or whether it is from the tree of life. Then we will not give the saints wild gourds to eat.
Some may feel that they are unique in their expounding of the Bible, that their way of expounding cannot even be found in our books. However, this new speaking will be harmful to the saints because it does not have life. Every message must be God and focus on God as man’s life. Every message should be controlled and measured by this principle. Someone may use Romans 12:11 to give a message about being fervent for the Lord. However, Romans 12 is the issue of the preceding eleven chapters. In 7:18 Paul says, “To will is present with me, but to work out the good is not.” This shows that it is of no use to exhort the saints to be fervent, because we cannot determine to be fervent. Chapter 8 shows the Spirit of life in verse 2, and it says that those who are “led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (v. 14). This is a matter of being led by the Spirit of God.
Therefore, we cannot say that the saints need to be fervent based only on Romans 12. This is based on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life must be our controlling factor, whether we speak concerning prayer, our daily walk, or working zealously for the Lord. We must speak from the tree of life and say that God enters into us to be our life. This is the way to minister the word. Anything that is not out of life is from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We need to see this controlling factor.
The only thing that matters in the universe is that God wants to be man’s food. This is the source of everything in our Christian life. All our activities are the result of this. God is in us to be our food and our life. We must see this vision.
We often say that God is life and that He enters into us to be our life. However, because we do not see this vision, we do not speak concerning this in our messages, nor do we help the saints to see this. Those who minister the word must see that the church needs the supply of life, words of life, not the interpretation of doctrines. The ministry of the word is to supply the saints with God as the Spirit of life. The word that is spoken must be spirit and life. This causes the saints to touch God. This is the urgent need in the churches today. The churches are weak because there is a lack in the word of life.
Those who minister the word represent God. This concerns our person. We must be persons who speak for God as His representatives. Since we are God’s representatives, we cannot speak our own words. We should be persons who also contact God and fellowship with Him continually. We should not give a message if we cannot touch God and fellowship with Him. When we give a message, we should fellowship with God. When our condition does not match what we speak, we are not speaking for God. What we speak should minister God; otherwise, we are not speaking for God, and our words are vain and empty.
The messages that we give should not depend on whether the subject is simple or deep. A message that is deep may not necessarily be good. We may consider that we would speak on something that is deep, because others have spoken on regeneration already. This concept needs to be dropped. We can give a simple message on regeneration even if others speak about abiding in the Lord or about regeneration in a deep way. It does not matter whether a message is simple or deep; neither does it matter whether it is new or old. We should have a willingness to speak on the same subject. It may be that a brother spoke on regeneration last week, another brother may speak on regeneration this week, and still another brother may speak on regeneration next week. We may speak on regeneration for several weeks. The more we speak on regeneration, the more the saints will be supplied. We should not be afraid to repeat topics. We do not have to always be looking for new topics. If we are always looking for some new topics, we will be speaking on many strange topics.
Our only concern should be that a message is living, not whether it is simple, deep, new, or old. We can speak the same message in many different ways. If the brothers who minister the word in the church in Taipei give fifty living messages concerning regeneration, the church in Taipei will be enlivened. We should speak messages that are living, not messages that are deep, new, or strange. In order to speak a living message, we must not be at ease and rely on our mind too much. If we want to speak a living message, our spirit must be fresh and living.
Furthermore, instead of stressing logic, we should focus on whether the saints can touch God and life and whether the message is living. Not many people focus on the logic of a message in a meeting. Some saints are not even clear concerning the topic of a message, but they remember what touches them. Hence, we should not focus on presenting a message in a logical way. The Scriptures were written by men who were borne by the Holy Spirit. While the Bible is not illogical, it is not rigidly logical. Nevertheless, the Bible has its logic.
The brothers who minister the word should not quote from too many sources, because this does not help the saints. Quoting from many sources inevitably leads to messages that merely contain knowledge in a way of Bible exposition. We should try to avoid this. An exposition of the Bible should give life. If it does not give life, we should not use it. Whether we give a message in an edification meeting, in a Bible-study meeting, or for fellowship, we should try our best to avoid bringing in too many things. We should not think that it is useful to quote many sources. If we expound the Word, we should do so according to life to meet the need in the meeting. This can be likened to a fruit tree, which has branches, leaves, and fruit. The edible part of a tree is the fruit. The function of the other parts of the tree is to produce the fruit.
There are many words recorded in the Bible, but some of them are branches and leaves that support the things that supply us. They are not the fruit. We cannot eliminate these words, because without them the central words will not survive. This can be compared to cutting off the leaves and branches from a tree but still expecting the tree to grow fruit. The words that are the branches and leaves support the fruit, which supplies life. We should not give the saints “branches and leaves” to eat. Some brothers quote too many sources when they give a message. We must check and be sure that what we quote gives life to the saints. We should not give messages that stir up the saints’ curiosity; rather, we should supply life. The food prepared in a kitchen is to supply people with nutrients. We do not give people branches to eat. It is not a matter of whether something is from the Bible but whether it supplies life. It is useless to give the saints something that is in the Bible if it does not supply life.
It may be difficult for us to receive this word. However, according to my observation, the brothers who minister the word quote too many sources when they give a message. This often causes the saints to only debate about the Bible. Over the years saints have come to me with many questions concerning Bible exposition, but I never answered their questions. I rarely answer questions after I give a message, because most questions lead to debates. The brothers should learn to eat only the fruit, not the branches and leaves.
We need to be delivered from debates. Thus, in order to avoid debates, we should not bring distracting things to the saints. The more distracting things that we bring in, the more debates there will be. We should give only one kind of message, which is a word of life. We should receive only the things that supply us with life from the Word of God. Expositions and word studies should be on our desk, not on the dining table. What we present from the podium must supply life.
Some of the brothers may be offended by this word. As your brother, I must admonish you. If we do not receive this fellowship, we will reap the fruit of our labor in the future. Whatever a person sows, this he will also reap (Gal. 6:7). If we give the brothers and sisters life, we will enjoy the fruit of our labor. It is a small thing for us to suffer, but it is a great matter for the church to suffer loss. May the Lord have mercy on us and cause us to take heed to this matter. May we know only that God in His Son through the Holy Spirit is our life, and may we speak only this word.
We do not want anything other than this word. Just as fish bones are to support the fish and are not for us to eat, some words in the Bible support the words that give life. These words were needed to write the Bible, but we do not eat these words, nor do we give them to the saints to eat. We give the saints only the words that give life. We are foolish to give the saints bones to eat. We should give them meat. We should give the saints only food to eat; otherwise, what we give them will harm them.
The ministry of the word is to minister words that are spirit and life and that cause the saints to touch God. These words focus on God as man’s life. Therefore, we must learn to contact God and fellowship with Him so that our words are God’s utterance, and we represent God. When we give a message, we should not look for deep, new, or strange material. A message should be living. It does not matter whether the content is deep, simple, old, or new. When we speak, we must follow the inspiration of the Spirit and not care about being logical. We should follow the impression in our spirit and not care about being thorough or complete. Logic does not give people life. The Spirit enlivens people and gives them life. The brothers who minister the word truly need to look to the Lord, because this is a great lack among us.
Many problems among us cannot be solved at this time, because we are short of the words of life. May the Lord have mercy on us, and may we know only to give messages concerning the Triune God as our life. May we continually learn, experience, and grow in this so that we supply the saints with words of wisdom. We may speak on many topics but give only one message. Then the church will be glorious.
