Acts 6:4.
But we will continue steadfastly in prayer, and in the ministry of the word.
We will continue steadfastly in prayer, and in the ministry of the word.
The subject that we would like to fellowship about this morning is such a broad subject that it is impossible to cover within an hour or so. So, what we will do is simply give a few points. We do look to the Lord that, through the Holy Spirit, these points may be developed and worked out gradually in our lives.
Here we find the apostles saying, “We will give ourselves up to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
In the early days, when the Lord began to add many to the church in Jerusalem, the apostles were responsible for everything in the church. They had not only to pray and minister God’s word, but they had to serve tables, look after the needs of the widows, and attend to many other affairs of the church.
Because of this, the church suffered, and the apostles suffered too. The word of God did not increase as it should, and there began to be murmurings, even among the believers.
Fortunately, the apostles realized the situation. It was not God’s will that the apostles should be responsible for everything in the church. It is the will of God that His people should come together and work together for the building up of the body of Christ.
So the apostles suggested that some people should be chosen from among them to take care of the tables, so that they might devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. When this was done, the word greatly increased. Many believed in the Lord, and even many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
So we find that the main functions of the apostles were prayer and the ministry of the word.
We are not all apostles, but we would like to broaden the application. We are not speaking this morning only concerning the apostles—those especially called by God to give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. We would like to include all in the church who are raised up by God, sent by God, as it were, to help in the building up of the body of Christ.
Whether you are an apostle—as Ephesians 4 says, God has given to the church some apostles, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints—or whether you may be an elder or a deacon, one manifested by the Holy Spirit in the church to help in the building up of the body of Christ, this applies to you.
Or you may not be in any of these categories, and yet you may be raised up by God to be a leader among the brothers or among the sisters. You may be raised up by God to exhort, encourage, or help. In other words, we would like to include all who are in any way related to the ministry of God’s word.
Our application is very broad. It does not mean that because you minister the word, you are an apostle. It does not mean that because you minister the word, you are a teacher. It does not mean that you minister the word because you are a shepherd, an elder, or a deacon.
It simply means that we would like to be before the Lord as to how to minister the word of God for the building up of His body. Nothing builds up the body of Christ like the ministry of God’s word. It is by the word of grace that the church is being built. If it pleases God, we would like to have a part in it.
So I hope that brothers and sisters will remember this: we are applying it in a very broad sense, so that all of us may have a part in it, if it pleases the Lord.
We would like to approach this matter in three different areas:
To minister the word, of course, we have to know what the word is. First, the word.
We need to minister God’s word. Now, what is the word? What is the word that we are to minister?
First of all, the word means logos: the expression of thought. It embodies a conception or an idea—a saying, a sentiment, a speech, a discourse; something that has been spoken.
God’s word is that which God has spoken. How we do thank God that He is a God who speaks. If God did not speak, we would never have His word. Without His word, we would never know His thought, His will, His purpose, what He wants to do, or what He is doing. But our God is a God who speaks.
In Hebrews 1:1, it is said:
God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners,
hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in His Son.
God does speak. He has been speaking. In former days He spoke to our fathers in the prophets. He spoke in many ways and in many parts.
When God spoke, He spoke through the prophets. It is true that sometimes God sent His words through angels, but that was not the usual way. The normal way of His speaking was through men of God, through the prophets.
He spoke in many ways and in many parts. Sometimes He spoke in plain words and plain statements, but sometimes He spoke in parables. Sometimes He spoke through history; sometimes through an event or an action. He spoke in many ways.
And He spoke in many parts. In other words, in the old age, when God spoke through His prophets, He did not speak the whole counsel of God. It was in pieces and bits, precept upon precept, line upon line. It was never the complete, perfect word of God, but fragments of the word of God.
That is why we need all the words of God that He spoke through the prophets, not merely one prophet while overlooking another. In former days, He spoke in the prophets in many ways and in many parts.
But at the end of these days, He has spoken in the person of the Son. Here you find a great difference. When He spoke to the prophets, He gave His word to the prophets. But when He spoke in the person of the Son, the Son is the Word.
In other words, God did not merely give some word to the Son. Whatever the Son says is the word of God.
Because He spoke in the prophets, we have the written word of the Old Testament. Because He has spoken in the person of the Son, we have the New Testament—not only that which our Lord Jesus spoke while He was on earth, but also that which the Spirit continued to speak through the apostles and prophets.
In John 16:13, the Lord Jesus said:
Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth:
for He shall not speak from Himself; but what things soever He shall hear, these shall He speak:
and He shall declare unto you the things that are to come.
When the Spirit of truth comes, He will not only lead us into all the truth, but He will speak what He has heard and announce to us that which is coming. Because of what our Lord Jesus spoke while He was on earth, and because the Spirit of God continued to speak in the apostles and prophets, we have the New Testament.
So, brothers and sisters, what is the word? The word is that which God has spoken. The word is the divine word, that which has been put down, preserved, and handed down to us. Here we have the sacred writings.
In 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Paul reminds Timothy that from a child he had known the sacred writings:
Which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness:
that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.
Here we have the sacred writings, the written word of God. Every Scripture is divinely inspired. Every Scripture is God-breathed. Every Scripture is the word of God.
Because it is the word of God, it is given to us to make us wise unto salvation. It serves the purpose of teaching, conviction, correction, and instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, mature, perfected, and fully equipped for every good work of God—that is, to do the will of God.
How important is God’s word. How we thank God that He has given us His word, and that His word is preserved in the Holy Scriptures. By studying the Holy Scriptures, we may have His word and be equipped to do His will.
For this reason, we are exhorted in Colossians 3:16 to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. If God has given us His word, surely we shall love His word and let His word dwell in us richly.
We are also exhorted in 2 Timothy 2:15 to handle aright the word of truth. We must never play with the word of God or be careless about the word of truth. The word of truth must be rightly divided; it must be cut in a straight line.
We are also told that it is by the word of grace that we are built up, that we may have a part in the inheritance reserved for those who are sanctified.
So, first of all, the word is that which God has spoken in the prophets, in the person of the Son, and by the Holy Spirit; and it is preserved in the Holy Scriptures. This is the word that we are to minister.
We are not to minister man’s words, however eloquent or noble they may be. We ought to minister the word of God. Therefore, we need to be acquainted with His word. We need to have His word dwell in our hearts, abiding in us and living in us, before we can minister His word.
But the word is more than that. As we read the Scriptures, we find that “the Word” is the title of a Person. The Word is the title of the Son of God.
In John 1:1, we find:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The word is not only that which God has spoken—a speech or a truth—but the Word is a Person. The Son of God is the Word of God. The Word is not only the written word; the Word is the living Word. Our Lord Jesus is the living Word. He is God’s Word to us.
Unless we see the living Word, we will never be able to understand the written word. Why? Because the living Word is the key to the written word. If all we know is the written word, it is letters to us. The letter kills; it is the Spirit that gives life. And the Spirit is none other than the living Word.
Dear brothers and sisters, as we study the word of God, we are not merely touching something that has been spoken and written. When we study the word of God, we must touch the One who is in the word of God, behind the word of God, and beyond the word of God. We must touch Christ.
If we do not touch the Son, if we do not touch the living Word, then even though we are fully acquainted with the written word of God, remember: it spells death; it does not produce life.
The scribes and Pharisees in the days of Christ were fully acquainted with the written word. I believe that very few today surpass them in their knowledge of the written word. They studied the word so diligently that they did not need a concordance.
When Herod called the scribes and Pharisees together and asked where Christ would be born according to the Scriptures, they did not ask for time to search the library. They could answer at once, quoting from the minor prophets that the King would be born in Bethlehem.
They knew the Scriptures, but they did not know Christ. Because they did not know Christ, their knowledge of Scripture was death knowledge. They could not minister life to people; they ministered death to people.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, when we touch the word of God, it is not enough merely to touch the letter, however accurate, sound, scriptural, orthodox, or fundamental it may be. If it remains only the letter, it works death. You minister death when you minister the word merely as letter.
But if you can touch Christ, if you can see Christ in the word, you will find every page of Scripture opened up. If you do not see Christ, everything will be sealed. It is a sealed book.
You may read history, and it is merely history. You may read statutes, ordinances, or types, and they are merely types and ordinances. You may read biographies, laws, commandments, practices, or predictions of future events, and they remain nothing more than these things. The whole Scripture is a sealed book until the day you meet the Lord Jesus.
I remember very vividly that before I met the Lord Jesus, I read the Scriptures because I was brought up in a Christian family. During the time when I was really seeking salvation, I read the Bible every day, but it was a sealed book to me. I simply could not understand it. It did not speak to me.
I was reading history, ethics, and teachings. But then, on July 30, 1930, in the afternoon, the Lord met me and I met the Lord. I went back to my room, opened the Bible, and it was the first chapter of 2 Peter. As I read, every word spoke to me. It was living to me. God was speaking to me through His word. It was no longer dead; it was life.
Brothers and sisters, is that not true? Unless you know the Lord Jesus, you will never be able to know His word.
Anything that happens in the beginning of your Christian life must be continued throughout your Christian life. It is not merely that once upon a time in history you met the Lord Jesus, and therefore the word was opened to you. Every time you open the word of God, you have to meet the Lord.
If you do not meet the Lord, if you merely meet the written word and do not meet the living Word, dear brothers and sisters, there is no ministry of the word.
In John 5, our Lord Jesus said:
Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life;
and these are they which bear witness of Me;
and ye will not come to Me, that ye may have life.
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them there is eternal life. That is true. But how are you going to receive the eternal life in the Scriptures? You have to come to the Lord, because it is Christ of whom the Scriptures bear witness.
On the day of the resurrection, in Luke 24, two disciples were so downhearted that they left Jerusalem and walked toward Emmaus. They thought everything was finished and hopeless. Then a man came and walked with them, asking why they were sad.
They said, “Do You not know what has happened in Jerusalem? The One whom we thought was the Messiah was crucified and put away.” Then the Lord began to speak to them. He opened the Scriptures to them from the law and the prophets, showing them the things concerning Himself. As the Lord spoke, how their hearts burned within them.
When they returned to Jerusalem, the Lord appeared to them and opened the Scriptures again—from Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms. That is the Old Testament. He opened to them everything that concerned Himself, and immediately all the Scriptures became alive.
From then on, they had a message to deliver. The word is not only that which God spoke in the past and which has been kept in writing in the Book. The Word is Christ. It is the living Word. Unless we know Christ and see Christ in the word, we are not able to minister God’s word in life.
But there is more. It must be the written word—nothing apart from the written word, and nothing added to the written word. It must also be the living Word. But, dear brothers and sisters, if we want to minister the word, then logos must become rhema.
In other words, that which God has spoken once must be spoken to you personally again. Unless this happens, there is no ministry of the word.
In Ephesians 6:17, we read:
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The word used there is not logos, the objective truth. The word there is rhema, the subjective word. What is the sword of the Spirit? What is that which the Holy Spirit can use to perform, accomplish, cut, convict, convince, and fulfill? It is the word of God—not simply in the sense of objective truth, or historical words spoken two or three thousand years ago.
What the Spirit can use is the word that He speaks to you now, again. That is rhema.
We may take Romans 6 and study it. We may consult reference books, gather interpretations, read biographies, and collect stories of how God’s people in the past entered into Romans 6. Out of such research, we may gain a very accurate interpretation, supported by the experiences of others, and then go out to deliver the word.
But you find it is dead. It does not work. It may be the word of God, the most accurate interpretation, supported by many experiences of other people, but so far as you are concerned, it is strange to you. It is merely a theory, something completely objective. You have no personal experience of it. God has not spoken to you personally and intimately, so that you have experienced the power of His word yourself.
Unless this happens, the word and you are far apart. You may relate it, but you relate it as someone else’s past history or experience. It is not real to you. There is no ring of truth in it. It is not a reality until that which God has spoken in the past begins to be spoken to you personally.
When that happens, brothers and sisters, you have the word to minister.
Do not think that ministering the word of God is such a simple matter. It is not merely spending time reading the Scriptures, attending a school, studying commentaries, possessing a clever mind, or having eloquence. No, brothers and sisters.
The word, first of all, must be the written word. Secondly, it must be the living Word. Thirdly, it must be not merely logos, but rhema. God must speak to you again by His Spirit, to your spirit. Deep down in your spirit, you hear Him speaking to you. It becomes very personal. That is ministry of the word.
After we have the word, the next question is: How do we minister God’s word? There may be some repetition, but I think that in the ministry of the word there are four essential factors, four ingredients. You cannot lack any of them.
First, in the ministry of the word, there must be revelation.
I would like to quote something our dear brother Watchman Nee said about the ministry of God’s word. There is a book called The Ministry of God’s Word. It is a very thick book, and I hope you will go into it because it is a very helpful book.
The starting point of the ministry of the word is revelation. Ministry, therefore, is based upon our getting a word of God. We have touched Christ, and we want to serve the church with the Christ we know. For this, we need to have a revelation each time we serve. Ministry requires one seeing something and, in freshness, presenting this thing to the church.
Each time I minister, I need to receive special revelation for the occasion. Each revelation brings in service. Each revelation gives a special supply. Each revelation constitutes a ministry. What is meant by revelation? It means we see something in Christ. The Bible is full of Christ, and revelation shows us what is in Him.
Whatever is seen in revelation is the newest thing in the world, and it is full of life and power. Revelation is new, and it makes all things new too. Revelation not only makes the letter living, the old new, and the objective subjective; it likewise turns the subjective into a new thing. The wonder of revelation lies here: that it is not teaching. You have touched the living reality.
We ought to recognize two different realms. One is that of doctrine, which we can learn in school, through textbooks and instruction. The other is that of revelation. The first can be obtained with a little effort, cleverness, and eloquence. The second is beyond human ability.
We must see God. If God withholds His revelation, if God does not speak, nothing can be forced out. With revelation, there is ministry; without it, there is no ministry.
These words are very true—fortunately or unfortunately, they are very true. You can minister teaching as doctrine, or you can minister Christ as revelation.
A prophetic ministry demands revelation. It is a ministry by revelation. I am not thinking now of revelation extra to the Scriptures—no—but within the revelation already given. And God knows it is big enough.
The Holy Spirit still moves to reveal what eye has not seen and ear has not heard. That is the wonder of life in the Spirit. It is a life of constant new discovery. Everything is full of surprise and wonder.
In order to minister God’s word, we must have revelation. God has to open our spirit and let us see something—see something in the word, see something that is in Christ. When we see something, or see Christ as that something, then we have something to minister to God’s people.
Otherwise, it will be merely ministering from our brain to other people’s minds. It is not, in a strict sense, the ministry of God’s word.
In one sense, revelation is sovereign. If God does not reveal, no matter what you do, you cannot produce it. But thank God, it is the good pleasure of our heavenly Father to reveal. Revelation is sovereign in this sense: He wants to reveal.
That is why Paul could pray for the church in Ephesus that God would grant them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him. In one sense, we are helpless; in another sense, we are full of hope. Why? Because God loves to reveal His Son. If we ask, if we go to Him and ask Him to give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation, He will give it.
Perhaps we think that revelation must always be a third-heaven experience—an experience of paradise, hearing things that cannot be uttered. But what use is such a revelation if you cannot speak of it?
We do not need to seek tremendous revelations. We have to accept smaller revelations too. Do not go after some tremendous, great revelation. If God should give that, thank God for it. But sometimes we are not able to contain such revelation, and because of the smallness of our vessel, God can only give us a little revelation. How thankful we should be if He does.
First of all, remember that in the ministry of God’s word there must be revelation.
Second, there must be understanding.
When God gives revelation, it is like a light from heaven that flashes within your spirit. Deep down in your spirit, you see a light. But it passes very quickly. Unless it enters into your understanding, you are not able to share it with other people.
Something wonderful has happened in your spirit, and yet your understanding—your mind—may be completely in the dark. There is no way to explain it or share it with other people. More than that, because it is revelation in your spirit without the cooperation of your understanding, that revelation may soon pass away. You will forget it.
That is why Paul prayed in Ephesians 1 not only that God would give the spirit of wisdom and revelation, but that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened, so that they might know the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe.
When we receive a revelation in our spirit, it needs to be interpreted by the eyes of the heart—that is, by our mind and understanding.
It is like taking a photograph. You open the lens, and an impression is made on the film. It is there, but nobody can see it. If you show undeveloped film to someone, nobody can see the picture. Furthermore, it may disappear.
But after an impression is made upon the film, you need to go into a darkroom and develop it. When it has been developed and translated into a black-and-white or color picture, you preserve the picture and can show it to other people. Everybody can enjoy it. That is understanding.
In the ministry of God’s word, many human elements are involved. It is true that it has to originate with God; He has to reveal. But if your mind is dull, if your mind is not renewed, you will lose the revelation, the light that He gave you, and you will never be able to share it with other people.
It may do something good within you. It is like speaking in tongues. In your spirit you are speaking of the deep things of God, and your spirit is edified, but you do not understand, and nobody understands. Because you do not understand, it goes away. You cannot recover it; it is gone.
But if your understanding is opened, then whatever has been revealed is preserved and understood. Because it is understood, you are able to share it with other people. That is to minister the word of God.
Some people receive revelation. Within them they are very full, but when they stand up and try to say something, nobody understands. Why? Because their understanding is dark.
It is very important that our understanding be renewed. In Romans 12, Paul beseeches us by the mercies of God to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service. Then he says not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we may prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.
We need an understanding consecrated to God. We need continually to present ourselves before the Lord. As we present ourselves as a living sacrifice, our mind is renewed, and we are able to understand what the Lord is trying to say to us.
Third, there must be burden. Usually, if you receive a revelation and also understand, you will have a burden.
No one can minister the word of God if he does not have a burden. If you minister without a burden, it is hollow; it is not real. It comes from your mind, not from your heart. The heavier the burden, the better the ministry of the word.
There is a difference between burden and weight. We should not have weights within us, but we should have burdens.
In Hebrews 12, if you want to run a race, you have to lay aside every weight. If there is weight there, it slows you down until you are unable to run further.
Brothers and sisters, if you have weights within you—anxieties, cares of this life, problems, and all these things upon you—you may try to minister, but you are only dragging your feet. It is too heavy. You cannot do it.
If you want to minister the word, you have to be free from all weights. Before you minister, you have to lay aside every weight. At the time you minister, you should be as free as a bird—you can fly. Everything is laid aside.
If you are still conscious of all your cares, weights, and concerns, brothers and sisters, you cannot minister. You have to be free. We all have weights, but before you minister, you have to lay them aside. Whether you take them up afterward or not, I do not know, but at least when you bring your ministry, those weights have to be set aside.
But burden is different. Burden is that which is created within your spirit by God. When He speaks to you, when He reveals His heart to you, and your understanding receives it, immediately it becomes a burden in your heart. Unless you discharge the burden, you will be crushed.
You have to discharge it, and the way to discharge the burden is through the ministry of the word. That is what the prophets did in the past. God gave them a burden, and unless they spoke out, they could not bear it any longer.
In Jeremiah 20:7-9, we read:
O Lord, Thou hast persuaded me, and I was persuaded;
Thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed:
I am become a laughing-stock all the day, every one mocketh me.
For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, Violence and destruction!
because the word of the Lord is made a reproach unto me, and a derision, all the day.
And if I say, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name,
then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with forbearing, and I cannot contain.
That is burden. Do not speak if you do not have a burden. But if you have a burden, the only way to discharge that burden is by speaking.
Sometimes a burden comes from outside. As you move among God’s people and see things, if you are in constant contact with God, you will see things as God sees them. What you see or hear will become a burden in your heart.
Sometimes a burden comes from within. You may not have been among God’s people, but you have been waiting upon the Lord and reading His word. A revelation, an opening up, a light—something of Christ—is revealed to you. When that revelation comes and you understand it, it creates a burden.
Burden can come from outside or from within, but remember: whether it comes from outside or within, it has to be from the Lord. It is not enough to be naturally sympathetic, to see things, become emotionally involved, and feel compelled to speak.
You have to see things with God’s eyes, hear things with God’s ears, and touch things with God’s heart. Only in that sense is a real burden created. Out of such a burden, God will give you words to discharge the burden.
Fourth, there must be utterance.
When God gives us revelation, and in our mind we begin to understand it, and in our heart we bear the burden, then we need to discharge that burden. We need to interpret our revelation with words. This is where words become very important.
Even Paul, though he was a very eloquent person, asked the believers in Ephesus to pray for him that God might give him utterance, that he might open his mouth with boldness to make known the mystery of God.
You cannot explain spiritual things with words merely given by man. In 1 Corinthians 2, we find that spiritual things must be explained with spiritual words—not words taught by men, but words taught by the Holy Spirit.
That is why, when you truly have a burden, understand something in your mind, and have revelation within you, you need to ask the Lord to give you words. First, ask Him to give you a few key words.
Do not begin by thinking of the whole message, how you will present the whole message in many words. No. First, ask the Lord to give you a few words—key words.
In China, we have a proverb. When you draw a dragon, you leave the eye until the end. But when you put in the eye, the whole dragon becomes alive. These words are like that.
You may have a whole concept, a whole thought, a whole revelation, and a whole burden before you. But you need a few words to quicken the whole thing and make it living. A few words—that is what you need.
People may say that you need catching words or catching phrases, but we are not thinking in terms of human eloquence. We are thinking of God-given words. Ask the Lord to give you a few key words, and then with those key words you can develop the whole message.
People may forget what you say in an hour, but they will not forget those few words. These few words are given by God. They will be planted, germinated, and developed in the lives of those who hear what you have ministered. So we really need to ask the Lord to give us utterance.
Finally, but not least, is the minister.
The ministry of the word is very different from making a speech, delivering an address, or giving a lecture in any other area. In what sense is it different?
Suppose you are a professor in a college. You can give a lecture on a subject with which you are fully acquainted, and you can successfully give that lecture because you know the subject. It may have absolutely nothing to do with your person. You may live a very dissipated life and yet give a lecture on the highest ethics.
But in the ministry of the word, this is impossible. Why? Because in the ministry of the word, the one who ministers is intimately involved in the ministry.
I would like to read something that T. Austin-Sparks says:
It is the absolute identity of the vessel with the vessel’s ministry. Prophetic ministry is not something that you can take up; it is something that you are. No academy can make you a prophet. My point is this: the identity of the vessel with his ministry is the very heart of divine vocation.
A man is called to represent the thought of God, to represent it in what he is, not in something that he takes up as a form or line of ministry, not in something that he does. The vessel itself is the ministry, and you cannot divide between the two.
I think that is excellent. The vessel is the ministry. It is not something that you pick up; it is something that you are.
There is a difference between New Testament ministry and Old Testament ministry, between new-covenant ministry and old-covenant ministry. In the Old Testament, the vessel was separated from the ministry. God’s word came to a prophet, and the condition of that prophet as a person was not so intimately involved.
God’s word came to the prophet objectively. God’s word could come even upon an ass, because the vessel had little to do with the ministry. God could speak through an ass. That was Old Testament prophecy and Old Testament ministry.
But New Testament ministry is different. Why? Because New Testament ministry is patterned after Christ. So far as Christ is concerned, He is the Word. He and the Word are identical. The Word became flesh.
In our case, it is just the opposite: first the flesh, and then comes the word. Because of this, the flesh must be dealt with so that we may be suitable for the word and fitted for the word.
Brokenness is something that must happen in the life of a minister of the word. His flesh has to be dealt with in every area. The more broken a vessel is, the better the word will come forth.
In New Testament ministry, the flesh becomes the word. Because of this, it does not arrive at what Christ is. Christ is the Word; the Word became flesh, and it is perfect. But this human vessel is so imperfect. There needs to be much dealing so that some of God may become some word.
Dear brothers and sisters, remember one thing: to minister the word is not to give a lecture or a speech. To minister the word is to give yourself. And in giving yourself, it is giving Christ to people. That is the ministry of the word.
May the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Our heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou shouldst ever commit Thy word to Thy people. Thou knowest how unfitted we are, how unworthy we are, how impossible we are.
And yet we praise and thank Thee that Thou dost love to reveal Thyself to us. Thou dost love to make us understand. Thou dost love to burden us with Thy burden. Thou dost love to give us words that we may speak for Thee.
O Father, what a privilege, what an honor it is. We tremble before Thee, and we pray that we may not take it lightly.