Will you please turn to a few portions of Scripture?
But we will continue stedfastly in prayer, and in the ministry of the word.
Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you?
Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men;
being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh.
And such confidence have we through Christ toward God:
not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God;
who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.
Let us pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do come in the name of Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We do praise and thank Thee, knowing that where that name is, there is Thy presence. So we do realize that we are in Thy presence.
Lord, we do pray that Thou wilt give us the right attitude and the right spirit as we come before Thee. We just desire that we may really behold Thy face and see the glory of the Lord in the face of Jesus Christ.
And Lord, we ask Thee that Thou, this morning, wilt release Thy word and do Thy work in our midst, that Thou mayest be glorified. We do acknowledge that without Thee we can do nothing, and we will not do anything.
But Lord, we do commit this time into Thy hands, both the speaker and the hearers together. We pray that Thou wilt anoint us with Thy Spirit and bring us into that reality that Thou art after. And to Thee be the praise and the glory forever and ever. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Again, we do want to thank the Lord for bringing us together.
The burden that we have for this time is actually threefold: the ministers, the Word, and the ministry of the Word. That is, people who handle the Word of God, study the Word of God, and minister the Word of God to God’s people.
Now, my part is the last one: the ministry of the Word. Of course, we know that before we can touch upon this matter of the ministry of the Word, there are really two prerequisites. One is the ministers, and the other is the study of the Word.
We find in the Word of God, as we read in 2 Timothy 2:15, that we are to present ourselves approved unto God and then handle the Word of God aright. In other words, to minister the Word of God, the person who ministers is fundamental and basic to the ministry.
Now, we know that in Christianity today, we try to produce the ministry of the Word. We know there is a tremendous need everywhere. Yet, in order to produce the ministry of the Word, somehow we neglect the ministers of the Word.
In other words, we put more emphasis on technique than on character, more on the work to be done than on the person who is to do that work. I think this is the most unfortunate thing that is happening today.
With God, we find that His emphasis is always on the person more than the work that person is to undertake. He is more interested in building character than in giving us the technique of doing things.
We must be approved of God as men and women approved of God before we can handle the Word of God.
Now, of course, to minister the Word of God, first of all, you have to be saved. If a person is not saved and handles the Word of God, how disastrous it will be. And unfortunately, we find that this is true.
Secondly, of course, you need to be consecrated. Present your body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. This is your reasonable service. A person who is saved and yet is not consecrated—that is, has not presented himself to God—is not qualified to minister His Word.
Thirdly, of course, he has to be sanctified. To consecrate is our responsibility; to sanctify is His work. He has to set us apart for that specific purpose.
Then, fourthly, we have to be broken. An unbroken vessel, a man of the flesh, is not qualified to minister God’s Word.
Finally, we have to be anointed. Without the anointing of the Holy Spirit, all we minister will be letter that kills. It is only the Spirit that gives life.
Now, our two brothers are dealing with these areas, so I just want to underline this and say: when we talk about the ministry of the Word, we have to remember that the ministers—those who minister the Word of God—are of fundamental importance.
Secondly, if we want to minister the Word of God, we have to know the Word of God. If we do not know the Word of God, how can we minister?
Again, unfortunately, we find that people today can minister without knowing the Word of God. We can talk about politics, economics, world situations, and social situations, and try to quote one or two verses from Scripture. Of course, you can find Scriptures for every occasion if you want to use them out of context. But it does not nourish and build up the church.
We need to study the Word of God. Paul’s word to Timothy is that from childhood he was acquainted with the sacred writings, which were able to make him wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
We need to study the Word of God, not just read it. Study it; meditate upon it; allow the Word of God to work in our lives. Look to the Holy Spirit. Now, this is what our brother will be dealing with, so it is not my part. But I have to say that without these two parts, we are not able even to touch the third part: the ministry of the Word.
In Acts 6, we find the apostles saying:
But we will continue stedfastly in prayer, and in the ministry of the word.
What do they mean when they say, “We will give ourselves to the ministry of the Word”? What is the ministry of the Word?
Brothers and sisters, I suppose you have already read this book. This is one of the assignments. I am not going to embarrass anyone, but I do hope that everybody has read it. I do believe that if you have read it, you do not need to come, actually.
But just to remind you: what is the ministry of the Word? I would like to read something here from page 26 of The Ministry of God’s Word.
Since the Word of God is full of the human element, its delivery must be by human beings. God can speak directly from heaven, but people will say, “It thunders.” So God has to use human beings to deliver His Word, that we may understand.
God does not enlist a tape recorder, thunder and lightning, or angels to proclaim His Word. Rather, He uses men to propagate it, and not as a machine, but as an integral part of the Word.
For His Word, He does not ask men to merely send out the voice He gives. His Word needs to pass through man’s spirit, thought, feeling, and understanding until it becomes that man’s word. Only then may it be delivered. This is called the ministry of the Word.
Now, God is using man to minister His Word, but even so, He does not use men merely as machines. He wants men to be an integral part of His Word—not just a voice, but those who are involved very deeply in His Word.
The Word of God has to enter into the spirit of man—not only his spirit, but even his thought; not only his thought, but even his feelings and understanding. Then, after that, it is to be delivered. Now, this is the ministry of the Word.
Receiving with one hand and handing out with the other hand is not considered to be the ministry of the Word. We hear something, we read something, and then we just turn around and pass it on. Now, this is not the ministry of the Word.
If so, it would be similar to a sound machine. No, God does not want us to announce His Word mechanically. He puts His Word in us that we may meditate on it, feel after it, be afflicted by it, or rejoice in it before the Word is released by us.
There is an intimate relationship between God’s Word and us. After that intimate relationship has been established, then it is time to deliver His Word.
On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying:
If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water.
When I am thirsty, I may go to the Lord Jesus and drink of Him. But if I meet others in need, do I simply pour out a cup to them? No. The Lord indicates that whoever drinks of Him shall find the water in the deepest part of his being, and out of his depths the living water shall flow. This constitutes the ministry of the Word.
The Word comes into us, into the very depths of our being, and then out of the belly—that is, out of the depth of our being—it flows out again, but as rivers of living water. This is the ministry of the Word.
The Word of God first enters a person; then, out of his depths, it flows to others. Such a turning becomes the ministry of the Word. It does not depend on how many Scripture verses we can recite to others, nor on how many sermons we can give. Rather, it is the turning of the living water deep down within us. Such a process demands a costly price.
Sometimes the living water fails to flow out after it has flowed in. At other times, it ceases to be living after it has entered in. At still other times, it may issue forth mingled with many impure things of the heart. Under all these circumstances, the ministry of the Word is arrested.
You know, the Word comes into us, and sometimes our condition is such that it cannot flow out. Or it can flow out only in a very small measure. Or sometimes it flows out mixed with all impurities—our own thoughts, our own temperament, our own character, and so forth. That will corrupt the ministry of the Word.
So how important it is that the minister has to be dealt with by the Spirit of God.
The ministry of the Word is not the mere delivering of sermons we memorize. We can prepare fifty-two sermons, and that will enable us to go through the whole year—not only the whole year, but perhaps the whole group.
For the ministry of the Word is not the mere delivery of sermons we memorize. We must allow the Word to come to us, to drill and to grind us, until it flows out with our personal elements in it and yet is not spoiled or corrupted in the least. It is a great event.
The Lord wishes to use us as a channel of living water. The very depth of our being is the channel for the living water to flow freely from us. We must be right before God; otherwise, we will hinder His Word.
True preaching never brings in cleverness or eloquence. It depends on whether we perfect or corrupt the Word of God as it passes through us and mingles with our personal makeup. The great problem is that much living water ceases to be living after it flows through man.
How extremely necessary, therefore, is the discipline of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Should anyone fail to see the necessity of having himself dealt with by God, fail to see how his habits, temperament, and life need to be pruned and refined, he is of no use to the Word of God.
How very far from the truth it would be if we should accept eloquence and cleverness as the prerequisites of a minister of the Word. The world looks for cleverness and eloquence, but this is not what the Lord is looking for in people who handle His Word.
The Word of God comes to you. You are satisfied as it passes through you, yet you are at the same time being tried, drilled, ground, and dealt with by the Word. You undergo much affliction and pay some costly price until, gradually, you begin to be clear regarding that Word.
In this manner, God’s Word is being increased in you. Word after word and line after line are knit and woven into you. The time arrives for its delivery. It issues forth not only with words but also with the Spirit. The water remains pure, being wholly of God.
Your words do not lessen but rather increase the perfectness of the Word. You do not diminish but instead add to His holiness. You, as a person, have come forth; so also has the living water. You are speaking, but God is speaking too. This, then, is the ministry of the Word.
The ministry of the Word is not just that you are speaking, however clever or eloquent you may be. It is when you are speaking that God is speaking. Brothers and sisters, often we find that we are speaking, but God is silent. At such times, we know we are not ministering the Word of God.
In the ministry of the Word, two streams, instead of one, seem to flow, and they flow together. It is the consequence of the working of the Holy Spirit within us, as well as His discipline through the arrangements of our environment.
We become channels of living water only after the Holy Spirit has succeeded in breaking and grinding us down. Our outward man needs this breaking by God. He needs drastic and thorough dealings, whereupon our spirit may begin to breathe freely, the Holy Spirit being freed within us, and the Word of God may commence to flow from us.
Never forget what the ministry of the Word is: it is the outflowing of the Spirit of God in man, as well as in the Word.
I think that explains pretty clearly what the ministry of the Word is.
Now the apostles said, “We will give ourselves up to the ministry of the Word.” What did they mean by it? We have to go to the book of Acts to find out how they gave themselves to the ministry of the Word and what the ministry of the Word meant to them.
Were they the rabbis of a new system? We find scribes and Pharisees who ministered the Word of God in the Old Testament. Here we find these apostles raised up by God to be ministers of the Word of God. Were they just new rabbis of a new system?
How did they handle the Word of God? Did they handle it in the same way as the scribes and the Pharisees? The scribes and the Pharisees interpreted the Old Testament according to the best tradition they had.
Here these apostles came forward. What Word of God did they have in their hands? They did not have the New Testament that we have today; it had not yet been written. They only had the Old Testament in their hands. So how did they minister?
If you read the book of Acts, you will find that the way they ministered the Word of God was that they ministered Christ. They took hold of the Old Testament and interpreted it with Christ.
The Old Testament was no longer just history to them, no longer just prophecy, no longer just types. The Old Testament became living and found its fulfillment in a living Person.
So when they ministered the Word of God, they interpreted the Old Testament with Christ. It was Christ whom they knew. They knew Him intimately.
They ministered not only what they had heard from Christ Himself, and what the Holy Spirit brought to their remembrance, but they actually ministered Christ. They ministered what Christ had told them, what the Holy Spirit continued to reveal to them of Christ, and the whole Old Testament in their hands.
Now, this is the way they ministered the Word of God. Christ to them was the living Word.
For this reason, you find that when they ministered, they ministered with authority—not like the scribes and the Pharisees. The scribes and Pharisees could take hold of the Old Testament and interpret it according to their best tradition, but they handled the letter of the Word, and they killed.
But here you find the apostles. When they ministered the Word of God, when they preached Christ, when they handled the Old Testament, when they related it to the people through what Christ had said and what the Holy Spirit had revealed to them, it was all centered upon a Person.
They were not just touching a letter; they were touching the Spirit. And that Spirit is the living Word, the Person of our Lord Jesus.
Because it is the Person, you find that it is living, dynamic, transforming, and full of authority and power. They ministered Christ in the Word, or they ministered the Word in Christ. You cannot separate the Word and Christ; they are one. This is the New Testament ministry of the Word.
Whether it is the Old Testament or the New Testament—especially the Old Testament—if we try to minister the Word and it is not centered upon Christ, does not find its fulfillment in Christ, or does not impart Christ to people, we are not ministering the Word of God today.
To minister the Word of God is a great honor. Think of it: God will use man to be His mouthpiece, to be His postman. What an honor that must be.
But, of course, it is a very serious matter too. It is not something that we can take lightly.
Even in Old Testament times, Hebrews 1 tells us that in former days God spoke to the fathers in many portions and in many ways in the prophets. In the Old Testament, God raised up prophets to speak to the fathers.
These prophets, with a few exceptions, were holy men of God. You have Balaam and King Saul, who prophesied, but those are exceptions.
Even in Old Testament times, when God raised up prophets to use them as His voice, the ministry of the Word was mainly objective. In other words, the personalities, temperaments, and characters of the prophets were not so vitally involved, because the Word of God came to them.
But still, you find persons like Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and these prophets. They were holy men of God, moved by the Spirit. They were God’s spokesmen.
Even in Old Testament times, you find how much these true prophets were involved with the Word of God, how much they suffered for the Word of God, and sometimes how they had to act out the Word of God in a way that probably today we would not do. But they did it in obedience to the Word of God.
In Ezekiel 33, you find that the prophets were the watchmen whom God raised up in the nation of Israel and Judah. God set them up as watchmen and said, in effect, “If you do not warn the people of their wickedness and these people die, their blood is upon you. But if you warn them and they do not repent, then you are free of their blood.”
You find that it is a tremendous responsibility, even with the Old Testament prophet. They had to deliver the Word of God carefully, wholly, without trying to adulterate it, alter it, soften it, or take away its edge. Whatever the Word of God came to them to say, they delivered it as it was.
It was not an easy task.
In the Old Testament there were also many false prophets. If you read Jeremiah 14:14:
And the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake I unto them: they prophesy unto you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their own heart.
We find that there were many false prophets. They falsified the Word of God. God had not spoken to them, God had not sent them, and they saw false visions from their imagination. They tried to please the people, to ease the weak consciences of the people, and to obtain benefit from it.
These false prophets were an abomination to God.
If this was the case in the Old Testament time, how much more serious it must be in New Testament times for us who handle the Word of God.
Brothers and sisters, those who minister the Word of God are God’s spokesmen. They do not speak for themselves; they speak for God. When they speak, it is as it were the oracle of God.
Because of this, do you think we can speak out of ourselves? If God has not revealed to us, if God has not spoken to us, if God has not sent us, and we go ahead and minister His Word, is it not as if we are false prophets?
The ministry of the Word is like being a watchman. How true it is today: God has watchmen for His people, to warn them of dangers, to encourage them to walk in the Word of God, and to show them the mind of God in our generation.
We are watchmen set up by God. Brothers and sisters, how faithful we must be. If we are not faithful, if we try to compromise, please people, become popular, dilute God’s Word, or lower the level and standard of God’s Word, then the iniquity of the ministry is upon us.
The more I think about the ministry of the Word, the more I think of what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we faint not.
When the apostle Paul thought of the ministry—and I call the ministry here the ministry of the Word—he said, “We faint not.” I do not think anyone will not faint if he really sees what the ministry of the Word is.
Unfortunately, we find that today we are so bold in the ministry of the Word. We are so daring. We are competent; we are able. We have a hundred sermons ready. We have mastered techniques with people. We know how to get results. No problem.
It is because we do not really know what the ministry of the Word is.
Brothers and sisters, if we realize that we are ministering the Word of God, that it is God’s Word, that it has to come through us and is not to be contaminated, corrupted, defiled, or altered, but must come forth pure as God’s Word with His power and authority—then we cannot but faint.
We dare not touch it. I remember a very wise man saying, “Do not enter the ministry if you can.”
The reason why Paul and his fellow workers did not faint was because of the mercy of God. Without the mercy of God, everyone who really sees what a minister of the Word is will faint.
I believe that if you really read this book, The Ministry of the Word, you will say, “Well, no more.” You have the right reaction. If you read the word concerning this ministry and say, “Well, I will do more,” you do not understand.
Brothers and sisters, the first seven chapters of 2 Corinthians concern the ministry of the Word. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 describe the ministry of the Word. Therefore, in chapter 4 Paul says, “Having this ministry, by the mercy of God, we faint not.”
What do you see in the first three chapters of 2 Corinthians? Let us go through them very quickly. First of all, Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians 1:5:
For as the sufferings of Christ abound unto us, even so our comfort also aboundeth through Christ.
What is he talking about? He is talking about the ministry. We do not usually put the sufferings of Christ with ministry. We think that to minister the Word of God is such an honorable thing, such a glorious thing. You can stand before people and speak to them, and everybody is there listening to you. It is glory.
But Paul says that the sufferings of Christ abound unto us, that we may be comforted by God, so that with the comfort that Christ has given to us, we are able to comfort other people.
What does it mean? It simply means this: the ministry of the Word comes from personal experiences of Christ. If you do not experience Christ, if you do not know the sufferings of Christ, if you do not know the comfort of Christ, then there is no way for you to comfort other people.
To minister the Word is not just to take the Word and deliver it. To minister the Word means that the Word works in your life. It may afflict you. It may bring you into circumstances where you have to suffer with Christ and understand the comfort that comes from God.
Having that personal experience of Christ—not just suffering, but the experience of the living Word—when you experience Christ, then you have the living Word. That Word can give life.
Paul says again in 2 Corinthians 1:9:
Yea, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead.
In the ministry of the Word, you need to know the sentence of death in yourself, that you do not trust in yourself but trust in the One who raises the dead.
If we do not know the sentence of death in our flesh, we will minister ourselves by using the Word of God. But if we know the sentence of death in us, in everything of our flesh, then when we minister, we minister in the resurrection power of Christ.
So we are not ministering ourselves to people; we are ministering Christ to people. How necessary it is to know the work of the cross in our lives.
Oftentimes we hear sermons that are very arrogant, very clever, very exciting, stirring, and touching—wonderful stories, beautiful moral ideas, and concepts. But what are they ministering? They are ministering themselves to the people.
When you go away, all you know is that man, not Christ. The sentence of death has to be in our lives, that we may trust in the One who raises us from the dead.
In 2 Corinthians 1:12, Paul says:
For our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
Here you find the apostle saying that it is in simplicity and sincerity before God—or, in another translation, the simplicity and sincerity of Christ—that we present ourselves to you. Our conversation, our contact, our relationship, and our conduct before you are in this simplicity and sincerity.
In other words, when you minister the Word of God, you minister in a pure spirit of simplicity and sincerity. There is no ulterior motive. It is very simple: you want to preach Christ, not yourself.
In pure honesty before God, you minister to God’s people.
Then in 2 Corinthians 1:19-20:
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not yea and nay, but is yea in him.
For how many soever be the promises of God, in him is the yea: wherefore also through him is the Amen, unto the glory of God through us.
To minister the Word is to preach Christ, and to preach Christ in such a way that He is all “Yea” and “Amen.” Every promise of God is fulfilled in Him. In other words, it is Christ, nothing but Christ, that we minister. There is no name in it.
In 2 Corinthians 2:4, Paul says:
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be made sorry, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.
The motivation behind the minister of the Word is love—love for God’s people and love for the church of God. Because of that love, Paul, with many tears, had to write a very severe letter to them. He was misunderstood, but behind it all was love.
Brothers and sisters, when we minister the Word, are we motivated by love—by the love of Christ and the love of our brethren?
Paul continues:
But thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through us the savor of his knowledge in every place.
For we are a sweet savor of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish;
to the one a savor from death unto death; to the other a savor from life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
When you minister the Word of God, you are like a sweet savor of Christ. That savor comes from your knowledge of Christ. The knowledge here is not mental knowledge; it is experiential knowledge, the full knowledge of Christ.
That knowing of Christ has a fragrance, has an odor, has a savor, and people will smell it. In other words, to minister the Word of God, even before you speak, people will smell it.
When that knowledge is revealed, it is so tremendous that it may mean death to the dead and life to the living. It is a matter of life and death. The Word is not something neutral.
Oftentimes, we find that the Word is spoken, but nothing happens in the spiritual realm. Those who are dead remain dead, and those who are living remain just as they were before. But the ministry of the Word is so powerful that there is such a savor there.
In chapter 3, you find that ministering the Word of God is writing the letter of Christ. You are writing letters of Christ, not upon stones but on human hearts, to be read by everybody—not by ink, but by the Spirit of God.
You leave behind letters to be read. With the apostle Paul, we are still reading these letters. Who knows how long your letters will be read by the world?
Are they letters of Christ? When people read these letters, do they see Christ? In other words, when people read the people to whom you have ministered, do they read Christ? Or, when they contact the people to whom you have ministered, do they read you?
The ministry of the Word is the ministry of the Spirit. We are ministers of the new covenant, not in letter but in Spirit. It is a spiritual ministry; it is the ministry of righteousness. The ministry of the Spirit brings transformation to life.
It is a tremendous thing. Therefore, the apostle Paul says, “Who is sufficient?” I am not sufficient. Who will not faint under it? I will faint under it. It is only by the mercies of God that I do not faint.
Dear brothers and sisters, we need the mercy of God. If you minister the Word and do not feel that you need the mercy of God, I tremble.
How often we minister death to people and not life. How often we minister ourselves to people and not Christ. We need continuously to look to the mercy of God.
Brothers and sisters, every time we minister, let us tremble before God. It is a serious matter, because we are speaking for God; we are dealing with souls. Life and death are in the balance. Mercy—mercy of God.
But with the mercies of God, we need to respond to that mercy. We know that the mercy of God is there. If God has called you, He has mercy ready for you. You can count on His mercy.
Still, on our side, we need a certain kind of attitude, or a certain kind of response. If we respond rightly to His mercy, then the ministry of the Word will come forth. If we do not respond rightly to His mercy, then probably we will fade.
The following chapters, from chapter 4 to chapter 7, tell us how we are to respond when the mercy of God comes upon us.
First of all, 2 Corinthians 4:2 says:
But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
We need to respond to His mercy, who has called us to minister His Word, in such a way that we drastically deal with ourselves and put aside everything that is sinful—everything that may veil His Word in us.
So if people who have heard the gospel find it veiled, the veil is not on us; it is in them. To be the channel, by the mercies of God, we need to get rid of anything that may corrupt His Word or hinder His Word, as far as we know.
We are not perfect. But as far as we know, as far as our conscience goes, we need to present ourselves to people as an open book. There is no veil upon us. Therefore, when we minister the Word, the only possibility is that there may be a veil upon other hearts.
Secondly, for the Word of God to really get through us, we are earthen vessels.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves;
we are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair;
pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed;
always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.
So then death working in us, worketh life in you.
We are but earthen vessels. The treasure is there; the living Word is there. For the living Word to be manifested, that vessel needs to be broken. Our outward man needs to be broken.
God will raise up all kinds of environments to break our outwardness. Many times we are brought to our wits’ end, but not to life’s end. We may be afflicted, but not straitened.
We must be willing to bear in our body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in others. Again, we have to emphasize that the ministry of the Word is the ministry of life—not just word, not letter, but Spirit and life.
In order to minister life, this earthen vessel has to be broken.
Then, of course, we need to know the terror of the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 5:11, Paul says:
Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto God.
One day we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and all our works will be judged—whether they are gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and stubble. Knowing the fear of the Lord, we dare not be careless.
At the same time, in that same chapter, we are constrained by the love of Christ. You have to balance these two things. We are constrained by the love of Christ, knowing that One died for all; therefore all died. We who live no longer live unto ourselves, but unto Him who died and rose again for us.
We need always to be constrained by the love of Christ. The one thing that we need to guard against in the ministry of the Word is that, when you do it often, gradually you find you are just doing it, but that love is not there.
We need to ask the Lord to examine our hearts, that there will always be that first love within us. That will make the ministry of the Word effective.
In chapter 6, we find that the heart has to be open and enlarged. You will meet opposition, misunderstanding, and all kinds of things. But these things should not squeeze you or crush your heart. Instead, they should enlarge your heart.
Oftentimes, when you minister the Word of God, people do not appreciate it. People criticize, and so forth. Somehow it affects your heart. Your love toward God’s people begins to grow cold. You become bitter. Your heart is squeezed smaller.
If that is the case, how can you minister? Instead, you should find that all these things are enlarging your heart. You will love them more. You will be more willing to give yourself to them. You will be willing to forgive and forget.
When your heart is enlarged, then you can expect their heart to be enlarged too.
In chapter 7, Paul says, in effect, “Everything is for you.” When you minister the Word of God, everything is for God’s people, nothing for yourself. Whatever is good for them, deliver it to them. Do not withhold anything of the whole counsel of God because of yourself.
How easily we consider ourselves and try to lower God’s standard, compromise God’s Word, water it down, and take away its edge in order to be popular, pleasing to men, and received by them.
You do not love them. If you really love, and there is not yourself there—nothing of yourself, brothers and sisters—then the Word of God will be effective.
These are the ways that we have to respond to the mercy of God. Without the mercy of God, brothers and sisters, these are beyond us. But with the mercies of God, His grace is sufficient for us.
So this morning, we just want to go over this principle of the ministry of God’s Word. I do pray to God that at least one thing may be impressed upon us: the ministry of the Word is honorable, but very, very serious.
If we can just come to that understanding, I believe God has a channel, a way of speaking.
Let us pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee because Thou, in Thy mercy, callest people to be ministers of Thy Word, to handle Thy Word, to deliver Thy Word. O Lord, what mercy! What grace!
We pray that we may be a people who appreciate it and who really tremble at the responsibility that Thou hast put upon us, that we dare not be careless in any way.
But Lord, may we look to Thee for strength, for enlightenment, and for faithfulness. O Lord, who will not faint if it is not because of Thy mercy?
Lord, we again come to Thee and fall at Thy feet and say, “Lord, if Thou wilt use us to minister Thy Word, then Thou hast to do it. Do it in us, and do it through us, that the church can be built and Thy work can be done to the praise of Thy glory.”
In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.