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THE WORD AND THE RELEASE OF THE SPIRIT

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WORD AND THE SPIRIT

Now let us turn to the matter of the word and the release of the spirit. Whether or not the spoken word is received as revelation or merely doctrine depends very much on whether the minister is releasing his spirit. Whether or not others hear just words or hear the words and see the light depends on whether the minister’s spirit is released. Whether or not a person falls on his face at the word or remains unchanged depends on whether the minister can release his spirit. The words may be right and feelings may be present, but if the spirit is not released, others will only touch a perfect doctrine or a high teaching. It is something that they can understand, but they do not touch God’s word. The word can be released without the spirit at all. It can be spoken in a very common way. If a serious word is spoken with a common, indifferent spirit, the word will become very common. But when a message is released with a strong spirit, the message itself will become strong spontaneously. The words may be perfectly right in themselves, but there is also a matter of the kind of spirit that accompanies the release of these words. This depends on whether or not the minister of the word has released his spirit. A minister of the word can release his spirit in an ordinary way or he can release it in a strong way. He can even let out his spirit in an explosive way. The quality of the word depends on the way the spirit is released. The result that the words produce in others depends not so much on the words themselves but on how the spirit is released. While a minister is speaking, he can release his spirit or he can withhold his spirit. He can release it in a strong way, or he can release it in an ordinary way. This decision is in the hands of the minister. A minister of the word has to learn to push out his spirit during his speaking.

There is a close relationship between the spirit and the word. When the spirit is affected, the word is affected. When the spirit is wrong, the word is wrong. It is difficult to clearly explain how the spirit affects the word. All we can say is that man’s spirit is very tender and fine; it must not be tampered with or offended. In preaching God’s word, one may have everything in place. But if the spirit is not ready, there is no way for the word to be released. A man must release his spirit before he can release God’s word. Every experienced preacher of the word knows what it means to release the spirit. If it is windy, rainy, and dark outside, and one hesitates to open the door of his house to go out, someone else must give him a push to help him go out the door. This is how the spirit is pushed out. When we stand up to speak in the meeting, it is possible that our spirit will not move, and we will have to push it out. If we do not push it out, there will be a marked deterioration in our speaking. Often when we push a little to release the spirit, the words become much more powerful. Others will not only hear the words but will touch the very thing behind the words. They will not only touch our words, they will touch our spirit as well. Sometimes a person can understand every word of a message, and he can even repeat and recite the message to others; however, he cannot repeat the spirit. At other times, when a person hears a message, he not only hears the words but touches the spirit as well. If a man does not touch the spirit, the word will have no effect on him.

The same can be said about reading the Bible. Some people only see words when they read the Bible, while others touch the spirit of the Bible. When some read the Bible, they only see Paul’s word but do not discern his tone. They cannot discern whether the tone is high or low, soft or loud. They do not know whether it is a tone of sadness or a tone of joy. When others read the Bible, they see Paul’s words as well as discern his tone. They know the sadness in Paul’s prayer or words. They also know whether Paul was speaking in anger or with joy. They touch Paul’s spirit. We may read through the book of Acts sentence by sentence, but we may not touch the utterance within the word. Paul cast out a demon from a slave girl (16:18). If we do not touch the spirit, we will only know that the demon was cast out; we will not know what exactly happened. We will not know whether Paul was speaking with a loud or strong tone of voice, because we have not touched the spirit. We must get into the spirit of the writers of the Bible before we can know the Bible they have written. The Scripture these ones have written is an expression of the kind of spirits they have. If we only touch the word without touching the spirit, we cannot read the Bible.

Similarly, we must experience God’s dealings before we can release our spirit in our speaking. If we have never been dealt with by the Lord, or if the dealing is not deep, pure, or clean enough, our spirit can never go out with God’s word. Even if we try to push our spirit out, there is nothing for us to push. We may push out doctrines, but we can never push out the spirit that lies behind God’s word. We have to remember the meaning of preaching. Preaching means the release of the word. But this is not all; preaching also means the release of the spirit. When a minister of the word releases the word, he is releasing his own spirit at the same time. His spirit is released through his speaking. Spontaneously, the Spirit of God is released through the spirit of man. The Holy Spirit is released together with man’s spirit. If man’s spirit is not released, the Holy Spirit is not released. This poses a great problem to the speaker. We need to remember that listening to a message has nothing to do with listening to the words; it has to do with touching the spirit.

We need to realize that when the word is released, that is, when the ministry of the word is released, not only is the word released, but the spirit is released as well. The listener should not touch just the word but should touch the spirit as well. If a man only touches the word without touching the spirit, what he has is something very common and mundane. If we have not touched the spirit, we will be indifferent to even God’s own speaking. Only when we touch the spirit do we touch life. The Lord said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). We have to touch the spirit before we can know the meaning of the word. In preaching God’s word, we must take care not only of conveying the right words but of releasing our spirit. It is a fact that a man cannot release his spirit continually. One has to pay a certain price to release his spirit. A minister of the word often cannot afford to pay such a price. This is the reason that no man can release his spirit continually. Of course, the stronger our spirit is before the Lord, the easier it is for us to release it; we can release it again and again. It is difficult to believe that a man can stand up and speak for God and yet never once release his spirit. At least once or more than once, he has released his spirit, forcing his spirit to go out with his words, and others have touched his spirit. No one prostrates himself before words alone. A man is humbled because he has touched the spirit. If all we have are words, these words will easily become doctrines. Even a word of revelation can easily become a doctrine. If we preach a word of revelation and release our spirit at the same time, others will touch not only the word but the spirit as well. God’s Spirit reaches others by passing through our spirit.

THE TRAINING OF THE SPIRIT

The exercise of the spirit of a minister of the word depends on two things. First, there is the training of the spirit; second, there is the willingness on the part of the minister. Whether or not a minister can exercise his spirit to minister to the church and the extent to which and the areas in which he is able to exercise his spirit depend entirely on the amount of experience he has related to these two things.

First, let us speak of the training of the spirit. A minister of the word cannot release his spirit more than what he has learned to release. The extent to which his spirit is released is determined by the amount of training he has received from God in his spirit. If a brother has not received much training, we cannot expect him to exercise his spirit to any great extent. But if he has received strict and repeated trainings in his spirit, it will be easy and spontaneous for him to exercise his spirit in the ministry of the word. His exercise will go as far as his training carries him. A man cannot release a spirit that he does not possess. His limits before the Lord are the limit of his spirit. This is a very basic lesson.

God spends a great deal of time during our lifetime to train our spirit so that it can become useful. He has to train us to such an extent that we can use our spirit freely and copiously. The Lord arranges our circumstances with a view to breaking us; He puts us in unbearable environments. Just like Paul, when he went through his experiences described in 2 Corinthians, we may find these environments to be severe and harsh. He said that he was excessively burdened beyond his power and despaired even of living (1:8). The environments the Lord prepares for us are always greater than what we can bear and what our strength can handle. Every thorn that we suffer is an unbearable, unendurable, and insurmountable thorn to us. When the Lord puts us in these environments, two things are produced. On the one hand, the Lord breaks our outer man through these environments. Our mind is torn down at times; our emotions are torn down at other times. Even more, our will is totally broken. We are left with no choice but to yield totally to the Lord and to confess our failures and inability. This is the negative part of the result. On the other hand, under the discipline of the Holy Spirit, something positive is produced by God. Do we remain flat on the ground as we are being torn down, or do we eventually rise up? Are we defeated by the thorn, or do we eventually overcome the thorn? Do we say that we are excessively burdened beyond our power and despair even of living and then do nothing more about it, or do we look to the One who raises the dead and rise above the fall? We must remember that the Lord always puts us in environments which are beyond our power, environments which drive us to despair even of living and which strip us of all hope. In such hopeless environments, we gradually learn to trust in Him, to look to Him, and to rely on Him.

It is very easy for us to talk about trusting in the Lord at ordinary times! How common is our speaking concerning looking to Him at such times, and we thoughtlessly speak of relying on Him! Yet only when the Lord puts us in a hopeless situation do we begin to learn to trust in Him and to rely on Him a little. As we begin to touch a little of God’s grace and power, we unconsciously find ourselves overcoming. We realize that even our trusting is a believing that is exercised in the midst of weaknesses, that our looking to Him is done in fear and trembling, and that our trust operates in the absence of any assurance whatsoever. We may think that this faith, trust, and reliance on Him are feeble and not of much use. Yet it is in the midst of such weaknesses that we acquire a little faith, a little trust, and a little reliance on Him. Unconsciously we touch a little grace and a little power. Under such circumstances we find mercy to overcome, and our spirit is trained. This is a matter not only of the breaking of the outer man but also of the training of the spirit. It is not merely a definite and negative breaking but a definite and positive building up. It is here that we find circumstances that we can overcome and circumstances that the Lord has called us to overcome, and it is here that we find the Lord raising us up above our problems. Unconsciously we overcome them. Satan can try his best in these circumstances to attack us, yet our feeble trust, our feeble waiting, and our feeble faith bring us to God’s power. Here we are able to say to Satan, “You have done all you can. Humanly speaking this is beyond my power, but thank the Lord, I have overcome. He has given me hope. He is the One who raises the dead, and He is the One who strengthens the weak.” Through such an experience, our spirit is strengthened a little. It receives a certain amount of training, and it is enriched a little. Through this, our spirit acquires some useful deposits and accumulates some strength.

The Lord’s work in us does not happen just once. He works in us repeatedly and in many ways. As He operates in us repeatedly, our spirit becomes stronger and stronger. God not only breaks our outer man through the environment; He also builds up our inner man. He not only tears down our outward man; He also builds up our spirit. We rise above our trials through the rising up of our spirit. We never come out of a trial without our spirit first coming out of it. As our spirit learns something, receives some dealing, and passes through some training, our entire person also rises up out of the trial. Daily the Lord is building us up. When we are put into trials, we are pressed on all sides. But when we come out of the trials, the environments are beneath us, and we transcend above our surroundings. When we are in the trials, we feel weak. But when we emerge from them, we are strong. What goes in is death; what comes out is the resurrection life. No trial can lock us in, and we are different when we emerge from a trial. We cannot remain the same through a trial. Either the trial ruins us and makes us useless vessels, or we emerge from the trial on a more glorious plane. A trial either makes us better or worse. All those who cannot pass through the trials are unfit for any use. All those who withstand the trials and overcome them have a mark of victory with them the rest of their life. They have been delivered out of their circumstances, and the Lord will grant them similar victories when they encounter similar situations. When a new environment comes along and new difficulties arise, they will experience new victories. In other words, their spirits have learned something new; they have undergone some new training.

Whenever we go through a trial, we go through it with the view of eventually transcending it. The more trials we have, the more strength we find to meet the trials. Through this process our spirits are strengthened. Whenever we go through an experience, our spirits are strengthened. The more experiences we go through, the stronger our spirits become. Through the discipline of the Holy Spirit, the Lord breaks our outer man again and again. When the outer man is broken, the inner man is empowered to overcome all obstacles. When the hammer falls on us, it breaks and shatters our outer man. But the same hammer becomes something which our spirit overcomes. When the Lord puts us in an environment, our outer man is broken. Our outer man cannot withstand any trial. Whenever a trial comes, our outer man is broken. The more trials we have, the more our outer man is broken. At the same time, the spirit prevails over these environments. The environment prevails over our outer man, but our inner man prevails over the environment at the same time. Through this process we are delivered from the environment and eventually overcome it. This is what happens when we go through trials. The same thing is repeated whenever we face a trial: The Lord first gives us a trial and puts us under it. We experience the breaking of the outer man, but the experience does not stop there. Our inner man rises up to overcome the environment, and we emerge on the other side. The trial which overcomes our outer man is eventually overcome by our inner man. Whenever we go through an experience, our spirit receives some training. It becomes more aggressive; it learns a little more of the Lord’s grace and His Spirit. In other words, it becomes stronger than before. When our spirit is trained and becomes strong, we will have a usable spirit in our ministry of the word.

On the one hand, a minister of the word must experience the breaking down of the outer man. On the other hand, his spirit has to be trained to be strong and useful. This work can only be accomplished by the discipline of the Holy Spirit. When we go through a trial, we have to remember that such a trial makes us different in the end. Either we will become stronger or become worse. Either we will murmur against God in our trial and remain defeated or we will come out of it in full victory. We should refuse to come out of it in defeat. Second Corinthians 12 shows us that when a thorn comes, God gives us the grace to overcome the thorn. In the past we knew a little about grace, but we did not know the kind of grace that comes with the thorn. Every trial comes with its thorn-laced blow so that we can experience the thorn-laced grace. What we knew before was a thornless grace; what we know now is a thorn-laced grace. We are like a boat that floats in two feet of water. As long as the water remains two feet deep, we can sail through it quite easily. But if there is a rock that is two feet high in the middle of the stream, the boat cannot go through. At such times we need to ask the Lord to raise the water level by two feet. When we know more grace, our spirit becomes stronger. Paul said that he would “rather boast in…weaknesses” (2 Cor. 12:9). Whenever a weakness comes, we are empowered, and we can serve as a minister of the word by this power. Different ministers of the word have different degrees of spiritual power because they experience different kinds of building work. The words of the ministers may be the same, but their spirits are different. If we want to use our spirit, it must first become strong. We may be trained, but the extent to which we have been trained determines the extent to which our spirit can be used. This extent varies in different people. The degree to which our spirit is trained determines the extent to which we can be used as a minister of the word. Whenever a minister of the word encounters a trial or an affliction, he should realize that God is using it to prepare him to be His minister. We should not be so foolish as to think that it is best to escape. The more we run away, the less things will work out for us. We should always remember that without the thorn, there will never be the grace or the power, and the sphere of our service will be very much confined. We may still speak, but we will not have the spirit to release the word. We may have the word, but we must still have a properly functioning spirit to accompany the word.

WILLINGNESS ON THE PART OF THE MINISTERS

The exercise of a minister’s spirit is something that demands his life. He has to put his life on the line. When a person serves as a minister of the word, he must not only have a useful spirit, but he must be willing to sacrifice and expend his spirit. Every time a person serves as a minister of the word and ministers the word to others, he has to exercise his spirit by pouring out his life, just as the Lord Jesus did when He poured out His life. The night the Lord prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, He said to the disciples, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41). With the disciples, there was only willingness. With the Lord Jesus, there was not only willingness in His spirit but a readiness to pour out His life. This is the reason His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down upon the ground (Luke 22:44). In other words, one’s spirit is exercised by the pouring out of his very life. One has to exhaust all his energy, being spent to the point of experiencing spiritual fatigue and spiritual death. Whenever the spirit is released, it challenges the weaknesses and death in others. There is a price involved in releasing the spirit in this way; it is a release of burden, a release that results in pain and fatigue. The release of the spirit requires a sacrifice, whether in private talks or in public speaking. We have to release our spirit because many people are spiritually weak. Our spirit has to be pushed to the forefront to confront these spiritual weaknesses and to destroy them. We must wrestle with these elements and pin them down. When our spirit is released, we will find that many people have spiritual death, spiritual coldness, spiritual stubbornness, and spiritual dryness. We have to push out our spirit in order to suppress and overcome their death. We have to transcend their death and swallow up their death. As soon as we are filled with the word, we will see that those sitting before us are filled with darkness; they cannot see. We have to release our spirit in a strong way, as if we are storming the stronghold of darkness and confronting the attack of darkness. We are preaching God’s word on the one hand, and we are confronting the attack of the forces of darkness on the other hand. Such death and darkness will try to swallow up our spiritual energy. While we are standing before men, we have to release our spirit. We have to overcome their darkness and break through their shadows. This is a work that requires sacrifice. It is spiritually exhausting, and it demands a high price. While a minister of the word does not necessarily have to pay this high price every time, he must be willing to pay such a price.

In order to exercise the spirit in this way, a person must first have a proper functioning spirit. Actually, one can only exercise his spirit to the extent that it has been trained. He cannot do anything beyond this extent. But whether or not he can even exercise his spirit to that extent depends on his willingness. Sometimes a person experiences great pressure before the Lord. If he is willing to pay the price to break through, he will break through. But if he is not willing to pay a great price, he may choose to release his spirit in a common and easy way. It is not an easy thing for a minister of the word to stretch his spirit to the limit. A man may exercise his spirit very much, but he may not be willing to stretch it to the ultimate limit. It is spiritually exhausting for a brother to push his spirit to its limit or near to its limit. It is, therefore, not unusual to find a minister who is reluctant to push himself to his limit.

Those who do not know anything about paying the price for the release of the spirit will not know what I am speaking of here. A man who realizes the burden that must be borne in releasing his spirit will know what I am speaking of. A person who has never lifted two hundred pounds has no idea how heavy two hundred pounds are. Only those who have lifted two hundred pounds know how much energy is needed to lift such a weight. Whenever a person fulfills a spiritual ministry, whenever he exercises his spirit, he carries a burden that seems to demand all of his energy. In the exercise of the spirit, the amount of one’s willingness before the Lord is a controlling factor. If a man is willing, he can push the word out. The more he is willing, the more strongly the word will be released. In speaking from the platform and in conversing with the brothers privately, the strength of the word that is released depends on the amount of the spirit that is pushed out. In serving others with the word, the spirit is under the minister’s own control. A minister can withhold the spirit, or he can release his spirit. As he is speaking, he can either make his message strong or weak. If he is willing to sacrifice himself, he will strengthen the meeting. If he is not willing to sacrifice himself and is not willing to pay the price, he will make the meeting a common thing. The decision to make a meeting strong or weak is in the hand of the minister of the word.

For those who have never been trained, the work of the Holy Spirit is beyond one’s grasp. For those who have received dealings from the Lord, and in whom the Lord has done a deep work, the result of a meeting is determined by the ministers themselves. The amount of the Holy Spirit’s work is determined by the amount of sacrifice the ministers pay. If we are not afraid of exhaustion in a meeting, if we are not lazy, and if we are not affected by the audience or held back from paying the price or taking the dealings, we will release our spirit in a strong way. When the word goes out, the spirit will go out as well, and the word will have a strong impact on others. But if we are exhausted, lazy, or reluctant to do anything, we can say the same thing in a hurried way, but our spirit will be bound. The words are the same and the speaking is the same, but the spirit will not be released. Or it will be released only in a limited and weak way. Others will touch the word, but they will not touch the spirit. They will only hear the sound, but the words will not have any impact on them. The words may be accurate, but they will be weak.

In the ministry of the word, there is not only the manner of the delivery of the word but also the matter of willingness on the part of the deliverer. Are we willing and happy to push out our spirit? If we are willing, the word will spontaneously have a strong impact on others. If we do not push out our spirit, the words will not be strong. Words often are common because the spirit does not break out; rather, it flows out slowly. A gushing spirit knocks down others along the way. The prayers of some brothers can only be described as a breaking forth of the spirit. Their entire spirit bursts forth. Anyone standing in their way is knocked down. The words may be the same, but the spirit is different; it charges forth, and no one can stand in its way. Whether or not a person’s spirit is released depends on whether he is willing and ready to pay the price.

A worker has to learn to speak accurately, but this is not all. While he is serving, he has to learn to push out his spirit. If he is willing to pay the price, he can push out his spirit in a strong way. When the word goes out in this way, the spirit follows. The release will be strong, and no one can stand in its way. If, however, a man has been wounded in some kind of way or is going through some experiences, his words may produce no effect at all. The more he speaks, the worse things become and the less effect his speaking produces in others. His words may be the same, but the wound and hurt in his spirit frustrate his speaking. Under these conditions, it is not easy for a man to see God’s light. Where there is injury, the spirit is bound, and words become hollow and weak. Words can only be strong when the spirit is pushed out. The spirit has to be in the word. The spirit has to move, and it has to be released through the word. We can say that the spirit must be packaged in the word and released through the word. When one is willing to pay the price to release his spirit through the word, others will see the light and touch the reality.

The release of the spirit is one spiritual facet in the ministry of the word. In fulfilling the ministry of the word, one must do his best to release his spirit. In order to release the spirit in a high way, one has to exert all of his energy. All of the emotions, thoughts, memory, and utterance of a person must be made available and ready. There should be no interrupting thoughts; every thought should remain silent, focused, and available. The memory also has to wait on the spirit. Not a single feeling should run astray. In other words, all of one’s energy, memory, utterance, emotions, and feelings must wait on the Lord; every part of his being must be dedicated to the Lord’s use. All the activities of the self must stop; only the spirit should remain alert and ready for His use. This is like an army with myriads of soldiers and horses on a battlefield who anxiously wait for a command from the general. We have to use our mind, but our mind cannot be the master; it should only be a servant. We have to use our emotion, but our emotion cannot be the master; it should only be a servant. All of the body’s energy and strength must be headed up under the spirit. Only then will the spirit have the liberty to release itself.

If a minister of the word cannot find the right word at the critical moment, his spirit will suffer. If he cannot find the right feelings at the critical moment, his spirit will also suffer; it will not be released. No work requires a higher degree of concentration than the release of the spirit. In order for the spirit to be released, every part of a person’s being has to be focused. This does not mean that every part of a person has to be released independently. No! They should be released in conjunction with the spirit. Whatever we say should be what the spirit wants to say, and whatever terminology we use should be the terminology of the spirit. Consider again our earlier illustration. The myriads of soldiers have to wait for the commander’s word. If he wants a soldier to do something, the soldier has no choice. If he wants to direct another, that one has no choice either. When we order our spirit to be released, it has to be released. If our thoughts are a little relaxed, confused, or our memory fails a little, our spirit will be in jeopardy; it will be injured.

A minister of the word should learn not to injure his spirit in any way. When we speak, our entire person has to be made available. No part of our being should lag behind; we cannot afford to let any part drag along. No part can afford to wander off and wait for its retrieval. Every part must be on full alert so that the spirit can be released to its fullest extent. This involves a high price. Because such a high price is involved, a minister of the word may not always exercise his spirit to its maximum extent even though it is possible for him to do so. When he is willing, his spirit will be used to a greater extent. When he is not willing, his spirit will be used to a lesser extent. When he is willing, he can bring more blessings to others. When he is not willing, he will bring less blessings to others. The amount of blessing that others receive depends on the amount of his willingness. Blessing in the ministry of the word is determined by the ministers. If we are willing to give others blessing, they will receive blessing. If we want others to be stumbled, they will be stumbled. If we want a great light to shine on them, they will fall on their face. Everything depends on the amount of growth we have in God. The more lessons we have learned from God and the higher and deeper these lessons are, the more often we will be used, and we will be used to a higher and deeper extent. The more we learn from God, the more things we can do. If we have learned only a little from God, we will be able to do very little. We determine how much light others will receive. We determine whether or not others will fall on their face. We determine how much spiritual reality others will touch. The Lord has entrusted this matter to the ministers.

PUSHING OUT THE SPIRIT

Every genuine minister of the word knows what it means to push out the spirit. As he speaks, he has to exert his strength, not his fleshly strength, but another kind of strength. He has to push out his spirit. It seems as if he has to exert all his energy to press out his spirit. The spirit is a force within, and while he speaks, he pushes out this force and releases it. When the word goes out, the spirit is pushed out and released at the same time. When a person pushes out his spirit, those around him will touch something. Whether his audience hears a doctrine or God’s word depends on how he pushes out his spirit. If he pushes out his spirit voluntarily and willingly, his listeners will not hear just a message; they will touch something behind the word. But if he does not push out his spirit in his speaking, others will not touch the very thing hidden behind the word. The ministry of the word sometimes becomes very common because there are too many words and too little spirit. One can speak much yet push out his spirit only a little. After an hour or two, he may have pushed out his spirit for just a short amount of time; the rest of the time he may not have pushed out his spirit at all. This is very common. If we push out our spirit with all of our might, we have the ministry of the word. A strong ministry of the word is one in which the amount of words equals the amount of spirit, that is, the two are the same. When the word is released, the spirit is also released. Whenever there is the word, there should be an equal amount of spirit to go with it. The spirit should push the word along. This constitutes a good and strong ministry of the word. The audience in this case touches the released spirit and hears the word. Whether a minister of the word is common or powerful in his utterance depends on his willingness. It also depends on his training. If he is not well trained or if he is not willing, his words will be weak. His utterance is strictly controlled by him. His training constitutes what he has, and his willingness constitutes what he wants to do. On the one hand, a man may have something, but he does not want to give it away. On the other hand, a man may want to give something away, but he does not have that very thing. We must have what we want to give, and we must want to give it. However, we must first have the training before we can have the willingness.

It is proper for the spirit to match the word. However, there are exceptional cases when the amount of spirit exceeds the amount of words. Sometimes one faces special circumstances in which special needs arise, and God may allow one’s spirit to go beyond his words. Even though the words can only say so much, the spirit can cover much more. This, however, is very rare, and it is very difficult to achieve. Our spirit will not exceed our words every time, but there are times in which it will. The significance of the ministry of the word lies in the release of the spirit, while the significance of the reception of the word lies in the touching of this spirit. The ministry of the word is a service in spirit. While we speak, we exercise our spirit; when the spirit is released, we have the ministry of the word. The ministry of the word is not merely a release of words but a speaking that is coupled with the spirit. The ministry of the word is a matter not of opening the mouth but of having a definite word within and then pushing out the spirit through the word. Whenever we have the word without the spirit, we have doctrine; we do not have God’s word. May all the ministers of the word see that a message is not just a message but the pushing out of the spirit through the speaking of the word. If we only have the word without pushing out the spirit, we do not have a ministry. No minister of the word can function with a dormant spirit, because the ministry of the word is the release of the spirit. God’s intention is not just for men to hear the word but for men to touch the spirit of the word. The spirit rides on the word and goes out with it. God wants us to touch His Spirit; He does not want us to merely touch His word. His Spirit is released through the word. Every minister of the word must be able to speak and, at the same time, must be able to push out the spirit behind the word. Whenever we speak, we have to push out our spirit. This is the ministry of the word.

A powerful ministry of the word, that is, a powerful utterance, consists not only of the pushing out of the spirit but even of an explosion of the spirit. This means that when the word is released, the spirit explodes. The spirit is not released in an ordinary way but in a way of explosion. When this happens, men fall on their faces before God. If a man functions as a minister of the word in this way, he can decide whom he will touch on a certain day, release his spirit, and touch that person in exactly the way that he has prescribed. He can predict whom he will shower his spirit upon, and his spirit will come as a shower to that person and soak him thoroughly. This is possible. When he speaks, he will release his words, and any opposing, cold, and stubborn spirit will be subdued. It is possible for the spirit to be released in an explosive way. When the spirit is released in this way, others will touch something and will fall down no matter how stubborn they may be. We have to pay attention to the amount of spirit we release during our speaking. The release of our spirit cannot exceed the capacity we have within us. We can only release as much as we have. The measure of power is limited by the capacity we have; we cannot force ourselves to do more. It is not a matter of our words, our voice, or our attitude. Resorting to these things is just performing. We should never pretend to have a certain attitude or a certain tone of voice when we are void of the spirit. We should realize that a man can be subdued only by the release of the spirit. No one can stand in the face of the spirit.

What is the meaning of the release of the spirit? We will mention a few points.

The Release of the Spirit Being the Release of the Holy Spirit

What is the release of the spirit? The release of the spirit means the release of the Holy Spirit. The Lord has entrusted the Holy Spirit to the church. His intention is for the church to be the innermost being out of which will flow rivers of living water of the Spirit (John 7:38). The church is the vessel of the Holy Spirit. We must realize what is the work of the church today. The church is the vessel of the Holy Spirit. God has not poured out His anointing oil indiscriminately on the whole world; He has poured it out on the church. The church now anoints men with this anointing oil. The meaning of the church being a vessel of the Holy Spirit is not that it is an instrument used by the Holy Spirit but that it is a vessel to contain the Holy Spirit. The church is a vessel, which means that the Holy Spirit is contained in the church. But how is God’s Spirit contained in the church? The part in us that contains God’s Spirit is simply our spirit. All Bible students acknowledge this. The type in the Old Testament is very clear. The dove sent out by Noah could not descend on the old creation; it could only descend on the new creation (Gen. 8:6-12). In our entire being, only the spirit is of the new creation. Hence, the Holy Spirit can only remain in our spirit. Exodus says that the holy anointing oil could not be poured on the flesh (30:31-32). No part of the flesh can contain the Holy Spirit; the spirit is the only place that can contain the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel 36 says this in a more explicit way: “A new spirit will I put within you….And I will put my Spirit within you” (vv. 26-27). The “new spirit” is our spirit, while “my Spirit” is the Holy Spirit. If we do not have a new spirit within us, we cannot possibly have God’s Spirit. We must have a new spirit before we can have His Spirit.

The meaning of pushing out our spirit is to release the Holy Spirit together with our spirit. All Bible students know that in many instances in the Greek language it is hard to differentiate between the human spirit and the Holy Spirit. The word spirit is spoken of most frequently in chapter eight of Romans. Yet in Romans 8 it is hard to tell which occurrence of the word spirit refers to the human spirit and which refers to the Holy Spirit. In English there is a distinction of capitalization, but in Greek, there is no distinction of capitalization. Man’s spirit is already united to God’s Spirit. The more training we receive, the more released our spirit becomes. The Holy Spirit is released when our spirit is released because the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Hence, the release of the spirit does not refer just to the release of our spirit, but to the release of the Holy Spirit as well. The extent of the release of the Holy Spirit depends entirely on the release of our spirit. The Holy Spirit is limited by our spirit. When we speak to a brother or to an unbelieving sinner, our spirit determines the degree of the release of the Holy Spirit. The matter hinges on the vessel; there is no problem with the anointing oil.

Brothers, we should not be so foolish as to put all the responsibility on the Holy Spirit. Today the Lord has placed the responsibility on the church. Matthew 18:18 shows us the authority of the church. John 20:23 says nearly the same thing as Matthew 18. Both speak of the Lord forgiving the sins of those whom we forgive and retaining the sins of those whose sins we retain. How can this be? This is because we have received the Holy Spirit. The Lord did not say, “I have given you the Holy Spirit. When you recognize the Spirit’s forgiveness of someone, you should forgive him yourself as well. When you recognize the Spirit’s retaining of someone’s sins, you should retain his sins as well.” The Lord only told the church to acknowledge the Holy Spirit. After it has acknowledged the Holy Spirit, it can then forgive someone, and the Lord will forgive that one. It can retain someone’s sins, and the Lord will retain his sins. Today the authority of the Holy Spirit is at the disposal of the church. How great is the responsibility of the church! If God acted alone, it would not matter much whether or not the church failed a little. But God has entrusted everything to the church. The church cannot fail. If authority rested solely with the Holy Spirit, the success or failure of a minister would not be of much consequence. But the Holy Spirit has bound Himself to the minister. If the minister fails, the Holy Spirit has no way to go on. If God kept all authority in His hand, it would not matter much whether or not we stumbled or failed. But today God has not kept the work of the Holy Spirit in His hand; He has put this work in the hand of the ministers. When the spirit of a minister is released, God’s Spirit is released. If his spirit is not released, God’s Spirit is not released. God is willing and happy to entrust His authority to the ministers, giving them a free hand. Only the most foolish person will think that he can act hastily; only the foolish ones are nonchalant. We must remember that the problem today is with the ministers of the word. Whether or not the Holy Spirit can be released is in the hand of the ministers.

The Release of the Spirit Being the Release of Power

The release of the spirit is also the release of power. Whether or not a stubborn man will be subdued depends on the amount of spiritual power that is released. If our spirit is strong, he will be subdued. As long as a person is not completely closed (which makes it impossible to do anything), he will be subdued when your spirit is released in a powerful way, even if such a person is very stubborn by nature. We should never put all of the blame on others. Nine out of ten times the problem is probably with us, not with others. If our spirit is powerful enough, we will subdue them. The more power our spirit releases, the more others will be subdued.

The Release of the Spirit Being the Release of Life

The release of the Spirit is also the release of life. When the spirit is released, the Holy Spirit is released, power is released, and life is released. Whether or not others will touch spiritual reality when they listen to us depends on the release of our spirit. Whether or not they will touch life also depends on the release of our spirit. If we merely release the word, others will only touch doctrine; they will not touch the Holy Spirit. But when we stand up to speak and willingly and voluntarily push out the Holy Spirit, others will not only hear doctrine; they will touch life. Whether or not others touch the outward shell of the word or the life within the word depends on whether we have pushed out the spirit.

The Release of the Spirit Being the Release of Light

This is not all. The release of the spirit is also the release of light. Light first becomes the word in us, and then it becomes light in others. First, light becomes the word in us, and then through our spirit the word becomes light to others. Whether or not a man sees light is not his responsibility (with the exception of those who are prejudiced) but the responsibility of the minister. Whether or not a man opens his eyes is his own responsibility, but having opened his eyes, whether or not he sees light is the responsibility of the minister. A man is responsible only for opening his eyes; the minister is responsible for giving him the light. If a man decides to close his eyes, nothing can be done about it. But if a man opens his heart, eyes, and spirit and does not see anything, the responsibility rests with the minister. If the spirit of the minister is strong in the release of the word and if the Holy Spirit goes forth with the word, the word will become light to others. God’s light is embodied in His word. In delivering God’s word, we release the spirit, and we also release the Holy Spirit. When this word reaches man, it becomes light. If a man kneels down and prays after hearing the word, saying, “Lord, grant me light,” he has only heard doctrine; he has not heard God’s word. God’s word is light. When one hears God’s word, he sees light. A man should not need to kneel down and pray after hearing a message. He should not need to say, “I understand this message, but I do not have the light. Lord, give me the light.” If one has to ask for light after he has understood a message, it means that the message and the light are still two separate things. This is where Christianity has failed: Doctrines do not bring light. Everything is clearly explained, but nothing avails. Everyone can say it, but no one can apply it.

We must remember that when a man hears God’s word, he sees light. If a man hears God’s word but does not see light, the responsibility rests on the shoulder of the speaker. We often put the responsibility of seeing on the shoulder of the listener. This is wrong. Other than exceptional frustrations and closedness on the part of the listener, the speaker has to be responsible for the lack of light in a message. Many people have an open spirit, a seeking heart, and an open mind; they want to receive the light. If the light does not come, it means that something is wrong with the ministry of the word; the frustration is with the minister. If the spirit is active while the word is released and if the Holy Spirit operates while this is going on, the word will become light to the hearer. A man will no longer need to ask for light. He will not need to kneel down and pray, “Lord, I have heard this word. Now give me the light.” As he hears the word, he will receive the light. Some ministers should repent before the Lord. They have no light to give to others; it is locked up in them. This is a problem on the part of the ministers. It is most unjust for ministers to blame the poverty in the church on the brothers and sisters. The brothers and sisters are responsible for opening their eyes, while the ministers are responsible for giving them light. Whenever the spirit of the ministers is released, light is released.

A minister can determine the amount of light he will release. He can determine before the Lord how much light he will give to others on a certain day. He should be a man who has passed through dealings. When he pushes out his spirit, he should push out what he sees, the revelations in his spirit and the light within him, together with his own spirit. He has to push out his spirit, like a man being pushed out through a door. He has to push out the light. He must release the light not only in a way that seeks understanding but in a way that causes men to fall on their face. Often, a minister is prepared to release “light” only for the purpose of helping others to understand. As a result, others may understand but have nothing more. A worker often pays attention only to the audience’s understanding; his only motive and desire are for his audience to understand his word. But if he is willing to pay the price before the Lord, he will push out his spirit in such a way that his word will release light. The light will be so strong that others will understand not only the words, but they will be subdued by it as well. They will fall in the face of such light. Light can make a man fall down on his face. Once a man sees light, he will fall down; he will prostrate himself on the ground. This is something the ministers should do before the Lord. If there is an adequate willingness on the part of the ministers, light will be released in a strong way.

PRESSURE AND THE RELEASE OF THE SPIRIT

There are underlying principles to the release of the spirit. The amount of spirit that is released by a person depends on two things: the amount of his willingness and the amount of pressure that he sustains. As we come to the meeting, God may give us a certain amount of pressure. If the pressure is heavy and abiding, we can be certain that God wants our spirit to burst forth. As the pressure builds up, our words are squeezed out. We are pressed, and our spirit has to be released in a particular way in order to relieve this pressure. Hence, pressure brings about exceptional release of the spirit. Whether or not our spirit is released in an exceptional way depends on the amount of pressure we are under. When we talk to a brother, we may find that he is in ignorance and darkness, even boasting in his darkness. He dwells in darkness, yet he considers himself very highly. God will give us a certain oppressed feeling as we talk to this brother. We will feel extremely agitated. When God’s pressure increases within us, we will be provoked and irritated. This cannot go on for long; soon we will have to open our mouth. As we speak, we will not speak in an ordinary way; our words will come out in a burst. This bursting forth is an intensified release of the spirit. Whether or not the spirit is released in a strong way depends on the amount of pressure we experience. Suppose this arrogant and self-assured brother is sitting in front of us. The pressure within us will build up and swell as we listen to him. As we are feeling sorry for this brother, our spirit breaks forth in a burst. The question today is whether or not inwardly we have the willingness to speak the word that is within us. If we are willing and the pressure within us is strong enough, the word will burst forth in the form of a rebuke. If the release is strong enough, others’ arrogance will be subdued. Of course, if we do not have a willingness, nothing will happen. I wish all the brothers would see that our spirit is empowered whenever we exercise it. Whenever we exercise our spirit, it becomes stronger yet again. The more we exercise, the more our spirit will become useful to us. As our spirit is empowered again and again, the Lord will have a way with us.

This is what happened to Paul when he cast out the evil spirit. The slave girl cried out for many days, “These men are slaves of the Most High God” (Acts 16:17). One day, Paul became fed up, and he said to the spirit, “I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her,” and the spirit came out (v. 18). Many people can only lift their voices; they cannot lift their spirit. This is fruitless. The principle of miracles is the same as the principle of speaking. Paul was provoked within; the pressure was too much. When he commanded the spirit to come out, it had to come out. When there is enough of a build-up of the burden in the spirit, words will burst forth. When the light is strong, the release will be strong. We must be pressed by the power of the spirit to the point of being fed up. When this happens, the release of our word will change others. In the same principle, a man can only rebuke others when he experiences pressure in his spirit. When the Lord came out of Bethany, He saw a fig tree that was barren, and He said to it, “May no one eat fruit from you forever!” (Mark 11:14). This came out of the pressure in His spirit. The word was released under spiritual pressure. As a result, the tree withered from the roots. We should note, however, that a minister of the word is not free to release this kind of word everywhere. We can speak such a word only when we are provoked, angered, disturbed, irritated, and agitated. This is the principle of works of miracles. This is also the principle of words of rebuke. When our inner being breaks out and our spirit is released, others will be subdued.

Ministry of the word is the ministry of the spirit. A man receives the word when he touches the released spirit. When a man touches this spirit, he will fall on his face. When the spirit is released, power is released from within, light is released from within, and life is released from within; the Holy Spirit is released from within, and the pressure is relieved. The only thing that works is the release of the spirit. Everything else is vanity. Our mind, words, memory, and feelings all help us in the release of our message, but it is our spirit that is the necessary ingredient. We can only speak as our spirit is released. When we have all these things, we have the ministry of the word.

THE PURITY OF THE SPIRIT

Our word must be backed up by the spirit. But in order to release a spirit that is pure and clean, we have to go through dealings. One thing is certain: The kind of spirit that we have determines the kind of expression of the Holy Spirit that we bear. The kind of nature that we have dictates the aspect of the Holy Spirit that we express. The manifestation of the Holy Spirit is different in different persons. Just because we have the same Spirit does not mean that we have the same manifestation. The Spirit who flows to others bears the characteristics of the channel through which He flows. When the Holy Spirit flows, He carries along with Him the characteristic of the person who bears the flow, and He reaches men in this way. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is expressed in one way through one person and in another way through another person. One person can have one kind of ministry while another can have another kind of ministry. The Holy Spirit was expressed through Paul in one way and through Peter in another way. The same Holy Spirit was manifested in Peter and in Paul. It was the Holy Spirit in both cases, but the manifestation in Peter carried Peter’s flavor and characteristic, and the manifestation in Paul carried Paul’s flavor and characteristic. This is very clear. The Holy Spirit does not annul the human elements in each person. God never annulled the human elements within each writer of the Bible. When one person is filled with the Holy Spirit, he has one kind of manifestation. When another person is filled with the Holy Spirit, he has another kind of manifestation. Not everyone has the same expression and manifestation. When the Holy Spirit fills a person, He carries the very characteristic of the person himself.

Brothers, do you see our responsibility? If the Holy Spirit reached others through the word alone, without any relation to our human nature, we would have no responsibility in the matter. If we only had to carry the Holy Spirit with us and convey it to others, without any involvement of our human elements, we would not have much responsibility; we would only need to carry Him. But the experiences of many saints show us that the Holy Spirit reaches other men with the special characteristic of the bearer. Since this is the case, our spirit needs to be pure; it has to be dealt with. Otherwise, others will receive improper elements. We have to realize that the human factor is a great matter. The Holy Spirit does not operate independently or in an unprocessed manner. Our nature has a role to play. The Holy Spirit does not annul our nature; rather, He is released with our nature. The Lord said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38). The Lord’s word indicates that one must first drink the water, and then the rivers of living water must flow out of his innermost being. J. N. Darby points out that the innermost being refers to the deepest part of our being. It is out of the deepest part of one’s being that the Holy Spirit flows; the Holy Spirit flows out together with the person. When this water reaches a person, the Holy Spirit carries this person’s characteristics with Him, and flows to others this way.

Therefore, we have to learn to take the dealings. When the cross comes to us, it should not come in vain. As the cross works on us, we receive more carvings and dealings, and our being is purified even more. Every trial brings more purification. The more fire we have, the more cleansing we receive. The more trouble we suffer before the Lord and the greater such trouble is, the more our spirits are purified, and the purer will be the expression that the Holy Spirit assumes. A particular aspect of our character often goes through some dealings, but the work is not complete, and there are still impurities. As a result, others touch the Spirit of God at the same time that they touch the impurities. When we come across a minister of the word, we often find that he has God’s word, and his spirit is released. Yet, at the same time, his own person is too conspicuous; he is not broken enough. The breaking he has received is not thorough enough. The Holy Spirit is released through him, but at the same time his own characteristics are released as well. Brothers, our responsibility is too great! If the Spirit of the Lord worked absolutely independent of man or if the Holy Spirit rejected anyone who is flawed in any way, the matter would be much simpler. It would be easy to tell the difference between the work of the flesh and the work of the Spirit if the Lord put us aside as soon as we were off just a little. But the trouble today is that the work of the flesh is still within us. Even though our spirit is not pure enough, God does not reject us; He still uses us. Many who are proud are under the illusion that they are useful and that they have passed the test. They are wrong. God often uses a person even though there is still weakness in him. We have to realize that the more God uses us, the greater our responsibility is. If God would not use us, we would have much less trouble. But the Lord often uses us even though He knows that we are unqualified. The Holy Spirit does not operate independently today. He is not being released apart from man. This is a deep principle in the work of God. When the Holy Spirit reaches out, His reaching is done in conjunction with man’s spirit. The Lord takes man up, together with all of his characteristics, in His release.

We should be in fear and trembling all the time. Even though the Lord may use us, we must not forget that we are still unqualified. We have to remember the gravity of our responsibility. If something is wrong with us, the flaws that are in our spirit will be mixed in with the word of the Lord. One day the Lord will shine His light in us, and we will prostrate ourselves before Him and say, “Nothing that I have said in the past was up to Your mark.” Anyone who receives any light will be deeply conscious of his past failures. Indeed, God’s Spirit may have accomplished some amount of work through us, but our person is still wrong; we remain an impure vessel before the Lord. We are not a perfect vessel. In the hand of God we are a contaminated vessel, and we need deeper dealings. When a man receives the light, he discovers his shortcomings; he realizes that his very person is unusable. When the word is released, the spirit must also be released. Therefore, we need to ask for mercy and grace so that everything would be under the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Every day we must learn to accept the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Without this, our spirit will not be useful. The Lord may want to make us a minister of the word; He may be working in us every day. All the dealings, trials, and occurrences in our environment are for the purpose of increasing our usefulness in the Lord. All things work together to make our spirit purer and more perfect. They work together to bring about a purer flow when our spirit is released and to increase the usefulness of our spirit. Today God may grant us mercy and allow His Spirit to be released through us, and we may think that we are now a great servant of the Lord. We may be puffed up. We may think that all is well, without any realization that His selection was merely provisional in its measure.

We must realize that the training of a minister of the word is a daily matter. It is also a lifelong work. The words we speak may not improve, but our spirit can improve. Perhaps the words we speak are the same as the words we spoke ten years ago. But when we speak the same words today, our spirit is different from the spirit we had ten years ago. A young man must never think that he can give the same message as an older man. He can speak the same words, but he does not have the same spirit. Some brothers repeat the same things they spoke twenty or thirty years ago. The words are the same, but the spirit is different. We should never be concerned with whether we have the same words but whether we have the same spirit. While we can speak the words of some older brothers, it is not easy to have their spirit. It is not enough for a minister of the word to have the word alone; he must also have the spirit. The Lord said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). When a minister of the word stands up to speak for the Lord, not only must his words be pure, but the release of his spirit must be pure as well. It is not a matter of whether or not we can say the words, but of whether our release of the spirit is pure.

The issue is not our eloquence. What is at stake is the kind of spirit we convey when we speak. One realm justifies a man as long as he is clever, eloquent, and wise. But another realm demands nothing less than the Lord’s chastising hand and the discipline of the Holy Spirit. The two belong to two entirely different realms. The second kind of word can only be “beaten out” through the hand of the Lord. Words are beaten into existence; they are wrought into one’s being. Every day the Holy Spirit “beats” the word into a person’s being. If we are going to preach a message today, it is not enough to simply deliver the word. We may think afterwards that our message was wonderful, and we may feel very good about ourselves. We may think that we can continue to preach the same message. We may think that our words are not much different from those who have the genuine ministry. Yet none of our speaking will result in anything. In fact, we are living in a different realm. Others might have told us about a truth, and we might have received it. Since that time, we may be speaking about the same truth, but our speaking does not lead us anywhere. The words can be the same, but if we do not have the proper spirit, there will be flaws in the release of our spirit. The Lord’s words are spirit and life. This is why our spirit must be dealt with by the Lord. Our person must be carved and molded before our spirit can be released in a proper way. When the word is released and the spirit is released, praise the Lord, the Holy Spirit is released as well. This is the way of the ministry of the word. Without such a release, we will be like scribes teaching the Ten Commandments. The trouble with this kind of teaching is that everything is doctrinal, didactic, and expositional. If the spirit is not involved, everything is vanity. God has to work on us until our spirit is released whenever the word is released. Sometimes there is the need of extraordinary release. But not every instance requires such extraordinary effort; only a few times do we need such special outbursts. During these times the Holy Spirit bursts out and operates in a strong way. Unless we have such an experience, the message we preach will not match the preaching of the apostles.

We must understand the responsibility of the church today. God has entrusted His Christ to the church with the intention that the church would communicate this Christ to others. God also has entrusted His Holy Spirit to the church with the intention that the church would communicate this Holy Spirit to others. God also has entrusted revelation and spiritual blessings to the church with the intention that the church would communicate the same to others. This is God’s intention. This is God’s plan. The church is the Body of Christ on earth. Just as a body expresses a man, the church expresses Christ. The desires of the head are expressed through the body. Without the body, the head cannot express itself. Similarly, without the church, Christ cannot express Himself. In this age God is blessing men through the church. As such, the church carries a heavy responsibility. We should never think that everything is in heaven today. We can never forget Pentecost, and we can never forget the cross. The situation today is entirely different from that in the Old Testament. Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring the whole tithe to the storehouse that there may be food in My house; and prove Me, if you will, by this, says Jehovah of hosts, whether I will open to you the windows of heaven and pour out blessing for you until there is no room for it.” This was the principle in the Old Testament. The blessing was in heaven. But today the blessing has come to earth. The Spirit will rapture the church from earth to heaven. Protestantism has forgotten the position of the church, while Catholicism has tried to usurp God’s blessing with carnal hands. Today we have to ask God to open our eyes to see that all spiritual blessings are now in the church. The church can now dispense these blessings to others.

Today the church is in the business of dispensing. The book of Ephesians shows us clearly that the blessings have descended while the church has ascended. All the spiritual things are now in the church. What is a minister? A minister is one who dispenses these spiritual riches to others. The church has enjoyed and received all these riches. All the riches of Christ are now in the church. Today the church dispenses to others the Christ it has received. A minister is one who dispenses to others the Christ he has seen and received. We must never be so fallen as to consider everything to be far away. Many people pray as if the church has never ascended to the heavens. They beseech as if the Holy Spirit has never descended to the earth. That is not the church. Romans 10:8 says, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” Brothers, if we have the light, we can transmit the same divine light to others. If we have God’s word, we can convey the same word of God to others. The matter depends on whether or not we are willing and happy to do this.

For years God has been looking for sanctified vessels to transmit His word. This does not mean that God will not use us unless we are perfectly sanctified. For the past two thousand years, countless fleshly hands have touched God’s work, and countless carnal hands have contaminated His work. Brothers, within us, we know very well what we were ten years ago. We can only say that we were carnal men. Yet God still used us. We know very well what kind of a person we were twenty years ago. We can only say that we were filthy and sinful men. Yet God still used us. We should never be so foolish as to think that we are useful to Him just because God has used us. More and more we are realizing the gravity of our responsibility. “O Lord, even while we are being used, the self is contaminating, defiling, and corrupting Your word. We have mingled our sin and filthiness with Your work. There is little separation now between the work of the Spirit and the work of the flesh. Lord, we have sinned. Forgive us. Be merciful to us.”

The Lord has committed Himself to the church. His way is with us. Today God dispenses all that He is to others through man’s spirit. We should pray that our spirit would be acceptable to the Lord. We cannot boast of our work in the past. We have no reason to remain in our impurity; we have no reason to remain in our carnality or fleshly ways. We must remember that God has entrusted Christ to the church. He has entrusted the Holy Spirit, His word, and His light to the church. Today the church can dispense light to men; it can dispense the word, Christ, and the Spirit to men. The trouble is with our impurity and our mixture. We must realize our responsibility. When we speak well, everything will be well. When we do not speak well, everything will not be well. The responsibility is entirely on our shoulders. The word has to go out. The Holy Spirit has to go out. The spirit has to go out, and light has to go out. A man must be brought to the point where he can become a sanctified vessel.

If we realize what the church is, we will spontaneously realize what a minister is. A minister is one who dispenses to others through the word what God has entrusted to the church. The responsibility of a minister is greater than any other kind of responsibility. If the flesh remains an impure mixture in us, we do not have a way to go on. We will only destroy God’s work and damage it. God needs men, yet we cannot be His servant or His minister. May the Lord have mercy on us. We have to know the proper way to go on. When our word goes out, light has to go out with it. We have to dispense such a strong word to others so that they can do nothing but see the light and fall on their face.