As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. I Peter 4:10–11 (N.A.S.B.)
The concept of ministry in the New Testament is not for an anointing upon human ability as much as it is an anointing from God to come and minister directly to people. If you receive a gift, use it as a good steward of the manifold grace of God. You are God’s delivery boy. It is not what you are in yourself, but it is what you draw from God and minister to people. What really counts in all ministry is that which people receive of God through you; not how impressed they are with your personality, your talent or how much you have labored in the matter.
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; I Peter 4:11 (K.J.V.). God wants a revelation of Himself to come through you. You house the Lord and you bring Him to people. God is making you His mouthpiece; making you the vessel through which He is borne to the world.
The Apostle Paul said, And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. (In other words, what God had to say, is what Paul proclaimed.) For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. I Corinthians 2:1–5.
Paul and those who were skilled in New Testament order would abhor what goes on in many churches today: unanointed discussions, people expressing viewpoints back and forth. A Bible class where various views are expressed would be completely out of the question in a New Testament church. If they did not feel they were being led of the Lord or anointed of God, they would not say anything. Paul said, “I was with you in weakness, in fear and in much trembling.”
It is not the enticing words of man’s wisdom, or how clever a man can preach, because a sermon is just a sermon until God puts a word in that man to speak. In this restoration, God is returning that New Testament level of preaching—men really speaking as the oracles of God. Paul put it in action when he returned to the little church in Thessalonica which is in the province of Macedonia. Greece was divided into Macedonia and Achaia; Macedonia was the melting pot; and when Paul was there from Philippi, he recounted what had happened when he went back to preach.
For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi (their being thrown in jail and the earthquake), as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men but God, who examines our hearts. For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness—nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. I Thessalonians 2:1–13.
That was the key: they spoke a word from God, and that was the way it was received. That was a beautiful story, but not the whole picture. There was a riot in Thessalonica. Paul and Silas did not remain there over three weeks; they were thrust out of town. This is related in Acts 17.
Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a great multitude of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women. But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and coming upon the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. And when they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here also; and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And they stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. And when they had received a pledge (That would be like putting them under a peace bond.) from Jason and the others, they released them. And the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea; and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. Acts 17:1–12.
It did not end everything when Paul and Silas were hustled out of Thessalonica because there were people who heard and said, “This is not the word of man. This is the word of God.” That church was started by a three week apostolic visit.
You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. I Thessalonians 1:6–8.
The word of the Lord sounded forth from those people, and that is really the picture of what ought to be taking place in people’s lives: a word spoken to them from God. So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Romans 10:17.
Many sermons are preached in which there are Scriptures, yet they do not generate much faith in people’s hearts. What really counts is when a person is filled with God’s word, anointed by that word, and when he speaks forth, the Spirit of God really makes a living word real to the people. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by that word of God:—“by the word of Christ” (N.A.S.B.). This was the way they preached in New Testament times. The book of Acts is very careful to word what happened.
The Apostle Paul spoke a word from God, churches were born and then they began to speak words from the Lord. In Acts, chapter four, Peter and John were arrested after healing the lame man at the temple gate. They had gone back and were praying when they were threatened—told that they could no longer preach in the name of Jesus.
“And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Thy bond-servants may speak Thy word with all confidence, while Thou dost extend Thy hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Thy holy Servant, Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:29–31.
That was what they wanted to do; their whole objective was to speak the word of God. It had not been an anointing upon human wisdom, but it was an anointing from God to speak His word. If someone gets up and preaches a marvelous sermon and the people say “My, isn’t he a wonderful preacher,” he has failed miserably. But if they say, “That was a word from God,” he has succeeded. You do not try to impress anyone with yourself; you try to speak a word from God. In the sixth chapter of Acts, seven men served the tables for the widows in the daily ministry of the food; yet the widows of some were being neglected. It is interesting to note that from the word “service” we have the word “deacon”, so a deacon is literally the servant of the church… “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. (to “deacon” tables.) But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry (service) of the word.” Acts 6:2, 4.
That word is also “service”, like a deacon. It is a play on words. They picked seven men to service the tables while they were going to wait on God and service the word. They wanted to take care of the widows, yet while they were busy serving, the disciple says, “We are going to minister forth. We are God’s waiters, serving the word of God to people.” That’s what you receive in this walk: course by course. There are the prophecies: the word of the Lord in a prophetic course. There is singing: beautiful songs that come forth, as the Scripture says:
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you; with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16.
Then there is the ministry of the Word set before you that comes to teach you, and though some do not like it, that is all we are serving; we serve the word of God. If you do not like what is being preached, pray about it, because it is surprising how you can acquire a taste if you are sincere. God will give you a taste for it. Many of you like things that you did not like before. Cultivate a taste for everything that is served in the walk; even if it is not the most tasteful, it is the most nutritious, and you will grow thereby.
And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of all; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing. Acts 19:19, 20. They spoke the word and then the word began growing. A living word was in them.
Paul wrote, You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. II Corinthians 3:2, 3.
The great Bible of the kingdom is increasing because the living word of God comes to your heart and then it begins to take over. You find as you speak the word, it continues to grow and expand. This is what God wants us to have; it is what He is proclaiming. To be an oracle of God, for God to speak through you, is the greatest privilege in the world. It is better to hem and haw when speaking a word from God than to be the most eloquent man in the world. To speak for God is a wonderful privilege.
Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you (they did not just preach, they spoke the word of God); and considering the outcome of their way of life, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever. Hebrews 13:7, 8. That is the way the early church remembered it.
Remember those who came to you and spoke the word of God to you, that you should strive and endeavor to be so filled with and so anointed of the Lord, that it would be exactly what happens to you: to become an instrument, speaking the word of the Lord, lest it sounds so way out and so distant that you say, “I can never attain to it, I can never be able to walk in this. I would give up if that is what we are going to have to do, set a high goal and speak God’s words, I’ll never attain it.”
It is much easier than you may think. One of the greatest passages in the Bible, is found in Deuteronomy and was quoted by the Lord “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ” Matthew 4:4. Why? Because you become what you eat. What God is trying to do for you is to let His life flow through you. He is the vine and we are the branches. We bear the fruit because we are abiding in Him.
Jesus said: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4. We live in Him. Man doesn’t live by bread alone; for a believer, his very life is God. He has to live by virtue of a word that comes from God. Man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God—that gives us the key.
What did they do at Thessalonica?… when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God. I Thessalonians 2:13. That is the way we begin when we have prophecies and words that are carefully proven. Listen to them carefully, and discern them. Let the Lord give you an anointing to know when you hear a word that it is God speaking to your heart. Forget the human vessel and take it as, “God gave me a word.” Listen to that word, receive it as God’s word, meditate on it, keep living upon it, and digest it. When you have that word living within you, you have experienced it in one measure; and then you speak that which has become a part of you.
“Well, I’m going to talk to you about sanctification.” “Have you ever been sanctified?” “No, but I thought it would make a good subject to talk about here.” Don’t talk about something if you have not experienced it; only speak things that have become real, speak them until they become so real that they can hardly be contained. It is just like an overflowing well. God is becoming so real to you that an inward compulsion drives you to speak the word of the Lord. Meditate on it, assimilate it, digest it. When it becomes a living part of you, speak it, let it come forth. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16. This is a beautiful thing for you to remember.
And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Ephesians 5:18. It is fullness of God. We absorb the Word, we assimilate the Word; then we proclaim the thing that has become a living part of us.
God doesn’t say, “Now son, go down the road and thunder.” He says, “Let Me thunder through you. Let Me speak through you. Let Me love through you. Let Me move in the earth through you. I want you to be My expression in the earth. I want you to be living epistles upon whom I can write what I have to say to the world, and tell them what I am.”
When people look at you and hear you, you are an expression of all that God has to say—all that He is. This is not impossible; He is demanding that of all of us. When the Word of the Lord moves through our hearts and God begins to speak through us, what a beautiful thing happens! God moves and speaks through human channels, and if He so limited Himself in His plan and purpose for this generation, that we are going to be His mouthpiece, His hands and His feet; let us count it all joy to be so one with Him.
What should be the word of the Lord to thine heart this day? Shall He reprove thee? Shall He rebuke thee? Shall He reject thee? Shall He bring thee into judgment? Are these not the days in which the Lord hath rained upon thee mercy? And His dealings with thee, behold they have been relentless. They have not ceased. Day unto day and night unto night hath the Lord troubled thee that you should walk in His way. He has caused thee to open thine heart unto Him and He has given thee words and promises that thou should trust in them. He hath brought by His servants prophecies over you that you should rejoice in them. Then what shall be His word unto thee because thou hast embraced the word of the Lord and pursued after it because thy heart has been set upon the Lord. Is it not a day of blessing? Shall he not bless that which He hath begun within thee and bring it to perfection? Shall He not perfect that which concerneth thee? He is the author, shall He not be the finisher of your faith? Having begun this good work will He not perform it unto the day of the Lord?
Therefore, be not downcast in thy heart and cast not away your confidence, for your arm has done many things in the will of the Lord. If you continue to open your heart to Him and rejoice, shall there not be a complete fulfillment of all the things which He has spoken over thee? It is the day that brother after brother breaks forth into singing and rejoicing, and sister after sister open her heart in the songs of Miriam because the Lord hath delivered them out of the hand of the enemy and He hath brought them into the days of expansion and growth. He hath brought them into days in which they have rejoiced greatly in that which God hath brought forth in their life. God too shall open thy heart to rejoice this day. For the Lord leadeth thee by the hand and He bringeth thee forth into that which He hath promised over thee. Let thy soul delight in it. Let thy heart abound in these things. It’s a day of rejoicing. It’s a day of victory. It’s a day of proclaiming what the Lord is unto thine heart. Amen.
In this day, behold, the armies of unbelief do parade forth and do manifest their doubts on every hand. This is not a day in which men shall think they even pull the Most High from the heavens, yea, that they war against Him and try to cast out all of His words and destroy all of the things that the Lord is to the hearts of men. But in the midst of the unbelief that parades in the world, hath not the Lord brought forth a living faith within thy heart? And thou shalt say in the face of the host that cometh against thee, “I am a believer. I am the Lord’s believer.” Thou shalt wholly trust in the Lord thy God, lean upon Him with all thine heart and not upon thine own understanding. So the Lord shall establish His people, that though there shall be a multitude that camp against thee, yet thou shall prevail. For if God be for thee, who can be against thee? Amen.