THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Epistles of Paul to Timothy and Titus
Message Three
The Bible Being God’s Breathing
Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 3:14-17; Eph. 6:17-18a; John 6:63; Gal. 3:2; Acts 6:10; 2 Cor. 3:6; Isa. 6:1-8
I. “All Scripture is God-breathed”—2 Tim. 3:16a:
A. The Scripture, the word of God, is the breathing out of God—vv. 16.
B. God’s speaking is God’s breathing out; hence His word is spirit, or breath—John 6:63.
C. The Scripture is the embodiment of God as the Spirit; the Spirit is therefore the very essence, the substance, of the Scripture, just as phosphorus is the essential substance in matches—cf. footnote 2, Tim. 3:16.
D. As the embodiment of God the Spirit, the Scripture (God’s word) is also the embodiment of Christ; Christ is God’s living Word (Rev. 19:13), and the Scripture is God’s written word—Rev. 19:13, cf. footnote 2, Tim. 3:16.
E. This all reveals that being a man of God with the breath of God requires the exercise of our spirit, the continual receiving of the Spirit, and the breathing in of God’s word—1 Tim. 4:7; Gal. 3:2; Eph. 6:17-18a.
II. The antidote of the divine inoculation against the decline of the church is the God-breathed Scripture, which is profitable for teaching, conviction, correction, and instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work—2 Tim. 3:14-17:
A. The Bible is God’s breath, this breath is the Spirit, and the Spirit gives life—John 6:63.
1. Our reading of the Bible should our inhaling of God to receive life, and our teaching of the Bible should be our exhaling of God to impart life—Acts 6:4.
2. We need to read the Bible by means of all prayer and petition in the spirit to inhale God and minister the word as the Spirit to exhale God into others—Eph. 6:17-18; Acts 6:10; 2 Cor. 3:6.
B. On God’s side, the Bible is God’s breathing; on our side the Bible is for us to receive the breath of God as our profit in four matters: teaching, conviction, correction, and instruction in righteousness—2 Tim. 3:16; Phil. 3:9:
1. Teaching equals revelation; to teach is to roll away the veil so that others may see something of the Triune God and His economy—Eph. 1:17; 3:9.
2. Conviction comes from the revelation we have seen; whenever we see something of God, we realize our mistakes, wrongdoings, shortcomings, and sins and the result is that we are convicted and reproved; the more we see God, know God, and love God, the more we abhor ourselves and deny ourselves—cf. Isa. 6:1-8; Job 42:5-6; Matt. 16:24.
3. Correction follows conviction and is a matter of setting right what is wrong, turning someone to the right way, and restoring to an upright state—cf. 7:13-14; James 5:19-20.
4. Instruction in righteousness is be divinely instructed to enjoy Christ as our lived-out righteousness and to be divinely disciplined in being right with God and with man—Phil. 3:9.
C. The issue of God’s breathing out of Himself through the Scripture for teaching, conviction, correction, and instruction in righteousness is that the man of God becomes complete, fully equipped for every good work—2 Tim. 3:16-17:
1. A man of God is a God-man, one who partakes of God life and nature (John 1:13; 2 Pet. 1:4), thus, being one with God in His life and nature (1 Cor. 6:17) and thereby expressing Him.
2. God’s breathing produces God-men; we need to continually inhale the Triune God by reading the Scripture with prayer to receive revelation, conviction, correction, and instruction in righteousness—John 1:12-13:
a. The Bible itself is beneficial and unchanging, but whether or not we receive the full benefit from the Bible depends on how we contact it—Eph. 6:17.
b. The way to taste and enjoy the word of God is to pray-read the Bible, that is, to use the word of the Bible as our prayer—v. 17.
III. To receive the word of God as the breath of God in order to be constituted with God is also to receive the word of God as the sword of the Spirit in order to slay God’s adversary—vv. 17-18a:
A. Satan is not only the enemy outside of us but also the adversary inside of us; to deal with this inward adversary, we need to experience the killing power of the word, praying over the constant word of the Bible so that it becomes the instant word of the Spirit—John 6:63; Eph. 5:26; Rev. 2:7.
B. The sword, the Spirit, and the word are one; when the constant word in the Bible becomes the instant word (the applied word spoken at the moment by the Spirit in any situation), that word is the Spirit as the sword that kills the adversary—Heb. 4:12.
C. The more we take the word of God by means of all prayer in spirit, the more the negative elements in our being are slain; eventually, the self, the worst foe of all, the enemy of the Body, will be put to death—cf. Rev. 1:16; 2:16.
D. Whenever we are troubled by something negative within us, we should take the word of God by means of prayer in spirit; when the negative things in us are killed through pray-reading, the Lord is victorious—Eph. 6:17.
E. We are preserved in the church life and in the ministry by receiving the word as the Spirit to be the killing sword, which is a spiritual antibiotic to kill the “germs” within us so that we can live a healthy Body life, a healthy church life—v. 17; Rev. 1:16.
F. The overcomers keep the Lord’s word by always coming to the Lord to contact Him as the living Word in the written Word so that He can become the applied word as the dispensing Spirit in them—3:8; John 1:1; 5:39-40; 6:63.
G. The overcomers are fully constituted with the Spirit as the word of God to be the bride of Christ and the new man, the corporate man of God with the breath of God as the killing sword for the destruction of the enemies of God and the manifestation of the sons of God—Rev. 2:7; 22:17a; 19:13-15; 2 Thes. 2:8.
Ministry Excerpts:
ALL SCRIPTURE BEING GOD-BREATHED
Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” The Greek words rendered, “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable,” may also be translated “Every Scripture God-breathed is also profitable.”
To confront the death, corruption, and confusion in the church’s decline, the eternal life upon which chapter one is based (vv. 1, 10), the divine truth emphasized in chapter two (vv. 15, 18, 25), and the holy Scripture highly regarded in chapter three (vv. 14-17) are all needed. The eternal life not only swallows up death, but also renders the life supply; the divine truth replaces the vanity of corruption with the reality of all the divine riches; and the holy Scripture not only dispels confusion, but also furnishes divine light and revelation. Hence, in this book the apostle stresses these three things.
God’s Speaking As God’s Breathing
The expression “God-breathed” indicates that the Scripture, the Word of God, is the breath of God. God’s speaking is God’s breathing. Hence, His word is spirit (John 6:63), pneuma, or breath. Thus, the Scripture is the embodiment of God as the Spirit. The Spirit is therefore the very essence, the substance, of the Scripture, just as phosphorus is the essential substance in matches. We must ‘strike’ the Spirit of the Scripture with our spirit to kindle the divine fire.
As the Embodiment of God the Spirit, the Scripture Being Also
the Embodiment of Christ
As the embodiment of God the Spirit, the Scripture is also the embodiment of Christ. Christ is God’s living Word (Rev. 19:13), and the Scripture is God’s written word (Matt. 4:4).
According to verse 16, all Scripture is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. Reproof here means conviction or confutation. Correction denotes setting right what is wrong, turning someone to the right way, or restoring a person to an upright state. Instruction refers to discipline or chastisement in righteousness. This means to discipline or chastise in the element and condition of righteousness.
In verse 17 Paul says, “That the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.” We have seen that a man of God is one who partakes of God’s life and nature (John 1:13; 2 Pet. 1:4) and thus becomes one with Him in His life and nature (1 Cor. 6:17) and thereby expresses Him. This corresponds to the mystery of godliness, which is God manifest in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16). Through the God-breathed Scripture, the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. Complete here means complete and perfect in qualifications, and equipped denotes being fitted out, furnished, made ready.
We need to know the Bible not merely according to letters in black and white, but also according to the divine revelation and heavenly wisdom. Do not think that having an advanced degree qualifies anyone to understand a book such as Ephesians. If we study this Epistle only in letters, we shall not be able to understand it. For a proper understanding of this book, and for the Bible as a whole, we need a spirit of wisdom and revelation. This was the reason Paul prayed, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him, the eyes of your heart having been enlightened” (Eph. 1:17-18). We thank the Lord that for more than fifty years we have been receiving such a spirit of wisdom and revelation. As a result, the messages put out in the Lord’s recovery always contain something fresh and new. These messages are given not merely according to the black and white letters of the Scripture, but according to the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
We in the Lord’s recovery do not treasure theology, tradition, or the councils. We honor, respect, and treasure the holy Word under the shining of the heavenly light which comes by a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Because we depend on God’s enlightenment, His Word is opened to us.
Many Christians misuse 3:16 and 17. They point out that the holy Scripture is for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness and that it enables the man of God to be equipped, completed, and perfected. Although all this is true, it neglects the element of life in the Word. Those who regard the Bible as a book of teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction often ignore the life essence of the Word. As human beings we have a physical body outwardly, but inwardly we have a spirit and a soul. Our person is composed not mainly of the outward part, the body, but of the inward parts, the spirit and the soul. The principle is the same with the Bible. The Bible has not only a “body” of letters in black and white; it also has a spirit, because it is God-breathed. If in reading the Bible we exercise only our mind to study it, we shall not receive the life supply.
Most Christians neglect the spirit and take the Bible as a book of letters. The Lord Jesus once said, “The words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). Furthermore, we have pointed out that every word of the Bible is part of God’s breath. Thus, we should not only study the Word, but also breathe in the divine breath embodied in the Word. If we do not breathe the divine breath by exercising our spirit, we shall not receive life from our study of the Bible. But when we breathe in God’s breath, we are enlivened by a divine, heavenly, and spiritual element.
I wish to emphasize the fact that to study the Bible in order to follow its instructions is not sufficient. Often during a wedding ceremony a minister will instruct the bride and groom according to Paul’s word in Ephesians 5. The minister will then remind the wife to submit to the husband and the husband to love his wife. Although they may promise to fulfill these requirements, they will not be able to do so unless they receive the divine breath in the Word. The instructions in righteousness given according to the Bible do not work if we do not receive the breath of God, for then, in practice, we shall make these instructions the same as the ethical teachings of Confucius.
Contacting the Spirit of the Word Through the Exercise of Our Spirit
to Pray the Word
We thank the Lord for showing us that in reading the Word we need to exercise our eyes, our mind, and our spirit. We may say that with the eyes we contact the body of the Word, that with our mind we contact the soul of the Word, and through the exercise of our spirit to pray the Word, we contact the spirit of the Word. Then we not only understand the meaning of a certain portion of Scripture; we also inhale the divine breath to receive the life supply.
Many of us can testify that a certain verse of the Bible may be very precious to us as we read it. However, disciples of Confucius may also regard certain statements made by him as precious. But with the teachings of Confucius there is no divine breath. God’s Word contains His breath. Within the letters of the Bible there is the Spirit who gives life. This is the reason that in reading the Word we must exercise our spirit in addition to our mind. Then the verses we read will be not only precious to us, but they will nourish, refresh, and water us.
THE ANTIDOTE BEING THE DIVINE WORD OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT, THE GOD-BREATHED SCRIPTURE
The subject of 2 Timothy is the inoculation against the decline of the church. In this message we shall consider the antidote of the inoculation, which is the divine Word. In 2 Tim. 2:16-26 we have the spread of the decline and in 3:1-13, the worsening of the decline. We praise the Lord that in 3:14-17 we have a wonderful, heavenly, divine, spiritual, and rich antidote. As we shall see, this antidote is the divine word of the Old Testament and the New Testament, the God-breathed Scripture which is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness and which completes the man of God and fully equips him for every good work. (Life-study of 2 Timothy, msg. 6)
Our Reading of the Scriptures Being Our Receiving of God’s Breath
Ephesians 6:17 and 18 tell us to receive the word of God by means of all prayer and petition. The reason we need to receive the word of God by prayer is that, according to 2 Timothy 3:16, the Scriptures are God-breathed. This indicates that the Scriptures are the breathing out of God. God has breathed Himself out in the Scriptures, and thus our reading of the Scriptures should be our receiving of God’s breath. When God breathes Himself out, He exhales Himself. When we read the Scriptures, or when we receive the Scriptures, we inhale God. Reading the Bible therefore involves both God’s exhaling and our inhaling.
2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed.” The Scriptures are the breath of God, or the breathing out of God, God’s breathing out of Himself. The Bible, therefore, is God’s breath, and God’s breath is the Spirit of God, for God is Spirit (John 4:24). The Greek word for Spirit is pneuma, which is also the word for breath. Thus, we may say that the Holy Spirit is the holy breath (cf. 20:22). God is Spirit, and the Spirit is the holy breath. To say that all Scripture is God-breathed is to say that the Bible is the breath, the breathing out, of the very God who is Spirit. God has breathed Himself out, and this breathing out of God is the Bible. This is what 2 Timothy 3:16 is saying when it tells us that the Scriptures are God-breathed.
Spirit and Life
In John 6:63 the Lord Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life…the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” The words that proceed out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus are spirit, pneuma. His words are the embodiment of the Spirit, who gives life. This indicates that the words that come out of the Lord’s mouth are His breath, the breathing out of Himself. This is a further indication that the words of the Scriptures are God-breathed.
The Sword of the Spirit
In Ephesians 6:17 Paul charges us to receive “the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God.” The antecedent of which is Spirit, not sword, indicating that the Spirit is the word of God. When we read the Bible, we must touch the word of God as the Spirit. Along with 2 Timothy 3:16 and John 6:63, this verse reveals that the Bible is God’s breathing out. Since God is Spirit, what He breathes out must also be Spirit. The words of the Bible, therefore, are the breathing out of God Himself as the Spirit.
The Scriptures Being Profitable for Teaching, Conviction, Correction, and Instruction in Righteousness
Second Timothy 3:16 says not only that the Scriptures are God-breathed but also that the Scriptures are “profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” On God’s side the Bible is God’s breathing. On our side the Bible is for us to receive profit in four matters—teaching, conviction or reproof, correction, and instruction. The order here is significant. Why does teaching and not instruction come first? Why does correction come before instruction, and conviction before correction? And why does teaching come first? The order is first teaching and then conviction, correction, and instruction.
Teaching—the Rolling Away of the Veil
What is teaching? How do you understand the word teaching? We need to know the denotation of this word as it is used by Paul.
If we have the proper and adequate spiritual experience, we will realize that in verse 16 teaching equals revelation. Teaching is actually nothing less than a divine revelation. Since teaching equals revelation, as you are teaching the young people in your class in the Summer School of Truth, you must present a revelation to them.
A revelation is the opening of a veil. As you are teaching the young people, you should be taking away a veil so that they may see something of the Triune God. A certain matter may be hidden from view, but by your teaching you should gradually open the veil. This is teaching.
When you are serving in the Summer School of Truth, you should not allow the veil to remain over the eyes of the young people. Rather, as they are listening to you, the veil should be rolled away little by little. To teach is to roll away the veil. Go to the summer school for the purpose of rolling away the veil.
Now we can see that for the Bible to be profitable for teaching means that it is profitable for unveiling, for rolling away the veil. A veil cannot be taken away suddenly; it cannot be rolled away all at once. On the contrary, the veil is rolled away a little at a time. Time after time and in session after session, you need to gradually roll away the veil. If you do this, your way of teaching will be an unveiling. This kind of teaching always presents a revelation to others. Those who are under such teaching will be able to see something concerning the Triune God.
This understanding of teaching applies not only to those who teach in the Summer School of Truth but to all those who speak for the Lord. When you speak something in the church meeting, your speaking should be the rolling away of the veil. This means that your speaking should present a revelation.
The Conviction Coming from the Revelation We Receive
It is significant that in verse 16 teaching is followed by conviction, or reproof. The reason for this is that no one can see something of God without being convicted by what he sees. Those who are under your teaching will see something, and what they see will convict, reprove, them.
Whenever we see something of God, we realize our mistakes, wrongdoings, shortcomings, and sins. The result is that we are convicted; we are rebuked. This conviction comes from the revelation we receive. However, often in our reading of the Scriptures, we read without receiving any revelation, and thus there is no conviction. But when in our reading of the Scriptures we receive a revelation, the revelation will convict us and rebuke us.
Correction
Conviction is followed by correction. Teaching, or revelation, brings us conviction, and conviction produces correction. Correction is a matter of setting right what is wrong, turning someone to the right way, and restoring to an upright state.
The Instruction in Righteousness
After we have been corrected, we will receive the proper instruction—the instruction in righteousness. Whereas Paul here does not use any modifiers for teaching, conviction, and correction, he does use a modifier for instruction and speaks of the instruction in righteousness. Righteousness is a matter of being right. Hence, the instruction here is for us to be right.
The reason we are convicted and rebuked is that we are wrong in many different ways and aspects. We may be wrong with God, with Christ, and with the Spirit. We may be wrong with the church, with the brothers and sisters, with our husband or wife, with our parents, with our children, with our neighbors, and even with ourselves. We may be wrong in the way we spend our money, in the way we spend our time, in the way we dress, or in the way we style our hair. Because we may be wrong in so many different things, we are rebuked by the revelation we receive when we read the Scriptures.
From our experience we know that often we are rebuked immediately after receiving a revelation. I can testify that time after time I have been rebuked by a revelation that came from reading the Bible or from a teaching. Have you not had such an experience? Because we are sinful and unrighteous, we need the rebuking that comes through teaching.
We may memorize Bible verses and recite them without experiencing any rebuking. But when we receive a revelation from the Word, that revelation exposes our sinfulness and rebukes us. We are not rebuked by man, nor are we rebuked directly by God—we are rebuked by the teaching of the Word. When we are rebuked in this way, we are spontaneously corrected, and when we are corrected, we have the instruction in righteousness. The result is that we are adjusted.
We may be adjusted in a particular matter and become right in this matter. However, we may not be right in this matter once for all. For example, suppose a brother is wrong with his wife. Under the revelation from the Word, he is rebuked and adjusted. He repents and then apologizes to his wife, and as a result, he is now right with her. But a few days later he may be wrong with her again, and once again he will need to be rebuked, corrected, and adjusted.
The Issue of Teaching, Conviction, Correction, and Instruction in Righteousness
The Man of God Becoming Complete
In verse 17 Paul goes on to say, “That the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.” A man of God is a God-man, one who partakes of God’s life and nature (John 1:13; 2 Pet. 1:4), thus being one with God in His life and nature (1 Cor. 6:17) and thereby expressing Him. Such a God-man, such a man of God, is produced by God’s breathing out of Himself. God’s breathing produces God-men.
Not a Good Man but a God-man
You may be a good man but not a God-man. This means that with you there is an extra o. You should have only one o, but instead of one you have two. The more you receive teaching, revelation, the more this extra o will be cut off. However, it is hard to get rid of the second o once for all, for it is like a man’s beard that appears again after it has been shaved or like the grass that grows again after the lawn has been mowed. From experience we know that the second o always comes back. Perhaps with you this extra o has only partially been cut off, and the part that has been shaved keeps coming back again. If this is our situation, then we are a man of God—a God-man—with an extra o. We need the teaching from the Scriptures to shave away this o again and again.
The word that at the beginning of 2 Timothy 3:17 indicates that this verse is an issue of the preceding verse. The issue of teaching, conviction, correction, and instruction in righteousness is that the man of God becomes complete.
Becoming Complete and Equipped for Every Good Work
In the Summer School of Truth you should present a teaching that is an unveiling, the rolling away of the veil. Then the young people in your class will see something of God, and what they see will rebuke them, correct them, and afford them the proper instruction in righteousness to make them right both with God and with man. The issue, the outcome, will be that the man of God becomes complete and equipped for every good work.
The purpose of the Summer School of Truth is not to give mental knowledge to the young people. The goal of our summer school is to present teaching after teaching, revelation after revelation, so that the young ones may see God, see themselves, and be convicted, corrected, and instructed to be right with God and man so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. Such a person will be a true man of God, a real God-man, continually inhaling the Triune God and thereby receiving revelation, conviction, correction, and instruction in righteousness. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 1, “Teachers’ Training”, ch. 1)
APPLYING THE KILLING POWER OF THE WORD TO OUR BEING SUBJECTIVELY
We have pointed out that the sword is the only aspect of the armor that is for offensive warfare; that is, it is the only item of God’s armor used for attacking the enemy. Perhaps you are wondering what this has to do with our subjective experience of the killing power of the word. If we would understand this, we must see that in spiritual warfare we must deal not only with the objective enemy, but even the more with the subjective adversary. Satan is not only the enemy outside us; he is also the adversary inside us. Today we face a greater problem with the inward adversary than with the outward enemy. The attacks of the enemy from without are not as serious as those of the adversary from within. To deal with this inward adversary we need to experience the killing power of the word. Yes, the enemy is outside us, but his elements are within our very being. Because the enemy’s elements are within us, we need the killing power of the word to be applied to our being subjectively. Since the enemy has injected himself into our being, what we need is for the killing power of the word to be applied to us to deal with the elements of the enemy within us.
Slaying the Adversary by Pray-reading the Word
Because the self is the greatest enemy, we need to experience the killing power of God’s word. As we pray-read, we are nourished on the one hand, but certain elements are killed on the other hand. Perhaps you are troubled by doubts, hatred, jealousy, pride, or selfishness. Do you realize that these things can be killed through pray-reading the word? The more we take in the word with its killing power, the more our pride and all the negative elements within us are put to death. By pray-reading, the inward adversary is slain. After a time of pray-reading the word, we may discover that the adversary who was attacking us has disappeared. In a very practical sense, he has been slain by the word we have taken into us.
Do not think that the battlefield for the spiritual warfare is outside us. The battlefield is within us; in particular it is in our mind. All the elements of the adversary can be found in the mind. The way to slay them is to pray-read the word. As we pray-read God’s word, the elements of the adversary within our mind will be killed one by one. In this way we shall gain the victory.
A Practical Way to Kill the Negative Elements
Christians today are often very vague or general about matters. They may talk about such things as oneness, holiness, love, or the Lord’s coming. But much of the time they are not definite or specific. It is impossible to pin them down. The situation among us in the Lord’s recovery must be different. We need to be definite and specific in our experience with the Lord. Many of us can testify that when we pray-read the word, we are pinned down by the Lord. For instance, a brother who is having a problem with his wife may pray-read Paul’s word about husbands loving their wives. The more he pray-reads this verse, the more he senses that love for his wife is imparted into him in a practical way that swallows up the negative element of his problem.
As those who are in the Lord’s recovery, we need to be practical. We should not simply have a lot of theories, but we need a way to put theory into practice. Pray-reading is a practical way to kill the negative elements within us. The more we take the word of God by means of all prayer in spirit, the more the negative things within us will be put to death. Thus, pray-reading is not only feasting; it is also a way of fighting. As we pray-read the word, the battle is raging as the negative elements in our being are slain. Eventually, the self, the worst foe of all, will be put to death. When the negative things in us are killed through pray-reading, the Lord is victorious. Because He is victorious, we are victorious also. (Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 97)
The Sword of the Spirit Killing the Enemy
Let us now turn to Ephesians 6:17. Here Paul charges us to receive “the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God.” When I was a young Christian, I did not understand how the word of God could be a sword. I understood what it means to be enlightened by the Bible, for by reading the Bible I was enlightened. To some extent, by the Bible I was also rebuked, corrected, and instructed to be right with God and man. But I did not know how the Bible could become a sword, an offensive weapon to deal with the enemy. To understand this requires spiritual experience.
It is common for Christians to be enlightened, rebuked, corrected, and instructed by the Bible, but not many experience the word of the Bible as a sword that kills the enemy. The reason for this lack of experience is that we may receive the word of the Bible for teaching, rebuke, correction, and instruction without touching the Spirit. Even unbelievers may be enlightened by what they read in the Scriptures. Also, they may be rebuked, corrected, and instructed by what the Bible says concerning honor, love, humility, and honesty. However, in their reading of the Scriptures there is nothing of the Spirit. However, if we would take the word of the Bible as a sword for fighting the enemy, we must touch the Bible in a way that is full of the Spirit.
The Word of God Being the Sword Indirectly
According to Paul’s word in Ephesians 6:17, the word of God is the sword not directly but indirectly. Paul speaks of “the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God.” Here we have indirectness. The sword is not the word directly. Rather, the sword is the Spirit directly, and then the Spirit is the word. This indicates that if we would deal with the enemy Satan, the Bible must become the Spirit. Without the Spirit it may be possible for us to teach from the Bible that the young people should honor their parents and ask for forgiveness for what they have done wrong. But if we would use the word of the Bible as a sword to kill the enemy, in our experience the word must be the Spirit.
Understanding Ephesians 6:17 Experientially
At this juncture I would ask you to consider how, in a practical way, the word of the Bible can become the sword of the Spirit for fighting against the enemy. Can you give an illustration of this or a testimony concerning it? Ephesians 6:12 reveals that our enemies are the evil spirits, “the world-rulers of this darkness,” “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.” Can you testify from your experience how you have slain these enemies by taking the word as the sword? In order to give such a testimony, we need to understand Ephesians 6:17 experientially by handling the Bible in the way of the Spirit and not merely in a mental way. I am concerned that in the Summer School of Truth you will teach the young people merely in a mental way, as if you were teaching in a secular school. We all have to learn to teach the Bible in the way of the Spirit.
Ephesians, a book on the church as the Body of Christ, talks about the Body life, the oneness of the Body (4:4), and the Body being the fullness of the One who fills all in all (1:23). We need to realize that things such as our opinion, thought, temper, emotion, natural life, and point of view are often used by the powers of darkness in the air to damage the Body life. As brothers and sisters in the church, we all have our emotion, thought, opinion, and natural life, and we all have our own point of view. Quite often we are offended, not due to the wrongdoings of others but simply due to our emotion or opinion. A chair cannot be offended, because it does not have feelings. No matter how you treat a chair, it will not be offended. However, it is easy for brothers and sisters in the church to be offended.
Due to their emotion, sisters are easily offended. Suppose an older brother speaks a word to a particular sister and she is offended because of her emotion. Then the evil power in the air comes in to take advantage of her emotion, and she determines not to forget that she has been offended. Apparently, the problem is her emotion. Actually, the problem is that her emotion has been taken over by the evil force in the air. This means that the real enemy is not this sister’s emotion but the evil spirit in the air who takes advantage of her emotion in order to damage the church life. Because of the enemy’s use of her emotion, this sister first has a negative effect on her husband, and then she goes on to have a negative effect on several others. As a result, part of the Body is poisoned. If the enemy is to be defeated in this situation, the sister must learn to receive the word as the Spirit, which becomes the sword to deal with the enemy.
Being Preserved in the Church Life and in the Ministry by Receiving the Word as the Spirit
This is something I have learned through many years of experience. I am not a “marble” person who cannot be offended. I have often been offended by others in the church life or in my family life. How have I been able to get through all the offenses? I get through by receiving the word as the Spirit. The word I receive as the Spirit then becomes the sword to slay the enemy. Apparently, the sword of the Spirit kills my emotion; actually, it kills the evil spirit in the air who takes advantage of my emotion. Whereas my emotion is killed directly, the evil spirit is killed indirectly. In this way I have been able to get through the offenses.
When some hear this, they might say, “Brother Lee, show me a verse that can kill your emotion directly and kill the evil power in the air indirectly.” This is not a matter of a particular verse that touches our emotion but a matter of applying Ephesians 6:17 in an experiential way. Suppose in the evening I am offended by one of the elders. Because I fear the Lord, I do not dare to talk about this with others. The next morning I rise up to contact the Lord in the Word. I do not read any verses that touch the matter of my emotion. Instead, I simply begin to read the Bible with the exercise of the spirit. I may read Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” As I read this verse, I receive the word in a living way as the Spirit, and the Spirit, which is the word, becomes the sword that kills my emotion directly and kills the evil force indirectly. Spontaneously, the offense is gone, and no damage is done to the church. However, if the offense were allowed to remain, it would cause serious damage to the church life. I believe that many of us have experienced receiving the word of God in this way.
Without the word as the Spirit to be the killing sword, there would be no way for us to be kept in the church life over the years. For more than half a century, I have been traveling, visiting the churches, and contacting thousands of saints. Without the word as the Spirit to kill all the enemies, I would not still be here ministering. If I had allowed myself to remain offended with a certain church or saint, I would have been finished with the ministry. I have been kept in the church life and in the ministry through the killing of the word as the Spirit.
A Spiritual Antibiotic
Suppose a particular brother is not happy with the church in his locality. He moves to another city, supposing that he will like the church there. However, after a short period of time, he becomes unhappy with this local church, so he moves to another place. But soon he is offended by something or someone in this church, and he moves to yet another locality. Such a person cannot participate in the building up of the church. On the contrary, because there is no killing of the enemy within him, he causes the church to suffer damage.
According to Paul’s word toward the end of Ephesians, a book concerning the church, we need to receive the word of God in a living way, that is, receive the word as the Spirit. The Spirit will then become the killing sword. This sword first kills us directly and then kills the power of darkness in the air indirectly. We may compare this kind of killing to the effect of an antibiotic on the germs that cause illness in our body. In order for our body to be saved, the germs need to be killed by an antibiotic. The word that we receive in a living way as the Spirit is a spiritual antibiotic that kills the “germs” within us. When the germs are killed, the evil forces in the air have no way to take advantage of us. Then we can live a healthy Body life, a healthy church life.
This is the way I have been preserved in the church life and in my ministry for so many years. Apart from the killing of the word as the Spirit, my ministry would have been terminated. Once again I would emphasize that we need to receive the word of God in a living way so that in our experience the Spirit becomes the killing sword. When the word becomes the Spirit, the Spirit becomes the sword—the sword of the Spirit that kills the germs in us and the evil spirits in the air. In this way the Body, the church life, and our ministry are saved. This will enable our ministry to have a long life. However, the ministry of certain brothers has not lasted long. In their situation it was their ministry and not the enemy that was killed.
RECEIVING THE WORD IN A LIVING WAY AS THE SPIRIT
THROUGH PRAY-READING THE BIBLE
Let us all receive the word of God in a living way! As long as in our experience the word becomes the Spirit, the word will not only heal us but also kill the enemy.
All those who teach in the Summer School of Truth should help the young ones not merely to receive the word for the learning of certain biblical truths but to receive the word as the living Spirit. When they receive the word as the living Spirit, in their experience the Spirit will become the sword. Receiving the word in this way requires much prayer. This is why we need to have the proper pray-reading. Through pray-reading the Bible, we receive the word in a living way as the Spirit. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 1, “Teachers’ Training”, ch. 2)