Ministry of the Word

What is the ministry of the word? Who is the minister of the word? Can sister be minister of the word too? These were questions fellowshipped over with the responsible brothers of the church in Delhi and Gurgaon with an elderly and experienced brother. 

Quotation from brother Watchman Nee's speaking was a great help in this regard:

• If we are willing to humble ourselves and accept everything under the discipline of the Holy Spirit, the result will be the ministry of the word.
• The fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit is the ministry of the word. 
• Where there is the discipline of the Spirit, there is the ministry of the word through the New Testament ministers. Everyone who is used by God is beaten and molded by God. 
• Once we acknowledge the discipline of the Spirit we will have fruit; we will have the speaking, the ministry of the word, and we will be able to supply others with Christ. 

All the environmental circumstances were and are sovereignly ordained by God. If one learns a lesson out of such a discipline of the Holy Spirit, one will be constituted with the ministry of the word to be the minister of the word.

I was enlightened to learn this precious truth about the discipline of the Holy Spirit producing the ministry of the word. This brings me to my attention of all the experiences the Lord is gracing me to gain Him and be beaten, shaped, and perfected to be the minister of the ministry of the word. 

Even sisters, like brothers, are also under the discipline of the Holy Spirit to become the minster of the word. Though they may not function in violation of the Lord's in 1 Timothy 2:12 "But I do not permit a woman to teach or to assert authority over a man, but to be in quietness."

Note on "teach" here: To teach here means to teach with authority, to define and decide the meaning of doctrines concerning divine truth. For a woman to teach in this way or to exercise authority over a man is to leave her position. In God's creation man was ordained to be the head, and woman to be in subjection to man (1 Cor. 11:3). In the church this ordination should be kept.

Still sisters can function among sisters themselves and still be minister of the ministry of the word.

This fellowship was so enlightening to this extend that I shared the same to a brother who has been undergoing some kind of serious dealing especially in financial matter. I forwarded the original message by brother Watchman Nee to him and encouraged him to seriously read and pray over the message, and text him further.

...., I sent a mail that has been a great help to many saints. Please find time to seriously read and pray over your situation that you are going through. 

All the environmental dealings of the Lord are aimed at beating us, shaping us, to become the minister of God's word. We must learn the lesson that God has ordained for us. Not willing to submit to the Lord's discipline will be a great loss. We should not let any "sufferings" go in vain. Rather, we must learn what needs to be learned and become a minister of the word. 

Much grace to you my brother.

Coincidentally, another brother posted a message on the same line:

We should learn to redeem the time to study the New Testament. When Brother Nee was a college student, he decided to read the New Testament fifty-two times in one year, that is, once a week continually for a year. He studied diligently and was one of the top students in his class. Nevertheless, he also endeavored to redeem his time in order to read the New Testament. Similarly, I can testify that although as an elderly man I need to rest for my physical health, I endeavor to redeem every moment so that I may fulfill my responsibility in the ministry of the word. (Witness Lee, Collected Works, 1984, Vol. 1, Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, California, U.S.A. 2016, p. 65)  www.ministrybooks.org

My innate response was:

Yes brother. 

May we love the Lord and love His word; study the truth, pursue the truth and be constituted with the truth as revealed in the Bible through the help of the ministry. And may the truth becomes us that we be the ministers of the ministry of the word!

And later in my study of the Bible, a verse from 2 Timothy 4:5 further strengthened the burden.

But you, be sober in all things, suffer evil, do the work of an evangelist, fully accomplish your ministry.  

Footnote on "ministry" from the Recovery Version, the Holy BibleThe ministry of the word, which is to minister Christ in all His riches (Eph. 3:8) to both sinners and believers for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-12). Such a ministry is desperately needed to counter the trend of decline, as prophesied in vv. 3-4.

Praise the Lord for His continuous speaking through different means on the matter of becoming a minister of the ministry of the word! This is the Lord's calling and His heart's desire. 

Lord, grace me to be a normal and proper minister of the ministry of the Word!