outline of the messages
for the International Chinese-speaking
conference
February 18-20, 2011

general subject:
Speaking the word of God

Message One

The Speaking God Desiring That Man Speak for Him

Scripture Reading: Heb. 1:1-3; John 1:1, 14, 18; Gen. 1:26-28

Heb. 1:1         God, having spoken of old in many portions and in many ways to the fathers in the prophets,

Heb. 1:2         Has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son, whom He appointed Heir of all things, through whom also He made the universe;

Heb. 1:3         Who, being the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance and upholding and bearing all things by the word of His power, having made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

John 1:1         In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14       And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

John 1:18       No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

Gen. 1:26       And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

Gen. 1:27      And God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Gen. 1:28       And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.

                  I.    The Bible first reveals God, and second it reveals God¡¯s word; thus, in the Bible we first have God, and then we have God¡¯s speaking, the word that proceeds out of His mouth¡ªGen. 1:3; Heb. 1:1-2a; Matt. 4:4:

Gen. 1:3            And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.

Heb. 1-2a         See above.

Matt. 4:4           But He answered and said, It is written, ¡°Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.¡±

                           A.    The center of reality in the universe is God, and the expression of God is the word; all the elements of God are in His word¡ªGen. 1:1, 3; John 1:1.

Gen. 1:1            In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Gen. 1:3            And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.

John 1:1            In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

                           B.    If God had not spoken anything, it would have been impossible for the universe to come into existence; our existence depends on God¡¯s speaking¡ªHeb. 11:3; 2 Pet. 3:5; Psa. 33:6, 9; Gen. 1:26.

Heb. 11:3          By faith we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not come into being out of things which appear.

2 Pet. 3:5          For this escapes them by their own choosing, that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth was compacted out of water and through water.

Psa. 33:6           By the word of Jehovah the heavens were made, /  And all their host, by the breath of His mouth.

Psa. 33:9           For He spoke, and it was; / He commanded, and it stood.

Gen. 1:26          And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

                           C.    Our being saved and our receiving the eternal life are altogether dependent on God¡¯s speaking¡ª1 Pet. 1:23, 25; John 5:24.

1 Pet. 1:23        Having been regenerated not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the living and abiding word of God.

1 Pet. 1:25        But the word of the Lord abides forever.¡± And this is the word which has been announced to you as the gospel.

John 5:24          Truly, truly, I say to you, He who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life.

                           D.    God has revealed Himself in His speaking; God is the revealed God because He has revealed Himself by speaking¡ªHeb. 1:1-2a.

Heb. 1:1            God, having spoken of old in many portions and in many ways to the fathers in the prophets,

Heb. 1:2a          Has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son.

                           E.    The Word of God is God Himself, for God and the Word are one; whenever we come to the Bible as the Word of God, we should come to God¡ªJohn 1:1; 5:39-40; 2 Tim. 3:16.

John 1:1            In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 5:39          You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me.

John 5:40          Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

2 Tim. 3:16        All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

                II.    In the Godhead Christ is the Word¡ªJohn 1:1:

                           A.    Christ as the Word defines, explains, and expresses God; hence, Christ, as the Word, is the definition, explanation, and expression of God¡ªv. 18.

John 1:18          No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

                           B.    This Word is actually God Himself, not God hidden, concealed, and mysterious but God defined, explained, and expressed¡ªvv. 1, 14, 18.

John 1:1            In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14          And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

John 1:18          No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

                           C.    The fact that the Word is the entire God means that the Word is for the speaking of the Triune God; the Word became incarnate as a man, and that man, Jesus Christ, was God¡¯s Word, God¡¯s speaking¡ªvv. 1, 14; 6:63.

John 1:1, 14       See point B above.

John 6:63          It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

                           D.    When Christ, the Word of God, was on earth speaking for God and teaching people, He did not speak from Himself; His teaching was not His own but was according to what the Father had taught Him¡ª7:16; 8:28b; 12:49-50.

John 7:16          Jesus therefore answered them and said, My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.

John 8:28b         I do nothing from Myself, but as My Father has taught Me, I speak these things.

John 12:49         For I have not spoken from Myself; but the Father who sent Me, He Himself has given Me commandment, what to say and what to speak.

John 12:50         And I know that His commandment is eternal life. The things therefore that I speak, even as the Father has said to Me, so I speak.

              III.    In His New Testament economy, the speaking God speaks in the Son¡ªHeb. 1:1-2a:

Heb. 1:1            God, having spoken of old in many portions and in many ways to the fathers in the prophets,

Heb. 1:2a          Has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son.

                           A.    Today God does not speak to us in many portions or in many ways¡ªGod speaks to us in one person, the Son; God is now speaking in the Son, who is the Word of God¡ªv. 2a; John 1:1, 14, 18.

Heb. 1:2a          Has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son.

John 1:1            In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14          And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

John 1:18          No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

                           B.    The speaking Son, who is the Word of God and the speaking of God, is the Spirit¡ª6:63; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17a:

John 6:63          It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

1 Cor. 15:45b    The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.

2 Cor. 3:17a      And the Lord is the Spirit.

                                     1.    Whenever the Son speaks, He is the speaking Spirit¡ªRev. 2:1, 7a.

Rev. 2:1            To the messenger of the church in Ephesus write: These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, He who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:

Rev. 2:7a          He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

                                     2.    God speaks in the Son, the Son as the speaking Spirit speaks to the churches, and ultimately the Spirit speaks with the church¡ª22:17.

Rev. 22:17        And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who is thirsty come; let him who wills take the water of life freely.

                           C.    The Son upholds and bears all things by the word of His power; when He speaks, everything is in order¡ªHeb. 1:3.

Heb. 1:3            Who, being the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance and upholding and bearing all things by the word of His power, having made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

                           D.    Today the Son of God is no longer merely an individual; He is a corporate, uni­versal man, the Body of Christ; for this reason, all the members of the Body can speak the word of God¡ª1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 5:30:

1 Cor. 12:12      For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.

Eph. 5:30          Because we are members of His Body.

                                     1.    God today continues to speak in His Son, who has been enlarged to become a corporate man, the Body of Christ¡ª1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 2:15; John 17:20.

1 Cor. 12:12      See point D above.

Eph. 2:15          Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.

John 17:20         And I do not ask concerning these only, but concerning those also who believe into Me through their word.

                                     2.    We are all members of the Body of Christ, God¡¯s Son; thus, when we speak, God is speaking in the Son¡ª1 Cor. 12:12, 27; 2 Cor. 4:13; 5:20.

1 Cor. 12:12      See point D above.

1 Cor. 12:27      Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually.

2 Cor. 4:13        And having the same spirit of faith according to that which is written, ¡°I believed, therefore I spoke,¡± we also believe, therefore we also speak,

2 Cor. 5:20        On behalf of Christ then we are ambassadors, as God entreats you through us; we beseech you on behalf of Christ, Be reconciled to God.

                                     3.    As the firstborn Son of God being the Word of God is God¡¯s oracle for the speaking and dispensing of God to carry out His eternal economy, so the many sons of God being members of the Word of God are God¡¯s oracle speaking and dispensing God for the spreading of God and the increase of Christ¡ªJohn 1:1; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10:

John 1:1            In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Rom. 8:29         Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.

Heb. 2:10          For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in leading many sons into glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

                                                a.    The firstborn Son is the oracle of God, and we are the many sons; this means that all the sons are God¡¯s oracle so that God may have a spread and that Christ may have an increase¡ªActs 8:4; John 3:30, 34.

Acts 8:4               Those therefore who were scattered went throughout the land announcing the word as the gospel.

John 3:30             He must increase, but I must decrease.

John 3:34             For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for He gives the Spirit not by measure.

                                                b.    Our speaking for God is for the fruit-bearing of God¡¯s multiplication and spreading¡ª15:5.

John 15:5             I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

              IV.    The speaking God desires that man speak for Him¡ªGen. 1:26:

Gen. 1:26          And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

                           A.    God created man in His image so that man would express Him by speaking for Him¡ªv. 26; 2:19-20:

Gen. 2:19          Now Jehovah God had formed from the ground every animal of the field and every bird of heaven. And He brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called any living animal, that was its name.

Gen. 2:20          And the man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of heaven and to every animal of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper as his counterpart.

                                     1.    When God created man, the first marvelous thing was that He created a spirit within man, and the second was that man was given the ability to speak¡ªvv. 7, 19-20.

Gen. 2:7            Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

Gen. 2:19-20     See point A above.

                                     2.    God created man in His image, and the most important aspect of God¡¯s image is that God speaks¡ª1:26-27:

Gen. 1:26          See point IV above.

Gen. 1:27          And God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

                                                a.    Since God is a speaking God, when He created man in His image, He created man with the ability to speak¡ª1 Cor. 2:13; 1 Thes. 2:2, 4.

1 Cor. 2:13           Which things also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things with spiritual words.

1 Thes. 2:2           But having suffered previously and having been outrageously treated, even as you know, in Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much struggle.

1 Thes. 2:4           But even as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men but God, who proves our hearts.

                                                b.    God created us not only to be like Him in having love, light, holiness, and righteousness but also in being able to speak¡ªGen. 1:26-27.

Gen. 1:26-27        See point 2 above.

                                                c.    Man¡¯s ability to speak is a manifestation of his likeness to God¡ªv. 26a.

                                     3.    God wants man to speak His word for His expression; God desires that we express Him mainly through our speaking for Him¡ª2 Pet. 2:5; 1 Cor. 12:3.

2 Pet. 2:5          And did not spare the ancient world but guarded Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.

1 Cor. 12:3        Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking in the Spirit of God says, Jesus is accursed; and no one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.

                           B.    God created man to represent Him by speaking for Him¡ªGen. 1:26, 28:

Gen. 1:26          And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

Gen. 1:28          And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.

                                     1.    The most important requirement of a representative is that he must be able to speak; we can represent God because we are able to speak as God speaks¡ª2 Cor. 5:19-20.

2 Cor. 5:19        Namely, that God in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself, not accounting their offenses to them, and has put in us the word of reconciliation.

2 Cor. 5:20        On behalf of Christ then we are ambassadors, as God entreats you through us; we beseech you on behalf of Christ, Be reconciled to God.

                                     2.    A representative should speak the words of the one he represents; as God¡¯s representatives, we represent God by speaking His words¡ªJohn 7:16-18; 12:49-50; Acts 4:29, 31; 13:44, 48-49; 1 Thes. 2:13.

John 7:16          Jesus therefore answered them and said, My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.

John 7:17          If anyone resolves to do His will, he will know concerning the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.

John 7:18          He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him, this One is true, and unrighteousness is not in Him.

John 12:49         For I have not spoken from Myself; but the Father who sent Me, He Himself has given Me commandment, what to say and what to speak.

John 12:50         And I know that His commandment is eternal life. The things therefore that I speak, even as the Father has said to Me, so I speak.

Acts 4:29          And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings and grant Your slaves to speak Your word with all boldness.

Acts 4:31          And when they had so besought, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 13:44        And on the following Sabbath almost all the city gathered together to hear the word of God.

Acts 13:48        And the Gentiles, hearing this, rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

Acts 13:49        And the word of the Lord was carried through the whole region.

1 Thes. 2:13      And because of this we also thank God unceasingly that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but even as it truly is, the word of God, which also operates in you who believe.

                           C.    In order to speak for God, we need to have the full knowledge of the word of God, knowing the major items related to the word of God¡ª1 Tim. 1:4; John 1:1; 6:63; Eph. 6:18; Psa. 119:105; Matt. 4:4; 13:3; 1 Pet. 1:23; Deut. 32:2; Heb. 4:12; Jer. 23:29.

1 Tim. 1:4         Nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings rather than God¡¯s economy, which is in faith.

John 1:1            In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 6:63          It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

Eph. 6:18          By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.

Psa. 119:105     Your word is a lamp to my feet / And a light to my path.

Matt. 4:4           But He answered and said, It is written, ¡°Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.¡±

Matt. 13:3         And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow.

1 Pet. 1:23        Having been regenerated not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the living and abiding word of God.

Deut. 32:2         Let my teaching drop like the rain; / Let my speech distill like the dew, / Like raindrops upon tender grass, / And like abundant showers upon herbage.

Heb. 4:12          For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Jer. 23:29          Is not My word thus¡ªlike fire, declares Jehovah, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?