To Labor with the New Covenant Ministry


	Message 11: The Apostle Paul's Uplifted Humanity with Divinity in Second Corinthians To Labor with the New Covenant Ministry as a New Covenant Minister To Labor with the New Covenant Ministry Introduction The new covenant ministry is the ministry of the New Testament. It is the ministry of Jesus Christ, the person. Jesus Christ as a person is the center, the circumference, the substance, and the content of this heavenly, spiritual ministry. In His person, He executes the New Testament ministry with what He is, what He has, what He has obtained, what He has attained, and what He has accomplished, in God's economy. It is not a ministry of letters. Therefore, it is far above doctrines. It operates with a life-dispensing, inscribing ability. Thus, it is an operative, life-giving, inscribing ministry. No one can remain unchanged by touching such a ministry, as it will not return void. Many consider "the ministry" as a message, or as a book, or even as the New Testament itself. Few realize that no matter how good these things may be, they all must lead us to touch a real person, Christ, who is life. To read the Bible and books of revelation with high divine truths, yet fail to have a living experience of the Son, means that there is no operation of the New Testament ministry. Blessed are those who are one with the ministry because they have the constant and instant enjoyment of the living Christ and they apply His person as the answer to all their needs. Those who are one with the ministry live a life above merely knowing the scriptures, the orthodox doctrines, or even the high teachings, because through these things they have enjoyed the reality of the New Testament ministry - the living, loving, and glorified person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Triumphant Savor The apostle Paul describes the New Testament ministry as a savor of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. This savor is manifested by those who are in the New Testament ministry partaking of the triumph in the Christ. The New Testament ministry is the fragrance of Christ to God through the New Testament ministers. To some, it is a savor out of death unto death and to others it is a savor out of life unto life. How powerful is this ministry! Therefore, the apostle concluded, "Who is sufficient for these things?" The New Testament ministry is different from many of the speakings heard by the church in Corinth. In contrast to "the many," Paul did not have his own profit in view and therefore did not adulterate the word of God. He spoke as out of sincerity, as out of God. Before God he spoke in Christ. Dependence in an Uplifted Humanity The apostle's speaking became his manifestation, which issued in a savor. What a marvelous minister! Paul simply was what he spoke. Yet his ministry did not by any means come easily. Paul was committed, charged, and exercised for the gospel of Christ at Troas, and even the door was opened to him in the Lord. Yet he was not caught by an evangelic work, neither was he excited about its possible fruitfulness. While his trust in the Lord for this open door was firm, he had no rest in his spirit, because he did not find Titus his brother. The absence of his companion forced him to depart from such a marvelous work, such a blessed situation, and go forth into Macedonia. Few realize that within the high humanity that God constituted in the apostle there was such a dependence. He not only depended on Christ but also on the Body. In an uplifted humanity his self-life was denied. To us, if a door was open in the Lord we would work, and if it was time to labor we would labor. We would boldly declare, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" However, this was not the case with such a spiritual man as the apostle Paul. He had a deep need for his companions. Although Titus was a much younger brother, Paul could not have rest because he did not find him. Furthermore, in the midst of a blessed work, Paul's heart was on the church at Corinth, a dissenting church, a church that criticized him and denied his apostleship. He did not merely state that God firmly attached him with the Corinthians unto Christ, but he lived such a life of attachment and he labored in such a life of attachment. The Sufficient Ministry of the Spirit The apostle Paul's labor was to produce a letter of Christ, ministered by him, inscribed with the Spirit of the living God in tablets of hearts of flesh. He was a competent minister of the new covenant, a minister not of the letter but of the Spirit which gives life. The New Testament ministry is a ministry of the Spirit, a ministry which comes from a living person, Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit. This ministry is in the heavenly realm and requires a heavenly person, such as the apostle Paul, operating in spirit to produce heavenly and spiritual results. It is above every earthly operation in the earthly sphere. All the divine truths in the divine revelations are heavenly and belong to the New Testament ministry. Yet we often take them as something earthly, because we do not have a renewed nous (Gk. mind or understanding). If we do not have a renewed nous we cannot be transformed, neither can we partake of the will of God. We think that spiritual revelations can be understood by human reasonings and can be conveyed by human eloquence. We do not realize that any truth which has become letters will kill, no matter how marvelous that truth may be. Even if we are young in our Christian life we must desire to be ministers of the new covenant, ministers of the Spirit, ministers who give life. Paul was such a minister. He was not commending himself, neither did he need a letter of commendation. Through the Spirit's life-giving inscribing he could boast, "You are our letter." How marvelous it is for a believer to point to someone and say, "You are my letter." Yet we must be careful in our understanding, because this life-giving inscribing experience should take place simultaneously in both the minister and the receiver. The speaker and the receiver, more than the content of the speaking, become the focus of the inscribing experiences. In Paul's case, this letter was not only inscribed on the Corinthians for others to see, but also was inscribed in the apostle's heart. Paul loved the Corinthians and remembered them all the time, to the point that the concern for them in his heart was so profound that it was known and read by all men. What an uplifted humanity! What a servant of the Lord! This was Paul's secret of raising up a brother. This was Paul's secret of raising up a church. The Ministry of Glory with Superiority The New Testament ministry is a ministry of righteousness. It is a life-giving ministry imparted by a minister with an uplifted humanity. It is in contrast to the ministry of the old covenant, "the ministry of death." A minister of the old covenant exposes and condemns, as when the sons of Israel were not able to gaze at the face of Moses. A minister of the old covenant only has the ministry of condemnation, which has a certain degree of glory, a temporary glory. However, a minister of the New Testament ministers the surpassing glory. His ministry is life-giving, life-sustaining, and life-strengthening in resurrection. Under such a ministry of righteousness the saints can live out Christ to be His expression. What a glory this is! Paul did not merely give an objective portrait of such a ministry in glory, but he himself lived out the subjective genuine experience of life in glory. If the apostle Paul had come to Corinth with the ministry of Moses, the church in Corinth would have received nothing but condemnation. However, Paul came with the ministry of righteousness, which abounds with glory, to elevate such a degraded church in such a low estate into glory.