Please turn to 2 Corinthians, the second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 1. We shall read from 2 Corinthians 1:3-7.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;
Who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
For as the sufferings of Christ abound unto us, even so our comfort also aboundeth through Christ.
But whether we be afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we be comforted, it is for your comfort, which worketh in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer:
And our hope for you is stedfast; knowing that, as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so also are ye of the comfort.
Then turn to the last chapter, 2 Corinthians 13:11.
Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfected; be comforted; be of the same mind; live in peace: and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
Let us pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, we just commit Thy Word into Thy hand and ask Thee to bless it, to break it, and to distribute it to us, that we may be satisfied and that we may glorify Thy name. We commit this time into Thy hand and trust Thy Holy Spirit to do the work. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.
Second Corinthians is very different from 1 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians, we find problems and pomp; but in 2 Corinthians, we see glory after glory.
In 1 Corinthians, we see carnality—saints who are according to the flesh. In 2 Corinthians, we see spirituality—saints who are in the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians, we see the pitiful condition of the Corinthian church. In 2 Corinthians, we see the glorious life of Paul, a servant of the Lord.
That makes the difference from 1 Corinthians to 2 Corinthians. Actually, it is the working of the cross in our life. If we allow the cross to work in our lives, then we shall find that we are delivered from carnality and brought into spirituality.
Now, 2 Corinthians shows us Christ in spirituality. In other words, spirituality is Christ. If it is not Christ, it is not spiritual. If it is you, if it is me, then it is bound to be carnal, not spiritual. But if it is Christ in you or Christ in me, then that is spiritual. It is a simple fact.
So far as the historical background of this letter is concerned, probably Paul wrote this letter somewhere in Macedonia, probably about A.D. 57. The occasion, or the background, may be found in Acts 20:1-6. It was during that period that Paul wrote the second letter to the Corinthians, and this was followed by a three-month stay in Corinth.
He wrote this letter after he had heard good news concerning Corinth. You remember, when he wrote the first letter, he wrote it in Ephesus. Now, through Titus, good news was brought to him that many in the church in Corinth had repented. Because of this, he wrote this letter as a letter of encouragement.
In the first chapter he says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.” In some versions, you will find the word comfort; in others, encouragement. But actually, in the original, the word includes comfort, strengthening, encouragement, and coming alongside to help. It is related to the name given to the Holy Spirit: the Paraclete.
So this is the kind of letter 2 Corinthians really is. He wrote this letter to encourage those who had repented, to strengthen them, to come alongside them, and to help them into maturity and spirituality.
At the beginning of the letter, Paul says that whether they were in suffering, it was for the Corinthians’ encouragement and salvation; or whether they were encouraged, it was also for their encouragement and salvation. At the end of the letter he concludes, “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfected. Be comforted. Be of one mind. Live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.”
So it is a letter of encouragement. Yet we know from this letter, as well as from its background, that even though the majority of the people in the church in Corinth repented, there was still a minority who continued in sin and refused to repent. There were also some who opposed the ministry of the Apostle Paul.
Therefore Paul writes:
For this cause I write these things while absent, that I may not when present deal sharply, according to the authority which the Lord gave me for building up, and not for casting down.
He wrote this letter also to those who refused to repent and who opposed the authority God had given to Paul. He said, in effect, “I write this letter to prepare you. I do not want, when I come to you, to have to use severity according to the authority God has given me. That authority is not for overthrowing; it is for building up.”
So it is a twofold epistle. On the one hand, it is for encouragement to those who repent; on the other hand, it is a warning to those who refuse to repent.
This letter of the Apostle Paul gives us a very intimate view of the apostle as a person. Of all the writings of Paul, there are two letters that especially disclose and reveal Paul the man.
One is Philippians. There you find how he opened his heart to the Philippian believers, who loved him so much. There is a mutual love between Paul and these believers, and he opens his heart to them in a heart-to-heart talk.
The other letter is 2 Corinthians. There is no other letter, aside from Philippians, that reveals Paul as a person, as a man. He reveals himself, exposes himself, as it were, without even the thinnest artificial veil. He lets us see himself as he is. That is why 2 Corinthians is so precious.
There you find all the different feelings of Paul revealed. Sometimes he is in anxiety; sometimes in anguish; sometimes in fear; sometimes hesitating; sometimes doubtful. At other times he is full of love. Every kind of feeling is revealed in this letter.
Through this letter, we can see Paul the man. But as we see Paul the man, gradually Paul recedes and Christ comes to the front. In other words, we see Christ in Paul.
In this letter, Paul mentions that the sentence of death was upon him and that he gave up every hope even of living. Yet he said that his hope was in Him who raises the dead.
In this letter, Paul also tells us how he changed his mind. He had intended to go to Corinth and pay them a double visit, but when he was hindered, he changed his mind. Instead of going to Corinth, he went to Macedonia. People accused him of being a person who vacillated. Yes, he changed, but he said, “The Christ whom I preach is always yea and amen. He never changes.”
Paul also reveals how he always bore about in his body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also might be manifested in him. He mentions how much he suffered, and yet, out of all these sufferings, what consolation, encouragement, and ministry were produced.
All in all, Paul exposes himself—his weaknesses, his apparent changeableness, his failures in people’s eyes, and his sufferings. Yet when Paul opens himself to us, we do not see Paul; we see Christ. And that is spirituality.
This second letter to the Corinthians may be roughly divided into three parts:
In this letter, Paul is trying to share with us what spiritual ministry is.
Paul says, “Having this ministry,” in 2 Corinthians 4:1. Of course, we do not all have the kind of ministry Paul had. God gave Paul a special ministry, the ministry of an apostle. Not all are apostles; we are not given that special ministry.
But when Paul speaks about ministry, although he is speaking particularly of his own ministry, the principles he reveals apply to all ministries. Dear brothers and sisters, in a sense every believer has a ministry. Whether you fulfill it or not is another question, but nevertheless every believer has a ministry.
We are all priests unto God. Our ministry is called body ministry. That is to say, we are members of the Body, and as members of the Body, every member has a ministry toward the Body and toward the Head. Everyone is to minister one to another in the Body for the building up of the Body and the glorifying of the Head.
So, dear brothers and sisters, do remember: you have a ministry to fulfill as a member of the Body of Christ. You are not just here sitting passively and receiving all the time. You are in the Body receiving what the Lord has through other brothers and sisters who minister to you, but at the same time you are to minister to your brothers and sisters.
In principle, the ministry in which we are all engaged ought to be a spiritual ministry.
If what we minister to other people is ourselves, this is not spiritual ministry. But if we minister Christ to other people, then it is spiritual ministry. If we minister ourselves to people, it is a ministry of death; but if we minister Christ to people, it is a ministry of life.
So it is very important that we understand what spiritual ministry really is, so that when we minister, it will be spiritual and not carnal.
In 1 Corinthians, we find that the members of the Body did minister, but the more they ministered, the worse the Body became. Why? It was because they were not ministering Christ to the Body; they were ministering themselves to the Body. They displayed themselves instead of displaying Christ.
So we need to understand what spiritual ministry is, because we are all involved with it.
Now, do not be afraid. In the parable our Lord Jesus mentioned, there was one servant who was afraid that he could not minister spiritually, or that he would minister carnally. So he buried his talent. He said that was the best thing to do, so that he would not make any mistake.
But when the Lord comes back, He says, “Thou wicked and slothful servant.” Even if you are unable to do anything, give it to the bank so that you may receive interest at least.
So, brothers and sisters, do not hide what the Lord has given you and bury it. Use it for the Lord. In the process, you will learn what is spiritual and what is carnal. That is spiritual ministry.
Another characteristic of spiritual ministry is that it is a ministry of encouragement. We have already mentioned that encouragement means comfort, strengthening, and coming alongside to help. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, the Strengthener, the Paraclete—the One who comes alongside to help.
Our ministry, if it is spiritual, should have the same nature and quality. But remember, such a ministry of encouragement does not come merely by knowledge. It has to come through personal experience.
You cannot comfort a person, strengthen a person, or encourage a person if all you have are words. They may be the right words, but they are not powerful words.
Sometimes we are like the three friends of Job. They came to visit Job with good intentions. They wanted to help, but the more they tried to help, the worse things became, because they did not have such experience. All their words came from their study and from tradition.
As you read the book of Job, you find that what they said was right. They had not said anything wrong. But unfortunately, their words did not apply. Sometimes you may say the right word, but to the wrong person. So the person is not comforted and is not encouraged.
Here you find the Apostle Paul and the sufferings through which he had gone. He said, “The sentence of death was upon me.” He had given up all hope. It was a helpless state. But when he was in that kind of situation, the Lord lifted him up, and he experienced the power of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Having such experience, he could comfort those who were helpless and hopeless. He could say to the Corinthian believers, “You are hopeless, and yet not hopeless. There is hope, but the hope is not in you; the hope is in Him.” God is the God of all comfort and the Father of all mercies.
Brothers and sisters, when we try to minister to one another, do we minister merely out of our own study, tradition, or mind? We may have the best intentions, but it will be of no avail.
If God uses us to encourage our brothers and sisters, oftentimes it comes out of our personal experience. Probably you have to go through something in order to help others. Remember, God never allows us to go through anything merely for ourselves.
Whatever we have gone through in life and learned of Christ is for the Body. It is ministry, so that we may have something to offer and something to give to the church.
Spiritual ministry is a ministry of love. In 2 Corinthians 2:4, Paul says:
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be made sorry, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.
When he wrote the first letter, it seemed to be a very hard letter, a very strong letter. But he said, “I wrote it out of much affliction and distress of heart. I was agonizing. With tears I wrote it—not that I wanted to make you sorry, but because I loved you so much.” It was out of love.
You know, brothers and sisters, we are not here merely to please everybody. It is easy to try to please everyone. It is difficult, sometimes, to hurt someone—but in love.
Paul knew that his letter would hurt them very deeply. But because he loved them so much, he could not afford not to speak the truth. In a sense, it cost Paul even more than it cost the Corinthian believers.
Brothers and sisters, if our ministry does not cost us anything, it is nothing. If our ministry comes out of love—and the love here is not human love—it will be costly. Human love tries to please everyone, and in pleasing others, it may please their flesh.
Divine love loves so much that it is able, and even prepared, to hurt itself first. Oh, that God will fill us with His love, that we may love one another so much that we are able to speak the truth in love.
We are not just trying to hurt everyone. But sometimes it is necessary; it has to be done. It may hurt you more than the one who is hurt.
Spiritual ministry is a ministry of the fragrance of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul says:
But thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through us the savor of His knowledge in every place.
For we are a sweet savor of Christ unto God, in them that are being saved, and in them that are perishing.
Spiritual ministry is a ministry of the fragrance of Christ. Fragrance is a most mysterious thing. It is seemingly intangible. You cannot see it, you cannot hear it, but it is there. If it is there, you know it is there.
Often you find that odor or fragrance goes further than sight and sound. You may not hear anything yet, and you may not see anything yet, but you have already smelled it. Sometimes it has a more lasting effect upon you too. Sound may come and go. Sight may be seen, and then it is gone. But an odor, you carry it with you for a while.
You remember Jeremiah 48:11. The prophet speaks concerning Moab:
Moab hath been at ease from his youth,
And he hath settled on his lees,
And hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
Neither hath he gone into captivity:
Therefore his taste remaineth in him,
And his scent is not changed.
Moab had never been emptied from vessel to vessel. When wine is made, it has to be poured from one vessel to another so that all the sediment may sink down, and then the wine becomes clear and pure. But Moab had never been emptied. He was always settling on his lees. He had never been dealt with.
The result was that his taste had not changed and his scent had not changed. He still had the same smell. And what was that smell? It was the smell of Moab: pride and arrogance.
Dear brothers and sisters, that is a description of the carnal man. A carnal Christian is one who has not been dealt with. He remains the same even though he is saved. He has not been emptied from vessel to vessel; that is to say, he has not been purified.
Because the cross has never worked in his life, his taste remains the same and his scent is unchanged. In other words, you can still smell the original smell.
Paul said, “Wherever we go, we carry the fragrance.” Why? Because Paul had been emptied from vessel to vessel. All the original taste and scent had gone, and now there was the fragrance of Christ. To those who are being saved, it is life; to those who are perishing, it is death.
Dear brothers and sisters, a spiritual ministry does not require merely words to say or things to do. A spiritual ministry is such that the very presence of that person does the work and saves the world.
We ought to have a special scent. Wherever we go, people should smell the fragrance. This fragrance of Christ comes from the knowledge of Christ—that is, from the experiential knowledge of Christ. The more you know Christ, the more fragrant you are. This is ministry.
A spiritual ministry is a ministry of the Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul says that we are an epistle of Christ.
The Corinthian church is to be a letter. What kind of letter? It ought to be a letter of Christ. The Corinthian church is to be read, and when people read the Corinthian church, they ought to read Christ. They ought to see Christ, because they are supposed to be a letter of Christ.
That is what we are to be. We are to be a letter of Christ.
Paul describes the ink he uses as the Holy Spirit, and the letter he writes as Christ. In other words, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he writes Christ, letter by letter, upon the hearts of the Corinthian believers.
That is spiritual ministry. We are not writing upon stone; we are writing upon human hearts. We are not just writing upon people’s minds; we are writing upon their hearts.
How do we write? What ink do we use? The power of the Holy Spirit. And what do we write upon human hearts? Christ. We do not write ourselves; we write Jesus Christ the Lord. This is our ministry.
So, dear brothers and sisters, in the first four chapters, Paul shows us what spiritual ministry is: a ministry of encouragement, a ministry of love, a ministry of the fragrance of Christ, and a ministry of the Spirit.
Then, in chapters 4 and 5, Paul shows us what kind of minister he is. The first three chapters show us the ministry, and the next two chapters—chapters 4 and 5—show us the minister.
He says, “Having this ministry.” Now, what kind of person ought we to be? It is important because our ministry has much to do with the minister. If we are the wrong person, we shall not have the right ministry.
Even if the Lord uses us, we may build up and then tear down everything we have built up, and even more. So the minister is very important—what kind of vessel we are.
Here in these two chapters, Paul shows us first that the minister is a pure vessel. In 2 Corinthians 4, he says:
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we faint not:
But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
Brothers and sisters, when we try to minister, remember that we are commending ourselves to every person’s conscience before God. We are not ministering merely with words, nor merely with the gifts God has given us. When we minister, we are actually commending ourselves to the conscience of our brothers and sisters.
If there is accusation in the conscience of the brothers and sisters, if there is some ground for them to doubt, then you will find that your ministry is blocked. We need to commend ourselves. The vessel has to be pure.
If there is any impurity or anything hidden there, it will affect the ministry. How we need to be pure before God! Oh, that the Spirit of God will search our hearts and purify us, that there may be no ulterior motive in us, and that our whole motive may be just for Him.
Brothers and sisters, we need to commend ourselves to the consciences of all the people of God. For this, how we need the blood of Christ.
Secondly, the vessel must be a broken vessel. You cannot keep yourself whole. If you try to keep yourself whole—that is, your soul and my soul—you will find that the radiance of the treasure in the vessel will be hidden.
We are earthen vessels, but we have a treasure, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves. For the light and life of Christ to be manifested, the vessel must be broken.
That is why Paul says:
We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened;
Perplexed, yet not unto despair;
Pursued, yet not forsaken;
Smitten down, yet not destroyed;
Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.
Brothers and sisters, this is a broken vessel. Only a vessel that has been broken can minister Christ. Otherwise, all that you minister is yourself. People will touch your cleverness. People will touch your dynamic personality. But people cannot touch Christ.
Thirdly, a minister is a constrained vessel. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says that he is constrained by the love of Christ, knowing that One died for all, therefore all died; and that those who live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto Him who for their sakes died and rose again.
Brothers and sisters, we need to be constrained by the love of Christ—not out of duty, but out of love. When the love of Christ constrains us, then we are able to be that vessel fit for the Master’s use.
In chapters 6 and 7, we find those who are being ministered to. Those who are being ministered to also have responsibilities.
First, in 2 Corinthians 6:1, Paul says:
And working together with Him we entreat also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
The grace of God has been ministered to you. Christ has been ministered to you. Do not receive the grace of God in vain. Do not let the grace of God simply fall away from you. Let the grace of God work in your life so that you too may become gracious.
Secondly, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Be separated. Do not be unequally yoked with the world. Come out from the world and be separated. God says, “Ye shall be My sons and daughters.”
Thirdly, 2 Corinthians 7:1 says:
Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Let us purify not only our body and our flesh, but even our spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. This is spiritual ministry.
Then, of course, we find chapters 8 and 9. You know, brothers and sisters, giving is a ministry. Do not think that because giving is physical or material, it is not spiritual.
Oftentimes, giving is a test of spirituality. Giving is spiritual because it reveals what kind of person we are. We tend to separate so-called spiritual matters from physical matters such as giving, as though giving were not spiritual. But according to the Word of God, giving is as spiritual as any other ministry.
Giving is according to God. God gave in such a manner: He who was rich became poor for our sakes, that we through His poverty might become rich. That is giving. Giving is patterned after the giving of Christ. It is in the spirit of the giving of Christ.
That is why giving in chapters 8 and 9 is called grace. Giving is grace. Why is it grace? Because it is the grace of God that enables us to give. All that we have comes from Him. It is His grace, and His grace constrains us to give.
Giving is also called blessing. Why? Because as we are blessed by God, we bless others by giving.
Do not think that giving is law. Today people often think of giving as law. But who can keep the law? Giving is grace.
Look at the Macedonians. Because of the abundant grace of God upon them, out of their deep poverty they gave beyond their power. They gave in such a way that they not only gave material things; they first gave themselves to God and then to the apostles. They desired to have a part in the grace and fellowship of the ministry for the poor saints in Jerusalem.
That is grace. Brothers and sisters, let us give graciously. Let us give in a spiritual way and not in a legalistic way. If we cannot give out of grace, then we shall find ourselves giving because God has been gracious to us, because God has blessed us so much, and because we desire to bless Him and show grace that He may be glorified.
Until Christ is glorified, that is the spirit of giving.
Then, of course, chapters 10 through 13 concern the spiritual man. Not only should our ministry be spiritual, and our giving be spiritual, but the man himself must be spiritual.
Who is a spiritual man? Simply put, a spiritual man is a man in Christ. Paul says, “I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago, caught up even to the third heaven. Whether in the body or out of the body, I know not.”
He says again that he knew a man in Christ caught up into Paradise, who heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Whether in the body or out of the body, he did not know. Concerning such a one, Paul could glory; but concerning himself, he would not glory except in his weaknesses.
Dear brothers and sisters, who is a spiritual man? A spiritual man is a man in Christ.
God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. If you abide in Christ, then you will find every spiritual blessing available to you. God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ—not in yourself, but in Christ.
God has put us all in Christ, but we need to abide in Christ. Positionally, by His grace, we are in Christ. We ought to be spiritual men and women. But conditionally, we may abide in Him or we may not abide in Him. If we abide in Him—that is, make our home in Him—then we shall bear fruit for the glory of God.
Paul said, “I do not know whether in the body or out of the body.” Do you think Paul did not know the truth? Of course he knew the truth. But when that man in Christ experienced the third heaven and Paradise, he did not know whether he was in the body or out of the body. He had no word with which to tell us.
Oh, that man in Christ—I have much to glory in; but of myself, there is nothing to glory in except my weaknesses. A spiritual man does not speak about himself. A spiritual man is not even conscious of himself. A spiritual man forgets himself, and all he is conscious of is Christ. That is a spiritual man.
If you read these chapters, you will find a number of things concerning the spiritual man. First, he is a man powerful according to God. In other words, he is not a man fighting in the flesh. He is a man whose weapons are mighty before God.
He is a man of prayer, not a man of argument. His weapons are mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
A spiritual man is a man with authority—not natural authority of position, but spiritual authority before God.
A spiritual man is a man with the holy zeal of God. Paul says, “I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” A spiritual man is filled with a holy zeal, just like the Lord: “Zeal for Thy house shall eat me up.”
A spiritual man is a man who suffers for the sake of Christ. Paul mentions how much he suffered—not only physically, but mentally and spiritually. “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I burn not?”
A spiritual man is a man with visions and revelations. The Lord has shown him His purpose. A spiritual man is a man who knows the sufficient grace of God. He knows that God’s grace is sufficient.
Do you see that word, “spiritual man”? He is a man in Christ. A spiritual man is Christ in that man.
So 2 Corinthians reveals to us Christ in spirituality. What is spirituality? We ought to ask this question. We ought to desire our ministry to be spiritual, that it may really build up the Body of Christ. Our giving ought to be spiritual, that God may be glorified. Our person ought to be spiritual, that Christ may be manifested.
But what is spirituality? Spirituality is the person, Christ. Christ in you—this is spirituality. May the Lord help us.
Dear Father, we do praise and thank Thee because Thou hast put Christ in us, and us in Christ. We praise and thank Thee that all the secret is there, all the power is there, and all the glory is there.
We only ask that Thou wilt open our eyes, our understanding, and our hearts, that we may see Christ in our spiritual ministry, in our spirituality, and even in our spiritual person; that we may see Him as our all.
Oh, do reveal Christ to us in an increasing manner, that we may be transformed and conformed to His image, to Thy glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.