Will you please turn to 2 Corinthians? Second Corinthians, chapter 4, verse 1:
Therefore, having this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not.
And finally, chapter 13, verse 14:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, as we continue in Thy presence, our hearts are full of gratitude, for Thou hast made with us the new covenant. How we praise and thank Thee that Thou hast delivered us from the old covenant of law and put us into this new covenant of grace. We praise and thank Thee; it is truly grace upon grace.
And as we come together to study Thy Word, we pray that Thy Spirit will breathe again upon Thy written Word and make it living and operative in our lives. We do offer ourselves to Thee, for Thee to transform us and conform us to that very image, that the Father’s will may be accomplished and Thy name may be glorified. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Well, we have been sharing together the last few Lord’s Days concerning our new covenant ministry. I think we cannot thank the Lord enough for putting us under the new covenant.
What if we were put under the old covenant of law, where everything depends upon us—how we behave and how we keep the commandments? If it depends upon us, brothers and sisters, we shall all end in despair and in death.
But praise and thank the Lord: He has come into this world to save us, and to save us to the uttermost, to bring us to the very purpose of God. So He put us under the new covenant of grace.
We have just had the Lord’s table. When the Lord Jesus took the cup, He said, “This is the cup of the new covenant in My blood.” So we are sure that He has covenanted with us in a new covenant of grace. That is how He will deal with us, and that is how we can approach Him.
So far as our living is concerned, we must live under the new covenant of grace. And what does that mean? It is very simple: for me to live is Christ.
If, after we believe in the Lord Jesus, we still try to become Christians and to live our Christian life with our fallen Adamic nature, no matter how we put ourselves into it, it will end up in despair.
But praise and thank the Lord: this is not the covenant we are under. God has covenanted with us in this new covenant of grace. He has put the life of Christ in us, and it is His will that hereafter it is no longer I, but Christ who lives in me and lives out through me. This is new covenant living, and the only living acceptable to God.
Likewise, so far as ministry and service are concerned, we are all called to serve God. But how do we serve?
If we try to serve Him with all that we have, oftentimes we think that, after we are saved, we are so grateful to the Lord that we want to serve Him. So we want to give ourselves to Him. We want to give Him all our talents; we want to give Him all that we can do; and we start to serve Him in this way.
There is nothing wrong with our heart. But, brothers and sisters, something is very wrong. Why? Because we try to serve the great and living God with our own ideas, with our own preferences, with our own strength, and with our own wisdom. The Lord does not need such service.
That is the reason why you find in Matthew 7 that the Lord said many shall come to Him and say:
Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by Thy name, and by Thy name cast out demons, and by Thy name do many mighty works?
They think they have served the Lord so well, and yet, strangely, the Lord said:
I never knew you.
In the original, it means, “I do not approve of you.” You are workers of lawlessness. In other words, you try to serve Me on your own. You do not serve Me according to My thought.
So, brothers and sisters, the only ministry—the only service by which we can serve the Lord—is not by ourselves, not even with our good intentions, but with the power that comes from Him.
I think the Apostle Paul is a very good example. We know that when he was a Pharisee, he studied the Word of God, and he studied under the great Gamaliel, the rabbi. He not only studied, but he tried his best to keep every letter of the law.
That is most unusual, because usually the Pharisees are hypocrites. They teach others, but they themselves will not even move a finger. But this young man, Saul, was real. He tried his very best to keep the letter of the law.
He was so zealous for the law, zealous according to the tradition of the fathers. As a matter of fact, at that time the tradition of the Jewish fathers was admired by many people. He served according to the best tradition of the fathers. He even considered Jesus an impostor of Judaism, and he put his whole energy into wiping out Christianity.
He thought he was serving God, and serving God with all his might, without knowing that he was giving God a great disservice.
Brothers and sisters, in the beginning of our service and ministry, I think we can look back and see—I will not say one hundred percent, but I will say most of the percentage of our service is ourselves.
But God knew the sincerity of Saul’s heart, so God took mercy upon him. We all remember how, on the road to Damascus, light shone upon him from above. Under the light, he saw the Son of God. He heard His voice, and not only was his life completely changed, but all his service and ministry were totally changed.
He became Paul the apostle, and he served the Lord with new covenant ministry. Brothers and sisters, I believe every one of us passes through this process.
I can recall my own experience. When I was saved, I was so much on fire. I wanted to serve the Lord. I was a high school student at that time. We organized gospel bands, went to the villages, preached the gospel to them, and prayed for the sick.
Even one day, a person was supposed to be sick, so we waited and prayed for him. We put our hands all over his body and asked the Lord to touch him and heal him, not knowing he was already dead. He had died of a very contagious disease. We did not know that. But it was zeal—fire.
When the church had gospel outreach, we stood on the street, pulling people into the building to hear the gospel. I remember there was a rickshaw coolie. In China, in those days, you had rickshaws. Of course, he could not go into the building because he was waiting for business.
So what I did was bow down myself and speak to his ears the gospel of the Lord Jesus. Zeal for the Lord—but, brothers and sisters, it was all my own idea. It all depended upon my own strength.
I will not say God did not accept my heart. Thank God, He did. But I will say God was very much displeased with my own effort. I did more disservice than service to the Lord.
But thank God, this does not continue forever. Sooner or later, if we are really seeking the Lord, He will begin to reveal to us that we cannot serve Him with our own ideas, even with our own talents.
Just like Moses: he tried to serve God with his own talents, with his eloquence, his learning, and his strength—the things he learned in Egypt during forty years. But God allowed him to fail. Thank God for that. I think we should thank God for our failures, because if we were all successful, then where would we be?
So, dear brothers and sisters, thank God. He has not only given us a new covenant living; He has also given us a new covenant ministry. The Apostle Paul said, “Having this ministry.” It is not a matter of whether you have it or not. You have it. Why? Because mercy has been shown to us.
And if that is the case, how can we faint under it? We should go on courageously to minister under the new covenant.
Now, brothers and sisters, we have already mentioned what this new covenant ministry is, so I will not repeat it. But I think when we are faced with this new covenant ministry, probably there will be a problem for us.
If we do not know what new covenant ministry is, we may find ourselves quite satisfied and pleased with our service. But once you know what new covenant ministry really is, it throws you off. You begin to fear whether you are able to serve Him in this purer, higher, heavenly way.
So the question is: Can I serve the Lord with new covenant ministry? Is it possible for me to do that?
Of course, our Lord Jesus is the perfect example. When He came into this world, He lived a life totally under the new covenant. That is to say, for Him to live was God, not Himself. How He denied Himself! Even in His timing, He did not choose His own time, but the time His Father ordained.
Everything in the life of our Lord Jesus was a denial of Himself and a letting of the Father live through Him. But we may say, “The Lord, of course You can do that, because You are the Son of God.”
So I think we have to choose an example from a person just like we are. That is easy to choose, because the Apostle Paul is a good example. This morning, I would like to go over with the brothers and sisters how the Apostle Paul ministered in the new covenant way.
I think he sets an example for us, and by what he went through in ministry, we learn what new covenant ministry really is. So this morning we would like to go through the whole book of 2 Corinthians. Now, do not be afraid. I will be very brief and to the point.
First of all, we find in 2 Corinthians 4:5:
For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
You know, when the Apostle Paul, after Athens, was thinking of going to Corinth, Corinth at that time was a very famous city. It was famous for its culture and for its eloquent people. If you could speak like a Corinthian, that meant you were very eloquent. But Corinth was also a most corrupt city.
So before Paul went to Corinth, he deliberated before God: “When I arrive there, how should I preach the gospel to such a people? Should I match my eloquence with their eloquence? Should I match my learning with their learning, trying to save them?”
He said, “No, I will not do that. I am determined that after I arrive there, I will not depend upon my own learning.” Of course, Paul was very learned. He determined that he would not depend upon his eloquence, because he was eloquent.
He said, “When I arrive in Corinth, I will preach nothing but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
Brothers and sisters, you may wonder, “Are we not preaching Jesus Christ? How can you preach yourself? If you go and preach yourself, then you are not preaching at all.”
But strangely, we can preach Jesus Christ and yet be preaching ourselves. How can you do that? Very easily. You can name the name of Jesus Christ, use the name of Jesus Christ, and believe you are preaching Jesus Christ. But actually, you are exhibiting your learning and your eloquence.
So what impresses people is not Jesus Christ. What impresses people is your learning and your eloquence. If that is the case, you are preaching yourself. You are drawing people to yourself; you are not drawing people to Christ. People look up to you instead of Christ Jesus.
If you preach Jesus Christ, people will forget you. They will forget your eloquence and your learning. They will only remember Jesus Christ and how He changed their lives.
So, dear brothers and sisters, the first sign of new covenant ministry is that you preach Jesus Christ as Lord. He is Lord. And who are you? You are but a bondservant of all.
When you are serving the Lord, probably unknown to yourself, you are expecting people to honor you and respect you. But you do not know that you are but a bondservant to all. Will anyone thank a bondservant? Will anyone remember him? Not at all. All they remember is Jesus Christ, Lord.
I think it is very easy to distinguish. When you serve and people’s eyes are set upon you, then it is old covenant ministry. But if you preach Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ changes people, and their hearts are occupied by the Lord Jesus Christ—if you are forgotten, thank God for that.
I remember before I was saved, I preached. But I preached other people’s sermons, because I had none. After I preached, do you know how I felt? I felt good. The only thing I felt bad about was that nobody praised me.
Now, brothers and sisters, if this is the way you feel, you know you are serving with old covenant ministry. If you are serving with new covenant ministry, you do not expect people to notice you. You only expect people to be touched by the Christ that you preach. This is a clear sign of new covenant ministry.
Number two. Go back to 2 Corinthians 1:6:
But whether we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation.
The second sign of new covenant ministry is this: everything in your life is for the sake of the encouragement and salvation of the people to whom you serve.
As a matter of fact, if you look into the life of the Apostle Paul, before he knew the Lord, he was a persecutor. But after he saw the Lord, he became the persecuted.
If you turn to 2 Corinthians 6, you will find a whole list of what he went through. Beginning with verse 4:
But in everything commending ourselves as God’s ministers, in much endurance, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
in pureness, in knowledge, in longsuffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned,
in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
by glory and dishonour, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true;
as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;
as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
Also, if you turn to 2 Corinthians 11:23:
I speak as one beside himself; I more: in labours more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft.
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I spent in the deep;
in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my countrymen, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
in labour and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Besides those things that are without, there is that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the churches.
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I burn not?
Brothers and sisters, this is the life of those who serve. If you are serving the Lord, you have to go through all kinds of circumstances. But you go through all these for the sake of the encouragement and salvation of the people whom you serve.
In other words, new covenant ministry is all for other people, not for yourselves. There is no ambition in yourself. You are not thinking of gaining anything. You pour out your life that others may be encouraged and saved. That is the spirit of new covenant ministry.
Number three. Second Corinthians 10:4:
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds;
casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
In other words, when you are engaged in new covenant ministry, you realize that you are engaged in a spiritual battle.
Service and ministry are not merely visible things. They are not just church activity or outward appearance. If you really serve the Lord in your various services, you know that there is spiritual warfare going on. There is something behind the scene.
The enemy of God is trying every way to frustrate, prevent, and oppose the ministry that you are doing. So it is not just an outward thing. We may think service is outward and visible, but actually, behind it there is spiritual conflict.
How do you cope with it? When you are met with misunderstanding, when you are accused of things that are not true, how will you react?
I remember our brother Watchman Nee. In his life, so far as I know, he never tried to defend himself. When people accused him of many things, he kept silent.
When a person phoned him for hours, accusing him of all things, he listened and listened and said, “Yes, yes.” His wife was so agitated.
Because you do not fight with fleshly weapons. You go to pray. The power of your weapon is prayer. You bring everything to the Lord instead of trying to defend yourself.
You go before the Lord to overthrow the wall that the enemy has built up in the mind. That is where the spiritual power really is: that by prayer you will bring every thought into subjection to Christ.
So, dear brothers and sisters, how do we know that this is new covenant ministry? We know that you are not fighting with fleshly weapons. We know that you are really going to the Lord and are powerful in prayer against all the assaults of the enemy. That is the proof of new covenant ministry.
And then, fourthly, in 2 Corinthians 11:2-3:
For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ.
In other words, the aim of new covenant ministry is to present everyone as a chaste virgin to Christ. Or, to put it another way, to bring everyone into the simplicity that is toward Christ.
That is to say, aside from the Lord Jesus, your heart is not occupied with other things. That is the purpose of new covenant ministry.
New covenant ministry is to bring people to Christ in such a way that we may be delivered from the complexity of man into the simplicity of Christ—from all confusion and all other distractions—to be a chaste virgin to Christ. That is the purpose of new covenant ministry.
And then, fifthly, in 2 Corinthians 12:1:
It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory; but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
In other words, new covenant ministry is based upon visions and revelations from the Lord. It is not based upon our own mind or our own research. It is based upon visions and revelations from the Lord.
Of course, a great revelation or a great vision may happen to you only once, or perhaps twice, in your whole life. But that does not mean that we have no vision and no revelation, not only for our lives, but also for our ministry.
Now, what is the difference? For you students, when you are speaking about how we can be delivered from the power of sin, I think, brothers and sisters, thank God, we are all familiar with and have all experienced that when our Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross, He bore in His body our sins.
Because He had done that, our sins—the things that we have committed throughout our lives—He bore them all in His own body, and He received the judgment of God’s righteousness upon Him. How we realize it was men who crucified Him, but the Bible says in Isaiah 53 that God the Father crushed Him.
Why? Because when He was hanging there on the cross, all the sins of the world, from the beginning to the very end, from Adam until the last man—all the sins that we have committed throughout our lives—were borne by our Lord Jesus.
So the Bible says God made the One who knew no sin to become sin for us. We cannot fathom, when our Lord Jesus was on the cross, what burden and what weight of sin rested upon Him. He became sin for us. Think of that. And He died for us, and for that sake we are saved.
I think we all know that. Even when we were breaking the bread this morning, I think that was the theme of our time. But, brothers and sisters, as you go on with the Lord, you begin to know more of what He had done on the cross.
He not only bore your sins committed on the cross, that you may be forgiven, but even the power of sin—sin as a nature, which has power within us—He took away.
So the Bible says in Romans 6:6:
Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him.
Brothers and sisters, do you know that not only have our sins been forgiven, but also the power of sin—the power of sin within us—has been broken? Our Lord Jesus removed that old Adam, that sinful instrument, away.
When He died, every one of us who believes in Him died in Him and with Him. So now, who is living here? There is only Christ in us.
You know, after we are saved, we begin to experience that there seem to be two lives in us. One is the life of Christ in our spirit. Deep down, Christ lives in our spirit.
But at the same time, we find in our soul the old Adam—the life that we received from old Adam—is still there. These two lives are as different as heaven and earth, and they lead us in two opposite directions. We are torn between these two.
Unfortunately, the old Adam has lived in us for so long and is so strong, while the new life of Christ is so young. So oftentimes we find that we yield to the old Adam instead of to Christ. We are torn in our spiritual life, and we cry out like the Apostle Paul, “Who can deliver me from this body of death? How can I overcome sin?”
The only way you can be delivered is by vision and revelation. So the Apostle Paul, immediately after he cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” followed with verse 25: “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
You need a revelation for that. You need the Lord to open your eyes to see it. When the Lord has opened your eyes to see that your sins were borne by Christ, now you need to see that you were taken away in Christ. Therefore, it is no longer you who live; it is Christ who lives in you. It becomes naturally supernatural.
I remember the story of Brother Nee. He had been saved for several years and had diligently served the Lord for a few years, but he finally could not overcome himself. His old nature still bothered him. He was seeking the Lord very earnestly, trying to be delivered, but he could not.
But thank God, one day, as he was reading Romans 6, the Lord opened his eyes. Suddenly he saw, “How can I be dead, that I will not sin anymore? What does it mean that we were crucified with Christ and in Christ?”
Suddenly he saw the reason why: when Christ died, I was in Him; therefore, when He died, I died. Just like you put a paper in a book, and when you throw the book into the river, where is the paper? In the river, because it is in the book.
Brother Nee suddenly realized, “That is how, when Christ died, I died, because I was in Him.” And he was released. He went down to the kitchen and found a brother there. He took hold of the brother and said, “Brother, do you know I have died?” The brother looked at him and said, “What happened?”
Brothers and sisters, when you minister, yes, you minister the Word of God. But has the Word of God become a reality in your life? You need vision and revelation. The Holy Spirit is there to reveal Christ to you and to open up the Word of God to you.
When you minister with visions and revelations—that is, with what God has revealed to you, what you have experienced in your life—then the Word becomes living, operative, and powerful. Otherwise, the Word is the Word, and you are you. The Word may be correct, but there is no power there, no transforming power.
So, brothers and sisters, new covenant ministry is based upon visions and revelations.
Number six—number six, not seven; I forgot. You find this in 2 Corinthians 12:9:
And He hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
In other words, you are initiated into the power of God when you are serving. How can you serve in the power of God instead of in your own strength? You need to be initiated into it.
That is the word used in Philippians 4:12-13:
I know both how to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want.
I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me.
So how can we experience the power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit? We need to be initiated into it—that is, to be brought into it.
I think when Paul mentioned how he had been initiated into it, he referred to 2 Corinthians 12. Because he had received such visions and revelations, and you know we are human beings, we have the tendency, if we have received much from the Lord, instead of giving glory to God, to try to glorify ourselves. That is human weakness.
So the Lord allowed the enemy to attack Paul. It was a thorn. Now, in the original, it is not just a thorn; it is a stake. There was a stake that the enemy thrust into the life of Paul—very painful, weakening him.
We do not know what the stake was because the Bible does not say. But in all probability, I think it was malaria. Why? Because Paul traveled in areas where malaria was prevalent, and somehow he got it.
Now, if you have malaria, what happens? It does two things to you. One, it affects your eyesight. So the Apostle Paul’s eyes were very bad. You remember he said, “See with how large letters I write unto you with mine own hand,” because he could not see well.
Number two, if you have malaria, when it attacks, what happens to you? You shake. So Paul had bad eyes, and he also shook. Now, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ with such a weak body—is that a contradiction?
So when Paul prayed about it, he said, “Lord, remove it, because people will not believe me. I preach a strong God, and yet I am so weak.” He prayed with all sincerity, but the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for thee. My power is manifested in your weakness.”
Brothers and sisters, have you ever boasted of your weakness? You boast of your strength, but you hide your weakness. But one day, when you begin to boast of your weakness, then the power of God is perfected.
So I think that was the time Paul was initiated into the power of God. How we need to know His power—the power that enables us to do all things for God’s glory.
Not by might, not by power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. So, brothers and sisters, in new covenant ministry there is a power not from man, but from God, and you begin to be initiated into it.
And then number seven, still in 2 Corinthians 12:15:
And I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less?
I think this is the attitude of one who ministers—a new covenant minister. In other words, we should be able to spend and be spent for others. We do not try to preserve ourselves. We are willing to give ourselves, and even if we are less loved, that is all right. That is the attitude of one who really serves in love.
And finally, in 2 Corinthians 13:10:
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.
There is a spiritual authority that comes with new covenant ministry. You know, there are two kinds of authority. One kind is man-made; the other kind is God-given. It is only God-given authority that really builds up.
Man-made authority always tears down. But God’s authority, even though He may deal thoroughly, eventually is for building up. So I think these few things, all these signs, are the signs of new covenant ministry. This is what we are, by the grace of God and the mercy that has been shown to us, to enter into.
Finally, I would like to read the last verse of 2 Corinthians:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
Now, we know this is a benediction. But this benediction is not just words. This benediction is the sure result of new covenant ministry. If there is new covenant ministry, what will happen to us?
Number one: we will experience the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, when you serve—when any of you serve with new covenant ministry—the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ will come upon the people. They will receive God’s grace, they will be changed, and they will really grow in the Lord.
Now, if you minister with old covenant ministry, you can minister for years and years. You can talk about grace, but there is no grace appearing in the lives of God’s people. So that is the result of new covenant ministry: the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
And also, the love of God. You begin to experience the love of God—not human love, but the love of God. And you begin to apprehend that love with all the saints.
And finally, the communion of the Holy Spirit. It is the result of the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So, in other words, this benediction is not just words. This benediction is the result of new covenant ministry.
So may this be given to us. Let us pray.
Dear Lord, even though the word is ended, we trust Thy Holy Spirit to begin Thy work in each of our lives. Bring us into the reality of new covenant ministry, as well as new covenant living. And all praise and glory be unto Thee. In Thy name. Amen.