Spiritual Ministry

The Second Letter to the Corinthians is very largely gathered up into the words at the beginning of chapter 4: "Therefore seeing we have this ministry..." As you know, this letter is occupied with the personal manifestation of Christ as being the nature of true ministry. It shows that ministry is really that which is born of personal experience, and not just the impartation of static truth. In a new way this was realised by the Apostle because of a combination of elements which had brought him afresh to an end of himself. As you read these chapters you see that there are, so to speak, parallel columns. On the one side there are the sufferings, and on the other side the fruits of the sufferings. We are occupied with the matter of ministry, both personal and corporate ministry ... Their ministry is the result of personal experience, and the nature of the ministry is the personal manifestation of Christ as born out of personal experience, and that mainly known in suffering.