God made us Sufficient as Ministers of a New Covenant, Appointing us to the Ministry

We thank and praise the Lord, Jesus Christ our Lord, that He has counted us faithful, appointing us to the ministry; God has made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, ministers of the Spirit and not of the letter, for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. Amen!

We are thankful to the Lord that in the proper church life today on the ground of oneness we can see what is the healthy teaching of God’s New Testament economy for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

We come back to the Word of God, returning to the original intention of God in His economy.

The New Testament clearly tells us that there is one unique ministry in the New Testament, and this ministry is for the building up not of itself as a ministry but for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

The ministry is the reaching out, the function, and the work carried out by the members of the Body, each in its own measure and portion, and this ministry is unique.

There are many ministers who carry out the unique ministry.

Although it may seem that Paul was going to the Gentiles for the gospel and then writing letters from prison to edify the saints and address certain situations, and Peter was doing something completely different, they both were doing the same thing – they were carrying out God’s New Testament economy, the unique ministry in the New Testament.

There was no competition or rivalry among them, even though one seemed to take the lead in this respect and the other continued by taking the lead in another respect.

There is one flow, one work, and one ministry, and each one of the apostles was doing this one unique work of the ministry.

Our God is one. His salvation is one. His church is one. One of the outstanding attributes of God is oneness.

What He does is one work, for He has one ministry.

This work may have many aspects, and it may carry out many different things, but there is one unique ministry.

The enemy, however, seeks to divide the Body of Christ.

When someone is gifted and has a burden from the Lord to do something or carry out a work for God, he may go ahead and do it, and he may create his own division or denomination or independent group, for he draws people to his work and to his ministry.

This may seem to be right in his eyes, and others around him may encourage him to do this, but this is not what God desires or what He intends.

All the personal ministries of the gifted members and of all the members in the Body are for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

God has made us Sufficient as Ministers of a New Covenant, Ministers of the Spirit

2 Cor. 3:6 tells us that God has made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; we are ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit, for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life.

It is God who makes us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not ourselves; our sufficiency is not from us but from God.

He calls us to the ministry by dispensing Himself into us.

He doesn’t call us by the law, by requiring things from us, or by imposing certain rules and regulations on us, but by imparting Himself as the Spirit into us.

We are ministers of a new covenant, ministers of the Spirit, not of the letter.

The letter here refers to the written code of the law.

The letter kills, for it is the letter of the law, and no one can keep the law (Rom. 7:9-11).

Law requires things of man but is unable to supply man with life (Gal. 3:21).

The Spirit, however, is a living person, and the Spirit imparts life.

The Spirit is the ultimate expression of the processed Triune God, and the Spirit imparts the divine life into us.

When the Spirit comes to us by the preaching of the gospel, God Himself is imparted into us, and we become ministers of a new covenant, the covenant of life. Amen!

Our ministry is constituted of the Triune God of life by His life-giving Spirit.

The Spirit Himself becomes our ministry, and the Spirit gives life.

Within the life imparted by the life-giving Spirit there are many elements; as we receive the life imparted by the Spirit, we are regenerated, renewed, sanctified, transformed, conformed, and glorified (2 Cor. 3:8; 5:18; Acts 20:24; Rom. 11:13; 1 Tim. 1:12; Eph. 4:12).

Even more, this Spirit gives life to us, and this life makes us ministers of a new covenant.

This ministry is one with the transforming Spirit, so it is a transforming ministry.

Our ministry as ministers of a new covenant is constituted of the Spirit; we do not preach ourselves, our own ideas and opinions, or even our own experiences, but the Spirit who gives life.

When others listen to a new covenant minister speaking, the Spirit operates in him to transform him with the divine element, and He dispenses the divine life into him by the Spirit. Hallelujah!

This Spirit is the element that makes us sufficient ministers of the new covenant.

In ourselves, we are not sufficient, we cannot do it, we are not able to do it, and we may even not be willing to do it.

All believers in Christ are ministers of the new covenant, but not all of them enjoy the Spirit who gives life and not all cooperate with the Spirit to carry out their ministry.

For example, the Lord commands the husbands to love their wives even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, even by laying down their life for her.

But it is more than impossible for a husband to do it, for many times he cannot do it even if he wants to, and sometimes he does not even want to, for he loves himself more than his wife.

So our response to the Lord’s requirements should be, Amen, Lord, we agree with Your word, and then, Lord, we cannot do it, we can’t be it, we can’t endure it, and we can’t be it.

Then, we tell the Lord, You do it in us. You want this to happen: You do it in us. He is our sufficiency.

The Spirit, the ultimate expression of the processed Triune God, imparts the divine life – even God Himself – into the believers and the apostles, making them ministers of a new covenant.

He imparts Himself into us and He makes us ministers of a new covenant.

We may struggle with the Lord, thinking we cannot do it and, even though the Lord shows us that we can minister by speaking for Him, we may not want to do it.

But the Lord will work in us and around us so that He may cause us to not only have a gift and ability but also have the ministry.

Having a gift is natural, and having an ability is something by birth; both need to go through death and resurrection so that the ministers would have not just a gift or an ability but the ministry.

The Lord wants to produce and gain ministers, not just gifted persons.

The ministry is produced in persons who are open to the Lord and who allow Him not only to dispense Himself into them but even more work Himself into them through many experiences day by day for the producing of the ministry.

The ministers of a new covenant are constituted with the Triune God by His life-giving Spirit.

We want to be such ones.

We don’t want to merely know the letter by knowing the sound doctrines in God’s word and then speaking them, but even more, allow the Lord to work Himself into them and constitute them with the life-giving Spirit so that we may minister the Spirit and life to others.

Lord Jesus, thank You for making us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant! Thank You for coming to us as the Spirit who gives life to impart the divine life into us! Hallelujah, the Spirit gives life to us and regenerates us, renews us, sanctifies us, transforms us, conforms us, and glorifies us! Praise the Lord, we were entrusted with this ministry, the ministry of a new covenant, and God Himself is our sufficiency. Amen, Lord, we trust in You and we rely on You to make us sufficient. We thank You for giving us this ministry, but we cannot do it in ourselves and we are not even willing to do it. Be our sufficiency. Work Yourself into us. Constitute us with Yourself as the life-giving Spirit so that we may minister not just the letter (which kills) but the Spirit (who gives life)! We open to You, Lord. Do in us what You need to do. Work Yourself into us a little more every day. Constitute us as ministers of a new covenant, ministers of the Spirit who gives life!

Thank the Lord who Empowers us, for He counted us Faithful, Appointing us to the Ministry

It is not a man who appoints us to the ministry but the Lord. Paul testified in 1 Tim. 1:12 that he gives thanks to Him who empowered him, Christ Jesus our Lord, that He has counted him faithful, appointing him to the ministry.

In the church life in the Lord’s recovery, we have the full-time training, and those who graduate the training are loaded with the riches of Christ and have cooperated with the Lord to a certain extent to deal with their character and have a burden for the Lord and the church life.

However, they are not appointed as ministers by any person or ministry; they are simply brothers and sisters in the church life, going back to their localities and being ministers of the Spirit who gives life.

It is God who appoints us as ministers; He may not call us to be a minister like Paul with such a great measure and portion, but He appoints each and every member to the ministry.

Every member of the Body of Christ has a certain upbringing, background, and spiritual experience with the Lord.

The Lord works in each one’s environment to not only draw them and gain them but also appoint them to the ministry.

This ministry is unique; it is the unique ministry in the New Testament.

There are many ministers, but there is only one ministry.

The ministry in the New Testament economy of God is a corporate ministry – a ministry that includes thousands of gifted people and all the perfected members of the Body of Christ.

God is the One who calls and appoints us to the ministry, and the measure and portion of each one’s ministry is different; however, all our portions are for and part of the unique ministry of the New Testament.

We all need to thank and praise the Lord that, by His mercy and grace, he has appointed us to the corporate ministry that builds up the Body of Christ.

He doesn’t appoint us to be a “pastor” or a “reverend” but to be a normal, functioning member in the Body whose portion is vitally necessary for the building up of the Body of Christ.

As we function in our measure, the Lord is our faithfulness and supply; He appoints us to the ministry, He is our sufficiency, and He is the One in us who carries out the ministry (2 Tim. 4:17; Phil. 4:13).

He is the source. He is the means. He is the way. He does everything in us and through us.

We simply cooperate with Him, for we’re here by His mercy and grace.

We are not here to build up a following for ourselves or to establish a great work for ourselves; we are here to do the unique work of the ministry for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

And in this, in carrying out our ministry as ministers of a new covenant, we deny the self; the self cannot be involved.

In 1 Tim. 1:12 Paul didn’t say that God appointed him to his ministry but that the Lord appointed him to the one unique ministry in the New Testament, which is a corporate ministry.

We have been called in this corporate ministry, where the cross is applied to the self and to the natural constitution so that there is no expression of the self.

We are not first; the Body is first. It is the corporate New Testament ministry that we are called into, and each one of us has a portion.

We all should praise the Lord that, by His mercy and grace, He has appointed us to the corporate ministry that builds up the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12, 16).

We are not qualified, but He has appointed us. We cannot do it, but He is empowering us.

We are not faithful, but He makes us faithful, for He is the faithful One in us.

Lord Jesus, thank You for empowering us and for counting us faithful, appointing us to the ministry. Amen, Lord, we praise and thank You that, by Your mercy and grace, You have appointed us to the corporate ministry that builds up the Body of Christ! Oh, what a mercy and grace that we have been appointed to the ministry, the unique ministry of the New Testament! We open to You, dear Lord, and we want to cooperate with You for the carrying out of our ministry. We exercise our spirit to be one spirit with You and to deny the self. We do not want to express ourselves or do things in our natural man. We want to carry out our ministry and be coordinated with the saints in the Body so that the Body may be built up and the church may be strengthened by our function. Praise the Lord, who empowers us and counts us faithful! Hallelujah, the Lord is appointing us to the ministry for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ!

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References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1037-1038, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Being a Vessel unto Honor, a Fully Equipped Man of God, by being Empowered in the Grace which is in Christ Jesus to Fully Accomplish our Ministry in the Unique Ministry of God’s Economy (2024 April ITERO), week 8, “Fully Accomplish Your Ministry”.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The One Unique New Testament Ministry, via, Shepherding Words.
  – Making us competent to bear the ministry of the new covenant, a portion from, Truth Lessons, Level 2, Vol. 3, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
  – Jeremy Mason: We Do Not Lose Heart, via, Living to Him.
  – The treasure in earthen vessels, a portion from, The Centrality and Universality of Christ, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
  – Overflowing on the Focus of the Lord’s Recovery, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – What is a Minister of the New Covenant? More via, The Hearing of Faith.
  – The New Covenant and the Heavenly Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The Error of Denying “the Lord Is the Spirit” in 2 Corinthians 3:17 Refers to Christ, via, Contending for the Faith.
  – Commissioned with the ministry of reconciliation for the Lord’s new creation, a portion from, Life-Study of 2 Corinthians, Chapter 14.
  – The Ministry of the Spirit and of Righteousness of the New Covenant in Contrast with the Ministry of Death and of Condemnation of the Old Covenant, a portion from, The Ministry of the New Testament and the Teaching and Fellowship of the Apostles, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
  – Genuine Ministers of the New Covenant, via, Shepherding Words.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – For ’tis God’s eternal purpose / That the Church His vessel be; / He intends that all our service / Build His Church continually. / All the gifted persons given / To the Body by the Head / Are to aid the Church’s building, / That to fulness she be led. (Hymns #914 stanzas 2-3)
  – Lord, anew we give our bodies; / May we be transformed to prove / All Thy will, to know Thy Body, / And therein to serve and move. / Serve and work within the Body, / Never independently; / As the members of the Body, / Functioning relatedly. (Hymns #913 stanza 8 and chorus)
  – Lord, grant me the experiences / To produce such a ministry. / Through revelation and sufferings, / Lord, constitute Yourself in me. / By Your all-fitting life, / Lord, I learn to live. / By Your sufficient grace, / Lord, make home in me. (Song on, The new covenant ministers)