Our Personal Ministry is Part of the Unique Corporate Ministry of the New Testament

As believers in Christ enjoying the Lord on the genuine ground of oneness in the proper church life, we have this ministry, and our personal ministry is for the unique corporate ministry of the New Testament; we are ministers having our own portion of the ministry, and the ministry is uniquely one. Amen!

May the Lord grant us the grace and mercy that we would return to the divine revelation in God’s holy word and not go along with the downward trend in today’s Christianity.

Some may say that, since this particular denominational system or that mega-church seems to flourish, this is what God wants to do today. However, it is the word of God that has the final say.

We need to come back to God’s word when it comes to the matter of the ministry of the New Testament, how many ministries are there, what are the ministers of the new covenant, and how our personal ministry fits into the unique ministry.

In the New Testament, we see that the Lord Jesus had the ministry of that age, and John the Baptist introduced Him or ushered Him in.

When the Lord Jesus came, John the Baptist had to end his ministry; because he would not, God allowed certain things to happen so that his ministry would not interfere with the Lord’s ministry.

After the Lord Jesus fully accomplished His ministry, accomplishing the work of redemption, dying, and resurrecting to become a life-giving Spirit, He entrusted the ministry to His disciples.

Peter, John, and the other apostles were entrusted by the Lord, the ascended Head of the Body, with the ministry of the new covenant, the unique ministry of the New Testament.

Then, whoever became a disciple of Christ also had a part in this ministry. There was one ministry, but there were many ministers.

It wasn’t that Peter had his ministry in Jerusalem and then Paul had his ministry among the Gentiles in a separate and unrelated way; both ministries were just one ministry.

There is one unique ministry of the New Testament, and the ministers are many; however, there is much fellowship and coordination regarding the going on of the ministry, the advancement of the ministry, and the reaching out of the ministry.

Thank the Lord that He shows us in the New Testament how the carrying out of the unique ministry of the New Testament takes place, and there are some negative examples in it, with mistakes being made.

These are all for our learning and practice in fellowship in the Body today.

May we realize that our personal ministry is within the one unique ministry of the New Testament, and may we carry out our ministry today for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

Our Personal Ministry is Part of the Unique Corporate Ministry of the New Testament

In 2 Cor. 4:1 Paul says, Having this ministry as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart.

Amen, we have “this ministry” for we have been shown mercy by the Lord, and we do not lose heart!

How much we need God’s mercy! It is only because of His mercy that we can have this ministry and that we can see there’s only one unique ministry of the New Testament.

There are many members of the one Body of Christ, and all the members of the Body do the work of the ministry to participate in the unique ministry of God’s New Testament economy (3:8-9).

Each member of the Body of Christ has a ministry, a personal ministry; however, each one’s personal ministry is part of the unique corporate ministry of the New Testament.

The ministry in 2 Corinthians is the corporate ministry of the New Testament ministers.

As we come forward to the throne of grace day by day to receive mercy and find grace, we enjoy the Lord as the rich and bountiful supply, we find mercy and grace, and we are filled with the Lord.

This will cause us to be so filled with the Lord that we overflow with Him; our overflowing with the riches of Christ is our ministry.

This ministry may be manifested in many ways, both practical and spiritual, but our ministry is for the building up of the Body of Christ.

All the ministers – which are many – have their own portion of the ministry.

Paul exhorted Timothy, his young co-worker, to be sober in all things, suffer evil, do the work of an evangelist, fully accomplish his ministry (2 Tim. 4:5).

Timothy had his ministry; we could say that Timothy had his personal ministry, but his personal ministry was part of and for the unique ministry of the New Testament, which is to build up the Body of Christ.

This unique ministry is not the ministry of letter, which kills, but the ministry of the Spirit, who gives life.

This unique ministry of the New Testament is the ministry of righteousness, which brings in justification unto life (Rom. 5:18).

It is an organic ministry, for it comes out of our growth in life and manifestation of the gift the Lord put us in life.

Each member of the Body of Christ has a ministry, a particular function.

No one has the same portion as we do; each one has our own portion, our function, our personal ministry.

We may desire to have someone else’s function and measure, but the Lord as the Head of the Body has allotted to each one of us a certain measure of Christ, a certain portion in the Body of Christ.

There’s a portion measured out to each one of us, one aspect of the all-inclusive Christ, for us to flow out as our ministry for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

None of us can contain or express the all-inclusive Christ individually; however, corporately, we can become the fulness of the One who fills all and in all.

We may not know what our portion is or what is our ministry, but the Lord will make it manifest.

As we speak, prophesying for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ, the Lord will manifest what is our ministry, and the Body of Christ will be built up.

There is one unique corporate ministry of the New Testament, and each one of us has our own ministry, our personal ministry, within and for this unique corporate ministry.

In this corporate ministry, Paul had his portion, Peter had his portion, and Timothy had his portion.

Furthermore, so many throughout the centuries had their portion, including saints that we have heard of and accomplished great things for God and saints we never heard of but who ministered life to the Body for the building up of the church.

When we add together all these portions, all the personal ministries or functions, we have “this ministry”, which is the New Testament ministry. Praise the Lord!

What God wants is this, the one ministry, to be carried out by many ministers, all being in oneness and in one accord, for the unique goal of building up the church as the organic Body of Christ for God’s corporate expression on the earth.

Our personal ministry is not just for us to do something for the Lord and then increase the sphere of our work so that we may create a church based on that ministry.

Each personal ministry is for the unique corporate ministry of the New Testament, and the goal is the building up of the church as the Body of Christ for God to be expressed uniquely on the earth.

Lord Jesus, thank You for showing us the mercy for us to have this ministry! Hallelujah, having this ministry, as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart! We exercise our spirit today to enjoy You and partake of Your riches. We come forward to the throne of grace to enjoy all that You are and receive mercy and find grace for timely help. Fill us with all that You are, Lord, and cause us to overflow with the riches of Christ for us to carry out our own ministry. Amen, Lord, may we fully accomplish our ministry as part of the unique corporate ministry of the New Testament. Oh, what a privilege it is that we can have our own portion of the ministry! Amen, Lord, release the function and portion of all the saints for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ! May there be one unique corporate ministry of the New Testament today in the church life so that the church as the Body of Christ may be built up in love!

Being Perfected unto the Work of the Ministry for the Building up of the Body of Christ

The Bible is not complicated or unclear when it comes to the ministry of the New Testament.

We clearly see that there are many ministers, such as Peter, Paul, Timothy, Barnabas, etc, but there is one ministry, the unique corporate ministry of the New Testament.

Paul encouraged Timothy to carry out and accomplish his personal ministry; this personal ministry was not for Timothy to be someone or do something as his own work and raise up his own churches “for God’s glory,” but was for the one ministry of the New Testament.

Our God has one new covenant, which was enacted by the Lord’s blood (1 Cor. 11:25-26).

Jesus Christ came as the Son of God and enacted the new covenant when He shed His blood on the cross.

He gave Himself up for us, and He gave Himself to us as a covenant. Christ is the new covenant.

He gives Himself to us with all His riches and all that He has accomplished for us to enjoy.

He is also the Guarantor of the new covenant, and He applies and carries out the bequests and benefits of the new covenant, being the Minister of the new covenant.

When we believe into the Lord, we receive the new covenant, and we become ministers of the new covenant.

We are being perfected unto the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12).

We as the saints in the Body of Christ are being perfected by the gifted saints to do the work of the ministry (one ministry) for the building up of the body of Christ.

There is one ministry, the unique ministry of the New Testament, and there are many ministers.

The work of the New Testament ministry is to accomplish God’s New Testament economy concerning the church (Eph. 3:9-10).

Hallelujah, our work is to carry out God’s economy for the church to be built up today!

To carry out this economy, much work is required; this work is the ministry.

We cannot do the work, however, unless we are perfected.

Only the perfected members of the Body of Christ can do the work of the ministry unto the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

May we be open to the Lord’s perfecting through the gifted members and the more mature ones.

May we allow the Lord to perfect us so that we can accomplish our personal ministry as part of the unique corporate ministry of the New Testament.

We believers in Christ are all building one thing: the Body of Christ.

God has one work in this age: the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

There is one master builder, there is one work, and there is one blueprint (1 Cor. 3:10); we all as workers need to be one under the Lord’s leading as the Head, and we need to do all things under His leadership.

There is no “head” church nor is there a “leading apostle” that dictates the work of the ministry.

Rather, there is one Head, who heads up all things and all saints, and there is one work of the ministry.

Each one of us has a piece of the jigsaw puzzle, which is unique to us, and we need to bring our pieces together to put together the one jigsaw, the Body of Christ. Amen!

This great picture, God’s New Testament economy, is composed of many pieces.

We all have one piece, which is part of the greater picture.

We need to put our piece, our personal ministry, together with the others’ ministry, for the Lord to gain the building.

Each part of the work must be done not according to our skills or personal desire but according to the one blueprint and under the leadership of the one master builder. Amen!

In this way, the Lord will gain what He’s after and the enemy is put to shame.

What a shame to the enemy when we all deny ourselves and follow the instructions of our wise master builder, being one with Him in His building work to do all things according to God’s New Testament economy and not according to our personal preference or desire!

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to enable, set up, enact, guarantee, and carry out the new covenant! Praise the Lord, God gave Christ as a covenant to us, and today we believers in Christ are enjoying Christ with all His riches, attainments, and accomplishments as the content of the new covenant! Amen, Lord, thank You for making us ministers of the new covenant. We are not ministers of the letter, which kills, but ministers of the Spirit, who gives life! Praise the Lord! We exercise our spirit, dear Lord, to do the building work today. We open to Your perfecting through the gifted members and those more mature so that we do the work of the ministry unto the building up of the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, perfect us. Perfect so many thousands of saints. Gain the perfected members who will do the work of the ministry to build up the church as the Body of Christ. Praise the Lord, we have the blueprint, we have one master builder, and we all are building up the church by fully accomplishing our ministry as part of the unique corporate ministry of the New Testament!

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, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1993, vol. 1, “The Ministry of the New Testament and the Teaching and Fellowship of the Apostles,” pp. 6-8, 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:
  – What is the Ministry? More via, Hearing of Faith.
  – The History of the Bible, Part 2—Translation, via, Bibles for America blog.
  – The ministry of the New Testament being uniquely one universally, a portion from, The Ministry of the New Testament and the Teaching and Fellowship of the Apostles, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
  – The Apostles Have One Ministry, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Ministry and ministries, a portion from, Life-Study of 2 Corinthians, Chapter 26.
  – Witness Lee and Watchman Nee, Two Ministers with One Ministry, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – What is the Ministry of the New Covenant? More via, Hearing of Faith.
  – The One Unique New Testament Ministry, via, Shepherding Words.
  – The ministry of the Spirit as the life supply and of righteousness as God’s expression, a portion from, Life-Study of 2 Corinthians, Chapter 27.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – All the preaching of the Gospel, / All the teaching ministry, / Every other kind of service / For the church alone should be. / Ministry is for the Churches, / Not the Church for ministry; / All the lampstands are the Churches, / Not a form of ministry. (Hymns #914 stanzas 5-6)
  – Holding Christ, as members growing, / Each his function must observe; / Christ receiving, Christ partaking, / To His Body Christ we serve. / Fellowship and testimony, / Ministry and worship too, / In all helps and ministrations / Christ is all our service true. (Hymns #912 stanzas 4-5)
  – In our ministry and service, / From the Body, our supply; / If detached and isolated, / Out of function we will die. / ’Tis by serving in the Body / Riches of the Head we share; / ’Tis by functioning as members / Christ’s full measure we will bear. (Hymns #913 stanzas 5-6)