Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 4:1; 3:6-9; 2 Tim. 4:5; Eph. 3:9-10; 4:12; Acts 2:42; 1 Tim. 1:3-4
Prayer: Lord, how we thank You for this merciful and gracious gathering. Grant us Your rich blessing. We need Your presence. Your Spirit is just Your presence. Lord, open Yourself to us. We open ourselves to You and to one another. Grant us an open fellowship, a fellowship that is so free, so refreshing, in the spirit, a fellowship that overcomes all kinds of frustrations. Lord, thank You that we are here with You, believing that You are here with us. We are not only one with You, but today we are just You. We are parts of You. Lord, bless Your Body. Amen.
Since the autumn of 1987 there has been a turmoil in the Lord’s recovery. In this turmoil a number of crucial terms among us have been devastated. The most devastated term is the ministry. Those who are carrying on the present turmoil have misunderstood, wrongly applied, and evilly interpreted this term. Two other crucial terms among us that have also been damaged are the teaching of the apostles and the fellowship of the apostles. In this chapter we will consider the matter of the ministry of the New Testament. In the subsequent chapter we will consider the teaching of the apostles and the fellowship of the apostles.
From the beginning of the Lord’s recovery with Brother Nee, there have been turmoils in the recovery caused by the evil one, Satan. In order to face the turmoils at his time, Brother Nee gave a number of messages that dealt with particular terms that were being misunderstood and misapplied by the dissenting ones. During that time Brother Nee spoke very much concerning the matter of the ministry. A number of books on the ministry were published by Brother Nee, and a number have also been published by us in the United States in the past thirty years (see The Normal Christian Church Life, by Watchman Nee, and Elders’ Training, Book 1: The Ministry of the New Testament, by Witness Lee). The speaking of the ministry in the Lord’s recovery has covered this matter in full. Those who are devastating these terms among us have a purpose. What they are doing is neither fair nor reasonable nor considerate. In order to carry out their particular purpose, they have done their best to devastate the term the ministry.
In order to consider this matter, we need to come back to the Word. The Word is our “constitution.” To come to the Word is to come to the heavenly court. We do have a constitutional book — the Bible — in our hand with a number of good verses concerning the matter of the ministry. We need to be familiar with these verses and pray-read these verses. Whenever people who know the law touch the Constitution, they would not do it carelessly. No one would do it without thorough, adequate consideration. Likewise, we need to come to the Word concerning the matter of the ministry and touch this matter carefully and with a thorough consideration.
No other portion in the Bible shows us the matter of the ministry more clearly than 2 Corinthians 3 and 4. First, in these chapters Paul touches the matter of the ministry based upon God’s covenants, the new covenant and the old covenant. Without God’s covenant there is no possibility to have any ministry. A ministry is to carry out what God has covenanted with His people. Without God’s covenant we do not have any work to do. Without God’s covenant whatever we may do cannot be considered a ministry. The ministry is just the service that we render to God to carry out God’s covenant. Whatever we may do to carry out our own preference or desires is not a ministry of God but is merely a human work.
In the whole universe only two covenants are crucial. In the New Testament time God covenanted only once with His people. This covenant is the new covenant, which the Lord Jesus enacted at His table. At the time when the Lord Jesus established His table, He enacted the new covenant with the blood that He would shed for us (Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20). In the Old Testament time God covenanted with His people a number of times (see Truth Lessons, Level Two, volume 1), but the main covenant was the law. In the New Testament the covenant of the law is called “the old covenant” (2 Cor. 3:14). In Jeremiah 31:31-34 God told His people that the old covenant of the law did not work well and did not serve His purpose, so He would make a new covenant, not with the Israel of the Old Testament but with His New Testament people, the believers in Christ, and with the remnant of Israel at the end of the New Testament age. This is not a covenant of law but a covenant of grace. Based on the old covenant of the law, there was an old covenant ministry, and based on the new covenant of the New Testament, there is the ministry of the new covenant (2 Cor. 3:6).
We all need to be clear that the ministry of the New Testament, which is the ministry of the new covenant, is uniquely one universally.
In the entire universe there have been only two ministries. In 2 Corinthians 3 the ministry of the old covenant is referred to as “the ministry of death” and “the ministry of condemnation” (vv. 7, 9). The ministry of the old covenant did only two things: it condemned people and put people to death. But the new covenant and the ministry based on the new covenant is a ministry of the Spirit and of righteousness, that is, of justification (vv. 8-9). The old covenant ministry of Moses was a ministry of death and condemnation, but the new covenant ministry is the exact opposite: it is a ministry not of death but of the Spirit, that is, of life, and not of condemnation but of righteousness for God’s justification. Thus, we may say that the ministry of the old covenant was a ministry of death and condemnation, and the ministry of the new covenant is a ministry of life and justification.
The unique ministry of the New Testament comprises all the works (ministries) of all the apostles, the ministers of the new covenant. In 2 Corinthians 3 the plural ministers is used clearly in verse 6, and the singular ministry is used in verses 8 and 9. Then, in the first verse of chapter 4 Paul says, “Therefore having this ministry as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart.” Here Paul uses the plural pronoun we. He does not say that he (singular) had this ministry; rather, he says that we (plural) have this ministry (singular). We here includes not only Paul but all the New Testament ministers. All of this indicates that there is one new covenant ministry of many new covenant ministers.
The first of the new covenant ministers were the twelve apostles. In Acts 1:17 and 25 Peter used the term this ministry. That ministry was the ministry of the twelve apostles, who were the first twelve New Testament ministers. The ministry is the service, the work, and the ministers are the persons who serve. The persons who serve are many. After the twelve apostles, many ministers, including Paul, Barnabas, and many others, entered into the ministry. Although the ministers were many, all these many ministers had only one ministry.
In 2 Corinthians 4:1 Paul uses the pronoun we, referring to many ministers. Then in 2 Timothy 4:5 Paul charges Timothy to fully accomplish his ministry. In this verse Paul speaks of Timothy’s ministry, referring to an individual’s ministry. This was Timothy’s personal ministry, but this personal ministry was a part of the corporate ministry, “this ministry,” the unique ministry of the New Testament. The ministry in 2 Corinthians 4:1 is the corporate ministry of all the New Testament ministers. In this corporate ministry Paul had his portion, Peter had his portion, and Timothy had his portion. All the ministers have their own portion of the ministry. When we add all the portions together, we have “this ministry,” which is the New Testament ministry.
The work of the New Testament ministry is to accomplish God’s New Testament economy concerning the church (Eph. 3:9-10) in the building up of the Body of Christ. Ephesians 4:12 says that all the saints need to be perfected “unto the work of the ministry.” This means that hundreds and even thousands of saints can be perfected unto the work of the ministry. In this verse the term the ministry is used. No doubt this refers to the unique ministry of the New Testament to carry out God’s eternal purpose, which is contained in the new covenant. God’s new covenant contains God’s economy. To carry out this economy requires much work, and that work is the ministry. In Ephesians 4:12 the phrase unto the building up of the Body of Christ appears in apposition to unto the work of the ministry. This indicates clearly that to do the work of the ministry is to build up the Body of Christ.
When we consider all these verses together and put them together rightly, like the pieces of a puzzle, we can see a picture showing us clearly that the New Testament ministry is the service, the work, in totality of all the New Testament ministers. In this ministry Timothy had a part called Timothy’s ministry. You also have a part called “your ministry,” and I also have a part called “my ministry.” However, this does not mean that in the New Testament there is one ministry, and then in addition to this one ministry there are many other ministries. The ministry of the New Testament is uniquely one, but there are many ministers who have a part in this one ministry.
In recent years some of the dissenting ones have said that they accept all ministries. In saying “all ministries” they seem to have the concept that the new covenant has many ministries. However, this is wrong. Since there is only one new covenant, how could there be many new covenant ministries? Many workers may have a part in constructing a building, but they do not carry out many different works. Rather, they carry out only one work. That one work is not done according to anyone’s opinion but is carried out under one superintendent, one master builder (1 Cor. 3:10), and according to the unique copy of the blueprint. The one blueprint eliminates all opinions. Every part of the work must be done according to the one blueprint and under the leadership of the one master builder. In this way all the workers carry out only one building work.
God’s new covenant is a great matter concerning the lives of millions of people, yet it is accomplished by only one ministry. In the New Testament we cannot see two ministries. We may speak of Peter’s ministry, of Paul’s ministry, or of Timothy’s ministry, but we must do so with the realization that these individual ministries are only small parts of “this ministry,” the unique ministry of the New Testament. “This ministry” implies and includes all the ministers’ pieces of the ministry. A jigsaw puzzle does not portray two pictures; each puzzle shows only one picture. This picture is composed of many pieces. If we have the ability to put the pieces together properly, eventually we will see just one picture. Likewise, when we put all the individual ministries of the New Testament ministers together, we have just one ministry, the unique ministry of the New Testament.
The ministry denotes the unique new covenant ministry for the building up of one building, the Body of Christ, and this ministry is the unique service of thousands of New Testament ministers. Every member of the Body of Christ has a part of this ministry. Although every believer has a part of the ministry, their parts are not separate ministries but are only parts of the one ministry. The carrying out of God’s new covenant requires only one ministry. If there is more than one ministry, trouble will result. I hope that this matter will be made clear to all the dear saints in the Lord’s recovery.
All the works (the ministries) of the teachings other than the teachings of the apostles (Acts 2:42) for the accomplishment of God’s New Testament economy are not counted in this unique ministry (1 Tim. 1:3-4). This includes the works of the Judaizers, who still taught genealogies from the Old Testament, and also the law (v. 7). Such things are not part of God’s economy and were considered by Paul as different things (v. 3). Thus, the works of the teachings of things other than God’s economy should not be considered a part of the ministry. The ministry is only for the accomplishment of God’s economy, which is to build up the church as the Body of Christ.
In the turmoil among us, the intention of the dissenting ones is to condemn me; therefore, they say that the ministry is Witness Lee’s ministry. They go even further to say that all the churches who follow Witness Lee’s ministry are “ministry churches.” They say that my ministry no longer builds up local churches but builds up “ministry churches.” Once, when several of the dissenting ones came to contact me, they pointed out that in his book The Normal Christian Church Life, Brother Watchman Nee made it clear that the missionaries sent out by the different denominations or missions all built up their “mission churches,” not the local churches (ch. 7). The Presbyterian missionaries built up Presbyterian churches, the Baptist missionaries built up Baptist churches, and the Methodist missionaries built up Methodist churches. All those churches should have been local churches, not denominational churches. Brother Nee said that if all the Western missionaries sent to China would not build up their mission churches but would all build up the local churches, there would be no division. These brothers brought this to my attention. In my response to the brothers, I asked them whether they considered all the churches raised up by my ministry denominational churches and whether they considered my ministry a denominational ministry. I have the full assurance that when I brought the recovery to the United States, I did not carry out a denominational ministry, nor did I raise up denominational churches. What I brought to America was “the ministry.” Through this ministry the Lord brought the work of His recovery to America and has raised up the churches, built up the churches, and nourished and perfected the saints for more than thirty years. The very work that raised up the local churches in America is surely “the ministry.” This being the case, the churches raised up through my ministry are the churches of the ministry and should be one with the ministry.
Some of the dissenters have called my work of the ministry “the system of Witness Lee’s ministry.” In 1986 and 1987, while I was in Taipei conducting the full-time training, some of the brothers who carried out the training charged the trainees to be one with the ministry, although I never told the brothers to do that. After that, the dissenters condemned me and the brothers for charging the trainees to be one with the ministry. However, concerning this point I would like to ask: Is it right or wrong to be one with the ministry? Surely it is right to be one with the ministry (Phil. 1:3-5; 2:1-4, 25, 30; 3:17; 4:15-18; Col. 4:2-4).
The dissenting ones then went on to say that such a charge to be one with the ministry meant that Brother Lee was going to make himself the “king” in the Lord’s recovery, to control the entire recovery through his training. On March 19, 1989, in his resignation from the eldership in Anaheim, John Ingalls declared publicly, “There has been a pervasive control exercised over the church...This control has not been exercised so much directly, but very much indirectly, through videos, conferences, trainings, and elders’ meetings.” John accused me of controlling the churches in the recovery through my videotapes, conferences, trainings, and elders’ meetings. In his view I should not minister at all, for whatever I do in carrying out my ministry is to control the churches. Today the dissenting ones are very busy spreading this kind of talk.
The truth is this: God’s covenant has a ministry to carry it out. The new covenant has the new covenant ministry. That is today’s ministry. This ministry encompasses all the ministers. What Paul had was a part of this ministry. Peter, Martin Luther, and Brother Nee also had a part, and today my ministry also is a part of the new covenant ministry. To say that the church should be one with the ministry is altogether right. In John 17 the Lord Jesus taught us all to be one (vv. 20-23). The ministers and the churches all need to be one. It is altogether right for the ministry and the church to be one. But the dissenters have condemned this and have caused some of the weaker ones among us to feel uncomfortable to mention the ministry in their speaking. When the elders hear this kind of nonsensical talk from the dissenting ones, they bear the responsibility to make the saints clear concerning the New Testament ministry. We need to keep the truth in order to cover the young ones. Otherwise, they will be damaged.
Today we are in a situation that is more difficult than what Paul faced. At Paul’s time the situation was already complicated. At a certain point Paul had a problem with Peter. Because Peter practiced hypocrisy in relation to the truth of the gospel, Paul had to rebuke Peter to his face. At that time Barnabas joined Peter in his hypocrisy (Gal. 2:11-14). This was a very difficult situation for Paul. Prior to that time a problem arose over the matter of circumcision. Certain ones came down to Antioch from Jerusalem to trouble the believers, saying that they had to be circumcised in order to be saved (Acts 15:1). Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to have a thorough fellowship with the apostles and elders there (vv. 2-18). Through that fellowship the problem was settled; however, the settlement was not thorough but was somewhat a compromise (vv. 19-29). After that, Paul went back to Antioch with Barnabas (v. 35). Some time later, Paul proposed that he and Barnabas return to visit the churches they had raised up, and Barnabas wanted to take his cousin Mark with them. Paul did not agree with this, and there was a sharp contention between them so that Barnabas and Paul separated from each other (vv. 36-39).
Later, another factor came in, that is, the factor of Apollos. In 1 Corinthians Paul was trying his best to calm a turmoil in Corinth (1:10-13; 3:3-4). He expected that Apollos would join him to solve the problem in Corinth because Apollos had gone to Corinth to help the believers there (vv. 5-6; Acts 19:1). In 1 Corinthians 16:12 Paul says that he urged Apollos many times to go to Corinth, yet Apollos did not agree with Paul to go at that time but wanted to wait until he had opportunity.
In 2 Timothy 1:15 Paul says that all who were in Asia had turned away from his ministry. In 2:16-17 Paul mentions the unhealthy speaking of Hymenaeus and Philetus, and in 4:10 he says that a co-worker, Demas, had abandoned him, having loved the present age. In 4:14-15 Paul says that Alexander the coppersmith did many evil things to damage Paul. At one time Paul and Alexander must have been intimate with one another; otherwise, Alexander could not have been so evil toward Paul.
After reading all these things in the New Testament concerning the difficult and complicated situation surrounding the apostle Paul’s ministry, I was comforted very much. In addition, I was in mainland China for eighteen years working with Brother Nee. I saw all the turmoils related to his ministry. There seemed to be a cycle of one turmoil every seven or eight years. In 1949 I came out of China and went to Taiwan, and later I went to the United States. In the forty-three years since 1949, there have been three turmoils in the recovery — one in Taiwan at the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, one in the United States in 1978, and now the present turmoil, which began in 1987. It seems that again there is a cycle, like the cycle of sickness in the human body.
Those who have caused the trouble since 1987 do not keep the truth and do not have any standard of truth. Now they have ushered themselves into a position of not caring for the truth. They care only to do a work of poisoning others. The most poisonous item they put out is to condemn me by saying that I am making myself the unique leader to be the “king” in the Lord’s recovery. This is the hidden point with which they poison people. Today they are still very busy in doing this kind of poisoning and undermining work. According to my observation, I cannot believe that this group of people are the Lord’s servants. No servants of God could do such things with the sole intention of damaging others.
We should not be disappointed. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:1, “We do not lose heart.” Paul’s situation was quite complicated, but today ours is more complicated because of all the rumors that are being spread in a subtle way. Under this kind of confusion, the only way for us to be preserved is to practice the truth. By practicing the truth, we ourselves learn. Then we can speak the truth. Beginning from the summer of 1988 I strengthened my speaking of the divine truth. Previously, I never spoke as much as I did in the past five years. This speaking did quite much to preserve, strengthen, and safeguard the recovery. Thank the Lord that nearly all the saints in the Lord’s recovery have been preserved by the truth. From the very beginning, the recovery has been built upon the truth and life. I do not believe that the speaking of the truth in the recovery for the past thirty years has been in vain.
