THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians
Message Three—The Excellent Power of the Treasure in the Earthen Vessels
Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 4:7-18
I. Second Corinthians 3 and 4 are an accurate and precious record of Paul’s spiritual constitution:
A. What the apostles ministered was their constitution; they ministered what they were, what they had become—cf. Phil. 1:20-21a.
B. This means that their reconstituted being became their ministry—cf. Acts 20:18.
II. The indwelling Christ as the treasure in us, the earthen vessels, is the divine source of the supply for the Christian life and the excellent power for us to live a crucified life for the manifestation of the resurrection life—2 Cor. 4:7; Phil. 4:13:
A. Paul said that he and his co-workers “were excessively burdened, beyond our power, so that we despaired even of living…that we should not base our confidence on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead”—2 Cor. 1:8-9.
B. Actually, resurrection requires death, discouragement, and disappointment in order to be manifested—v. 4; 7:5-6.
C. The working of the cross terminates our self that we may enjoy the God of resurrection; such experience produces and forms the ministry—1:4-6.
III. The apostles lived the resurrection life under the killing of the cross, for the carrying out of their ministry—4:10-11, 16:
A. “Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body”—4:10:
1. Jesus, in a positive sense, is always killing all the negative things within us in order to heal and enliven us—Phil 1:19; cf. Exo. 30:23-25.
2. When we reject ourselves in the morning to receive God into us, we have the sense during the day that a killing process is going on within us—cf. Prov. 4:18.
B. “For we who are alive are always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh”—2 Cor. 4:11:
1. The killing of the cross results in the manifestation of the resurrection life; this daily killing is for the release of the divine life in resurrection—1 Cor. 15:31; 2 Cor. 4:16.
2. The title Jesus implies that the apostles lived a life like the one the Lord Jesus lived on earth; the Lord’s life was a life under the killing of the cross for the manifestation of the resurrection life, a life lived in such a way that His person was one with His ministry and His life was His ministry—John 6:14-15; 12:13, 19, 23-24.
C. “So then death operates in us, but life in you”—2 Cor. 4:12:
1. When we are under the killing of the Lord’s death, His resurrection life is imparted through us into others—Josh. 3:17.
2. The way for the church to come into being and to increase is not by human glory; it is by the death of the cross for the release of the f ire of the divine life—Luke 12:49-50; John 2:19; 12:24-26.
IV. It is by the spirit of faith that the apostles lived a crucified life in resurrection for the carrying out of their ministry—2 Cor. 4:13; 5:7:
A. We must exercise our mingled spirit, the spirit of faith, to believe and to speak, like the psalmist, the things we have experienced of the Lord, especially His death and resurrection—Psa. 116:10a.
B. Faith is in our spirit, which is mingled with the Holy Spirit, not in our mind; doubts are in our mind—cf. Heb. 11:6.
C. Through the exercise of our spirit of faith, we regard the unseen things of eternal glory, not the seen things of temporary affliction—2 Cor. 4:18:
1. The Christian life is a life of things unseen—Heb. 11:1.
2. The Lord’s recovery is to recover His church from things seen to things unseen—v. 27; 1 Pet. 1:8.
V. “Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day”—2 Cor. 4:16:
A. The outer man consists of the body as its organ with the soul as its life and person; the inner man consists of the regenerated spirit as its life and person with the renewed soul as its organ.
B. In order to live a crucified life, the life of the soul must be denied, but the functions of the soul—the mind, will, and emotion—must be renewed and uplifted by being subdued so that they can be used by the spirit, the person of the inner man—Matt. 16:24-25; 2 Cor. 10:4-5.
C. Our outer man is being consumed and worn out, but our inner man is being daily renewed by being nourished with the fresh supply of the resurrection life:
1. The Christian life is a life of being renewed day by day with the divine element through the process of sufferings—1 Thes. 3:3; Jer. 48:11.
2. “Our momentary lightness of affliction works out for us, more and more surpassingly, an eternal weight of glory”—2 Cor. 4:17.
Ministry Excerpts:
LIFE MANIFESTED IN MORTAL FLESH
In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul does not boast of his work. He does not say, “Corinthians, you must realize that I am the foremost apostle. I have established churches all the way from Cyprus to Corinth. I am ready to go further: to Rome, to Spain, and then to the uttermost part of the earth. This is the confirmation of the ministry which the Lord has committed to me.”
Instead of talking about his work and accomplishments, Paul speaks of affliction. In verse 8 he says, “We are afflicted in every way.” If we had been Paul, we probably would have said, “Corinthians, we are blessed in every way. Don’t you realize that our work has been blessed by the Lord? This blessing on our work proves that our ministry is of the Lord and that our work is of Him.”
Paul told the Corinthians that he and his co-workers were afflicted in every way. Worldly people would regard this as a sign of being cursed, not of being blessed. They would ask, “How could you be blessed by God if you are afflicted? Why are you being afflicted from every side?” But Paul went on to speak about being perplexed, persecuted, and cast down. Some would give Paul credit for being persecuted, for that may indicate that he was doing a good work. But they would not give him credit for afflictions, perplexity, and being cast down.
Paul does not stop with the description recorded in verses 8 and 9. In verse 10 he continues, “Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body.” In this verse Paul does not say, “Always bearing about in the body the great blessing of the mighty God.” Instead, he speaks of bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus. Seemingly Paul was a pitiful apostle in a pitiful situation.
In verse 11 Paul goes on to say, “For we who live are always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our mortal flesh.” Perhaps we would expect Paul to say, “being rescued from death,” instead of being delivered unto death. Paul, however, was always being delivered unto death so that the life of Jesus might be manifested in his mortal flesh.
Notice that here Paul does not speak of mortal body, but of mortal flesh. The word body is positive, but the word flesh is negative. Mortal implies that the flesh is dying. I do not think we would be happy if someone referred to our body as mortal flesh. Nevertheless, Paul adopted such an expression in speaking of himself.
Paul did not like to boast. He preferred to be small and to remain in a lowly state. In fact, the name Paul means little. In these verses Paul seems to be saying, “I prefer to stay in my smallness. The life manifested in me is the life of a Nazarene, not the life of a great man in the world. Moreover, the life of Jesus is manifested in my mortal flesh. I am not a great person manifesting something marvelous in a splendid body. No, I am a small person manifesting the life of Jesus, a man from Nazareth, in my mortal flesh.”
MINISTERING LIFE BY DYING
In verse 12 Paul says, “So then death operates in us, but life in you.” In this verse Paul does refer to his work. His work was a work of death operating in him. What is the work of the apostles? The work of the apostles is the work of death operating in them so that life may operate in the believers.
It may not sound pleasant to us to hear of death operating in the apostles. But the issue, the result, of this operation of death is wonderful—it is life in others. This is the real work of the new covenant ministry. It is not a matter of working; it is a matter of dying. In the Lord’s recovery we need to die so that life may work in others. Hence, our dying is our working. The Lord does not need you to accomplish a work for Him. He needs you to die. If you die, life will work in others. You will minister life to others by dying. Therefore, our work is to be put to death.
The verses we have considered in this message are a window through which we can see into Paul’s experience. Now we can understand that the apostles were not followers of a great person, but of a small man, Jesus of Nazareth. Furthermore, instead of being exalted, they were always being put to death so that the life of Jesus could be manifested in their mortal flesh. Death operated in them so that life might operate in the believers. (Life-Study of 2 Corinthians, Message 33).
In 4:10 Paul says, “Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body.” In this verse Paul speaks of “the putting to death of Jesus.” Why does he use this expression here? To answer this question, we need to consider once again who Jesus is.
The origin, the source, of the man Jesus is God. Jesus is God incarnate, God conceived in a virgin’s womb. Outwardly, Jesus is a man, but inwardly He is God. Thus, Jesus is not simple. This Nazarene is a wonderful person. When He was on earth, outwardly He was lowly in every respect. He was born in a manger, and He grew up in the home of a poor carpenter in the despised town of Nazareth. Nevertheless, inwardly Jesus was glorious, for the most high God was in Him. Outwardly Jesus was a lowly man; inwardly He was the most high God. Truly Jesus is wonderful.
THE DEATH OF JESUS
Now we must go on to see something concerning the death of Jesus. When many Christians mention the death of Christ, their understanding is limited to redemption. According to their concept, the death of Jesus was only for redemption. Often they quote the verse which says, “Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). It is absolutely true that the death of Christ was for redemption. We believe this just as much as other Christians do, if not more. However, redemption is just one aspect of Christ’s death. His death also has many other aspects. In 2 Corinthians 4 we see the aspect not of redemption and not of the imparting of life, but of destroying, consuming. According to this chapter, the death of Jesus is for the consuming, the wearing out, of our outward man. For this reason, Paul says in 4:16 that “our outward man is decaying.”
Although the man Jesus was God incarnate, God becoming a man, it was necessary even for His outward man to be consumed. According to the outward condition, the Lord Jesus was lowly. But in a spiritual sense, the Lord Jesus was not an insignificant man. On the contrary, Jesus equaled the entire old creation. When He was crucified, it was not only a man from Nazareth who died on the cross. When Jesus was crucified, the entire old creation, including all of us, was crucified also. The Lord Jesus died for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, not merely for the accomplishment of redemption. The first goal in God’s eternal purpose is to terminate the old creation. The Lord Jesus, as God becoming man, was part of the old creation. It was not through incarnation that He became a man in the new creation. Rather, through incarnation He became a man in the old creation, a man who needed to be consumed.
At the age of thirty the Lord Jesus came forth to minister. During the three and a half years of His ministry, He was constantly being put to death. As a mature man of thirty, He was continually under the process of killing. Do not think that Jesus was crucified only for the six hours He was on a material cross. No, for at least three and a half years He was crucified daily. Every day He lived a crucified life.
The Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross daily. Sometimes He was crucified by His mother. Other times He was crucified by Peter or some other disciple. Jesus was nailed to the cross even by His disciples’ love. For example, the more Peter loved the Lord Jesus, the more he crucified Him. Thus, before He was literally crucified by the Romans, Jesus had been repeatedly crucified by His mother, His brothers, and His disciples. In John 7 we have an example of the Lord’s being crucified by His brothers.
Actually, during the three and a half years of His ministry the Lord Jesus was not mainly living—He was dying. He was living a crucified life. This is what Paul means by the putting to death of Jesus. It is a slow, gradual, and continual crucifixion.
Now we can understand that the Lord Jesus was crucified not only during the six hours He was on a literal cross. For at least three and a half years, He was crucified continually, gradually, and slowly. In the words of Paul, this gradual crucifixion is the putting to death of Jesus.
DYING DAILY
The apostles were appointed by the Lord to be His followers. They were appointed by Him not to do a great work, but to live a certain kind of life. Therefore, they were not to accomplish a work by following a Christ who was great outwardly. They were to follow the man Jesus to live the life of this small man. This is not a life that is welcomed; it is a life that is rejected, a life that is always crucified, always put to death. Jesus lived this kind of life, and His followers, the apostles, did also. This is the reason Paul says that they were always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus.
To follow Jesus of Nazareth is to be killed; it is not to accomplish a great work. Moreover, to be martyred in an instant is rather easy. But to be killed gradually, slowly, and constantly is extremely difficult. To die gradually involves more suffering than being martyred instantly. For at least three and a half years the Lord Jesus was gradually put to death. This was also Paul’s experience for an extended period of time. Wherever he went, he experienced in his body the putting to death of Jesus. Referring to this in 1 Corinthians 15:31 he says, “Daily I die.” Here Paul seems to be saying, “Instead of living, I am actually dying day by day. I am undergoing a slow, gradual, and continual killing.” This continual killing is what Paul means by the putting to death of Jesus.
THE CONSUMING THE OUTWARD MAN
The putting to death of Jesus is for consuming the old creation in us. When Jesus, the Son of God, became a man, He had both an outward part signifying the old creation and an inward part signifying the everlasting God. The outward part was consumed, put to death, but the inward part was raised up, resurrected. This was true of the Lord Jesus, it was true of the apostles, and it is also true of all the believers.
Through our natural birth we became persons of the old creation, and through regeneration we have become persons of the new creation. As regenerated ones, we still have an outward part signifying the old creation. This part needs to be consumed, done away, worn out. But at the same time we have an inward part signifying the everlasting God. This part should be developed, resurrected, and renewed.
The putting to death of Jesus is related to the outward man, which needs to be consumed. As genuine believers, we all have a part of our being which Paul describes as the outward man. This outward man is decaying; it is being consumed, being wasted away, being worn out. This wearing out of the outward man is the putting to death of Jesus. Hence, the putting to death of Jesus is actually a synonym for the consuming of the outward man. In the Lord’s recovery we are experiencing the putting to death of Jesus for the consuming of the outward man. We are undergoing a process of killing, a process of putting to death the outward man.
Suppose a certain young brother is very intelligent. In many Christian groups such an intelligent young man might be admired and even exalted. However, in the church life in the Lord’s recovery, instead of being enthroned, he will experience the putting to death of Jesus. In the recovery it seems that the smarter a person is, the more he is nailed to the cross.
This crucifying work is often accomplished by the Lord through those around us, particularly those in our family life. For example, before a young sister came into the church life, it may have been seldom that her husband gave her a difficult time. Now that she is in the recovery, it seems that her husband is quite difficult. This sister should not blame her husband. The almighty Lord on the throne is using this sister’s husband to consume her old creation, her outward man. It seems that the Lord has given him the assignment of carrying out the work of nailing his wife to the cross. The sister may weep and cry out to the Lord, telling Him that she cannot bear this. However, there will be much more of this crucifying work to come, and the sister needs to be ready for it. The Lord may use her husband to drive in one nail, but He may use the brothers and sisters, even the elders, in the church, to drive in many more nails. Then the sister may say, “I cannot tolerate the situation with my husband or with the church. Why are the elders giving me such a difficult time?” The reason is that the Lord is using different persons to nail this sister to the cross, that is, to consume her outward man.
When some saints are not happy with the church in their locality, they may want to move elsewhere. Because the saints are nailing them to the cross, putting them to death, they would like to go to a church where they think the situation would be different. Actually, if they move for the purpose of avoiding the putting to death of Jesus, they may experience even more of this in a different locality.
If you are not able to get through with the church in one locality, this indicates that you cannot get through in any local church. Instead of moving from one place to another, simply stay where you are and allow the saints to put you to death. Furthermore, weeping over your situation is an indication that you have not yet been crucified. A dead person sheds no tears. If you are still crying about the experience of being consumed, this indicates that you need more of the putting to death of Jesus. Remain where you are until you have been fully crucified. (Life-Study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 34)
THE OUTWARD MAN AND THE INWARD MAN
What is the inward man? It is difficult to explain what the inward man is. For more than forty years I have been considering and studying the meaning of the outward man and the inward man in 4:16. Some writings have said that the outward man denotes our natural man and that the inward man denotes our spiritual man. I do not say that this understanding is wrong; however, it is somewhat vague.
If you consider the context of this chapter, the outward man primarily means the physical body. In verse 10 Paul speaks of “bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus,” and in verse 11 he mentions the mortal flesh. Bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus is equal to the consuming, the wasting away, of the outward man. Therefore, the outward man in verse 16 must mainly refer to the body.
Likewise, the inward man in this verse must refer to our regenerated spirit, as indicated in verse 13, where Paul uses the expression “the same spirit of faith.” As we have pointed out, the spirit here is the mingled spirit, the regenerated human spirit mingled with the Holy Spirit. The body is to be consumed, but the regenerated spirit is to be renewed day by day. According to the context, the outward man is mainly the body, and the inward man is mainly the regenerated spirit.
The outward man includes our body and our soul, with the body as its organ and the soul as its life and person. The inward man includes our regenerated spirit and our renewed soul with the regenerated spirit as its life and person and the renewed soul as its organ. The life of the soul must be denied (Matt. 16:24-25), but the functions of the soul, the mind, will, and emotion, must be renewed and uplifted by being subdued (2 Cor. 10:4-5) to be used by the spirit, which is the person of the inward man.
According to Paul’s word in verse 16, the outward man is being consumed, being wasted away, being worn out. By the continued killing, the working of death, our outward man, that is, our material body with its animating soul (1 Cor. 15:44), is being consumed and worn out. The outward man, with the body as its organ and the soulish life as its life and person, must be consumed.
We all have an outward man. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He too had an outward man. His outward man needed to be consumed.
In verse 16 Paul also says that our inward man is being renewed day by day. This renewing of the inward man takes place as the inward man is nourished with the fresh supply of resurrection life. As our mortal body, our outward man, is being consumed by the killing work of death, our inward man, that is, our regenerated spirit with the inward parts of our being (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10; Rom. 7:22, 25), is being metabolically renewed day by day with the supply of resurrection life. As the inward man is renewed, the functions of the soul—the mind, the emotion, and the will—are also renewed.
THE WEARING OUT OF THE OUTWARD MAN
Let us now apply this matter to our daily living, especially to our family life and church life. Suppose a young brother and sister in the church life get married. The brother is strong, healthy, intelligent, and energetic. It will not take very long for the sister to discover that her husband is a strong person with a strong natural life. His outward man is composed of his energetic body and his strong soul. This outward man must experience the putting to death of Jesus. The Lord will use this brother’s wife to consume his outward man. At the same time, He will use the brother to consume the sister’s outward man.
The outward man does not deserve to be edified, strengthened, exalted, or enthroned. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He did not need to have His outward man enthroned. On the contrary, what He needed was for the outward man to be put to death. Because we all have a strong outward man, we need to experience the putting to death of Jesus.
In the church life I have discovered that the outward man of the sisters is even stronger than that of the brothers. For this reason, it is usually much more difficult for a sister to be put on the cross than it is for a brother. It seems that more nails are required in the case of sisters. The outward man of the brothers can be compared to glass, but the outward man of the sisters can be compared to rubber. It is much easier to break glass than it is to break rubber. But whether our outward man is like glass or rubber, none of us is easily broken. It seems that certain saints need a crucifixion that is everlasting, since their outward man is so enduring. Some brothers and sisters have been in the church life for twenty years, and still their outward man has not been broken. They do not have any intention of being broken. It seems that they are always able to avoid being put on the cross.
The more we experience the consuming, the putting to death, of the outward man, the more our inward man is renewed. Our regenerated spirit with our renewed mind, emotion, and will needs to be resurrected, developed, enlarged, and refreshed. Therefore, as the outward man is being consumed, the inward man is being resurrected, renewed, and developed.
The life that can carry out the ministry of the new covenant is a life of having the outward man put to death and the inward man renewed and resurrected. Actually this kind of life is the new covenant ministry. This life and this ministry are needed for the Lord’s recovery today. Only this kind of ministry can impart life to others, can minister Christ to others as the life-giving Spirit and as righteousness. Gifts, ability, energetic activity, diligent works—none of this avails. The only thing needed is a crucified life, the life with the outward man continually experiencing the putting to death of Jesus so that the inward parts of our being may rise up, be refreshed, and be developed.
I hope that we all shall be impressed with the fact that the new covenant ministry is not a matter of talent or ability. This ministry is altogether a matter of life. In this kind of life the natural being is put to death so that the spiritual being may be resurrected, renewed, and developed. This life is needed in a crucial way for the Lord’s recovery today. (Life-Study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 35)