In chapters one, three, and four of 2 Corinthians, Paul described how he and the other apostles became dispensers of Christ. He used at least four illustrations to describe how the apostles pursued and grew. First, in 1:21 Paul said that the apostles had been anointed by God. The anointing ointment symbolizes the ultimate consummation of the Triune God, who as the ointment of the compound Spirit anoints us. The more this Spirit anoints us, the more we gain the element of God. Second, in 1:22 Paul said that this Spirit had also sealed the apostles. This means that after they were sealed, they were continually saturated, permeated, and filled with the Spirit. Then, in 3:18 Paul said that the apostles were like mirrors who, with unveiled face, beheld and reflected the Lord’s glorious image, and fellowshipped with the Lord face to face. They did not behold only once and then go away. They beheld repeatedly. In this way, the Lord’s glorious image was reflected on these mirrors and they were gradually being transformed into that glorious image by the Lord Spirit. Finally, in 4:7-16 Paul said that the apostles were earthen vessels with Christ as the treasure within, through whom they received the excellency of God’s great power and were able to experience the daily putting to death of their outward man so that the treasure within could daily radiate and be magnified from within. As such persons they became ministers who were able to minister Christ, transmit Him, and dispense Him to others. They were also able to fully execute God’s economy through their ministry, which is the preaching and ministering of the unsearchable riches of Christ for the producing of the church. In this way, they fulfilled God’s economy. If these apostles as the perfecting ones are such persons who would be learning all the time, those whom they perfect and help should become the same as they are, learning all the time also. Thus, in the churches of the Lord’s recovery we need to create an atmosphere in which the gifted ones constantly do the work of perfecting the saints. They should take every opportunity to perfect others. At the same time, all the saints are constantly learning. In the end, every saint in the church will be able to speak for the Lord, to preach the gospel, to shepherd and perfect others. Everyone will be a priest, and will be able to carry out the stewardship for the execution of God’s New Testament economy. This is what the Lord is after today.
The apostle Paul was very capable of doing the work of perfecting the saints. In Ephesians 3 he shows us how he taught and perfected others. First, he prayed for all the saints whom he perfected. He bowed his knees to the Father and prayed that the Father would strengthen the saints with power through His Spirit into the inner man. The power with which the Father strengthens the saints is the power that enabled the Lord Jesus to resurrect from the dead, to ascend to the heavens, and to become the Lord and Christ. Whether our spiritual life is proper or not depends on our inner man, which is our regenerated spirit. There is a hymn that says: “The Spirit begets the spirit; the spirit worships the Spirit, so that we are filled with the Spirit. The Spirit becomes the word, and with the abundant life, flows as the river of living water.” This hymn conveys the thought in John 3, 4, 6, and 7. John 3:6 says that our spirit is begotten of the Spirit: “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 4:24 says that our spirit worships the Spirit: “God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit....” By such worshipping, we are filled with the Spirit. John 6:63 says that the Spirit becomes the word: “The words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life.” Then John 7:38 says that with this Spirit, there is the abundant life flowing as rivers of living water. The more one sings this hymn, the more he will become living, and the more his inner man will be strengthened.
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