We have seen the revelations Watchman Nee received from the Lord and the sufferings he underwent. After seeing something of his revelations and sufferings, we come to his ministry.
Ministry is the issue of revelation plus suffering. Without revelation one cannot have ministry because he has nothing to minister. But though one may have revelation, if he lacks suffering, he still has no ministry. He may have some sort of teaching or gift, but this is not ministry. There is a difference between teaching and ministry. Ministry is something higher and deeper. Gift is superficial and costs little, while ministry is weighty and costly. If you have received revelation from God, He will put you into suffering in order that you may have ministry.
From the writings of the apostle Paul, we can see that before he endured suffering, he received revelation. When he received the revelation, he did not immediately go out to pass it on as teaching or knowledge. To do so would not have been ministry; it would have been a sort of teaching or an exercise of gift. But after receiving the revelation, the Lord put him into some suffering. Hence, in all his Epistles we have this sequence: first, the revelation; second, the sufferings; and third, the ministry which came out of the first two. To receive revelation is one thing; to have that revelation wrought into our being is something else.
In the process of producing a porcelain vase, a pattern for a picture is painted onto the vase. The vase is then put into an oven, and the painting is burned onto it. By passing through the oven, the painting and the vase become one. Receiving a revelation is similar to having a picture painted upon us; but this painting must be burned into us to make the painting one with us. When the painting is burned into the vase, no one can erase it; neither can the vase be separated from the painting. If the vase is broken, the painting is broken, for they are one. It is the same with us. The only way for us to be burned is by suffering. No real minister of God can avoid suffering.
The measure of life, the amount of reality, and the riches of Christ we are able to minister to others depend entirely upon two elements: how much revelation we have received and how much suffering we have undergone regarding that which has been revealed to us. When suffering is added to revelation, we have ministry.
Paul said, "Therefore having this ministry..." (2 Cor. 4:1). He did not say that he had a certain teaching or a gift, but a ministry. Again he said, "I Paul became a minister" (Col. 1:23). He did not say that he was made a speaker or a teacher, but a minister. We are not referring to today's "minister." The word "minister" has been spoiled and misused in today's Christianity. A minister is a person who has a real ministry, a ministry which issues from these two things—revelation plus suffering.