And there were great crowds going along with Him, and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and moreover, even his own soul-life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
“…Everyone of you who does not forsake all his own possessions cannot be My disciple.”
Luke 14:25-27, 33
The spirit of the ministry is a spirit that seeks the benefit of the Lord’s recovery. ((The term “the Lord’s recovery” refers here to the work the Lord has been doing throughout the ages to bring man back to His original intention, i.e., to gain an expression of Himself. In the church age this work of recovery has been carried out in different aspects through servants of the Lord such as Martin Luther, Count Zinzendorf and the Moravian Brethren, John Darby and the Plymouth Brethren, and more recently through Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.)) In other words, within my spirit and my heart, I should have only one desire: that the Lord’s recovery would be profited.For instance, if you speak something in a meeting and everyone appreciates it, you are happy and even a little carried away by it. This reveals that you are not yet a person who lives for the Lord’s recovery.
We must have such a spirit that has the Lord’s interests in view. We should be those who are willing to pay any price for the Lord’s recovery. Our only consideration should be what is profitable for the church. We should not have any personal benefit or gain in view.
Adapted from Being One with the Ministry, Volume One, pages 66-67.
Tomorrow: “Caring Only for the Lord’s Profit”