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  THE CROSS AND MINISTRY
  by T. Austin-Sparks
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Summary: A minister is one who shows forth the Divine thoughts,
manifesting the mind of God through a revelation of God in the face of
Jesus Christ in the heart.

Topics: "New Covenant", "Christian Ministry"
Scripture References: 2 Corinthians 3:6, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Colossians 3:16, 1 Peter 4:10

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DESCRIPTION
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T. Austin-Sparks emphasizes that a true minister is one who reveals the
Divine thoughts and manifests the mind of God, contrasting the old
covenant ministry of Moses with the new covenant ministry of shining
forth God in the face of Jesus Christ in our hearts. He clarifies that
in the New Testament, there is no official ministry appointed by God,
but rather ministry is based on the revelation of Christ in one's life,
with the measure of this revelation determining one's role as a
minister. The credentials of ministry lie in the shining of God's glory
in the heart through Christ, making anyone with this revelation a true
minister.

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CONTENT
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The second letter (to the Corinthians), as we know, is the ministers'
letter! It tells us what a minister is from the Divine standpoint when
the Cross does its work. Moses, the minister of God, is brought very
much into view, ministering in the old covenant, declaring the thoughts
of God, revealing the Divine mind. That is what a minister is. A
minister, this word says, is one who shows forth the Divine thoughts,
who manifests the mind of God. When Moses read the law, his face shone,
the glory of God was expressed through him as God's servant, God's
minister. That, mind you, was under the old covenant, the covenant of
signs, the covenant of symbols, of types; yes, and a ministry of death
and condemnation: and, says the Apostle, we have another ministry, and
ministry is the shining forth of God in the face of Jesus Christ in our
hearts. That is what a minister is; and let me put that simply, plainly.

There is no such thing in the New Testament as an official ministry as
such. God has never, in this dispensation, appointed officials, as such,
to be ministers. The ministry is a matter of a revelation of God in the
face of Jesus Christ in the heart shining out, and what constitutes one
a minister more than another is the measure of the revelation of Christ
in the life; and we all ought to be ready to give place to that. It must
be a revelation of God in your heart, in my heart, that constitutes us
God's ministers.

The credentials of ministry are the shining of God's glory in the face
of Jesus Christ in our heart, and anybody who has that can be a
minister; and anybody who has not that has no right to call himself a
minister. The Cross must strike at all ideas of ministry that are merely
professional, which are anything other than spiritual. Spiritual gifts,
spiritual revelation, spiritual knowledge, spiritual resources,
spiritual riches, these alone constitute us ministers.

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/t-austin-sparks/the-cross-and-ministry/
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