The document discusses the inner life of ministers of the new covenant based on 2 Corinthians 2:12-3:18. It summarizes that ministers receive both inner and outward guidance from God (2:12-13). They are led by God in Christ's triumphal procession and spread the knowledge of him (2:14-17). Ministers have God's message hidden within them but displayed outwardly through their ministry (3:1-6). As they behold Christ, ministers are transformed from one degree of glory to another (3:7-18). The document encourages the reader to minister as a servant of the new covenant.

1. ro
The Inner Life of the Servant

2. Ministers of a New Covenant
2 Corinthians 2:12-3:18
• Inner and outward
Guidance (2:12,13)
• Led in Triumphal
Procession (2:14-17)
• Hiddenness on Display
(3:1-6)
• From glory to glory (3:7-18)
Are you a minister of the
New Covenant?

3. 2 Corinthians 2:12-13: Inner and Outward Guidance
(NIV) [12] Now when I went to Troas to
preach the gospel of Christ and found that
the Lord had opened a door for me, [13] I
still had no peace of mind, because I did not
find my brother Titus there. So I said good-
bye to them and went on to Macedonia.
• External and Internal Guidance
• From blessing to covenant
• Doors that do not shut

4. 2 Corinthians 2:14-17: Led in Triumphal Procession
• The KING of the New Covenant
• Upwardly or Downwardly mobile?
• Incense rises
• An audience of ONE.
2 Corinthians 2:14-17
But thanks be to God, who always leads us as
captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us
to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him
everywhere. [15] For we are to God the pleasing
aroma of Christ among those who are being saved
and those who are perishing. [16] To the one we are
an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma
that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?
[17] Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of
God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak
before God with sincerity, as those sent from God
Philippians 2: 5-8
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in
Christ Jesus, [6] who, although He existed in the
form of God, did not regard equality with God a
thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied Himself, taking
the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the
likeness of men. [8] Being found in appearance as a
man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to
the point of death, even death on a cross.

5. 2 Corinthians 2:14-17: Led in Triumphal Procession
• The KING of the New Covenant
• Upwardly or Downwardly mobile?
• Incense rises
• An audience of ONE.
Colossians 2:14-15
[14] having canceled the written code,
with its regulations, that was against us
and that stood opposed to us; he took it
away, nailing it to the cross.
[15] And having disarmed the powers
and authorities, he made a public
spectacle of them, triumphing over
them by the cross.
Ephesians 4:7-8
[7] But to each one of us grace has been given
as Christ apportioned it. [8] This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men.”

6. 2 Corinthians 3:1-6 : Hiddenness on Display
• SERVANTS (Ministers) of the New
Covenant
• Inner work and outer work
• Hiddenness and Manifestation
[1] Are we beginning to commend ourselves
again? Or do we need, like some people,
letters of recommendation to you or from
you?
[2] You yourselves are our letter, written on
our hearts, known and read by everybody.
[3] You show that you are a letter from Christ,
the result of our ministry, written not with ink
but with the Spirit of the living God, not on
tablets of stone but on tablets of human
hearts.
[4] Such confidence as this is ours through
Christ before God.
[5] Not that we are competent in ourselves to
claim anything for ourselves, but our
competence comes from God.
[6] He has made us competent as ministers of
a new covenant—not of the letter but of the
Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives
life.

7. 2 Corinthians 3:1-6 : Hiddenness on Display
• SERVANTS (Ministers) of the New
Covenant
• Inner work and outer work
• Hiddenness and Manifestation
Jeremiah 31:33
[33] “This is the covenant I will make with
the house of Israel
after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
Ezekiel 36:26-27
[26] I will give you a new heart and put a
new spirit in you; I will remove from you
your heart of stone and give you a heart of
flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit in you
and move you to follow my decrees and be
careful to keep my laws.

8. 2 Corinthians 3:7-18: From Glory to Glory
• The Inward Gaze
• Beholding His beauty
• Transfiguration
(NIV) [7] Now if the ministry that brought death, which was
engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites
could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory,
fading though it was, [8] will not the ministry of the Spirit be even
more glorious? [9] If the ministry that condemns men is glorious,
how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!
[10] For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the
surpassing glory. [11] And if what was fading away came with glory,
how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
[12] Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. [13]
We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep
the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away.
[14] But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil
remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed,
because only in Christ is it taken away. [15] Even to this day when
Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. [16] But whenever anyone
turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. [17] Now the Lord is the
Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
[18] And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's
glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-
increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the
Spirit.

9. 2 Corinthians 3:7-18: From Glory to Glory
Psalms 27:4
[4] One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I
seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.
Romans 8:29
[29] For those God foreknew he also
predestined to be conformed to the likeness of
his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brothers.
• The Inward Gaze
• Beholding His beauty
• Transfiguration

10. Ministers of a New Covenant
2 Corinthians 2:12-3:18
• Inner and outward
Guidance (2:12,13)
• Led in Triumphal
Procession (2:14-17)
• Hiddenness on Display
(3:1-6)
• From glory to glory (3:7-18)
Will you be a minister of the
New Covenant this week?

11. The Inner Life of the Servant