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ministry performed. Some have derived the word from dia, "through", and konis, "the
dust", as of one who runs with speed, but this is a fanciful derivation, and, as Trench
says, forbidden "by the quantity of the second syllable". It is more probably derived
from dioko, "to pursue", "to hasten after". In the prison epistles the apostle uses the
word seven times, and it may be of service to tabulate the occurrences:--
"That the Gentiles should be joint heirs, and a joint body, and joint partakers of His
promise in Christ by the gospel whereof I was made a minister" (Eph. 3: 7).
"Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to
you all things" (Eph. 6: 21).
"Paul and Timothy, bond slaves of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which
are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons" (Phil. 1: 1).
"Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond slave, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ"
(Col. 1: 7).
"The hope of the gospel . . . . . whereof I Paul was made a minister" (Col. 1: 23).
"The church, whereof I am made a minister" (Col. 1: 24, 25).
"All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother and a faithful
minister and fellow bond slave in the Lord" (Col. 4: 7).
The Lord in the days of His flesh emphasized the lowly character of the ministry of a
diakonos, saying:--
"Whosoever will be great among you let him be your minister . . . . . even as the Son
of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give His life a ransom of
many" (Matt. 20: 26-28).
The close association of lowliness and self-sacrifice that marked the ministry of the
Saviour is found in its degree in His follower, Paul:--
"Giving no offence in anything, that the ministry be not blamed. But in all
things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions,
in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours,
in watchings, in fastings" (II Cor. 6: 3-5).
This lowliness and self-sacrifice are distinctive features in Paul's ministry of the
mystery. First, his lowliness--see how he interposes the words: "Unto me, less than the
least of all saints, is this grace given" (Eph. 3: 8), in that passage where his claims for
exclusive revelation are highest. Or again, when writing to Timothy of the glorious
gospel put into his trust, he immediately adds: "He counted me faithful, putting me
into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious"
(I Tim. 1: 12, 13). Then consider his sufferings as a direct outcome of his ministry:--
"He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and
the children of Israel: For I will show him how great things he must suffer for My
name's sake" (Acts 9: 16).
If a "great and effectual door" was opened to Paul, there were inevitably "many
adversaries" (I Cor. 16: 9). A catalogue of the sufferings of Paul is a revelation. By sea
and by land, in city or in desert, at the hands of the mob, or at the hands of opposing
believers, he was beset with suffering. Not only did he suffer physical hardships, but the