For justification, we reckon ourselves dead. For practice we have the sentence of death in ourselves. To have this realized we always bear about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, and God delivers us to death, to meet our feebleness, where the desire is sincere, and carry it out. Paul realized this—death worked in him; and power—life—was unhindered in its operation towards and to the benefit of, the Corinthians. So if he suffered, it was for their consolation—if he was comforted, because, by his drawing his comforts immediately from Christ, he could comfort others and bring to them what was in Christ. This way of God's dealings, elsewhere remarked on, is most precious. But then he was not unsustained by them, by the weakest of them, 'Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons, thanks may be given by many on our behalf.' All things for the Church. God allowing the weakness of the vessel to be felt, that divine faithfulness and love, divine consolations might be known. These are experienced in one who held himself dead, and in integrity of purpose, and by the dispensation of God helping him, was made to realize it. So, in the power of these consolations, he could console, and, in the power of the life of Christ, work in others, but then they were helping him by their prayers, and were called to realize, by the ministration of life, the death to all things which gave such unhindered power of and in Christ to the Apostle, and so he saw and owned his hope was the fact that, as they partook of the sufferings they would of the consolation. As for him, his hope was in One who raised the dead. What could Satan and the murderers of this world do?