Fellowship in and among the Churches regarding Supporting those Serving the Lord Full-time

If we mean business with the Lord concerning the spreading of the truths He has shown us in the Lord’s recovery, we need to bear the burden to give and support those serving the Lord full-time.

Nowadays in the church life, we don’t talk about money or giving, neither do we have something like a fund-raising meeting or a call to give for this or that.

Rather, there are some needs that are being presented, there are some particular things to be taken care of, and there are some burdens concerning the Lord’s move, and the saints are being informed of this.

Even more, we all pray about these, we bring these to the Lord, and we join ourselves to Him in His prayer for what He wants to do.

This is an organic matter – it doesn’t have to do with any outward practice.

However, behind the scenes, in a personal way, all the saints need to be before the Lord concerning the matter of giving, and in particular concerning giving to support those serving the Lord full time.

It is good to remain in the realm of life, the realm of enjoying Christ and experiencing Him; however, we need to allow the Lord to touch us in a practical way.

There are some spontaneous results of our contacting the Lord in a real and genuine way, some of which are that we want to meet with the saints to enjoy the Lord together with them, we desire to speak Christ to others, we are exposed that we’re not qualified but Christ lives in us, and we realize that we need more Christ and more building up in the Body.

Furthermore, one very practical aspect of our experience of Christ’s dynamic salvation is that we no longer love money nor seek after accumulating wealth; rather, we give in a joyous way, and we give one with the Lord in secret for the furtherance of His move.

And our giving is not something of legality or regulation but something organic, coming out of our experience of Christ.

Having Fellowship in the Church and among the Churches Regarding Supporting those Serving the Lord Full-time

Our God is a moving God, and we can cooperate with His move on earth today. We can cooperate with what He is doing by contacting Him and saying Amen to His word.

As we spend time with the Lord in private, having a personal, affectionate, and spiritual time with Him, we are infused with what is in His heart, and His heart’s desire becomes our heart’s desire in an organic way.

Furthermore, as we come together with the saints in the church life to enjoy the Lord, exhibit Him, sing and partake of Him, we are together opening to Him for Him to infuse us with what is in His heart.

The Lord is moving in one direction on the whole earth; He is moving to consummate this age by first producing the overcomers who cooperate with Him today and then by arranging the whole world situation for His return.

What a privilege we have to open to the Lord, enjoy Him, be infused with Him, and fellowship with the Lord and with one another for His move!

What a mercy it is for us to know what is in God’s heart and allow His heart to become our heart!

As we pray over the word of God and turn our heart to Him, the veils are taken away (2 Cor. 3:16-17), and we see the Lord as the Spirit, we are infused with Him, and we’re transformed into His image.

As we fellowship with one another in the meetings of the church, the Lord has a way to not only blend us and coordinate us together but also to take us on with Him and lead us toward His direction for His goal.

In His recovery, the Lord has opened up the Bible to us and has unveiled us to see what is His eternal economy.

Our seeing of God’s eternal economy causes us to have the divine stewardship, for all the riches of Christ and all the truths are “to me for you”, to us for the other saints in the Body.

If we mean business with the Lord for the spreading of all the truths that He has shown us, we will all bear the burden in the fellowship of the furtherance of the gospel.

We may work full-time, but this will not stop us from participating in the Lord’s move, for we can pray and we can give for the support of those serving the Lord full-time.

In Paul’s time, the saints in Philippi had their remembrance of him blossom anew and sent him a gift to help with his needs, but many times the saints in other forgot about him, and they did not support him.

Today it is so easy to just go about our business, take care of our affairs, or just enjoy the church life, and forget about giving for the support of those who serve the Lord full-time.

We all serve the Lord, but some of us may be called by the Lord to serve with our full-time, and in fellowship with the saints and in the Body, if the feeling is in this direction, we all need to give to support such ones.

For example, our local church has only twenty saints and two saints want to serve full-time, and in fellowship in the Body, we feel good concerning this; we need to bring this in fellowship among the churches.

A church that is smaller than twenty saints may help with the support of those serving in other churches, and in larger churches where there may not be more serving ones, the surplus can be given to the other churches.

If a church can only support one full-timer but two are burdened to serve full time, we need to fellowship among the churches concerning this.

Today we are in the age of the Body, the age in which we don’t do things on our own or according to how we feel but in the fellowship of the Body and according to the feeling of the Head expressed in the Body.

A very simple way to take care of those serving full-time is to set aside an extra five percent from our income and put it in the offering box designated for “full-time serving one’s support”.

The leading brothers need to fellowship with the saints concerning this, and the church needs to have a separate account for the support of the full-timers, whether they have full-timers or not.

In this way, we all participate in the Lord’s move both by praying and going in our measure and by giving to support those serving the Lord full-time.

We should do this not in the way of legality or rule but as a principle; we should do this not by organization but in fellowship.

This is a very sweet and practical way to fellowship unto the furtherance of the gospel, and in such a fellowship concerning supporting those serving full-time we all can participate and experience the Body.

It may be that a local church of one hundred saints has three full-time serving saints, and they have an extra supply for two other full-timers; through fellowship with the other churches, they will be able to find out where there is the need for support, and the money can be sent there.

We all need to bring this fellowship to the Lord and practically participate in the Lord’s move in this way by being in the fellowship of the Body.

This should be a principle yet with no regulation; in principle, the saints need to set aside five percent of their income every month to support those serving the Lord full-time.

We see this principle in 1 Cor. 16:2, where Paul exhorts us to lay aside in store to himself whatever he has been prospered on the first day of the week so that when the need for supporting those serving full-time comes, no collections should be made.

This doesn’t exclude the saints giving to the full-timers directly or giving to the poor and to the church.

Our life is a life of giving, not just of receiving; if we only receive but not give, the receiving will stop, but if we give, the Lord will bless us even more. May we bring this to the Lord in prayer and say,

Lord Jesus, we want to be one with You for Your move on the earth. We come to You, dear Lord, to enjoy You, be infused with You, and be one with You. Thank You for the privilege to be part of Your move through our prayer, our giving, and our going. Thank You for unveiling us to see the rich divine truths in the Word of God. Amen, Lord, we want to carry out our stewardship by ministering Christ to others, shepherding the saints according to God, and giving to support those who serve the Lord full-time! Release the fellowship in the church life and among the churches for the support of those serving full-time so that we all would participate in the Lord’s move in a practical way! Amen, dear Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You with all that we are, all we have, and all we do, so that You may flow through us and use us for Your purpose, even in the matter of our money and the support of those serving full-time!

The Offerings made by the Believers in the Meetings and what they should be Used For

May the Lord have a free way among us in the church life to recover all the truths and the proper practices in the Bible according to His economy.

And may we cooperate with Him by first exercising our spirit and then saying Amen to His word. Our only standard in the church life is the Bible; it is not the word of brother So-and-So or even brother Witness Lee or Watchman Nee – the Bible is our unique standard.

The entire speaking of God is contained in His Word, and His word is in the Bible, the unique book called, the Word of God.

However, throughout the centuries many truths in the Bible have been lost, misunderstood, and misinterpreted, so the Lord has a recovery of the truth.

Also, there are many healthy practices, life practices, and practices in the church life that we see in the New Testament, and these have been lost or misapplied, so the Lord has a recovery of the proper practices.

One of these practices that are to be recovered is the matter of giving, both of giving to the Lord and supporting the needs of those who serve the Lord full-time.

This is not a matter of a regulation or law but a principle; it is a solid practice in the early church life and it should be a healthy practice among us.

According to what the Bible shows us, the offerings made by the believers in the meetings should be used mainly for three things: local expense, helping the saints in need, and the support of those serving the Lord full-time.

First, the general offerings need to be used for the local expenses of the church, such as renting the meeting hall, costs related to meetings, etc.

Second, the general offerings also need to be used for the relief of the brothers and sisters who are in poverty and want, to help the saints who are in need.

Third, the general offerings and in particular the offering of the 5% of the saints’ income designated for this should be used for the assistance of the workers and the expenses for the work.

The full-time workers who serve in a locality should be supported by the saints in that locality.

It is even good to have two sections in the offering box in our meeting halls in the church life, one for the funds for the church needs and the other for supporting those serving the Lord full-time.

In this way, we all have a way to participate in the furtherance of the Lord’s move by our giving.

Our giving should be before the Lord and in secret, and we should not neglect the giving to those who are in need.

We are all in this together, whether we serve full-time or we work on a job; we all serve the Lord, and anything in excess needs to be given in oneness with the Lord.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for recovering the truth in Your holy word for us to enjoy and experience Christ according to the divine revelation! Thank You for recovering the healthy and sound practices in the church life and the life practices to enjoy the Lord. Keep us in Your recovery and keep us in the process of being recovered to the fullest extent until we are one with You in everything we say or do. Amen, Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You with all we are and have for the furtherance of Your move on the earth. We are here for the spread of Your kingdom, and we do not want to hold back our money when it comes to giving for You to move freely! Hallelujah!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, and portions from, The Way to Practice the Lord’s Present Move, ch. 5 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Material offerings and the Lord’s Move Today, week 4, entitled, Material Offerings for the Lord’s Move.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Take my will, and make it Thine; / It shall be no longer mine. / Take my heart; it is Thine own; / It shall be Thy royal throne, / It shall be Thy royal throne. / Take my love; my Lord, I pour / At Thy feet its treasure-store. / Take myself, and I will be / Ever, only, all for Thee, / Ever, only, all for Thee. (Hymns #445)
  – We give ourselves to follow the churches, / Oneness in Christ display; / Follow His move in all of the churches, / Stand fast as one this way. / We must follow the Spirit / In all simplicity. / In our spirit is Jesus— / He follows perfectly! (Hymns #1246)
  – Producing overcomers is God’s move on earth today; / Living and active, they live and serve in a vital way, / Shepherd ’ccording to God, to build up Christ’s Body corp’rately. / We all need to be in Christ’s heav’nly ministry. / One with the interceding Christ, to carry out God’s admin’stration, / Carry out God’s administration for His economy. / As God’s redeemed, sanctified elect, His holy army arrayed we stand, / And in the energizing God, we move, we battle, we take the land. / We must move today in the wheel of God’s ultimate move, / Go forth, disciple all nations, teach the divine truths, / The kingdom’s gospel spread to all earth inhabited, / Till lampstands shine throughout all the earth, / Hasten the day of the Lord’s return, / Hasten the day of His return! (Song on, God’s Move Today)