Having Fellowship unto the Furtherance of the Gospel by our Giving to Support the Full-Timers

As believers in Christ, we should honor God as the very bountiful Giver who affords us all the riches, and we should give for the fellowship unto the furtherance of the gospel.

God is not a beggar who needs our money, but He delights in the sweet-smelling savor, the acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God, of our giving. Hallelujah!

Our God is truly wonderful, and the principles set in the Bible are very clear; though in the church life we may not emphasize the matter of giving our money to the Lord or to support the serving ones, we need to practice this.

The matter of giving is personal – we give before the Lord and to the Lord, not before man or for others to see.

Actually, the spontaneous result of our enjoyment of Christ’s dynamic salvation causes us to give ourselves to Him.

When we touch the Lord, when He truly touches us, and when we really enjoy Him in a dynamic way, we give one hundred percent of what we are and have to Him.

The Lord desires, loves, and requires our absoluteness; He is not after ten percent of our time, our being, or our possessions – He gave Himself for us in full, and when we truly see this, we also give ourselves to Him.

When the Lord entered the house of Zaccheus, he spontaneously gave half of what he had to the poor and made restitution with interest to those whom he wronged.

Similarly, the result of the Philippian believers’ enjoyment of God’s dynamic salvation was that they gave and gave again to support Paul.

In Christianity today the matter of supporting those who serve the Lord full-time has been spoiled very much because of the so-called televangelists and preachers who became millionaires because of the giving of those who listened to them.

This is such a shame to the Lord, and these ones will be dealt with by the Lord at His return.

As we live the proper church life in the Lord’s recovery, we need to have a full recovery of all the truths in the Bible, one of which is the matter of serving the Lord full-time and supporting those who serve Him with their full-time.

Even though in our meetings we don’t have the money collection plate being passed around, neither do we have a very visible offering box, we all need to be saved from the love of mammon.

It should be a spontaneous result of our enjoyment of Christ that we give ourselves to the Lord to live Him, express Him, live the church life, be in the meetings of the church, and give our excess to the Lord and for supporting of those who serve Him.

This matter of giving must be recovered among us in the church life, and the Lord is doing this, for as we enjoy Him daily, He saves us from the love of the world, the love of money, and the desire to get rich or accumulate more wealth.

Even more, the Lord as the Serving One puts in us a desire to serve Him whether we keep our job or drop our job, and He in us enables us to give and give and give, not being entangled by money or riches but simply giving to the Lord for the needs of the church and for the fellowship unto the gospel.

Honoring God as our Bountiful Giver and Giving for a Sweet-Smelling Savor Well-Pleasing to God

In Phil. 4 Paul rejoiced in the Lord greatly because the Philippian believers caused their thinking for him to blossom anew and sent him a gift (v. 10).

The Philippian believers’ thinking toward the apostle was a matter of life; for some time, it was dormant, but when they heard from him, their thinking had begun to blossom anew, just like a plant’s sprouting and blooming.

He didn’t speak to them out of lack, for he learned to be content in whatever circumstances he was; he knew how to be abased and how to abound, for he learned the secret both to be filled and to hunger, both to abound and to lack.

In other words, he learned to be content in all things, and even though he seemed to have a lack, the Lord supplied him, for he was able to do all things in Christ who empowered him.

Yet Paul appreciated their fellowship with him in his affliction, for he was in prison; though no other church had fellowship with him in the account of giving and receiving, they did fellowship with him.

Paul was the minister of the age, he was entrusted with the commission to complete the word of God, and he raised up so many churches, yet none of them had fellowship with him in the furtherance of the gospel, for none of them supported him except the saints in Philippi.

He was not seeking their gift but rather, the fruit which increased to their account, and he received in full and abounded when he received the gift from the Philippian believers.

Paul considered this gift to be a fruit that increased to their account; when they gave, they opened an account with God in heaven, and as they gave, this account increased.

Furthermore, their giving was a sweet-smelling savor, an acceptable sacrifice, something that was well-pleasing to God (v. 18).

Paul had the assurance that he was one with God and that his work was by God and for God; though he was in prison and his outward situation was not improving, he was one with God and appreciated the gift from the Philippian believers, for he knew that this gift was done toward God.

This matter of giving to support those who serve the Lord full-time has been very much misunderstood, spoiled, neglected, and even lost, for today there are pastor-producing-factories and servant-of-god-supporting-systems in Christianity, and Christians are encouraged to give to the church, and the church will take care of everything. Oh, Lord!

May we realize that our giving to the Lord and to support those serving Him full-time is a sweet-smelling savor, an acceptable sacrifice, something that is well-pleasing to God!

Our giving is a sacrifice on our side, but it is a sweet-smelling to the Lord.

God is our bountiful Giver, and He affords us all that we have; He doesn’t need our money or riches, but He appreciates when we give not just ten percent but all that we have.

We need to honor God as our bountiful Giver who affords us all the riches, realizing that it’s up to Him whether we will be rich or not.

It’s not that we plan what we have and earn; it is of the Lord. We need to simply labor day and night, and God will follow our labor to bless us not for our enterprise or getting richer, but for the spreading of His kingdom.

As He blesses us, we need to give; our giving needs to be generous.

When we give to the Lord and before the Lord for the supporting of those who serve Him full-time, He is satisfied and well-pleased, for this is an acceptable sacrifice.

Yes, we give in secret, and we give out of as much or as little as we have, but our Father is a rewarder of those who seek Him and give in secret.

Lord, we want to honor You as our bountiful Giver by not withholding what You gave us but give and even give bountifully. Our desire is to offer a sweet-smelling savour for Your satisfaction, for You to be well-pleased. Amen, Lord, may our sacrifice and giving be well-pleasing in Your sight. Thank You for richly providing for our needs. We open to You, dear Lord, and we love to spend time with You to enjoy You, partake of Your riches, and receive what comes from You. Amen, Lord, dispense Yourself into us much more today. May our life, our living, and our giving be a living sacrifice that brings delight to You. May our seeking You and giving to You in secret delight You and cause You to be well-pleased!

Having Fellowship unto the Furtherance of the Gospel by giving Five Percent to Support those Serving Full-time

We thank the Lord that He is recovering both the truth and the life practices in the Bible, and in particular we thank Him that today we have a way to participate in the furtherance of the gospel through our giving.

We may think that we are just regular saints in the church life who don’t have a great portion to preach the gospel or teach the truth, but we all have a portion.

On one hand, we need to be trained and perfected by the Lord through the gifted saints to function in the gospel and in teaching the truth, for it our function in our measure that builds up the Body of Christ.

On the other hand, we also thank the Lord that He is recovering the matter of giving – not only giving ourselves with all we are and have to the Lord, but also the matter of offering an extra five percent for the support of those who serve Him full-time.

If twenty saints in the church life give an extra five percent of their income monthly, one full-time serving saint can be supported; in this way, the church is not burdened, and the saints participate in the furtherance of the gospel.

It is such a privilege to serve the Lord, whether by dropping our job to serve in the gospel full time or by keeping our job to make more money and serve Him by our giving.

In the church life we have the offering box – which is not easy to be found, but it is there – and we have a way to designate our giving to the Lord and for the support of the serving ones, and we can write on the envelope the specific designation of our offering.

We may think that in our local church we don’t have full-timers, for it’s a small number of saints only, but our giving is not just for our local church – it is for those who serve the Lord full-time in the Body.

We need to fellowship concerning the financial support of those who serve full-time both locally and among the local churches.

We shouldn’t say that, since we don’t have any job-dropping full-timers, we can’t give this five percent; rather, we need to practice giving, practice fellowshipping, and practice participating unto the furtherance of the gospel.

Many of the saints in the church in Philippi were not full-time workers, but they had fellowship with Paul unto the furtherance of the gospel by supplying his daily needs (Phil. 1:5); though other churches didn’t fellowship in this matter, the saints in Philippi did.

Today we do not do a fund-raising call, nor do we have fund-raising gatherings; we all need to come to the Lord and be before Him concerning our giving.

There are needs in the church life such as taking care of the meeting halls, food for the home meetings, transportation, the needy saints, and many other things.

There are also special needs such as the building of meeting halls in certain areas, the saints being supported to be in the full-time training, the radio broadcast, etc.

But one of the constant things we need to take care of is giving for the support of those serving the Lord full-time, thus having fellowship unto the furtherance of the gospel.

We may think it is too much for us to give this extra five percent of our income, but we need to remember the Lord’s promise through Paul in Phil. 4:19, My God will fill your every need according to His riches, in glory, in Christ Jesus.

Our giving is to God, not to man, and we shouldn’t seek to see what is being done with our money; rather, we give to the Lord in the Body, and the Lord fills our every need.

We give according to our means, but He fills our needs according to his riches. We give from our lack, but He gives and blesses in glory, in Christ Jesus.

Our giving is in secret before the Lord, but it is rewarded by our being in Christ Jesus, in the organic union with Him. Hallelujah!

Lord Jesus, thank You for the privilege of participating in the fellowship unto the furtherance of the gospel. Thank You for allowing us to participate in the furtherance of Your move on earth through our giving. Amen, Lord, may we be before You concerning what we are, what we have, what we buy, what we save, and everything that we do; may You be the Lord in us, and may we serve You with all we have and are. Spread in us and spread through us. Grant us to be part of the spreading of the gospel in this country and throughout the earth. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You for Your need, for Your economy, and for the furtherance of the gospel so that You may spread in us and through us until You gain the whole earth! We do not want to hinder Your move by not giving or not praying; we give ourselves to You with all we are and have for Your up-to-date move on earth!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, and portions from, Elders’ Training, book 8: The Life-pulse of the Lord’s Present Move, ch. 9 (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:
  – How shall I follow Him I serve? / How shall I copy Him I love? / Nor from those blessed footsteps swerve, / Which lead me to His seat above?… To faint, to grieve, to die for me! / Thou camest, not Thyself to please; / And, dear as earthly comforts be, / Shall I not love Thee more than these? (Hymns #462)
  – 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)
  – Lord, a talent I’ve received, / Lord, through my ability, / Lord, I now begin to trade immediately, / Lord, find me good and faithful serving Thee. / Lord, You’ve met my every need, / Lord, I’ll serve You as a priest, / Lord, I’ll minister the Life that I’ve received, / Lord, find me giving food so timely. (Song on, Watch! Be Ready!)