Our God is a God who takes care of the needs of all those who are part of His expression, and we as God’s people need to give to the poor so that God would bless us in our work and in all our undertakings.
Our Christian life and church life is under the government of God; in Deuteronomy we see many aspects of the church life under the government of God.
Our God is not only a great and almighty God, but He is also One who is concerned about our daily living; in Deuteronomy we see an ordinance and a statute about many aspects of our daily life.
God’s statutes have something to say about the animals that have to plough and thresh the grain, about our diet, the cities of refuge, how to battle against the enemies, how to deal with murder and kidnapping, and many other items.
Again and again, in situation after situation, God has an ordinance and a word to say.
This doesn’t mean that He wants us to be like robots and do what He tells us to do; rather, this means that through all these ordinances we can see what kind of God we have.
Our God is so wonderful – He is so sweet, so humane, so merciful, and so gracious.
When we read His word and exercise our spirit, we are infused with what He is, we are filled with His thoughts and intentions, and we are becoming in His image.
His word infuses us with His element, His speaking infuses us with what He is, and by our praying over the word of God we inhale God and are perfected and equipped for every good work.
In the New Testament we see the Lord’s speaking in Matt. 5-7, the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens; here we see the nature of God’s people, our behavior, our relationships, and many other things.
All these give us an impression of the many aspects of the church life under the government of God.
One of the first ordinances and statutes God gave His people concerning their living in Deuteronomy is concerning the unique place of worship corporately; the people of Israel were to worship God not in the place of their choice and in the way they think, but at the place of God’s choice and in the way ordained by God.
They were to come to mount Zion, the unique place chosen by God for corporate worship. This is for the keeping of the oneness of His people.
Today in the church live we need to come to the unique place of God’s choice, the genuine ground of oneness, and worship God in oneness, with Christ, in our mingled spirit, and through the cross, so that our worship would be genuine and received by Him.
Loving the Lord Jesus and His Body, and taking care of the Needs of all the Members
One of the items of our living under the government of God in the church life is realizing that God takes care of the needs of all those who are part of His expression (Deut. 12:19; 14:27-29).
There are many statutes in Deuteronomy speaking of taking care of the needy and the sojourners, for God took care of His people when they were sojourners in Egypt.
Sojourners, the orphans, the widows, and the needy, are all very much in the heart of God.
The first commandment is to love God with all our heart and strength and mind, and the second is to love our neighbour as ourselves; in God’s heart is to love all people, especially those who are in need.
We need a word like this in the church life in the Lord’s recovery, so that we may care for the poor and the needy. In the New Testament terms, this means that Christ takes care of every member of His Body (1 Cor. 12:14-27; Phil. 4:14-20).
The comely members of the Body have no need; it is the uncomely ones that need to be clothed with more honor, so that the church would not be divided, for God has blended the Body together, so that there would not be those who have much and those who don’t have enough, and those who are rich and those who are in poverty.
Christ takes care of every member of His Body; we should all follow this pattern.
We should love the Lord Jesus, we should love His Body, and we should take care of the needs of all the members.
We need to take care of the saints, setting aside a budget and being before the Lord how to care for the saints. In a regular way we need to lay something aside to use in taking care of the needy saints.
We also need to give to the Lord for taking care of those who serve Him full-time; these are today’s “Levites” who have no other income but what God gives them, and they serve God with their full time.
We need to take care of the needs of God’s servants, the full-timers, those who have no inheritance or portion but depend on the other saints to support them.
We do well to support those who have given their lives and all to serve the Lord and the saints.
Our God is a caring and giving God; He especially cares for those who are His people, and the Lord Jesus cares for all the members in the Body.
Paul also encouraged this, to set aside to ourselves whatever we may have been prospered once a week, on the first day of the week, so that we may support the needy saints and those who serve full-time (1 Cor. 16:1-2).
We should not think that the church life is merely us coming together and enjoying the Lord, or going together to preach the gospel, visit the new ones, have young people meetings, go to conferences, attend trainings, etc.
Rather, the church life is all-inclusive and all-encompassing, and we need to cooperate with the Lord through our love for Him and His Body, and we need to consider one another, even consider one another’s needs before the Lord.
May we become an expression and reproduction of our giving and caring God and Christ, who gives freely and cares for us in His love.
Lord Jesus, we love You and we love Your Body; we want to be one with You in our giving to the needy saints and care for those who lack. Thank You Lord for caring for us and supplying our needs; thank You for giving us more than we need and for supplying us in our daily life. We want to care for the needy saints and give for the support for those who give themselves to serve us and the church. Amen, Lord, we love You and we love Your Body! We open our heart to You and to the needy saints in the Body!
Knowing Resurrection Life to Overcome Money and Give to the Poor and Help the Needy
According to Deut. 15:10, if God’s people would give to the poor, God would bless them in all their work and in all their undertakings.
If we give to the poor, God will bless our business, our undertaking, because we take care of those whom He takes care of. In the church life today we should be happy when giving to the poor, knowing that God will bless us (2 Cor. 9:1-12).
Sometimes we may give to the poor, but only grudgingly and sparingly; however, God loves a cheerful giver! And we can never over-give God – we can only under-give Him.
In Deut. 15:8 the people of Israel were required to open their hand to the poor one and to lend enough for his need in whatever he lacked.
Today we shouldn’t be reluctant to give to the poor and needy saints among us, without expecting anything in return; this invites God’s blessing, and the Lord will return to us much more than we gave.
We shouldn’t be displeased when giving to the poor; rather, we should be happy when we give, knowing that God will bless us and return even more than we gave.
We need to realize, however, the one of the main reasons we are not eager to give material offerings and care for the poor is because all fallen mankind (including us) are under the domination of mammon and material possessions (Matt. 6:19-21, 24-25, 30; 19:21-22; Luke 12:13-19).
When the Holy Spirit descended at the day of Pentecost, all believers overthrew this domination of mammon and had all things in common for distribution to the needy ones (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32, 34-37).
However, not long after, due to the weakness of the believers’ fallen nature (Acts 5:1-11; 6:1), this practice didn’t last long, and it was already over by the time of the apostle Paul.
We all as believers in Christ need grace to overcome the power of mammon and material things, and to be released from Satan’s domination for an offering to the Lord to fulfill His purpose.
After speaking of the resurrection life in 1 Cor. 15, in 1 Cor. 16 Paul speaks of the material offerings and of giving for the needy saints.
Resurrection life is our supply to live a life of trusting in God, a life of not trusting in the treasure of material possessions, a life not for today but for the future, a life not for this age but for the coming age (see Luke 12:16-21; 1 Tim. 6:17-19).
It is only by the resurrection life of Christ that we can live a life that overthrows the usurpation of temporal and uncertain riches, and we can offer material gains in resurrection to take care of the needy saints and the poor.
In 1 Cor. 16:2 Paul encourages the believers to set aside something in the first day of the week; this must be in resurrection and by the resurrection life, not in our natural life.
The dealing with mammon and the offering of material possessions are related to God’s administration among the churches in resurrection (1 Cor. 16:1-3).
Our giving to the poor and giving of material offerings should not be a last minute thing; our giving should be thoughtful, prayed over, decided upon, well before we give.
Our giving is a spiritual exercise and activity that carries great weight in the church life, and it means a lot to the Lord.
We need to deal with mammon and have our treasures not on earth but in heaven; we need to take care of the fellowship of the ministry to the saints in the material possessions, and we need to do this in resurrection.
If we know the resurrection life and the resurrection power, we will overcome money and material possessions, and what we have will be used for God’s administration among the churches (1 Cor. 16:1-2; Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; Rom. 15:26).
We may think that we give in secret, it’s between us and the Lord, nobody should know this, and that’s it; actually, when we live in the resurrection life and by the resurrection power, we will overcome money and material possessions, and what we have is useful for God’s administration among the churches.
Our giving has a direct relationship and association with our spiritual condition; it’s not just us giving money, but it brings in the Lord’s blessing.
Lord Jesus, we want to know resurrection life and resurrection power so that we may overcome money and material possessions! Amen, Lord, may there be a revival in our giving material offerings to the Lord and in caring for the poor and the needy saints. May we be before the Lord concerning dealing with mammon and the offering of material possessions, and may we live in resurrection to deal with money and offer not grudgingly but cheerfully! Amen, Lord Jesus, may we in the church life today be happy when giving to the poor, knowing that God will bless us! May it be our habit to think about, pray over, decide upon, and be before the Lord concerning our giving to the Lord and in our caring for the needy saints and the poor!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 69 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Deuteronomy, week 11, Aspects of the Church Life under the Government of God.
- Hymns on this topic:
– All we know is that we love Him, / We’re so glad for what He’s done; / We are brought to Him, and we all / Know the joy of being one. / We’re so glad that we’re included, / What a fellowship have we! / So we’d like to welcome you, friend, / Into God’s own family. (Hymns #1332)
– Minding just the spirit, we the cross will know, / And His resurrection pow’r thru us will flow; / Minding just the spirit, Christ will live thru me, / And His life within will reach maturity. (Hymns #593)
– In dealings with the Lord as life / We need a proper heart, / That of His riches, in His grace, / We fully may take part. (Hymns #744)
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