Loving the Lord to the Uttermost in the Church Life and Wasting Ourselves upon Him

In the church life we have many functions, such as serving the Lord practically with many outward things, testifying of His resurrection life with its power, and loving the Lord to the uttermost and pouring what we have most precious upon Him.

In John 12 we see a picture of the genuine church life, for here, in the house of Simon the leper, the Lord Jesus came and had a feast with His loving seekers.

The Lord was and still is rejected by religion, and He rejected religion with its system and forms; He met not in the temple but in the home of a cleansed leper, who was eager to show his gratitude to Him.

Our church life should not be merely big meetings with a lot of people; rather, the main part of our church life should be in the group meetings in the homes of the saints and the newly saved ones.

Because we are saved, healed, cleansed, and supplied by the Lord as life, we should be happy to open our home for the Lord and His seeking ones. And when we have a home meeting, a group meeting, we should seek to have the Lord’s presence. His presence is everything to us.

The criteria for everything in the church life should be not right or wrong but the Lord’s presence. His smile, His instant and sweet presence, should be our governing principle in the church life.

When we have the Lord’s presence among us, we have everything; in His presence we can feast together with the Lord and on the Lord, and this becomes a real rest and satisfaction both to us and to the Lord.

The church life is composed of people like Simon the leper (healed and cleansed sinners, who are happy to show their gratitude to the Lord by opening their home and having a feast for His seekers), Martha (who was serving the Lord in many practical things, being able and diligent to take care of practical matters), Lazarus (who experienced resurrection life with its power and now was a living testimony of resurrection), and Mary (who loved the Lord to the uttermost and poured out everything she had most precious on Him).

We need to realize that we have been cleansed and healed by the Lord, and now we have to experience His resurrection life and serve Him in the church life.

Furthermore, we as the Mary of today need to love the Lord with all our heart, loving the Lord to the uttermost, and pour out everything we have most precious on Him.

Loving the Lord to the Uttermost in the Church Life and Pouring out Everything on Him

Mary loved the Lord to the uttermost, and she poured out what she held most precious on Him. To her, He was the lost lovely One, the most precious One, and no price was too high to show how much she loved Him.

We need to be those loving the Lord to the uttermost, giving our best love to Him, for He is the most precious One, the most lovely One. Mary loved the Lord so much that she poured the costly ointment on Him, on His feet, and she wiped His feet with her hair.

In her heart nothing and no one was so dear, so precious, and so costly like the Lord Jesus. Our estimation of the Lord should be that He is the most valuable One, more valuable and lovable than anything else.

Mary’s pouring the precious ointment upon the Lord Jesus is a sign of the proper church life. We may think that she is an isolated case of someone who loved the Lord so much, but actually the characteristic of the church life is anointing the Lord with our best love.

The main characteristic, aspect, and expression of the church life is that we pour out our ointment upon Him, loving the Lord to the uttermost. This fragrance, our loving the Lord to the uttermost, is what should fill the whole church life, for we are here as loving seekers of the Lord.

The church should be filled with the preciousness, the sweetness, and the pleasantness of the aroma of the ointment poured out upon the Lord Jesus by all the saints who love Him to the uttermost. This should be the main expression of a local church.

When people come among us, what they should see and smell is the saints loving the Lord to the uttermost and pouring out everything they have most precious upon Him. Loving the Lord qualifies us, perfects us, and equips us to speak for Him, preach the gospel, and speak Him forth into others.

Loving the Lord is a fragrant aroma that causes us to be a living testimony of Him wherever we are, drawing others to Him to love Him more. Paul said that the apostles were a fragrance to God (2 Cor. 2:15).

Christ is the only One who is satisfying to God; He is the burnt offering, the One absolute for God and His satisfaction (Lev. 1:13). We need to lay our hands on Him, be identified with Him, and take Him as our absoluteness.

When we speak of loving the Lord to the uttermost we need to realize that in ourselves we have no love for Him, for our love originates from Him, from seeing who He is and what He has done for us.

When we see the Lord and appreciate Him, we love Him, and our love for Him grows. When we lay our hands on the Lord and take Him as our absoluteness, our life and service to the Lord becomes a satisfying fragrance ascending to Him.

In the church life we don’t need to “try to love the Lord more” or “do our best to display our love for Him”; we simply need to enjoy the Lord in His word, spend time in His presence, be infused with His desire, and we will love Him, appreciate Him, and anoint Him with our best love.

Lord Jesus, make our life and service a satisfying fragrance to You. We take You as our absoluteness, and we want to be absolute for God with Christ as our absoluteness. Lord Jesus, we love You. Rekindle our love for You that we may love You to the uttermost. You are the most precious One, the most lovely One, and the most lovable One. We treasure You, Lord, and we pour out everything we have most precious to You. Our home is open to You, our life is Yours, and we pour out our whole being on You in the church life simply because we love You!

Considering the Lord as the Most Precious One and “Wasting” Ourselves on Him

In the story of Mary pouring out her love offering in Matt. 26:8-13 – which corresponds to the story in John 12:4-6 – we see that one of the Lord’s disciples, Judas the Iscariot (who was about to betray the Lord), considered her love offering as a “waste”.

He didn’t have a proper concept of value; he treasured money and “giving to the poor” (which also involved him taking some money for himself) more than the Lord Jesus.

Throughout the past centuries thousand of precious lives, heart treasures, high positions, and golden futures have been similarly “wasted” upon the Lord Jesus by His loving seekers.

To those in the world – and to the religious ones – such a love offering was a waste, but to those who love Him in such a way, He is altogether lovely and worthy of their offering.

If we are those loving the Lord to the uttermost, we will pour out everything upon Him, “wasting” ourselves upon Him, and even though others may consider it a “waste”, we consider the Lord as the most precious and worthy One.

What we pour out upon the Lord out of our love for Him in the church life is not a waste but a fragrant testimony of His sweetness. In our concept of value – in our valuation of things – we consider the Lord Jesus as the most Precious One – He is the preciousness itself.

We as believers in Christ and loving seekers of the Lord in the genuine church life need to have a change in our concept of value; we need to realize that, even though others reject Christ, He is actually the most precious One.

Paul counted everything as refuse so that he may gain Christ, win Christ, and be found in Him (Phil. 3:8). God’s sense of valuation is different from ours; He looks at the heart and treasures Christ more than anything and anyone else.

Our concept of valuation as believers should be treasuring Him to the uttermost. Yes, Christ was rejected by the builders – by the Jewish people, and He is scorned at and rejected in the world today, but He is the most precious One, and in God’s eyes He is the head of the corner, joining God’s building.

The more we know the Lord, the more we spend time with Him, and the more we enjoy Him both personally and together in the church life, the more He becomes the most precious One to us, and we treasure Him above everything else.

Considering the Lord as the most precious One, we gladly “waste” ourselves with everything we have most precious on Him, for He is so sweet. Our loving the Lord to the uttermost results in not caring for the price but giving everything we have to just love Him.

This is the main characteristic of the genuine church life, and wherever the gospel is preached, such a testimony is also seen.

Lord Jesus, we love You! You are the most precious One. You are altogether lovely and worthy of our offering ourselves on You. Your sweetness draws us and empowers us to give everything we have and are to You. No matter what others say concerning You or concerning our loving You, Oh Lord, we just love You and we pour out everything we have on You in the church life! May the church life be filled with the fragrance of the ointment all the saints pour out on You, as they are loving the Lord to the uttermost!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Matthew, msg. 68 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Genuine Church Life (2017 Thanksgiving Conference), week 3, The Issue of Life — the Church Life as a House of Feasting for God’s Building.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Mary poured out her love offering / To many such love was a waste. / Throughout all of the centuries / Such lovers Your sweetness do taste. / Precious lives and heart treasures, too / Positions and golden futures, / Have been “wasted” on You, Lord; / Your sweetness a fragrance so sure. / She took opportunity / To love You; Lord, with her best. / Like her, Lord, I too would pour / My love and all that I have. (Song on, Mary pouring out her love offering)
  # Lord Jesus, we just love You. / Our life and all we pour on You. / We waste ourselves upon You. / In this universe we just love You. / We can’t help but love You, / You’re the greatest value. / Our love is just an issue / Of our seeing of You. (Song on, The story of the gospel)
  # Pursue Him and know Him; be found in Him. / Count all things loss for Him. / Just gain Him, obtain Him; lay hold of Him. / It’s Christ the central vision. / Forgetting the things which are behind, / Press on, pursue with this mind. / By any means each hour now redeem; / Stretch forth, lay hold of Him. (Pursue Him and know Him)