Bethany means house of the poor or house of affliction. Outwardly, the church may be poor and afflicted. The church on earth may not be rich in material things; it should be rich with the enjoyment of the Lord in His presence. The outward people will always look down on the church, saying that it is poor and full of affliction. They do not have a spirit to realize how rich we are in the enjoyment of all that the Lord is to us.
Inwardly, the church life is a life of feasting in and with the presence of the Lord (12:2). The Lord came to that house and His presence was there. In the church life, the first thing we need is the Lord’s presence. We must be a people in such a position and with such a condition that the Lord can come and be with us. His presence means very much to the church life. The church life is a life that absolutely depends upon the Lord’s presence. Without the Lord’s presence, the church life is empty.
Inwardly, the church life is a feast. In the church life there should always be a feast that the Lord Himself can enjoy and that His people can enjoy with Him. It is in the church that the Lord has rest, enjoyment, and satisfaction. Here there is always a feast prepared for the Lord and His people. Not only the Lord Himself enjoys it, but all the people who are with Him enjoy it as well. The church is a place where the Lord Himself can enjoy being with His people and where His people can enjoy being with Him. The church is a place where the Lord and His people come together to feast with one another and to enjoy one another.
No outsiders can understand this. No outsiders know what we are doing in the church life. More than twenty years ago, when I was still in Taipei, a Danish lady missionary came to have a long talk with me, asking about the church. She was attracted to the church but still had some problems due to the rumors. I said to her, “Sister, even if I would talk to you for days, you still could not understand what we are doing here. The best way and the only way for you to understand what we are doing is to come here and stay for two and a half years. Within this period of time, do not visit any other place and do not do any work. Simply stay with the sisters day and night and attend every meeting. You must attend all the meetings—big meetings, small meetings, home meetings, and hall meetings. Don’t miss one meeting. In addition, you must read all the books that we have put out, more than two hundred of them. If you stay two and a half years, attend all the meetings, read through all the books, I can assure you that you will be more than clear. Dear sister, will you pay the price?” Immediately she replied, “At your word I will do it.” She closed her home and moved into the sisters’ house. She truly kept my word. She did not go anywhere else. She just stayed with the sisters, attended all the meetings, and read most of the books in Chinese. In a period of time that was much shorter than two and a half years—it might have been only a few months—she came to me and said, “Brother Lee, praise the Lord. Now I am clear what we are doing here.” She did not say, “What you are doing here”; she said, “I am now clear what we are doing here.” She also said, “From today on, nothing can take me out of the church.” She remained there a good length of time and then returned to Denmark. She has passed through many hardships there, but nothing has taken her out of the church.
When people look at the church outwardly, they see one thing. It may appear black in their eyes. However, when you get into the church inwardly, it is absolutely different. It is golden yellow.
As it was there in Bethany, it is better for a church to have more sisters than brothers (12:2-3). Whenever the number of sisters in a church is smaller than the number of brothers, that church may not be so living. A living church needs to have more sisters, the more the better. If you look into a situation where the number of sisters is greater than the number of brothers, you will find that that church is living. But when the sisters are fewer in number than the brothers, that church will not be so living.