In the last two chapters we have seen that life is the primary thing in the practice of the church life. For the experience and enjoyment of life we need to feed on the Lord Jesus. As we eat, we grow in life, and the issue is the building. We have also seen what the Lord Jesus is, where the Lord Jesus is, and the way to eat Him. The best way to eat Him is to call on His name and pray-read His Word.
In this chapter I will cover eight additional points. These are very practical and strategic for the church life. They are not items of our Christian faith, but are necessary things in the practicality of the church life. To be prevailing, a local church must have these items as parts of its practice.
First, we must practice brotherly love (John 15:12, 17). The name Philadelphia (Rev. 3:7) means brotherly love. We have to love one another; yet, our love should not be something worldly, emotional, or fleshly. It must be in the spirit, full of the life of Christ. However, we should not spiritualize our love. We have to love from our spirit, but sometimes our love has to be material. If we see a material, physical need of a brother, we should meet that need, not in a worldly way. We must pray and seek the Lord’s leading as to the way. The worldly way is to make an open show of our love or to have some self-serving purpose in our love. But the proper brotherly love in the church life has no self-serving purpose and does not make any kind of show.
Suppose a brother is out of a job and doesn’t have any money. Further, he is sick and in need. We should seek the Lord’s leading and wisdom as to the way to minister something to meet his need. Many times the Lord will lead us not to let him know that we are offering something to meet his need. We do it in secret. By this way our love helps him and also glorifies the Lord.
Do not love in a fleshly way. Sometimes when the young people do not love someone, they simply do not care for that person. But when they start to love someone, they love in a way that causes damage to others. As an example, one brother may be twenty-one and the other twenty. They begin to love one another, and as a result, one’s shirt and shoes are upon the shoulders and feet of the other. This is a kind of fleshly love. There is no discernment in the spirit and no limitations or restrictions. Regardless of how much we love each other, we still must keep a distance of discernment in the spirit and be restricted.
If for some reason a brother needs a shirt or a pair of shoes, we have to love him and do something to meet his need, but not in a fleshly way. It must be in the spirit. As we look to the Lord, exercising the discernment in our spirit, He may lead us to place five dollars in an envelope and designate it for the brother. Inside the envelope we may also put a note telling him that the enclosed money is from the Lord to him for purchasing a shirt. Then we put the envelope into the offering box without exposing from whom the gift came. Maybe we type it so that he cannot discern who gave him the gift. The envelope will be given to him by the church, and when he opens it and reads the designation he will be very much touched by the Lord. To him the five dollars is like manna that came from the heavens. By this way we will never stir up a brother’s fleshly gratitude. Genuine love was expressed toward the brother; and it was a glory to the Lord; yet, the whole thing was hidden from him. Materially, he could not know who gave him the gift, but spiritually he realized the love of the Lord in the giver towards him. The one receiving the gift senses the love in the Lord of the one giving the gift. This kind of love is pure, yet hidden. It does everything to profit the church and to profit the dear brother. It also glorifies the Lord and does not give the enemy any way to come in and damage anything.
On the other hand, if I am a needy one, I should not let others know my need. In China we had a co-worker who was an elderly sister, the oldest one among us. She always told us not to have a faith that demands others’ love. To have such a faith declares that I have faith in God for my living, yet I would let you know how much I need. We should never show our poverty, but should do our best to work and earn some money.
If we love others, we should never burden others. Some saints think that because we have brotherly love there is no need for them to work very much. This is not brotherly love. Brotherly love always takes care of others. It never burdens others. Learn to take care of your own needs by working properly, working hard, and earning something for others.
In the church in Taipei, Taiwan, every Lord’s Day and even after some weekday meetings when the responsible ones open the offering box, there are many envelopes and wrappings with money enclosed. They are designated to a certain sister who is sick in the hospital, or to a brother who needs the tuition for his schooling, or to many others who are in certain needs. All kinds of wrappings are there; yet the people who receive the help do not know who rendered it. Only the Lord knows. This is a basic love.
If this kind of love is practiced, it proves that the church that I am in loves the Lord and that the saints there mean business with the Lord. This kind of love builds. It confirms, strengthens, and unites. As one built up in a local church like this, could I ever be distracted from the church? It is impossible. This is real love. We need love like this, a love that is not expressed in a worldly or fleshly or emotional way, but in the way that is full of the life of the Lord, and absolutely in the wisdom of the Spirit. We practice brotherly love, yet we do not know who does this or who does that. We only know that the Lord does it through the saints in the church.
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