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This chapter is concerning how to supply life in the service of the church, particularly in the service of the elders and the deacons. There are many areas in the service of the elders and deacons that require our attention. In this chapter we will focus on a basic matter in service, which is supplying life.
Those who serve the Lord must be clear that every service should supply life. The elders should not think that their responsibility in the church is merely to handle business affairs and manage matters. The elders should not say that as long as they manage matters and handle business affairs properly, their service is adequate. The deacons should not say that their service is complete after they finish taking care of the business affairs. The church service is to supply life, for it is a service of life. If we merely handle business affairs or manage matters but do not supply others with the life of God, our service is a failure and is vain. We should never think that only those who minister the word are the ones who supply life but that the service of the elders or deacons is merely to handle business affairs and to manage matters. Such a concept is wrong and needs to be corrected.
Every service, whether preaching the gospel, giving messages, managing business affairs, or visitation, that is, whether the service is spiritual or administrative, should be a means for us to supply the life that we have received. Preaching the gospel is for the supply of life. Ministering the word is for the supply of life. Visitation is for the supply of life, and serving in the church business office is for the supply of life. Even ordinary things, such as sweeping and cleaning the windows, are a means to supply life. Apparently, there are many items in the church service, but spiritually, these many items have one purpose, which is to supply life.
Although the saints have heard the principles concerning service, I am fellowshipping concerning this again because we need to consider our service. No matter what our service may be, we should be clear that our service is a means to supply life to others. The elders and the deacons must uphold this point.
Whether or not we are adequate in our service, our focus is on supplying life, not on accomplishing something.
The church is different from a society. The church is of life and is spiritual, but a society is like a business. In the church the point is not whether we do a good job but whether life is supplied. If the church were only for taking care of matters, not supplying life, the church would lose its nature and would be a society. The saints must uphold this point.
I am not saying that we can be sloppy in our service. When things are done incorrectly, the saints are not edified. We must serve in fear and trembling before the Lord lest our service be haphazard. However, we cannot be content with doing a service. We must serve in such a way that others may receive the supply of life. We need to be deeply impressed with this point and look to the Lord so that our service becomes an outlet for His life. We want to be delivered from mistakes, but the focus of such deliverance is not on doing a successful job but on the flowing out of life.
The life that we supply to others is in the Spirit. This means that the Spirit is the dwelling place of the life of God. In Romans 8:2 the Spirit is referred to as the “Spirit of life.” Since the life of God is in the Spirit, the Spirit is the Spirit of life. In addition, as children of God, we have His life in our spirit. The life of God is in the Spirit and in our spirit.
The life of God is not in human thoughts, views, or opinions. The life of God is in the Spirit and dwells in the regenerated human spirit. The divine life is in the two spirits, the Spirit mingled with our human spirit. Initially, the divine life was only in the Spirit, but now the divine life dwells also in our spirit. It is difficult for expositors to determine whether the spirit in Romans 8 refers specifically to the Spirit of God or to our human spirit, for the two spirits are mingled together. In chapter 8 the Spirit and the human spirit have become one spirit. Both the divine Spirit and the human spirit are similar in nature, for they are both spirit. The Spirit is mingled with our human spirit, and the life of God is located, abides, and grows in our mingled spirit. Hence, if we are to supply the saints with life, we must release our spirit, for the divine life is in our mingled spirit. If our spirit cannot be released, the divine life has no way to be released.
Let us consider what it means to supply life. Christianity speaks of being good, which involves moral character, good deeds, and good behavior. Christianity does not speak of the divine life referred to in the Word of God. The Bible says, “Death operates in us, but life in you” (2 Cor. 4:12). This means that when the death of Christ operates in us, life operates in others. This life is not moral character or behavior; rather, it is the life of God. This is a great distinction.
Those who serve God should indeed have good moral character, have good behavior, and do good deeds; otherwise, they will hinder others from receiving the divine life. In order not to hinder others from receiving the supply of life, we must do good deeds and have good moral character. However, good deeds and good moral character do not necessarily mean that the life of God is expressed through us. We may be irreproachable and commendable in our service yet express merely good character, perfection, and human virtues, but these are not the life of God.
Few among God’s children can distinguish between life and good behavior. If a brother supplies others with copper, they will receive copper. If he supplies them with gold, they will receive gold. If we supply the saints with life, God’s children will have a taste for life. People cannot have a taste for something that they have not seen. Christians do not have a taste for life, because the element of life is lacking in Christianity. What is expressed in Christianity is good moral character and good behavior. We need to understand that the moral character and good behavior spoken of in the Bible are none other than the life of God being expressed through man. Our service depends on our knowing what is life and what is the outflow of life.
Let us consider how the life of God flows out from us. The Spirit is life, and the Spirit is God Himself (John 6:63; 4:24). Through incarnation God became a man by the name Jesus Christ and lived a perfect human life, was crucified, and resurrected. In resurrection Christ became the Spirit. Therefore, the Spirit is Christ, and Christ is God. Since the Spirit is God, the life of God is in the Spirit. In order to supply others with the life of God, we must be in spirit, and we must fellowship with God. When we cease fellowshipping with God, we are cut off from the divine life. Fellowshipping with God must become our experience and not merely doctrinal knowledge.
God and the life of God are inseparable. Hence, a person who receives the life of God also receives God. We cannot say that we want the life of God but that we do not want God, because a person cannot be separated from his life. When we received God, we gained His life, but when we reject God, we cannot gain His life. Likewise, we should not expect the life of God to be expressed through us when we do not fellowship with God and do not live one with Him. Although we cannot be separated from God because we have His life, in our experience we are cut off from the flow of the divine life when we do not maintain our fellowship with God.
If we want the life of God to flow out of us so that we can supply others with this life, we must have unhindered fellowship with God, contacting Him not only every day but every moment. Only when we are contacting God can the life of God flow out of us.
We must have the proper experience of fellowship. We need to daily set aside definite times to fellowship with God. No one can fellowship with God without spending time in prayer. In particular, the saints who serve must daily allocate enough quality time to fellowship with God in prayer. The focus of such prayer is not for God to give us things or to do things for us but for us to commune with God in spirit, that is, for us to breathe in God and enjoy Him. The more time we spend fellowshipping with God, breathing Him in, and enjoying Him, the better.
It is best to have a time of fellowship in the morning. It is difficult for us to let the divine life flow out without having sufficient fellowship with the Lord in the morning. A person who can do such will be quite deep in the Lord. We must spend enough time in the morning to enjoy the Lord and to fellowship with Him.
Besides having set times to fellowship with the Lord, we should also keep ourselves in unceasing fellowship with Him. We should not let anything come between us and the Lord. Anything that comes between us and the Lord becomes a barrier. Such an item can be a thought, an intention, an emotion, a person, or a thing. Once we perceive that something has come between us and God, we must immediately reject, judge, and condemn it. Such condemning and judging will not only maintain our fellowship with God but also deepen it. Only those who have such moment-by-moment fellowship with God can supply others with the divine life. Then no matter what we do, whom we contact, or what we say, life will always flow out of us. Furthermore, those who contact us will sense God.
Another important point is the need to be broken. In order for there to be a pure flow of the life of God, we must be broken. Therefore, when we consider supplying others with the divine life, we must pay attention to our being broken. In Galatians 2:20 Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” The statement I am crucified...and it is no longer I refers to the experience of being broken. Only those who are broken are crucified with Christ and can say, “It is no longer I.” The statement but it is Christ who lives in me refers to the flowing out of the divine life. Christ being expressed through us is life flowing out of us.
The operation of death within us, spoken of in 2 Corinthians 4:12, is the killing. The operation of death is our being broken. The more we are broken, the more the life of God will flow out of us.
A brother who is broken can supply life. We may understand this doctrinally, but we still need to put it into practice. The Spirit of life abides in our spirit. However, besides our human spirit, we also have a soul and a body. Our soul and body encase our spirit. Therefore, in order for life to be released from our spirit, our soul and body must be dealt with and broken. The body does not pose much of a problem, but our soul poses a great problem. The things of the soul, which is composed of our mind, emotion, and will, are difficult to deal with. The soul surrounds and encases the spirit. Hence, our soul must be dealt with and broken in order for our spirit to be released. Otherwise, there cannot be a pure flow of the divine life.
When we say that the soul needs to be dealt with and broken, we do not mean that a person no longer uses his mind, expresses his emotions, or exercises his will. Our mind, emotion, and will still function, but they have been dealt with, subdued, and made submissive to our spirit. In other words, they have been broken. A person who cannot release his spirit is dominated by his mind, emotion, and will. A person who can release his spirit has subdued his mind, emotion, and will. The three parts of his soul are under the ruling of his spirit and let his spirit dominate.
When some brothers encounter something, their mind is the first to react, not their spirit. With some sisters their emotion is the first to react, not their spirit. With some saints their will is the first to react, not their spirit. The part that reacts first is the part that dominates our being. When we let our spirit respond first, the mind is subdued. When our mind responds first, our spirit is pushed back. Our mind represents the natural man; it does not possess the life of God. When our spirit is released, our mind is dealt with, broken, and held under the ruling of our spirit. Then the divine life in our spirit can be released.
When we hear that a brother has encountered a difficult situation, our emotion should not be the first to respond. The emotions also represent the natural man. Even if we are rough persons, we must deal with the self and let our spirit touch the matter. We must be fearful every time we encounter something. We dare not use our mind, emotion, or will; rather, we must put them under our spirit so that our spirit can be released.
It is difficult to explain the way to release the spirit. When we only think of something, we are using our mind. When some sisters hear a sad matter, their emotions run wild like an unbridled horse. If they want life to flow out, they must suppress their wild emotions, and they must use their spirit to sense the situation. It is difficult for a brother with a strong will to change what he has decided. When such a brother expresses his strong will, he does not represent God. When we encounter situations with our spirit, life will flow out of us.
Some people live in the mind, others have a strong will, and there are those who are full of emotion. If we want to know the kind of person that we are, we should check what part of our being is the first to respond when we encounter something. If our mind responds first, we live in the mind. If our emotion responds first, we are emotional persons. If our will responds first, we are men of will. When a face hits a wall, the nose gets hit first because it is the foremost part of a face. Similarly, if a brother lives in his mind, those who contact him will touch his mind, his strongest part. If a brother has a very strong will, others will touch his will, his strongest part. If a sister is an emotional person, others will touch her emotions, her strongest part. Whether or not we are broken can be determined by how we respond to things.
In order for the Lord’s life to be released from within us, we must learn to fellowship with the Lord, be subdued in our soul, and let our spirit dominate and rule over every matter. Whether we are elders or deacons or are involved in visitation or preaching the gospel, we must learn to use our spirit and to subdue our mind, emotion, and will so that we touch things with our spirit. Then the Lord’s life will be able to flow out. Our supplying others with life does not depend on our doing things properly but on our exercising our spirit.
