It is a great problem in the administration of the church, in the service in the church life, and in the ministry of the word when we do things without having a burden from the Lord, for if we do things merely out of obligation, we may not serve the Lord with our whole being.
In Matt. 11 we see that the Lord Jesus went to three cities to preach the gospel, but all three of them rejected Him; instead of being upset, He praised the Father for hiding these things from the learned ones and revealing them to the infants and the babes.
The Lord Jesus extolled the Father, acknowledging the Father’s way and declaring the divine economy; then, He called all those who are toiling and bear heavy burdens to come to Him for rest.
He wants to give us rest and set us free from the toil and burden under the law, religion, and under any work and responsibility; the Lord wants us to be in perfect peace and in full satisfaction, and this we find only in Him!
Furthermore, the Lord doesn’t want us only to rest with Him and be satisfied with Him, but also that we would take His yoke upon Him (His yoke is the will of the Father) and bear His burden (the burden is to carry out the Father’s will).
He Himself lived such a life, caring for nothing but the will of the Father, submitting Himself to the Father’s will; hence, He asked us to learn from Him.
Now we as believers in Christ need to follow in His footsteps; He has left His life as a model for us to copy in spirit by taking His yoke – God’s will – and toiling for God’s economy according to His model.
First of all, we come to the Lord to learn from Him and to find perfect peace and full satisfaction.
Then, we take His yoke – the will of God – and toil for God’s economy to carry out the will of the Father.
Praise the Lord for the fact that the Lord Jesus – who Himself was submissive and obedient to the Father throughout His life – has given us, His believers, His life of submission and obedience!
We may feel that we toil and labor so hard under the yoke of the different things that we have to take care of, so we don’t want to take any other yoke upon us.
But when we come to the Lord and find rest for our souls, we will spontaneously take up His yoke (the will of the Father) and we will bear His burden (the work to carry out the Father’s will).
Even more, we will realize that, as we abide in Christ and enjoy Him as our perfect peace and full satisfaction, having rest in our soul, the yoke of the Lord is easy and His burden is light.
If, however, in working for the Lord we feel that the yoke is uneasy, hard, harsh, and bitter, we need to come back to the Lord again and again, for His yoke is fit for use, and it is good, kind, mild, gentle, easy, and pleasant.
To the Lord Jesus it was not a harsh or hard or bitter thing to do the will of the Father, for He was always abiding in the Father, He was resting in the Father, and He was in full satisfaction and communication with the Father; therefore, the yoke of the Father’s will was light, and the burden to carry out the Father’s will was easy.
Serving the Lord in the Church Life not merely out of Obligation but with a Burden from the Lord
The greatest problem in the administration of the church and in the ministry of the word is not having a burden from the Lord; we may go through the motions and activities that we need to do, but we may not have a burden.
There is much to do in the church life, there are many things to be taken care of, and there are many activities that need to be done, but without a burden, all our activity will be dead and ineffective.
Even worse, if we serve the Lord in the church life without a burden, this may lead to languishing in the land and even to spiritual death.
When we have a burden as we serve in the church, we will be flourishing and living!
If we serve the Lord according to obligation, merely because it is our turn to do this or that, or because we are on the schedule to take care of this or that activity, but we do not serve with a burden, such a service will cause us to lose the Lord’s presence.
There’s the danger of being in the good land and enjoying the all-inclusive Christ with the saints, but we may “languish in the land”, that is, we may lose our spiritual freshness, and we serve the Lord according to obligation (see Deut. 4:25).
There’s nothing wrong with having a schedule in coordination to take care of the different aspects and practical matters in the church life; what is wrong is our serving the Lord without a burden from Him, without contacting Him and having His burden in our service.
When Moses died at the word of the Lord, he was one hundred twenty years old, and his eye was not dim, nor had his freshness left him (Deut. 34:7).
In the spiritual application of this, we need to make sure that our our heart will not be dim but full of light, and the freshness of the Lord’s presence should never leave us.
We need to seek the Lord day by day, we need to enjoy Him both personally and with the saints, and when we serve in the church life, we need to not do things merely out of obligation but with a burden from the Lord.
Whenever our service becomes a matter of “fulfilling an obligation”, our service has already degraded.
In Mal. 3:14 we see that the people of Israel were serving God and walked before Him, but they were doing so mournfully; they were serving God, but they were not at all happy that they had to do this. Oh Lord!
What a danger it is in our Christian life that we would serve the Lord in the church, but we would not be happy to do it, but we just “go along” because we need to do this, and we have no burden!
It is possible for us to drift into serving the Lord in the church life yet not being happy with what was assigned to us, what the Head through the Body has commissioned to us. Oh Lord Jesus!
We should learn to serve the Lord not mournfully or because we have to do it, but because we love Him, we seek His face, we are for the building up of the Body, and we serve with a burden from the Lord.
We may even tell the Lord,
Dear Lord Jesus, we love You, we love the church, and we love all the saints; we give ourselves to You to enjoy You both personally and with the saints, and to serve You in the church by taking You as our rest and satisfaction! Save us from languishing in the land – save us from losing our spiritual freshness and our new and living enjoyment of Christ! Save us from serving the Lord in the church out of obligation and with no burden from the Lord! We come to You, Lord, so that we may receive a burden from You in the service area You have allotted to us in the Body! May our service to You in the church would not lead to losing Your presence but would keep us closer to You, in the freshness of Your presence!
Serving the Lord in the Church with a Burden Deals with the Self and Builds up the Body
If we are an employee working from 9am to 6pm at the office, we do this as an obligation and as soon as we’re out of the office, we care nothing about the matters at the office at all.
However, if we would have our own business, be our own boss, and work for ourselves, we would do things very differently; we may wake up earlier, take less breaks, and work long hours and even weekends, for we want our business to thrive.
If we’re just a paid employee who is there to do a certain job, we do our job and we don’t really need to be dealt with; if we own our own shop, we will be adjust ourselves very much in our schedule, tone, and attitude toward our customers.
In a similar way, if we just do things for the Lord out of obligation or because others asked us to, we are not dealt with, and we may lose the Lord’s presence.
But if we have a burden when we serve the Lord, our self will decrease and will be dealt with, and the burden we have from the Lord will limit us.
When we come to the Lord concerning our service before Him in the church life and receive a burden from Him, there will be things that our burden will not allow us to do, and we will deal with some things that need to be taken care of.
Having a burden deals with us the most.
This applies not only to the brothers but to all the saints.
For example, the sisters may visit a new one because they have an appointment with her, but they may not have a burden when they visit this one; whether the new one advances in knowing the Lord and learns to eat the Lord, take Him as life, and deals with the things that the Lord shines on her, the sisters may not be aware of this.
Our attitude when caring for the new ones shouldn’t be that it’s the Lord’s business to deal with them, and it’s up to them if they open to the Lord to work in them – so there’s nothing we can do. No!
We must receive a genuine burden from the Lord, have His heart’s desire infused into us, and speak to others, visit them, and do things with a burden from the Lord.
May we not gradually lean toward responsibility in our service and thus lack burden; may we be before the Lord whenever we are about to do something, and may we receive His desire to be our desire in what we say, do, and act.
When we meet together and visit one another, this shouldn’t just be in a routine way, without considering one another’s situation and condition, and without praying for one another for the Lord to advance in the saints.
Rather, we need to be before the Lord, even weep bitterly and mournfully in prayer before Him, feeling that we can’t go on in the same way, we cannot advance in Him by remaining the same, and we don’t agree with the saints and the new ones advancing in the Lord.
We need to touch the Lord’s heart concerning people, and what is in His heart will be infused into us; then, we will serve not because of obligation but with a burden from the lord, and we will go beyond what obligation tells us to do.
The building work of the church (as typified by the building work of the tabernacle with all its furniture) should begin with the enjoyment of God and continue in intervals with the refreshment by enjoying God!
Amen, may we not work for God by our own strength but by the enjoyment of Him and by being one with Him, thus keeping the principle of the Sabbath with Christ as the inner rest in our spirit!
Lord Jesus, may all our work for You in the church begin with the enjoyment of God and continue with intervals with refreshment by enjoying God! Amen, Lord, we want to seek You, enjoy You, and touch Your heart concerning us and concerning those around us; may Your heart be infused into our heart, and may our service be with a burden from You and not merely out of obligation. May we spend much time in prayer before You, realizing that we cannot go on in the same way, we cannot remain the same, and we cannot just serve God out of obligation! Lord, what about Your people? What about the saints, the new ones, the young ones, and all Your seeking ones? Give us Your heart for them; keep us in the Sabbath rest with You, and may our service to You in the church be with a burden from You!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word,” ch. 5, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Will of God (2020 spring ITERO), week 7, Taking the Lord’s Yoke (the Father’s Will) upon Us and Learning from Him to Find Rest for Our Souls.
- Hymns on this topic:
– The work must be the fruit of life, / Born thru the Spirit’s flowing; / As branches of the Lord, the vine, / Fruit bearing, life bestowing. / ’Tis Christ Himself thru us to work, / Himself as life expressing, / And all the riches of His life / To others manifesting. (Hymns #910)
– As for the church, I need / Thy revelation more, / The Body-life to know, / Thy wisdom to explore. / I long to be unveiled, / In everything made clear, / No more to be deceived / Or to my pride adhere. (Hymns #426)
– Your love constrains, You gently urge, / We are drawn as You adjure, / To go in faith, as mothers, nurse, / Feed, cherish, raise up, mature; / In love pay the price, work gladly. / Praying, bear men to the Lord; / Together tried, fear not defeat; / Your coming is our reward. / Oh, arise! In steps of the flock we move! / Pour out all and work with You, Lord, in love; / We, step by step, towards the goal, run the race; / Our life for God’s dream consecrate. (Song on, Following the Footsteps of the Flock)
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