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God takes care of the needs of all those who are part of His expression—Deut. 12:19; 14:27-29:
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In New Testament terms, this means that Christ takes care of every member of His Body—1 Cor. 12:14-27; Phil. 4:14-20.
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In the church life we should love the Lord Jesus, love His Body, and take care of the needs of all the members—2 Cor. 8:1-15.
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If God’s people would give to the poor, God would bless them in all their work and in all their undertakings—Deut. 15:10:
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In the church life today we should be happy when giving to the poor, knowing that God will bless us—2 Cor. 9:1-12.
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The dealing with mammon and the offering of material possessions are related to God’s administration among the churches in resurrection—1 Cor. 16:1-3:
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The fact that material things are offered on the first day of the week indicates that they should be offered in resurrection, not in our natural life—vv. 1-2; Matt. 6:1-4.
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If we know resurrection life and the resurrection power, we will overcome money and material possessions, and what we have will be used for God’s administration among the churches—1 Cor. 16:1-2; Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; Rom. 15:26.
Morning Nourishment
Deut. 12:19 Be careful that you do not forsake the Levite all your days upon the earth.1 Cor. 16:1-2 Now concerning the collection for the saints, just as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also do. On the first day of the week each one of you should lay aside in store to himself whatever he may have been prospered, that no collections be made when I come.
In Deuteronomy 13 we see that God takes care of Himself, and in Deuteronomy 12, that He takes care of His people as His expression. Now in the verses concerning aid to the needy [14:28—15:18] we see that God takes care of all those who are part of His expression.
The Levites, who had no job or other source of income but who lived on God, serving Him full time, were to be taken care of [12:19]….There was also to be provision for the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow [14:29]. Today we should also care for the needy ones among us….In the Lord’s recovery, we need to care for the full-timers and the other needy ones.
In New Testament terms, this means that Christ takes care of every member of His Body. We all should follow this pattern. We should love the Lord Jesus, we should love His Body, and we should take care of the needs of all the members. In caring for the needs of the saints, it is best that we prepare for this by having a budget. This means that in a regular way we should lay something aside to use in taking care of needy saints. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 97, 96, 97)
Today’s Reading
The people were required to open their hand to the poor one and to lend enough for his need in whatever he lacked (Deut. 15:8). Today we should not be reluctant to give to the poor brothers among us. When we give to meet the needs of the poor brothers, the Lord will return to us much more than we gave. All the believers who give willingly can testify of this.“You must give to him, and your heart shall not be displeased when you give to him; for on account of this matter Jehovah your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings” (v. 10)….We today should not be displeased when giving to the poor; instead, we should be happy, knowing that God will bless us and return much more to us. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 98-99)
All of fallen mankind are under the domination of mammon and material possessions (Matt. 6:19-21, 24-25, 30; 19:21-22; Luke 12:13-19). At the day of Pentecost, under the power of the Holy Spirit, all the believers overthrew this domination and had all their possessions in common for distribution to the needy ones (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32, 34-37). That practice, due to the weakness of the believers’ fallen nature (see Acts 5:1-11; 6:1), did not last long. It was already over by the apostle Paul’s time. Then the believers needed grace to overcome the power of mammon and material things and to release them from Satan’s domination for an offering to the Lord to fulfill His purpose. Resurrection life is the supply for the believers to live such a life, a life trusting in God, not in treasures of material possessions, a life not for today but for the future, not for this age but for the coming age (Luke 12:16-21; 1 Tim. 6:17-19), a life that overthrows the usurpation of temporal and uncertain riches. This may be the reason that this dealing [in 1 Corinthians 16] follows the one concerning the reality of resurrection life [in chapter 15]. In any case this dealing is related to God’s administration among the churches.
[In 1 Corinthians 16:2] “the first day of the week” is a symbol of the Lord’s resurrection…[indicating that] our giving must be in resurrection life, not in our natural life….[This is] the victory in resurrection over your use of your money and material possessions. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 625-626, 628)
Further Reading: Life-study of Deuteronomy, msgs. 14-15; Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 69; Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msgs. 46-47, 49