«　WEEK 6　DAY 6　»

　　Matt. 16:18 …Upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

　　John 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life…

　　Phil. 1:25 …I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of the faith.

　　From Eden onwards, God’s controversy with Satan has been on this issue of death and life (cf. Gen. 3:3, 4; Rom. 5:12, 17, 21; 1 Cor. 15:22). All of God is characterized by life, all of Satan by death…Where there is life there is God. The great difference between Christ and all others is that, whereas others are dead, He lives. Death could not touch Him. And God who destroyed death through Christ, now uses the Church for the same purpose. Today she is God’s vessel of life, called to reveal the risen life of His Son, and to bring men to the knowledge of that life.

　　Praise His Name, God has shown us right from the outset from what quarter the attack upon the Church will come. We are to expect it from “the gates of Hades”—that is, of death… Satan’s greatest fear with regard to the Church is of her resistance, not to sinning, or to the love of the world, or to any of his direct attacks, but to his power of death. (CWWN, vol. 40, “What Shall This Man Do?” pp. 119-120)

　　John’s intention in 1 John 5:14-17 is to show us that the eternal life within us can overcome death both in ourselves and in other members of the church. Eternal life swallows up death within us and death within other members. Because the church is the Body, we live with the fellow members of the Body. Since we are in the Body, we are members with the other fellow members. Eternal life not only takes care of our own need; it also takes care of the need of the fellow members around us. It overcomes death within us, and it overcomes death within our brothers. Especially, it overcomes death in those who are weak or who have problems.

　　Weakness is related to death, and problems come from death. As long as there are problems in the church life, this is an indicator that there is death among those in the church. Therefore, we need eternal life to overcome, to swallow up, this death. If you are stronger and a fellow member is weaker, then you may become the one to supply the life from within you to the weaker one in order to swallow up the death within him.

　　First John 5:14-17 indicates that we who have eternal life can pass this life on to others. This means that we can be a channel through which eternal life is supplied to others. We can be a channel for eternal life to flow out of us and into others. Verse 16 refers to this. In this verse the one who asks is also the one who gives life to the sinning brother. This indicates that the one who asks will give life to the one concerning whom he asks. The asker, who is abiding in the Lord, who is one with the Lord, and who is asking in one spirit with the Lord, becomes the means through which God’s life-giving Spirit can give life to the one for whom he asks. This is a matter of life-imparting in the fellowship of the divine life.

　　The eternal life within us is real and practical. On the one hand, we can enjoy this eternal life within us. On the other hand, we can pass on this eternal life to others. We can be a channel for eternal life to flow out from us, or through us, to others. However, the experience of being a channel for eternal life to flow out to others is a deep matter. This cannot be done in a superficial way. If we would be a channel for eternal life to flow out to others, we must be deep in the Lord, and we must know the Lord’s heart by being in His heart. If we have entered into the Lord to such a degree, spontaneously we shall know the Lord’s will concerning a brother close to us who has sinned. Because we know the Lord’s will concerning the brother’s situation, we shall know how to pray for him. (Life-study of 1 John, pp. 328, 337-338)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 John, msgs. 37-38, 40; Life-study of Philippians, msgs. 14, 50