In order for us to enjoy the Lord and thus grow in life for the building up of the Body of Christ, we need to love the Lord and love one another; love is the most excellent way to be and do anything in the church life, and we need to exercise our spirit of love to love the Lord and the saints in all we do. Amen!
This week we have been diving deeper into the matter of the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as the unique solution to all the problems in the church, as seen in the book of 1 Corinthians.
There were many problems in the church in Corinth. In this book, we don’t see a normal church but a typical church, and there were so many problems in that church.
Paul wrote to them in a wise way to not only expose the problems under the Lord’s light but even more, to supply them with many aspects of the all-inclusive Christ for the saints’ growth in life and development of the divine life so that they may be built up as the church, the Body of Christ.
We may not like the church in Corinth for we see the many issues that the saints there had; we may like the church in Ephesus, for in the epistle to the Ephesians we see a high revelation of the church.
But in Corinth, we see at least eleven problems, and the biggest one is division; there were problems with gifts, practices, lawsuits, and many other things.
Some there were dominated by their soul and lived in their soul to such an extent that they said they were of Cephas, others of Apollo, and others of Christ. Oh, Lord!
This is to bring in division in the church.
We may think we don’t have a division in the church life, but we may prefer one particular elder or co-worker to the other; we may not say it out loud, but this may be deep within us.
The problems we see in Corinth can also happen among us.
What we need today is the solution that Paul has, which is Christ Himself, the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ with His cross.
When we enjoy Christ and His cross, all problems will disappear.
We need to enjoy Christ in His all-inclusiveness in many aspects and in many ways so that we may be reconstituted with Christ, filled with Christ, and one with Christ; when we enjoy Him, our problems will go away.
God is faithful in calling us into the fellowship of His Son; He called us into the enjoyment of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Many times, however, we are not faithful to the Lord, for instead of drinking of Him as the fountain of living waters, we have other sources of enjoyment for our satisfaction.
May we come to the Lord again and again to enjoy Him and partake of Him, and may we feed on His faithfulness.
He is faithful to expose and deal with our idols so that we may enjoy Him and drink of Him as the unique fountain of living waters. And the best way for us to enjoy the Lord is to love the Lord and love the brothers.
On one hand, we need to allow the Lord to constrain us with His love so that we may love Him back.
On the other hand, we need to exercise our spirit of love to love the brothers and do everything in a way of loving others in the church life, reflecting the Lord’s love in our living.
The Best way to Be Anything and Do Anything in the Church Life is Love: Loving the Lord and Loving one Another
In the church life, we need to take the most excellent way to do everything – love.
The most excellent way for us to be anything or to do anything for the building up of the church as the organic Body of Christ is love (1 Cor. 12:31-13:8, 13; 14:1, 3, 4).
The way for us to be a brother or a sister in the church life is love; the way for us to be one who serves the saints is love.
The best way for a brother to be an elder in the church life is love; the best way to be a co-worker is love.
The best way to shepherd others is love. The best way for us to prophesy is love.
We may know a lot of things and we may comprehend the main doctrines in the Bible, and we may be able to teach and cut straight the word of the truth, but without love, it amounts to nothing.
Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
We may read the Bible, study the Word of God, and listen to the messages of the ministry, and we may be puffed up with mere knowledge, but with no love (8:1; 2 Cor. 3:6).
This is a great danger among us today.
We need to not only know the truth but even more, love the Lord and love one another.
When the law of the Spirit of life as the law of love (Rom. 8:2; Gal. 6:2-3) is activated within us, our labour in the Lord is a labour of love (1 Cor. 15:58; 1 Thes. 1:3).
Our serving the Lord, our labour in the Lord, needs to be not only with the knowledge of God’s word but even more, it has to be in the most excellent way, which is love.
When we have a labour of love in the Lord, we support and sustain the weak (Acts 20:35; 1 Thes. 5:14).
The weak are everywhere in the church life, and many times we ourselves are weak.
We may be weak either in our spirit or soul or body, or we may be weak in faith.
When we exercise our spirit of love to love the Lord and to love one another, taking the most excellent way to be anything and do anything, our labour will be of love, and we will support and sustain the weak.
The way for us to enjoy Christ is to love Him and to love the saints, that is, to love one another.
When love flows through us to touch another member of the Body, our joy in the Lord increases.
But when we close up our affections toward the saints, our joy decreases.
There are many weak saints in the church life; there’s no such thing as a church without the weak saints.
There are the disorderly ones, the faint-hearted ones, and the weak ones; every church has weak saints.
We may dream of a church that doesn’t have such people.
But we should not dream of utopian church life but rather, exercise our spirit of love and allow the Lord to flow us in love for the increase of the joy of the saints.
The Christ whom we love is the church-loving Christ (Eph. 5:25).
Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for the church.
When we love the Lord, we will love the church even as He does.
The church life is a life of brotherly love (1 John 4:7-8; 2 John 5-6; John 15:12, 17; Rev. 3:7; Eph. 5:2; cf. Jude 12) and the Body builds itself up in love (Eph. 4:16).
May we be those who choose the most excellent way in the church life, the way of love, by exercising our spirit of love to love the Lord and to love the saints.
May we allow the Lord to constrain us with His love and may we love Him in return.
The Christ whom we love is a church-loving Christ; when we love the Lord and therefore enjoy Him, we will love the church even as He loves the church.
Lord Jesus, we love You! We want to take the most excellent way to do anything and be anything in the church life. Amen, Lord, constrain us with Your love to love You more. We do not want to just know the truth and know things about You; we want to love You and love one another. We want to activate the law of the Spirit of life as the law of love to love You and to love the saints. May our labor in the Lord not be in vain but be a labor of love in which we support and sustain the weak. Amen, Lord Jesus, we open to You. Fill us with Your love. Flood us with Your love. Show us Your love and cause us to love You and love the saints. We exercise our spirit of love to do all things in love. Amen, Lord Jesus, You are the church-loving Christ! We love You and we love the church even as You do! May the church life be a life of brotherly love so that the Body may build itself up in love!
We need a Burning Spirit of Love to Love one another and Overcome any Degradation
It is easy to tell others to love the Lord and to love one another, and we agree with this matter; however, how can we love the Lord and love one another?
Our human love runs out. Our love for our spouse and our children runs out and is easily upset.
Our love toward the Lord runs out, and how can we love the brothers all the time?
The secret is our spirit. 2 Tim. 1:7 tells us that God didn’t give us a spirit of cowardice but of power and of love and of sober-mindedness.
God gave us a spirit of love. God as love came into our spirit, and love is in our spirit.
We have the human virtue of love, which has the appearance of love but doesn’t have the divine essence of love.
For us to be able to love the Lord and love one another we need to exercise our spirit of love.
However, it is easy for us to exercise our spirit and be full of power or sobermindedness, but not of love.
We may have a spirit of power to speak with authority the word of God, for there’s a constitution of the truth in our being.
We may exercise our spirit of sober-mindedness when we speak and therefore not speak anything that is divisive.
But do we exercise our spirit of love? We need to realize that our God-given spirit is a spirit of love.
We need to exercise our spirit of love and be burning in spirit, being filled with love toward the Lord and toward others (Rom. 12:10-11).
We need a burning spirit of love to conquer the degradation of today’s church.
We may think that, for us to conquer the degradation in the church today, we need a spirit of power.
It is true that toward the enemy we need to exercise a spirit of power, but toward the saints, we need a burning spirit of love, not a burning spirit of authority that would actually damage them.
We need to have a burning spirit of love.
What we need today is to fan into flame the gift of God which is within us – our spirit.
Our spirit is full of love. Love is in our spirit.
When we exercise our spirit, we have love toward God and toward man.
Love prevails. We need to exercise our spirit and love everybody, even our enemies.
Our God the Father is perfect, and He wants us to be perfect in His love (Matt. 5:48).
If we selectively love people, choosing to love and care only those whom we like and leaving aside those who don’t seem so nice or promising, eventually we may not love anyone, for no one will meet our standard.
We need to be perfect as our Father because we’re His sons and we have a spirit of love.
The Lord Jesus, when He came, He loved all men. He didn’t reject anyone, nor did He have any preference.
The Lord Jesus came as a Physician for those who were sick; those who considered themselves as healthy did not need the Lord, but we who are weak and sick, we need Him (Matt. 9:12).
In the church life today the Lord wants to be expressed through all the saints as love.
The church is a loving home to care for the new ones, for the new believers, and for all the saints, especially the weak ones.
Just as parents know that the worse their children are, the more they need to be loved and cared for to be raised up, so we in the church life need to exercise our spirit of love to love the saints and care for them.
The church is like a hospital to heal and recover the sick ones.
The Lord as the great Physician is among us today, healing us and infusing life into us; we can cooperate with Him by exercising our spirit of love to care for the saints.
The church is also like a school to teach and edify the unlearned ones who don’t have much understanding.
In the church life, we are all learning from the Lord Jesus, our unique Teacher, and we’re learning from one another to love the Lord and love one another.
The church is a home, a hospital, and a school; we need to be one with the Lord to love the saints, care for them, raise them up, heal them, recover them, and teach them in love.
May the Lord save us from having a church life that is like a police station, arresting people, or like a law court, judging people.
May the Lord save us from having an accusing and judging attitude toward others.
May we be like Paul who was weak with those who were weak so that he may gain the weak (2 Cor. 11:29).
May we not consider that we’re without sin so we can judge others; rather, may we learn not to condemn others, judge them, or criticize them but love them by exercising our spirit of love.
Others are weak, and we are also weak; we need the Lord’s care in and through the Body.
May we exercise our spirit of love to cover others, build them up, and do all things in the church life. Amen!
Our love for one another is made real to us as we enter more and more into the experience and enjoyment of being blended together for the oneness, the building up, and the reality of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:14-27; Rom. 16:1-16; Col. 4:16; John 12:24; Lev. 2:4-5).
Because we love the Lord and we love the saints, we are those who exercise our spirit of love to not only meet with the saints locally but also blend with the saints in the Body, entering into the blending life of the Body for the Lord to gain His corporate expression on the earth.
Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit of love to love You and to love one another in the church life. Thank You for our God-given spirit, which is a spirit of love! We exercise our spirit to be one with the church-loving Christ to love the saints, love all men, and love even our enemies. Oh Lord, we want to experience You as the One who is love itself. Pour out Your love into our heart and fill us with Your love. Make us perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect so that we may love all men. Amen, Lord, may love prevail among us. May we all exercise our spirit of love to love the Lord and to love one another in the church life! May the church life be a loving home to care for the saints and the weak ones. May the church life be like a hospital, taking care of the sick ones to recover them and heal them. Amen, Lord, may the church be like a school, teaching and edifying the unlearned ones in love for their growth in life. Dear Lord Jesus, we love You and we love the saints! Though we are weak, Lord, we open to You and we open to the saints to be cared for, edified, recovered, healed, and brought further in the enjoyment of Christ. Amen, Lord Jesus, lead us deeper into Your enjoyment!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” pp. 124-127, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Enjoyment of Christ and our Growth in Life unto Maturity (2023 Thanksgiving Blending Conference), week 1, entitled, The Enjoyment of the All-inclusive Christ as the Unique Solution to All Problems in the Church.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– The all-inclusive Christ in 1 Corinthians, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
– A new song on, A Spirit of Love, via, Hymnal.net.
– The need for the growth in life, a portion from, The Spirit and the Body, Chapter 17, by Witness Lee.
– Loving the Lord and Loving One Another—the Most Excellent Way for Us to Be Anything and Do Anything for the Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ, via, Prophesying reference.
– Love being the greatest, a portion from, The Vital Groups, Chapter 8, by Witness Lee.
– A Story of Consecration: Loving Jesus with Our Best, article via, Bibles for America blog.
– Experiencing Christ by exercising our spirit, a portion from, The Ground of the Church and the Meetings of the Church, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee. - Hymns on this topic:
– How sweet, how heav’nly is the sight, / When those who love the Lord / In one another’s peace delight, / And so fulfill His Word: / When each can feel his brother’s sigh, / And with him bear a part; / When sorrow flows from eye to eye, / And joy from heart to heart. (Hymns #857 stanzas 1-2)
– Now in all the churches flowing, / Brotherly love. / Light and life and love bestowing, / Brotherly love. / In the oneness all believing, / Fellowship with all receiving, / Nevermore the Spirit grieving, / Brotherly love. / To maintain the sweet communion, / Brotherly love; / Fellowship and healing union, / Brotherly love. / Love believing for the brothers, / Hoping all things for the others, / Suffering all with one another, / Brotherly love. (Hymns #1277 stanzas 1-2)
– You long for Your sons / To be knit together as one / In mind and in heart / And not stand apart. / Your love is the way; / Without love, all efforts are vain. / Divine love builds up Your church. / Love prevails. / Your unchanging love / Reaches far and rises above / The sins of all men, / Their hearts’ love to win. / Lord, through us embrace / The entire human race. / Your love conquers every heart. / Love prevails. (Song on, Love Prevails, stanzas 2-3)
About aGodMan
Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” pp. 124-127
Dear brother, love is the most excellent way for us to do anything and be anything in the church life.
We need to love the Lord and to love one another.
May we exercise our spirit of love to love the saints, even those who don’t seem to be so lovable.
Amen we love you Lord Jesus
Ameern!!! Ameeen to love.
The degradation of the church begins with our leaving the first love toward the Lord; to love the Lord with the first love, the best love, is to give the Lord the preeminence, the first place, in all things, being constrained by His love to regard and take Him as everything in our life.
The very Christ whom we love is the church-loving Christ. When we love Him, we will love the church as He does; the church life is a life of brotherly love.
Thank the Lord that our God-given, regenerated spirit is a spirit of love; we need a burning spirit of love to conquer the degradation of today’s church.
Amen, love is the most excellent way
Amen! The church-loving Christ is in our spirit and we have a spirit which when exercised loves everybody with His love! Praise Him!
Hallelujah! Lord keep us on this most excellent way!!
Amen, brother! May God’s kingdom be built up through the saints!
May the Lord bring us to continue fellowshipping with one another, and living together in God’s home, the Church life!
Let us love one another and let us love the Lord with all our heart
Love is the most excellent way for us to do anything.
We need to always fan our regenerated spirit into flame and allow our spirit of love to be predominant, loving any kind of person, both the good ones and the not-so-good ones.
Our mission is to raise up, to heal, to recover, and to teach and edify.
We can only be useful to the Lord by love in every way.
From 1 Cor 12:31b we see that love is the most excellent way for the building up of the church.
Praise the Lord!🙋🏽🙌😃
Listen to the audio version of this article via,
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjhu4up5qsU
Rumble:
https://rumble.com/v4gv2pn-exercise-our-spirit-of-love-to-love-one-another.html
I very much enjoyed and appreciate this latest post. Without love we are nothing but a cacophony of clanging bells.
Organization tends to invite departure from original ideals, which is why we must exercise (yes, force) our focus back to love. We must pray for a purification of our motives, observations, thoughts, emotions, even our seeing, before we do, say or pray for anything for the Church. Like it or not, our local churches are organizations. However, the organizational aspect must be secondary. We must lead with our heart, with His heart.
So, who are the weak, the sick, the needy, the unruly? These are those whose love is cold, short, qualified, measured and limited. The truly strong ones in the Church and the churchlife are those who love the others purely and without requirement because it is joy to do so. It is not an outward look. It is completely from the inside out. To love in this way brings a wonderful fellowship with our Lord and power to everything accomplished through it. Even if you have physical limitations, are weak in some way or another, you can love your way to the mountaintops!
Amen brother and saints. Love you all.