Loving one another is a sign that we belong to Christ; may we abide in the Lord and love one another, bear fruit in the Body, learn to fellowship in oneness and one accord, and live in the church life of brotherly love by having “one another” meetings for the building up of the church.
May we be those who not only love the Lord but also love one another in the church life by enjoying the Lord and being willing to lay down our soul-life on behalf of the brothers.
Many times in the church life there are situations and things happening, and in fellowship, we are being exposed that not only do we have our own feeling and opinion but we also treasure our feeling and opinion.
Yes, we love the Lord, and yes, we love the saints, but when it comes to denying ourselves or laying down our soul-life, we may not be so willing to do it.
However, for the sake of the oneness, for the sake of the building up of the Body of Christ, we need to realize that, though others seem to be wrong and they may even offend us, we need to lay down our soul-life by enjoying the Lord and putting ourselves aside.
In ourselves, we can’t do this; no one wants to deny himself when he is in himself, and no one hates his own soul-life but rather, treasures it and nurtures it.
But when we spend time with the Lord and enjoy Him when we find our delight and satisfaction in the Lord and in His saints, we will be more willing to lay aside our soul-life for the brothers, and we will allow the Lord to apply the cross to our being for the sake of the oneness.
Instead of living in our soul and doing things according to our soul-life, we need to enjoy God and express Him as love in the church life of brotherly love so that our amusement, joy, entertainment, and happiness would be in the Lord.
The church life is the most wonderful place on earth. The saints are the excellent ones, and all our delight is in them.
Because we love the Lord, we also love the saints, and we are willing to deny ourselves for the sake of the church life.
Even more, when we see some saints in need of material things, we love the brothers to the extent that we are willing to care for their necessities without any self-display.
Love never makes a display before others. Rather, love simply gives and cares, without any care for the self.
In the church life of brotherly love, we need to love one another by enjoying the Lord and being infused with HIm as our love, and we need to care for one another in the Lord and before the Lord.
Praise the Lord for the church life of the brotherly love, where we all are learning to love the Lord and love one another, and our love is being perfected!
Loving one Another is a Sign that we Belong to Christ and Issues in Bearing Fruit Corporately
In John 13:34-35 the Lord Jesus commands us to love one another, saying that, when we love one another and others see it, they will know that we are His disciples.
Loving one another is a sign that we belong to Christ. If we desire to have the ability to influence people concerning the Lord and to bear fruit, we must have love for one another and become one in the church life.
The best way for us to bear fruit is by loving one another as we take Christ as our person and our life (John 17:21, 23).
If we want for our work to be effective, if we want to bear fruit, we need to realize that it is not about how much we work for the Lord but how much we love one another and abide in the Lord.
Fruit-bearing is a Body matter; fruit-bearing is a matter of living in the Body and abiding in Christ as the vine.
Sadly, however, we are still very much influenced by Christianity when it comes to bearing fruit, for we think that it is me individually going out, preaching the gospel, doing this and that.
We need to realize that our fruit-bearing is a matter in the Body.
If we are individualistic, we will be very limited in our success. We must love the brothers and we must be one with the brothers; then, our work will be effective, and our gospel outreach will be effective.
The genuine preaching of the gospel is a matter in fellowship (Phil. 1:5) because it is a matter of the Body.
We are branches in the vine, and as branches, we bear fruit by living in the fellowship of the Body.
The branches of a tree bear fruit in a way of fellowship (John 15:2, 12, 17).
The more we live in the Body life and have the reality of the Body life, the more we will be fruitful.
In Phil. 1:5 we see “the fellowship of the gospel”; if the gospel would be an individual matter, whom do we need to fellowship with, and why do we need to fellowship?
The gospel is a matter of fellowship; we need to love one another and fellowship with one another, and as we abide in the Lord together.
As we learn to live in the church life and be vitalized together, our condition should be one of loving one another in oneness and with one accord.
The condition of the vital groups in the church life is that of loving one another and with one accord.
For the practice of the vital groups, the saints need to be trained how to have fellowship that is altogether based on oneness and with one accord (Acts 1:14).
We need to be trained to have fellowship.
We may think we know how to have fellowship, but when we come together, we may disagree with others on things such as what way to take in doing something, who should go somewhere and do something, and what activity we should do together.
There may be disagreements, strife, division, and such things; even the vital groups are not immune to this.
We may come together and we may fellowship concerning what is the goal of the vital group, and someone may say that it is the increase, another may say it is the truth, and still another may say that it is for the young people to be gained.
We need all these things, and they are based on the word of God, but they can become something we may disagree with others about.
Whether it is the truth, the gospel, caring for the young people, or shepherding others, that doesn’t matter; what matters is loving one another in oneness and with one accord in the church life.
If we don’t love one another in oneness and with one accord, we will not express the Lord corporately.
But if we love one another, no matter the way we take or the activity we do together, the Lord will be testified among us, and others will see that we are His disciples.
Furthermore, we will bear fruit together, in the Body, and the Lord will be manifested through us corporately.
Lord Jesus, keep us abiding in You as the vine and keep us loving one another as members of the Body. May others see that we are the Lord’s disciples by loving one another in oneness and in one accord. We take You, Lord, as our life and our person, and we give ourselves to love the brothers. May there be a sweet fellowship among us as we love one another in the church life. Keep us in the Body life, living in oneness and in one accord and bearing fruit as we abide in the Lord. Amen, Lord, may the condition of the vital groups in the church life be that of loving one another in oneness and with one accord! We open to You, Lord, and we allow You to train us to have fellowship with the saints in love. May our fellowship be altogether based on oneness and one accord!
In the Church Life of Brotherly Love, we have “One Another” Meetings in which we Function and Care for one another Mutually
The church life should be a life of brotherly love; brotherly love should prevail in the church life.
On the personal side, we need to daily come to the Lord and have dealings with Him, allowing the Holy Spirit a free way to move in us and among us.
We need to give up all the hindrances, bonds, and frustrating elements, so that the Spirit may move freely in our being.
When the Spirit has a free way to move, many things will happen in our being. We will grow in life, and the Lord will increase in our being.
As we grow in life and experience Christ as life, we will also have an increase in love, for love is the issue of life (1 John 3:14).
If we all grow in life and have an increase in love, the church life will be living, prevailing, functioning, and powerful.
This is what we all as God’s people long for: deep from within our spirit we long for the church life in mutuality, the church life of brotherly love that is prevailing and functioning.
In the church life of brotherly love (Rom. 12:10; 1 Thes. 3:12; 4:9; 2 Thes. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:22; 4:8), we receive one another (Rom. 15:7) and have the same mind toward one another (v. 5).
Also, we pursue the things for building up one another (14:19), bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2), and bear one another in love (Eph. 4:2).
In the church life of brotherly love, we comfort and build up one another (1 Thes. 5:11), confess our sins to one another and pray for one another (James 5:16), forgive one another (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13), and are subject to one another (Eph. 5:21).
What a wonderful, glorious and sweet church life this is! It all comes out of our loving one another in oneness and with one accord.
When we have the church life of brotherly love, we will have proper meetings in the church life, meetings that are “one another”, “round-table” meetings.
In such meetings, it is not just one person that speaks or functions but we all function.
In the proper church life, the meetings are full of mutuality.
In the “round-table” church meetings, we speak to one another (v. 19), we teach and admonish one another (Col. 3:16), and we consider one another.
When we have the brotherly love church life with meetings in mutuality, we consider one another, we exhort one another (Heb. 10:24-25), and we listen to one another (1 Thes. 5:20).
We need to learn to have a proper mutual care in the meetings (1 Cor. 12:25-26).
May the Lord gain such meetings among us. May the Lord make us the Philadelphia of today, the church of brotherly love, and may all our meetings may be in mutuality.
When He gains such a church life, when our meetings are in mutuality with each one functioning in love, the Body of Christ is built up.
We need to be dealt with by the Lord (8:1) so that our service in the church life and our ministry of the word will result in the brothers and sisters spontaneously loving one another for the building up of the church. May we be such ones.
May we love one another and serve in the church in such a way that the saints will love one another even more.
When the saints genuinely grow in their spiritual life, the experience of eh divine life will result in an increase of love, because love is the issue of life.
This will cause the church life to be living, prevailing, functioning, and powerful.
Lord Jesus, gain the church life of brotherly love among us today. May we all love one another and receive one another, having the same mind toward one another. May we pursue the things for building up one another and bear one another’s burdens. Amen, Lord, may we live in the church life of brotherly love, bearing one another in love and comforting and building up one another. May we confess our sins to one another, pray for one another, forgive one another, and be subject to one another in love. Dear Lord Jesus, may our meetings be “one another” meetings where we all speak to one another, teach and admonish one another, and listen to one another. May we learn to have a proper mutual care in the emeetings and may we live and serve in such a way that others will grow in life and love the Lord more!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ted W. in the message, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1991-1992, vol. 3, “Fellowship concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups,” pp. 407-408, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Loving the Lord and loving one another for the organic building up of the church as the Body of Christ (2022 fall ITERO), week 6, entitled, The Lord’s New Commandment Given to Us – that we Love One Another.
- Hymns on this topic:
– In the church of Jesus there is love for you, / Love most pure and tender, love most deep and true; / Why should you be lonely, why for friendship sigh, / When the church of Jesus has a full supply? / In the church of Jesus there is life for you, / Warm as summer sunshine, sweet as morning dew; / Why should you be fearful, why take anxious thought, / Since the church of Jesus cares for those He bought? (Hymns #1278 stanzas 1-2)
– Exercise the spirit! / Natural sense renounce; / Serve with one another, / Christ the Lord announce. / Exercise the spirit! / Soulish life deny; / Helping one another, / On the Lord rely. (Hymns #866 stanzas 2-3)
– For the issue of fruit bearing, / Brotherly love. / Fellowship in oneness sharing, / Brotherly love. / Here our soul life we’re forsaking, / And the Spirit’s way we’re taking, / Now from death to life we’re breaking, / Brotherly love. / Oh, this perfect way of gladness, / Brotherly love! / No more fear, imparting sadness, / Brotherly love! / Now is our sure affirmation, / Life and Spirit our foundation, / Building up, the consummation— / Brotherly love. (Hymns #1277 stanzas 3-4)
About aGodMan
In John 13:34 and 35… [the] commandment is the message which we “heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (1 John 3:11). We should not try in a natural way to fulfill this word. We may realize that God is love (4:8) and that we are commanded to love one another. Then in a natural, religious, and ethical way we may try to love others, imitating God’s love…This kind of love is ethical, natural, and even cultural. However, real love is the issue of enjoying the processed Triune God in the divine dispensing. When we are in the fellowship of the divine life, that is, in the enjoyment of the Triune God, this enjoyment will have a certain issue or outcome. The outcome of the enjoyment of the Triune God is the divine love…With this love we spontaneously love others. In particular, we love all those who are organically related to our begetting Father (1 John 5:1). We have been begotten of the Father, and many others also have been begotten of Him. If we enjoy Him, the result will be that we love all His children. Therefore, loving the brothers is the issue of enjoying the Triune God. Instead of trying to imitate the Lord’s love, we need to be constituted of the Triune God who is love. This One abides in us and wants to impart Himself into our being and saturate us with Himself so that we may enjoy Him inwardly as love. This love should saturate us until it becomes the love with which we love the brothers. The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1769-1771, by Witness Lee
Loving one another is a sign that we belong to Christ; if we desire to have the ability to influence people concerning the Lord and to bear fruit, we must have love for one another and become one in the church life; the best way for us to bear fruit is to love one another by taking Christ as our person and life.
Ameen!!!
When we live by, with, in and for Christ then we have love for one another in oneness with one accord.
This mutual love as the outworking of the inner life becomes a strong testimony and the power for us to bear fruit.
New ones are added, saints are growing, the gifts are being manifested, and love is increasing.
This will cause the church life to be living, prevailing, functioning, and powerful.
We must see the Body of Christ not only as a principle or a doctrine but also as a matter of feeling. Suffering is a feeling, and joy is a feeling. Although there are many members, the life they have is one, and the feelings they have are also one.
Some people have artificial limbs. Outwardly their limbs look much the same as real limbs. But artificial limbs do not have life and there.
Hence, it is impossible to imitate life, and there is no need to imitate life. If you have it, you have it, and there is no need to imitate it.
The most obvious manifestation of life is feeling. Once a Christian sees the life of the Body, he will immediately have the feeling of the Body .The doctrine of Body of Christ and seeing the Body of Christ are two entirely different things.
(We are not speaking about outward conscious feelings but inward conscious feelings.)
This feeling is the expression of life.
The presence or absence of feeling is the test that shows whether or not we have something real within us; it shows whether we have the life of God within us.
Yes brother, I was struck by the fact that all the branches on a tree bear fruit together.
The branches have one life and one purpose.
May the Lord supply us with a rich flow of life, because life results in an increase of love.
This will cause the church life to be living, prevailing, functioning & powerful.
Amen brother!
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another aeven as I have loved you.
May the Lord fully recover our hearts to love Him more and to love one another.
In this way we would pay full attention to the Body and will be burdened for the Body. Why are we fruitless ?
According to the text, it is because we do not live the Body life and have the reality of the Body life.
This life and reality is in our mingled Sspirit which causes us to Love one another then the world would truly see that we are the Lord’s disciples.
Rather than wonder how this can be let’s look away from ourselves and look away to our Resurrected Lord who today is the life giving Spirit mingled with our spirit.
We are Faith people so we say Amen to God’s Word.
Amen!
What a revelation to see that to fulfill our function as fruit-bearing branches we need to grow in our spiritual life, the issue of which is love – the mutual care and fellowship among the saints – and the real Body life.
Without such a divine love with the oneness and one accord we will not be fruitful! O Lord Jesus!
Fruit bearing is a Body matter – so as we coordinate in fellowship, with love, then the world will see that the Lord is in us and as His disciples we will be such a testimony!