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Scripture Reading: 1 John 2:3-11
In these messages on the conditions of the divine fellowship, we have seen that there are two conditions or requirements for maintaining this fellowship. The first requirement, described in 1:5—2:2, is the confessing of sins. The second requirement, described in 2:3-11, is the loving of God and the brothers. Therefore, if we want to maintain our fellowship with God, we need to deal with sin, and we need to love God and love the brothers.
In verses 9 and 11 of chapter two John says that the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. In verse 10 he says, “He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him.” In these verses John emphasizes loving the brothers. My burden in this message is to consider why John indicates that the last requirement for maintaining the divine fellowship is that of loving the brothers.
In order to understand why loving the brothers is the final term, condition, or requirement of the divine fellowship, we need to understand what is the purpose of the divine fellowship. What is the goal of the divine fellowship? In this fellowship we enjoy the riches of the divine life, but for what purpose do we enjoy these riches in this fellowship? The enjoyment of the riches of the divine life in the divine fellowship is for the church life. It is of crucial importance for us to see that the goal of the divine fellowship is the church life.
In 1:3 John says, “That which we have seen and heard we report also to you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed the fellowship which is ours is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” In this verse the pronouns “we” and “us” refer to the apostles. The apostles have seen and heard the eternal life. They report this to the believers so that the believers may have fellowship with the apostles. Because the fellowship described in 1:3 was first the portion of the apostles in enjoying the Father and the Son through the Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14), it is called the fellowship of the apostles (Acts 2:42) and “the fellowship which is ours” (the apostles’). The apostles are the representatives of the church. Hence, whenever the New Testament speaks of the apostles, the church is implied, for the apostles represent the church. This principle will still be in effect in the New Jerusalem. Concerning the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21:14 says, “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” The apostles represent all the saints in the church. Because the apostles represent the church and because the fellowship of the divine life is called the fellowship of the apostles, we may say that this fellowship is for the church life.
In 1:3 John says that the fellowship which the apostles have is the fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore, this fellowship involves the apostles and also the Father and the Son. Only the Father and the Son are mentioned here, not the Spirit, because the Spirit is implied in the fellowship. However, elsewhere we are clearly told that this fellowship is “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Cor. 13:14). The divine fellowship is a fellowship of the apostles, the representatives of the church, and also a fellowship between these apostles as the representatives of the church and the Father and the Son. The fact that the divine fellowship is also a fellowship of the Spirit means that this fellowship is carried out by the Spirit. This fellowship is not merely with the Spirit; it is also of the Spirit. This means that it is the Spirit’s fellowship and that this fellowship is carried out by the Spirit.
We have just pointed out what it means to say that the divine fellowship is the fellowship of the Spirit. Actually, the Spirit Himself is the fellowship. This means that the fellowship is not only carried out by the Spirit, but also that the Spirit is the fellowship that is carried out.
Once again we may use electricity as an illustration of the divine fellowship. Electricity flows from the power plant into the church meeting hall. As a result, when the switch is on, all the lights in the ceiling have “fellowship” in the current, the flow, of electricity. It is the current of electricity that carries out this fellowship. However, it is more accurate to say that actually the current itself is the fellowship. If there were no electrical current, there would not be any fellowship. The current of electricity is the fellowship of electricity, and this fellowship includes the power plant, the meeting hall, and the lights.
Today the divine fellowship is the apostles’ fellowship. This means that it is the fellowship of the church. This fellowship is also the fellowship of the believers with the apostles. Furthermore, it is the fellowship of the apostles and the believers with the Father and the Son. Because this fellowship is carried out by the Spirit, it is called the fellowship of the Spirit.
We all need to realize that this divine fellowship is altogether for the church life. This fellowship is not merely for our enjoyment, experience, supply, nourishment, and edification. Ultimately, this fellowship is for the church life.
Because the divine fellowship is for the church life, there is not only the need for us to confess our sins, but also the need for us to love the brothers. For the maintaining of the fellowship, to confess our sins is not adequate. In order to maintain the divine fellowship, we need to love the brothers. The reason for this is that the church life is a corporate life, a life that involves the brothers. If we lose our brotherly love and if we no longer love one another, what will become of the church life? The answer is that the church life will disappear. Where there is no brotherly love, the church life is finished. Actually, brotherly love is the church life.
In the past we have viewed the church life from different angles and have presented various definitions of the church life from these different angles. Now we need a definition of the church life that is in line with the angle of brotherly love. We all need to learn a new term to describe the church life — a life of brotherly love. Do you know what the church life is? The church life is a life of brotherly love.
I can testify that in the church life in the Lord’s recovery we surely experience brotherly love. In particular, I can testify that we enjoy brotherly love during the semiannual trainings. During the days of the training, brotherly love is especially evident and prevailing, and saints from many different countries enjoy this brotherly love together. It seems that the more international we are, the more brotherly love we experience and enjoy.
Recently we had a conference in Stuttgart, Germany. At that time we all were in an international atmosphere. The saints who attended that conference spoke different languages, and the hymns were sung in all the languages. Whenever I heard a hymn sung in these different languages, I was beside myself with joy in the Lord. The brotherly love was so prevailing that it seemed that in a sense, there was no need for translation. The atmosphere of brotherly love was marvelous. This brotherly love is the church life.
The church life involves saints of different races, countries, languages, and nationalities. All colors are represented in the church life: black, white, yellow, brown, and red. We praise the Lord that together we enjoy true brotherly love!
I wish to emphasize the fact that the divine fellowship is for the church life. This fellowship must be maintained by brotherly love. On the one hand, brotherly love is the result, the issue, of the divine fellowship; on the other hand, brotherly love is a condition, a term, of the divine fellowship. Therefore, brotherly love is both a condition for this fellowship and its result.
We ourselves cannot produce a love that is both the condition and the issue of the divine fellowship. The only way for us to have such a love is to know the Lord experientially and continually. This is the reason John says in 2:3, “And in this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments.” This refers to our experiential knowledge of God in our daily walk, a knowledge related to our intimate fellowship with Him.
In 2:4 John goes on to say, “He who says, I have known Him, and is not keeping His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in this one.” According to 2:3 and 4, knowing the Lord involves keeping His commandments. Then in verse 5 John speaks of keeping His word. The “word” in verse 5 is synonymous with “commandments” in verses 3 and 4. “Commandments” emphasizes injunction; the “word” implies spirit and life as a supply to us (John 6:63).
To take the Lord’s word simply means to receive His divine supply. This supply is always contained in the Lord’s word and is conveyed to us by His word. Therefore, the Lord’s word is a channel through which the divine supply of life reaches us. For example, electricity flows from the power plant into a building through wires. We may say that the wires are the container of electricity and the means through which it is conveyed from the power plant into a building. The word of the Lord can be compared to such an electrical wire. As electricity comes from the power plant into a building by passing through the wires, so the heavenly electricity flows into us through the channel of the Lord’s word.
We all must come to know the Lord experientially. In our knowing of Him, we need to take His word in order to receive His supply. Because the Lord’s word is the channel that brings us the divine supply, we need to take His word into us in a living way. This is the reason I encourage you to pray-read the Word of God.
The divine supply that comes to us through the Word has a particular expression, and this expression is the divine light. Whenever we receive the Lord’s word into us, the essence of the divine supply comes in with light as its expression. When the supply comes, light comes with it. From experience we know that whenever we receive the Lord’s word, we have light. Light is the essence of God’s expression. In the light, that is, in the essence of God’s expression, we have love as the essence of God’s being. This is the way to enjoy the love of God. We receive the Word, and light comes. Whenever light comes, love is spontaneously present.
With this love which we enjoy in the divine light, we first love God. We love Him not by our own love, by our natural love, but by His own love which we experience and enjoy. Moreover, when we love God, we also love every one begotten of Him. This means that when we love the Father, we love His children. Therefore, in this way we love the brothers. Because we love the brothers, we spontaneously have the desire to participate in the church life. In particular, we want to be in the meetings of the church.
When we receive the Lord’s word through pray-reading, we receive light. Then in the light we have love for God and for all the saints. However, if we do not receive the Word and thus are not in the light with the love, we may be rather indifferent toward the saints and toward the church life. Should we meet a brother in the Lord, we may not even have the desire to greet him warmly. But when we receive the Word and are in the light, spontaneously we experience God’s love. We have the strong sense within that we love the Lord. Then if we meet a brother, we shall have the feeling that he is lovable and that we love him. Our response to him will be a response of love. Instead of being cold or indifferent, we shall have a genuine feeling of warmth toward him.
In order to have the fellowship that is for the church life, we need brotherly love. If we would have this love, we need to know the Lord experientially. As those who know the Lord, we need to take His word again and again. When we take the Word, we receive light. In this light we spontaneously have love. This love is a strong indication that we also have the Lord Himself, for love is the essence of God’s being. As light is the nature of God’s expression, love is the nature of God’s being. This means that when we have God’s love, we actually have God Himself. With this love, the divine love experienced and enjoyed by us, we love God and His children. When we have this love for God and for the children of God, we have the church life. As we have pointed out, this love actually is the church life.
Love is both a condition of the divine fellowship and the result of experiencing this fellowship. The love that issues from the divine light, the light that comes when we receive the Lord’s word in our knowing of Him, is the very fellowship that is for the church life. May we all have this love, the love of God, perfected in us so that we may maintain the divine fellowship for the church life.
