“ONE ANOTHER"

R.D.Plant

1 John 1: 5-7; Galatians 6: 2; Hebrews 10: 24,25; Mark 9: 50 (from "Have salt in")

I think the brethren will see that all these scriptures are linked together by the reference to one another. I believe that one of the greatest blessings that we have is one another. We have the truth that we have been speaking of, preserved and brought down to us in our day, and we have the Holy Spirit, God's wonderful free gift. These are very great things, but numbered amongst the greatest things that we have is one another. The old hymn says 'Count your many blessings, name them one by one'; do we ever do that? It is one thing to sing those words but do we ever do it? Count our blessings! How many things are blessings to us, beloved! Look at a company like this, it could have been so different but for God's goodness to us. Think of our beloved brethren in some countries where they are very small; they do not have the numbers that we have and yet they, I think, enjoy in some measure the fulness of the blessing of one another.

Now as with all our blessings down here, if we have it, we need to maintain it, need to work at it to keep it in its right order, keep it enjoyable; we cannot be neglectful of anything in divine things, for if we do, we lose the savour and edge of it. There is nothing that the devil is trying to attack more, I believe, than our links with one another, and it might be well in this meeting to speak briefly of where Scripture speaks of one another, our relations together.

If you look through the scriptures you will find many "fellowship of his sufferings", Phil 3: 10. These are things we would know something about and enter into feelingly. Fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ references to it. I could not read them all, I have just selected one or two. One of the things the Lord Jesus says is "love one another; as I have loved you” John 13: 34. That is greater than in the Old Testament, of course which speaks of "love thy neighbour as thyself” Lev 19: 18. We were speaking the other week somewhere of love's obligations put upon us, referring to the woman in 2 Kings 4 who could not meet her righteous obligations; that would be one of them, one of the obligations that the Lord, you may say, has laid gently upon us; "love one another; as I have loved you". That woman could not pay, she was in debt, not in the sense of the gospel debt, but she could not meet her obligations. It may be that we find it difficult, sometimes, to love the brethren; it is not always easy, is it? That woman was like that, she could not pay, and she was going to lose everything because of it. Beloved brethren, if we cannot meet that obligation of loving the brethren we will lose the joy of everything too, because what we have involves the saints. You will remember that the prophet shows the woman the value of the oil. In these obligations God has provided the means for us to meet them in the Spirit.

In our first scripture it says "But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another". This is a very wonderful thing; it is not exactly "the fellowship of his Son" (1 Cor 1: 9); we are called to that, a great and glorious matter; or the "fellowship of his sufferings” Phil 3: 10. These are things we would know something about and enter into feelingly. Fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord would involve great dignity; it is what belongs to every believer. It is not something that is passing, something that is insignificant, but something that is glorious. Every believer is called into that wonderful fellowship of His Son. That would involve affection - His Son - but then also, Jesus Christ our Lord, there is power in it too. Commit yourself to the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and you come into a sphere of affection and power. Draw upon that power. He is Lord of all; soon it will be seen publicly that He is Lord of all. The fellowship of His sufferings; I believe we can all understand what that means; it means that our time down here is not going to be an easy passage, it will involve reproach, it will involve sufferings, it is the fellowship of His sufferings. But this scripture speaks of fellowship "with one another", and that is another aspect of it. I just wanted to speak about because I think it is a very blessed one. There are certain things we do not have to forget. We have been speaking about the highest truth, heavenly truth, but let us not forget the detailed things either - fellowship with one another, every one bought by the precious blood of Jesus. In the associations of men, from the bit that I have observed of them anyway, you will probably find that a man joins one association and he may join another one as well and all his energies and efforts seem to be somewhat scattered, and the persons he is in association with are all different kinds of people with different interests; but fellowship with one another involves that we have one interest. That is surely why a true believer could not wittingly and willingly enter into any other association, because he has one interest, and that is Christ. Every one in the fellowship of God's Son, every one in this fellowship that we have read of here, loves Jesus, and more than that, is loved of Him. Every one has no prospect, in that sense, in this world down here but he is looking for another. You can look upon the saints, upon one another, and trust yourself to them; they do not have any ambitions that you hinder, they do not have any desire to belittle you; the saints love one another. They are not trying to do things for ulterior motives, there is none of that in fellowship with one another, and if we walk in the light as He is in the light, that is what we have. The light of the shining of God in Jesus, how wonderful it is beloved! He has taken away all our load, all our indebtedness, taken away all the deviousness that has marked us where we have had to hide things from our fellow men, from our family, from our brethren, taken away all those things and removed them in His death. What a light! a light that has exposed us and revealed the heart of the blessed God. So it says "if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another". Do we enjoy it, dear brethren? You will soon find out; if there are things you do not want the brethren to know about you will soon find that the fellowship is curtailed. If there are some places you go to that you do not want the brethren to know about, then you are not walking in the light. I am not speaking about grossly wrong things nor am I suggesting that we should tell each other all of our business; but characteristically we should be persons who walk in the light as He is in the light. We do not have to live with the fear that the brethren may find out something about us that would be a disappointment or a sorrow to them. Are we walking in the light? I think, dear brethren, we need to enjoy fellowship with one another; enjoy fully the trust and confidence that fellowship properly brings. That woman in Kings says "I dwell among mine own people" (v 13). That is a very fine expression - I dwell among them. The prophet asks "wouldest thou be spoken for to the king" or some favour like it? She says "I dwell among mine own people". Do you count it like that, beloved? Do you count fellowship with one another as one of the greatest blessings, one of the greatest treasures that we have, something to be enjoyed, something to lean upon? Even the different characteristics among the brethren are part of the enjoyment; no one is the same, every one is different, every one looks at things in a slightly different way, a different way from you. Fellowship with one another in the light of the death and the glory of Jesus; the light of that shining is a sphere into which we can come and enjoy its warmth and blessing. Sometimes we may feel jaded after the day's work, when things have not gone right, sometimes it goes on like that for a long time; come among the saints and enjoy fellowship with one another. You cannot have that at work, can you? We cannot have that sort of blessing there but come amongst the saints and wherever we go we can enjoy fellowship with one another. What the blood of Jesus has secured, beloved! What the work of Christ has done for you and me! We are nonentities in the world but He has brought us among the nobles of His people, amongst the very best.

I had an experience just a few weeks ago when I went to a brother's house. He did not know I was coming and I knocked on the door and there was no answer so I looked through the window and he was kneeling down and praying, and I realised what God had in that man and the privilege that God had given us in fellowship with one another. We need to think of these things beloved. I learnt something that day that several years had not produced. He did not even know that I was there, but I knew about it, someone was praying, perhaps he was praying for me. Many have prayed for me, many have prayed for you too and perhaps still are. Many young people here are the subjects of constant prayer, prayer that they might be preserved, prayer initially that they might come to Christ, prayer that they might be presented in relation to the testimony. How much prayer has gone up on our behalf, how much preservation there has been through the prayers of the saints - it is part of this fellowship with one another. Think of those dear brethren out in South Africa - we often think of them - outwardly they are alone, but how much more lonely it would be if there were not fellowship with one another. Think of the volume of prayer that goes up, hardly a week goes by when our dear brethren are not prayed for. Fellowship with one another - let us value it, beloved brethren. It supersedes by far anything the world can offer you, beloved young one, anything that you may find attractive in the world. Let me tell you this from a little bit of experience, that fellowship with one another is far greater and far more lasting than anything you will ever find; the warmth, the sincerity, the blessedness of it all comes from Jesus - we love because He first loved us.

Now there are certain things which I wanted to draw attention to, all involved in this great matter, and the first is in Galatians: "Bear one another's burdens". Later on it says "For each shall bear his own burden" (v 5); coming three verses later it might seem an anomaly. If you read the note you will find that there are different words for 'burden'. The first one we read which is as in Matt 20: 12, refers to the heat of the day; the other in verse 5 is the one used by the Lord Jesus when He said "my burden is light" (Matt 11: 30); and in that way, I suppose, we have our part in helping to carry things in the testimony, and we are glad of the power of the Spirit to do this; but the other burdens, the heat of the day, are the test. Paul is saying here in Galatians; "Bear one another's burdens".

I think it is a good thing to look and see whether we have done that sufficiently in our local places and in the situation generally. We have often said that heavy burdens are being borne by the saints. Hardly a family, hardly a person in this room, has not been touched by the sorrow of the breakdown, and sometimes at particular times these things become a burden that is almost too great to bear. We can help one another in simple things: if we know a few dates about one another, and one another's families, we might be able to bear one another's burdens more. You might think that is simple. If, for instance, someone has lost their husband or wife, and you know the date of it, you might be able to help bear the burden of it, put your shoulder to it and help lift it. The sorrows of the testimony weigh upon the brethren, the sorrows of families; let us help to lift them, let us not always think of ourselves (and who of us does not think of ourselves?), but let us think of ourselves less and think of one another more. It is the exercise of bearing burdens out of sight, it is not a public matter, you do not do it in the meeting. The first thing we need to do if we are going to bear one another's burdens is to know about each other, know about one another s exercises, know about our weaknesses, know about the things that weigh upon us. "Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfil the law of the Christ". Have you ever done it in your place? Just to speak to someone sometimes helps to lift a burden. I love to speak to the brethren. I do not understand persons not speaking to each other; it may not be deliberate, I am not saying it is deliberate, but they just do not think of it. This is the company of the saints, persons whom God has given me to walk with one another, in the blessedness of the fellowship of His Son. You might think this is too simple, but try it, there is always a blessing connected with lifting the burden a little. We did not choose the company for ourselves, God chose it for us. In Luke 10 it says he looked at him and passed by on the opposite side (see v 31). One of the most well-worn tracks in the world is the opposite side. You know that there are problems but you go over to the opposite side. Do you do that in your local meeting, beloved? You may say, He has had that coming to him. Think of the Samaritan! he came up to him and bound up his wounds; there was no reproach, no condemnation, for that man in Luke 10, no charge against him. He had gone down from Jerusalem to Jericho, it was all his own fault without any mitigation. They had a look at him and passed by on the opposite side, but the Samaritan coming up to him bound up his wounds. I think we need to do a bit more burden bearing, beloved, for one another, and help to put our shoulder to it. The younger ones can even do it, even the physical burdens. Go and do a bit of burden bearing, go and see what you can do, go and speak to the brethren and find out what their exercises are. You will not always find it is easy, sometimes it is difficult, sometimes you may find plenty of complaining, but just put your shoulder to the burden and help to bear it and you will find a blessing, a blessing from God in connection with it. So we should bear one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ. I leave that with you. I do not know that I could explain fully what that means, but it simply says "the law of the Christ”.

The scripture in Hebrews is well known. I did not intend to speak about the gathering of ourselves together, but I think it is a matter which needs attention, and encouraging one another is connected with it. It says "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom is with some", the apostle must have thought it was worth writing then, so it must be worth reading now. Is the gathering of ourselves together being neglected, beloved? is it being forsaken? Could it be said of me, He never comes out on Tuesdays? Have I forsaken it, as it says here, "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom is with some; but encouraging one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching". The true blessing of what we have is found in the local assembly. If I do not find that so for myself I need to get to the Lord Jesus about it. Such meetings as these are a bonus and three-day meetings are a bonus; the wealth of what we have is in the local meeting, and that is usually the place where the forsaking of the assembly starts. You do not find any shortage of persons going to three-day meetings, but what about the prayer meeting? Encourage one another, it says. I would encourage the dear brethren to take full advantage of the gatherings of the saints. I feel very sorry when I hear of various places where the ministry meeting, not through shortage of numbers but perhaps through a certain failing in desire, is put on to a longer time-table, we may say. I do not want to criticise, and I am sure in some cases there is a very good reason, but, beloved, the Lord Jesus loves to come to the gatherings of the saints. "Behold, he cometh! Leaping upon the mountains, Skipping upon the hills", Song of Sol 2: 8. You say, I do not feel so good tonight; there will only be Mr So-and-so out and someone else will not be there, and we shall be small - Behold, He cometh! I think we need to take our directions not from one another but from Him, and He loves to come. I do not think the Lord Jesus misses any meetings, and we should be there. I know there is what is practical, I am not speaking about that but about desire, and seeking to encourage one another, "and by so much more as ye see the day drawing near". I remember Mr Hibbert telling us once that he did not think the homework would suffer if we took advantage of the presence of the Lord Jesus in the local meeting. The Lord has taken our brother but part of the inheritance of our fathers has remained. He said to us in London, These things do not seem to mean much to some people, but they mean something to me. Is that you, beloved? Is that how you feel about what the Lord Jesus has preserved to us in these days? May it always be so, beloved. Let us encourage one another and so much the more as we see the day drawing near. Maybe we are in the last year, maybe we are in the last month, the last week, the last day of the assembly's history down here. Let us therefore encourage one another, and the greatest encouragement I know is to be amongst the saints, to be amongst the Lord's people. You do not need to worry too much about what you have, you do not need to feel too much the burden about what you have to say and carry; as you are available to the Lord in the local assembly you will find there is far more comes in than you thought, far more contributions, far more thoughts. How good it is! You do not need to get too tensed up; some of us do that, but think of the wealth that flows out from the saints. So let us encourage one another and do not let us forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

Finally, in Mark, it says "and be at peace with one another". Before that it says "Have salt in yourselves". I think it would mean that there is a certain sharpness about our links together, a certain savour to them. The only way we have salt, as far as I can see, is as we maintain ourselves in self-judgment and in right relations with the Lord Jesus. You do not come to the meetings dull and dead and edgy and all these things, you have salt in yourselves. One of the ingredients of the local assembly is to have salt there, what is preservative there; there is no preservation in just letting things go. Peace at any price? we will not say anything about this and that because it will just cause trouble. Have salt in yourselves, preserve yourself and preserve one another. We need to do that; we need, as it says, to admonish one another (see Col 3: 16); if necessary we need to be able to do that because it is for salvation and blessing. Dear brethren, some of our beloved brethren have gone, we have lost them for the moment. It says of Paul and Barnabas that they parted from one another (see Acts 15: 39). Think of that! Think of all the affection and enjoyment that Paul had had in the company of Barnabas, of the way the truth had been developed through them, and then there arose very warm feeling and they separated from one another. You may say, Barnabas missed the track, he went away from the main line of things in Paul. So he did, but thank God he was recovered later; but the scripture chooses to say that they separated from one another, and I think Paul missed him, you know. We miss our beloved brethren who have gone, I think we miss them in every place. Let us be more prayerful and perhaps more energetic, as Joseph of old was, in seeking our brethren, because we feel the loss, for the moment anyway, of fellowship with one another. May it be so for His Name's sake.

MAIDSTONE

28 November 1981