The first assembly failure was
in the realm of brotherly relations. "There arose a murmuring of the
Hellenists against the Hebrews because their widows were overlooked in the
daily ministration" (Acts 6:1 J.N.D. trans.). It is probable that the root
of all the departure and consequent loss of blessing could be traced to the
weakening and giving up of those links of love which normally bind the
believers together. The assemblies soon became congregations, and the warmth
and liberty of the family circle were lost. When the saints ceased to love one
another as Christ loved them, they had really left their first love and had
fallen and needed to repent and do the first works. The Lord would have us to
be very sensitive as to the maintenance of happy relations with our brethren.
"If therefore thou shouldest offer thy gift at the altar, and there
shouldest remember that thy brother has something against thee, leave there thy
gift before the altar, and first go, be reconciled to thy brother, and then
come and offer thy gift" (Matt. 5:23,24, J.N.D. trans.). These words of
the Lord suggest that in approaching God, our hearts would be sensitive to
recall anything that our brother has against us, and we should feel that we
must be reconciled to him before we can offer to God. If this were attended to
there would be no such outstanding grievances as sometimes go on for long
periods and have a paralyzing effect on liberty in the service of God.

In the assembly in Philadelphia we see what is prophetic of assembly revival in a remnant at the end. Philadelphia means "the love of the brethren." Recovery lies in coming back to
this. If we love the brethren we shall not imagine evil against them in our
hearts, nor shall we speak evil of them nor do them any harm. We shall in every
way seek their good, and this can only be by the pursuit of holiness and truth.
We shall want them all to be loved complacently by Christ, and therefore we
shall be intolerant of anything in them which Christ hates.

We are brethren as in wilderness
conditions, but we are also brethren as in the land. It is to be noted that
Paul writes to the Colossians and to the Ephesians on the ground that he has
heard of their "love towards all the saints." It would seem that this
was a necessary condition for the opening up of the heavenly position of the
saints. I believe that as the love of the brethren waned, they lost capacity to
appreciate these two epistles. The secret of Israel’s losing "the
land" was the breakdown of their brotherly relations. So it is stated:
"The land was desolate after them . . . they laid the pleasant land
desolate" (Zech. 7:14). It is solemn to think that the assembly lost
"the land," in any practical sense, for the same reason that Israel lost it. "The land" can only be enjoyed in the divine nature, which we
have as born of God, and it manifests itself in the love of the brethren. So we
may all understand the line along which God is working for recovery today.

FRAGMENT:
Any wolf can scatter sheep. It takes a Shepherd to keep them together.