0077. 74. “Brotherland”

74. “Brotherland”

“All one in Christ.” If we are in Christ, we share a common brotherhood in Him. One relates how, in the days of the war, “I was at the front in the early days, and after a bad bit of an engagement I came upon a German officer in a shell-hole. He was in a terrible state, poor fellow, and we couldn’t take him in, so I decided to stay with him. His mind was perfectly clear, and he said, ‘Colonel, don’t you think this is strange?’ ‘What’s strange?’ I asked. ‘Well,’ said he, ‘if you and I had met in the trenches, I suppose you would have tried to kill me for the sake of the Motherland, and I should have tried to kill you for the sake of Fatherland; yet here you are trying to save me for the sake of—Brotherland.’ More of the same kind he said in those last hours, and when the end came he was in my arms and his head was on my breast, and I don’t mind telling you I—I kissed him.”

The Brotherhood of Believers in Christ—

1. Christ Himself is the Centre of brotherhood—Joh_17:6.

2. Faith in Christ is the Beginning of Brotherhood—Joh_1:12.

3. The Holy Spirit is the Power of Brotherhood—1Co_12:13.

4. The Word of God is the Guide of Brotherhood—Col_3:11.

5. Love is the Evidence of Brotherhood—Joh_13:34, Joh_13:35.

6. The recognition of Christ is the Responsibility of Brotherhood—1Co_12:1-27.

7. The witness of Christ to the World is the Business of Brotherhood—Joh_17:21.

By: DR. F. E. MARSH