Search
In this message we come to the very crucial matter of the fellowship among the churches.
As we consider the fellowship among the churches, we need to realize that the churches are the Body of Christ. There are many churches, yet one Body.
Just as there is the circulation of blood in the human body, so there is a kind of circulation in the Body of Christ, a circulation which the New Testament calls fellowship. The circulation of blood in the human body is the life-pulse of the body. We may say that this circulation is the fellowship of the human body. The body cannot live without this circulation, this fellowship. Likewise, fellowship is crucial in the Body of Christ.
Fellowship is a common participation, a joint participation. Therefore, to have fellowship is to have a corporate participation in something. The fellowship of the divine life is the issue and flow of the divine life. Because the divine life is organic, rich, moving, and active, it has a particular issue, a certain kind of outcome. The issue, the outcome, of the divine life is the fellowship of life.
This fellowship is first mentioned in Acts 2:42, a verse which speaks of the fellowship of the apostles. The fellowship of the apostles is the fellowship received by the apostles from the Triune God. According to 1 John 1:3, this fellowship is “with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” This fellowship is from the Father and the Son to the apostles, and then from the apostles to all those who have received eternal life, the life of the Father. This means that the apostles receive the fellowship from the Father and transmit this fellowship to the believers by dispensing the divine life into them. Therefore, three parties are involved: the Father, the apostles, and the believers. Among these three parties something is circulating. This is the circulation of the divine life among the believers through the apostles and from the Father. This circulation is the fellowship of the Body, which comprises all the local churches. All the churches on earth are one Body, and within this Body there is the circulation of the divine life. In the New Testament this circulation of the divine life in the Body is called the fellowship.
Fellowship is related to oneness. Just as the circulation of blood in the human body causes all the members of the body to be one, so the fellowship of the divine life in the Body of Christ causes the Body to be one. If any member of our physical body does not participate adequately in the circulation of blood in the body, that member will become unhealthy. The way to cure such a problem is to bring that member back into the circulation of the blood. The principle is the same with the fellowship of the Body of Christ. All those who believe in Christ Jesus, who have received Him as Redeemer, Savior, and life supply, have the divine life. This divine life has a circulation; that is, the divine life circulates within all of us. This circulation of the divine life in the Body brings all the members of the Body into oneness. This oneness is called the oneness of the Spirit; it is also the oneness of the Body. As long as we have the divine life flowing within us, we are in this oneness, the oneness of the Body, the oneness among all the saints. This oneness includes not only the believers but also the Triune God. This is the fellowship among the churches.
If we realize what the fellowship among the churches is, we shall not have the concept that a local church should be altogether independent. In its local administration a local church is independent. However, according to the nature, essence, and intrinsic element of the church, no local church can be independent. To be independent is to be in darkness. Many Christian groups are in darkness because they have cut themselves off from the one, divine fellowship of the unique, divine life, the life of the Triune God. This may become the situation even with a church in the Lord’s recovery if that church makes itself isolated and independent. No church or region should be isolated from the fellowship of the Body.
The Brethren were raised up in Great Britain a century and a half ago. They were very good, and we received much help from them. However, they made some serious mistakes. One of these mistakes was placing too much emphasis on the independence of the local assembly. It seems that the Brethren either did not see or forgot that a local church is a part of the unique Body of Christ.
It is possible that, among us in the Lord’s recovery, certain churches or regions may make themselves independent. They may isolate themselves from the Body. They do not want to keep their church or their region open to the entire Body, that is, open to all the local churches on earth. As a result, to some extent at least, they cut themselves off from the fellowship among the churches. The result is darkness, confusion, division, and death. This should be a warning to us all. Whoever has the intention, either consciously or unconsciously, to separate his area from the fellowship of the Body of Christ eventually will suffer darkness, confusion, division, and death. Just as a member of the human body cannot live if it is separated from the circulation of blood in the body, so a church cannot be in a healthy condition if it isolates itself from the fellowship of the Body of Christ. From this we see that we all need to pay careful attention to the crucial matter of the one fellowship among the churches.
Although the administration of the church is separate and equal locally, the fellowship of the church is one universally. In fellowship there is no separation. On this entire earth there is only one fellowship, and this fellowship is universally one. The fellowship of the church is one not merely in a particular nation but throughout the earth. There are separate churches in many cities, but there is only one fellowship in the entire universe.
The fellowship among the churches is the fellowship of the Body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 10:16 and 17 Paul says, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a fellowship of the body of Christ? Seeing that we who are many are one bread, one Body; for we all partake of the one bread.” The Greek word rendered “fellowship” here also means Joint participation. In verse 16 fellowship refers to the believers’ communion in the joint participation in the body and blood of Christ. This makes us, the participants of the Lord’s blood and body, one not only with one another but also with the Lord. We, the participants, make ourselves identified with the Lord in the fellowship of His blood and body.
In verse 17 Paul speaks a strong word concerning the one bread and the one Body, saying that we are one bread, one Body, because we all partake of the one bread. Our joint partaking of the one bread makes us all one. This indicates that our partaking of Christ makes us all His one Body. The very Christ of whom we all partake constitutes us into His one Body.
If we isolate ourselves from the fellowship of the Body, we are not qualified to partake of the Lord’s body, because the loaf on the table in the Lord’s supper signifies the entire Body of Christ. To be sure, the loaf signifies the Lord’s physical body sacrificed for us on the cross. This is one aspect of the significance of the bread. Another aspect of this significance is that the bread signifies the one Body. Hence, when we come together to partake of the Lord’s table, we need to realize that the bread, the loaf, signifies all the churches. If the church in our locality or the churches in a particular region are isolated from the fellowship of the Body of Christ, we lose the ground and also the right to partake of this loaf. Whenever we come to the Lord’s table, we come to practice the fellowship of the Body. The Lord’s table is not simply a remembrance of the Lord; it is also a testimony that we who belong to Christ are one.
The fellowship of the Body of Christ, which is the fellowship among the churches, is the fellowship of the apostles. Acts 2:42 tells us that the believers continued steadfastly in the fellowship of the apostles. Just as the teaching of the apostles is unique, so the fellowship of the apostles also is unique. From this we see that all Christians should have one fellowship, the unique fellowship, which is the fellowship of the apostles.
This fellowship is mentioned in 1 John 1:3. “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.” The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia meaning joint participation, common participation. It is the issue of eternal life, and it is actually the flow of eternal life within all the believers who have received and possess the divine life. It is illustrated by the flow of the water of life in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 22:1). Hence, as indicated by Acts 2:42, all genuine believers are in this fellowship. It is carried on by the Spirit in our regenerated spirit. Therefore, it is called “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Cor. 13:14) and “fellowship of [our] spirit” (Phil. 2:1). Such a fellowship was first the apostles’ portion in enjoying the Father and Son through the Spirit. For this reason it is called the fellowship of the apostles in Acts 2:42 and “the fellowship which is ours [the apostles’]” in 1 John 1:3.
The word fellowship used in Acts 2:42 and 1 John 1:3 indicates the putting away of private interests and the joining with others for a certain common purpose. Hence, to have fellowship with the apostles, to be in the fellowship of the apostles, and to have fellowship with the Triune God in the apostles’ fellowship, is to put away our private interests and join with the apostles and the Triune God for the carrying out of God’s purpose. Our participation in the apostles’ enjoyment of the Triune God is our joining with them and with the Triune God for His purpose, which is common to God, the apostles, and all the believers.
According to Acts 2:42, in the first church life there was only one fellowship, and that fellowship was of the apostles. The apostles’ fellowship includes all genuine believers. In the church life in the Lord’s recovery we follow and practice the fellowship of the apostles.
The fellowship among the churches is also the fellowship with the Triune God. First John 1:3b says, “The fellowship which is ours is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” The fellowship of the divine life is between the believers and the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. First John 1:3 says that the believers first have fellowship with the apostles through the divine life, and then this verse says that the apostles have fellowship with the Father and the Son. By this we see that fellowship joins the believers to the apostles and to the Father and the Son. Therefore, in this fellowship there is the full oneness of the divine life.
In 1 John 1:3 only the Father and the Son are mentioned, not the Spirit, because the Spirit is implied in the fellowship. Actually, the fellowship of the eternal life is the impartation of the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — into the believers as their unique portion for them to enjoy today and for eternity. It is in this fellowship of eternal life that we participate in all that the Father and the Son are and have done for us; that is, we enjoy the love of the Father and the grace of the Son by virtue of the fellowship of the Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14).
Our fellowship with the Triune God, the fellowship of the divine life, is portrayed in Revelation 22:1. In this verse we see that in the New Jerusalem the river of the water of life flows out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, that is, out of the throne of the Lamb-God, the redeeming God. Out of this redeeming God as the source flows the river of water of life. The flow of the river of water of life is the fellowship of life. According to the picture here, the river in the New Jerusalem flows downward in a spiral until it reaches the twelve gates of the city. This indicates that the entire city of the New Jerusalem is supplied by the flow of this living water; that is, it is supplied by the fellowship of life. The fellowship of the divine life flows out of the Triune God and through His people in order to reach every part of the Body of Christ, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem.
When we enjoy the Triune God in the divine fellowship, we shall be brought into a situation where spontaneously we join ourselves to the apostles and the Triune God for a common purpose. God has a purpose, and the apostles work out this purpose. By enjoying the divine life in fellowship with the Triune God, we participate in this purpose and its outworking.
The purpose the Triune God desires to fulfill through the apostles and also through us is first that the believers would grow in the divine life by abiding in the Triune God (1 John 2:12-27) and, based on the divine birth, live a life of the divine righteousness and the divine love (1 John 2:28 — 5:3) to overcome the world, sin, death, the Devil, and idols (1 John 5:4-21). Second, God’s purpose is that the local churches would be built up as the testimony of Jesus and that ultimately this testimony would consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal expression of the Triune God. This is God’s purpose, and this is the burden of the apostles in their work. They have this purpose in common with God. Now we should join them in the fellowship of the divine life, and this enjoyment of fellowship in the divine life will usher us into the interests the apostles have in common with the Triune God. Along with the Triune God and the apostles, our purpose will be the believers’ growth in life and their living a life of righteousness and love to overcome negative things so that the local churches may be built up and issue in the New Jerusalem as the consummate expression of the processed Triune God.
The fellowship of the Body of Christ is expressed and practiced in our partaking of Christ’s blood and body at the Lord’s table (1 Cor. 10:16, 21). As we partake of the table of the Lord, we need to realize that this partaking is a fellowship, a participation, in the fellowship of the Lord’s Body. We drink the cup of the Lord and partake of the table of the Lord. The cup, which is the cup of blessing, is a fellowship of the blood of Christ, and the bread is a fellowship of the body of Christ. Christ, the all-inclusive One, has given His body for us to eat and His blood for us to drink that we may enjoy Him. As such an all-inclusive One presenting Himself to us for our enjoyment, Christ is the embodiment of the processed Triune God, who through death and resurrection, has become the life-giving Spirit. Today the One who presents His body and blood to us is Christ as the life-giving Spirit. As we enjoy Him in partaking of His blood and body at His table, we express and practice the fellowship of the Body of Christ, the unique fellowship among the churches.
