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Experience shows that most of a believer’s problems are related to fellowship. If a believer has normal fellowship, his life will be normal. Hence, new believers must have a good understanding of this lesson and practice it. Since this is a very broad topic, we will cover it in a few lessons.
Fellowship is the contact between God and man. This, however, is a shallow definition. Fellowship also includes the mutual contact among God’s people. In a deeper sense, fellowship is a kind of mutual flow. The blending and flowing of two kinds of liquids is a mutual flow. In one sense, fellowship is a two-way contact, but in a deeper sense, it is a mutual flow. Something flows into us from God, and something flows from us to God. At the same time, as God’s people, something flows mutually among us. This is what we call fellowship.
The Christian life is a life of fellowship. A believer cannot be independent; neither can he be individualistic. Being independent is toward God, and being individualistic is toward other believers. No believer should be separated from God and live an independent life. Anyone who is separated from God and becomes independent from Him can no longer live a normal Christian life. A believer who is severed from God is a Christian in name only, but he is no longer a Christian in his practical living. We may be a Christian in name and in position and yet no longer be one in our practical living. Whether we live a Christian life in reality depends on whether we are living a life in fellowship with God or are independent from God. Being independent from God means that we have broken our relationship with Him and have lost the mutual flow with Him. Thus, God is separate from us, and we are separate from God. There is no flow joining us and God. We are separated from one another.
Man’s eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis 3 was according to the principle of independence from God. The principle of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is that man lives and works apart from God. Man lives without God, without needing God, without having God, without depending on God, and without contacting God. This is the principle of independence, the principle of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The principle of the tree of life is the opposite. Its principle is dependence, not independence. In the universe anything dead is independent and unrelated to other things, but anything living is dependent. As long as a tree is living, it relies on soil, and as long as a fish is living, it relies on water. But once they die, soil and water mean nothing; the tree is independent from the soil, and the fish is independent from the water. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil results in death; therefore, its principle is independence. The tree of life results in man having life; therefore, its principle is a continual dependence on God. The entire Christian living should be of life. There should not be any trace of death. Nevertheless, whenever we are independent from God and live according to the principle of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we are living in death, not in life. Regardless of whether we are working, studying, taking care of our family, or doing other things, as long as we do these things on our own, apart from God, we are cut off from fellowship with God. This is abnormal. A normal Christian life is a life of fellowship. This means that we cannot be separated from God; we cannot be independent from God. From the day of our salvation we no longer exist as individuals, and we should no longer be independent.
Today people love to speak concerning freedom and independence. Although it may be right for human beings to speak in this way, it is abnormal for Christians to speak in this way, because Christians are the most dependent people. Whenever a believer becomes independent, he is no longer a believer in his living. Christians are people who depend entirely on God. Without God they do not have life, without God they cannot live, and without God they will fall into death.
Even if we do something very proper, we will be dead if we are independent from God, because the principle of independence is death. We usually pay attention to whether something is right or wrong or good or bad, but these are moral concepts. Being pious is a religious concept. Our concept in God’s salvation should not be morality or religion; it should be fellowship. We may be right in doing something, but we should ask whether it was done in fellowship. We must ask whether we did it independently from God or in fellowship with God. Therefore, a life of fellowship means that we have fellowship with God, are connected to Him, and have a mutual flow with Him in everything. We should not focus on doing things that are right, good, or godly. Rather, we should focus on whether we are joined to God, connected to Him, and in a mutual flow with Him when doing things that are right, good, or godly. We should focus on not being separated from God.
Before a person is saved, he may be the most independent person on earth. He may be great, capable, and able to do everything by himself. But once this great and capable person is saved, he becomes a dependent person. Without God he cannot live, make decisions, or have an opinion. Previously, he had his own point of view, method, and insight concerning everything. But from the day he becomes a Christian, he is changed and can no longer decide things on his own or be independent. He feels that he needs to contact and consult God related to every problem he encounters, that is, to bring every matter to the Lord and to consider, examine, and determine things before Him. This believer is the best type of Christian. In this respect, every Christian needs to be weak to the extent that he neither has his own ideas, makes his own decisions, or takes any action related to what he encounters without contacting the Lord and consulting with Him, allowing Him to make the decisions. This is the best and sweetest living of a Christian.
We need to realize that every descendant of Adam, every fallen man, is very strong and independent. This applies both to men and women and to the elderly and children. We can all find a way out of any situation and cope with problems on our own. We have all had this experience. Therefore, one of the consequences of being saved is that strong, independent persons such as ourselves become weak and are no longer strong or independent. We feel that we have no alternative but to fellowship with God in all things, discuss all things with Him, and allow Him to handle all things, speak in all things, and make every decision. Whenever we encounter something, our being is softened. We feel that we cannot do anything without Him. Therefore, we depend on Him and rely on Him. We are not independent persons, but we are dependent persons. Today it is shameful for someone to be referred to as a dependent person; rather, it is considered an honor to be self-supporting and independent. However, for a Christian to be self-supporting and independent is shameful, not glorious. It is glorious for a Christian to be dependent. No normal Christian can be independent. We depend on another One — God — at every moment and in every matter.
A life of fellowship not only has the aspect of not being independent but also has the aspect of not being individualistic. This means that we not only need God, but we also need other Christians, other brothers and sisters. On the one hand, we are not independent from God; on the other hand, we are not individualistic toward the brothers and sisters. We must all be very clear that the nature of Christians is that of a flock. In the Bible Christians are likened to sheep. Sheep are always in a flock. They always flock together. Individual sheep cannot survive very easily, but in a flock one can survive easily. Christians are not like butterflies flying around individually. Rather, we are like bees, which are always in a swarm. Hence, as Christians, our nature is altogether corporate and related to being in a flock.
If we desire to be a normal Christian, we must not be independent toward God and individualistic toward the brothers and sisters. We fellowship with God and with the brothers and sisters in all matters. We have God, and we have the brothers and sisters. Hence, in everything we can say, “I have consulted with God, and I have also conferred and considered it with my brothers and sisters.” If we are like this, everything we do will be safe and secure, and it will definitely be full of light, peace, and sweetness. When we are living in this way, we are living in fellowship, and this kind of life is called the life of fellowship.
In this life of fellowship we must constantly see that we not only have God but also have the brothers and sisters. It is true that as a Christian we should keep certain things to ourselves. But one thing is certain: the more we open to the brothers and sisters, the better Christians we will be. As long as we have thoroughly fellowshipped with at least two or three saints, we can be assured that it will not be easy for us to make a mistake; at least, we will not sin. There is hardly anything in our Christian life that does not require fellowship with the saints. There are bound to be risks and mistakes in anything we initiate, decide, and do on our own. Being individualistic, not fellowshipping, is a mistake in itself. The best way for us to keep from sinning and from making mistakes is to fellowship with the saints in everything. For example, if we want to watch a movie, we should first fellowship with the saints to see if we should watch the movie or if they would watch the movie with us. We will be clear once we fellowship. Another example is playing sports. We should fellowship with the saints concerning our being involved in certain kinds of sports. There is a greater likelihood that we are doing something right if a brother can go with us and fellowship with us. If what we do is in fellowship, there will not be much problem, and there will be a safeguard. On the contrary, anything that we cannot do in fellowship is dangerous and should not be done. Hence, we should not be independent toward God; moreover, we should not be individualistic toward the brothers and sisters. This kind of living, which is neither independent nor individualistic, is the normal life of a Christian. Our entire Christian living should be one that depends on God and relies on the brothers and sisters.
Now we will focus on our fellowship with God. This is an extremely important topic. The more we can labor on this topic, the better. Hence, we will use several points to cover it.
First, we must be very clear that God is Spirit. It is very difficult to explain the statement that God is Spirit because it is difficult to explain the matter of Spirit. When the Bible refers to God as Spirit, using the term Spirit to refer to God, the emphasis is on God being the highest life, a life that is not physical and cannot be touched by man with the five senses used to contact the physical world. This means that God cannot be seen by eyes, heard by ears, smelled by noses, tasted by tongues, or touched by hands. These organs can be used to contact the physical world, but they are of no avail in contacting God, because God is Spirit. He is not physical.
In the original languages of the Bible, in both the Old Testament Hebrew and in the New Testament Greek, the word Spirit is the same word as wind or breath. We can see the manifestations of wind or breath, but we are unable to see either the wind or breath. It is the same with the Spirit. We can be assured that He is here, but we cannot see or touch Him. Furthermore, the Spirit is more mysterious than either wind or breath. Whereas wind and breath are lifeless and therefore not living, the Spirit has life. Although the Spirit does not have a physical form, He is life and even a strong life. The strongest and highest life in this universe is the Spirit of God. The God whom we contact is not physical. He has the strongest life. He is a person who is living and strong.
In almost every religion man outwardly worships a visible image with his body, and this image is an idol. Idolatry is present not only in pagan religions but also in so-called Christianity. The numerous images in Catholicism, such as the image of Jesus and the image of Mary, are in the principle of man worshipping a physical object with his physical body. No matter what name man gives an image, be it Jesus or the Lord of heaven, it is in the principle of idols and offends God. The Bible shows that the God whom we contact and have fellowship with is Spirit. He is not physical. He is invisible and untouchable, yet He is full of life, very living, and strong.
Second, we must see that man has a spirit. In learning to fellowship with God, we not only need to realize that God is Spirit, but we must also know that we have a spirit. Shortly after I was saved, I read some publications concerning the difference between the spirit and soul and tried to apprehend the difference in my experience. However, for years I was unable to differentiate the spirit from the soul, much less speak clearly concerning them to others. But today I have no difficulty. In order to speak clearly on the subject of man having a spirit, we should consider it from the two aspects of feeling and need.
We will first speak concerning the aspect of feeling. Often we have the desire to do something and a willingness to do it; our heart desires and is inclined to do it. There also may be very good reasons to support it, with no logical reason against it. If we decide to do it, however, a feeling may spring up from the deepest part of our being to protest and disagree with that decision. This does not happen only to Christians; even unbelievers have this experience. The Chinese call this the operation of man’s conscience. This is truly a function of the conscience, but the conscience is a large part of the spirit. Hence, the functioning of the conscience is also the functioning of the spirit, and the objection of the conscience is also the objection of the spirit. Our emotion may favor something, and our mind may approve it, but when we decide to do it, something in our innermost being rises up to object. The Bible refers to this part as the spirit of man. We always say that a person should be genuine when he speaks. Actually, being genuine when one speaks is to speak from the spirit. The spirit is the genuineness of man, the genuine self, the deepest part of man. Nothing can be deeper than man’s innermost part. It is deeper than the sensation of the body, deeper than the emotion, deeper than the mind, and deeper than the will. This is what the Bible refers to as the human spirit.
In the Chinese Union Version of the Bible there are several places where the word spirit is translated accurately. For example, 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved.” Here it clearly distinguishes the three parts of man: spirit, soul, and body. Hebrews 4:12 says, “Piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit.” Here it says that the spirit and soul can be divided. These passages were translated well. However, there are other portions that are ambiguous, because spirit and soul are mixed together. Moreover, in some places where the word spirit is not used in the original, the Chinese Union Version translates it as “spirit-soul.” Then there are places that refer to the spirit that are not translated with the word spirit. The good thing is that the Chinese Union Version uses the word spirit to refer to the spirit and the word soul to refer to the soul, which is different from the spirit. The spirit is the deepest part of our being. We first know that there is such a spirit by its sense. The inward sense that is deeper than all other parts proves that we have a spirit.
There is also the aspect of need. We all know that we have different needs, such as food, clothing, housing, and transportation. These are physical needs of the body. In addition to physical needs, man needs comfort, music, art, friends to talk with, travel, exercise, and knowledge. These are psychological needs of man’s soul. (Mentality, or psychology, refers to the soul.) Man usually realizes and takes care of the needs of the body and the soul. However, in reality, he has another need in addition to his physical and psychological needs. Many times when man obtains physical and psychological satisfaction, feeling complete and content, he discovers that he is still dissatisfied in the deepest part of his being and that he still has a feeling of need. His physical and psychological needs have been met, yet deep within there is still a lack. This lack comes from the need within the human spirit. Therefore, every one of us has three kinds of needs: physical, psychological, and spiritual. Spiritual needs show that we have a spirit. The sense that comes from the operation of the conscience and the needs of the human spirit enable us to have a definite realization that human beings have a spirit.
Third, we must see that our fellowship with God is the fellowship between two spirits, that is, the mutual fellowship between the human spirit and the divine Spirit. God Himself is Spirit, and we have a spirit in the depths of our being. When these two spirits commune with each other, there is fellowship. Thus, the meaning of fellowship is that we use our spirit to fellowship with God, who is Spirit. If we cannot see this point, it will be difficult for us to practice fellowship with God.
In the beginning when God created all things, He created man with a spirit so that man would have an organ within to contact God, who is Spirit. God created the cattle, the sheep, the birds in the air, and the fish in the sea, but He did not give any of them a spirit because He did not intend for them to contact and receive Him. But when God created man, He wanted man to be a vessel so that He could enter into man. God wanted to be in man, just as water is in a cup. In order for God to be in man, man must receive Him. In order for man to receive Him, man must have an organ; otherwise, it would be impossible for man to receive God even if he were willing. Therefore, when God created man, He formed a spirit within man as an organ for man to receive Him. This can be compared to God making man with a stomach because He wanted man to receive food. With a stomach man can receive food. The stomach receives food, and the body receives the nutrients from the food. In this way the food also becomes the constituents of the body. In the same way, since God wanted man to receive Him as the constituents of his life, He created man with an organ, and this organ is the spirit. Just as the stomach within man is for receiving food, the spirit within man is for receiving God. Just as man needs to use his stomach to receive food, man also needs to use his spirit to receive God.
John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.” To worship Him means to contact Him and have fellowship with Him. Therefore, for man to contact God and fellowship with God, he must be in spirit and exercise his spirit. We must worship God, who is Spirit, in our spirit. We must use our spirit to contact God, who is Spirit. Only in this way can our spirit have genuine fellowship with Him.
What is the condition of fellowship between the Spirit and our spirit? We must see this from the aspects of feeling and need. We will first speak concerning feeling. When a person first hears the gospel, the speaker may say that everyone is sinful and give one illustration after another so that he is without excuse. Being rational, he can only nod his head and say, “This is right. Everyone is sinful, and I also am sinful.” However, the fact that he continues to sin without losing any peace proves that the word of God has not touched his spirit, though it may have convinced him in his mind. Hence, there is no reaction in his spirit. As far as his spirit is concerned, he is dead and has not touched the Spirit of God. Therefore, although he confesses his sinfulness in his mind, reasoning, and logic, he still sins as before. When he hears the gospel again, and again hears that he is sinful, he may have a sense that is deeper than merely an acknowledgment of being sinful. Such a sense will cause him to feel regret, be sorrowful, and repent bitterly. Then something deep inside him will cause him to stay away from his former sins. This is God the Spirit touching his spirit. When our spirit begins to contact the Spirit, we will condemn ourselves and feel sorry about our sins. We will be convicted of our sins and may even weep and repent. This is the first condition of the contact between the Spirit and our spirit.
Before our salvation we may have talked loosely. When we wanted to rebuke others, we rebuked them, and when we wanted to boast, we boasted. Moreover, we may have felt good after rebuking others and been delighted after boasting. But once we are saved, if we want to rebuke others or boast as in the past, there is an inward sense that touches and restrains us. Sometimes this sense is so strong that it seems as if it is an electric shock, and we can no longer rebuke others or boast. This is not the result of someone admonishing us to speak politely and no longer use filthy words, and it is not the result of being encouraged to be humble rather than proud. Instead, something has touched our deepest part; the divine Spirit has touched our human spirit. This is a condition of the contact between the divine Spirit and the human spirit.
Let us consider a more detailed example. Before we were saved, we may have bought whatever we wanted, because we were very free with our money. However, now that we are learning to live before God, we have another experience. When we are about to buy some nice clothes, an inward sense may forbid us, and we cannot purchase the clothes. This forbidding is the issue of God’s Spirit touching our spirit. This is a condition in which the Spirit contacts our spirit. In the normal Christian life this feeling is present whether we are working, studying, or having recreation. This condition shows that our spirit is touching the Spirit of God.
The aspect of need is also present within us from the time we are saved. Even though a person may be rich, educated, and have a good family life, he may still feel unhappy and dissatisfied. After listening to a gospel message, there is a sense of joy and sweetness within him. Furthermore, thinking of the Lord Jesus fills him with an inward sweetness. Whenever the Lord’s name is mentioned, he senses its loveliness and preciousness, and deep within there is an indescribable satisfaction and pleasure. What is this? This is the Lord Jesus as the Spirit visiting him and touching his spirit. At this point it becomes impossible for him not to think of the Lord and impossible for him to forsake the Lord. This is because the Lord has reached him as the Spirit and visited him.
Although others may have a different experience, the principle is the same. A person may be encouraged and led by others to pray before being saved. Before he prayed, he was indifferent, but as soon as he prays, he feels inward satisfaction, joy, comfort, and support. He also senses that his problems are solved. This is not a psychological reaction or an illusion; it is the issue of the Spirit of reality entering into his spirit to touch his spirit. This also is the condition of the Spirit touching our spirit.
I have never heard of a religion that results in such a condition when one believes. No religion can produce this condition in man’s spirit, because religions restrain people with regulations and cannot give people the salvation of the Spirit. The gospel we heard, however, does not restrain by regulations; rather, the living Spirit Himself becomes our salvation. This living Spirit is our Lord and our God. Whenever God visits us, reaches us, and touches us in our spirit, the joy, satisfaction, rest, and comfort within are unspeakable. The satisfaction of our needs is an indication that our spirit has touched God’s Spirit and that the Spirit has contact and fellowship with our human spirit.
I believe that we now have some understanding of the matter of fellowship with God.
