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We now will look at the fellowship of the church. The fellowship of the church is a great matter in the Bible and something that we hear people speak of frequently. Fellowship can mean many things, such as mutual dealings, mutual supply, mutual prayer, and mutual love; however, these things do not fully express the meaning of fellowship. What is the real meaning of fellowship? We can temporarily use a term related to electricity to illustrate this matter and make its meaning more understandable. Fellowship is a mutual flow. The electricity in light bulbs flows continuously. Before I finish my sentence, the electricity in one bulb has gone into another bulb and the electricity in that bulb has gone into another bulb. The electricity in these light bulbs flows unceasingly. In like manner, the Spirit, who is the life and the Lord within (these three are one—the Lord is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the life), flows without interruption in all of us who are saved. Furthermore, this flow is mutual; it flows from me to you, from you to him, from him to yet another, and then back to me. This is spiritual fellowship, and this is the flow of the life in the Lord. This is the true meaning of fellowship.
In reality, this fellowship, this flow, is the Lord within us. The Lord within us is this fellowship. With light bulbs, the flow among them is the electricity in them. In like manner, the fellowship among the saints is the issue of the Lord within them. Whenever we allow the Lord to operate in us, we will definitely want to fellowship with the brothers and sisters. However, if we do not pray for three days, do not allow the Lord to flow in us, and do not allow Him to operate in us, then we certainly will not want to fellowship with the brothers and sisters. Once our fellowship with the Lord is broken, we try to avoid the brothers and sisters when we see them. When we see the brothers and sisters coming toward us, we turn away to avoid them. If this is our case, the fellowship is not in us. Actually, it is not that there is no fellowship but only that the fellowship has stopped, since we are not letting the Lord flow. If we are in fellowship with the Lord and the Lord is flowing in us, when we see the brothers and sisters, we want to shake their hands and speak a word with them. Sometimes as two people are shaking hands, their spirits seem to connect and there truly is a flow. This flow is the Lord Himself; it is the flow of the Lord among us. This is an exceedingly marvelous thing among Christians. If there are some unsaved friends among us, I believe that they will not be able to understand the meaning of this. Whenever Christians meet, there is a resonance within; this is because we have a living Lord within us. This is the mystery of Christians and the mystery of the church as well. Within Christians the living Lord is flowing. This flowing is the fellowship of the church, and it is based upon the Lord’s life within Christians.
In our body, blood flows; this flow of blood is called circulation. This circulation is very fast and courses continuously through our body. In like manner, the life within Christians is circulating and flowing continuously among us. This life is not with only one individual Christian, but it is common to all Christians. The life that is flowing among Christians is the fellowship of the church.
Since the fellowship of the church is based upon the life in the Christians, it is based also upon the reality of the oneness in us. The reality of our oneness has four main factors: one God, one Lord, one Spirit, and one Body (Eph. 4:3-6). Why do we have fellowship? We have fellowship because we are all in one Body. In this one Body there is one Spirit, in this one Spirit there is one Lord, and in this one Lord there is one God. Because these are all one, there is a unique oneness and also one fellowship. This oneness is the oneness of the church, and this fellowship is the fellowship of the church.
The oneness of the church is not the same as the oneness of the Triune God, a oneness which is inseparable and complete, but it is a oneness with the Triune God (John 17:21-23). Such a oneness is the basis of the fellowship of the church. Because there is such a oneness, there is the fellowship of the church. The fellowship of the church arises from this oneness, and it is based upon this oneness. This oneness is not merely a uniting together of all Christians into one entity but also the mingling of all the Christians with the Triune God into one entity. This great oneness in the universe is a mysterious oneness, the oneness of God mingled with man. Because of the reality of this oneness, fellowship is produced.
The fellowship of the church is the fellowship of oneness; it is not a fellowship of being divided yet united. However, the general condition among the Christians today is that they are completely divided into this “church,” that “church,” and numerous other “churches,” all of which are firmly entrenched. However, on certain occasions they all come together and say, “Because we are all in the Lord, we should be in unity. Come, let us be united.” In this way things such as a so-called “federation” of Christian churches are produced.
Approximately thirty years ago an old pastor and I talked about the church being divided. He said, “It is better for the church to be divided. If there were no divisions, if there was only one church in our locality, then there would be only one lampstand, which would not have enough light to illuminate even the street or alley where it is located. I think that it is the good intention of the Lord for His children to have differences in opinion and to be divided into many groups so that there can be many ‘churches.’ Does this not increase the number of lampstands?” Then he asked me, “Haven’t you seen that we have thirteen lampstands in this locality?” He was referring to the fact that there were thirteen denominational churches in the city. He went on to say, “This is the great wisdom of God to rapidly spread the church. The more the church is divided, the more she spreads. In this way, there will be lamps on all the streets and alleys, and the lamps will increase in number. Isn’t this wonderful?” I replied, “Wrong! This is absolutely wrong! According to the Bible, the church is one. In a locality the church should not be divided into many small lamps; rather, the church should be one great lampstand shining over the entire city. In this way the church will be powerful, spiritual, and heavenly.” Furthermore, I said, “Consider the moon. Is it divided into many moons? When the moon appears, it illuminates the whole earth. It does not need to be divided to shine over the whole earth. In like manner, a church does not need to be divided in order for it to shine in a locality, and it should not be divided.” Although I said this, he did not agree and said that I was prejudiced.
Later he said very happily to me, “Your view has now been realized. We are now united together. I recently attended a united meeting of the churches in the city.” When I heard this, I asked him, “Pastor, why do you need to be united and joined together? Does this not prove that you were divided?” He did not like to hear me say this, but he could not argue with the fact. He said, “Oh, didn’t I tell you that it is also good to be divided? Actually, we were not divided. Look, aren’t we now united?” I then asked him, “Are you truly united? Are you truly joined together? If you are truly united, then you would not divide again. You recently had a united meeting, but now that it is over, everyone is returning to his own church, just as divided as before. Isn’t it paradoxical that you are divided yet united and united yet divided?”
O brothers and sisters, please remember that this is not the fellowship of the church spoken of in the Bible. The fellowship of the church spoken of in the Bible is a fellowship in oneness with no divisions; it is only one. Acts 2:42 says that at the time of Pentecost, the multitude of believers “continued steadfastly in the...fellowship of the apostles.” The fellowship of the apostles is the fellowship of the church. The fellowship in which they continued steadfastly was a fellowship that was completely one, not a divided-yet-united fellowship like the unity practiced in Christianity today. All of the unity in today’s Christianity is an abnormal condition. It is a halfway method used by man to amend unacceptable divisions in the church. The fact that the church is divided is already a great mistake. Using this method of unity to amend the divisions is not an approved means according to the Bible. The Bible says that the church is absolutely one, that it cannot be divided, and that it does not need to be reunited. Division is absolutely not allowed in the Bible. To be divided and then united, to be united yet still remain divided, to be divided and united at the same time, is absolutely disapproved in the Bible.
In addition, the fellowship of the church is not a fellowship of being independent but still having mutual contact. I saw this also when I was young. There were approximately fifteen pastors of different denominations who took turns sharing their pulpits. This week one would go and preach in another’s chapel, and the next week another would preach in a different chapel. Thus, they could say, “Look, we are in contact and fellowship with one another.” This kind of situation exists in today’s Christianity. A pastor may be invited to preach in a church service, and in turn, another pastor may be invited to lead a conference. Then everyone can say, “Aren’t we loving one other? Aren’t we having fellowship?” Yes, there is a little fellowship; we dare not say absolutely that this is not fellowship. However, we must see that we need to be thorough and absolute in everything. One is one, and two is two. If we would fellowship, we should be one; if we would be one, we should not be divided. We cannot establish our own sect while maintaining some contact with one another, nor can we maintain some contact with one another and still seek to establish our own sect. This is a halfway method; it is black yet white, white yet black.
According to the Bible, the church can be compared to a large family system in China that is absolutely not divisible. No matter how many generations are living together, regardless of how they quarrel and contend, they cannot separate. However, today’s Christianity is somewhat like the small family system of the Western world in which the members separate from each other whenever there is a little difference. Although there is much contention and much division, outwardly they appear polite and still maintain contact with one another. This is not the fellowship of the church. The fellowship of the church is absolutely in oneness with no division; it is one without having the need of being united.
Today there are too many sects, divisions, each of which is doing its own thing. Christians all know that it is wrong, that it should not be this way, and that it is shameful even to discuss it, yet they are unwilling to give up their own things (Phil. 2:21). Instead, they maintain some contact with one another as a way of compromise, a way of disguise. To a certain degree, this involves the bribing of the conscience. The Lord’s Word tells us that the church is one, that it cannot be divided, and that there is no reason for division. Once we speak of the fellowship of the church, there must be the absolute oneness. We cannot deal with the situation in a perfunctory manner by applying merely a limited amount of mutual contact as an outward gesture. In order to speak concerning the fellowship of the church, we must thoroughly deal with division and sectarianism, thoroughly rejecting all divisions and sects. If we cannot reject divisions, then strictly speaking, the fellowship of the church is already damaged. Even if we could have some fellowship, it would not be sufficient to be called the fellowship of the church. The fellowship of the church must be thorough and without any division.
Although the fellowship of the church is manifested in every locality among Christians, it should not be of a local nature; rather, it should be universal. It should not be only a “local” fellowship; it must also be the fellowship of the Body. It is not sufficient for us to be in one accord without sects or divisions in a locality. Simply because we have fellowship among ourselves in this locality does not mean that we do not need to care for the brothers in other localities. If this were the case, then we are only a “local sect.” Therefore, we must extend our local fellowship to the whole Body of Christ, which is the universal church.
First Corinthians 10:16-17 says, “The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ? Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body.” This shows that the bread we break at the Lord’s table denotes the fellowship of the church, the Body. This bread includes everyone who belongs to Christ and who has the life of Christ throughout the ages and in every place; it does not merely include those who are saved in a particular locality. If it only included the saved ones in a locality, then the bread would denote only a local fellowship. This kind of fellowship is not according to the Bible. Our fellowship must include all those who belong to Christ and who have the life of Christ throughout the ages and in every place. Only then does the bread denote the fellowship of the church, the Body of Christ. This is the fellowship ordained in the Scriptures. According to the Bible, every local church in its respective locality is a representative of the entire Body of Christ. Therefore, the fellowship in every local church should be not only local but also of the Body. Only the fellowship that is both local and also of the Body is the fellowship of the church.
In the beginning we said that the fellowship of the church is the flow of the Lord’s life in all the Christians. Therefore, the fellowship of the church comes out of the Lord’s life (1 John 1:2-3). Because the Lord gave all of us His life, the fellowship of the church is within all of us. When we live in the Lord’s life, we are living in the fellowship of the church. The more we live in the Lord’s life, the more the fellowship of the church becomes manifested through us. This is altogether a matter of life and not a matter of any method or regulation. Therefore, as the fellowship of the church comes out of the Lord’s life, it should take the Lord’s life as its basis, instead of any practice or regulation as its guideline.
This fellowship of the church not only comes out of the life of the Lord, it is also of the Holy Spirit of God (2 Cor. 13:14). Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is this fellowship. Wherever the Holy Spirit is, there is fellowship. Wherever the Holy Spirit can freely operate, this fellowship is manifested (Phil. 2:1). When the saints walk according to the Holy Spirit and live in the Holy Spirit, spontaneously there is fellowship. Therefore, the obstacle to fellowship is man’s flesh and self. If we are willing to deal with our flesh and our self, then we will spontaneously live in the fellowship of the church.
Concerning the fellowship of the church, a few points need to be made concerning the conditions by which a saint should be removed from the fellowship of the church. The Bible tells us that some saints should not remain in the fellowship of the church and must be removed from this fellowship. There are two categories related to such ones. One category includes saints who have committed obvious sins. They sin to such an extent that they are filthy and put the Lord’s name to shame, like the case spoken of in 1 Corinthians 5. Thus, the church has no recourse but to cast them out, that is, to remove them from the fellowship of the church. Therefore, the sin spoken of in 1 Corinthian 5 is the first condition for a saint to be removed from the fellowship of the church.
Another category of people who should be removed from the fellowship of the church includes those who go beyond the teaching of Christ. These people are like those in today’s unbelieving sects, the so-called modernists. They are Christians in name, who have mixed themselves among Christians, but who do not believe that Christ is God, that Christ is the Word who became flesh, that Christ died shedding His blood to redeem us from sin, or that Christ resurrected from the dead. They do not believe in the deity of Christ or the redemptive work of Christ. This kind of unbelief goes beyond the teaching of Christ; it is heresy to the uttermost. The Bible tells us not to have any dealings with them, not even to greet them, because they are antichrists (2 John 7-11). Hence, the church cannot have fellowship with such persons. Going beyond the teaching of Christ is a condition for being removed from the fellowship of the church.
The two conditions above are the only ones for which a person should be removed from the fellowship of the church. One is for committing a sin which is dreadfully filthy and that shames the name of the Lord; the other is for going beyond the teaching of Christ. Only these two categories can cause a person to lose the fellowship of the church and be removed by the church. Other than these two categories, all other failures, weaknesses, mistakes, or wrong doctrinal views cannot constitute a condition for being removed from the fellowship of the church.
In 1 Corinthians, although the apostle definitely told the church in Corinth to remove the person who committed the sin described in chapter 5, he did not tell them to remove those who were sectarian (1:11-12; 3:1-4), the one who went to law against another brother (6:1-8), or those who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead (15:12). These persons committed very serious mistakes, but the apostle did not say that they should be removed from the church. The apostle only admonished, taught, and corrected these persons. Therefore, we can see that other than sin which openly shames the name of the Lord and beliefs that offend the person and work of the Lord, we must have forbearance for all other failures, weaknesses, mistakes, and wrong doctrinal views. If some brothers or sisters have weaknesses in their behavior or hold wrong doctrinal views, we cannot remove them for such a reason; rather, we must forebear, admonish, and correct them in love. The fellowship of the church is a tremendous thing. We must endeavor to forebear to the uttermost, not removing someone quickly for a little mistake or for being a little different. That is not right.
