Since the Body of Christ is uniquely one universally, the fellowship of the Body of Christ is also uniquely one universally, for there is one circulation in the Body of Christ, which is the stream of the divine life.
For us to live in the Body of Christ, God in His economy gave us one person – Christ, and one way – the church; Christ is the centrality and universality of God’s economy, and the cross is God’s way to reach His goal.
Today we need to give ourselves to the Lord for the reality of His Body, so that the cross may work in us to do the necessary work in our being to bring us into the Body of Christ.
Today in the church life we are here to be in the Body of Christ; all the local churches on earth are part of the Body, and as we practice the church life, we need to have the Body in view.
Praise the Lord, as we practice the church life, we have the Body of Christ in view, and we live and work for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
First and foremost, the Body of Christ is uniquely one. Since the Body of Christ is uniquely one universally, the fellowship of the Body of Christ is also uniquely one universally (see Acts 2:42; 1 John 1:3, 7; 1 Cor. 10:16-17).
Just as in our human body there is only one blood circulation which causes us to live, be vital, and do many things, so in the Body of Christ there’s the circulation of the divine life, the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
Humanly speaking, it there’s any problem with the circulation of the blood, the whole body suffers, and if we don’t respect the laws of feeding, exercise, and digestion, we have problems with our health.
If today in the Body of Christ do not keep the principles of the Body, the Body will suffer; the members of the Body suffer if we don’t respect the principles of the Body. We need to realise that the Body of Christ is uniquely one, so the fellowship of the Body is also uniquely one.
The Fellowship of the Body of Christ is the Divine Circulation in the Body of Christ
Just as there’s the circulation of blood in the human body, so there’s a circulation in the Body of Christ, a circulation which the New Testament calls fellowship (1 John 1:3, 7).
In 1 John 1:3 and 7 the apostles report to us what they have seen and heard so that the believers may also fellowship with them, and their fellowship is with the Father and with the Son.
The Father and the Son have fellowship; then this fellowship of the eternal life is revealed to the apostles, and the apostles report to the saints, so that the saints may have fellowship with the apostles, and this fellowship is with the Son and with the Father; this is the divine circulation.
The moment we believe and are baptised we are brought into the divine circulation, the fellowship of the Body of Christ; this is not a doctrine but a reality.
In this fellowship, in this divine circulation, we have all the riches of God – His divinity, together with Christ’s humanity, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension; all are in this fellowship.
When we stay in this circulation, all the divine riches are being wrought into us bit by bit.
In our human body, as we eat, we get all the nutritious elements, for the blood circulates and transfuses the nutrients into all the members of the body.
On one hand the blood adds the nutrients; on the other, it discharges the waste. This circulation is the life-pulse, and without it we are finished. For example, when we have a pain in the shoulder, we need a massage or some warm compresses so that the blood would circulate and solve the problem.
In the Body of Christ we need to pay much attention to the fellowship of the Body of Christ; once this fellowship is interrupted or hindered, the Body will have a sickness. We all as members of the Body have the responsibility to keep this circulation going.
With our physical body we need to eat and drink well, and we also need to exercise; if we only eat and drink but do not exercise, we are not healthy. Often if we don’t exercise a certain part of the body, there’s no circulation of blood reaching it, and we lose sense in that part.
In the Body of Christ we need to exercise our spirit by calling on the name of the Lord! When we call on the name of the Lord, Oh Lord Jesus! Amen! Hallelujah! Lord Jesus, we praise You! Lord Jesus, we open to You! – we exercise our spirit so that the Spirit would be free to move in us and through us.
We need to not be a hindrance to the fellowship of the Body but allow the Spirit to flow freely. Many times, unconsciously, we hinder the fellowship of the Spirit.
For example, the Lord may touch us to pray or praise the Lord in a certain direction at the Lord’s table meeting, but we shut our mouth, for we are not willing to open our mouth; so there’s someone else who utters the praise the Lord put in us, and we don’t cooperate with the Lord.
If the Spirit cannot get through us, He will go to someone else. We need to be sensitive to the Spirit, exercise our spirit, and cooperate with the Lord to be in the fellowship of the Body of Christ, the circulation in the Body of Christ.
Lord Jesus, thank You for bringing us into the fellowship of the Body of Christ to enjoy all the riches included in the Spirit who flows in us and among us. We want to remain in this circulation, Lord, to receive all the nutrients in the Spirit and have anything negative removed. Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit to allow You as the Spirit to flow into us, flow in all our being, and flow out of us to the other members of the Body of Christ. Keep us in the divine circulation in the Body, Lord, so that we may build up the Body and keep the oneness of the Body!
The Divine Fellowship is the Reality of Living in the Body of Christ in Oneness
The fellowship of the Body of Christ is nothing else but the stream of the divine life; as the stream of the divine life flows within us, there is the fellowship of the Body of Christ (see Acts 2:42; 1 John 1:3, 7).
We see this in the picture of the New Jerusalem, where there’s a river of life flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, spiralling down to all the gates to supply all the parts in the city. Today in the Body of Christ we have the flowing river of life supplying all our needs.
In the church life today we have a foretaste of the New Jerusalem, and daily we can exercise our spirit to drink the water of life and eat the tree of life. The flowing of the divine life within us produces the fellowship of life, the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
Often we don’t have a flow within us but we may not allow it to flow through us; we may not cooperate with the Lord in the meeting to speak and exercise our spirit, and we don’t feel good when we come home.
We need to continue in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles; we need to remain in the unique teaching of the apostles, the teaching in the New Testament concerning God’s eternal economy, so that we may remain in the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
The entire New Testament is God’s speaking, and this is the teaching of the apostles concerning God’s economy. This teaching produces a fellowship – the unique fellowship of the Body of Christ.
In the church life today we have this one fellowship, the fellowship of the Body. The divine fellowship is the reality of living in the Body of Christ; by being restricted in this fellowship, the Body of Christ is kept in oneness (see 1 Cor. 1:9; 12:12-13, 27).
If the Body of Christ doesn’t have the circulation of the divine life, it becomes a corpse; when we have this fellowship, however, we live in reality in the Body of Christ.
The fellowship of the Body of Christ causes us to be restricted; often when we want to do something, we may think that to fellowship with the saints about it so troublesome and bothersome…but fellowship is our protection.
We need to learn to fellowship. We can never neglect having fellowship, even after being in the church life for many years.
The Lord has been frustrated throughout the centuries because of the lack of fellowship. He expressed His yearning in Rev. 22:20 to return quickly, but two thousand years have passed, and the Lord is still not back.
Most believers today are individualistic, independent, opinionated, and divisive.
We need to remain in the divine fellowship and allow this fellowship to control us and rule us. By being restricted by the fellowship in the Body of Christ, we are kept in oneness, the Body is built up, and the work of the ministry goes on.
If we learn to fellowship, we will receive many benefits, especially in the Lord’s work.
Lord Jesus, keep us in the fellowship of the divine life, the stream of life flowing in the Body of Christ. May we learn to fellowship with the Head and with the fellow members again and again. Lord, save us from being wild and independent. We want to learn to fellowship and even allow fellowship to restrict us in the Body, so that the Body of Christ may be kept in oneness. Amen, Lord, may the stream of the divine life flow within us and keep us in the fellowship of the Body of Christ!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by the brothers for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1990, vol. 1, “The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man,” ch. 17, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living in the Reality of the Body of Christ by Keeping the Principles of the Body (2019 ICSC), week 3, Experiencing the Work of the Cross for the Body and Living in the Unique Fellowship of the Body.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Jesus is the living Spirit / Who among us flows; / Fellowship of life in spirit / Unity bestows. (Hymns #1142)
# The flowing of life divine, / In spirit so sweetly flows— / The overflowing life divine, / Nourishing my spirit so— / Bringing the Triune God’s fullness, / In spirit operates and moves, / Bringing me all of His supply— / Life as my supply. (Song on, The flowing of the divine life)
# Life eternal brings us / Fellowship of life, / Fellowship in Spirit, / Saving us from strife. / Life eternal gives us / Fellowship divine; / Thus the Lord as Spirit / May with us combine. (Hymns #737)
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