The Fellowship Among the Local Churches is the Fellowship of the Body of Christ

There is One Lord, One God, one faith, one baptism, one Spirit, and one fellowship in the Body of Christ. The fellowship each individual believer in Christ has with Christ is the one unique fellowship in the Body of Christ, and the fellowship the believers have among themselves is the unique fellowship in the Body.

This fellowship is the flow of the divine life – it originates from the Redeeming God on the throne and it flows throughout the ages and in many people who receive Christ and are one with Him.

Today on the whole earth there is only one fellowship in the Body of Christ, and at the Lord’s Table Meeting we all testify, There is One Body in this universe, and we express it here on earth! We stand as one in each locality for all to see!

The cup of blessing which we bless is the fellowship of the blood of Christ, the bread which we break is the fellowship of the Body of Christ, and as we partake of Christ we all become one in Him (1 Cor. 10:16-17).

All the local churches on earth are on in Christ, and there should be much fellowship both between the saints and the Lord, the saints in a locality, the local churches in a region, and all the local churches on the earth. It is time for the Lord to recover the fellowship among the churches.

There cannot be and there should not be any “independent local church”, since all the local churches on earth are part of the universal One Body of Christ.

Since all the local churches are part of the one organic Body of Christ, we all need to learn to blend, travel, fellowship, open up to the saints, learn about their situation, pray with one another, exercise our spirit together, let the Lord build us up, and be blended together in spirit.

There needs to be much circulation in the Body of Christ, much blending among the churches, and much fellowship among all the saints on all the earth. When the Lord obtains a blended Body, He will return.

The Fellowship Among the Churches is the Fellowship of the Body

In Eph. 4:4-6 we see that there is one Body and one Spirit, and therefore there is only one circulation of life in the Body; this circulation is the fellowship of the Body of Christ.

If our fellowship is not the fellowship of the Body, if we are getting together only with those who are like-minded to us, this kind of fellowship will result in a cancer, a problem in the Body. Our fellowship should be always including all the Body.

All the local churches need to be in the unique fellowship of the Body of Christ. There’s no organization among the local churches, there’s no hierarchy, and no local church is “higher” or “better” than any other local church.

All the churches on the earth need to stay in the same fellowship, the same circulation of life in the Body of Christ. There should be no “local fellowship” or “independent churches”, local churches which don’t fellowship with other churches.

In the organic Body of Christ all the churches are one, and they need to be constantly circulating, blending, partaking of the fellowship in the Body. Sometimes a church has a need; the local churches around them should pray and enter into the fellowship to meet the need.

No church or region should be isolated or independent from the fellowship of the Body. If one member in our human body decides to be “independent”, this leads to the death of that member.

As believers we cannot live and accomplish God’s purpose on our own – we need the saints; as saints in the local churches we cannot build up the Body by ourselves – we need all the other local churches.

One of the biggest mistakes the dear Brethren raised up by God in England made was to place too much emphasis on the independence of the local assembly. The result of a local church being independent is confusion, division, and eventually death.

The result of a local church being isolated from the other local churches is division in the Body. May we never leave the fellowship in the Body of Christ but rather open to the Lord and open to the saints to fellowship, and then open to other local churches to blend.

If we want to go on with the Lord in a healthy way and if we want to contribute to the building up of the Body of Christ, we need to remain in the fellowship of the Body. The fellowship among the churches is part of the fellowship of the Body of Christ.

For this, we need to be willing to open to fellowship, we need to not control others or the situations, not insist on our view, not express our own opinions but be genuine, not think we are superior than others, not play politics, not be clever, and not evade problems.

Just be willing to open to the fellowship. Don’t try to control others or the situations among the saints. Don’t insist on your own view, or else you will spoil the fellowship. Don’t use the fellowship as a platform to express your opinions; put your opinions aside and share what the Lord put in your heart in a genuine way.

Don’t think you are better than others – a spirit of superiority damages and frustrates the fellowship. We are all on the same level, we are only believers in Christ! Also, don’t have a private agenda or interests, playing politics.

Don’t be clever – be wise, but don’t be clever in your natural mind. And if there are problems, don’t avoid fellowship – simply be open, pray with the saints, and let the Lord flow in!

The Fellowship of Life Makes us the New Jerusalem

The flowing of the Triune God as the fellowship of life causes us to become the New Jerusalem

If today we open to the Lord and allow Him to flow in our being, having a proper vertical fellowship with Him and a sweet horizontal fellowship with the saints and with all the churches, we will have the flow of the divine life and we will foretaste the New Jerusalem.

The flow of the divine life in the fellowship of life will cause us to become precious materials for the building up of the New Jerusalem (see Gen. 2:10-12, 22; Rev. 22:1-2; 21:11, 18-21).

The more we allow the fellowship to pass through us, the more we open to the Lord and exercise our spirit with the saints, the more we are transformed into precious materials to become the New Jerusalem.

We should have set times to fellowship – set times in the daily schedule when we fellowship with the Lord and set times at least weekly to fellowship with the saints. Never neglect the fellowship with the Lord and don’t stay away from the fellowship with the saints.

In the fellowship of the divine life we are all one, and the Lord is blending us together, removing all the distinctions, and He makes us building and built up members of His Body, parts of the New Jerusalem!

Lord Jesus, we treasure the flow of life, the fellowship of the divine life. Save us from staying away from the fellowship with You vertically and with the saints horizontally. Lord, we open to You and we open to the fellowship of life. Flow into us. Flow through us. Flow us into the New Jerusalem. Cause us to be transformed into precious stones for the building up of the New Jerusalem as we stay in the flow of the divine life. Lord, we want to deal with anything that frustrates the fellowship of life. Flow unhindered in us and among us! Flow among the churches. Keep all the local churches in the fellowship of life. May there be a proper circulation of life among the churches in the universal Body of Christ!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. James Lee’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament (msgs. 203-204), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Aspects of the Christian Life and Church Life Seen in the New Jerusalem, week 4 / msg 4, The Fellowship of Life.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Lord, I treasure the sweet flow of life, / And my soul-life at last I lay down; / O Lord, deepen the pure flow of life; / At Your coming may life be my crown. [Hymns #1191]
  # We stand as one, and cannot be divided, / Because our oneness is of Christ alone. / We eat as one: one loaf, one cup partaking, / And thus our oneness visibly is shown. [Hymns #1107]
  # Oh, how we need the churches, / All of them, great or small! / We need their many portions / To profit us withal. / Yes, Lord, enlarge the churches; / We love their needs to bear. / Enlarge our hearts, Lord Jesus, / In fellowship and prayer. [Hymns #1265]