The unique fellowship of the Body of Christ is related to the oneness of the Body of Christ, and the fellowship of the Body of Christ is the fellowship among the churches.
Our God is faithful, and in Him we were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1:9). The solution to all our problems is Christ and His cross, that is, the crucified Christ. When we enjoy the crucified Christ with all His riches, we have no more problems, and we are supplied with all that He is for our enjoyment.
In the book of first Corinthians we see a lot of problems, but Paul’s unique solution to all these is Christ. Christ is exceedingly rich, and when we remain in the fellowship of the Body of Christ, we enjoy the flow of His riches to meet all our needs and to cause us to grow in life and build up the Body of Christ.
Christ is our portion, He is God’s power to us, God’s wisdom, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Christ is the Lord of glory, the mystery of God, the unique foundation of God’s building, the reality of the Passover and the unleavened bread, and our spiritual drink, our spiritual food, and the rock that follows us.
Christ is the Head, the Body, the Firstfruits, the second man, the last Adam, and the life-giving Spirit. What a rich Christ we have!
All His riches are in the spirit, who is the essence and the flow in the Body of Christ. When we remain in the fellowship of life and enjoy the fellowship of the Body of Christ, we partake of all the riches of the unsearchably rich Christ.
All Christ’s riches are in the spirit who flows in the Body of Christ. We need to stay in the fellowship, exercise our spirit, and we will be richly supplied and constituted to be the Body of Christ and we will be kept in the reality of the Body of Christ.
The divine fellowship is the reality of living in the Body of Christ. By allowing the fellowship of the Body of Christ to restrict us, the Body of Christ will be kept in oneness.
If we don’t learn to fellowship with the other members of the Body to allow the flow of life to flow freely, we will be cut off from the fellowship of the Body, but if we allow the fellowship to restrict us, we will be kept in the oneness of the Body.
We need to continually learn to fellowship, and no matter how long we have been in the church life, we still need to open to the Lord, fellowship with Him, and maintain ourselves in the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
The unique fellowship of the Body brings all the members of the Body into oneness
One Body and one spirit, even as also we were called in one hope of our calling (Eph. 4:4). This verse shows us the uniqueness of the Body, and it also shows us that the Body is determined by the one Spirit.
Because there is one Spirit, there is one Body, and the Spirit is the flow in the Body, the oneness of the Body. There is one Spirit, there is one Body, and there is only one circulation in the Body, one fellowship of life in the Body, one fellowship in the Body of Christ.
The unique fellowship of the Body of Christ is related to the unique oneness of the Body of Christ (see 1 Cor. 6:17; 10:16-17; 12:20).
Once we believe into the Lord, we are joined to Him as one spirit and we become members of His body. He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit; this shows that our whole person – spirit, soul, and body – is joined to the Lord to be one with Him.
Our whole being is now a member of the Body of Christ, and our whole being is joined to the Lord to be one spirit with Him. This is like grafting – when a branch is grafted into the vine, it is not only the grafting point that is joined to the vine but the entire branch.
When we were regenerated, we were joined to the Lord, and our entire being became one with the Lord. As we remain in the fellowship life, the flow of the divine life, we are being saturated and filled with the Lord to be the members of His Body.
The fellowship of the divine life, the circulation of the divine life in the Body, brings all the members of the Body into oneness (see Eph. 4:3-6).
We need to pay attention to this oneness, which is not an organisational oneness but the oneness of the Spirit. The essence of this oneness is the Spirit, and the Spirit joins us together.
Just as the electrical lamps are joined together by the flow of electricity, so we are members of the Body individually, but we are joined and made one by the Spirit who joins us together and unites us.
If we are not joined to the Spirit, however, if we are separated from the fellowship of the Body, we cannot shine and we cannot function in the Body. The Spirit joins us together and in the Spirit we are spontaneously one.
In the fellowship and circulation of the Spirit we are one. This oneness is the oneness of the Spirit and also the oneness of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-13).
The unique fellowship is the genuine oneness of the Body of Christ as the unique ground for the believers to be kept one in Christ (Eph. 4:3-6).
As long as we remain in the unique fellowship of the Body, we keep the oneness of the Spirit, and we are kept one in Christ with all the other members.
Hallelujah, the unique fellowship of the Body of Christ is related to the unique oneness of the oneness of the Body, and when we exercise our spirit to remain one spirit with the Lord, we are kept in the oneness of the body of Christ.
May we live such a normal life in the Body of Christ, a life worthy of God’s calling, a life of paying attention to the unique fellowship of the Body, the flow of the divine life.
Lord Jesus, keep us in the unique fellowship of the Body of Christ, the circulation of the divine life in the Body of Christ, so that we may be brought into the oneness of the Body. Amen, Lord, we want to remain in the organic union with You, enjoying the dispensing of all Your riches into our being and being joined to the saints in spirit for the keeping of the oneness of the Body. May we remain in the unique fellowship of the Body to keep the genuine oneness of the Body, the unique ground for the believers to be kept one in Christ.
Seeing that the Fellowship among the Churches is the Fellowship of the Body of Christ
The fellowship among the churches is the fellowship of the Body of Christ (see 1 Cor. 10:16-17). Because there is one Spirit, there is one Body, and there’s only one circulation of life in the Body; this circulation is the fellowship of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:4; 1 John 1:3, 7).
All the local churches are part of the Body of Christ, and the fellowship of the Body is universally one; in fellowship there’s no separation (see Rev. 1:11; 2:7).
There is only one circulation, one fellowship, of life in the Body, and all the local churches need to be in this unique fellowship.
There is no organisation and there should be no organisation among the churches in the one universal Body of Christ, but there should be the unique fellowship of the Body of Christ.
In the proper church life there’s no organisation, but there’s much fellowship; just as in the human body we don’t have organisation but a lot of circulation, so in the church life and among the churches we should not have organisation but much circulation of the divine life.
On one hand, we shouldn’t have any organisation among the churches; on the other hand, we should be open to have fellowship with all the churches.
Although there are many local churches, all the churches are the one Body. Although we live the church life in many localities, we all live one Body life; we live in the one Body of Christ, and we enjoy the unique fellowship of the Body of Christ. In this circulation we are made one.
But if we separate ourselves, we will lose the fellowship of the Body, and we will eventually wither and die, just as a member of the body, once separated from the body, it dies.
If a local church separates itself from the fellowship among the churches, what comes in will be darkness, confusion, division, and death.
We need to be careful to live in the fellowship of the Body of Christ; we need to always live in the fellowship of the Body, not only with those who are nearby us but also with all the churches on the earth.
No church or region should isolate itself from the fellowship of the Body; rather, the local churches should fellowship with all the genuine local churches on the whole earth to keep the fellowship of the Body of Christ (see Col. 4:16).
Among all the local churches that compose the one universal Body of Christ, there is no organisation, but there’s the fellowship of the Body of Christ (Phil. 1:5).
In the book of Acts we see that there’s no “head church” or “headquarters of the churches” at that time; rather, there were many local churches, and there was much fellowship, visitation, and traffic among the churches.
In the Body of Christ there’s no “head church”, there are no headquarters for the local churches, and there is no prominent leader who controls what is happening in the local churches; rather, what we have is the fellowship among the churches to remain in the unique fellowship of the Body of Christ.
There are thousands of local churches on the earth, and the way we remain in the oneness is by the fellowship of the Body of Christ, not by any outward organisation.
Even the financial needs can be in fellowship, and the material gifts can be given according to the needs brought up in the fellowship.
The churches that do not fellowship and do not participate int he fellowship among the churches risk to become a local sect, a divisive church, but if they fellowship in the Body, they remain in the flow of the Spirit.
Thank You Lord for the fellowship among the churches, which is the fellowship of the Body of Christ. May we in all the local churches remain in the one circulation of life in the Body, the unique fellowship of the Body of Christ, so that we may keep the oneness of the Body. Lord, save us from merely having an outward organisation or arrangements; bring us to our mingled spirit and keep us in the fellowship of the divine life. May we realise that there is no separation in fellowship, there is no organisation among the churches, but there is 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. 2, “A Brief Presentation of the Lord’s Recovery,” pp. 418-421, 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:
# Now in all the churches flowing, / Brotherly love. / Light and life and love bestowing, / Brotherly love. / In the oneness all believing, / Fellowship with all receiving, / Nevermore the Spirit grieving, / Brotherly love. (Hymns #1277)
# We are one in the spirit, we are one actually, / Not in talk nor in theory, but in fact, practically, / In the churches we’re all enjoying this reality. / We are one in the spirit in each locality, / For the Lord’s own intention we would consecrated be, / That the oneness He’s given us the whole world may see. (Hymns #1243)
# Blend us, Lord, blend us, Lord, ’til we are in one accord. / Hallelujah—the saints going on! / Blend us, Lord, blend us, Lord, open hearts we can afford. / Hallelujah—the churches go on! / As the members of / His organic Body, / We need the others to go on. / As local churches, / We do also need / One another for our going on. (Song on, Blend us, Lord, Blend us, Lord)
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