1. “That you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).
The apostles’ fellowship is with God and with the Lord Jesus. Therefore, the fellowship of the church that they represent is also the fellowship of God and the fellowship of the Lord. If we are in the fellowship of the apostles and in the fellowship of the church that they represent, we are also in the fellowship of God and the Lord. Conversely, if we are in the fellowship of God and the Lord, we must also be in the fellowship of the apostles and the church, because the fellowship of the Lord and the fellowship of the church are two aspects of the same fellowship. They are actually just one fellowship.
On the one hand, the life of the Lord causes us to have fellowship with God and with the Lord, and on the other hand, it causes us to have fellowship with the church represented by the apostles and with all those who have the Lord’s life. This is similar to electricity in the light in a room. On the one hand, the electricity causes the light to have fellowship with the electric power plant, and on the other hand, it causes the light in the room to have fellowship with all the lights in the city. If the light breaks its fellowship with the electric power plant, its fellowship with the other lights in the city is also broken. In the same way, if a person with the Lord’s life breaks his fellowship with the Lord, his fellowship with those who have the Lord’s life is also broken. Even though two believers have the Lord’s life, they will not have the fellowship of life if either breaks his fellowship with the Lord. If a believer has a problem with the Lord, it will be apparent to others because they will not be able to fellowship with him since he is not connected to the electric power plant—the Lord. Thus, the two cannot connect.
If we are living in fellowship with the Lord, when we touch another person who is in fellowship with the Lord, there is an immediate inward life reaction. This is the fellowship of life. This is similar to when a magnet touches a piece of metal—there is an immediate reaction. A missionary from Norway once came to Shantung to preach the gospel. Her topic was always regeneration. When she finished the message, she would immediately hurry to the door of the hall and ask each person as they went out whether they had been regenerated. It did not matter whether they were pastors, elders, or preachers; she asked everyone the same question. Once she asked a preacher named Mr. Wang, who later became a very good brother, whether he had been regenerated. When he said, “Yes,” she said that his voice did not sound as if he had been regenerated. When he heard this, he was very angry. After he went home, the Holy Spirit worked in his heart, and after a couple of days he thoroughly repented, confessed his sins with tears, and received the Lord as his Savior. As soon as he finished praying, he hurried to the missionary’s house. Before he could say anything, she said, “Thank the Lord, you have been saved.” The fellowship of the Lord’s life within us is very marvelous and spiritual. It causes us to have fellowship both with God and the Lord and with those who have the Lord’s life. We have the Lord’s life in us, and this life causes us to have fellowship with the Lord and to have fellowship with one another. The fellowship that we have with others is the fellowship that we have with the Lord, because these two aspects of fellowship are in the one fellowship of life.
1. “The fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Cor. 13:14).
The Lord’s life is in the Holy Spirit. It comes into us and is in us through the Holy Spirit. Our fellowship in the Lord’s life is through the Holy Spirit; therefore, it is also called the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Whether we fellowship with God and with the Lord or with the church or with a saint, all of our fellowship is in the Holy Spirit and through the Holy Spirit. The fellowship of life, which is in and through the Holy Spirit, becomes our life experience and spiritual reality only when we live in the Holy Spirit and follow the Holy Spirit.
2. “If any fellowship of spirit” (Phil. 2:1).
Since the fellowship of life is in and through the Holy Spirit, it comes out of the Holy Spirit’s operation in us. The Holy Spirit operates in us and causes us, even requiring and compelling us, to have fellowship with the Lord and with the saints in His life. If we follow and mind the Spirit, He will lead us to live in the fellowship of the Lord’s life.