After seeing something of the church ground, we must go on to see the fellowship of the church. Fellowship is based upon oneness, and fellowship is equal to oneness. Oneness includes and covers all the saints, regardless of the background from which they come.
Today there are many different backgrounds of the saints. Some have a Presbyterian background, some a Baptist background, and some have other kinds of background. But regardless of the background, if they are saved, they all have the same faith, for they all believe in the same Lord Jesus Christ. They all have been redeemed by the same blood; therefore, they all have the same life within. We all are one in this all-comprehensive faith.
Fellowship is based upon this oneness. We have fellowship with one another because we all have the same divine life, we all have the same Lord, and we all have the same redemption. Do not ask what kind of baptism others have had. Do not talk about all those doctrines. As long as they are saints who are not sinful according to 1Corinthians 5, we must recognize all of them as dear brothers and sisters. We believe in the Lord Jesus, and they do also. We have the same divine life as they. We have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and they also have been redeemed by His blood. We are all the same.
We may be quite different from other Christians in background and in many other things. They may not believe in partial rapture, and we may be for it. But regardless in which kind of rapture we believe, as long as we believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who was incarnated as a man, died on the cross for our sins, and resurrected from the dead, we are all redeemed, justified, regenerated and saved. And we all have the divine life within us. Therefore, we are all of one Body. It is based upon this that we have fellowship with one another. We may speak somewhat regarding certain things, but we must not go too far, and we must not argue. We must base our fellowship only on the Lord Himself.
But the problem is this: if one believes in a certain kind of rapture, he will try day and night to convince others of this doctrine. This is wrong. If some speak in tongues, we should not say anything to criticize them. Though they speak in tongues and we do not, we are still brothers. Tongues should not divide us. We may differ in the matter of tongues, but we are the same in life. We are all born of the same Father; so we must be one. We should not look down upon them for speaking in tongues, and they should not look down upon us for not speaking in tongues. But this is the problem. Could we receive grace from the Lord to be so general in our attitude? We must all realize that they are our brothers regardless of how much they differ from us in certain things. We must love them because we are the same as they are in redemption and in life. This is the basis and ground of our fellowship.
We may even take the unique ground of the church while others do not. But regardless even of this, we still can have fellowship with one another. However, this really requires grace. We must say, “Lord, by Your grace and mercy, I do not care for all the differences. I simply care for You. I only care for Your redemption and Your life-nothing else. Regardless of how much this brother differs from me, I still love him.”
Of course, we cannot go along with any divisions. But that should not hinder our fellowship. Regardless of whether others are in the divisions or not, we must recognize that they are our brothers. This does not mean that we go along with their divisions. No, we cannot do this, but we must love all the saints, even those in the Roman Catholic Church. There are some real believers in the Roman Catholic Church, and they all have the same divine life as we. They may wear their clerical robes, but in redemption and in life we are all the same.
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