Remaining in the Fellowship of the Apostles to be in the Fellowship of the Body

The fellowship of the Body of Christ – which is the fellowship among the churches – is the fellowship of the apostles, which issues from the teaching of the apostles.

We need to see what is the intrinsic fellowship of the churches (as the local expressions of the unique organic Body of Christ) for their organic existence.

There is one Body in this universe, and there are many local churches – one church in each locality – to express the unique Body in the localities where the saints live.

Just as there is one Body and we all are the many members of the Body, so there is only one church, and all the local churches are actually the local expressions of the one universal church.

Our need is to see and also enter into the intrinsic fellowship of the churches; first, we need to see what is the intrinsic fellowship of the churches, and then we need to enter into it for the organic relationship of the churches.

We may think that the local churches are mainly outward and practical, but the reality of the church is the Body of Christ; whenever we touch anything related to the church, we need to touch the reality of the Body of Christ, otherwise, we will merely have something outward but with no reality.

The church is the Body of Christ, and in reality and procedure, the Body needs to be expressed in the local churches.

There are many local churches on earth today, hundreds and even thousands, but these are not organisational but organic, for they are the one Body of Christ.

For example, we can look at an apple tree and say that the apple tree is the church and the apples are the Body of Christ; the tree is the frame, but the essence of the tree is the apples.

The essence of the church is the Body of Christ, and the frame of the Body of Christ is the local churches.

The local churches are the procedure God takes in this age to fulfil His purpose, and the reality of the church is the Body of Christ, the organism of the Triune God.

Today many people preach the gospel to save souls, but even the preaching of the gospel should be for the fulfilment of God’s economy to obtain a Body for Christ, which is realized in the local churches.

We need to see the eternal economy of God, we need to see the Body of Christ, and we need to see the local churches; may we see the intrinsic fellowship of the churches for their organic existence today.

The fellowship of the churches is the flow of the eternal life within all the members of the Body of Christ, and this flow is also through and all the members of the Body.

It is like the circulation of blood in our human body; it is a circulation in the Body of Christ, a circulation which the New Testament calls fellowship.

Today we want to see more concerning the fellowship of the churches, in particular, to see that it is the fellowship of the apostles.

The Fellowship of the Body of Christ, the Fellowship among the Churches, is the Fellowship of the Apostles which comes from the Apostles’ Teaching

The word fellowship appears for the first time in the New Testament in Acts 2:42, which describes the beginning of the church life.

After the Lord Jesus went through the processes of incarnation, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension, He was poured out as the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost upon the apostles and disciples, the one hundred and twenty gathered in the upper room.

Peter stood up with the eleven and preached the first gospel message, and three thousand were saved and baptized; this was the beginning of the church life, and it was such a wonderful situation.

Although the saved ones were many, they were all in one accord and continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, meeting in the temple and from house to house, living a church life that expressed God, and they had grace with all the people.

And the Lord added to them those who were being saved. This is indeed the kind of church life that we should have today.

As the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to describe that situation, the first thing he mentions – the most crucial factor – is that these three thousand saved ones continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles.

The fellowship of the Body of Christ is the fellowship of the apostles, which is unique, for it comes from the teaching of the apostles.

Fellowship comes from teaching; if we teach something different from the apostles teaching, the teaching of God’s economy, our teaching will produce a sectarian, divisive fellowship (Acts 2:42; 1 Tim. 1:3-6; 6:3-4; 2 Cor. 3:8-9; 5:18).

If we teach something wrong or even a little different from the apostles’ teaching, division will come in.

The churches and the saints can be in one accord because they are in one fellowship, and this fellowship is called the fellowship of the apostles, which comes from the apostles’ teaching.

The apostles are plural, but the teaching is singular; there are many apostles, but there is one teaching.

This is the reason Paul asked Timothy in 1 Tim. 1:3-4 to charge certain ones not to teach differently from God’s economy in the churches; such different teachings refer not to heretical teachings but to teachings that are unprofitable to God’s economy, which is in faith.

The apostles’ teaching is the teaching of God’s New Testament economy. We need to not teach different things but rather, consent to the healthy words of the Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching which is according to godliness (1 Tim. 6:3-4).

The apostles’ teaching is the healthy words of our Lord Jesus; He said that the words He spoke to us are spirit and are life – these are words of life, healthy words, organic words. This is the teaching according to godliness; godliness is to express God.

The apostles’ teaching which issues in the apostles’ fellowship is the words of the Lord Jesus Christ which dispense life to us and enable us to live Christ and express Christ corporately, thus becoming the mystery of godliness.

The apostles’ teaching is the healthy words, the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, the teaching according to godliness; it is the entire speaking of God in the New Testament.

Out of this teaching comes the fellowship of the apostles, which is the fellowship of the Body of Christ, the fellowship among the churches.

We need to remain in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles to remain in and enjoy the fellowship of the Body of Christ, the fellowship among the churches.

The unique teaching of the apostles has brought us into the healthy and unique fellowship of the apostles, and this teaching is nothing else but the new covenant ministry as the ministry of the Spirit, the ministry of righteousness, and the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 3:8-9; 5:18).

Hallelujah, today we can remain in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles to be with one accord in the church life, and we can therefore enjoy the fellowship of the Body of Christ, the fellowship among the churches!

Lord Jesus, we want to continue steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles so that we may enjoy and remain in the fellowship of the Body of Christ! Amen, Lord, we treasure the fellowship among the churches, that is, the fellowship of the apostles. Save us from teaching or emphasizing something different from the apostles’ teaching, which is the teaching of God’s economy. We want to remain in the healthy words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching which is according to godliness. We reject any teaching other than the teaching of God’s economy and we remain in the healthy teaching of God’s economy which produces and issues into the fellowship of the apostles, the fellowship of the Body of Christ!

Remaining under the Apostles’ Teaching and in the Apostles’ Fellowship in the Church Life today

We need to realize that certain teaching produces a certain fellowship, and if anyone teaches something different from God’s economy, there is a fellowship produced, which may not be the fellowship of the apostles, the fellowship of the Body of Christ.

Paul said in 1 Cor. 4:17 that he taught everywhere the same thing in all the churches; the local churches are many, but the apostles’ teaching in all the churches is one and the same.

There is one teaching which brings us into the fellowship of the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1:9).

This fellowship, the fellowship of the apostles, is nothing else but the fellowship of the Body of Christ, which we display and partake of at the Lord’s Table when we partake of the cup of blessing and eat the broken bread.

1 Cor. 10:16 indicates that the cup of blessing is the fellowship of the blood of Christ, and the bread we break is the fellowship of the Body of Christ.

The redemption accomplished by the blood of Christ is all-inclusive as well as unique, for the new covenant established in the blood of Christ is unique.

For us to enjoy the fellowship of the blood of Christ and the fellowship of the Body of Christ, we need to remain in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles.

Every week, when we break the bread and drink the cup we can truly testify that this bread and cup include not only a few brothers and sisters who are physically there but all the saints at all times and in all places, for we all are in this unique fellowship of the Body of Christ.

In the Lord’s recovery today we are under the apostles’ teaching and in the apostles’ fellowship (Acts 2:42); though there are many teachings and doctrines, we remain under the apostles’ teaching and in the apostles’ fellowship to enjoy and remain in the fellowship of the Body of Christ.

This brings in the one accord, which is the master key that unlocks all the blessings in the New Testament.

We treasure this master key, so we remain under the teaching of the apostles and in the fellowship of the apostles to enjoy the Lord’s blessing in all the local churches.

For us to have fellowship with the Triune God in the apostles’ fellowship is for us to put aside our private interest and to join with the apostles and the Triune God for the carrying out of God’s purpose (Phil. 4:14; 2:1; Acts 2:42; 1 John 1:3; 1 Cor. 1:9; 3:6, 12).

There is a flow in this universe, which is just God Himself as the water flowing out of eternity, through Jesus Christ, and through the apostles and into us.

When we receive the gospel and believe into the Lord, we receive the flow of the water of life, an “injection” of the water of life, and we are “plugged in” this flow.

When we come together with our fellow believers in Christ, we forsake and put aside our private interests or opinions, and we remain under the teaching of the apostles to be kept in the fellowship of the apostles, which is the fellowship of the Body of Christ.

As we enjoy the Lord in His word, we spontaneously put aside and forsake what we personally would desire and simply be joined with the Triune God and the apostles for the carrying out of God’s purpose.

God’s eternal purpose is simply to be mingled with man for the building up of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem.

This is the result of our remaining under the teaching of the apostles and in the fellowship of the apostles in the church life today.

Lord Jesus, thank You for bringing us in the church life in the Lord’s recovery where we are under the teaching of the apostles and in the fellowship of the apostles. Hallelujah, in the church life we put aside our private interests and are joined with the apostles and the Triune God for the carrying out of God’s purpose. Amen, Lord, we are here not for our gain or interest; we are here for the mingling of God and man so that the Body of Christ may be built up and consummate in the New Jerusalem! Keep us in the flow of life, the flowing of the living water from the Triune God through the apostles and through all the saints, consummating in the New Jerusalem! Amen, Lord, keep us in the fellowship of the Body of Christ, the fellowship among the churches, which is the fellowship of the apostles!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of 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, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” pp. 311-313, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Intrinsic and Organic Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ (2021 International Chinese-Speaking Conference), week 4, The Intrinsic Fellowship of the Churches for Their Organic Relationship.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Jesus is the living Spirit / Who among us flows; / Fellowship of life in spirit / Unity bestows. (Hymns #1142)
  – This outline of the healthy words, / In faith and love we’ll hold; / All different teaching, fruitless talk, / Reject with spirit bold. / Oh, healthful teaching, wholesome words: / The truth of godliness! / Oh, good deposit, common faith, / And life of holiness! (Hymns #1285)
  – Lampstands, gold living trees, incarnate God, / With God’s nature, show forth resurrection; / Planting new church trees, to all earth spreading; / Sprouting, growing and blooming, bearing fruit; / The seven lampstands: one form, one nature; / Testimony, expression are but one; / Fellowship and move all are in one flow; / Just one ministry, and one Body. (Song on, The Local Churches as the Testimony of Jesus)