THE FELLOWSHIP OF GOD’S SON
1 Corinthians 1:9; Daniel 6:10; 1 John 1:7
The time we have had together has been so very encouraging, dearly beloved, and I trust that each one here has experienced the encouragement of having the Lord Jesus brought freshly before us. The key to everything is occupation with Christ. I trust each one here will come to that in a greater and fuller way, that the reality of occupation with Christ might truly be our experience.
We have been occupied with Christ during our time together, opening up the Scriptures to enquire into the truth, having the Lord before us as the living One. It is not a historical Jesus that we have before us. It is not some story that we read about a good man, but it is occupation with a living Saviour, the living One. How wonderful that each one of us can know Jesus in that way. It would be the yearning of my soul, dearly beloved, that we might each one lay hold in a greater way of the reality that we have to do with a living Man in heaven. How precious He is! We have been reminded of Him not only as the living One but the One who imparts life, the One who sustains life. How good it is to think of the activities of the Lord in His love and grace and goodness. His desire is that not only would you know Him in that way as the living One but that you too would enter into what is really life. Our brother mentioned these words of Jesus, “I am come that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.” (John 10:10). So not only can we have the experience of life but we can have it abundantly.
That would bring us into the liberty that our brother mentioned, going in and going out (John 10:9). How wonderful is the liberty that is available to us in this life that we have been brought into through Christ, this abundance of life and its enjoyment. We ended our time together speaking about the coming of the Lord. Oh, what a prospect, the bright prospect of every believer – the coming of the Lord Jesus! May it grow in my own soul and may it become a more present and living reality with each one.
We have spoken often in our own locality about how not only are we waiting for the Lord, but we are watching. We are looking for His coming. That is something that really laid hold of me, and it is something I would desire that each one here should lay hold of, that not only are we waiting for the coming of the Lord but we are watching, we are looking, we are longing, yearning for that blessed day when the Lord Jesus will come and He will take all of His own to be with Himself. How wonderful that is. If we are watching for Him, it will have a bearing on our lives now, there will be a change in me and a change in you. We are not simply waiting for a day to come, we are watching and preparing for that day to come, and His coming involves His appearing.
We were talking during the break about how in our time here there are things we work through, and arrive at together whether they are trials, tribulations, difficulties, whatever they may be. Simply working out the truth together, arriving at a greater understanding of it, allows us to lay hold of things in reality, in view of developing and establishing maturity in the saints so that we are ready to be with Him in that day to come, when He shall reign supreme. What a day that shall be, how blessed is the prospect!
In the meantime we are set together, we are here together and it is a privilege to be able to work things out together. That is not merely doctrine; it is not only learning truths, learning doctrines, although that has a place in understanding this wonderful fellowship that we have read about in 1 Cor.1. That is the exercise that I have. God is faithful and we have been called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. I desire for each one of us that we should have a greater appreciation of the dignity of this fellowship, the fellowship of God’s Son, and that we should have a greater understanding of the privilege that it is to be part of this fellowship of God’s Son. Then also that we should have an understanding and be exercised in relation to the responsibility of having part in this fellowship of His Son. It is not a fellowship according to man’s way of thinking. Every true believer who has the Holy Spirit has been called into this fellowship. You have been called: do you realise that? Is that something that has truly entered into your heart, that you have been called into this fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord? I speak for myself; I went many years without really having any true understanding and appreciation of this fellowship, that it was real, that it was something that God Himself had called me into. There are so many believers who have no sense of the privilege, the dignity of this fellowship or the fact they have been called into it. It would be my desire that that we should be more aware of this wonderful fellowship that we have been called into, not just in its terms, not just in the way of being able to express it verbally, nor to merely speak about it, or only to know the doctrine of it, but to truly appreciate the truth of it. When I say ’to know the doctrine’, I am not speaking of what is merely intellectual. We must truly know its reality through experience. That is what the Lord is looking for, that we would have that experience.
There are many believers who are unaware of the true character of this fellowship. And there are some who are aware of it but are not answering to it. How solemn that is, to be aware of such a fellowship and to not be answering to it. Think of what that must mean to the heart of Christ. Think of the feelings of Christ, and I say that reverently. The Lord has feelings, divine feelings; there are no feelings like the feelings of the Lord. Think of how that must affect Him, if I am aware of such a privileged place but do not avail myself of it, or ignore it, or am indifferent to it, and do not answer to it. Then there may be others who are aware of the fellowship but are not answering in a way that is in accord with it. I think that is really the reason it is important to understand it is the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. It is His fellowship, it is not our fellowship. That is something we need to lay hold of; may we be preserved from looking at fellowship as ours. It is the fellowship of Jesus Christ our Lord. We have had that impression recently, of the importance of the lordship of Christ, and the need to own Him as Lord. What a privilege that is, what an honour it is to be able to own Him as Lord, to own His authority in my life and in your life. Think about the happy opportunity we have, as we own His authority upon us, to be together in these things. That unity is the result of owning Him as our Lord and is what characterises this fellowship.
We might ask ourselves: ‘What is fellowship all about?’ What is this fellowship like? What characterises this fellowship? Dearly beloved, what characterises this fellowship should be what was seen in Christ as a Man here on earth, a perfect Man in every way. Think of that; He is the one who has perfectly fulfilled everything that was in the heart and mind of God. All that God has purposed was seen and fulfilled in that blessed Man. He is the One who gives character to this dignified fellowship. People have all sorts of fellowships, they come up with all sorts of prestigious institutions and esteemed organisations and various fellowships that are dependent on an agreement as to what the rules should be and the regulations should be, what the order might be, or what the creed is. That is not what is spoken about in this scripture. This is a fellowship that is according to Christ and Christ alone, and the primary feature of this fellowship is the recognition of His lordship.
We took up the Corinthian epistles some years back and I was so impressed with the skill and the wisdom of the apostle Paul, the way that he addressed the need that was there in Corinth. You see, the Corinthians were in a poor state, in a bad way; it has been said they were walking badly. What skill the apostle Paul used in addressing what needed to be addressed in that particular locality. The thing about it is, that it does not only apply to Corinth, because he addressed his letter to “the assembly of God which is in Corinth” and then the apostle says, “with all that in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Cor.1:2). There was a particular need there in Corinth, but what the apostle Paul says to meet that need would preserve us as well. How these principles remain true, and they are needed in order for us to understand the fellowship of God’s Son. It is remarkable the way that the apostle Paul sought to help the Corinthians to address their poor state. They were in a bad way but he recognised what was of God. He took them up from God’s perspective and the way God viewed them. May we be helped in seeking to encourage one another. Always keep in mind God’s perspective and the way that God sees His saints. Paul referred to them as “those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints”. That was the divine perspective, God’s perspective; “called saints”, set apart for Him. Dearly beloved, I would trust that as we consider these things for ourselves, the thought that we have been sanctified, that we have been called saints, should have an effect upon our hearts which should produce within me and in every believer a greater desire to truly be in correspondence with God’s thoughts. That should cause exercise that my walk and my ways, and yours, are found more in correspondence with the divine perspective.
How important it is to consider how the Lord Jesus moves to bring us consciously into this fellowship under His careful instruction and care. You can see the Spirit of Jesus coming out in Paul in the way that he works with the saints in Corinth. He recognises what they are, he takes account of how “ye come short in no gift” (1 Cor.1:7), he even takes into account how they had “been enriched in him” (1 Cor.1:5), and that there was knowledge there for the testimony of Christ. Paul recognises these things. Yet later on in the epistle he has to say, “And I, brethren, have not been able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly”, (1 Cor.3:1). So we may have certain things that are right in themselves, and there may be outwardly what is commendable, but the apostle Paul had a real desire to get right to the point of the matter; he had “not been able to speak to you as to spiritual”. Adjustment was needed so they might come to a judgment of the carnal line. We see the results of carnality, the sectarian way of thinking, in this chapter. The Corinthians were on party lines, they were thinking along sectarian lines; some were saying “I am of Paul, and another, I of Apollos”, (1 Cor.3:4). How sad that is. There were those whom Paul recognised as being “in everything … enriched in him, in all word of doctrine, and all knowledge”, and yet they were moving along carnal lines. That has no place in the fellowship of God’s Son.
Paul and Barnabas, those two dear servants of the Lord, are an example of how saints are to work together. The saints in Jerusalem were not too keen on Paul coming in amongst them, probably because of his history. They were a little wary of Paul, but Barnabas adjusted them and he linked on as they recognised the work of God in Paul. He linked on with that and they served together, but there came a point where they went their separate ways (Acts 15:37-39). That was because Barnabas allowed what was natural to come in and to govern him in the decisions that he made in relation to his upcoming continuation of service. That is carnal thinking. Paul was exercised about the service that was before them, he thought it was not a good idea to take Mark, one who had abandoned them, and I think that Paul was exhibiting spiritual thinking. He had discernment at the time; Barnabas was carried away by natural thinking and so they separated. That kind of thinking along natural lines has no place in the fellowship of God’s Son. We recognise what is naturally legitimate, we recognise that it has its place, but it is not to govern us and it is definitely not to govern the fellowship of God’s Son and the way matters are carried out, the working out of the truth together.
That is what you have in the fellowship of God’s Son: there is a testimony to the working out of things, there is the desire that the testimony might be strengthened. We have been taught that fellowship is partnership, that we are. Do we view one another in that way? That this truly is a partnership, that my interests are your interests, your interests are my interests? What is that interest based on? The Lord’s interests. The Lord’s interests and what is for His own heart is our common bond. How important that is. In spite of the conditions in Corinth and the poor state that existed, God is able and the Lord is able for it all. Paul worked very skillfully to bring them into the good of this; he says, “God is faithful, by whom ye have been called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord”.
Paul teaching the Corinthians about the fellowship of God’s Son was one of the ways in which he was seeking to help them to understand the true basis of fellowship. It is not on carnal lines, it is not along party lines and sectarian ways of thinking and so forth. I believe that is the reason why, in the first chapter, Paul almost immediately brings in the cross. We had it before us; the cross removes everything, dearly beloved, that is contrary to God’s will. It removes everything of me naturally, it removes the flesh, the first man: all that is done away with, it has all been removed. If we do not come to that, then these things will hinder our enjoyment of this wonderful fellowship that we have been called into. “God is faithful”: in spite of the conditions in Corinth, in spite of my failure, I bring that right down to myself and it is so important for each one of us to bring this right down to ourselves. God has His eye upon us so that despite our failing – and even in an area where the grace and love of God is available to us we still break down – God is faithful: He does not change. God’s desire, His will, His intent, His love, His grace, His mercy – we could go on, they are unchanging, and they have not been diminished at all. They are as strong as they ever were, beloved. When we look around us, we see the conditions that exist in this day that we are in, but God’s love, His grace, His goodness – everything that has to do with God, everything that is seen in His ways and His movements and ultimately His purposes – none of these things have changed at all and they are all available. So “God is faithful”; we may be unfaithful and we may fail, but God is faithful. This fellowship which we have been called into remains. It is available to you, it is available to me, and to every believer, for us all to come into, to lay hold of and to go in for. We do not want to be persons who are only ostensibly in fellowship. We want it to be a reality in our souls and in our hearts. We want to be active in working it out.
Where I read in Daniel, I was thinking that one of the hindrances to truly working things out according to God’s mind and in the reality of the experience of them, is our outlook, our mindset. I think Daniel is a good example of a man who had a right outlook. You think of Daniel’s time, a day of captivity and restriction. It would have been easy to lose hope and heart. Yet every day, Daniel prayed with his windows opened to Jerusalem. Jerusalem would represent God’s operations, the divine centre at that time. Daniel never gave that up because God never gave that up. So regardless of his circumstances, regardless of where he found himself, in captivity, in severely restricted circumstances, regardless of all that, Daniel continued. His outlook was towards Jerusalem, his outlook was in relation to God’s operations. He did not allow his outward circumstances to hinder him in that way; that was his outlook. Even though this decree had gone out, there was no compromise from Daniel. He continued as he always had. It is tempting to compromise. In the day that we live in, things are difficult, we have to own that. I speak feelingly to the young persons; do not think that we do not understand that it is a difficult day. It is a day of smallness, it is a day of breakdown and ruin, we own that, we understand that it is a difficult day and how tempting it is to compromise. Daniel did not compromise whatsoever. Well, may we be encouraged to not allow compromise to come in because of the smallness of things or the conditions that we see round about us. We recognise the conditions, dearly beloved, but we do not become occupied with them and we do not allow ourselves to become governed by these conditions. Our desire is to go on, we would not compromise, our outlook would stay the same, our outlook would be in line with God’s divine operations for the day that we are in.
How wonderful it is that we see such an example in Daniel. We might ask ourselves, how was he able to maintain a right perspective? I think it goes back to chapter 1, “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not pollute himself with the king’s delicate food”, (Dan.1:8). We had food today during our time together, which was very encouraging. You think what the manna means for us, how we can be encouraged and strengthened in the wilderness pathway. That living bread from heaven would enlarge us in our understanding and appreciation of what is heavenly. Are we feeding upon that? God has provided for both aspects; He understands our needs in the wilderness and He also understands what we need in order that we might apprehend divine things, heavenly things. How considerate God is. The question is, what are we feeding on? Over the last several years, there have been many trials and tests. I believe that they have been allowed to challenge us – what are we living on? What are you living on? What am I living on? What am I feeding on? What is the source of it? It is good to know the source of what you are feeding on. And what you are feeding on is what you will ultimately develop a taste for. That came in during our time together; there was a reference to, “Taste and see that Jehovah is good”, Ps.34:8. May each of us develop a taste for divine and spiritual food. You see that with Daniel; he refused the king’s delicate food, he did not partake of it because he knew that what he needed to feed on was in type what would sustain him spiritually. You have the pulse brought in; the pulse would not have been very attractive to men in the flesh and yet look at the result. It not only sustained them but it says “their countenances appeared fairer” (Dan.1:15), and there had been actual growth and nourishment – it went beyond being sustained. In fact Daniel and his friends looked better than all the rest; what a testimony that was. May we be helped to consider what we are feeding on. We have had it in our time together, we have had it brought before us. May we be encouraged and exercised because the right food will establish and help us to have a right outlook and to be maintained in it.
I will just refer briefly to 1 John: “But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another”. We talk about the fellowship into which we have been called, but it has to be worked out, the demonstration of it, the experience of it. Where we read in Corinthians, the point is what characterises that fellowship; it is the fellowship of God’s Son. There the apostle does not emphasise fellowship with, but the fellowship of His Son – what characterises that fellowship. Who is in charge when it comes to that fellowship? Jesus Christ our Lord. Here in 1 John it is that we have fellowship, that is the actual working of it out and the experience of it. Fellowship as presented here is really a result. People set up fellowships and other links similar to fellowship, and they become an object in themselves. Fellowship is not exactly our object, but it should be the result of what we are occupied with: “if we walk in the light as he is in the light” is real fellowship. It is not an arrangement that we have to strive to come up with, or to create or to establish, it is a result of being occupied with the same things. How wonderful that is.
John says that we are to walk “in the light as he is in the light”. We know that light exposes, and as believers we should welcome that. Light also reveals, light shows the way but the point here is “if we walk in the light”. John does not refer to the Father of lights, or to how it exposes and reveals, and no doubt these aspects have their place, but it is the consequence of walking “in the light as he is in the light”. Think of all that has been revealed by God in Jesus, all that has come out in relation to Himself, what He has made known of Himself. Dearly beloved, how precious that is. The result should be some real sense of God’s presence. I can assure you that if we are walking in that way, then there will be a real sense of God’s presence on the basis of who He is and what He is and how He has revealed Himself. It will change our relationships together. “But if we walk in the light as he is in the light” and if that truly marks believers then “we have fellowship with one another” and nothing will mar or hinder that fellowship. Nothing can set that fellowship to the side as long as we are found walking “in the light as he is in the light”, in the assurance and consciousness of His blessed presence.
I wanted to mention 2 Timothy because it does have some bearing on fellowship. What is so affecting about 2 Timothy 2 is that it is available to us now, in the present time. We are not left without resources, we are not left without help and we are not left without support. I do not want to overly occupy us with the smallness of things, but we are to recognise it, and the breakdown and the ruin. It is there and I have had a part in it: that is something to come to as well. Daniel always prayed that way, he always took the sins of the people upon himself, he identified himself with the people and he owned his part in that. It is good to own our responsibility. As we do, it will help us in our exercises.
So chapter 2 is provided as guidance for believers in a day of breakdown and ruin, and that is so very encouraging. In chapter 1, Paul refers to how God “has called us with a holy calling,” (2 Tim.1:9); the holy calling has not changed. This is a holy calling according to the power of God. God’s power has not diminished and it has not lessened at all; “who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace”, so in spite of this day being one of breakdown and ruin, God is still moving along the lines of His purpose and His grace. That holy calling has not changed at all. You say: ‘Well, I look around and see the condition of things; what is the point? Everything is broken down, everything is in ruins’. Dearly beloved, what God has intended and what He has purposed in His heart has not broken down. We are often occupied with numbers, so often occupied with outward conditions. We may be taken up with what we see with our eyes, but God’s purpose has not changed and the greatness, glory, privilege and wonder of having part in these things is still available at the very same level as at the beginning. That is something to lay hold of.
This passage helps us to realise that we can go in now for the things that it speaks about. It thrills my heart when I think of it in that way. It helps me and encourages me, and I trust it will encourage each one of you, that the greatness and glory of the apostle writes of are still available and have not changed at all. They are available for you to come into and to lay hold of. So my exhortation to the young persons, the older persons, to every believer, is to avail ourselves of what God is making available to you today to enter into. It is wonderful that it can be worked out together. God is faithful, He has called us into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ. Are you answering to that today? Do you realise the greatness of what God desires for you to come into, and the appreciation and the understanding of how great it is? Persons might say, Well, I do not see that. That may be because you are not moving along the line of faith. It is like Lot; he moved along another line, he was a man of sight, he was governed by his circumstances and what he saw around him. But Abraham was a man of faith. Jehovah said, “Lift up now thine eyes” (Gen.13:14); that has its bearing today. God would say to us today, ‘lift up thine eyes’. He will show the greatness of what is available, and He will show the way. It is available to you! How wonderful it is when we consider 2 Timothy in this way: “pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.” The scripture adds: “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”; that is important. That is a requirement. We cannot enter into these things if we brush that off to the side, skip that step. We cannot do that. If you do, you are going to be hindered from coming into what God truly desires that you enter into.
These verses in 2 Timothy really bring before us the individual believer’s path in this day of waiting. The path begins with the individual’s walk. It ultimately results in bringing us into the enjoyment and appreciation of the collective aspect of things but it comes right down to you; it has to start in your heart. The reality of these things can only be entered into if you lay hold of them, if we avail ourselves of the greatness of what God is making available through His beloved Son and in the power of the Holy Spirit. It comes right down to you. It says, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord”: every one. That comes right down to you and to me. Paul goes on, “If therefore one shall have purified himself from these … he shall be a vessel to honour, sanctified, serviceable to the Master”. I wanted to emphasise that. We cannot rely on the brethren to bring us livingly into these things, we cannot rely on our families to ensure that we are going to be found in the enjoyment of them; it comes right down to you and me. It is my desire to encourage us each one that we might lay hold of these things individually: to realise that what God has made available is still available and He is making that appeal. I go back to Abraham and God’s word to Him: “Lift up now thine eyes”.
May we lift up our eyes and may we take account of what is available – the greatness and glory of it. What a wonderful privilege it is to be able to go in for these things. May we be in the good of that wonderful fellowship that we have been called to, may we answer to it and may we have the blessed experience, dearly beloved, of each one of us working these things out together. What we work out together, what we experience, will go through. We were talking about that during the break. You might ask – what is the importance of this? What is it all in view of? That practical aspect of working out the truth together, working out fellowship together, the experience of fellowship here on earth in the fellowship of God’s Son is to be enjoyed at this time, but it is in view of another time – when He comes to reign. What we work through in those experiences, what we come to at the present time, will help us to have our part with Christ in that day when He shall reign supreme.
May we be encouraged for His name’s sake.
Given at 3-day meetings at Wheaton, US
25 November 2022
Scotie Selman