«　WEEK 3　DAY 6　»

　　Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

　　1 Cor. 10:16-17 …The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ? Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread.

　　Among all the churches that compose the one universal Body of Christ, there is no organization, but there is the fellowship of the Body of Christ…. Just as the human body does not have organization but does have circulation, so we should not have organization, but we should have fellowship. If all the churches stay in this circulation, in the fellowship of the Body, they will be healthy. However, the natural human thought is either to have organization or to have nothing to do with others. On the one hand, we should not have any organization among the churches; on the other hand, we should be open to have fellowship with all the churches. However, the church in a certain locality or the churches in a particular region may not be willing to have fellowship with other churches. This attitude is absolutely wrong. All the churches should remain in the fellowship of the Body. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2186)

　　In the proper church life the administration of the church is local, but the fellowship of the church is universal. Although the administration of the church is separate and equal locally, the fellowship of the church is one universally. In fellowship there is no separation…. The fellowship of the church is one not merely in a particular nation but in the entire universe. There is not one fellowship in England, another fellowship in the United States, another fellowship in Germany, another fellowship in China, and another fellowship in Japan. In these nations there are separate churches in many cities, but there is only one fellowship in the entire universe.

　　This fellowship is called the fellowship of the apostles. Acts 2:42 says that the three thousand who believed in the Lord Jesus and became the members of the church on the day of Pentecost continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles. In the church both the fellowship and the teaching should be one universally. In all the churches we should teach only one thing—Jesus Christ as the Spirit to be our life for the producing of the church. This is the teaching of the apostles. If a different teaching comes in, we must reject it (1 Tim. 1:3-4). We accept only one kind of teaching, the teaching of the apostles, and have only one fellowship, the apostles’ fellowship.

　　First John 1:3 says, “That which we have seen and heard we report also to you that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” The apostles’ fellowship is with the Father and with the Son. This means that it is with the Triune God. Around the globe there is only one Christian fellowship—the fellowship of the apostles with the Triune God.

　　This fellowship is expressed at the Lord’s table. When we eat the bread, we participate in the fellowship of the body of Christ, and when we drink the cup, we participate in the fellowship of the Lord’s blood (1 Cor. 10:16). The Lord’s body and blood are unique, and the fellowship of Christ’s body and blood is also unique. By partaking of the one bread, we have become the mystical Body of Christ (v. 17). Therefore, this universal fellowship is the fellowship of the Body of Christ. It is the fellowship passed on to us by the apostles. Hence, it is the apostles’ fellowship, and this fellowship is with the Triune God. Such a fellowship must be universal. In administration the churches are separate locally, but in fellowship they are united to be one universally. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 4, “Vital Factors for the Recovery of the Church Life,” pp. 493, 495-496)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 192, 200, 203-204; CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 4, “One Body and One Spirit,” ch. 1