The Urgency and the Way of Spiritual Reality (continued)
Fellowship "With" Christ and Fellowship "In" Christ
What does Corinthians say? One Corinthians, verse nine says: "God is faithful, through Whom ye were called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord." Not only the reality of likeness to Christ, but the reality of fellowship with Christ, now try to follow this, fellowship "with" Christ and fellowship "in" Christ. We are called into the fellowship of His Son. God's intention here and now is that we should have real fellowship with Christ. "Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son" (1 John 1:3). Our supreme life secret ought to be fellowship with His Son. If we are not in communion with Christ, dear friends, our whole life and its influence is nothing. What a battle there is for fellowship with Him, but that is the secret. "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23).
Yes, it is communion with Him that is the very life source of everything that happens in our life; it has got to be fellowship with Him. Now we have been called in close fellowship with Christ. How are you getting on in that matter? Are you meeting the Lord every day? Are you in touch with the Lord, does He speak with you and you speak with Him? Or do you just read your Bible as a book, and just pray your prayers as a kind of duty; is it fellowship with Him?
Well, we have been called, we have been called into the fellowship of His dear Son. You say, 'I cannot pray. I cannot get on with my quiet time. I find it so difficult.' What is the answer? The Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, "strengthened with might by His Spirit," you see, "that Christ may dwell." Everything that seems impossible is possible to the Holy Spirit. And you and I can say, "Lord, I want to become closer to You, I want to know You better, and I do trust the Holy Spirit to lead me into more real fellowship with Yourself."
Yes, and we will find that something is beginning to happen that has not happened before, the Holy Spirit is doing it. Yes, but not only fellowship "with" Him, but fellowship "in" Him. Oh, how the Lord wants to deepen our real kingship with one another in the Lord. I believe He wants to do that, and will, as we trust Him: Fellowship "IN" Him.
And, you see, Corinthians was a church in which there was so much that was not fellowship with Christ, and so much that was not fellowship with one another. The Apostle Paul became the vehicle of the Holy Spirit to say to them: 'This is not right and this is not right, let us get it right; let us come to the Cross with all these things that are not right and be done with them.' And you know, as they responded to that word, responded to the pleading of the Spirit, something happened in them. We believe that something did happen, because in the Second Letter things were very much better. He was able to write a loving letter to them, and rejoice that things were so different. They responded to the Holy Spirit, and the fellowship became a reality.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 30 - (We Were Called Into Liberty)
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