Fellowship with God

‘That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.’ 1 John 1:3

Suggested Further Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:11–6:1

That which is the Father’s employment is our employment. I speak not of you all; he knows whom he has chosen. We cannot join with the Father in upholding all worlds, we cannot send forth floods of light at the rising of the sun, we cannot feed the cattle on a thousand hills, nor can we give food and life to all creatures that have breath. But there is something which we can do which he does. He does good to all his creatures, and we can do good also. He bears witness to his Son Jesus, and we can bear witness too. The ‘Father worketh hitherto’ that his Son may be glorified, and we work too. O Eternal Worker! it is his to save souls, and we are co-workers with him. You are his husbandry, you are his building; he scatters the seed of truth, we scatter it too; his words speak comfort, and our words comfort the weary too, when God the Spirit is with us. We hope we can say, ‘For me to live is Christ;’ and is this not what God lives for too? We desire nothing so much as to glorify him, and this is the Father’s will, as well as Jesus Christ’s prayer, ‘Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.’ Do you not see, brethren, that we stand on the same platform with the eternal God? When we lift our hand, he lifts up his eternal arm; when we speak, he speaks too, and speaks the same thing; when we purpose Christ’s glory, he purposes that glory too; when we long to bring home the wandering sheep, and to recall the prodigal sons, he longs to do the same. So that in that respect we can say, ‘Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.’

For meditation: The essential first step in doing the work of God is to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 6:28–29). Faith in him is not only the route to salvation, but also an appointment as God’s fellow-worker (John 14:12; 2 Corinthians 6:1). Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12), and so are his followers (Matthew 5:14).

Sermon no. 409
15 September (1861)