I.　The unique divine fellowship is mysterious—1 John 1:3:

A.　The divine life and the divine fellowship are mysterious because they are divine—vv. 2-3, 7.

B.　We, the believers in Christ, are mysterious, for we have the mysterious divine life and the mysterious divine nature—John 3:15; 2 Pet. 1:4.

II.　The unique divine fellowship is intrinsically related to the unique divine nature, which is signified by the street of the New Jerusalem—Rev. 21:21b; 22:1-2:

A.　The street of the holy city is "pure gold, like transparent glass"—21:21b: Rev 21:21b … And the 3street of the city was pure cgold, like 4transparent glass.

1.　Gold symbolizes the divine nature—2 Pet. 1:4; Rev. 21:18b.

2.　The fact that the river of water of life proceeds in the middle of the golden street signifies that the divine life f lows in the divine nature as the unique way for the daily life of God's redeemed people; the divine life and the divine nature always go together—22:1-2.

B.　All our fellowship must be based on God's golden nature—2 Pet. 1:4; 1 John 1:3, 7:

1.　We may feel that our fellowship with God is our contacting God, and our fellowship with the saints is our contacting the saints, but this is not the deciding factor concerning whether or not our fellowship is the fellowship of God—vv. 3, 6-7.

2.　The fellowship of God must be based upon God's divine nature; whether or not our fellowship with others is genuine fellowship is determined by whether or not it is based upon the golden nature within us—Rev. 21:21b.

3.　Living in the unique divine fellowship is not according to our outward doing but according to our inward being; the inward being of our Christian life must be God's golden nature—vv. 18b, 21b; 22:1-2.

4.　If we practice the unique divine fellowship based on the golden divine nature, we are living as part of the New Jerusalem—21:10-11.

III.　The unique divine fellowship is the fellowship of the apostles—Acts 2:42:

A.　Fellowship is the communion and communication between the believers in their communion and communication with God the Father and Christ the Son—1 John 1:3; Phil. 1:5; 2:1; 4:14-15.

B.　The fellowship of the apostles is the fellowship of the Body of Christ, the divine fellowship between all the believers and the Triune God—Acts 2:42; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 John 1:3.

C.　The apostles' fellowship is universal in time and space, including all parts of the globe and all centuries.

D.　The fellowship of the apostles is based on the apostles' teaching—Acts 2:42:

1.　Teaching creates fellowship, and fellowship comes from teaching; fellowship always comes after teaching—1 Cor. 4:17; 1:9; 10:16.

2.　The apostles' teaching is the element and realm of the apostles' fellowship—Acts 2:42:

a.　The unique fellowship is produced through the unique teaching, the apostles' teaching—v. 42.

b.　Besides the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, the believers in Christ should not have any other teaching or fellowship—1 Tim. 1:3-4; Titus 1:9; 1 John 1:3.

c.　If we teach wrongly or differently from the apostles' teaching, our teaching will produce a sectarian, divisive fellowship—1 Tim. 1:3-4; 6:3.

d.　In God's New Testament economy there is only one category of teaching revealed and recognized by God—the teaching of the apostles—and only one category of fellowship that is of God and is acceptable to Him—the fellowship of the apostles, which is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and which is the unique fellowship of the unique church, the Body of Christ—Acts 2:42; 1 John 1:3; 1 Cor. 1:9; 2 Cor. 13:14.

E.　The fellowship of the Lord's recovery is the recovered fellowship of the apostles; we are in the unique divine fellowship—the fellowship of the Lord's recovery, which is the recovered apostles' fellowship—Acts 2:42; 1 John 1:3.

F.　We need a vision of the apostles' teaching and fellowship to guide us, control us, and restrict us—Prov. 29:18.

G.　In our work for the Lord, we must keep ourselves in the apostles' fellowship—1 Cor. 15:58; 16:10; Eph. 4:12.

IV.　The unique divine fellowship requires that we join with the apostles and the Triune God for the carrying out of God's purpose—1 John 1:3; Phil. 1:5; 2:1; 4:14-15; Acts 11:23; Eph. 1:11; 3:11; 2 Tim. 1:9:

A.　John's word in 1 John 1:3 indicates the putting away of private interests and a joining with others for a certain common purpose.

B.　To have fellowship with the apostles, to be in the fellowship of the apostles, and to have fellowship with the Triune God in the apostles' fellowship is to put aside our private interests and join with the apostles and the Triune God for the carrying out of God's purpose—Eph. 1:11; 3:11.

C.　Our participation in the apostles' fellowship—in their enjoyment of the Triune God—is our joining with them and with the Triune God for His divine purpose, which is common to God, the apostles, and all the believers—Rom. 8:28; 2 Tim. 1:9; 3:10.

D.　According to John's writings, the divine purpose is twofold:

1.　The divine purpose is that the believers may grow in the divine life by abiding in the Triune God (1 John 2:12-27) and, based upon the divine birth, live a life of the divine righteousness and the divine love (2:28—5:3) to overcome the world, death, sin, the devil, and idols (5:4-21).

2.　The divine purpose is that the local churches may be built up as the lampstands for the testimony of Jesus (Rev. 1—3) and consummate in the New Jerusalem as the full expression of God for eternity (chs. 21—22); this is the divine purpose of the unique divine fellowship.