THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT—FELLOWSHIP
The work of the Holy Spirit is fellowship. The characteristic of God is His love. The characteristic of the Lord Jesus is His grace, and the characteristic of the Holy Spirit is His fellowship. Second Corinthians 13:14 says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." God is love, and His characteristic is love. The Lord Jesus is grace, and His characteristic is grace. Lastly, the characteristic of the Holy Spirit is fellowship. The Holy Spirit has nothing in Himself. He brings the love of God and the grace of the Lord Jesus into you by the way of fellowship. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has not accomplished a work of love. He has not accomplished a work of grace. The Holy Spirit conveys to you what God and the Lord Jesus have accomplished. Hence, the work of the Holy Spirit is fellowship. The Holy Spirit after the Lord’s ascension is just filled with the work of the Lord Jesus. He is like the light. As long as there is a crack, He will come in. When He comes in, He will bring the grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God into you. This salvation is surely complete.
Some time ago, a very famous servant of the Lord in England died. Of course, his death was under God’s sovereignty. None of us can say anything about that. But humanly speaking, we can say something about his death. He was very weak and had been sick for years. The doctors had prescribed a kind of medicine for him. Whenever he inhaled that medicine, he became strong again. He put this medicine by his chest of drawers. Many times, when he suffered much and felt like dying, he would breathe in the medicine and become well. Although the medicine did not smell good, it was very effective. The night that he died he felt uncomfortable again. He tried to reach for the medicine but was too weak to open the drawer. The next morning others found him in his bed with his hand stretching for the medicine. He died there with half of his body outside his bed. It was not a matter of the lack of the best and most effective medicine. He had lived by that medicine for eight or nine years already. Every time he was about to die, he inhaled the medicine and became well again. Why did he die this time? It was not because there was no medicine, and it was not because he did not want the medicine. It was because the medicine did not get into his hand. In the same way, we are those who are about to perish. The Lord Jesus has accomplished the work. God’s medicine has been prepared. As long as we take it, we will be healed. But who will give this medicine to us? There is the doctor to prescribe the medicine. There must also be someone to apply the medicine. The work of the Holy Spirit is to convey the work of the Lord Jesus to us. The love of God is in the grace of the Lord Jesus, and the grace of the Lord Jesus is in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Hence, all those who have received the fellowship of the Holy Spirit receive the grace of the Lord Jesus, and all those who have received the grace of the Lord Jesus have a taste of the love of God.
When the Holy Spirit comes, He gives you the light and shows you your failures and degradation. He shows you that you are lost. God has worked to such an extent that once you open your mouth and say a word and once your heart has a place for the Lord and would invoke Him, you will be saved. You do not have to go to a great cathedral to be saved. You do not have to pray to be saved. You do not have to step forward to the altar to be saved. The Holy Spirit is poured out upon all flesh already. Wherever you are, the Holy Spirit is there. Hallelujah! This is a fact! Today the Holy Spirit has already been poured out upon all flesh. You do not need to look for Him. He is looking for you. You can call on the street or in a house. You can receive God’s salvation in the sweetest place or the most unpleasant place. You can have it in the most crowded place or the most quiet place. The Holy Spirit has been poured out upon all flesh. No matter where you are, as long as you call on the name of the Savior, you will be saved.
Romans 10 talks about the fact, and Acts 2 talks about the reason. Romans 10 only tells us that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It does not tell us the reason. Acts 2 tells us that the Holy Spirit is upon all men. Hence, as long as one opens his mouth, he shall be saved. The Holy Spirit has already entered in. When man calls on His name, he shall be saved.
(Gospel of God, The (2 volume set), Chapter 8, by Watchman Nee)
