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Date: June 20, 1937, Lord's Day, 9:30 a.m.Place: ShanghaiScripture Reading: Matt. 16:18; 18:17
Tonight I am going to talk a little about the expression and practice of the local church and also the relationship between the workers and the church. For those who have been attending our meetings regularly, we would like to explain the reason for having meetings like ours. In other words, I am going to speak about the outward expression and practice of the church, not about its content.
What kind of expression should the testimony of the church have in order for it to be scriptural? Suppose we have the best kind of tea, but we have no cup. Without a cup this wonderful tea could not get into us. Christ is the living water. He can forever quench man's thirst. But without a "cup," man cannot receive anything. If we have a cup that is dirty, we still have a problem. If we drink from the cup, we take in all sorts of things other than the water, and the taste of the living water will be gone. Consider the famine in Szechuan province; there is a shortage of rice and grain. It would be very unkind for a person to sell bowls there. However, if there is rice, there is the need for the proper supply of bowls. Christ is the "rice" and the church is the "bowl." Man receives Christ through the church. The problem today is not with the rice but with the bowl. Christ is not the problem; the problem is with the church.
Along with its outward expression, we must also pay attention to the practice of the church. The work of the cross deals with the flesh. But man's ways often activate the flesh in the work of God. We may think that mistakes in our living offend the Lord, but we may never realize that applying the flesh to the work is also an offense to God (Ezek. 44:17-18). Man assumes that he has the power and wisdom to complement God's work. Today a few men gather together, pray a little, and then start a meeting or an organization. This kind of beginning can never be of the Spirit. There is no doubt that the Spirit wants to accomplish something today, but the Spirit does not work independently. Rather, He works through man. If a man is fleshly, the Spirit cannot work in him. Without the Spirit, everything is dead, even if it is scriptural. God's work is a matter of man cooperating and coordinating with the Spirit; it is neither a case of the Spirit working alone nor of man working alone.
The church of Christ has two aspects. The first aspect, the universal aspect, is spoken of in Matthew 16. The universal church includes all the believers both past and present. There is only one such church, and we cannot add another to it. The universal church is unique. The second aspect, the local aspect, is spoken of in Matthew 18. The local church includes all the local believers at a certain time and in a certain place. It is limited to time and place. It can be counted. This is why we see expressions in the Bible such as the "church" (Acts 9:31), the "seven churches" (Rev. 1:4), and the "churches" (1 Cor. 11:16; 14:33).
There is no difference in content between the universal church and the local church, except that the local church is a miniature of the universal church. Paul said that the Corinthian believers were the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27). This means that the local church represents the Body of Christ. The local church should represent the universal church. The universal church does not have any problems, and it will never have any problems. The universal church is above all failure. No one can ever cause the universal church to have spots or wrinkles. Even the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it. However, the local church is in the hands of man, and there is the possibility of failure. Throughout the two thousand years of the history of the local churches, there have been numerous mistakes and failures.
God only establishes local churches in various localities. We cannot see any unit that is bigger or smaller than the local church. The local church is the biggest as well as the smallest unit. The local church is the one and only institution of Christ. In the Bible all the churches were local. There were the church in Corinth, the church in Ephesus, the church in Jerusalem, the church in Antioch, and the church in Philippi. All these churches were named after localities. Although there might have been many meeting places in Jerusalem, there was only one church. Although the meetings might have been held in various places, there was one and only one fellowship. Although there were many divisions in Corinth, they met only in one place. The sphere of the church is based on the boundary of the locality. All the Christians in a locality are in the church in that locality. Therefore, all the believers in Shanghai form the church in Shanghai. God takes the city, the town, or the village as the unit for the church. We can only read of "the church in Ephesus"; we cannot read of "such and such church in Ephesus," because "such and such church" is not qualified to be the church of God in Ephesus.
The church includes all the believers in a locality. However, on the earth today there are many so-called churches that are not based on locality as the unit. They cannot be called the church, because they are not qualified to be considered as a unit of the church. There are at least three thousand such units in the world. In China alone, there are over one hundred such units, and over seventy such units in Shanghai alone. Because they cannot form a unit for the church, they are not qualified to be called the church. Therefore, they are called sects or denominations.
If I tear my Bible into five parts and give one part to you, can you say that it is the New Testament? No, you can only say that it is a part of the Bible because it cannot represent the entire Bible. If a person's work in a particular locality is not big enough in its representation, it is not big enough to represent the church. The unit of the church is based on the locality. One problem is that man makes the unit of the church smaller than it should be. Another problem is that man makes the unit of the church bigger than it should be. Revelation 2 and 3 speak of seven local churches. The local church is the largest entity in God's eyes. He does not combine several local churches together; they are all separate. Revelation speaks of the seven lampstands which represent the seven churches. There is not one lamp with seven branches, but seven lampstands. The local churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea were no bigger than their respective localities. A local church cannot be subdivided into smaller units, nor can it be united to form bigger units. There were seven churches on the earth, and there were seven lampstands in heaven. In other words the number of local churches on the earth was represented by an equal number in heaven. Every locality has its own administration. The failure of one church cannot be blamed on another church.
The local church is the unique unit for the church. Having a local church in smaller units is the same as having divisions (cf. 1 Cor. 1:10-12); combining several local churches together is the same as forming a denomination or a council. Divisions and denominations are produced because man will not work according to the practice of the Scriptures.
Some people try to be our spokesmen, saying that our testimony is "anti-denominational." If this is our only objective, we have betrayed the truth. We are here because we want to do what the apostles did — establish local churches, not because we are against the denominations. Too many believers today have not seen the work of the apostles. They have not seen that the apostles did not establish their own meetings; rather, they set up local churches in various localities. Once they established a local church, they left the locality. The local churches were not under their hands, nor did the local churches belong to them. Today many are sent by mission boards of certain denominations. After they establish a meeting in a locality, the meeting belongs to that denomination. This is like flying a kite; a string is attached, and the kite moves by a pull of the string.
Last summer I read the biography of Hudson Taylor once again. This is the third time I have read his biography. I received much help from him. The China Inland Mission was a mission, yet the result of its work was China Inland Mission churches. This is not right. In order to avoid offending anyone, I will not mention the name of a brother I once met from the China Inland Mission. In the course of our conversation, I said, "Mr. So-and-so, you are an Englishman. You and your wife have suffered a great deal and have gained quite a few Miao natives. Are you setting up the church in Dali, or are you establishing the China Inland Mission in Dali? Today I do not oppose the China Inland Mission to which you belong. Although I cannot join, I do not oppose it. What I do oppose is the China Inland Mission church which you established. I would not comment on you as an individual. But the work produced by your mission is wrong." He said, "Mr. Nee, I understand what you mean."
The apostle Paul was sent from Antioch. Suppose he came to Ephesus and set up the Antioch Church in Ephesus. Suppose Peter, who also traveled much, came to Ephesus and saved fifty or one hundred people. Suppose he said, "I will not put my people in Paul's Antioch Church. That church is not related to me. I am from Jerusalem, and I will call my church the Jerusalem Church in Ephesus." Suppose Barnabas and Philip also arrived, did their own work, and established their own churches. In this way different kinds of work would result in many divisions among the people. God cannot tolerate this kind of situation. Brothers! I can work together with you, but I have to ask you one thing. It is not a matter of cooperation among co-workers but a matter of the result of our work. Where can we place those who are saved?
We are servants of all but masters of none. The relationship I have with the assembly in Shanghai is the same as the relationship you have with Shanghai. The local assembly exercises complete authority over itself and is absolutely not related to the workers. The Bible only teaches the establishing of local churches; it does not teach the establishing of churches that are based on an organization to which one belongs.
God raises up special ministers in every age. Church history during the past several centuries shows that the church was built up by special gifts of God. I love all those brothers. I love Luther. I love Wesley. I love Darby, etc. All of these spiritual giants were greatly used by God at the beginning, but gradually the only thing that was left was a denomination. This is really pitiful. I cannot reject the truth released through these persons, but I cannot accept the churches they have formed. Because they did not see the local church, they set up churches according to their ministries and controlled these churches. In the Scriptures, one never finds a minister of the gospel controlling a certain church or several churches. In other words, no minister is greater than the local church; rather, the local church is greater than the ministers (cf. 1 Cor. 3:21-23). If this principle is not upheld, sects will be produced immediately. Once an assembly comes under a certain minister or a certain commission, it becomes a sect. Baptism is a truth which we preach and practice. We should immerse people into the water so that they can become disciples of the Lord. But making a commission the basis for setting up a church and putting the church under the commission of a truth is forming a sect.
In a department store there are apparel, shoe, watch, handkerchief, and souvenir departments. All of the departments work together. If we do this, there will be no possibility of having a denomination. Praise God, He has commissioned me with a ministry. I confess that I am not worthy. However, since God has been gracious to me, I have become bold. Should I then preach myself? No, I should not. But should I be unfaithful? No, I cannot be unfaithful either. When I go to a certain place, I will establish an assembly there; I will save sinners and also have my ministry there. But after I finish my work, I will leave and be satisfied. I should not expect the entire city of Shanghai to be handkerchief stores and force others to use handkerchiefs for everything — eating with handkerchiefs and drinking with handkerchiefs. Furthermore, I should not demand that all other shops be closed.
What relationship should a worker hold with the assembly? In the assembly a worker is the same as other brothers who are holding other jobs. Whether the brothers who hold other jobs make money or lose money has nothing to do with the church. For example, George Müller set up an orphanage. This work had nothing to do with the church. Likewise, the condition of a worker has nothing to do with the church.
For the students at Cheloo University to have their own table is unscriptural. Only the church in Tsinan is qualified to represent Tsinan. Cheloo University cannot be a unit upon which a table is set. If one stands on the ground of the church in Tsinan, he can break bread. In God's ordination, every church is directly related to that locality alone. The purpose of this is to maintain the oneness. Is the church that every Christian attends a church in the locality, or is it a church that is smaller than the locality?
I am a brother in Shanghai, but my work is in Jen-Ru. Many people want to replace the church with the work, but the work can never replace the church. I should not expect God's children to belong to me. If this is not the case, may the Lord forgive me. I am a brother in Shanghai. If tomorrow I go to Nanking, I will immediately become a brother in Nanking and not a brother in Shanghai.
I hope you will not demand believers in Shanghai to leave this and that organization in a negative sense. You have to talk positively about the local church. Whoever has been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ and has been regenerated by the Spirit is in the church in Shanghai. There should be no discrimination of any kind. Our heart needs to be enlarged to include all the believers in Shanghai. May all the workers be clear about the nature of our testimony and the practice of the local church.
