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In this message we shall continue to consider the fellowship among the churches.
All the churches are the one universal Body of Christ. The one Body, the one universal church, comprises all the local churches. There may be thousands of local churches, but together they constitute one universal church. Each local church is a part of the universal church.
In Ephesians 4:4 Paul says, “One Body and one Spirit.” The Body is mentioned before the Spirit because the oneness among us is related to the Body and is for the Body. Furthermore, this verse not only reveals the uniqueness of the Body; it also shows that the one Body is determined by the one Spirit. Because there is one Spirit, there is one Body. There is not another Body because there is not another Spirit. We must keep the unique oneness of the Body because the Body and the Spirit are one.
The Spirit is the essence of the one Body. Without the Spirit, the Body is empty and has no life. The Body in Ephesians 4:4 is the Body of Christ, and the essence of the Body of Christ is the Spirit. Hence, the Body and the essence of the Body are one. It is impossible for the Body of Christ to have more than one essence. The unique essence of the Body is the Spirit.
Because there is one Spirit, there is only one Body. Moreover, there is only one circulation, one fellowship, of life in the Body. This circulation is the fellowship of the Body of Christ. All the local churches need to be in this unique fellowship.
Among all the churches that compose the one universal Body of Christ, there is no organization, but there is the fellowship of the Body of Christ. This means that in the proper church life there is no organization, but there is much fellowship. Just as the human body does not have organization but does have circulation, so we should not have organization, but we should have fellowship. If all the churches stay in this circulation, in the fellowship of the Body, they will be healthy. However, the natural human thought is either to have organization or to have nothing to do with others. On the one hand, we should not have any organization among the churches; on the other hand, we should be open to have fellowship with all the churches. However, the church in a certain locality or the churches in a particular region may not be willing to have fellowship with other churches. This attitude is absolutely wrong. All the churches should remain in the fellowship of the Body.
As indicated by the seven churches in Revelation 1 through 3, all the churches are on the same level, with none being the head church, nor any ruling over another. Among the seven churches in the book of Revelation, there is no church that is above the other churches and no church that is below the others. There is no thought of higher or lower. On the contrary, all the churches are on the same level. Furthermore, the churches are identical, each being a golden lampstand. The fact that the churches are identical indicates a prevailing fellowship among the churches, for without fellowship it is impossible for the churches to be identical.
All the churches are the same in receiving the teachings of the apostles. In 1 Corinthians 4:17b Paul says, “Even as I teach everywhere in every church.” This indicates that the apostles’ teaching is the same universally, not varying in any place. In 1 Corinthians 7:17 Paul says, “Only as the Lord has allotted to each one, as God has called each one, so let him walk. And so I direct in all the churches.” This is a further indication that all the churches were the same in receiving Paul’s teachings. In 1 Corinthians 16:1 Paul goes on to say, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you do also.” Here Paul instructed the church in Corinth to do what he had directed the churches of Galatia to do. This is a further indication that all the churches under Paul’s ministry were one in the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42).
Romans 16:17 tells us that some “make divisions and causes of falling contrary to the teaching which you have learned.” “The teaching which you have learned” is the teaching of the apostles. Whatever is taught in the churches should be the teaching of the apostles. We should be cautious of anyone who teaches in a way that is contrary to the teaching of the apostles.
First Timothy 1:3 says, “Even as I urged you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach differently.” Paul urged Timothy to remain in Ephesus to charge certain ones not to teach differently, that is, to charge them not to teach differently from the apostles’ teaching. The apostles’ teaching is not the teaching of a particular doctrine like baptism by immersion. The main emphasis of the apostles’ teaching is God’s New Testament economy. The constituents of God’s New Testament economy are the person and redemptive work of Christ and the church as the reproduction of Christ and His work.
Some who do not realize that all the churches should be the same in receiving the apostles’ teachings may think that a certain teaching is good for one church but not for their church. To have this attitude is to be closed to the fellowship among the churches. Any teaching that is good for a particular church is good for all the churches on earth. Likewise, if a teaching is not good for a particular church, it should be rejected by all the churches. There is no thought in the New Testament that a teaching is good for one church but not for the other churches. Rather, the New Testament reveals that the churches should be the same in receiving the teachings.
The churches should be one not only in receiving the teachings but also in practicing the church life. Nevertheless, some may think that a practice is good for a certain church but not for all the churches. However, Paul charged all the churches to have the same kind of practice.
Two portions of 1 Corinthians clearly indicate this. The first concerns head covering. There are different thoughts concerning head covering, but Paul told the saints in 11:16 not to be contentious concerning this. “If anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.” The custom here is the custom of contention, disputation, and debate. Neither the apostles nor the churches tolerated any disputation concerning the apostles’ teaching. The fact that Paul here speaks of “the churches of God” indicates that all the churches should act in the same way according to the apostles’ teaching. The practice of all the churches should be uniquely one.
First Corinthians 14:33b and 34 say, “As in all the churches of the saints, let the women be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but let them be subject, as the law also says.” This also indicates that all the local churches should be the same in practice. This prohibition of the sisters speaking in the church means that women are not permitted to teach with authority concerning the defining of doctrine (cf. 1 Cor. 11:5; Acts 2:17-18; 21:9; 1 Tim. 2:12). The two practices concerning head covering and concerning women’s ministry confirm that all the churches should be one in the same kind of unique practice.
All the churches should be the same also in acting together. This is indicated by Paul’s word in 2 Corinthians 8:18 and 19. “We sent together with him the brother, whose praise in the gospel is throughout all the churches; and not only this, but who has also been appointed by the churches as our fellow traveler in this grace which is being ministered by us to the glory of the Lord Himself.” In choosing someone to take care of the offerings, conveying them from one place to another, the churches acted, moved, together. Therefore, the churches should be the same in receiving the teachings, in practicing the church life, and in acting.
All the churches should be identical, like the seven golden lampstands as the symbol of the seven churches (Rev. 1:12b, 20b). The sign of the lampstands in Revelation 1 indicates that the churches should be identical in essence, appearance, and expression. The golden substance of the lampstand signifies God the Father. The definite shape, or form, of the lampstand signifies Christ the Son, since Christ is the embodiment of God. The seven lamps of the lampstand signify the seven Spirits of God (Rev. 4:5) as the expression of God. Therefore, the golden lampstands signify the churches as the embodiment and expression of the Triune God. Every local church should be such an expression. This means that the substance of every church should be God the Father, and the form, the appearance, of every church should be Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God. The churches should not have an appearance other than that of the all-inclusive Christ.
The fact that all the churches are identical means that they all should have the same color and flavor. However, the saints from a certain region may have a special color or flavor. There should not be such a difference in color or flavor among the churches. Although the saints are of different races and nationalities, the churches should nevertheless be identical, for we all have been saved and regenerated and we are being sanctified and transformed. Regarding essence, appearance, and expression, all the local churches must be identical.
Chapters two and three of Revelation indicate that only in their degradation do the seven churches bear their different characteristics respectively. Yes, there are differences among the seven churches, but these differences are only in negative things. The Lord Jesus pointed out the differences between the seven churches, but He pointed them out in a negative and rebuking way. Actually, all the differences are contrary to the one testimony of Jesus. Hence, the differences among the churches in their degradation do not justify us but condemn us. The Lord Jesus has no intention of preserving these differences. Instead, He wants to eliminate them. For example, Thyatira was the only church in which there was Jezebel, an extremely negative item (Rev. 2:20). This illustrates that the differences among the churches are not on the positive side but on the negative side.
In Revelation 1 the standard is that all the churches, as golden lampstands, must be the same in God’s nature, in Christ’s shape, and in the Spirit’s expression. In the gold, in the shape, and in the seven lamps, all the churches should be identical. However, because the churches picked up many negative things from their localities, they actually were not identical. Instead of being identical, they had differences which the Lord Jesus needed to judge and deal with.
If in our church there is a difference that makes us distinct from the other churches, we are wrong. The church is a lampstand, golden and pure. If all the churches are golden and pure, there will be no differences among them. Any differences, any distinctions, must be dross, some mixture or impurity, not gold. It is possible for our opinions or practices to be dross. Therefore, we need to learn how to be purified and become altogether golden, not having our own opinion or practice. If all the churches are purified in this way, they will be identical.
The fellowship among the churches also includes the matter of the contribution among the churches. For example, under Paul’s ministry, the Gentile churches made a contribution to help the churches in Judea (Rom. 15:25-27, 31b). There was a fellowship of love, a communication in love, between the Gentile and Jewish saints. The Gentile saints communicated with the Jewish saints by means of giving practical, material things. The Gentile believers had it in their heart to care for the material needs of their Jewish brothers, and they offered their possessions as the expression of their desire to take care of the needs of the saints in Judea.
Romans 15:26 says, “Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” Actually, the word “contribution” here is not the best translation of the Greek word koinonia. This contribution was a kind of communication, and this communication was an aspect of the fellowship among the churches, for when we have fellowship we have communication to the uttermost.
The contribution among the churches is a matter of the saints caring for one another by the grace of God given to them (2 Cor. 8:1-6; 9:1-2). In 2 Corinthians 8:1 Paul says, “We make known to you, brothers, the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia.” This grace is the resurrected Christ becoming the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) to bring the processed Triune God in resurrection into us to be our life and life supply. Grace is actually the Triune God becoming life and everything to us. By this grace the Macedonian believers overcame the usurpation of temporal and uncertain riches and became generous in ministering to the needy saints.
If we give by such a grace, what we give will become grace to others. We give material things to help them, but these material things are accompanied by a spiritual grace. When we supply needy saints with material things in the proper way, in spirit and with life, life and spirit go with this supply. As a result, the needy ones are supplied not only with material things but also with the riches of life.
Concerning the contribution among the churches by the grace of God, Paul says that in material things there should be equality among the churches. Second Corinthians 8:13-15 says, “This is not to others relief and to you affliction, but by equality: at the present time your abundance for their lack, that their abundance also may be for your lack, so that there may be equality; as it is written, He who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no lack.” God’s principle is to have equality. The principle of equality is illustrated by the receiving of manna in the Old Testament (Exo. 16:18). If an Israelite gathered more, God sovereignly arranged for him to have no excess. If someone gathered less, by God’s sovereignty that one had no lack. Those who were rather feeble and were not able to gather much manna did not have any lack. The divine way is that those who gathered little had no lack and those who gathered much had nothing over. This is the principle of equality, God’s heavenly way of balancing the supply of material wealth among His people,
We should follow this principle today concerning material possessions. Those who have been favored by God with material things should be faithful to use them to care for the needy saints and for the full-time workers. As the saints share their abundance with others, there will be equality, not only among the saints in a particular locality but among all the churches. Our giving to produce equality indicates that we are in the fellowship of the Body, that is, in the fellowship among the churches.
