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Matt. 16:16-18; Eph. 1:22-23; Matt. 18:17; Eph. 2:22; 4:4; Titus 1:5; Acts 14:23; 13:1; Rev. 1:4a, 11; Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 10:16-17
I. The truth according to the Bible
II. The universal aspect
А. Including all New Testament believers
B. As revealed by the Lord in Matthew 16:18
III. The local aspect
А. The believers living in the local churches
B. The local churches being the local expressions of the Body of Christ
C. All the local churches constituting the one Body of Christ
IV. The genuine ground
А. The ground of locality — one city, one church
B. The ground of the genuine oneness — one body universally
V. The local administration and the universal fellowship
А. The administration being separate and equal locally
B. The fellowship being one universally
After seeing all the glorious details of the status of the church, we will address the two crucial aspects of the church — the universal and local aspects. The truths in the Bible always have two sides. Brother Govett called it “the twofoldness of the truth.’’ A sheet of paper has two sides as it cannot exist with one side only; likewise, the church has two aspects. Most Christians do not see the two aspects of the church, and therefore have made many mistakes concerning this matter for centuries. In order not to make the same mistakes, we must pay close attention to this truth.
[Most Christians would agree that they need the fellowship of a church. Actually, there are very few Christians who are not members of a church. Most Christians have a church, but the question is, do they have the proper church or an improper church? Today in every large city there are too many different so-called “churches.’’ In the city of Seoul, Korea, the Roman Catholic Church is very prominent. However, it is wrong to associate the word Roman with the church. In the Bible there is no Roman Church. Colossians 3:11 tells us that in the new man there is neither Greek nor Jew. Thus, there is no such thing as the Jewish Church or the Greek Church in the Bible. Furthermore, there is no Anglican Church, no Chinese Church, no Korean Church, no Presbyterian Church, no Baptist Church, and no Pentecostal Church. All these “churches’’ are improper because they are not scriptural, not according to God’s holy Word.
In order to know what is proper regarding the church, we need to study the Bible. I have been studying the Bible concerning the matter of the church since 1925. In this chapter I wish to present to you a brief outline of this matter. This brief, accurate, and clear outline is the cream of my nearly sixty years of study concerning the church. I am happy to present this outline to you. My desire is to impress you with the proper practice of the church life according to the Bible.
There is nothing wrong with the church itself, but the way Christians practice the church life might be wrong. Out of all the different ways of practicing the church life among Christians today, it is difficult to find one that is right. To be right in the practice of the church life is to be according to the Bible. The proper practice of the church life is not according to culture, not according to society, not according to any kind of religious background, and not according to our imagination; it must be absolutely according to the holy Word of God.]
There is only one church in the universe; thus, the church is universal, comprising all the believers in Christ throughout time and in every place (Eph. 1:22). The universal church comprises all of God’s redeemed saints in the New Testament age. The Old Testament saints, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Moses, David, and Isaiah, were not members of the New Testament church. The New Testament church began at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. John the Baptist was not in the New Testament church. The Lord Jesus said, “I tell you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John; yet he who is littler in the kingdom of God is greater than he’’ (Luke 7:28). This shows that John was not a member of the New Testament church.
At His coming back, the Lord Jesus will close the church age, and many Jews will repent. Zechariah 12 gives us the details of their salvation. The Jews will be saved, but they will not be in the New Testament church. We are the most blessed people because we are in the most blessed age, the age of the church. The church has a universal aspect, it includes Peter, John, Paul, and all the believers through the centuries. It also includes us, and it includes those who will follow us in the future.
[In Matthew 16:18 we have the Lord’s first mentioning of the church. In this verse He says, “On this rock I will build My church.’’ What is revealed here is the universal church for the unique testimony of the Lord in the universe.
The universal church is to be built by Christ, the Son of the living God revealed by the Father. When Peter declared that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Lord said to Him, “You are blessed, Simon Bar-jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens’’ (Matt. 16:17). Only the Father knows the Son (Matt. 11:27) and can reveal the Son to us. The Son revealed by the Father is now building the universal church, not the church in a nation or the church in a city.]
The universal church is to be built on the rock of the revelation concerning Christ, the Son of the living God. This revelation is the crucial factor, the central point of the building up of the universal church. The church is not to be built up according to any doctrine, creed, or so-called belief.
The gates of Hades, Satan’s power of darkness, shall not prevail against the church. Rather, the church has the keys of the kingdom of heaven. That means the church has the authority to bind the devil and to loose all God’s people for His church. Hallelujah! How glorious and powerful is the church.
The other aspect of the church is the local aspect. It is important to see the universal aspect. It is equally important to see the local aspect. Many Christians see very little concerning the universal church. Others may see something concerning the universal aspect of the church, yet they do not regard the local aspect of the church to be important.
In order to live in the universal church practically, we have to live in the local churches. [Actually, we cannot live directly in the universal church. It is impossible for us to live in the universal church without living in a local church. The Lord is building up the universal church, and each of us is living practically in a local church. In Matthew 18:17 the Lord said that if, as a believer, you have a problem with another believer, you should tell it to the church. Surely the church mentioned in this verse is not the universal church; it must be the church in the place where you are. If you are in Seoul and you have any problem, you should tell the problem to the church in Seoul. If you are in Pusan, you should go to the church in Pusan; if you are in Hong Kong, you should go to the church in Hong Kong; and if you are in New York, you should go to the church in New York. The church to which you should tell your problem is the local church.]
[The local churches are the local expressions of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 2:22). There is only one Body, but there are many expressions. Universally, all the churches are one Body, and locally, every local church is a local expression of that universal Body. A local church is not the Body; it is only a part of the Body. It is a local expression of the Body. The church in Seoul is not the entire Body; it is a part of the entire Body as the Body’s local expression.]
[All the local churches constitute the one Body of Christ (Eph. 4:4). In Matthew 16:18 the Lord said, “I will build My church.’’ Here the church is in the singular number, indicating that it must be the universal church. But in the Acts and the Epistles, a number of times the Bible says “the churches’’ — the churches in Syria, the churches in Asia, the churches in Macedonia, and the churches in Galatia. How could the Bible refer first to one church and then to many churches? It is because the one church, the universal church, is the totality of all the churches, and all the churches are local constituents of the one universal church.]
[Now we need to consider what the genuine ground of the church is. The ground denotes the site on which a building is built. Every building is built upon a certain piece of land, and this land is the ground on which the building is constructed. The church has spread to many nations in Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia. In all the different nations, the church is built upon the proper ground.]
[The proper ground for the building of the church is the ground of locality. When the church spread to Korea, it first came to Seoul. The church is now being built in Seoul. Thus, the city of Seoul has become its ground.
In the Bible the church does not bear any particular name. In this respect, the church is like the moon. The moon does not have a particular name; its name is simply the moon. We do not name the moon the American moon, the Chinese moon, the Korean moon, or the German moon. There is only one moon, not many moons. However, we may speak of the moon in Seoul, the moon in Osaka, or the moon in Shanghai. This does not denote many moons, but one moon appearing in different cities.
The city is the ground on which the church is built. Therefore, taking the city as the ground, we may denote the church according to the city (Rev. 1:11). For example, you may say that you are a member of the church in Seoul. Since my wife and I live in Anaheim, California, we are members of the church in Anaheim. Many of the saints attending this conference came from different cities. We use the names of these cities to denote the different local churches. Because of this, we may say that there are many churches. But actually, the many local churches are simply the one universal church appearing in many cities.
When the one moon is seen in Seoul, it is the moon in Seoul. When it appears in New York, it is the moon in New York. There is only one moon. The moon in America is the moon in Korea, and the moon in Korea is the moon in China. There is only one moon, but this one moon appears in different cities. Therefore, it is correct to speak of the moon in a certain city. It is the same with the church.
We may say that there are many churches, yet the many churches are still just one church. Are we all in different churches, or are we in just one church? The proper answer is that, locally speaking, we are in many churches, but, universally speaking, we are all in one church. Are you in the local churches, or are you in the universal church? It is wise to answer, “I am in the universal church by being in a local church.’’ We are not in the Roman Church, the British Church, the American Church, or the Korean Church; we are in the universal church by being in the local churches. Since we are now in the city of Seoul, we should say that we are in the universal church by being in the church in Seoul. Although my wife and I reside in Anaheim, we should remember that during our stay with the saints in Seoul, we are not in the church in Anaheim, but in the church in Seoul.
Now let me ask, of what church are you a member? The best answer is that you are a member of the universal church which Jesus Christ is building, by being a member of a proper local church. While we are in Seoul, we are members of the universal church by being members of the church in Seoul. This is the proper practice of the church. We are members of the universal church by being members of one of the local churches. As long as we are members of a proper local church, we are members of the churches universally.
The ground of the church in Seoul is the city of Seoul. Therefore, in one city there can be only one church (Titus 1:5; cf. Acts 14:23). Furthermore, the city can never be divided; a city always remains one city. Thus, the ground of locality is permanently one. Just as the city cannot be divided, the church ground can never be divided. Since we do not have two cities in Seoul, we do not have two churches in Seoul. In Seoul there is only one city; hence, in Seoul there is only one church. This unique ground keeps the church in oneness.
Today, in a given city there may be many so-called churches. This may be likened to one city having many city halls. If a particular city has more than one city hall, this would mean that city is divided. In any city there is only one city hall. This preserves the oneness of the city. A local church is built on the ground of its locality. This unique ground may be termed the ground of locality. The ground of locality is a protection which ensures that a church in a particular locality will always be preserved in oneness.]
[The ground of the church should not be merely local; it should also be universal. Locally, the ground of the church is the ground of locality; universally, the ground of the church is the genuine oneness. Christ has only one Body. The oneness of Christ’s Body is the universal ground of the church.
Suppose all the local churches in Korea are one with each other, but are not one with the churches in other continents. If this were the case, the churches in Korea may have the local ground, the ground of locality, but they would not have the universal ground, the ground of the oneness of the Body. In the entire universe Christ has only one Body. All the local churches in the six continents — in North America, in South America, in Europe, in Africa, in Australia, and in Asia — are one Body. This is the universal ground of the genuine oneness.
The churches in England may say to the churches in Germany, “We are the churches in England and you are the churches in Germany; therefore, don’t bother us.’’ Locally they may be right, but universally they are wrong. They may keep the local oneness, but they destroy the universal oneness. Locally the ground of the church is the ground of locality, and universally the ground of the church is the oneness of the universal Body of Christ. Hence, there is the local aspect of oneness, and there is also the universal aspect of oneness.
I hope that the young sisters will be clear about this and that they will teach their children, “Children, from my youth I have learned that the church should be one in two aspects: one in its locality, and one in the universe.’’ The church is one locally based upon its locality, the city, and it is one universally based upon the one Body of Christ. This local and universal oneness is the genuine ground of the church.]
[At this point we need to consider another two items related to the proper practice of the church life: the local administration and the universal fellowship. In the proper church life, the administration of the church is local, but the fellowship of the church is universal.]
[The administration of each local church is separate from the administrations of all other local churches. Furthermore, the administrations of all the local churches are on an equal level. In administration, no church is higher than another church, and no church is lower. In a country or nation there are different levels of government. The highest is the central government, and under the central government are the provincial, or state, governments and the city governments. This kind of government with different levels may be likened to a pyramid. The central government is the highest level, and the provincial and city governments are on lower levels.
But in the proper church life there is not such a thing. All the local churches are on one level. In the Roman Catholic Church, the highest level of administration is in the Vatican. The Pope is at the top, and around him are the cardinals. The Pope exercises control over Roman Catholics in all the nations. All over the earth he has a number of archbishops. Under the archbishops there are the bishops, and under the bishops are the priests. This kind of governmental organization is a religious hierarchy. Such a hierarchy should be condemned. In the proper practice of the church life, all the churches on the whole earth are on one level. On the top there is only one throne, the throne of the Head, Christ, in the heavens. Only the Head is on the throne. Under the Head, all the churches are on the same level.
Suppose the church in Seoul is the largest local church in Korea. Would it be right for the church in Seoul to control all the other churches in Korea? Suppose the church in Pusan is the second largest church in Korea. Would it be proper for the church in Pusan to be under the church in Seoul? Then, suppose there is a smaller church in the vicinity of Pusan. Would it be right for the church in Seoul, as the largest church, to control the church in Pusan, and for the church in Pusan to control the smaller church in the same vicinity? In answer to such questions, I must say strongly that this kind of hierarchy and control is absolutely wrong.
In reference to the administration of the local churches, I have used two adjectives: separate and equal. The administration of the church in Seoul is separate from the administrations in Pusan and Geochang. The administrations of these churches are separate and equal. Even the administration of the smallest local church in Korea is equal with the administration of the church in Seoul. If I were an elder in the church in Seoul, I might consider that, since the church in Seoul is the largest, I should exercise some control over the smaller churches. The elders of the smaller churches may also consider that, since the church in Seoul is the largest and the oldest, they should surely submit to the elders in Seoul. In human eyes this may seem right, but in the practice of the proper church life, it is absolutely wrong.
Every local church has its own administration, and this administration is separate from all the others. It is also equal with all the others. Although the church in Seoul has been in existence for a number of years, and a much smaller church may have come into existence only two days ago, the administrations of these two churches are separate and on the same level. The administration of the church is local. No church, regardless of how large and mature it may be, should control another church.]
[Although the administration of the church is separate and equal locally, the fellowship of the church is one universally. In fellowship there is no separation. On this entire earth there is only one fellowship, and this fellowship is universally one. The fellowship of the church is one not merely in a particular nation, but in the entire universe. There is not one fellowship in England, another fellowship in the United States, another fellowship in Germany, another fellowship in China, and another fellowship in Japan. In these nations there are separate churches in many cities, but there is only one fellowship in the entire universe.
This fellowship is called the fellowship of the apostles. Acts 2:42 says that the three thousand who believed in the Lord Jesus and became the members of the church on the day of Pentecost continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles. In the church both the fellowship and the teaching should be one universally. In all the churches we should only teach one thing — Jesus Christ as the Spirit to be our life for the producing of the church. This is the teaching of the apostles. If a different teaching comes in, we must reject it (l Tim. 1:3-4). We accept only one kind of teaching, the teaching of the apostles, and have only one fellowship, the apostles’ fellowship.
In the early days all the believers continued in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship. This fellowship of the apostles is with the Father and with the Son. First John 1:3 says, “That which we have seen and heard we report also to you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed the fellowship which is ours is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.’’ The apostles’ fellowship is with the Father and with the Son. This means that it is with the Triune God. Around the globe there is only one Christian fellowship — the fellowship of the apostles with the Triune God.
This fellowship is expressed at the Lord’s table. When we eat the bread we participate in the fellowship of the body of Christ, and when we drink the cup we participate in the fellowship of the Lord’s blood (1 Cor. 10:16). The Lord’s body and blood are unique, and the fellowship of Christ’s body and blood is also unique. By partaking of the one bread, we have become the mystical Body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:17). Therefore, this universal fellowship is the fellowship of the Body of Christ. It is the fellowship passed on to us by the apostles. Hence, it is the apostles’ fellowship, and this fellowship is with the Triune God. Such a fellowship must be universal. In administration the churches are separate locally, but in fellowship they are united to be one universally.]
After seeing the two aspects of the church, we should give ourselves daily to live in a local church in order to build up the universal church. We should never join an improper church that 1) includes non-Christians; 2) excludes some genuine Christians in the city; 3) is administered other than locally; and 4) is not in fellowship with other proper local churches. It is right that a local church always remain in fellowship with the apostles who raised up that church. The Lord used the apostles to raise up the churches. The Lord certainly will continue to use them to lead the churches on to maturity.
We should always love the church in our locality. Never criticize the elders, the serving ones, or the saints. Wherever the Lord places us is the best place. Thank and praise the Lord that He has brought us into a local church among the many local churches.
