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I am afraid that many people are not clear about the difference between the church and the various Christian organizations. The matter of the church is an exceedingly great matter. Let us take a look at this matter in the Scriptures.
There is a clear exposition of the church in the New Testament. The New Testament not only plainly records the matter of the church but also clearly sets before us the pattern of the church. Hence, many Bible readers acknowledge that the Bible is more than clear in its speaking concerning the church. God not only explained the church in plain words but also drew a picture. It can be said that He has given us a well-illustrated text. Therefore, there should not be any ambiguity concerning the church.
The Bible shows us with clear words that there is only one church, which is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22b-23) and that Christ is the Head of the church (Col. 1:18). It is impossible for a head to have several bodies. A head can have only one body. Although the church is composed of many people, there is only one church throughout the ages and in all places because Christ has only one Body. The utterance in the Bible concerning the church as the Body defines the church quite accurately. If we said that the church was a garment, it would be possible for there to be more than one garment. You and I may not have the same number of garments, yet we both have only one body. There are many “ones” mentioned in the Bible. For example, there is only one God, one Lord, and one faith (Eph. 4:5-6), and we drink one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). These “ones” all relate to the church. Whenever the church is mentioned, it is a matter of being one. The church is one. If we are to speak about the church, we must see this oneness. Moreover, it is not simply a matter of being united but a matter of being one. The church is one, just as our body is one.
Since the church is one, the Bible shows us that the last prayer of the Lord Jesus on the earth was to ask God to keep His disciples so that they would be one on the earth (John 17:11, 21-22). Once the Body was produced, it was one. We need to keep such a oneness and not divide it. In the church in Corinth, however, we see that the flesh came out. Some people said that they were of Apollos—they considered him to be a competent preacher of the Scriptures. Others said that they were of Peter—they considered him to be the number one apostle. On the day of Pentecost he stood up to give a testimony, and three thousand people were saved. Peter also opened the door for the Gentiles. Still others said that they were of Paul—these ones had not been saved through Apollos or through Peter. Furthermore, there were those who said that they were of Christ—they followed no one but Christ and considered that all the others were wrong because they were of the flesh and of men. In the book of 1 Corinthians of is mentioned four times: of Paul, of Apollos, of Peter, and of Christ. The oneness of the Body of Christ—the church—was damaged by these four ofs (1 Cor. 1:10-13). Therefore, Paul wrote the Corinthians a stern letter to rebuke them.
On the one hand, the Bible shows us that the church is universally one; on the other hand, it shows us that the church is expressed in many localities. For example, there were the seven churches in Asia: the church in Ephesus, the church in Smyrna, the church in Pergamos, the church in Thyatira, the church in Sardis, the church in Philadelphia, and the church in Laodicea (Rev. 1:4, 11). The church was expressed in each of these cities. In the age of the apostles there was an expression in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), in Antioch (13:1), and in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2). Now all over the world there are thousands of expressions of the church, including one in Taipei, one in New York, and one in London. Although there are thousands of expressions locally, the church itself is still one universally.
The expression of the church takes the locality as its boundary. History shows us that at the beginning of the church the population of Jerusalem may have been around one million. Even though the population was great, the Bible shows us that there was only one church in Jerusalem. On one day three thousand were saved and on another day five thousand were saved, but they still belonged to the church in Jerusalem. This is because the expression of the church takes the locality as its boundary. How great the boundary of a certain locality is determines how great the boundary of the church in that locality is. Likewise, how small the boundary of a locality is determines how small the boundary of the church in that locality is. In Lystra (Acts 14:6, 21), a small city whose population was probably no more than twenty to thirty thousand, there was only one church. The church itself is universal, while its expression is local. The boundary of a local expression should be the jurisdiction of the locality at that time. There are churches that are in cities as big as a county, churches that are in cities that serve as capitals, and churches in cities the size of towns or villages. However, there are no churches on a particular street. There is no such thing as the church on Hoping Road or the church on Ren Ai Road. The Bible has only local churches. There is only one church universally, but there are thousands of local expressions. The only separation that may be allowed among the churches is separation by locality. Within a locality, however, there should not be any separation. If there is a separation, it is a division. This is the truth of the Bible.
The actual situation of the church, however, is not this way. It is full of divisions. All of God’s children seemingly have some knowledge of God, of God’s grace, and of God’s mercy, yet most do not have any knowledge concerning the church. If they really knew the church, they would not dare to be divided. Much confusion is caused because men are too bold, do not have adequate light, and live in darkness. If their eyes were enlightened by God, they would not be so careless. However, today God’s children are seriously divided. They are not only divided, but they also have much mixture in their divisions. Therefore, the matter of the church is really a problem among Christians today.
Once we rise up to serve God, God will require something of us. The Bible shows us that if God’s children rise up to serve God while the church is in a desolate and divided situation, God’s first requirement is that they should be pure in heart. Second Timothy 2:17-22 says, “Their word will spread like gangrene...who concerning the truth have misaimed, saying that the resurrection has already taken place...But flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” The first half of this passage tells us that the church at that time was in such a state of confusion that some people even said that the resurrection had already taken place. Hence, Paul charged Timothy to be delivered and set apart from this confusion in order to be a vessel unto honor. He also asked Timothy to pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who called on the Lord out of a pure heart. In the midst of an age of confusion, if a person wants to serve God, he has to be pure in heart. What does it mean to be pure in heart? Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” If we put these few verses together, we will see that to be pure in heart means to desire nothing other than God Himself. Only the pure in heart can take the way of the church.
The intrinsic cause of today’s sects and denominations is the inward impurity of man. To be impure does not mean that a person has some inward sins; rather, it means that he is seeking after something other than God. This means that this person’s heart is not pure enough. For example, someone may say, “We can meet anywhere. Why do you say that we have to meet here?” The fact that a person says such a thing proves that his heart is not pure, because such a one has a desire and preference other than God. If he desires God alone, he will say, “O God, I come to meet in this place because of the pure ground, not because of any person. The fact that I come here has nothing to do with any person. I take this way because I simply want You. I only want You.” This is to be pure in heart.
Suppose there is a person who puts the proper ground of God aside. He chooses to meet in a certain place only if the responsible brothers there act humbly toward him. Where do you think this person’s heart is? If a person simply wants God, he will not care what kind of treatment he receives. We come to the meetings not for other things but only to touch God. Some people have said that they come to the meetings because our preaching is good. May I ask then, “If we did not have good preaching, would you still come?” Once a woman is married, her husband becomes her ground, and she must stay in her husband’s home. If she leaves her husband’s home and switches to another home because she does not eat well in her husband’s home, she will be an adulteress. I hope that we all would see that in the midst of the desolation and confusion of the church today, only a group of people who are pure in heart will be able to find the way of the church and the ground of the church.
There are few among God’s children today who know the ground of the church. Some people are very happy when the responsible brothers frequently greet them. When this happens, they immediately feel that this church is good and decide that they will come more often. But if the responsible brothers do not greet them one day, they will not come to the meetings anymore and will even go and meet in another place. It is all right for a housemaid to work in different homes, but it is not all right for a wife to be a wife in different homes. Mrs. Liu cannot say that because her husband is not nice to her, she has to go to the Chang family. We all have to be absolute, and we all must be able to tell God, “O God, today I take this way not for any other reason but because I am clear about this way.” When a wife is married to someone, her husband’s home becomes her stand. Whether he is poor or rich, proud or humble, she remains in his home. She cannot change her stand just because something about him changes.
While on the path of our Christian life, we have received the Lord’s mercy to see the ground of the church. Thus, we have to tell Him, “Lord, I want nothing but You.” Today if we desire something other than God, we will not be able to find the way of the church, and we will immediately lose the ground of the church. Some people meet at a certain place because they are able to preach the gospel there. However, if they are not able to preach the gospel, they will leave right away. Instead of loving God, these people love the evangelistic work. Therefore, they stay at a certain place, not for God or anything else, but for the evangelistic activities. All problems arise because our heart is not pure, and we desire something other than God. If we are those who simply desire God, we will see that the church is universally one and that its local expression should also be one. Everything else is mixed with human opinion and intentions. This is not what God desires, and this needs to be condemned.
If there is a group of brothers in Tainan who stand on this pure ground to serve God, and they make a declaration before the universe—“O God, we are simply Your children. We do not belong to any denomination or sect but only to You. We serve You on the ground of locality”—this will be a testimony to the world that they are not any kind of denomination, but they are a group of Christians who desire God alone and who want only to serve God on the ground of locality. If this were to happen, I believe that all those who have a pure heart would be drawn and would be enlightened to acknowledge such a ground.
If a brother who is not from Tainan moves to Tainan, and there is already a local church with some responsible ones in Tainan, what should this brother do? Do not think that all Christians are holy. Just as there are many who compete for high places in the political arena, so there are also some who vie for high positions in the church. Instead of joining the existing church, this brother may consider starting another one. The ground of the local church is already there in Tainan, and those who are in the church are truly Christians who are pure in heart and who serve God with a pure heart. Thus, he cannot find any fault with them. Therefore, he has no choice but to join them if he wants to serve God in Tainan. After much consideration, however, he may not be sure as to whether they will let him preach the word. So he goes to God and prays, “O God, should I join them, or should I establish another ‘church,’ a congregational church?” The more he prays, the more he feels that God wants him to set up a congregational church. Then at that very moment a zealous Christian tells him that there is a piece of land available for his use. Therefore, he is even more full of thanks and praises to God for His provision. Thus, after starting a new congregational church, he preaches from the podium, saying, “We are the such-and-such chapel, and we are nondenominational.” He may claim to be nondenominational, but his speaking is actually divisive. The Bible tells us that in the church there cannot be Greek and Jew (Col. 3:11). The church cannot be divided into “chapels.” If someone establishes a “chapel,” it is a terrible sect and a human invention. There is no such thing in the Bible.
If our heart is not pure, sooner or later we will initiate something that does not correspond with what the Bible says. Someone once asked why is it that we do not cooperate with the various Christian organizations. Actually, which one among them is really cooperating with the others? Among the denominations in Christianity, which one of them does not have its own name? One of them operates the Bread of Life Church, another one manages the Chinese Evangelistic Mission, a third one operates the Salvation Army, and a fourth one manages the Fellowship Alliance. Every preacher, as long as he has a certain degree of fame, has a congregation under his own management. This is the case not only in mainland China, but even in Taiwan today it is impossible for two famous preachers to labor together. By the Lord’s grace, however, although some among us who are laboring for the Lord in various places are very gifted, they are still able to labor together with others instead of doing a particular work of their own. This is because our eyes have been enlightened by God, causing us to fear God and to realize our own limitation.
While taking the Lord’s way of the church, we should not have any personal relationships or personal affection. I once told Brother Watchman Nee, who rendered me much help, “Even if one day you would not take this way, I will still take it.” May we all be able to say that even if all the leading brothers among us fall and forsake the Lord, we still will take this way. Our taking this way has nothing to do with man; rather, it is by the Lord’s mercy and grace. If we see this, we will pay attention to the church and to the ground of the church. Regardless of how divisive other people may be, we ourselves would not be divisive.
Furthermore, I hope that we are all clear about why we need such a ground. Although there are many local expressions of the church, there is only one expression in each locality. The church is one universally, and it is also one locally. Suppose we are serving the Lord in Tainan, but one day the Lord brings us to Hualien where some brothers are meeting who do not belong to any denomination and who simply serve the Lord purely. When we arrive there, we should join them and meet with them. We should see that when we were in Tainan, we were brothers in Tainan, but now that we have come to Hualien, we are brothers in Hualien. This is the proper ground.
Nevertheless, we should not think that once we have the proper ground everything is all right. It is one thing to have the proper ground, but it is another thing to have the authority of the Holy Spirit. In addition to standing on the proper ground, we also need to allow the Holy Spirit to exercise His authority among us. One necessity is a matter of the ground, and the other is a matter of the authority of the Holy Spirit. Even if we have the proper ground here in Taipei, if the Holy Spirit does not have authority among us, the condition here will surely be improper. Suppose you have the proper ground in Pingtung, but you do not allow the Holy Spirit to have the authority. If this is the case, your situation will also be bad. This requires our flesh to be dealt with by the cross of Christ. This kind of dealing will allow the Holy Spirit to have the authority in the church. All of God’s children have to learn to give God the authority. You should never say, “We are the responsible brothers in the church, so the authority is in our hands.” Every one of us has to learn to accept the dealing of the cross because there is no place for the flesh in the church.
Every time we meet together, we have to hang ourselves on the cross. Otherwise, the Holy Spirit will not have the authority in the church. Instead, the flesh will reign instead of the Holy Spirit. If our flesh has been dealt with, we will be like those in Acts 15. Even though there was much discussion among them, they did not quarrel. The saints will be able to sit down together and have a discussion only if their flesh has been dealt with. Otherwise, they will quarrel as soon as they begin their discussion. Even though they may have different views, the responsible brothers can discuss something for several hours without quarreling, because their flesh has been dealt with. For the Holy Spirit to have the authority in the church, there must be the proper ground and the proper condition of the church. One requirement is the ground, and the other is the proper condition.
Nevertheless, we should not judge a church according to its condition but according to its ground. One time I met a believer in Manila. He told me that he could not come to the meetings because he did not agree with the practice of a certain brother in the church. This is wrong. Regardless of whether or not the practice of a particular brother is correct, his condition has nothing to do with the ground of the church.
If we want to find out whether or not a church is of God and whether or not we should join it, we should make our judgment according to the ground of the church and not according to the condition of the church. After a man is married, his wife may find several faults in him and want to divorce him, but can a wife decide whether or not her husband’s home is her home according to the present condition of her husband? Can she say that because her husband is not proper, his home is not her home? She cannot say this. We cannot judge whether or not a church is of God based on the condition of the responsible brothers. For example, when your temper is good, your wife acknowledges that your home is her home, and when you lose your temper, she still has to admit that your home is her home. We cannot say that because the responsible brothers in a certain place are more spiritual, the church there is of God; neither can we say that because the responsible brothers there are too fleshly, the church there is not of God. We can only say that because the responsible brothers are fleshly, the Holy Spirit does not have the authority there. Hence, the ground of the church is one thing, and the condition of the church is another. The ground is local, and upon the ground of locality the church should allow the Holy Spirit to have the authority.
A church should have a good condition as well as the proper ground. If a church does not have any outward signboard but inwardly has the authority of the Holy Spirit, this is the best. Some among the seven churches in Revelation were in a poor condition. Although they were in an improper condition, the Lord still addressed them as churches. From this we see that we should judge a church not according to its condition but according to its ground.
Someone once asked what we should do if two churches with similar conditions but different grounds were established in the same locality on the same day by two different persons? This question is one hundred percent based on a supposition, and it would be very hard for such a thing to happen. In fact, it would be impossible for two churches to have the same condition and begin their meeting on the same day. If a meeting has already been raised up in a locality on the clear and proper ground, we should simply join the believers there when we go there. How could we raise up another church? If a woman has been married, no one else can take her and marry her. If she is married again, this will be bigamy. If there is no clear and proper ground in a certain locality, we have the ground to start to meet there. However, if there is already the clear and proper ground, and we establish another meeting, this will be a denomination. This violates the principle of taking the locality as the boundary.
If two meetings of similar condition were raised up at different times in the same locality, in order to decide which one has the proper ground, we would have to look at when they were established. Moreover, we could also inquire into their genealogy. In the Bible there is such a thing as inquiring into one’s genealogy. In the Old Testament a group of priests were excluded from the service of God because their names were not found in the genealogical registry of Israel (Neh. 7:61-65).
Only those whose eyes have been enlightened will make inquiries concerning the matter of the church. The majority of people simply do not care. Some people may ask, “Isn’t it good that some have a desire to serve God? Isn’t it good that some sisters who previously did not practice head covering have been covering their heads since they began meeting with us?” We have to remember that God does not take the matter of the church lightly. Rather, God is very serious and will not approve of anything ambiguous. Nothing tests us more than the church. Once we touch this matter, our inward condition is exposed. When we talk about prayer, our problems are not that exposed. When we talk about gospel preaching, our problems are not that exposed. When we talk about pursuing the Lord, our problems are not that exposed. However, once we talk about the matter of the church, our inner condition is completely exposed. Once we touch the matter of the church, we are put to the test. Over these past years we have learned to base eighty percent of our knowledge concerning a person upon how he views the church.
For example, recently someone said, “How good it is to have believers and the Lord’s gospel everywhere!” This word sounds nice and is pleasant to one’s ears. But the fact is that not only is such a person ignorant regarding the church, but he is also indifferent. He has never learned any basic or serious lessons before God. Only those who have not learned any serious lessons before God could say that this situation is good. Those who have learned serious lessons would never say that this is good, because they know what is good and what is not good. A person who has genuine insight and has learned some lessons before God would not consider that the situation everywhere is the same.
Someone once asked, “It is said that there is a group of people meeting in Kangshan whose condition is similar to ours and who also do not have a name for themselves. What kind of attitude should we have toward them?” We need to be clear concerning the basic matter of the church. On the one hand, the church is expressed locally, and on the other hand, the church is universal. Do not think that since we are the church in Pingtung, we do not need to care about other Christians in the world or that it is good enough just to meet as the church in Pingtung. If some Christians are raised up in Kangshan who are also on the clear and proper ground but do not have any contact with other churches, then they will soon become a denomination. When we see the seriousness of this, we will know how to render help to them. We should not condemn them or put any demand on them; rather, we should have much fellowship with them. Then at a certain stage in the fellowship they will be enlightened inwardly. They will see that their being raised up to stand on the proper ground was right but that they also should maintain spiritual fellowship with all those who stand on the same ground. Suppose the brothers in Pingtung say, “We will not have any contact with you who are in Taipei. It is good enough that we have the proper ground in Pingtung.” Locally, they are correct, but universally, they are divisive. Hence, we have to help people see that while the ground is local, fellowship is universal.
Someone else once asked, “If the Holy Spirit does not have the authority in the church, will God raise up another church?” The book of Revelation shows us that the ground of the church is a very serious matter. It is so serious that even though some of the seven churches in Revelation were in a state of confusion—even having idols and fornication—the Lord did not ask the believers to leave those churches. The proper ground is a serious thing. For example, we cannot say that we no longer want to be Chinese because our country is not good. We cannot do this because the ground of China has already been given to us. It is the same with the ground of the church and with any other ground. If my son comes to me one day and tells me that he is no longer my son because he has become a bandit, I would have to say that although he is a bandit, he is still my son. If he is as good as the Lord Jesus, he is my son, and if he is so bad that he becomes a bandit, he is still my son. Very few people are clear about the ground of the church to such an extent.
Undoubtedly, today’s Christianity has lost the ground of the church. Moreover, we can say that there are, in fact, very few people who know the ground of the church. Furthermore, today’s Christianity is also full of confusion. These are the reasons why we cannot cooperate with Christianity. The first reason, of course, is a matter of the ground. We cannot cooperate with Christianity because we have a different ground. The second reason is that Christianity is full of confusion—there is great confusion in their teachings concerning the church. The third reason is that we want to show God’s children a pure way. The fourth reason is that Christianity has its own mission, and we have our ministry. What God has committed to us, we will do. What God has not committed to us, we will not do. We hope that we will be faithful to what the Lord has committed to us. If we cannot fulfill the commission we have received, how can we help others do their work?
In the early days when we first preached the truth concerning salvation through faith, we suffered much criticism. Some pastors said, “We have been pastors for our whole life, but we are still not clear as to whether or not we are saved. How can you say that you are saved once you believe?” One time I was preaching the gospel in Suchow Gospel Hospital. I said that once we believe in the Lord, we are saved. That day my preaching was based on John 3:16: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” Incredibly, an old pastor in the audience was shaking his head. Nevertheless, after we fought the battle for this truth, all the churches in China began to preach salvation by faith. Now we are not the only ones who preach salvation by faith, but wherever we go, we can hear such preaching.
Many years ago all the believers in Christianity in China addressed one another as fellow “church friends.” But since the Lord has raised us up, we have truly experienced that we are those who have the Lord’s life. Furthermore, the Bible does not say that the believers are fellow church members but that they are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Eph. 2:19). Therefore, we began to address one another as “brother” or “sister.” This was also opposed by Christianity. However, today nearly no one uses the term church friend. Formerly, it was also rare to hear terms such as edification meeting, fellowship meeting, gospel meeting, prayer meeting, and bread-breaking meeting. Rather, all we heard was big worship, small worship, or family worship. Now, however, many people in the denominations also use the word meeting. In the past they used the expression taking Holy Communion instead of breaking bread, but now many of them also say breaking bread. When we were first raised up by the Lord, we were not welcomed. The critical matter, however, is whether or not we have the proper ground and whether or not we are contending for the right thing. If we are contending for the right thing and standing on the proper ground, then one day those who oppose us and those who do not like us will have to take our way and do what we do. If we had not fought in the early days, there would not be any hope for the church. Therefore, we should not judge anything before its time. We have to know what we have been committed with and what we are doing.
Everyone loves to say, “We are almost the same.” But we do not like to say this because many things are in fact very different. Are we really almost the same as the denominations? If we are almost the same as the denominations, we do not need to have the proper ground. From the very first day we started to take the way of the church, we declared that the whole of Christianity in China had already lost the matter of the ground. By God’s mercy, we have picked up the matter of the ground. Because we picked up the ground of the church, many also became clear about this matter and therefore returned to the ground of the church. Today those in Christianity cannot but confess that we who are standing on this ground are the church. However, they wish that we would call their meeting the church as well. This is really a difficult situation. Since they call themselves the Baptist Church, the Presbyterian Church, and the Episcopalian Church, how can we call their meetings the church? They are denominations because they have lost the ground of the church. It is because they have forsaken this ground that we, by the Lord’s mercy, have picked it up.
We all have to confess that the church is one. In the church in Corinth some said that they were of Paul, of Apollos, of Peter, or of Christ. At the end they all were rebuked by the Holy Spirit. If today some say, “I am of the Presbyterian Church” or “I am of the Baptist Church,” do you think that God will approve of this? Certainly not. If God does not approve of this, should we still take newly saved ones to the Baptist Church or the Presbyterian Church? May God show us that we are compelled by necessity to start a new meeting outside of the Christian organizations, such as the Presbyterian Church and the Baptist Church. Since we cannot belong to the Presbyterian Church or to the Baptist Church, we surely have to meet together by ourselves.
It is very clear who should bear the responsibility of division. On the one hand, Christianity has spread the gospel, but on the other hand, Christianity has also divided the church.
