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In the last chapter two points were covered: (1) the real need of the local churches to be the expression of the church, and (2) two or three meeting together in the name of the Lord cannot be the church if there is already a church in that place.
I believe these two points have been made clear to us. Therefore, in this chapter we want to go on to see the practicality of the church. I do not mean the reality of the church, but the practicality of the church. The reality of the church is Christ. When we say the practicality of the church, we do not mean the spirituality of the church, for this also is Christ. The practicality of the church is something else which we need to see.
Brother Watchman Nee once stayed in a certain place for some time. When he was about to leave, the people asked him to give a parting word. He spoke to them in this way: “There is much talk today about the church, the Body of Christ. It is just like a group of carpenters talking about making chairs. I have heard so many good speeches about making ‘chairs,’ but I would ask, where are the ‘chairs’?” This word is so simple but so impressive and practical. “Where are the ‘chairs’?”
There have been many teachings and writings concerning the church, the Body of Christ, over a period of many years. But where are the churches that have come out of these teachings and writings? There has been a long period of speaking about making “chairs,” but it is difficult to find one “chair.”
This is why we need to see the practicality of the church. What is the practicality of the church? It is the local church. Without the local church, the church is not practical; it is like something in the air. We may have much talk about the church but nothing practical. We need the local church. The practicality of the church is in the local church.
The local church is not only the expression of the church but also the practicality of the church. If we would practice the church life, we must have the local church.
In Matthew 16:18 the Lord says, “Upon this rock I will build My church.” This is the universal church. But if we go on to 18:17, we see the local church. I know some Christian teachers who take a stand by using only Matthew 16:18. They ask, “Is the church mentioned in this verse the local church?” They seem to present a strong argument. We agree that in Matthew 16:18 it is not the local church, but we cannot drop Matthew 18:17. We must go on from Matthew 16 to Matthew 18. Is the church in Matthew 18 the local church or the universal church? If it is the universal church, the church in the heavens, how could we go to it today when we have a problem? Matthew 18 says that if we have a problem to be solved by the church, we must go to the church. If this church is not the local church but something in the heavens, how can we go to it today?
If in any locality there is not a local church, regardless of how much we talk about the church, we do not have the practicality. In the past years I have noticed how many Christian teachers have spoken and written so much about the church. But eventually they did not have its practicality. Where is the practical church on this earth? Where is it?
Matthew 16:18 is precious, but Matthew 18:17 is practical. A local church may not be as spiritual as it should be, but it is practical to us. The church in Los Angeles may not be as marvelous as that mentioned in Matthew 16:18, but we have it and we enjoy it. Hallelujah! It is a church to which I can go. I cannot go to the church mentioned in Matthew 16:18. It is so wonderful, but where is it?
Therefore, regardless of how poor and weak the church in Los Angeles may be, we do have a church here. It is better than something in the air. When we have a problem, we do have somewhere to go. This is something practical.
In fact, Matthew 16:18 is included in Matthew 18:17. If we have Matthew 18:17, we have Matthew 16:18. How could we have Matthew 16:18 without Matthew 18:17? We cannot have the church without the local church.
From Matthew 18 we go on to the following Gospels. Mark did not say anything about the church; neither did Luke or John. Then we come to the book of Acts. Is there a verse in Acts that tells us something about the universal church? All the verses in Acts regarding the church refer to the local churches. They are the church mentioned in Matthew 18, which, as we have said, includes the one mentioned in Matthew 16.
The first verse mentioning the church in Acts is 5:11. After the death of Ananias and Sapphira, fear came upon the whole church. Undoubtedly, this is the local church at Jerusalem. The second and third times that the word church is used are in 8:1 and 3: “The church which was in Jerusalem.” The fourth mentioning is in 9:31: “Then the church throughout the whole of Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace.” All of these verses refer to local churches on the earth. The church mentioned in 11:22 is “the church which was in Jerusalem,” and that mentioned in 11:26 is the church in Antioch. The church mentioned in 12:1 and 5 is again the church in Jerusalem. Then in 13:1 we see the local church in Antioch. In 14:23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in every church. These, of course, are the local churches. In Acts 14:27 it is the church in Antioch again. In 15:3-4 it was the church in Antioch that brought Paul and Barnabas on their way and the church in Jerusalem that received them. In 15:22 it is the church in Jerusalem again. In 15:41 there are the local churches of Syria and Cilicia. In 16:5 there are the churches of the Gentile world (see 15:23). In 18:22 again we have the church in Jerusalem. In 20:17 and 28 it is the church in Ephesus.
Are all these churches in Acts the church in the heavens? No, they are all the local churches on the earth.
After Acts come the Epistles. In all these books the local churches are mostly dealt with. Only somewhat more than ten verses, most of which are in Ephesians, deal with the universal church (1 Cor. 10:32; 12:28; Eph. 1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23-25, 27, 29, 32; Col. 1:18-24). The book of Romans was written to the church in Rome. First and 2 Corinthians were written to the church in Corinth. Nearly all the Epistles were written to local churches.
After the Epistles we have the book of Revelation, which is the conclusion of the New Testament. It was written to the seven local churches in Asia (1:4, 11) and reveals that the Lord Jesus is in the midst of the local churches. He is walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, which are seven local churches (vv. 13, 20; 2:1). It also reveals to us that the ultimate consummation of the church is the New Jerusalem, which is in eternity (22:1-5). But in time, while we are on this earth today, we must be in the local churches. Without the local churches there is no practicality to us of the church. When the ultimate consummation comes, we will have the New Jerusalem. But before that day, all we have practically is the local church. If we do not have the local church today, practically speaking, we do not have the church. The local church is the practicality of the church. The church today is practically in the local churches.
There are four main aspects regarding the practicality of the church. First of all, the practical building up of the church is in the local churches. Without the local churches, how could the church be built? Suppose we do not have local churches, but we plan to build up the church in the heavens. How could we do it? It is impossible. Without the local churches there is no practical building. If we are not built with others in the local churches, we have never been built up in the church. The practicality of the building of the church is in the local churches.
Then there is the administration, or the government, of the church. In the church there is the need of the government. Even in Matthew 18 the government of the church is mentioned. If we have a problem with a brother which we cannot solve with two or three, we must bring it to the church. The church has government.
In the book of Acts and in all the Epistles, the government of the church is mainly centered in the elders. But without the local church, how could there be any elders? If two or three are the church, you will be an elder to yourself, and I will be one to myself. Everyone will be an elder. Then how could the elders be appointed?
In the first local church in Jerusalem, there were elders taking care of the government (Acts 11:30; 15:2, 4, 6, 22; 16:4; 21:18). Later, the apostle Paul appointed elders in every church (14:23). Thus, there were elders in the church in Ephesus (20:17). Afterward, Paul ordered Titus to appoint elders in every city (Titus 1:5)—not in every home but in every city. There should only be elders in a city according to the Scriptures. If just two or three meet in a home as the church, there is no need of having any elders in the city. But the local church in a city has the practical need of elders.
The administration, or government, of the church is in the local churches. If we do not have the local churches, we do not have this government. This is why so many prefer to say that two or three meeting together are the church. They do not want the government.
In the local church there is the government which is a real restriction and real test to our flesh and our natural self. If we know how independent our natural self is, we will be so willing to have the church. Then we will have a government to which we can submit. We all need to learn submission because of our independent self. This is why we need the government and restriction of the local church.
The book of 1 Peter also has something regarding the government of the church with the elders. Verse 1 of chapter 1 says, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the sojourners of the dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” Altogether, there are five provinces mentioned in this verse. Two of these five are very familiar to us, Galatia and Asia. Were there not churches in Galatia? Yes, for we have the book to the Galatians, which mentions the churches of Galatia (1:2), as well as 1 Corinthians 16:1. The book of Revelation also lists the seven local churches in Asia (1:4, 11). Therefore, according to the record of the Bible, there were many local churches in the provinces of Galatia and Asia.
Some have used 1 Peter 1:1 as ground to oppose the concept of the local church. The dissenting thought is that this is not a letter to the local churches, but to the sojourners dispersed throughout so many places, and since this is so, how could all these scattered ones be the living stones built up into one spiritual house (2:5) as a local church? This sounds reasonable, but 1 Peter is not only of two chapters. We must read on until we come to chapter 5. Verse 1 says, “The elders among you...” The elders among whom? It must be the elders among the scattered saints who were in the local churches. If the scattered saints were just the scattered ones without meeting with the local churches or just meeting by two or three, there would be no need of elders. According to the teaching of the New Testament, the elders among the Christians are in the local churches. If there were no local churches, there was no need of elders. If the scattered saints never met together, there was no need for them to have elders.
I do believe that Peter was writing to the scattered Hebrew Christians, yet they were in the local churches. They were scattered in Galatia, Asia, and other provinces, but they must have been in some local churches, since we have seen that there were many local churches both in Galatia and in Asia. We have a similar situation with the Chinese brothers and sisters scattered throughout America. If a brother in Taiwan wrote a letter to all the Chinese brothers and sisters in the U.S.A., this does not mean that there are no local churches in the U.S.A. In fact, most of them are in the local churches here in this country in which there are elders. The practical administration of the church with the elders is in the local churches.
Third, all the work of the apostles and prophets was practically in the local churches and for the local churches. Without the local churches it is rather difficult to have a practical work to edify the saints. The apostle Paul said, “I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Cor. 4:17). Without the local churches Paul simply did not have a place to work or teach. He taught in every church.
Without the local churches the Lord’s work is impractical. Paul said that he directed the same thing in all the churches (7:17). In other words, without the local churches it is rather difficult for the apostles and the Lord’s servants to do anything to fulfill the Lord’s purpose. The practical work is in the local churches.
The last point is the coordination of the church. Without the local churches, how could we as members be practically coordinated together as a Body? If we would have the Body life, the church life, in a practical way, we must be coordinated with one another. Therefore, we need the local churches. Suppose the brothers in Los Angeles did not have the local church. How could they be coordinated? It would be impossible. You may talk, teach, and write very much about the coordination of the saints in the Body life, but without the local churches it is impractical.
We do praise the Lord that in these past few years, we have really experienced the practicality of the church life. We do have something practical with coordination and building together. We thank the Lord that there are local churches with a real submission and a good order. This is something practical, not just a teaching. We do have the practicality of the Body life in coordination. However, we are not satisfied. We are always pressing on.
To have a practical church life, we need the local churches. I would say one thousand times to all the brothers and sisters that you need a local church. Do you not agree that you need a local church? First Timothy 3:15 says that we need to know how to conduct ourselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God. This could only be practical in a local church. I do believe the Lord is going to recover the real and practical church life to prepare His bride for His return.
In closing this chapter, we must read Ephesians 2:21-22: “In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” The apostle Paul added verse 22 as a kind of repetition. It seems that verse 21 is quite adequate: “In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord.” Why does he need verse 22? “In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” What is mentioned in verse 21 is the so-called universal church, the whole Body of Christ. But Paul mentions the local church in verse 22. “You” refers to the saints of the local church in Ephesus. “You also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” Is the dwelling place of God in verse 22 different from the temple in the Lord in verse 21? No, the dwelling place of God in verse 22 is a part of the temple in the Lord in verse 21. One is local; the other is universal.
Bible teachers have always said that the book of Ephesians is not about the local church, but the universal church. They are right in that this book covers the universal aspect of the church, but it still deals with the local church. “In whom you also are being built together...” This is the building of the local church. Do not say that as long as we have the universal church it is good enough. Regardless of how much we have the universal church, we still need “In whom you also...”! We still need the local church, for without it, there is no practicality of the church.
