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In this chapter I have the burden to share concerning the ground of the church. It is difficult for the saints to be clear about this matter. Christians may talk about spirituality, the Body, and the building, but hardly anyone knows where to build. Not even the outstanding Christian teachers know where to build.
Let me relate a true story that illustrates this fact. Many of you are familiar with the books of Jessie Penn-Lewis on the subjective work of the cross. Anyone who knows the Lord’s recovery will admit that her messages on the subjective work of the cross were part of the recovery. Before Mrs. Penn-Lewis was raised up by the Lord, not many Christians knew the subjective aspect of the Lord’s cross clearly and adequately. A young Baptist pastor who had been somewhat influenced by modernistic teachings was made clear regarding the Lord’s salvation through Mrs. Penn-Lewis’s ministry. Later he became a co-worker with her. Eventually, this young pastor saw something beyond what Mrs. Penn-Lewis had seen. She had seen the subjective aspect of the cross, but he saw the principles of resurrection for the Body of Christ. What he saw was very deep. It was something about which others had had no concept. This young man worked together with Mrs. Penn-Lewis for some years, always considering her as his senior. But the day came when he could no longer work with her, and he left. Thus, the one work became two, the way of Mrs. Penn-Lewis and the way of this brother. He himself told me the story in detail. This story indicates that two spiritual persons who had seen something of so-called spirituality did not see the ground of the church. Neither of them had any ground for the work. Mrs. Penn-Lewis was suspended in the air and so was this brother.
Sometime later I spent more than a month having fellowship with this brother day and night. Every contact between us lasted two or three hours. I eventually learned that he had no intention of knowing this matter of the ground. He simply would not give any heart, mind, or spirit to this matter. On the contrary, he was utterly closed to it. For more than thirty days I tried to convince him regarding the ground of the church, and he tried to convince me to abandon it. When he found that I would not leave it and when I learned that he had no intention of accepting it, we inwardly said goodbye to each other. That was the end of our fellowship. This took place approximately twenty years ago.
This illustration shows that if we do not have a definite site for building, yet we begin the work of building, we are doing something ridiculous. How ridiculous it is to prepare the materials for building and to begin the work of building, yet not to know the site of the building! Nothing is more foolish than this. Nevertheless, many Christians today are just this foolish.
We, however, need to be sober and to consider whose Christian work has the proper ground. You may ask whether or not the Baptist denomination has a ground. Yes, it has a definite ground, but the ground is wrong, because the Baptist Church takes as its ground baptism by immersion. This is the ground upon which the Baptist denomination is built. The Presbyterian denomination takes as its ground the presbytery. This ground, which is divisive, is also wrong. I know of some cases of Presbyterian pastors who were immersed by Baptists in order to become the pastors of Baptist churches. Every denomination has a ground, but the ground is divisive. Today nearly all Christian workers are building on the wrong ground. For this reason, there is no genuine building whatever. Instead of oneness, there are many divisions.
In the Bible it is clearly revealed that we Christians should be corporate and built up. But can you show me where the genuine building is today? It can hardly be found anywhere. Today’s Christians have truckloads of building materials, but they are driving around looking for a place to unload them. Sometimes they unload the materials on the wrong site, and after a period of time they shift the materials to still another ground. This is the actual situation today.
I would ask you to check with the missionaries, the Christian workers, and those in the Navigators, Campus Crusade, and Inter-Varsity. In 1963 and 1964 I met a leader of a certain Christian work in Phoenix. On the campuses they were bringing a good number of young people to the Lord, but the young people then went to the denominations and became dead. Thus, some in this work recognized the need for the proper church life. At that time the book The Normal Christian Church Life had just been published in the United States. To a certain extent, these brothers agreed with it and were considering the practice of the church life. But they did not dare to take this step, for they realized that the denominations would withdraw their financial support if they were to do so. Deep within them, these leaders realized that their work had no ground. But because they feared the loss of financial support, they would not dare to practice the church life.
In this chapter I want to give you all, especially the young people, a clear map for your driving in the church life. I have been driving on this road for more than forty-five years. I can even tell you the way in my sleep. For our map, we shall use certain cities mentioned in the New Testament: Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, and Corinth. As we all know, the church began in Jerusalem, and it was wonderful. There were not twelve churches in Jerusalem, one named after each of the twelve apostles. No, there was just one church that included everyone. Acts 8:1 proves that the church in Jerusalem was uniquely one, for this verse speaks of “the church which was at Jerusalem.” There were not many churches at Jerusalem but one church, the church, at Jerusalem. The testimony of the church eventually spread north to Antioch through some saints who moved there from Jerusalem. Later Barnabas went there to edify them and brought Paul with him. As in Jerusalem, there was just one church in Antioch. Acts 13:1 says, “Now there were in Antioch, in the local church, prophets and teachers.” From Antioch the church spread to Asia Minor, where there were several churches in various cities. In Ephesus, for example, there was just one church. We know that in Ephesus there was not more than one church because Revelation 2:1 speaks of the church, not churches, in Ephesus. Through the ministry of Paul, the church spread from Asia Minor to Europe, and a church was established in Corinth. First Corinthians 1:2 says, “To the church of God which is in Corinth.” Again we see the matter of one church in one city. According to the Bible, there was one church in Jerusalem, one in Antioch, one in Ephesus, and one in Corinth.
However, the time came when the saints in the city of Corinth were divided into four groups. One group said that they were of Cephas; another, of Paul; another, of Apollos; and another, of Christ. These four groups were four divisions. If you read 1 Corinthians carefully, you will see that the apostle Paul even called them sects. First Corinthians 11:19 says that there were sects among them (Gk.). We need to understand what a sect is. Suppose fifty Christians were meeting together. Due to the various choices, tastes, and preferences, they were divided, like the Corinthians, into four groups. One group was especially fond of Peter because he was the leading one of the twelve apostles. Another group preferred Apollos because he was a scholar in the Scriptures. This group acknowledged that Peter was the leading apostle. But, they said, he was an uneducated fisherman, whereas Apollos was a scholar. Those in this group enjoyed Apollos’s expounding of the Scriptures. The third group liked Paul better than Apollos because he had a direct contact with the Lord on the way to Damascus. The fourth group said that they were of Christ. Although these fifty Christians were divided into four groups, they continued to meet together. At first, their choices, tastes, and preferences simply made them four groups. But later these groups became divisions and after that, sects. However, they were not yet denominated. They were sects but not denominations. Notice the development here. It goes from preferences to divisions to sects. Sects are like political parties. When the sects give themselves a name, they denominate themselves. In this way, the sects become denominations. Suppose the sect of Peter chose the name the church of Peter or the Petrine church. If they did this, they would immediately become a denomination. The same would be true of the sects of Paul, Apollos, and Christ. Thus, they would no longer be sects without a name but denominations with a name. Hence, the development is first divisions, then sects, and finally denominations. If the four groups at Corinth had become denominations, they would have been exactly the same as the denominations that abound in today’s Christianity. Christianity is filled not only with divisions and sects but also with denominations.
We all need a clear understanding of divisions, sects, and denominations. In 1 Corinthians 11:18 and 19 Paul says, “First of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and some part of it I believe. For there must even be parties among you, that those who are approved may become manifest among you.” The King James Version has the word heresies instead of parties. Heresy is an anglicized form of a Greek word that means “schools of opinion.” Thus, in Greek, heresies means “schools of opinion which form parties.” A party is a sect. Therefore, we first have divisions and then parties or sects. At the time of 1 Corinthians, however, there were no denominations.
Originally, there was one church in Corinth, and all the saints in Corinth were part of the church in Corinth. But suppose the saints were divided into four churches: the church of Peter, the church of Apollos, the church of Paul, and the church of Christ. Suppose also that certain saints remained on the ground of the church at Corinth. Now suppose a brother came from Jerusalem to visit Corinth. As far as the church was concerned, he had no problem in Jerusalem, Antioch, and Ephesus, for in these cities the sphere of the church was the same as the jurisdiction of the locality. However, when he arrived at Corinth, he faced a difficulty. He would have to determine to which church he would go. Surely he would not go to the church of Cephas, the church of Apollos, the church of Paul, or even the church of Christ. He would meet with those standing as the church in Corinth because they had the proper ground. Suppose a leading brother of the church of Christ said to him, “I am a leader in the church of Christ, and I would like to have fellowship with you. Are you not of Christ? And do you not think that I am of Christ also? Why would you not come to be with us? You say that we don’t have the proper ground. But our ground is Christ, for we are the church of Christ. Christ is not divided. How then can you say that our ground is divisive? You claim that we divide ourselves from the other saints. But if you don’t join us, then you divide yourself from us.” However, the brother visiting from the church in Jerusalem would point out that the church on the proper ground, the church in Corinth, includes them both, for the sphere of the church in Corinth is greater than that of the church of Christ.
Those who say that they are of Christ would not agree with those who say that they are of Peter, of Apollos, or of Paul. They would say, “The names Peter, Apollos, and Paul are the wrong names. We should not keep those names. Christ is the proper name. Hence, we are of Christ.” However, Christ is the foundation, not the ground (1 Cor. 3:11). We need to see the difference between the foundation and the ground. The ground is the site upon which the building is constructed, whereas the foundation is the bottom part of the building itself. All the groups claim that their foundation is Christ. Even those who say that they are of Peter, of Apollos, and of Paul would claim that Christ is their foundation. However, they are all on different grounds. This means that they place their foundation on different sites. The proper ground is the ground of oneness. It is correct to say that Christ is the foundation, but it is incorrect to say that He is the ground. For this reason, those who claim to be the church of Christ are building on the wrong ground.
Today the situation regarding the church is cloudy. But for us the sky is clear. We are members of the Body, and the Body is universal. This universal Body has just one expression in a city. Thus, there should be just one church in a city. It was this way in Jerusalem, in Antioch, and also in Ephesus. But it is not this way in our locality today. Therefore, we must exercise our discernment to discover who is meeting on the proper ground of oneness.
Let us go further and suppose that the church of Peter had two thousand members, that the church of Apollos had four thousand, that the church of Paul had three thousand, that the church of Christ had five hundred, and that those meeting as the church in Corinth had only fifteen. Those in the church in Corinth might say, “We are so small in number. The other groups have anywhere from five hundred to four thousand, but we have only fifteen. What shall we do? Can we say that we are the church? The church in Corinth should include all the saints. But the vast majority of them are not with us. How can we say that we are the church?” In such a situation many would be weakened and reluctant to claim that they are the church in Corinth. If those standing on the ground of oneness numbered five thousand, they would all be bold to say that they are the church in Corinth. But if the number were small, perhaps only fifteen, they would be weakened in this matter and afraid to say that they are the church. Nevertheless, the fifteen saints standing on the church ground are the church. If they are not the church, then what would you call them?
We need to be clear that the standing of the church does not depend upon any terms or conditions but only upon the ground of oneness. The ground of oneness is the ground of locality. Wherever we Christians are, we should be the church in that place. If we are in London, Paris, New York, or Los Angeles, we should simply be the church in that city. Today the situation is confused and divided. Thus, we need to be recovered back to the genuine oneness. The genuine oneness is the unique oneness, the oneness of the ground. We need to be clear about this so that wherever we are, we shall be nothing other than part of the church in that locality. Being the church is not a matter of how many saints there are. Even if there are just a small number coming together in a particular city, they are the church in that locality. For more than forty-five years I have been standing on this ground. The more I preach and teach it, the more bold I am to say that those standing on the proper ground are the church in that locality.
Now we need to see how a group of Christians becomes a denomination. The most striking feature of all denominations is their special names. Every denomination has a particular name, such as the Church of Christ, the Baptist Church, the Presbyterian Church, or the Lutheran Church. Once a group assumes a special name, it has become a denomination, for taking such a designation separates that group from all other groups.
At this point I need to say strongly that the term local church is not a name. We do not have a name. When people ask you what kind of church we are, you should simply say, “We are just the church. To ask me what kind of church we are is like asking what kind of moon we are. The moon is uniquely one. When the moon is in London, it is called the moon in London. When the moon appears over Cleveland, it is called the moon in Cleveland. In the same way, we say that we are the church in Cleveland or the church in Los Angeles.” But such terms are not a name. Rather, they are a description of a fact. Thus, we should never use the term the local church in a way that others might regard it as a name. The local church denotes the nature of the church. We do not have a sectarian church or a so-called universal church. The churches in the Lord’s recovery are churches in localities. For this reason they are referred to as local churches. But the words the local church are not a name, and we are not a denomination. Do not use these terms as if they were a name. At most we should say, “We are the church in Cleveland. The church in Cleveland, of course, includes all the believers in Cleveland. However, because most Christians in Cleveland will not be recovered back to the proper ground of the church, we are the only ones still remaining as the church in Cleveland. But we do not have a special name.”
Every denomination also has a special teaching or practice. For example, the Southern Baptists practice baptism by immersion and insist that you be baptized by them. If you are not willing to be immersed by them, they will not accept you as a member. For them, the receiving of the believers is not based upon the faith but based upon the baptism they practice. Likewise, certain Pentecostal groups will not receive those believers who do not speak in tongues. Hence, their kind of so-called church is built upon the ground of speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues is their special practice and teaching. This special practice constitutes them a sect. Regarding baptism, the Church of Christ is even stronger than the Southern Baptists. They claim that if you are not immersed by them, you are not even saved and thus cannot be accepted by them. In like manner, if you would join the Seventh-day Adventists, you must agree to keep the Sabbath day and to tithe. Otherwise, you will not be accepted as a member. This particular practice constitutes them a sect.
Today there are a great many independent groups. Nearly every group has particular terms as a requirement for being accepted into that group. Although some would not say this, they hold such a particular term in secret. Eventually, when you desire to become a member, they will reveal the terms for being received by them. They may say, “It is very good that you want to join us. But in order to be a member of this group, you must agree to this teaching or practice.” Any group like this is a sect.
There are no such terms for being accepted into the churches. The only condition is that we believe in the Lord Jesus and are saved by faith. As long as you have been saved through faith, you have already been received. The church receives the saints whom God has received without imposing on them any particular terms. If you believe in the Lord Jesus and are saved, you are a saint. A saint is a saved one. As long as you have been saved, justified, redeemed, and regenerated, you are a saint, a holy one. Because you are a saint already, the church receives you without requiring any special conditions or terms. You were accepted by the church when you believed in the Lord Jesus.
We need to be careful of the independent groups that are imitating the churches. These groups claim that they have no special terms for receiving the believers. However, if you examine these groups carefully, you will find some hidden conditions for being accepted by them. But we in the churches can testify that we have no particular terms whatever for acceptance. Some may ask whether calling on the name of the Lord is a term. No, it is not a condition of being accepted. If you enjoy calling on the name of the Lord, then call on His name. But if you do not like it, then do not call. As long as you believe in the Lord Jesus, you are a saint, and we receive you. Others may claim that pray-reading is a term for being accepted into the church. No, pray-reading is not necessary for salvation, and thus it is not a condition of acceptance. I repeat, the churches have no special terms. Any group that has a special condition, either a special teaching or practice, for the receiving of the saints, is a sect.
Every sect or denomination has a special fellowship. But we Christians should have just one unique and common fellowship—the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:9). When we were saved, we were brought into the fellowship of the Lord. Therefore, as Christians we can have fellowship with one another. The denominations, however, have a special fellowship. For example, when certain Southern Baptists learn that others are Presbyterians, they would stop having fellowship with them. They may talk with them about business or politics, but they will not have fellowship in common concerning spiritual things. Those who insist upon the practice of foot-washing also have a special fellowship, for they limit their fellowship to those within their own circle. Others limit their fellowship to those who have the same practice regarding the wine or juice used at the Lord’s table. All this is sectarian, and we must abandon it. We must abandon all special names, special teachings, special practices, and special fellowship.
In a particular locality there may be a group of Christians who have no special name, special practice, special teaching, or special fellowship. However, they may still have an administration separate from the church in that city. If so, that group is a sect. In addition to the local church in a city, an independent group may come into being that in nearly every respect is the same as the church. But that group may still insist upon having a separate administration. This is like having two city halls in the same city. But there should be just one city hall in a city. If there is more than one, it is a sign of division. If a group of Christians has truly seen the ground of oneness, they will say, “We cannot have a separate administration. We must have one administration with the church that is already in this city.” As long as there is a city hall, it is impossible to have another one. If you insist upon a separate city hall, you are a division.
Perhaps there is a group that has no special name, teaching, or fellowship and that does not insist upon its own administration. We still need to examine whether or not they are willing to open themselves to have fellowship with all the other local churches on earth. Suppose those in this group say, “We have nothing special, and we do not have a separate administration, but we don’t like to have fellowship with the other churches.” If they say this, then they have become a local sect. They are no longer a local church, for a local church is part of the Body, one among many other local churches. Thus, a genuine local church must be open to the other churches. If they isolate themselves from the other churches, they are a local sect.
We need to study any group according to these five items. Today is a day of division and confusion, and we should not accept any group blindly. Rather, we must check whether or not they have a special name, a special teaching, or a special practice. We need to see whether or not they insist upon their own administration, and we must inquire if they are open to all the local churches throughout the world. If they pass all these tests, then they are a genuine local church. But if they cannot pass them, we must hesitate as far as recognizing them as a church is concerned.
Since we are in the Lord’s recovery and are practicing the Body life, we must be clear concerning what we are. We are definitely not a division. Furthermore, we have no divisions among us. The church in Corinth was not a division, and they were not a sect. However, sorry to say, there were divisions among them. We need to be careful about this. We in the Lord’s recovery are not a division. But it is possible that in a local church there may be divisions. Some may speak one thing, and others may speak something different; yet they are all in the same locality. This is division. For example, the brothers in a certain place are standing on the ground of oneness. Thus, they are not a division. But it is possible that there could be division among them. They may not be in harmony, and there may be different factions among them. Some may hold to one opinion, and others may cling to a different opinion. Perhaps you do not consider this a division. Although it may not yet be an actual division, it is something very close to division. At least such things are the seeds of division. Therefore, we all must be honest before the Lord. We should not be a division, and we should not have any divisions among us. We must chase away every shadow of division and dig out any seeds of division. The Lord’s recovery is mainly a recovery of the oneness. If we are still a division or have divisions among us, we are no longer in the Lord’s recovery. As long as we are involved in division, we cannot be in the Lord’s recovery. Rather, we are part of the repetition of the history of Christianity. This is a serious matter. If we lose our harmony, our genuine oneness, we lose the recovery.
In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul says that if there are divisions among us, then in our coming together for the Lord’s table, we come together not for the better but for the worse (v. 17). First Corinthians 11:20 says, “When therefore you come together in the same place, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper.” We may attend the Lord’s table without discerning the Body (v. 29). Anyone who eats and drinks at the Lord’s table without discerning the Body eats and drinks judgment to himself (v. 29). This, of course, is not a profit but a loss. Whenever we come to the Lord’s table, we must discern the Body. In 1 Corinthians 11:29 the body denotes the Lord’s physical body and His mystical Body. At the Lord’s table the body has two aspects. One aspect denotes the Lord’s physical body, and the other denotes the mystical Body of Christ. We all need to discern Christ’s mystical Body. Whenever we touch the loaf at the Lord’s table, we must realize that the loaf denotes this unique Body. Because the loaf denotes the mystical Body, there should be no divisions among us. If we are still involved in division, yet we partake of the loaf, it will not be a profit to us but a loss. Every time we come to the Lord’s table, we must examine ourselves and ask, “Am I divisive? If I am, I should refrain from partaking of the Lord’s table. If I partake of the Lord’s table when I am involved in something divisive, it will not be a profit to me. I will not come to the table for the better [profit] but for the worse [loss].” This is an extremely serious matter.
Never consider division an insignificant thing. We must take the Lord’s table in a reverent way and in fear, lest we touch the Lord’s Body without discernment. We need to discern that what we are about to partake of is the unique Body of Christ. In this unique Body there must not be any division. If I am not involved in division, then I shall have the peace and a clear conscience to touch the Lord’s Body. May this matter be made clear to all the churches.
The Lord’s recovery is neither a movement nor a division. Those of every age must be together in harmony. We are not a division, and there are no divisions among us. Rather, we are the testimony of the one Body and the one Spirit. Whenever we come to the Lord’s table, we declare to the whole universe that we are one, that we have come out of division, and that there are no divisions among us. When we touch the one loaf, which signifies the unique Body of Christ in the universe, we must have the witness in our conscience that we are not involved in division. If we do not have a clear conscience regarding division when we touch the Lord’s table, we shall suffer, for we shall eat and drink without discerning the Body. This will not be profitable to us. May the Lord have mercy upon us that whenever we come to the Lord’s table, we shall exercise our conscience to determine whether or not we are involved in something divisive.
Because today is a day of confusion and division, we must discern what group of Christians is the genuine testimony of the one Body. Then we ourselves must be certain not to have any seed of division or source of division among us. If there is no division among us, our conscience will be clear, and we shall bear a strong testimony of the Lord’s Body to the universe. Then the Lord’s blessing will be upon us.
