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We have repeatedly said that the church is one. She is not only one in number but also one in nature. Therefore, everything concerning the church is one, not two, whether it is her source, fellowship, or ground. When she is two, she is divided, but once there is division, a sect is formed. Once there is division, regardless of the reason—even the best, most spiritual, most honorable reason—it is still a sect. No matter how good the reason, motive, or purpose, it is a sect as long as it is a division. This is because the church is absolutely one and cannot be two; her nature, ground, and testimony are all one. We have seen this very clearly.
However, a question remains. In many portions in the Bible, when the church is spoken of, it is singular in number, referring to the single, unique church, the one church. But in the Bible there are also other portions which use the word churches. Since the church is one, why does the Bible also use churches? In other words, why does the Bible speak of one church and many churches? Why does it speak of the church, the one church, and also speak of churches? If we read the Bible carefully, we would see that in the universe there is only one church, which is the Body of Christ. Ephesians 1:22-23 speaks of Christ being the Head and the church being the Body. This church is altogether universal; it is uniquely one because there cannot be two Bodies, much less many Bodies. Therefore, in the universe the church is one, not many. But we know that the universe contains the elements of time and space. The word universe denotes past and present, local and abroad. Past and present are a matter of time; local and abroad are a matter of space. Time plus space equals the universe. In the universe there is only one church. However, in its manifestation in the time and space of the universe, there is one church in each locality, and therefore there are many churches. Hence, when the Bible speaks of the church in a certain place, it uses the singular noun church. Some examples include the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), the church in Antioch (13:1), the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2), and the church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1). As long as a locality, a city, is a unit of people’s gathering and living together, then the church manifested there is also a single unit—one church. But when the Bible speaks of the church in a province such as Asia, it says “the churches of Asia” (1 Cor. 16:19). There were many churches in the province of Asia because there were many cities, such as Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (Rev. 1:4, 11). Other examples are Macedonia and Galatia. Because these were also provinces, the churches therein were referred to as the churches of Macedonia (2 Cor. 8:1) and the churches of Galatia (Gal. 1:2) respectively.
Therefore, in the universe, from the universal aspect, the church is uniquely one, but from the local aspect, there are many churches since there are many localities. However, this is not to say that there are many kinds of churches. There is only one kind of church. In nature, principle, and element, the church is altogether of one kind, not of many kinds; only according to geography, according to locality, are there many churches. There is a church in this locality, and there is a church in that locality. There is a church in this city, and there is a church in that city. Each locality has a local church. Because there are different localities, there are many churches. But in nature, principle, and constituent, the churches are one and the same. We need to see that in the universe the church is uniquely one; there are not two churches, much less many churches. However, in the manifestation of the church locally, there are many churches because there are different localities. The churches are still one, however, in nature, principle, and constituent. Moreover, in each locality there can be only one church, not many churches.
Since Jerusalem was a large city and had such a large number of saved ones meeting separately in so many homes, some think that there must have been many churches in Jerusalem, that is, that the church there must have been plural in number. No! The Bible clearly records that there was only one church in Jerusalem; the church was singular in number. A city is a unit of people’s gathering and living together, and the church manifested in such a city should also be a single unit. Consider some of the large cities in the world today, such as New York City, which has a population of almost ten million, and Tokyo, which has a population of approximately eight million. These cities may be huge in size and large in population, but they still cannot be divided. Each city has one government, not two, because it is a unit of people’s gathering and living together. A certain locality may be a town with only thirty thousand people or even three thousand people. Although the population of such a place is small and its size is also small, it still has its own administration because it is a unit of people’s gathering and living together. In principle, the church is like this. The church is composed of people who live in communities, who gather and live together in locality after locality in separate units. Thus, the church naturally is divided into separate units. But in a city, in a locality, there can be only one church. The church has to take a city, a locality, as its boundary regardless of its size. Large cities, large localities, have large churches, and small cities, small localities, have small churches. In a city, in a locality, there can be only one church. Let me say again, although Jerusalem was large in size and large in population, there was only one church in it, not many churches. If there could be many churches in a city, in a locality, it would be a terrible situation because the church would be in confusion and division. If there were many churches in a city, in a locality, instead of speaking of “the church in Jerusalem,” “the church in Antioch,” and “the church in Corinth,” the Bible would have referred to “the churches in Jerusalem,” “the churches in Antioch,” and “the churches in Corinth.” If there were many churches in a city and the word church in the singular still was used, it might refer to the church on such-and-such street, the church on such-and-such road, and the church in such-and-such alley. Then it would be like today’s abnormal situation. In Taipei sometimes people point and say, “That is the church on North Chungshan Road,” or “That is the church on East Hoping Road.” We must remember that there can be only one church in a city, in a locality. There is no such a thing as the church on a street. A street is not qualified to be a unit for establishing a church, just as it is not qualified to be a unit for setting up an administration. Only a locality, whether it is a town or a city, can serve as a unit of administration, as a unit for the church. If we read the Bible carefully, we can find churches only in a province; we cannot find churches in a city. In a city, in a locality, there was only one church. It is not right for the unit of the church to be larger than a city, a locality; it is also wrong for the unit of the church to be smaller than a city, a locality.
We have seen in the previous chapters that the eternal heart’s desire of God is to gain a group of people in the universe, comprising all the saved ones in the past and present, local and abroad, to constitute the Body of His Son, which is the church symbolized by the New Jerusalem. This Body is a vessel to express His Son. As His Son is being expressed through the Body, God Himself is also being expressed in His Son. This is the heart’s desire of God in eternity, the goal God intends to reach in the universe. How does God accomplish this matter? How does He carry this out on earth? The New Testament shows that He is doing it by raising up a church in each locality. He first raised up the church in Jerusalem, and then He raised up a church in many other cities, including Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, and Rome. God wants the church in each locality to be a miniature, a small-scale representation, of His universal church so that all the local churches are the same as the universal church in nature and principle, just as small chicks are similar to the large hen. These local churches represent the universal church in their respective places, and they express Christ and serve as the testimony of Christ according to the principle of the universal church. Therefore, every local church is a lampstand in its locality, shining forth Christ. In Ephesus, we cannot see two or more lampstands; we can see only one lampstand because there was only one church in Ephesus. In one city, in one locality, there is only one church. Among the seven cities of the province of Asia, for example, each city had a church, so there were seven churches, seven lampstands. These seven lampstands were independent of the others; they were not unified to become one lampstand. In every city, in every locality, there was only one church; in every city, in every locality, there was only one lampstand. This is very clear. God has established this because He wants to set up a testimony, a lampstand, a church, in every locality
In this way we clearly see that the church has a universal aspect and a local aspect. The universal aspect is with respect to the church in its entirety, and the local aspect is with respect to the church in its manifestation. There can be many churches manifested locally, but in each locality there can be only one church as the testimony and representation of the unique universal church. Since there is only one church in the universe, there should also be only one manifestation and representation of the church in each locality. Now we will look briefly at the mutual relations between these two aspects of the church—the universal church and the local church.
Let us first speak concerning the universal church. The universal church is the sum total of all the local churches. If we add up all the local churches of the past and the present, local and abroad, this would equal the universal church. If we subtract all the local churches one after the other, there would be no universal church. What is the universal church? Actually, it is the local church, except that it is not only one local church; it is all the local churches. When we add up all the local churches, the total is the universal church. This universal church is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23).
In the New Testament age God wants to establish the church in every place to express His eternal intention. God’s desire is that every local church would represent the Body of Christ to testify on behalf of Christ in their respective localities. Therefore, every local church is the expression of the universal church in that locality. Therefore, the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), the church in Antioch (13:1), the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2), and the church in any other locality are part of the universal church. The church in a locality is a small expression of the universal church in a particular locality. It not only represents the universal church, but it is also part of the universal church. It is the universal church being expressed in a locality at a particular time. It is a part of the universal church which appears in time in a locality. Every local church is part of the expression of the universal church at a particular time in a given locality.
The nature and principle of the universal church are the nature and principle of the local church. Just as the nature of the entire universal church is of God, the nature of the local church in every locality is also of God. Therefore, the universal church is called “the church of God” (1 Cor. 10:32), and the local church is also called “the church of God” (1:2).
Just as the church is uniquely one in the universe, it is also uniquely one in each locality. The principle of the church is oneness. In the universe the church is one, and in each locality the church is also one. If there are two or more churches in Taipei, there is a problem, just as there would be a problem if there were two or more city administrations in Taipei. In one locality there can be only one church, not two or more churches. Look at the seven localities spoken of in Revelation 1:11. There were exactly seven churches. There was one locality and one church; there was not one locality with two churches. This is because in the universe the principle of the church is one, not two, and in a locality the principle of the church is also one, not two.
The local church is a miniature of the universal church. The situation of the universal church is the situation of the local church because the local church is a miniature of the universal church. The universal church expresses Christ, and the local church also expresses Christ, except on a smaller scale. Every local church is a representative of the universal church, representing the universal church in its locality by living out the proper life of the Body of Christ and thus expressing Christ.
The universal church is the Body of Christ for the expression of Christ and the dwelling place of God for the expression of God (Eph. 1:22-23; 2:20-22). Just as the universal church has these two aspects, the local church also has these two aspects: it is the Body to Christ and the dwelling place of God (Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Tim. 3:15). Both a body and a dwelling place are where man resides and where man expresses himself. First, a body is where a person lives. In 2 Corinthians 5:6 Paul says that “we are at home in the body.” When a loved one passes away, we say that he is gone, that he has left us. His body is still here, but his person has left. This is the reason we say that the body is where a person lives. Second, a house, a home, is also where a person lives. A body and a house are not only places where a man lives but also where a man expresses himself. When we look at a person’s body, we know the person. We almost always know a person by his face and his appearance. Moreover, to know a person, we only need to look at his home, the house in which he lives. If his home is very clean, we know that he is a clean person. If his home is messy, we know that he is a messy person. When his home is beautifully decorated, we know that he is a person who appreciates beauty. And if his home is ugly, we know that he has no sense of beauty. A person’s home is a depiction of the person himself. A house where a Japanese family lives will have certain Japanese features and a distinct Japanese flavor. If the same house is occupied by some Europeans, it will have certain European features and a distinct European flavor after a few months. If some Chinese move into the same house, when one comes to the door after half a year, he will immediately sense Chinese features and a Chinese flavor. A person’s home, a person’s dwelling, is a place where he manifests himself. It is the same with the church as the Body of Christ and the dwelling place of God in the universe and also in every locality. Every local church is the Body of Christ for expressing Christ, and it is also the dwelling place of God for expressing God. First Corinthians 14:25 says that when the church meets together and someone comes into their midst, he will worship, declaring, “Indeed God is among you.” This is the proper situation of the church. Both the universal church and the local church should be like this. If a local church has lost its function as the Body with respect to Christ and lost its usefulness as the dwelling place with respect to God, it surely has problems and difficulties.
The local church is the universal church in practicality because the local church is the reality of the universal church. If there were no local church, we would not know where to find the universal church.
In Matthew 16:18 the Lord said, “Upon this rock I will build My church.” The Lord’s word here refers to the building of the universal church. The Lord wants to build the church in the universe upon Himself as the rock, but His building is done through the local church. If the Lord did not build the local church, He would have no place to start His building of the universal church. We must consider this: if there is no building of the local church, how can there be the building of the universal church? If we put aside the local church, there would be no universal church. Therefore, the local church is the reality and the practicality of the universal church. Even the Lord’s building of the universal church is gained through His building of the local church.
After the Lord said that He would build the universal church in Matthew 16, He said that if a problem between believers could not be resolved, then they should tell it to the church (18:17). The church spoken of by the Lord here surely refers to the local church. Otherwise, where would the believers go? We need to believe that since there is a church to which we can go and tell our problems, then it must be the church in a locality.
What the Lord spoke of in Matthew 18 is obviously a matter of the administration in the church. If we have a problem that we cannot solve, we may tell it to one or two others; if the two or three of us still cannot solve it, then we should tell it to the church. This clearly shows that this is a matter of local administration. Therefore, matters related to administration and government or matters related to edification or leading must all be done locally. Otherwise, there would be no way for these matters to be carried out. Therefore, there must be a local church so that it is possible for the universal church to carry out its administration.
What the Lord said in Matthew 18 also shows the kind of gathering that can be considered as a local church. If there are only two or three believers in a locality, they are qualified to be a local church as long as they are meeting in the Lord’s name. However, if there are more believers in that place, it is not right for only two or three people, who are meeting in the Lord’s name, to say that they are the church. Even though the Lord said that two or three may be gathered into His name (v. 20), this does not mean that such a gathering is the church. The Lord indicated that these two or three, who are meeting in His name, are not the church, because when they have a problem they still must tell it to the church (vv. 16-17). If two or three meeting on such-and-such street can be considered a church, whenever there are two or three meeting on a street or in an alley, they also can become a church. If this were the case, imagine the extent of the confusion of the church. Furthermore, this would easily give the flesh a place to hide. As soon as one is unhappy with some other brothers or has an argument with the brothers, he could separate himself at will from the brothers and set up his own “church.” This would require no breaking of the cross. In the church no one can separate himself from other brothers and sisters simply because of differences in opinion, desire, and views. This absolutely should not happen. If every brother or sister was willing to accept the Lord’s dealings and not be divided from others, the situation of the church surely would not be like the confused situation today. In any given locality there would be only one church, only one fellowship, instead of many sects and denominations. We need to see that the manifestation of the church takes the locality as its sphere, as its ground. In a locality there can be only one church. When we are freed from the division of the sects, we need to recover the oneness of the church in a locality. It is not enough that we are freed from the division of the sects; we still need to stand on the ground of the local church, representing the universal church and manifesting the proper living of the Body of Christ.
The universal church is abstract; the local church is real and tangible. If there were no local church but only the universal church, not only would the workers for the Lord be unable to touch the church, but the believers also would not be able to touch it.
Anyone who works for the Lord should be working for the local churches. Today many people think that working for the Lord means to build the universal church, but how is it possible for them to build the universal church? How can the universal church be built without touching the local church? Look at the apostles in the early church: they all worked in local churches, and their work was all for the local church. The Epistles they wrote were written to local churches. Even Ephesians, the Epistle which speaks of the universal church, was written to the local church in Ephesus. The local church is the object of the work of those who work for the Lord. If there were no local churches, the Lord’s workers would not know where to start their work.
The believers’ corporate life and service in coordination are also realized in the local churches. We know that the believers cannot be alone. The Christian life is not like the life of the butterfly; it is like the life of the bee. Butterflies are individualistic, but bees are always in companies. The Christian life is a corporate life, the life of the Body. Christians cannot be alone, because they all have the same life. As saved ones, we all have the same one life, and this life requires us to be together, to be a corporate body, and to not be individualistic. Every saved one, without being taught, seeks out the brothers and loves to come to the meetings; this is a sure fact unless he has became cold, backslidden, or fallen. The life within a Christian is a life of the Body. Therefore, the living of a Christian is a corporate living. Christian service is also a service in coordination. But here a question arises. Where can we have this corporate living and this coordinated service? Is it in the universal church? It is not possible to touch them there. We must be in the local church! If we are in Tainan, we can experience them in the church in Tainan. If we are in Taipei, we can experience them in the church in Taipei. This is very clear.
We can touch the universal church only by touching the local church. If we do not live in the local church, we would not be able to live in the universal church. If we do not serve in coordination in the local church, we cannot serve in coordination in the universal church. If we stay away from the local church, we stay away from the universal church. Some people frequently speak of the universal church, but I would like to ask them, “Where is the universal church? Have you ever touched it? Do you have a way to touch it?” If we want to touch the universal church, we have no other way but to touch the local church. Once we stay away from the local church, we immediately stay away from the universal church.
