«　WEEK 6　DAY 2　»

　　Eph. 1:22-23 ...The church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.

　　Rev. 1:11 ...What you see write in a scroll and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamos and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.

　　We may think that the local churches are the goal of God’s economy. However, they are not the goal but the procedure God takes to reach the goal of His economy.

　　According to Ephesians 1:22-23, the goal of God’s economy is the church, which is Christ’s Body... We are in the church; that is a fact. But where is the reality of the Body of Christ?

　　I treasure the local churches, as you do. But I treasure the local churches because of a purpose. The local churches are the procedure to bring me into the Body of Christ... We need to be in the local churches so that we can be ushered, or brought, into the reality of the Body of Christ. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “The Practical Points concerning Blending,” pp. 103-104)

　　In the Bible there are two aspects related to God’s habitation. On the one hand, it is transitory and wandering, as typified by the tabernacle. The tabernacle moved as the people traveled... However, the tabernacle itself did not change with a change in location... The tabernacle typifies the church on earth, or the church in localities... Whenever God’s people come together, there is the church. When they are separated, there is no church. This is the aspect of the church typified by the tabernacle.

　　The temple is different from the tabernacle... It was built for the kingdom. It was the center of the life of the people of Israel. As such, the temple... is unique, eternal, and solid... Even when the nation was divided politically, the temple could not be divided. There was only one temple. Although the church appears in different localities, the spiritual reality of the church is still one Body. It is unique and eternal.

　　The work of the ministry is to recover the proper testimony of the church. This is the real recovery. Our works today are not ordinary works. The way today is the way of the church. In this way we must not act presumptuously or carelessly... The Body described in 1 Corinthians 12 is a testimony that a local church should have; it is the testimony of the Body. In this Body “the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you” (v. 21). Every part must be in coordination... The local church today must be a testimony that expresses the reality of this Body. It must be a practical and actual Body expressed in a locality.

　　The church on earth today is one. Those who are in the church are men who are separated from the world. Under normal circumstances every brother and sister should be serving God... Everyone should be a consecrated one, and everyone should have everything in common. Under such a proper living, the gifts such as the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers, as listed in Ephesians 4, are produced. Although these gifted ones are scattered in different places, they are in the one church. This is like one electrical current that is being transmitted to many places... Although the churches in the various localities are different as far as their localities are concerned, there is nevertheless only one church. The church exists for the testimony of oneness... The life that all the churches possess is a life of oneness. For this reason all the churches should be one among themselves. Although there were churches manifested in Corinth, Ephesus, and other places, they were all one church. This is the normal situation. (CWWN, vol. 57, “The Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry,” pp. 34-35, 31, 36-37)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 57, “The Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry,” chs. 4-6, 20; CWWL, 1964, vol. 4, “The Vision of God’s Building,” ch. 11