Outline

«　WEEK 3　DAY 5　»

　　1 Cor. 12:14 For the body is not one member but many.

　　Acts 13:1 Now there were in Antioch, in the local church, prophets and teachers…

　　The universal church is the sum total of all the local churches…If we subtract all the local churches one after the other, there would be no universal church…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… Every local church is part of the expression of the universal church at a particular time in a given locality. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Testimony and the Ground of the Church,” p. 153)

　　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.

　　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. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Testimony and the Ground of the Church,” p. 154)

　　If we hold on to the thought that the local churches are autonomous, considering that an Epistle written to any one locality belongs only to that locality, this would mean that no Epistle is intended for the believers in our time. In other words, it would mean that the entire Bible is not for us. This is altogether impractical.

　　In Ephesians 1:17 Paul prayed that the Father would give the believers “a spirit of wisdom and revelation,” indicating that the believers also need to see the vision that he saw, especially concerning the Body of Christ (3:3-4). As we labor in the local churches in the various regions of the United States, we are not merely building up the local churches; our work is to build up the Body of Christ.

　　One of the central items that Brother Watchman Nee stressed in his ministry was the Body of Christ. He explained that instead of doing the work of the Body, people prefer to build up churches without any kind of regulation or consciousness of the Body. Many establish such churches as their small empires. We need to consider our work in light of Brother Nee’s emphasis…In order to do a proper work, we must have the base of the truth. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, pp. 122-123)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1983, vol. 1, “Perfecting the Saints to Preach the Gospel, Present the Truth, Minister Life, and Walk according to the Spirit in Order to Bear the Testimony of Jesus,” ch. 4