林前一2 “写信给在哥林多神的召会，就是给在基督耶稣里被圣别，蒙召的圣徒…。”

　　十二13 “因为我们不拘是犹太人或希利尼人，是为奴的或自主的，都已经在一位灵里受浸，成了一个身体，且都得以喝一位灵。”

　　我…听见有人把自治的说法带进来，我立刻厉害地指正其错误；我们不能容让这种说法和作法进到主恢复里来。人所以喜欢这种作法，是因为人人都喜欢自立、平等，不喜欢在别人之下，可是，我们要知道，基督的召会不是一个政治体系，基督的召会乃是一个生机体，就像我们的身体一样〔弗一22~23〕。…这不是比喻的说法，乃是事实的叙述。

　　召会完全是一个生机体。召会既是一个生机的身体，就没有办法分割自治。圣经用生机的身体来说到召会—基督的身体，是非常透彻的，也免去了诸多的难处（当前的角声与当前的需要，二九至三○页）。

　　1 Cor. 1:2 To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints…

　　12:13 …In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.

　　I heard that some have brought in the teaching of autonomy. … I strongly reproved this error. This kind of speaking and practice cannot be brought into the Lord’s recovery. Everyone likes this practice because everyone likes to be independent and equal. No one likes to be under anyone else. But we have to realize that the church of Christ is not a political institution. The church of Christ is an organism just like our body [Eph. 1:22-23].…This is not an illustration, but a statement of a fact.

　　The church is absolutely an organism. Since the church is an organic body, there is no way for it to be separated or autonomous. The Bible uses our organic body to describe the church, the Body of Christ. This is a most thorough description, and by it many problems can be avoided. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “A Timely Trumpeting and the Present Need,” p. 25)

　　财务问题也许是地方治理上的事务，但甚至在这样的事上，召会也应当彼此倚靠。有时候甚至在物质需要的事上，一个召会也该与另一个召会来往交通。…甚至在物质的事上，我们也不能说召会是独立自治的。

　　召会不该绝对彼此独立。所有的信徒都应当彼此倚靠，所有的地方召会也应当彼此倚靠。尤其在属灵的事上，我们应当彼此倚靠。一个城市的召会，也许在生命和建造上需要其他召会的帮助。地方召会应当在互相倚靠的光景里。自治的观念是可怕的，因为这种观念使召会彼此分离。我们不该忘记，在整个宇宙中，所有的信徒乃是一个人（基督的身体，二二页）。

　　在林前四章十七节，保罗说，“因此我已打发提摩太到你们那里去；他在主里是我所亲爱、忠信的孩子；他必提醒你们，我在基督耶稣里怎样行事，正如我在各处各召会中所教导的。”使徒保罗在所有的召会中都教导同样的事。他的教训在各处都是一样的，没有因地而异。关于这事，我们需要看启示录二、三章，给七个地方召会的七封书信。主向一个召会所说的话，就是那灵向众召会所说的话（二1、7）。在每封书信开头，乃是主特别地向某个召会说话（二1、8、12、18，三1、7、14），但在这些书信的末了，都是说，“那灵向众召会所说的话，凡有耳的，就应当听。”（二7、11、17、29，三6、13、22）主对在以弗所的召会所说的话，乃是众召会都该听的话。每封书信都是向某个召会所说特别的话，但众召会都该听取这特别的话。

　　一面，众召会的长老有权利和地位，独立地治理众召会；另一面，众召会都该听使徒们从神所领受的话，就是新约的教训。一面，众召会是地方的、分开的；另一面，众地方召会仍是基督独一的身体，是个生机体，而不是联邦，那是个组织。我们需要照新约所说的，分开地在各地方召会聚会，但众地方召会仍是基督独一的身体（应时的话，三一页）。

　　参读：主今日恢复的进展，第四章；主恢复的简说，补充的话。

　　A certain financial matter may be a local administrative affair, but even in such a matter, the churches should depend on one another. Sometimes a certain church should communicate, fellowship, with another church even in the matter of material needs…. Even in material things we cannot say that the churches are independently autonomous.

　　The churches should not be absolutely independent of one another. All the believers should depend on one another, and all the local churches should depend on one another. Especially in spiritual things we should depend on one another. The church in a certain city may need help from the other churches in life and in its building up. The local churches should be in a situation of mutual dependence. The concept of autonomy is awful because it makes the churches separate from one another. We should not forget that all the believers in this entire universe are one man. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 3, “The Body of Christ,” p. 390)

　　In 1 Corinthians 4:17 Paul says, “Because of this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every church.” In all the churches the apostle Paul taught the same thing. His teaching was the same universally, not varying in any place. Concerning this matter, we need to look at the seven epistles to the seven local churches in Revelation 2 and 3. The word of the Lord to one church is the word spoken by the Spirit to all the churches (2:1, 7). At the beginning of each epistle, it is the Lord speaking to a specific church (vv. 1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14), but at the end of all the epistles, the Word says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). What was said by the Lord to the church in Ephesus was the word that all the churches should hear. Every epistle was a particular word to a certain church, yet this particular word should be heard and taken by all the churches.

　　On the one hand, the elders of the churches have the right and the position to carry out the local administration of the churches independently. On the other hand, all the churches should listen to the word that the apostles have received of God, which is the teaching of the New Testament. On the one hand, the churches are local separately. On the other hand, all the local churches are still the one Body of Christ, which is an organism, not a federation, which is an organization. We need to meet as local churches separately according to what the New Testament says, but all the local churches are still the one Body of Christ. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 3, “A Timely Word,” pp. 68-69)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Advance of the Lord’s Recovery Today,” ch. 4; CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “A Brief Presentation of the Lord’s Recovery,” pp. 413-420