太十六18 ……我要把我的召会建造在这磐石上，阴间的门不能胜过她。

　　罗十二5　 我们这许多人，在基督里是一个身体，并且各个互相作肢体，也是如此。

　　　十六16 ……基督的众召会都问你们安。

　　我们需要看见身体对地方召会有益处，地方召会对身体也有益处。我们可以用家庭为例来说明。……我们若没有父亲，我们就是孤儿。孤儿得不到父亲的好处、益处，所以受很多苦。但一个人若没有儿女，也会受苦。这是个很好的例子，说明基督的身体如何是众地方召会的源头。这样一个宇宙的身体对众召会就像父亲，而众召会就像这父亲的儿女。

　　地方召会中许多的肢体实际上可能不是直接借着那地的召会而得救。他们反而是在别处得救，来自其他的地方。这就是身体对那个地方召会的好处。这是“父亲”对他“儿女”的益处。我们中间有些人享受了从身体所承受的基业，却又放弃身体，不顾到身体。他们引起分裂，这分裂乃是堕落基督教的一部分（召会生活中引起风波的难处，三二页）。

　　Matt. 16:18 …Upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

　　Rom. 12:5 So we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

　　16:16 …All the churches of Christ greet you.

　　We need to see the profit of the Body to the local churches and the profit of the local churches to the Body. We can use a family as an illustration of this…. If we do not have a father, we are orphans. An orphan does not receive the profit, the benefit, from a father, so he suffers a lot. But a man who does not have any children also suffers. This is a good illustration of how the Body of Christ is the source of the local churches. Such a universal Body is like the father to all the churches, and all the churches are like the children to the father.

　　Many of the members in a local church may not actually be saved directly by that church. Instead, they are saved elsewhere and come from other localities. This is the benefit from the Body to that local church. This is the profit from the “father” to his “child.” Some among us enjoyed the inheritance from the Body, but then they gave up the Body and would not care for the Body. They have caused divisions, and divisions are a part of degraded Christianity. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Problems Causing the Turmoils in the Church Life,” p. 105)

　　基督正在建造的召会，乃是宇宙的召会，不是在一国或一城的召会。在马太十六章十八节，主耶稣对彼得说，“你是彼得，我要把我的召会建造在这磐石上。”……基督自己乃是召会在其上建造的磐石。在十八节的召会，乃是宇宙的召会，就是在全宇宙中独一的召会。

　　宇宙召会乃是基督独一的身体。根据以弗所一章二十二至二十三节，基督是头，召会是祂的身体。基督作头只有一个身体（四4）。一个头有一个以上的身体是不正常的。……今天在基督教里，基督独一的身体已经分裂成数不清的“众多身体”。……所有不同的“会”，都宣称他们的头是基督。这意思是说，一个头基督，有许多的身体。这不仅是错的，更是古怪的！在今天不正常的情形中，我们很强地说，基督只有一个独一的身体。只有一个头，一个身体。当然，这一个身体不可能只是一个地方召会。这一个身体必定是宇宙召会，是整个的召会。基督作头是独一的，宇宙召会作身体也是独一的。

　　这一个宇宙召会，一个身体，包括所有的地方召会。地方召会可能有成千上万，但在一起构成一个宇宙召会。每个地方召会只是宇宙召会的一部分。宇宙召会是基督独一的身体，众地方召会是那一个身体在地方上的显出。

　　众地方召会都包括在一个宇宙召会里。行传十五章四十一节说到在叙利亚和基利家的众召会；罗马十六章四节提到外邦的众召会。林后八章一节说到在马其顿省的众召会；加拉太一章二节说到在加拉太省的众召会；启示录一章四节说到在亚西亚省的众召会。……在新约里，我们能看见许多的地方召会，而这许多地方召会在一起，可以看作是一个宇宙的召会。

　　地方召会是基督身体在地方上的显出（林前十二27，弗二22）。……就着宇宙一面说，众召会乃是一个身体；就着地方一面说，每一个地方召会乃是那个宇宙身体在地方上的显出。一个地方召会不是身体，只是身体的一部分，只是身体在地方上的显出（李文集一九八四年第四册，六五六至六五九页）。

　　参读：长老训练第十一册，第十二至十三章。

　　The church that Christ is building is the universal church, not the church in a nation or the church in a city. In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus said to Peter, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church.”…Christ Himself is the very rock upon which the church is built. The church in Matthew 16:18 is the universal church, the one church in the entire universe.

　　The universal church is the unique Body of Christ. According to Ephesians 1:22-23, Christ is the Head, and the church is His Body. Christ the Head has only one Body (4:4). It is abnormal for a head to have more than one body…. In Christianity today, the unique Body of Christ has been divided into countless “bodies.”…All the different [so-called churches] claim that their Head is Christ. This means that the one Head, Christ, has many bodies. This is not only wrong, but this is grotesque. In the midst of today’s abnormal situation, we strongly affirm that the Body of Christ is uniquely one. There is one Head and one Body. Surely, this one Body cannot be a particular local church. This one Body must be the universal church, the church as a whole. Christ as the Head is unique, and the universal church as the Body is also unique.

　　This one universal church, one Body, comprises all the local churches. There may be thousands of local churches, but together they constitute one universal church. Each local church is only a part of the universal church. The universal church is the unique Body of Christ, and all the local churches are simply the local expressions of that one Body.

　　The local churches compose the one universal church. Acts 15:41 speaks of the churches in Syria and Cilicia, and Romans 16:4 mentions the churches in the Gentile world. Second Corinthians 8:1 speaks of the churches in the province of Macedonia; Galatians 1:2, of the churches in the province of Galatia; and Revelation 1:4, of the churches in the province of Asia…. In the New Testament we can see many local churches, and together these local churches are considered as one universal church.

　　The local churches are the local expressions of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 2:22)…. Universally, all the churches are one Body, and locally, every local church is a local expression of that universal Body. A local church is not the Body; it is only a part of the Body. It is a local expression of the Body. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 4, “Vital Factors for the Recovery of the Church Life,” pp. 488-490)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1, “Further Consideration of the Eldership, the Region of Work, and the Care for the Body of Christ,” chs. 1-2