The truth concerning the universal and local aspects of the church also needs to be recovered. In a very real sense, these matters have been lost, even annulled. Therefore, we need to be recovered to the truth concerning these two aspects of the church.
In the universal aspect the church is uniquely one. This aspect of the church is revealed by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 16:18, where He says, “On this rock I will build My church.” What is revealed here is the universal church for the unique testimony of the Lord in the universe.
In 16:18 the Lord says that He will build His church upon “this rock,” which refers not only to Christ Himself but also to the revelation of Christ. The building up of the universal church is altogether on the clear revelation concerning Christ, the Son of the living God. This revelation is the crucial factor, the very center, of the building up of the universal church.
In Matthew 18:17 the Lord Jesus reveals the local church. The church mentioned in this verse must be a local church because it is a place where we can go. We cannot bring a problem to the universal church, only to the local church.
In the local aspect the church is expressed in many localities as many local churches. The one universal church expressed in many places on earth becomes the many local churches. The expression of the church in a locality is the local church in that particular locality. Without the local churches there would be no practicality and actuality of the universal church. The universal church is realized in the local churches.
In 1 Corinthians 1:2, where Paul addresses “the church of God which is in Corinth,” we have both the universal and the local aspects of the church. The church is of God, for it is constituted of the element of God. But the church which is of God is also local. Therefore, we have here both the universal aspect and the local aspect of the church. The universal aspect refers to the constitution, nature, and content of the church, whereas the local aspect refers to the expression and practicality of the church. If we have only the local aspect but not the aspect of the church being of God, we shall have only an outward formality, not the inward reality. But if we have only the universal aspect but not the local aspect of the church in a particular locality, we shall have the reality but not the practicality. On the one hand, the church is constituted of God; on the other hand, the church is expressed in a particular locality. The universal church is expressed and practiced in particular localities.
In the recovery of the church, we are building the Body of Christ, the temple of God, the house of God. This was typified by the rebuilding of the temple under the leadership of Ezra in Old Testament times. Today we are rebuilding the church life as God’s temple, the Body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:12-17 has much to say about the building up of the Body of Christ. Verse 12 says, “For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.” In this verse “unto” means for the purpose of, for, with a view to. The many gifted persons in verse 11 have only one ministry, that of ministering Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ, the church. This is the unique ministry in the New Testament economy (2 Cor. 4:1; 1 Tim. 1:12). Furthermore, according to the grammatical construction of verse 12, “the building up of the Body of Christ” is “the work of ministry.” Whatever the gifted persons in verse 11 do as the work of ministry must be for the building up of the Body of Christ.
The four special gifts in verse 11-the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the shepherd-teachers-do not build the Body of Christ directly. Instead, these special gifts perfect the saints that they may build the Body of Christ directly. First, the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherd-teachers perfect, equip, the saints. This means that they build up the saints. Then the perfected saints become the building members to build the Body of Christ directly. From this we see that the Body is not built directly by the special gifts but by all the members of the Body. If we realize this, we shall avoid the great heresy of the clergy-laity system. In the church there is no clergy or laity. On the contrary, in the church every member of the Body functions to build up the Body of Christ directly.
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