Message Eleven

The Practical Expression of the Church—
the Body of Christ Expressed Practically
as Many Local Churches

1. The church of God, as the universal Body of Christ, the universal house of God, and the kingdom of God (Eph. 1:22-23; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Matt. 16:18-19), is expressed practically as many local churches (Rev. 1:4a, 11), and all the local churches, being the one Body of Christ separated by localities for their existence, express the same one Body, not respectively but corporately.
2. The ground of the church:
   1. The ground of the church (Christ—1 Cor. 3:11) denotes the site on which the foundation of the church is laid, which keeps, in practicality, the genuine oneness of the church both locally and universally, without any division or confusion.
   2. According to the divine revelation of the New Testament, the church ground is constituted of three crucial elements:
      1. The first element is the unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ, that is, the oneness of the one Spirit as the unique essence of the Body, with the one Lord as the unique element of the Body, and with the one Father as the unique source of the Body—Eph. 4:4-6.
      2. The second element is the unique ground of locality of a local church, that is, the very locality—a city, a town, or a village—as the boundary within which a local church is established and exists, with each one locality having only one church in order to preserve the oneness and prevent division—Deut. 12:5-18:
         1. Hence, we see the church in Jerusalem, the church in Antioch, the church in Cenchrea, the church in Corinth, and the seven churches in Asia in seven respective cities—Acts 8:1; 13:1; Rom. 16:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; Rev. 1:4a, 11.
         2. The church must not be divided by different persons, doctrines, and practices as different grounds into sects and denominations—1 Cor. 1:10-13.
      3. The third element is the reality of the Spirit of oneness by whom the oneness of the Body of Christ becomes real and living and through whom the ground of locality is applied in life and not in legality—Eph. 4:3-6.
   3. The church ground is therefore a spiritual fact and practical necessity, being the base of the genuine and proper fellowship of all the believers, the unique fellowship of the Body of Christ locally and universally—Acts 2:42; 1 John 1:1-3.
3. The practice of the church:
   1. The church of God is the called-out assembly composed of all His children, appearing in many localities on the earth as the local churches:
      1. The Body of Christ needs the local churches for its existence, expression, and practice.
      2. A local church is one that exists in a locality, its jurisdiction for its administration being within the boundary of the locality in which it exists.
      3. The unique church of God is expressed as many local churches throughout the whole earth, yet they still express the same one universal Body of Christ, not respectively but corporately—1 Cor. 12:27.
      4. The local churches are scattered in different places by geography, yet they are not divided by any doctrine or matter into sects or denominations—1 Cor. 1:10-13; 10:16-17.
      5. Among the local churches there is no head church, high church, or low church, but all the local churches are on the same level; there can be no absolute autonomy in any local church nor can there be a federation among a group of churches.
   2. All the local churches, composed with the believers to be the Body of Christ, are the golden lampstands, which are identical in nature, shape, and function to be the one expression of Christ—Rev. 1:11-12:
      1. Although the local churches are autonomous to a certain extent in business affairs, their testimony for Christ and fellowship of the Spirit should be not only local but also universal.
      2. Hence, the local churches in certain districts should be clustered as much as possible in a blending way for the spiritual benefits in the mutual building up of the Body of Christ, as the Lord Jesus clustered the seven neighboring churches in Asia—Rev. 1—3.
      3. Such a blending is not social but the blending of the very Christ whom the churches enjoy, experience, and partake of.
      4. Such clustering also stirs up the neighboring churches in mutual love, mutual care, mutual intercession, and mutual shepherding.
      5. Such blending is not an organization of any nature or a system in any way, nor is it a kind of unification in outward practices, but an organic building work.
   3. A local church is administered by a group of elders appointed by the gifted persons who have established the church and is ministered to by all the gifted saints for its building up as a living testimony of Christ—Acts 14:14a, 23; 13:1:
      1. The administration of a local church under the leadership of the elders should be carried out in an organic way, not by any worldly, organizational way—1 Tim. 3:1-5; 5:17.
      2. Among the churches there are the apostles who set up the churches, and in every church there are elders who manage the church and deacons who serve the church; although there is the order of these holy services, there should not be any hierarchy—religious organization or a system of rank—1 Cor. 9:1-3; 1 Tim. 3:1-13.
      3. A local church is built up directly by the functioning of all its members with the perfecting of the gifted persons, such as the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers (Eph. 4:11-12) through the following four things:
         1. Preaching the gospel to have sinners saved and regenerated to become the members of Christ.
         2. Feeding the new believers for their growth in life and in truth—John 21:15, 17; 1 Thes. 2:7.
         3. Perfecting the saints that they may mature and be built up—Eph. 4:12.
         4. Prophesying in the church meetings for the building up of the church—1 Cor. 14:1-5, 23-26, 31.
      4. The above-mentioned God-ordained way to build up the church is best practiced in the vital groups and the small groups day by day and from house to house—Acts 2:46; 5:42.
      5. The building up of a local church is for the building up of the entire Body of Christ.
   4. The following points are some crucial practices in the local churches under today's divisive and confusing degradation of Christianity:
      1. We should not participate in the Catholic heresy, the Protestant denominations, or any kind of free group of Christians.
      2. We should recognize and receive the individual believers in Christ who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, being redeemed by His blood and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, who are not factious, not making divisions, not worshipping idols, nor living in sin, even if they are still related to any of the above-listed divisions—Rom. 14:1—15:13; Titus 3:10; Rom. 16:17; 1 Cor. 5:11.
      3. We should be one with all the believers who are in the Lord's recovery throughout the world.
      4. We should not have any creed but only the unique Bible properly translated and interpreted by and according to the Bible itself.
      5. We should take the eternal economy of God as the central line to bear the unique testimony of Christ, not teaching any doctrine that is unrelated to the eternal economy of God and has nothing to do with the testimony of Christ—1 Tim. 1:3-4.
      6. We should practice the one accord by being in one spirit with one soul and by being attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion—Matt. 18:19; Acts 1:14; Phil. 1:27; 2:2.
      7. We should enjoy righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit as the reality of the kingdom of God—Rom. 14:17.