There is one thing we must all notice: The world does not have a church; therefore, the Roman Catholic Church is wrong. A country does not have a church; therefore, the Anglican Church (i.e., the Church of England or the Episcopal Church) is wrong. A province does not have a church, nor does a race. In the Bible only the smallest administrative unit is related to the church-only a locality or a city has a church. The church in one locality cannot combine with the church in another locality to become one church. Each city can only be matched with one church, just as a husband can only be matched with one wife. Therefore, in Antioch, there is the church in Antioch, not the churches in Antioch. It would be wrong to say the churches in Antioch. According to God’s arrangement, a locality can only be matched with one church, not many churches. In the Bible we can never find the churches in Corinth or the churches in Antioch. But the Bible does say the church in Antioch, the church in Philippi, and the church in Philadelphia. All of these churches are referred to in the singular. There were not multiple churches in Antioch, Philippi, or Philadelphia.
God’s arrangement for the church on the spiritual side is the authority of the Holy Spirit, and in its outward appearance, it is the limitation of locality. When the church in Corinth was about to divide itself into four parts, Paul immediately rebuked them for being divisive and fleshy (1 Cor. 1:10-13; 3:3-4). When the Corinthians were about to divide into a few smaller churches, one of Paul, another of Cephas, another of Apollos, and another of Christ, the Holy Spirit said that was fleshy. Each city, each locality, can only be matched with one church. Whenever more than one appears, it is a division, a sect, which God rejects. From God’s point of view, the church in Corinth became fleshy because there can only be one church in one locality; a second church can never be established. If one church is already established, the second is a division and is fleshy. There can never be more than one church in one locality. Someone may say that he desires to supply others with spiritual food, but supplying spiritual food is not sufficient ground to establish a church. Someone may say that he wants to help others to understand the Bible, but helping others understand the Bible is also not sufficient ground to establish a church. Neither is teaching others to know the Holy Spirit adequate grounds for establishing a church. Someone may say that we need a revival and that a revival church should be established. Recently in a certain place, someone established a Revival Church for the sole purpose of revival, but revival is not sufficient grounds to establish a church. Men cannot establish a church, because men do not have the ground to establish a church. Paul did not have the ground to establish a church; neither did Cephas or Apollos. Ephesus had the ground to establish a church, but Paul was not equal to Ephesus. Corinth had the ground to establish a church, but Paul was not equal to Corinth. Neither was Cephas or Apollos; they were all not equal to Corinth. They did not have the ground, and they were not qualified to establish a church, because a church must be matched with a locality. Anything that comes short of a locality cannot establish a church. If there is no locality, there is no church. It is more than evident that God takes the boundary of locality as the ground.
In Shanghai the church does not stand on denominationalism, sectarianism, or any other ground, but on the ground of Shanghai. This is the church in Shanghai. Suppose I have a quarrel with Brother Chang. I let him meet on Nanyang Road, while I find a place on North Szechuan Road. One goes south and the other goes north in the opposite direction. At North Szechuan Road I can preach the gospel, and a group of people can be saved. While the meeting hall on Nanyang Road can seat 2,400 people, I can build a bigger hall to seat 2,600. Even though I preach the gospel and start a meeting, bringing many to salvation, giving messages, and edifying the saints, I can never become the church because the qualification to take Shanghai as the ground of the church has already been taken. I am not qualified to set up another church because there can only be one church in Shanghai.
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