We need to see the relationship between the church, the workers, and the work. In our fellowship, messages, and prayers, we often use three terms—church, workers, and work. When brothers and sisters go out to propagate, the responsible brothers may announce, “The church in our locality has decided to set apart one thousand dollars each month for the spread of the work.” Some saints have then asked, “What is this money for, and how will it be used?” This question demonstrates that the brothers and sisters are not clear concerning the relationship between the church, the workers, and the work. Hence, we need to explain this matter clearly. For this, we need to spend much time studying the New Testament. This will help us to see the matter clearly so that the saints in all the churches may know this truth.
For two thousand years, since the passing of the apostles, the church has not been clear concerning this matter. The Roman Catholic Church and the various Protestant denominations have deviated in this matter from the teaching of the Bible. Some groups have deviated to a greater extent and others to a lesser extent. It is truly difficult to find a group of Christians that has not deviated in the matter of the relationship between the church, the workers, and the work. In order to see this matter clearly, we must see the composition of the church. We use the term the composition of the church for the purpose of helping the brothers and sisters understand that, simply put, the church is composed of all the saved ones. If there were no saved ones, there would be no church. All the saved ones joined together are the church. Hence, the church is a composition of all the saints.
The church is not simple, because the church is universal as well as local. If we carefully study the teaching in the New Testament, we can see two aspects of the church—the universal aspect and the local aspect. For example, based on the context, the word church in Ephesians 1:22 refers to the universal church, whereas churches in Galatians 1:2 and church in Acts 8:1; 13:1; and 14:23 refer to local churches, churches in specific localities.
The universal church is unique; there is only one church in the universe. This one church is the bride of Christ. A husband should have only one wife; hence, the fact that the church is the bride of Christ speaks forth her uniqueness. The church is universal. Furthermore, the church is the Body of Christ, and there is only one Body of Christ. Hence, the church as the Body of Christ refers to the unchanging universal church. With the universal church there is no distinction of time and space. The word universal includes all times and all places, encompassing both time and space. In the Chinese language universe means the totality of time and space. All the churches at all times and in all places form the universal church, which is the unique and universal Body of Christ, the bride of Christ.
On the other hand, by reading Acts and the Epistles we can see that the church is referred to in the plural. Both Acts 15:41 and Galatians 1:2 speak of churches. This shows that there were many churches and that these churches were local. There is a church in Manila, a church in Hong Kong, a church in Taipei, and a church in London. There is a church in each of these places. All these churches in different localities are referred to as local churches. The totality of all the local churches is the universal church.
The universal church is like the moon. There is only one moon. Whether it is seen in New York or in Manila, it is the same moon. Likewise, there is only one church in the universe, the universal church, which is the bride of Christ, the Body of Christ. Nevertheless, she was expressed in Jerusalem over nineteen hundred years ago and in many places throughout Europe over fifteen hundred years ago. Today she is expressed in many places in the Far East. In the universal church there are numerous local churches, because there is a local church in every locality in which there are believers. All these local churches combined together are the universal church. The church in Hong Kong, the church in Manila, and the church in Taipei along with all of the other local churches are the universal church.