There is another important item from the Word that we have to realize. The churches are surely local in their administration, but they are not absolutely independent. In our history in the Lord's recovery, we were warned by the Brethren practice of autonomy. All the states of the United States have their own administrations and governments, but they are not strictly independent. The states are separate to an extent, but this does not mean they are absolutely independent. If the states were absolutely independent, the United States would not be one country. It would become fifty countries. The local churches are not absolutely independent. When the apostles kept their hands off of the affairs of the churches, this did not mean that each local church became one independent entity. It also did not mean that since the churches were under the teaching of the apostles, they became a federation.
In 1 Corinthians 4:17 Paul says, "Because of this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every church." In all the churches the apostle Paul taught the same thing. His teaching was the same universally, not varying in any place. Concerning this matter, we need to look at the seven epistles to the seven local churches in Revelation 2 and 3. The word of the Lord to one church is the word spoken by the Spirit to all the churches (Rev. 2:1, 7). At the beginning of each epistle, it is the Lord speaking to a specific church (2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14), but at the end of all the epistles, the Word says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). What was said by the Lord to the church in Ephesus was the word that all the churches should hear. Every epistle was a particular word to a certain church, yet this particular word was to be heard and taken by all the churches.
On the one hand, the elders of the churches have the right and the position to carry out the local administration of the churches independently. On the other hand, all the churches should listen to the word that the apostles have received of God, which is the teaching of the New Testament. On the one hand, the churches are local separately. On the other hand, all the local churches are still the one Body of Christ which is an organism, not a federation which is an organization. We need to meet as local churches separately according to what the New Testament says, but all the local churches are still the one Body of Christ.
By the way, I would add a little word. In our fellowship many of us are used to saying, "Brother Lee says..." I beg you, from now on, not to say, "Brother Lee says..." Instead we should say, "First Timothy says..."; or, "First Corinthians says..." From the very beginning of the Lord's recovery in the United States, I have passed on the Lord's Word to you. You may have received the Lord's Word through my speaking, through my teaching, but what I spoke was His Word. We all need to come back to the pure Word of God and discern accurately what His pure Word says.