Since every local church is the expression of the universal church in that locality, the sum total of the local churches throughout time is the universal church. Individually, there are churches in different localities. In totality, all the local churches in time constitute the universal church.
The local churches are miniatures of the universal church. Every local church is a miniature of the universal church. This is similar to calling young chickens chicks, because they are miniature chickens. Likewise, the expression of the church in a locality is a miniature of the universal church. Even though there is a difference in size between the expression in a local church and the expression in the universal church, in nature and in principle the expression is exactly the same. Therefore, when we contact a local church, we contact the universal church.
The practicality and reality of the universal church are absolutely dependent on the local churches. Without the local churches, the universal church is abstract and in the air, an empty theory, something of the imagination, and impossible to practice. For the universal church to be practical and concrete, the local churches are needed. Hence, the local churches are the practicality of the universal church.
In Matthew 16:18 the Lord said, “Upon this rock I will build My church.” The building that the Lord referred to is the building of the universal church. Nevertheless, the carrying out of this building must be through the building of the local churches. In other words, the Lord’s building of the local churches is His building of the universal church. Without building the local churches, it is altogether impossible to build the universal church. Therefore, the building of the universal church is through the local churches. Sadly, some say that it is too narrow and rigid to focus on building the local churches. They do not want to build the local churches because they want to build the church of Christ, the universal church. How can they build the church of Christ without building the local churches? How can they build the universal church apart from the local churches? By building the local church in Jerusalem, were Peter and John not building the church of Christ? By building the various local churches among the Gentiles, was the apostle Paul not building the universal church? To speak of building only the universal church is impractical, empty talk.
The first reference to the church in the New Testament is in Matthew 16:18, where the Lord spoke of building the church. In Matthew 18:15-20 the Lord spoke of the church the second time, speaking concerning the administration of the church. It is obvious that the administration of the church in these verses refers to the administration of the local church. Verses 15 through 17 say, “If your brother sins against you, go, reprove him between you and him alone...But if he does not hear you, take with you one or two more...And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.” It is clear that the church here is the local church. If this were the universal church, where would we go to tell the church? Where is the universal church? God wants us to live in the local church and not wander in the universe. Therefore, if there is no local church, there cannot be any administration of the church. In order to carry out the administration of the church, there must be local churches.
Some advocate rejecting the local churches but keeping the universal church. They say, “Why should there be local churches? Did the Lord not say in Matthew 18:20 that He is in the midst of two or three who are gathered in His name? Does this not indicate that as long as two or three are gathered into the Lord’s name, they are the church?” Although this understanding seems logical, if we examine it, we will find it to be in error. First they say that the local church is not the church because the church is universal. But then they turn around and say that the church can be as small as two or three people because the gathering of two or three people is the church. Let us read Matthew 18 carefully. “If your brother sins against you, go, reprove him...But if he does not hear you, take with you one or two more” (vv. 15-16). These two or three cannot be the church because verse 17 clearly says that if he refuses to hear these two or three, they should “tell it to the church.” If these two or three were the church, why do they still need to tell it to the church? If there is a church in a locality, two or three believers gathered together cannot be considered as the church by themselves; they are merely two or three members of that local church. If they have a problem that they cannot solve by themselves, they need to bring it to the church. Thus, the two or three who are gathered into the Lord’s name in Matthew 18 are not the church. If they were the church, there would be no need of the local church. This would result in “street churches” and “alley churches.” This is an erroneous understanding. Brothers and sisters, God is truly wise in setting the boundary of locality for the expression of the church. This is because the boundary of locality is the only means of keeping the church from confusion. Today all the confusion in the church is the result of people not stressing and keeping the boundary of locality.
The Lord’s charge that we should tell the church of a problem that we have with a brother and then let the church take care of the problem shows that the administration of the church is in the local church and carried out through the local church. This is the first time the Lord spoke of the administration of the church in the Bible. The Lord spoke not only of the building of the church but also of the administration of the church. The administration of the church is for the building of the church, and the administration of the church is in the local churches and carried out by the local churches. If there were no local church, there would be no administration of the church.
In Titus 1:5 the apostle charged Titus to appoint elders in every city. Acts 14:23 says that the apostles appointed elders in every church. Appointing elders in every city or in every church shows that the administration of the church is in the local church. Where would the elders be appointed if there were no local churches but only the universal church? Where would the elders serve as elders? Where would the administration of the church be carried out? Therefore, for the carrying out of the administration of the universal church, there must be the local churches.