Let us first speak concerning the universal church. The universal church is the sum total of all the local churches. If we add up all the local churches of the past and the present, local and abroad, this would equal the universal church. If we subtract all the local churches one after the other, there would be no universal church. What is the universal church? Actually, it is the local church, except that it is not only one local church; it is all the local churches. When we add up all the local churches, the total is the universal church. This universal church is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23).
In the New Testament age God wants to establish the church in every place to express His eternal intention. God’s desire is that every local church would represent the Body of Christ to testify on behalf of Christ in their respective localities. Therefore, every local church is the expression of the universal church in that locality. Therefore, the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), the church in Antioch (13:1), the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2), and the church in any other locality are part of the universal church. The church in a locality is a small expression of the universal church in a particular locality. It not only represents the universal church, but it is also part of the universal church. It is the universal church being expressed in a locality at a particular time. It is a part of the universal church which appears in time in a locality. Every local church is part of the expression of the universal church at a particular time in a given locality.
The nature and principle of the universal church are the nature and principle of the local church. Just as the nature of the entire universal church is of God, the nature of the local church in every locality is also of God. Therefore, the universal church is called “the church of God” (1 Cor. 10:32), and the local church is also called “the church of God” (1:2).
Just as the church is uniquely one in the universe, it is also uniquely one in each locality. The principle of the church is oneness. In the universe the church is one, and in each locality the church is also one. If there are two or more churches in Taipei, there is a problem, just as there would be a problem if there were two or more city administrations in Taipei. In one locality there can be only one church, not two or more churches. Look at the seven localities spoken of in Revelation 1:11. There were exactly seven churches. There was one locality and one church; there was not one locality with two churches. This is because in the universe the principle of the church is one, not two, and in a locality the principle of the church is also one, not two.
The local church is a miniature of the universal church. The situation of the universal church is the situation of the local church because the local church is a miniature of the universal church. The universal church expresses Christ, and the local church also expresses Christ, except on a smaller scale. Every local church is a representative of the universal church, representing the universal church in its locality by living out the proper life of the Body of Christ and thus expressing Christ.
The universal church is the Body of Christ for the expression of Christ and the dwelling place of God for the expression of God (Eph. 1:22-23; 2:20-22). Just as the universal church has these two aspects, the local church also has these two aspects: it is the Body to Christ and the dwelling place of God (Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Tim. 3:15). Both a body and a dwelling place are where man resides and where man expresses himself. First, a body is where a person lives. In 2 Corinthians 5:6 Paul says that “we are at home in the body.” When a loved one passes away, we say that he is gone, that he has left us. His body is still here, but his person has left. This is the reason we say that the body is where a person lives. Second, a house, a home, is also where a person lives. A body and a house are not only places where a man lives but also where a man expresses himself. When we look at a person’s body, we know the person. We almost always know a person by his face and his appearance. Moreover, to know a person, we only need to look at his home, the house in which he lives. If his home is very clean, we know that he is a clean person. If his home is messy, we know that he is a messy person. When his home is beautifully decorated, we know that he is a person who appreciates beauty. And if his home is ugly, we know that he has no sense of beauty. A person’s home is a depiction of the person himself. A house where a Japanese family lives will have certain Japanese features and a distinct Japanese flavor. If the same house is occupied by some Europeans, it will have certain European features and a distinct European flavor after a few months. If some Chinese move into the same house, when one comes to the door after half a year, he will immediately sense Chinese features and a Chinese flavor. A person’s home, a person’s dwelling, is a place where he manifests himself. It is the same with the church as the Body of Christ and the dwelling place of God in the universe and also in every locality. Every local church is the Body of Christ for expressing Christ, and it is also the dwelling place of God for expressing God. First Corinthians 14:25 says that when the church meets together and someone comes into their midst, he will worship, declaring, “Indeed God is among you.” This is the proper situation of the church. Both the universal church and the local church should be like this. If a local church has lost its function as the Body with respect to Christ and lost its usefulness as the dwelling place with respect to God, it surely has problems and difficulties.