The local church is the universal church in practicality because the local church is the reality of the universal church. If there were no local church, we would not know where to find the universal church.
In Matthew 16:18 the Lord said, “Upon this rock I will build My church.” The Lord’s word here refers to the building of the universal church. The Lord wants to build the church in the universe upon Himself as the rock, but His building is done through the local church. If the Lord did not build the local church, He would have no place to start His building of the universal church. We must consider this: if there is no building of the local church, how can there be the building of the universal church? If we put aside the local church, there would be no universal church. Therefore, the local church is the reality and the practicality of the universal church. Even the Lord’s building of the universal church is gained through His building of the local church.
After the Lord said that He would build the universal church in Matthew 16, He said that if a problem between believers could not be resolved, then they should tell it to the church (18:17). The church spoken of by the Lord here surely refers to the local church. Otherwise, where would the believers go? We need to believe that since there is a church to which we can go and tell our problems, then it must be the church in a locality.
What the Lord spoke of in Matthew 18 is obviously a matter of the administration in the church. If we have a problem that we cannot solve, we may tell it to one or two others; if the two or three of us still cannot solve it, then we should tell it to the church. This clearly shows that this is a matter of local administration. Therefore, matters related to administration and government or matters related to edification or leading must all be done locally. Otherwise, there would be no way for these matters to be carried out. Therefore, there must be a local church so that it is possible for the universal church to carry out its administration.
What the Lord said in Matthew 18 also shows the kind of gathering that can be considered as a local church. If there are only two or three believers in a locality, they are qualified to be a local church as long as they are meeting in the Lord’s name. However, if there are more believers in that place, it is not right for only two or three people, who are meeting in the Lord’s name, to say that they are the church. Even though the Lord said that two or three may be gathered into His name (v. 20), this does not mean that such a gathering is the church. The Lord indicated that these two or three, who are meeting in His name, are not the church, because when they have a problem they still must tell it to the church (vv. 16-17). If two or three meeting on such-and-such street can be considered a church, whenever there are two or three meeting on a street or in an alley, they also can become a church. If this were the case, imagine the extent of the confusion of the church. Furthermore, this would easily give the flesh a place to hide. As soon as one is unhappy with some other brothers or has an argument with the brothers, he could separate himself at will from the brothers and set up his own “church.” This would require no breaking of the cross. In the church no one can separate himself from other brothers and sisters simply because of differences in opinion, desire, and views. This absolutely should not happen. If every brother or sister was willing to accept the Lord’s dealings and not be divided from others, the situation of the church surely would not be like the confused situation today. In any given locality there would be only one church, only one fellowship, instead of many sects and denominations. We need to see that the manifestation of the church takes the locality as its sphere, as its ground. In a locality there can be only one church. When we are freed from the division of the sects, we need to recover the oneness of the church in a locality. It is not enough that we are freed from the division of the sects; we still need to stand on the ground of the local church, representing the universal church and manifesting the proper living of the Body of Christ.
The universal church is abstract; the local church is real and tangible. If there were no local church but only the universal church, not only would the workers for the Lord be unable to touch the church, but the believers also would not be able to touch it.
Anyone who works for the Lord should be working for the local churches. Today many people think that working for the Lord means to build the universal church, but how is it possible for them to build the universal church? How can the universal church be built without touching the local church? Look at the apostles in the early church: they all worked in local churches, and their work was all for the local church. The Epistles they wrote were written to local churches. Even Ephesians, the Epistle which speaks of the universal church, was written to the local church in Ephesus. The local church is the object of the work of those who work for the Lord. If there were no local churches, the Lord’s workers would not know where to start their work.
The believers’ corporate life and service in coordination are also realized in the local churches. We know that the believers cannot be alone. The Christian life is not like the life of the butterfly; it is like the life of the bee. Butterflies are individualistic, but bees are always in companies. The Christian life is a corporate life, the life of the Body. Christians cannot be alone, because they all have the same life. As saved ones, we all have the same one life, and this life requires us to be together, to be a corporate body, and to not be individualistic. Every saved one, without being taught, seeks out the brothers and loves to come to the meetings; this is a sure fact unless he has became cold, backslidden, or fallen. The life within a Christian is a life of the Body. Therefore, the living of a Christian is a corporate living. Christian service is also a service in coordination. But here a question arises. Where can we have this corporate living and this coordinated service? Is it in the universal church? It is not possible to touch them there. We must be in the local church! If we are in Tainan, we can experience them in the church in Tainan. If we are in Taipei, we can experience them in the church in Taipei. This is very clear.
We can touch the universal church only by touching the local church. If we do not live in the local church, we would not be able to live in the universal church. If we do not serve in coordination in the local church, we cannot serve in coordination in the universal church. If we stay away from the local church, we stay away from the universal church. Some people frequently speak of the universal church, but I would like to ask them, “Where is the universal church? Have you ever touched it? Do you have a way to touch it?” If we want to touch the universal church, we have no other way but to touch the local church. Once we stay away from the local church, we immediately stay away from the universal church.