Matthew 18:17 reveals that the believers should obey the church. If a brother sins and offends us, we need to deal with him first by ourselves in love (v. 15), then by two or three witnesses (v. 16), and finally through the church with authority (v. 17). Verse 17 says, “If he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you just like the Gentile and the tax collector.” If any believer refuses to hear the church, he will lose the fellowship of the church and will be like the Gentile (the heathen) and the tax collector (the sinner), who are outside the fellowship of the church. A Gentile or a tax collector is someone who does not have fellowship in the kingdom life or in the church life. To consider a believer as a Gentile or a tax collector does not mean to excommunicate him. It means that he is considered as one cut off from the fellowship of the church. An offending brother who does not listen to the church may not necessarily require excommunication. Nevertheless, the church must cut off fellowship with him in order that the loss of fellowship may encourage him to repent and to recover his fellowship with the church.
The church that the believers should obey is surely the local church, not the universal church. The church revealed in Matthew 16:18 is the universal church, which is the unique Body of Christ, whereas the church revealed in Matthew 18:17 is the local church, the expression of the unique Body of Christ in a certain locality. Chapter 16 relates to the universal building of the church, and chapter 18 relates to the local practice of the church. Both indicate that the church represents the kingdom of the heavens, having authority to bind and to loose.
In order to be in the kingdom of the heavens in a practical way, we need to be in a local church. According to the context of 18:17, both the reality and practicality of the kingdom are in the local church. In a chapter dealing with relationships in the kingdom, the Lord Jesus eventually spoke of the church. This indicates that today the practicality of the kingdom is in the local church. Without the local church, it is impossible to have the practicality and reality of the kingdom life. The local church is the reality both of the kingdom and of the universal church. Hence, it is crucial that the believers obey the church. The more we realize how independent our natural self is, the more we are willing to be subject to the church and obey the church. Because of our independent self, we all must learn to obey the church. The church has the authority; hence, we must listen to the church and submit to the church. If we do not submit to the church, we are finished with the kingdom, for the kingdom life is a life of submission to the church.
The context of Matthew 18 indicates that the reality of the church is the Lord’s presence (v. 20). The Lord’s presence is the authority of the church. The church must be certain that it has the presence of the Lord as its reality; otherwise, it has no genuine authority. The real and practical authority of the church is the Lord’s presence. If a person does not listen to the church, he rebels against the Lord’s presence. In the Lord’s presence the church has the ground to exercise authority over any case of rebellion.
If we would live in the church, we need to meet with the church. In 1 Corinthians 14:23 Paul speaks of when “the whole church comes together in one place.” This refers to the meetings of the church. In verse 26 Paul again speaks of the believers coming together in the church meetings. Any believer who does not meet with the church is spontaneously separated from the church life.
First Corinthians 14 reveals that the meeting of the whole church is the church. After speaking in verse 23 of the whole church coming together in one place, Paul mentions in verse 28 the case of one who “should be silent in the church”; this indicates clearly that a meeting of the church is the church. When the whole church comes together in one place, that is both a meeting and the church, because the meeting is the church. Such a meeting is not only a part of the church; such a meeting is the church.
The proper way for the believers to meet together is either as the church or as part of the church. When the whole church meets together, it meets as the church. When we meet in small groups in our homes, we meet as parts of the one church in our locality. All the meetings of the believers in a city should constitute the unique local church in that city. This is the proper way of meeting. If we would corporately experience the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity by living in the church, we need to meet with the church either as the church or as part of the church.
The church is both the house of God and our family and house. God is our Father, and the believers in Christ are His children. As children of God, we are members of His household, and we are also His family, His dwelling place. In speaking of the church as the house of God, Paul specifically refers to God as the living God. The God who not only lives but also acts, moves, and works in His living temple, the church, is living. The house of God is a living constitution of the many children of God who possess the Father’s life and reality. Where the house of God is, there is the family of God, and there is also God the Father with His life and reality.
Moreover, the church of the living God is the pillar and base of the truth. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of the truth, testifying of the divine realities. Thus, the church is the continuation of Christ as the manifestation of God in the flesh. This is the great mystery of godliness—Christ lived out of the church as the manifestation of God in the flesh. If we have the proper church life through the reality of the kingdom, God’s manifestation that began in Christ will be continued in the church.
Furthermore, in practicality, the believers are in the church in the locality where they live. The church has two aspects: the universal and the local aspects. The universal aspect refers to the constitution, nature, and content of the church; the local aspect refers to the expression and practicality of the church. Without the local churches, the universal church has no practicality and actuality. The universal church is realized in local churches. It is in local churches that we experience and enjoy the dispensing of the Divine Trinity. Therefore, we need to obey the church. The reality of the church is the Lord’s presence, and the Lord’s presence is the authority of the church. Since the church has the authority of the Lord, we should listen and submit to the church.
If we would live in the church, we also need to meet with the church. When the whole church comes together, this gathering is both a meeting and the church. The proper way for the believers to meet is to meet together as the church. If we would corporately experience the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity by being in the church, we need to meet with the church.