Since so many free groups have picked up the name of the local church, we must discern what a proper local church is. A proper local church is one that is open to all the real saints in the city where they are, as well as open to all the other local churches in this country and throughout the world. This is because all the churches are one Body. So many of these who have picked up the name of the local church argue that every local church is independent, saying that there is no need to be related to all the other local churches. But in Revelation, although there were seven epistles written to seven local churches, the whole book as one letter was written to all the churches. Surely this means that all the local churches should be related to one another, not in organization or administration, but in the testimony of Jesus. Then at the end of each of the seven epistles, the Lord says, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” This shows that each separate epistle written to a particular local church is also the speaking of the Spirit to all the churches.
Galatians is a book that was not written to an individual local church, but to all the local churches in Galatia. Galatia was not a city, but a province of the Roman Empire. Therefore, in Galatia there were many churches, and Paul wrote one letter to many churches. This shows that the churches there were related as one. Otherwise, how could they be one Body? In 1 Corinthians 1:2 Paul says that the letter was written to the church in Corinth with all that in every place call upon the name of the Lord. This one letter, which was written to one particular local church, was also good for all that in every place called upon the name of the Lord.
Since all the local churches are one Body, we cannot be divided in any way. Even localities cannot divide us. We may meet in Los Angeles, but we are one with the saints in Atlanta. Although we are separated by distance, we are still one. And we are one with the churches in the Far East, Germany, England, Africa, and in so many other countries. Praise the Lord that we are one Body!
Some have said that the seven churches in Revelation were all different from one another. In the early days, I was influenced by this kind of teaching. But gradually my eyes were opened to see that this is not accurate or sound. The seven local churches in Revelation were different from one another only in a negative sense. On the negative side, they were different; but on the positive side, all seven were the same. They were all golden lampstands. In nature, in appearance, in shape and in function they were all the same, losing their individual identity. They were different in their corruption and in their degradation, but in the positive things, they were all the same. This is also seen in the New Jerusalem. The wall of the city has four sides, yet every side is built with the same material, jasper, and looks the same (Rev. 21:18, 11).
When the Lord raised up His recovery in China, He began in 1922 with Brother Watchman Nee in South China. From that time on, a number of gifted Chinese Christians were raised up. Nearly all of them passed through the Lord’s recovery. They came and they left. In 1932 I came in contact with Brother Nee. The next year I went to visit him and stayed with him for three months. After that, he asked me to move down from North China to work with him and the other brothers. When I went to the Lord about this matter, I saw that in the book of Acts there was only one flow with the Lord’s work. It started in Jerusalem, went up to Antioch, and turned to Ephesus and other places. On the way, here and there, new ones were raised up to join that one flow. It was not that one flow started with Peter, another with Paul, and another with Apollos. No, there was only one flow, and they all got into that flow. When I saw that, I told Brother Nee that I would come and join them, and I did. I saw that this was the Lord’s unique flow. I could only join it; I could not start another one.
The Lord has led me to bring the torch of His recovery to this country. My burden is to pass the torch on to you brothers here, and I do believe that the torch has been passed. There are now thousands of saints in this country who would go on with the Lord’s flow. This is not my work. This is the Lord’s recovery, and this is His flow. I have mentioned all of these things so that we may be clear about the real situation, and so that we can have the proper discernment. Not every group that says it is the local church is the local church. It is not what we say we are; it is what we are. If we do mean business with the Lord to be a proper local church, we have to be a proper local church, receiving all the saints and being open in fellowship with all the local churches throughout the world. Then there will be no problem in having the real unity in the one Body of Christ.