As we have pointed out elsewhere, the local churches are the destination of God’s revelation and manifestation. Beginning with Genesis 1, God is progressively revealed. Eventually, in the local churches God’s progressive revelation reaches its destination. Thus, without the local church there is no destination for God’s revelation.
The local churches are also the destination of God’s manifestation. In Genesis 1 God was manifested in the man who was made in His image. In the Gospels, God was manifested in Jesus Christ. After the Gospels, in the Acts and the Epistles, God was manifested in the church.
Consummately, in the book of Revelation, God is manifested firstly in the local churches and ultimately in the New Jerusalem. Hence, if you reject the local church, you lose both the practicality of the church and the destination of God’s revelation and manifestation.
Because many Christians have missed this destination, they have become very poor. But praise the Lord that we are enjoying the practicality of the church life and the destination of God’s progressive revelation and manifestation. To us, the Bible is transparent. We were not this clear before we came into the church. This is not man’s wisdom; it comes from the flow. Oh, the flow is a great matter! Because we are in the flow, we have the practicality of the church life.
The church is the church. If we are not the church, then what are we? We do not call ourselves “the local church.” The words “local church” are not a title, and we should never consider them to be a title. To consider the words “local church” to be our title makes us a local church denomination. The words “local church” denote the nature of the church. They are a description of the church. The church today is local because the practicality of the church is local. To say that we are the church in Anaheim is like speaking of the moon in Anaheim. When we are in Hong Kong, we may speak of the moon in Hong Kong, and when we are in London, we may speak of the moon in London. This is both logical and practical. We are not the church in the air; we are the local church. The church manifested in Anaheim is the church at Anaheim, and the church manifested in Oklahoma City is the church in that city. This is not a title of the church. Just as the moon is simply the moon, so the church is simply the church. To say that we are the church is not to give ourselves a title; it is simply to state a fact.
The denominations and free groups are divisions. They call themselves by various denominational names. In the past, some Christian leaders came to me with a good intention, saying, “How can you say that you are the church and that we are not the church? Are we not saved?” I replied, “You are definitely saved, but why do you call yourselves Presbyterians? If you are the church, why do you denominate yourselves in this way? In coming to speak to me about this, you certainly want me to admit that you are the church. I admit that you are a part of the church, but you call yourselves Presbyterians. Since you do this, how can I call you the church? If you are Mr. Smith, but wear a name tag saying that you are Mr. Jones, am I not correct in calling you Mr. Jones? You may say, ‘No, I am Mr. Smith. Don’t pay attention to this label.’ But if you want me to forget it, you need to take the label off. Why won’t you drop this label?” Then they said, “Brother, this is not a simple matter. We are missionaries from another country, and we have our mission board. It is not easy to abandon that.” To this I said, “Then you are what you are. You are Presbyterians.” Why do the saints in the denominations need to designate themselves in divisive ways? If they would give up their denominational names, we would immediately be one with them. But as long as they bear denominational titles, such as Presbyterian or Baptist, it is difficult for us to be one with them in a practical way.