One other factor is a test of a genuine local church. There may be a Christian group that has no particular name, no particular fellowship, and no particular teaching. Their fellowship is universal, not isolated, and they do not have a separate administration. Although they pass all these tests, do not be quick to say that they are a true local church. It is still possible that this group has a hidden connection with another organization. They are like a kite in the air: someone on the ground is holding the string. How high the kite flies does not depend upon the kite; it depends upon the one holding the string. In the past we were cheated by people like this, and we suffered as a result. One group said, “We are exactly the same as you. We have no particular name, particular teaching, or particular fellowship. Our fellowship is universal, and we do not insist upon having a separate administration.” When we heard this, we thought it was wonderful. However, we eventually learned that this group was connected to an organization in England. The kite was flying in China, but the one who held the string was in England.
The church is a pure golden lampstand, but any group that has a hidden connection with another organization is not pure. Rather, it is cloudy, opaque. The church, on the contrary, must be transparent and crystal clear. The New Jerusalem is a transparent city. Even the gold in the New Jerusalem is clear as glass (Rev. 21:18). In this city there is nothing opaque.
Whenever you meet a Christian group, you must check whether it has a particular name, a particular fellowship, a particular teaching, a fellowship that is not universal, a separate administration, or a hidden connection with another organization. If any group can pass all six tests, then the group must be all right. But if you apply these tests to today’s Christian groups, every one of them would be exposed and fall short.
The church at Jerusalem had no particular name, no particular teaching, and no particular fellowship. The flow of the church eventually spread to Antioch. The church in Antioch also had no particular name, fellowship, or teaching. Their fellowship was open to all the churches universally, they had one set of elders, and they had no hidden connections. The church in Ephesus was the same in these matters as the church in Jerusalem and the church in Antioch. Eventually, the flow of the church went to Corinth. We have seen that in 1 Corinthians Paul dealt with the contentions in this church. Paul caught this matter in time, the Corinthians were helped, and the divisions did not actually take place. Let us suppose, however, that four divisions actually occurred. Thus, in addition to those standing as the church in Corinth, there would be the church of Paul, the church of Apollos, the church of Cephas, and the church of Christ. If you were a brother visiting the city of Corinth, to which of these “churches” would you go? Suppose the total number of Christians in Corinth was a thousand, with two hundred fifty in the church of Paul, three hundred fifty in the church of Apollos, one hundred twenty-five in the church of Cephas, one hundred in the church of Christ, and the remainder, seventy-five, in the church in Corinth. Of these five groups, four are divisions and one, composed of the seventy-five standing as the church in Corinth, is the church. Suppose one of the seventy-five in the church at Corinth would say that they are the church and that the others are not the church, and that the pastor of the “Pauline” church would say, “Don’t you think that we believe in the Bible? We believe in the church just as much as you do. Why do you say that you are the church and that we are not the church?” A good answer would be this: “Brother, if you want to be the church, simply drop your title, and you will immediately become the church. If you find it impossible to drop the title, then leave your divisive circle and return to the proper standing. As soon as you do this, you will be in the church.”