II.THE LOCAL EXPRESSION OF THE CHURCH

In chapter eight of the same book, excerpted below, Witness Lee brings us from the first mention of the universal church in Matthew 16:18 to the final mention of the local churches in the book of Revelation. He makes two points clear: the universal church becomes practical in the local churches, and every locality, or city, must have just one church.

Do not be cheated by today’s Christianity. In Christianity there is a great deal of vain talk, especially regarding the church, but little of this talk is practical. According to the revelation of the New Testament, the church, the Body of Christ, is expressed in the local churches. If you do not have the local church, you do not have the church. God is expressed in Christ, Christ is expressed in the church, and the church is expressed in the local churches.

Read the New Testament again. The first mention of the church is in Matthew 16:18, where the Lord said, “I will build my church.” As we have already pointed out, this is the universal church. The last mention of the church is in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 1:11 we read of seven local churches in seven cities: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Here the church is not universal, but local. Instead of giving us teaching regarding the church, the Bible gives us illustrations of seven local churches in seven specific cities. All the names of these cities are given in one verse. By this we see that every local church is equal in jurisdiction to a city. The letter to the church at Ephesus is a letter to the city of Ephesus. Thus, the church in Revelation is not the universal church, but the city church, a local church. God’s intention is to produce the church through Christ and to have it experienced in a practical way and expressed in the local churches. In the New Testament, two points are very clear: that the church is practical in the local churches, and that every local church must equal the city where the church is. In other words, every locality must have just one church. (103)