III. ONE CITY, ONE CHURCH

Further developing the matter of the ground of the local church, Witness Lee here illustrates the principle of one church for one city through the similar principle of one wife for one husband. Just as it is fornication for a husband to have more than one wife, Witness Lee states that it is spiritual fornication for a city to have more than one church. Here, we see the importance and need for a local church in a city.

This is similar to God’s governing principle in marriage, the principle of one wife for one husband. If a husband has more than one wife, that is fornication, confusion. Just as every husband should have one wife, so every city should have just one church. If a city has more than one church, that is spiritual fornication and confusion. As the Body of Christ, the church is uniquely one in the whole universe. When this church is expressed in any particular city, it must be uniquely one in that city. If it is not uniquely one in each locality, there will be division and spiritual fornication. If a man has several other women in addition to his wife, those women are concubines. Only the proper one is his wife. The others are women related to that man, but they are not wives; they are only concubines. Likewise, every city, as a “husband,” must have one church. Concerning this truth, there is not a shadow of doubt in the Bible. The clear truth in the Bible is one city, one church.

In this excerpt, Witness Lee expounds further on the local churches as presented and develped in the New Testament. He begins with the local church in Matthew 18 and concludes with the local churches in Revelation. The New Testament clearly and consistently reveals one church for one city.

Once again I say that, after mentioning the universal church in Matthew 16:18, the Lord in Matthew 18:17 turned to the matter of the local church, the church to which we can go to have our problems solved. Following this, in Acts, the church is mentioned in relation to a locality, for example, the church at Jerusalem and the church at Antioch. In Romans 16:1 we read of the church at Cenchrea and in 1 Corinthians 1:2 of the church in Corinth. Acts 14:23 says that the apostles ordained elders in every church, and Titus 1:5 says that elders were ordained in every city. Because the church equals the city, the elders of the church are the elders of the city. In any one city there should be just one eldership. As we have already pointed out, in the last book of the Bible the churches are mentioned in relation to localities. What John saw he wrote in a book and sent it to seven churches in seven cities. Sending the book to the seven churches was equal to sending it to the seven cities where the churches were (Rev. 1:11). This is the clear revelation of the Bible. The church in the universe is one, but this church must be expressed practically on earth in the localities where the saints are. In every locality there should be just one church, just as every husband should have just one wife. (104-105)

In the following excerpt, Witness Lee continues to examine the principle of one church in a city with a practical illustration. He touches the matters of division and of boasting in spiritual fornication. Witness Lee underscores the matter of God's governing regulation of one church for one city.

One “husband” may have many “wives.” When I first visited the city of Las Vegas, I saw a sign near the city limits giving the population, approximately ninety thousand, and also boasting that in Las Vegas there were more than ninety so-called churches. In other words, there was a “church” for every thousand people. It seems that the gambling city of Las Vegas wanted to have the reputation of being a city filled with “churches.” But they were actually boasting of their spiritual fornication and of their confusion. If you were a Christian in Las Vegas, to which of these ninety “churches” would you go? If you did not attend any of them, would you establish another one, the ninety-first? This is division, and division means confusion. In the eyes of God, confusion is fornication. Fornication means that the saints are not related to one another according to God’s governing regulation. Whenever a man is related to a woman apart from the restriction of God’s governing principle, that is fornication. This fornication produces confusion, and confusion means division. Today, the entire situation of Christianity is a matter of division. Who can deny this? (105)