| The church as the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-13) is universally one (Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4-6). Christ as the unique Head has one unique Body which is constituted with all His genuine believers. The universal church as the Body of Christ is expressed through the local churches. The local churches, as the expressions of the one Body of Christ (Rev. 1:12, 20), are locally one (Acts 8:1; 13:1; Rom. 16:1; 1 Cor. 1:2). In 1:11 the voice said to John, “What you see write in a book and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” This verse is composed in a very important way. In this verse we see that the sending of this book “to the seven churches” equals the sending of it to the seven cities. This shows clearly that the practice of the church life in the early days was that of one church for one city, one city with one church. In no city was there more than one church. This is the local church, local city-wise, not street-wise or area-wise. The jurisdiction of a local church should cover the whole city in which the church is; it should not be greater or lesser than the boundary of the city. All the believers within that boundary should constitute the one unique local church within that city. Hence, one church equals one city, and one city equals one church. This is what we call the local churches. Before we came into the local churches, we were wanderers. We never had the sense that we had come home or that we had reached our destination. But the day we came into the local churches, we realized that we had come home. After wandering for years, we knew that we had finally reached our destination. When we first came into the local church life, something deep within said, “This is the place,” and we knew that we were home. Because we have arrived at our destination, we do not need to travel anymore. So many seeking Christians today are travelers; they travel from one denomination or group to another. But the day we came into the church life, our wanderings ceased. (Life-Study of Revelation, pp, 78-79, 83) |
