The church is the Body of Christ, and among all the churches that compose the one universal Body of Christ, there’s no organisation but there is the fellowship of the Body of Christ, which is universal and not merely local.
The administration of the church may be local, but the fellowship is universal. Amen! In our practice of the church life, we need to have the consciousness of the Body; even in our living of the local church life, we need to have a realization that we are not merely meeting with believers locally but we’re part of the Body of Christ.
The truth in the Bible is twofold: on one hand, the church is universal and on the other hand, it is local; we need not only to balance these two aspects but even more, we need to have the emphasis that the Bible has.
The Bible doesn’t emphasize the local aspect of the church as much as it does the universal aspect; therefore, we do meet as local churches, but our emphasis is on the universal church.
The church is first mentioned in Matt. 16:18, where the Lord spoke of the universal church which He builds.
Similarly, after spending three years in Ephesus, Paul called the elders together and reminded them to shepherd the church of God among whom God placed them as overseers, remembering how, night and day, he taught them publicly and from house to house.
It is not possible for the apostles to merely raise up a local church and then “take off their hands” and let them go; rather, the apostles – as a gift given by God universally to His Body – can also function in the local church to shepherd and perfect the saints. In the book of Ephesians, Paul’s “dissertation” on the church, he emphasizes not the local aspect of the church but the universal aspect.
Praise the Lord for the church of God! We need to see that the church is in the Triune God, the local churches are the expressions of the Body of Christ, and the believers practice the church life in the consciousness of the Body.
The church is a product of the resurrection of Christ and is something constituted of Christ as its unique element; furthermore, the church is of God and in God, of Christ and in Christ, and it is of the believers.
On one hand, the church is in the Triune God, and on the other hand, the church is composed of the believers in Christ.
On one hand, the church is one universally, on the other hand, the church is expressed in many localities as local churches, one church in each locality.
And even though there are many local churches, we practice the church life with the consciousness of the Body of Christ.
This is what the Bible teaches us and shows us in many examples and illustrations, and we thank and praise the Lord that we can be in the fellowship of the Body of Christ which is one universally!
There is no Organization among all the Churches composing the Universal Body of Christ, but there is the Fellowship of the Body of Christ
If we have seen that Christ has only one Body, and this Body is expressed locally in many local churches, we need to further see that there’s no organization among the churches but rather, there’s the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
The Body of Christ is composed of all the believers in Christ, all the local churches on the earth; this universal Body is not organizational but organic.
There is no organization among the local churches that compose the universal Body of Christ, but there is the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
It is similar to the situation in our human body – there is no organization in our body, but there is an organic order, and there’s a circulation of blood that reaches every part of our body to bring it into the “fellowship”.
We need to realize that, in the church as the Body of Christ, we should not have organization but rather, we need to learn to fellowship, learn to enter into the universal “circulation of blood” in the Body of Christ so that we may be kept in oneness and in one accord.
We need to learn to fellowship with the Lord day by day and also fellowship with the saints in our locality; we need to fellowship in our local church, among the local churches in our region and in our country, and among all the local churches on the earth.
None of us wants to have organization, for man-made organization is mere wood, grass, and stubble, which amount to nothing in the eyes of God; we want to be in the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
It is such a dreadful thing to be cut off from the fellowship of the Body!
Fellowship is vital: without fellowship, we die, for fellowship is like the circulation of blood in our body, absolutely necessary for our going on with the Lord and in the church life.
All the churches on the earth are one Body, and within this one Body, there is the circulation of the divine life, which is the fellowship of the Body of Christ (1 John 1:3).
Just as a proper circulation of blood keeps our body healthy, so our being in the fellowship of the Body of Christ keeps us healthy; just as a lack of proper circulation in our human body allows a lot of health issues to come in, so our lack of fellowship and blending make us sick spiritually.
Fellowship is related to oneness; the circulation of the divine life brings all the members of the Body into oneness (Eph. 4:3-4; Rom. 16:1-23).
When we are in the fellowship of the Body of Christ, we are kept in oneness; when there’s a proper fellowship between us and the Lord and between the local churches, we are kept in oneness in the church life.
We shouldn’t have the attitude that we fellowship only with the saints in our local church or those in our region or country; such an attitude is wrong.
All the churches are and should remain in the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
May the Lord have a way among us; may we not isolate ourselves as believers or as local churches but rather, may we open to the Lord in spirit and in the fellowship of the Body of Christ to be blended together and fellowship in spirit, so that the Lord may have a way to go on in us.
It is a vital factor in the recovery of the church life for us to remain in the fellowship of the Body of Christ, both as individual believers and as local churches.
Lord Jesus, keep us in the fellowship of the Body of Christ, the flow of the divine life in and among the members of the Body. Amen, Lord, we reject anything of human organization and we want to remain in the fellowship of the Body. We treasure the fellowship in the Body, for we realize that all the churches on earth are one Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, keep us and keep all the saints and all the local churches in the circulation of the divine life in the Body of Christ. We want to be kept in the oneness of the Body by remaining in the fellowship of the Body of Christ. Save us from isolating ourselves from the other saints. May no local church be isolated from the fellowship, the circulation of life in the Body. Amen, Lord, we treasure the sweet flow of life in our spirit and we want to remain in the fellowship of the Body of Christ!
The Administration of the Church is Local, but the Fellowship of the Church is Universal!
Some saints in the local churches may say that the matter of the administration of the local church, such as the local church affairs and business matters, should be all local, and we don’t need to fellowship with other churches about such matters.
However, even though we may have the local administration of the church, we need to realize that the fellowship of the church is universal.
It is OK to have a local administration of the church, and there’s nothing wrong with taking care of the church affairs locally; however, all the local churches have one fellowship, which is the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
There’s no such thing as “the fellowship in England” which is different from “the fellowship in China” or “the fellowship in Japan”; there’s no such thing as “the fellowship in Germany” which is different from “the fellowship in Russia” or “the fellowship in Israel”.
There is only one fellowship, which is universal – it is the fellowship of the church, the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
Although the earth is separated by nations and the nations are separated by many cities, there is only one fellowship in the entire universe.
And this fellowship is called “the fellowship of the apostles” in Acts 2:42; in this fellowship, we need to remain and continue steadfastly.
Both the teaching and the fellowship in the church should be universal; there’s no “local teaching” or “local fellowship” – there’s only one teaching and one fellowship, the teaching and fellowship of the apostles.
This is God’s sovereignty, and this keeps the Body in oneness.
Although the administration of the church is local (Acts 14:23), the fellowship of the church is universal (2:42); there are churches in many cities, but praise the Lord, there is one fellowship in the entire universe!
We need to accept only one teaching: the teaching of the apostles, and remain in only one fellowship: the fellowship of the apostles, which is the fellowship of the Body of Christ.
And the fellowship of the apostles is not some sort of man’s teaching or doctrines; rather, what the apostles saw in their fellowship with God, they reported to us, so that we may also have fellowship with them, and our fellowship is with the Triune God.
There is a vertical and horizontal fellowship going on, an interwoven fellowship of God and man, and this fellowship is unique on the whole earth.
A visible expression of such a fellowship is at the Lord’s table; when we eat the bread, we participate in the fellowship of the body of Christ, and when we drink the cup, we participate in the fellowship of His blood (1 Cor. 10:16).
By partaking of the one bread, we the many believers in Christ become the one mystical Body of Christ (v. 17).
This universal fellowship is therefore the fellowship of the Body of Christ; it is the apostles’ fellowship which was passed on to us, and this fellowship is with the Triune God.
Praise the Lord, we can enjoy this divine-human fellowship today in the church life in the Body of Christ!
Though in administration the local churches are separated locally, yet in fellowship, they are united to be one universally!
Lord Jesus, enlighten us to see that, although the administration of the church is separate and equal locally, yet the fellowship of the church is one universally! Praise the Lord, there is no such thing as local fellowship or local teaching, for we have only one teaching and fellowship: the apostles’ teaching and fellowship! Amen, Lord, keep us in fellowship with You and with the saints; keep us in the interwoven divine-human fellowship, the unique fellowship of the church! May there be a true enjoyment of the fellowship of the Body of Christ in all the local churches, and may there be a genuine expression of such a fellowship at our partaking of the Lord’s table! Amen, Lord Jesus!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 4, “Vital Factors for the Recovery of the Church Life,” pp. 493-496, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Vital Factors for the Lord’s Recovery of the Church Life (2021 ITERO), week 3, The Factor of the Church Being in the Triune God, the Local Churches Being Expressions of the Body of Christ, and the Believers Practicing the Church Life in the Consciousness of the Body.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Jesus is the living Spirit / Who among us flows; / Fellowship of life in spirit /Unity bestows. / Jesus is the living Spirit, / He is our rich feast; / As the Body now enjoys Him, / Praises are released. (Hymns #1142)
– Oh, how we need the churches, / All of them, great or small! / We need their many portions / To profit us withal. / Yes, Lord, enlarge the churches; / We love their needs to bear. / Enlarge our hearts, Lord Jesus, / In fellowship and prayer. (Hymns #1265)
– As of this bread we all commune, / Thou, Lord, dost satisfy; / With all the saints we fellowship, / And Thee we testify. (Hymns #222)
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