THE EXAMPLES OF THE GROUND OF THE CHURCH
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
This is why in the city of Jerusalem there was one church, the church in Jerusalem. Acts 8:1 says, “There occurred in that day a great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem.” There was only one church, the unique church in Jerusalem. Originally, there were one hundred twenty believers in Jerusalem. Then one day three thousand were added, and on another day five thousand were added. We have to believe that many more thousands were eventually added in. There may have been twenty or thirty thousand believers in that one city (5:14; 21:20). According to 2:46 and 5:42, those thousands did not meet in only one place; they met from house to house. There were many meetings, but not one meeting by itself became a church. Rather, all the meetings were one church.
After this, the testimony and gospel of the Lord spread from Jerusalem to Samaria and from Samaria to Antioch. As a result, how many churches were there in Antioch? Acts 13:1 begins, “Now there were in Antioch, in the local church, prophets and teachers.” This verse speaks of the one church in Antioch. In Antioch there were a number of gifted persons, prophets and teachers such as Paul, Barnabas, and others. However, these gifted persons did not form many churches. They were all members of the same, one, unique church in Antioch. Therefore, in Antioch there was one church.
From Palestine the Lord’s move went on to Asia Minor, including Ephesus. How many churches were there in Ephesus? According to Revelation 1:11 and 2:1, all the believers in Ephesus were one church. This was true not only in Ephesus but in all the seven cities in Asia Minor. In each one of those cities there was only one church: one in Ephesus, one in Smyrna, one in Pergamos, one in Thyatira, one in Sardis, one in Philadelphia, and one in Laodicea. There is not one exception to this rule.
From there the Lord’s move went to Europe, including Corinth. How many churches were there in Corinth? According to 1 Corinthians 1:2, there was only one. Likewise, in Rome there was only one church (Rom. 1:7). By this we can see that in the universe the church is one, and the expression of the church in each locality is also one.
We can compare this to the uniqueness of the United States. In the whole world there is only one United States, and anywhere there is an expression of the United States, that expression must be unique. This is why in London there is only one American embassy. Likewise, if you go to Tokyo or Hong Kong, you will find only one American embassy or consulate. There is no need for an American citizen to ask which consulate in Hong Kong to go to. If someone asks in this way, people will say that he is foolish. There is only one United States on this earth, so in Hong Kong there is only one American consulate. A person only needs to ask where the consulate in Hong Kong is. If there were two American consulates in Hong Kong, that would mean that the United States had been divided into two, and if there were three consulates in Hong Kong, the United States would have been divided into three.
When a person in Jerusalem was saved, he did not need to ask what church he should join, because there was only one church in Jerusalem. Before he was saved, he was outside the church. Now after being saved, he became a member of the one church there. At night if I tell a brother to look at the moon, he will not ask which moon to look at, because there is only one moon. In the same way, there is no need to consider to which church we should go—to the Presbyterian, Baptist, Nazarene, Lutheran, Methodist, or Episcopalian Church—because there is only one church.
For practical reasons, a brother may transfer from Jerusalem to Antioch. When he arrives, there is no need to ask to which church he should go. He must simply be in the church in Antioch. The only thing he needs to know is where the church has its meetings. Perhaps they are in one brother’s home tonight and another brother’s home the next night, but it is still one church. If the brother is later transferred to Ephesus, it is the same there. Again in Ephesus, the meeting of the church one night may be in one home and the next week in another home, but it is still one church. In Corinth, likewise, there is no need to consider whether the “Pauline” church is better than the “Petrine” church. There is no need to say, “I come from Jerusalem, so I know Peter better and will go to the Petrine church.” There is no such Petrine church; there is only one church. Yet again, if the brother were to transfer from Corinth to Rome, it would be the same; there is only one church in Rome.
(The Ground of the Church and the Meetings of the Church, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)
