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V. Not Wider than a LocalityNot only is the city the smallest unit according to which a local church can be formed, but it is also the largest. The Bible neither sanctions nor mentions any churches that comprise believers from a larger geographical area. The Bible is quite clear, as Watchman Nee has shown in great detail, that the city is the God-ordained ground upon which believers must meet as a local church. Anything smaller is entirely unscriptural, and as Watchman Nee goes on to explain, anything larger is equally unscriptural: We have just seen that the boundary of a church cannot be narrower than the locality to which it belongs. On the other hand, its boundary cannot be wider than the locality. In the Word of God we never read of the church in Macedonia, or the church in Galatia, or the church in Judea, or the church in Galilee. Why? Because Macedonia and Galilee are provinces, and Judea and Galatia are districts. A province is not a scriptural unit of locality; neither is a district. Both include a number of units; therefore, they include a number of separate churches and do not constitute one church. A provincial church or a district church is not according to Scripture, since it does not divide on the ground of locality, but combines a number of localities. It is because all scriptural churches are local churches that there is no mention of state churches, provincial churches, or district churches in the Word of God. Watchman Nee goes on to emphasize the local character of the churches. As he states in the following passage, The churches of God are local, intensely local. Each local church, although in universal oneness with every other local church, is nevertheless a separate unit in Gods ordination: Nanking is a city, and so is Soochow. Because each is a separate unit, each therefore has a separate church. The two places are both in the same country, and even in the same province, but because they are two separate cities, they must form two separate churches. Politically Glasgow and Nanking do not belong to the same province, or even the same country; yet the relationship between Nanking and Soochow is exactly the same as between Nanking and Glasgow. Nanking and Soochow are as truly separate units as Nanking and Glasgow are. In the division of churches the question of country or province does not arise; it is all a question of cities. Two cities of the same country, or the same province, have no closer relationship than two cities of different countries or different provinces. Gods intention is that a church in any one locality should be a unit, and in their relationship one to the other the different churches must preserve their local character. When Gods people throughout the earth really see the local character of the churches, then they will appreciate their oneness in Christ as never before. The churches of God are local, intensely local. If any factor enters in to destroy their local character, then they cease to be scriptural churches. (60-61) |
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