The Recovery of the Local Churches

The Brethren

Watchman Nee and Witness Lee considered the influence of the Brethren to be greater than that of the Reformation for with the Brethren, there was the initial return to the proper practice of the local church life.

This movement was greater than the movement of the Reformation. Here I would like to say that the work of Philadelphia [Rev. 3:7-13, referring to the Brethren] is greater than the work of the Reformation. Philadelphia gives us the things which the Reformation did not give us. We thank the Lord that the problem of the church is solved by the movement of the brothers. The position of the children of God has almost been recovered. Therefore, both in quantity and in quality you can see that it is greater than the Reformation. Yet we must note that the movement of the brothers is not quite as famous as the Reformation. The Reformation was brought about with sword and spear, while the movement of the brothers was brought about by preaching. For the cause of the Reformation, many lost their lives in the wars in Europe. Another reason the Reformation is famous was its relationship to politics. Many nations, through the Reformation, threw off the power of Rome politically. Anything that is not related to politics is not easily known by men. Furthermore, the brothers saw two things: One is what we call the organized world, that is, the psychological world; the other is what the brothers called the world of Christianity. They left not only the psychological world, but also the world of Christianity, which is represented by the Protestant churches. That is why they were not even advertised in the Protestant churches. They have come out not only from the world of sin, but also from the world of Christianity.

From their time, men knew that the church is the Body of Christ, that the children of God are one church, and that they should not be divided. Their emphasis was on the brothers and the real love for one another. The Lord Jesus says that a church will appear whose name is Philadelphia [literally, “brotherly love"].

(Watchman Nee, Orthodoxy, 74-75)

Watchman Nee and Witness Lee often acknowledged the Brethren’s contribution to the Lord’s ongoing recovery of many vital scriptural truths and principles:

Now we will see what these brothers gave us: They showed us how the blood of the Lord satisfies the righteousness of God; the assurance of salvation; how the weakest believer may be accepted in Christ, just as Christ was accepted; and how to believe in the Word of God as the foundation of salvation. Since church history began, there never was a period when the gospel was clearer than in their time. Not only so, it was also they who showed us that the church cannot gain the entire world, that the church has a heavenly calling, and that the church has no worldly hope. It was they who also opened up the prophecies for the first time, causing us to see that the return of the Lord is the hope of the church. It was they who opened the book of Revelation and the book of Daniel and showed us the kingdom, the tribulation, the rapture, and the bride. Without them, we would know a very small percentage of future things. It was also they who showed us what the law of sin is, what it is to be set free, what it is to be crucified with Christ, what it is to be raised with Christ, how to be identified with the Lord through faith, and how to be transformed daily by looking unto Him. It was they who showed us the sin of the denominations, the unity of the Body of Christ, and the unity of the Holy Spirit. It was they who showed us the difference between Judaism and the church. In the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant churches, this difference could not be readily seen, but they made us see it anew. It was also they who showed us the sin of the mediatorial class, how all the children of God are priests, and how all can serve God. It was they who recovered for us the principle of meetings in 1 Corinthians 14, showing us that prophesying is not one man’s business but the business of two or three, and that prophesying is not based upon ordination, but upon the gift of the Holy Spirit. If we were to enumerate one by one what they recovered, we may as well say that in today’s pure Protestant churches there is not one truth that they did not recover or recover more.

It is no wonder that D. M. Panton said, “The movement of the brothers and its significance is far greater than the Reformation.” W. H. Griffith Thomas said, “Among the children of God, it was they who were most able to rightly divide the word of truth.” Henry Ironside said, “Whether among those who know the brothers [the Brethren] or those who do not know the brothers, all those who know God have received help from the brothers directly or indirectly.”

(Watchman Nee, Orthodoxy, 73-74)

Main

The Reformation

The Moravian Brethren

The Plymouth Brethren

A New Beginning

Watchman Nee’s Calling

Watchman Nee’s Revelation

Watchman Nee’s Care for the Local Churches

The Local Church in Foochow, China

Witness Lee’s Revelation

The Spread of the Local Churches

Bibliography

Links