The Recovery of the Local Churches

The Reformation

Below Witness Lee comments on the initial divisions among the Protestant churches.

Later, many “dissenters” developed, such as the Presbyterian Church, etc. On one hand, there is the Roman Catholic Church; on the other hand, there are the Protestant churches. Among the Protestant churches, aside from those established according to states, there are also churches set up according to different opinions and doctrines. The dissenters do not take the state as the boundary but their doctrine as the boundary. Therefore, there are two kinds of churches among the Protestant churches: one is state and the other is private. Today we see the union of the state and the church in Germany, Great Britain, and so forth. Rome has the world church, while Great Britain and Germany, etc., have the state church. The kings and chiefs of the states do not want to listen to the pope, yet they want others to listen to them. In politics they want to be the kings; in religion they also want to be the kings. As a result, the state churches came into existence. People never raised the question as to what the church is like in the Bible. People did not go back to the Bible to see whether it is proper to have state churches. Later, the private churches came into being also. The establishment of the private churches was due to the exalting of a certain doctrine; thus, they separated themselves from those who did not have the same doctrine. The Baptist Church was established because someone saw baptism; the Presbyterian Church was established because someone saw the presbytery system in the church. The church was established not because someone knew what the church is; rather, the church was established according to a system. These two kinds of Protestant churches—the state and the private—the Lord says, have not gone back to the purpose in the beginning. This statement is most significant.

(Watchman Nee, Orthodoxy, 59-60)

Witness Lee summarizes below some of the lamentable consequences the Reformation was to have—most notably the divisions caused by focusing on specific recovered truths rather than on the oneness of the Body of Christ. Churches that did so gradually became degraded from God’s original and ultimate goal of obtaining His expression in the proper local church life.

Throughout the centuries of church history, the problems, the confusion, and the divisions took place due to the saints not seeing the corporate church of God. In the past the saints saw something concerning such items as God’s salvation, sanctification, and the need of being spiritual, keeping the holy Word, not loving the world, and being for the Lord’s interest and work on this earth. They also saw that we need to labor to win souls and that we need to be enthusiastic for evangelism to the extent that we would go to other lands for the spread of the gospel. However, all of these items are not God’s goal but are the means to reach His goal. God has only one goal. God’s goal is unique. God’s ultimate goal is the church….

Church history shows us that the so-called church in a general sense became degraded and that those who loved the Lord, who loved the truth, and who loved the Bible did not receive a proper, adequate, clear, and complete vision of the church. Although they defended the truth, they made mistakes that resulted in more division in the Body of Christ. Thus, it was difficult for the Lord to find vessels to carry out His purpose. This is the reason that the history of the church is generally a sad story.

(Witness Lee, History of the Church, 25)

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