The Recovery of the Local Churches
The Recovery of the Local Churches |
|
||||||
|
|
The ReformationThe history of the Protestant churches is a history of revivals. When Luther first started, many were saved, revived, and greatly recovered. One characteristic of the Protestant churches is “recovery.” We do not know to what extent the Holy Spirit will work. Luther reformed something; thus, the Lutheran Church came out. The truth of the presbytery was seen; thus, the Presbyterian Church was organized. Wesley appeared; therefore, the Methodist Church was established. Today in the world there are still many smaller churches. In 1914 there were already more than 1500 churches. Thank the Lord, Sardis [the church in Sardis in Revelation 3:1-6 which prefigures the Protestant Reformation] was often blessed by God. But once there was the blessing of the Lord, men organized something to contain the blessing. Although the Lord’s blessing is still there, the sphere remains only that big. The Protestant churches are like a cup. At the beginning of revival, people will go wherever there is living water. Wherever the Spirit of God is moving, people will go in that direction. Men used a cup with the hope of preserving the living water without loss. The advantage of doing this is that it keeps the grace, and the disadvantage is that there is just one cup of blessing. In the first generation the cup was full. By the second generation the cup was only half filled, and the nebulousness began. By the third or fifth generation, the water was gone and only an empty cup was left. Then they began to argue with other denominations as to whose cup was better, though all the cups were worthless for drinking. What was the result? God reacted again, and in came another Sardis. This is the whole history of revival. When the grace of God comes, men immediately set up an organization to keep it. The organization remains, but the content is lost… (Watchman Nee, Orthodoxy, 60-61) Throughout all the centuries, there have been so-called puritans who always reacted to the impurities and negative things brought into the church. All the puritans were good in their intention to get into God’s reaction to the degradation of the church, but because they were not so clear about the church as God’s eternal goal, they made some serious mistakes. The biggest mistake made by them was that their reaction issued in more division. Whenever there was a reaction through the puritans, there was nearly always a division. Actually, nearly every reaction became a division. Reaction after reaction meant division after division. Eventually, God’s goal was damaged. This has been the main reason that the Lord has not yet returned. He could not return because there was nothing for Him to come back to. In order for Him to come back, He needs a “stepping stone.” This stepping stone is the proper church life that prepares the church as the bride for His coming. Even though there have been thousands and thousands of real believers, there has been a shortage of the proper church life. In all the reactions to the degradation of the church since the second century, there was not much accomplished for fulfilling the Lord’s purpose to have the practical expression of the church. (Witness Lee, History of the Church, 25) According to church history, it is clear that soon after the time of the early apostles, the church deviated from the right track. It degraded and became a strict organization with the formation of the Roman Catholic Church. Then from the time of the Reformation, the state churches came into existence. These state churches are also organized churches. After the state churches, many saints saw particular spiritual things such as baptism by immersion, the presbyterial system, and holiness, sanctification, by faith. Those who saw something about baptism formed something to represent and maintain baptism. They made a mistake by making baptism by immersion something special, and they stood for this specialty. Then there were the Presbyterians, the Methodists, and so many other denominational churches. Thus, many divisions were created, and every division was for something special. (Witness Lee, Life and Way, 104-105) | ||||