The Recovery of the Local Churches
The Recovery of the Local Churches |
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Additional Local Church Quotes by Witness Lee on Watchman Nee’s Burden for the Local ChurchesIn 1937 he saw further light regarding the local oneness of the church. From the local border he went on to see the local ground. Calling an urgent meeting of the co-workers, he delivered the messages published later in The Normal Christian Church Life. This book emphasizes the local ground. By 1937 the matter of the local oneness was fully recovered among us. We became utterly clear that the practice of the church life requires us to be on the local ground, that is, on the ground of oneness. Since this matter of the ground of locality was recovered, a number of Christians have argued with us concerning it. Some have said, “In saying that you are the local church, you are proud. How can you say that you are the church and that we are not? You claim to be the church in Shanghai. Are we not the church in Shanghai also?” At first we were troubled by such criticism. We did not have the experience to deal with it. Later, by contending for the truth of oneness, we learned how to deal with the various criticisms, objections, and arguments. (Witness Lee, Genuine Ground, 142-143) Furthermore, through Brother Nee the Lord showed us the matter of the church. Concerning the church, the Lord showed us, on the negative side, that Christianity and Catholicism are altogether degraded and deformed. Never before had anyone spoken about the degradation of the Catholic Church and the Protestant churches in such a clear and thorough way as Brother Nee did. On the positive side, the Lord also led Brother Nee to see the local church, that is, the practical aspect of the church. He expended much effort in stressing this point. Eventually, the point of his emphasis became very clear. He enabled us to see clearly the ground of the church and the reality of the church. After this God showed us the Body of Christ through Brother Nee. The Lord showed us that the local church is the procedure and not the goal. The goal of the local church is the building up of the Body of Christ. Here, regretfully, among us there were quite a number of brothers who were weighty, yet they saw only the importance of the local church and did not see the Body of Christ. Hence, they rose up to argue, saying that Brother Nee said very clearly that all local churches are autonomous, each having nothing to do with the others. Not one local church, whatever it may be, should interfere with another local church. This is their total disregard for the Body of Christ. Therefore, through Brother Nee the Lord showed us further that what God wants in the end is not the local church. Although at the end of the Bible there are seven lampstands, they all become one city, the New Jerusalem. (Witness Lee, High Peak, 9-10) Brother Nee’s Work from 1935-1939 In 1935 he had the burden to go to London to visit Brother T. Austin-Sparks. Before leaving for Europe, he first made arrangements in the summer to stay in my home in Chefoo. Eventually, he and Sister Nee stayed in my home. He had a conference there that brought in a deeper revival among us by speaking concerning Christ as the overcoming life. Then he canceled his scheduled trip to Europe. He returned to Shanghai to give a conference there. That was a great turn of the church life among us in 1935. Through the Lord’s move at this time, the church life spread to other cities. In 1937 Brother Nee began to see that the co-workers needed to travel from one city to another to establish local churches. He then gave a series of messages firstly in January of 1937 in Shanghai to a small number of co-workers, among whom I was one. Then he repeated the same messages in October 1937 in Hankow. These were later put into the book entitled The Normal Christian Church Life. Then the war between China and Japan began, and he went out of the country to visit Europe in 1938 and 1939. He stayed in London about a year and a half, and he also visited the Scandinavian countries. (Witness Lee, History of the Church, 63-64) | ||||