The Recovery of the Local Churches

Witness Lee’s Revelation and Taking of the Way of the Local Church

Witness Lee was also greatly used by the Lord in His recovery of the local church. Witness Lee, through his fellowship with Watchman Nee, saw the vision of the local church in the New Testament and began to practice what he saw in his hometown, Chefoo. He describes his experience of practicing the local “church life” in Chefoo:

The third revival among us was in 1942 and 1943. First, we were revived with the truth concerning the assurance of salvation. Second, we were set on fire with the overcoming life of Christ. The third revival was with the practicality of the church life. That revival transpired again in my hometown of Chefoo.

Before that revival, Brother Nee had a big turn in 1939. In that year he saw the Body of Christ and the practicality of the local church. I went in 1939 to attend his conference on the Body of Christ. Then I went to his training in 1940. At that time I received much help from him, mainly from the private talks he had with me. Through those talks I saw what he called the blueprint of the practicality of the local church.

Later I returned to Chefoo in northern China. Once I returned, I did not have the liberty to move anymore because of the war. I realized that it was the Lord’s will for me not to travel but to stay in Chefoo to practice the church life in a practical way. From January 1941 we practiced everything that I had seen in Shanghai from Brother Nee. We had the proper eldership, the deacons, the service office, and the service groups. We practiced the church life for two years according to the blueprint Brother Nee had seen. At the end of 1942 the church in Chefoo experienced a great revival. This revival came through the practicality of the church life with all the service groups. The practicality of the church life brought all the saints into the building. The church in Chefoo had about eight hundred saints at that time.

(Witness Lee, History of the Church, 117-118)

Elsewhere, Witness Lee describes the beginning of the local church in Chefoo in 1932:

In 1932 the church was raised up in my home town, Chefoo. We did not know how to practice the church life. We only knew that we loved the Lord Jesus and that we could not agree with traditional Christianity. We came together simply with a heart for the Lord and with the Bible. We did not know how to meet, in particular how to have the Lord’s table. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the sweetness of the Lord’s presence.

(Witness Lee, Genuine Ground, 142)

In the following excerpt, Witness Lee provides further details regarding the beginning of the local church in Chefoo:

On the evening of the day that Brother Nee left, a brother who was a member of my former denomination came to me. He was seeking help from Brother Nee, but Brother Nee had left. He and I had a long fellowship that evening at the seashore, since my home was not far away from the beach. At a certain point he said, “You have to baptize me tonight in the sea.” I said that I was not a pastor, an elder, or a deacon. He rebuked me by saying, “You told me that all the disciples of Jesus, who are qualified to preach the gospel, are also qualified to baptize people. You have to baptize me.” I asked him to pray with me. Then the word in Acts 8 came to me: “Look, water! What prevents me from being baptized” (v. 36). Then I baptized him. When we came up out of the water, we were both in the heavenlies. He told me that from tomorrow he would never go back to the denominations, but would come to meet with me. I told him that from tomorrow I would stop going to the Brethren meetings and would begin to meet with him. That was really the Lord’s move.

His baptism took place on a Tuesday. On Thursday of the same week, another two came to us, asking us to baptize them, and we did. On the Lord’s Day, more were baptized. The following Lord’s Day, we had eleven brothers taking the Lord’s table. That was the beginning of the first local church in north China in my hometown of Chefoo. The news of this reached Brother Nee in Shanghai. By the end of the year, there were about eighty of us meeting together.

At the beginning of the following year, there were about one hundred meeting in Chefoo. In April of that year, Sister Peace Wang came to visit us. She was the one through whom I was saved. By this time in 1933, she had become one of the prevailing co-workers. Then Brother Nee came, and he stayed with us for about ten days. Afterwards, he went to England to visit the Brethren.

(Witness Lee, History of the Church, 124-125)

Witness Lee saw clearly through the ministry of Watchman Nee the matter of the local church. He began meeting with others in his hometown as the local church and continued to labor faithfully together with Watchman Nee for the raising up of local churches throughout China.

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