Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Witness Lee and Watchman Nee

As we all know, the church began in Jerusalem, and it was wonderful. There were not twelve churches in Jerusalem, one named after each of the twelve Apostles. No, there was just one church that included everyone. Acts 8:1 proves that the church in Jerusalem was uniquely one, for this verse speaks of “the church which was at Jerusalem.'' There were not many churches at Jerusalem, but one church, the church, at Jerusalem. The testimony of the church eventually spread north to Antioch through some saints who moved there from Jerusalem. Later Barnabas went there to edify them and brought Paul with him. As in Jerusalem, there was just one church in Antioch. Acts 13:1 says, “Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers.'' From Antioch the church spread to Asia Minor, where there were several churches in various cities. In Ephesus, for example, there was just one church. We know that in Ephesus there was not more than one church because Revelation 2:1 speaks of the church, not churches, in Ephesus. Through the ministry of Paul, the church spread from Asia Minor to Europe, and a church was established at Corinth. First Corinthians 1:2 says, “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth.'' Again we see the matter of one church in one city. According to the Bible, there was one church in Jerusalem, one in Antioch, one in Ephesus, and one in Corinth....The local church denotes the nature of the church.

(Witness Lee, Spirit and the Body, 205-206, 211)

The entire book of 1 Corinthians is a “bothering book.'' The writing apostle bothered the church in Corinth. The entire book may be considered as a commandment to the local church. First Corinthians 11:34 says, “If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, that you may not come together for judgment. And the remaining matters I will set in order when I come.''....In 1 Corinthians 4:17, Paul says, “Because of this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every church.'' In all the churches, the Apostle Paul taught the same thing. His teaching was the same universally, not varying in any place. Concerning this matter, we need to look at the seven epistles to the seven local churches in Revelation 2 and 3. The word of the Lord to one church is the word spoken by the Spirit to all the churches (Rev. 2:1, 7). At the beginning of each epistle, it is the Lord speaking to a specific church (2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14), but at the end of all the epistles, the Word says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches'' (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). What was said by the Lord to the church in Ephesus was the word that all the churches should hear. Every epistle was a particular word to a certain church, yet this particular word should be heard and taken by all the churches.

(Witness Lee, Eldership (1), 51-52)

We cannot find one instance of the word church in 2 Corinthians in the sense of the universal church. There are altogether eight verses with the word churches. Have you ever noticed them? ...Second Corinthians is not the beginning; it is the advance in the local churches....Every truth in the Bible develops progressively, and the truth of the church is no exception. The church was first mentioned by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 16 (v. 18). That was the seed. But immediately after chapter sixteen, the Lord touched the local aspect of the church. In chapter sixteen there is the church, while in chapter eighteen there is the church in a locality, the church to which you can go. If you have some problem, you must “tell it to the church'' (v. 17). Then in the book of Acts, we see the growing up of this seed into all the local churches--the church at Jerusalem (8:1), the church at Antioch (13:1), etc. Following this, in the Epistles there is the definition of the church. Finally, in 2 Corinthians and in Revelation, the local churches are strongly emphasized. The local churches are the harvest of the truth concerning the church.

(Witness Lee, Christ as Life, 116-117)

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