Witness Lee on the local church

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

The local aspect of the church is referred to by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 18:17. The Lord Jesus in the four Gospels mentions the church only twice: once in Matthew 16:18, referring to its universal aspect, and the second time in Matthew 18:17, referring to its local aspect.

In Matthew 18 the Lord Jesus said that if we have any problem that we cannot solve, we should tell it to the church. This refers to the church in a certain locality. It would be hard to tell a problem to the universal church....If we have any problem which needs the church’s help to be solved, where shall we go? We must have a local church that we are part of, from which we can get help and to which we may go with our problems.

Universally, the church is one. But locally, the churches are many. In Acts 8:1 there is the church at Jerusalem. In Acts 13:1 there is the church at Antioch. Then there are churches mentioned in Acts 14:23 and 15:41; here the word churches is used because there were a number of cities in these regions. In Romans 16:1 there is the church at Cenchrea. There is the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2). In Galatians 1:2 we have the churches in Galatia; there were several, because Galatia was a province of the ancient Roman Empire with many cities. In Revelation 1:4 and 11 there are the seven churches in Asia. Asia was also a province.

(Witness Lee, Basic Revelation, 66-67)

Just as Christ has two aspects, His person and His ministry, the church also has two aspects, the universal aspect and the local aspect. Universally speaking, the church is the unique Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23). Christ as the Head has only one Body....The second aspect of the church is the local aspect. In each locality there should be an expression of the Body of Christ (Acts 8:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; Rev. 1:11). This expression of the Body in a locality is the local church. The universal aspect of the church is revealed in the book of Ephesians, while the local aspect of the church is unfolded practically in the book of Revelation. In chapters 2 and 3 there are seven churches in seven cities, one church in each city. We all must see the one Body, and we must also see the local churches. We must see the universal aspect of the Body, and we must also see the local aspect of the church, the local churches. In every locality the church must be one as the local church.

(Witness Lee, Young People, 23, 25-26)

The church also has different aspects. The church is the unique, one, universal church. In practice, however, the church is expressed as the local churches. Therefore, the New Testament speaks of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), the church in Antioch (13:1), and the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2). Revelation 1:11 speaks of the seven churches in Asia--in Ephesus, in Smyrna, in Pergamos, in Thyatira, in Sardis, in Philadelphia, and in Laodicea. In practice these are many churches, but all the local churches are the one, unique church. The church has the local aspect, and it also has the universal aspect. Locally, the churches are many. Universally, the churches are one. The church is the unique Body of Christ, and this one Body is expressed in many localities as the local churches.

The church is also local as the churches in different localities for the universal expression of Christ (Acts 8:1; 13:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; Rev. 1:4, 11). The church is universal and also local. The local churches in different localities are not merely for a local expression, but for the universal expression of Christ.

(Witness Lee, Five Emphases, 43, 51)

Strictly speaking, there is only one church, in the same way that there is only one Body of Christ. However, in each locality, there may be as many as three to five thousand believers, or there may be as few as two or three, as described in Matthew 18. As long as there is a group of believers meeting together in a city or a town, that group of believers constitutes the church in that city or town. Therefore, in the original language, the Bible clearly shows us that the church is “the church in such-and-such place.'' The word in indicates that there is only one church, which is scattered and sojourning in different places. The Bible calls the meeting of those who sojourn and meet together in one place a local church; it serves as a miniature representation of the unique church.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 2, Vol. 22, 55-56)

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