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

Although the church is universally one, the local churches, as the expressions of the one universal church, are many. The building of the universal church began in the building of the local churches. It has been proceeding and will continue to proceed in this way until its completion.

(Witness Lee, LS of John, vol. 1, 11)

The church is the church of God (1 Cor. 10:32), chosen and predestinated by God the Father (Eph. 1:3-6), redeemed by God the Son (Eph. 1:7-12), and sealed by God the Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14)....The church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all (Eph. 1:23), as His expression, united organically to the resurrected, ascended, and transmitting Head (Eph. 1:19-22)....The church is the fullness of Christ, and it is also the fullness of the processed Triune God (Eph. 3:14-19), filled with the riches of Christ and with the immeasurable Christ (Eph. 3:8b, 17-19a). The church is filled with Christ Himself and with the riches of Christ. Such a church is the fullness of the processed Triune God....The church is the counterpart of Christ, as Eve was to Adam (Gen. 2:21-23), as His increase (John 3:29-30), a glorious church, holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:27)....The church is the new man created in Christ, through His cross, with the Jewish and Gentile believers (Eph. 2:14-16)....The church is the mingling of the processed Triune God with the believers (Eph. 4:3-6), being built up as the organic Body of Christ by the gifted members (every joint of the rich supply) and by each functioning part through the growth in life (Eph. 4:11-13, 15-16)....The church is the house of God (Eph. 2:19b; 1 Tim. 3:15), the habitation of God in our spirit (Eph. 2:22)....The church is the kingdom of God today, the reality of the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 16:18-19). In Matthew 16:18 the Lord said, “On this rock I will build My church.'' Then, in verse 19 He said, “I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.'' This shows us that today the proper church life is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens....The church exists universally as the unique universal church (Eph. 1:22-23), but it is expressed locally as many local churches (Rev. 1:4a, 11).

(Witness Lee, Brief Presentation, 25-27)

The word churches, in the plural number, is used many times in the book of 2 Corinthians. In Ephesians there is only the church in the singular number, not the churches. In 2 Corinthians 1:1, the church is mentioned in the singular number, but that is the church which is at Corinth, not in the universe. Besides this verse, all the references to the church in this book are in the plural number--churches....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....Second Corinthians is not the beginning; it is the advance in the local churches.

(Witness Lee, Christ as Life, 116)

In Matthew 16:18 the Lord said, “Upon this rock I will build My church.'' For centuries the interpretation of “this rock'' has not been properly understood. The rock upon which the church is built is surely Christ Himself, but we need to consider the context of Matthew 16:18 to see something deeper. The Lord was asking His disciples who He was. Eventually Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'' (v. 16). The Lord Jesus responded to Peter by telling him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens'' (v. 17). The Lord was asking the disciples who He was, but eventually what came out was a revelation concerning Christ being the rock. Therefore, the rock in Matthew 16, strictly speaking, does not refer to Christ directly but to the divine revelation concerning Christ....We can see from the Epistles that the Body of Christ, expressed through the local churches in many localities, is built upon the revelation of Christ. The apostles' teaching is the revelation.

(Witness Lee, God-Ordained Way, 154)

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....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 universal and also local. The local churches in different localities are not merely for a local expression, but for the universal expression of Christ. All the churches express the same person--Christ. The local churches should express Christ universally, not just locally.

(Witness Lee, Five Emphases, 43, 51)

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