The History of the Local Churches

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“We are members of the Body, and the Body is universal. This universal Body has just one expression in a city. Thus, there should be just one church in a city. It was this way in Jerusalem, in Antioch, and also in Ephesus.”

—Witness Lee

In the ministries of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, two prolific and visionary Christian writers, the terms “local church” or “local churches” recur frequently. The truth implicit in these terms, realized by Watchman Nee in the early 1930’s, refers to the scriptural revelation and practice of one church in one city. Both Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, his closest co-worker, taught that in addition to its universal, mystical aspect, the church also has its local, practical aspect.

With regard to the local aspect of the church, Watchman Nee and Witness Lee taught according to the New Testament revelation that all believers possess a oneness which is not only spiritual but practical as well. They are members not only of the one universal church, but also of the local church—that is, members of the church in their city. This realization, Watchman Nee and Witness Lee maintain, was also shared by the early church in the New Testament.

The purpose of this Website is to present to the viewer a selection of excerpts from the ministries of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee regarding the history of the local churches as seen in the New Testament as well as the gradual loss of this truth in the succeeding generations of church history.

The History of the Local Churches

A. The Universal and Local Aspect of the Church

B. Every Believer Belonging to the Church of God

C. The History of the Local Churches as Seen in the New Testament

1. The Church in Corinth

2. The Churches in Asia

D. The Degradation of the Local Churches

1. The Error of Rome

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Two Aspects of the Church

Who is the Church?

Local Churches in the N.T.

Degradation

Bibliography

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