The History of the Local Churches

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

There were a great number of believers in Jerusalem. We read of a multitude who turned to the Lord; yet they are all referred to as the church in Jerusalem, not the churches in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was a single place; therefore, it could only be counted as a single unit for the founding of a single church.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 2, Vol. 30, 58-59)

We do not read of the churches in Jerusalem, or the churches in Ephesus, or the churches in Corinth. Each of these was counted as only one place; therefore, it was permissible to have only one church in each.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 2, Vol. 30, 59)

There is the church in Antioch, not the churches in Antioch. It would be wrong to say the churches in Antioch. According to God’s arrangement, a locality can only be matched with one church, not many churches. In the Bible we can never find the churches in Corinth or the churches in Antioch. But the Bible does say the church in Antioch, the church in Philippi, and the church in Philadelphia. All of these churches are referred to in the singular. There were not multiple churches in Antioch, Philippi, or Philadelphia.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 3, Vol. 55, 158)

The New Testament speaks of the church in Jerusalem, the church in Antioch, the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2), the church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1), and the church in other cities (Rom. 16:1). All these churches may be called local churches. At the end of the New Testament, we have a picture of seven churches in seven cities (Rev. 1:4, 11; 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). In the New Testament it is very clear that the practical expression of the church must be local.

(Witness Lee, Heavenly Vision, 19)

God has ordained that there be only one church in each locality. Hence, we see only the church in Ephesus, and the church in Smyrna, etc. There is not such a thing as the churches in Ephesus or the churches in Smyrna. God has also ordained that no local church can be joined to another local church to form one church. This is why the Bible says, “The seven churches which are in Asia” (v. 4), and not “the church in Asia.” (Asia is a province, and there is more than one locality in a province.)…If we know the Bible and if we know the Holy Spirit, we will acknowledge that there can only be one church in one locality. It is not scriptural to make a church out of a few localities or to have several churches in one locality. Forming one church out of several localities demands a oneness that is not found in the Bible, while having more than one church in one locality divides the oneness that the Scripture demands. If we are mindful that the seven lampstands are the seven churches, we will be reminded of the proper standing of the church in the eyes of God.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 2, Vol. 34, 167)

Main

Two Aspects of the Church

Who is the Church?

Local Churches in the N.T.

Degradation

Bibliography

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