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The local church is one of the most controversial aspects of Witness Lee's teaching. The ground of the church refers to the basis on which Christians gather together. Every Christian assembly claims Christ as its foundation, yet Christians remain divided because they stand on a number of different grounds. Some stand on the ground of a particular teaching, cultural association, or practice. The New Testament, however, permits only one ground for the church—the ground of locality. Watchman Nee and Witness Lee both taught that Christians should meet together on no other basis than the fact that they are believers in Christ who live in the same city. This reflects the New Testament principle of one church in one city, or the local church.

Watchman Nee was the first person in modern history to put this New Testament vision of the local churches into practice. His co-worker Witness Lee continued his work by helping to establish local churches and by teaching extensively concerning the scriptural ground of the local churches. This website is a compilation of selections from the ministries of Witness Lee and Watchman Nee regarding the ground of the church revealed in the New Testament, for example:

The jurisdiction of a local church should cover the whole city in which the church is; it should not be greater or lesser than the boundary of the city. All the believers within that boundary should constitute the unique local church within that city. Hence, one church equals one city, and one city equals one church. This is what we call the local churches.

(Witness Lee, Genuine Ground, 128)

How simple, how uncomplicated is this divine way which the Scriptures show us! Wherever we live, we are the church in that place and we build the church in that place. If all God’s people could see this principle and abide by it, there would be no divisions.

(Witness Lee, Ground of the Church, 10)

When God’s people throughout the earth really see the local character of the churches, then they will appreciate their oneness in Christ as never before. The churches of God are local, intensely local. If any factor enters in to destroy their local character, then they cease to be scriptural churches.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 2, Vol. 30, 60)

The Ground of the Church Revealed in the New Testament

A. The Progressive Revelation of the Ground of the Church (terminology here is specific)

1. The Seed Stage (Gospels)

2. The Growth Stage (Acts)

3. The Development Stage (Epistles)

4. The Harvest Stage (Revelation)

B. The Ground of the Church Being Constituted of Three Crucial Elements

1. The Unique Oneness of the Universal Body of Christ

2. The Unique Ground of Locality

3. The Reality of the Spirit of Oneness

C. The Church in a City and the Church in a House

D. Paying the Price to Stand on the Ground of Oneness

1. Not Condition, but Standing

2. Not Numbers, but Standing

These quotes by Witness Lee and Watchman Nee on the local church and its ground indicate their crucial importance in the New Testament.

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