The Progressive Revelation of the Ground of the Church

In the following quotes, Witness Lee traces the development of the ground of the local church throughout the Bible.

Every truth in the Bible develops progressively, and the truth of the church is no exception. The church was first mentioned by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 16 (v. 18). That was the seed. But immediately after chapter sixteen, the Lord touched the local aspect of the church. In chapter sixteen there is the church, while in chapter eighteen there is the church in a locality, the church to which you can go. If you have some problem, you must “tell it to the church” (v. 17). Then in the book of Acts, we see the growing up of this seed into all the local churches—the church at Jerusalem (8:1), the church at Antioch (13:1), etc. Following this, in the Epistles there is the definition of the church. Finally, in 2 Corinthians and in Revelation, the local churches are strongly emphasized. The local churches are the harvest of the truth concerning the church.

With the teaching regarding this matter in the Bible, there is no ambiguity. It is exceedingly clear. By constant repetition and emphasis the Lord has driven this matter home. The final confirmation is in Revelation 1:11: “What you see write in a scroll and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamos and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” There are seven cities with seven churches—not seven churches in one city, but seven churches in seven cities. There should be one church in one city, and one city for one church. Nothing could be clearer.

(Witness Lee, Christ as Life, 117)

We need to be deeply impressed with the progress of the divine revelation in the Bible. We have pointed out that in the Old Testament we have God as the Creator and as the One who loves Israel. Then in Matthew and John we read of the genealogy of Jesus Christ and of the Word becoming flesh and tabernacling among us. Furthermore, in these books we read of the church built by Christ and of the many brothers of the Son of God who are the church. In the Acts the church is established in various cities. Most of the Epistles were written to particular local churches. Finally, in the book of Revelation we see that grace and peace are imparted to the local churches from the processed Triune God. Ultimately, according to Revelation 22:17, the Spirit and the Bride speak as one, indicating that the Triune God is truly one with His redeemed people….

It is easy for believers to see the universal church, but it is difficult for them to see the local churches. The revelation of the local churches is the Lord’s ultimate unveiling concerning the church. It has been given here in the last book of the divine Word. To fully know the church, believers must follow the Lord from the Gospels, through the Epistles, to the book of Revelation until they are enabled to see the local churches as unveiled here. In Revelation the first vision is concerning the churches. The churches with Christ as their center are the focus in the divine administration for the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose.

(Witness Lee, Genuine Ground, 130-132)

The following pages contain a selection of quotes from the ministries of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee that trace the matter of the local church throughout the New Testament.

1. The Seed Stage (Gospels)

The first mention of the local church in the New Testament is in the book of Matthew. In Matthew 16 the Lord Jesus mentions the universal aspect of the church. In chapter 18 He unveils the local aspect of the church. Watchman Nee sheds much light on these two aspects in the following excerpt:

In Matthew 18:15-20 we have a revelation of the local church. Verse 17 says, “But if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.” The church revealed in Matthew 16:18 is the universal church, which is the unique Body of Christ, whereas the church revealed here is the local church, the expression of the unique Body of Christ in a certain locality. Chapter sixteen relates to the universal building of the church, whereas chapter eighteen relates to the local practice of the church….

In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus says, “On this rock I will build My church.” This is the universal church. But in 18:17 we have the local church, for this verse speaks of a church to which we can go when we have a problem. Matthew 18:17 says that if we have a problem to be solved by the church, we must go to the church. If this church is not the local church but the universal church, we would not be able to “tell it to the church.” In fact, Matthew 16:18 is included in 18:17. We cannot have 16:18 without 18:17. However, if we have 18:17, we have 16:18….

In chapter sixteen the Lord Jesus revealed the universal church. But the universal church requires the practicality of the local church. Without the local church, the universal church cannot be practiced; rather, it will be something suspended in the air. The local church is the reality both of the kingdom and of the universal church.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 1, Vol. 17, 2073-2074)

2. The Growth Stage (Acts)

Watchman Nee discusses the inception and development of the local churches in the book of Acts:

In the previous chapter we observed that the word “church” was only mentioned twice in the Gospels. It is used frequently in the Acts, but we are never explicitly told there how a church was formed. The second chapter speaks of the salvation of about three thousand men, and the fourth chapter of a further five thousand, but nothing whatever is said about these believers forming a church. Without a single word of explanation they are referred to in the following chapter as the church—“And great fear came upon the whole church” (5:11). Here the Scriptures call the children of God “the church,” without even mentioning how the church came into being. In Acts 8:1, immediately after the death of Stephen, the word is again used, and the connection in this case is clearer than before. “There occurred in that day a great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem.” From this passage it is obvious that the believers in Jerusalem are the church in Jerusalem. So we know now what the church is. It consists of all the saved ones in a given locality.

Later on, in the course of the apostles’ first missionary tour, many people were saved in different places through the preaching of the gospel. Nothing is mentioned about their being formed into churches, but in Acts 14:23, it is said of Paul and Barnabas that “they had appointed elders for them in every church.” The groups of believers in these different places are called churches, without any explanation whatever as to how they came to be churches. They were groups of believers, so they simply were churches. Whenever a number of people in any place were saved, they spontaneously became the church in that place. Without introduction or explanation of any kind, the Word of God presents such a group of believers to us as a church. The scriptural method of founding a church is simply by preaching the gospel; nothing further is necessary, or even permissible. If people hear the gospel and receive the Lord as their Savior, then they are a church; there is no need of any further procedure in order to become a church.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 2, Vol. 30, 73-74)

As Watchman Nee makes clear from the Gospels and Acts, all the original churches were spontaneously local churches. The local church was the obvious way for the believers to come together in the place where they lived.

3. The Development Stage (Epistles)

The New Testament’s teaching concerning the ground of the church develops significantly in the Epistles. In the following selection, Watchman Nee uses the book of First Corinthians to illustrate the oneness within each local church.

First Corinthians 1:10 says: “Now I beseech you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same things…” To whom does you refer? It refers to the Christians at Corinth, the brothers at Corinth. “…and that there be no divisions among you..” Again, you refers to the Christians at Corinth. “…but that you be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion.” This also refers to the Christians in Corinth. Here we see one thing: If the unity of the Body spoken of in the Bible is not expressed in a locality, it is not practical. It is easy to say, “We love all the children of God, except the one next door! The children of God are one, including Paul and all those who are not yet born, except a few brothers here in Shanghai!” This is impractical as well as self-deceptive. We cannot talk about the unity of the Body and say that we are one with everyone except with the few brothers who live together with us in the same place! According to Paul, the minimum requirement for speaking of unity is in the context of the local church. If the Christians in Corinth want to talk about the unity of the Body, they should not talk about it in Rome or talk about it in Jerusalem, but talk about it in Corinth. If we do not talk about it in Corinth, it is useless. We are deceiving ourselves. Suppose I live in Shanghai, but I do not get along with the brothers in Shanghai. However, I get along quite well with the brothers in Nanking. This is useless, and I am deceiving myself. The unity of the Body required by the Scriptures has a minimum boundary requirement, which is the locality. The brothers in Corinth must be one with the brothers in Corinth. If they are not one in Corinth, all their words just deceive others….

We must notice that Paul did not pay attention to any problem arising between the brothers at Corinth and the brothers at Ephesus, or between the brothers at Corinth and the brothers at Colossae. He did not point out any problems between the brothers at Corinth and the brothers at Laodicea, or between the brothers at Corinth and the brothers at Philippi. Paul only paid attention to the divisions between the brothers at Corinth. They said, “I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, and I am of Christ,” but in effect Paul said, “Brothers! You are brothers at Corinth; you must not have envy, strife, and divisions at Corinth.” A boundary does exist. There should not be envy, strife, and divisions in the church at Corinth. To whom does you refer? It refers to the church at Corinth. Unity in the Scriptures involves the unity of the Holy Spirit and of the Body. However, the unity of the Holy Spirit and of the Body has a minimum boundary requirement; that is, this unity must be expressed within a local church.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 3, Vol. 56, 360-362)

In the excerpt below, Witness Lee draws from Romans to bring out several points related to the condition and location of a number of local churches:

The subject of Romans 16 is the local churches. Romans 1 talks about the just having life and living by faith (v. 17). Chapter five talks about the believers’ justification unto life. Though chapter sixteen seems to only contain many verses which are just greetings, the focus of this chapter is not the greetings. This chapter shows us through the greetings the condition of the local churches at the time of Paul. The greetings manifest the condition of the churches.

First, in the church in Cenchrea, there was a sister named Phoebe who was a deaconess in the church. She had been a patroness of many and of the apostle (vv. 1-2). She was indeed worthy of being a saint. Paul hoped that the church in Rome would receive her as a noble saint and in a manner worthy of her noble status.

Second, the churches of the nations existed severally in various localities. They were not all in one locality (v. 4). Third, the church in the house of Prisca and Aquila was the church in Rome (16:3, 5a). This shows us that the number of saints in the church in Rome was probably not that large. Fourth, the churches of Christ were the local churches existing severally in various localities (16:16b). Fifth, the church of which Gaius was the host probably refers to the church in Corinth, which met in Gaius’ house. All these items show us the condition of the local churches at that time.

(Witness Lee, Salvation in Life, 51-52)

4. The Harvest Stage (Revelation)

Witness Lee goes on to confirm the advanced understanding and practice of the truth of the local churches conveyed in the book of Revelation:

In the book of Revelation the divine revelation in the Bible reaches its consummation. The universal church as the Body of Christ is expressed through the local churches. The local churches, as the expressions of the one Body of Christ (Rev. 1:12, 20), are locally one. Revelation 1:4 says, “John to the seven churches which are in Asia.” Asia was a province of the ancient Roman Empire in which were the seven cities mentioned in 1:11. The seven churches were in those seven cities respectively, not all in one city. Revelation does not deal with the universal church, but with the local churches in various cities. We have seen that the church is firstly revealed as universal in Matthew 16:18 and then as local in Matthew 18:17. In Acts the church was practiced in the way of local churches, such as the church at Jerusalem (8:1) and the church at Antioch (13:1) and the churches in the provinces of Syria and Cilicia (15:41). Without the local churches, there is no practicality and actuality of the universal church. The universal church is realized in the local churches. Knowing the church universally must be consummated in knowing the church locally. It is a great advance for us to know and practice the local churches. Concerning the church, the book of Revelation is in the advanced stage, for it is written to local churches. If we would know this book, we must advance from the understanding of the universal church to the realization and practice of the local churches.

In 1:11 the voice said to John, “What you see write in a book and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” This verse is composed in a very important way. Here we see that the sending of this book “to the seven churches” equals sending it to the seven cities. This shows clearly that the practice of the church life was that of one church for one city, one city with one church. In no city was there more than one church. 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, 127-128)

Watchman Nee echos Witness Lee’s thought exactly:

The seven churches in Asia, referred to in the book of Revelation, comprised the church in Ephesus, the church in Smyrna, the church in Pergamos, the church in Thyatira, the church in Sardis, the church in Philadelphia, and the church in Laodicea. They were seven churches, not one. Each was distinct from the others on the ground of the difference of locality. It was only because the believers did not reside in one place that they did not belong to one church. There were seven different churches simply because the believers lived in seven different places. Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea are clearly all the names of places. Not only were the seven churches in Asia founded on the basis of locality, but all the churches mentioned in Scripture were founded on the same basis. Throughout the Word of God we can find no name attached to a church save the name of a place, for example, the church in Jerusalem, the church in Lystra, the church in Derbe, the church in Colosse, the church in Troas, the church in Thessalonica, the church in Antioch. This fact cannot be overemphasized, that in Scripture no other name but the name of a locality is ever connected with a church, and division of the church into churches is solely on the ground of difference of locality.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 2, Vol. 30, 53)

As the preceding selections by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee make clear, the matter of the local church is not an inconsequential, isolated issue. Rather, the truth of the local church—the universal church expressed in and identified only by the locality in which it exists—develops clearly and progressively through the entire New Testament and must be acknowledged and reckoned with by believers.

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