The Meetings and Spiritual Exercise of the Local Church

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

The Lord as the peace offering can only be enjoyed in the church meetings, as Witness Lee explains:

The second point is that the peace offering can be presented and enjoyed only in the tent of meeting. It is not to be enjoyed at home, but it must be brought to the door of the tent of meeting. We know that today the tent of meeting is the meetings of the local church. It is rather difficult for any one of us to enjoy Christ as the peace offering in our own home. We must be in the church meeting in order to have the position to enjoy Christ as the peace offering.

Of course, I realize that some will say that the Lord is omnipresent; He is everywhere. Therefore, He can be enjoyed everywhere. I will not say that you cannot enjoy the Lord everywhere, but I am sure you cannot enjoy the Lord as the peace offering everywhere. You may enjoy the Lord in other aspects, but you cannot enjoy the Lord as the peace offering in any place but in the tent of meeting. This is exceedingly vital. To enjoy the peace offering is not to be done at home, but absolutely in the tent of meeting.

(Witness Lee, Christ as the Reality, 169)

Witness Lee explains that the inward parts of the peace offering from the Old Testament point to Christ as the inward parts enjoyed by God in the Lord’s table meeting:

God’s portion of the peace offering is the hidden part. He gets all the inwards with all the fat and the two kidneys. This is indeed meaningful. We cannot understand the “inwards” of Christ. We can present them, but we cannot appreciate them so deeply. The inwards of Christ can only be understood, apprehended, and appreciated by God Himself. They are too deep, too hidden, and too mysterious to us. Yet, praise the Lord, we can present them! We cannot appreciate them so deeply, and we cannot apprehend the mystery, but we can present them to God and let God enjoy this hidden part.

What does Christ think within Himself? What does He consider deep in His being? No one can realize such depths; therefore, not one of us can enjoy this part. We are not qualified, but God is qualified; so this is His part. The hidden and mysterious part of Christ is for God, and this is God’s food. God is satisfied by the inwards of Christ who is offered by us. Every time we have the Lord’s table, it is also a dining table for God. Some of us have been meeting in the local church and enjoying the Lord’s table for years, but I do not believe that many of us have realized that the Lord’s table is also a dining table for God. It is not only the saints who come and dine, but God also who comes and dines. It is here that we present something to God which is so hidden and mysterious that we cannot apprehend it. But God can! This is the inward parts of Christ, the most tender and precious parts of His inner being. All the fat of the inwards and all the tender, sweet, and precious parts are for God’s appreciation and God’s enjoyment. Leviticus 3 mentions repeatedly that this is God’s food.

(Witness Lee, Christ as the Reality, 175-176)

Concerning the Old Testament burnt offerings, Witness Lee describes them as the praises of Christ:

In Psalm 66:13 the Psalmist says, “I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows.” The burnt offerings are the praises of Christ. The Lord has caused us to dwell in His courts, and now we may come to the house of God with praises of Christ as an offering. We learn to offer these praises as offerings to God. In all the local churches we need to be trained to praise Him that we may always have praise concerning Christ as an offering to God.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 97)

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