The Meetings and Spiritual Exercise of the Local Church

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

Witness Lee shares that the foundation of the house of the Lord is laid by praising:

The oneness, the priesthood, the kingship, and the altar are the preparation for laying the foundation. According to typology, this foundation is nothing but Christ. They laid Christ as their foundation.

…How do we lay the foundation? The foundation is laid by praising and shouting. “And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because He is good, for His mercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

(Witness Lee, Recovery of God’s House, 27-28)

From the Psalms, Witness Lee shares that whenever we speak well of the local churches, it is a kind of praise to Christ:

Verse 9 goes on to say, “Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.” The kings’ daughters are the saints, and the queen is the church. Individually speaking, we are the saints, but corporately speaking, we are the church. We are all one queen; the queen is a corporate body. She is at His right hand. Brothers, if you have your dear wife standing at your side, and I speak commendably of her, you will feel happy. The praise is about your dear wife, but it goes to you. The praise here is about the queen, but it goes to the King. When we say, “Look, look at the resplendent glory of that golden queen,” the glory goes to Christ. Every time we speak well of the church, Christ in heaven is made glad. When we say, “Praise the Lord for the church in Chicago,” or, “Praise the Lord for the church in Atlanta,” He is well pleased. Whenever we speak well of the local churches, it is a kind of praise to Christ.

The praise about the King should undoubtedly come first, but the praise concerning the queen should follow. Suppose you were the King: what part of the praise would make you happier? If I were the King, I would delight more in the praise about the queen. Christ is deeply gratified when we speak well of the local churches. Our praises must be not only about Christ, but many times about the queen, about the churches.

The queen is seen in gold of Ophir. Gold in typology signifies the divine nature. The church’s beauty is not in anything but the divine nature. She is royal and she is divine; she is in gold of Ophir, the best gold.

Then the Psalmist immediately turns to the queen and says, “Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house.” Instead of praises here we have an instruction to the queen which is exceedingly meaningful. Sometimes even the instructions given to the local churches are the same as praises in the ears of Christ. Why? Because the proper instructions given to the church make the church more really the church; therefore these too are praises. These are the instructions: Hearken and forget. All the local churches must learn how to hear and how to forget, how to hear the Spirit’s living, up-to-date speaking, and how to forget the past—the old relationships, the old ways, the old background.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 73-74)

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