The Meetings and Spiritual Exercise of the Local Church

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

Witness Lee explains why we must praise the Lord in the local churches:

Now let us come to the most strategic point, the house and the city, and see how the saints experience and enjoy God there. Firstly, they love God’s house as the habitation where God’s glory dwells: “Lord, I love the habitation of thy house, and the place where thy glory dwelleth” (Ps. 26:8). Secondly, they desire to dwell in the house of God to behold His beauty, inquire in His temple, be hidden and protected in it, offer sacrifices of joy, and sing praises to Him: “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of shouts of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord” (Ps. 27:4-6). This is a prediction of the church life. We all must desire to dwell in the local churches to behold God’s beauty. We should offer sacrifices of shouts of joy (J. N. Darby’s translation).

…Praise the Lord, we must shout for joy forever! Where? In the local churches, in the house of God.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 61)

Watchman Nee also explains why in the Lord’s table of the local churches the praises should be directed toward the Lord:

When we come to the Lord, we find out that we were sinners. We were sons of disobedience, sons of wrath under God’s judgment. We had no way to save ourselves. But because the Lord Jesus shed His blood for our redemption, we can come before the Lord to receive His life. When we were sinners, we came to the Lord. When we saw how our sins were forgiven, we also came to Him. Hence, during the first part of the bread-breaking meeting, all our hymns, thanksgiving, and praises should be directed toward the Lord.

When we come to the Lord, we should offer thanksgiving and praises to Him. Strictly speaking, we should not do anything other than offer thanksgiving and praises. It is improper to petition for anything in this meeting. We cannot ask the Lord to shed His blood for us. This has already been accomplished; there is no longer any need to ask for this. We just have to praise and give thanks. Whether it is through praying or singing, we should only thank and praise Him. Thanksgiving is directed at the Lord’s work, while praise is directed at the Lord Himself. We give thanks for what He has done, and we praise Him for what He is. At the beginning there is more thanksgiving. But gradually we turn to praise. As we give thanks we also praise. We see what a wonderful work He has done for us, and we also see what a wonderful Savior He is. After we have offered up enough thanksgiving, we should begin to praise. When our praise reaches the peak, then is the time for us to break bread.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 3, Vol. 48, 200-201)

Watchman Nee shares on the part of the local church bread-breaking meeting which is the best time to sing praises to the Father:

Hebrews 2 shows us that the Lord Jesus is bringing many sons into glory. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was the only begotten Son of God; He was the only One. But He died and resurrected. Now we have received Him and have become God’s sons. The Lord Jesus is the firstborn Son, and we are the many sons. Verse 12 says, “In the midst of the church I will sing hymns of praise to You.” The meeting spoken of in Hebrews 2 is the meeting of the firstborn Son with the many sons singing praises to the Father. The second part of the bread-breaking meeting is precisely this meeting of the firstborn Son with the many sons. We should learn to raise our spirit to the peak in this part of the meeting. The second part of the bread-breaking meeting is the best time on earth for us to sing praises to the Father. We need to learn to raise our spirits to the height in this section of the meeting.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 3, Vol. 48, 202-203)

In the following excerpt, Witness Lee declares that all of the believers should be praising believers:

If you come to the meeting and just sit there waiting for others to function, you are still under the influence of the Nicolaitans. You must be delivered, you must escape, you must break through, even if you have to shout. Today in the local church there must be neither “nico-,” nor “-laitans,” neither clergy nor laymen. All the brothers and sisters must be functioning, praying, testifying, shouting and praising brothers and sisters.

(Witness Lee, Christ v. Religion, 169)

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