The Meetings and Spiritual Exercise of the Local Church
The Meetings and Spiritual Exercise of the Local Church |
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Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Watchman Nee and Witness LeeWatchman Nee points out that the prayer of the church exercises God’s authority: Acts 12:5 says, “So then Peter was kept in the prison; but prayer was being made fervently by the church to God concerning him.” Today the church should pray fervently for world events and the state of our nation. This kind of prayer involves the exercise of the authority that God has given the Body. (Watchman Nee, Mystery of Christ, 63) Witness Lee speaks concerning the prayer in one accord in a local church meeting: Some may wonder why we emphasize the local church since the place for the worship of God is our spirit. For convenience and practicality, we meet in the different cities where we live. Apparently we are divided by geography, for we meet in separate cities all over the world. Actually we remain in the oneness and are not divided, for wherever we may be, we meet in the Lord’s name, in the spirit, and with the cross. Therefore, no matter where we may be, we all meet in the same place. Recently, in the prayer meeting of the church in Anaheim, there were saints present from a number of different countries. We may say that we had an international prayer meeting. Nobody gave a word about the subject of our prayer or about how we should pray. Nevertheless, we prayed in one accord. We could be one in such a way because, in spite of geographical separation, we all meet in the same place—in the Lord’s name, in our spirit, and with the cross. (Witness Lee, LS of Deuteronomy, 79) The prayer meeting is one of the meetings of the church, as Watchman Nee states: We saw quite clearly that there was no need for a local church to maintain the Lord’s Day message meeting, because this kind of meeting is not a church meeting. The messages recorded in The Normal Christian Church Life speak concerning this in a very detailed way. The prayer meeting is a meeting of the church. The supplying by the ministers of the word in 1 Corinthians 14 is a meeting of the church. The table meeting is a meeting of the church. (Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 3, Vol. 51, 61) |
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