The Meetings and Spiritual Exercise of the Local Church

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

4. Speaking

Each member in a local church is given an opportunity to speak in the meetings, as Watchman Nee explains below:

If therefore the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak in tongues, and some unlearned in tongues or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are insane?….What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two, or at the most three, and in turn, and one should interpret; but if there is no interpreter, he should be silent in the church, and speak to himself and to God. And as to prophets, two or three should speak, and the others discern. But if something is revealed to another sitting by, the first should be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints (4:23, 26-33).

…An opportunity is given to each member of the church to help others, and an opportunity is given to each one to be helped. One brother may speak at one stage of the gathering and another later on; you may be chosen of the Spirit to help the brethren this time, and I next time. Everything in the meeting is governed throughout by the principle of “two or three” (vv. 27, 29). Even the same two or three prophets are not permanently appointed to minister to the meetings, but at each meeting the Spirit chooses any two or three from among all the prophets present. That such assemblies are assemblies of the church is seen at a glance, because the stamp of mutuality is clearly upon all the proceedings.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 2, Vol. 30, 173-174)

Similarly, Witness Lee confirms that all the local churches meet in a way that encourages the believers to speak:

We do believe that all the churches in the Lord’s recovery practice meeting in a way that is open to all the saints to pray, to give a word of exhortation, and to speak something for the Lord. We must encourage the new ones to pray in the meeting and to speak something for the Lord. We should encourage them to function in the church. All the churches desire to see the attendants in their meeting function because that strengthens, enriches, and uplifts the meeting.

(Witness Lee, Instruction, 25)

In a local church meeting, all the believers should be functioning and testifying, as Witness Lee relates:

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)

Main

Meetings

Lord’s Table

Prayer

Prophesying

Small Group

Gospel

Children’s

OT Type

Spiritual Exercise

Reading

Praying

Singing

Speaking

Thanksgiving

Praising

Serving

Calling

Pray-Reading

Bibliography

Links