Difference between revisions of "The local church"
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===Infomation on the Local Church by the Local Church:=== | ===Infomation on the Local Church by the Local Church:=== | ||
Revision as of 05:42, 1 November 2006
"The local church" is a group of christains that practice meeting as the church wherever they live. They believe and teach that local churches include all of the believers in their respective cities; therefore all the believers in their respective cities comprise the church in each city. They receive all believers in Christ just as God has received them (Romans 14:3; 15:7). The present day practice has its begining in the teachings of a christian teacher and author, Watchman Nee (1903-1972), it was brought to the United States by his co-worker, Witness Lee (1905-1997). This group has been called by verious names, including, "The Little Flock" and "The Local Church". They adopt no formal name and only veiw the term "local church" as a description of what they are. In the writings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, the terms “local church” or “local churches” refers to the New Testiment model, pattern and practice of one church in one city. Both Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, his closest co-worker, taught that in addition to its universal, mystical aspect*, the church also has a local, practical aspect.
Contents
According to the Local Church
Members of the "the local church" describe themselves as a group of christains that practice meeting as the church wherever they live. They believe and teach that local churches include all of the believers in their respective cities; therefore all the believers in their respective cities comprise the church in each city. They receive all believers in Christ just as God has received them (Romans 14:3; 15:7). The present day practice has its begining in the teachings of a christian teacher and author, Watchman Nee (1903-1972), it was brought to the United States by his co-worker, Witness Lee (1905-1997). This group has been called by verious names, including, "The Little Flock" and "The Local Church". They adopt no formal name and only veiw the term "local church" as a description of what they are. In the writings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, the terms “local church” or “local churches” refers to the New Testiment model, pattern and practice of one church in one city. Both Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, his closest co-worker, taught that in addition to its universal, mystical aspect*, the church also has a local, practical aspect.
Teachings in the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee
The Church
Universal Aspect
Matthew 16:18
"...I will build My church..."(NSAB)
*Watchman Nee, in his Collected Works writes,
"The universal church includes all the believers both past and present. There is only one such church, and we cannot add another to it. The universal church is unique." (2.43.572)
(*note: See the Nicene Creed(wikipidia)#Traditional_English_versions.
Local Aspect
Mathew 18:17
"If he refuses to listen...tell it to the church..."(NSAB)
- Again Nee writes:
"The local church includes all the local believers at a certain time and in a certain place. It is limited to time and place. It can be counted. This is why we see expressions in the Bible such as the “church” (Acts 9:31), the “seven churches” (Rev. 1:4), and the “churches” (1 Cor. 11:16; 14:33)". (Watchman Nee, Collected Works, 2.43.572)
- Henry Cotterill, bishop of Edinburgh, authored the work "The Genesis of the Church" in 1872. He wrote:
"We have observed that whilst, in the language both of Christ Himself and of the apostles, the whole body of disciples or Christians everywhere is spoken of as “the Church,” yet apostolic writers speak of Christians in a particular country as “the Churches” in that country. But whenever they would describe the body of Christians in a single city,—even in Jerusalem where, shortly after the day of Pentecost, there were five thousand disciples, it is always “the Church,” never “the Churches,” in that city: the use of the singular indicating that common corporate life of Christians dwelling in the same place." (567)
- Augustus Neander, Professor of Theology at the University of Berlin, in "History of the Planting and Training of the Christian Church by the Apostles" ,1889, he wrote:
"But the Epistlets of the apostle Paul give the clearest evidence that all the Christians of one city originally formed one church."
Also see:
The Triune God/Trinity
"God is both one and three; the Three of the Godhead coexist simultaneously and eternally; that each of the Three is fully God; each of the Three is eternal; the Three coinhere inseparably; and the Three, each distinct though never separate, exist as one unique God."
"Modalism is heretical. Modalism teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are likewise finite, not eternal. It asserts that They are merely three temporary modes or forms of activity through which God manifests Himself in time. Modalism claims that the Father's existence ended with the Son's coming and that the Son ceased to exist when the Spirit came. Thus, according to modalistic thought, the Father, Son, and Spirit do not exist simultaneously and eternally. This view, of course, is contrary to the pure biblical revelation of the Triune God."
(See: *The Triune God)
Economical Trinity
God viewed from the aspect of His economy (God in his actions)
Essencial Trinity
God viewed from the aspect of His eternal being
Infomation on the Local Church by the Local Church:
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Living Stream Ministry Theological Journal published by LSM directed at non-members and new-comers Responses to Accusations against the local churches LSM Online Publications Recovery Version Online Sketch of the Life and Ministry of Watchman Nee Sketch of the Life and Ministry of Witness Lee Relationship Between Watchman Nee and Witness Lee |
