The Ground of the church...Blessing

Witness Lee on the local church: The Ground of the church sequentially typified in the Old Testament

Witness Lee on the local church: Blessing

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Oneness in the local churches

Blessing in the local churches

Division and Captivity

Recovery of the local church

Principle of a remnant

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The Blessing (of Life under the Anointing Oil and the Watering Dew) on the Ground of Oneness—Psalm 133

The oneness of the believers in the local church, the church in their city, is a fundamental prerequisite for their experience of God's blessing. One of the hallmarks of the local churches in the book of Acts was the oneness of the believers. This oneness—and God's constant concern regarding it—was prefigured in the Old Testament history of the children of Israel. Once they arrived in the good land, the land of Canaan, God commanded the children of Israel to meet several times each year in Jerusalem. As they journeyed to these festivals, they would often sing several Psalms known as the Psalms of Ascent. One of these, Psalm 133, expresses the Israelites' joyful appreciation of God's blessing on the “brothers dwelling together in unity.” In the following quote, Witness Lee points out that this blessing prefigured the spiritual blessing the believers in Christ would experience whenever they, too, gathered together in oneness.

In Psalm 133 the oneness of God's people is also likened to the dew of Hermon that descends upon the mountains of Zion. These mountains typify the local churches. Every local church is a mountain of Zion. There is one Zion, but many mountains signifying the many local churches. As a person, the church is uniquely one. As a place, the church, on the one hand, is the unique Zion; but, on the other hand, it is the many mountains of the one Zion. Although there is one church in the universe, there are nevertheless many local churches. Each local church is a peak among the many mountains of Zion. Therefore, the person is universal, but the mountains are local. Our oneness is like the precious ointment upon Aaron and like the dew upon the mountains of Zion. God's dwelling place, the temple, was located in Zion. On the one hand, the church is a person; on the other hand, it is a place. Upon the person there is the ointment, and upon the place there is the dew.

(Witness Lee, Genuine Ground, 91)

Referring again to Psalm 133, and particularly to the likening of the blessing to ointment, or anointing oil, Witness Lee applies this spiritual blessing to believers meeting in oneness in the local churches:

The anointing oil and the watering dew are found in the church. Here we experience the anointing, the “painting,” of the processed Triune God. Simultaneously, we enjoy the processed God as grace, as the life supply for our enjoyment. By this grace we can live a life that it is impossible for people in the world to live. The brothers can love their wives to the uttermost, and the sisters can submit to their husbands in a full way. Such a living is possible through the grace we receive on the mountains of Zion.

(Witness Lee, Genuine Ground, 99)

For the believers to enjoy God's blessing in full they must remain in oneness with all other believers. This oneness is realized practically in their local church, the church meeting in their city. Throughout the earth, in all the local churches, believers can experience and enjoy the Lord's blessing on this oneness, typified in the Psalms as divine anointing oil and refreshing heavenly dew. How wonderful is the oneness among the believers in the local churches!