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

The Recovery of the Ground of Oneness—from Babylon to Jerusalem

When we read the book of Ezra, we see that he did not say much about himself. He only mentioned that in a certain year, Ezra, who was the son of the priest, came back. We are not told how he was raised up, but we know that it was the Lord's doing. The Lord raised up an Ezra to strengthen and enrich His recovery. So Ezra gave us a record of the silver, the gold, the vessels, and the basins which he brought back to the temple of God. This is not a small thing, for these are the riches of Christ returned from the captivity.

Sometimes people ask, “Don't you think that in the denominations there is something of the Lord?” I tell them that even in the Roman Catholic Church there are many things of the Lord. There is much silver, much gold, and many vessels in Babylon, but these things should not remain in Babylon. They must be brought back to Jerusalem. All the things of Christ must be recovered from Babylon. In the denominations there is considerable work of the Lord, yet all the people of God and all the works of the Lord are not for the denominations; they are for the local churches. All the children of Israel in Babylon, even those born there, were not for Babylon, but for Jerusalem. All the work the Lord accomplished in Babylon was not for Babylon, but for Jerusalem. We must pray that an increasing number of the Lord's children will be brought back to the local churches. And we must pray that all the experiences of Christ will be returned to the local churches. All the silver, all the gold, and all the vessels belong to the temple in Jerusalem.

I have never criticized the gospel work of anyone, for I realize that many have brought people to the Lord. In a sense, I like to hear of works that are so prevailing for the Lord. But on the other hand, I am not really happy until I see all these works brought into the local churches.

Ezra was one who brought many people into the recovery to strengthen it and many vessels of gold and silver to enrich it. The recovery today needs to be strengthened with numbers and enriched with the riches of Christ. To have the silver and gold is good, but to have it in Babylon is wrong. When the silver and gold are brought back to the house of God at Jerusalem, it is not only good, but also right. I like to see people pray-reading, but I am not so happy to see them pray-reading in the denominations. Not long ago, the Stream Publishers received a letter from a pastor telling how he appreciated the pray-reading. He asked us to send him many copies of The Stream in order that all the members of his church could learn to pray-read. I was happy, but in a sense I was not so happy, because that was something in the denominations. I am happy that people enjoy pray-reading, but I am not happy that the silver and gold remain in Babylon. It is not so good, but it is better than nothing; so we sent them all the copies to help them get the silver and gold. But all this must be brought back to the local churches. How we need the Ezras today to strengthen the numbers and to enrich the recovery with the silver and gold from Babylon.

(Witness Lee, Recovery of God's House, 68-69)

Today the church is in a state of desolation. According to typology the church has been captured to Babylon. The thriving condition of the church as seen by Paul in the first century was lost soon afterward. From that time, the church fell into a state of captivity, which continued until the time of Thyatira. After Thyatira, there was Sardis, where God began His work. Thyatira typifies Roman Catholicism, and Sardis typifies Protestantism. God began His recovery work at the time of Sardis. Although the truths were buried for such a long time, when they were recovered, they immediately became actualities. When Paul spoke concerning the truths in the first century, those truths were spiritual realities, yet they were not actualities. For example, when he spoke about the church, it was a reality, but the actual church had not appeared yet. After the Reformation, not only were the truths recovered, but the actual things themselves were recovered. For example, justification by faith is no longer just a truth; it has become an actual thing. If the Lord delays His coming, the church will no longer exhort men to be justified by works. The actual matter of justification by faith has been recovered in the church.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 3, Vol. 57, 30-31)

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