The Local Churches Typified in the Book of Psalms

The Victory of God over His Enemies Being in His Dwelling

2. Giving Christ the Pre-eminence for the Restoration of His Dwelling Place

In the following passage, Witness Lee points out that if the believers in a local church do not give to Christ, as the Man of God’s right hand, the pre-eminence in all things, then the house of God, the church, will become desolate.

Psalm 80:17-19: “Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Restore us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.” In this poetic utterance of the seeking saint, the Spirit of Christ is saying something concerning Christ. It is that the restoration of God’s dwelling place depends wholly upon Christ. We must give Christ the proper position; then the desolated house of God will be restored. By the Psalmist’s assertion that the restoration of God’s house depends upon the position given to Christ, we learn the reason for the desolation of the house of God. The house is desolate because the position of Christ has been lost among God’s people. If we would recover the house of God, we must afford Christ His proper position. His position is that of the Man whom God has made strong for Himself, the Man who is at the right hand of God. This indicates His pre-eminence, His first place. The right hand of God is the first and highest place in the entire universe, and God has put Christ there. God has given the pre-eminence of the whole universe to Christ. He must be in that position, but among the people of God He has not been exalted to that position. He has lost His pre-eminence; so the house of God has become desolate….Christ has lost His pre-eminence; Christ is not in the first position; the people have put Christ aside. Hence, desolation has entered.

In these days we are so happy to speak well of the local churches. But remember, Christ must have the first place among us. If Christ does not have the pre-eminence, there can be no restoration of the house of God. Desolation has resulted from the loss of His proper position, and recovery will result from our rendering to Christ His due place. He is the Man who is made strong for God, and He is the Man at the right hand of God. We must give Him this position; we must recognize His pre-eminence in the whole universe. If so, we will see the house of God restored.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 139-140)

Here, Witness Lee presents the matter of giving Christ the preeminence in a local church by means of two practical illustrations.

Suppose that two brothers of a local church in a certain city talk together in a critical way about the leading brothers of that church. Do you believe that they are giving the pre-eminence to Christ? Actually, they are putting themselves in the first place. They are exalting themselves, not Christ. In that place two horns will rise up on the head. When those brothers come together to speak about the situation of the church, instead of criticizing, they must say, “Lord, we give You the pre-eminence; we are under Your headship. We are nobody; You are the only One, Lord.”

Suppose now that the leading brothers of that particular local church hear these two young brothers speaking in such a way and are deeply offended. They arise to defend themselves and assert their authority. If the leading brothers react in this way, it means that they also are not under the headship of Christ, that they also are not giving Christ the pre-eminence. They should bow down and say, “Lord, the pre-eminence is Thine, the first place is Yours. Though we may be the leading ones, we are nobody. The young brothers are not wrong; we are really poor.” Perhaps the brothers and sisters in that place may, in a sense, be poor, but they are giving the first place to the Lord, the pre-eminence to Christ. There you will see the restoration of God’s house. If they fight one with another, the young people against the leading ones, and the leading ones against the young people, there will only be desolation. The young people will attempt to justify themselves, and the leading ones will vindicate their position. This is nothing but desolation. They are desolating the church. Whenever Christ loses His pre-eminence among us, the church is wrong. We all must submit ourselves to His headship and say, “None among us is anybody; You are the only One, Lord, who has the pre- eminence. We give You the pre-eminence, Lord.” Regardless of how weak we are, regardless of how poor we are, if we take this attitude, there is the possibility for the restoration of God’s house. The desolation will be past; it will be swallowed up by the restoration.

Christ must be afforded the proper position by the people of God. God has already given Him the highest place in the universe. Now every one of us, both the young brothers and sisters and the elder brothers and sisters, must give Him His due place. Never take the pre-eminence among the Lord’s people in the local church; the pre-eminence must always be given to Christ. The first secret for us in maintaining the house of God and restoring it from desolation is to give the pre-eminence to Christ.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 140-141)

In this age, God fulfills His purpose of defeating His enemy through the church, the Body of Christ. Witness Lee shows us through the Psalms that our spiritual victory is supplied in the church—which, in practicality is in the local churches. Furthermore, the believers in a local church who exercise themselves to give Christ the preeminence in all things afford Christ the way to come in to rescue the local church from desolation and to do the work of spiritual restoration.

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