The Local Churches Typified in the Book of Psalms

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

1. God’s Purpose being Fulfilled through Christ and the Church

All five books of the Psalms show us that the earth is the ultimate intention of God’s desire. He must conquer the earth, recover the earth, and bring it back under His rightful rule. That is why the Lord taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-10, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” But His will is not yet done on the earth. That is why He taught us to pray, “Thy name be hallowed.” But His name is not yet hallowed on earth. That is why He taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come.” But His kingdom has not yet come. Psalm 8 tells us, “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.” But His name is still not excellent in all the earth. God is waiting for the building up of the local churches. When He has this, His name will be hallowed, His Kingdom will come, His will be done on earth as in heaven, and His name will be excellent in all the earth. The building up of the local churches is a tremendous matter.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 228-229)

We appreciate other works which are being done for the Lord, but the unique, strategic work of the Lord today is the practical building up of the local churches in the leading cities of this earth. After a few years you will see what will come forth all over this earth. The Lord will honor this move. He must have the building up of the house and the city that He may recover the entire earth. This is our burden. For this reason we have spent so much time studying the Psalms. There is not one book, even in the New Testament, which reveals these things so clearly as the Psalms. The local churches are the stepping-stone, the beachhead, for Him to take the earth and fulfill His purpose. He will certainly do it. How glorious this will be. What a wonderful experience we will have at that time!

The more we pray-read [pray over the words of] the Psalms, the more we see how good it is that God has turned us from the law to Christ, that He has brought us from Christ to the house, that we may be enlarged from the house to the city, and that from the city He is recovering the whole earth. Then God’s purpose will be fulfilled. Then we will all say, “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Hallelujah!”

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 229-230)

[Psalm 46]

Verse 6: “The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.” Why? Because He is in the city. Verses 7 through 10: “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God.” These verses are a kind of prophecy. When God has a church on this earth so strengthened and enlarged that it may be reckoned as a city, He will then have the ground to deal with the nations and possess the entire earth. The nations today are raging. But God will one day obtain a church as a city, and at that time He will say to all the nations, “Be still, and know that I am God.” God could not say this today, for He lacks such a strong church. God has not yet obtained a stronghold on this earth for Him to speak in such a way to the nations. But He will have it. Verse 10 continues, “I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” When God has a church so strengthened, so much enlarged and built up as a city to Him, He can say, “I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Finally, in the city we may say, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah” (v. 11).

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 84-85)

Psalm 47 continues by telling us that this very God who meets our needs in the city will be, in Christ, the King over all the earth through the city, the strengthened and enlarged church. Verse 1: “O clap your hands, all ye peoples; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.” When the church is truly enlarged as a city, in which we enjoy God as our everything, we will surely clap our hands. In such a church life, how can we help but shout unto God with the voice of triumph!…

Verses 2 and 3: “The Lord most high…is a great King over all the earth. He shall subdue the peoples under us, and the nations under our feet.” These are all God’s doings in Christ through the city, the enlarged church. When the church is enlarged as a city, God shall subdue the peoples through the city and rule over all the earth in Christ as a great King. Without such a church it would be difficult for God to accomplish this. It is the church enlarged as a city that will bring the entire earth under God’s authority and kingship in Christ.

Verses 5-9: “God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the nations: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness…He is greatly exalted.” All these marvelous things will take place because God has obtained a city as a base on the earth. The church must be built up as a city that God might have a base on the earth for His move. It is through the strengthened and enlarged church that God in Christ is praised and exalted as the King of all the earth, reigning over all the nations.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 85-86)

Main

God’s House

Zion

City of God

Bride

Practical Salvation

Built Up

Victory

Bibliography

Links