The Local Church

Behold, How Good and How Pleasant It Is for Brethren to Dwell Together in Unity

I grew up meeting with the local church. My family moved to several cities in Texas and Louisiana, and in all of those cities I was cherished by the Christians in the local churches. Their loving care warmed my heart toward the Lord and His Word. As I got older I began to wonder what the difference was between the local church and the denominations that my friends attended. I knew that the believers I met with loved all Christians, regardless of where they met on Sunday.

I prayed to God to show me where He wanted me to meet because I did not want to stay where I was only because my parents were there. Shortly after my prayer with the Lord, I heard a Christian speaker explain that there is one universal Church and this universal Church is expressed practically as the church in the city where I live. All of the believers in a city compose the church in that city. When the believers in a city meet together in oneness, they enjoy the Lord's blessing as in Psalms 133. When I heard this, I realized that the local church was not a new denomination or just another Christian group. The church in my city is a group of believers coming together to be one with each other to represent the oneness of all the believers in that city in a practical way. Now I can say, “behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.”

Faithful Men

I thank God that He has always had some faithful followers. I have received so much spiritual help from the believers who have gone before me and given their lives to study God's Holy Word and serve Him. I am especially grateful to the Lord that I was introduced to the ministry of Watchman Nee and his co-worker Witness Lee. I appreciate their ministry because it has helped me to understand the Bible and how to be nourished by the Bible. I have not only learned many facts about the Bible, but these brothers have shown me how I can know and experience my God. He is unsearchably rich and I can experience Him in my daily life.

Specifically, the ministry of these two brothers helped me to know that I have a human spirit made specifically to contain God, who is the Spirit. First Corinthians 15:45 tells us that the Lord has become the life-giving Spirit. This verse has become my experience because of the ministry of Witness Lee. The Lord is so available to me because He dwells within me and I can contact and enjoy His presence whenever I want.

I also appreciate this ministry because Witness Lee and Watchman Nee were faithful to come to God's Word in a prayerful way to study it. By taking them as my example, I enjoy studying the Bible to get life and spiritual nourishment rather than merely doctrinal knowledge. The Lord's words have become Spirit and life to me because these brothers made clear the way to pray over the words of the Bible.

The ministry of these two brothers has attracted me to the wonderful Christ. Watchman Nee and Witness Lee have stirred up my love for the Lord and for His Holy Word. Before reading their writings, my love for the Lord was small and my desire to read the Bible was weak. The more I read their writings on God and His Word and the various aspects of the Christian life, the more burning my love for the Lord becomes and the more I desire to know Him and to know His Word. I am so thankful that I contacted the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. Because they poured out their lives for the Lord and for the sake of His believers, I feel privileged to study their works. The Lord really used, and is still using them to unveil Himself and His Word to me.

Amy Birchman | Back to List

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