[UntoHim]

Originally Posted by kisstheson

...I do believe dear brother Hope is touching upon something very important when he brings up this matter of “the Work”.
...Compare the last sentence in each of these two excerpts. A definite shift in attitude and speaking has taken place. In 1948, the elders now had to submit to the authority of the apostles. On top of that, the reference to 1 Tim. 5:19 is troubling. I realize that WN was speaking “off the cuff” in the second excerpt, but 1 Tim. 5:19 clearly states that any accusations against an elder must be based upon the testimony of two or three witnesses. There is nothing at all in 1 Tim. 5:19 related to presenting accusations against an elder to the apostles. Am I missing something here?

When a Christian group is first formed, or emerges from another, things tend to go rather smoothly at first. This is especially true when a movement is under the leadership of one person. When a church or group of churches expands some harsh realities must be delt with - natural human feelings, differences and strong preferences come into play. This is where it becomes silly and even dangerous to over-spiritualize things by telling everybody to "just take Christ" and then somehow everything will be ok. We have seen what happens when people "just take Christ"...you end up with The Local Church of Witness Lee religion.

On the "practical" side we have these two matters of "the work" and the artificial, man-made doctrine of locality. Both of these can and have been used as tools of great abuse among God's people. As far as I can tell, I think early Watchman Nee had a biblical and healthy notion of "the work" and how it should be carried out. Now his locality teaching, that's another matter, for it essentially ignores hundreds and hundreds of years of church history.