The Christian Faith Podcast

The New Testament Way of Simply Gathering Together as the Believers Where We Live • What Is the Church? (9)

How can we be one today with our fellow believers in Christ, in terms of how we gather together for fellowship in our local churches?The Lord surely desires for us be one; that is what He prayed for on the night He was betrayed:That they all may be one, even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, that the world may believe You have sent Me.— John 17:21Yet, tragically, today Christians are so divided from each other in their different gatherings that it doesn’t even seem possible for this prayer to be fulfilled. Still, because the Lord asked this of the Father, we surely do believe His prayer will be fulfilled.So, again we must ask, how can we be one?The answer, of course, is in the Bible. And when we genuinely take the Bible as the authority for what we believe, and study what it says in this regard, we will see that in the New Testament, the believers simply came together in the name of Christ as the church in their locality, so that there was only one church, no more (unlike today) in any locality. In this way they were one with all their fellow believers in the place where they lived, and by extension, one with all the other believers throughout the world, even though they could not practically be in fellowship with the saints in other places.So, in the New Testament, the only name we ever see attached to a church is the name of a locality: “the church in Jerusalem” (Acts 8:1); the church in Antioch (Acts 13:1); “the church of God in Corinth” (1 Cor. 1:2); “the church of the Thessalonians” (1 Thess. 1:1); and of course, the seven churches in Revelation, where the city simply equals the church in God’s sight (Rev. 1:11).This, then, is the New Testament way to keep the oneness with our fellow believers. It is not the oneness of any sect, man, work, or teaching (cf. 1 Cor 1:10-13), but the unique oneness of “the fellowship of God’s Son” that God has called us into as the believers in Christ (1 Cor. 1:9). It is only when we take this way for our church fellowship that the Lord’s prayer for the believers to be one on the earth can finally be fulfilled.And so in this episode we consider the basis of locality as the genuine ground upon which we should gather together with our fellow believers today.
To download the pamphlet we use asthe basis for this study, go to this page:“What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”To view the pamphlet online,go to the “Look Inside” page.
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee Episode #137: “The New Testament Way of Simply Gathering Together as the Believers Where We Live • What Is the Church? (9)”
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RESOURCES
Pamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”Look Inside: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”
Previous Episodes in this Series:Podcast Series: “What Is the Church?”
Episode #134, on 1 Corinthians 2: “What Is the Church? (6): The Fellowship of God’s Son & the Need to be Spiritual”
Video: “How I Found the New Testament Fellowship.”
BooksE.H. Broadbent, The Pilgrim ChurchWitness Lee, The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church LifeWatchman Nee, The Normal Christian Church Life 
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 4 June 2025

My Appreciation of Witness Lee & His Ministry • What Is the Church? (8)

The genuine New Testament fellowship of the believers in Christ is called “the fellowship of God’s Son” (1 Cor. 1:9), because Christ is the center, focus, and content of the genuine fellowship. But, it is also called “the fellowship of the apostles” (Acts 2:42), because, as we see in the New Testament, we are called into this genuine fellowship through the ministry of the apostles.Today, the same principle applies, namely, the Lord uses particular servants to call the believers back to the genuine New Testament fellowship. In the 1700s, He used Count Zinzendorf of Moravia in this regard; in the 1800s, it was John Nelson Darby and the brothers with him, through whom the Plymouth Brethren assemblies were raised up in England and elsewhere. And in the 20th century, it was Watchman Nee and Witness Lee; through these two servants, the Lord raised up genuine local churches in the New Testament fellowship of God’s Son, first in China and then throughout the entire earth.By now Watchman Nee’s ministry is for the most part accepted among Bible-believing Christians, but Witness Lee’s ministry is still quite often opposed and attacked. So, in this episode, I offer my personal testimony of appreciation of Witness Lee and his ministry, for the enormous spiritual help I have received through him. This is not done to uplift our brother, but rather in the hope that so many of my dear brothers and sisters in Christ will be able to receive some of the benefit of what the Lord committed to this dear brother and servant of the Lord, for their own help and for the building up of the Body of Christ today.To download the pamphlet we use asthe basis for this study, go to this page:“What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”To view the pamphlet online,go to the “Look Inside” page.
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Bible Verses for this Episode
See Episode #136: “What Is the Church? (8): My Appreciation of Witness Lee”
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RESOURCES
Pamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”Look Inside: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”
Previous Episodes in this Series:Podcast Series: “What Is the Church?”
Note: “The Bible in One Verse”Video: “How I Found the New Testament Fellowship.”
BooksE.H. Broadbent, The Pilgrim Church
DAC, Writings on the Turmoil Among the Churches
Witness Lee, The All-Inclusive ChristWitness Lee, The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church LifeWitness Lee The New Testament: Recovery VersionWatchman Nee, The Normal Christian Church Life
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 15 May 2025

The Fellowship of God’s Son & of the Apostles • What Is the Church? (7)

After reading Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we may look down at the church in Corinth because it was filled with so many problems. However, we should remember that this is the only book in the New Testament that specifically tells us it is written to all the believers in Christ (1:2). So Paul here is not just dealing with the problems in that local church, but with problems that have afflicted the church as a whole ever since.And one of these problems is an improper relationship with the servants of the Lord. We need to be clear that the fellowship of God's Son (1 Cor. 1:9) is also the fellowship of the apostles (Acts 2:42), because it is the labor of the apostles and of the genuine servants of the Lord that brings us into the genuine New Testament fellowship. Thus, if we are not properly related to such ones, there is no way for us to be in the proper fellowship, and the result will disastrous both for our own spiritual life and for the church.That is why Paul inserts chapter 4 in this epistle, after he has dealt with the problem of division in chapters 1 to 3, and before he goes on to deal with the problem of immorality in chapter 5. In brief, what we see in this chapter is what it means to have a proper relationship with those who serve us in the Lord.To download the pamphlet we use asthe basis for this study, go to this page:“What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”To view the pamphlet online,go to the “Look Inside” page.
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OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org
SUBSCRIBETheChristianFaith.org/subscribe
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee Episode #135: “What Is the Church? (7): The Fellowship of God’s Son & of the Apostles”
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RESOURCES
Previous Episodes in this Series:Podcast Series: “What Is the Church?”
Note: “The Bible in One Verse”Note: “A Shortage of Idiots”Pamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”Look Inside: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”
Video: “How I Found the New Testament Fellowship.”Podcast Series: “The Letters to the Seven Churches”
BooksE.H. Broadbent, The Pilgrim ChurchWitness Lee The New Testament: Recovery VersionJ.N. Darby: “The Nature and Unity of the Church”Witness Lee, The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church LifeWatchman Nee, The Normal Christian Church Life
===========Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 7 May 2025

The Fellowship of God’s Son & the Need to be Spiritual • What Is the Church? (6)

The “fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” is not carried out in the heavens; rather, it must be carried out in what is so often our messy church life here on the earth (1 Cor. 1:9).As we see in 1 Corinthians 2, the only way this can happen is for us to be dealt with by the Lord and His cross so we become, not simply those who have the Spirit of God, but who are also genuinely spiritual persons.In fact, no other portion of the New Testament shows us so clearly what it really means to be genuinely spiritual in Christ. And that is what we consider in this episode of our podcast.
To download the pamphlet we use as the basis for this study, go to this page:“What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”To view the pamphlet online,go to the “Look Inside” page.
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OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org
SUBSCRIBETheChristianFaith.org/subscribe
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Bible Verses for this Episode
See Episode #134: “The Fellowship of God’s Son & the Need for Spiritual Men”
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RESOURCES
Pamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”Look Inside: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”
Note: “The Bible in One Verse”Video: “How I Found the New Testament Fellowship.”Podcast Series: “Spirit and Soul and Body”
Previous Episodes in this Series:Podcast Series: “What Is the Church?” BooksWitness Lee The New Testament: Recovery VersionJ.N. Darby: “The Nature and Unity of the Church”Witness Lee, The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church LifeWatchman Nee, The Normal Christian Church LifeE.H. Broadbent, The Pilgrim Church
===========Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 1 May 2025

The Fellowship of God’s Son vs. Fleshly Boasting • What Is the Church? (5)

When the apostle Paul tells us that God has called us into “the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,” he is not writing his letter to the Ephesians. That is where we might have placed such a word since that letter describes to us God’s eternal purpose and the heavenly calling and standing of the church. Rather, he makes this wonderful declaration when he is speaking to the messy church in Corinth! (1 Cor. 1:9).No doubt, this is the wisdom of God, to show us that the fellowship of His Son, while it is heavenly in nature, must be worked out practically in what is often a very messy church life here on the earth.In particular, we could say that what we see in the opening chapters of 1 Corinthians, where we find this statement, is Paul’s dealing with the matter of divisions in the church. At a deeper level, however, Paul is actually dealing with our fleshly tendency to exalt ourselves by boasting in something other than Christ(1:29, 31, 3:21), which will always result in jealousy, strife, and divisions.To download the pamphlet we use as the basis for this study, go to this page:“What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”To view the pamphlet online,go to the “Look Inside” page.
===========OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org
SUBSCRIBETheChristianFaith.org/subscribe
SEND US A NOTEnotes@thechristianfaith.org
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Bible Verses for this Episode
See Episode #133: “The Fellowship of God’s Son and Spiritual Persons vs Fleshy Boasting”
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RESOURCESPamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”Look Inside: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”
Note: “The Bible in One Verse”Video: “How I Found the New Testament Fellowship”Podcast Series: “Spirit and Soul and Body”
Previous Episodes in this Series:Podcast Series: “What Is the Church?” BooksWitness Lee, The New Testament: Recovery VersionJ.N. Darby, “The Nature and Unity of the Church”Witness Lee, The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church LifeWatchman Nee, The Normal Christian Church LifeE.H. Broadbent, The Pilgrim Church
===========Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 23 April 2025

What Is the Church? (4): The Fellowship of God’s Son, the Cross, & Our Growth in Christ

At the beginning of his first letter to the church in Corinth, the apostle Paul tells us,God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.— 1 Corinthians 1:9What a wonderful declaration is this! As the believers in Christ, God has called us into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord! It is not the fellowship of any person, teaching, or practice, but the unique fellowship of the Son of God.And yet, just after saying this, Paul has to implore the saints in Corinth that there would be “no divisions” among them. He had to do this, because they had already begun to form parties around the different servants of the Lord:Now I mean this, that each of you says, I indeed am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.— 1 Corinthians 1:12So here we see that, while the fellowship of God’s Son is in itself something wonderful, when we seek to enter into this fellowship on the earth, the situation often becomes quite messy. Thus, as we see in opening chapters of 1 Corinthians, to actually have the fellowship of God’s Son requires that we as the believers in Christ experience the cross of Christ and grow in Christ.===========To download the pamphlet we use as the basis for this study, go to this page:“What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”===========
OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org
SUBSCRIBETheChristianFaith.org/subscribe
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee Episode #132: “The Church (4): The Fellowship of God’s Son, the Cross, & Our Growth in Christ”
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RESOURCES
Pamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”
Previous Episode in this Series:#129: “The Church (1): The Fullness of Christ” #130: “The Church (2): The Body of Christ & His Many Members” #131: “The Church (3): God’s Family & the Fellowship of God’s Son” Video: “How I Became a Christian”Video: “How I Found the New Testament Fellowship”
BooksWitness Lee The New Testament: Recovery VersionJ.N. Darby: “The Nature and Unity of the Church”Witness Lee, The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church LifeWatchman Nee, The Normal Christian Church LifeE.H. Broadbent, The Pilgrim Church
===========Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday,17 April 2025.

What Is the Church? (3): God’s Family & the Fellowship of God’s Son

The church is the Body of  Christ, His fullness (Eph. 1:22-23), which is composed of us, the believers in Christ, as His many members (Rom. 12:4-5), who have been born anew with the divine life to become the genuine children of God.All of these matters are in the spiritual realm, and are somewhat mysterious. But, based upon these spiritual realities, we must go on to enter into the practical experience here on the earth of the genuine New Testament church fellowship. So, in this episode we consider the church as God’s family (Eph. 2:19) and the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1:9)Note: To download the pamphlet we are using as the basis for this study, you can go to this page: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?” To view the pamphlet online, go to the “Look Inside” page.
===========OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org
SUBSCRIBETheChristianFaith.org/subscribe
SEND US A NOTEnotes@thechristianfaith.org
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Bible Verses for this Episode
See Episode #131: “The Church (2): God’s Family & the Fellowship of God’s Son”
===========RESOURCES
Pamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”
Previous Episode in this Series:#129: “The Church (1): The Fullness of Christ.” #130: “The Church (2): The Body of Christ & His Many Members” Video Series: “What Is My Life All About?” (The Salvation Series)Video: “How I Became a Christian.”Video: “How I Found the New Testament Fellowship.”
Books
J.N. Darby: “The Nature and Unity of the Church”Witness Lee, The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church LifeWatchman Nee, The Normal Christian Church LifeE.H. Broadbent, The Pilgrim Church
===========Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 10 April 2025

What Is the Church? (2): The Body of Christ & His Many Members

We should never think of the church as an organization. As the very Body of Christ, it is a living organism, composed of all its many members. And these members are us, the believers in Christ, who have been born anew with the divine life and nature (John 1:12-13, 2 Pet. 1:4), so that we are now joined in a spiritual, organic union not only with Christ as the Head of the Body, but also with our fellow members of this marvelous Body.NOTE: Click here to download the pamphlet we use as the basis for the sharing in this episode:“What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”
==========
OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org
SUBSCRIBETheChristianFaith.org/subscribe
SEND US A NOTEnotes@thechristianfaith.org
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee Episode #130: “The Church (2): The Body of Christ, His Members, and the Golden Lampstands.”
===========RESOURCESPamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”Previous Episode in this Series: #129: “The Church (1): The Fullness of Christ.” Note: “The Key to the Gospel (1): ‘To Open Their Eyes.’”Video: “How I Found the New Testament Fellowship.”
BooksWitness Lee, The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church LifeWatchman Nee, The Normal Christian Church LifeE.H. Broadbent: The Pilgrim Church
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 3 April 2025

What Is the Church? (1): The Fullness of Christ

Do we really appreciate the fact that God desires to have the church? We tend to look at spiritual things from our own viewpoint, focusing on our need for forgiveness of sins, for satisfaction, and for a sense of purpose in our life. But if we are willing to consider what God is after, what He desires, and to serve the Lord to that end, our Christian life will come to an entirely different level.And what God is after is simply this: the church, which will be His expression.So, in this episode we begin to consider the church in its various aspects. And in particular, we consider the church as “the fullness” of Christ, “the One who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23). As the believers partake of the riches that are within Christ and grow together in Him, we begin to express Christ and His virtues to the whole universe, including mankind and all the angelic powers, and this expression is the fullness of Christ.NOTE: Click here to download the pamphlet we use as the basis for the sharing in this series on the church: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”
===========OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org
SUBSCRIBETheChristianFaith.org/subscribe
SEND US A NOTEnotes@thechristianfaith.org
FOLLOW US ON…Facebook YouTubeTwitter / X
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee Episode #129: “The Church (1): The Fullness of Christ.”
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RESOURCES
Pamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”BooksWitness Lee, The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church LifeWatchman Nee, The Normal Christian Church Life
===========Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 27 March 2025.

God’s Goal: Not Heaven, but the Earth

So many Christians today seem to believe that God's goal for people is to get them into heaven. Yet, in reality, God is not working to bring people to heaven, but to re-take the earth, which today is in rebellion against Him.So now God is calling us, as the believers in Christ, to stand with Him in this purpose by preaching the gospel of the kingdom in all the earth (Matt. 24:14), to defeat Satan (Rom. 16:20, Eph. 6:10-18) and bring in the kingdom of the heavens even in this present age (cf. Matt. 6:9-10). Unless we are clear about this and reject the concept of “going to heaven” as our destiny, we will never understand the real meaning of our Christian life, nor how we should be following Christ and serving Him today.Only after the rebellion of Satan and mankind against God has been fully dealt with will “the kingdom of the world…become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ” (Rev. 11:15), so that the New Jerusalem, the eternal dwelling place of God and man, can come down from heaven to the earth for eternity (Rev. 21:1-2, 10). That is the goal of all God’s work today, and it should be ours as well.So, in this episode we consider how God is today bringing His heavenly kingdom to the earth.
===========OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org
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===========Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee Episode #128: “God’s Goal: Not Heaven, but the Earth.”
===========RESOURCES
Related EpisodesEpisode #67: "The Heaven Drug; or, Why I’m Not Going to Heaven." A Podcast Series: “The Eternal Gospel.”A Podcast Series: “The End of Amillenialism.”
Notes“Why Do You Stand, Gazing Into Heaven?”“What Is the Kingdom of the Heavens?”“Open Their Eyes and Turn Them!”
BooksG.H. Pember, Earth's Earliest Ages.
===========Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Tuesday, 18 March 2025.