I. The Recovery of the Church Ground

Watchman Nee was a remarkable student and teacher of the Bible’s recovered truths. In 1937 he saw clearly in the Bible the matter of the ground of the church and the practice of a local church. This was not only a monumental step in the Lord’s recovery of biblical truths, but it also became one of the central items of Watchman Nee’s ministry. Witness Lee continued the teaching of his co-worker, speaking and writing extensively concerning the many items of recovered truth, including, particularly, the ground of the church and the practice of a local church. In A Brief Presentation of the Lord’s Recovery Witness Lee presents the primary items of truth which have characterized the Lord’s recovery since the time of Martin Luther, devoting an entire section to the definition of the church ground:

Following the above six main items of the Lord’s recovery, I would like to add two more items, that is, the recovery of the church ground and the recovery of the practice of the local churches. (27)

The ground of the church, as Witness Lee explains, denotes a site and comprises three elements:

the unique oneness of the Body of Christ,
the unique ground of the locality in which a local church is established and exists, and
the Spirit of oneness.

The Spirit of oneness expresses the oneness of the universal Body of Christ on the unique ground of the city in which each local church exists. This ground of the church preserves the genuine oneness of the church and also constitutes the base of the genuine and proper fellowship of all the believers.

A.	The Definition of the Church Ground
B.	The Genuine Ground of the Church Keeping the Genuine Oneness of the Church in Practicality
C.	The Base of the Genuine Fellowship of the Believers

A. The Definition of the Church Ground

1. Not the Foundation but the Site

The word ground that we use in reference to the church ground does not carry the denotation of a foundation, like the foundation of a building; it bears the denotation of a site, like the site on which the foundation of a building is laid. (28)

2. The Three Crucial Elements of the Church Ground

Continuing with his definition of the church ground, Witness Lee explains that it is composed of three elements, the first and most basic of which is oneness:

According to the divine revelation of the New Testament, the church ground is constituted of three crucial elements, as follows:

a. The Unique Oneness of the Universal Body of Christ

The first element of the constitution of the church ground is the unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ, which is called “the oneness of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:3). This is the oneness that the Lord prayed for in John 17. It is a oneness of the mingling of the processed Triune God with all the believers in Christ. This oneness is in the name of the Father (John 17:6, 11), denoting the Father’s person, in which is the Father’s life. This oneness is even in the Triune God through sanctification by His holy word as the truth (John 17:14-21). This oneness is ultimately in the divine glory for the expression of the Triune God (John 17:22-24). Such a oneness was imparted into the spirit of all the believers in Christ, in their regeneration by the Spirit of life with Christ as the divine life; this oneness has become the basic element of the church ground. (28)

The church ground is also composed of a second element, the unique ground of locality. Witness Lee shows uses a number of biblical examples to show that the one universal church has a local expression in a city—the local church—and that in any given city the biblical standard requires that there be only one church, whose boundaries and ground of existence are the city itself:

b. The Unique Ground of Locality of a Local Church

The second element of the church ground is the unique ground of the locality in which a local church is established and exists. The New Testament presents us a clear picture that all the local churches, as the expression of the universal church—the universal Body of Christ—are located in their respective cities. Hence, we see the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), the church in Antioch (Acts 13:1), the church in Cenchrea (Rom. 16:1), the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2), and the seven churches in Asia in seven respective cities (Rev. 1:4, 11). Every city as the boundary in which a church exists is the local ground of that church. Such a unique ground of locality preserves the church from being divided by many different matters as different grounds in the way that divisive denominations such as the Baptists, the Presbyterians, the Lutherans, the Methodists, and the Episcopalians are divided. (28-29)

c. The Reality of the Spirit of Oneness

The church ground has as its third element the reality of the Spirit. As Witness Lee states, it is the Spirit which is the real, living oneness of the believers, causing them to be not only one universally as the Body of Christ, but also one locally and practically as a local church:

The third element of the church ground is the reality of the Spirit of oneness, expressing the unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ on the unique ground of locality of a local church. Briefly, the third element of the church ground is the reality of the Spirit, who is the living reality of the divine Trinity (1 John 5:6; John 16:13). It is by this Spirit that the oneness of the Body of Christ becomes real and living. It is also through this Spirit that the ground of locality is applied in life and not in legality. And it is by this Spirit that the genuine ground of the church is linked with the Triune God (Eph. 4:3-6). (29)

B. The Genuine Ground of the Church Keeping the Genuine Oneness of the Church in Practicality

Witness Lee further explains that the only way for believers to possess the genuine oneness and fellowship that the Bible describes and avoid any divisions within a local church is by holding to the proper ground of the church:

The above-defined ground of the church keeps, in practicality, the genuine oneness of the church both locally and universally (Eph. 4:3), without any division. This is the only way to avoid today’s situation of division and confusion among the members of Christ.

C. The Base of the Genuine Fellowship of the Believers

The above-defined ground of the church is also the base of the genuine and proper fellowship of all the believers, which is called “the fellowship of the apostles” in the divine revelation (Acts 2:42), a fellowship that is with the Triune God and with all the members of Christ (1 John 1:1-3). This is the unique fellowship of the Body of Christ locally and universally. Because of the many divisive grounds of today’s Christianity, the fellowship among the members of Christ also is divided into many divisive fellowships. The way to be saved out of all these divisive fellowships is to take and keep the unique, genuine, and proper ground of the church. This is not a matter of doctrine and regulation; it is a spiritual fact and a practical necessity. (29-30)

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