Here are quotes from The Lord’s Recovery (a.k.a. “The Local Churches”) to prayerfully consider. For further reading, all books are available on ministrybooks.org.
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To know God is not adequate. To know Christ is also not adequate. Even to know the church is not adequate. We must go on to know the churches, which are local. If we are up to date in following the Lord, we will realize that today is the day of the local churches … We all realize that everything is in the Bible. But not long after the New Testament was completed, the church began to lose all the important things found in the Bible. Eventually, by the fifteenth century, everything was lost. Very little of God was known. Then the Lord began His recovery at the time of the Reformation with Martin Luther. [243]
Then in the first part of this century, the Lord began to recover something more regarding the church. What He recovered was the reality, or we may call it the spirituality, of the church. The spiritual principles of the Body of Christ were recovered mainly in the first third of this century. [244]
(The Seven Spirits for the Local Churches, from The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1969, Volume 2, Chapter 2: God’s Revelation and God’s Recovery, pp. 243 & 244, published by Living Stream Ministries. Certain words have been typed in bold italics for emphasis.)
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We need to compare what is seen in the Bible with what is seen today in Christianity. I have to use two words to describe today’s Christianity: deformed and degraded. If we are not careful, we might become something that is deformed and degraded. All of Christianity is deformed from the form of the revelation in the holy Word and is also degraded. We need to know the real situation and see a clear picture of today’s Christianity. When we talk about Christianity in such a way, this does not mean that we do not love all Christians. We love all of our brothers and sisters in the Lord, yet we have to admit that today’s Christendom is absolutely far off from God’s eternal plan. [329]
My burden is to open up the real situation of today’s Christianity so that we may know where we should go and where we should remain. We should stand for the testimony of Jesus in this age. We need to compare what is revealed in the Bible with what is being practiced in today’s Christianity. We must stay away from the practice of the deformed and degraded Christianity and come back to the divine revelation for the Lord’s recovery. The preaching of the gospel and the teaching of the Bible do take place in Christianity. But in a larger sense the religious practice of Christianity kills the living members of Christ and annuls the organic function of the members of the Body of Christ. This religious system also involves the building up of hierarchy. [337]
(The God-Ordained Way to Practice the New Testament Economy, from The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1987, Volume 2, pp. 329 & 337, published by Living Stream Ministry. Certain words have been typed in bold italics for emphasis.)
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According to the book of Revelation, Christendom is the great harlot and is called “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (17:5). This evil woman is seen holding “a golden cup full of abominations and the unclean things of her fornication” (v. 4). [109]
Christendom has a devilish element, but it still holds something divine. It holds a golden cup, but within the cup are abominations and unclean things related to spiritual fornication. The golden cup is the outward appearance, but the inward reality is abominable … The Lord’s recovery is for bringing us out of this unscriptural system and back to the beginning of the pure practice of the church life according to the divine revelation. [110]
We are still in a situation in which we need the Lord’s rescue, the Lord’s recovery. I am afraid that a number of us are still under the negative influence of Christendom. We all have to realize that today the Lord is going on and on to fully recover us and bring us fully out of Christendom. The Lord desires something fully in the spirit. [111]
(The History of the Church and the Local Churches, from The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1973-1974, Volume 1, Chapter 10: The History of the Local Churches (8), pp. 109, 110, & 111, published by Living Stream Ministry. Certain words have been typed in bold italics for emphasis.)
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Matthew 16:18 footnote on “build”: The Lord’s building of His church began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, 41-42). Yet the Lord’s prophecy here still has not been fulfilled, even up to the twentieth century. The Lord is not building up His church in Christendom, which is composed of the apostate Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations. This prophecy is being fulfilled through the Lord’s recovery, in which the building of the genuine church is being accomplished.
(Footnote found in Matthew 16:18, The Holy Bible: Recovery Version, Witness Lee, Published by Living Stream Ministries, 2022. Certain words have been typed in bold italics for emphasis.)
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How can we know the way of the Lord’s testimony, and what should our attitude be toward those who take another way? On the surface, others have pastors and we do not, and others have a name for their fellowship and we do not. However, these things cannot be considered as the basis for distinguishing between the two ways. The basis comprises only three points. First, there is the question of name. We must first ask other Christians if they take a name other than the name of Christ. As long as they have a name other than Christ’s, the life in these Christians is questionable.
(The Bridge and Channel of God, from The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1953, Volume 1, Chapter 3, p. 26, published by Living Stream Ministry. Certain words have been typed in bold italics for emphasis.)
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If we realize what has been terminated in Christ, we shall know that it is shameful for so-called churches to designate themselves by certain names. For example, in China there was a group called the American Presbyterian Church. Recently in southern California I saw a sign which read “The Orange County Chinese Taiwanese Church.” A brother recently told me about a group called the San Francisco Chinese Mennonite Church. There is no room for any such names or designations in the church. Those who take a name such as these indicate by doing so that they are not the church in the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that they have a name indicates that many things among them have not been terminated.
(Life-Study of Thessalonians by Witness Lee, Chapter 8, pp. 64-65, published by Living Stream Ministry. Certain words have been typed in bold italics for emphasis.)
Sometimes people have argued with us, saying, “We have never denied the Lord’s name.” We replied, “Yes, you have never denied His name, but you have taken another name in addition to and even above His name. Now you have two names. Why don’t you drop the other name you have taken? If you would drop this other name, then we could be one. All other names cause divisions. You call yourself a Presbyterian. I hate that name because taking it makes me a fornicator. Since you like it and I hate it, if you still hold on to it, how can we be one? But if you drop this name, we shall immediately be one in the unique name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Some have said that the name on the outside of their so-called church building is merely an outward sign, and that they do not really care about it. If they do not care about it, then they should prove their honesty in this manner by removing that sign. But some have said that it is too difficult for them to do that because the “church” board would hinder them. To this I replied, “Then you must bear the responsibility for division.”
(Life-Study of Revelation by Witness Lee, Chapter 15, pp. 188-189, published by Living Stream Ministry. Certain words have been typed in bold italics for emphasis.)
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Section: *_The Proper Condition of the Overcomers_*
Brothers and sisters, in conclusion I would like to say that if you would like to be a top Christian, you must be a Christian in the churches of the Lord’s recovery. You must also learn to live in the Body and not ever be individualistic. Furthermore, you must also understand that the churches in the Lord’s recovery on the entire earth are just one new man. Never be individualistic, and never be divisive; instead, be in the one Body and in the one new man. Moreover, in everything and in every matter in your living you must also continuously follow what the Spirit within you is speaking to the churches. Simply put, you must follow the Spirit, live in the Body, and live in the new man. This is our way today. Whatever would cause you to be separated from the Body is heretical. Whatever would cause you not to live in the new man is also an error. Whatever is not spoken by the Spirit within you is conceived only in your own mind. We must see the one Body, the one Spirit, and the one new man. We all need to hear what the Spirit within us is speaking to the churches today.
(One Body, One Spirit, and One New Man, From the Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, Volume 3, Chapter 10, pp. 366-367, published by Living Stream Ministry. Certain words have been typed in bold italics for emphasis.)
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We are not narrow, saying that the overcomers are only in the Lord’s recovery. There are many overcomers in Sardis and even Thyatira. This is the Lord’s sovereignty to shame His enemy. He will leave certain ones in Babylon, and in the midst of Babylon, these ones will overcome.
(The Ministry of the Word, Volume 16, Number 12, p. 29, December 2012, published by Living Stream Ministry. Certain words have been typed in bold italics for emphasis.)
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The overcoming Christians who live in the reality of the kingdom today will reign as kings in glory in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the future. Those Christians who are neither sinful nor faithful and who have neither loss nor gain today will suffer the shame of the outer darkness in the future. The end of sinful Christians is to be hurt and to suffer in hell for a thousand years during the millennial kingdom (Rev. 2:11). This is not too much; it is the teaching of the Bible. They will not perish in hell for eternity, but they will be punished for a thousand years during the millennial kingdom. Since the reigning of the overcoming ones with the Lord in His glory takes place during the millennial kingdom, the punishment of the sinning ones in hell must also take place during the millennial kingdom. Since the period of reward is one thousand years, the period of punishment must also be one thousand years. This is a warning.
(The Christian, from The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1932-1949, Volume 1, Chapter 14, page 216, published by Living Stream Ministry. Certain words have been typed in bold italics for emphasis.)
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“At the end of the summer training in 1995, We celebrated the completion of the life-study of the Bible through Brother’s Lee’s speaking and the burden of the of the interpreted word, not merely the written Word. The word that we need to keep is not only the written Word that we study, read, and pray-read but also the proper interpretation of the Word. We boldly declare that this interpretation is to be found in the footnotes and the outline of the Recovery Version and the Life-study messages. If we do not pay proper attention to the interpreted Word as the opener of the written Word, we will lose everything eventually. Many saints who have passed through my heart, through my house, and through the church have eventually lost everything.”
(The Ministry of the Word, Volume 16, Number 12, p. 97, December 2012, published by Living Stream Ministry. Certain words have been typed in bold italics for emphasis.)
The Curious Fellows 
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