The Experience and Enjoyment of Christ in the Local Churches

Experiencing Christ in the Local Church

Psalm 48, beloved and treasured among Christians for centuries, describes the rich experiences of Christ in the local church as our refuge, retreat, tower, and guide.

4. Experiencing Christ as Our Retreat

In describing the believers' experience of Christ in the local church as unveiled in Psalm 48, Witness Lee says:

Mount Zion, the sides of the north, the city of the great King, is beautiful in elevation. It is the joy of the whole earth (v. 2).

Verse 3 says, "God has made Himself known/In her palaces as a high retreat." The city signifies the church, the universal church, but the palaces in the city signify the local churches. God has made Himself known in the palaces, in the local churches….First, God Himself is a retreat, and then the local churches become a retreat. The local churches today are a retreat….

In Psalms 46-48 God is our refuge, our retreat, and our guide. The God whom we enjoy through Christ, in Christ, and with Christ in the church and the local churches is our refuge, retreat, and guide. Have you experienced and enjoyed Him in this way? At present, our experience may be limited, but we thank the Lord for the new "shoots" and "branches" of such an experience of God in Christ that are springing forth. May we all learn to enjoy God in Christ in the church and in the local churches.

(Witness Lee, LS of Psalms, 274, 276)

5. Experiencing Christ as Our Tower

Commenting elsewhere on Psalm 48, Witness Lee describes our experience of spiritual warfare in the local churches:

In Psalm 48, when the enemies see the church, they flee in terror. As long as we are in the church as a stronghold on this earth, no enemy can prevail. The Lord said, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). Amen, hallelujah! Spiritual warfare is simply a matter of getting yourself into the city. When you are in the city, you will see how the enemies will flee. This is not a mere teaching; we do have the experience. Before I came into the local church, it was really difficult for me to overcome many things, even the little besetting sins. But since I have come into the church, I have simply been in the tower, watching the enemies flee. I’m not fighting; I’m in the tower watching. Hallelujah! The enemies flee, they flee! This is the spiritual warfare.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 88)

6. Experiencing Christ as Our Guide

Furthermore, Psalm 48 describes the experience of God as our guide. Here, Witness Lee comments on this experience among the believers in the local church:

“For this God is our God forever and ever./He will guide us even unto death” (v. 14). Here we see that God is our guide, even our tour guide. Our human life is a tour, and we are tourists who do not know where to go or how to get to our destination. We need a guide, and our guide is God Himself. He will continue to guide us until we die and go to Paradise.

Where do we experience God’s being our guide? He is our guide in the church, both in the universal church, the Body of Christ, and in the local churches. We do not know what our next step should be, but He is directing our steps. We do not know where to go, but He is guiding us, the tourists, on our tour of human life. Since God will continue to guide us even unto death, there is no need for us to worry. Instead, we should simply enjoy His presence, guidance, and direction.

God’s guidance is an aspect of the enjoyment of God in the city. This enjoyment of God is through Christ, in Christ, and with Christ, and it is in the church and in the local churches—in the universal church as the Body of Christ and in the local churches as the expressions of the Body.

In Psalms 46-48 God is our refuge, our retreat, and our guide. The God whom we enjoy through Christ, in Christ, and with Christ in the church and the local churches is our refuge, retreat, and guide. Have you experienced and enjoyed Him in this way? At present, our experience may be limited, but we thank the Lord for the new “shoots” and “branches” of such an experience of God in Christ that are springing forth. May we all learn to enjoy God in Christ in the church and in the local churches.

(Witness Lee, LS of Psalms, 275-276)

Commenting further, Witness Lee notes:

Finally, we have verse 14: “For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.” Which God is our God? The God of the city. “This God is our God for ever and ever.” It is so good. And He will be our guide even unto death… when you come into the church, you have a guide. In the church as the city, our guide is our God.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 89)

Witness Lee masterfully mines the rich symbolism in Psalm 48 to portray the normal experience and enjoyment of Christ in the local churches. In the local church we are learning to know God as our high retreat, our strong refuge from the enemy, and our ever-present guide for our entire human life.

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Described in OT

Revealed in OT

Revealed in NT

Portrayed in NT

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