Looking at the Church's Decline in 2 Timothy

    Everything depends on context.  And from reading 2 Timothy it's evident that the context is the church's decline.  In order to really understand this,  Witness Lee points out in chapter 4 of the Life-Study of 1 Timothy that you have to go back to the book of Acts and take a good look at how the believer's met during the time of Paul's writing to understand this decline.

   When I did that, I could clearly see that  the believers just met together in the city they lived in.  Sure they didn't all fit into one building because Acts 2 tells us that the church in Jerusalem with thousands of believers met mostly from house to house (Acts 2:46).  But they had one fellowship--and Acts 2 tells us it was the apostle's fellowship (Acts 2:42).  And it amazed me when he said that today we are still sharing in that same fellowship!   

   You can pick up a lot of how the believers met by looking at Paul's opening greetings--in most of his Epistles it's either to the church in the city or the saints in the city.   Take 1 Corinthians it begins with:   Paul, a called apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God and Sosthenes the brother to the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints,…. And when you look at the Epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, you will see this reference to the saints--"to the saints who are in Ephesus" and "to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi," and "To the saints in Colossae." 

    So if you put what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:1 with these other verses,  the reference to the saints in the city has to be equal to the church in that city.  The saints are just the believers in the city not a special class of people set above others.

On a walk with my grandkids.

   From the little bit of church history that I've read and just by looking at the yellow pages, I can see there's really been a decline!   I really like the book ca;;ed  Watchman Nee--The Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age where Witness Lee shares that  Watchman Nee saw the vision of how the New Testament believers met.  It compelled him to leave his denomination and meet with a few others simply as the church in his city. 

  When his co-worker Witness Lee came to this country, he was faithful to present this same truth to God's people.  At the end of this chapter he shares what he told others who asked about why he met like this. Here's just one part of that conversation on page 38 of chapter 4 of the Life-Study of 2 Timothy:  

'For example the Jones family may have many members.  Suppose the majority of the members move away from home and only three remain. Are these three not the Jones family?  Are they wrong to put a sign on their house saying "The Jones Family"?  Certainly not.  If they are not called Jones, then what should they be called?  It certainly would be wrong for them to take the name of Smith or any other name.  It is right for them to say that they are the Jones family, even
though many of the members of the family have gone away and live elsewhere.  Likewise, many of those who are truly members of the church in Los Angeles do not meet as the church.  Nevertheless, those who do stand as the church have the right to describe themselves as the church in Los Angeles' (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of 2 Timothy.  Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1980, Print).

My husband and I have really appreciated Witness Lee's opening up this New Testament revelation concerning the building up of the church. I've been listening to The Life-Study of the Bible With Witness Lee broadcasts on 2 Timothy because there are some parts I wanted further clarification on. 

You can  also listen to live excerpts from these messages on 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon on The Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.  You will enjoy listening to both  the excerpts  from these spoken messages and the helpful and enlightening commentary of the radio hosts.

List of Other Life-Studies on 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, & Philemon:

What is Paul's First Exhortation in 1 Timothy 2:1?
How Can You Be Nourished With the Words of the Faith in 1 Timothy 4:6?
Looking at the Church's Decline in 2 Timothy
From the Life-Study of 2 Timothy - How Did Paul Inoculate the Church Against Decline?
Why is the Word Healthy Used So Much in the Epistle to Titus?
Why  Should You Avoid Questionings in Titus 3:9?
What Does the Account of Onesimus Show Us in the Book of Philemon?