Inspirational Quotes by Watchman Nee
“It is not a matter of how many loaves we have in our hands, but whether or not God has blessed them.”
“They are trying to look within, to differentiate, to discriminate, to analyze, and in doing so are bringing themselves into deeper bondage. Now this is a situation which is really dangerous to Christian life, for inward knowledge will never be reached along the barren path of self-analysis.”
― Watchman Nee ,
“God must bring us to a point--I cannot tell you how it will be, but He will do it--where, through a deep and dark experience, our natural power is touched and fundamentally weakened, so that we no longer dare trust ourselves.”
― Watchman Nee ,
“Prayer does not alter that which God has determined; it never changes anything. It merely achieves what He has already foreordained.”
“God’s Word tells us that God has spoken of old in many portions and in many ways through His servants concerning His heart’s desire and that He loves us. But man did not understand. Therefore, God had to personally come to this world and become a man. This man is Jesus, the Christ, whom we know.”
“How many of us dare not use our time or money or talents as we would, because we realise they are the Lord's, not ours?”
“Whatever satisfies, strengthens, and sustains us is our food. The unique food we take for our sustenance, strength, and satisfaction must be Christ.”
“If you touch these dead ones, if you have intercourse with the world, if you build up a friendship with it, and if you have your living among it, you are touching dead bodies. If you touch dead bodies, you will surely be infected and defiled with impurities.”
“The divine revelation was through the enjoyment of the divine provisions as tasted in the supply of the heavenly manna and the living water flowing out of the smitten rock.”
“God’s chosen and redeemed people need to receive the divine revelation concerning God Himself and His economy for their training and building up as His testimony....”
“The word economy is not used in the Old Testament, but it is found in the New Testament, especially in the writings of Paul....”
“Today the formation of God’s people into an army is a matter of coordination, which is based on three matters: life, maturity, and confirmation. These three matters must be fulfilled in order for God’s people to be properly formed, which is to be properly coordinated. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1, “Synopsis of Numbers,” p. 71)”
“This was God’s principle from the beginning. In the creation God worked from the first to the sixth day and rested on the seventh. We may truthfully say that for those first six days, He was very busy. Then, the task He had set Himself completed, He ceased to work. The seventh day became the sabbath of God; it was God’s rest. But what of Adam? Where did he stand in relation to that rest of God? Adam, we are told, was created on the sixth day. Clearly, then, he had no part in those first six days of work, for he came into being only at their end. God’s seventh day was, in fact, Adam’s first. Whereas God worked six days and then enjoyed His sabbath rest, Adam began his life with the sabbath; for God works before He rests, while man must first enter into God’s rest, and then alone can he work. Moreover, it was because God’s work of creation was truly complete that Adam’s life could begin with rest. And here is the gospel: that God has gone one stage further and has completed also the work of redemption, and that we need do nothing whatever to merit it, but can enter by faith directly into the values of His finished work.”
“Actually, the Father as our object is within us, because the object is embodied in the Son and the Son is realized as the Spirit who indwells us. If we have the Spirit, we have the Son, and if we have the Son, we have the Father. Thus, the three of the Divine Trinity are in us.”
“For Christianity begins not with a big do, but with a big done.”
“Here is invariably a spiritual fact: Our spirit is released according to the degree of our brokenness.”
― Watchman Nee ,
“The operation of His life in us is in a true sense spontaneous, that is to say, it is without effort of ours. The all-important rule is not to “try,” but to “trust,” not to depend upon our own strength, but upon His. For it is the flow of life which reveals what we truly are “in Christ.” It is from the Fountain of Life that the sweet water issues.”
“He who has ascended the cross and refuses to drink the vinegar mingled with gall is the one who knows the Lord. Many go up to the cross rather reluctantly, still thinking of drinking vinegar mingled with gall to alleviate their pain. All who say—“The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?”—will not drink the cup of vinegar mingled with gall.”
― Watchman Nee ,
“Only those who sit can stand. Our power for standing, as for walking, lies in our having first been made to sit together with Christ. The Christian's walk and warfare alike derive their strength from his position there. If he is not sitting before God he cannot hope to stand before the enemy.”
― Watchman Nee ,
from Sit, Walk, Stand
“Sitting describes our position with Christ in the heavenlies. Walking is the practical outworking of that heavenly position here on earth.”
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Watchman Nee (1903 - 1972)
Was a church leader and Christian teacher who worked in China during the first half of the 20th century. In 1922, he initiated church meetings in Fuzhou that may be considered the beginning of the local churches. During his 30 years of ministry, Nee published many books expounding the Bible, including The Normal Christian Life and The Normal Christian Church Life. He established churches throughout China and held many conferences to train Bible students and church workers.Following the Communist Revolution, Nee was persecuted for his faith. He spent the last 20 years of his life in prison. Nee was honored by Christianity Today magazine as one of The 100 Most Influential Christians of the Twentieth Century.
Watchman Nee was a Chinese Christian author and church leader during the early 20th Century. He spent the last 20 years of his life in prison and was severely persecuted by the Communists in China. Together with Wangzai, Zhou-An Lee, Shang-Jie Song, and others, Nee founded the The Church Assembly Hall, later which would be also known as the "Local churches."
Watchman Nee became a Christian in 1920 at age 17 and began writing in the same year. In 1921, he met the British missionary M. E. Barber, who was a great influence on him. Through Miss Barber, Nee was introduced to many of the Christian writings which were to have a profound influence on him and his teachings. Nee attended no theological schools or Bible institutes. His knowledge was acquired through studying the Bible and reading various Christian spiritual books. During his 30 years of ministry, beginning in 1922, Nee traveled throughout China planting churches among the rural communities and holding Christian conferences and trainings in Shanghai. In 1952 he was imprisoned for his faith; he remained in prison until his death in 1972.
Watchman Nee became a Christian in mainland China in 1920 at the age of seventeen and began writing in the same year.
Throughout the nearly thirty years of his ministry, Watchman Nee was clearly manifested as a unique gift from the Lord to His Body for His move in this age.
In 1952 he was imprisoned for his faith; he remained in prison until his death in 1972. His words remain an abundant source of spiritual revelation and supply to Christians throughout the world.