Watchman Nee's Full Message on SIT, WALK, and STAND in OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD THE WORLD..: ..AND THE DEVIL - Fifth Edition: Featured - World History with Japan and China in Wars - AD 663 to 1972 Fifth Edition

By Watchman Nee and Ambassador Monday O. Ogbe

Beginning in the sixteenth century, Protestant missionaries went to China for the gospel, but in the opening years of the twentieth century, following years of faithful labor and prayer, the Lord's move in China began to advance dramatically after the martyrdom of many Christians in the Boxer Rebellion. In

• Language: English
• Publisher: Spirit Dimension Stories - SDS
• Release date: Jun 12, 2024
• ISBN: 9798330233175

Watchman Nee

Watchaman Nee se convirtió al cristianismo en China a la edad de diecisiete años y comenzó a escribir en el mismo año. A través de casi treinta años de ministerio se evidenció como un don único del Señor para su iglesia en ese tiempo. En 1952 fue hecho prisionero por su fe y permaneció en prisión hasta su muerte en 1972. Sus palabras permanecen como una fuente de abundante revelación espiritual para los cristianos de todo el mundo.

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About the Author – Watchman Nee: Sit, Walk and Stand

God’s Dynamic Salvation Work

Beginning in the sixteenth century, Protestant missionaries went to China for the gospel, but in the opening years of the twentieth century, following years of faithful labor and prayer, the Lord’s move in China began to advance dramatically after the martyrdom of many Christians in the Boxer Rebellion. In the 1920s, many believers, who were raised up by the Lord from among high-school and college students throughout China, became instrumental in the spread of the gospel. From among these students, Nee Shu-tsu (Watchman Nee) was called and equipped by the Lord for His work.

Nee Shu-tsu, whose English name was Henry Nee, was born of second-generation Christian parents in Foochow, China in 1903. His paternal grandfather studied at the American Congregational College in Foochow and became the first Chinese pastor among the Congregationalists in northern Fukien province. Nee Shu-tsu was consecrated to the Lord before his birth. Desiring a son, his mother had prayed to the Lord, saying, If I have a boy, I will present him to You. The Lord answered her prayer with the birth of a son. His father later impressed this point upon him, saying, Before you were born, your mother promised to present you to the Lord.

From the evening I was saved, I began to live a new life, for the life of the eternal God had entered into me.

Nee Shu-tsu was exceptionally intelligent. From his entrance into elementary school through his graduation from the Anglican Trinity College in Foochow, he ranked first in his class as well as in his school. With many grand dreams and plans for his future, he could have been a great success in the world. In 1920 at the age of seventeen and after considerable struggle, Nee Shu-tsu was dynamically saved while in high school. At the moment of his salvation, his plans for his future were entirely abandoned. He testified, From the evening I was saved, I began to live a new life, for the life of the eternal God had entered into me. Later, when he was called by the Lord to carry out His commission, he adopted the English name Watchman and the Chinese name To-sheng, which means the sound of a watchman’s rattle, because he considered himself to be a watchman raised up to sound out a warning call in the dark night.

Equipping and Training

How to Study the Bible

WATCHMAN NEE DID NOT attend theological schools or Bible institutes. His wealth of knowledge concerning God’s purpose, Christ, the Spirit, and the church was acquired through studying the Bible, reading spiritual books, and pursuing spiritual matters. Watchman Nee received revelation through his diligent study of the Word. Many of his practices are included in his book How to Study the Bible. He also read the spiritual books of many of the Lord’s servants throughout church history. In the early days of his ministry, he spent a third of his income on his personal needs, a third on helping others, and the remaining third on spiritual books. He acquired a collection of more than three thousand of the best Christian books, including nearly all the classical Christian writings from the first century forward. He had a phenomenal ability to select, comprehend, discern, and memorize relevant material, and he could quickly grasp and retain the main points of a book. Thus, he was able to glean from these books the important scriptural truths and spiritual principles that the Lord has made known throughout church history and also to incorporate them into his Christian life and church life experience. Watchman Nee received much enlightenment and help from the following Christian writers related to the points

of truth:

Specific Enlightenment Source

1. The Assurance of Salvation George Cutting, a Brethren writer

2. The Divine Life John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Madame Guyon, Hudson Taylor

3. Christ J.G. Bellett, Charles G. Trumbull, A.B. Simpson, T. Austin Sparks

4. The Spirit Andrew Murray’s The Spirit of Christ

5. The Tripartite Nature of Man Jessie Penn-Lewis, Mary E. McDonough

6. Faith George Müller

7. Abiding in Christ Andrew Murray, Hudson Taylor

8. The Subjective Aspect of Christ’s Death Jessie Penn-Lewis

9. Christ’s Resurrection and His Body T. Austin Sparks and others

10. God’s Plan of Redemption Mary E. McDonough

11. The Church John Nelson Darby and other Brethren teachers

12. Prophecy Robert Govett, D.M. Panton, G.H. Pember

13. Church History John Foxe, E.H. Broadbent

14. Bible Exposition and Other Truths John Nelson Darby and the Brethren

Early in his Christian life, he also received much spiritual edification and perfection from Margaret E. Barber, an Anglican missionary in China. Primarily through his fellowship with her, Watchman Nee realized that being a Christian is altogether a matter of knowing and experiencing God’s divine life in Christ. Through her shepherding, he learned to pay more attention to the operation of the divine life within him than to mere outward work (Phil. 2:13).

Revelation and Living

The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit

WATCHMAN NEE RECEIVED a wealth of revelation from the Word; he truly saw the content of the divine revelation. The core of the revelation he received involved the living of a crucified life and a resurrected life for the church life. The believers’ experience of the death and resurrection of Christ is the base and touchstone of a normal Christian life, and the issue of living a normal Christian life is the church as the Body of Christ, which has both a universal and a local expression. Watchman Nee realized that we, as believers, have been crucified with Christ and that the normal Christian experience involves Christ living in us through our experience of bearing the cross in our practical human situations (Gal. 2:20). Many of the experiences that informed Watchman Nee’s realization of this truth are presented in his book The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit.

From the very beginning of Watchman Nee’s ministry, the Lord arranged his situations as opportunities for him to deny his soul-life and his natural life in order to experience the resurrection life of Christ. Watchman Nee saw that we, as believers, had not only died with Christ but were also raised with Him (Rom. 6:4-5, 8). Through his experience of the resurrection life of the indwelling Christ, Watchman Nee was able to bear the cross and to participate in the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Phil. 3:10). In the resurrection life of Christ, he was empowered to abandon the world, forsake his future, and deny himself in order to be freed from sin and to overcome Satan. In the resurrection life of Christ, he also served the Lord, worked for Him, and carried out His commission. Watchman Nee’s contemporaries bore witness to the fact that he consistently rejected his natural strength in the Lord’s service. He feared the intrusion of his natural life into the Lord’s work. In delivering messages, contacting people, writing articles, corresponding with the believers, and even in taking care of small matters, he endeavored to live according to the resurrection life of Christ. With such a living as his constitution, he was able to pass through his extended imprisonment and eventual martyrdom.

Watchman Nee also saw that the church as the Body of Christ was simply the enlargement, expansion, and expression of the resurrected Christ. His vision of the church as the Body of Christ in resurrection was far advanced. His ministry concerning the crucified and resurrected Christ was a stewardship of grace that ministered the resurrected Christ into the believers for the building up of His Body. He saw both the universal aspect of the Body, which is detailed in the book The Glorious Church, and the local expression of the Body, which is presented in the books The Assembly Life, The Normal Christian Church Life, and Further Talks on the Church Life.

The Glorious ChurchThe Assembly LifeThe Normal Christian Church LifeFurther Talks on the Church Life

Burden and Commission

The divine revelation that Watchman Nee saw resulted in a twofold burden and commission from the Lord: First, to bear the testimony of the Lord Jesus and, second, to establish local churches. The first burden and commission arose from his personal depth of knowledge and experience of Christ’s all-inclusive death and resurrection. The Lord specifically burdened and commissioned him to bear testimony to this truth. He faithfully responded to this burden by releasing numerous spoken and written messages on the subjective aspect of the Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection, on the principles of the divine life, on the supremacy of Christ, and on God’s eternal purpose. These messages are contained in books such