19 Quotes & Sayings By Watchman Nee

Watchman Nee was born in 1920 in the village of Hsinchu, Taiwan. He graduated with a degree in English literature from National Taiwan University in 1943. Nee worked with the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission of the Republic of China government, and became Director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office in 1953. He resigned his position when he was asked by President Chiang Kai-shek to become Director of the Chinese Christian Council (CCC) Read more

Nee supported the New Life Movement, a group founded by Reverend Sun Yat-sen, when he came to Taiwan in 1945. After 1949, Nee worked with the government's Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission in reorganizing overseas churches into church associations. He also founded several church associations and ministries, including the China Gospel Fellowship (CGF), for which he wrote The Pathway to God .

The knowledge of Christ which is produced by man's own...
1
The knowledge of Christ which is produced by man's own cleverness and wisdom is not a rock that can stand firm. Watchman Nee
How many of us dare not use our time or...
2
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? Watchman Nee
3
But Christianity is a queer business! If at the outset we try to do anything, we get nothing; if we seek to attain something, we miss everything. For Christianity begins not with a big DO, but with a big DONE. Watchman Nee
4
[Jesus] said, “Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.… For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:10-13). Jesus opened up God’s heart to men. Watchman Nee
5
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. Watchman Nee
6
Lord, I am willing to break MY heart that I might satisfy THY heart. Watchman Nee
7
God will not give me humility, or patience, or holiness, or love as separate investments of His grace. He has given only one gift to meet our need, His Son Christ Jesus. Watchman Nee
8
Man's thought is always of the punishment that will come to him if he sins. God's thought is always of the glory man will miss if he sins. God's purpose for redemption is glory, glory, glory. Watchman Nee
9
We all have the same Christ dwelling within, but revelation of some new need will lead us spontaneously to trust Him to live out His life in in that particular. Watchman Nee
10
The idea of waste only comes into our Christianity when we underestimate the worth of our Lord. Watchman Nee
11
I do not consecrate myself to be a missionary or a preacher. I consecrate myself to God to do His will where I am, be it in school, office, or kitchen, or wherever He may, in His wisdom, send me. Watchman Nee
12
I must first have the sense of God's possession of me before I can have the sense of His presence with me. Watchman Nee
13
There is nothing stereotyped about God's dealings with His children. Therefore, we must not by our prejudices and preconceptions make watertight compartments for the working out His Spirit, either in our own lives or in the lives of others. We must leave God free to work as He wills and to leave what evidence He pleases of the work He does. Watchman Nee
14
The author tells a story wherein a missionary friend of his was invited by unbelievers on a train ride to play cards. The friend declined, saying that he did not bring his hands with him. He explained to the astonished group that the hands attached to what they saw as his body belonged to the Lord, and he was thereby able to explain the Gospel. Watchman Nee
15
We think in terms of apostolic journeys. God dares to put His greatest ambassadors in chains. Watchman Nee
16
The author sees Joseph of Genesis as a type of Christ's Pentecostal power. He who was thought dead has been raised in power, and the power is evident in the chariot he sends for his own. Watchman Nee
17
The author nicely encapsulates Paul's overarching intent in his letter to Corinth, to impress upon those in the church infatuated with the gifts of the Spirit a greater awestruck awareness of His presence in and among them. The author then illustrates thusly: if we have but a few coins, we may carry them lightly with little concern as to whether we lose them. But if we are aware that we carry a great sum, we will carry it with great care. How much more the Treasure of the Holy Spirit within the earthen vessel of our bodies?. Watchman Nee
18
Teach us to pray that we may cause The enemy to flee That we his evil power may bind His prisoners to free. Watchman Nee