In addition to all the above books, some spiritual books in English were translated under
8)Abstracts of the Scriptures is in four volumes and contains the abstracts of forty-four books of the Bible from Genesis to Acts, leaving Romans to Revelation to be finished.
9)Once a Year through the Bible gives the subjects and the outlines of all the books of the Bible with assigned portions for daily reading.
10)Fifty-two Basic Truths in the Scriptures, by W. Lee, contains the following:
1) Condition of Man; 2) The Love of God; 3) The Redemption of Christ; 4) The Work of the Holy Spirit; 5) Repenting and Believing; 6) Forgiveness; 7) Cleansing; 8) Sanctification; 9) Justification; 10) Reconciliation with God; 11) Regeneration; 12) Eternal Life; 13) Freedom; 14) Salvation; 15) Assurance of Salvation; 16) The Security of Salvation; 17) Obeying the Sense of Life; 18) Living in the Fellowship of Life; 19) Consecration; 20) Dealing with Sin; 21) To Be Led; 22) Doing the Will of God; 23) To Be Filled with the Holy Spirit; 24) Preaching the Gospel; 25) Serving the Lord; 26) A Few Matters Related to a Believer's Life; 27) Knowing God; 28) The Faithfulness of God and the Righteousness of God; 29) The Election and Predestination of God; 30) The Union of God with Man; 31) The Person of Christ; 32) The Precious Blood of Christ; 33) Law and Grace; 34) In Adam and in Christ; 35) The Two Natures of a Believer; 36) Three Lives and Four Laws; 37) Union with Christ; 38) The New Testament Service; 39) Believers and Sin; 40) Receiving the Reward; 41) Entering into the Kingdom of the Heavens; 42) Sufferings; 43) The Church; 44) The Angels; 45) The Devil; 46) The World; 47) Sin; 48) Death and Resurrection; 49) Judgment; 50) Heaven and Hell; 51) The Rapture of the Believers; 52) The Second Coming of Christ.
8. Books Translated
In addition to all the above books, some spiritual books in English were translated under Brother Nee's publication ministry through the years.
1)The following eleven books were on the central messages, mostly translated by Brother Nee himself:
1. (1) The Cross of Christ, chapter one by Andrew Murray and chapter two by Jessie PennLewis 2. (2) Union with Christ in Death, by Jessie Penn-Lewis 3. (3) The Way of Deliverance, by Jessie Penn-Lewis 4. (4) The Meaning of the Gospel, by T. Austin-Sparks 5. (5) The Three Main Principles of the Cross, by T. Austin-Sparks 6. (6) A Manifested Mystery, by T. Austin-Sparks 7. (7) Victorious Life Is a Real Fact, by T. Austin-Sparks 8. (8) Resurrection Life and the Body of Christ, by T. Austin-Sparks 9. (9) The Reigning Life, by C. H. Usher 10. (10) Victory Is in the Union with Christ, by Mackee 11. (11) God's Plan of Redemption, by Mrs. Charles A. McDonough, translated by Yu Chenghwa
2)The following seven books on inner life were translated by Brother Yu Cheng-hwa. These books are helpful if they are used properly.
1. (1) Sweet Smelling Myrrh, an autobiography of Madame Guyon 2. (2) Life out of Death—Spiritual Torrent, by Madame Guyon 3. (3) A Short, Easy Method of Prayer, by Madame Guyon 4. (4) Letters by Madame Guyon 5. (5) The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence 6. (6) Spiritual Maxims, by Brother Lawrence 7. (7) Maxims of the Saints, by Father Fenelon
3)The following eight books on general messages were translated by others:
1. (1) The Son of God, by J. G. Bellett 2. (2) Straight Paths for the Children of God, by A. M. 3. (3) The Streams in the Desert, by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman 4. (4) Christianity or Religion, by A. C. Gaebelein 5. (5) How to Bring Men to Christ, by R. A. Torrey 6. (6) Seen and Heard, an autobiography of James M'Kendrick 7. (7) The Twofoldness of Divine Truth, by Robert Govett, translated by Yu Cheng-hwa 8. (8) Modern Science and the Long Day in Joshua, by Harry Rimmer
J. Chart
Chart of Things to Come shows the outline of all prophecies concerning the future and depicts the raptures of the saints, the great tribulation, the coming of Christ, the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ, the millennium, the judgment at the great white throne, and the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem.
K. Hymnals
Under Watchman Nee's publication ministry, three hymn books were published:
1)Hymns: A collection of one hundred eighty-four hymns. Most of the hymns were selected by Brother Nee out of over ten thousand hymns, songs, and poems, and were translated by him with some improvements and adjustments. A few were written by him, and one was written by Ruth Lee. Originally, it was called Hymns for the Little Flock. Later, this name was dropped because people used it to designate us as the Church of the Little Flock. The contents were classified as follows: words of praise, joy of salvation, springs of the valley of Baca, union with Christ, growth in grace, seeking in the spiritual pathway, consolation of the pilgrims, prayer meeting, consecration, spiritual warfare, the Holy Spirit, the work, general hymns, the praise of the sucklings, and the trumpet of the gospel.
2)Hymns: A larger collection of 1,052 hymns compiled and composed by Watchman Nee with the cooperation of some brothers.
3)Gospel Songs: A collection of one hundred songs and hymns compiled and composed by Witness Lee.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
THE GOAL OF WATCHMAN NEE'S
MINISTRY
Watchman Nee had a definite goal for his ministry. His ministry focused on Christ and was expressed in the local churches. The goal of his ministry was to establish local churches. He preached the gospel with the intention of producing material for the building of the churches. His Bible teaching, edifying the young believers, holding conferences, conducting trainings, and issuing publications were all with the goal and view of building a corporate testimony in the local churches. By reading his writings we can realize that he received a clear vision and a definite commission from the Lord concerning this goal.
HIS EMPHASIS ON THE GOAL
In the introduction of his book The Assembly Life, he stressed this goal emphatically:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________
...Before times eternal, God had a will and a foreordained plan of His own. His goal is to have a group of people containing His life who are like His Son. The goal of God was to establish not just the individual Christ, but also the corporate Christ. This corporate Christ is the church. From this we can know that it is the church which God pays attention to today. Unfortunately, it is not only the carnal believers who fail to emphasize what God stresses, but even the spiritual believers fail to emphasize it. They always replace the church of God with many works. Today what Satan causes man to do is substitute the church of God with various kinds of work. However, we know that the purpose of God from beginning to end is to have a corporate Christ, which is the church, so that Christ might be the Head and the believers might be the members. Satan is determined to destroy this plan. This is why he causes man to pursue various works in order to replace the church. Today some lay much stress on preaching the gospel, and by so doing they replace the church with gospel preaching. There are many today who can surely preach the gospel and save sinners. And preaching the gospel is good, but if gospel preaching replaces the church and causes men never to think about the church, then we are definitely deceived by Satan. What I have said is
not too strong. God's intention in gospel preaching is merely to collect stones for the church. If gospel preaching substitutes for the church, that is wrong. There are some who establish missions, encourage foreign evangelism, zealously donate money, form national councils, set up organizations for foreign evangelism, and send missionaries to foreign lands for evangelistic work. But why do many people today know only missions and not the church? The reason is because from eternity past God's emphasis was the church, but man's emphasis in this age is missions. Many have forgotten the church! Mr. Gordon has said, "God never sets up missions; He only establishes the church." However, men today set up mission boards, evangelistic organizations, schools, hospitals, humanistic societies, orphanages, charitable associations (as the Methodist Episcopal Church does), and even Sunday schools to help others. Are these good or bad? They are good, but if man uses these to replace the church of God, God will never be satisfied. Do you see Satan's craftiness? Satan's subtle method is to utilize works used by God and substitute them for the church, which God in His eternal will intends to establish. If your eyes are open, you will see that all these things should be dropped and that you should turn your attention to the church, because the church life, the life of the Body of Christ, is the goal of God. Many Christians may say, "We have not established mission boards, humanistic societies, Sunday schools, schools, and hospitals." Please do not speak so fast. You may not have done these wrong things on the negative side, but what have you done on the positive side? Many would think, "As long as I am zealous, victorious, and a holy Christian, that is good enough." Brothers and sisters, I say a strong word; these are not what God is after; they are not His unique goal. I am by no means saying that zeal, victory, and holiness are insignificant. These are significant, but they are not God's ultimate goal. What God desires is the corporate church, the building, the spiritual house. He is not after fragmentary or individual pieces of brick, tile, wood, or stone. God desires a body, not a finger or any other member. What God wants is the church. His desire is for Christ to have the preeminence in the church and to be Head of the church as well. Although wood, stone, brick, and tile are necessary, they are by no means the goal of God. You have been a Christian for these many years, but how much time have you spent considering what God is after? Have you ever thought about this matter of the church? Or has your primary attention been paid to how to pray, how to overcome sin, how to help sinners be saved, and how to study the Bible well? Do you only think about these things, or have you really considered what the church is? What God wants is a church. Anything that falls short of this fails to meet the goal of God. I am by no means saying that these other things are not good, but I am saying that anything short of the church cannot be counted as the goal of God. If Sunday schools are merely for the sake of Sunday schools, orphanages merely for orphanages, humanistic societies merely for humanistic societies, and gospel preaching merely for gospel preaching, it is fine as long as they do not replace the church. For all these things fall short of the church of God. What God wants
is the church. The death of the Lord Jesus was for the church, and the coming of the Holy Spirit was also for the church. From beginning to end, in the New Testament, one principle can be found: Everything is for the church. Take, for example, the fact that the Lord's death was for the church. The book of Ephesians tells us, "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her." The Lord was raised from the dead to be far above all rule and authority, and He is above all to be Head over all things to the church. The Lord builds the church on this rock. The work of the Holy Spirit for the past two thousand years has been for the building up of the church. God saves sinners and enables men to overcome in order to establish the church. It is for the building up of the church that God has given us apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. Ephesians tells us that the Lord cleanses the church by the washing of water in the word and sanctifies her in order that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Here again it is a matter of the church. God's ultimate goal is to have the New Jerusalem, and what the New Jerusalem typifies is the church. God's goal as recorded in the Old Testament, New Testament, the four Gospels, and Revelation is to have the New Jerusalem, which is for the church. I say strongly that unless our aim, work, and living today are for the church—that is, for the accomplishment of what God is after—we are a big failure. May the Lord have mercy on us and deliver us from our limited vision into His goal and into what He emphasizes in the Scriptures.... The church is God's goal. Today He places this goal before man. God's ultimate desire is to have the New Jerusalem. God intends to put the church, which represents the New Jerusalem, into every city as a unit. Before the New Jerusalem descends from heaven, God's goal is to have a miniature of the New Jerusalem in every city. This means that God desires to have a church in every city to express His eternal will. From beginning to end, the most important work God desires to do is to build up the Body of Christ. For this reason God establishes a local church in every city. The local church is the miniature of the magnificent church of God, a small-scale model expressing the New Jerusalem. The will of God is to establish the church, the Body of Christ, the New Jerusalem. But this scope is too vast; how can we touch the New Jerusalem, which is in the new heaven and new earth? What shall we do? We can never grasp this firmly. However, you can come to Shanghai to achieve this purpose. For in every city there is a miniature where God puts the saved ones and unites and assembles them together to become a local church and thereby express His will.... I am not here accusing you! I myself am guilty! In these many years of evangelistic work in China, very few have paid attention to God's emphasis. Roman Catholicism has been in China for more than three hundred years, and if we count from Nestorianism, Christianity has been in China for over a thousand years. Yet no one has ever paid attention to the expression of the eternal will of God on a small scale. But we also are the same. We only pay
attention to personal victory over sins, overcoming experiences, work, and saving souls, but we have not yet seen how to express in a particular locality God's will concerning the church. May God be gracious to us and cause us to see that personal victory over sins, overcoming experiences, and the work of saving souls are merely things related to the local assemblies—they should not replace the church. God's center is fixed on the church in every locality, and everything else should be joined to this center. Therefore, our aim today is not merely to pay attention to overcoming experiences, victory over sin, preaching the gospel to sinners, and having prayers answered. Rather, we should go a step further and ask what we should do in order to be fitly framed together with other brothers and sisters.... The question today is not whether this piece of stone is good or bad, big or small, beautiful or ugly, but whether this piece of stone is properly fitted with other pieces of stone and whether these pieces of stone can be built into a house. Many Christians today are very good, and others are extremely shining and beautiful, but they cannot be framed together. They are either too big or too tall; they just cannot be fitly framed with other Christians. Every person who is saved is a living stone. Therefore, the question is not whether you are victorious, defeated, powerful, weak, good, or bad. The question is whether you can be joined with all the other living stones, properly fitted into the building. If you are a stone which leaves cracks between you and the other stones, you are not of much use in the house of God.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________
In an open letter published in the twelfth issue of Collection of Newsletters, July 1935, Watchman stressed this goal again with the following brief, strong word: "We are clear that God wants us to manifest the life of Christ in the local churches. Hence, the reality of our work is the life of Christ, and the outward expression of our work is the local churches."
HIS FAITHFULNESS TO THE GOAL
Watchman Nee's ministry was received by many Christians, but the goal of his ministry was rejected by the majority. They appreciated his ministry of life, but they would not care for his goal of building up the local churches. Some even considered him wrong in having such a goal. Actually, however, it was not that he was wrong, it was that they did not see that the Lord had revealed to him God's desire to have Christ expressed in local churches. Fairly speaking, at the time Watchman Nee was raised up by the Lord, among millions of Christians with all kinds of Christian work, where was there one proper church built up with Christ in oneness without any element of division? In a situation filled with division and confusion, he received the heavenly vision that the Body of Christ should express in one church in each locality what was in the heart of God. He was a man after God's heart, testifying to his fellow Christians the vision he had seen, but he was fully misunderstood and rejected in this matter. Because of their strong backgrounds in the denominational
structures, his fellow Christians were veiled from seeing the clear vision of God's heart's desire. Some criticized him as being narrowminded. Others considered him a "sheepstealer." Others even accused him of being wrong in the matter of the church. Actually, he was neither narrow-minded nor wrong; he was faithful to his Master's goal and took that goal as the goal of his ministry. He knew the price and was willing to pay the price for this. He even paid this price at the cost of his life. He cared for nothing but his Master's heart's desire—the local churches expressing Him in a corporate way. He was not a "sheep-stealer," but a true witness of his Master, who loved the church and gave Himself for it. He had no intention whatsoever to build up his own "church" or to build up anything for himself. His concern was for God's heart's desire. He had a heart large enough to receive all the children of God, and he loved all the Lord's redeemed ones, even though he was misunderstood and rejected by many. His deep longing was that all would receive the light to see what the Lord was really after and seek the Lord according to His heart.
According to the Lord's own love for the church and according to the vision he had received from the Lord, Watchman Nee bore an anti-testimony to divided Christianity and sounded the trumpet that all the Lord's true seekers should leave denominational divisions and come back to the genuine oneness of the Body of Christ to express Christ corporately in each locality. This was the goal of his entire ministry, and he held this goal to the day he died.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF WATCHMAN NEE'S MINISTRY
In spite of the fact that he was despised, criticized, misunderstood, opposed, and rejected by the denominations, Watchman Nee's ministry still accomplished a number of things. His ministry made clear the matter of salvation by grace. It aroused believers both in and out of the recovery to love the Lord. It stirred up Christians to seek the truth. It ushered the seeking ones into spirituality. It brought the Lord's people into identification with Christ in His death, resurrection, and ascension. It established the local churches. And it ushered in and built up a ministry of supply. Let us consider each of these matters in turn. MAKING CLEAR THE MATTER OF SALVATION BY GRACE
Since the time the gospel began to be preached in China, although it was enthusiastically and widely declared, salvation by grace never became adequately clear to the Chinese Christians until Watchman Nee's ministry was raised up. The first step in his ministry was to preach the gospel. As he began to preach the gospel, he discovered the need of some clear teaching concerning assurance of salvation. Along with his preaching of the gospel, he incorporated the clear word of the Bible concerning the assurance of salvation. In the twelve years between 1922 and 1934, through his labor this matter was made clear to the Chinese Christians. In the fall of 1933 I was invited to preach in a chapel of a
Presbyterian hospital in the city of Soochow, Kiangsu. While telling the audience that they could know assuredly that they were saved according to the Bible, I noticed the pastor shaking his head, indicating that he did not agree. This incident depicted the ignorant situation of so many Christians concerning the matter of salvation in China at that time. Since 1934, however, up to this present moment, the two matters of salvation by grace and the assurance of salvation have become crystal clear to the Christians in the Far East, and it has become popular to preach these truths in all the denominations.
AROUSING BELIEVERS TO LOVE THE LORD
Through Watchman Nee's spoken and written ministry, many Christians were set on fire to love the Lord. This became a tide flooding over not only the unbelievers but also hundreds of Christians of different ages throughout China. Wherever his ministry went, it brought in a revival of seeking the Lord. This matter was neither superficial in its depth, nor did it mushroom overnight. It happened as slowly and solidly as a seed sown into the depths of many seekers and lovers of the Lord, causing them to be attached to Him and making them grow in Him. One brother in Shanghai testified that when he first heard Watchman speak, even when the Lord's name was mentioned, it was so sweet to him. Just a short prayer by Watchman in the Lord's name caught him for the Lord. Watchman Nee as a person and his ministry as the Lord's supply became a great magnet attracting people to follow him in loving the Lord with their whole heart. Through his ministry, people were not moved toward the Lord in a way of enthusiasm; rather, deep in their being, his ministry caused others to deeply touch the Lord in love. Many who came in contact with his ministry were fully captivated and captured by the Lord and led to consecrate themselves fully to Him for His move on this earth.
STIRRING UP CHRISTIANS TO SEEK THE TRUTHS
Watchman's ministry also had the characteristic that it stirred up his listeners to seek the truth according to the Scriptures. Before his ministry was raised up, not many Christians in China were interested in checking all truth with the Scriptures. Most Christians simply followed tradition both in teaching and in practice. Whatever the missionaries and pastors taught and practiced, the Christians swallowed without exercising much discernment of the Spirit and without checking it according to the holy Word. Watchman Nee was a pioneer in questioning every doctrine, form, ritual, and sacrament of today's Christianity. He checked every item with the pure word of God in the Scriptures. In this way he discovered many truths in the Scriptures himself and created an atmosphere of seeking after the truth among seeking Christians. This questioning attitude became a constituent and characteristic of his ministry which spontaneously helped all who came in touch with him to drop the inaccurate and unscriptural teachings and practices. A love of studying the Bible was stirred up in the hearts of God's people. This became a great tide among the Christians in the Far East. Because of this ministry, many lives were changed, many marriages and families were adjusted, many were helped to grow in life, many were enlightened to know the will of God, and many were captured and turned to the Lord's recovery. Also many outward practices in many denominations which were not scriptural became adjusted. Terms such as "fellowship," "meeting time,"
"brother" or "sister," "the Lord's table," and many other terms not commonly used before became common practice through Watchman Nee's ministry. When I was a young man, I often heard my pastor use the term "denominations" in a formal and official way without any negative connotation. However, after Watchman's ministry sounded the trumpet against denominationalism, no one dared use the term "denomination" in a positive sense. Nearly all Christian leaders became convinced that denominations were doctrinally wrong. Although they would not give up their denominations, they did insist that in spite of their denominations they would not have the spirit of the denominations. But the denominations, they claimed, were still needed for the spread of the gospel and the edifying of believers. The trumpet sound of Watchman Nee's ministry against denominationalism has left an indelible impression upon the ears and consciences of all Christians in the Far East up to this very day.
USHERING THE SEEKING BELIEVERS INTO SPIRITUALITY
Watchman Nee's ministry was spiritual in nature and laid great stress on spirituality. Many seeking believers were helped to divide soul from spirit. Before the ministry of the word of God was manifested through him, few Chinese Christians knew how to discern the difference between soul and spirit. Now, since his ministry has been continuing for many years, emphasizing the importance of knowing the soul negatively and knowing the spirit positively, the matter of seeking spirituality has become commonplace among Christians in the Far East. Though many Christians in the Far East do not live according to the spirit but according to the flesh or the soul, they nevertheless have come to know through his ministry that there is a difference between a life and a walk which are fleshly and soulish and a life and a walk which are spiritual. What Watchman's ministry did was to pave the way for seeking Christians to live and work according to the spirit, rather than according to the flesh or the soul. His ministry in this aspect greatly uplifted the standard of Christian life in the Far East. BRINGING THE LORD'S PEOPLE INTO IDENTIFICATION WITH CHRIST IN HIS DEATH, RESURRECTION, AND ASCENSION
The central point of Watchman Nee's ministry was Christ in His death, resurrection, and ascension. He himself bore this testimony both in his life and in his work. A good number of those who came in touch with him were brought into identification with Christ in His death, resurrection, and ascension. They were helped by his ministry to live by Christ in conformity to His death through His resurrection life. This was the central point of his ministry, and this was much deeper than all the previous items of his accomplishments. Such a life in union with Christ is the inner substance of the Lord's recovery, the hidden base of the church life, and the sustaining pillar of the Lord's testimony. It is this feature which produces the overcomers, who are joined to the Head to fight the spiritual warfare for the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose that His kingdom might be brought in.
ESTABLISHING THE LOCAL CHURCHES
The achievement of his ministry consummated in the establishment of hundreds of local churches, mostly in the Far East. By the time he was arrested in 1952, approximately four hundred local churches had been raised up in China. Approximately one hundred of these were in the county of Ping-Yang in the province of Chekiang in southern China; over forty were in the province of Suiyuan in northwest China; approximately twenty were to the north in the province of Kiangsu; and over twenty were in the province of Taiwan. The rest were scattered in major cities and seaports throughout the provinces of China. If the situation had not changed, it is possible that these local churches under Watchman Nee's ministry could easily have evangelized the entire country of China.
In addition, over thirty local churches in the southeastern Asian countries of the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia were directly or indirectly raised up through Watchman Nee's ministry.
BUILDING UP A MINISTRY OF SUPPLY
Although it was not his specific intention, a ministry of supply was spontaneously built up through his ministry, especially his publication ministry. In the last half century in the Far East, many Christian workers, including those who opposed him, used his writings for their preaching and teaching. His Gospel Bookroom eventually became a station of supply. Most of the seeking Christians in the Chinese-speaking world received spiritual food and life supply from his publications. Thus, even the opposing denominations were nourished through his written ministry.
CHAPTER THIRTY
A SEER OF THE DIVINE
REVELATION IN THE PRESENT AGE
In conclusion, Brother Nee, as a unique gift of the age given by the Lord to His Body for His move of the recovery on the earth, should be considered as a seer of the divine visions in the present age according to what he had seen of the divine revelation. The major items of the divine visions he has seen are as follows:
I. The Triune God—the Divine Trinity:
A. The Father as the source. B. The Son as the embodiment of the Father. C. The Spirit as the realization of the Son. II. The eternal plan of God: