12.November 16, Evening: Confession (unavailable)
Section Three contains twenty-one messages given by Watchman Nee at a conference in Chuenchow in November 1935. According to Brother Weigh's notes, the meetings and fellowship followed the schedule that is listed below. The notes from a few of these meetings cannot be located, and at least one message was published in Volume 24, The Overcoming Life.
1. November 11, Evening: He Fills the Hungry with Good Things 2. November 12, Afternoon: Brother Nee's Testimony (unavailable) 3. November 12, Evening: The Overcoming Life 4. November 13, Afternoon: Christ as Everything (unavailable) 5. November 13, Evening: The Characteristics of the Overcoming Life (unavailable) 6. November 14, Afternoon: How to Experience Christ as the Overcoming Life 7. November 14, Evening: How to Experience the Overcoming Life (The Overcoming Life, Volume 24 of The Collected Works, chapter four) 8. November 15, Morning: Living by Faith (unavailable) 9. November 15, Evening: A Believer's Relationship with Christ 10.November 16, Morning: What is Faith 11. November 16, Afternoon: The Way of a Christian 12.November 16, Evening: Confession (unavailable) 13.November 17, Afternoon: Consecration 14.November 17, Evening: The Guarding of the Overcoming Life 15.November 18, Morning: Temptations, Failures, and Progress in the Overcoming Life 16.November 18, Afternoon: A Word of Explanation concerning the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit 17.November 18, Evening: The Conditions for Receiving the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and Things to Watch Out For 18.November 19, Morning: The Manifestations and Evidences of the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit 19.November 19, Afternoon: The Works of the Holy Spirit and the Benefit of the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit 20.November 19, Evening: The Tone of an Overcoming Living 21.November 20, Morning: The Holy Spirit and the Law 22.November 20, Afternoon: Talks (1) 23.November 20, Evening: Being beside Ourselves to God
24.November 21, Morning: A Report on the Various Regions of Work in China 25.November 21, Afternoon: Gifts, Ministry, and Operations 26.November 21, Afternoon: Talks (2) 27.November 22, Afternoon: Talks (3)
SECTION ONE MESSAGES AND FELLOWSHIP GIVEN IN FOOCHOW IN 1934 CHAPTER ONE DELIVERANCE FROM SIN AND FROM THE LAW Date: July 29, 1934 Place: Foochow Many people pay considerable attention to deliverance from sin, but they have no idea of what it means to be delivered from the law. Why did Paul mention deliverance from sin, that is, being dead to sin in Romans 6 and then speak about deliverance from the law in chapter seven? Why do we have to be delivered from the law after we are delivered from sin? What is the difference between deliverance from sin and deliverance from the law? What is the relationship between sin and the law? Is there any correlation between deliverance from the law and deliverance from sin? TRUE DELIVERANCE FROM SIN ONLY BEING REALIZED THROUGH DELIVERANCE FROM THE LAW Romans 6:14 says that sin will not lord it over us because we are not under the law but under grace. This means that we are first delivered from the law and then from sin. When we are no longer under the law, sin will not lord it over us. Yet many believers turn this around. They only pay attention to the matter of deliverance from sin and overlook the matter of deliverance from the law. Sin and the law are linked to each another. This is analogous to the principle of Chinese medicine. Western medicine deals with a sickness either internally by medication or externally by surgery. But in Chinese medicine there is no such thing as an external treatment, because Chinese medicine only tries to deal with the root of illnesses. It does not independently tackle the outward symptoms of illnesses. Sin is the outward symptom of a sickness, whereas the law is the root of the sickness. Man sins because he is under the law. The law is the cause, while sin
is the effect. It is useless for anyone to just deal with the outward effect without first dealing with the root cause. Many people have been troubled by the problem of sin for years and have been struggling without any success. They have failed because they have only taken care of the matter of deliverance from sin without understanding the need to be delivered from the law. In Romans 6 Paul told us how we can be delivered from sin. In chapter seven he goes on to say that it is not enough to just be delivered from sin; we must know how to be delivered from the bondage of the law as well. Actually, Romans 6 is the same as Romans 7, and Romans 7 is the same as Romans 6. Chapter seven is necessary because something is left unresolved in chapter six. Romans 7:8 says that "without the law sin is dead." Strictly speaking, without deliverance from the law in chapter seven, there can be no deliverance from sin in chapter six. Only after we are delivered from the law can we be truly delivered from sin. THE DEFINITION OF THE LAW We must next ask, "What is the law? What is the definition of the law?" Many people think that being delivered from the law is being freed from the Ten Commandments. Some may think that being delivered from the law is being freed from the ceremonial ordinances of the Old Testament, such as the statutes governing the priestly services. They may also think that being delivered from the law is being freed from moral precepts. Actually, the removal of the letter of the law cannot keep anyone from committing sin. God's demand on man in the entire Old Testament is summed up in the law. The law is God's demand on man. Keeping the law means that God has a demand and that we try to do His will and please Him according to our own effort. This is keeping the law. In the New Testament, God has set the law aside and replaced it with grace. God no longer asks man to do anything to please Him. This is a very significant word. Keeping the law is doing something to please God, whereas being delivered from the law is no longer doing anything to please God. God has no intention for us to do anything by ourselves to please Him. If we cannot get through on this point, we cannot get through on the matter of sin.
GOD'S VALUATION OF MAN Let us first consider God's thought concerning man. The real issue is not what the environment says or what other men say, but what God says. God's thought concerning man is that man cannot please Him by doing anything himself. In
himself, man is full of sin and totally incapable of pleasing God. In God's eyes, man only deserves to die. He is hopeless, and nothing in him can ever please God. Nothing that issues from man can please God. God has only one valuation of man; He has only one view concerning man—death. This is why the Bible says that we are dead in Christ. This is God's valuation of us. God has only one valuation concerning us—death. There is a Foochow native expression, Gai-si, which means "deserving death." God has no intention that we improve ourselves, do better, or advance step by step. We are totally incapable of doing these things. However, we do not recognize this fact; we think that we can still do many things. For example, after a man has believed in the Lord, he may say to himself, "I can get up at six o'clock in the morning to read the Bible and to pray. I can be patient, and I can love." God never says that we can make it, and He does not even have an expectation that we can make it. The cross is God's ultimate valuation of us. It is easy to acknowledge this fact while we are listening to a message, but in our practice in daily life, we still try to please God. This is where the root of our problem lies. THE MEANING OF BAPTISM Why do we need to be baptized? Baptism is our answer to God's demand. God demands that we die, and we answer this demand by being baptized. "Or are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?" (Rom. 6:3). Through the cross God signals that we must die and that we deserve nothing but death. The death of the cross is God's demand on us; it is God's valuation of us. We must answer this demand by being baptized. "We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death" (v. 4). Only a dead person can be buried. Baptism is a kind of burial; it declares that we have died and that we deserve only to be buried in the grave. First Peter 3:21 says that baptism is "the appeal of a good conscience unto God." God has pronounced our death, and Christ included us in His death when He died on the cross. When we acknowledge this fact, we offer ourselves up to be baptized. Hence, baptism is our acknowledgement to God that we deserve to die and that we have indeed died in the death of Christ. Baptism is our answer before God of a good conscience. Baptism is not a formality of joining a religion. It is a reckoning, an acknowledgement, and an answer to God's valuation concerning us. MAN'S END BEING GOD'S BEGINNING
If we clearly see this, we will be delivered from the law. We know that we deserve only to die and that we are not qualified to please God with any of our work. As soon as we try to do anything to please God, we should consider what the Lord has done on the cross and realize that we have been freed from the law. We have been crucified with Christ. God has no intention that we do anything anymore. We are crucified already. This is God's valuation, and this is the stand we should take. Yet many of us try to accomplish something by our flesh. We try to do something according to the power of the flesh in order to please God. But when God opens our eyes, we will see that no one except the Lord Himself can ever please God. "And those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8:8). If we had been able to do God's will, God would have kept us and not crucified us. Consider our experience. We have stumbled enough already. Why are we still walking according to our self? God has no further demand on us, yet we still have demands on ourselves! This was the experience of the man in Romans 7. He was trying to will by himself. The man in Romans 7 repeatedly tried to will by himself. The word "I" is repeated many times in this chapter; it shows us the root of the problem. If a man continually wills in himself, it shows that he has not yet been delivered from the law. Every time he fails, he wills again. This cycle will go on until one day he completely loses hope in himself. Then he will cry as Paul did, "Wretched man that I am!" (7:24). Only then will he experience deliverance. God does not expect us not to sin. God gave the law in order for man to break it. In this way man is exposed and sin is made manifest. "I did not know sin except through the law" (7:7). If we realize that the law is not for us to keep and that we deserve only to die, we will see that the cross is our only stand. If we stand firmly on this position, Romans 6 will become our experience. As long as we are not delivered from the law, we are not delivered from sin. As soon as we are delivered from the law, we are delivered from sin. It is futile for us to hope that we can be delivered from sin when we are not delivered from the law. We can only be delivered from sin when we stand on the ground of resurrection. If we are not delivered from the law, we have not died. Consequently, we cannot stand on the ground of resurrection. Romans 7:4 says, "So then, my brothers, you also have been made dead to the law through the body of Christ so that you might be joined to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit to God." Whenever we give up hope in our old man, we accept the Lord's accomplished fact in Romans 6:6. Yet
we often overturn the accomplished fact of the cross. The cross shows us that our old man has died, but we still walk according to the old man. This is denying the work of the Lord on the cross. We are not here to deal with sin; we are here to deal with the law. When we die to the law, we die to sin as well. "Without the law sin is dead" (7:8). As soon as we are freed from the law, we are freed from sin. Yet we often bring back many matters which the cross has put to death. Many believers say, "I cannot imagine that I could still commit such a sin!" I would reply, "Is that so? Don't you realize that you can commit a greater sin than that?" As long as a man is in the flesh, he can commit any sin. No one can accomplish God's will in the flesh. Unless we stand on the ground of death and resurrection, we can never be freed from sin and can never accomplish God's will. Only those who have died to the law through the body of Christ can be "joined to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit to God" (7:4). Once I spoke with a man who was over seventy years old about the matter of deliverance from the law. He remarked that this was the most glorious fact in the whole world. I asked when he was delivered from the law, and he answered, "Fifty years ago." Then he went to say, "It is good to hear your preaching on the deliverance from the law and from sin today. The day that I saw I was delivered from the law, I was in the heavens. I struggled to please God for many years after I was saved. But the more I tried, the more I failed. I thought that God had the greatest demands in the whole universe, and I discovered that I could not meet even His slightest demand. One day when I was reading Romans 7, the light suddenly dawned. I saw that the Lord had not only delivered me from my sin but also had delivered me from the law. I jumped up in amazement and said, `Lord, is it true that You will no longer have any demand on me? If it is, I do not have to do anything for You any longer!'" THE WILLING IN PHILIPPIANS 2:13 Philippians 2:13 says that "it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure." The willing in this verse is different from the willing in Romans 7. This is not a willing that one struggles to achieve by gritting teeth. It is the result of the operation of God's power within us. Such a willing and working is spontaneous. Dr. F. B. Meyer once said that when God has a demand, it does not matter whether or not we are willing; all that we have to do is ask God to make us willing. Once he prayed to the Lord, "God, I am not willing, but work in me until I
am willing." A few days after he prayed, he became willing. On the wall of his house was a frame which read, "Lord, I am willing to be made willing." One sister in Shanghai always ill-treated those in her house. She prayed that God would make her love others. The Lord's love touched her, and He operated in her to make her willing to love others. As a result she began to love others from her heart. This is not a kind of love that one can muster up with will-power; it is the result of the Lord's operation in a person, which expresses itself in a spontaneous love for others. Believers must not only be willing in their conduct, but also willing in their mentality. In order for us to become willing in our conduct, we must first become willing in our mentality. Hence, we have to ask God to make our heart willing to do His will. Psalm 119:36 says, "Incline my heart to Your testimonies." Acts 16:14 says that the Lord opened the heart of Lydia the seller of purple-dyed goods so that she gave heed to the things being spoken by Paul. This is not a passive act; we are still responsible for our conduct. At the same time, however, the Holy Spirit has to bring a person's mentality to the point where it agrees to yield. Hence, our willing and working are not according to ourselves, but according to His operation. May the Lord operate in us to will and to work for the accomplishment of His will. * * * A quotation from Watchman Nee's Bible: The initiation of the work—God's will. The carrying out of the work—God's power. The result of the work—God's glory.
CHAPTER TWO LIFE AND LIGHT Date: August 20, 1934, morning Place: Foochow Scripture Reading: John 1:4 INTRODUCTION Today believers need light. It is absurd for a child of God to have life but be without light. Those who have life should surely have light. John 1:4 says that in Him is life, and this life is the light of men. The life of the Lord is the light of men. When a man receives the Lord's life, he receives light. On the Lord's side, there is first life and then light. On our side, there is first light and then life. The spiritual
depth that a believer possesses is dependent on the amount of light he has received. LIGHT, REVELATION, MANIFESTATION, AND VISION What does the Bible say about light, revelation, manifestation, and vision? Light is necessary to enlighten God's revelation and to make manifest what is hidden. A revelation is God's removal of a veil to show us something, as described in Revelation 1:1. After there is revelation, there is still the need for God's enlightening. Manifestation is the exposure of a revelation after it has been enlightened by the light. Finally, a vision is what we see after a revelation has been enlightened by the light. For example, Paul spoke of the vision he received from heaven (Acts 26:19), and Proverbs says that the people perish where there is no vision (29:18). THE CONDITIONS FOR RECEIVING LIGHT There are a few conditions for receiving God's light. First, a man must be in the proper realm before he can receive light. In other words, he must be in a realm where light can reach. For example, the light in a room can only enlighten that room; if you are sitting in the next room, you will not be able to read with the light from the adjacent room. The psalmist said, "In Your light we see light" (Psa. 36:9). We can only receive God's light in the realm where His light shines. Second, in order to receive light, we must have God's word. The psalmist said that the Lord's word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (119:105). We must spend much time to read God's Word before we will receive light. Light is with God and not within man's heart. This is why the psalmist said that the Lord's word is the light unto our path. Third, in order to receive God's light, we have to draw near to God. We must be one who is near God, and one who draws nigh to Him, because only God is light. He is the source of light. When we are near Him and when we draw nigh to Him, we receive light. Luke 11 says that the eye is the lamp of the body (v. 34). The lamp does not have light in itself; it can only be a means through which light manifests itself. The eye is the means through which we see light, but light itself is God. If the eye is single, the whole body will be full of light (Matt. 6:22). A man must first establish an intimate fellowship with the Lord before he will see light. KNOWLEDGE AND LIGHT Knowledge is absolutely different from light. Those who have light surely have the knowledge, but those who have knowledge do not necessarily have light.
There is a big difference between a blind man's knowledge of colors and a child's experience of them. A blind man may have the knowledge of colors, but he has never seen them. A child may not have the knowledge of colors, but he knows what colors are from his experience. It is a pity that believers today pay so much attention to knowledge instead of light. The realization of sin is not a question of knowledge but a question of light. A student once said to Mr. Bengal, a famous Bible expositor, "I have recently discovered the doctrine of sin from the book of Romans." Mr. Bengal looked at him and said, "Do you mean to tell me that today is the first time that you have known about the doctrine of sin? By now you should have realized that your whole person is sin from your daily experience!" I once asked a person who prayed frequently with Mr. Sparks, "What words are most often repeated in Mr. Sparks' prayer?" The man answered, "Lord! Let Your church see." What the church needs today is not more knowledge but more light and more seeing.
LIGHT AND THE WORK OF GOD God works through His light. His work in man begins with light. The work in Genesis began with light. With light there was the separation. On the fourth day, the light took on tangible shapes. In John 9, the Lord healed the blind man with the spittle mixed with clay (vv. 111; cf. Mark 8:22-26). Clay signifies the flesh and the earthly things, while the spittle signifies the Lord's divinity, which produces something of life. This life becomes the light of man. The Lord mixing spittle with the clay means that divinity is mixed with humanity. The Lord's incarnation is the best illustration of the mingling of divinity with humanity. The spittle and the clay signify the light of life in divinity mingled with humanity to produce the anointing, which brings healing to the blind man. After the blind man was healed, he did not see clearly at first; he saw men walking as trees. The Lord touched his eyes again, and when the blind man looked a second time, his eyes were fully recovered. This signifies that believers sometimes receive light but are still not too clear. They become clear only after they have received further light. We can testify from our experience that light is cumulative. The light that we have today is far more than the light we received years ago. MISCELLANEOUS FELLOWSHIP The Destruction of Jerusalem
We praise the Lord for the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. If Jerusalem had remained, there would still be sacerdotal sacrifices, and the priestly service after the order of Melchisedec could not have been instituted. If the temple had not been destroyed, the believers would have esteemed the physical temple and not considered the church as God's temple. Finally, when worship centers around an outward physical building, the believers no longer worship in spirit and in reality (see John 4:21-24). Doing God's Will A worker must learn to know God's will and must learn to not work for God. Most workers know that once they have God's command, they should act according to such command. But many people work even when there is no clear command from the Lord. Presumption is working without command, while disobedience is failing to work when there is a command. In either case, this is lawlessness. Every worker can know God's will in a direct way, and there is no need for us to beg to know His desire. If I assume responsibility for informing my servant about even the smallest task, such as fetching a small pair of scissors, how much more will the Lord be responsible for giving His servants detailed instructions for what He wants to do? Once we are clear about the Lord's will, we should no longer be affected by men. Once Paul became clear of the Lord's will, he was bold to say that he did not confer with flesh and blood (Gal. 1:16). He did not compromise the truth with anyone, including Peter and John. Every worker of God must have a direct and subjective knowledge of the Lord. Paul was able to boast of "my gospel" (Rom. 2:16; 16:25). His gospel was not from men. Every worker should be able to boast as Paul did of "my gospel." Confession Confession is toward God and not toward men. When we sin, we sin against God. Therefore, when we confess, we confess to God. It is wrong for anyone to confess to men in a loose way. The extent of confession should only be the extent of one's sin. If one commits a sin before God, he should only confess to God. The confession in 1 John 1:9 is a confession before God. It means to call sin a sin. When God considers something to be a sin and we also call it a sin, this is confession. As one believer said, "We should give sin the right name." This is what it means to confess—to call sin a sin. Many people confess their sins to men. They think that once they confess their sins to men, their hearts will have peace, and they think that everything will be settled. Yet they have only confessed to men; they have not confessed to God.
This kind of confession is only a performance; it has no value whatsoever before the Lord. It will not remove man's sin before God. Only the Lord's blood has the power to wash us of our sins. Although confession before men will render a person some psychological relief, it will not remove his sin-record before God. The Oxford movement in the eighteenth century emphasized confession to men. They only paid attention to the act of confession and neglected man's deliverance before God. Dr. Stearn once said that the salvation they spoke of was only a kind of psychological deliverance; it was not a genuine salvation. Confession alone cannot save men. Only the Lord's blood can save men. First John 1:9 tells us that the Lord's blood can wash away all sins and unrighteousnesses. Many people do not have an opportunity to settle with men the sins they committed in this world. For example, the thief who was crucified beside the Lord did not have an opportunity to confess his sins to anyone. Yet he was still saved, because he trusted in the Lord's salvation (Luke 23:42-43).
CHAPTER THREE PRIVATE TALKS (1) GENERAL SPIRITUAL TOPICS The Universe Revealing God's Glory, While Christ Revealing God Himself (July 25) Nature reveals only God's glory, but Christ reveals God Himself. God is in Christ. At the most the universe can reveal God's glory (Psa. 19:1; Rom. 1:20); only Christ can reveal God Himself, because God is in Christ. There Is a God (July 25) Once I spoke with a college student about the existence of God. The student argued that there is no God, and I said to him, "Then you must be God. If you know that there is no God, you must be God yourself. If you know that there is no God, you must have travelled throughout the whole earth. If one cannot find God in Shanghai, He may be in Nanking. In order for you to say that there is no God, you must have been to Shanghai and Nanking. But if God is not in Nanking, He may be in Tientsin. Therefore, you must have been to Tientsin as well. If God is not found in China, He may be found in another country! This means that you have been to all the countries in the world. If God is not in one place, He may be in another place. In order for you to say that there is no God, you must have been to all these places! God may be hiding at the North Pole or the South Pole,
or He may be hiding in the jungle or the wilderness. You must have been to the North Pole, the South Pole, and all the jungles and wildernesses in the world. In order for you to say that there is no God, you must have been to all these places! Perhaps God is not living on this earth, but is living on the moon. This would mean that you must have been to the moon also. God may also be living on other planets or hiding in outer space. This means that you also must have been to all the planets and to outer space as well. Hence, you must have been all over the universe and have searched everywhere. If you are qualified to say that there is no God, then you must be God. "This is not all. You can say that there is no God today. But how can you be sure that there was no God in Shanghai yesterday. Perhaps God will come tomorrow. If you cannot find God this year, how do you know that there was no God last year? How can you be sure that you will not find God next year? Moreover, even if you are sure that there is no God today, how can you be sure that there was no God a thousand years ago? You must be a person who lives forever. You must be one who knows everything about the future, and one who is not bound by time and space. You must be one who can be simultaneously in Tientsin as well as in all the other countries of the world. You must be able to be in the east, the west, the North Pole, and the South Pole at the same time. You must be omnipresent. You must have searched through time and space in order to conclude that there is no God. If this is the case, I do not need to look anywhere else. You are God! If you are not God, you are not qualified to say that there is no God." The Error of Modernism (July 25) Brother Jiang's father-in-law received a wrong diagnosis from the doctor; therefore, his sickness never healed. This is analogous to the Modernists who claim that a man can be saved only if he performs good works. Saying this proves that one is ignorant of the true nature of man. Those who say this do not know man's true self. The Bible says that man is born in sin (Psa. 51:5). Man's nature is constituted of nothing but sin. Sin is something that originates from man's inward being. The Definition of the Church (July 28) The definition of the church: All that is of Christ in all the saints.
One Who Hated God Being Saved (August 2) There was a opera star in England named Miss Christiana Fry. She was born of a rich family and endowed with beauty and wealth. Once she was in a beautiful
dress and met a preacher on her way home. The preacher told her that she was going down the wrong path and that she should believe in the Lord. She rejected his word. After she returned home, she said to God, "God, I hate You. I despise what You love, and I love what You hate. Even if you want to give me grace, I will not want it." Later she added, "But God, give me what I do not want. Give me what I do not have." Eventually she became a Christian and wrote a book called Christ Our Example. This proves that even those who hate and reject God can be saved. Confession (August 2) Today many people consider confession as a big thing. They even consider it to be something bigger than the Lord's blood, as if forgiveness of sins comes from confession. The work of Dr. John Sung gives people such an impression. Many people do not believe that forgiveness of sin is through the precious blood of the Lord. Even if a man has not confessed his sin, the Lord's blood is still efficacious as long as he believes in the blood. How Does the Blood Wash Us of Our Sins? (July 25) How does the blood wash us of our sins? When a sinner sins, there is the sinrecord before the Lord. When a man believes in the Lord, his name is written in the book of life, and his sin-records before the Lord are erased. After a man believes in the Lord, his sins are removed before God by the blood of the Lord. Read Revelation 20:12, 15 and Matthew 12:36-37. The Bible says that one's name can be "erased" from the book of life (Rev. 3:5; Exo. 32:32; Psa. 69:28), but this kind of "erasing" is not eternal perdition. Once a believer's name is recorded in the book of life, it can never be removed. When he sins, his name receives a mark against it. In typology, when the priests slaughtered the animals on the altar, the blood was drained under the altar (signifying the washing of our conscience by the blood of the Lord) on the one hand, and the priests brought the blood into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled it upon the mercy seat on the other hand. When God saw the blood, He was satisfied. In the Holy of Holies, the law within the ark was covered by the blood, showing that God's righteous requirements have been silenced by the blood. Because of this God can now forgive our sins. Personal Sin and Representative Sin (July 25) There is a difference between representative sin and personal sin. Personal sin is what a person commits when he acts as an individual. Representative sin is
what a person commits when he acts in a representative position. A person's position as a master or a servant or as a male or a female is more than a personal position; it is a matter of representation. Matthew mentions being compelled to go a mile, being slapped on the right cheek, or being sued for a tunic. As far as personal conduct is concerned, it is enough for a person to endure all these treatments. But as far as him being a representative is concerned, enduring all these is not enough. We are God's children; this is a matter of representation, and we must go an extra mile, turn the other cheek, and give others the cloak as well. Only then will we properly represent God. God's love is shed abroad like the sunshine and the rain; He does not withdraw them because of man's scorn. If our heavenly Father is this way, we must be the same because we represent Him. Those who have not reached this standard may not have committed any personal sin, but they have committed a representative sin. Testimony at Home (August 2) God's love for the world has the nation as the basic unit. The church has the city as the basic unit, while humanity as a whole has the family as the basic unit. Noah, Abraham, Ahab, Korah, Lydia, etc., were all mentioned together with their family as a basic unit. The judgment on a family will come upon the head of the household, who is the male. The Lord will ask how the head has dealt with his family. With a female, the Lord will only ask her to be accountable for herself. A male carries a double role; he must act in accordance with Ephesians 6:4. There was a professor from Princeton who had several sons. None of them believed in the Lord. When a colleague of his reminded him that he should bring his sons to the Lord, he began to admonish his sons concerning the way of the Lord. Yet none of them believed by the time they graduated. Later the professor died, and his children were still unbelievers. By the time these children grew old, however, they remembered the words of their father and were all saved. I have seen dozens of cases like this.
The Place of the Male and the Female (July 28) In the Bible the male represents truth and stands for objective things, whereas the female represents experience and stands for subjective things. In a family the male must assume the responsibility of authority and supply. A Talk with George Cutting (July 28) When I was in England, I visited George Cutting. At that time he was quite old. I talked with him for about half an hour. The clearest word that came out of his
mouth was, "Our Lord needs us and we need Him." Cutting's book, Safety, Certainty, and Enjoyment, has sold more than 10 million copies. Next to the Bible, it is the most widely circulated book. Living in His Presence All the Time (July 25) Mr. Sparks said that many people do not live in God's presence during ordinary times; they turn to God only when there is a crisis. If we practice living in His presence during ordinary times, we will save ourselves from many cumbersome procedures. Reckoning at the Time of the Resurrection of the Righteous (July 25) Once I went with an older brother to shop. When he was ready to leave, he paid his money quickly, turned to me, and said, "It is better to reckon everything now than to reckon it at the time of the resurrection of the righteous." I asked him what he meant, and he answered that a debt today will cost more on that day; a dollar today is worth only a dollar, but on that day, it will be compounded through interest. Famous Examples of Answers to Prayers (July 28) (1)Once George Müller was going to Quebec. He was scheduled to arrive on Saturday afternoon, but the fog was too heavy and his ship was detained for twenty four hours. He tried to persuade the captain to set sail in spite of the fog, saying that he had to arrive in Quebec by Saturday afternoon. At first the captain would not give in, saying, "Do you not know how heavy the fog is?" Müller answered, "No, my eyes do not see the fog; they only see the living God." The captain thought that this man must have just come out of a mental asylum. Mr. Müller turned back into the cabin and prayed to the Lord, "I have promised others that I will be there for my speaking. If I miss the appointment, I will let them down. Let the captain of this ship know that you are God by blowing the fog away." After he prayed he went back to the deck and told the captain, "You can set sail now. The fog is retreating." Indeed, the fog began to move away. Later, the captain of the ship testified that he had thought that Mr. Müller was mentally sick. However, when he saw with his own eyes how God had heard Mr. Müller's prayer, he could not help but be convinced. (2)Once there was a famine in the province of Shensi, and a few believers were praying. Suddenly a strong wind blew toward them and brought chestnuts which piled up three or four feet high. Later when they testified about this in a meeting,
a few hundred believers from the province of Suiyuen remembered that at the time they prayed, a strong wind came and cleaned up the chestnuts from their threshing floor. The huge black cloud took all the chestnuts and moved in the direction of the Shensi province. About Evan Roberts (July 28) One of Mr. Evan Roberts's frequent prayers was, "Bend me low, Lord." Another frequent prayer was, "Bend the church low to save the world." These two prayers were his lifelong prayers and were recorded in The Overcomer magazine between 1913 and 1914. Mr. Roberts was an uneducated coal miner. At first he prayed alone in open fields. Later, as more joined him, there were revival meetings everywhere, and meetings began in a few dozen places. During their meetings, one could hear children crying and carrying on, yet there was no disorder because God was presiding over the meetings. One man by the name of Williams was a newspaper reporter. He went to the meetings to look for Mr. Roberts but did not find him. Eventually, he found him in a school where many elementary school students were gathering together to pray. When the children saw Mr. Williams, they surrounded him and asked him to preach to them. Mr. Williams was taken by surprise. He had spoken on numerous occasions, but he did not know what a message was. The children next asked if he was saved and asked him to pray. When he knelt down to pray, the children surrounded him. Later, he found Mr. Roberts sitting on the fourth row in a meeting. Mr. Williams went over and sat by him. Mr. Roberts was silent for a long time and only opened his mouth to adjust one man who was calling a hymn. After Mr. Williams saw all these things, he resigned from his work at the newspaper company and followed Mr. Roberts to learn from him the way to pray. Mr. Roberts preached between the age of nineteen and twenty-six. Then he became sick, and he is still too sick to work today. He is still alive today and in his fifties. A believer who talked with him for about two hours testified later that he had never met a person with as little self-consciousness as Mr. Roberts had. In collaboration with Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis, he wrote War on the Saints, a book on spiritual warfare. Prior to him, no one knew anything about the spiritual warfare spoken of in Ephesians 6. Experience of Healing (August 31) I was sick for one hundred sixty-five days. The last episode was the most trying of all. I could not sleep at night, and I was constantly sweating. During my
sickness, many prayers seemed to have disappeared from me; I was not able to hold on to any promise from the Lord or trust in His healing. Once when Brother Chang Kwang-rong saw my pain, he said, "I wish I could die for you." I would not allow others to give me any medicine. I said, "I will not take any medicine. If I die, God is responsible for my death. But if you give me medicine and I die, you will have to be responsible for my death." On the last day of my sickness, the head nurse in the Health Department called my friends and relatives and asked them to make preparations for my funeral. Many people came and wept. On that day, I heard a soft voice coming from afar, saying, "Watchman Nee, I have healed you." Then I asked someone to fetch my clothing and shoes and to hire a car for me. I took the car and rode to Miss Dora Yu's house. She thought that I was a ghost. After I was healed, I was able to walk downstairs by myself. I was healed on Friday. By Saturday, I was able to mend my own shoes, and on the Lord's Day I preached for over an hour.
CHAPTER FOUR PRIVATE TALKS (2) Date: 1934 Place: Foochow ON BIBLICAL EXPOSITION Biblical Manuscripts and the Apocrypha (July 31) The Old Testament: The Old Testament we have today is the Old Testament that the Lord Jesus used in His days. At that time the Old Testament had been translated into Greek. Although there were Old Testament apocryphal writings, the Lord did not acknowledge them. The Lord only acknowledged the Old Testament that we have today. We find the proof of this in Luke 24:44. Hence, there is absolutely no error in the Old Testament, and no part was missing. The New Testament: There are only three extant manuscripts of the New Testament: the Vaticanus, the Siniaticus, and the Alexandrianus. Historically, there are four to five hundred copies of parts of the four gospels in existence. The New Testament does not have an apocrypha, and no part of it has been lost. John Calvin said that in reading the Apocrypha, his spirit spontaneously told him that it was not inspired by the Spirit. Dr. Scofield said that it is all right if the Bible has one part in ten thousand that is in error, because that one part has nothing to do with the truth of the Bible.
The Order of the Four Gospels (August 2) The first three gospels were written in Judea, whereas the Gospel of John was written in Ephesus. Mark and John were written chronologically; Matthew was written according to the order of doctrines, whereas Luke was written according to the order of spiritual teachings. Comments on Matthew (August 2) The good earth in Matthew 13:8 refers to a good heart, an honest heart. The Holy Spirit is the comforter. A comforter is one who is alongside. During the three and a half years that the Lord was on the earth, He was first a Friend to sinners. He did not come first to be the Savior. He was first a Friend to sinners and then the Savior to sinners. He first had to be a Friend before men could love Him. The Lord did this to prepare men's hearts to receive Him as the Savior. People often do not believe when we talk to them about repentance and faith in God. We should first let the sinners know that the Lord is their Friend. Then they will easily receive Him as their Savior. The casting of the net and the collecting of the fish in Matthew 13 portray the things in the coming kingdom (vv. 47-48). The Lord had three kinds of brothers: those in the flesh, the Jews, and the New Testament believers. The Spreading in Acts (August 2) The church committed one grave mistake after Pentecost—it did not follow the commandment of Acts 1:8. After Acts 9, we have a record of Paul as a messenger of the gospel to the Gentiles. Yet before Paul went out for his work, Peter had already gone down to Caesarea. His going to Caesarea was opposed by the believers in Jerusalem. However, without Peter's going, it is doubtful whether Paul could have started a work there at a later date. Romans 2:12 (August 2) According to Romans 2:12, those who have never heard the gospel will not necessarily perish. When I was in Canada, I preached on the subject of "Seven Kinds of People Who Can Be Saved without Believing or Knowing the Truth." Among those who can be saved are those who do not know that there is a God, those who do not know that Jesus is the Savior, and those who do not know of the forgiveness of the cross.
The Man in Romans 7 (August 2)
Chapters one through eight of Romans are doctrinal, nine through eleven are illustrative, and twelve through sixteen are experiential. Chapter seven describes the condition of a person before he is saved. The proof of this is in verse 14. Verses 1 through 6 describe the condition of a saved person, whereas verse 14 describes the condition of an unsaved person. Verse 6 says that we (the saved ones) have died to the law in which we were held and are therefore discharged or freed from the law. Yet verse 14 says that we are fleshy, sold under sin. This must refer to an unsaved person, because this person is not yet freed from the law. (July 25) In the Solomon Islands, there was a worker called Northcote Codeck, who claimed that his work had no need of Romans 7, because he taught consecration from the beginning. The Man Who Sinned in 1 Corinthians 5 (August 2) First Corinthians 5 mentions the fornicators, the covetous, the idolaters, revilers, drunkards, and those who are rapacious (v. 11). These are not verbs but descriptions. They describe certain kinds of persons. Paradise (July 31) Hades is in the center of the earth; it is divided into a suffering part and Paradise (see Luke 16:22-26). In 2 Corinthians 12:2 and 4, the original Greek says that Paul was caught up to the third heavens and was caught away to Paradise. The Lord said that He would be in the center of the earth for three days (Matt. 12:40). On the cross He told the thief who was crucified beside Him that he would be with Him in Paradise that same day (Luke 23:43). This proves that Paradise is in the center of the earth. Ephesians 4:8 says that the Lord led captive those taken captive; it does not say that he led Paradise captive and took Paradise to the third heavens. This proves that Paradise and the third heavens are in two different places. The Subject of the Book of Philippians (July 28) The subject of the book of Philippians is not rejoicing, but the exhortation of two sisters to be reconciled to each other. In chapter one, Paul showed that he was always reconciled to others. In chapter two, he showed that Christ was always reconciled to God. The Three Peaks in the New Testament (July 28)
There are three peaks in the New Testament: Romans, Ephesians, and Hebrews. Romans is on sin and salvation, Ephesians is on the church in eternity, and Hebrews is on the Lord as the High Priest. The Second Epistles in the New Testament (July 28) Why are there the first and the second epistles in the New Testament? This is because man did not take heed to the first epistle, and there was the need to write a second epistle. Hence, every second epistle mentions the subject of separation. For example, 2 Corinthians 6:17 mentions separation from the unclean; 2 Timothy 3:5 mentions turning away from those who have an outward form of godliness. Second Timothy mainly tells us to turn back to three things: the teaching of Paul, to the Old Testament, and to turn away from those who have an outward form of godliness in order to turn back to the reality of godliness. Today the church is in desolation. The ones mentioned in 2 Timothy 3 are those who are in the church. Hence, there is the need for some to separate themselves to be the overcomers. Of the seven churches in Revelation, the first three have passed away: (1) The church in Ephesus signifies the church at the time of the apostles. (2) The church in Smyrna signifies the suffering church, which was persecuted by the Roman emperors. (3) The church in Pergamos saw the gradual formation of the papal system. The last four churches will remain until the Lord comes back: (4) The church in Thyatira, which is the Roman Catholic Church, with the papal corruption. This is the church prior to the time of Martin Luther. (5) The church in Sardis, which signifies the Protestant church. This was the beginning of the recovery of the church. (6) The church in Philadelphia, which signifies the faithful little flock. (7) The church in Laodicea, which signifies a degradation from the church in Philadelphia. The City in Revelation (August 2) In Genesis the serpent crept in because there was a garden. But in Revelation the serpent can no longer creep in, because there is a city.
CHAPTER FIVE PRIVATE TALKS (3) Date: 1934 Place: Foochow ON THE PRACTICE OF THE CHURCH LIFE The Ground of Locality of a Church There are many advantages in having the city as the unit of the church. Although not all the cities in the Bible have walls, cities historically experience the least amount of changes. There should be only one church in the city of Foochow, yet it can have seven or eight meeting places. All seven or eight places are under the same administration of the one church, and there is only one set of elders and deacons for this one church. A city, a town, or a village is the sphere of administration of a church. When speaking of the province of Galatia, the Bible refers to the churches in Galatia (1 Cor. 16:1). But in regard to Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica, and the seven cities in Revelation, the Bible speaks of the church in each locality; the names of the churches are derived from the names of the cities. In England there are two cities which are very close together; they have two churches. In the United States, New York City is composed of three former cities which were combined to form one greater New York City. Before they were combined, there were three churches, but after they were combined, there should only be one church. The local church is the highest administration on earth; it is directly responsible to God. If a problem occurs in a locality, the church can only try to deal with it by itself; there is no higher place of appeal. Other churches can only give their advice. For example, Paul could not interfere with the fornicator spoken of in 1 Corinthians 5. He could only deliver the sinning one in his spirit to Satan. Acts 15 gives us another example. At that time, some people went from Jerusalem to Antioch and taught that believers should be circumcised and keep the laws of Moses. Paul went up to Jerusalem to settle this dispute, but this does not mean that Jerusalem was the center. It merely means that the matter originated from Jerusalem. (August 1) God ordains that the church should take the locality as its unit. No unit that is greater than a locality or smaller than a locality can form the basis of a church. The table meeting at Pai-Ya-Tan (White Teeth Lake) has the following extra-local
characteristics: (1) It can hire pastors, (2) it pays salary, (3) it can dismiss workers, and (4) all decisions are made by itself. (July 31) The Oneness of the Church (July 31) The principle of the oneness of the church lies first in considering others better than oneself, and second in keeping all the good things of the Adamic old man from creeping into the church. The Bible never commands us to like people; it only commands us to love others. Likes and dislikes are things in the Adamic realm. We cannot base our choice on our own disposition, and we cannot associate ourselves only with those who have our same disposition. We can see the work of Christ in every believer's character. For example, Americans are different from Englishmen (e.g., consider Dr. Stearns and his wife). It would be a disaster if we did things in the church according to our own disposition. Elders and deacons are restricted to a locality, whereas truth is a matter for all the churches; therefore, it must be ascertained by the teachers. All those who are led by the Holy Spirit will surely have the same revelation. If any one individual does not accept a truth, he alone has to bear the responsibility for his refusal. After a teacher has ascertained a truth, all the churches should follow and submit to this truth.
The Question of Sects The principle in ascertaining a sect: (1) It has its own distinctive name, (2) it has its own distinctive organization, and (3) it has its own distinctive fellowship. (July 31) When Dr. Stearns discussed the matter of leaving the denominations with Mr. Sparks, he was asked, "If you are truly under the headship of Christ, would you come under the Presbyterians?" This made Dr. Stearns clear about the matter of leaving the denominations. We should speak to students about the church. We should let them know that we fellowship with all the saints and that we take care of the Body life. (August 2) Among the Workers (August 2) If a worker cannot work together with another worker, there must be something wrong with his spiritual life. We should learn to work together with others. This is like a couple living together; both have to learn to rub off each other's rough spots. The Prayer Meeting (August 1)
Any problem in the church that cannot be solved by the brothers should be settled by prayers of authority. It should never be settled by the consent of the majority. Prayers of authority should constitute at least half of all our prayers. The Bread-breaking Meeting (July 28) It is better to break the bread in the evening. The reasons are as follows: (1) We labor in the day for the Lord and enter into the enjoyment in the evening, and (2) indifferent ones also are screened out by holding the meeting in the evening. Concerning Visiting a Place and Breaking the Bread There (July 25) If you are a guest in a place and only stay there temporarily, it is permissible to break bread and remember the Lord with the ones who are there. But once the matter of receiving arises, it touches the matter of church ministry. We have to be careful and not act rashly. The Preaching Meeting (July 28) There are three things to watch for in preparing a message: (1) the message, (2) the material, and (3) the method. Funeral Meetings (August 1) It is better for believers to personally conduct the funerals of their fellow believers. For example, in the Bible we have the Lord's death, Stephen's death, and the death of the condemned couple Ananias and Sapphira. All of their funerals were handled by the believers.
CHAPTER SIX PRIVATE TALKS (4) Date: 1934 Place: Foochow ON THE ASSEMBLY IN FOOCHOW AND ON DIVISION (Editor's Note: In 1934 there was a meeting in She-Er-Jen-Pai, a district in the city of Foochow. The meeting was not a part of any denomination, and it had knowledge of the church in Shanghai. The leaders of that meeting were a Miss Ding Shu-shin and John Wang. Brother K. H. Weigh as well as Watchman Nee's mother met with this assembly at one time. Miss Ding was opposed to the practice of head covering and later also sought for the experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Brother Weigh did not agree with her stand of opposing the
head covering. The following are records of Brother Nee's talk with Brother Weigh concerning the subject and Brother Nee's advice.) Since its severance from the denominations, the meeting in She-Er-Jen-Pai has never stood clearly on the proper ground of the church. This is a historical fact. This puts it at a distance from the other assemblies. Its initial testimony was merely a testimony for the truth of salvation. Later, it advanced to stand for the truth of baptism and then for the truth of the Lord's table. But it was never clear about the church ministry. As far as church ministry is concerned, it should submit itself to the assemblies which have advanced further in this aspect of the truth. The late-comers should submit to the early-comers. For example, it is only proper for the newly raised assembly in Swatow to follow the practice of the church in Shanghai. (July 31) This time my coming to Foochow is only for settling general questions. The local problems in Foochow should be settled by the local brothers themselves. Our problem with the meeting in Tsing-Tao-Kuan is a moral issue. It is related to the setting up of the Lord's table meeting there. We cannot participate in the breaking of bread in that meeting. However, our problem with She-Er-Jen-Pai has to do with the truth, such as the truth concerning head covering. We can only take one of two stands concerning the head covering (with respect to the forbidding of the head covering in She-Er-Jen-Pai). Either we go to the meeting and cover our head, or we do not go to the meeting at all. Both stands are correct (see 1 Cor. 11:3-15). It is unreasonable for She-Er-Jen-Pai to demand that others take off their head covering. Miss Ding demanded that everyone take off their head covering while waiting to be clear about the Lord's will. She also said that since most people did not cover their head, the minority should go along with the majority and wait on the Lord's leading in this way. But why would she not ask those who have not covered their head to cover their head while waiting on the Lord? Suppose the majority of them covered their head. Would Miss Ding also cover her head to wait on the Lord? Miss Ding said that humanity as a whole already has its head covered in the order of God's creation and that there is no need to have a physical sign. I would ask, "If we are dead in Christ already, why do we have to be baptized?" Miss Ding left the denominations through the help of Hwa Wei-cheng's Bible teachings at Tien-An Chapel. You do not have to argue with her about her isolated issues one by one. [This probably refers to such issues as head
covering.] All you have to do is to ask, "What right does a man have to express his opinion before God or to question God? (Rom. 9:19-21). Toward God's Word there is no need for us to ask why. As long as we know that it is God's Word, that is enough." Those whose flesh is not thoroughly crucified often ask why. Even many preachers often try to study the "whys." But a spiritual man does not ask why; he only asks what. Moreover, according to the teaching of the Bible, a woman does not have any place in teaching the truths (1 Cor. 14:34; 1 Tim. 2:12). We see no such thing in the Bible. Even if Miss Ding is opposed to the matter of head covering, she should not be teaching this as a teaching. In the event that there is a division in She-Er-Jen-Pai, it will not be the result of a dispute concerning head covering. There have been a series of factors accumulating throughout the years, leading to the present outbreak. (July 25) Of course, I have to say a word to you as well. You were wrong as well. If you were unhappy with the meeting in She-Er-Jen-Pai in any way, you should have discussed it with the responsible ones there and not have criticized them behind their backs. (August 2)
Events Leading to the Separation between the Way of Watchman Nee and John Wang Brother Weigh's Abbreviated Record of Brother Nee's Letter to John Wang "Yesterday I was praying singlemindedly and searching my heart day and night. I felt that your attitude and motive were very questionable [referring to what John Wang did when he was in Shanghai]. From the few conversations I had with you, I felt that the difference between us still exists. From this night forward, the arguments between us should end right here. You can take your way. I guarantee you that I will not bother you anymore. Concerning the meeting in Foochow [in She-Er-Jen-Pai], I cannot render any help to the situation, and neither will I do anything to damage it. I admit that you have won your arguments. However, in your conversation with a certain sister last night about forcing others to take off their head covering, I am afraid that you overstepped in the matter of exercising your authority. Mr. Panton said that over-law is lawlessness. Your exercise of authority is for achieving your private end."