THE FOURTH PART: THE PATHWAY OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY
The Course of the Church
Message Nine—The Truths Recovered by the Ministry of Brother Watchman Nee (1)
Scripture Reading: Titus 1:4; 2 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 8:16; Eph. 2:8; Rev. 3:5; 2:7; 2 Tim. 4:8; Matt. 5:3, 10; Rev. 10:2; 5:11; 1:4, 20; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; 5:1
I. Watchman Nee fully believed in the scriptural, fundamental faith held by all true Christians—Jude 3; Titus 1:4; 2 Pet. 1:1:
A. He believed in the verbal inspiration of the Bible and that the Bible is God’s holy Word—2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20-21.
B. He believed that God is triune—Father, Son, and Spirit—distinctly three, yet fully one—1 Cor. 8:4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Num. 6:22-26; Matt. 3:16-17; 28:19.
C. He believed that every person who believes in Jesus Christ will be forgiven by God, washed by His redeeming blood, justified by faith, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and saved by grace—Eph. 2:5; 1:7; Luke 24:47; Heb. 1:3; Rom. 3:24-25.
D. Such a believer is a child of God and a member of the Body of Christ—John 1:12-13; Rom. 12:4-5; Eph. 4:25.
E. He also believed that the destiny of every believer is to be an integral part of the church, which is the Body of Christ and the house of God—Eph. 2:20-22.
F. Watchman Nee was further enlightened to receive clear revelation from the Lord concerning fifty-three other scriptural teachings, which are crucial for fully understanding and practicing the Christian faith.
II. The assurance of salvation—Rom. 8:16; John 3:16; 1 John 3:4:
A. He was able to show from the written Word that the believer can be absolutely assured of his salvation—John 3:6.
B. He also pointed out to them that the Spirit of God dwells in them and witnesses with their spirit that they are God’s children—Rom. 8:16.
C. A further evidence of the assurance of salvation was given by Watchman Nee from 1 John 3:14: “We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers.”
III. The distinction between grace and law—Eph. 2:8; Gal. 2:16:
A. Watchman Nee received the Lord’s clear revelation that salvation is by grace alone, not by works of law—Eph. 2:8-10.
B. Salvation is of the Lord’s grace, depending only upon what He is and what He has done for us—Rom. 5:2; 1 Pet. 1:2.
IV. The difference between salvation and victory—Rev. 3:5; 2:7:
A. At the moment we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, our salvation is secured—Heb. 5:9; John 10:28-29.
B. Victory, however, is a matter of overcoming sin, the world, the flesh, the self, and all other negative things in our daily living—Rev. 2:7.
V. The difference between salvation and reward—Rev. 2:7; 2 Tim. 4:8; Rev. 21:7; 1 Cor. 9:25-27:
A. Salvation is by grace through faith—Eph. 2:8.
B. Reward is the result of working according to the Lord’s will—Matt. 16:27; 1 Cor. 3:14.
VI. The difference between the kingdom of the heavens and eternal life—Matt. 5:3, 20; 7:21:
A. When a person believes in the Lord Jesus for his salvation, he receives eternal life—John 3:16.
B. But to enter into the kingdom of the heavens, one must live his daily life under heaven’s rule; such a living is an exercise in this church age and qualifies us to participate in the Lord’s millennial rule in the kingdom age—Rom. 14:17; Matt. 7:21.
VII. The kingdom truths—Matt. 5:3, 10:
A. The kingdom of God includes the entire reign of God from eternity in the past to eternity in the future—Matt. 5:3, 10.
B. But the kingdom of the heavens is a smaller sphere within the kingdom of God; it is the heavenly ruling among the believers in the present church age and a reward in the coming kingdom age—Matt. 5: 20; 7:21.
VIII. Rapture—Rev. 12:5, 11; 14:1-5; 1 Thes. 4:15-17; 1 Cor. 15:51-52; Matt. 25:1-12; 13:30-39:
A. Not all believers will be raptured at the same time; some believers will become matured overcomers before the tribulation; therefore, they will be raptured first—Rev. 12:5, 11; 14:1-5; 3:10.
B. The majority of the believers, however, will mature later, so they will be raptured later—1 Thes. 4:15-17; 1 Cor. 15:51-52; Matt. 25:1-12; Rev. 14:16.
C. The rapture can be compared to a harvest; a crop is not harvested and taken into the barn when it is still green; it must first ripen into maturity—Rev. 14:4, 15.
D. The kingdom is a reward to the overcoming believers, and rapture requires the maturity of the overcomers—v. 5.
IX. The two aspects of the church—1 Cor. 1:2; Rev. 1:4, 20; Eph. 2:22; 1:23; 4:4; Rom. 16:4:
A. The church is both universal and local—Matt. 16:18; 18:17; Rev. 1:20.
B. In the entire universe there is only one church, the church of God (1 Cor. 10:32); this unique church is expressed in many localities on earth, and in each locality it is a local church—Eph. 2:22; Rev. 1:12; Acts 8:1.
C. In Matthew 16:18, the universal church is revealed, whereas in Matthew 18:17, we see the local church.
X. The universal priesthood—1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 2:6:
A. The priesthood in the New Testament is different from that in the Old Testament; the priesthood in the Old Testament was eventually vested in the children of Aaron, resulting in a clerical class different from that of laymen—Num. 3:1-10.
B. But the New Testament priesthood is granted to all believers; in the New Testament there are no clergy and no laymen; all are priests—Rev. 1:6; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9.
XI. The presbytery, the proper eldership—1 Tim. 3:1-7; 1 Pet. 5:1; 2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1; Acts 14:23:
A. The church should be governed by a presbytery of elders—Acts 14:23.
B. Every local church needs a group of experienced brothers to take the lead and to exercise oversight over the church’s activities—1 Tim. 3:1-7; 1 Pet. 5:1.
Ministry Excerpts:
Watchman Nee fully believed in the scriptural, fundamental faith held by all true Christians. He believed in the verbal inspiration of the Bible and that the Bible is God’s holy Word. He believed that God is triune—Father, Son, and Spirit—distinctly three, yet fully one, co-existing and coinhering each other from eternity to eternity. He believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, even God Himself, incarnated as a man with both the human and the divine life, that He died on the cross to accomplish redemption, that He rose bodily from the dead on the third day, that He ascended into heaven and was enthroned, crowned with glory, and made the Lord of all, and that He will return the second time to receive His followers, to save Israel, and to establish His millennial kingdom on the earth. He believed that every person who believes in Jesus Christ will be forgiven by God, washed by His redeeming blood, justified by faith, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and saved by grace. Such a believer is a child of God and a member of the Body of Christ. He also believed that the destiny of every believer is to be an integral part of the church, which is the Body of Christ and the house of God.
In addition to these five basic aspects of the Christian faith, Watchman Nee was further enlightened to receive clear revelation from the Lord concerning fifty-three other scriptural teachings, which are crucial for fully understanding and practicing the Christian faith.
FROM 1920 TO 1932
The Assurance of Salvation
One of the first basic items which the Lord revealed to Watchman Nee was the believers’ assurance of salvation. Throughout all of China in those days, the scriptural teaching of the assurance of salvation was seldom taught by any Christian group. Watchman Nee, however, became exceedingly clear concerning this matter and preached the gospel to Christians to help them realize that they were saved. He was able to show from the written Word that the believer can be absolutely assured of his salvation. He would help the doubtful to take a Bible verse like John 3:16 and digest it until it became a definite word to them that they could never perish. He also pointed out to them that the Spirit of God dwells in them and witnesses with their spirit that they are God’s children (Rom. 8:16). A further evidence of the assurance of salvation was given by Watchman Nee from 1 John 3:14: “We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers.”
The Distinction between Grace and Law
Most Christians in those days did not have the assurance of salvation, because they did not know the distinction between grace and law. Watchman Nee received the Lord’s clear revelation that salvation is by grace alone, not by works of law. If salvation were a matter of law, it would depend upon our own works. But salvation is of the Lord’s grace, depending only upon what He is and what He has done for us.
The Difference between Salvation and Victory
Some Christians did not know the difference between salvation and victory. This was another cause of uncertainty regarding their salvation. At the moment we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, our salvation is secured. Victory, however, is a matter of overcoming sin, the world, the flesh, the self, and all other negative things in our daily living. Our eternal destiny as children of God is forever secured by simple faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation. But victory is a matter of our daily life and is related to dispensational reward.
The Difference between Salvation and Reward
Any Christian who is not clear about the difference between salvation and reward will have difficulty being assured of his salvation. This distinction was fully revealed to Watchman Nee. Salvation is by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8), whereas reward is the result of working according to the Lord’s will (Matt. 16:27; 1 Cor. 3:14).
The Difference between the Kingdom of the Heavens and Eternal Life
Some Christians hesitated to say that they were saved, because the difference between having eternal life and entering into the kingdom of the heavens was not clear to them. When a person believes in the Lord Jesus for his salvation, he receives eternal life. But to enter into the kingdom of the heavens, one must live his daily life under heaven’s rule. Such a living is an exercise in this church age and qualifies us to participate in the Lord’s millennial rule in the kingdom age. Such participation is a reward for living a life under the heavenly rule and is not a matter of eternal salvation. Watchman Nee received a thorough and clear revelation concerning this matter.
The Kingdom Truths
Watchman Nee also saw the New Testament truth of the kingdom in its full scope. He saw that the New Testament distinguishes between the kingdom of the heavens and the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God includes the entire reign of God from eternity in the past to eternity in the future. But the kingdom of the heavens is a smaller sphere within the kingdom of God; it is the heavenly ruling among the believers in the present church age (Matt. 5:3, 10) and a reward in the coming kingdom age (Matt. 5:20; 7:21). All regenerated believers are in the kingdom of God (John 3:5), but only those who live a life under the heavenly rule will inherit the kingdom age as a reward. The kingdom of God is related to salvation, whereas the kingdom of the heavens is related to reward.
Rapture
Along with the revelation of the kingdom, the Lord also gave Watchman Nee revelation concerning rapture. According to current fundamental theology, Christians are told that as long as they are saved, at the Lord’s return they will all participate together in a general rapture with the whole church before the tribulation. But Watchman Nee came to see that not all believers will be raptured at the same time. Some believers will become matured overcomers before the tribulation; therefore, they will be raptured first. The majority of the believers, however, will mature later, so they will be raptured later. The kingdom is a matter of reward, and rapture is a matter of maturity. The rapture can be compared to a harvest. A crop is not harvested and taken into the barn when it is still green. It must first ripen into maturity. All Christians must ripen in life. When they are ripe, the Lord will harvest them and bring them into the heavenly barn. These two points must be kept clearly in mind: 1) the kingdom is a reward to the overcoming believers, and 2) rapture requires the maturity of the overcomers.
The Two Aspects of the Church
Watchman Nee saw that the church is both universal and local. In the entire universe there is only one church, the church of God (1 Cor. 10:32). This unique church is expressed in many localities on earth, and in each locality it is a local church. The universal church is composed of all the local churches, and the local churches are the practical expression of the universal church. In Matthew 16:18, the universal church is revealed, whereas in Matthew 18:17, we see the local church. Without the local churches, there is no way to participate in the universal church, and there is no way to have a practical church life. In the book of Acts, in the Epistles, and in Revelation, the church is expressed as local churches, i.e., the church in Jerusalem, the church in Antioch, the church in Ephesus, etc. The government of the church is not universal but local.
The Universal Priesthood
The universal priesthood was another truth revealed to Watchman Nee. He saw that the priesthood in the New Testament is different from that in the Old Testament. The priesthood in the Old Testament was eventually vested in the children of Aaron, resulting in a clerical class different from that of laymen. But the New Testament priesthood is granted to all believers (Rev. 1:6; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9). In the New Testament there are no clergy and no laymen; all are priests.
The Presbytery, the Proper Eldership
Watchman Nee received the clear revelation from the Scriptures that the church should be governed by a presbytery of elders. Every local church needs a group of experienced brothers to take the lead and to exercise oversight over the church’s activities. In the Bible this group of men is called the presbyters, the elders, the bishops, the overseers. (Watchman Nee—A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, ch. 20)
WATCHMAN NEE’S MINISTRY—
CHRIST AND THE CHURCH
Out of Watchman Nee’s revelations inwrought by his sufferings, a ministry came forth. His ministry was clearly of two aspects: first, of Christ and, second, of the church. His ministry was full, proper, and adequately balanced. I have never known anyone so thoroughly and adequately balanced in the aspects of Christ and the church as Watchman Nee. He saw a clear vision of Christ, and he also received a full revelation of the church. In his spoken ministry and in his publications as well, he was always properly balanced in these two aspects. Many in the United States are aware that he put out book after book concerning Christ as life and Christ as everything. But many may not realize that he also published book after book on the matter of the church.
Concerning the church he covered two main points in his ministry: the content of the church and the practice of the church, or in other words, the reality of the church and the practicality of the church. The content and the reality of the church are Christ Himself. Watchman saw the vision that Christ is not merely for the believers individually but even more for the church corporately. His vision was unlike those who are today considered to be spiritual people; they hold that Christ is mostly for Christians as individuals while caring little for the church. They even fear to speak about the church, for they realize that whenever the matter of the church is raised, a problem is created, and they would rather steer clear of all problems. Watchman Nee’s vision of Christ was that Christ is for individual believers to enjoy in order to be built up in the church. Eventually, the Christ whom we experience becomes the reality and the content of the church. Watchman also saw that this reality of the church is also practical and that we need the practicality of the church. Hence, he ministered both the reality and the practicality of the church. The reality of the church is the content, and the practicality of the church is its expression.
Christ is not just for individual Christians but for the corporate Body. And the Christ we enjoy as Christians individually is entirely for the building up of the corporate Body. For this reason Christ is both the content of the church and the reality of the church. The church’s reality is simply Christ realized by many individual Christians in a corporate way. To match this reality, we need the church practice. If we stay at home and hold Christ as the reality, there will be no church. Even though we might hold the reality individually, we would be short of the practicality. Christians need to come together and to be built together; each one needs to come out of his little cell and into one big cell, under one roof, to practice the church life. Then we not only have the reality, but also the practicality of the church. These were the two main points of Watchman Nee’s ministry. (Watchman Nee—A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, ch. 22)
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. (Watchman Nee—A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, ch. 29)