Secrets to Spiritual Power From the Writings of Watchman Nee

Who Was Watchman Nee?

Watchman Nee was born in China on November 4, 1903, and given the name Ni (Nee) Shu-Tsu. He was an answer to his mother’s prayer. Having previously had two daughters, and fearing she would bear only daughters like her sister-in-law who had given birth to six, she offered a petition to the Lord: if He would be gracious in providing her a son, she would offer him back in service to Him. And so, a year later, her first boy was born. However, it was not until some years later, when the boy had reached manhood, that God was pleased to take that which had been offered. Perhaps this was why, when the call of the Lord did come upon his life, Watchman Nee treated it with all solemnity and seriousness. He contemplated the issue of salvation, knowing that it had to be all or nothing in his devotion to the Lord. So after heavily weighing the decision, in the year 1920, he accepted Jesus Christ into his heart at the age of seventeen. And in looking back upon his life, the record of service he gave to the Lord was proof that he gave his all.
Two incidents come to mind that show the intense consecration and zeal that Watchman Nee had for the Lord. In 1922, after he had been seeking the power of the Holy Spirit for quite some time, God showed him the obstacle to his receiving that power. It was his longtime sweetheart Charity, who was unsaved. Although he was pierced to the heart and even begged God to let him be with her, eventually he yielded to God’s will. When he let her go, the power came. But God was not finished working, for several years later Charity was saved. She and Watchmen Nee were reunited, and in 1934 they were married.
The other incident occurred in 1926. Watchman Nee fell ill with tuberculosis and was expected to die. He did not want to leave this world without putting on paper the wonderful truths that God had taught him from His Word. He worked zealously, in spite of his weakness and high fever, to write his three-volume work entitled The Spiritual Man, which he finished in 1928. Several months later, amazingly and miraculously, when the doctors had given up any hope for his survival, he was healed by God.
Having been blessed with a photographic memory, Watchman Nee felt it was the Lord’s call upon him to be a watchman for brothers and sisters of the faith in China. To properly utilize his amazing memory, Watchman read everything he could that was written on the Christian faith, with the hope of sifting through the chaff. Although for Watchman Nee there was no difference in the path leading to spiritual growth and maturity than for any other Christian, it was his zeal to serve and to experience the fullness of what God offers to those He has redeemed that catapulted him far past what most Christians attain in their spiritual experience. As a result, it did not take too many years before his stature in spiritual matters became readily apparent to those who knew him. Furthermore, as word of his achievements spread, he became widely respected by Christian leaders the world over. As the years passed, he was greatly used by the Lord, not only for the conversion of many people into a saving knowledge of God, but also for planting numerous local fellowships throughout China and Southeast Asia.
Though Watchman Nee did not neglect the importance of salvation and the forgiveness of sin, the strength and authority he commanded stemmed from the fact that he did not stop there. Throughout his ministry he emphasized that redemption was merely the beginning of the Christian walk. He consistently exhorted people toward full sanctification—something that occurs in subjective experience as our self-life is done away with and replaced with the resurrection life of Christ. Thus, his message not only encompassed the saving of souls, but also encouraged people to move on to full maturity in their spiritual life and walk—