Watchman Nee - Spiritual Discipline

I know, I know I'm not supposed to be on email. Well, give me a hand I'm rarely checking my "blackberry" but I wanted to share with you all something that inspired me as I'm here in Canada for my personal retreat. Very simply, Holy Spirit spoke to me to study the life of "Watchman Nee" while here. Watchman Nee is one of the greatest preachers of the Bible and prolific teachers in the 20th century. His writings have influenced and equipped leaders for many generations. While studying his life, one thing that has impressed upon me is his life of spiritual discipline. It reminded me much of my early days also as a new believer.

Nee came to Christ at the age of 17. He was a rebellious teenager, but very bright and highly intelligent. When he finally surrendered his life to Christ and committed to serve Him as Lord, he did not waste any time. In high school, he tried witnessing to his friends immediately, but with no result of fruit being born. Later, a mentor in his life advised him not to give up, but to pray earnestly daily for all his friends whom he had written their names on a list, 70 of them exactly. Within 4 months, all but one of those on his list were radically converted. But in just a short time, he burnt out in ministry and came down with a severe illness. It was in this moment of isolation he learned to live by the Spirit. He committed himself to understand the foundational teachings of Christ and doctrine. He gave himself to a radical daily lifestyle of solitude, silence and prayer. In effect, because he was faithful with the little, God entrusted to Him more.

He ended up spending all his time and money on 3 things.

1) Personal Needs
2) Helping Others
3) Spiritual Books

Through this discipline and practice God increased the anointing upon his life to affect change in others. In a similar way, I also came to Christ at the age of 17 years old in high school. The moment I was converted I zealously preached Christ to all of my friends, but like Nee, I had very little fruit to show. It was later through listening to a set of teaching tapes that my mother gave to me to listen to, that these tapes taught me the necessity of prayer and waiting on God. It was after listening to these teachings that I began to pray for my lost friends. In fact, similar to Nee I made a list of about 100 friends that I prayed for daily to be converted to Christ. After only 6 months, nearly all of those 100 friends had made Jesus their Savior and Lord! Like Nee, I learned that one can not live a fruitful life apart from abiding in the Vine through the power of the Holy Spirit in prayer.

Watchman Nee also lived a disciplined spiritual life in his personal needs, giving of himself to others and self-study. For the past 10 years of my Christian walk, I've done my best to be faithful in having enough, no more or no less so that I will not be overtaken by greed, nor overtaken by poverty. At the same time, I've always made it a principle to not only be faithful with my tithes and offerings, but always look for opportunities to give to others. For one can never out give God. The more you give, the more you receive. Whether in finances, time or energy it is by "helping others" and doing good to others that glorifies our Father in heaven. Lastly, Spiritual Books have been a key to my spiritual growth in Christ. As a early believer, I had no mentors but the Holy Spirit Himself. In my current class, "Mentoring" at Fuller Seminary it was interesting to study that they believe even if you can't find a "spiritual mentor" you can still be mentored. How? By Historical Mentors through the reading and study of auto biographies and the personal works of past spiritual giants and heroes of the faith.

I hear it from many all the time, "I need a spiritual mentor! I wish I had a spiritual father or mother?" Yet, if I look back to my early Christian walk I had no spiritual mentors, but what I did have is the Holy Spirit, the Bible and many many spiritual books. I spent almost all my extra money and savings, not on video games, not on clothes, not on material things, but almost all of it went to buying spiritual books. I would research, read, and look to read more that others recommended or others I knew of through my own personal readings of classic Christian works. By reading these spiritual books, studying the lives of spiritual men and women I learned a great wealth of life principles, Biblical doctrines, and keys to live a life in the Spirit. I ate up close to 10-15 books a month in my college days, it was a spiritual feast and I grew exponentially in my faith.

There is a wealth of spiritual knowledge, heritage and truth available to our generation today, more than any generation before us. It is our responsibility to know the past of what God has done through other leaders in Christian history, so that we may learn and continue on in the same spirit to further advance His kingdom on earth. Many I recognize in this millennial generation are clueless to the great heroes of old, to their life and teachings, but this should not be. Study to show yourself approved. If you will give yourself to studying the anointing and wisdom of the past, both Biblical and historical, there is an anointing that will be entrusted to you to impact a generation for God's purposes. Will you be the one who doesn't wait, but the one who will dive head long into the treasury of God's chest of wisdom?

I write this to encourage and challenge each of you. Don't wait for someone to mentor you. You don't need a teacher. The Holy Spirit is your teacher, is this not what the Bible says? For His anointing is in you and will teach you all things concerning the ways of Christ. So with the resources God has given you to steward 1) Live a Simple Life 2) Always Look to Help Others Daily 3) Acquire and Read Spiritual Books that will help you in maturity and perfection in Christ Jesus. It would be a great goal to read one spiritual book or auto-biography of a Christian hero each month as I have done my best to practice this for the last 10 years.

1 John 2:27
As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

Read the excerpt on Nee's life below, absolutely INSPIRING!

Under the mercy,

JMA

Equipping and Training

Watchman Nee attended no theological schools or Bible institutes. His wealth of knowledge concerning God's purpose, Christ, the things of the Spirit, and the church was acquired through studying the Bible and reading spiritual books. Watchman Nee became intimately familiar with and greatly enlightened by the Word through diligent study using twenty different methods. In addition, in the early days of his ministry he spent one-third of his income on his personal needs, one-third on helping others, and the remaining third on spiritual books. He acquired a collection of more than 3,000 of the best Christian books, including nearly all the classical Christian writers from the first century on. He had a phenomenal ability to select, comprehend, discern, and memorize relevant material, and he could grasp and retain the main points of a book at a glance. Watchman Nee was thus able to glean all the profitable scriptural points and spiritual principles from throughout church history and synthesize them into his vision and practice of the Christian life and of the church life. Watchman Nee received much enlightenment and help from a number of Christian writers, as follows:

Specific Enlightenment Source

1. The assurance of salvation: George Cutting, a Brethren writer

2. Life: John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Madame Guyon's biography, Hudson Taylor's biography, the writings of other mystics

3. Christ: J.G. Bellett, Charles G. Trumbull, A.B. Simpson, T. Austin Sparks, others

4. The Spirit: Andrew Murray's The Spirit of Christ

5. The Three Parts of Man: Jessie Penn-Lewis (body, soul, and spirit), Mary C. McDonough

6. Faith: George Müller's autobiography

7. Abiding in Christ: Andrew Murray, Hudson Taylor's biography

8. The subjective aspect of Christ's death
and spiritual warfare: Jessie Penn-Lewis


9. Christ's resurrection and His Body: T. Austin Sparks, others

10. God's plan of redemption: Mary McDonough

11. The church: John Nelson Darby, other Brethren teachers

12. Prophecy: Robert Govett, D.M. Panton, G.H. Pember, other Brethren writers

13. Church history: John Foxe, E.H. Broadbent

14. Bible exposition and many other truths: John Nelson Darby, the Brethren

Watchman Nee became familiar with many of these books through Margaret Barber, a former Anglican missionary. Early in his Christian life he received much spiritual edification and perfection from her. Primarily through his fellowship with Miss Barber, Watchman Nee realized that to be a Christian is altogether a matter of the divine life. Through her shepherding, he learned to pay more attention to life than to work and to live by Christ as his life.

For more of his life work & resources goto:

Watchman Nee Resources: Online Books

Watchman Nee "Life and Works"

(Read this above link to his life work and ministry, it brought me nearly to tears. He is a true apostle, one who suffered and died a martyrs death for the Gospel in China)

Spiritual Man - By Watchman Nee (E Book) This is probably Nee's best work of literature on the Christian life ever. Download this and devour it!

The_Spiritual_Man.pdf

posted by Jaeson Ma @ 1/17/2008 10:06:00 PM