Watchman Nee Quotes

128 Sourced Quotes

The Christian life from start to finish is based upon this principle of utter dependence upon the Lord Jesus.

Watchman Nee
Nothing is wrong with the inlet: It is the outlet that is obstructed. The water of life does not spring forth because the flow has no way through. Were the outlet cleared, the water of life would flow unceasingly. What a child of God needs is not more life but more flow of life.

Watchman Nee
The cross grants us position, the Holy Spirit gives us experience.

Watchman Nee
Frequently the enemy entices Christians to harbor an unforgiving spirit - a very common symptom indeed among God's children. Such bitterness and fault-finding and enmity inflict a severe blow upon spiritual life.

Watchman Nee
We may infer from any defeat of ours that it is due either to lack of faith or failure to obey. No other reason can suffice.

Watchman Nee
God aims first to renew man's darkened spirit by imparting life to it, because it is this spirit which God originally designed to receive His life and to commune with Him. God's intent after that is to work out from the spirit to permeate man's soul and body.

Watchman Nee
Do we not realize that the basic condition for a spiritual walk is to fear our self and its wisdom and to rely absolutely upon the Spirit?

Watchman Nee
The sight of any trouble strikes terror into the heart of those who do not have faith, but those who trust Him say, 'Here comes my food.!

Watchman Nee
If one's conscience is willing to confess whatever sins have been committed, including the sin of unbelief, it will be sorrowful in a godly way, earnestly desiring the mercy of God.

Watchman Nee
None who are shod with fleshly shoes can stand on the holy ground of God's service. Many failures and much waste and confusion which have resulted are due to men's coming to work, instead of being sent out to work.

Watchman Nee
Mere mental assimilation of these truths cannot withstand temptation, however. The revelation of God is positively essential. The Spirit of God must reveal how we are in Christ and how we are united with Him in one.

Watchman Nee
Henceforth we are dead to everything pertaining to ourselves and alive to His Spirit alone. This requires our exercising faith.

Watchman Nee
We may love to say many things, but if these are not uttered in the Holy Spirit it is better to say nothing. The flesh can conjure up many plans and methods and be full of expectations. The righteousness of the flesh is as abhorrent as its sin we must always maintain God's view of the flesh.

Watchman Nee
In order for the inner man to be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit, the children of God must discharge their responsibility. They need to yield specifically to the Lord, forsake every doubtful aspect in their life, be willing to obey fully God's will, and believe through prayer that He will flood their spirit with His power.

Watchman Nee
The particular sin of omission which gives ground to the evil spirits is the believer's passivity.

Watchman Nee
Take this as the secret of Christ's life in you: His Spirit dwells in your innermost spirit. Meditate on it, believe in it, and remember it until this glorious truth produces within you a holy fear and wonderment that the Holy Spirit indeed abides in you.

Watchman Nee
Now is the hour we should humbly prostrate ourselves before God, willing to be convicted afresh of our sins by the Holy Spirit.

Watchman Nee
The Blood deals with what we have done, whereas the Cross deals with what we are. The Blood disposes of our sins, while the Cross strikes at the root of our capacity for sin.

Watchman Nee
If whatever men know comes through their brain without the Holy Spirit regenerating their spirit, then their knowledge will help them not one whit. If their belief rests in man's wisdom and not in God's power, they are merely excited in their soul.

Watchman Nee
A characteristic of the flesh is its fickleness: it alternates between Yes and No and vice versa. But the will of God is: "Walk not according to the flesh (not even for a moment) but according to the Spirit."

Watchman Nee
We may be weak, but looking at our weakness will never make us strong.

Watchman Nee
Victory is the normal experience of a Christian; defeat should be the abnormal experience.

Watchman Nee
Just as the right relationship with Christ generates a Christian, so the proper relationship with the Holy Spirit breeds a spiritual man.

Watchman Nee
Were our spirits hardy we would be able to meet the most disturbing situation with peace and rest.

Watchman Nee
Faith in Christ makes one a regenerated believer; obedience to the Holy Spirit makes him a spiritual believer.

Watchman Nee
A born-again person ought to possess unspeakable peace in the spirit.

Watchman Nee
Furthermore, through the believer's spirit the Holy Spirit is able to impart God's life to thirsty and dying men. However, this filling of the Holy Spirit differs from the baptism with the Holy Spirit, because the latter is for the purpose of service while the former solves the problem of life (naturally it will affect service too).

Watchman Nee
Not until we take the place of a servant can He take His place as Lord.

Watchman Nee
If we verily bear the cross we shall be neither controlled nor influenced by soulical affection but shall be fit to love in the power of the Holy Spirit. Even so did the Lord Jesus love His family while on earth.

Watchman Nee
The Christian faith begins not with a big DO but with a big DONE.

Watchman Nee