Watchman Nee Quotes

128 Sourced Quotes

A drowning man cannot be saved until he is utterly exhausted and ceases to make the slightest effort to save himself.

Watchman Nee
God asks for men who are totally broken and who will follow Him even to death to work for Him....

Watchman Nee
If you would test the character of anything, you only need to enquire whether that thing leads you to God or away from God.

Watchman Nee
The greatest negative in the universe is the Cross, for with it God wiped out everything that was not of Himself: the greatest positive in the universe is the resurrection, for through it God brought into being all.

Watchman Nee
When one tries to increase his knowledge by doing mental gymnastics over books without waiting upon God and looking to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, his soul is plainly in full swing. This will deplete his spiritual life. Because the fall of man was occasioned by seeking knowledge, God uses the foolishness of the cross to "destroy the wisdom of the wise.

Watchman Nee
God will answer all our questions in one way and one way only. Namely, by showing us more of his Son.

Watchman Nee
For God to reveal His Son in us is not the result of research or searching; it is entirely a matter of mercy and revelation. It is an inward seeing, an inner knowing.

Watchman Nee
True spiritual life depends not on probing our feelings and thoughts from dawn to dusk but on 'looking off' to the Savior!

Watchman Nee
It is highly dangerous to receive the truths of the Bible with human wisdom, for this is a hidden and subtle method which invariably causes a believer to perfect with his flesh the work of the Holy Spirit.

Watchman Nee
It is a fact that the Lord Jesus has already died for you. It is also a fact that you have already died with the Lord Jesus. If you do not believe in your death with Christ, you will not be able to receive the effectiveness of death with Him - freedom from sin.

Watchman Nee
A Christian ought to realize what the weights laid on his spirit are. If he encounters it in the morning and does not deal with it at once, he experiences defeat the whole day long.

Watchman Nee
The clerical system of church management is exceedingly popular, but the whole thought is foreign to Scripture. In a church all the members are active. He [God] appointed some to take oversight of the work so that it might be carried on efficiently. It was never His thought that the majority of the believers should devote themselves exclusively to secular affairs and leave church matters to a group of spiritual specialists.

Watchman Nee
Only as they cease to seek anything by themselves and only as they take the position of the teachable shall they be taught by the Spirit truth which they are able to digest.

Watchman Nee
A spiritual Christian therefore is one whose spirit is led by God's Spirit... Perhaps their speech does convey truth, but without the quickening of the Holy Spirit even truth is of small advantage.

Watchman Nee
Everyone who believes in God must have His revelation in his spirit, or else what he believes is not God but mere human wisdom, ideals or words. Such faith cannot endure the test.

Watchman Nee
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.!

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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