Page 11 - Living Epistles

Watchman Nee

Watchman Nee was seventeen years old when he became a Christian. He was
a citizen of mainland China, and the year of his salvation was 1920. He began
writing and teaching almost immediately. For about thirty years he served
freely as a minister to the Chinese church, and he made trips abroad, visiting
with believers in England and elsewhere. In 1952 he was imprisoned by the
Communist government of China because of his Christian beliefs and
teaching, and he remained in prison until his death in 1972.

The Following testimony is taken from the book Watchman Nee as written by
Witness Lee.

LIVING BY FAITH

From the very beginning, Watchman Nee realized fully that he should live by
faith, not only for his living, but also for the Lord's work. Thus he learned to
trust in the Lord for all his needs. This forced him to pray much, to consecrate
himself to the Lord absolutely, to thoroughly deal with the Lord, and to obey
the Lord in everything. In order to trust God in a living and practical way, he
needed to keep his conscience free of offense. He would often say that a hole
in our conscience would cause our faith to leak out.

Living by faith kept him in the Lord's will. When living and working by our
own means, we do not need to be restricted and limited by the Lord's will. We
can do whatever we like, whenever we like, without needing to seek the Lord's
will or to wait for His guidance. But to live by faith requires us to be restricted
to the Lord's will; otherwise, when we pray in faith He will not answer. He will
never support us and supply our need in anything we are doing according to