A Table in the Wilderness

By Watchman Nee

This collection of some of the mature gems from the writings of Watchman Nee has found widespread acceptance as a devotional book for each day of the year.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CLC Publications
• Release date: Jan 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781619580282

Watchman Nee

Watchaman Nee se convirtió al cristianismo en China a la edad de diecisiete años y comenzó a escribir en el mismo año. A través de casi treinta años de ministerio se evidenció como un don único del Señor para su iglesia en ese tiempo. En 1952 fue hecho prisionero por su fe y permaneció en prisión hasta su muerte en 1972. Sus palabras permanecen como una fuente de abundante revelación espiritual para los cristianos de todo el mundo.

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PREFACE

With a promise like the biblical Hannah’s on her lips, Lin Huo-ping of Swatow, China gave birth to her firstborn son on November 4, 1903. His parents named him Ni Shu-tsu. Later he took the name Ni To-sheng, or Watchman Nee: this was to reflect his life patterned after that of Samuel—alert while others slept, God’s priestly bell-ringer who should warn His people of peril or arouse them to a new day’s dawning.

China has produced her national heroes of the faith—a lengthy list—but perhaps none is so well known outside that vast country as Watchman Nee. Though he did not yield to Christ until age nineteen, he already had received a fine Christian education. Having dedicated his life to the Lord’s work, he started his preaching ministry while still a university student. He was a third generation Christian with a unique insight into biblical truth. He began and led an indigenous church movement that was independent of foreign missions and the traditional denominations. Few modern Chinese preachers have so glorified Christ and so edified their hearers as did Watchman Nee from the depth of his experience and the breadth of his reading.

In spite of his close walk with the Lord and his desire to let God use him to build the church, Nee was not without visible evidences of human error and frailty. Some of his church practices alienated him from fellow believers, and at one point his own congregation ended his ministry among them for a time.

Watchman Nee personally wrote and published only one book, The Spiritual Man, but he left an almost complete record of his sermons, lectures and conference addresses, which were published in several magazines he edited. His biographer, Angus Kinnear, has collected and edited some of these and has had them published under such titles as The Normal Christian Life, Changed Into His Likeness, and Love Not the World.

With the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China in Peking on October 1, 1949, dark days began, though not immediately, for the Chinese believers. Watchman Nee chose to stay in China. I do not care for my life. If the house is crashing down, I have children inside and must support it, if need be with my head, he exclaimed. The Communists, admiring Nee’s ability, first forcibly invited him to take charge of the religious affairs of the country, but he refused to take their offer and be used by them. Then, because of his large following and influence, the Communists were thorough and relentless in their condemnation of him, resulting in his arrest on April 10, 1952. It was not until 1956 that Watchman’s trial and sentencing took place: fifteen years’ imprisonment in a solitary cell, with reform by labor, to run from 1952. Part of his reform through labor meant employment in translating from English to Chinese such scientific textbooks and journal articles as were of use to the authorities. Five years beyond his published sentence, and nearly a year past his wife Charity’s death, Watchman Nee was ushered into God’s presence on June 1, 1972, in his sixty-ninth year.

In this volume we shall share the author’s meditations on the glories of Christ. If by them we can be fortified to meet the challenge of our times, then the human history which lies behind this book will not have been in vain.

In addition to much fresh material from private sources, this collection includes some extracts from earlier published books and booklets.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the English Revised Version of 1885.

JANUARY 1

Looking up to heaven, he blessed and brake the loaves; and he gave to the disciples to set before them. Mark 6:41

Surely the one fundamental need in our life and service for God is the blessing of God upon it. No other need exists. What do we mean by blessing? Blessing is the working of God where there is nothing to account for His working. For instance, you calculate that a dollar should buy a dollarsworth. But if you have not paid your dollar, and God has given you ten thousand dollarsworth, then you have no basis for your calculations. When five loaves provide food for five thousand and leave twelve baskets of fragments—when, that is to say, the fruit of our service is out of all proportion to the gifts we possess—that is blessing. Or, to be rather extreme, when, taking account of our failures and weaknesses, there should be no fruit at all from our labors, and still there is fruit—that is blessing. Blessing is fruit out of all relation to what we are—results that are not just the working of cause and effect. Blessing comes when God works wholly beyond our reckoning, for His name’s sake.

JANUARY 2

O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is thy name in all the earth! Psalm 8:1, 9

In an hour when men are blaspheming the Lord’s name, the psalmist can only exclaim in wonder at its greatness. Though himself a poet, he is at a loss for words to express its worth. All he can do is cry How excellent! And this unspeakable excellence is in all the earth. Here, surely, is an echo of Genesis 1, where all God beheld was very good. But having begun thus, the writer concludes his psalm with an identical tribute to the excellent Name, and this without so much as a mention of the Fall of man. Had we been writing, we would have felt bound to bring that in. But God is unchanging, and to the psalmist even Adam’s sin could not reverse His intention that in the end man should have dominion. For at this point the Lord Jesus steps in. It is Hebrews 2 that illumines Psalm 8. He is that Man, and He has already dealt with sin. In Him all God’s desire is realized, and He is related to us. There is no deviation in the ways of God: they go straight forward. O Lord, how excellent!

JANUARY 3

Buying up the opportunity, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:16 (marg.)

In God’s appointed course for you, it may be that today was to have been the greatest day of your life, yet you would let it slip as if it were any other day. The man whose today is like his yesterday lacks a sense of God’s timings. No servant of the Lord should be content with present attainment, for to be satisfied with what is, is to be a loser of opportunities.

Let us suppose that on January 3 the Lord puts it into my heart to go and seek out a certain person who, in His providence, is destined to become five years hence a mighty instrument in His hands for the salvation of souls. To obey may be the greatest single act of service in my life. But suppose on this day I am afraid of the cold, or something equally trivial, and do not go. I have let slip an opportunity and perhaps lost thereby a powerful instrument for God. And the trouble is, such occasions do not wait for us. They pass swiftly by. So when God moves, let us move with Him. No divinely sent opportunity must elude us.

JANUARY 4

Working together with him we intreat also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 Corinthians 6:1

God has saved us for Himself. I press on, says Paul, if so be that I may apprehend that for which also I was apprehended of Christ Jesus. We were not apprehended for eternal salvation only but for a quite definite purpose now: to be God’s fellow workers. What is His work today? It is to sum up all things in Christ; to leave no odds and ends of any kind in the universe out of harmony with His exalted Son. How can I cooperate with God? How can I even touch so great a work? I do not know; but with Paul, I want above all things to apprehend that.

JANUARY 5

By the grace of God I am what I am. 1 Corinthians 15:10

Has the manner of God’s working in relation to your own life come home to you? Have you not been arrested by the way in which He has moved, choosing you out from multitudes around you and making you His own? Oh, I think of it often. When I was saved, I was a student. I had over four hundred fellow students, and out of all that number, God’s choice lighted on me. How could it have come about? I was one of a large clan, and out of the whole clan, God chose me. How could it happen? When we think of the marvelous ways by which His grace reached us, we fall down before Him in adoration and acknowledge that He is God, He alone.

You ask why He saved you? Let me tell you that He saved you because it was His delight to save you. Because He wanted you, He chose you and brought you to Himself. So there is nothing for you to say, nothing for you to do, nothing but just to worship Him.

JANUARY 6

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou hast anointed my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Psalm 23:5

Our brother Paul made a great and noble statement to the Philippians. To these who, in material things, were almost his sole supporters, he dared to say: I have all things and abound. Paul gave no hint of need, but took the position of a wealthy child of a wealthy Father, and he had no fears that by so doing he might discourage further supplies. It may be quite in order for an apostle to say to an unbeliever who is himself in distress: Silver and gold have I none. It would never do for him to say the same thing to believers ready and eager to respond to any appeal for help. It dishonors the Lord when a representative of His discloses needs that would provoke pity on the part of his hearers. If we have a living faith in God, we shall always make our boast in Him.

JANUARY 7

If, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Romans 5:10

God makes it quite clear in His Word that to every human need He has but one answer: His Son Jesus Christ. In all His dealings with us, He works by taking us out of the way and substituting Christ in our place. The Son of God died instead of us for our forgiveness; He lives instead of us for our deliverance. So we can speak of two substitutions: a Substitute on the cross who secures our forgiveness and a Substitute within who secures our victory. It will help us greatly, and save us from much confusion, if we keep constantly before us this fact, that God will answer all our questions in one way only, namely, by showing us more of His Son.

JANUARY 8

There is the sound of abundance of rain. 1 Kings 18:41

How utterly Elijah ventured everything on his God! For three and a half years, there had been a nationwide drought, and water was very scarce indeed. Yet he insisted it be poured lavishly on the sacrifice that was to vindicate Jehovah. What! squander our precious reserves of water, with no rain in sight? Pour it on, said Elijah. Do it a second time; do it a third! And not content with that, he himself took a hand in filling the surrounding trench with water.

If we too are to see God vindicated, we must bring what we have and let it go to Him. But what will happen if rain doesn’t come? you protest. I must hold on to the water I have. God forbid! That way lies drought and barrenness. Let it go to Him! What you lose will be nothing when compared to His abundance of rain.

JANUARY 9

Let the saints exult in glory; let them sing for joy upon their beds. Psalm 149:5

Here is a picture of Christians who are truly in the enjoyment of Christ’s victory. They repose triumphant on their beds, joyously at rest in Him. Consider what this position signifies. Their backs are to the earth, setting the world behind them as it were, while their faces are up to heaven, keeping eternal values always in their view. Such beds as theirs are no mere couches of ease but platforms of effective service. Are you perhaps forced to lie in bed? May the high praises of God still be in your mouth!

JANUARY 10

Why do the nations rage? Psalm 2:1

The answer is supplied at once. It is because the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his anointed. However violent the hostility between them, world governments are at heart united on one thing: they are against the reign of Christ. We look upon the nations as some of them bad, some good; but Scripture points us to the prince of this world behind them all. Prompted by him, earth’s rulers today seek only absolute freedom from the sanctions imposed by the law of Christ. They want no more love, no more humility, no more truth. Let us break their bands asunder, they cry, and cast away their cords from us.

At this point alone in all of Scripture is God said to laugh. His King is already on His holy hill! The early church was very much aware of Christ’s dominion. More than ever today do we need to remember it. Soon, maybe in our lifetime, He will shepherd the nations with a rod of iron. Our task is to plead with men to be wise; to put their trust in him.

JANUARY 11

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:18

When the Galilean boy brought his bread to Jesus, what did Jesus do with it? He broke it. God will always break what is offered to Him. He breaks what He takes, then blesses and uses it to meet men’s needs. Is not this true to your experience and mine? You give yourself to the Lord, and at once everything goes so badly wrong that you are tempted to find fault with His ways. To persist in such an attitude is to be broken, yes indeed, but to what purpose? You have gone too far for the world to use you but you have not gone far enough for God. This is the tragedy of many a Christian. Do we want Him to use us? Then day by day let us go on giving to Him, not finding fault with His methods but accepting His handling of us with praise and expectation.

JANUARY 12

These were purchased from among men, to be the first fruits unto God and unto the Lamb. Revelation 14:4

My home province of Fukien is famous for its oranges. I would say (though doubtless I am prejudiced) that there are none like them anywhere in the world. As you look out on the hills at the beginning of the orange season, all the groves are green. But if you observe more carefully, you will see, scattered here and there on the trees, golden oranges already showing up. It is a beautiful sight to see the flecks of gold dotted among the dark green trees. Later the whole crop will ripen and the groves will turn to gold, but now it is these firstfruits that are gathered. They are carefully hand-picked, and it is they that fetch the top market prices, often as much as three times the price of the harvest.

All Christians will reach ripeness somehow, we are assured. But the Lamb seeks firstfruits for His hour of supreme demand.

JANUARY 13

Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Genesis 13:8–9

To Abram, newly returned from his misguided venture to Egypt, how precious must have seemed the land which God had given him! Now, however, he was to learn an important new lesson, namely, not to grasp at its possession. But surely, he might have reasoned, so precious a gift ought to be seized and held fast at all costs! And so do we reason when God gives us His gifts. But Abram saw that he must relinquish his grip. His nephew Lot should be given first choice of all he wanted.

This is a lesson we must all learn. Can we trust God to keep for us what He has given, never laying hold on it ourselves in our natural desire for possession? What God gives, He gives! We need not struggle to retain it. Indeed, if we grasp it fearfully and hold on, we may risk losing it. Only what we have let go in committal to Him becomes in fact really ours.

JANUARY 14

Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a fountain; his branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and persecuted him: but his bow abode in strength. Genesis 49:22–24

Of the many typical servants of God in the Old Testament, Joseph is perhaps the most perfect. Yet while Scripture reveals no apparent flaw in his character, we know well that his was no easy pathway. When did his troubles begin? Surely with his dreams. They represent spiritual vision. In them he saw what God would do, and his own place in the divine plan. It was his dreams that started things off, for he saw what his brothers could not see. This dreamer, they called him, and plotted his downfall. So he was sold as a slave and put in chains of iron (Ps. 105:17–18). Yet Joseph could survive it all to become at length God’s means of fulfilling a mighty purpose for His people. He stands firm to the end who can see.

JANUARY 15

Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. Genesis 22:14

The only question Isaac is ever said to have asked of his own accord was Where is the lamb for a burnt offering? The answer was categorical: God will provide. This is typical of Isaac, whose privilege as heir was simply to receive what was freely bestowed by his father. He did not have to dig wells; the most required of him was to reopen those his father had dug. Nor indeed had he any say in his own marriage; he was not consulted about the woman and was not expected to make any efforts to seek her out. Even the tomb in which he was buried had already been purchased by his father.

We too, like Isaac, have been born into a wealthy home. What God our Father has provided for us, we are expected to receive. The God of Isaac is our God, and is He not God the Giver?

JANUARY 16

Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2:21

How is this possible? Because God has fulfilled that other prophecy of Joel, that I will pour forth my Spirit upon all flesh. Because the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon all mankind, the merest cry from the sinner to God is enough.

No preacher of the gospel is of much use unless he believes this. The Holy Spirit’s proximity to the sinner is vital to our preaching. God in the heavens is too far beyond man’s reach. But Say not in thy heart, who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down: . . . The word is nigh thee. I always believe the Holy Spirit is upon a man when I preach Christ to him, just as He was upon the waters at the creation. He is waiting to bring Christ into his life. His ministry is like the daylight. Open the window shutters even a little, and it floods in and illumines the whole interior. Let there be but a cry from the heart to God, and in that instant the Spirit enters and begins His transforming work of conviction, repentance and faith—the miracle of new birth.

JANUARY 17

Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins: and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:38

Suppose I went into a bookshop, selected a two-volume