The Finest of the Wheat 1 -Watchman
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The Finest of the Wheat Selected Excerpts from the Published Works of Watchman Nee I WATCHMAN NEE Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc. New York THE FINEST OF THE WHEAT (Vol. 1 of 2 vols.) Copyright ©1992 Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc. New York All Rights Reserved ISBN 0-935008-75-6 Cloth Edition ISBN 0-935008-76-4 Paper Edition Available from the Publishers at: 11515 Allecingie Parkway Richmond, Virginia 23235 PRINTED IN U.S.A. PREFACE As the psalmist Asaph sang one day about the goodness of the Lord towards His people, he was wont to conclude his song by declaring that Jehovah “would feed them also with the finest of the wheat” (Ps. 81.16a). The apostle James reenforced this statement by noting that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning” (James 1.17). Whatever God gives is always the best. Ultimately, He gave us His only begotten Son, and with Him all things (see Rom. 8.32). We are thankful to the Lord that because of His great love for the Church He has sent throughout the centuries many of His choice servants to help build up our holy faith. Their lives and teachings become the heritage of the Church which ought to be preserved. In our own time, Watchman Nee was one such choice servant given by God to his Church. He was called to serve the Lord in his youth; and from the time he was saved in 1920 to the time he was imprisoned in 1952, he faithfully and diligently served the Master he loved. Moreover, Watchman Nee was a man with deep spiritual insight, and was given great understanding of the word of God. He traveled far and wide and delivered many messages from the Lord to the Church. Because of his faith he was jailed. But though his voice was silenced during twenty long years of imprisonment, he nonetheless still speaks today. The messages and writings which he presented in the days of freedom have over the years been published in Chinese and also translated into many other languages. In the English version alone, there are some seventy volumes of varying size that have been published. Many are the testimonies of lives transformed and God glorified. In order to preserve the best of Mr. Nee’s thoughts and teachings, we have taken excerpts from nearly all his published works and now offer this first volume of a projected two-volume collection of The Finest of the Wheat to our readers. These extracts are grouped together under about fifty topics and are appropriately introduced by a sketch of the life of their author that has been provided by the Publishers’ translator. We want to express our thanks to Dr. Angus I. Kinnear of London for giving us permission to print extracts taken from his copyrighted materials of some of Mr. Nee’s books, and to extend our thanks also to Sure Foundation in Indiana (USA) for allowing us to do the same with Mr. Nee’s The Release of the Spirit which is copyrighted by that Foundation. The bulk of the excerpts appearing in this collection, however, have been culled from our own publications of Watchman Nee’s works. A few remaining ones have been derived from fresh translations into English made by the Publishers’ translator from particular portions of the Chinese originals. (See the Translator’s Note for additional details about this and for a complete Code List of Nee Published Materials to which the reader can refer to learn the source of any given excerpt in the entire collection.) May the blessed Lord take, as it were, this “five loaves and two fishes”; bless it, break it and give to His own—that it may multiply even further the glory to His name. CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP PUBLISHERS Translator’s Note As was intimated in the Preface, there are a few excerpts from Watchman Nee’s works appearing in The Finest of the Wheat which—though previously translated and published in English—have for this present publication been derived from new translations made from the pertinent sections of the original or subsequent Chinese-language editions of his works. These several works, whose Chinese titles have been transliterated into English, are indicated by an asterisk (*) in the following Code List of Nee Published Materials that has been provided for the readers’ use by Christian Fellowship Publishers. It will be noticed, too, that full bibliographical data have been given for each item listed in the Code (with the abbreviation, NY: CFP, standing for New York: Christian Fellowship Publishers). It should be added here that the codes for these published items excerpted from which have been compiled and/or edited by Dr. Kinnear are marked with a dagger (†) for easy identification, while all other codes listed (except ROS) are for those titles of Mr. Nee’s published material whose copyrights belong to Christian Fellowship Publishers. CODE LIST OF ALL NEE PUBLISHED MATERIALS CITED IN THE COLLECTION OF EXCERPTS ALS A LIVING SACRIFICE (v. 1 of Basic Lesson Series). (NY: CFP, 1972) AT ASSEMBLING TOGETHER (v. 3 of BLS). (NY: CFP, 1973) ATR AIDS TO “REVELATION” (NY: CFP, 1983) BC THE BETTER COVENANT (NY: CFP, 1982) BCL A BALANCED CHRISTIAN LIFE (NY: CFP, 1981) BOC THE BODY OF CHRIST: A REALITY (NY: CFP, 1978) BTC BACK TO THE CROSS (NY: CFP, 1988) CGW THE CHARACTER OF GOD’S WORKMAN (NY: CFP, 1988) †CHL CHANGED INTO HIS LIKENESS (Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1980). Originally published 1967. CLJ “COME, LORD JESUS” (NY: CFP, 1976) CS CHRIST THE SUM OF ALL SPIRITUAL THINGS (NY: CFP, 1973) CW THE CHURCH AND THE WORK. 3 VOLS. [I: Assembly Life; II: Rethinking the Work (known also as The Normal Christian Church Life); III: Church Affairs]. (NY: CFP, 1982) DA DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD (v. 5 of BLS). (NY: CFP, 1974) FF FROM FAITH TO FAITH (NY: CFP, 1984) FGG FROM GLORY TO GLORY (NY: CFP, 1985) GC THE GOOD CONFESSION (v. 2 of BLS). (NY: CFP, 1973) GD GOSPEL DIALOGUE (NY: CFP, 1975) GFB GLEANINGS IN THE FIELDS OF BOAZ (NY: CFP, 1987) GG GRACE FOR GRACE (NY: CFP, 1983) GL THE GLORY OF HIS LIFE (NY: CFP, 1976) *GOC “The Ground of The Church,” The Open Door (a Chinese-language magazine published at Shanghai), Issue No. 20 dated 30 June 1950. This article is the Chinese text of a talk given by the author to the brethren in Shanghai on 1 April 1950. A new translation of excerpted selections. GP GOD’S PLAN AND THE OVERCOMERS (NY: CFP, 1977) GW GOD’S WORK (NY: CFP, 1974) *HWB HOLY AND WITHOUT BLEMISH (Shanghai: Gospel Book Room, 1953). A series of messages given in Chinese by the author at Shanghai between the autumn of 1937 and the autumn of 1942. A new translation of excerpted selections. IM INTERPRETING MATTHEW (NY: CFP, 1989) KKH THE KING AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (NY: CFP, 1978) †LNW LOVE NOT THE WORLD (Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1984). Originally published 1968. LOA LOVE ONE ANOTHER (v. 6 of BLS). (NY: CFP, 1975) LPS THE LATENT POWER OF THE SOUL (NY: CFP, 1972) LUP LET US PRAY (NY: CFP, 1977) LW THE LIFE THAT WINS (NY: CFP, 1986) MC THE MESSENGER OF THE CROSS (NY: CFP, 1980) MGW THE MINISTRY OF GOD’S WORD (NY: CFP, 1971) *MHMG M INISTRY UNTO THE HOUSE OR MINISTRY UNTO GOD (Taipei: Gospel Book Room, 1953). A booklet-length publication in Chinese. A new translation of excerpted selections. †NCL THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE (Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1985). Originally published 1957. NI NOT I BUT CHRIST (v. 4 of BLS). (NY: CFP, 1974) *OC THE ORTHODOXY OF THE CHURCH (Shanghai: Gospel Book Room, 1951). A series of messages given by the author in 1945 among the gathered saints at Chungking and published there in Chinese the same year. Reprinted in subsequent years in Chinese. A new translation of excerpted selections. PI PRACTICAL ISSUES OF THIS LIFE (NY: CFP, 1975) PM THE PRAYER MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH (NY: CFP, 1973) ROS THE RELEASE OF THE SPIRIT (Indianapolis: Sure Foundation, 1965) SA SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY (NY: CFP, 1972) SG THE SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL (NY: CFP, 1986) SJ THE SPIRIT OF JUDGMENT (NY: CFP, 1984) SK SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE (NY: CFP, 1973) *SOS SONG OF SONGS (First published at Chungking in Chinese in 1945; reprinted., Tsingtao: Church Book Department, 1948). Notes from a Bible reading on Solomon’s Song of Songs conducted by the author with about ten fellow-workers at Hangchow in 1935. A new translation of excerpted selections. SRO SPIRITUAL REALITY OR OBSESSION (NY: CFP, 1970) SS THE SALVATION OF THE SOUL (NY: CFP, 1978) SWR THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION (NY: CFP, 1980) †SWS SIT, WALK, STAND (Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1987). Originally published 1957. *TEV “The Treasure and the Earthen Vessel,” The Present Testimony (a Chinese-language magazine published at Shanghai), Issue No. 38 dated 1 March 1951. Excerpts selected have been derived from the Combined Edition of Issue Nos. 37, 38 and 39 of the magazine and published at Taichong (Taiwan) by Readers Information Supplies in 1977. A new translation of excerpted selections. TG THE TESTIMONY OF GOD (NY: CFP, 1979) *TPL TWO PRINCIPLES OF LIVING (Taipei: Gospel Book Room, 1952). A booklet-length publication in Chinese. A new translation of excerpted selections. TSM THE SPIRITUAL MAN. 3 vols. (NY: CFP, 1968) WG WORSHIP GOD (NY: CFP, 1990) †WSM WHAT SHALL THIS MAN DO? (Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1975).