On a number of occasions when I had personal problems, I went to Watchman Nee for help. Not one time was I rebuked. He would simply ask, "What have you learned from the Lord?" He helped me realize that all things occur under God's hand and are working together for good to conform me to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:28-29).
On one occasion my wife entered the hospital for an operation. Following the operation, the enemy attacked her with accusations and caused her to think that she was about to die. This news was reported to Watchman Nee, and he and my sister went to visit her. He realized that she was under the accusation of the enemy and ministered to her from Revelation 12:11: "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their soul-life even unto death." Then he telephoned me and confessed that his failure to help keep me in the Lord's fellowship had given the enemy ground to attack my wife. For this failure he asked my forgiveness. He fully realized that the warfare was not simply a matter for my wife alone, but that the warfare also required her husband and the church. This is why he asked me to forgive him. He realized that in order to fight against the enemy I needed the church and that there had been neglect on his part in being one with me. I told him, however, that it was not his fault; the fault lay in my inadequate consecration and in my love for the world. That is what gave the enemy the ground. Immediately I repented to the Lord. The moment I repented, the enemy left my wife, and the Lord gave her peace. The next morning when Watchman Nee's mother came to pray with her, she was able to sing praises to the Lord and enjoy the Lord's sweet anointing. This incident shows that Watchman Nee knew the ways of God. Through his spiritual discernment, my family was helped and was brought back to a complete union with Christ in our daily living.
Watchman Nee was a person who was thoroughly saturated with the Lord. He was a man who lived in the Lord's presence. His disposition, character, and behavior had been transformed through the years under the perfecting hand of Miss Margaret E. Barber. He could listen without interruption to the words or suggestions of others. He was a man whose inner being had been touched by the Lord, and one who had acquired much rich experience from being dealt with by the Lord. If it were not so, such a genius would have found it extremely difficult to maintain a relationship with a foolish, stupid young brother like me. Later on, when I worked closely with him, I observed that he could listen to any kind of person without giving the impression that he was superior. He was transformed to such a degree that he could be built up with anyone, no matter what their condition, without being frustrated by their shortcomings or childishness.
In observing Watchman Nee's way of working, I never saw him try to impose his authority. Rather, he would set an example himself. He would rise early in the morning and work regular hours. He never took things lightly or acted loosely. Neither was he lazy. He never assumed that he was the boss, nor did he require of others what he himself would not do. He worked with his own hands, teaching others to work together with tenderness, love, patience, and cooperation.
Today most of Christianity criticizes him for his ministry concerning the church. Yet, I can testify that his ministry regarding the church was not a doctrine, a theory, or an unworkable plan. Not only did he teach what God revealed to him concerning the church—he also put the revelation into practice. Although the practice of the church, as God revealed it to Watchman Nee, was not seen on a large scale during his lifetime, today it has been fully vindicated. It is workable. Thousands of believers today can testify that they are living in the full reality of the church life.
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