Publications

Catergories of Books

1. Books on the Gospel
2. Books for the Edification of New Believers
3. Books of General Messages for Christians
4. Books on Central Messages
5. Books on the Practicality of the Church
6. Books on Workers of the Lord
7. Books on Bible Study
8. Books Translated
9. Hymnals

Books on the Gospel
Although gospel preaching was not the central feature of his ministry, Watchman Nee published twenty-one booklets on the gospel.

1. There Is a God
2. God Is Willing
3. The Passover
4. The Suffering of the Cross
5. How to Go to Hell
6. The Way to Hell
7. Paths to Hell
8. Judgment
9. The Criminal Saved (Luke 23:39-43)
10. An Immoral Woman Saved (John 4:1-15, 28-29)
11. Why Do Good Men Go to Hell?
12. Can Morality Save Us?
13. Do You Know That You Are Saved?
14. The Assurance of Salvation
15. Christ as the Manifestation of God
16. Christ and Christianity
17. Christ as the New Life
18. Christ and the Christian
19. For What Did He Come?, by Ruth Lee
20. God Loves the World, by Witness Lee
21. A Rich Man Perished (Luke 16:19-31), by Witness Lee

He also published a book of questions and answers on gospel truth, giving explanations on fifty aspects of the gospel.

Back to Top

Books for the Edification of New Believers
In his training on Mount Kuling, Watchman shared a series of fifty messages for the edification of new believers. They are listed as follows:

1. Baptism
2. Clearance of the Past
3. Consecration
4. Public Confession
5. Separation from the World
6. Joining the Church
7. Laying On of Hands
8. Abolishing of Distinctions
9. Bible Study
10. Prayer
11. Rising Early
12. Attending Meetings
13. Kinds of Meetings
14. The Lord’s Day
15. Singing Hymns
16. Praising
17. Breaking Bread
18. Testifying
19. Bringing People to the Lord
20. Salvation for the Whole House
21. After Sinning
22. Confession and Recompense
23. Restoring a Brother
24. The Believer’s Reaction
25. Freedom from Sin
26. Our Life
27. The Will of God
28. How to Handle Money
29. Occupation
30. Marriage
31. Selecting a Mate
32. Husband and Wife
33. Parents
34. Friends
35. Entertainment
36. Speech
37. Clothing and Food
38. Asceticism
39. Illness
40. Governmental Forgiveness
41. The Discipline of God
42. The Dealing of the Holy Spirit
43. Resisting the Devil
44. Head Covering
45. The Way of the Church
46. Oneness
47. Loving the Brothers
48. Priesthood
49. The Body of Christ
50. The Authority of the Church

The intention was that every local church would use these fifty messages for the edification of new believers every week for one year and repeat them yearly.

The following thirty-five books were reprints of messages published in Notes of Scriptural Messages, which Watchman published for the use of young believers:

1. The Only Sin of Man
2. Confession of Sins
3. Forgiveness and Confession
4. Another Aspect of the Trespass Offering
5. Saved by Baptism
6. The Meaning of Baptism
7. The Heart of Christ
8. The Seal of the Holy Spirit
9. The Value of Believers before God
10. Spiritual Calculation of Time
11. The Four Ministers of the New Testament
12. Five Parables of New and Old Things
13. The Self- sanctification of Our Lord
14. The Sympathy of Our High Priest
15. The Power of Choosing
16. Why Is the Lord Not Disappointed?
17. Man’s Word Stopped by God
18. Love God
19. Self-spoiling and Pragmatism
20. Four Things Needing a Christian’s Attention
21. “A Good Work” (Matt. 26:10)
22. “Mary” (John 20:16)
23. “And Peter” (Mark 16:7)
24. Tell Him
25. David and Mephibosheth
26. The Privacy and Publicity of a Believer
27. A Widow, a Woman, and a Virgin
28. Leaking and Drifting
29. Be Anxious for Nothing (Phil. 4:6)
30. Two Rests
31. The Pathway to Glory
32. How to Know the Will of God
33. Believe and Obey
34. A Righteous Man Who Failed
35. Tears

Back to Top

Books of General Messages for Christians
The following nineteen books were published as general messages for Christians:

1. The Messenger of the Cross

2. The Work of the Holy Spirit
3. Living by Faith
4. Living by Faith and the Course of Getting into a Truth
5. Life on the Shallow Ground
6. Authority and Submission
7. Psychic Force versus Spiritual Force
8. The Way to the Knowledge of God
9. God’s Light and Self-examination
10. Man’s First Sin
11. Universal Fatherhood, a Fallacy
12. Ministry to the House or to the Lord
13. Worshipping the Ways of God
14. The Work of Prayer
15. The Prayer Ministry of the Church
16. Worship God, by Ruth Lee
17. The Kingdom of the Heavens, by Witness Lee
18. Gleanings of the Genealogy of Christ, by Witness Lee
19. Light on Dispensations, by Witness Lee

He also published one hundred forty-four messages in twelve volumes called Twelve Baskets Full. Thirty-five of these messages were reprints of the above-mentioned books, and seven were reprints of books on central messages. Of the one hundred two messages remaining, ten were given by Yu Cheng-hwa and twelve by Witness Lee. The remaining eighty were given by Watchman Nee.

Back to Top

Books on Central Messages
The Lord burdened and commissioned Watchman Nee with a specific testimony of Christ in His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, return, and kingdom. His ministry, therefore, was focused on Christ’s death and resurrection for the producing of the church in life to experience the victory of Christ that His kingdom might be ushered in. For this reason, he considered messages on these matters as the central messages. His burden to hold the overcomer conferences and to publish The Present Testimony was to present such central messages. He also translated books in this same category into Chinese. All the books in the other categories mentioned in the first part of this section were intended by him to prepare the believers to apprehend these central messages, which were mainly contained in the following twenty-two books:

1. The Details of Spiritual Cultivation (original English title: The Christian Life and Warfare) published in June 1927. This book was the initial step to writing The Spiritual Man.
2. The Spiritual Man in three volumes was published in the fall of 1928. This book was not only the central one but also the greatest one among Brother Nee’s writings. It covers the following main points: 1) the three parts of man-spirit, soul, and body; 2) the distinction between soul and spirit; 3) the fleshly Christian; 4) the soulish believer; 5) the subjective aspect of the cross and the work of the Holy Spirit; 6) the spiritual man; and 7) the spiritual warfare.

After publishing two editions of The Spiritual Man, Watchman Nee realized that many of his readers became introspective. He also felt that the book was too perfectly written and too detailed. For these reasons he decided not to publish further editions. This was especially true after 1939 when he saw that spiritual warfare was not an individual matter but a corporate one. His view of spiritual warfare in The Spiritual Man was based mainly upon the writings and experience of Evan Roberts and Jessie Penn-Lewis. Roberts and Penn-Lewis saw only the individual aspect of spiritual warfare, and thus they presented it as a difficult matter. But over ten years after the publication of The Spiritual Man, Watchman began to realize that spiritual warfare, according to Ephesians 6, must be carried out by the Body of Christ in a corporate way. For this reason he made a final decision to discontinue the publication of this book. However, having later realized in Taiwan that with the exception of the chapter on spiritual warfare, this book could be quite helpful to believers in the matter of spiritual life, we decided to reprint it. Anyone who reads this book should keep in mind the above remarks.

3. You Also Have Been Made Dead to the Law (Rom. 7:4, 15-19).
4. The Sphere of Salvation for a Believer. This book tells us that God’s salvation extends into our conscience (Heb. 9:14), heart (Matt. 5:8; Phil 4:7), soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30), thought (2 Cor. 10:5), speech (James 1:26), the lust of the body (Rom. 8:12-13), the members (Rom. 6:13, 19), and the ego (Gal. 2:20).
5. The Life That Wins (1 John 5:12; Phil. 1:21).
6. The Normal Christian Life. This book contains messages on Romans 5, 6, 7, 8, and 12 given by Watchman Nee on his trip to Europe in 1938 and 1939. It was published in English and translated into Chinese.
7. A Truth of Twofoldness (Phil. 2:12-18). The twofoldness is this: On one hand God desires us to “work out”our salvation, and on the other hand, God “works in”us. We work out what God works within us.
8. Two Principles of Conduct (Gen. 2:9, 16-17). These are the principle of life and the principle of right or wrong. Christians should live by the first principle, not by the second.
9. In Christ (1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 8:1-2; 2 Cor. 5:17; Col. 1:14; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Cor. 1:2; Col. 2:10; Eph. 1:3; John 16:33; 2 Cor. 12:2). We Christians are persons in Christ, enjoying redemption, life, peace, victory, and all spiritual blessings in Him.
10. The Masterpiece of God (Eph. 2:1-10). The believers are God’s masterpiece in Christ through His death, resurrection, and ascension.
11. The New Covenant (Heb. 8:6, 8-13). The new covenant is a better covenant, enacted with the redeeming blood of Christ and guaranteed and executed by the resurrected Christ in His eternal priesthood according to the power of an indestructible life.
12. Renewing of the Mind (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23). The believers’ minds should be renewed that they may put off the old man and put on the new.
13. The Power of Resurrection (Phil. 3:10; Acts 2:32-33; Eph. 1:19-23; 2 Cor. 4:7). The power of resurrection is the power of the Holy Spirit, in which the believers live, work, and overcome, and by which the church is built up.
14. A Prayer for Revelation (Eph. 1:15-23). The apostle Paul prayed in Ephesians 1 for the believers to receive revelation concerning the hope of God’s calling, the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints, the greatness of His power to the believers, and the church as the Body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all.
15. Christ Being the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This book is composed of five chapters: 1) Christ as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6); 2) Christ as the resurrection and the life (John 11:25); 3) Christ as the bread of life and the light of life (John 6:35; 8:12); 4) Christ as the “I Am”(John 8:24, 28, 58); and 5) Christ as the rock for the church (Matt. 16:16-18).
16. Christ Being All Spiritual Matters and Things. This book also comprises five chapters. The first three chapters are the same as the first three chapters of the preceding book; chapter four is on Christ being the matters and things of God (John 1:29; 6:35; 8:12; 11:25; 14:6; 1 Cor. 1:30; Col. 3:4; 1 Tim. 1:1; Psa. 27:1); and chapter five is on Christ versus matters or things (John 8:28; Col. 3:3-4; 1:16-20).
17. Christ Becoming Our Wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30). God has put us in Christ and has made Christ in us to be our wisdom for our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
18. The Righteousness of God. This book comprises three chapters: 1) the righteousness of God (Rom. 3:21-28); 2) Christ as our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30); and 3) our being made the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).
19. The Holy Spirit and the Reality (John 4:24; 16:13; 1 John 5:6). Reality is in the Holy Spirit. Everything that is in the Holy Spirit is reality.
20. Holy and without Blemish or The Glorious Church (Eph. 5:22-32). The messages in this book use Eve in Genesis 2, the wife in Ephesians 5, the woman in Revelation 12, and the bride in Revelation 21 to illustrate all the spiritual aspects concerning the church’s being glorious, holy, and without blemish.
21. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This book is on the three aspects of the full experience of a believer. The first aspect is to know God the Father and to experience Him as the source of all blessings, as portrayed by the experience of Abraham. The second aspect is to know the inheritance of the Son and to enjoy all the rich inheritance God the Father prepared in Christ for the believer, as portrayed by the experience of Isaac. The third aspect is to know the discipline of the Holy Spirit and to experience the dealings of the natural life and the Holy Spirit working Christ into the believers, as portrayed in the experience of Jacob.
22. The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit (John 12:24; Heb. 4:12-13; John 4:23-24; 1 Cor. 2:11-14; 2 Cor. 3:6; Rom. 1:9; 7:6; 8:4-8; Gal. 5:16, 22-23, 25). This book stresses the breaking of our outer man, which is the natural man, that our spirit with the Holy Spirit may be released from within us.

Back to Top

Books on the Practicality of the Church
In his books on central messages, Watchman Nee covered the reality of the church. He was also burdened to put out five books on the practicality of the church:

1. The Assembly Life. This book comprises an introduction and four chapters. In the introduction he stressed the need of the church. The subjects of the chapters are as follows: 1) the authority of the church, the eldership; 2) the practice of fellowship among the local churches; 3) how to meet; and 4) the boundary of a local church being the boundary of the city in which the local church is.
2. Rethinking the Work. This book is Brother Nee’s main work concerning the practicality of the church. It is composed of ten chapters mainly dealing with the following points: 1) who the apostles are; 2) how the local churches are established; 3) how the elders are appointed; 4) the ground of oneness and the ground of division; 5) the relationship between the work and the churches; and 6) the organization of a local church.

This book was translated into English under the title Concerning Our Missions and was reprinted under the title The Normal Christian Church Life.

3. Further Talks on the Church Life. This book is composed of the messages given by Watchman Nee in 1950 and 1951 after World War II and mainly deals with: 1) the ground of the church; 2) the content of the church; 3) the oneness of the church; and 4) the service of the church.
4. The Orthodoxy of the Church. This book comprises messages given by Watchman Nee on the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3 concerning the church life.
5. Church Affairs. This book contains a course of Watchman Nee’s training at Mount Kuling concerning the business affairs of the church.

Back to Top

Books on Workers of the Lord

1. The Ministry of God’s Word. The contents of this book are a training course of Brother Nee given at Mount Kuling on the ministers of the Word of God and their ministry.
2. The Character of the Lord’s Worker is also a training course given on Mount Kuling dealing with the character of one who works for the Lord.

Back to Top

Books on Bible Study
The following are the publications on Bible study:

1. Where Is the Third Heaven? (Heb. 8:1; 2 Cor. 12:2; Isa. 14:12-14; Psa. 75:6-7; 48:2; Ezek. 1:1, 4; Zech. 6:6, 8; Job 26:7.
2. Synopsis of Revelation gives some crucial knowledge for studying Revelation and a full outline of its twenty-two chapters.
3. Bible Studies for Beginners contains twenty-six lessons.
4. The Exposition on Revelation concerns the prophecies of the church, the Jews, the world, the great Babylon, and the New Jerusalem.
5. The Study of the Gospel of Matthew concerns the kingdom of the heavens.
6. The Study of the Song of Songs concerns the stages of the spiritual life.
7. The Way to Study the Scriptures gives about forty different ways for studying the Bible.
8. Abstracts of the Scriptures is in four volumes and contains the abstracts of forty-four books of the Bible from Genesis to Acts, leaving Romans to Revelation to be finished.
9. A Once-a-year Study of the Bible gives the subjects and the outlines of all the books of the Bible with assigned portions for daily reading.
10. Fifty-two Basic Truths in the Scriptures, by Witness Lee, contains the following:

1. Condition of Man
2. The Love of God
3. The Redemption of Christ
4. The Work of the Holy Spirit
5. Repenting and Believing
6. Forgiveness
7. Cleansing
8. Sanctification
9. Justification
10. Reconciliation with God
11. Regeneration
12. Eternal Life
13. Freedom
14. Salvation
15. Assurance of Salvation
16. The Security of Salvation
17. Obeying the Sense of Life
18. Living in the Fellowship of Life
19. Consecration
20. Dealing with Sin
21. To Be Led
22. Doing the Will of God
23. To Be Filled with the Holy Spirit
24. Preaching the Gospel
25. Serving the Lord
26. A Few Matters Related to a Believer&#;s Life
27. Knowing God
28. The Faithfulness of God and the Righteousness of God
29. The Election and Predestination of God
30. The Union of God with Man
31. The Person of Christ
32. The Precious Blood of Christ
33. Law and Grace
34. In Adam and in Christ
35. The Two Natures of a Believer
36. Three Lives and Four Laws
37. Union with Christ
38. The New Testament Service
39. Believers and Sin
40. Receiving the Reward
41. Entering into the Kingdom of the Heavens
42. Sufferings
43. The Church
44. The Angels
45. The Devil
46. The World
47. Sin
48. Death and Resurrection
49. Judgment
50. Heaven and Hell
51. The Rapture of the Believers
52. The Second Coming of Christ

Back to Top

Books Translated
In addition to all the above books, some spiritual books in English were translated under Brother Nee’s publication ministry through the years.

The following eleven books were on the central messages, mostly translated by Brother Nee himself:

1. The Cross of Christ, chapter one by Andrew Murray and chapter two by Jessie Penn-Lewis
2. Union with Christ in Death, by Jessie Penn-Lewis
3. The Way of Deliverance, by Jessie Penn-Lewis
4. The Meaning of the Gospel, by T. Austin-Sparks
5. The Three Main Principles of the Cross, by T. Austin-Sparks
6. A Manifested Mystery, by T. Austin-Sparks
7. Victorious Life Is a Real Fact, by T. Austin-Sparks
8. Resurrection Life and the Body of Christ, by T. Austin-Sparks
9. The Reigning Life, by C. H. Usher
10. Victory Is in the Union with Christ, by Mackee
11. God’s Plan of Redemption, by Mrs. Charles A. McDonough, translated by Yu Cheng-hwa

The following seven books on inner life were translated by Brother Yu Cheng-hwa. These books are helpful if they are used properly.

1. Sweet Smelling Myrrh, an autobiography of Madame Guyon
2. Life out of Death-Spiritual Torrent, by Madame Guyon
3. A Short, Easy Method of Prayer, by Madame Guyon
4. Letters by Madame Guyon
5. The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence
6. Spiritual Maxims, by Brother Lawrence
7. Maxims of the Saints, by Father Fenelon

The following eight books on general messages were translated by others:

1. The Son of God, by J. G. Bellett
2. Straight Paths for the Children of God, by A. M.
3. The Streams in the Desert, by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
4. Christianity or Religion, by A. C. Gaebelein
5. How to Bring Men to Christ, by R. A. Torrey
6. Seen and Heard, an autobiography of James M'Kendrick
7. The Twofoldness of Divine Truth, by Robert Govett, translated by Yu Cheng-hwa
8. Modern Science and Joshua’s Long Day, by Harry Rimmer

Back to Top

Hymnals
Under Watchman Nee’s publication ministry, three hymn books were published:

1. Hymns: A collection of one hundred eighty-four hymns. Most of the hymns were selected by Brother Nee out of over ten thousand hymns, songs, and poems, and were translated by him with some improvements and adjustments. A few were written by him, and one was written by Ruth Lee. Originally, it was called Hymns for the Little Flock. Later, this name was dropped because people used it to designate us as the Church of the Little Flock. The contents were classified as follows: words of praise, joy of salvation, springs of the valley of Baca, union with Christ, growth in grace, seeking in the spiritual pathway, consolation of the pilgrims, prayer meeting, consecration, spiritual warfare, the Holy Spirit, the work, the praise of the sucklings, and the trumpet of the gospel.
2. Hymns: A larger collection of 1,052 hymns compiled and composed by Watchman Nee with the cooperation of some brothers.
3. Gospel Songs: A collection of one hundred songs and hymns compiled and composed by Witness Lee.

Back to Top

Watchman Nee Teachings Publications Recognition

Home Links

© 2003 ChristianWebsites.org   |   Privacy