Whom Shall I Send?

Watchman Nee

Sep 2009 · Christian Fellowship Publishers

About this ebook

Does God work alone or does He work with man? Let us see that aside from the work of creation which He performs alone, God always works with man and works in man. If He does not obtain the man He looks for, He will not do the work He plans but will wait until He does obtain His man, and then His work shall be done. Such knowledge reveals the unspeakable love of God towards man, but it also places upon man a tremendous responsibility. Throughout the various chapters of this present volume, Watchman Nee—and his close associate Dr. C. H. Yu (in Chapter 2)—present God’s need of man conclusively. Although it is God himself who indeed does the work, nevertheless He will not work without the cooperation of man. He will first work in man and then work through man. So that what the author discusses in the book at the very outset is the kind of man whom God can use in His service: one who is redeemed and fully yielded, one who knows his absolute incompetency, and who has only one desire of pleasing the Lord. Then is explained the nature of service: how the man of God must serve the Lord in the spirit, how his service needs to be towards the increase of spiritual value, and how his service today is but a preparation for the service in eternity. Finally, two illustrations from the Old Testament are presented for the purpose on the one hand of exhorting the man of God to keep always the “freshness” of the spirit through constant communion with the Lord and on the other hand of instructing the servants of God as to the way of corporate guidance in the church. The cry of the triune God is, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” May our response be, “Here am I; send me” (Is. 6.8).

About the author

Watchman Nee was born in 1903 in Swatow, China as an answer to his mother's prayer. Having already borne two daughters, she prayed that if God should give her a son, she would give him back to God. As the boy grew up, he showed every sign of promise except he had no interest in things spiritual. It was not till he was seventeen years of age that he was met by the Lord. He knew at that time that he must accept Christ Jesus as his Savior, yet he struggled over the necessity of surrendering his life to the Lord. The love of Christ finally overwhelmed him and he capitulated to Christ. This was on April 29, 1920. He had such a love for the Word of God that he studied it almost incessantly, so within a very short period he had read the whole Bible several times. He began to witness for Christ to his school mates and soon earned the nickname of "the preacher". In searching the Scripture, he (with a few other believers) discovered 'the simplicity and purity that is towards Christ.' He determined to follow the Word of God explicitly and nothing but the Word. In 1927 he began his life work in Shanghai, where he was able to practice the vision which the Lord had shown him in the Word. He understood that the eternal purpose of God is Christ and His Church. Through the mighty working of the Holy Spirit and the faithful ministry of this servant of God, this testimony spread over the vast land of China. In 1949 the Communists took over China. Knowing what would be waiting for him back home, he nonetheless felt strongly his responsibility toward God and His Church. So he returned to China from Hong Kong in 1950. In April of 1952 he was seized and put in prison. He was later falsely accused as a master spy and was sentenced to twenty years of imprisonment. In prison he was not allowed to do anything but what was assigned him by prison authority. At the expiration of his sentence term, he was not released, and the news arrived quickly that he died faithful to the Lord.