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Those who have entered into the rest of God can stand any accusations being levied on them. They have died to the opinion of men. They are content with what God knows them to be. One such example was Watchman Nee. In his biography it is written :
“Ill-wishers pointed to his business lunches with people of the world, the kind of people to whom in the past his witness had often been most fruitful. Since the responsible brothers remained silent, he felt his whole testimony to be in question; yet because of the many workers dependent on him, he had no freedom to abandon the course he had adopted. There is no evidence that in the following two years, they made any approach to him. For his part he recalled Margaret Barber’s meekness in the face of His own tirades and once again he made no attempt at self-vindication but accepted their action as a discipline from God who would in His own way justify Himself.
Understandably, Charity, who was actively helping him in the business, did not at once appreciate this attitude. One day she heard Watchman Nee answer a phone call in which, the voice at the other end went on and on at a high volume. Watchman Nee simply listened to it all, answering now and again with “Yes… yes… thank you… thank you.” “Whoever was that ?” she asked, when he had rung off. “It was a brother telling me all I have been doing wrong.” “And were you guilty of all that ?” she asked. “No”, he replied. Then why did you not give him an explanation instead of just saying, “Thank you”?” she exclaimed impatiently. “If anyone exalts Ni To-sheng to heaven,” was the reply, “he is still Ni To-sheng. And if anyone tramples him down to hell, he remains Ni To-sheng.” God was righteous, and to him that was sufficient. Characteristically he is known to have ministered secret financial help to some of the brothers who were opposing him.” The story of Watchman Nee (“Against the Tide”) by Angus I. Kinnear. Victory Press Eastbourne, England, 1973 p. 127 .
Watchman Nee never defended himself. He never exposed his enemies. He never accused back ! He was at rest. His rest was deep and not moved or disturbed by what others said about him ! Joseph was also accused, by the wife of Portiphar, of attempting rape. It was all a lie. Joseph did not explain. Joseph did not expose her. He bore unjust punishment with hardly any complaining. He was at rest. His rest was not disturbed by anything that he suffered!
Let me quote once more from the story of Watchman Nee.:
“Watchman’s inward peace derived thus from a sense of destiny, which in this life is perhaps God’s greatest gift to a man. In 1949 he had elected to return from Hong Kong in the conviction that God had a task for him in the new China. It would be wholly consistent for him to feel now that, whatever the appearances, this was still where God could use him and therefore wanted him to be. ”Nothing hurts so much,” he used to say, “as dissatisfaction with our circumstances. We all start from rest, but there is another rest which we discover when we learn from Jesus how to say, ”I thank Thee Father, for it seemed good to Thee.” God knows what He is doing and there is nothing accidental in the life of the believer. Nothing but good can come to those who are wholly His.” Against the Tide, p. &74).
There are the outward circumstances and there are the inward circumstances. The inward circumstances are governed solely by a person’s relationship with the Lord. There are also outward circumstances which are dependent on what others may do or not do. The man at rest is at peace inside because the Lord Jesus is unchanging and because the inner man rules and reigns, he is fully in control, regardless of what happens in the exterior. This is God’s desire for His. May we all develop a Christ-filled inner life and then, regardless of outward circumstances, we shall be at rest. Amen.
