Release of the Spirit - Ch. 5: The Church and God's Work

In chapter five Watchman Nee speaks of how intricately tied together the breaking of the outward man is to God's work.

"It is true to say that God is much restricted by man...There came a time when God committed Himself to human form in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Before the Word became flesh, God's fullness knew no bounds. However, once the incarnation became a reality, His work and His power were limited to this flesh. Will this Man, Christ Jesus, restrict or manifest God?...far from limiting God, He has wonderfully manifested God's fullness. ...The basic teaching of the Gospels is the presence of God in one Man, while that of the Epistles is God in the Church...God formerly dwelt in one Man Jesus Christ, but now God is only in the church, not in any other thing."

It's because of this, Nee says, that the discipline and dealing of the Holy Spirit with His people is critical so that God can have His way with us and have a way through us to the watching world.

Breaking - God's Way of Working
The breaking of the outward man (soul life) will affect how we read and relate to God's Word:

I. Reading the Bible - often we rely on our unrenewed and confused mind to understand the Word of God; the fruit of this is our own thoughts and we don't touch the spirit of the Scriptures. Our own intelligence is an obstacle if we have not been broken. There are two basic requirements for reading the Bible:

a. First, our thought must enter into the thought of the writer of the book (John, Paul, etc.); in other words, our thoughts must be geared into his thoughts. This helps keep us from interpreting the Word subjectively and reading into it what was never intended by the Spirit through the human writer. Without the breaking of the outward man, we cannot do this.

b. Even more importantly, "the Bible is more than words, ideas and thoughts. The most outstanding feature of the Bible is that God's Spirit is released through this Book." Not only does the thought of the writer come forth, but the spirit of the writer united with God's Spirit comes forth and it's only possible to touch that when our spirit has been released, in other words, when the outward man is broken and is no longer a hindrance to the operation of the the inner man (spirit). Nee illustrates this by saying it's like a naughty boy who deliberately breaks a neighbor's window. He is scolded by both the neighbor and then by his mother, but there is a vast difference in the scoldings; the one is ill-tempered and angry in spirit while the mother's scolding is full of love, hope and training. Without the breaking of the outer man, our spirit can't receive the correct spirit of the Word.

II. The ministry of the Word - not only does God want us to understand His Word but He wants to put it as a burden in our spirit to minister to the Church. "In Acts 6:4 we read, 'But we will give ourselves up to prayer and the ministry of the word.' 'Ministry' means serving. So the ministry of the Word means serving people with the word of God." The ability to receive this burden from God and then to deliver it to others comes with the breaking of the outward man.

"Many have the erroneous notion that clever (intelligent) people are best able to be used. How wrong! No matter how clever you are, the outward can never substitute for the inward man...The shell of the outward man must be smashed by God. The more it is shattered, the more the life in the spirit is released...Unless your inward man is released, people can only hear your voice; they cannot touch life..."

III. Preaching the Gospel - we often think that people believe the gospel because they have been mentally convinced of the truth or emotionally stirred by it, but those who respond for either of these reasons alone don't last long. "Intellect and emotion need to be reached, but these alone are insufficient. Mind may reach mind and emotion may reach emotion, but salvation probes much deeper. Spirit must touch spirit. Only when the spirit of the preacher blossoms forth and shines do sinners fall down and capitulate to God."

May the tender mercies of God rest on you this week as you live and walk in Him by faith!