Release of the Spirit - Ch. 7: Dividing and Revelation

In chapter 7 Watchman Nee deals with the importance of having a pure spirit; he emphasizes that purity of spirit is the greatest need in the servant of God: "...the first requirement in God's work is a pure, not a powerful spirit. Those who neglect this, though their work may be done in power, will find it destroyed due to the lack of purity. Though they may truly possess the power of God, yet because their spirit is mixed, they are destroying what they build."

When Nee speaks of mixture, he's referring to the mingling of the person's spirit and soul, so that when he or she ministers, what comes forth is a mixture of the person's cleverness or willfulness along with the gospel that he/she is presenting. I can remember specific instances as a young missionary in which I shared truth with others but it came forth from my soulish powers. In one particular experience, I was sharing truth with a small group; although what I shared was true and good, I sensed the soulish strength of will imposing the truth on my hearers. Later I repented and asked their forgiveness for speaking with mixture in my spirit. Nee says it well: "We are doing the will of God because it happens to coincide with ours. In standing firm for God we are merely expressing our strong personality."

In order to accomplish this purifying work, the Lord must deal with our strong points. This is painful for us because it is in these very points that we are gifted and feel most confident in. But without His touching these natural strengths, we can easily do His work without Him in the energy of the flesh. (Prov. 3:5 contrasts leaning on the natural life with trusting in the Lord.)

God's primary instrument for the dividing of the soul life from the spirit life is the Word of God (Heb. 4:12). God's Word is both living and operative: "'living' refers to its nature, while 'operative' applies to its ability to fulfill the work on man." It is able to discern our innermost thoughts and motives. "You thought you loved sinners while preaching the gospel, but now the light has come, and you discover that your preaching stems mainly from your love of action, your delight in speaking, your natural inclination...Once you assumed that your thoughts and intents were of the Lord, but in this piercing light you know they are entirely of yourself...This unveiling of the real nature of things enlightens us to the true knowledge of what is of ourselves and what is of the Lord, how much is from the soul and how much is from the spirit.

"Deliverance comes from the light of God...So it is that even our denial of the outward man and our determination to reject it will not help...How foolish to imagine that we could expose our sin! Only in His light shall we 'see' and be exposed. It must be His work by the Spirit, not our efforts of the soul..." The soul cannot deal with the soul. Often when we hear truth such as this, we set out to cure ourselves by means of our soulish powers. If we are strong-willed, we determine to take control; if we are strong in our emotions, we feel that we can cure the problem with feeling a certain way; if we are strongly intellectual, we try to reason ourselves out of being ruled by our outward man. Only God by His Spirit with His Word can expose and deal exactly with the soul life; but we must desire Him to do it and ask for His help.

In the context of what Nee is teaching, he points out that we need "revelation" to be able to see ourselves as God sees us; in other words, we should be able to see what is soulish and what is of the spirit in ourselves. "Revelation enables us to see what God sees...Whenever you are enabled to discern the thoughts and intents of your heart, you can be sure your soul and spirit are being divided." Once you have revelation of this, you begin to have an inner knowing, and "on subsequent occasions, whenever it expresses itself we will instantly regret it and judge it...We will henceforth live before the Lord with our spirit released...the Word of God is effective, for it enlightens you to the casting off of the outward man."

I'll close this with the prayer that Nee suggests for one who reaches the point of wanting the light of God to shine and expose the truth of his/her condition:

"O God, I am absolutely unreliable. I do not know whom I am accusing, nor what sin I am confessing. Only in Thy light am I able to know..."

Come, Holy Spirit, and do the work that only You can do, for the sake of Jesus...thank You for Your faithfulness to do this!