Excerpts and Comments on Watchman
Nee's "The Release of the Spirit"
"Anyone who serves God will discover
sooner or later that the great hindrance to his work is not others
but himself. He will discover that his outward man and his inward
man are not in harmony, for both are tending toward opposite
directions. He will also sense the inability of his outward man
to submit to the spirit's control, thus rendering him incapable
of obeying God's highest commands."
Introduction
Watchman Nee captures the essence of the
dilemma we all battle with:
Our outward and inward man "are not
in harmony."
It is this disparity between the inward
and outward man that we are seeking to explore and help others
with. Our prayer for you is that the
Ruach use this paper to bring these two into harmony and so release
the Spirit of God in our own lives and the lives of others. Note:
All Scripture uses the NKJV translation unless indicated.
Defintion of Terms
"Now may the God of peace Himself
sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and
body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Yeshua
the Messiah" (1 Thess. 5:23).
"For the word of God is living and
powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to
the division of soul and spirit ..." (Heb. 4:12).
Note: Here the point of this Scripture
is that soul and spirit can be defined as being distinctly different.
What follows are Nee's 3 definitions.
The term, "outermost man" is not found in Scripture.
1. Inward man -- the Spirit
When we come to know Messiah, God's Spirit
dwells within our human spirit causing us to be born again (Jn.
3). We become a "new creation" (2 Corin. 5:17).
2. Outward man -- the Soul
Just as we are dressed in clothes, so
our inward man (spirit) wears an outward man (soul).
The soul is the place that contains our
intellect, emotions, and will.
We express to others what is in our spirit
through the soul. For example, while we may receive a prophecy
in our spirit, to express it the content (words) must be transferred
to our soul and then spoken through our body (mouth).
3. Outermost man -- the Body
The spirit and soul "wear" the
body.
People are generally more conscious of
the outer and outermost man and hardly recognize or understand
their spirit at all.
"A grain of wheat must die"
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless
a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone.
But if it dies, it produces much grain" (Jn. 12:24).
Nee uses this passage to show that the
Scripture supports his concept that the spirit is encased by
the soul.
1. Wheat has a hard shell on the outside.
2. As long as the shell is not split open,
the wheat cannot sprout and grow.
3. If this shell is not opened, the life
inside will eventually die. Nee writes that the point here is
not just theoretical but practical. When one is born again there
is life inside the shell. Yet unless the outside shell is cracked
open to release the life held inside, our spiritual life dries
up and eventually dies.
Nature causes the wheat's shell to crack
by using temperature, humidity, and pressure. What are the ways
that God cracks open our shell (soul) to release our spirits?
Note: Though I'm sure there's lots of different
answers to this one, the answer I'd like you to focus on is the
"discipline of the Holy Spirit." We'll cover this more
extensively in the other parts of this series. When Nee uses
this term, he's referring to how God orders our ways ("...
All things work together for the good to those who love God ...
" (Rom. 8:28.) to accomplish His purpose for us and others.
Nee believes that primary purpose for the "discipline of
the Holy Spirit" is to break our outward man so that our
inward man can be released.
Oftentimes we must walk in ways contrary
to the will of God to learn how to walk right. God will allow
us to experience failure or trials so that are fruit might grow
sweeter and larger by pruning and perfecting us. This is unlearning,
a process in which we uncouple from the world's system and and
align ourselves with God's purpose. When we "unlearn"
we become more child-like.
Confronting Your Current Spiritual State
I've found that there are many reasons
why people don't have their souls cracked open to release their
spirits. I've thought of a few categories that might fit you.
If you believe there are more, feel free to use your own schema:
1. Those who didn't know that their outward
man was not allowing their spirit to break through. These are
primed to experience a working of the Ruach. The study supplies
them with a knowledge that the Ruach can use to open their spiritual
eyes.
2. Those who knew that something was blocking
their spiritual life, but found themselves unable to get victory.
These may gain victory through the principles taught in the study
along with the ministry of the Ruach. They may also need a knowledge
of the spiritual warfare involved and/or deliverance.
3. Those who are overcome by their emotions
and can't seem to get victory.
4. Those who have sin blocking their relationship
with God. These need to repent and accept the atoning work of
Messiah. After that's done, the door is open for a further work
of the Spirit.
All four groups need to be led into a prayer
of consecration and repentance because these open the door for
the Ruach to work in their lives. This is a voluntary submission
of their will to God's authority. It is crucial that this take
place. Consider doing it right now. If you're not now prepared
to do this, would you consider it later? Here's a prayer type
for you to model:
"Dear Lord: I consecrate myself to
You. This means that I offer myself to You right now. And I do
this without making any conditions and without any reservations.
I trust You for my life, my future, for everything. I place myself
in Your hands. Have Your way with me. In Yeshua's name. Amen."
Why Haven't I Done This Before?
"Why is it that after many years of
dealing some remain the same? Some individuals have a forceful
will; some have strong emotions; and others have a strong mind.
Since the Lord is able to break these, why is it that after many
years some are still unchanged?"
Nee sees two main reasons that some people
don't respond to the discipline of the Ruach and thus don't allow
their souls to be broken:
1. Many don't see the hand of God at work
in their circumstances. They think that it is just people opposing
them or that the conditions are too harsh. Perhaps they are pessimists.
2. Self-love: These may see the hand of
God in their situations but fail to grasp the lessons the Lord
wants to teach them because they take matters into their own
hand. The heart of self-love wants to end anxiety, pain, or discomfort
as soon as possible and thus seeks to plan a way to fix things.
This comes from the soul as it is always trying to control its
own destiny rather than come under the headship of God.
Which group might you fit into? I'm asking
you to disclose what's in your heart. I know that some of you
are naturally reluctant to do this, yet this is necessary. Honestly
consider your current spiritual state.
Points and Questions to Dig Deeper
"He who can work for God is the one
whose inward man can be released. The basic difficulty of a servant
of God lies in the failure of the inward man to break through
the outward man."
"Our spirit seems to be wrapped in
a covering so that it cannot easily break forth. If we have never
learned how to release our inward man by breaking through the
outward man, we are not able to serve in fullness."
1. Nee contends that man's normal state
(even true for those who by Christain definition are "born
again.") is for spirit to be encased by his soul and unable
to be fully expressed. What do you think of this idea?
Nee contends that ministry (work for God)
is accomplished through the release of the inward man (spirit).
When I first read this, I thought, "Does this mean that
anything that doesn't arise through the spirit, is not ministry?"
I don't believe that's Nee's point. The goal of his book is to
encourage people to function more and more in the spiritual realm.
He is encouraging them to work for God through their spirits
rather than soul. For example, he sees many believers preaching
messages in which the content has a mixture of spirit and soul
(human thought and feelings) His vision is to encourage all outward
activity for the Lord to be done by the spirit rather than using
the intellect or emotion to convince.
2. Do you minister with your spirit or
your soul?
I Want to Hear from You
I've asked you to open up a bit and some
of you may feel the need to talk about it with others. Please
pray about this. I'd also suggest that you e-mail me at: [email protected]
and I'll prayerfully consider how to respond.
Copyright
2000, Winer Foundation and Robert I. Winer, M.D.
