Chapter One From "The Release of the Spirit" by Watchman Nee

ANYONE who serves God will discover sooner or later that the great hindrance he has in the Lord’s work is not others, but himself. He will discover that his outward man (soul) is not in harmony with his inward man (spirit). Both tend to go toward two opposite directions from each other. He will also sense the inability of his outward man to submit to the inner control of his regenerated spirit, received through the new birth. Thus, he is rendered incapable of obeying God’s highest commands. He will quickly detect that his greatest difficulty lies in his outward man, which hinders him from using his spirit.

Secondly, outside the sphere of this inward man indwelt by God is the soul. Its functions are our thoughts, emotions, and will.

Thirdly, the outermost man is our physical body, characterized by its external instincts of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.

We thus will speak of the spirit as the inward man, the soul as the outer man, and the body as the outermost man. We must never forget that our inward man is the human spirit where God dwells, the place where the Spirit of the Lord is joined to our spirit (1 Cor 6:17). Just as we are dressed in our clothing, so our inward man wears an outward man—i.e., our spirit wears the soul. Moreover, the spirit and soul similarly wear the body. It is quite evident that men are generally more conscious of the outer man and the outermost man, but they hardly recognize or understand their inner man, their spirit.

We must know that 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 his inward man to break through his outward man. Therefore, we must recognize before God that the first difficulty to our work is not in others, but in ourselves. Our spirit seems to be wrapped in a covering which 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. Nothing can so hinder us as this outward man. Whether our works are fruitful or not depends upon whether our outward man has been broken by the Lord so that the inward man can pass through this brokenness and come forth. This, in a statement, specifies the basic problem. The Lord wants to break our outward man in order for the inward man to have a way out. When the inward man is released, both unbelievers and other Christians will be blessed.

The Scripture continues by saying, "He that loves his life (Greek ‘psuche’—‘soul’) shall lose it, and he that hates his life (Greek ‘psuche’—‘soul’) in this world shall keep it to life eternal " (v. 25). The Lord shows us here that the outer shell is our own life identified as our soul life, while the life within is the eternal life which He has given to us. To allow the inner life to come forth, it is imperative that the outward life be replaced. Should the outward remain unbroken, the inward would never be able to come forth.

It is necessary (in this writing) that we direct these words to that group of people who has the Lord’s life. Among those who possess the life of the Lord, they can be found in two distinct conditions: One includes those in whom life is confined, restricted, imprisoned, and unable to come forth. The other includes those in whom the Lord has forged a way out, and life is thus released through them.

The question is not how thus to obtain life, but rather how to allow this life to come forth. When we say ‘we need the Lord to break us,’ this is not merely a style of speaking, nor is it only a doctrine. It is most vital that the Lord breaks us. It is not that the Lord’s life cannot cover the earth, but rather we imprison His life. It is not that the Lord cannot bless the church, but that the Lord’s life is so confined within us, nothing is flowing forth. If the outward man remains unbroken, we can never be a blessing to His church. And we cannot expect the Lord to bless the Word of God through us!

The Bible speaks of "alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure spikenard" (Mark 14:3). God purposely used this term "pure" in His Word to show that it is truly spiritual. But if the alabaster box is not broken, the pure spikenard will not flow forth. Strange to say, many are still treasuring the alabaster box, thinking that its value exceeds that of the ointment. Many think that their outward man is more precious than their inward man. This becomes the problem confronting the church. One will treasure his cleverness, thinking he is quite important. Another will treasure his own emotions, esteeming himself to be more advanced than other people. Others highly regard themselves, because they feel they are better than others, their eloquence surpasses that of others, or their quickness of action and exactness of judgment are superior, and so forth.

However, we are not antique collectors. Nor are we "vase" admirers. We should be those who desire to smell only the fragrance of the ointment. Without the breaking of the outward, the inward fragrance will not come forth. Hence, not only do we individually have no flowing out, but also the church has no living way. Why then should we hold our outward man to be so precious, especially if the outward only contains the fragrance, instead of releasing the fragrance?

The Holy Spirit has not ceased working. He makes sure one event after another and one difficulty after another come to us. These disciplinary workings of the Holy Spirit have but one purpose—to break our outward man so that our inward man may come through. Yet here is our difficulty—we fret over trifles, we murmur at small losses, and we complain about insignificant things. The Lord is ever finding and preparing a way in order to use us. Yet when His hand slightly touches us, we begin to feel unhappy—even to the extent of quarreling with God and having a negative attitude. Since the time when we were saved, we have been touched by the Lord many times in various ways—all with the purpose of breaking our outward man. Whether we are conscious of it or not, the aim of the Lord is to break this stubborn vessel called our outward man.

Nevertheless, the Treasure is in the earthen vessel (2 Cor. 4:7). But if the earthen vessel cannot be broken, who can see the Treasure within? Have we seen what is the final objective of the Lord’s working in our lives? It is to break open this earthen vessel (2 Cor.4:7), to burst open our alabaster box (Mark 14:3), to crack open our shell (Jn. 12:24). The Lord longs to find a way to bless the world through those who belong to Him. Brokenness is the way of blessing, the way of fragrance, the way of fruitfulness. But, it is also a path sprinkled with ‘blood from our wounds.’ Yes, there is blood from the many wounds we suffer. When we offer ourselves to the Lord for His service, we cannot afford to be lenient and spare ourselves. We must allow the Lord to crack open our outward man utterly so that He may find a way out for His working through us.

Each of us must find out for himself personally what is the mind of the Lord in his life. It is a most lamentable fact that many do not know what is the Lord’s mind or intention for their lives. How much they need Him to open their eyes, to see that everything which comes into their lives can be meaningful. The Lord has not wasted even one thing. To understand the Lord’s purpose is to see very clearly that He is aiming at a single objective, and it is simply this—the breaking of our outward man.

However, too many of us, even before the Lord raises a hand, are already upset. Oh, we must realize that all life’s experiences, troubles, and trials which the Lord sends are for our highest good. We cannot expect the Lord to give anything better, for these constant difficulties are His best. Should one approach the Lord and pray, saying, "O Lord, please let me choose the best thing for my life," I believe the Lord would tell him, "What I have given you is the best—your daily trials are for your greatest profit." So God’s motive behind all the things He has ordered for our lives is clearly for the breaking of our outward man. Once this occurs, and our spirit can come forth, we will be enabled to exercise and release our spirit consistently.

The Lord employs two different means to break our outward man. One is gradual. The other is sudden. To some, the Lord gives a sudden breaking, followed by a gradual one. With others, the Lord arranges constant daily trials, until one day He brings about a large-scale breaking. If it is not the sudden first and then the gradual, then it is the gradual followed by the sudden. It would seem the Lord usually spends several years upon most of us before He can accomplish this work of breaking.

The timing is in His hand. We cannot shorten the time, though we certainly can prolong it. In some lives, the Lord is able to accomplish this work after a few years of dealing. In others, it is evident that after ten or twenty years, the work is still unfinished. This kind of delay is most serious! Nothing is more grievous than wasting God’s time. How often the church is also hindered! We can preach by using our mind, and we can stir others by using our emotions. But if we do not know how to use our spirit, the Spirit of God cannot touch people through us. This loss is so great. Should we needlessly prolong the time?

Why is it that after many years under the Lord’s dealing, some remain the same? Some individuals have a forceful will. Many have powerful emotions. And others have a strong mind. Since the Lord is able to break these, why is it, after so many years, some are still unchanged? We believe there are two main reasons.

First, they live in darkness. Hence, they do not see the hand of God. While God is working, while God is attempting to break their natural, soulish strengths, they do not recognize it as being from Him. They are devoid of light, seeing only men opposing them. They imagine their environment is just too difficult, and their circumstances are to blame. So they linger in their darkness and despair.

May God give us enlightenment to see what is from His hand. Subsequently, may we kneel down and say to Him, "It is You after all. Since it is You, I will accept what You are doing." At least, we must recognize Whose hand is dealing with us. It is not a human hand. Nor is it our family’s hand. It’s not the brothers and sisters’ hand in the church. But it is God’s very own hand that is dealing with us. We need to learn how to kneel down, kiss the hand, and love the hand that deals with us, even as Madame Guyon did. We must have this kind of light to see that whatever exits in our difficult circumstances, we accept and believe that it is God’s hand. The Lord can never do any wrong.

Second, another great hindrance in breaking the outer man is self-love. We must ask God to take away the heart of self-love. As He deals with us in response to our prayer, we should worship and say, "O Lord, if this be Your hand, let me accept it from my heart." Let us remember that the one reason for all misunderstandings, all fretfulness, all disappointments, is that we secretly love ourselves. Hence, we plan a way whereby we can rescue ourselves. Many times problems arise due to our seeking a way of escape—an escape from the working of the cross.

No life manifests more beauty than the one who is broken! Stubbornness and self-love have given way to beauty in the one who has been broken by God. For example, consider Jacob in the Old Testament. We see how even in his mother’s womb he struggled with his brother. He was subtle, tricky, and manipulative. But his life was full of sorrows and grief. As a youth, he fled from home. For twenty years, he was cheated by Laban. The wife of his heart’s love—Rachel—died prematurely. The son of his love—Joseph—was sold into slavery. Years later, another one of his dearly loved sons, Benjamin, was detained in Egypt. Repeatedly, he was dealt with by God, meeting misfortune after misfortune. He was stricken by God once, twice, and thrice. Indeed, his whole history is said to be a history of being stricken by God. Finally, after many recurring dealings, the man Jacob was transformed. In his last few years, he was quite transparent. How dignified was his answer to Pharaoh! How beautiful was his end when he worshiped God leaning on his staff! How clear were his blessings to his descendants! After reading the last page of his history, we want to bow our heads and worship God. Here is one who is matured, who knows God so experientially. Several decades of dealings have resulted in the breaking of Jacob’s outward man. In his old age, his life of brokenness is a picture of beauty.

Each one of us has as much of the same "Jacob-nature" in us. Our only hope is that the Lord may blaze a way out of us, breaking our outward man—breaking it to such a degree that the inward man may come out and be seen. This is precious! This is the way for those who serve the Lord. Only by this process can we serve the Lord, and only by this procedure can we lead men to the Lord. All else is limited in its value. Doctrinal and theological knowledge does not have that much usefulness. What is the use of mere mental knowledge of the Bible if the outward man remains unbroken? Only the person through whom God can come forth is useful.

After our outward man has been stricken, dealt with, and led through various trials, we have wounds upon us, thus allowing the spirit to emerge. We are afraid to meet some brothers and sisters whose whole being remains intact. They never had been dealt with and therefore exhibit no change May God have mercy upon us to clearly show us this way. That this is the only way, only He can reveal. May He also show us the important purpose of all His dealings within these past few years—say ten, fifteen, or twenty years—it is the breaking of the outward man for the release of our inward man, our spirit. Therefore, let no one despise the Lord’s dealings. May He truly reveal to us what is meant by the breaking of the outward man. Should the outward man remain whole, everything would then be merely in our mind and remain utterly useless. Let us expect the Lord to deal with our outward man thoroughly for the release of our spirit.

†The cross has several facets. After first realizing by faith the position of our identification with Christ’s death and resurrection, we then begin to walk daily on the pathway of the cross. Without basing the pathway upon the position, we shall be plunged into confusion and self-effort. For further clarification, read The Normal Christian Life by the author. It is an excellent pre-requisite to this volume.—Ed.