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

THE BREAKING of the outward man is the basic experience of all who serve God. This must be accomplished before He can use us effectively. When one is working for God, two possibilities may arise. The first is the unbrokenness of self, forming a hard shell around the spirit. It is possible, when the outward man remains unbroken, that his spirit may be inert and unable to function. This means that if he is a clever intellectual person, his mind governs his work. Or, if he is a generous charitable person, his emotions control his actions. His work may appear successful, but it cannot bring people to God. The second is the mixture of his spirit with his unbroken self. His spirit may come forth clad with strong thoughts or emotions of self. The result is that both his spirit and soul are mixed and impure. Consequently, his work will bring men into a mixed and impure experience. These two conditions illustrate how unbroken self will weaken our service to God.

If we desire to work effectively, we must realize that basically "it is the Spirit which gives life" (Jn. 6:63; 2 Cor. 3:6). Sooner or later—if not on the first day of our salvation, then perhaps ten years later—we must recognize this fact. Many have to be brought to their wit’s end in order to see the emptiness of their labor, and to recognize the uselessness of their many thoughts and varied emotions. Regardless how many people can be attracted by your thoughts or emotions, the results will still come to nothing. Eventually, we must confess: "It is the Spirit which gives life." The Spirit alone makes people live. Your best thought or your best emotion cannot make people live. Man is brought into life only by the Spirit. Many who serve the Lord will eventually come to see this fact only after passing through much sorrow and many failures. Then finally, the Lord’s Word becomes meaningful to them: "That which gives life is the Spirit." When the spirit is released, then sinners are born anew and saints are edified. When life is communicated through the channel of the spirit, people who receive it are born anew. When life is supplied through the spirit to believers, they are edified. Without the Spirit, there can be no new birth and no edification.

One rather remarkable thing is that God does not often distinguish between His Spirit and our spirit. There are many places in the Bible where it is impossible to determine whether the word "spirit" indicates our human spirit or God’s Spirit. Bible translators, from Luther down to present day scholars who have labored on their English versions, have been unable to decide if the word "spirit," as it is often used in several places of the New Testament, refers to the human spirit or to the Spirit of God.

For example, of the whole Bible Romans eight may very well be the chapter where the word "spirit" is used most frequently. Who can discern how many times the word "spirit" in this chapter refers to the human spirit and how many times to God’s Spirit? In various English versions, the Greek word pneuma is translated "spirit." But this word is sometimes capitalized, and at other times it is written without any capitalization. It is evident that these versions do not consistently agree with each other. Moreover, not one scholar’s opinion is final, because it is simply impossible to distinguish. When we received our new spirit through regeneration, simultaneously, we also received God’s Spirit. The moment our human spirit is raised from the state of death, we receive the Holy Spirit. We often say that the Holy Spirit dwells in our spirit, but we find it perplexing to discern which is the Holy Spirit and which is our own human spirit. The Holy Spirit and our spirit have become so joined together. While each is uniquely separate, they nevertheless are not so easily distinguishable.

Thus, the release of the spirit is the release of both the human spirit as well as the Divine Spirit, Who resides in the spirit of man. Since the Holy Spirit and our spirit are joined as one (I Cor. 6.17), many times they are distinguishable in name only, not in fact. And since the release of one means the release of both, the Holy Spirit is touched when our spirit is touched. Thank God that inasmuch as you allow people to contact your spirit, you allow them to contact God. Your spirit has brought the Holy Spirit to man.

When the Holy Spirit is working, He needs to be carried by the human spirit. For example, the electricity in an electric bulb does not travel like lightning. Its current must be conducted through electric wires. If you want to use electricity, you need electric wires to bring it to you. In like manner, the Spirit of God employs the human spirit as His carrier, and through it He is brought to man.

Everyone who has received grace through redemption has the Holy Spirit dwelling in his spirit. However, whether he can be used by the Lord depends not on his spirit, but rather on his outward man. The obstacle with many people is that their outward man has not been broken. There is no evidence of the sufferings which leave their wounds or scars upon their soulish life. So God’s Spirit is imprisoned within man’s spirit. Consequently, the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) is not able to break out of the shell constituted with the outward man. Sometimes our outward man is active, while the inward man remains inactive. The outward man has gone forth, but the inward man lags behind.

Let us review some practical problems! Take preaching, for instance. How often we can be earnestly preaching—giving a well prepared and well thought-out message—but inwardly we feel as cold as ice. We long to stir others, yet we ourselves are unmoved. There is a lack of harmony between the outward and the inward man. The outward man is sweating from heat, but the inward man is shivering from coldness. We can tell others how great the love of the Lord is, yet we are personally untouched by it. We can tell others how tragic is the suffering of the cross, yet upon returning to our room we can clown around. What can we do about this? Minds may labor and emotions may be energized. Yet all throughout the endeavor, one has the feeling that the inward man is merely an observer—not a participant—of the outward man’s performance. Here again we see that the outward and the inward man are not compatibly one.

Consider the opposite situation. The inward man is devoured by zeal. He wants to shout, but he does not find utterance. After speaking for a long time, the speaker still seems to be talking in circles. The more he is burdened within, the colder he becomes without. He longs to speak, but he cannot express himself. When he meets a sinner and his inward man feels like weeping, he cannot shed a tear. There is a sense of urgency within him, yet when he ascends the pulpit and tries to proclaim it, he finds himself lost in a maze of words. Such a situation is most trying. The root cause is the same—the outer shell still clings to him. The outward does not obey the dictates of the inward—inwardly crying, but outwardly unmoved. Inwardly suffering, but outwardly untouched. Full of thoughts within, but the mind without draws an apparent blank. In other words, his inner spirit has yet to find a way to pierce through his outer shell.

Thus, the breaking of the outward man is the very first lesson for everyone who wants to learn to serve God. He who is truly used by God is one whose outward thought and outward emotion do not act independently of his spirit. If we have not learned this lesson, we shall find that our effectiveness is greatly impaired. May God bring us to the place and show us the pathway where the outward man is completely broken.

When such a condition of brokenness prevails, there will be an end to the dichotomy of outward activity with inward inertness. An end to inward crying with outward composure. An end to an abundance of inner thoughts for which there is no utterance. A broken man will not be poor in thought. He does not need to use twenty sentences to express what can be said in two. His thoughts will assist him instead of hindering his spirit.

Likewise, our emotions can also be a very hard shell. Many who desire to be happy cannot express joy. Or, they may wish to weep, but cannot. If the Lord has stricken our outward man—either through the discipline or by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit—we are able to express joy or sorrow according to the dictates of the inner man.

The release of our spirit makes it possible for us to abide increasingly in God. We can also touch the spirit of revelation in the Bible. Without effort, our spirit can receive divine illumination. When we are witnessing or preaching, we can send forth God’s Word through our spirit. Furthermore, we can use our released spirit to spontaneously contact the spirit in others. Whenever someone speaks in our presence, we can intuitively identify him—evaluate his character, his attitudes, the state of his Christian life, and his current spiritual needs. Our spirit can touch his spirit. And what is wonderful is that others can easily contact our spirit. With some, we meet merely their thoughts, or their emotions, or their will. Consequently, after conversing with them for hours, we still have not met the spirit of their real person, even though we may both be Christians. The outer shell is simply too thick for others to penetrate the condition of their inner man. However, by the breaking of the outward man, the spirit begins to flow freely and is ever open transparently to others.

Once the outward man is broken, man’s spirit abides spontaneously and constantly in the presence of God. Two years after a certain brother trusted in the Lord, he read THE PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD by Brother Lawrence. After reading it, he felt grieved at his failure to abide unceasingly in the presence of God like Brother Lawrence. At the time he had hourly appointments to pray with someone. Why? Well, since the Bible says, "Pray without ceasing," they thought it meant "Pray every hour." Every time they heard the clock strike at the top of the hour, they would pray.

They exerted their utmost effort to retreat into God, because they felt they could not maintain themselves continuously in the presence of God. It was as if they had slipped away while working, and thus needed to retreat quickly back to God. Or they had projected themselves out while studying, and now they must withdraw swiftly back to God. Otherwise, they would find themselves away from God for the whole day. They prayed often, spending whole days in prayer on the Lord’s Day and half-days on Saturday. They continued this for two or three years.

Nevertheless, the trouble remained. When withdrawing to pray, they enjoyed God’s presence. But when going about their daily responsibilities, they lost it. Of course, this is not only their problem alone; it is also the experience of many Christians. It indicates we are trying to maintain God’s presence by the effort of our memory. The sense of His presence fluctuates according to our memory. When we remember, there is the consciousness of His presence. Otherwise, there is none. This is sheer folly when we discover that God’s presence is in the spirit of our inner man, and not in the memory of our outer man.

To solve this problem, we must first settle the question of the breaking the outward man. Since neither our emotions nor our thoughts has the same nature as God, it cannot be joined to Him. The Gospel of John shows us something about the nature of God—"God is Spirit" (4:24). And our human spirit alone is of the same nature as God—"and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit." Therefore, our human spirit can be synchronized with His Divine Spirit. If we try to get the presence of God by directing our thoughts on God, then His presence will appear lost when we lose our concentration on God.

Likewise, if we seek to use our emotions to summon the presence of God, then His presence seems to disappear as soon as we start relaxing. Sometimes when we are happy, we take this to mean we have the presence of God. So when our happiness ceases, his presence flees! Or we may assume that His presence is with us if we mourn and weep. Alas, some of us haven’t shed a tear throughout our entire life! However, whatever tears we can conjure up, soon our tears will dry up, and then God’s presence seems to disappear again.

Both our thoughts and our emotions are endeavors derived from the human energies of the outward man. All such activity must eventually come to an end. If we try to maintain God’s presence with that sort of activity, then His presence ends when such activity ceases. However, God’s presence requires the sameness of nature. Only the inward man is of the same nature as God. Through his spirit alone can His presence be manifested. The constant activities of the outward man will only disturb the inward man. Thus, the outward man is not a helper but a disturber. When the outward man is broken, the inward man enjoys continual rest in God.

The human spirit God has given to us enables us to respond to Him. However, the outward man is ever responding to his endeavors without; hence, depriving us of the presence of God. We cannot destroy all the external distractions which exist without, but we can cooperate with God to break down the outward man. We cannot put a stop to all the things without. Millions and billions of things in the world are utterly beyond our control. Whenever anything happens, our outward man will respond; consequently, we are not able to enjoy God’s presence in peace. We conclude, therefore, that experiencing the presence of God is contingent upon the breaking of our outward man.

If, through the mercy of God, our outward man has been broken, we may be characterized by the following: Yesterday we were full of curiosity, but today it is impossible to be curious. Formerly our emotions could be easily aroused—either stirring our love, the most delicate emotion, or provoking our temper, the crudest emotion. But now, regardless of how many things crowd upon us, our inward man remains unmoved, the presence of God is unchanged, and our inner peace unruffled.

It now should become evident to us that the breaking of the outward man is the basis for enjoying God’s abiding presence. Remember when Brother Lawrence was engaged in kitchen work. People were clamoring around him for things they wanted. Although there were the constant clatter of dishes and utensils, his inward man was not disturbed. He could sense God’s presence in the hustle and bustle of a kitchen as much as in quiet prayer. Why? He was impervious to external noises. He had learned the secret of communing in his spirit while ignoring his soul life.

Some feel that to have God’s presence, their environment must be free of such distractions as the clatter of dishes. The farther away they are from mankind, the better they will be able to sense the presence of God. What a mistake! The trouble lies not in those dishes, nor in other people, but in themselves. God is not going to deliver us from "the dishes"! But He will deliver us from our responses! In spite of how noisy it is on the outside, what is inside of us never needs to respond. Since the Lord has broken our outward man, we simply react calmly as though we had not heard. Praise the Lord, we may possess a very keen sense of hearing, but due to the work of grace in our lives, we are not at all influenced by the pressures surrounding our outward man. We can be before God in the midst of utter distractions just as much as when we are praying somewhere alone. Once the outward man is broken, he no longer needs to retreat Godward, for he is always in the presence of God. Not so with the one whose outward man is still intact. After running an errand, he feels the compelling need to return, for he assumes he has moved away from God. Even while doing the work of the Lord, he presumes that he has slipped away from the One he serves. So it seems the best thing for him to do is not to do anything or make any movements. Nevertheless, those who know God do not need to return, for they have never been away. They enjoy the presence of God when they set aside a day for prayer, and they enjoy the same presence to the same degree when they are busily engaged in the menial tasks of life.

Perhaps it is our common experience, when in drawing near to God, we sense His presence. But if we are engaged in some activity, in spite of our vigilance, we feel that somehow we have drifted away. Suppose, for example, we are preaching the gospel or trying to edify people. After a while, we feel like kneeling down to pray. But we have a sense that we must first retreat into God. Somehow our conversation with people has led us a little away from God. So through prayer, we must first draw closer to Him. We have lost God’s presence. So now we must have it restored to us.

Or, we may be occupied with some menial task, such as scrubbing the floors. Upon completing our task, we decide to pray. Once again we feel we have taken a long trip away from God and must now return. What is the answer to these problems? It must be emphasized that the breaking of the outward man makes such returns unnecessary. We sense the presence of God in our conversation as much as in kneeling in prayer. Performing our menial tasks does not draw us away from God; hence, it is unnecessary to return.

Now let us consider an extreme case in order to illustrate this better. Anger is one of the most crude of human feelings. But the Bible does not prohibit us to be angry, because some types of anger are not related to sin. The Bible says, "Be angry but sin not" (Eph. 4:26). Nonetheless, anger of any kind is so strong that it nearly always borders on sin. We do not find a verse in God’s Word charging us to "love but sin not" or "be meek but sin not." Why? Because love and meekness are far removed from sin. But anger is close to the vicinity of sin.

Perhaps a certain brother has committed a serious blunder. He severely needs to be reprimanded. This is not an easy matter. Instead, we would exercise our feelings of mercy rather than bring our feelings of anger into play, because the latter can fall into something detrimental with the least of carelessness. Hence, it is not easy to be properly angry according to the will of God. But when one knows the breaking of his outward man, he can deal severely with another brother without his own spirit being disturbed or God’s presence interrupted. He continues abiding in God just as much when he is dealing with others as he does when he is praying. Therefore, after he has taken his brother to task, he can pray without any exercise of retreating back to God. Of course, we acknowledge that this is rather difficult. But when the outward man is broken, it can well be the case.

When the outward man is broken, things outside will be kept outside, and the inward man will live continuously before God. That is the first problem which we have solved. Now the second problem with many is that their outward man and their inward man are so intertwined together that what influences the outward also impacts the inward. Through the merciful workings of God, the outward man must be separated from the inward man. Therefore, what affects the outward will not be able to reach the inward. While the outward man may become engaged in conversation, the inward man fellowships with God. The outward may be burdened with listening to the clatter of dishes, yet the inward abides in God. One is able to carry on activities or to contact the world with the outer man; nevertheless, the inner man remains unaffected because he still lives before God.

Consider an example or two. A certain brother is working on the road. If his outer and inner man have been divided, the latter will not be disturbed by outside things. He can labor in his outward man, while at the same time he is inwardly worshiping God.

Or consider a parent. His outward man may be laughing and playing with his little child. Suddenly, a certain spiritual need arises. He can at once meet the situation with his inward man, for he has never been absent from the presence of God. So it is important for us to realize that the dividing of the outward and inward man has a most decisive effect upon one’s daily work and life. Only in thus separating the two can one be able to labor without distraction.

We may describe believers as either a "single" person or a "dual" person. With some, their inner and outer man are one—hence, a single person. But with others, the two are separate—thus, a dual person. As long as one is a "single" person, with the inner and outer mixed as one, he must summon his whole being either into his work at one time or into his prayer at another. When working, he leaves God behind. Later, when praying, he must turn away from his work. Because his outward man has not been broken, he is forced to launch out and retreat.

The "dual" person, on the other hand, is able to work with his outward man, while remaining constantly before God with his inward man. Whenever the need arises, his inward man can break forth and manifest itself before others. He enjoys the unbroken presence of God.

Let us ask ourselves: Am I a "single" person or a "dual" person? Having the outward man divided from the inward does make all the difference. If through the mercy of God you have experienced this dividing, then while you are working or are outwardly active, you know there is a man within you who remains calm. Although the outward man is engaged in external things, these will not penetrate into the inward man.

Here is the wondrous secret! The presence of God is known through the dividing of these two. Brother Lawrence seemed to be busily occupied with kitchen work; yet within him was another man standing before God and enjoying undisturbed communion with Him. Such an inner separation will keep our reactions free from the defilement of flesh and blood.

In conclusion, let us remember that the ability to use our spirit depends upon the two-fold work of God: The breaking of the outward man. And the dividing of spirit and soul—the separating of our inward man from the outward. Only after God has carried out both of these processes in our lives are we able to exercise our spirit. First, the outward man is broken through the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Second, the outward is divided from the inward man by the revelation of the Holy Spirit (Heb. 4:12). More about both of these matters will be covered in later chapters.