The Exercise Of Our Spirit For The Release Of The Spirit

"The exercise of our spirit is for godliness, which is the manifestation of God in the flesh. God is Christ, who is in our spirit, so we need to deal with our spirit. Our spirit must be a spirit of a subdued and submissive will, of a properly exercised emotion, and of a clear, sound, and sober mind. This exercise also requires a good, pure, and single heart, one that seeks only the Lord Himself, and it requires love and faith. All these matters are the preparation for our exercise of the spirit."

Surely this is the hour when the battleground is in the soul. While the Lord is seeking to work through the quickened spirit. Satan is seeking to work throught the natural, soulish life which has not been brought under control of the spriit.

"Every Christian who has believed into Christ and received Him has a desire to grow in Him. The greatest hindrances to the experience of the growth in life are not outward circumstances and environmental hardships; rather, they are a mind in need of renewing, a will in need of submission to God, and an emotion in need of stability. In the Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit Watchman Nee provides a clear picture of the need for the breaking of the outer man so that the life of Christ in our spirit can flow out as rivers of living water to refresh and build up the people of God. In a new and revised translation of this spiritual classic, Watchman Nee provides crucial insight into the Biblical revelation of the necessity of the dividing of our soul from our spirit"--Back cover

In this issue we will continue four lines of ministry. The first line--The History of the Lord's Recovery--contains chapters 10 through 13 of Fellowship concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1991–1992. These chapters cover the building up of the vital groups, the need for one accord, prayer, and the release of the Spirit for blending, and exercising our spirit with prayer for the release of the Holy Spirit and for participation in the outpouring of the Spirit as power from on high for the dynamic impact in preaching the gospel and ministering Christ to others. The second line--Words for New Believers--contains chapters 5 through 8 of Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 1, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1932–1949. These chapters cover topics related to repentance and believing, forgiveness, cleansing, and sanctification. The third line--Maturing in Life--contains chapters 9 and 10 of The Way to Practice the Lord's Present Move, which are in volume 5 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1985. These chapters speak of how to be watchful in life and faithful in service. The line then continues with chapters 1 and 2 of a new book, Reward and Punishment, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1955. These chapters cover the nature and function of the kingdom reward and God's thought concerning the kingdom reward. The fourth line--The High Peak of the Divine Revelation--continues with chapters 11 through 13 of The History of God in His Union with Man, which are in volume 4 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1991–1992. These chapters focus on God's history in time from the creation of the universe to the final judgment at the great white throne. The line then continues with chapter 1 of a new book, God's New Testament Economy, which is in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984. This chapter contains an introductory word concerning God's economy, which is His plan to dispense Himself into redeemed humanity.

Anyone who serves God will discover sooner or later that the great hindrances 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. His greatest difficulty lies in his outward man, which hinders him from using his spirit. 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 to serve the Lord.

"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto His death." (Phil. 3:10) We live our lives, and we never really are in touch with the one who lives in us. We turn to God with a sincere heart, and yet there is never a relationship built. In order to build a relationship with someone, we have to acknowledge that person and be interested in everything that the person is involved in. This is what the Father is trying to do in the body of Christ, and that is to build a loving relationship, and we can only do this by "Knowing Him." To know Him is to love Him, and to love Him is to spend time to know Him. In this book that I have written by the Holy Spirit's inspiration, you will find the knowledge of the one that lives in us. You can begin to reach inside yourself and past our soulish body and connect with the Spirit of God that lives in us. Through this book, I pray that you will begin to understand and connect with the Father and start a real, meaningful relationship. This will give you a full description of where He lives in us and how we must be before Him by the understanding the Holy Spirit.