NEWS Release of The Spirit
I have been asking the Lord to reveal to me the process by which people receive His Spirit. This is a fundamental issue. The Spirit transforms a religious heart into a loving heart. Perhaps the best example of this is Saul of Tarsus, the Pharisee who became St. Paul and whose letters (The Epistles) make up a large share of the New Testament.
I wrote a short summary of my spiritual regeneration back in June 2007 in my post titled, "I Am Love." As I said in my post, I was searching for God my whole life, but did not realize He is love. (1 John 4:8) God revealed Himself to me as true love. My life since then has not been the same.
My spiritual regeneration experience was different than Saul's, but the result was the same: we both had a revelation of Christ and we were both blessed by the Spirit. Unlike Saul, I did not have a lot of religious baggage to lose, but there was (and still is) plenty of work to do on the cross. Time will tell how the Spirit works through me during the rest of my time here on Earth.
The importance of having His Spirit in our hearts cannot be overemphasized. It is the Spirit who produces the fruit that fills our hearts. It is the Spirit that guides us and lights our way down the narrow path. Without the Spirit, it is impossible to walk the narrow path with Jesus. Without the Spirit, The Bible is incomprehensible. The Spirit is a precious gift, second only to God's grace in our universe.
Over the past several years, I have come across some powerful books that discuss the process by which people are blessed with the Spirit. Watchman Nee's book, 'Release of the Spirit' is full of wonderful insights.
Nee says the key to receiving the Spirit revolves around what he calls 'brokenness.' God cannot use us until we are completely broken. As Nee states in the opening chapter of his book:
"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 for each other... The basic difficulty of a servant of God lies in the failure of his inward man to break through his 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." (bold added for emphasis)
Nee goes on to say:
"The moment our human spirit is raised from the state of death, we receive the Holy Spirit."
In other words, the moment we are completely broken, the Spirit is released. Our hearts become united - entangled - with God's loving heart. Equipped with our new faculty, our regenerated Spirit allows us to comprehend God's Word and follow Jesus. As the Lord said,
"God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit." (John 4:24)
T. Austin-Sparks also has a lot to say on this important subject (by the way, you may be interested in knowing that Watchman Nee spent a good deal of time with Sparks in England). His book, 'Spiritual Sight,' is a gem. I would like to take a closer look at what Sparks has to say in his book. As we will see, it is similar to what Nee says in his book.
On page 40 of Spiritual Sight, Sparks tells us how people hinder the Spirit. Here's what he says:
'There is the big question which is always confronting us as to why is it that some leap into the light and go on, and others do not, but always lag behind, and never seem to see any more? Is it that there is a selectiveness on the part of God, a kind of elect of the elect that He has, is it that He has favourites? I do not think so.'
Here Sparks is telling us that we are all capable of receiving the Lord's light. How wonderful! Hallelujah!!! Let us continue on:
"I think a great part of the answer lies here, namely, in what God finds He has to deal with, whether people mean business with Him or not, whether He has a clear way or not, whether the ground is occupied or not already by that which is an obstruction to Him. I do not think anybody will fail to get all the light the Lord wants them to have if they really do mean business with God. The Holy Spirit knows us. He looks right deep down into our hearts and knows whether we mean business. He sees exactly what there is to hinder Him and how far He can go; for the Lord is not going to coerce anyone. If we are taken up with ourselves, occupied with ourselves, circling round ourselves, centering in ourselves, then the Holy Spirit has not a chance. We have to come to an end of ourselves. That is the trouble with so many. They have got a self-complex set up, and all the time it is a continuous going round in a circle and coming back to the same point at which they started, and it is all round themselves, and they are wearing themselves out. Before long they are going to have an awful crash that involves all that for which they are supposed to stand and represent for the Lord, and it will come down with them. The Holy Spirit has not a clear way.
We have to get out of the way, so far as this self-occupation is concerned, if we are going to move straight on, and to go on. He knows exactly where we are, whether we are tied up in them that we are not open to the Lord to consider any further light at all. We have got it all, or our people with whom we are associated have got it all, and we are a part of that! You know what I mean. The Holy Spirit cannot do much with folk who are in a position like that; and He knows. His attitude is, It is no use, I cannot do much there, they are too tied up. But, if we are prepared to put everything into the water, then the Lord can go on and get a clear way."
Here Sparks tells us that there are a few things we must do in order to receive the Lord's light. Firstly, we must be sincere in our hearts that we want God to change our lives. As Sparks puts it, we must mean business with God. In other words, there is no time for messing around with the Lord.
Secondly, we must get out of the way. We must end this preoccupation with ourselves. We must lose our self-centeredness and come to the realization that the world does not revolve around us, but instead around God. Realizing this is what brokenness is all about. Until we are broken, we cannot surrender to God's will for our lives. Our will overrides His will. Thus, the Spirit cannot move in our hearts. We can bear no fruit.
Sparks goes on to say:
"The Holy Spirit knows. He knows you and He knows me. He knows us a great deal better than we know ourselves. We may have thought that we meant business and have been praying very much a long time and crying to the Lord to do something, while the Holy Spirit knows quite well that we are not at an end of ourselves and our own interests yet. Something more has to be done to bring us to despair before He can do what He wants. But He knows: that is the point. He knew this man. He knew that He had not a great deal to do to make a start with every prospect of a clear way, and He took the opportunity presented, and He was able to act sovereignly. He did that in order to meet this need."
Here Sparks tell us that the Spirit knows our hearts intimately. The Lord cannot be fooled by our actions that on the outside seem to indicate that we mean business, when on the inside, our hearts say otherwise. God works through us from the inside out. He wants our hearts - our whole hearts. Everything must be surrendered to Him.
Everything!
I will have more to say about this important topic in the future - much more...
May the Spirit bless you and may you walk in His light.
Agape,
Steve
I wrote a short summary of my spiritual regeneration back in June 2007 in my post titled, "I Am Love." As I said in my post, I was searching for God my whole life, but did not realize He is love. (1 John 4:8) God revealed Himself to me as true love. My life since then has not been the same.
My spiritual regeneration experience was different than Saul's, but the result was the same: we both had a revelation of Christ and we were both blessed by the Spirit. Unlike Saul, I did not have a lot of religious baggage to lose, but there was (and still is) plenty of work to do on the cross. Time will tell how the Spirit works through me during the rest of my time here on Earth.
The importance of having His Spirit in our hearts cannot be overemphasized. It is the Spirit who produces the fruit that fills our hearts. It is the Spirit that guides us and lights our way down the narrow path. Without the Spirit, it is impossible to walk the narrow path with Jesus. Without the Spirit, The Bible is incomprehensible. The Spirit is a precious gift, second only to God's grace in our universe.
Over the past several years, I have come across some powerful books that discuss the process by which people are blessed with the Spirit. Watchman Nee's book, 'Release of the Spirit' is full of wonderful insights.
Nee says the key to receiving the Spirit revolves around what he calls 'brokenness.' God cannot use us until we are completely broken. As Nee states in the opening chapter of his book:
"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 for each other... The basic difficulty of a servant of God lies in the failure of his inward man to break through his 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." (bold added for emphasis)
Nee goes on to say:
"The moment our human spirit is raised from the state of death, we receive the Holy Spirit."
In other words, the moment we are completely broken, the Spirit is released. Our hearts become united - entangled - with God's loving heart. Equipped with our new faculty, our regenerated Spirit allows us to comprehend God's Word and follow Jesus. As the Lord said,
"God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit." (John 4:24)
T. Austin-Sparks also has a lot to say on this important subject (by the way, you may be interested in knowing that Watchman Nee spent a good deal of time with Sparks in England). His book, 'Spiritual Sight,' is a gem. I would like to take a closer look at what Sparks has to say in his book. As we will see, it is similar to what Nee says in his book.
On page 40 of Spiritual Sight, Sparks tells us how people hinder the Spirit. Here's what he says:
'There is the big question which is always confronting us as to why is it that some leap into the light and go on, and others do not, but always lag behind, and never seem to see any more? Is it that there is a selectiveness on the part of God, a kind of elect of the elect that He has, is it that He has favourites? I do not think so.'
Here Sparks is telling us that we are all capable of receiving the Lord's light. How wonderful! Hallelujah!!! Let us continue on:
"I think a great part of the answer lies here, namely, in what God finds He has to deal with, whether people mean business with Him or not, whether He has a clear way or not, whether the ground is occupied or not already by that which is an obstruction to Him. I do not think anybody will fail to get all the light the Lord wants them to have if they really do mean business with God. The Holy Spirit knows us. He looks right deep down into our hearts and knows whether we mean business. He sees exactly what there is to hinder Him and how far He can go; for the Lord is not going to coerce anyone. If we are taken up with ourselves, occupied with ourselves, circling round ourselves, centering in ourselves, then the Holy Spirit has not a chance. We have to come to an end of ourselves. That is the trouble with so many. They have got a self-complex set up, and all the time it is a continuous going round in a circle and coming back to the same point at which they started, and it is all round themselves, and they are wearing themselves out. Before long they are going to have an awful crash that involves all that for which they are supposed to stand and represent for the Lord, and it will come down with them. The Holy Spirit has not a clear way.
We have to get out of the way, so far as this self-occupation is concerned, if we are going to move straight on, and to go on. He knows exactly where we are, whether we are tied up in them that we are not open to the Lord to consider any further light at all. We have got it all, or our people with whom we are associated have got it all, and we are a part of that! You know what I mean. The Holy Spirit cannot do much with folk who are in a position like that; and He knows. His attitude is, It is no use, I cannot do much there, they are too tied up. But, if we are prepared to put everything into the water, then the Lord can go on and get a clear way."
Here Sparks tells us that there are a few things we must do in order to receive the Lord's light. Firstly, we must be sincere in our hearts that we want God to change our lives. As Sparks puts it, we must mean business with God. In other words, there is no time for messing around with the Lord.
Secondly, we must get out of the way. We must end this preoccupation with ourselves. We must lose our self-centeredness and come to the realization that the world does not revolve around us, but instead around God. Realizing this is what brokenness is all about. Until we are broken, we cannot surrender to God's will for our lives. Our will overrides His will. Thus, the Spirit cannot move in our hearts. We can bear no fruit.
Sparks goes on to say:
"The Holy Spirit knows. He knows you and He knows me. He knows us a great deal better than we know ourselves. We may have thought that we meant business and have been praying very much a long time and crying to the Lord to do something, while the Holy Spirit knows quite well that we are not at an end of ourselves and our own interests yet. Something more has to be done to bring us to despair before He can do what He wants. But He knows: that is the point. He knew this man. He knew that He had not a great deal to do to make a start with every prospect of a clear way, and He took the opportunity presented, and He was able to act sovereignly. He did that in order to meet this need."
Here Sparks tell us that the Spirit knows our hearts intimately. The Lord cannot be fooled by our actions that on the outside seem to indicate that we mean business, when on the inside, our hearts say otherwise. God works through us from the inside out. He wants our hearts - our whole hearts. Everything must be surrendered to Him.
Everything!
I will have more to say about this important topic in the future - much more...
May the Spirit bless you and may you walk in His light.
Agape,
Steve
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