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Date:Morning, May 27, 1948Place:Customs Lane, Foochow
The third result of the breaking of the outer man is the ability to release one's spirit, which is the same as the ability to release the power within. We do not work by dispensing doctrines and theology to others, but by touching others with spirit. Our work is not based on our knowledge, theology, doctrine, or reason but our spirit. Once our outer man is broken, it is easy for our spirit to be released. The release of our spirit is the release of our power. Once our spirit reaches out and touches others' spirits, there is ministration and edification. If a man releases his spirit, yet his spirit does not touch others' spirits, it will return like the dove that was sent out from Noah's ark. The dove did not find a place to rest, and it was forced to return to the ark. The release of the spirit also brings in the inward operation of the Holy Spirit within us for others. The gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was brought in through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It was based on Christ's work on the cross. But the power of the Holy Spirit is not manifested only in His outpouring. Another aspect of the power of the Holy Spirit is manifested from within man and is expressed in service. Actually, this is the proper source of power. The goal of our work is to release our spirit within us. When our spirit is released, the Holy Spirit within us is released as well.
In the New Testament the Holy Spirit abides in man. Man's spirit is the habitation of the Holy Spirit. Bible translators have conflicting opinions on how to translate the many occurrences of the word spirit. They cannot agree on whether the word should be upper case (for the Holy Spirit) or lower case (for the human spirit). In many instances the word can refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit. It is hard to say what the various instances of the word spirit in Romans 8 refer to, whether they refer to the human spirit or the divine Spirit. Even Paul did not bother to make the distinction when he wrote his letter. In a regenerated person it is hard to separate the human spirit from the divine Spirit. It is useless to try to separate them artificially. God is pleased to mingle His Spirit with our spirit. There is no difference between our spirit and the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit works, the human spirit works. The power of the Holy Spirit is the power of the human spirit.
Our spirit is our inner man, and our inner man is often surrounded, boxed in, and encircled by the outer man. As a result, the power of the Holy Spirit cannot be released. Our own emotions, feelings, peculiarities, ideas, and wisdom are obstacles; they prevent the inner man from being released. Unless our outer man is broken, our inner man will not be released. Speaking for God involves the release of the inner man. The ministry of the word is the release of the spirit within and an outflow of life to others. A servant of God faces a basic frustration when his inner man cannot break through his outer man. Our outer man must be broken before the inner man can pass through. Once a man opens his mouth, we can tell whether or not he is broken. It is a joy to see men who have been fully tried by God. Those who have passed through God's dealings and have been tried in many ways will surely have wounds and scars; there will be a trail of blood following them. The Holy Spirit will have a free way through them, and it will be easy for them to release their spirit. Some people, however, only give others an impression of their mind, emotion, eloquence, and wisdom when they open their mouth. When they speak, one only hears words. Their words are like a gust of wind which sweeps across one's face, leaving nothing behind. A man who has been broken by God, however, can release his spirit easily. Those who listen to him receive spiritual supply from him. Some people go around in circles in their conversation; their words revolve around their mind, and their spirit is never released. These ones can only boast of their great mind; their spirit is never released, and they cannot render any help to others.
What is the ministry of the word? Peter said, "But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4). Peter's words indicate that everyone has a ministry, and that the apostles were committed to fulfill the ministry of the word. The phrase the ministry of the word in Greek is diakonia tou logou. It means a service. A ministry is a service; it means to wait on others. We should serve men with words. The ministry of the word is to serve men, to attend to their needs, with God's word. A minister of the word first must have the word. If he does not have the word, he cannot fulfill his ministry or attend to others' needs. How can one attend to others' needs by fulfilling the ministry of the word? When a man has the ministry of the word, he receives a revelation and a burden in his spirit. He is clear within about the Lord's will, the Lord's commission, and the Lord's word. He knows how to release this word. In the books of the prophets in the Old Testament, the word inspiration should be translated as "the burden of the word." In other words, once a person has a burden, he has inspiration. Without a burden, there cannot be any inspiration. A minister of the word first must have a burden for the word before he can step onto the platform.
It is not hard for a man to have a burden, but whether or not his outer man is broken is altogether a different matter. Sometimes a man has a definite burden and sense from the Lord, but his outer man cannot furnish him with the proper utterance. This happens to those whose outer man is not broken. Those whose outer man is not broken cannot speak to relieve their burden. Sometimes, their burden becomes heavier by speaking. If a man is broken, his inner man will be released. Sometimes a person stands on the podium and goes around in circles in his speaking. He is bound by his burden; he cannot release or discharge it. The burden inside his spirit cannot break through his outer man. Outwardly he may be preaching, but inwardly his burden is still within his spirit. His mind is not under his control, and he cannot discharge his inner burden through his speaking. He may speak for two hours, tiring out the audience as well as himself. He may use many words, but his spirit is not released. He comes to the meeting with a burden, and he returns home with the same burden. The load on his shoulder remains the same. If part of our outer man, the mind, is not broken, we will be useless to God. I am not saying that we should not exercise our mind. I am saying that the mind and the soul have to be servants to the spirit. The soul must be dealt with and smitten before it can become useful to the Lord. Only then is our mind no longer its own master but an instrument of the spirit.
A minister of the word must not only have a burden and a word from the Lord; his mind must be dealt with. If his mind has been dealt with, he can listen to others. He is not independent, and he can easily convey the burden of his spirit to others. When the word is released this way, the burden is released. One must not be satisfied simply with others' approval of his speaking; he must have the sense that he has spoken the right thing. If he speaks in this way, his burden will be discharged as soon as he finishes speaking. The audience will be satisfied, and he will be satisfied as well. The two worst conditions facing a minister of the word are: 1) Having thoughts but not being able to release the spirit in his ministry, that is, the spirit is not exercised, and 2) having the spirit and the exercise of the spirit in the ministry, but not having the proper thoughts. Both cases speak of a conflict between the outer man and the inner man. In neither case is there a proper ministry of the word. The first kind of ministers are heady and full of thoughts; they are blind in their mind. The second kind of ministers have a burden in their spirit, but they do not have the words to release them. Their outer man and inner man are in conflict with one another; they are not in harmony. Only a broken man can fulfill the ministry of the word and release his spirit quickly without going around in circles. As soon as his spirit is released, it touches others. If a man does not have an inward burden, he cannot fulfill the ministry of the word. If he has a burden but his outward thoughts do not cooperate with him, he cannot fulfill the ministry of the word either. Only those whose outer man has been smitten and broken by God can be proper ministers of the word. The ministry of the word means a ministry that discharges one's inward burden.
After a man experiences the breaking of his outer shell, several things happen. First, the will becomes pliable. The will occupies a great part of the outer man. Once the outer man is broken, the person, the will, becomes softened. Before a man's shell is broken, he is hard. Those with an uncracked shell have a will that is hard but not powerful. A broken man, however, is a softened man. His will is strong but not hard. His will is like a tire which is strong but not hard. Those who want help find that it is easy to approach such a person. Such a person sees light easily. It is easy to approach such a person, and it is easy for him to approach others. Those whose outer man is broken and whose will is made pliable are very approachable for help, and it is also easy for them to receive help. They know men, and they are easy to get along with. It is easy for them to release their spirit and easy for them to receive God's word. We can talk to some people for two hours and yet still be in the dark about everything. We can talk with others for two minutes and all of our problems are solved. Those whose outer man is not broken have a hardened will. They like to argue, and they become quite rigid in their mentality. It is not easy for them to receive light or teaching from God. The first thing that happens with the breaking of the outer man is a softening of the will. This is not a mere form of politeness. Such softening is useless. The kind of softening that is manifested in a broken man is very spontaneous.
Second, the emotions of those who are broken in their outer man are subdued. It is easy for their spirit to break out in weeping, and easy for it to break out in rejoicing. Emotions occupy a great part of a person's outer man. After the outer man is broken, the emotion becomes obedient. A man can weep and laugh without putting up much resistance. The distance between his spirit and the outside world becomes very short. Those who find it difficult to express sentiments are unbroken. When God created the universe, He exclaimed that everything was good even on the first day. He is full of feelings. Some people, however, are like rocks when they hear others talk; they are void of feelings. This is because their emotion is not broken. As a result, they cannot use their spirit. A person whose emotion is broken is easily touched by many things. He also can easily express himself. His emotions express themselves instantly, quickly, congenially, and easily.
Third, the mind of a broken person is subdued as well. Originally, a man's mind is centered around himself. When the outer man is unbroken, the mind tends to revolve around itself, and the spirit cannot make use of it. Under normal circumstances, when the outer man is broken, the mind will facilitate the release of the spirit. The mind is merely an instrument; it should always remain calm and be under the spirit's control. When the spirit has a burden, the mind should find the words to discharge the burden. A broken man is always ready in his mind; his mind is always ready to cooperate with the spirit. When something happens to him, he does not turn to his mind, but to his spirit. Only after he has exercised his spirit will he use his mind to deal with the matter. His mind is a servant, an instrument, that has been made available to the spirit's employ.
After the faculties in our soul — the mind, emotion, and will — are broken, we have a share in the work, and we have the ministry of the word. A man who is dealt with by God has a proper word within and adequate thoughts without. His various sentiments are expressed in a proper way, and he has a pliable yet strong will. When these things are in place, he has no trouble releasing his spirit. When the spirit within needs to be released, his outer man obeys. He speaks when he needs to speak, laughs when he needs to laugh, weeps when he needs to weep, and makes decisions when he needs to make decisions. In whatever his inner man wants to do, his outer man cooperates. In this way he becomes a minister of the word.
We fellowship with God with our spirit, and we also fellowship with the brothers and sisters with our spirit. God is Spirit, and as Spirit, He is omnipresent. Man also has a spirit, and he fellowships with God with his spirit. A man can fellowship with God with his spirit. However, the shell outside his spirit, his outer man, can prevent him from loving God and communicating with Him. Only those whose outer man is broken can release their spirit easily. Only they can fellowship with God and approach God in an intimate way. A person whose outer man is broken is very approachable to men, but those whose outer man is not broken have a constant barrier between them and others. The greatest hindrance to our spirit's fellowship, both with God and with man, is the outer man. Do we not feel the resistance the outer man gives to us? Sometimes we feel that it is hard to speak something to certain people. We know that something is wrong and that we should say something. But we dare not say it. Perhaps there is resistance in the other party, but often the resistance is with ourselves. We have a shell around us, and we cannot push our spirit out. We are too aloof. We cannot approach men. Perhaps others are waiting for us to say a word to them. Yet our spirit is clogged up; it cannot speak. Once our outer man is broken, we become approachable. Once the outer man is broken, all the barriers between us and others are removed. It becomes easy for us to reach the outside world, and it is easy to release the power within us.
God's work is not in the principle of removing the "glove" but in the principle of breaking the "glove." This is the way for the hand to come out and be exposed. This is how the cross deals with the outer man. This is also how the spirit becomes approachable to men. God is Spirit. There is no shell with Him. This is the reason He is so approachable to everyone. Once a man's outer shell is broken, he becomes very approachable to others, and the power within him comes out easily. When spiritual power is released, the distance between men is shortened, and there is no need to go through many steps for the spirit to be released. Such a person is transparent; there is nothing in his outer man that resists his spirit. Only such a one is qualified to work for God. If a man is broken by God and his spirit is free to contact men, any subsequent resistance is not from him but from others. A broken man can release his spirit in an instant. If he is smitten by God in a deep way, he can release his spirit quite readily. He does not have to pray to release his spirit. He can release it anywhere and at any time. This is the secret of God's ministry today. It is a ministry that basically issues from within. It has nothing to do with man's work, but with God's own work within man.
The fundamental experience of a minister of the word is the breaking of his outer man. The Spirit's operation can be seen every day, everywhere, and at any time. He is breaking our outer man continually. God's life is powerful within us, but we must be broken before this power can be released. The Spirit is working all the time. It is foolish to look for discipline from the Holy Spirit. We only need to submit to it and to give ourselves to God's breaking. The outer man must be separated from the inner man. Once the two are separated, the spirit can be released at will.
If our outer man is not broken and its growth is unchecked, great havoc will be done to the Body of Christ. The wanton growth of the outer man is like the invasion of cancerous cells in the body. When a man cuts himself by accident, cells around the wound grow and quickly seal up the wound. But if the cells continue to grow after the wound is healed, this inordinate growth becomes a cancerous growth. Cancer occurs when some cells break away from the normal law of the body and grow independently. They become a center to themselves and refuse to stop. Such cells are completely out of control. There is no way to deal with them except to cut them off. Under normal circumstances every cell in the body is defined and governed by definite laws of growth. Cancerous cells, however, differ from the rest of the body in that they have their own law. Wherever cancer hides, cells grow in a way that is detrimental to the body. The whole body normally joins together to fight diseases, but with cancer, the whole body joins together to feed the illness and to help its growth and expansion. The result is destruction to the whole body. Our outer man is like a cancer cell; it has become a second center, a separate area of growth. Some people are cancerous in that the more we feed them with spiritual things, the more arrogant they become. Some people are full of opinions; they can even be given the name of Opinion. Their entire being is an aggregate of opinions. Worse still, they are unwilling to subject themselves to dealings. These ones become cancers in the Body of Christ. The more spiritual experiences they have, the more they remain in darkness. Cancer areas are centers of division. Cancer cells absorb and expand to build up their own centers. Our outer man is a cancer to the Body of Christ. We must deal with it severely. We have to remove it, cut it out, and reject it. We have to deal with the outer man like dealing with cancer.
God destroys and breaks down our outer man in two ways. First, He deals with it by the rebukes from the ministry of the word. When the Lord cursed the fig tree, it wilted. No matter how strong we are, as soon as the Lord takes hold of us in His mercy, He rebukes us through the ministry of the word. Such strong words will shatter our whole being. This kind of ministry of the word is not an ordinary ministry. It does not scratch us politely in insignificant areas; rather, it overpowers us. We hope that the church will have many such ministries. Second, He breaks down our outer man through the discipline of the Holy Spirit. The expression the discipline of the Holy Spirit is our invention. It means the operation of the Holy Spirit through His ordering of our outward environment. The Holy Spirit works within us as well as in our environment. For example, Brother Chow has a big problem with his emotion. It is not easy to touch it unless our brother first puts himself under the hand of God. If our brother hands himself over to God, God will work on him through the Holy Spirit and will put him to death through the environment. The Holy Spirit will coordinate His inward operation with His outward discipline and bring him through. A person must pass through such experiences. God will not let him go. There must be a fundamental breaking experience. Then this experience should be followed by the Spirit's continual discipline. This is how the stubborn outer man is defeated. This work is seen all too rarely in the church today. Every brother and sister has to be open to advice and exhortation. We have to ask God for grace to receive rebukes from others. If anyone is angry at a rebuke, we should ask him whether he is living on this earth for his own "face" or for God to have a way through him.
The work of the Holy Spirit is like the work of the duck farmers in Foochow. Ducks like to roam freely, and the farmers have to goad them with a rod before they fall into line. The Lord has been disciplining some people in many ways for years, yet they are still turning around in circles. We should not be like dumb ducks. We have to take lessons from the discipline of the Holy Spirit. After we learn our lessons, we will be able to deal with the brothers and sisters, and we will be able to preach the gospel and serve God. When our outer man and inner man are separated, we will be able to keep outward things separate from the inner man; they will not be able to affect the inner man. We will be able to effectively convey the things in our inner being. We will have the ministry and the supply, and the power within us will be released.
