The following is a paper I wrote for New Staff Class at Gospel for Asia on the book Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee. All views are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Gospel for Asia.

 

The river of the Spirit begins high in the mountains, amidst granite peaks. Its source is pure, glacial runoff infused with life giving minerals. The purpose of the Spirit is to bring life to the plains below, that the ground may be watered, the crops flourish and people’s thirst quenched. But to reach the valleys and pastures, the water must flow down from the mountains, carving its path, forming a river bed as an open conduit that it might reach its goal.

We as the people of God have the privilege of being that river bed. Ours is the indwelling of the Spirit, and the Spirit in us is made to flow out of us.

The barrier is this; that we do not allow the river to flow freely through us. We are hard and stopped up. We make dams and pollute the stream. As a result the life of the Spirit does not touch anyone.

A restored person allows the Spirit to flow freely. A restored person has the bounds of the old self removed, and becomes the clean open riverbed that they were created to be. To be restored, the will of self must be broken. The stiff-necked outer man must be obliterated; pride shattered, independence forgotten and all must be consumed into the life of Christ.

The hardness of the outer man springs from reliance upon self. We rely on ourselves when we do not see Jesus for who He is. When we see Him for who He is, with humble attitude and open eyes; we cast ourselves wholly upon Him and His grace. The moment we stop relying on self and rely upon God; the self dies, and the Spirit is released.

When the Spirit is released, all that comes into us we see and hear with our eyes and ears clearly. God is some ways gives us His senses, and we see things the way that He sees them. Our understanding is no longer darkened, and light invades all of our thinking.

Furthermore, when the Spirit is released, all that flows out of us is filled with His life. Our words, our actions, our ministry, our preaching is no longer done in our own strength, but His alone.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom…” – 2 Corinthians 3:17

It is God’s desire to bring freedom. We have been both set free and made agents of setting others free through the Spirit. We live in freedom and live to bring others into that freedom. Freedom comes to the world through the Spirit flowing through us. For this cause we must throw ourselves at His feet in complete abandonment.

When we are abandoned, the river of the Spirit will run free.

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