1 Cor 3:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. 1 Thes 5:23 And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The work of the Holy Spirit is twofold: the direct work and the indirect work. The direct work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal God's desire in man's spirit, then to enlighten man's soul so that his mind will understand, and finally to direct the body to execute God's will. The indirect work of the Holy Spirit is God's speaking to man through all kinds of circumstances. At times He uses the Bible, and at other times He uses angels, persons, things, or events. For example, He spoke to Brother Lawrence through the barren trees in winter and convinced him of God's resurrection power. Our wise God speaks to man in many ways. Yet one thing is certain: The word spoken must be transmitted into man's spirit before it will have any genuine effect on his spiritual life. God's work always begins from the center and goes to the circumference. God reveals Himself within man's center, his spirit, then extends to his soul, enlightening his mind, and finally directs his body to execute His will. Take the matter of sanctification as an example. The God we know in our spirit is absolutely holy. This holy God is joined to our spirit through the Holy Spirit (we become one spirit with the Lord). From this spirit God enlightens our mind, so that our mind begins to understand. The power of holiness thus begins to operate in our mind. All unholy thoughts are rejected, and anything that is incompatible with God is immediately denied. In this way, the soul becomes sanctified. At the same time, the effect reaches the body, particularly the eyes. The inward sanctifying power will direct the eyes, so that they can no longer look at anything that is contrary to holiness. The eyes will shun everything unholy. When the Holy Spirit speaks through the ones who know holiness in such a genuine way, their words will convey the sanctification that they have seen and experienced, and they will produce an effect in others.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, General Messages, Vol. 38, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, pp. 269-270. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.
