Waiting for the Lord's Return

Eph 3:7  Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. 

Gal 3:5  He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 

All of this is by faith.

When Watchman Nee speaks of 'Rapture' he isn't speaking of what some people consider 'THE Rapture'. The made up nonsense about God only taking a few of his children and leaving the rest behind until yet another rapture is all lies. Taking a parable of Jesus and running rampant with it creating the doctrine of men and teaching it as God's truth, has seduced many into the broad path that will lead to death.  The rapture idea of Watchman Nee has merit. Read the excerpt again and by God's grace we will study it further tomorrow and probably the next few days after that. This truly is the 'meat' of God's word and not milk.

All in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior now and forever. Amen!

EXCERPT-

A Spirit of Rapture

One other facet of the normal spirit needs to be discussed besides those features mentioned already. This one we would term the spirit of rapture. Christians ought to have a spirit which is perpetually in an out-of-this-world and ascending-into-heaven state. Such a spirit as this is deeper than one of ascension, for those who possess the former not only live on earth as though in heaven but also are truly led of the Lord to wait for His return and their own rapture. When a believer’s spirit is united to the Lord’s and they become one spirit, he commences to live in the world as a sojourner, experiencing the life of a heavenly citizen.

Following that, the Holy Spirit will call him to take one further step and will give him the spirit of rapture.

Formerly his impetus was “Go forward!”—now it becomes “Ascend up!” Everything about him rises heavenward. The spirit of rapture is that spirit which has tasted the powers of the age to come (Heb. 6.5).

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 

Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come 

 Not all who accept the truth of the Second Coming possess this spirit of rapture. Men may believe in the Lord’s return, preach His Second Coming, and pray for His return and yet not have this spirit. Even mature ones do not necessarily possess it. The spirit of rapture is the gift of God.

It is sometimes dispensed by God as He pleases and sometimes granted by Him in response to prayers of faith. When possessed of this spirit the believer’s inner being seems always to be in a state of rapture. He believes not only in the return of the Lord but also in his being transported.

Rapture is more than an article of faith; it is to him a fact. Just as Simeon, through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, trusted that he would not taste death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ (Luke 2. 26), so believers should have the assurance in their spirit that they will be transported to the Lord before they die. Such faith is the faith of an Enoch. Now we are not being stubbornly superstitious here; but if we live in the time of rapture, how can we be lacking in such faith? Such belief will help us to understand more of what God is doing in this age as well as obtain heavenly power for our work.

In other words, if the spirit of a Christian is in a state of rapture he will be more heavenly and will not think his way to heaven must necessarily traverse the valley of death. How frequently God’s child, when engaged in spiritual labor, entertains many expectations and plans. He is full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom and power; he believes God will greatly use him; and he looks forward with anticipation that before long his labor shall produce much fruit.

However, in the very midst of prosperity the hand of the Lord suddenly sweeps down upon him, suggesting to him that he must conclude all his undertaking and be ready to take another course. This comes as a genuine surprise to man. He naturally asks why it must be so. Is not my power for working? Is not the profound knowledge I have for helping people? Need everything be closed in and cold?

Nonetheless, under guidance of this kind the believer learns that the purpose of God for him is an alteration in his course. Previously everything was going forward; henceforth it is to ascend. It does not signify there is no more work; what it does mean is that that work can be concluded at any time. God continually has employed such circumstances as persecution, opposition, plunder, etc., to cause saints to comprehend that He wishes them to have the spirit of rapture rather than to make progress in the work on earth.

The Lord desires to change the course of His children, many of whom do not realize there is this far better spirit of rapture. This spirit has its definite effect on life. Before one secures it his experience is bound to be changing constantly; after he receives the witness and assurance of rapture in his spirit, however, his life and labor will be sustained on a level worthy of this kind of spirit, thus preparing him for the Lord’s return. Such preparation includes more than outward correction: it is making the spirit, the soul, and the body of the believer wholly ready to meet the Lord.

Hence we should pray and petition the Holy Spirit to show us how to obtain this spirit of rapture and how to retain it. We should believe and then be willing to eliminate all obstacles to the realization of such a spirit. And once we have appropriated it we should habitually check our life and work against it. In case we lose this spirit we should determine at once how it was lost and how it can be restored. Such a spirit once obtained can be easily forfeited. This may be due chiefly to our ignorance (at this stage of life) of how to preserve such a heavenly position through special prayer and effort. We must therefore ask the Holy Spirit to teach us the way to retain this spirit. Such prayer usually leads us to seek “the things that are above” (Col. 3.2), and this is one of the requisites for preservation. Since he now stands at the door of heaven and can be transported at any moment, the Christian should choose to wear the heavenly white garment and perform heavenly work. Such a hope separates him from earthly matters while joining him to the heavenly.

The fact that God wishes a believer to look for rapture does not suggest that he should be concerned only with his rapture and forget the remainder of the work God has appointed him. What God actually designs to convey to him is that he should not permit God given labor to hinder his rapture. In both his walk and work, heavenly attraction should always be greater than earthly gravitation.

The child of God should learn to live for the Lord’s service, but even more so for the Lord’s receiving him.

 May our spirit be uplifted daily, looking for the return of the Lord. May the things of this world so lose their power over us that we do not in the slightest wish to be “worldly”; nay, we even delight in not remaining “in the world.”

May our spirit daily ascend, asking to be with the Lord earlier. May we so seek the things above that not even the best work on earth can distract our hearts. May we henceforth pray in spirit and with understanding, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22.20) '

The Spiritual Man- By Watchman Nee

Purify your heart

Do we really believe there is something required of us as Christians, as followers of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior? Does He expect 'things' from us?

Joh_5:14  Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

Joh_8:11  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

He told people to 'sin no more'.  Does He expect them to listen? Would He ever speak in vain? So, if He said it then He expected to be listened to.

You say it's impossible to 'sin no more'? It surely seems that way. Yet, we are to strive against sinning, purposefully seek to NOT sin. We are not to invite sin, to welcome sin.

1Co_15:34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

Eph_4:26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath

1Jn_2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 

We must walk in the light. We must LISTEN to the Word of God! Please, help us listen and obey.

Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

(Excerpt)

'A Holy Spirit

 “To be holy in body and spirit” (1 Cor. 7.34).

 “Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit” (2 Cor. 7.1).

For anyone to walk in a spiritual manner it will be necessary for him to keep his spirit holy at all times. An unholy spirit leads people into error. Inordinate thought towards men or things, assessing the evil of others, a lack of love, loquacity, sharp criticism, selfrighteousness, refusing entreaty, jealousy, self-pride, and so forth— all these can defile the spirit. An unholy spirit cannot be fresh and new. In our pursuit of spiritual life we must not overlook any sin, because sin inflicts more harm upon us than does anything else.

 Even though we already have learned how to be delivered from sin and how to walk by the spirit, we nevertheless must guard against unknowingly returning to the old sinful ways. For such a return renders a walk after the spirit utterly impossible.

The child of God therefore needs to maintain an attitude of death towards sin lest it overcome him and poison his spirit.

Without holiness no one can see the Lord (Heb.12.14)'  The Spiritual Man - By Watchman Nee

Newness

Rom 6:4  …even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Col 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him

(Excerpt)

'A Newness of Spirit

“We should serve in newness of spirit” (Rom. 7.6 Darby).

 This too is a serious facet of spiritual life and work. An old spirit cannot inspire people: the best it can do is pass on some thought to others: even so, it is weak and therefore powerless to stimulate earnest consideration. An aged spirit can only produce aged thought. Never can dynamic life flow out from an old spirit. Whatever issues from a decrepit spirit (words, teaching, manner, thought, life) are but old, stale and traditional. Perhaps many doctrines do in fact reach another believer’s mind, but they gain no footing in his spirit; as a consequence, it is impossible to touch the spirits of others because there is no spirit behind one’s teaching. It is conceivable that the one who harbors an old spirit has once experienced some of the truths, but they have now become mere remembrances of the past, purely pleasant memories. These truths have been transferred from the spirit to the mind. Or perhaps they have just been new ideas freshly conceived in his mind, and due to lack of confirmation in life they simply do not impart the touch of a fresh spirit to the audience.

 Time and again we meet various Christians who habitually convey something new from the Lord. While we are with them we feel they have just left the Lord’s presence, as though they would bring us right back to the Lord. This is what newness means; anything else is oldness. Such ones appear to enjoy renewed strength all the time, soaring like eagles and running like youths. Instead of imparting dried, corrupted, and worm-eaten manna of the mind to people, these give fish and bread freshly cooking on the fire of the spirit. Deep and wonderful thoughts never move people as a fresh spirit can.

We must maintain a fresh spirit continually. How can we face people if our inner man does not give the impression of having been newly with the Lord and newly blessed of the Lord? Anything—life, thought, experience—which has reduced itself to a remembrance of the past is old and aged. Moment by moment we must receive everything anew from the Lord. To imitate the experiences of another without ourselves having it in life is forbidden; but to copy from the relics of our own past experience is likewise ineffective.

Thus we can grasp the import of what Christ enunciated as recorded in John: “I live because of the Father” (6.57). Our inner man shall remain unceasingly fresh if we momentarily draw upon the life of the Father to be our life. A stale spirit generates no fruit in work, inspires no walk after the spirit, and achieves no victory in warfare. An old spirit cannot face others because it has not faced God. To enjoy a spirit that is always fresh and new, one’s inner being must be in constant touch with God. '

The Spiritual Man- by Watchman Nee

Be Quiet.

Never do we fully realize just how loud we are in life as when we are instructed to be quiet in spirit.

May God help us to be quiet.

*******

'A Quiet Spirit

 “Let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (1 Peter 3.4).

Granted that this is a word directed towards the sisters, it nonetheless is spiritually applicable to the brothers as well. “To aspire to live quietly” (1 Thess. 4.11). This is the duty of every Christian. Modern Christians talk far too much. Sometimes their unuttered words surpass in number those that are spoken.

Confused thought and endless speech set our spirits to wandering away from the control of our wills.

A “wild spirit” often leads people to walk according to the flesh. How hard for believers to restrain themselves from sinning when their spirits become unruly. An errant spirit invariably ends up with an error in conduct. Before one can display a quiet mouth he first must possess a quiet spirit, for out of the abundance of the spirit does the mouth speak.

We ought to carefully keep our spirit in stillness; even in time of intense confusion our inner being should nevertheless be able to sustain an independent quietude.

A placid spirit is essential to anyone walking after the spirit: without it he shall quickly fall into sin. If our spirit is hushed we can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit there, obey the will of God, and understand what we cannot understand when confused. Such a quiet inner life constitutes the Christian’s adornment which betokens something manifested outwardly. '    The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee

Spirit Oppression

Truly spiritual oppression occurs when we are looking towards self and away from God.  We may believe we are putting God first, but our mouths can speak great things without any heart love involved.

Isa 29:13  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me…

Eze 33:31  … for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. 

Mat 15:8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 

With our spirit oppressed we can still put on all the trappings of our faith without any real substance. To unleash our spirit from oppression we have to use our will, our power of choice to recognize where we are truly looking- at ourselves and not at God.

How can we expect God to live in us when we have no room in our lives for Him because we only see ourselves and all involved with ourselves and not God.

You think you don't look at yourself because you don't like yourself? Wrong. Negative attention is still attention and just as harmful as good attention when we are looking inward constantly.

We have needs, we have desires and we refuse to give up those needs and desires because we justify them as being normal and acceptable and irrefutably ours to possess. We claim our so called right, our entitlement to our attention, after all we state outright we were born this way.

We wake up in the morning and instantly assess our state of being. The process is so fast and automatic to us we barely notice it is taking place. Do we feel any pain? Do we feel rested enough? Are all systems go- as in nothing remarkably out of ordinary taking place? The answer to these barely noticed questions will guide the beginning of our waking hours. Pain? Yes, pain- take steps to relieve that pain, indulge in self-pity for the pain (it is totally acceptable for all who are in pain isn't it?).  No pain? Take a deep breath, sigh with a bit of relief this is a good thing. Tired still after waking? Indulge in self-pity, after all that bone-tiredness isn't going to be easy to shake.  Truly we tend to be focused on ourselves as we wake up and rise out of bed to be about our day. We may throw a prayer in the morning mix, but even that prayer may have a tendency towards requesting help for ourselves and all our irritations- deemed completely legitimate. You yell at me that it's normal to be self-focused, we are who we are and can only deal with ourselves and no other.

Justifying our self-centeredness and calling it normal and acceptable is a horrific satanic deception.

Our lives could be truly classified as being 'living hells' and still we are to look Godward, not self-ward. The 'living hell' we are experiencing is not an invitation for self-indulgence, but yet another indication for us to live for the treasure we are laying up in heaven and not for the here and now.

Can we indulge self when indulging God? Have you ever tried to give two people all your attention at once? Quickly you'll realize it's impossible the moment one reacts in the slightest way. You can't give two ALL your attention, you can only give them both some of your attention. The Word of God tells us that we can't serve two masters--

Mat_6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

You say that's not true, that you can love two masters without despising either of them? Again, as soon as one master differs from the other and asks a more difficult task you will make a comparison and then will begin the seed of dissent however tiny inside you.

We can't serve ourselves and God.  You saying serving God is serving yourself and that is true, but serving yourself is not serving God. This is possible because God alone is good, God alone has the power, God made possible so much that we could never come close to making possible.

Our spirits will be oppress as long as we indulge in self-focus. May God open our hearts and minds to understand our state of being every single day, and may we commit ourselves to God's will not our own, looking always to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith! Rejoice! Rejoice in Christ, all else is temporary to eternity. Christ gives us all we need to live for Him.

*******

'A Joyful Spirit

“My spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1.47).

Towards himself a Christian should have a broken spirit (Ps. 51.17), but towards God it should be one of rejoicing always in Him. He rejoices not for its own sake nor because of any joyful experience, work, blessing or circumstance, but exclusively because God is his center.

Indeed, no saint can genuinely rejoice out of any cause other than God Himself.

If our spirit is oppressed by worry, weight and sorrow it will commence to be irresponsible, next sink down, then lose its proper place, and finally become powerless to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

When pressed down by a heavy load the spirit loses its lightness, freedom and brightness. It quickly topples from its ascendant position. And should the time of sorrow be prolonged, damage to spiritual life is incalculable. Nothing can save the situation except to rejoice in the Lord—rejoice in what God is and how He is our Savior. The note of hallelujah must never be in short supply in the spirit of the believer.'  The Spiritual Man - by Watchman Nee

Lowly & Poor

'A Lowly Spirit

“It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud” (Prov.16.19)

“He who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor” (Prov. 29.23).

“And also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble” (Is. 57.15).

Lowliness is not a looking down on one’s self; rather is it a not looking at one’s self at all.

As soon as a believer’s spirit becomes haughty he is liable to fall. Humility is not only Godward but is manward as well. A lowly spirit is demonstrated when one associates with the poor. It is this spirit alone which does not despise any who are created by God. God’s presence and glory is manifested in the life of the spiritually humble. A lowly person is a teachable person, easily entreated and open to explanation. Many of our spirits are too arrogant: they can teach others but can never themselves be taught. Many possess a stubborn spirit: they stick to their opinions even if they realize they are wrong. Many are too hard in spirit to listen to an explanation for a misunderstanding. Only the humble have the capacity to bear and forbear. God needs a lowly man to express His virtue. How can a proud man hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and then cooperate with God? No trace of pride should be found in our spirit: tenderness, delicacy, flexibility—these shall be the norm. A tiny bit of harshness in the inner man may hinder fellowship with the Lord, for this certainly is most unlike Him. To walk with the Lord the spirit must be lowly, forever waiting on Him and offering no resistance to Him.

Poor In Spirit

“Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matt. 5.3).

The poor in spirit views himself as possessing nothing.

 A believer’s peril lies in his having too many things in his spirit.

Only the poor in spirit can be humble. How often the experience, growth and progress of a Christian become such precious matters to him that he loses his lowliness. The most treacherous of all dangers for a saint is to meditate on what he appropriates and to pay attention to what he has experienced. Sometimes he engages in this unconsciously. What, then, is the meaning of being poor? Poor bespeaks having nothing. If one endlessly reflects upon the deep experience which he has passed through, it soon shall be debased to a commodity of his spirit and hence become a snare. An emptied spirit enables a person to lose himself in God whereas a wealthy spirit renders him self-centered.

Full salvation delivers a believer out of himself and into God.

Should a Christian retain something for himself his spirit immediately shall turn inward, unable to break out and be merged in God. '

The Spiritual Man - by Watchman Nee

Broken Spirit

Our world today seems to be all about fixing broken spirits. Fix those who are broken down in any way. It sounds marvelous, but it is incomprehensible in reality as long as we live in this sin-filled world. A lot of people don't believe this, a lot don't believe in the Bible in its entirety. People love to pick and choose the parts they want to believe and ignore or refute the rest. They'll explain away the things that are contrary to their desired beliefs.

When we encounter hard truths it is so easy to talk our way around them, pad them to our desired comfort level and leave it at that. But to face hard truths, to accept hard truths this is a much harder thing to do and according to God's word few are going to be able to do it. Is it any wonder many will read the following and reject it outright because it calls for sacrifice that they aren't in any way willing to make.

For those who read the following and comprehend the truth of it, most importantly the truth in GOD'S WORD, they will submit fully to God and His will -only by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Of our own we can do NOTHING other than choose to submit to the only One who can do ALL things and through Him we will do all things.

Php_4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

The Spiritual Man- by Watchman Nee

'A Broken Spirit

Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

A broken spirit is one which trembles before God. Some Christians do not sense any uneasiness in their inner man after they have sinned. A healthy spirit will be broken before God—as was David’s—upon once having sinned. It is not difficult to restore to God those who have a broken spirit.

An Afflicted Spirit

“But to this man will I look: to the afflicted and contrite in spirit, and who trembleth at my word” (Is. 66.2 Darby).

Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. (KJV)

The spirit with which God is delighted is an afflicted one because it reverences Him and trembles at His Word.

Our spirit must be kept in continual reverential fear of the Lord

All self-reliance and self-conceit must be shattered; the Word of God must be accepted as the sole guide. The believer must possess within him a holy fear: he must have absolutely no confidence in himself: he must be as one whose spirit is so stricken that he dare not raise his head but humbly follows the command of God.

A hard and haughty spirit always impedes the way of obedience.

But when the cross is working deeply a believer comes to know himself. He realizes how undependable are his ideas, feelings and desires. Hence he dare not trust himself but trembles in all matters, acknowledging that except he be sustained by the power of God he shall unquestionably fail.

We must never be independent of God.

The moment our spirit ceases to tremble before Him at that precise moment it declares its independence from Him. Except we sense our helplessness we shall never trust in God. A spirit which trembles before Him shields one from defeat and helps him to truly apprehend God. '