A Flexible Spirit to Know God's Will.
A flexible spirit is essential for revival and allows us to respond to the Holy Spirit's movements, leading to spiritual growth and the manifestation of God's power.
Watchman Nee emphasizes the necessity of having a flexible spirit to discern and fulfill God's will, asserting that a rigid spirit hinders the movement of the Holy Spirit and leads to spiritual stagnation. He illustrates that just as Philip was guided by the Spirit, believers must remain sensitive and adaptable to God's leading, responding to the needs of others with an open spirit. Nee warns that a closed spirit can prevent the transmission of spiritual truth and that one must maintain a high spiritual standard to avoid descending into failure. He stresses the importance of cooperation between the spirit and the mind, as neglecting this relationship can lead to spiritual weakness and misinterpretation of God's messages. Ultimately, he calls for believers to live at the highest spiritual level they have attained to experience God's power fully.
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You must have a flexible spirit. That is one of the first principles of revival. A meeting that cannot become elastic and subject to the movements of God, becomes a dead block in the way of the Spirit. The human spirit must be so sensitive to the Holy Spirit that just as He spoke to Philip, and said "Join yourself to this chariot," so He may make known His will to you, and get as ready a response.
An adaptable spirit is essential to fulfil the will of God. Christ's spirit was adaptable enough to respond to the needs and questions of Nicodemus. The will of God will be known in your spirit according to the attitude of the person who comes to you. If your spirit is closed, you can pass on no living truth to that person, probably because they are not ready.
If you traced and followed the delicate sense of your spirit it would become acute, and God could then make His will known to you--all in harmony with the written Word, for the Holy Spirit revealing in your spirit God's mind cannot contradict Himself in God's Word. It would mean a great deal if we all walked in the spirit and knew when we were speaking from the spirit and when merely from the mind, and therefore empty of spiritual power.
The spirit should illuminate the mind, but when the spirit drops out of co-operation with the Holy Spirit, the mind is left without the needed assistance, and its product is very poor. When you are in the spiritual plane and know the Holy Spirit in your spirit, you recognise there are grave consequences attached to all you do. You cannot go back from the spirit life without stepping into a pathway of failure. The moment you drop from the plane that you have reached you begin to lose spirit strength, and if you do not recover your place quickly you will ultimately sink into deeper failure. The loss not only affects yourself but everyone with whom you have to deal. You may wrongly interpret or reject the words of a servant of God, and that would cause you to go back without knowing it. This hindrance to your spirit life will be maintained while that wrong thought or attitude is held.
If the Holy Spirit has once had the quickening of your mind so that your mind becomes capable of doing what it could not accomplish naturally, then in order to maintain that you will be obliged to live up to the highest point you have attained, and be satisfied with nothing below.
If, after reaching an altitude in the spirit life, you descend, even without knowing it, you will find yourself in the realm where the powers of darkness can buffet you almost as they like. God only manifests His Divine power when you are living and acting at the point to which you have already attained (see Phil. iii. 16).
Sermon Outline
- I. The Need for a Flexible Spirit
- A. A flexible spirit is essential for revival
- B. A stiff spirit blocks the movement of the Holy Spirit
- II. The Importance of Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit
- A. The Holy Spirit communicates His will through a sensitive spirit
- B. A closed spirit cannot pass on living truth
- III. The Role of the Spirit in Guiding Our Words
- A. The spirit should illuminate the mind
- B. A lack of cooperation with the Holy Spirit leads to empty words
- IV. The Consequences of Dropping from the Spirit Life
- A. Failure and loss of spiritual strength
- B. The consequences affect not only ourselves but others
- V. Maintaining the Spirit Life
- A. Living up to the highest point we have attained
- B. Satisfying nothing below our current level
Key Quotes
“A meeting that cannot become elastic and subject to the movements of God, becomes a dead block in the way of the Spirit.” — Watchman Nee
“The moment you drop from the plane that you have reached you begin to lose spirit strength, and if you do not recover your place quickly you will ultimately sink into deeper failure.” — Watchman Nee
“God only manifests His Divine power when you are living and acting at the point to which you have already attained.” — Watchman Nee
Application Points
- We must be willing to adapt and respond to the Holy Spirit's movements in order to experience spiritual growth and revival.
- Living up to our current level of spiritual growth is essential for maintaining the spirit life and avoiding failure.
- We must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's guidance in order to communicate living truth to others.