May the Lord have mercy on us and have a way to break our outer man with our natural disposition so that we no longer live according to it but rather, our spirit will flow out to minister life to others; with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
The more the Lord enlightens us concerning our natural disposition, the more we realize that we don’t obey God, we don’t live Christ, and we are so natural in our living and service to God.
The less we’re enlightened by God, the more we think we can obey God and do what He says in His Word, and the more we think that we are OK, for our Christian life and church life are so easy to live and with no problems. Oh, Lord Jesus!
May we as believers in Christ and members of the Body of Christ really learn to turn to the Lord and allow Him to shine on us to expose our living according to our natural disposition, that is, according to what we are by nature.
May we learn to reject ourselves, put ourselves aside, and just enjoy Christ so that He may constitute us with Himself and live in us.
In Matt. 6 the Lord says that we should do all things toward God in secret, not in the way of outward show; our prayer, our giving, and our fasting should all be done before God and not before men.
We need to send our roots deep down in Christ, the rich soil, by having a hidden, secret, private, intimate and spiritual time with Him, locking the door so that no one would come in and no one would see us.
The Father appreciates His seeking ones when they seek Him and fellowship with Him secretly, for He sees in secret, and He will reward those who seek Him in secret.
The more we send our roots deep down in Christ, the more we grow and can bear fruit upward.
In Luke 18 the Lord gave the parable of two men praying in the temple, one was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself – not to God but to himself – by boasting how much he does for God and how much better he is than others.
The tax collector, however, simply repented to God and asked Him to be propitious to him. If we are in the light, we will realize that we are no better than any other men; rather, if it wouldn’t be for the Lord’s mercy, we will be just like the rest.
We need to contact God in a private, personal, and intimate way, admitting that we are sinners and sinful, and ask for the Lord to be propitious to us. Amen!
In Phil. 3:3 Paul says that we are the circumcision, those who serve by the spirit and boast in Christ Jesus.
May we be saved from boasting in ourselves, in what we can do for God and how capable we are; may we boast in the Lord, realizing that we are not more absolute than anyone else, neither are we better than anyone – it is only the Lord’s mercy.
The only way we can do this is by Christ living in us; we can’t deal with what we are by nature – only by turning to our spirit and allowing the cross to operate in us to put to death anything we are by nature, only in this way can we live the Christian life and church life.
Being under God’s Light to have our Natural Disposition Exposed and Dealt with by the Cross as we Turn to our Spirit
No two dispositions are alike, but there are some common characteristics in our disposition that can group us into certain kinds of people.
One type of natural disposition is that of a “hero”; such a person must do everything in a perfect way, in an impressive way, and in a complete way.
By nature, such ones need to do everything perfectly, thoroughly, and completely; they don’t let one thing escape or left unnoticed, and they do things diligently until they are completed.
Even more, they want others to be impressed and appreciate them. When they speak, they speak in an outstanding way, or they will not speak.
They are also strong and quick in doing things, and their disposition is what strikes others more than what they say or do.
Another type of natural disposition is that of the “non-hero”, that is, those who don’t do anything in a thorough or complete way.
If you ask such a person to sweep the floor, for example, he will do it but he will leave some dust and dirt on the floor, especially in the corners, for he doesn’t do it thoroughly.
Another type of disposition is one that has a strong element that hinders a person from coordinating and cooperating with others; this kind of person is usually very capable, and he can do many things in himself and by himself, not needing others.
Such a one can easily stir up trouble in the church life, for his disposition can even be with a dominating attitude, a suppressing spirit, having critical speaking and a legalistic and unforgiving spirit.
One of the greatest tests to our spirituality and to being built up in the Body is whether we can coordinate or not; the degree to which the Lord can spread and work through us depends on the degree that we are built up in the Body, being able to coordinate.
Regrettably, we have seen among us in the church life such ones who cannot coordinate but rather, who are quite capable and have a dominating attitude, suppressing the spirit of others and their function, being critical toward others, and having a legalistic and unforgiving spirit.
May we open to the Lord’s shining on our natural disposition so that He may be saved from a suppressing spirit and from not being able to coordinate!
May we always bring in an atmosphere where the brothers and sisters feel they can bring out their heart in fellowship without any criticism or threatening.
May we realize that we are in the Body, each member has a portion, and the Lord can speak through all the saints; He may lead us in a certain direction through any of the dear saints we coordinate with.
May we be saved from a legalistic and forgiving spirit; may we realize that love prevails, and when we enjoy Christ, He is love itself – love toward God and toward others.
As the Lord shines on us to expose our natural disposition, may we learn to say Amen, allowing the Lord to deal with our disposition through the cross, and learning to go along with His speaking.
Some responsible brothers may have a natural disposition that wants everyone to like them and doesn’t want to offend anyone; this limits their effectiveness in the Lord’s work because the Lord can’t freely express Himself through them.
Sometimes the Lord wants to speak an honest or frank word of admonishment, but if we seek to please others and not offend them, we will hinder the Lord.
If we read portions such as Col. 1:27-29; 1 Thes. 5:12-13; 1 Cor. 10:5-13; Heb. 3:7-19; 12:25 we will see many frank words from the apostles, admonishing words, and even many warnings to us in our Christian life.
We need to be faithful to the Lord and speak what He wants to speak, do not speak what He doesn’t want us to speak, and allow Him to freely flow through us in love.
Paul was frank and honest with us when he said that we should beware lest perhaps there’s an evil heart of unbelief in turning away from the living God.
Such a warning, together with the positive encouragement, causes us to turn our heart to the Lord, keep our heart turned to the Lord, and never fall away from the living God, seeking Him today.
A disposition that always tries to please others can express the “strange fire” of natural affection toward the saints, even to such a degree that causes them to be lacking the proper discernment and the proper oversight in their care for the church, the saints, and the work (see Lev. 2:11; 10:1-2; Num. 6:6-7; Phil. 1:9; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:2; Heb. 13:17).
May we allow the Lord to shine and expose our natural disposition so that we may be those who love men, care for them, pray for them, and have a proper discernment concerning their situation, learning to be one spirit with the Lord to minister life to others and even be frank toward them in love as the Lord does this in us. Amen!
A major part of the Nazarite vow is to separate ourselves from the deadness that comes through natural affection (Num. 6:6-7); the Lord Jesus was this way – He never lived according to His natural affection or personal preference with people.
The meal offering being without honey means that in Christ there’s no natural affection or natural goodness (see Lev. 2:11; Matt. 12:46-50; Mark 10:18).
The source of any rebellion among us was the natural disposition of the persons involved; ambition for a position is the primary element of every fallen person’s natural disposition (Isa. 14:12-13; Num. 12:1-2; 16:1-3; 1 Sam. 15:10-12; Matt. 18:1-4; 20:20-28; Luke 22:25-27; 2 Cor. 10:4-5).
Actually, the root of dissent is the self, the natural disposition. May we open to the Lord concerning our natural disposition and allow Him to deal with it under His light so that the cross may be applied to us by the spirit, and there would be a free flow of life from our spirit to others in love.
Lord Jesus, we open to Your shining and enlightening; shine on our natural disposition and have a way to expose what is natural in us. Save us from living according to our nature or serving in our natural disposition in the church life. Save us from being a “hero” or a “non-hero” in the church life; save us from either trying to do all things perfectly or doing them half-hearted. Oh Lord, we open to You concerning our ability to coordinate with others. Shine on us and expose any dominating attitude, any suppressing spirit, any critical speaking, and any legalistic and unforgiving spirit. Fill us with Yourself as love and reconstitute our inner being with Your loving element. Expose in us any desire to please everyone and not wanting to expose anyone. Oh Lord, may You have a free way in our being to expose our natural disposition, apply the cross to it, and flow out in a free way for the building up of the church!
If the Lord Breaks our Outer Man with our Natural Disposition, our Spirit will Flow out to others to Minister Life to them
When others meet us, what do they touch – do they touch our natural disposition or do they touch Christ?
When they speak with us and spend some time with us, what remains with them, is it our strong disposition or something of the flavor of Christ?
Our natural disposition needs to be touched and dealt with by the Lord through the cross with our cooperation as we exercise our spirit.
In 2 Kings 4:8-10, we have the story of the Shunammite woman’s reception of Elisha by providing a meal for him whenever he passed by.
It doesn’t say anywhere that he gave a message or performed a miracle, but the woman identified him as “a holy man of God” by the way that he took his meal.
This is the impression that Elisha gave to others; without even speaking about God, expounding the Scriptures, or performing a miracle, he gave them the impression that he is a holy man of God.
What about us? What is the impression that we give to others (2 Cor. 2:15; 5:20; Eph. 6:20)?
When others see us, meet us, talk to us, or spend time with us, do they see Christ being manifested through us, or do we express something of our natural disposition?
Do we manifest the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ or do we manifest and express ourselves when others see us and talk to us?
If our outer man is not broken, if we are not dealt with in our natural disposition, the impression others get is nothing but the outer man.
When we meet others either for the gospel or by visitation, they get the unpleasant feeling that we love ourselves, we are stubborn in particular aspects, we are proud, and we are clever, even quite eloquent.
Or they may get the impression that we are half-hearted about everything, not being absolute for anything, and we don’t really take good care of ourselves or our family.
If we have a good disposition, however, they may think we are such nice people, but they don’t get an impression that we are a man of God, a God-man.
God requires that our spirit be released, and the church also requires that our spirit to be released; how can our spirit be released if we live in our natural disposition and our outer man has not been broken?
Even when we speak concerning things in the Bible such as the Holy Spirit, regeneration, God’s organic salvation, and being renewed, what comes out is our self, and what others are impressed with is the kind of person we are, not the words we speak. Oh, Lord!
We may speak concerning scriptural things, but the impression we leave others with is of the self; if our person is not dealt with, we will be of little use to God’s work.
But if the Lord has a way to break our outer man with our natural disposition, we will no longer present others with our strong self when we touch them; rather, our spirit will flow free!
One such person who broke through was Peter; he was very much exposed by Christ on earth, but even at the time of Paul, he still needed to be rebuked in Gal. 2:11-21.
But praise the Lord, Peter’s disposition has been thoroughly been dealt with, for in 2 Pet. 3:15-16 he highly commended Paul, which means that he no longer lived in his disposition. How can we break through?
There is no way for us to do this in ourselves; we cannot “deal with ourselves”, with what we are by nature, for we can’t “crucify ourselves” neither do we want to deny ourselves. Oh, Lord Jesus!
By man’s hand, there’s absolutely no way to remove the factor of the natural disposition, but with God this is possible!
What is impossible with man is possible with God. It is impossible for us to break through the problem of our disposition, but with God all things are possible.
We can open to Him, and He can do it in us. It is impossible for us to break through the problem of our natural disposition, but it is possible for the Lord to do it in us!
Dear Lord Jesus, we open to You again and again concerning our natural disposition. Amen, Lord, with us it is impossible for us to break through the problem of our disposition but with You this is possible! May our spirit be released so that it may flow freely to minister life to others for the building up of the church. Save us, Lord, from expressing ourselves; save us from manifesting to others what we are by nature. Have a way to be expressed through us by breaking our outer man with our disposition for the release of our spirit. May others see Christ being expressed through us and not our good natural disposition!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 54, “The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit,” chs. 6-8, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Vital Factors for the Lord’s Recovery of the Church Life (2021 ITERO), week 6, The Factor of Dealing with our Natural Disposition for our Growth in Life and our Usefulness in Service.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Release my spirit! This is what I need: / O may my spirit with the saints’ be knit; / No more in private ways Thyself to seek, / But freed from self and for Thy building fit. (Hymns #845)
– Now as the new, regenerated man, / We do two things, according to God’s plan: / Bear fruit to God and serve in spirit new / So God becomes the fruit of all we do, / And all we are. (Hymns
#1140)
– Oh, how the Lord our self must break, / Our outward man does so impede! / It must be broken thoroughly, / And thus the Spirit will be freed…The outward man, the self, the soul, / Must be consumed, must be decreased; / The inner man, our spirit, then / Shall with the Spirit be released. (Hymns #749)
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