Chapter 3 of Part 10 of our Textbook: The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee
Imagine yourself being one of the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness with Moses. You have just spent four long, grueling decades continuously traversing a harsh environment with sweltering heat, dry dessert sands, and scarce resources for survival. Beyond fighting the unforgiving terrain, your body suffered times of great hunger and thirst, your emotions were wearied from frequent conflict between your people and Moses, and your spirit endured much distress from witnessing and at times receiving God’s fierce judgment. On top of these forty years of unending strife, you then spent an additional five years with Joshua in fierce wars to claim the Promise Land, suffering further bodily, emotional, and spiritual wear and tear. From a natural perspective, the extreme stresses from these intensely trying years would unavoidably deplete a person’s strength and result in an immensely weakened body, thoroughly depleted emotions, and an extremely fatigued mind.
However, against all odds, one Israelite experienced the opposite: Caleb. Even after enduring forty-five grueling years of unending stress and strife while remaining wholly obedient to God, he was able to bring glory to the Lord and proclaim in Joshua 14:10-11, “And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming.”
As Watchman Nee notes, the blessings and benefits of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us are not solely confined to our human spirit (Nee 701). Rather, the believer who is wholly surrendered to God and completely dependent on Him will find that His life also strengthens the human body. Furthermore, this believer is one who allows the Holy Spirit to be the sustainer of his or her life, where, as Watchman Nee states, “the power of the [Holy Spirit’s] life permeates every cell of our being so that we may experience His power and life in [our] body” (701).
The following Scriptures from the Apostle Paul prove these points:
However, it must be stressed here that while the Holy Spirit can quicken and empower our physical body, God has not reversed the reality of death and the mortality of our bodies due to this world being fallen and under the effects of sin and death. This is noted in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” Ecclesiastes 12:7 also notes the reality of death, “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” Paul reiterates this reality for the believer in Romans 14:8, “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.”
As Watchman Nee states, there are two forces in action within us: death and life. He notes that on the one hand, we are continually dying, while on the other hand, our lives on this earth are sustained through eating and resting. For us as believers, however, the sustenance of food and rest is insufficient, especially for those who are spiritually mature and serve God (Nee 702). The physical body is incapable of sustaining the physical demands common to all humanity plus, as Nee lists, the spiritual demands of walking with God, bearing other believers’ burdens, sympathizing with them, serving God, interceding before Him, battling Satan and his demonic army, and training our body to subdue it (702). Because food and rest alone are incapable of replenishing the strength our physical bodies lose to these spiritual demands, many of us who serve in ministry experience great fatigue, become feeble in our bodies, and at times suffer burnout and quit the ministry. As Watchman Nee rightfully states, “our bodily strength cannot cope with the demands of spiritual life, work, and… combat with sin, sinners, and evil spirits” (702).
This is why it is absolutely crucial that we as believers understand and live according to our union with Christ, that being Christ in us and working through us. We must come to know Him as being our all and become fully surrendered to Him so that we would not rely one bit on our self-life, especially not the limited strength of our body. For us to be truly effective, spirit-led servants, we must learn to be constantly sustained by the resurrection power and life of Jesus Christ.
The only way we can experience and be sustained by His resurrection power is through obeying these three commands:
First, for conforming to Christ’s death, Paul explains in Philippians 3:3-11, “3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”
Philippians 2:5-8 explain how Christ surrendered everything to live as a lowly servant in complete humility and submission before God the Father, even unto death. Likewise, Paul shares in Philippians 3:3-11 that to intimately know Christ and receive His resurrection power, he had to follow Christ’s model of total surrender through dying to self as our Savior had. This meant surrendering everything that was of his self-life. This not only included all his self-centered desires, but also everything he had done apart from the Holy Spirit’s power and leading: every accomplishment, every thought, and all self-righteous works. This standard for fully and consistently experiencing Christ’s resurrection power through conforming to His death is summarized in Mark 8:34, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself [i.e., surrender our self-life in the flesh] and take up his cross [i.e., see that life as being crucified and dead with Christ on His Cross] and follow me.”
Next, for abiding in Christ, He has beautifully explained how we do this in John 15:1-11, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Watchman Nee comments on this portion of Scripture as follows: “As branches are united with the trunk, so are we united with the Lord. Through union with the trunk the branches receive the flow of life. Does not our union with the Lord produce the same results? If we restrict this union to the spirit, faith will rise up to protest. Since the Lord calls us to demonstrate the reality of our union with Him, He wishes us to believe and to receive the flow of His life to our spirit, soul, and body. Should our fellowship be cut off, the [human] spirit most assuredly will lose its peace, but so will the body be denied its health. Constant abiding signifies that His life continually is filling our spirit and flowing to our body. Apart from a participation in the life of the Lord Jesus there can be neither healing nor health. The call of God today is for His children to experience a deeper union with the Lord Jesus” (703). The fullness of this union will only be our experience when Christ’s life becomes as necessary to our sustenance as a branch depends on the vine for its survival.
Finally, living by God’s Word is crucial in allowing Christ’s life to sustain our body, for He says in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Of course, this verse is not stating that Bible study should replace sustaining our body with food. However, as we previously noted, food alone cannot sustain the believer’s body due to the added stresses of our life in Christ. As Nee states, “God hides His life in His Word… Should we view God’s Word as a teaching, creed, or moral standard, it shall not prove very effective in us. No, God’s Word must be digested and united with us in the same manner as is food… If [believers] receive it with faith, the Word becomes their life… When natural nourishment fails, we can believe God according to His Word. Then shall we perceive Him not only as life to our spirit but as life to our body as well” (704). To receive God’s Word in this manner, it requires habitual study and meditation, as commanded in Joshua 1:8, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Just as food must be swallowed and digested to strengthen us, so must God’s Word be taken in through daily study and Spirit-led meditation to sustain us.
Thus, the key to allowing Christ’s life to sustain our bodies is by relying on the Holy Spirit’s power and obediently yielding our will to (1) whole-heartedly conform to His death through full, continual surrender of our self-life; (2) continually abide in Him through full dependence on His life for all we do; and (3) habitually take in His Word through faith for our sustenance.
As we have seen, God promises to sustain our life and give us the strength we need to serve Him and live the number of days He has allotted us (Nee 705). However, many of us become too feeble and sick to serve effectively because we do not claim these promises in faith and do not surrender our lives in the manner described in the previous section. In contrast, Scripture provides many examples of Old Testament saints who performed these actions and came to experience God Himself being their strength.
In addition to the Old Testament saints, the Apostle Paul’s experience with his thorn in the flesh showcases another crucial aspect of Christ being our life and strength amid great weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 record, “9 But [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Through his physical weakness, Paul became fully reliant on Christ’s strength to serve in ministry. Though God did not remove Paul’s weakness, He still was faithful to give Paul the strength he needed while ensuring Christ alone could receive the glory for his work. Like Paul, weakness, illness, and disabilities do not disqualify us from serving God, nor does He always outright heal or prevent them. Rather, they give us the opportunity to glorify Christ by thanking Him for the bodies He gave us and clearly showcasing to others His power and faithfulness in supernaturally giving us the strength to serve Him.
Though many other examples abound in Scripture, these sufficiently prove that Christ’s resurrection power is not limited to our spirit, but is also intended to strengthen our body. This power is more than sufficient to both heal our sickness and maintain our bodily health. However, Nee states, “[God] does not heal so that we may live afterwards by our natural energy; He is to be energy to our body that we may live by Him and find power for all His service… Let us hence understand that divine healing includes both God’s curing our sicknesses and His withholding diseases from us that we may remain hardy. If we are totally yielded to God, resisting His will in nothing but believingly receiving His life as strength to our body, we shall yet prove the fact that Jehovah heals” (708).
in our spiritual life and work for Christ, He has graciously given us the unlimited power of His life to sustain and strengthen our bodies. However, because He will not empower our bodies to carry out our selfish desires and plans, His life will only sustain us when we (1) die to self by conforming to His death, (2) depend completely on His strength through abiding in Him, and (3) receive His life for sustenance by taking in His Word by faith. It is this surrendered, Christ-centered life that permits the Holy Spirit to fulfill this promise in Philippians 4:19 as He did for the saints of old, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Reference:
Nee, Watchman. The Spiritual Man. New York, Christian Fellowship Publishers, 1968.