The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit Paperback – June 1, 1997

If your thinking of getting this book , it's a must have read ! Life changing.

This is a must read to all! The understanding that God gave to this man is amazing and is available to us as well. We must allow the Holy Spirit to take a through. Its unfortunate that not too many 'ministers' and 'pastors' and those who are so eager to go into the ministry would fast and pray with this book first. One must surrender and successfully experience the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of the Cross before one can be empowered at Pentecost! You cannot have the Cross before the Upper room. Too many are pushed into ministry like Martha before they truly are laying and surrendered at the feet of Jesus like Mary. This is why you see the apostasy and hypocrisy and the lack of power within the 'church' too. Too much carnality, programs and own agendas in the pulpit. If you are not emptied out at His feet and ready to forsake all, then you have no business in the pulpit because then you are without true power and without the RELEASE OF THE SPIRIT! Go somewhere and die: die to self, ones own schedules, dreams, agenda, youthful lusts, strongholds, worldly mind sets, educational opinions etc! Let Christ break you down to nothing and then He will build you in His Spirit. Matt 6:32 "seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness....and then He will add unto you.."

I am still reading this one because it’s not the kind of book you can rush through. It is very meaty. You have to digest it chapter by chapter.

Pg 13. We have to remember that all misunderstandings, complaints and dissatisfaction arise from only one thing, secret self-love. Because we love ourselves secretly, we try to save ourselves. This is a big problem. Many times problems arise because we try to save ourselves. 🤨

One of the most profoundly life changing books I've ever read. Gave me a completely new appreciation for the trials of life rather than begging God to take them away. They can be a wonderful gift!

This book has completely and utterly changed my life! I love how Watchman Nee speaks so simply but his words pierce you with power. This book has ushered me into to a deeper level of surrender to the Lord. I would 1000% recommend this book to any and everyone.

I often cry and fall on my face quite literally as I see the light of God while reading the teachings of Brother Nee, who still is a fine instrument of God and a tireless worker to bring and sustain Life in the Body of Christ. Nee never really mentions love but his is a labor of love for Christ, and he is proof that the eternal wisdom of God is relevant to all ages of mankind's earthly existence. The wisdom in this teaching is very compatible with what Brother Nee shares in "What Shall This Man Do" so I can heartily recommend if not already read that it might be helpful in conjunction with this volume. The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit deals with topics such as how our spirit (he calls this the inner man) is hampered by our outer man (which he defines as our "fleshly" soul, which is the mind, will, emotions) which frustrates the work of God and can even negate what we think is doing good for God. Nee covers how to get a read on other men by the spirit (touching), and how what men say is the biggest indicator of the type of person they are. He tells us what "breaking" is and why it is important, and how and why the Holy Spirit uses 2 different techniques (discipline, revelation) to break the outer man. He gets also into explaining a lot about the function of each of us in the Body of Christ.Nee admittedly only wrote 1 book himself - "The Spiritual Man" which is found in one bound volume or in 3 separate books. He wrote the Preface in 1927, in which he admits that he didn't want to write books, but he essentially permitted himself to be used by the Spirit to write. All the rest of "his" books were "written" by an editor who used recordings and notes given for that purpose by attendees at various training meetings and talks with fellow workers in China and in the US. These were translated from Chinese as needed, and there were a few different publishers making books of those. Living Stream is not my favorite of those. In all honesty a publisher should mention that Nee himself never saw the material to "bless it" or in any way approve of it. I also do not think another person or entity should link themselves as important to the imparted spiritual wisdom of Brother Nee. This can come in such a way as to give impressions that Nee was a willing partner of another writer or a willing participant in these undertakings, which in more recent years may or may not bear his name but use it and without his approval. Notwithstanding the activities of certain publishers and their editorial "boards" we are blessed to have all the wisdom of Brother Nee imparted to us without changes made to how he actually spoke the words. Agnus I. Kinnear said in a Preface to The Normal Christian Life (published by Hendrickson Christian Classics) that Mr. Nee seems to often repeat words, phrases and topics in the books and that can come across as unnecessary or even annoying repetition. Mr. Kinnear explains that as Brother Nee was teaching and talking across various venues at assorted meetings over decades of time, he did not have an editor or a written speech prepared. In giving us his actual words, we see how he taught- by impressing upon us the most important parts, and by reminding us of what he might have spoken of a previous night. This is the one pardon we make for Brother Nee, that he may seem to be saying the same thing over and over more than twice in some works, due to the nature of his speeches and being translated and grouped into subjects for publishing.

Excellent Book that covers a lot of areas that a lot of True Christian's face that truly wants to come out of the natural man and not pretend that they are complete we all need help and guidance in not only our life but also our walk before the Lord I thank the Lord for this Man Of God who took the time to write this down to help those that not only wants to shame the devil but also to come out of what they are in it's not just a good book but you can tell it's Spiritually led it all lines up with the Word Of God thanks again....