THE SPIRIT'S USE OF A BROKEN OUTWARD MAN
In God dealing with man, His Spirit never by-passes man's spirit. Nor can our spirit by-pass the outer man. This is a most important principle to grasp. As the Holy Spirit does not pass over man's spirit in His working in man, no more does our spirit ignore the outward man and function directly. In order to touch other lives, our spirit must pass through the outward man. Hence, when the latter's strength is consumed by the many things in hand, God cannot do His work through us. There is no outlet for the human spirit nor for the Holy Spirit. The inward man cannot come forth because he is resisted and blocked by the outward man. That is why we have repeatedly suggested that this outward man must be broken.
The thing in hand is there before God begins to work. It does not belong to God, nor does it need His order, power, or decision to be carried out. It is not something under the hand of God but rather an independent action. Before your outward man is broken you are occupied with your own things, walk in your own way, and love your own people. If God wants to use your love in loving the brethren, He must first break your outward man. This love of yours is thereby enlarged. The inward man must love, but he has to love through the outward man. If the outward man is occupied with the thing in hand, the inward is deprived of its proper channel for loving. Again, when the inward man needs to use his will, he finds it is acting independently, already engaged by the thing in hand. To break our will, God must strike us a heavy blow until we prostrate ourselves in the dust and say, "Lord, I dare not think, I dare not ask, I dare not decide on my own. In each and every thing I need Thee." In our being stricken, we must learn that our will is not to act independently. Only then is our will ready to be used by the inward man.
Without the cooperation of the outward man, the inward is most handicapped. Suppose a brother is going to preach the Word. He has a burden in his spirit. However, if he fails to find corresponding thoughts, he cannot release his burden and it will soon fade away. Even though the burden may permeate his whole spirit, all is futile if his mind is unable to communicate it. We cannot bring men to salvation merely with the burden in our spirit; this must be expressed through our mind. The burden within must be coordinated with the mouth without. Without utterance it is impossible to make known to others the word of God. Man's words are not God's word, but the latter must be communicated by the former. When man has God's words, God can speak; when he does not, God cannot speak. The trouble today is that our inward man is available to God, able to receive God's burden, but our outward man is driven by such multitudinous, confusing thoughts from morning till night that our spirit can find no outlet. Thus it is that God must crush our outward man. He breaks our will by taking away the things in our will's "hand" so that it cannot act independently. Not that we have no mind, but that we do not think after the flesh, according to our wandering imaginations. Not that we are devoid of emotion, but that all our emotions are under the control and restraint of the inward man. This gives the inner man a will, a mind, and emotions that are usable. God wants our spirit to use our outward man in loving, in thinking, and in deciding. While it is not His thought to annihilate our outward man, we must receive this basic experience of being broken if we aspire to effectually serve God. Until this happens, the inward and the outward man are at odds with each other, each acting independently of the other. When we are broken, the outward man is broader control of the inward, thus unifying our personality so that the shattered outward man may be a channel for the inward man.
Now it must be recognized that a unified personality may often characterize an unsaved person, but in this case the inward man is under control of the outward man. Though the human spirit exists, it is so beaten by the outward man that it can at best only raise some conscientious protests. The inward man is utterly dominated by the outward man.
However, after one is saved, it is God's intention that he should experience a reversal of this order. As much as his outward man controlled the inward before he was saved, so now his inward man should hold absolute sway over the outward.
We can use bicycling as an illustration. On flat ground, we pedal the bicycle and the wheels roll along the road. Similarly, when our inward man is strong and the outward man is broken, we "pedal" and the "wheels" roll along the road. We can decide whether to continue or stop and how fast to go. In the case of a bicycle on a down slope however, the wheels rotate without any pedaling at all, for the road just seems to urge us along. In like manner, if our outward man is hard and unbroken, it will be like a bicycle coasting out of control down an incline. Should the Lord be gracious to us and level out the slope of our experience by breaking the outward man, so that he can no longer give counsel and make decisions independently, we shall be as those who are able to properly use their spirit.
To be continued in diet 17
Author: Watchman Nee
Compiled and edited by: Peter O. Olutoyese
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