There is a need for the hand of God to break our being outwardly; that is, there is a need for the Spirit of God to arrange the outward environment to break and consume our being. The word consume comes from 2 Corinthians 4:16, which says, “Our outer man is decaying.” The Greek word for decaying in verse 16 means “being consumed,” “being wasted away,” or “being worn out.” By the continued killing, the working of death, our outer man, that is, our material body with its animating soul (1 Cor. 15:44 and footnote 1), is being consumed and worn out. Decaying in 2 Corinthians 4:16 is God’s dealing in verses 8 through 11.
The outer man, physically, is our body; psychologically, it is our soul. The outer man is our soul, that is, our self. The outer man being consumed means that our self is being consumed; that is, our mind, emotion, and will are being consumed. A brother may have great intellect, a strong mind, and clear thinking, but all of these can frustrate the pneumatic Christ in him. Hence, God will raise up an environment to deal with his mind and thought. This is God’s striking him in the environment and God’s tearing down of his mind with His hand. Such a dealing tears down his mind to the extent that when he encounters a certain matter, he does not dare to rely on his mind. This may be compared to the situation of Jacob. At one time his legs could run very well; moreover, he had a mind that was able to think of many ways to fight and supplant. His mind was clever, resourceful, and full of schemes. One day, however, God met him and dealt with him severely, touching his hip and crippling him (Gen. 32:25). After this, Jacob could no longer run. This is the breaking. Some people who are intelligent and have a very clever mind use their mind in spiritual matters. Such ones do not know how to touch the feeling of God, nor do they know how to live in the spirit. Instead, they allow their mind and intellect to take the lead in everything. When God begins to deal with them, especially with their mind and intellect, they may lose their confidence in their thinking ability. When they encounter similar situations in the future, their spirit will spontaneously occupy the leading position. With respect to their mind, their outer man is torn down, but their inner man is being renewed.
In the same principle, God strikes our emotion to the extent that it fails us, and we no longer have any confidence in it. At such a time, our spirit will spontaneously occupy the leading position and have preeminence over our emotion. It is the same with our will. God’s striking and tearing down are a very painful process. Even the apostle Paul was no exception.
Second Corinthians 4 speaks of the “putting to death of Jesus” and “being delivered unto death” (vv. 10, 11). Christ is killing us. He is not only the life-giving Spirit but also the killing Spirit. Christ is always putting us to death to reduce and consume us in our outer man, our natural man, so that our inner man may have the opportunity to develop and be renewed (v. 16). The real growth in the divine life is to be reduced. We need to be reduced and broken. The killing of Jesus accomplishes the reducing of our natural life. Without this killing, we cannot enjoy Christ’s life.
Whereas the outer man is being consumed, the inner man is being renewed. It is renewed through being nourished with the fresh supply of the resurrection life. As our outer man is being consumed by the killing work of death, our inner man, that is, our regenerated spirit with the inward parts of our being (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10; Rom. 7:22, 25), is being metabolically renewed day by day with the supply of resurrection life. Actually, the renewing of the inner man is a matter of the divine dispensing.
It is not an easy task for the Lord to consume our outer man. In order to accomplish this, He allows us to pass through many kinds of sufferings. Because we imprison Him, He must do the further work of breaking us and renewing us.
Sometimes we may be bothered by the fact that the more we love the Lord, the more we grow in Him, and the more spiritual we become, the more problems we have. For example, the more a certain young person prays, the more he may be persecuted by members of his family. The reason we suffer more as we grow more in the Lord is that we need to be broken; that is, we need to experience the consuming of the outer man in order that Christ will no longer be imprisoned within us.
In 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 we have expressions such as being pressed on every side, unable to find a way out, persecuted, cast down, and always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus. In verse 16 Paul tells us that the outer man is decaying. This is not only the reducing of our outer man but also the breaking of the vessel.
God is doing a work not only to reduce us but also to crush us, to break us. We should not try to keep ourselves so complete, so whole. The Lord wants to break our outer man, the natural man, including the soul and the flesh. Our human element, the soulish life, the fleshly element, all need to be broken. The outer man is the self with the natural life, with the soulish life, and with the flesh. To know what the natural man, the flesh, and the soul are is one thing, but to experience the breaking of the outer man, the holy brokenness, is another thing.
In following the Lord, we should not expect that we will always have a “safe journey.” In taking the way that leads to life, the narrow and constricted way to follow the Lord (Matt. 7:14), we will be afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and cast down. We will be put to death, destroyed, crushed, and broken. The Lord has myriads of ways to crush us. We need to realize that we are not in our own hands. We are in His hands. No one knows what tomorrow may bring. Even David said to the Lord in Psalm 31:15, “My times are in Your hand.” We need to praise Him, however, that His hand is the sovereign hand, the gracious hand, and the merciful hand. We should not be afraid. We need to be at peace to take whatever He measures to us and whatever He assigns to us. Because we have the treasure within this vessel, the destiny for this vessel is to be broken.
To be a person in the spirit in the Holy of Holies, we need to be vessels that are broken. We need to bring all these points to the Lord and pray thoroughly. We need to pray ourselves into these points so that we realize subjectively that we are vessels who are always under His dealing, under His breaking, to fulfill His burden to express the treasure within. We need to tell the Lord that we are willing to open ourselves for His working in us. We should tell Him that we are willing to be broken, ground, and constituted; that we are willing to live a crucified life; and that we are willing to renounce and deny ourselves and daily be constituted with the elements of the processed Triune God.
In summary, as vessels, we bear the putting to death of Jesus. The putting to death of Jesus is continually upon us. This means that we are continually put to death by the working of the cross. When we are under the putting to death of Jesus, His life is manifested in our body. We are delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake that His life might be manifested in our mortal flesh. We experience this not only while suffering persecution but also through our daily interaction with the fellow believers. For example, believers who live in a house may cause one another to experience the killing of the cross. In married life, a husband and wife may similarly deliver one another to death. Our being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake is for the manifestation of His life in our mortal flesh. Hence, although there is much working of the cross in the church life and marriage life, simultaneously there is much manifestation of life. The more we are under the killing of the cross, the more life will be imparted through us into all those who deliver us to death. For this to take place, we must be willing to experience the killing of the cross. If we are willing to be under the daily killing, we will become life-imparters, even to those who deliver us to death. Moreover, in our daily life none of us as vessels should remain whole but be broken. If we have been in the church life yet have remained whole, then no life has ever been manifested and imparted through us into others. Through married life, a husband and wife may become broken. A broken wife is one who manifests life; a broken husband is one who imparts life to others. As vessels, we need to be broken so that Christ as the treasure within us may be expressed.