The fellowship of life is in the spirit because fellowship is of life, and life is in the spirit. Before we are saved, we lived in the soul, that is, in the mind, emotion, and will. We cannot be separated from the soul; our very person lives in the mind, emotion, and will. However, the fellowship of God is in our spirit. Therefore, in order to touch the fellowship and learn to fellowship, we need to turn our being from the mind, emotion, and will to our spirit.
How do we turn from our will to our spirit? A certain saint may decide to go to Bangkok, but even though this decision has been made, he should be willing to let go of it and not insist. As he turns to his innermost part, prostrating himself before God and quieting himself, he should not think about Bangkok or his decision. Instead, he should simply turn from his will to his spirit to touch the sense of his spirit. Thus, he will learn how to turn from his will to the spirit to touch the feeling of the spirit in this matter specifically. If there is a sense in his spirit to go to Bangkok, that will be very good; however, if the spirit has another feeling, he must learn to let go of his decision, turn from his will, and obey this inward sense. This is not a simple lesson, but it is a lesson we need to learn throughout our entire life.
The matter of turning to the spirit to fellowship with God, or we can say the matter of living in the fellowship and living in the spirit, is not a matter that we can learn by simply making up our minds. 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, “Though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” The Greek word for decaying may also be rendered “being consumed.” Although our outer man is decaying and being consumed, our inner man is growing and being renewed day by day. This consuming is the breaking. Decaying in verse 16 is God’s dealing in verses 8 through 11.
In verse 7 the apostle Paul says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God.” We all know that earthen vessels refers to us; we are made of clay and are earthen vessels. Earthen vessels does not refer merely to our body but to us; this treasure refers to God and His life, that is, Christ and His life. We have this treasure in earthen vessels means that we have Christ in us, that is, in our inner man. Our inner man is Christ; our outer man is we ourselves. Hence, verse 16 says, “Our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” This means that while we are being broken by God, Christ is being built up in us.
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 a 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 the tearing down. Before he was dealt with by God, his thinking was always sharp, and his clear mind could reason out everything. But when he comes under the hand of God, the outcome is always a mess even though his thoughts are right. This is God’s striking him in the environment. He thinks that it is good to do things in a certain way, yet the result is altogether a mess. He thinks that he will be successful if he does things in a certain way, yet it turns out to be a complete failure. This is God’s striking and tearing down of his mind with His hand.
We should not think that this is a simple matter. Some people are smitten severely in God’s hand. Such a dealing tears down his mind to the extent that when he encounters another matter, he does not dare rely on his mind. This can 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 rather than in their mind. 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 become confused and scared, and they 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.
In 2 Corinthians 4:7-12, Paul says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us. We are pressed on every side but not constricted; unable to find a way out but not utterly without a way out; persecuted but not abandoned; cast down but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who are alive are always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death operates in us, but life in you.” The treasure is Christ who is in us, the earthen vessels. When God raises up an environment so that we are pressed on every side and cast down, the death of Jesus begins to operate in us. The word death in Greek does not refer to an ordinary death; it means “killing, putting to death.” For someone to be put to death is for him to be put into a situation of constantly being killed.
A sister may love her daughter very much, but she loves only with her emotion. If God desires this sister to grow in spirit, He must stretch out His hand to deal with her emotional love for her daughter. This is a putting to death, a killing. We also may be very clever, relying on our mind in everything we do, rather than the spirit. Consequently, God will raise up one situation after another to kill our cleverness. This is a genuine experience, and it is not only painful but also long lasting. However, Paul says that the putting to death of Jesus operates in us so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body.