The only goal of the Holy Spirit’s work in us is to bring us into the experience of the death of the cross. The Holy Spirit desires to find a place and an opening for Christ in us; He is working Christ into us so that Christ can come out from within us. In order for Christ to come into us, we need to be broken and broadened, and in order for Christ to come out of us, our outer man needs to be torn down and many things in us need to be broken.
The result of the continual working of the Holy Spirit in us is to call us to receive the cross. The cross does the work of breaking and tearing down in us. God has put us on the cross in Christ so that our person, which troubles and limits God, can be dealt with through the cross.
After we have seen that the cross deals with our person, the Holy Spirit inwardly calls us to experience the cross day by day and moment by moment. In our daily living and in all things great and small, the Holy Spirit corrects and asks, “Are you living by yourself, or are you allowing Christ to live in you?” If we are willing to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit in everything, the Holy Spirit will ask, “Is your natural man the source of this matter, or is Christ the source of this matter? Is this being done by the natural man or by Christ?” These questions cause us to receive the breaking and tearing down work of the cross.
When the Spirit does a killing work in us, we are brought into the death of the cross. However, it is not easy for us to receive the cross. Although we have seen the light concerning the cross, and the Spirit is inwardly calling us to come to the cross, we do not submit to Him easily. We do not receive the cross in a simple, unconditional, and straightforward way; we are not simple people. It is very difficult to deal with man, and it is very difficult to deal with our “I.” We should not deny this before God. No matter how much light we receive, how much truth we hear, how often we read the Bible, how much we are touched by God, and how many lessons we learn, we still have places within us that we do not want to be broken by the cross. Hence, it is very difficult to deal with our person.
It was very easy for God to create the universe. He created everything out of nothing. However, it is very troublesome and difficult for God to deal with our person. In His creation of the universe, God spoke, and it was; He commanded, and it stood (Psa. 33:9). The universe was created in an instant. Nevertheless, when God deals with us, it may take Him twenty or thirty years, and He still may not complete His dealing with us. A carpenter who wants to modify a counter or a table will take only one or two days to finish the job, even if he spends much time and effort. But a few years or even a few decades can pass and God’s dealing with man can still be unfinished. Dealing with man is truly a great problem.
Some people are not willing to receive the breaking of the cross even after much discipline; they pass through many difficulties but still cannot submit. They go through years of dealing and discipline from God and suffer many things to the point that it seems as if they have no strength to stand. However, when people contact them, they have not changed at all; they are intact in spite of the fact that they are full of wounds and scars. They have suffered much, but they are very shallow in their experience with very little learning and breaking and little or no experience of the cross. During their times of suffering, they encounter many hardships—their spouses pass away, their children become sick, their businesses fail, and their health deteriorates. Everything seems like a blow and affliction to them, but their person is not broken. We often think that those who pass through many afflictions and sufferings before the Lord have definitely learned some lessons, received some grace, and experienced the breaking of the cross. This is not necessarily true. Some can be full of wounds and scars yet remain intact and unbroken without learning any lessons. When we encounter such ones, it is a cause for worry, regret, and grief. It seems as if the more they are disciplined and afflicted, the more stubborn and hardened they become. Although they could be compared to a pile of cotton before their dealing, it is almost as if they have become a hard stone after their experiences of suffering. This is regrettable! Consequently, we must realize the difficulty of dealing with our person.
No one is easy to deal with; everyone is difficult. Sisters may feel that they are meeker than the brothers, but strictly speaking, the meeker one is, the harder it is to deal with her. Many people are stiff-necked and are subdued only with great difficulty. If we hit a piece of glass, it easily breaks; however, if we hit a piece of rubber, it will not break, no matter how hard we try. Brothers can be compared to glass, which breaks immediately, but sisters can be compared to rubber, which does not break no matter how hard it is hit. Since man is such a difficult case, God arranged for sufferings after man fell. For the male, He gave sufferings outside the body; for the female, He gave sufferings within the body. If we pay attention to grace, we will see that it is easier to deal with brothers and harder to deal with sisters. In the church life we do not need to be too concerned if we have to deal with brothers, but it takes much more effort to deal with sisters because they cannot be convinced with reasoning or common sense. If we cannot convince brothers with reasoning, we can convince them with common sense; however, when we deal with some sisters, we are utterly unable to convince them. They have their own reasonings and their own self. Sisters often think that their reasonings are right and that they even embody common sense itself; consequently, they feel that everyone should give in to them. It is very difficult to deal with sisters. Thus, under God’s arrangement, sufferings for sisters are often more difficult than those for brothers.