11/02/2024
Repost:
If God is merciful to us and we have such an experience of separation, we will conduct business and move around in our outer man, but our inner man will be unmoved.
One person moves around, while the other person is still before God. The outer man will only mind the outward things, and the outward things will stop with the outer man; they will not get to the inner man.
Those who know God apply the outer man to outward affairs while their inner man remains in God. The two men do not mix.
They are like Brother Lawrence, who was busy with outward affairs, yet who had another person within him who lived before God. God’s presence never went away in him.
This can save us much time in our work. Many people do not have this separation of the outer man from the inner man. As a result, their whole being moves away at one time, and then they move their whole being back later.
Many people face difficulties with their work because their inner man tags along with their outer man. If the inner man is separated from the outer man and remains untouched while the outer man is involved in business, many outward things will be properly handled. This kind of exercise will isolate us from the influence of the flesh through outward things; they will no longer touch our inner being.
Simply put, whether or not man’s spirit can be useful to God depends on two kinds of work of the Lord. One work is the breaking of our outer man. The other work is the separating of our spirit from our soul or the dividing of our inner man from our outer man. God must accomplish these two things in us before we can put our spirit to use.
The breaking of the outer man is accomplished through the discipline of the Holy Spirit, and the separation of the outer man from the inner man is through the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
**The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit, Chapter 2, by Watchman Nee
