Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 13:4; 12:9-10; 1 Cor. 2:2-5
Many Christians have problems and are not growing because they are not weak enough in the eyes of God. They consider themselves strong. They say that they know their problems, yet they remain the same and are never delivered from their problems. Many people are very opinionated and talkative. They do not see the evil of sin. Sometimes they even boast in their confessions. The stronghold of these ones is their self-confidence. They have instant assurance and judgment concerning everything. They know whether something is right or wrong and its advantages or disadvantages. Such ones have to learn the proper lessons from the Lord; they have to lose their self-confidence and assurance before they can advance spiritually and before they can become useful in the hand of the Lord.
Before the Lord's death Peter was very confident and self-assured in what he said and did. He did not lie. If you were to say to him that he was too quick, he surely would have argued with you. Yet, after the Lord was betrayed and captured, Peter became so weak that he denied the Lord before the face of the maid of the high priest. He did not deny the Lord just once but three times. The last time he even swore in his denial of the Lord. At that moment the cock crowed, and he remembered the Lord's word. He received revelation and came to know himself, and he went out to weep (Matt. 26:69-75). After the Lord resurrected, He appeared to Peter by the sea and asked him three times, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter could only say, "Lord, You know that I love You" (John 21:15-17). Peter was no longer so confident. He dared not say that he could die for the Lord. He could no longer say that he would not stumble even if everyone else stumbled. A man who has passed through the cross and who has been dealt with by God is weak — all of his self-confidence and assurance have been shattered.
In the Old Testament there was Moses. From the time he was a child until he was forty years old, he learned the Egyptian knowledge in Pharaoh's palace. He was powerful in words and deeds, and he became very confident in himself. However, he had to run away to the land of Midian when he was forty years old, and he became a shepherd. All his learning became useless. He was dealt with and lost his self-confidence. When He was called by God forty years later, he told the Lord, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue" (Exo. 4:10). He was so afraid to speak that he wanted his brother Aaron to be his mouth. Although Aaron did become his mouth, eventually Moses still spoke for God. By then Moses was qualified to be used by God. His self-confidence in his own education and capability was completely shattered. He had become a servant of God, and God could use him.
Those who have received revelation and light from the Lord are persons who first have been totally stripped of their strength before the Lord. We see this in David, Jeremiah, Isaiah, etc. They all felt as if they had nothing and could do nothing. A Christian must be a person who has lost all self-confidence. Only after he has lost his self-confidence will he look to God alone, and only then can God use him.
Christ was crucified out of weakness, and Paul was weak in Him (2 Cor. 13:4). Christians often want to participate in Christ's resurrection and ascension, but they often forget that they should be weak in Him. On the cross the Lord prayed to the Father that He would forgive those who crucified Him. Yet He also said, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). It seems that our Lord was quite weak. The apostle Paul told the Corinthians believers, "For I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). He said that when he was with the church in Corinth, he was in weakness and in fear and in much trembling (v. 3). He preached the cross. He was not like today's revivalists, who conduct conference after conference with power and energy. Paul was apparently weak, and he only preached the crucified Christ. Yet this preaching manifested the power of God.
Whether or not a man can be weak before the Lord has nothing to do with his knowledge. Only those who have received revelation can be weak. Performed weakness does not last, and others can see clearly that it is not the real thing. Weakness that results from revelation is not something that can be forgotten. After Peter was dealt with by the Lord, it was hard for him even to confess his love to the Lord. He could only say, "Lord, You know." He no longer had any self-confidence; he had lost his self-confidence. He was not bold to speak quickly or judge confidently. This is genuine weakness. Those who are good at criticizing others, who can easily pinpoint the faults of others, have never seen this revelation; they do not know themselves. Everyone who is confident in himself and who believes in his own judgment does not know his own weakness.
Second Corinthians 12:9 says that the Lord's power is perfected in man's weakness. A strong person can never experience the power of Christ tabernacling over him. Those who put considerable emphasis on the outpouring of power cannot receive the outpouring unless they first know that they are weak. If they do not know that they are weak, they can only remain on the level of the Corinthian believers. Paul knew this secret. Hence, he boasted in his weaknesses so that the power of Christ might tabernacle over him.
During my stay in Honor Oak, England, I met one visitor who was a famous author and expositor. When we were together, he often would expound this or that passage in the Bible. Yet I knew in my heart that his spiritual stature did not even come close to that of the old sister working in the kitchen. He had not been dealt with by the Lord, and his natural life had not been eliminated. He did not know his weakness, and God's power was not made perfect in him. It is not a question of whether or not we can expound the Bible well. The question is whether or not we are the right person. Once I asked Brother Austin-Sparks whether he was taking a step forward or backward in his knowledge of God's will. He told me that he had taken a big step backward. Formerly, he seemed to know everything and was confident about everything. But now he could only say, "It seems...." Yet at the same time, he became more dependent on the Lord. Those who love to write expositions about the book of Revelation are often just elementary students of the Bible. Those who have genuinely received revelation will not be as quick to criticize, propose, speak, expound, or judge anything. They have become weak through the revelation they have received. A weak person is a person who can tremble. He is one who is always afraid of frustrating God. He looks to God and seeks after Him in a genuine way and never oversteps Him. God can use only such a person. May the cross defeat us, and may we be weak in Him so that His power can tabernacle over us.
