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Let us read two verses. Luke 18:27 says, “But He said, The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.” Second Corinthians 12:9 says, “And He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me.”
In Luke 18:27, the Lord Jesus said that the things that are impossible with men are possible with God. We know the occasion in which the Lord said this word. A young man came to the Lord and asked Him, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 18). Since he asked what he should do, the Lord answered, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother’” (v. 20). The Lord mentioned five items. He told the young ruler that in order to inherit eternal life, God’s uncreated life, through works, one would have to take care of these things. These involve things that one has to do and things that one should not do. The young ruler thought that if inheriting eternal life was only a matter of not doing certain things and performing other good things, he could fulfill those requirements; indeed, he had kept all of them from his youth. But then the Lord said, “Still you lack one thing” (v. 22).
Tonight we do not have time to expound this passage. I will only extract a principle from this passage. When the young man asked the Lord what he should do to inherit eternal life, the Lord told him only five things. Why did the Lord not tell him six things? Why did the Lord not tell him everything all at once? Why after the five things, did He say, “Still you lack one thing”? The only reason the Lord said this was to show him that he could not make it. Eternal life is a gift; it is the grace of God, and man cannot obtain it through any kind of work. The Lord first told the young man five things and then said, “Still you lack one thing,” because He wanted the young man to know that he could not inherit eternal life by works; it is impossible to have eternal life through works. But the young man did not know this; he still claimed that he could make it. From his youth he had kept the commandments concerning not committing adultery, not murdering, not stealing, not bearing false witness, and honoring his father and mother. Therefore, the Lord added, “Still you lack one thing.” The Lord realized that there was one thing that he could not do. The Lord saw through the young man and knew that there was one thing which he could not get through.
The Lord is doing the same thing with regard to the experience of the overcoming life among us today; He is applying the same principle to us. Perhaps some sisters or brothers say that they are not as proud as others or not as jealous or stubborn as others. They may think that they are better than others in many things, but God knows that there is one thing in each of us which we cannot overcome. God allows this one thing to remain with us in order to show us that it is impossible with man. As long as we have not committed adultery, murdered, stolen, or borne false witness, and as long as we honor our parents, we think that we can do everything. If others ask us whether we have overcome, we may say that we have overcome in this or that matter. We may think that everything is fine. But the question today is not how many things we have overcome but whether or not there is one thing that we have not overcome. God allows one thing to remain with us in order to show us that there is still something we cannot do.
Last Saturday evening we saw that according to God’s appraisal we deserve only to be crucified. God fully realizes that we cannot overcome sin and that we can never do good. But even though God says that we are useless, we think that we are still somewhat useful. God is very clear about us, but we are not clear about ourselves. No matter how good we say we are, God will say that we still lack one thing. The temper of some follows them all the time. Stubbornness follows others all the time. Some are not proud or jealous, but their stubbornness never leaves them. They still lack one thing. We will always have one thing that we cannot overcome. We do not have the power to overcome that sin. Some people are not proud, jealous, or stubborn and do not lose their temper easily, but they are full of words; they cannot survive without constantly talking to others. They may boast that they have not committed this or that kind of sin, but the Lord will still say that they lack one thing. Some cannot let go of their money. They never commit any serious sin; yet greed is their sin. It is a filthy spot that remains with them. God says that they still lack one thing. There is still one thing because God wants to prove to us that we cannot make it. We may want to live a perfect life, but there is one thing which testifies that we have not attained to such a life. Brothers and sisters, this is the first qualification—admitting that we still have “one thing.” With some it is pride; with others it is jealousy, talkativeness, or filthy thoughts. Some people may have even more than one thing.
The Lord’s words indicate that salvation is impossible with man, receiving of life is impossible with man, victory is impossible with man, and obtaining the more abundant life is also impossible with man. However, the young man did not believe in his inability. His answer was bold: “All these things I have kept from my youth.” How proud was this answer! How confident were these words! He thought that he had everything. But the Lord said that he still lacked one thing. A man may say that he does not have the sin of pride, jealousy, stubbornness, talkativeness, or any of the sins that I have mentioned, but he still lacks one thing. If he would go home and consider a little, he would realize that there is still one thing.
Brothers and sisters, God has concluded that we can never make it. God has determined that we cannot make it. He has discerned and realized that we cannot make it. He has said this already. The question is how will we respond. Brothers and sisters, from the time we were saved, why has God allowed us to frequently fail? Why have we been failing constantly from the day we were saved until now?
Many brothers and sisters confess to me in tears that they cannot overcome this and that sin. Brothers and sisters, I am not unsympathetic with your frustrations. I know that a sin has been bothering you. But I thank and praise God that you cannot make it. You have surrendered; you have acknowledged defeat. God has shown you that you cannot make it. He does not have to point out many sins. He only has to leave you one sin, and it will be enough to show you that you cannot make it.
One sister has overcome all kinds of sins. But she cannot overcome the sin of lying. The minute she opens her mouth, she lies. The minute she speaks, lies come out. She knows that this is one sin which she cannot overcome.
Another sister cannot overcome her temper. The minute she is stirred up, she loses her temper. As soon as she loses her temper, she confesses her sin. But as soon as she confesses her sin, she loses her temper again. Every time she loses her temper, she finds that she has to confess her sin, and after she confesses her sin, she loses her temper again. This is very embarrassing for her, but there is nothing that she can do. She loses her temper over and over again.
One brother has overcome many sins, but he cannot overcome the sin of smoking. He is a good brother, but he cannot overcome his smoking.
One sister can overcome all sorts of sins but cannot overcome the sin of eating snacks.
Why do Christians have these different experiences? God allows them to remain in order to prove to us that we cannot make it. God knows that we cannot make it, but we still say that we can make it. God says that we are hopeless, but we still say that we are hopeful. We have to realize that our many heartbreaks and failures and our many shameful defeats are God’s way of proving to us that we cannot make it. God is asking us whether we realize we have failed enough. He is proving to us that we can never overcome. He allows us to fail once, twice, ten times, and even twenty times so that we will realize we cannot make it. He allows us to continually fail in order to show us our inability. He allows such experiences to happen so that we will admit to God that we are not able. Brothers and sisters, the first step toward deliverance is admitting that we cannot make it. In order for a man to be saved, he must first acknowledge his inability. In order for a man to overcome, he must also acknowledge his inability. Once we reach this point, God will begin His work. Unfortunately, the young man who came to Jesus went away in disappointment! It is a pity that he turned away in despair even though he realized his own inability!
Why did God give the law to men? We do not have to consider all the laws that have been given by God throughout the first four thousand years. We need only to consider the Ten Commandments given by God to the Israelites on Mount Sinai. What was the purpose of these commandments? God gave the Ten Commandments to the Israelites not for them to keep, but for them to break. What does this mean? God knows that man cannot keep the law, and He knows that everyone is a sinner. But man will not acknowledge God’s judgment. Only after man has tried and failed will he admit that he is a sinner. The book of Romans tells us that God gave the law for man to break, not for man to keep. When a man finds that he cannot keep the law, his will is subdued, and he will humble himself. God spent four thousand years to help man realize that he cannot make it; then He sent Christ to open the way for man to receive Him and be saved by Him.
Throughout the past two thousand years, many sinners have been saved. We were sinners, but we were saved. Logically speaking, this should have humbled us. But I do not know if this has led to any improvement at all in our temper and pride. There may have been some so-called improvement, but this is actually a kind of suppression. Formerly the temper was manifested outwardly. Now it is suppressed within. Formerly pride was manifested outwardly. Now it is suppressed within. But when suppression reaches a certain point, we can suppress these things no longer, and everything goes out of control. God is showing us that we cannot make it. He is telling us that no one can overcome his sins or deal with his sins. As long as there is one thing that man cannot do, he has been proven to be helpless.
Brothers and sisters, we are helpless. In order for us to receive deliverance from God, the first thing that we have to do is admit to Him that we cannot make it and that we do not intend to make it. We have to tell Him, “God, I surrender to You. I am finished. I am over. I will not fight any further.” This is the meaning of surrendering. Brothers and sisters, this is the first condition for deliverance. It is saying, “I cannot make it anymore, I will not fight anymore, and I will not struggle anymore. In the past I tried to change my pride a little. But Lord, I do not intend to change myself anymore. In the past I tried to change my temper a little. But Lord, I do not intend to change it anymore. I had thought of correcting my quick tongue, but now I have given up on trying. I cannot do anything. I will not try to change myself any longer. I give up.”
Brothers and sisters, what happens when we see the Lord’s death for us on the cross, and what happens when we believe? We immediately stop trying to do good. As soon as we believe, we are saved. Similarly, when we see that the Lord has brought us to the cross and crucified us there, we will cease fighting and stop improving ourselves. Once we believe that the Lord is living within us and overcoming for us, we will stop our own work and allow God to rescue us. We will say, “Lord, I will never improve, and I do not intend to improve. From now on, I will not do anything, I will not manage anything, and I will not be concerned about anything. From now on, I will let go, and problems will no longer be my problems.” Brothers and sisters, this is surrendering. This is letting go.
Some have said that it is very difficult to let go. When temptation comes, they have to put up a fight, and when their temper rises up, they have to wrestle with it. When they resolve to stop doing something and fail, it only means that they make a stronger resolution next time. However, one more resolution only means one more failure, and one more promise only means one more broken promise. The more resolutions one makes, the more he fails. If the first resolution is not strong enough, the second resolution will not work even when it is stronger. Romans 7 describes this well: To will is present with us, but to work out the good is not (v. 18)! No promise that is made is appropriate, because we have not let go. We are still managing our own affairs, and we cannot say that we are crucified with Christ and that it is no longer we who live. Dying is letting go, resigning. It is giving up our efforts to take control and ignoring them. When we are no longer able, God will become able. Hence, the first thing is letting go.
There was a brother by the name of Lee in Tientsin who once asked me how he could resign and let go. He said that he could not resign or let go. What should he do? I asked what he did in his company, and he told me that he was the manager of the textile department. I asked, “If the general manager of the company told you that you were no longer needed by the company the following month and that you were fired, what would you do?” He said that the only thing he could do would be to resign. Then I asked, “Suppose the next month came, the new manager arrived, and you transferred everything to him. What would you do if a buyer came to you and asked, ‘Manager, what kind of new fabric do you have? What is its price? How much do you think this price will go up in two days?’” The brother answered, “If it happened a few days before the new manager arrived, I would make some calculations and find out what the company had in stock and how much it needed to stock up. But if I had already transferred everything to the new manager, I would have nothing more to do. All I could do would be to watch others work.” This is letting go and surrendering. This is what it means to be crucified with Christ. We have to say to the Lord, “I am not resigning because I am capable. I am resigning because I cannot stand it any longer. I am not capable of doing anything. I cannot manage anything any longer. This is why I have to resign. My temper is still present. My pride is still present. My stubbornness and jealousy are all still present. I can do nothing about them. I can only make a transfer and resign. I can only say that everything is in Your hands from now on.” However, when “the buyers from the street” show up, we must not be alarmed. There are many “buyers” who come every day to solicit business. All we have to do is commit everything to the Lord’s hands. We do not have to care for or manage anything. This is the meaning of overcoming. This is the meaning of surrendering.
Do you know what temptation is? One brother said that he was always tempted to lose his temper. Another brother said that he was always tempted to be stubborn. One brother complained that he was always tempted by unclean thoughts. Another brother complained that he was always tempted by a quick tongue. It seems that there are a thousand different kinds of temptations to a thousand different kinds of people. But brothers and sisters, there is actually only one temptation in the world. We think that temptations lead us to temper, pride, greed, or adultery. But with Satan, there is only one temptation—the temptation to move. Satan does not induce us to lose our temper or to be proud, greedy, or adulterous. His temptation is to make us move. As long as we move, Satan prevails over us. It does not matter how we move. As long as Satan becomes successful in initiating a move, we have failed. In our prayer and reading of the Bible, he has won the victory the minute we move. I only wish I could speak with many tears in my eyes. We should not move. The minute we move, we are defeated. We can struggle with Satan. We can fight with him or withstand him. But the minute we move, Satan has gained the complete victory. We have to realize that the secret to our victory lies in our standing by; it does not lie in our taking control. Once we try to manage the situation, we will fail. Brothers and sisters, this is a most amazing thing! God wants to set us aside and allow His Son to overcome for us.
Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these oppose each other that you would not do the things that you desire.” This verse does not say that we oppose our lusts or that our lusts oppose us. It says that the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. We do not play any part. These two parties are opposing each other. What does this mean? A brother once lamented that his only desires were sin and uncleanness. He could not help himself. But it is the flesh who is fighting against the Spirit, and the Spirit who is opposing the flesh. We play no part in this fighting. This is God’s way of deliverance. If we can stand back and allow the Spirit to fight against the lusts and the lusts to fight against the Spirit, we will experience deliverance.
When I was first saved, I heard a story about a young girl who knew the meaning of victory very well. During the Keswick Convention, a man asked the little girl how she overcame when the devil came to her. She answered, “In the past, if the devil came to knock at my front door, as soon as he knocked, I would say, ‘Don’t come in. Don’t come in.’ But the result was always a failure. Now when the devil knocks at my door, I say, ‘Lord, You open the door for me.’ If the Lord opens the door, and the devil sees the Lord, he will say, ‘Sorry, I came to the wrong door,’ and he will run away.”
When we are tempted and say, “Lord, save me because temptation is coming my way again,” the devil will come in even before the door is open. We have to allow the Lord to handle the matter completely. The more we pray, the more desperate we become, and the more we repeat our prayer, the harder it is to let go. A brother once said that when Peter was sinking, he said only, “Lord, save me.” Praying with a short sentence is letting go. But if one continues to pray, “Lord, save me...,” five or six times, he is already defeated. I call this kind of prayer a hangman’s prayer. This is like a person who tries to hang himself a second and third time after having been unsuccessful the first time. When a person repeatedly prays this way, it shows that he has not let go. He is trying to grasp victory with his prayer. He is trying to overcome with his own strength. Invariably, the result is defeat. If he did not pray so much, he still might have overcome. Brothers and sisters, please remember that Satan is trying to make us move. As long as we move, even if it is by praying, he will have his way.
Suppose you lose your temper every time you are agitated by others. What will you do today? What are you going to do when someone continues to agitate you with his words, and the agitation grows increasingly worse? “Lord, I do not take control of this matter; my temper is not my business; victory is Your business. I cannot control my temper. Lord, You must be responsible for this.” If you can say this, you are indeed letting go. The Lord will take over, and you will live out His patience. You will even be able to thank and praise Him, saying, “Lord, I do not take responsibility for this anymore.” However, if you feel that you cannot bear the agitation, and you pray, “Lord, deliver me, for I am about to lose my temper,” fifteen minutes will seem like fifteen hours to you. You may not lose your temper outwardly, but inwardly you will be burning. This is not victory. Satan does not need to make you lose your temper in a big way. All you need to do is move a little, and he will have the victory.
Overcoming is refusing to move. Overcoming is disregarding the situation and turning away. If you do not move, and if you disregard the situation and turn away, you are letting go. Victory has nothing to do with you. You are dead already; it is Christ who overcomes for you. Victory is for you to die and for Christ to live.
Recently in Chefoo, many brothers and sisters discovered the overcoming experience. One sister had a difficult past. Her husband was very unkind to her, and she was ill-treated by her mother-in-law. She endured, but she did not overcome. After she heard my preaching on the overcoming life, she received the word. But after two days, she came to me and asked how she could let go and how she could put herself in the hands of the Lord. I tried to explain it to her, but she could not understand. Finally, I asked the Lord to give me a suitable illustration. I said to her, “Mrs. So-and-so, have you ever taken a rickshaw ride to a friend’s house?” She said yes. I said, “Suppose you arrived at your friend’s house, and while you were paying the rickshaw man, your friend stepped in and tried to pay for you. Even though you wanted to pay the money, your friend insisted on paying it. Then when you returned the money to her, she tried to return the money to you. Have you ever encountered something like this?” She said yes. I continued, “Suppose she paid the twenty cents, and the rickshaw man took the money and left. Since you did not want your friend to pay, you pressed your money into her palm. However, when you were about to leave, she stuffed the money back into your palm. After this back-and-forth exchange had been repeated several times, you decided to put the money on the ground and say good-bye to your friend. But then you wondered whether your friend would take the money and what would happen if she did not take it and someone walking along the road took it. You wondered what would happen if the rickshaw man took it or a little child saw it and took it. You therefore turned and looked to see whether your friend took it. When you saw that your friend had not taken it, you turned and peeped again. But as long as you turn and peep, your friend will never take it. However, if you put the money on the ground and said to your friend, ‘The money is here; take it,’ and you ran away without looking back anymore, your friend would probably take it.” After I told her this illustration, she understood and entered into the experience of the overcoming life.
This is the way many people commit their affairs to God. On the one hand, they say that they have committed everything to God. But on the other hand, their hearts are not at ease, and all the time they glance back. If you want to take control, He will not take control; instead, He will allow you to take control of yourself. If you will not take control anymore, He will take control and will bear the full responsibility. If you want to take control, it will be up to you to suppress your temper and you will have to pick up everything yourself. What does it mean to surrender? It means to leave the money on the ground and turn around and walk away. It means to ignore. It does not matter whether the children take the money away or the rickshaw man or a pedestrian takes it away. You do not worry about it anymore, and you do not take responsibility for it anymore. You need only to say to the Lord, “Lord, I give everything to You. From now on, I do not care whether I am good or bad.” Once you commit yourself to God this way, God will surely receive what you have committed to Him. All that we need to do is to hand over what we have to the Lord.
We have to let go first before God will pick up what we have let go. However, we want to wait for God to pick it up first before we let it go. But God wants us to let go first before He will pick it up. I told the brother whom I mentioned earlier that if his boss decided to lay him off on the first day of the following month, and if a new person were hired, he would have to transfer everything over to the new man. During the interim period, he would be responsible for half of everything, and the new person would be responsible for the other half. This transition between the old and the new is an overlapping exchange. But for God, He either takes up everything or He takes up nothing at all. He will never take up half and leave it up to us to take up the other half. We have to quit on the thirty-first, and then God will move in on the first. If we try to quit gradually, God will not take over.
Brothers and sisters, one of our greatest sins is an evil heart of unbelief. We try to control ourselves and suppress ourselves every day. We are the ones who are controlling and suppressing ourselves. We wonder what would happen if we did not control or suppress ourselves. When we preach the gospel to an unbeliever, we tell him that he should not worry about anything, because Christ has died for him; he needs only to believe and he will receive everything. In the same way, we have been crucified with Christ, and Christ is living within us. Thank and praise God that Christ is our Head and we are His members. Christ is the vine and we are the branches. He is our life and our everything. When we are removed, when we give up, resign, and turn away, Christ will begin to take over.
If an unbeliever tries to get rid of himself, the devil will move in. “Then it says, I will return to my house from which I came out. And it comes and finds it unoccupied, swept, and decorated. Then it goes and takes along with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter in and settle down there” (Matt. 12:44-45). For believers, it is a case of two households under the same roof. When one moves out, the other will still remain. If a man is not saved, he will not be victorious even if he ceases all his work. But if he is saved, the Lord will give him the full victory as soon as he stops his work. Once the self moves out, victory comes. Once we move out, we overcome. Letting go and resigning means doing away with ourselves and moving out. This is the meaning of full surrender.
In the book The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, there is a story of a Christian climbing down a dry well. There was a rope at the edge of the well, and the man lowered himself down the well by climbing down the rope. Suddenly, he came to the end of the rope. He wanted to get to the bottom, but he did not know how deep the well was. He thought about climbing back to the top of the well, but he did not have enough strength. The only thing he could do was tightly hold the rope and cry out for help. However, the well was in a wilderness, and the man was inside the well. No one responded to his shouts. Soon his voice was gone, his strength was exhausted, and he could no longer hold on. He prayed, “God, may I fall into eternity.” After he prayed, he let go with his hands and fell, but it was only a three-inch fall! Whoever thinks that they will fall into the abyss when they let go will find that they have fallen onto the eternal Rock rather than into eternity. Brothers and sisters, let go! Let go! The first condition for the overcoming life is to let go. From now on, you do not need to take control. This means that from now on, you will overcome. Resignation brings in victory.
In Chefoo recently, a sister heard of the two conditions for the overcoming life—surrendering and believing. I asked whether she had gotten through. She used to go to the mountain to pray all the time, and she answered, saying, “I went to the mountain today and dug another grave for myself and made another burial.” I asked her a few times, and she always answered this way. I knew that she had dealt with many difficult sins already, but she was still not happy. I prayed for her, but there did not seem to be much result. One day I prayed that God would give me the utterance to help her to get through. She was playing a hymn that day. I asked how she was doing. That very question caused her to begin to cry. She told me that she had dealt with many things, but that she could not deal with the small sin of eating snacks. This might not mean anything to others, but to her it was a small sin. When she mentioned this, I laughed and said, “This is wonderful. Nothing can be better.” She said, “You said that the condition for receiving the overcoming life is first to surrender and second to believe. I cannot surrender, and I cannot believe.” I said, “Then why don’t you just continue to not surrender and not believe?” She answered, “But didn’t you say that the condition for overcoming is first to surrender and second to believe? Now I cannot surrender and I cannot believe. What should I do?” I said, “Just continue to not surrender and not believe. What is the meaning of surrender? To surrender is to let go. To let go is not a work, but you have made it a work. To believe is also not a work, but you have made it a work. If you cannot surrender or believe, just stay the way you are. There is no need to improve yourself, and there is no need to even let go. It is true that the condition for overcoming is to surrender and believe. But you have made surrendering and believing a formula for victory. This will not work. Just let go completely. There is no need for you to do anything. There is no need to even try to let go or believe. If you can utter a praise, then utter a praise. If you cannot, there is no need to try. If you can come before the Lord, come before Him. Come before Him no matter whether you are living or dead. That is all you need to do. This is the meaning of letting go.” Friends, we are too complicated. God says that there is no need to do anything, but we still want to do many things. Many brothers and sisters say that they are letting go, but they still make letting go a kind of work. They struggle back and forth between letting go and not letting go. They are still exercising their own strength in this matter. Brothers and sisters, letting go means that you are through. This is victory. After the sister heard my word, she was confused for three days. The light was too much for her, and she was confused. But after three days, she made it through! Brothers and sisters, is there anything that you cannot get through? That sister had only one thing which she could not let go of, and the Lord brought her through.
Second Corinthians 12:9 says, “And He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me.” This shows us that we should not only consider ourselves weak, powerless, and incapable, but also rejoice in our weakness, powerlessness, and incapability. Does this verse say that we should weep for our weakness? No, on the contrary, it says that we should rejoice over our weaknesses, and we should not just rejoice but also boast in our weaknesses. What is boasting in one’s weaknesses? The whole world mourns for its weaknesses, but the overcomers boast in their weaknesses because they have faith.
Brothers and sisters, do you feel that you have some problems? Do you feel that you have some failures? You have to realize that your problems and failures are a blessing to you; they are there to help you overcome.
Once in Chefoo I met a doctor who had been saved for three or four years. He had served in the army for over ten years, and his demeanor reflected that of a soldier; he was direct and forthright. There was no question about his salvation; however, he had a habit of smoking cigarettes. Smoking did not pose a major problem to him when he was in Manchuria, but when he came to Chefoo, things became a little more difficult. There were seventy or eighty people in the church, and Chefoo was a small place. The only place he could smoke was at home. But even at home, he dared not smoke in the open because his wife was a sister. In the hospital where he worked, there were a few nurses who were our sisters as well. On the one hand, he wanted to smoke, but on the other hand, he felt embarrassed. Whenever he heard someone approaching while he was smoking, he had to hurriedly extinguish his cigarette. When he smoked on the street, he first had to look in front and behind to see whether there were any familiar faces. He could not quit smoking, yet it was painful for him to continue smoking. He did not know what to do. After one of my meetings, he came to me and made an appointment to see me the next morning at 9:00. He told me that he had very important things to talk about. The next morning when he came, he told me his whole story. He said that he had been smoking for over ten years and could not quit. What should he do? The more he spoke, the more I turned my face toward the ceiling and laughed. He said, “Mr. Nee, this is a serious matter.” I said that I knew it was a serious matter. He said that he could do nothing about it. I said, “It is wonderful that you can do nothing about it. Nothing sounds better than hearing that you can do nothing about it.” He asked me why, and I said, “I rejoice because only the Lord can deal with this matter. I can do nothing about it, and you can do nothing about it. Your wife can do nothing about it, and the brothers and sisters can do nothing about it. With such an ideal patient, the Lord Jesus will have good business for His clinic again.” He told me that it was not a light matter that he could do nothing about it for over ten years. I agreed, but said, “This is difficult for you, but there is nothing difficult with the Lord. He can turn the situation just like that.” I went on, saying, “Dr. Shi, you are a good doctor, and I have good health. Therefore, you do not need me, and I do not need you. If you want to demonstrate your skill on me, I must first be sick, and sick not just of an ordinary illness, but of a serious illness. The more serious my illness, the more your skill will be made manifest. Today the Lord Jesus is here. He can deal with what you, Dr. Shi, cannot deal with.” He asked what I meant, and I quoted 2 Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me.” It was good that he wanted to quit smoking and wonderful that he could not quit smoking. But he still did not understand the words of 2 Corinthians 12:9. It was wonderful that he could not quit smoking. It would not have been that wonderful if he did not have to smoke, because 2 Corinthians says that the power of Christ is perfected only in man’s weaknesses. I said, “To you, it is bad to smoke. But to God, your not being able to quit smoking is wonderful.” He was dumbfounded, and his eyes stared at me. I told him, “Never think that your smoking is lamentable or that it is unfortunate. You have to tell the Lord, ‘I thank and praise You that I smoke. I thank and praise You that I cannot quit smoking. Yet Lord, I thank and praise You that You can make me quit smoking, and You can help me to stop smoking.’” He asked doubtingly, “Can God really do it?” I answered, “Indeed, He can.” Then we prayed together. First I prayed a few words, and then he followed. He had the faith, and his prayer was in the tone of a typical soldier. He spoke in an honest way, “God, I thank and praise You because I smoke. Lord, I thank and praise You because I cannot quit smoking. Lord, I thank and praise You because You can quit smoking for me.” After he prayed and while his tears were still wet, he put on his hat and was ready to leave. I asked him, “Dr. Shi, will you still smoke?” He said, “I, Tsai-lin Shi, cannot quit smoking, but God can quit for me.” I knew that he would be all right. In the evening I was a little concerned about him and asked those in the hospital what had become of him. I found out that everything was proceeding smoothly. The next morning I checked on him again, and the answer was the same. Everything was all right with him. That afternoon when I met him, he told me that he was debating with his wife. His wife had complained to him for over ten years about his smoking, but he had never been able to quit. After he spoke with God, his cigarette smoking was gone within half an hour. He said, “I did not smoke yesterday, and I did not smoke today.” When I was about to leave, I asked again, “Do you think that you, Dr. Shi, can quit smoking?” He said no. I asked, “What then are you going to do?” He said, “The Lord will quit for me.” At that word, I left in peace.
Brothers and sisters, do not think that you will change. Five years from now, you will still lose your temper. Victory is a matter of Christ living for you. You can declare, “Thank and praise the Lord that I cannot make it, but Christ can.” I wish I could tell the whole world about this. I am not afraid of a bad temper. I am not afraid of quick dispositions. I am not afraid of inordinate pride. I am afraid only of those who do not see their own inability and do not see that Christ is able.
Brothers and sisters, it is good that you praise God for your victory. But you must also praise God for your weaknesses. Your weaknesses work all the more to manifest Christ’s power. I thank God that Watchman Nee is corrupt beyond hope. I thank Him that Christ’s power is once more perfected through me. I tell the Lord that I have no goodness, righteousness, holiness, patience, or calmness in me. Thank and praise God that I do not have any of these things, and that I do not try to have them anymore. “O Lord, from now on, I commit everything to You. From now on, it is Your Son who will overcome for me.” If you will do this, you will immediately overcome. You can overcome within a minute, even within a second.
Luke 18 shows us a young man who could not make it, while Luke 19 shows us Zaccheus who made it. “Behold, the half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore four times as much” (v. 8). He made it right there. Zaccheus did what the young man could not do. Luke 18 shows us that with men it is impossible, while Luke 19 shows us that with God everything is possible. The old man in Luke 19 was able to do what the young man in Luke 18 could not do. In Luke 18, the young man could not do what the Lord told him to do. In Luke 19, the Lord did not say much to the old man, but he believed. The young man did not make it, because he did not believe in God. The old man and his household were the sons of Abraham; they had faith, and salvation came to that house. This was God’s work.
Brothers and sisters, we have to thank and praise the Lord. We cannot love. We cannot endure. We cannot be humble. We cannot be meek. But there is not one verse in the Bible, not one word from God, that tells us that we should live a life which we are capable of living or that we should do what we are capable of doing. God always tells us to do what we cannot do and to live a life which we cannot live. Every morning, I wake up to thank and praise God because it is another day for Him to perform His miracles. In the evening, I thank and praise Him for the miracles He has performed that day. Today God is enabling me to endure what I otherwise could not endure. He is enabling me to love what I otherwise could not love. He is enabling me to do what I otherwise could not do and to act the way which I otherwise could not act. Thank and praise Him! Every day we experience the words: “The things that are impossible with men are possible with God”!
