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John 15:5 says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” Philippians 4:11-13 says, “Not that I speak according to lack, for I have learned, in whatever circumstances I am, to be content. I know also how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to hunger, both to abound and to lack. I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me.” Verse 13 has the phrase, I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me. We all know that Him who empowers me refers to Christ. We are able to do all things in Him who empowers us.
Every saved one has a heart to please God. This heart is very strong in some people but very weak in others. Nevertheless, whether this heart is strong or weak, all the saved ones do have such a heart, unless one never thinks about God or seeks God. Once a person seeks God, spontaneously he has a heart to please God. This is because in this universe God desires that man have a heart to love Him and seek after Him.
All those who know God know that God has much grace for man and much work to do in man. Yet if man does not want this, God will have no way to do anything. Thus, for men to give their heart to God is to provide Him a way to work in them. If a person is not willing to give his heart to God, God will have no way to grace him or to work in him. This may be illustrated by parents who want to do something for their children, yet their children turn their back on them and turn away from them. As a result, the parents are not able to do anything. A heart that loves God is very precious to God and is what God treasures. God desires that man would love Him and seek after Him. This does not mean that God wants to gain something good from man, but rather that God has many good things for man, much grace to grant man, and much work to do in man. If man does not love God or draw near to Him, God will have no way to do what He desires, so God always desires that man love Him and draw near to Him.
In the same way that parents do, God continually longs that His children be like Him. Whenever there is a heart that turns back to God, He treasures it very much. Many times, however, because we do not desire Him that much, He has to use some winding ways to turn us back to Him. Every time we feel the love of God and the sweetness of God’s love within us, our love toward God spontaneously wells up, and we pray, “O God, I love You; my heart is here for You.” We feel that God is so lovely and so precious. So we pray to God, “O God, You are the most precious One; nothing is more precious than You. Although there are many things that are lovely, when they are compared with You, You are the most glorious One. O God, I do not care whether or not I am able to love You; I simply love You, and I will love You forever.”
The fact that we can pray such a prayer proves that God has worked in us. Sometimes God uses the outward environment to compel us to love Him; this is God’s work. Sometimes He draws us with His love; this is also God’s work. God does these things because He wants us to love Him. God cannot do much in a person who has never allowed God to work in him and does not feel that God is loveable. Whenever God works in a person, He first lets the person see that He is lovely. As a result, this person’s heart rises up. Then this person will love God. This is something very precious.
However, whenever someone is willing to rise up to love God, a great problem appears. Everyone, without exception, has this same problem. As soon as a person rises up to love God, a problem will appear right away—this person will try his best to please God. The desire to love God and please God is very proper and precious and is absolutely acceptable to God. Yet this person will love God with his own strength and in his own way. This is what displeases God. God does not want anything that is from our own strength and rejects everything that is of our own strength.
For example, I may ask a brother to do a certain thing with me, but I do not want him to use his own effort because this will be a great problem. It sounds very strange to say that we ask people to help us but that we do not want them to use their own strength. If someone asks you to help him to do something but does not want you to use your strength, this will be very hard for you to do. It would be very troublesome to you if this person wants your heart, but he does not want your wisdom or your way. Normally, if a person asks me to help him, I would help him in my own way and with my own wisdom and strength. But if he does not want my strength, wisdom, or way, why would he want my help? I had better not go to help him. To use our own strength is a human principle. However, this is not God’s way. He does not want man to bring his own strength, ways, or wisdom. God wants only man’s heart.
About fifteen years ago I met a Western missionary who shared with me his testimony. He said that although he was saved when he was young, he did not know the Lord adequately. Even though he had come to China to do missionary work, he still did not know the Lord much. He used an illustration of driving a car to explain this. He said that since he was not a good driver, he asked the Lord to help him. The Lord was like his Advisor. Every time he was perplexed, he asked the Lord for advice. When he did not have any strength, he asked the Lord to help him. This was his past situation. Still, he did not think that the Lord had helped him very much. It seemed that the more he asked the Lord for direction, the more the Lord refused to give him direction. Later, he became clear that although his love for the Lord was right, he should not use his own effort or methods; he had to stop all his own effort and methods. He knew that it was right to have a heart for the Lord and that without such a heart the Lord would have no way to grant him grace or to work in him. He realized, however, that he would have to put his own methods and strength aside. He said that he would now give “the whole car” to the Lord, including the seats and the steering wheel. When the Lord drove well, he would praise the Lord; when the Lord drove fast, he would thank the Lord. He handed his whole life over into the Lord’s hands. He would just sit next to the Lord and enjoy. All the problems would be taken care of by the Lord, and all the strength would come from the Lord, while he would just look at the scenery and enjoy it.
Although this is a simple illustration, it shows us the problem that many people have. Either we do not love God, or once we love God, we use our own effort and methods to please Him. As a result, we deviate from God. We want to love God and please God with our own strength, according to our own view, and in our own way; however, God does not want any of this. As a result, eventually we will deviate from God. Hence, many times when we are weak, we ask God to strengthen us. Many times when we fail, we ask God to cause us to overcome and to help us to stand firm. This kind of prayer is seldom answered. God hardly ever answers prayers for strengthening or overcoming. Hence, many people may doubt God and ask, “Why didn’t God listen to my prayer?” The problem is that if you are the one who is driving the car, and you ask the Lord to be your Advisor or Helper, the Lord would never give you any advice or help. There is a saying that is very true: If we do not allow the Lord to do all the work, the Lord will not work at all. If we use our own way to please God, we will be distracted from God and may even be discouraged. Many distractions and problems come from this, but this is also the time for us to receive grace. For this reason God always particularly arranges the environment in order to weaken us and make us feel that we cannot bear or handle the environment.
If we are those who already love God, then we may ask Him to help us to do better in order to please Him. In response, God not only will not help us, but He will worsen our environment to suppress us and cause us to be unable to do anything. At a time like this, many people may wonder why it is that before they loved God, they did not have any problems; however, now that they love God, their environment has become more difficult. This is exactly what God is doing. It is because we have a heart to love God that He raises up the environment in order to break our effort and all of our methods. God does not want any of our effort or ways; He wants only our heart.
This is the hardest part of God’s work in man. Many times, when our heart comes, our strength also comes. The two seem to be inseparable. Yet God wants only man’s heart, not man’s effort or ways. This problem is similar to a doctor operating on a patient who has a tumor. The tumor, which is connected to the patient’s body, has to be removed, but his body has to be preserved. When we do not love God, our strength does not come. When we do not love God, the adverse environment also will not rise up. However, once we love God, our strength comes. In order for God to perfect our heart and break our strength, He allows situations to come to us. Hence, many people are confused, yet our God is never confused. Whenever God works in us, He always gives us an inner sense through which He charges us to please Him. However, although God gives us such a sense and commands us to please Him, He does not want us to please Him by ourselves. He wants the Lord Jesus to be our strength to please Him. Therefore, God worsens our environment in order to break us so that we will be unable to rely on ourselves.
A Christian sister, who was accustomed to not submitting to her husband, read from the Bible one day that wives should respect their husbands and be subject to them. In response, she had a heart to respect her husband and be subject to him, so she made a resolution before God, saying, “O God, from now on give me the strength that I may respect my husband and submit myself to him.” Her prayer, on the one hand, shows her desire to please God, but on the other hand, it shows that she intended to use her own effort to submit herself to her husband. She loved God and wanted to please God, but she intended to use her own effort to obey her husband and thus to please God, so she prayed and asked God for help. What did God do? Eight out of ten times, God made her husband’s temper even bigger and worse than before. Every day she prayed, “O God, give me the strength to obey my husband.” God not only did not give her the strength, but He allowed her husband’s temper to get worse. This caused her to be discouraged, and so she prayed again before God, “O God, in the past when I did not obey Your word, my husband was like a lamb. Now that I want to please You, he has become worse. I wonder why this is so.” Finally, she was not able to pray any more. What was happening? We have to bear in mind that for a wife to submit to her husband depends on God. In addition, it is also God’s doing when the husbands lose their temper. God does such things simply because He wants our strength to go bankrupt.
I met a sister who, after her salvation, took good care of her husband at home. Although outwardly she did not show pride in her face, she did expose a flavor of pride in her speaking. One day she encountered a problem. She wanted to love God, so she prayed, “O God, from now on, I want to please You in dealing with my husband and my children.” After she prayed such a prayer, her family situation became chaotic, her husband’s temper was worse, and her children were naughtier. She prayed that she would be a submissive wife to her husband and a good mother to her children in order to please God, but her family situation became more and more difficult. She was almost unable to bear it, and she felt that she did not look proper at home at all. So she came to me and said, “Brother, what is happening? In the past when I was a typical sister, my family situation was not that bad; at least I looked like a good wife before my husband and a good mother before my children. But since the day I decided to love God and please God in dealing with my husband and children, they became harder to deal with. They cannot take it, and neither can I.” This is not merely our sister’s problem but the problem of many of us.
If we love God, it is His doing, and if we have turmoil in our family, it is also His doing. All these things come together for the purpose of bringing our strength to an end. Whether we are humble or kind, our humbleness and kindness are both from our own strength. If we are not broken, even if we are good, whatever we do will be nothing but our own doing, rather than God’s doing it in us and through us, or our doing it through God. The things that we do may be right, but if our being is wrong, our strength will also be wrong. Therefore, God raises up the environment to break us and eliminate our strength. If we try to please God not according to His way, He will raise up the environment to eliminate our strength and ruin our way, so that all we have left is a heart to please Him, not our own effort or way. When we are brought to this point, all we will be able to do is prostrate ourselves before God and say, “O God, I do not have any strength to please You. O God, it is impossible to please You with my own strength and according to my own way. O God, the most I have is just a heart to love You and desire You.”
At this moment we will live before God, and at this time God will show us the glorious fact that apart from the Lord we can do nothing. Apart from the Lord whatever we do cannot please God. Only when the Lord becomes our strength are we able to please God. In John 15:5 the Lord said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” On the one hand, the Bible shows us that we are able to do all things in Him who empowers us (Phil. 4:13), and on the other hand, it says that apart from Christ we can do nothing. This means that not only do we need to be delivered from ourselves, but we also need to be in Christ. In other words, God is breaking us so that we would not rely on ourselves and would be delivered from the self; He is also showing us that Christ is both our strength and our power.
It is through this kind of process that our strength goes bankrupt, and it is also through such an experience that God shows us that Christ is our strength and that He is living and powerful within us. For this reason we can testify that it is “no longer I...but...Christ” (Gal. 2:20). At this time we will praise and thank the Lord from within, and we will tell the Lord, “Lord, You are my life, and You are my power.” We will put ourselves aside and say, “Lord, I have Your life and Your power in me. I would not use my own strength or method any more.” This is the holy living of a Christian, and this is the overcoming living of a Christian. We do not need to resolve to be submissive, because there is a power that enables us to be submissive. There is no need to make a resolution, because the power, which is just the Lord Himself, comes from within. At this point we will realize that everything we do is not merely good but is the Lord Himself.
The power of God is Christ, but in our experience several steps are needed for Christ to express His power from within us. The first step is that He draws our heart to love Him. The second step is that we try to love Him by ourselves, but we fail and are discouraged. Then at this very moment God shows us that it is not our own strength but Christ’s; it is not we but Christ; it is not our way but Christ’s; it is not our wisdom but Christ’s. God shows us that we have to put our own effort and methods aside. Then even though we do not do it intentionally, we put ourselves aside, because we have had so many failures that have caused us to lose our self-confidence. While other people are able to overcome, we cannot; we fail incessantly. We realize that people like us are not able to please God. At this point we are broken; we are thoroughly broken. We see that it is no longer we but Christ. Only when we are in Christ are we able to do all things. In this way the Lord Jesus spontaneously becomes the power in us. All the holiness and overcoming that we will have will have come through this breaking process.
When a person becomes zealous for the Lord and wants to do many things for the Lord, I always have two different feelings. On the one hand, I feel that it is always good for someone to have the willingness to serve the Lord; on the other hand, I have the feeling that his zeal is not of much use and that he is destined to fail. Not only so, failing and falling are good for a Christian.
There was a saint whose situation and prayer were good before he got married. But after he was married, he was not able to read the Bible or fellowship with God properly because he had a problem before God. He did not understand why this was the case. Before he was married, he did not have any problem with the Lord; once he married, not only was he unable to pray, but he was also discouraged within. If he did not go to the meetings, his inner being would disagree, but if he went to the meetings, his inner being would be discouraged. He knew that he had to love the Lord, but he was not able to do so. He was depressed to the uttermost. When I saw this situation, I was really joyful. He asked me what he should do, and I told him that he did not need to do anything or worry about anything. This was nothing but the Lord’s breaking him.
We often think that we are able to please the Lord with our own strength. However, man’s effort plus man’s methods merely represent the self. When we try to please God in this way, it is our own power, not the life of Christ. It is our own way, not Christ’s enlightening. It is we who are expressed, not Christ. It is we who are trying to please God, not Christ pleasing God. In this way Christ Himself is not expressed, and there is no way for Christ to be expressed as our life and power. We have to know that the Christian life is not to do good but to express Christ. God’s purpose is to work Christ into us so that He would be expressed from within us.
Every time we make a resolution to please God, we have to realize that what follows will always be discipline, failures, and bankruptcy. This bankruptcy does not refer to something physical but to something ethical. We will be unable to stand hardships. The environment will be raised up by God to suppress us, to break us, to cause us to be disappointed in ourself, and to esteem ourself as nothing. At this moment we will see that we cannot please God by our own strength. What pleases God is what Christ does through us; what pleases God is when Christ gains ground in us. However, for Christ to gain ground in us and be expressed through us, we have to allow our strength, our methods, and our wisdom to be broken by God.
The majority of people think that man’s problem is sin and that sin is the enemy of God. In fact, man’s problem is not sin but his own strength and his own way. It is because man has too much strength, too many ways, and too much wisdom that Christ does not have any ground in him. For Christ to gain ground in man, God has to do one thing. What is that one thing? He has to break the human strength, methods, wisdom, and determination. All of man’s strength, methods, wisdom, and determination have to be broken by God.
Our experience tells us that the more we struggle, the more breaking there will be. The more we pray to ask God to fulfill our desire to please Him, the more God will break us. God will particularly create situations that we are not able to stand; eventually, all our strength and methods will go bankrupt because we will not be able to bear the environment. Both our strength and methods will go bankrupt. Then we will say, “O God, I cannot do it. I do not have anything other than a heart that loves You.” At this time God will show us that the Lord Jesus is living in us to be our life and our strength. Then we will prostrate ourselves and say, “O God, it is no longer I but Christ; it is no longer my methods but Your leading; it is no longer my determination but Your shining.” As a result, we will be able to please God, and Christ will be able to fill us within and be expressed without. Whoever has reached such an extent has had to pass through many sufferings and breakings. Blessed are those who can pass through all these sufferings and breakings. In this way we will know how Christ can be the power in us. Apart from Christ we can do nothing, but we are able to do all things in Him.
