12/05/2024
How can the Lord's power be manifested to perfection in a weak man? By Christianity; for Christianity is that very thing. Christianity is not the removal of weakness, nor is it merely the manifestation of divine power. It is the manifestation of divine power in the presence of human weakness. Let us be clear on this point. What the Lord is doing is no merely negative thing-that is to say, the elimination of our infirmity. Nor, for that matter, is it merely positive-the bestowal of strength anywhere at random. No, He leaves us with the infirmity, and He bestows the strength there. He is bestowing His strength upon men, but that strength is manifested in their weakness. All the treasure He gives is placed in earthen vessels.
What we have just said is strikingly true of faith. Numbers of people have come to me and told of their fears and misgivings even while they have sought to trust the Lord. They have made their requests, they have laid hold of the promises of God, and yet doubts continually arise unbidden. Let me tell you, the treasure of true faith appears in a vessel that may be sorely assailed by doubt, and the earthen vessel, by its presence, does not nullify the treasure; rather does the treasure in such an environment shine forth with enhanced beauty. Do not misunderstand me, I am not encouraging doubt. Doubt is a mark of deficiency in a Christian; but I do wish to make this clear, that Christianity is not a matter of faith only, but of faith triumphing in the presence of doubt.
I love to recall the prayer of the early church for Peter's deliverance from the hands of wicked men. When Peter came back from the prison and knocked at the door where the church was at prayer, the believers exclaimed. "It is his angel." Do you see? There was faith there, true faith, the kind of faith that could bring an answer from God; and yet the weakness of man was still present, and doubt lurked just around the corner, as it were. But today the faith many of God's people claim to exercise is greater than that exercised by the believers gathered in the house of Mary the mother of John Mark. And they are so positive about it! They are certain God will send an angel, and that every door in the prison will swing open before him. If a gust of wind blows: "There's Peter knocking at the door!" If the rain begins to patter: "There's Peter knocking again!"
These people are too credulous, too cocksure. Their faith is not necessarily the genuine article. Even in the most devoted Christian, the earthen vessel is always there, and at least to himself, it is always in evidence, though the determining factor is never the vessel but the treasure within. In the life of a normal Christian, just when faith rises positively to lay hold of God, a question may simultaneously arise as to whether perhaps he might be mistaken. When he is strongest in the Lord he is often most conscious of inability; when he is most courageous he may be most aware of fear within; and where he is most joyful a sense of distress readily enough breaks upon him again. Only the exceeding greatness of the power lifts him on high. But this paradox is itself evidence, both that there is a treasure, and that it is where God would have it be.
It must ever be a cause for great gratitude to God that no merely human weakness need limit divine power. We are apt to think that where sadness exists joy cannot exist; that where there are tears there cannot be praise; that where weakness is apparent power must be lacking; that when we are surrounded by foes we must be hemmed in; that where there is doubt there can be no faith. But let me proclaim strongly and with confidence that God is seeking to bring us to the point where everything human is only intended to provide an earthen vessel to contain the divine treasure. Henceforth, when we are conscious of depression, let us not give way to that depression but give way to the Lord; when doubt or fear arises in our hearts, let us not yield to these but to the Lord, and the treasure will shine forth all the more gloriously because of the earthen vessel.
[Watchman Nee: The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Volume 40, p. 50, p.53, pp.54-55]
