First Corinthians 1:19 says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of those who understand I will set aside.” The purpose of doing this is that “no flesh may boast before God” (v. 29). Simply put, God does not want us to be proud. God does not want anyone to be wise or understanding. On the one hand, we have our own wisdom; on the other hand, we need power. Man has wisdom, but at the same time he is weak. Today God is turning things around. He is turning our wisdom into foolishness. The result is that our weakness becomes our power. This is a wonderful thing, and it is a very difficult thing to achieve. Man is wise, but he is also weak. Today the Lord is turning our wisdom into foolishness with the result that our weakness becomes our power. God is breaking man’s wisdom. At the same time, He is giving us power.
This may be difficult to understand. What is the relationship between power and wisdom? Why is power established when wisdom is destroyed? How does a man become strong when his wisdom is destroyed? How does power come when human wisdom is removed? How does God destroy man’s wisdom, and how does He give power to man? First Corinthians 1:30 says, “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God.” The Lord has become our wisdom. Following this phrase there is a colon, which indicates that this wisdom is “both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” This wisdom includes righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. How does God make Christ our wisdom? When our own wisdom goes away and we no longer hold on to any wisdom and understanding of our own, and when we become foolish instead, God will make Christ our wisdom. This wisdom includes Christ becoming our righteousness, Christ becoming our sanctification, and Christ becoming our redemption. Three manifestations of power are found in this. We need power to be a righteous man, we need power to be sanctified, and we need power to be redeemed. (Redemption here refers to the redemption of the body.) It takes exceedingly great power to do all these, and all of these are included in the Lord Jesus as our wisdom.
In other words, all of God’s grace is given to us through revelation. God has made Christ our revelation. In the end Christ becomes our righteousness, Christ becomes our sanctification, and Christ becomes our redemption. We first receive the revelation, but as a result we get righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Therefore, once the problem of wisdom is solved, the problem of power is solved. In other words, once the matter of revelation is settled, everything related to spiritual riches is settled. Spiritual poverty ceases, and poverty in the word also ceases. Everything in the spiritual realm involves our seeing; once we see, we have. If we do not see, we do not have. We cannot deal with righteousness directly; but we can see the revelation. Once we have the revelation, we have righteousness. We can only acquire righteousness through revelation. We do not need to find righteousness apart from God’s revelation. This may explain the reason that the Lord does not want us to have wisdom. Once our own wisdom comes in, the Lord’s wisdom leaves, and revelation leaves. Once revelation is cut off, all spiritual blessings are cut off. Once spiritual vision is gone, spiritual power is also gone. If we purge out all spiritual foolishness, spiritual power will increase. These two things are linked together.
A man cannot appropriate the work of the Lord directly; all of His work is preserved in the realm of revelation. When we have the revelation, we have everything. If we try to lay hold of the Lord’s work apart from revelation, His work will be dead to us. Some sinners want to accept the Lord. They know that they are sinners and that the Lord is the Savior. Yet when they pray to the Lord, they do not seem to have understanding. They can even tell others of the teaching of salvation, but they are cold and unresponsive to the truth. This is to appropriate the Lord’s work with the human mind. They do not have revelation. In another case, a man may be praying in his room or listening to a message in the meeting. When the Lord opens his eyes a little and he sees that the Lord has died for him, he receives the Lord’s death in that instant. Once he touches revelation, he gets Christ. Without touching revelation, he can never have Christ. It all depends on whether or not he has received the revelation. This is a basic principle. God has kept His work in the realm of revelation. No one can be related to His work apart from revelation. A man can only be related to His work through revelation.
If we understand this spiritual principle, we will realize that the ministry of the word is very much affected by the audience. Once a man becomes wise and intelligent, God hides Himself from him. If we are like infants, waiting simply, humbly, and meekly before the Lord, spontaneously He will become our wisdom. Once He becomes our wisdom, all problems associated with power are solved. When we take Christ as our wisdom before God, we will easily find righteousness, sanctification, and redemption as well. If we do not take Christ as our wisdom, we will not be able to find righteousness, sanctification, or redemption anywhere. Spiritual reality is kept in the revelation of Christ. Once a man touches revelation, he touches reality. If he does not touch revelation, he does not touch reality. Righteousness in the past, sanctification in the present, and redemption in the future, which are all the power that our whole being needs, are kept in this wisdom. When the Lord Jesus becomes our wisdom, this wisdom includes these three things. God has put these three things—righteousness, sanctification, and redemption—in revelation. Once we touch revelation, spontaneously we touch these things. Spiritual substance and reality are all contained in God’s revelation. If the audience of the ministry of the word is proud, self-assured, or closed in spirit, God will not be able to put any revelation into them. God will not give them anything. We have to learn to be humble, meek, and simple before the Lord. The more arrogant we are before the Lord, the farther we are from God’s revelation. Even a minister of the word will not be able to do anything about us; even he will be frustrated by us. God hides Himself from the wise and intelligent and reveals Himself to the infants. This is a very serious matter.