Trusting God Who Raises the Dead
Part 3 of The Lord Is in the Whirlwind and the Storm
We were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we despaired even of life. Yea, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God, who raiseth the dead, who delivered us out of so great a death, and will deliver; on whom we have set our hope that He will also still deliver us.
2 Corinthians 1:8–10Here was a storm. These men were servants of God. They were actually fulfilling their calling. They were travelling, I imagine, where they didn't want to be. It would have been much easier, I imagine, to have stayed in a much more comfortable place. But here they were. And you would think the Lord would shine out of a clear sky upon them. You would think that the Lord would do something very special. But instead we hear: we despaired of our life.
"We were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power." Now, the Lord doesn't surely do that, does He? Does He really weigh us down beyond our power?
Actually, Paul was — if we believe the only account we have of his size and shape — red-haired and short. In fact, the record says he was bow-legged. But he was a bomb. Those of you who know anything about temperament, he was a choleric from beginning to end. He was a tank. Once he got something, he went right through. And the Lord knew it and thought, "This man, once he gets going, he'll do a whole lot himself." So every now and again, this faithful man who had lost really everything and laid down his life, the Lord had to say: "A storm. We're going to have to have the whirlwind come on him. It's the only thing that will preserve him and deliver him from his own power, his own energy, his own talents, his own brain."
"Weighed down exceedingly — that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead."
All of God's Work Begins with Resurrection
Weighed down exceedingly, insomuch that we despaired even of life. We had the sentence of death within ourselves — that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.
Dear brothers and sisters, all of God's work begins with resurrection. It's all, if you know what I mean, on the other side of the grave. And that's something that the natural man cannot get to naturally. In other words, if you have to minister in your own power, with your own talents, you have to be on the other side of the cross. Do you understand what I mean?
The Principle of Resurrection: All genuine spiritual work begins on the other side of the grave. God has to bring us to the sentence of death within ourselves — the end of our own strength, talent, and energy — so that what flows through us is not ours but His. This is not the exception for gifted people. It was the experience of Paul himself.
So the Lord has a way of dealing with this. Do you want to serve the Lord? If you're a housewife, do you really want to serve the Lord? Do you want your family to be an expression of the Lord Jesus — a home where the Lord Jesus is at home? Those of you who are businessmen, do you really want to have a testimony in business? Those of us who are called to the ministry in one way or another, how can we really speak the word of God? The church is cluttered with people who speak the word of God, but there's no power. Nothing ever happens. It's up here, not here.
I remember a brother saying to me, "I went to Bible college for four years." Four years is enough — unfortunately, it's enough to kill living faith. But it doesn't kill the person.
Now that's exactly what the apostle Paul is talking about when he says, "We've been called by the Lord, and something hit us beyond our power." That's saying something with the apostle Paul. Beyond our power, insomuch that we despaired of life itself. But he says, "We had the sentence of death within ourselves — so that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead."
In other words, if all the work of the Lord is on the other side of the grave — if it begins with resurrection power, resurrection life — then we have to not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. Then it is a walk of faith. And then it becomes something alive. It may be death in you because you have the sentence of death within yourself — but those who hear, it's all life. Does it make sense?
"It may be death in you — but those who hear, it's all life."
Comforting Others with the Comfort You Have Received
And then you can comfort people, you can encourage people with the comfort you yourself have received when you were pressed beyond measure. It's very easy to say to God's people, to try to encourage them, to try to comfort them. But when you have not been in a situation that this person may be in, how can you comfort them?
But when you have been in that kind of situation where everything seems to be in the hands of the enemy himself, and then the Spirit of God encouraged you in it — when the Spirit of God comforted you — then He comes to you, and now you have something to give those who are in trouble.
In the way that the Lord has spoken to you and the way the Lord has made His word live to you — in encouraging you, in comforting you, in strengthening you, in correcting you — you can now pass on to others.
Theology vs. Experience: One person can speak words and another person speak the same words, and in one they live and in the other they do not. What is the difference? One person is speaking out of theology and the other is speaking out of experience — the proving of their faith. When God's word has been made real to you through suffering, you pass it on alive.
This is an excerpt from Part 3 of The Lord Is in the Whirlwind and the Storm, delivered in Richmond, VA in 2002. The full message covers the proving of faith more precious than gold, Peter's denial and restoration, and the two storms on the Sea of Galilee.
Read the full message: Part 3 — As Seen in Believers →Why does God allow His servants to be pressed beyond their power?
Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 1 that God allowed him to be weighed down exceedingly — beyond his own power, to the point of despairing of life — so that he would not trust in himself but in God who raises the dead. The Lord's purpose is never to crush us, but to bring us to the end of our own strength so that His resurrection life can flow through us rather than our natural energy and ability.
What does it mean that all of God's work begins with resurrection?
Lance Lambert teaches that all genuine spiritual work is on the other side of the grave — it begins with resurrection power, not human ability. If we minister in our own strength, with our own talents and energy, we are working from the wrong side of the cross. God has to bring us to the sentence of death within ourselves so that what flows through us is His life, not ours.
How can we comfort others who are suffering?
According to 2 Corinthians 1, we comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. You cannot truly comfort someone in a situation you have never been in. But when you have passed through that kind of darkness — when the Spirit of God has encouraged and comforted you in it — you now have something real to give. The word you speak comes out of experience, not theology, and it carries life.
What is the difference between speaking from theology and speaking from experience?
Lance Lambert observes that one person can speak words and another speak the same words, and in one they live and in the other they do not. The difference is that one speaks out of theology and the other out of experience — the proving of their faith. When God's word has been made real to you through suffering, you can pass it on in a way that is alive. When it has only been learned from a book, it remains in the head and does not reach the heart.
About the Author
Lance Lambert was one of the most distinguished Bible scholars and speakers in Israel in our day. He had an itinerant teaching ministry worldwide.
Born in 1931, Lance grew up in Richmond, Surrey and came to know the Lord at twelve years of age. In the early 1950s he served in the Royal Air Force in Egypt and later fellowshipped at Halford House Christian Fellowship in Richmond, England.
Later in life, Lance discovered his Jewish ancestry — his father and many members of his family had died in the Holocaust. This led him to become an Israeli citizen in 1980, making his home next to the Old City of Jerusalem.
Lance became noted for his eschatological views, in the tradition of Watchman Nee and T. Austin-Sparks. From his base in Israel he produced the widely appreciated quarterly Middle East Update and wrote numerous books.