God’S Cure For Man’S Weakness

God'S Cure For Man'S Weakness

DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 24, 1866, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE
METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Out of weakness were made strong." Hebrews 11:34.

SOME kinds of weakness are of God's appointment and necessarily
incident to manhood. They are not sinful, and therefore we may continue
to be subject to them without regret. In reference to such weaknesses
it may be that after beseeching the Lord even thrice to remove them it
may be for our good that they should remain. Then will our gracious God
give us, in place of removing the weakness, this reply, "My grace shall
be sufficient for you." This is a case of in weakness being made
strong, and there are many of God's saints who daily experience so
blessed a privilege. They are weak, and continue weak. They have
infirmities which they once wished to have removed but which now they
are content to bear, for now they are of the same mind with the
Apostle–they glory in their infirmity because when they are weak they
are strong.

But, dear Friends, there is another kind of weakness which is sinful–a
weakness which springs not from nature but from fallen nature–not from
God's appointment, but from our sinfulness. And out of this we should
desire to be delivered. We cannot pray for strength in sinful weakness,
but must earnestly plead for strength to come out of it and to be made
strong. This seems to me to be the particular blessing which faith is
said to have obtained in the text, "out of weakness were made strong."
It is the inestimable privilege of many a Christian to be strong in
weakness when the weakness is only one of infirmity, but it is an
equally precious gift to be made strong out of weakness when that
weakness is of a sinful kind.

Looking round the Church at large, with as impartial an eye as we can
summon, we are afraid that for the most part it is nowadays comparable
to a huge infirmary rather than a camp filled with brave soldiers. Both
ministers and private members of the Church are very generally weak in
one way or other. They are living, but they are sickly. They are
working for God, but they are working in a feeble, inefficient manner.
If I look upon the camps of the Lord's enemies, whether Puseyite or
Broad Church, I see intelligence and vigor so apparent that I am apt to
think that never was error more earnest, more active, more intense than
just now!

There is a reality about the efforts of our opponents which may well
alarm us–and when I look to the camp of the Lord Jesus Christ I lament
a predominant lukewarmness, a want of enthusiasm and deficiency in
force, which, if it does not betoken a departure from God in heart,
certainly indicates very great feebleness in the vital parts–producing
comparative weakness in all the parts.

I desire this morning to speak to those who are weak–weak where they
ought not to be–and who feel a growing tendency to rest content in
that weakness. I would stir up those who are beginning to imagine that
weakness is the normal and proper state of a Christian–that to be
unbelieving, desponding, nervous, timid, cowardly, inactive, heartless,
is at worst a very excusable thing. I want, if God wills, to show to
the sinfully weak ones that their condition is not proper at all. I
want to show that it is a work of faith to lift us out of it–not to
help us in our evil weakness–but to deliver us out of it and to make
us strong, reversing our present condition by enabling us to be mighty
in the work of God.

Since the text teaches that faith is the grand cure for spiritual
feebleness, I shall, first, cite a few cases of cure. In the second
place I shall analyze the remedy. In the third place I shall endeavor
to administer it, and in the fourth place I shall say a word of praise
to the Physician who prescribes it.

I. At the outset we have said that faith is the cure for spiritual
weakness, and I have to MENTION CASES OF CURE. I shall not now cite
cases from the Old Testament of bodily cures which have been worked by
faith, though I might mention Hezekiah, who, being sick unto death,
was, by faith in God's promise, restored to life and his period of
existence lengthened fifteen years.

In the Apostolic times it was through faith that many sicknesses were
made to fly before the healing touch of the Apostles. That power of
healing has probably become extinct, or is lying dormant in the
Church–yet there are still indications that faith has some power in
that direction. I cannot but think that when honest John Wickliffe,
raising himself up in the bed of sickness, said to the monks who
surrounded him, expecting him to die and tempting him to recant, "I
shall not die, but live to declare the wicked deeds of the monks"–I
cannot but think that his faith had much to do with his cure.

Had he been a man of a timorous, wavering frame of mind, his sickbed
might have been his deathbed–but the vital forces were all thrown into
energetic action by the mental energy of his faith and the crisis was
safely passed. I do not know how far faith may still operate upon the
bodily frame, for there is certainly an intimate connection between the
soul and the body. Those wondrous cases recorded in the life of
Dorothea Trudel of Zurich indicate the singular power of faith to
assist in the cure of the body by its calming influence on the mind.

That admirable woman, who has but just departed this life, became the
founder of a hospital in which cures were worked mainly by the means of
prayer and faith–cures which have been substantiated in the best
possible manner, namely, by her enemies having dragged her before the
law courts of Zurich for practicing medicine without a diploma, when
she proved that the only medicine used was directing the mind to Christ
and proclaiming the Gospel, by which a holy calm spread over the mind
and the body derived manifest benefit.

Such cases, and others which we have noticed, go to show that if we had
more faith in the living God it might sometimes be possible for the
soul to so overmaster the body that out of weakness we might still, in
Hezekiah's fashion, be made strong. These hints are not, however, to
the point, and relate rather to a theory than to the revealed Truth of
God. That faith strengthens Christian men has been proved often in the
history of the Church of God. The Church's weakness springs mainly and
mostly from a want of faith in her God and in the Revelation which God
has entrusted to her.

When men believe intensely they act vigorously. And when their
principles penetrate their very souls and become precious to them as
life itself, then no suffering is too severe, no undertaking is too
laborious, and no conflict too heroic. They will enter upon
impossibilities–laugh at them and overcome them–when once they know
of a surety that the principles which move them are most certainly from
God. This seems to me to be the great work which Luther did in his day
under God, the Holy Spirit's power. He brought back the Church to the
strength offaith, and then her whole force returned.

The man knew but very little of the Truth of God. Upon the doctrine of
justification by faith he was clear as the sun at noonday, but he was
half a Romanist in most other respects. But this one all-important
thing he did for the Church–he made her believe in God and in God's
Truth with a vigorous decision which had almost ceased from among men.
Though he knew not all the weapons of the Divine armory, yet the one he
did know he wielded with such bravery of faith and such tremendous
dogmatism that his resolute soul shamed others into steadfastness!

See the man as he goes into Worms, defying a host of devils, though
they were as many as the tiles on the roofs of the houses! See him
standing up in the Diet of Worms and alleging that he could not
retract, so help him God! See him in his earlier days, nailing up his
theses upon the church doors as sailors nail their colors to the
mast–or rending the Pope's bull in pieces and casting it into the
fire! As men resolved on conquest break down the bridges behind them
and render retreat impossible, it was the man's faith in God that
helped him to do great exploits, and the Church learned from him to
believe that "God everywhere has sway, and all things serve His might."

When the Church once more believed firmly, her spirit returned to her
and like a giant refreshed with new wine, she recommenced her race. In
the modern revival under Whitfield and Wesley the restoration of faith
was the source of restored strength. Those Brethren, differing in
doctrine as they did, had this point in common, namely, that they were
intense believers in the indwelling power and Presence of the Holy
Spirit in the Church. Men had been disputing and trying to prove or
disprove everything. Sermons were frequent upon such topics as whether
there was a God or not.

Now you never find Whitfield or Wesley wasting time over such matters!
They were so full of God's Spirit, and could see Him so clearly
everywhere at work, that they felt no need of proving it. While men
were discussing as to whether the

Scriptures were inspired and divines were writing books upon the
evidences, these men preached the Gospel and infidelity fled before
them! An age destitute of spiritual life generally amuses itself by
trying to prove what is not worth proving, or wasting its energy upon
external things to the neglect of the inward–an age spiritually alive
takes itself to the Lord's work and treats all doubt as folly and sin.

The followers of Whitfield and Wesley, instead of proving with
diffidence and apologizing for the Gospel with half-heartedness, came
forth with, "Thus and thus said the Lord." They mounted their pulpits
as mo! They proclaimed the Truth of God and men owned its power till
from one end of the land to the other the dry bones arose to life and
stood as an exceeding great army.

Brethren, our Churches must come back to the old faith and to a firm
belief in it! If you do not believe the articles of your faith, reject
them and do not be sham believers. If the doctrines which you profess
are indeed, true, grip them, hold them fast, get them engraved upon
your souls and burnt into your consciences. Have faith in God and the
Truth–that the Truth of God cannot be destroyed nor God defeated.
Vitality and power in your faith will soon send force and life into all
the other parts of your spiritual manhood!

What has been proved upon the largest scale has been true in all other
instances. For instance, the weakness of depraved human nature always
gives way before the energy of that faith which the Spirit works in us.
The sinner, aroused in his weakness, sighs dolefully–

"I would but cannot sing,
I would but cannot pray.
I would but cannot
Break the bonds of sin.
I would but cannot melt my heart
And soften it in penitence. "

When the sinner is pointed to the Cross and comes to trust himself with
Jesus–viewing the blood sprinkled and the righteousness worked
out–then the man can pray, can sing, can melt in penitence or can rise
up in flames of love!

The inability of human nature is instrumentally removed by the energy
of faith. It was through believing that you became strong. If you had
continued to live by work, or by feeling you would have been still as
weak as ever–but when you looked out of self to Christ and trusted Him
it was then your strength came to you! The same is true of subsequent
spiritual weakness. Christians who are alive unto God and are endowed
with some Divine strength, are attacked at times with a spiritual,
universal decline. Just as we sometimes see a strong and healthy person
growing pale and wan, losing appetite and falling into sickness until
he becomes a mere skeleton because a general sapping and undermining of
the constitution has come upon him, so have I seen it with Christians.

They do not lose life, but they do lose all their energy and become as
listless and lifeless as some of you probably now are in body through
the heat of the air. Then they can scarcely walk, much less run, and
mounting with wings as eagles is quite out of the question. Such
persons will bear witness that the only way of recruiting their
strength is by faith. They must come again to the first principles and
trust their souls anew with Jesus–believing over again with a novelty
of energy the old doctrines of the Gospel! They must go to God as to a
real God in believing prayer and then they will not long remain weak.

Out of weakness faith is sure to make us strong, and the change
effected in us is equal to that which we see in a man who, having been
long confined to his couch, at last returns to his labor showing no
tokens whatever of disease. I have still been dealing with the great
principle of the text on a large scale–we will now particularize a
little more. Take a few forms of weakness. Many Believers who are
vigorous in many respects are troubled with a hesitancy in their
testimony– they cannot speak up for Jesus. Whenever they try to say a
good word–nervousness, or something akin to it–restrains them. They
say with Moses, "Lord, I am slow of speech." They hesitate, or are
still.

There is no cure for hesitancy in the confession of Christ equal to
faith! Observe Moses. He is so hesitating that God gives him Aaron to
be his spokesman! But read through the history and Moses is the better
orator of the two. Aaron has a golden mouth, but by degrees the
confidence that Moses feels in his commission enables him to rebuke
Aaron. And when Aaron goes up to Mount Hor to sleep in the arms of God,
Moses stands up and in that last sermon he delivered, and that Psalm he
sung before the assembled multitude you cannot detect the slightest
trace of slowness of speech! The man overcome his weakness by faith–a
holy faith gave him a holy courage–and the tongue once bound became
unloosed. I should advise some of you to try it. A strong dose of the
essential oil of believing taken every morning and evening would enable
you to tell sinners all around what a dear Savior you have found.

Another common weakness among Christians is timidity. Modesty is
beautiful but it may degenerate to cowardice. It is well to be
humble–it is never well to be weakly fearful. Some are always afraid.
They dare not try this and dare not try that. And if they happen to be
placed in office where they can influence others by their counsels,
they are shockingly bad officers because they are always keeping the
Church back from victory from a fear of defeat. What is a sure cure for
timidity? Faith–belief in the Truth of God, in the right, in God, in
invisible energy–in helps which we cannot see and aids which we should
not have dreamed of. This shakes off timidity.

Take as a specimen Barak. Barak is slow to go up against the enemies of
God till Deborah, the mother of Israel, says she will go with him.
Women sometimes lend superior courage to men, and the weaker sex proves
itself the stronger. Look at Barak! After he has once believed in the
power of God he marches to the fight and wins the victory! And he is
commemorated in soul-stirring words by the poetess, "Awake, awake,
Deborah; awake, awake, utter a song; arise, Barak, and lead your
captivity captive, you son of Abinoam." Mighty to conquer was the man
who was timid to fight! When faith gave him courage it made him
triumph. Carry a vial of strong faith along with you and a good draught
thereof will drive off fainting fits. This is the true strong water,
the genuine elixir, the famous cordial, the heavenly aqua vitae.

A frequent form of weakness is despondency which is so common in
English Churches as to be as much a national disorder as consumption.
It is not so common among you as it was, but still more so than I could
wish. We are not so joyful and frivolous as our Galician neighbors, and
we are not quite so go-ahead as our trans-Atlantic friends. I am afraid
as Englishmen we have a natural tendency to become despondent. I know I
feel it myself, and in the circle where I move it is not at all
uncommon. Brethren, despondency is not a virtue! I believe it is a
vice–I am heartily ashamed of myself for falling into it–and I am
sure there is no remedy for it like a holy faith in God!

Asaph, of old, was very subject to this weakness and he said to
himself, "Why are you cast down, O my Soul, why are you disquieted
within me?" But what was the medicine he took? "Hope in God, for I
shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance." That was the
remedy and David prescribes it too, when he says, "Trust in Him at all
times, you people. Pour out your hearts before Him." Despondency
hamstrings a man. It makes him weak in the arena of conflict when he
ought to be like a well-trained athlete struggling with his foe and
contending for the mastery. Christian, beseech your Lord to increase
your faith in Him, your trust in the unseen, your reliance upon His
promise and fidelity–for when you get more faith you will rise
superior to that weakness–and out of the weakness you will be made
strong!

Impatience, too–impatient murmuring–is another form of Christian
weakness in which we must not expect to be made strong in Divine Grace,
but must plead for Grace to get out of it. It strikes me that Job may
naturally have been an impatient man. He utters many very tart and
snappish things to his friends–not one whit more sharp than they
deserved–but he held fast to his integrity as if he had been a very
Pharisee at first. But notice how strong he was and how clear of his
weakness, when by Divine Grace, he could say, "Though He slay me, yet
will I trust in Him!"

There was the medicine, you see–trusting in God. Job, full of faith,
sitting on a dunghill, is a far more splendid sight than the Great
Mogul upon his throne. I do not believe Heaven and earth ever saw a
more majestic spectacle than the Patriarch on the dunghill covered with
boils, scraping himself with a potsherd and yet saying, "Shall I
receive good from the hands of the Lord, and not receive evil?"
Princes, potentates and kings–your power never reached to this! And
even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed so gloriously as poor
Job!

Brothers and Sisters, if we had more faith in God that He makes all
things work together for good to them that love Him, we should not grow
so impatient! We should bear the pain, the cross and the loss with
greater equanimity– feeling–"My Father sent it. My Father overrules
it. Good will come of it." Perhaps you are weary of this list of
weaknesses, but I must add one more, namely, weakness in overcoming
besetting sins. I hope we are not among those who make light of sin.

A genuine Christian dreads sin. He will not say, "Is it not a little
one?" for he knows that a little sin is like a small dose of a very
potent poison. He knows it is sufficient to destroy our peace and
comfort. There are some sins which really seem as if we could not get
the mastery over them. I will name one–a passionate disposition. A
person who is of quick temper may get into the condition of thinking,
"Well, I was born so and cannot help it. I always shall be of a quick
temper." You always will be if you think that, but it strikes me that
the Grace of God must have power to overcome evil tempers, and that
your hope will be in believing that yours can be overcome and in
struggling to mortify this among the other affections of the flesh.

I know, personally, men who were once very passionate but are now
gentle. They were once likely to take fire as readily as tinder to a
spark, but now they would stand fire right well. And if I had to select
patient men, I would select those very men who were notorious for their
fearful tempers in years gone by. "Well," my dear Friend, you will say,
"I cannot do it, Sir." No, I know you cannot. But there is One who can.
The eternal God who is your helper can surely help to make you a
reasonable being and rid you of this madness–for anger is temporary
insanity. Surely God can make you morally sane and bring you back to a
calm state of mind–only believe in His power and seek to be wholly
sanctified by His Grace–spirit, soul and body–and you will see that
as He cast a legion of devils out of a man in days gone by He can now
cast this devil out of you so that you will not be pestered with it any
longer.

You may have to watch it as a householder watches a thief, but you will
get it out of doors and keep it at arm's length. Oh for Divine Grace to
get our temper under foot and keep it there, that though it may have a
tendency to rise we may keep it down! Anyway, whatever may be our
besetting sin–and we all have something against which we ought to
strive–there have been cases in which such weaknesses have been cured
by faith. We have not time to stop to mention any modern instances but
we know many. I trust some of us could cite our own history as an
instance of what faith in God can do. "Out of weakness they were made
strong."

II. We will turn to our second head and ANALYZE THE MEDICINE. The
subject is so very wide that I must confine myself to one instance and
shall speak of the medicine as it would be mixed and compounded for a
man struggling at very dreadful odds against a gigantic system of evil.
He is very weak but through faith he becomes strong. One of the first
ingredients of faith's medicine is a sense of right. Everybody admits
that when a man is sure that right is on his side he finds strength in
that belief.

Even if two men are going to court with one another, the one who knows
that his case is founded upon justice enters the court with much more
strength of mind than he who is conscious of several flaws in his suit
and only trusts to the blessed uncertainty of the law. There is truth
in the old saying that "a good conscience is the best armor." It is not
of very great use in a real battle for, unfortunately, bullets have no
respect for saint or sinner–when in the way they are pretty sure to
kill anybody who stops them–but a good conscience is of the utmost
value in the battle of principle.

A man who cannot argue, yet knows he is right will somehow or other
stand his ground. He says, "my opponent has more wit than I have. He
understands logic better than I, but I know I am right." And to know
you are right necessarily gives you strength. Faith is a belief in the
rightness of that which God reveals, a trusting in its truth. And who
does not understand that a man who believes, therefore, becomes strong?

A second ingredient is heavenly authority. Everybody knows that a man
who is naturally weak will often act very bravely when he has authority
to back him. Let the Christian combatant feel–as feel he will when he
has faith–that he is armed with Divine authority and you will not
wonder if from a dwarf he rises to a giant! "This," he says, "is not my
quarrel. I believe it to be God's war–the Truth of God which I
maintain at such hazards is no dogma of my own invention–it is God's
own offspring. God has sent me to fight for it–God puts the words into
my mouth."

A man, thus conscious that he has a mission from Heaven, cannot be
afraid! He must be mighty! And when a man feels, in addition to that,
that God's decree appoints him to accomplish a certain end. That God's
promise declares that he shall succeed. And that from the eternal
nature of truth it cannot sustain defeat–then surely he stands like a
rock in the midst of the billows and he cannot waver! He casts all
thought of fear to the winds.

Mixed with this is a consciousness of heavenly companionship which
makes the Believer courageous. Many a man who would have been afraid to
go to battle alone has marched along very cheerily because of the many
thousands who are hurrying to the same battle. The Christian feels that
he has the companionship of his God and Savior. Jesus' name is
"Emmanuel, God with us." The best of all is God is with us. If we
suffer, Jesus suffers in one of His members. If we are slandered and
reproached for Jesus' sake, it is the Cross of Christ which we are
carrying, and Jesus bears it with us. We hear the more than angel
whisper, "Fear not, I am with you."

Come then, let us sing as we march onward–

"If on my face for Your dear name,
Shame and reproach shall be,
I'll hail reproach and welcome shame,
If You remember me."

In addition to all this faith has an expectation of supernatural help.
Faith hears the wheels of Providence working on her behalf. Mohammed,
in his earlier career, though his faith was but mere fanaticism, yet
gave great courage to his men by the daring things which he said and
did. As he threw the handful of dust into the air he believed that his
foes were blinded, and his soldiers won an easy victory. He declared
that he heard the noise of angels' horses as they came to the fight and
no sooner had he thus spoken than every man grew brave.

Now the Christian, not in imagination, but in spiritual fact, can hear
the wings of angels flying to the rescue of Divine Truth. Here I see
today the hand of a man, but I see also with it the wing of an angel!
God works for His people. The evil He hinders and restricts. The good
He speeds and multiplies. Therefore, strong in invisible succors, we
must not wonder that out of weakness the Believer is made strong!

I must not omit one powerful ingredient in faith's life-draught–it is
the prospect of ultimate reward. Faith bows her head in the day of
battle when the poisoned arrows fly like hail. She whispers to herself,
"I may fall, but I shall rise again." And she vows, by the eternal God,
that when she rises it shall be with the same banner in her hand for
which she fought. She knows that in the end she cannot, must not,
fall–that she shall conquer! When a man fears defeat he will probably
bring it upon himself, for his fear ensures it. But when a man does not
know how to be defeated, the little petty disasters of the way all
contribute to his ultimate victory.

So, Christians, you who are warring for God and His Truth, I hope you
will not despair because of the gloomy aspect of the present age. It
may appear as if infidelity and Puseyism together would eat out the
very heart of God's Church, but courage, my Brethren, courage! These
foes will eat up one another one of these days, or there shall rise a
man out of their own ranks who will be their downfall. We may yet live
to thank God for the apparent retrograde movements of today, for upon
this the Lord may ride to a brighter ultimate triumph! Faith is strong
because she is sure of victory! Faith takes to herself this
thought–that in the victory she shall share her reward.

What will men not do for a crown? Even for an ivy crown the Grecian
athlete would strain every nerve. Now they did it for a corruptible
crown–but we for an incorruptible! Faith makes the crown of eternal
life glitter before the Believer's eyes. It waves before him the palm
branch. Sense pictures the grave, loss, suffering, defeat, death,
forgetfulness–but faith points to the resurrection, the pompous
appearance of the Son of Man, the calling of the saints from every
corner of the earth, the clothing of them all in their triumphant array
and the entrance of the blood-washed conquerors into the Presence of
God with eternal joy! Thus faith makes us, out of weakness, to become
strong.

Let me remind you that the essential ingredients of faith's comfort are
just these–faith sees the invisible and beholds the substance of that
which is afar off. Faith believes in God–a present, powerful God full
of love and wisdom effecting His decrees–accomplishing His purposes,
fulfilling His promises, glorifying His Son. Faith believes in the
blood of Jesus, in the effectual redemption on the bloody tree. It
believes in the power of the Holy Spirit, His might to soften the stone
and to put life into the very ribs of death! Faith grasps the reality
of this Book–she does not look upon it as a sepulcher with a stone
laid on it–but as temple in which Christ reigns, as an ivory palace
out of which He comes riding in His chariot, conquering and to conquer.

Faith does not believe the Gospel to be a worn-out scroll, to be rolled
up and put away. She believes that the Gospel, instead of being in its
dotage, is in its youth! She anticipates for it a manhood of mighty
struggles, and a grand maturity of blessedness and triumph. Faith does
not shirk the fight–she longs for it because she foresees the victory.
I would compare faith to an emperor of whom we have read that he
summoned his counselors and generally judged as to whether he should go
to war by their opinion. But he did it in the following manner–if they
warned him that it would be a very fearful war, if they said that the
enemy's cities would never be taken, that the armies on the other side
were too numerous to be conquered, and the provinces too extensive to
be held–he would reply, "We will do it then, for if there is anything
which you gentlemen think to be easy, it is beneath the dignity of the
emperor and the troops whom he commands. But if you reckon it
impossible there is a clear field for honor!"

Was it not a man fit to be a soldier of such a prince, who when told
that the Persian arrows were so numerous that they would obscure the
light of the sun, replied, "We shall fight splendidly in the shade."
Surely he was akin to

Alexander, who, when they said that the Persians were as the sands on
the seashore, replied, "One butcher is not afraid of a whole flock of
sheep." So let it be with us! Let us feel that we are men of another
mold than to be afraid. Let us feel that believing in God we do not
know how to spell "coward." And as to fear of defeat or fear of man–we
give that up for the craven dogs who slink at their master's heels, and
wear their master's collar, and eat the garbage which his bounty throws
to them.

We care not for the things that are seen! We have learned to live upon
angels' diets and to eat the bread which comes down from Heaven. Our
motto is, "Courage! Courage!" And our belief is that the day shall
come–

"When the might with the right And the right with the might Forever
more shall be. And come what may To stand in the way, That day the
world shall see."

III. The third point is to ADMINISTER THIS MEDICINE, but no time
remains, and besides I cannot do it. You must go to Him who compounded
it, namely, the blessed Spirit of the living God, and take with you
this prayer, "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief." And this other one,
"Lord, increase our faith." But I will give you a few hints. Some of
you are going through a present personal difficulty–you are
embarrassed in money matters, or a child is sick, or the wife is dying,
or some other Providential trial is vexing you–you are saying, "I
cannot bear it!"

I will not pray with you that you may be comforted in that sinful
weakness but I will, and do beseech you to ask for faith in that
Father's hand which wields the rod that you may get out of the
weakness, and may now be made strong to suffer with holy patience what
your loving Father's wisdom appoints for you. Others have a spiritual
duty before you, but you are shirking it because of its difficulty. You
do not like to "go through the ordeal"–that is what you call it. You
are disobediently timid.

Now, I shall not ask God to comfort you in that weakness–you know your
Master's will, and you do it not–may you be beaten with many stripes
and may the stripes be blessed to you. I will ask that, knowing your
duty, you may rise out of that weakness by believing that God will help
you to obey, and so out of weakness you may be made strong. Some of you
are called, where you live, to contend earnestly for God and for His
Truth. You have many adversaries and your weakness makes you withhold
your testimony. You have been trimming a good deal–you have been
worshipping that modern Diana called Charity–which is the devil in the
form of an angel of light–instead of bringing out all the Truth of
God, you have given up the corners of it.

I shall not ask that you may have any comfort in such weakness. May you
be ashamed of having been ashamed of Christ and of His Cross! But I do
plead with God for you that believing the very sweepings of His Truth
to be precious, and the very cuttings of the diamond of the Gospel to
be worth fighting for, you may escape from your weakness and be made
strong in life and death to declare God's truth boldly.

Some or you are always doubting your Father's love, the faithfulness of
Christ and your own interest in Him. I will not comfort you in such a
state. I will not pray God to comfort you while you are in it, but I do
ask you to pray that you flee from such weakness. Do not doubt your God
till you have cause to doubt Him. Oh, Brothers and Sisters, if you will
never distrust the Lord Jesus till He gives you an occasion for
distrust and till there is something in His Character which should
rationally excite your suspicion, you will never disbelieve again! I
pray you seek more faith and you will rise out of your fears.

You who are afraid of dying–and there are some such here–shall I ask
that you may be made strong while in that weakness? No. I dare not!
Jesus Christ did not come to give you comfort while you are under the
fear of death. He came to deliver those who, through fear of death, are
all their lifetime subject to bondage. The plea shall be, therefore,
that you may have such faith in God and such a view of the Canaan on
the other side of the flood that you may look forward with delight, or
at least with resignation, to the time when you shall pass the river
and be forever with the Lord! The text says out of weakness, Brothers
and Sisters, and oh, may God grant that some of you who have been lying
spiritually on a sickbed may through this sermon be made to take up
your bed and walk! May all weakness be left behind even as the child
leaves the little garments of the nursery behind him when he becomes a
man.

IV. My last work was to PRAISE THE PHYSICIAN, and who is this? Who is
it that has taught us to believe? It is our Father who is in Heaven who
has taught us and bids us trust Him–blessed be His name! Join with
me–you need not sing with those lips–let your heart sing as you say,
"Blessed be our heavenly Father who has given us precious faith in Him.
Source of all goodness, foundation of all confidence, we adore You for
teaching us the sweet art of trusting You!"

Let us also, with equal thankfulness, bless the Lord Jesus, for we had
never been capable of faith in the invisible God if there had not been
a Mediator by whom we might come to Him. Blessed be those wounds and
those agonies, and that death which is the door of our faith in the
Father's love! Blessed, moreover, be that mysterious Person, the Holy
Spirit, for faith is His gift and if it is to be increased in us, He
must increase it. "O blessed Spirit, be You forever praised for putting
such a jewel as faith into our poor hearts! And blessed be Your power
for keeping it there, for Satan would long ago have stolen it! And
blessed be Your energy which shall keep it till I am beyond the reach
of the foe."

Brothers and Sisters, do not let what I have said this morning merely
pass your ears. I am persuaded that though I have not put it as I could
wish there is a great deal of practical value in the truth which I have
stated. You must be strong. This is not an age in which weak
Christianity will do. It is strong energetic religion that we need now,
and you cannot obtain it except by gaining strong faith and much of it.
Plead for it, and then, when you shall have obtained it, the world
shall feel your power, God shall be glorified, and Christ's name shall
be lifted high.

You who have no faith at all may learn something here. It is only by
faith that the impotence and inability of human nature is overcome so
that the soul receives Christ unto salvation. May the Holy Spirit work
that faith in you to your eternal salvation, for Jesus' sake. Amen.