Weak Hands and Feeble Knees
A Sermon
(No. 243)
Delivered on Sabbath Morning, March 20th, 1859, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.
"Strenghten ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees."–Isaiah
35:8.
IT IS THE DUTY of all men to be careful of the sons of sorrow. There be
some who from their very birth are marked by melancholy as her own. The
silent shades of sorrow are their congenial haunts; the glades of the
forest of grief are the only places where their leaf can flourish.
Others there are who through some crushing misfortune are brought so
low that they never hold up their heads again, but go from that time
forth mourning to their graves. Some there be, again, who disappointed
in their early youth, either in some fond object of their affections,
or else in some project of their young ambition, never can dare to face
the world, but shrink from contact with their fellows, even as the
sensitive plant curls up its tendrils at the touch. In all flocks there
must be lambs, and weak and wounded sheep; and among the flock of men,
it seems that there must necessarily be some who should more than
others prove the truth of Job's declaration, "man is born to trouble
even as the sparks fly upwards." It is the duty then of those of us who
are more free than others from despondency of spirit, to be very tender
to these weak ones. Far be it from the man of courageous disposition,
of stern resolve, and of unbending purpose, to be hard towards those
who are timid and despairing. If we have a lion-like spirit, let us not
imitate the king of beasts in his cruelty to those timid fallow deer
that fly before him, but let us place out strength at their service for
their help and protection. Let us with downy fingers bind up the
wounded heart; with oil and wine let us nourish their fainting spirits.
In this battle of life, let the unwounded warriors bear their injured
comrades to the rear, bathe their wounds, and cover them from the storm
of war. Be gentle with those that are desponding. Alas, it is not every
man that has learned this lesson. There are some who deal with others
with rough-handed thoughtlessness. "Ah," they say, "if such a one be so
foolish as to be sensitive let him be." O speak not thus; to be
sensitive, timid, and desponding, is ill enough in itself, without out
being hard and untender towards those who are so afflicted. Go ye
forth, and do to others as ye would that they should do to you; and as
ye would that others should in your hours of despondency deal with you
tenderly and comfortably, so deal ye tenderly and comfortably with
them.
But my text, especially commands the minister to deal tenderly with
those of Christ's people who are in such a condition, and these are not
a few, for although religion changes the moral temperament of men, it
does not change the physical. A man who is weak in health before
conversion will probably be as weak afterwards, and many a spirit that
has a tendency to despondency, has exhibited that tendency after
conversion. We do not profess that the religion of Christ will so
thoroughly change a man as to take away from him all his natural
tendencies; it will give the despairing something that will alleviate
that despondency, but as long as that is caused by a low state of body,
or a diseased mind, we do not profess that the religion of Christ will
totally remove it. No, rather, we do see every day that amongst the
best of God's servants, there are those who are always doubting, always
looking to the dark side of every providence, who look at the
threatening more than at the promise, are ready to write bitter things
against themselves, and often put the bitter for sweet, and the sweet
for bitter, erring against their own spirits and robbing themselves of
comforts which they might enjoy. To those then, I shall have to speak
this morning in the words of our text, "Strengthen ye the weak hands,
and confirm the feeble knees."
There is a figure used in the text, and I shall keep to it. First, I
shall attempt to show the importance of hands and knees in going to
heaven. In the second place, I shall observe the ill effect of having
weak hands and feeble knees; then note the causes of those weak hands
and feeble knees; for in so doing I hope I shall be able to apply a
cure.
I. And, now, first, we find in our text hands and knees mentioned. We
may be quite sure that THEY ARE VERY IMPORTANT IN GETTING TO HEAVEN.
The hands and knees, we must remember, are those parts of the body in
which the effects of fear are the most easily seen. Of course the root
of despondency and fear must lie in the heart; it is that which is
first moved with terror. But afterwards these extremities, these limbs
of action, these modes of expressing the will of the heart begin to
feel the weakness also. The hands hang down in terror, and the knees
begin to tremble. We are always accustomed to describe a man when he is
in a great fright, when some overwhelming danger appals him, as hanging
down his hands or wringing them in despair, and as feeling his knees
knocking together in the moment of his terror. Just so the prophet
means, that wherever the Christian displays most his timidity and his
dismay there we must be careful to apply the remedy of comfort. Now, it
is the fact that when the Christian's heart begins to tremble, his
hands of action grow weak, and his knees of prayer begin to tremble
also; he becomes unable to do and unable to pray. He is weak in active
service, and he becomes weak also in wrestling with his God. Hands and
knees are the exhibitors of inward power. Now, there are some men whose
fears are so great that they have become visible, and can no longer be
concealed. There was a time when these sons of mourning were able to
mask their sorrow with an outward cheerfulness, but now they cannot.
The fear of the heart has glided into their hands and descended into
their knees; and we see them hiding from us, as the hind, when smitten
by the arrow, retires from the herd to bleed alone. To such as these,
ye sons of consolation, are ye sent with words of pity and deeds of
love.
But, note, the hands and knees are of the first importance because they
represent active duty and supplication. The way to heaven is, through
faith in Christ; but after we have believed in Christ the legitimate
tendency of faith is active service. Although the Christian shall go to
heaven through the blood of Christ, yet as a pilgrim he must walk
there; and although he overcomes through the blood of the Lamb, yet as
a warrior he must fight if he would reign. Active service is expected
of every Christian. Christ does not put his children on a bed, and then
carry them to heaven along a lazy road; but he gives them life and bids
that life develope itself; he gives them strength, and commands them to
use the strength in working out their own salvation. While he works in
them, they are passive; but he then bids them be active and work out
what he has beforehand wrought in. He is no Christian who does not seek
to serve his God. The very motto of the Christian should be "I serve."
Christ's people are Christ's servants, and as the angels in heaven
delight to fly at God's behests, so do the children of God delight to
run in the way of his commands. Hence, then, if the knees be weak and
the hands be weak, it is little that we can do. We cannot run with the
weak knee; we cannot labour with the weak hand. How can ye, the
servants of Christ, how can ye lift the heavy burdens which ye have to
carry, if your hands be weak and your knees totter? How can ye pull
down the walls of your enemies if your hands tremble? How can ye smite
your foemen with the sword of faith if your arm be weak? Look well,
then, to this, for herein ye suffer exceeding loss; if in active
service ye lose power and strength.
Again, the knees may signify power. When a man becomes timid and
desponding, his closet very soon becomes the chamber of woe. Our
closets are either Bethels of Bochims,–the house of God or else the
house of weeping. Let a man become timid, distrustful, doubting,
fearing, trembling–what little power has he when he comes before the
mercy seat! He would believe in God, but he cannot appropriate the
promise. He would lay hold of the angel, but all his sinews shrink, and
he cannot wrestle. He would plead the promise, but his hand refuses to
clutch it with an iron grasp. And he goes away crying, "Oh that I could
pray! oh that I could believe in God! oh that I could succeed with God
in prayer, and become as a prevailing prince. Alas! I am as weak as
water, and I can do nothing." Herein lies the importance of having a
strong hand that we may serve God, and of having a strong knee that we
may wrestle with him in prayer, and get the blessing from him.
Note, again, that we may readily see what the prophet means by hands
and knees, if we observe that a Christian, although his hopes are in
heaven, stands upon the earth. It is with the hand of faith that the
Christian lays hold upon that which is not seen, and endeavours to
climb upwards to the skies; it is with his foot that he spurns the
earth and all that it calls good or great. Let the Christian's foot be
weak, and he cannot then despise the things that are seen: but he will
be fixing his affection on things on earth and not on things above. Let
his hand of faith, on the other hand, grow weak, and he cannot lay hold
of the things that are in heaven. He will find it difficult to fix his
hold above the stars, and feel that he is surely anchored; and very
hard to climb the ladder Jacob saw. The foot represents the manner in
which we deal with earth, we tread upon it boldly and courageously,
despising its threats, contemning its riches, contemning its honours.
The weak knee cannot do this; we are then apt to bend, and cringe, and
fawn before a wicked world to be slaves, where we ought to be freemen,
and vile where we ought to be noble. Here again we see the importance
of the hands and the knees.
But you will remember also that there are certain parts of the
spiritual pilgrimage where hands and knees are absolutely required.
John Bunyan represents Christian as coming to the foot of the hill
Difficulty, and he says, "I looked then after Christian, to see him go
up the hill, where I perceived he fell from running to going, and from
going to clambering upon his hands and knees, because of the steepness
of the place." Many such a place you and I have had to pass, brother
Christians. Once we could run along the walls of salvation with
triumphant faith; at other times we could walk even through the valley
of the shadow of death with quiet confidence: but we have come to a
place of trial and of extraordinary difficulty, where all speed failed
us, and strength did not suffice. Then always on our knees in agony of
prayer, and always on our hands in simplicity of faith, we climbed our
weary way, often fearing lest we should fall backward to out
destruction, but crying out, "Lord, let my knee find a resting place,
let my hand hold on some projecting crag of promise, that there I may
get a fast hold, lest I totter and fall. I can but ascend slowly. My
heart followeth hard after thee, my spirit crieth after thee; Lord,
help me! help me to climb this way, for back I cannot go." Every
Christian who knows much about divine experience will understand what
this means. He will often be brought into such a position that he can
make but little progress; and he must think it quite enough if he can
hold his ground against the desperate difficulties of his path. Hands
and knees, then, in many ways, are essential for a Christian's comfort,
his help, and his advance in the road to heaven.
II. Now, I shall have in the second place to show THE ILL EFFECT OF
WEAK HANDS AND KNEES.
And, first, we have already hinted that one ill fruit of a Christian
having weak hands and knees is this, that he will not himself be able
to make much progress in the divine life. Christian men have never
attained to what they are to be. They have only started on their
pilgrimage, and after they have gone their furthest, there is a
yet-beyond towards which they must press with earnest heart, though
with weary footsteps. How is it that some of you have made but little
progress on the road to heaven? In looking back on your lives, come of
you must acknowledge that you do not know much more about Christ now
than you did six years ago. You do not enjoy greater nearness of access
to him now than you did then. You are not more diligent in his service,
or more fearless in his defence, than you were at a period which has
long since elapsed. Perhaps you are compelled to feel that you have
made no advance, or even have gone backward. Why is this? Is it not
because your hands have become weak, your knees have become feeble? You
have neglected prayer: you have forsaken your closets, you have not
poured out your hearts before God with that frequency which once
distinguished you, and you have not the faith you once possessed. You
have not believed the promise as you ought to have done. You have not
taken God at his naked word, and trusted to him as he deserved. And do
you expect ever to make any progress in the road to heaven if you doubt
your God? Do you imagine that you shall ever go far along in the
heavenly pilgrimage if you neglect prayer? As well could you expect a
plant to grow without air and water as to expect your heart to grow
without prayer and faith. A poor blanched thing may be produced in a
dark cellar; and so may you maintain a poor, blanched miserable
existence, if you live absent from your God, and apart from that
strength which faith can give you, but you can never attain the healthy
verdure of grace. Oh, man, if thou wouldst grow in grace, if thou
wouldst comprehend with all saints what are the heights and depths, and
know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, look well to thy knees
that they be strong, look well to thy hands that they hang not down.
The Christians of this age seem to me to be content with themselves,
though there is infinite reason for the reverse. When I sit down and
read the biographies of saints who have gone to heaven, I am astonished
at myself, and I can only weep to think how far I am behind these men,
and then how much further I must be behind my divine Master. Surely the
examples of eminent saints should spur us onward. If Henry Martin could
unreservedly devote his life and energies to Christ's service, why may
not we? If Martin Luther with holy boldness could face the danger, why
should not we? If Calvin with clear and eagle eye could read the
doctrines of the gospel amid the mists of error, why should not we? If
men of more modern times have been able to endure opprobrium and
disgrace for Christ's sake, or if they in private have been able to
reach to the seventh heaven of communion with God, and have lived on
earth as if they were in paradise, why should not we? There is no
reason why the least saint in God's family should not outrun the
greatest. Why look upon the saints of olden time as if they were so far
above us that we can never equal them? Oh, dream not so! What Abraham
was you may be. What the mightiest saint of that former life was, that
ought you to be. You should never rest satisfied until you labour to
surpass them all; yea, not even them, for you have not yet attained to
the perfection which is in Christ. I know this age is one which is
always satisfied if it gets barely enough to carry it to heaven. Where
is that holy ambition which ought to stir the Christian soul to noble
deeds? But few of us have felt it. We are drivelling dwarfs, content
with the small height to which we have attained, forgetful of the
steeps which tower above our heads. Up! Christian, up! The mount of
holiness may be steep to climb, but, man, the hill of God is a high
hill, even as the hill of Bashan. Up! up! for it is only on its summit
that the calm air of heaven can be breathed, and the mists of earth
entirely swept away. But weak hands and feeble knees, I know, in this
age, are the reasons why so few Christians attain to any eminence in
the ways and works of God.
Yet, again, weak hands and feeble knees have another ill effect. They
prevent our doing any great wonder for the good of the world. Oh! what
work there is to do in this poor world of ours. Imagine the first
colonist landing in Australia. If it had been revealed to him in a
vision that, in process of time, the whole of that huge island should
be ploughed, and sown, and built upon, and inhabited, he would have
said, "How is this to be done? how can it ever be effected?" And, even
now, great as has been the progress in that country, if we were assured
that in a few short years the whole of it would be brought under
tillage, we should be apt to ask, but how shall it be done? We should,
however, very readily perceive that there must be strong knees to dig,
and strong hands to delve and plough, or else the work never could be
accomplished. Many there must be, and the many must be strong, else the
work cannot be done. And now, lift up your eyes, this day! behold, the
whole world lies before you like one huge untilled country. Who is to
drive the ploughshare of divine grace through all the continents of
this world? Who is to make this desert blossom like the rose? Who shall
sow it with the good seed-corn of the kingdom of God? Where are the
labourers who shall afterwards reap the whitening fields? Not weak and
feeble knees; they cannot do it. Our knees must be strong and our
sinews must be well braced, or else so great a work can never be
accomplished. I believe one reason why the religion of Christ makes
such little progress at this time, is because most of us are so weak.
We find, a few centuries after Christ's death, his name was preached in
every land; there was not one region of the known globe which had not
heard the marvellous story of the cross. But, then, the followers of
Christ were men who knew not what it was to tremble. They counted not
their lives dear unto them; but leaving houses, and land, and families,
for his name's sake, they went everywhere preaching the Word. But at
this day we are not strong. We must all be assured of a livelihood
before we will go forth to preach the Word; and, even then, if no one
shall smile on us, how soon we cease the work. We commence an
enterprise, but little difficulties appal us. How many does the pastor
have to see, of little men and little women who come creeping to him,
and whining because they find difficulties in serving Christ. Is not
this because ye have weak hands and feeble knees? If ye had the strong
knees of the apostles, and the mighty hands of the ancient martyrs,
nothing could stand against you. Let God's children once become strong,
and woe unto thee, Babylon, woe unto thee, O Rome; down must ye fall,
ye castles of the enemy. The weakness of God's children is your hope,
but their strength is your despair. Let them once believe firmly, let
them pray earnestly, and behold Victory waits upon their banners, and
dismay will seize your hearts ye enemies of Christ. We are at this time
blessing God that great doors have been opened for the spread of the
gospel. Hindostan, China, Japan, many lands we hope shall soon be
visited by the Christian missionary. But are we not conscious that our
opportunities are greater than our strength? Must not the Christian
church confess that she has now a greater field, but she has, perhaps,
fewer labourers than ever? The harvest is greater, but the labourers
are fewer. Whence comes it? It comes from this fact, that through the
church of Christ the weak hand and the feeble knee have become the
general rule. "Oh," says one, "but surely there might be found some men
to go out." And so say others as well as you, why are you not the man
to go? You say others should be thrust into the vineyard, and why stand
back yourself? That torpor which seizes upon us, has seized upon others
too. Let us not be hasty in condemning the rest of the church, till we
have first tested ourselves. Do we not owe our all to Christ? Are we
not personally his debtors? If we felt this debt, if we felt the value
of souls, should not each of us give more towards the spread of this
gospel? should we not pray more agonisingly? and would there not be
found many of us who would be ready to labour more indefatigably. If
the minister of Christ be weak, rest assured it is because the church
itself is not strong. The ministry is but the index of the church. If
we often fail in our pulpits, because they are not filled with fervent
men, we may reply to you, if the pews were fervent, the pulpit would
catch the flame. I am not speaking of water; I know that water runs
down hill; but I am now speaking of fire, and fire ascends. Let the
fire begin with you, be you in earnest, supplicating, striving, and
wrestling with God in prayer, and the fire shall ascend to the pulpit,
and we too, shall become as earnest as yourselves. Let us use no mutual
recriminations. The whole church is alike at this present moment; it is
all weak. There are but few and noble exceptions; but few who are
strong in prayer, who are mighty in serving their God. And hence it is
that Satan still retains the throne, still darkness broods over the
nations, and still men are not saved. May God strengthen us, or what
shall become of the world we wot not.
Again, weak hands and feeble knees very much dishonour Christ. I would
say nothing to grieve the heart of any weak believer here present this
morning, but still we must speak the truth. Want of faith and weakness
in prayer dishonour Christ. Suppose you have a friend, and you say to
him, "My friend, I have such confidence in you, that I will trust you
with the title-deeds of my estate, and with all I have. Nay, more; I
will trust you with my health, I will trust you with my life. Do what
you will with me; I have such faith in your goodness and your wisdom
that I am sure you will not be unkind, and will not err. I trust you."
There is something honourable in faith to the object in whom it is
reposed. Now, if you are able, with the strong hand of faith, to bring
all you have and give it entire unto God, and say, "There, Lord, I
surrender all to thee; do with me as thou wilt, and with mine too; take
what thou wilt away; give me what thou pleasest, or withhold what thou
choosest; I leave all in thy hand; I can trust thee entirely; I know
thou wilt make no mistake; I know thou wilt not treat me harshly; I
leave all to thee; without word, or thought, or wish, I surrender all."
If you can do this, then Christ is glorified; but if your hand is weak,
and you are hiding away some choice thing that you cannot give up to
him, if you do not stand fully to the surrender, but keep back
something from him, then that weak hand brings dishonour upon God. So
also does the feeble knee. Some one has given you a promise, that if
you are in need and go to him, he will give whatever you want. You go
up to his door, you knock timidly; and when he comes to meet you, you
rush into the street and hide yourself, for you are ashamed that he
should see you. Driven by necessity, however, you knock again; at last
he comes, and you stand trembling before him. "Well," says he, "what do
you want?" "You have given me a promise, sir, that when I am in need
you will do so-and-so for me, and I really do not believe it: I have no
confidence in you, and I do not like to ask." There would be nothing
honorable in that to any man. How far different was the example of
Alexander's courtier. The king said to him, "I will give to thee
whatever thou requesteth;" and the man asked such a gift as almost
emptied Alexander's coffers. "Ay," says the monarch, "it was a great
thing for him to ask, but it is only a little thing for Alexander to
give. I like the man's confidence in me, in using my word to its
fullest extent." Now when the believer goes to his closet and bows
there with feeble knee, and asks God to bless him and does not half
believe that he will, he dishonours God. But, when a man goes up to his
chamber, saying in his heart, "There is something that I want, and I am
going to get it;" and he falls on his knees, and cries, "Lord, thou
knowest all things: thou knowest that such a thing is necessary to me;
there is thy promise; do as thou hast said,' Lord; I know thou wilt
give it me." And when he rises from his knees, and goes down and says
to his friend, "The blessing will come; I have asked for it; I have
prayed the prayer of faith, and God will hear me;" why, such a man
honours God. I would remind you again of a great proof of all this.
Look at Mr. Miller, at Ashleydown, near Bristol. Could he have built
that house for orphans if he had a weak hand and a feeble knee? No. But
he had a strong hand; he meant to serve his God by feeding and clothing
orphans. On the other hand he had a strong knee. "Lord," he said, "I
will do this enterprise–give me the means to do it." And he went to
God, and did not doubt that he would do it. And, lo! thousands have
rolled into his treasury, and he has never known lack; and now, seven
hundred children live under his care, and are fed and clothed to the
honour of God. Let us also seek to have strong hands and mighty knees,
and so shall we honour God. If we do not build an orphan house to his
name, yet shall we raise our Ebenezer, and leave some trophy to the
honour of his grace. These are some reasons why we should look well to
hands and knees.
III. And, now, the last point was this: THERE ARE CERTAIN CAUSES OF
WEAK HANDS AND FEEBLE KNEES, and in mentioning them, I shall endeavour
to correct them.
Some Christians have weak hands and feeble knees because they are only
infants. They are young Christians, they have not been converted long.
God's family is like every other family; we do not expect the new-born
convert to run alone at first. Perhaps, it will be months, say
sometimes years, before he will be able to feel his feet. We thank God
that there is a very comfortable promise for those who are babes in
Christ, and cannot run alone:–"He shall carry the lambs in his bosom."
"I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms," says God, by
the prophet Hosea. So ye, just born to God, must not despair because ye
cannot as yet play the man with the promise; if ye cannot now wrestle
with the angel, remember, God does not require wrestling from infants.
He will not overdrive his lambs. He will not overdrive his lambs. He
does not expect long marches from feeble feet. As you are but weak, you
shall have lighter duties. As you are at present but tender, and young,
you shall not have heavy labours to perform. But seek to grow in grace.
Feed upon the unadulterated milk of the Word of God, and pray that he
would bring you up from babes into young men, and from young men into
perfect men in Christ Jesus.
A more frequent cause, however, of weak hands and feeble knees, is
starvation, absolute starvation. Is there such a thing known in England
as starvation? Yes, there is of a spiritual kind. There are many houses
which are dedicated to the worship of God, that certainly never were
dedicated to the profit of man. There are places into which a Christian
might enter all the year round, without ever getting any understanding
of the doctrines of God at all. Many a minister, in these days, of fine
language, and of polished rounded periods, resembles Nero, who when the
city of Rome was starving, sent his galleys to Alexandria to bring back
sand for the wrestlers, but not corn for hungry mouths. We have heard
many a discourse that has been very fine indeed, as a moral essay, but
it has had no food in it for the poor hungry mouths of God's people.
One has but very little opinion of the present race of professing
Christians when you see their frequent changes. I know men at this day
who hear an Arminian with the greatest possible delight–"Such a dear,
good, earnest man!" And if a Calvinist preaches the next Sunday, who
contradicts every word the other man said–"Oh, he is such a precious
creature!" because he happens to have a great flow of words. And then
comes another who happens to be a hyper-Calvinist, and who says most
extraordinary things–"He is a precious child of God, he preaches
admirably!" And then there comes afterwards a Pelagian, or almost an
Arian, and it is just the same–they take it all in, and delight in it.
The reason is, because these people never taste the word of God at all.
They look at it, but so long as they do not taste it and feed on it
they know nothing of it. If they fed on the Word, they would have their
senses exercised by reason of the use, and they would be able to
discern between the good and the evil, the precious and the vile. Many
of our Calvinistic preachers do not feed God's people. They believe in
election, but they do not preach it. They think particular redemption
true, but they lock it up in the chest of their creed, and never bring
it out in their ministry. They hold final perseverance, but they
persevere in keeping quiet about it. They think there is such a thing
as effectual calling, but they do not think they are called effectually
to preach it. The great fault we find with many is, that they do not
speak right out what they do believe. You could not know if you heard
them fifty times what were the doctrines of the gospel, or what was
their system of salvation. And hence God's people get starved. And all
the while the only remedy they have for the poor, weak, starving child
of God, is a long whip. They are always cracking this whip with the
loud sound of "do this! do that! and do the other!" If they would put
the whip in the manger and feed God's people, then they would be able
run the heavenly race. But now it is all whip and no corn, and no
creature can subsist upon that. No child of God can ever grow strong in
grace with mere exhortation, if it be not associated with good
old-fashioned doctrine. I should like to hear all our pulpits sounding
with the old-fashioned doctrine of John Owen, and of such men as
Bunyan, and Charnock, and Goodwin, and those men of olden times who
knew the truth and dared to preach it fully. There were giants in those
days. In every parish church in the city of London, and in this
borough, too, you might have found men who were no children in
divinity, but masterly men, each of them able to declare the word of
God with the authority of a master in Israel. Now where find we such?
We labour and we strive, we dig, we toil, we seek to be something, and
we end in being nothing. And so it must be as long as hands are weak
and knees are feeble; and so also must this be as long as good doctrine
is denied us, and truth is kept back in the ministry. Feed God's
children well; give them comfort; give them much to feed upon of the
sweet things of the kingdom of God; and then they will grow strong,
then they will begin to work.
But, again, fear is the great weakness of men's knees; doubt and
distrust are the great relaxers of the strength of men's hands. He that
hath faith in God is almost omnipotent; he that hath might in prayer
(through the Holy Spirit), is quite so. He that believeth God with all
his heart, there is none in the world that can match with him; and he
that prayeth to God with all fervency of soul, may overcome the divine
omnipotence itself, and move the arm that moves the world. Give a man
faith, and he is in the midst of his enemies, like a lion amid a herd
of dogs, he sweeps them away. With what an easy motion of his gigantic
strength he rips them open and lays them dead. Nothing can stand
against the man who believes. He plants his standard in the midst of
rocks: he stands up to it and draws his sword, and cries, "Come one,
come all: this rock shall fly from its firm base as soon as I; I am a
match for you; I believe, and therefore have I spoken; I believe still,
and therefore do I speak again; and I will not move though hell and
earth come against me." But when a man becomes doubting and timid,
where is his strength? The moment you doubt away goes your might.
Strong feet make a man mighty, but a strong knee makes him mightier
still. Christ's soldiers always win their battles on their knees. On
their feet they may be conquered, but on their knees they are
invincible. The praying legion is the thundering legion. Napoleon sent
out his old guard in the last extremity of the battle of Waterloo. They
had always carried victory with them, but they were at last defeated.
But the old guard of the church of Christ is the legion of prayer. The
men that are mighty on their knees, these never have been defeated.
When they march on in steady phalanx,, they are mightier than the push
of bayonet, though British arms and British hearts should drive the
bayonet home. Nothing can stand against men that pray. Let the church
but once fall on its knees, and it shall have might to make the enemy
fall on ITS knees–not in prayer, but in terror and dismay. Other
warriors cry, "Up guards and at them!" Our cry is, "Down, guards, on
your knees, and at them!" There, on your knees you become mighty; you
draw near to the great seat of God, and then you draw near to the
fountain of your strength and of your triumph. Fear, then, must be got
rid of. We must labour with God, that he would be pleased to give us
strong faith; that we may not doubt the word of God, nor doubt our
interest, nor doubt his love, nor doubt our perseverance, but may
believe and become mighty, having no longer weak hands and feeble
knees.
Let me add one more thought only; namely this, that sloth may make a
man weak in his hands an in his feet. Arms become strong by using them.
The blacksmith gets a brawny hand by constantly using his hammer. He
who climbs the mountain, or walks many a mile a day, becomes strong in
his feet. Those who sit still and walk but a little while are wearied
with a few miles; but those who have tramped through continents are not
speedily to be wearied. Use makes us strong, but sloth enfeebles us.
There are many of you who might be stronger if you laboured more. What
a lazy corporation the church of Christ is! Taking it all round there
must be, I think, more lazy people in the church of Christ than there
is to be found in any other body of men. There are some that do
valiantly and serve God, but how many of you there are who are quite
content to occupy your seats and hear sermons without doing anything
for God's cause. I do not hesitate to say that I believe there are many
of you here who never won a soul to Christ in your lives, and scarcely
ever tried to do so. You never lay poor souls to heart; you never go to
God in heart and prayer for your poor perishing neighbours. Now and
then, if you see a drunken man, you say "it is a great pity;" and if
you hear of a murder, you say "it is a dreadful thing." But very little
you care about it. You do not agonize and cry for the iniquity of this
land. What do you do? You put a sixpence in the plate now and then, and
that is your gift to God's cause; you sing a hymn or join in prayer,
and that is your service to God. The custom with religious people is,
they pay their seat-rent, they attend the chapel, and then they have
done their duty. And even in the ministry itself, you hear of a
clergyman speaks of doing his duty, when he reads his prayer and when
he has done his preaching. But we want to have warmer hearts, and more
active lives, or else, surely, the church must die of sloth. Oh that
every one of you would think you had something to do for Christ in this
life, and that you must do it. If your knees are feeble, serve God the
best you can with them; if your hands hang down, then do the best you
can with the hands hanging down, and pray God to strengthen them, until
you become mighty, and then you will be able to do more. But do
something every one of you. If England expects every one to do his
duty, how much more may the church demand of every professor that he
should be doing something for his Master. Do not think it is enough to
get good; do good. The candle must soon be extinguished that is shut up
without fresh air. Give your light plenty of air, and it will burn all
the brighter; and others seeing your light will be able to rejoice in
it. You are not to eat your morsel alone; if you do you will become
weak, for God hath so ordained it; that if we keep our religion to
ourselves it will become feeble. The man who hoards his gold grows no
richer, but he who puts it out to usury, will grow richer himself and
help to enrich other men. Do so with your religion; put it out to
usury, and you will grow richer, water men's souls, and you shall be
watered. The most practical way for religious people is to do
something; visit the sick, help the poor, teach the ignorant, succour
the distressed; and in all these ways you will find that God will bless
you, and your hands shall become strong, and your knees shall not
totter. Above all, cry for the Holy Spirit to strengthen you, for
without him all is vain.