VIRTUE IN WEAKNESS

Northern Advocate, 23 July 1938, Page 12

VIRTUE IN WEAKNESS

The Sabbath Hour

Being a sermon written by Rev. J. A. Scarrow, Presbyterian Minister, Kaitaia. f Text: “When I am weak, then am I strong.”—ll Corinthians, i2;10. THE title of this address suggests that there is virtue in weakness. In this day of solemn crisis, when men’s hearts are I failing them for fear, and the great quest is for security, what a comfort it is to know that security in life is found not in 'man’s strength, but in the power of God. This truth is suggested by Paul when he asks; “Where is the wise?” “Where is the scribe?” “Where is the disputer of this world?” “Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” As in Paul’s day, so today: the world is seeking after a sign and looking for some great statesman or dictator to arise; but does our salvation come from the mighty such as these? Nay! God hath chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things which are mighty, that no flesh should glory in His presence. What is strength? When we lift up an axe against a tree we see the iron prevail over the wood, and we say that iron is strong. Yet there is boiler steel which is capable of resisting great steam pressure and can be punched by hydraulic pressure as easily as tickets are punched by a railway guard. There are shears that can cut it with the same ease with which a tailor cuts his cloth. In the animal kingdom the greatest beasts are facing extinction. The Mammoth, the Mastodom, the Great Sloth, and the Moa all have gone, and the gorilla, because of his huge proportions, will soon be extinct; while feeble folk like the cories who make their homes in rocks endure (Prov. 30:26). Strength, then, is made perfect in weakness, as Paul declares when he

says: “When I am weak, then I am strong.” So must we, like the cories, flee to the Rock —Christ Jesus—and from our hearts cry:— “Rock of ages, cleft for me — Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Saviour, or I die.” “That , which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” Therefore, it is weakness, not strength that God requires. The rich must set aside his wealth; the high-minded, the proud, the worldly wise man, these all must go down on their knees and, as little children, enter into the Kingdom by that lowly door. Then, as children of God, standing before Him, offering our service, we must yet remember the same lesson. Strength is made perfect in weakness. When God delivered Israel from Egypt, He did not send an army. We would have sent an army or an orator; but God sent this man Moses, who had been back there in the desert forty years, a man of slow speech. When the king looked at Moses, he ordered him out of his presence. “Who is God that I should obey Him?” But later he found out who .He was, for God used the little fly and the little frog. The world looks upon the frog and the fly with scorn and contempt, but the Egyptians found them to be a terrible army when sent to do God’s bidding. We may be very wear: in ourselves, but see what a mighty God we have. God likes to take the weak things to confound the mighty. When David was weak in himself, he was able to meet the giant of Goth. The young stripling requires no armour of Saul, and with a few smooth stones in his bag, he says to the giant: “You have your sword, but I have come in the name of my God.” David is the last one we should have chosen for the work, though he is chosen of God. When darkness and superstition were settling over Scotland, the Spirit

of God came upon John Knox; and he moved all Scotland. Martin Luther, Wesley and Whitefield, grand and mighty men, relied not upon their own strength, but were mighty in God. John, writing in the Revelation, speaks of weeping in Heaven because when the sealed book was brought out there was no one worthy to open it. Abraham, the father of the faithful, was there, but was not worthy. Elijah, Daniel and the holy men of the Old Testament, and Stephen, the martyr, were all there, but none of these was worthy to open the book, and John wept much. Soon a voice was heard: “Weep not. Behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed to open the book.” John therefore on looking around beheld as were a Lamb slain. Here, again, strength Is made perfect in weakness. Because God wills to use only those who come unto Him in humility of spirit confessing their sins, let us draw near unto Him through that new and living way which our Saviour hath opened for us by His death. Then, by faith in Christ, having our hearts and minds separated from an evil conscience, we may offer our service to God, Who doth use the weak to confound the mighty, and we shall see how quickly He will use us.