Strength and Weakness: April 2025

“By weakness and defeat,
He won the meed and crown;
Trod all our foes beneath His feet
By being trodden down;
Bless, bless the Conqueror slain,
Slain in His victory.” (Little Flock, Appendix #4)

Strength Made Perfect in Weakness

The heavenly hosts praise God and say, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” There is nothing higher or more astonishing (save the cross) for those who have the mind of heaven. The choir alone see God in it, God manifested in flesh, and praise God in the highest. They rejoice that His delights are “with the sons of men.”

Of old God had displayed Himself in a flame of fire, without consuming the bush, and here, still more marvelously, in man. Infinite thought, though despicable to the world!

How hard it is to receive that the work of God and of His Christ is always in weakness! The rulers of the people saw in Peter and John unlearned and ignorant men. Paul’s weakness at Corinth was the trial of his friends, the taunt of his enemies, and the boast of himself. The Lord’s strength is “made perfect in weakness.” The thorn in the flesh made Paul despised, and he conceived it would be better if that were gone. He had need of the lesson, “My grace is sufficient for thee” (2 Cor. 12:9).

It is God’s rule of action, if we may so say, to choose the weak things. Everything must rest on God’s power, otherwise God’s work cannot be done according to His mind. One can hardly believe that one must be feeble to do the work of God, but Christ was crucified in weakness, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For the work of God, we must be weak, that the strength may be of God, and that work will last when all the earth shall be moved away.

J. N. Darby (excerpted)

Power in Christ

I have got something that gives me power to live, not according to the flesh but the Spirit. In everything, from the greatest to the least, there is nothing out of which we cannot get an occasion to glorify God. Someone once said he wanted a larger sphere of service, because he had so few opportunities where he was. My answer was, “Your life is an opportunity.” The Apostle Paul said to Timothy, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” If we were full of Christ, grace would be sure to flow forth in all circumstances, but whether it be the youngest or the most mature Christian, it can only flow forth as the eye is fixed on Jesus. Where was all to meet Timothy’s need? Is not the heart of Christ as fresh as ever to the people of His love? If the eye is fixed on Him, looking for grace, we shall be full of the joy of the Holy Spirit.

If you knew practically the blessed free giving of Christ (there is no end of the stream of grace flowing from Him), nothing down here would affect you unduly; you could not say “this or that looks very black”; it would not be black, looked at on Christ’s side. There is Christ’s side of everything down here.

Plenty of Affliction

As one connected with Christ Himself, you will find plenty of affliction. Do you say that your path is full of difficulty and trial? Well, thank God for it, saying, “As Christ’s path was strewn with thorns and briers, so would I have mine to be.” Are there none? Where are you? What! Are you going by a shortcut of your own into Canaan? I am often cheered when told that my path as a Christian is a hopeless path. Well, I say, then my path is like Paul’s. Enough for me to find affliction in connection with a living Christ. How can I use anything of the world? How gather for myself one flower fit to carry into God’s presence, save as standing in communion with a living Christ? Satan may give me a stigma, but that will only mark whose I am and where I am.

Oh, what a difference it makes in the sorrows of this life, if, instead of looking at them as something against us, we have fellowship with Christ in them. Would you like to be snatched up with dying embers clinging to your feet, saved so as by fire, rather than make up your mind to suffer with Christ? All who are laid on the foundation will be saved, but if walking inconsistently, it will be “so as by fire.” If walking consistently, receiving the reward.

Eternal Life

The Christian may say, “I have power to reject Satan, the world, and self, because I have got eternal life. I am standing in a strength that is just the same for me as it was for Paul. The evil may be increased, the days darker, but God is the same, and eternal life in Christ is what I have got. If I walk in separation from evil, as one who possesses that, I have the sweetness of this thought cheering me—the Lord knows me as His own.”

How is it in the present time that we do not find Christians satisfied with what God reveals in His Word? Just think of the difference between the early Christians and Christians now. Then they began with Christ as having borne their sin, being raised from the dead, and in the glory, where He had a place prepared for them. And whatever they might be, He knew no change; He was the same yesterday, today and forever. That was where the early Christians were. It gave them a spring of joy all the way and enabled them to bring that glory into all their circumstances as pilgrims and strangers. That glory never left Paul’s mind, and in all that he had to pass through, his soul was always delighting in it. It led him captive all the way.

G. V. Wigram

"Quit You Like Men, Be Strong"

It is understandable that a feeble, flabby young man would be unable to speak above a whisper or to move beyond the pace of a tortoise. But a strong, vigorous young man who makes his way in the world and pushes himself forward by the force of his character, and who, being a Christian, is dull, timid and, for all intents and purposes, next to useless in the battles of the Lord, this is an unaccountable mystery. How is it that there are so many Christian young men of the feeble and the flabby type? Too timid to give away a tract—too slow to move to do even menial service for their Lord and Master! What ails them? Are they incurable?

We met, some 20 years ago, a young man who was looking for work. Over and over again we saw him on this painful quest. A few days ago, we saw this same individual once again — no longer young, but grown to be a portly, middle-aged man. He was still looking for work — still on the same old quest! He made us think of men of a similar type in Christian things — men who spend a lifetime in looking for work, by looking the wrong way, and who are busy doing nothing for Christ till their hair grows gray, and who give promise of dying, while doing nothing. There must be a purpose of soul and determination, by God’s grace, to effect the purpose, or there will be no result.

“Quit you like men, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13), said the Apostle to the well-to-do and easy-living saints of Corinth. They needed stirring up to zeal and self-sacrifice; they knew little of the Apostle’s hardship, and but little of his spirit burned in their hearts. “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake,” he said, “for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).

In the things of God, we have seen useless young men — as the world reckons value — thoroughly useful for God. Though not favored with half the usual gift of wits, they served God with what wits they had, while clever, bright, well-educated Christian young men by their side were notable only for doing nothing in work for God.

We most earnestly appeal to young Christian men to lay themselves out for God’s service — to pray and to labor, to pray and to search the Scriptures, to shake themselves out of their ease and selfishness, and to give themselves up to hearty work for the Lord!

H. F. Witherby

Strength and Courage

Strength and courage are needed more in a day of decline than when all is going well. There is the enemy to contend with, and instead of having the support of our brethren, we may meet with that which chills the heart and fills it with sorrow. Here the heart is tested, and God only can sustain.

Service and Conflict

There is not only conflict with a common enemy, but there is the state of the saints to be borne as a burden on the heart. Will you bear this burden? Will you cleave to the saints in the power of divine love when they turn away from you, as all in Asia did from Paul? Will you seek to serve them when you are misunderstood, misrepresented, or even maligned, as Paul said to the Corinthian saints, “I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved” (2 Cor. 12:15)? The state of the saints with whom we have to do will often be the means of testing the state of our own hearts. It is easy to love my brethren when they love me and heap their favors upon me. But do I love them just the same when they turn against me or forsake me? Do I still cling to them when they have given me up? Do I intercede for them night and day when perhaps they are only speaking evil of me? The real question is, Have I got the heart of Christ about the saints? And do I see Christ’s glory bound up in them? Then I shall act toward them according to His heart and seek His glory in connection with their state, regardless of personal rights or present advantage.

Paul could appeal to God as his witness, how he longed after all the Philippian saints in the bowels (internal affections) of Jesus Christ. It was wholehearted devotion to the saints for the sake of Christ, and as having the heart of Christ about them. And this too we need to have, but it requires strength and courage to persevere in it, and the more so if the saints are in a low and carnal state. And we need to be continually cast on God who alone can give strength amid weakness and lead us on to victory. Diligent seeking of God’s face and patient waiting on Him for His will, His help and His guidance are indispensable. Why have we no strength? Why is there decline among us? Why breaking of ranks and scattering of the saints? Is it not because we have not lived close to Christ and gone on in humble dependence on God? And God’s Christ, God’s truth and God’s people have not had their rightful place in our affections. We have seen one growing careless and another going wrong, and we have perhaps talked about them and criticized them when we ought to have been on our faces interceding for them.

The Example of Joshua

There are many instances given us in the Word of God in which we see the display of this power and courage in carrying out the will of God. But the first chapter of Joshua is important as giving us the conditions governing these things. Three times over the Lord exhorts Joshua in that chapter to “be strong and of a good courage.” There was the work to be done, the principle on which it was to be done, and the ground of strength and courage for it.

The Work

1. The work to be done was the dividing of the land among the tribes of Israel. “Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them” (Josh. 1:6). The land to be divided was a land in which there were nations mightier than Israel — a land of “giants,” “chariots of iron,” and cities great and “fenced up to heaven.” These nations must be overcome in order to divide the land, and for this great work strength and courage were needed.

The Principle

2. Obedience was the principle on which this work was to be carried out and the condition of success. “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses My servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Josh. 1:7-8).

Here we can see there was no way to succeed but by obedience. Joshua was not to turn from the law to the right hand or the left. The words of the law were not to depart out of his mouth; he was to meditate upon them day and night, and the result would be a prosperous way and good success. The importance of this cannot be overestimated. If we have to do with God, His will must be everything. It is His to command; it is ours to obey.

Now God has made known His will to us in His Word. His will, His purposes and His counsels are all unfolded there. And if we would know His will and be obedient, we must attend to His Word. It is in the reception of the truth that we receive and enjoy blessing. God’s Word is bread to the soul. It is thus that we grow spiritually and learn God’s mind so that we may do His will and have communion with Him. In this way the life, ways, actions, words, motives, desires and affections of God’s people are formed and in a practical way become a testimony to the truth and grace of God. And God will manifest Himself with and for those who are thus practically governed by His Word.

The Ground

3. The ground of strength and courage is the fact that God has commanded and is with the one who obeys. “Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Josh. 1:9).

The difficulties might be like mountains, the enemy might be great and powerful, but Jehovah was greater than all and was with His obedient servant, so that he had nothing to fear. He had delivered Israel out of Egypt and brought them through the Red Sea, the wilderness and the Jordan, and He who had done this could lead them on to victory. He could give strength and courage against which no foe could stand.

We need this same strength and courage. “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might,” it is said (Eph. 6:10), where it is a question of Satan’s power and wiles. And when Christianity began to decline and Timothy was losing heart, the Apostle Paul encouraged him in these words: “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Tim. 1:7-8). Again, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1). Timothy needed this encouragement, and we need it; what is more, God is able to give it and will give it to those who go on in dependent obedience to His will.

Faith in God

But we need to have faith in God. Faith brings God in, and to His power there is no limit. Hebrews 11 gives us many examples of this faith which acted with God and in which His power was displayed. Moses “endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.” “Through faith” they “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens” (Heb. 11:33-34). In the midst of weakness faith made them strong. As Paul also said, “When I am weak, then am I strong.”

“Have faith in God,” Jesus said to His disciples, and then adds, “Verily I say unto you ... that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23). And how could it be otherwise if there is the faith that brings God into the matter? He who created the mountains can surely remove them also if He is pleased to do so. The real question is, Are we walking with Him? Have we the knowledge of His will so that we can act with confidence? Can we bring Him into what we are doing? Are we standing with Him and for Him in the carrying out of His will and His purpose, so that we can connect His name with our service? If this is so, no difficulty can be too great. We can go forward in the name of the Lord with strength and courage of heart and undismayed by all the power that Satan may raise up against us.

Diligence of Heart

And here let us observe that diligence of heart is needful, and I may add, as of equal importance, prayerful dependence. Oh, if we were more diligent as to the Word of God and prayer, how different our state would be! What fervency of heart in all our service and what devotedness to Christ and His people there would be, and how much greater blessing would be enjoyed!

How much we lack this diligence of heart! How many moments every hour, and hours every day, are wasted — time that might be given up to prayer and meditation on God’s blessed Word, in which we should find the Holy Spirit refreshing our souls and filling them with that which flows down from the heart of Christ in glory. Hours spent in foolish talk and idle gossip, grieving the Spirit, blighting spiritual growth, and drying up the springs of divine love in the soul, might be spent in holy, edifying conversation about Christ and His things. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another” (Col. 3:16). In this we need diligence of heart so that the Lord may be honored and our blessing and the blessing of others may be secured.

Our Own State

But will we now lay to heart our own state and that of our brethren? Will we own our slackness of soul —our guilty carelessness — and with diligence of heart seek God’s face and walk with Him? Then we might expect His blessing and the enjoyment of His favor which is better than life (Psa. 63:3). “Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:14-16).

May the blessed Lord give the writer and the reader strength and courage in this evil world to live for Himself and for His own, serving Him and them in lowly grace until we are taken out of the scene of conflict and service to rest in the eternal brightness of His own presence and in the joy of His unchanging love.

A. H. Rule (adapted)

Strong in Spirit

When we consider the question of strength and weakness, we find many references in the Word of God to both of these. Weakness was found in many people, and also strength. There were those who were naturally weak, yet were made strong because they relied on the Lord’s strength. Likewise, there were those who were naturally strong, yet became weak because the Lord was not with them. Some of these individuals are mentioned in other articles in this issue of The Christian.

However, we find an unusual expression in Luke’s gospel — a phrase applied to both John the Baptist and our Lord Jesus Christ—namely, that when they were growing up in this world, they “waxed strong in spirit” (Luke 1:80; 2:40). There is some question as to whether the words “in spirit” should be included in the reference to the Lord Jesus in Luke 2:40, and a number of good translations of the Bible leave it out, including the JND translation. There is significance to this omission, which we will comment on later.

When we consider John the Baptist, we find that his birth was unusual, as his parents were both older and beyond the age when they could normally have children. But this had happened hundreds of years before with Abraham and Sarah, and so it happened to Zacharias and Elizabeth. The angel who announced the news to Zacharias made prophecies concerning John, even to the point of giving his name, which is derived from Hebrew. It means “graced by God,” or freely translated, “God has been gracious.” Later, when God opened the mouth of Zacharias after John was born, he was able to give further prophecies concerning the son that had been born to him. Finally, it is recorded that “the child grew, and waxed [became] strong [or, strengthened] in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel” (John 1:80).

The Mental Disposition

The word used here for “spirit” is the same word used for “spirit” in most references in the New Testament, and it can refer to the Holy Spirit, an evil spirit, or even the mental disposition of a person. As examples of this last interpretation, we read in Matthew 5:3 of those who were “poor in spirit” and, in Acts 18:25 JND, of Apollos who was “fervent in his spirit.”

What then does the expression “strong in spirit” mean in the case of John the Baptist? We know that it is our human spirit that is able to recognize who God is and enables us to have a relationship with Him. Sometimes in Scripture it is difficult to separate references to the human spirit from the action of the Spirit of God in the same individual. I would suggest that this is the case here. Doubtless the Lord was fitting John for the work he was to do, strengthening him in body, soul and spirit, but especially in spirit. In order to be the forerunner of the Lord Jesus, John could not be a weak man, for he would face strong opposition from the Jewish leaders and from King Herod as well. Also, he must be able to live outside the “social circle,” so to speak. Those who sought the Lord must be willing to go out into the desert to find John. While John was not indwelt by the Spirit of God, as believers are today, yet surely the Spirit of God was involved in all this, just as in the days of Samson, when that same Spirit “began to move him [Samson] at times” (Judg. 13:25).

Where Credit Is Due

You and I may not have as prominent a mission as John the Baptist, but the Lord has a work for each of us to do as Christians. If we are willing to be used, He can and will strengthen us, so that we too can become “strong in spirit” and able to carry out the work the Lord has given us. The important thing is to recognize that the strength is not our own, but God’s. John constantly looked to the Lord and would not allow any credit to be given to him. No matter what question was put to him, he always simply “turned the spotlight” on the Lord Jesus. As a result, the Lord Jesus could say of him, “Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (Luke 7:28).

He Became Strong in Manhood

But now, what about our Lord Jesus Christ? As I have noted in the second paragraph of this article, many better translations of the Scriptures leave out the words “in spirit” in Luke 2:40, so that it reads, “The child grew and waxed strong, filled with wisdom, and God’s grace was upon Him.” Here we are speaking of the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we must be very careful to use “words ... which the Holy Ghost teacheth” (1 Cor. 2:13).

Concerning the Lord Jesus, we read in Colossians 2:9, “In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” How then could He “wax strong,” and why not “in spirit”? We know that the Person of Christ as the Son of Man is a divine mystery and that the perfect blending of God and man in one Person is impossible for us to understand. However, we do know that His becoming man was something new for Him, something to which (we speak reverently) He must learn to adapt Himself. For example, we read in Hebrews 5:8 JND that “though He were Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.” As man, He learned the experience and cost of obedience—something He had never done before. In that same sense, He “became strong” as man, although perfectly all-powerful as God already. Though in Person He was always the Son, yet He personally entered into manhood — spirit, soul, and body—and so completely that, as one has said, “There was in Him nothing lacking of all that pertained to perfect manhood; He was all and felt all that man should be and feel — made in all things like to his brethren. ... He was made of a woman, partook of flesh and blood — was truly the woman’s seed, and from her derived the nature of a man which placed Him in relation to God and things here as a responsible Man on earth.”

His Human Spirit

In this way our Lord “became strong” as He grew in this world, but it was not necessary for Him to become strong “in spirit.” Our Lord certainly had a human spirit, yet because “in Him is no sin” (1 John 3:5), His spirit was always perfectly in communion with God His Father. We know that He was born of the Spirit (Luke 1:35), and later He received the Spirit of God as power for His earthly ministry (Matt. 3:16-17). His human spirit always answered perfectly to the Spirit of God.

What wonder, what awe, and yet what joy fill our hearts, as we see, on the one hand, our Lord Jesus Christ coming into this world, and how the Spirit of God carefully guards His Person! Here we find ourselves in the presence of One who surpasses the comprehension of our minds, and yet calls forth the worship and adoration of our hearts. On the other hand, we see how God delights to strengthen His own whom He has marked out for service for Him, as in John the Baptist. He wants us to be “strong in spirit” too, as those who are here to represent Christ in this world and to testify for Him.

W. J. Prost

Bearing Burdens

In the Word of God we find instruction about helping those in difficulty, whether because of their own failure or because of adverse circumstances. It is a privilege to be able to reach out and be a help in this way. Along this line, we find an exhortation in Galatians 6:2, where we read, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” If a fellow believer, or even an unbeliever, finds himself under the weight of something that is hard to bear, we are to help him bear that burden. However, it might seem confusing at first glance, when we read just three verses farther down in the chapter, “Every man shall bear his own burden” (Gal. 6:5). How are we to reconcile these seemingly contradictory statements?

As in every other subject spoken about in the Word of God, we find that Scripture is perfectly balanced, and it addresses every situation we may encounter. In order to apply it properly, we must read the Word carefully and seek the guidance of the Spirit of God. The Word of God does not contradict itself, but rather gives us light from God that does not go to extremes in either direction. Although it is not clear in our English translations, the original (Greek) words used for “burden” in both cases are quite different. I am not a Greek scholar, but anyone can look these words up and learn the difference in their meanings.

The Burdens of Others

The word used for “burden” in verse 2, where we are told to bear one another’s burdens, is a word that signifies that which is heavy, oppressive, and hard to bear. It is used elsewhere in the New Testament with this same connotation. It is used in Matthew 20:12, where the workers in the vineyard complained that they had “borne the burden and heat of the day.” It is also used in 1 Thessalonians 2:6, where Paul says that “we might have been burdensome,” referring to his practice of supporting himself rather than forcing his needs on the hospitality of others. In a wonderful way, it is used in 2 Corinthians 4:17, referring to our “exceeding and eternal weight of glory” in a coming day. It always suggests that which is difficult to bear because it is very heavy.

Thus, when we are told to bear one another’s burdens, it is with the thought of helping our brother with that which is unusual and weighing him down to the point of exhaustion. It is helping him with that which is out of the ordinary and causing a great deal of difficulty. Paul referred to this very thing when he encouraged the Corinthians to take up a collection for the believers in Judea, who were going through an unusual time of persecution and hardship. But he made it clear that this was to be temporary help, for he says, “That now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want” (2 Cor. 8:14). So it is of God to help one another in such severe situations.

Our Own Burden

When the Scripture says, “Every man shall bear his own burden,” the word is different and signifies simply something that is carried, without reference to its weight. This word too is used elsewhere in Scripture, particularly by the Lord Jesus, when He said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:30). It can be used for a heavy burden, but it requires the adjective to make it so. Thus the Lord Jesus said of the Pharisees that “they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders” (Matt. 23:4). The sense of the word, in the context in which it is used here in Galatians 6:5, is that of the normal, proper and everyday duties that God has given each one of us. It refers to our responsibility of looking after our own affairs in an orderly and suitable way.

Wisdom From the Lord

In helping others, it takes wisdom from the Lord to know when to apply verse 2 and when to apply verse 5. On the one hand, it is easy to ignore the troubles of another, especially when he may have gotten into them through his own carelessness and failure. The world has a saying, “Lack of proper planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” But if the Lord Jesus had acted in this way, all the world would have come under judgment. The spirit of Christ would have us act in compassion, for “we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves” (Rom. 15:1). There are believers who, by virtue of their walk with the Lord and diligence in spiritual things, are strong and spiritually wealthy. Some believers are also materially wealthy. Knowing that we have received it all in grace, we ought to be willing to use that spiritual and material wealth for the blessing and help of others.

Those Not Working at All

On the other hand, it is wrong to encourage other believers to be like leeches, either in natural things or spiritual things. It is well-known that there are those in this world who seldom do a good day’s work and who do not manage their time, energy and affairs in a godly and proper way. Sad to say, even believers may act like this, and Paul had to rebuke some in Thessalonica who were “disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies” (2 Thess. 3:11). Generally, one who fails to manage his natural affairs properly will often be spiritually poor as well and may well lean on others in the spiritual as well as the natural realm. The Lord Jesus could say, “The poor always ye have with you” (John 12:8). This is not to imply that a poor man in material things is necessarily poor in spiritual things, for often “the poor of this world” are “rich in faith” (James 2:5). Likewise, a man may be poor all his life, yet “bear his own burden.” But whether we are rich or poor, we are to manage our affairs and bear our own burden in an orderly and responsible way.

In seeking to help those who are poor, we must be careful not to make them dependent on us instead of on the Lord. We can be thankful for the relatively modern “safety net” of social benefits that exists in most Western countries, but sometimes this has tended to foster an attitude of entitlement and an expectation that “the world owes me a living.” We never find such a thing in the Word of God. If someone was to be looked after over the long term (such as a widow in the assembly), it was to be done only under certain circumstances and within scriptural guidelines.

If we look to the Lord, surely He by His Spirit will give us wisdom to balance compassion with responsibility, to use what we have with concern for others, yet seeking their ultimate good by preserving their responsibility for themselves before God.

W. J. Prost

The Secret of Our Weakness

The solemn question that needs to be pressed home again and again upon the hearts of the children of God is, What is the secret of our weakness? We have been born again; we have received the indwelling Spirit; we have much knowledge of Scripture, of God’s dispensations and ways, and yet weakness — spiritual weakness — is often our prevailing characteristic. There are few who would not assent to this statement. Let us speak boldly and challenge the consciences of the saints if it is not so. Let us ask whether the sense of it is not often painfully present to our souls? In our contact with the world, are we not often made to feel it? Beholding our fellow believers entangled in the snares of the world or in evil associations, do we not often pass them by, because we are conscious of our powerlessness to extricate them? If others are overtaken in a fault, how many of us are “spiritual” enough to restore them in the spirit of meekness? Have we not often to confess that we do not know how to meet the difficulties that arise in the church? Is not our weakness expressed in every direction of our spiritual life? In walk and in service, in private and in public? If this is so, why is it?

It is quite true our blessed Lord said, “Without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). But it is equally true that His servant Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13), and the same apostle reminds Timothy that “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). If indeed we are taught that we are not “sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves,” we are also told that “our sufficiency is of God” (2 Cor. 3:5). Again therefore we ask, Whence our weakness? There is reason to fear that it all springs FROM WANT OF WAITING UPON GOD. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isa. 40:31). This scripture is conclusive and assures us that spiritual strength is the direct consequence of waiting upon God. It is so of necessity, for in so doing we confess our weakness and express our dependence, and it is only when we are dependent that the Lord can display through us His almighty power. It is here therefore that the recovery must begin. Let us then, individually and when we meet together, seek for a larger spirit of patient, persevering waiting upon God. The effect of this would soon be manifest in every department of spiritual life. Ministry, worship, prayer meetings, testimony, and walk would all be in the power of the Holy Spirit. We should then fear no difficulty, be afraid of no opposition, but conscious of our utter weakness in ourselves, we should yet continually rejoice in the all-sufficient and omnipotent resources of our God. “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: WAIT, I SAY, ON THE LORD” (Psa. 27:14).

Christian Friend, Vol. 6

Wisdom

Wherever the Bible is known, Solomon is famous for his exceptional wisdom. Alas, that one so profoundly wise should have degenerated into a great fool. In the Book of Ecclesiastes, he expressed the fear that his son might be a fool (as indeed he was), but he did not appear to have been apprehensive for himself (Eccl. 2:10). Well does the Apostle Paul say, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).

Job, in his last discourse, speaks of the excellency of wisdom (Job 28:12-28). Having spoken of men’s skill in mining and engineering and their diligent search for the treasures of the earth, he exclaimed, “Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?” (Job 28:20). The bowels of the earth will not reveal it, and its value far exceeds that of gold and rubies. God alone can declare its true nature and value. “Unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28). Solomon added to this later: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Prov. 9:10). Therefore, until God gets His rightful place in a man’s mind and heart, he is incapable of viewing anything wisely. His beginning is all wrong.

The Son of God

Since the days of Job and Solomon, the eternal Wisdom has come into the world in the person of the Son of God. Everything must now be considered in relation to Him. “Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24). What can man show in the way of power in comparison with the “exceeding greatness” of the power of God “which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20)? What wisdom can man show, with all his research, that will compare with what God revealed when He turned Calvary’s cross into the means of salvation and blessing for countless myriads? Men denied His beloved Son the kingship over the Jews, and God has given Him the headship of the universe; all that has come to Christ and will yet come to Him was settled in the counsels of infinite love, ages before men were created! His enemies will yet be confounded at their own folly and be constrained to acknowledge the surpassing wisdom of God. “The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:25). “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Cor. 3:18-19). The man who leaves God and Christ out of his life’s scheme is as hopelessly adrift as a vessel in a storm without chart and rudder.

Solomon

Solomon was probably the most versatile monarch that has ever lived. Many of the kings who have ruled since Solomon could neither read nor write. But no subject seemed outside the range of Solomon’s knowledge. “He spoke three thousand proverbs,” many of which the Holy Spirit has preserved for us. “His songs were a thousand and five,” but only one remains. It is indeed “the Song of Songs”; no other metrical composition will compare with it. The believer in Jesus, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, reads it with sacred joy.

Solomon spoke of trees, from the stately cedar of Lebanon to the humble “hyssop that springeth out of the wall.” Beasts, birds, creeping things and fishes also came into his discourses. He surrounded himself with all the wise men he heard of. Several outstanding ones are named in 1 Kings 4:31, some now unknown to us. But God’s unique servant surpassed them all, being a type of Him with whom none in heaven or earth will compare! “Never man spake like this man” was said of Him even in the days of His humiliation (John 7:46).

At this point, let us listen to Solomon’s own testimony. “I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments and live. Get wisdom, get understanding; forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honor when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee” (Prov. 4:3-9). To this we must add the young king’s comment, “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding” (Prov. 3:13).

David

David’s earnest counsel accounts, at least in measure, for Solomon’s answer to Jehovah in Gibeon. How remarkably He met his desire! Solomon pleaded that Israel was “so great.” How could he carry the responsibility of guiding such a nation? Now compare verses 20 and 29 of 1 Kings 4: “Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude”; “God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart even as the sand which is on the seashore.” Wisdom according to the need!

A great lesson is here. The greater the responsibility and need, the greater the divine provision to meet it. Let us take courage! Solomon’s God is ours, and He may be trusted to stand by us in all the sufficiency of His wisdom and grace in any position in which He is pleased to set us, however difficult it may be. Faith can say, “I have strength for all things in Him that gives me power” (Phil. 4:13 JnD).

Grief and Sorrow

“In much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow” (Eccl. 1:18). There is truth in his words. The thinking man necessarily suffers more than the frivolous multitude. His studies give him an understanding of the evils that operate around him — an understanding which others lack! Men sometimes say, “Ignorance is bliss.” The man who increases his knowledge increases his capacity for suffering. But is this true where God is concerned? No! The better we know our God, the more we enhance our joy, and the better we understand His purposes for this poor devastated world, the more fit we are to live and testify in it.

W. W. Fereday

The Position Where We Are Set

I am bound to take every position in which the grace of Christ has set me, and my weakness is exposed in not taking that position. The position is the verification of Christ’s power, and in taking it and maintaining it, I am acknowledging Him, even though thereby my own infirmities are more openly disclosed. Holding the position proves that I have possession and enjoyment in it, though I may fail to prove to others my title or fitness for such a position. Thus the position itself affords me strength to value and to keep it. If I know that my position is “heavenly,” is it not power to be heavenly, to take the position of being so? I am entitled to it through grace, and I own my title (it being a true one). My soul adopts heavenliness as its right, and in a way I could not expect if I were only looking for such a position.

When once we are impressed with the copiousness of Christ’s work and what grace is, we take up the position, as we have light. We are taught instinctively that it is a moral error to surrender it, for undoubtedly it is a return to nature. We are, however, constantly allowing the question of fitness to mar our enjoyment, but it is grace that puts us there, and while we own Christ and His work, we enjoy the effect of it. Our eye rests on the goodness of the Giver, and not on the unworthiness of the receiver. Our labor is not to make ourselves fit for that expression of grace, but to walk worthy of the vocation.

Let a soul refuse to acknowledge the vocation as his, and his action, however sincere, must be legal and coerced. Another hindrance is the tendency to measure ourselves with the difficulties in the path, and not to look at Him who puts us there. This is sure evidence of a want of true energy, and we say, “There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets” (Prov. 26:13). Difficulties in the way always occur to those who have no heart to encounter them. Thus Israel lost Canaan, and the giants and the cities walled up to heaven shut out the goodness and majesty of God. But what was the language of one who would hold his position? “The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey” (Num. 14:7-8). Caleb held the position, and he had the power of it, and when years afterward he laid low the giants and cities, he had the full fruition of it.

Present Testimony, Vol. 6 (adapted)

Strength for the Day

“As thy days, so shall thy strength be” (Deut. 33:25).

“As thy days, so shall thy strength be,”

Is His promise sure and true;

Strength for every day arising,

Strength He sendeth just for you.

Not tomorrow’s strength is given;

Yesterday’s is past and gone:

But today’s is just the measure

For His child to rest upon.

“I will strengthen thee,” God says it,

Strengthened by His mighty hand,

And in faithfulness, He giveth

Strength for every day He’s planned.

For He knows our frame is weakness,

Knows each step along the way,

And He giveth, as ’tis needed,

Strength to us for every day.

Help us, Lord, to rest upon Thee,

Proving thus Thy strength so free;

When we’re weak, Thou art sufficient

To supply abundantly.

May we trust Thee, then, more fully,

And believe Thy faithful Word,

And in quiet acquiescence,

Prove the promise of the Lord.

L. Beckwith

Strength and Weakness: April 2025

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