Strength in Christ

“I can do all things throngli Christ which strengtheneth me.”

When we consider that, next to that of the Lord himself, no biography of the New Testament is so fully given as that of the Apostle who uttered these words, we are led to infer that his life and character were meant to be closely studied, as affording the aid of example and incitement in the ordinary course of Christian duty. The variety of circumstances in which he is presented is remarkable, and gives occasion for the disclosure of every holy sentiment which belongs to the renewed nature, in its noblest and freest development. In his sorrows and his joys, his activity and his restraints, we see in Paul the moving power of an New York, New Tear’s Day, 1855.

inward principle, which overturned and renewed his whole being. Perhaps it is not going too far to say, that no mere man ever lived who has operated so extensively upon Christians in succeeding ages, in the way of. example. Through him, though compassed about with infirmities, God seems to have chosen to show how true grace will work in a great diversity of conditions. In the Epistle now open before us, he is in those straits which sometimes make Christian equanimity difficult in our lower degrees of religious growth. But the maxim whereby he supports himself is one suited to a more general application, and suited like all high comprehensive truths to every state. The kind gift of his Philippian brethren had led him to touch delicately on his necessities; but he checks himself:” Not that I speak in respect of want; for I have learned (rare lesson) in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. (Gentile philosophy attempted the same result, but without success, for want of the principle which we are about to consider.) I know both how to be abased, and how to abound, (both difficult cases; for some have fallen by prosperity, whom Satan has vainly assaulted while poor.) Everywhere and in all things I am instructed (or, more exactly, I am initiated as into a mystery) both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.’’

Can there be presented a more appropriate sentiment for the year, or for every year?

tyPhere is, then, a strength in Christ, which so becomes the strength of the believer, that trusting in his Lord he may be equal to every demand of suffering or performance, Such is the proposition which I would unfold before you.

You will observe in the very expression an avowal of weakness. It is unlike the vaunting of Stoics and other sages, who, arrogant in their own resolved virtue, stood up to cope with every opponent that should affi-ont them. Men of this temper abound, and their language is lofty. They are in armour of proof, and are mighty of will. Their nerve, resolution and purpose are not to be thwarted by any difficulty. The pride of a heroic morahty holds them up. But he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool. And we have seen battle-fields strewed with the fallen, who have gone to the encounter of temptation without the aid of heaven. Such a champion, haughty and self-rehant, the youthful Saul had been, when his Pharisaic decision sustained itself against the angehc countenance of Stephen and the gentle power of Christ. But he had been lowered in his tone, that he might be exalted, and softened that he might become enduring. He had been brought into a conflict, in which he was fain to cry, “I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thiag; for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.” In the desperation of this ordeal, he had burst forth, “O wretched man that I am 1 who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

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and rising to life, as he beheld his dehverer, had subjoined, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord,” It was Christ, who was his strength; and in this perfect and communicable strength, he could do all things. Christ strengthened him; and Christ stands ready to strengthen the believer in our day.

Here as everywhere in the survey of experience, we are made to recognise the beautiful coherence of all divine truth, and to perceive how an inward sentiment of great value is based upon a solid doctrine of the system. The doctrine which acts as pedestal to the column, is that of ChristV union as head with the believer. “The head of every man is Christ.” Never was this precious doctrine more nobly unfolded or more urgently pressed, than in the writings of Paul himself. The acts of the Redeemer are for the redeemed. He took their nature, assumed their liabilities, answered for their dehnquency, procured their pardon, accomplished their justification, and abides in connexion with them, for all the manifold ends of their salvation. For them he was born, for them he lived, for them he died, for them he rose, for them he ascended, for them he intercedes and reigns. He is made to each of them. Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption. The funded treasury of his merits, his wisdom and his might, are theirs. If he is strong — and “Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thine hands” — it is a strength available for the very meanest of all his saints.

Observe how Paul, after saying. Col. ii. 9, “In him dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead bodily,” immediately adds, “And ye are complete in him, which is the Head of all principality and power.” There is, from those celestial and unseen fountains, a perpetual flow downwards to our world, where the heirs of the kingdom, amidst a thousand weaknesses, are struggling along towards the purchased possession. Of these, many a one, contemplating this reserve of power and deposit of wealth, has forgotten his thorn and the buffeting of Satan, and has exulted, “Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me; therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong.” Here, then, is the confession of weakness, but here also is the avowal of strength. And surely, O Christians, it is worth your inquiry, how you may find this strength and exercise this confidence, in those various conditions which await you in the remainder of life.

1. And here it seems most natural to make our beginning with the particular trial which drew these words from our apostle. It was that of poverty, or worldly embarrassment, which in every age has been the lot of the majority of mankind, and especially the majority of Christians. The fact that religion has wrought its chief wonders among the humble, and that God has chosen the poor of this world, “rich in faith,” is too clear to be questioned; but the reasons of the fact may not be so apparent. Among them may be these; first, that the infinite benevolence of God stoops with its comforts and supports to those who are most sunken, who suffer the greatest ills, and who are despised by the luxurious and magnificent. Therefore into ten thousand cottages and even hovels, the blessed Jesus, who was himself a poor man, has entered, to convey the “durable riches” of grace. And then, the humbling influence of penury and want, scanty fare which keeps daily fast, and sadness which ensures nightly vigils, the hardships of aching limbs, nakedness, uncertain lodging, wailing children, contempt of the lofty and oppression of the strong — this humbhng discipline — fits the soul of man for that message which passes unheeded by the mansions of ease and self-importance. However it may be accounted for, the people of God, in the best periods of the Church, have often found themselves in a situation of straitened means. Moreover, the sohcitude and fear of the heart may vex those who are far above the condition of degraded indigence or open mendicity. Clouds may overhang the morrow of the industrious father, the pallid widow, or the lonely rehct of a once, prosperous house; when channels run low, resources fail, as the barrel and the cruse seem near exhaustion. Times of commercial depression sometimes bring compulsory retrenchment into hundreds of Christian families at once. And poverty, my brethren, even in this wider sense, is a trial which it is hard to bear. Dependence is a yoke that galls the delicate sensibihty. The heart of a good man may faint for a moment under the unexpected load. You, who never knew a day of hunger or shuddered at the knock of an obdurate creditor, would find your resolution brought to a rude test, if suddenly your household state should be reduced to the standard of the poor. The very apprehension of a reverse, so depressing and yet so common, brings the servant of God to the point of weakness; and after his first agitation, he proceeds to take account of his spiritual stock. How is it with the bank of faith? What hold is there on the treasure in heaven? Many a one, blessed be God, has been able to reply, in the terms of the Old Testament, “Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the ohve shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet will I rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” THE LORD GOD IS MY STRENGTH. Yes, the Ncw Testament believer, seeing more clearly, will more triumphantly add, the Lord Jesus is my strength; ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. I can be abased and can abound; I can be full and be happy. I have that part which cannot be taken away, bags that wax not old, investments that cannot be depreciated. My security is eternal in the heavens. My treasure and my heart are above. Having Christ, I have all things. Without him the wealth of kingdoms would but sink me to ruin; with him, I can be content upon a crust. My soul is strengthened to peace and acquiescence. He to whom I have committed the greater, ldll be surety for the less. “Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” I am firm in the persuasion that my Lord and Master, who has my love, wUl never allow me to sink under cares of this life. Thus the power of Christ is glorified in the experience of many a straitened but contented soul.

2. This case, then, of temporal necessity was that which drew out the believing and exultant affirmation of Paul. But the source of power and solace and assurance, is equally full for every instance of worldly solicitude. Let us look at one of the most familiar. As we are year by year journeying towards the certain termination of our course, in death, so we may be said to be dying daily. Each New Year’s day marks another approach to dissolution. Even under the roses of health, the worm is at its fatal work. In some, the Symptoms of mortality are striking and undeniable. To themselves and others, they appear as frail, decaying creatures. Sometimes there are vehement shocks of acute malady, which foreshadow the taking down of the shattered tent. Sometimes there is a train of weaknesses, aches, and despondencies, which keep the summons forever at the door. In such as attain old age, that period is but a long, incurable disease. Nothing more convicts man of his feebleness, than bodily distemper. A few nights of rolUng and tossing in the sea of pain, suffice to bring robust and stalwart health into puling infirmity. We do not find that earthly resources avail much in this contest. The blow that first strikes the body, presently lacerates the mind. “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit who can bear?” Here, then, just where nature surrenders, is the point where grace triumphs. Such strength is given in every age of the church, every day, yea, this very moment. Take the extreme case, where death is certain and near. The Lord Jesus has not withdrawn his helpful arm. Nay, some of his chiefest condescensions are vouchsafed to those who have “the sentence of death” in themselves, that they should not trust in themselves, “but in God which raiseth the dead.” Our benign Redeemer loves to hold up the sinking head of one whom he is about to release forever. “He giveth power to the faint: and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” In proportion as the promise of worldly good is abohshed, the faithful soul grows mighty in the certainty and nearness of heavenly good; pledged to hun in that divine Head, who bare our sicknesses and carried our sorrows, and who can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. Nor dare I confine the enjoyment of Christ’s strength to these particular classes of trial. Poverty and illness are, after all, not the most bitter and weakening of human woes. There are secret troubles, gaping wounds of the spirit, mortifications, disappointments and griefs, which are all the more fitted to cast down and to unman, when they cannot be revealed to the eye of vulgar examination, or ask the lips of forward condolence. Whatever the heart sinks under, causes a necessity for Christ’s aid; and there it is! Amidst all the consciousness of sin, he who has entrusted his all to the freeness of the covenant, can be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. “God is our refage and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.” It is not the sufferer, it is the Saviour who is strong. “Their Redeemer is mighty; the Lord of hosts is his name.” The cordial is suited to every case. The year can bring no exigency which the strength laid up in Christ shall not meet. Make it yours, beloved hearer; and let God’s invitation resound in your heart, “For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee. Fear not, I will help thee.” Isa. xh. 13.

3. From temporal, let us go to spiritual troubles. There is a great conflict with sin, in which we need divine strength. Woe be unto us, if Christ does not help us here. It is a conflict in which every one of us will be engaged, either to conquer or be conquered. If Paul could rise and testify, he would declare that all his other contentions, not excepting his fighting with beasts at Ephesus, were nothmg to this; and all true Christians have had a similar experience. The more advanced we are in holiness, the more shall we regard other trials, such as affect the body, or the property, or the reputation, as not worthy to be named along with those which endanger the conscience. The greatest enemy we can possibly have, is he who makes us sin. The father of Hes, who was a murderer from the beginning, has made his grand effort just here. His perpetual endeavour is to beguile or terrify the Christian into sin. He had the effrontery and diabolical madness to make an experiment with the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, in a threefold temptation. But the god of this world found that he had nothing in Jesus; no tinder in that bosom upon which his hellish sparks could kindle. His hopes are greater in tempting poor, fallen, partially sanctified humanity. Great ai*e his successes for a time. If you call those Christians who have made high professions, he has caused thousands of Christians to fall; and he has humbled in the dust many of the real brotherhood, when, like David and Simon Peter, they have yielded themselves to his attacks. This invisible warfare is more fearful than the deadhest charge upon columns of a superior human foe. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” The odds are fearful, if you look at your own native strength. I apprehend that the reason why some are not startled by this prospect, is, that they have more fear of suffering than of sinning; or perhaps they cherish a secret scepticism as to their own weakness. Either of these errors is fatal to progress in religion.

There is that before each of us, in the way of conflict and temptation, which mil not only bring all our powers to the test, but will leave us defeated and utterly ruined, unless we have some strength greater than our own. And if we truly value holy obedience, we shall delight in the assurance that this battle is not to be fought by us alone. What will not the soldier dare, who is led by a brave and invincible commander? Such is ours. “Through God we shall do valiantly; for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.” Ps. Ix. 12. Not only have we Christ as a leader, but as the very source of our strength against sin, by our union with him, and the consequent effluence from Him to us of the Holy Spirit, the source of all light, purity and strength. It is belief of this, and trust in the covenant terms, which authorize the disciple to say, “I can do all things, through Christ which strengtheneth me.” I can stand up in a struggle which would prostrate me in a moment, if my own power was all. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. I can pass unhm-t through temptations also, for no temptation shall befall me but that which is common to man; and in Christ’s name I will steadfastly resist the roaring Hon, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in my brethren that are in the world. Christ’s strength win be mine in the moment of sore trial.

4. It remains to say something about an obvious application of the words before us to the case of expected labours for God. In this we include every tiling which falls under the denomination of active obedience. For work, there must be strength. Por Christian work, there must be spiritual strength. This does not exist in us by nature; nor even by grace and after renewal does it so exist, as to be a permanent stock, upon which we can draw, as something of our OTMi. It is the plan of God that his redeemed people should feel their dependence at every step. They are not sufficient of themselves to think any thing as of themselves, but all their sufficiency is of God. This is true of the ordinary course of Christian performance. Every well-instructed disciple has discovered that he cannot walk for a single hour without the sustentation of the Divine arm. Those moments in which we are left a little to our own resources, are moments of darkness and grief, if not of disgrace and discomfiture. Satan desires to have us, that he may sift us as wheat, but Christ prays for us and succours us. He leads the safest, truest, happiest life, who most consciously leans upon the strength of the Redeemer, and takes each several step of the way, with his eye fixed on the Author and Finisher of his faith.

But if this is true of those labours which are ordinary, much more strikingly true is it of such as are extraordinary. Special demands of service are sometimes made. This is true in all branches of important worldly trust. Pride or temerity might smile at the grave view which an humble believer takes of new periods of fife, new relations, new circumstances, new calling and office. He shrinks from what is laid upon him. As Moses: “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh?” As Obadiah: “And now thou sayest. Go, tell thy lord, Behold Elijah is here; and he shall slay me.” As Isaiah: “Woe is me, for I am undone.” As Jeremiah; “Ah, Lord God! behold I cannot speak: for I am a child.” As Ananias: “Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem.” When weakness is joined with unbelief, prospective labours are appalling. If we could enter into the secret experience of those Chtistian heroes who have achieved the greatest wonders for God, we should probably find that their mighty acts were not performed without some foregoing trepidation and sense of incompetency. Jacob weeps and wrestles before he is named a prince of God. The astonishing valour of Paul was a fruit of grace; and who knows how often the day of courage and endurance may have followed a night of agony? It is not only common, but it is good, to feel ourselves very weak in divine things. Then it is that we take hold of strength. Amidst floods of apprehension, the Psalmist cries: “When my heart is overwhelmed within me, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I!” Then when the self-distrusting one beholds the countenance of heavenly friendship turned full upon him, he knows on what to depend, and sings, “I can do all things, through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

The careful examination of the text will show you that it contains more than an acknowledgment of weakness; more than a persuasion that there is strength in another; it expresses the fixed purpose to go forward in duty, relying on Christ. It not only says, In myself I can do nothing, but In Christ I can do all things. And this is the very point of faith, to which we need to be brought; nor, till we are brought thither, shall we ever accomplish any high achievement in Christianity. We must feel that there is solid ground under our feet, before we can march confidently onward. This imwavering belief of the treasure laid up for us in Christ, is faith. It runs forward beyond the scope of sight; beyond all that has been traversed by actual experience. It takes God at his word, and rests on his assurance. Believing that he will call to no labours for which he does not furnish strength, it attempts much, and trusts mightily while attempting. The Christian, under these exercises of mind, does not put off the beginning of performance until the moment when he shall be sensible of Divine aid flowing in upon his soul, but puts forth endeavours now, in the assurance that consciousness of strength will accompany sincere effort. It is the only principle upon which rational obedience can be rendered. For if we never undertake a duty until all inward difficulties be removed, we only act over the part of him in Greek fable, who deferred crossing the river till all its waves should flow by. No; true courage and holy resolution will rather look the obstacle in the face, saying of it, even when most insuperable to the eye of nature: “I can do all things, through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

And now, with the year before us, have we not, my Christian brethren, a watchword, with which to be diligent and undaunted for God? The ancient commanders used to cheer their soldiers on the eve of battle, by assurances that some of their favourite deities were descending to fight in the ranks; and the falsehood added vigour to their hearts and nerve to their arms. But in our soldiership we have the blessed truth to stimulate us, that the Captain of our salvation goes before us. Come prosperity or come pain, come wealth or bereavement, come health or sickness, come temptation or labour — if Christ be with us, all shall be well! And with us he is, and will be, if we are his people, and if his promise is true. We greatly err by making a sort of merit of our misgivings, and groaning over our weakness, as if this were pleasing to God; when, indeed, a high aspiring faith and unwavering confidence in God’s aid for the future, is more welcome to him, and unspeakably more productive of obedience in us. If you have no satisfactory persuasion that the transforming work of grace has passed upon your souls, you have a great previous question to settle, and I implore you not to adjourn it. But if you have believed, you may make the words of the text your own, in prospect of the year. And O that, together, and as with one accord, we might go forward with these words blazoned on our shields! When the Lord Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, lie gave a solemn commission to Ms original apostles, in which he assigned to them their work. But the commission was prefaced by these words: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” It is this mediatorial power of the Lord our Master, this communicated power, resting in the Head, to which we as his members are privileged to resort. That strength is ours, if we lay hold of it by faith; which shows us again, what we are continually learning both in the Word and in experience, the value and necessity of faith; not only for first receiving Christ, but for walking in him. Just so much fortitude in affliction and courage in action have we, as we have faith. What we want for the year is more faith. The circumstances of some now present may .be greatly and unexpectedly changed during the year. No preacher, no friend, no father, could expound to you the particular exigencies of the near future; and when the trial comes, you will feel that it is novel, and unlike all you have known before. ‘For such junctures you cannot make special or detailed preparation. But here is a preparation which is sovereign, and universally applicable. Believe in the Lord Jesus, cast yourself on his arm, and appropriate his strength. Then, though it should be your lot to go down into the swellings of Jordan, you shall not be taken unawares. One of the most illustrious and triumphant deathbeds at which I have ever been summoned to minister, was that of a lovely Christian woman, of refined sensibility and timid disposition, who was suddenly smitten down in a strange city, on a journey far from friends, and out of the midst of apparently perfect health. And yet Christ was her strength and joy, and became her salvation; so that even the alarm of this strange surprise was wholly taken away from her.

In the history of the Church we meet with some striking instances of persons who have done extraordinary service, and had uncommon success, whose names are remembered with benediction, even in nations far asunder and for successive ages. These are the men of faith. They had learnt the secret of power. They dared much and endeavoured much, because they were backed and sustained by Christ’s strength, which they acted on, and about which they had no misgivings. If you desKc to be more useful than you have ever been, go to the field, as David against the Philistine, with a steady belief that your Lord will pour in the strength as certainly as you put forth the effort. Happy indeed will the New Year be to you, if you set about its tasks in this temper. Does the sinking of conscious weakness unnerve and subdue you? Turn yourself wholly over upon the Everlasting Arm. For some of you, beloved hearers, I have had and still have, pecuUar anxieties for the changes which this very year may bring about. I have lived long enough to know, that great revolutions of mind and heart may be effected in a very brief period.” But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so

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your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” However unlikely it may seem to you now — nay, however abhorrent it may be from all your present feelings — a few months or even weeks, under new influences, may suffice to carry you down the current of worldly and fashionable religion. The teachings to which you now listen with respect and docility, will have lost all charm, and the simplicity that is in Christ will have been exchanged for a polished but cold, an attractive but uninfluential, a philosophical but unevangelical strain, which shall fill the ear and entertain the intellect, and fascinate the imagination, but from which Jesus crucified shall be totally absent. How shall such a defection be prevented? How shall such instabihty be guarded? Only by being strong in the Lord. And O if, by intimate communion with him in devotional exercises, you are made to “grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,” then, and then only, will you be enabled to “stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Now, beloved, having on this first Sabbath of the New Year sat together in the rest and refreshment of the sanctuary, as under a pleasant shade by the wayside, and being uncertain whether we shall ever meet thus again, or who among us shall, during this period, be called away; let us arise, and lift our burdens, and take up again the pilgrim staff, and set out anew upon our journey. We might utter the words of Moses: “If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.”

Ex. xxxiii. 15. The Lord has been with us; let us hope that he will not forsake us. As a church we can do all things, through Christ which strengtheneth us. We can cling together; we can grow; we can open out bosom to receive the young, the stranger, and the wanderer; we can abound in good offices and acts of charity; we can break forth to found new colonies for Christ; we can part with property, health, friends, yea, life itself, at the Master’s call; we can drink deeply at the wells of truth, and derive nourishment from the bread of the Word; we can cast behind us old sins, and put on us the armour of light, letting our godly example shine on all around us; we can rejoice alway, and glory in tribulation also. All this, and more than this, can we do through him that strengtheneth our hearts. But without Him, branches separated from the Vine, we can do nothing.