Bunbury
Wed pm
16/03/11
“Giving in to your weakness”
Intro: I was stirred about the reality that God saves us so that we can live in dominion over the flesh & our fallen nature.
And if we consider the design God has for His church I think we could all agree that we are living well below His purposes.
The sad truth is that churches are filled w/ people who are living well below the lives of strength & dominion He intends us to live in.
*** Coral’s dad has been a farmer his whole adult life. He has always been very strong, seemed as though nothing was too hard for him. Now @ 86 years of age he is coming to grips with his diminishing strength. A couple of weeks back I was visiting him & he told that he went to lift up the lawn mower to do some work on it & it wouldn’t move from the ground! It seemed to him like it was stuck there.
He was of course joking about it .......
But the truth is that weakness is beginning to overtake him & his strength is failing.
Like most men he isn’t coming to grips w/ this willingly or easily! The failing of physical strength is a reality we all have to face sooner or later.
But the paradox of the life of the saved is that although our physical bodies must grow weak our spiritual man can go from strength to strength.
Why is it then that we so often see a church where men / women give in to weakness?
Why is it that believers learn to live in weakness / failure / flawed character.... living well below what they know in their hearts God wants them to be?
I don’t believe that this is what God wants us to settle for – He has called us to victory as his church & as individuals – not weakness & defeat!
T/n I want to minister a message I’ve entitled ‘Giving in to weakness’.
Text: Galatians 4:9 (NKJV) 9But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
Galatians 4:9 (GWT) 9But now you know God, or rather, God knows you. So how can you turn back again to the powerless and bankrupt principles of this world? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?
# 1. Facing the facts of what you are.
A. Let’s be honest about it, none of us like to admit our weaknesses.
a. For the most part weakness is something that we generally feel ashamed of.
i. And only a fool relishes & highlights his weak points & areas of failure & shortcoming.
** It has been observed that “Some people’s weakness is the strongest thing about them.”
*** It always amuses me when preaching in a church about human nature w/ its attendant flaws & there are always one or two that don’t add their amen. Like admitting weakness is a sin or something.
They are usually the ones who struggle more w/ weakness.
ii. None of us enjoy the reality of diminishing strength / ability or their embrace on victory.
iii. But the simple reality is that we have all been born / formed in weakness / frailty & failure.
** I like what one person wrote when they said “We all have weaknesses & some of us have some mighty strong ones!”
b. And in addition this we all have our own particular areas where our strength fails us.
i. For one it might be marriage / finances / employment ..... for another it might be relationships / ethical standards / character failings ...... maybe in even – chocolate!
ii. This reality is illustrated all throughout Scripture ..... We see men who were great but were held back by areas of weakness.
iii. Samson w/ women, Noah w/ wine, Moses w/ anger, Job w/ self justification, Peter w/ racism.
iv. But the simple matter is that none of us are what we should be & for most of us ...... we’re even still a long way short of being what we’d like to be!
B. Even though this is the case we shouldn’t give in to those areas where we’re failing.
a. The troubled parts of our lives deserve more attention.
***When your child brings their report card home from school at the end of the year / midyear & you see some ‘C’s’ ..... what do you say? You probably praise them for the subjects they did well in (or you should) & then gently point out to them that they need to work on the other subjects a bit harder.
No responsible parent just ignores to places of lack / shortcoming / failure. But as a good parent they encourage their children to work harder in those fields of study & learn how to overcome & be competent where they are failing.
i. But shouldn’t we take the same approach to life & model in life what we are asking our children to do?
ii. The problem is that when failure begins to take a hold of us we all too often just give in to it.
iii. It’s amazing what we learn to live w/....... what we are prepared to tolerate when God has created us for victory.
b. We need to let the painted dog be our teacher!
*** I was visiting the Perth zoo about 6 months ago for my youngest grandson’s first birthday when we came to an enclosure that had some scrawny looking wild dogs in it. They looked undernourished, mangy & certainly not very appealing to the eye. But what I read on the information plaque at the front of the enclosure sparked my interest in these unusual animals. Unlike most wild dogs anywhere in the world these dogs have the peculiar characteristic of protecting the sick & the weak. When one of their number b/co sick the healthy painted dogs will bring them food & do whatever they can to protect them & see them nursed back to health. Most wild dogs will do the opposite & sometimes they will kill sick & weak animals but not painted dogs, every one of them sees a sick dog as their responsibility to protect & nurture.
i. What facet of your life is the sick dog at present? What part of life is failing / falling short ..... where aren’t you winning?
ii. B/c whatever it might be this needs to b/co the focus of all your energies / abilities & strength.
iii. But think for a moment more specifically about what is being said in our text, what Paul’s complaint is about .......
# 2. Giving in to weakness.
A. The concern we want to highlight here is the error of giving into weakness.
a. While it is true that the roots of weakness have made their way into all of our lives, none of us need to live our lives there.
i. The trouble is that too often we simply give in & surrender to our weaknesses & allow them a controlling interest in our lives.
*** In 1788 rabbits were bought into Australia on the first fleet. By 1890 they had spread to every state of Australia & had reached plague proportions. Since that time scientific efforts have been made to eradicate them without success. In 1907 the West Australian government build a rabbit proof fence in an effort to keep them out but of course they failed. Today rabbits are an ongoing plague that have defied all our efforts to keep them under control.
ii. Weakness is just like this when we surrender to it!
iii. You see the problem here is that we can begin to live in such a way that we give up more & more territory to weakness / failure.
iv. And God didn’t save just so that we could live in failure & be overcome by our faults & shortcomings.
b. Look now at our text & the believers that Paul is addressing there in Galatia ..... his deep concern for them is that they had stopped experiencing victory.
Vs 9. 9But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, ......
i. How is it that you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elements? ........ here are people that had given in again to things they had been saved out of!!!
ii. God hasn’t saved us into defeat ..... He’s saved us into victory & He expects us to learn to live in victory.
B. So why do we give in to our weakness?
a. Firstly b/c whenever we make an effort / attempt to overcome we run into resistance.
i. Weakness is the path of least resistance ..... in other words its easy to let defeat / failure & weakness overtake our lives / thinking.
ii. It is generally more comfortable to give in / give up / stop fighting / stop worrying & surrender to the flesh.
b. Secondly weakness doesn’t make any demands upon our lives.
i. In other words ..... anybody can be weak, it takes nothing to qualify & nothing disqualifies us.
ii. Anyone & everyone qualifies to b/co weak! You don’t have to achieve anything / make any progress / make any life changing decisions – anyone can qualify!
c. Thirdly Christians give in to weakness b/c victory is too difficult.
i. If you are planning to be a serious Christian it will help you to get a few victories under your belt.
ii. When was the last time you had a tangible victory in your life? When was the last time you can look back & say to y/s – I won!
iii. When was the last time you confronted the demonic / Satanic in your life & had victory?
# 3. Making your weakness work for you.
A. There is no doubt that we’ll never be completely free from weakness in this life.
a. So how do we live w/ & cope w/ it?
i. The issue is not ridding your life of weakness b/c that is always going to be there in one form or another.
ii. Listen to the confession of Paul, now a great apostle, leader of the N/T church as he admits the reality of his weakness.
2 Corinthians 11:29 (NKJV) 29Who is weak, and I am not weak?
iii. Paul wasn’t admitting that he’d given into failure in his life ...... the reality is that he was saying that he had learned to make his weakness work for him.
b. None of us should be surprised when we succumb to human failing / inability / flaws & feebleness.
i. It is inherent to all mankind & is going to be a passenger in our lives b/c of man’s fall into sin.
ii. But just b/c you do fall / fail / come short of what you should be, just b/c you do have an Achilles heel it doesn’t mean that we should give in to it.
*** One day I was walking along the sea wall in Suva. It is a wall that runs on the sea front for a few kms around the city. Alongside the wall is a footpath so you can follow the edge of the sea while you walk. I would often walk along there to get a bit of exercise.
This particular day I was walking along the top of the wall itself, not on the footpath. I got a bit careless & I was looking out to sea instead of watching where I was walking. W/o warning when I took a step I missed the wall & b/4 I knew what was going on I fell down & smacked my head on the top of the wall & grazed my legs & arms. It was a stupid mistake & my son Mick quickly helped me to my feet. I was sore & grazed but I said to Mick, “It’s my own stupid fault, I should have been looking where I was walking!” I would have like to have sat there while Mick went & got the vehicle & picked me up but I got back up & kept walking. Why? B/c when you fall or have an accident, the worst thing you can do is give into the pain & fear, you need to get back up & keep going.
iii. That’s what we need to do when we experience a defeat in our lives, when weakness brings us down we need to get back up & get into the race again.
c. The worst thing you can do w/ weakness is make it your dwelling place.
i. Look this is what the Galatian Christians had done ..... they made weakness their dwelling place.
Vs 9. (GWT) ..... So how can you turn back again to the powerless and bankrupt principles of this world? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?
B. But in a strange way God is attracted to our weakness.
a. This is not a licence for us to give in / surrender to all our weak points / failures hoist up the white flag & let the flesh take control of our lives.
i. But what I’m saying is that our limitations while marking the boundary of our ability also signals the beginning of God’s strength in our lives.
** OMS “When we do what we can, God will do what we can’t.”
ii. Again here is Paul’s proclamation about his own fields of weakness ....
2 Corinthians 12:10 (NKJV) 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
iii. Here is the essential truth God is committed to helping us in our times of weakness & He comes to our rescue.
b. If you are going to recover then you need to make a plan for recovery & make recovery your priority.
i. First priority – get some help, God has a victory plan for you ...... if you can’t see it then seek out counsel / advice from headship.
ii. It will also do you good to enlist the help of those who already have victory too, people whose lives alone are an encouragement.
iii. David at a time when he was being attacked by the brother of Goliath ........ would have been a gonna ...... but fortunately he got some help!
c. Second priority – focusing on the fact of what you are.
i. Don’t kid y/s about what you really are or have b/co ...... face the facts about yourself / failings / weakness / error of your ways & let the H/G convict you.
ii. The longer you pretend you are strong when you know you’re weak, the worse it will be.
iii. Learn to be ruthlessly honest about you!
d. Third priority – find the road of recovery.
i. Make it your mission to make your weakness your strength.
ii. Get books / sermons / counsel / ask others how they overcame in the same weaknesses.
iii. Make up your mind that weakness in this area of your life is unacceptable & that you are going to turn defeat into victory.
** Someone once said that “Weak men wait for opportunities, strong men make them.”
