Sermons
Power Is Perfected In Weakness
POWER IS PERFECTED IN WEAKNESS
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / October 01, 2017
The life and teachings of Jesus have flipped conventional wisdom on its head.
The teachings of Jesus that turned the first-century world upside down continues to shape our 21st-century world.
What some perceive to be upside down is actually right side up (in the eyes of God).
God’s ways are often juxtaposed with man’s ways.
There is quite often a clear line of distinction between the two.
As Isaiah proclaimed, God’s ways are higher than man’s ways and God’s thoughts are higher than man’s (Isa.55:9).
Over the last several weeks we have been engaged in a series of loosely knit sermons probing some of these concepts.
In my files, I have entitled this series, HOLY CONTRADICTIONS.
In The Shadow We Sing – Dark days can often bring light.
The Path To Greatness – The way up is down … He that is greatest must be a servant
Rich In Good Deeds – It is more blessed to give than to receive … heavenly treasures are more important than earthly.
Willing To Wait – Speed is not everything. Good things come to those who wait.
This morning I want to continue this theme by looking at how power is perfected in weakness.
Being big and strong is not necessarily qualities that attract the favor of God.
In studying the Scriptures, one can’t help but notice that God is often found fighting for the underdog.
We also see God calling on people to serve who don’t feel competent for the task.
In olden days, the power of a kingdom was measured in terms of the number of horses and chariots (Isa.31:1).
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many,
and in horsemen because they are strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek help from the Lord!
Paul Tournier (The Strong And The Weak) writes:
“…The way of Jesus Christ completely upset the scale of human values. Open the Bible, and this is what you see:
He was severe and implacable with the strong, the powerful, the virtuous, the rich, the great ones of this world.
Not (with a) spirit of animosity,
but in order to smash that confidence in themselves which closed to them the way of humility.”
More often than not, the severity of God seems reserved for those who conclude that their own strength is sufficient.
On the other hand - - for the weak, the poor, the sick, the repentant and the despairing, the Lord had only tenderness.
The children of Israel cringed and cried out at the thought of doing battle with the Anakim.
The twelve spied reported: We became like grasshoppers in our own sight, as so we were in their sight (Num.13:33).
King Og was a giant who slept on a iron bed (fashioned to support his size).
His super, king-sized bed was 13½ feet long and 6 feet wide (Deut.3:11)
These giants were so big and so strong, the children of Israel surmised that it was impossible to vanquish them.
Ten of the twelves spies and most of the nation of Israel grossly underestimated the power of Almighty God,
the Lord of Hosts, who was more than capable of empowering their relative weakness in defeating the Anakim.
This counter-intuitive theme (power is perfected in weakness) is repeated over and over again in Scripture.
Samson was a strong man, when God was with Him (when he was with God).
On one occasion he killed a lion with his bare hands (Judg.14:6).
On another occasion, he killed 1,000 of Israel’s enemies with the jawbone of a donkey (Judg.15:15).
He exerted numerous other exploits testifying of the strength supplied to Him when He stood with the Lord.
However, left by himself, Samson was a moral pygmy.
He succumbed to the wiles of a conniving Delilah and was subseqentlly blinded and mocked (Judg.16).
Only when he returned to the Lord did God give him one final burst of power (Jugd.16:28f).
David was a young shepherd boy, but with God on His side he slew the giant Goliath with his slingshot (1Sam.17).
2Sam.21:18-22 details a list four men of great stature who were slain by David or his servants.
Absalom appeared to be the perfect specimen of a man.
Now in all Israel was no one as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised;
from the sole of his foot the crown of his head there was no defect in him (2Sam.14:25).
There was only one problem, he was full of himself and running on empty when it came to God.
One day while riding on his mule his hairy head got caught in the thick low-hanging branches of an oak tree.
God brought him to an swift end when General Joab pierced his heart through with three spears (2Sam.18:14).
Both sacred and secular history is polluted with the remnants of people who thought too highly of themselves.
Alexander the Great viewed himself as the Lord of all creation, forcing all others to kneel before him.
He died at the age of thirty-three of a of fever brought on by a battle wound and gross dissipation.
Napoleon Bonaparte was fixated on fame, fortune and self-empowerment.
Any and all who opposed his aspirations were crushed without mercy.
An adviser once warned him that a campaign against Russia would cost the lives of a million men.
With his gargantuan ego Bonaparte retorted, “What are a million men to me?”
He spent his last days in exile on the remote island of Saint Helena in the south Atlantic, dying at the age of 51.
Have you ever noticed how God frequently uses weak people?
Sarah was barren and unable to give birth, but God ripen her womb, and thus the nation of Israel was born.
Moses was slow of tongue (Ex.4:10) - - perhaps a stutterer, but God employed him to speak against Egypt’s Pharaoh.
Gideon was a product of the weakest clan of the tribe of Manasseh, and the least in his family.
But God raised him up to be a mighty man of valor and a great judge of Israel (Judg.6, 7 & 8).
Because of his humility God strengthened Daniel to close the mouths of hungry lions (Dan.6:16f).
At the age of 85, when most men experience formidable weaknesses, Caleb led a charge to
conquer an extremely difficult region of the promised land infested by Anakim (Josh.14:11-12).
Ruby Bridges was but a very young black girl (third grader) during the early 60’s when a federal judge ordered all-white schools in New Orleans to integrate. In boycotting the orders, the parents of white children kept their kids at home.
With fists waving and threats abounding, all manner of crude racial slurs were hurled at young Ruby.
One day her teacher saw her talking with the protestors on the street.
Ruby was asked what she was saying. She replied, “I wasn’t saying anything. I was just saying a prayer for them.”
Out of the mouth of babes…the Lord has perfected praise / Mt.21:16b
The book of Hebrews enumerates a long list of men and women who from weakness were made strong (Heb.11:34).
One final example, one that is most impressive communicating this message about how
power is perfected in weakness is found in the life of the apostle Paul.
Prior to his conversion to Jesus, Saul of Tarsus (he later become known at Paul)
was a ring-leader in fighting against any and all who stood with Jesus of Nazareth.
In Acts 7, we see him orchestrating the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:58).
Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death (Acts 8:1).
Stephen’s death opened the floodgates from intense persecution against all Christians.
Acts 8:3 states: Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house;
and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.
Acts 9:1-2 records - -
Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,
went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus,
so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Then Acts 9:3ff tells of Saul’s conversion.
From a human vantage point, if we were to assign human tendencies to God Almighty,
we might be inclined to think that God would be more than willing to accommodate this “choice” convert.
Paul is truly converted. He is now giving his all (heart, soul, mind, spirit and body) to the cause of Christ.
In the midst of this noteworthy turnaround, Paul finds himself sorely hindered by what he calls a thorn in the flesh.
His pleads with God to remove it so that he can keep on working hard for the Lord.
In 2Cor.12:7, he writes - - Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me for exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me - - to keep me from exalting myself.
(And this juncture we might imagine that God would be more than willing to intervene on Paul’s behalf).
Paul states: concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ / 2Cor.12:8-9a
Now listen very carefully because Paul’s response is so very instructive for all of us who have serious problems.
Paul did not pout. He did not protest. He did not pick up his marbles and leave.
Here is Paul’s truly remarkable response - - 2Cor.12:9b-10 - - Most gladly therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults,
with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
I know very little about an English preacher named Abraham Wright (he lived in the 1600’s).
I have concluded that his insightful quote offered at the footer of today’s FamilyMatters
must have surely been penned with the inspired words of Paul in the forefront of his mind.
I am mended by my sickness, enriched by my poverty and strengthened by my weakness.
When we can come to embrace this mindset, then we will have reached a plateau of real Christian maturity.
We are all weak, but in our weaknesses we serve a God who is Almighty. This/He is the source of our strength.
