Main Points:

1. Weakness manisfested in all men.
2. Weakness renders men dependent upon God.
3. Man's extremity, of weakness, becomes God's opportunity to help.
4. Powerless of men, often due to sin and unbelief.

Detailed:

1. Weakness manifested in all men

a. Weakness in Leadership
Num 11:14 - I (Moses) cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now -- if I have found favor in your eyes and "do not let me face my own ruin".

b. Weakness of the Flesh
Mt 26:40 - Then he returned his disciples and found them sleeping "could you men not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body (flesh) is weak"

c. Weakness of Hearing
Jn 16:12 - I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.

d. Weakness in World Involvement
1 Cor 3:2 - I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed you are still not ready. You are still worldly.

2. Weakness Renders Men Dependent Upon God
2 Chron 20:12 - O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

Ps 127:1 - Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

Jer 10:23 - O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.

Jn 3:27 - John answered and said "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven".

Jn 15:5 - Jesus said "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

2 Cor 3:5 - Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.

3. Weakness; Helplessness, Physical and Spiritual of Man.
Lk 13:11 - And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity 18 years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.

Jn 5:7 - The sick man answered Him (Jesus), "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me"

Jn 6:44 - Jesus said "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; And I will raise him up at the last day".

Act 3:2 - And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple;

Rom 5:6 - For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Rom 7:18 - For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

4. Man's Extremity, of Weakness, Becomes God's Opportunity to Help, examples of

a. the Psalmist
Ps 116:6 - The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low,
and He saved me.b. the Disciples in the Storm
Mk 4:38 - But He (Jesus) was in the stern of the boat, asleep on a pillow. And they (disciples) awoke Him and said to Him "teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"

c. the Sick Woman
Mk 5:25 - Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for 12 years.

d. the Father of the Demoniac
Mk 9:17,18 - Then one from the multitude answered and said "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever he seizes him, he throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast him out, but they could not"

e. the Disciples Facing a Hungry Multitude
Jn 6:9 - "There is a lad here who has 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish, but what are they among so many?"

f. Peter in Prison
Act 12:6 - And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with 2 chains between 2 soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.

g. Paul and his companions on the sea Act 27:20 - Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.

5. Powerless of Men, often due to Sin and Unbelief

a. Israel could not stand before their enemies Lev 26:36-45 (READ)

Dt 28:32 - Your sons and daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand.

Josh 7:10-12 "Israel has sinned" (READ)

Judg 1:21 - But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

Jud 2:14 - And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.

b. A Broken Covenant stripped Samson of his strength

Judg 16:17 ...that he told her all his heart, and said to her, "no razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

c. Apostasy produced a Nation of Cowards I Sam 17:23,24 - Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines, and he spoke according to the same words. So David heard them. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid.

d. Babylon enervated by Idolatry Jer 51:30 - The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, they have remained in their strongholds; their might has failed, they become like woman; they have burned her dwelling places, the bars of her gate are broken.

e. Unbelief Rendered the Apostles Helpless to Control with Satanic Forces. Mk 9:18 - "And wherever he (demon) seizes him (son), he (demon) throws him (son) down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to your disciples, that they should cast him out, but they could not.

Jn 15:5 - Jesus said "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

Strength in weakness promised. Strength in weakness as Holy Spirit directs.

By Gary DiMarco

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