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<p>&quot;The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; <br />
  my God, <strong>my strength</strong>, in whom I will trust.&quot; Psalm 18:2<br />
  <br />
  As long as a man has any <strong>strength </strong>of his own, he will <br />
  never have any strength in the Lord; for the strength <br />
  of Jesus is made perfect in our weakness. <br />
  <br />
  Oh, what a painful lesson we have to learn to find <br />
  all our strength is weakness. <strong>There was a time <br />
    when we thought we had strength, and could . . .</strong><br />
  resist Satan,<br />
  overcome the world,<br />
  endure persecution,<br />
  bear the reproach of man,<br />
  mortify and keep down pride, and the evils of our heart. <br />
  <br />
  Have we found ourselves able to carry out our fancied <br />
  strength? What has been our experience in this matter? <br />
  That we have discovered more and more our own weakness; <br />
  that we cannot stand against one temptation;<strong> </strong><strong>the least <br />
    gust blows us down!</strong><br />
  <br />
  Our besetting lusts, our vile passions, and the wicked <br />
  desires of our hearts, so entice our eyes and thoughts; <br />
  so entwine themselves around our affections; that <strong>we<br />
    give out in a moment</strong>, unless God Himself holds us up! <br />
  We cannot stand against sin; our heart is as weak as <br />
  water.<br />
  <br />
  Thus we learn our weakness, by feeling ourselves <br />
  to be the very weakest of the weak, and the very <br />
  vilest of the vile. <br />
  <br />
  As the Lord leads a man deeper down into the <br />
  knowledge of his corruptions, it makes him more <br />
  and more out of conceit with <strong>his</strong> <strong>righteous, pious, <br />
    holy self</strong>. The more the Lord leads a man into the <br />
  knowledge of . . .<br />
  temptation,<br />
  his besetting sin,<br />
  the power of his corruptions,<br />
  the workings of his vile nature; <br />
  the more deeply and painfully he learns what <br />
  a poor, helpless, weak, powerless wretch he is.<br />
  <br />
  As the Lord is pleased to unfold before his eyes the <br />
  strength, power, and fullness lodged in Jesus Christ; <br />
  He draws him, leads him, brings him, encourages him, <br />
  and enables him to come to this fullness. And by the <br />
  hand of faith he draws supplies out of that fullness.<br />
  <br />
  As the Lord enables the soul to look to Jesus, His <br />
  blessed strength is communicated and breathed into <br />
  his soul. Then the 'poor worm Jacob' threshes the <br />
  mountains, beats down the hills, and makes them <br />
  fly before him as chaff. <strong>When the Lord strengthens <br />
    him, he can . . .</strong><br />
  stand against temptation,<br />
  overcome sin,<br />
  bear persecution,<br />
  subdue the evils of his heart, and <br />
  fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil. <br />
  <br />
  <strong>When the Lord leaves him</strong>, he is like Samson with <br />
  his locks cut. He sinks into all evil, and feels the <br />
  helplessness of his fallen nature. Let the Lord but<br />
  remove His gracious presence, and <strong>the strong man<br />
    sinks down into a babe!</strong> And he that in the strength<br />
  of the Lord could thresh the mountains, falls down<br />
  <strong>as weak and helpless as a little child</strong>.<br />
  <br />
  Thus the Lord painfully and solemnly teaches us, that <br />
  being nothing in ourselves, and feeling our weakness, <br />
  helplessness, and wretchedness; <strong>in Him alone we <br />
    have strength.</strong> 
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