God's Promise of Strength — Mack Tomlinson

What a privilege to worship our Lord and to hear His voice through His Word. We hear the voice of Christ to His people when the Bible is opened and accurately, faithfully taught and preached. So let's hear the voice of our Good Shepherd this morning.

I want to read from Deuteronomy chapter 33. As you turn there, we want to remember in prayer for the Michael and Paul Washer in Toronto finishing up a weekend to the Chinese church. And that ministry is always very important and vital.

So Michael and Paul started Friday, they will finish today. And then Charles and Mona Lotta are in Bali until March 26th. We want to remember them. Tim Conway and the team are still in remote Nepal. Evangelism in virgin areas, maybe some unreached areas as well as a medical trip.

And I leave this Thursday for 10 days of preaching in Missouri. Hannibal in Kirksville. So I need your prayers as well. So let's pray before we read God's Word and ask Him to speak to us. Our Father, we remember these, our brethren today.

Michael and Paul in Toronto. Charles and Mona in Bali. Tim and all the team in Nepal. And Lord, the upcoming ministry in Missouri. We ask for the attending and the anointing ministry of the Holy Spirit on these labors.

Remember Michael and Paul today as they finish up. Give them fresh deposits and outpourings of your Spirit upon them. Remember Charles and Mona and their time there and the long trip they have back. Strengthen them.

Oh Lord, Tim and the team, use them, protect them, keep them. We pray, Lord, for your work there in Nepal to prosper and advance. And we do pray for the Grace House, for John Sachsman and the Grace House people there, Lord, that you would work greatly.

Thank you this morning that we can look unto you, our Father and our God, and our Great Shepherd to speak to us. So Lord, we look to you now with gratitude. Give us eyes to see. Give us ears to hear. Give us focused minds.

Give us quickened affections and desires for the sweetness of the truth. Holy Spirit, be our teacher for the glory of our Savior. We pray in His name. Amen. Deuteronomy 33, two verses, verses 24 and 25.

God’s Sure Promise of Strength

I want to speak today on God's sure promise of strength. Any of you ever need that? God's sure promise of strength. Whether you're at the end of your journey of life, whether you are in the midst of challenging college academic courses, and you begin to deplete, or you're so weary about life, God's sure promise of strength is yours in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Deuteronomy 33, 24 and 25. And of Asher, He said, Most blessed of sons be Asher. Let him be the favorite of his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil. Your bars shall be iron and bronze. And, and here's the text.

As your days are, so shall your strength be. As your days are, so shall your strength be. This universally applies from the mouth of God, through Moses, to Israel in history, throughout the new covenant, throughout church history, to the weakest believer.

As your days are, so shall your strength be. Some of God's richest promises came through Moses toward the end of his life. In Deuteronomy 32, no need to turn back there. God had said to Moses, Go up on Mount Nebo.

It's time for you to die. Well, that's a blunt announcement. Okay, I got the memo. It's time for you to die. So Moses ascends that mountain. God tells him, ascend that mountain and be gathered to your people and die there.

So, but before Moses goes, he speaks blessings and promises to all the people of God. It first applied to Israel, the people he's leaving. Joshua is going to take over. And he speaks these blessings and promises on Israel for their continued journey.

And we won't read them all, but of Reuben, Moses begins. Let Reuben live and not die. Of Levi, blessed be his substance and accept the work of his hands. Of Judah, Moses said, Oh Lord, bring him in and be a help against his adversaries.

Of Benjamin, Moses pronounced the blessing. The beloved of the Lord will dwell safely with him who shelters him all the day long. Of Joseph, blessed of the Lord is his land with the precious things of heaven.

Of Gad, blessed is he who enlarges and blesses Gad. Of Naphtali, Moses said, satisfied with favor and full of the blessing of the Lord. And of Asher, here it is, as thy days are, so will your strength be.

Do we really believe that as believers today? We have far more than Moses ever had as far as revelation, understanding. Moses was seeing through a glass darkly. And we are now the inheritors of all that the Old Testament promised and prophesied is ours in Jesus Christ.

Strength as Supernatural Grace for Daily Need

When we think of strength, as thy days are, so will your strength be. What do you think of when you say, I need strength, I need strengthening? When you think of strength, you think of Samson, you think of greatness or someone who is unsinkable.

A superhero, children. Children, listen. Superheroes aren't real. God is real. Jesus is real. And when we talk about strength, we are talking about something that is beyond normal, beyond average. Caleb at 85 says what?

Give me that mountain. So, a supply of grace from God in your need for the moment of courage. It might be courage when you are fearful. It might be energy when you are chronically weak. It may be tenacity to keep going when you don't want to go on.

It may be vigor and vitality. Strength, a supernatural empowering that comes from the promising Father when you have little or none within. As your days are, so shall your strength be. Our Lord Jesus Christ was a great example about this.

Would you ever think about Him or call Him the weary Jesus? The weary Jesus. Jeffrey Thomas could say it better than I could. But he didn't say it, I said it. Jesus being wearied sat on Jacob's will. The weary Jesus.

Psalm 22, prophesying about Him said, My strength is dried up. I am at the bottom of the barrel and I'm scraping and I'm finding none. My strength is dried up. Life drained Him. Life emptied Him at times of strength.

Life took it out of Him. The weary Jesus. In the wilderness temptation, Matthew records that an angel came and strengthened Him. I would like to know how. I would like to know what went on. I would like to know what the experience was.

What an amazing picture. For an angel to show up and actually touch Him, strengthen Him, provide for Him, help Him. Helping the weary Jesus to be strengthened. Luke 24, 22 rather, says at the end of His life an angel came to Him.

One in the wilderness at the beginning, one at the end in the garden. An angel came and strengthened Him in His great weakness. So here we have this old covenant promise which is a new covenant promise for every believer.

As your days are, so will your strength be. It's hard for us to believe that in the battle at times. It's very difficult for us to lay hold on that when we feel like there's nothing to hold on to. When we're hurting so bad.

When we're so needy or discouraged or confused or physically weak. Are so overcome with the challenge that we face that we don't know how we can go on. The promise of the new covenant. The promise of the entire church age by the Holy Spirit is strengthened with all might according to His glorious power.

Strengthened with all might according to His glorious power. The exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe. According to the working of His power. Which must be appropriated. Which must be cried out for.

Which must be prayed for at times. Which must be attained through faith. Paul in Corinth. You may remember the story. He's in the city. And scripture says there, Luke says that at night, in a vision, God spoke to Paul.

What did He say to him? Fear not. Implication. Paul was fearful. He was weak in moments. He was needy. And the Lord spoke to him and said, Do not be afraid. Go on speaking. I'm with you. That's all he needed.

Don't be afraid. Go on speaking. I'm with you. And he stayed a year and a half teaching the Word of God in Corinth. And the Lord had many people in that city. He promised it. So in moments when we most need it, God will strengthen us to keep on.

Strength Must Be Received Through Dependence on Christ

We don't have an unending supply of strength stored up. We must go to our Savior to get it. Same way with joy, peace, hope, endurance. The fruits of the Spirit aren't always growing on the branches of our life.

Fruit must fresh appear at times. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. You're patient one day, and the next day you're impatient. The fruit needs to be fresh.

So it is with strength. Strengthen mightily. God's your promise of strength. Deuteronomy, the Lord will judge His people. That means He will act in behalf of His people. And He will have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone.

When He sees your strength is gone, He will act in compassion toward you and give you strength. Paul in 2 Timothy 4 said, No one stood with me, but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me. 2 Timothy 4 No one stood with me, but He had a Savior who stood with Him and strengthened Him just in the time of need.

His strength is perfect when our strength is gone. He will carry you when you can't carry on. These exceeding great and precious promises. Think of David. As our days are, so will our strength be. It is God who arms me with strength.

He's the source of your strength. Primarily. First source. The Lord. The Lord alone. It is God who arms us with strength. The Lord will give strength to His people. David said, The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord, and He is their strength in time of trouble.

Strength is not just something God gives. Strength is what Christ is to us. In our union. In our relationship with Him. Nehemiah said, The joy of the Lord is your strength. Why? Because Christ Himself by the Spirit is our strength.

Moses sang it. The Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. And he said, Lord, don't be far from me. Oh, my strength. He called Him His strength. Oh, my strength. Hurry to help me. Learning in the moment as you go to cry out for strength.

Right now, Lord, I need you. Help me. Strengthen my soul. Strengthen me with strength in my soul. Be unto me all that I need in these moments. I am weak, but Thou art mighty. Hold me with Your powerful.

Seeking Strength Through Prayer and God’s Promises

And what are we to do? We're to cry out. We're to seek and ask. Psalm 105. Seek the Lord in His strength. Psalm 119. My soul melts for heaviness. Strengthen me according to Your Word. Father, You promised strength.

Now remember Your Word upon which You've caused me to hope. And strengthen me, please. Psalm 27. The sure promise. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. And He will strengthen your heart. I experienced that very verse not long ago.

It came to me one morning as I read through the Psalms. And my heart was strengthened. And light came in the cloudiness of discouragement. And the light of His countenance shines on us when His promises feed us and strength comes.

Psalm 71. The psalmist said, I will go in the strength of the Lord God. God uses others to strengthen us too. Don't you find that to be the case? I wish we knew how many times mutual strengthening has happened in our church over these years.

Deuteronomy 3. Moses is told, Command Joshua. Encourage and strengthen him. Moses. Command him. Encourage him. Strengthen him. David. 1 Samuel 23 is running. He's being chased by Saul's insane jealousy.

Scripture says, Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David and strengthened his hands in God. Strengthening one another's hands in God. What a ministry that is. What a ministry that can be for you to say, Lord, make me an encouragement to the brethren.

Help me regularly strengthen others' hands in God. That might be through a word. It might be through praying for them. It might be a hug. David Cattelan came down and stood beside me. I thought, he's just coming down here to share some love that wasn't all he was going to read, but I said, you can come down here anytime I need that.

Facing Human Limitations and Confessing Our Need

We do need each other to strengthen one another's hands in God. Because we face our limits, brethren, don't we? How do we deal with this promise as our days are? So will our strength be. We must face our limitations.

Do we? Or do we have some kind of idea, I've got it all together. I'm strong enough. I'm smart enough. I'm sufficient. I'm able. We must face our limitations because none of those things are true of any of us.

Face our limitations. Acknowledge our need. Continually. Those who face difficult ongoing situations. Kevin and Sherry. The Sims in Lebanon. The pressure and the stress and the needs never stops. There's never an end to the extreme needs among refugees.

Always, always there. What they face. Chronically ill. Chronic needs of people. And it never goes away. And they're alone in their lives with God, with family. The great, great need is strength for the day.

As your days are, so will your strength be. We must acknowledge our limits. We must confess our need to the Lord. We must admit it. We must verbalize it. Father, I am poor and needy. The raising of little children, a bunch of little children, is the most taxing thing on earth.

It's true. You're giggling, but you know it's true, moms. You know it is so draining. And you wake up. You'd love to sleep in. Nope. Seven days a week. 24 hours a day. Oh, the blessedness of the child that sleeps through the night.

Now, all of us must realize we are continually, all our days, going to need strength. When the children are gone and they're just grandchildren, you need strength more. And then at the end, when you've lived life, the strength wanes to keep living it.

So there's never a day you're not going to need strength. That's why the promise says, as your days are, so will your strength be. We face our limits and acknowledge it. We confess our need. We admit it and verbalize it.

Believing and Using God’s Promises in Weakness

Thirdly, we believe His promises and use them. Oh, the promises of God about peace and rest and joy and strength are innumerable. We come to Him. We draw near. We trust Him. We choose to abide more. We cling to Him.

We run to the Lord Jesus. We cry out because Hebrews 4 says He's a sympathizing Savior. He understands. He fills our need. We can go to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

A time of weakness is a time that strength is needed. We ask for more grace. We cultivate communion and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. I've said it before. I'll say it again. Are you a stranger to that?

Cultivating an increased relationship with the Person of the Blessed Spirit of God. He's the source of strength. He gives it through His graces and His ministry to the church. And what blessed promises Isaiah gives.

Isaiah’s Promises to Those Who Wait on the Lord

You don't need to turn to them, but I'll read them. What blessed promises Isaiah gives every believer. In chapter 40, the prophet says this to the people of God. He gives power to the faint. He doesn't grow faint or weary.

He doesn't sleep or slumber. And He doesn't get tired anymore. The Lord Jesus is not the weary Savior anymore. He's the ascended reigning King who gives strength to His people, to His children. He does not grow faint or weary, but He gives power to the faint.

And to him who has no might, He increases strength. Even the young shall faint and be weary. Young men shall fall exhausted. But those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. I can't wait for you.

You can't wait upon Him for me. Every soul must wait upon the Lord. From Him comes our strength. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. You move into the next chapter. 41 verse 10.

The Lord says, Fear not, I am with you. Don't be dismayed, I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. These exceeding grace and blessed promises of God.

He, when you most need it, will give you a shot of strength. It's a stimulus. It's a quickening. It's a help. It is an infusion and empowering of mental and emotional and spiritual strengthening in your soul for your day.

For the journey. Brethren, life and the Christian life and the increasing militant, godless world we live in will so drain you. And it makes it all the more urgent that you must focus not on your weakness.

You must focus on the strength that the Lord, your God, supplies and promises. As your days are, so will your strength be. And I love the word in 1 Peter 5. Just remember it as well. Peter's benediction of strength.

May the God of all grace perfect you, establish you, strengthen you, and settle you. You have a Savior who is sufficient. You have His Spirit dwelling in you who is with you always. You have all the resources of promised grace to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Let the weak say, I'm strong. Strong in the Lord. Strong in the strength, as Wesley wrote, that He supplies. As your days are, so will your strength be. Amen. May we know that by the experience of His grace.

Prayer for Daily Strength

Father, thank You for the promise of truth that we always need when the poor and needy seek water and there is none. Lord, You said, I, the Lord, will answer them. I will not forsake them. I'll open rivers on the Bear Heights and fountains.

I'll make the wilderness a pool and the dry land springs of water that they may see and know, may consider and understand that the hand of the Lord has done this. Oh Lord, strengthen our hands. Strengthen our hearts.

Strengthen our weary minds. Strengthen us with strength in our soul every day. And let us experience the promise as our days are, so will our strength be. Blessed be Your faithful and glorious Name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.