Apostle Anthony Berry

I was a 98 pound weakling

I remember reading comic books in the past, and there would be an advertisement in those books where a very skinny guy is on the beach with his girlfriend. The guy is very skinny and the girl is very attractive. A big guy is running pass and kicks sand in the couple’s faces. The puny guy steps too the big guy and says “didn’t you seen us sitting here you big oaf? You kicked sand in our faces.” We don’t use the word Oaf today; we have a lot more colorful words to use. Well; the big guys tells the little guy what he can do and hits the little guy in the face. He says Wham at the same time. It’s one thing when a person beats you, and another when they have to talk to you while doing it. Y’all know how that is; how many times did your mother or father get the belt to warm your behind up; and then talk to you while heatin’ you up. “Didn’t I tell you not to do it? Then they punctuate every chop with; Huh, huh, huh, huh, huh? Well back to the point. The puny guy’s girlfriend tells him it’s alright little boy; then she walks off with the big guy. The puny guy then says that he is going to start to work out and lift weights and becomes a big guy. My topic today is I was a 98 pound weakling.
How many times have you fallen to temptation? I’m not talking about before you got saved, but after. How many times have you felt like a weakling? Are you a 98 pound spiritual weakling? Well back in that advertisement that I was telling you about; it was advertising the Charles Atlas bodybuilding system. It was to sell a bunch of weightlifting equipment. Today I would like to tell you about the Jesus Christ fitness system. Just as with the 98 pound physical weakling; I heard the bible said in Matthew 26:41; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Even when we look on Samson who had to be the most powerful man on the earth of his time. The man that gave the Philistines hell when he killed over 200 of them with the jawbone of an ass. He caught 300 foxes and set their tails on fire and sent them through the corn fields of the Philistines. He carried away the gates of Gaza after they tried to kill him. With all his strength; Samson was a 98 pound weakling. He was a weakling because of his flesh. Samson loved the ladies and was weak for them.
In our day to day life we wind up having like weaknesses. David; the man after God’s own heart was a 98 pound weakling. Even though he killed the giant Goliath as a teenager, he was weak in the flesh. The thing that ties these men of power together is the weakness in their flesh, and the power of God. II Corinthians 12:9 God speaks in Paul’s letter and says “My strength is sufficient for you; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. This goes hand in hand with the Lord not putting more on us than we can bear, and taking his yoke upon us. When we are going through, and just feel like we can’t take it anymore. When we feel like we can’t get out of a situation, and are just getting ready to fall into temptation. When we just get ready to fall, and something holds us back; this is the strength of the Lord being perfect in our lives. This is the time when we feel so weak, but are able to make it through anyhow. We don’t understand how we made it through because the Lord’s strength surpasses all understanding. Proverbs 3:5 speaks about us not to lean to our own understanding.
If we just can trust the Lord; he will strengthen us to accomplish whatever his word sets out for us to do. If in those times when we feel so weak and helpless; if we can remember how we were able to suffer the storm, and stand still that it was the strength of the Lord, happy are we.