4 For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.

There is nothing but clouds around and darkness ahead to the natural man. Decay works within; vanity attends on all external circumstances; the grave waits with open mouth at the end of the toilsome journey -- and you never know how near that end is.

Bring Christ into the economy of human life, and you bring light, hope, joy, friendship with God and man, and an eternal inheritance in reserve. Some say they do not want an eternal inheritance. Some say the present life is quite long enough for them; that immortality would tire them. Such is the grunt of the sow, which knows no higher good than the mire and the wallow. They speak foolishly.

They reason from present weakness and incapacity. Whence comes the sensation of "tire"? From the incapability of an animal nature to keep up the supply of energy which enjoyment consumes. No doubt a body such as we have would tire of living for ever; but it is not the present body that is to live for ever. The present body is to be changed: it is to be made a spiritual body; and the spiritual body is powerful where the animal body is weak. There will be no "tire" or satiety with the spirit body.

Weariness belongs to weakness only, and comes in the ratio of weakness purely. A person in poor health tires sooner than one that is robust. One laid on a sick bed is tired as soon as he begins; one that is well can go on for hours, and enjoy what he is about. A spiritual body is strong, and incapable of fatigue. Therefore, endless days will be endless sweetness and joy; chiefly because heart and nature will be one with God, the inexhaustible fountain of sweetness, glory and joy.

Seasons 1.48.

Take, for instance, Heb. 2:14, where it is written, "Therefore forasmuch as the children (given of the Deity to the Son for brethren) partook of flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner shared in the same, that through the death (he accomplished) he might destroy that having the power of death, that is, THE DIABOLOS." Now, Paul elsewhere informs us that "Jesus was crucified through weakness" (2 Cor. 13:4); and the clergy teach that their diabolos, or devil, is second only to their Trinity in power-almost, if not quite, omnipotent; at all events, powerful enough to hold in eternal captivity and torture the vast majority of the human beings God has made.

He either holds them with God's consent or against it; if he hold them with it, God and the Devil are made co-partners; and God is made by their traditions to have created an enormous multitude of men, women, and children for no other destiny than eternal torments; which gives the lie to the scriptures, which teach that "God is love:" if the Devil hold the damned against God's consent, then the Devil is more powerful than God. But, the clergy are unwilling to accept the consequences of their own theories. They would not like to admit the co-partnership, nor the superior strength of their Devil; though upon their premises one or the other is unavoidable. They will admit, however, that their father and patron, the Devil, is vastly powerful.

This is admission enough to illustrate the incompatibility of their traditions with scripture. Thus, How comes it that the Spirit laid hold upon death stricken and corruptible flesh and blood, which is so weak and frail, called "the Seed of Abraham," that through its death He might destroy so mighty and Powerful a Devil? Would it not have been more accordant with the requirements of the case for Him to have combated with him unencumbered with flesh, or in the spirit-nature of angels? Became weak and dead to destroy the mighty and the living; when the Creator of the Devil could with a word annihilate him! But there is as little reason as scripture in "the depths of Satan" as the clergy teach; and therefore it would be mere waste of time and space to occupy ourselves any further with their speculations and traditions upon this subject.

The Spirit clothed himself with weakness and corruption -- in other words, "Sin's flesh's identity" -- that he might destroy the Diabolos. It is manifest from this the diabolos must be of the same nature as that which the Spirit assumed; for the supposition that He assumed human nature to destroy a being of angelic nature, or of some other more powerful, is palpably absurd. The Diabolos is something, then, pertaining to flesh and blood; and the Spirit or Logos became flesh and blood to destroy it.

5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Let us be careful how we attribute our failings to the weakness of our nature. It is possible to complacently sail along under a delusion in this matter. Before we tell one another—and much more so God—that our short-comings are unavoidable, and due to the infirmities of the flesh, it is wise to pause and think.

Our sinful nature will excuse much, but not necessarily all our short-comings, otherwise there would be no condemnation for any at the judgment-seat. The boundary between ability and inability is oftentimes difficult to define, but it exists for all that. Let us not settle down comfortably with the thought that

"It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me,"

unless we know that we are making good effort to conquer our unholy passions. Before we use in our favour Paul's words, let us see to it that we have Paul's mind—not half of it. In reference to the effort he made the apostle could say,

"I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" (1 Cor. 9:27).

It is not impossible to know if we are making effort—it is simply a question of reflection—of honest self-examination. We may be sure that things are right if we know that our life, through love of God and our neighbour, is more or less made up of self-sacrifice.

Let us not, however, be distressed or discouraged by our own feebleness in our attempts to be perfect. Let us not wrongly or unwisely condemn ourselves or others on account of such feebleness. If we love the truth and its friends, are ready to acknowledge our failures, and have a desire to listen, learn, and improve, we need never despair. These are traits which distinguish the righteous from the unrighteous—the true from the false—a Moses from a Balaam—a David from a Saul—a Paul from an Alexander.

Bro AT Jannaway

The Christadelphian, May 1907