^f We often observe, and are always impressed by, the various forms of power in nature, and in matter, in mind and in man. We see one of its forms in the gentle breeze and in the desolating cyclone. We see another in the noiseless current of the stream and the fury of the mountain torrent. We see yet another in the brightness of the lightning spark and the crashing of the thunder- bolt. Physical science, moreover, has brought to our knowledge other great powers of nature. She has demonstrated the universal prevalence of gravitation in the material world. She has taught us the practical application of steam to the utilities of life — to travel, commerce, manufactures. Still more recently in the subtle forces of magnetism and electricity an agent has been found, capable of a wonderfully impulsive and beneficial influence upon the age. It not only wafts our messages across a continent or an ocean, in a moment, but yields us light so brilliant and powerful that night cannot abide in its presence. While for certain human maladies it proves itself a most effectual antidote.1
TJ Christianity is the religion of power. The Gospel is not primarily a system for the intellect, though it certainly does present a reasoned system for the intellect ; it is not primarily an appeal to the emotions, though it certainly does appeal very touchingly to the emotions ; it is first and foremost, as the Apostle said, " the power of God unto salvation." The message it brings is a message of power, the gift it offers is a gift of power, the men it produces are men of power. And the Gospel of Jesus is the Gospel for this century just because to persons oppressed by the strain of rapidly changing conditions, harassed by forces which they cannot escape, and by passions which they cannot subdue, and by mysteries which they cannot resolve, it opens out an inexhaustible supply of life, of strength, of energy, of confidence, ^and of power.2
1| At a preaching-place in Japan not long ago, a young student who had formerly been an opponent of Christianity boldly stood forth and gave his testimony before the astonished crowd. He asked them how it was that such a change could have come over him as to make him a follower of Christ ? And this was his own answer: "It is because the religion of Jesus is a religion of power. I studied earnestly the doctrines of Buddha and Confucius, but the more I studied the less peace I had. I
1 J. Little. 2 F. Homes Dudden, Christ and Christ's Religion, 189.
ROMANS i. 16 247
had no power to carry out the teaching. In Christ we find truly the power to save men from sin." 1
Tj Ask the doctor what is his best help, who is his best nurse, what is his most certain medicine, and he will say, " Nature." My dear doctor, spell it in one syllable. Say not nature, but God ! For what is the difference between nature and God ? The great fundamental truth is that we are environed by powers that are not our own. And I will not go to an orthodox authority, but I will ask Herbert Spencer to tell us what this power is in that famous definition of his : " Amid the mysteries which become the more mysterious the more they are thought about, there will remain the absolute certainty that we are ever in the presence of an Infinite and Eternal Energy from whom all things proceed." What is this but the statement, in the language of modern philosophy, of the old Hebrew Psalmist's declaration. Power belongeth unto^God. And what is the_ result of all modern" science but this : aTIkill to lay hold on thTs^ow^Fthat" IsPhot our own" and to make" it our own by obedience toTtslawsT2
Who that one moment has the least descried him,
Dimly and faintly, hidden and afar, Doth not despise all excellence beside him,
Pleasures and powers that are not and that are, —
Ay amid all men bear himself thereafter Smit with a solemn and a sweet surprise,
Dumb to their scorn and turning to their laughter Only the dominance of earnest eyes ? 3
2. Because it is the Power of God. The Gospel is a Divine power, the power " of God," personally exerted, having its origin in God Himself, and with all His omnipotence behind it. It is not a mere vague impersonal force abstracted from its origin, a force which God has set agoing in the world and left to work itself out in accordance with its appointed mode of action. St. Paul conceives this power as essentially a mode ,j f nersonal activity. In it is exerted the personal power of God ; it is His own direct method of dealing with men, of conveying to them the knowledge of His truth and His love. Behind its proclamation is God's own personal energy, working in it and permeating it through and through to make it effective for His purposes.
1 G.M.S. Annual Report, 1899, p. 382.
a Lymaii Abbott. 3 F. W. H. Myers, St. Paul.
248 NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL
Tf The Koman legions marching like a vital machine, resistless, invincible; driving their roads as arrows across the plains and \ over the mountains, neither marsh, nor river, nor forest diverting them from their track; bringing the whole known world into subjection to their single, central city — they represent power. In this proud city the spoils of the world were gathered. In its senate the destinies of nations were determined. Opulent, arrogant, exclusive, Rome was the proudest and most powerful centre of government the world has ever seen. Caesar was the deified representative of imperial majesty and might. No one knew this better than Paul. In every region, in every city he visited, he saw and felt the might of Kome. He knew that when he went to the Mother City he would be in the very presence of the supreme expression of secular power. Yet, though he was poor, of weak bodily presence, though his doctrine was that of the Cross, he was nothing daunted. The reason was that the Gospel he preached was also a power. A power greater than Rome. It was the power of God.1