Thursday, December 18, 2008

The Power of His Word



The wise man saith, “Where the word of a king is, there is power.” What power must there be where there is the word of the King of kings who ruleth over all! We are not left to conjecture as to the power of the divine Word, for we know that “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” Out of nothingness the glorious Creation leaped at the bidding of the Most High; and when the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, there was nothing wanted but that solemn voice, “Light be,” and straightway light was. God’s word was sufficient in itself to build the temple of the universe; and to finish it from its foundations to its pinnacles.

That same word upholdeth by its power, and ruleth all things by its might. The pillars of heaven stand because the divine Word hath fixed them upon their bases, nor shall they be shaken until that same almighty word shall bid them remove; then, as a moment’s foam dissolves into the wave which bears it and is gone for ever, so shall the whole creation melt away. His word, which created, shall also destroy; but until that word be spoken every atom of this world is imperishable.

Consider, my brethren, what power is concentrated in him who is clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and whose name is “THE WORD OF GOD.” With what glorious power our Lord Jesus Christ uplifted the burden of our sins, carried the load up to the tree, and cast it for ever into the Red Sea of his own atoning blood. Ye know how he burst the bars of death, tore away the gates of the grave, overthrew all the hosts of hell, and dragged the mightiest principalities of darkness as captives at his chariot wheels. At this day the government is upon his shoulders and his name is the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. Heaven and earth salute him as the omnipotent Word. He sustains the spiritual life of all his people by feeding them upon himself; and he shall, in due time, perfect his saints and present them without spot before his Father’s throne. We ought therefore to bow with reverence to that which is truly the Word of God, since it contains within itself the highest degree of power, and is ever the way in which divine omnipotence manifests itself.

From a sermon entitled "Thus Saith The Lord," delivered September 25, 1864. Image by Aaron Escobar under Creative Commons License.

No comments: