Valid Christianity
R. W. Hamilton, D. D. 1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. 1. This "kingdom" is not God's government among the nations; nor the outward dispensation of the gospel, a kingdom which is "preached" unto us; nor the sphere of celestial bliss, to which we are "called." It is spiritual. "It cometh not with observation." It is "within us." We can only "see" it and "enter" it by being "born again." It is not ceremonial observance, but "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Its "mystery" can alone be appreciated by subjection to it. It is so inestimable that we must "seek it first." 2. This kingdom is not in "word," a mere proclamation — it is in power. This is a thing very difficult to define. To tell us that it is ability, capacity, strength, is idle repetition. It will better reveal its true meaning in the facts which the text will identify. I. RELIGION IN ITS HOLD AND OPERATION UPON THE HEART IS NOTHING LESS THAN THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 1. You must lay aside all notion of empires and thrones. You must remove all your ideas to the soul which once belonged to the kingdom of Satan. In our conversion God's reign begins. The atonement slays our enmity, and gives us our true and perfect law of liberty. We are "willing in the day of His power." 2. The kingdom of God supposes the corn stunt operation of authority, and of the sense of law. To the most sinless creatures this is the ever-present idea. There can be no excellence without such guide and commandment. In keeping such commandment is heaven's great reward. Heaven is a kingdom, and only they who do His commandments have right to its tree of life. 3. It is well known with what a graceful fervour human fealty has often borne itself. A generous devotion has sustained it. The darker the eclipse which greatness suffered, the steadier was its faith. And does not such loyalty shame our coldness, little short of treason, to Jesus our King? Where are our efforts and sacrifices for His throne? Would we die in His cause? II. THIS KINGDOM RESTS IN A MIGHTY INFLUENCE. 1. The ultimate sanction of every government is force. But that force is indicated by pageantry and weapon. Yet is it, at a very early stage, a barren spectacle. Carried to its furthest, it can kill the body. Within the still smaller limit its command is feeble. It cannot decide opinion or fetter conscience. If benevolent, few are the blessings which it can supply; if tyrannic, as few are the ills which it can inflict. It is a narrow thing. The soul defies it. But the kingdom of God in an embodiment of august ascendency. It is not indebted to the adventitious and the external appendage. It wants not palaces, courts, armies. It is great in the greatness, it is strong in the strength, of its King. 2. Christianity made its early boast of this attribute. A signal power attended its outset. The Saviour taught as having authority. His favourite disciples did not taste of death till they had seen the kingdom of God come with power. Glorious victories were won. It was the visitation of a new life. Nothing withstood it. It grew up into a vast intellectual and moral dominion, diverse from every other government, having no local confines, brooking no selfish jealousies, converting the rebel soul and restoring it to God. it was in power. 3. We would not for a moment suppress the fact that if the gospel comes not in word only, but in power, it is because it comes in the Holy Ghost, the "Spirit of power!" But the "power" which is ascribed to the kingdom of God in the text, though always depending upon the Divine influence, is not the same with it. It belongs to the theme itself. It grows out of it, and is its legitimate due. It is a moral power. And there is power of the highest created order wherever there is mind. Knowledge is power (Proverbs 24:5). How mind acts upon mind! It is impossible to measure that impetus and confirmation which Christianity has given already to human intellect. It alone awakens man. Through its precepts he gets understanding. The entire soul is knitted into strength. The religion of Christ alone brings out the stamina of our mental and moral constitution. We can do all things through Christ Jesus strengthening us. 4. But in contending for the moral power inherent in the gospel of the kingdom, we may be asked, What can be the influence of the mere word? Let us illustrate. The great masters of antiquity have long since passed away. But their lore and eloquence have found some record. It is dead letter, it is mere word. But do they not exercise a mighty dominion over nations of which they had not heard? Paul penned his arguments and censures. "His letters, said they, are powerful." So all that belongs to our religion, even that which is most external, is m power. Its words, they are spirit and they are life. III. THE QUALITIES OF THIS POWER. 1. It is a power of truth. "The truth" is its sublime designation. The gospel founds itself upon facts. "With great power," therefore, "gave the apostles" their "witness." "The word of the truth of the gospel" impresses its own seal upon our soul. So adapted is it, that the Spirit of truth exclusively employs it in the new birth. And it is equally operative in the growth of Christian character and experience; when we receive it "not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the Word of God," then "it worketh effectually in us who believe." 2. It is a power of authority. It is Divine obligation. (1) The authority of the gospel alone can impart confidence. It is God's provision; here is our security: it is God's will; here is our warrant: it is God's command; here is our duty. (2) It will manifest itself in our exertions to promote it. Content yourselves with the idea that Christianity would be a general blessing, that its extension is therefore desirable, and what would be the vigour of our missionary institutions? But when we feel that "the mystery is to be made known to all nations according to the commandment of the everlasting God," we cry, "Necessity is laid upon us," &c. 3. It is a .power of realisation. It affects strongly and vividly. It arouses every earnest feeling. It substantiates its own truths and places them in a distinct perceptibleness. It realises God, and we "endure as seeing Him who is invisible." It realises futurity, and "faith is the Substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." 4. It is a power of intuition. Though man is grossly self-ignorant, yet he feels the truth when brought home to him. We see ourselves as in a glass. The secrets of man's heart are made manifest. He wonders at the detection and exposure: "Whence knowest thou me?" "Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did." 5. It is a power of relief. With royal liberality Christianity makes full provision for all the wants of all. There is no escape nor exemption which the sinner needs, but it secures. There is no remorse nor shame which he suffers, but it soothes. It is a feast for the hungry, a fountain to the thirsty, a wardrobe for the naked. 6. It is a power of exemplification. Sign and wonder attest it. But there is a still more decisive corroboration. A change has ever been going on in countless minds which science, legislation, moral suasion, never could achieve. 7. It is a power of absorption. It takes hold of man's soul, occupies and engrosses it. Like the leaven, it assimilates the mass into which it is thrown. 8. It is a power of courage. Christianity is the parent and nurse of the true heroic. It is great and it excites greatness. Its language is to reiteration, Be strong. It trains us to hardness; to the sacrifice of life when higher interests are at stake. Pusillanimity may be too natural to us, but it belongs not to our cause. True to it, we faint not. 9. It is the power of support. Afflictions are not held back from the Christian: but "strong consolation" only feebly expresses his support. He glories in tribulation. He is more than a conqueror. We are partakers of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. 10. It is the power of influence. The gospel clothes its believers with an incalculable ascendency. It is impossible to limit their power of doing good. Who can measure the usefulness of a thought, the efficacy of a prayer? 11. It is the power of diffusion. In Christianity there is nothing sluggish and inert, nothing cold and narrow, but all is glowing, intense, stirring, and expansive. (R. W. Hamilton, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. WEB: For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.