Rain Upon the Mown Grass; And Other Sermons, 1842-1870 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1871 Excerpt: ... XII. POWER TO PREACH. Preached on behalf of the Wesleyan Missionary Socidy, at Great Queen Street Chapel, May 2nd, 1856. "But ye shall rcceii'c power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto vie both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."--Acts i. 8. POWER belongeth unto God and is inseparable from God, even in idea. The power of God is, moreover, God-like, --infinite and eternal. Until the morning of creation power slept, then it awoke, and it has not slumbered since, but has worked ceaselessly, guided by infinite goodness. Nor will it ever cease working. The power of God is no gift or endowment, it is no fruit of education or result of circumstances; it is nothing imparted to the divine nature, it is the underived and independent ability of God to do whatsoever he wills. The power of all other beings is derived, dependent, limited, and separable from existence; so that of them it must be said, They have received power. And all conscious creatures have received power--all, the lowest and the highest, the zoophyte cleaving to the rock and the angel who obeys God's commandments, hearkening to the voice of his word. We sometimes speak of power existing where there is no life, as when we talk of mechanical and chemical powers; and sometimes where there is life without consciousness, as when we talk of the vis vitce in the vegetable kingdom. But the power of which we shall now speak is conscious power, and power of the noblest kind and of the highest class. The lever as a power is inferior to the paw of the beast, and the forces of chemistry, wonderful beyond expression though they be, are nothing compared with the strength of a good argument or with the force of effective per...