The Word of a King

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON.

AT THE OPENING OF A NEW BAPTIST CHAPEL, TRINITY ROAD, UPPER TOOTING.

"Where the word of a king is, there is power." Ecclesiastes 8:4.

KINGS in Solomon's day had a vast amount of power, for their word was
absolute. They did according to their own will and none could check
them, for, as Solomon said, "the king's wrath is as the roaring of a
lion: whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own soul." When
such a monarch happened to be wise and good, it was a great blessing to
the people, for, "a king that sits in the throne of judgment scatters
away all evil with his eyes." But if he was of a hard, tyrannical
nature, his subjects were mere slaves and groaned beneath a yoke of
iron. We do not sufficiently give thanks for the blessings of a
constitutional government, but if we were, for a season, put beneath
the power of a grinding despotism, we should set more store by those
liberties for which we have to thank our Puritan ancestors. Mercies are
seldom appreciated till they are taken away. May we not prove
ungrateful under free institutions, for if so, we shall be more brutish
than any men.

There is, however, blessed be the Lord, one King whose power we do not
wish, in any degree, to limit or circumscribe. God does as He wills
among the armies of Heaven and among the inhabitants of this lower
world–none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What are you doing? In
this we greatly rejoice! The personal rule of one individual would be
the best form of government if that individual were perfectly good,
infinitely wise and abundant in power. And the reason why an autocrat
turns into a despot is that there is no man who is perfectly good,
unselfish, or wise! God has no fault or failing and, therefore, it is a
joy that He does according to His will. He never wills anything that is
not strictly just– in the exercise of absolute sovereignty He is
neither unjust nor unmerciful–it is not possible for Him to err and,
therefore, it is a great subject for joy that "the Lord reigns, He is
clothed with majesty. The Lord sits upon the floods; yes, the Lord sits
King forever and ever; let Israel rejoice, and let the children of Zion
be joyful in their King. "Say among the heathen that the Lord reigns:
the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: He
shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let
the earth be glad; let the seas roar, and the fullness thereof."

Now, because God is the absolute Monarch, His Word has power about it
and of that Word of power I am going to speak at this time. May the
Holy Spirit help us to think of the power of God's Word for four
purposes! First, to excite our awe. Secondly, to ensure our obedience.
Thirdly, to inspire our confidence. And, fourthly, to direct our
efforts.

I. First, we would see the power of the Word of the Lord in order TO
EXCITE OUR AWE OF HIM. What are we poor creatures of a day? What is
there in us as we appear in God's sight? Do we not pass away as the
flower of the field? As for our word, what is it? We sometimes talk
exceedingly proudly and we say, "shall," and, "will," as if we could do
anything–when, after all, our word is but breath, a vapor, a mere
sound in the air! Man proposes, but God disposes. Man resolves, but God
dissolves. That which man expects, God rejects, for the Word of the
Lord stands forever–but man passes away and is not.

Think of the day before all days when there was no day but the Ancient
of Days and when God dwelt all alone. Then He willed in His mind that
there should be a world created. "He spoke, and it was done: He
commanded, and it stood fast." "By the Word of the Lord were the
heavens made; and all the hosts of them by the breath of His mouth."
What a word is that which created all things! And remember that this
same word can destroy all things, for, "the heavens and the earth,
which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men." If He were
but to speak, all things that are would melt away as a moment's foam
dissolves into the wave that bears it and is lost forever! "You turn
man to destruction; and say, Return, you children of men"–and at that
irresistible word, man's spirit returns to God who gave it and his body
disintegrates into dust!

When the Lord created, He used no hand of cherubim or seraphim–all
that we read in the sublimely simple record of Genesis is, "God said,
let there be," and there was. His word accomplished all and when He
wills to destroy either one man or a million, His word is able to work
His will. What a mighty word was that which in one night cut off the
host of Sennacherib and slew the first-born of Egypt! The Word of the
Lord commanded the floods and they drowned a guilty world–and that
same word rained fire from Heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah! Even so, in
the Last Day, when the word shall go forth from Him, He shall shake not
only the earth, but also Heaven–and at His word of power both Heaven
and earth shall flee away!

Great God, we do adore You, for You are both Creator and Destroyer by
Your Word! Think how God's Word both makes alive and kills. He promised
Abraham that he should have a seed in whom all the nations of the earth
should be blessed. It seemed impossible that there should come from him
a son that should be the founder of a race–his body was dead and Sarah
was old–yet God, in due time, made them to laugh, for Isaac was born
into the house! The Lord sets the solitary in families. "He makes the
barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children." It
is the Lord who makes alive and, equally is it the Lord who kills. It
only needs God to will it and the pestilence lays men low in heaps,
like the grass of the meadow when the mower's scythe has passed over
it. The Lord has but to call for pestilence or war and myriads of men
are laid low.

If He wills to chasten by famine, He calls for devouring insects and
they invade the land. And this Joel attributes to the word of Jehovah,
when He says, "And the Lord shall utter His voice before His army; for
His camp is very great: for He is strong that executes His word: for
the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?"
Oh, how we ought to worship You, You dread Supreme, upon whose Word
life and death are made to hang! I might in another division of this
part of my subject remind you of the power which attends both His
promises and His threats. God has never promised without performing, in
due time, to the last jot and tittle. Has He said, and shall He not do
it? Has He commanded, and shall it not come to pass? The gifts and
calling of God are without repentance–He turns not from His Covenant
engagements and swerves not from the performance of His Word.

Those that have resisted Him have found His threats to be true,
also–let Pharaoh confess how the plagues followed fast upon the Word
of the Lord till even his stout heart was melted within him! Men have
gone on, for a while, resisting God, and in their pride they have
laughed Him to scorn, but, by-and-by, He has spoken to them in His
wrath and vexed them in His hot displeasure. Who can stand against this
terrible God, whose word overthrows the mighty, and casts the proud
beneath His feet? There is power in God's Word to foretell, so that,
when He tells what is to be in the future, we know that it shall come
to pass. "Seek you out of the Book of the Lord, and read: no one of
these shall fail, none shall want her mate." Thus says the Lord, "I
have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I
will also do it."

In the Word of the Lord there is also power to predestinate as well as
to foretell, so that what He decrees is fixed and certain. "There are
many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord,
that shall stand." The Lord has said it, "My counsel shall stand, and I
will do all My pleasure." Let this be your joy, today, that whatever is
promised of the latter day and of the Glory that is to be revealed, is
sure to come to pass, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. It seems
impossible that the heathen should ever be the Lord's, or that the
uttermost parts of the earth should be Christ's possession, but it will
be, for the King has said it, and, "Where the word of a king is, there
is power."

We fear that the time will never arrive when peace shall reign through
all the world–and when men shall hang the helmet in the hall and study
war no more–but the vision of faith shall yet become a fact, for,
"Where the word of a king is, there is power." He spoke of old of Edom
and Moab, Philistia and Ammon, Nineveh and Babylon, Greece and Rome.
And whatever He has spoken has been fulfilled! Not one word of the
prophecies of Daniel and Ezekiel has failed of its accomplishment! And
we may be sure that not one glorious vision of the seer of Patmos will
remain a dream. Let us worship the great Ordainer, Benefactor and
Ruler, whose every word is the word of a King, in which there is
power–

"His very word of Grace is strong As that which built the skies The
voice that rolls the stars along Speaks all the promises."

II. Secondly, we would think of the power of God's Word in order TO
ENSURE OUR OBEDIENCE TO IT. Whenever God gives a word of command, it
comes to us clothed with authority, and its power over our minds should
be immediate and unquestioned. I hope that, in laying the foundation of
the spiritual building that is to be erected in connection

with this place, you will take care to do it according to the
directions of the Divine statute-book. One is our Master, even Christ,
and we have to do our Master's will, not our own. Some Christian people
do not view the authority of God's Word as paramount, but consult human
leaders or their preferences. This is to begin with the word of man–a
weak and sandy foundation! I beseech you do not so.

To Christians the Word of God is the only rule of faith and practice.
Our doctrine is of authority because it is God's Word, and for no other
reason. Our ordinances are valid because instituted by God's Word–they
are idle ceremonies if they are not so commanded. All the rites, rules
and regulations of man are of no value. The book of human decrees is
not to be regarded in the Church of Christ. You may put in the front of
it, "printed by authority," but to the Church of Christ it has no
authority! You may adopt a creed as the standard of any particular
Church, but that gives it no authority to bind the conscience! It may
be authorized by princes, bishops and holy men, but where it differs
from the Word of the Lord, or adds thereto, it is, to the children of
God, as a puff of wind! The sole authority in the Church is Christ,
Him-self–He is the Head of His Church and His Word is the only
authority by which we are ruled–for, "where the word of a king is,
there is power," but all are usurpers who act as lords in the Church,
where Jesus, alone, is Master and Lord.

Christians should more diligently search the Word of God to find out
what the will of the Lord is on all matters affecting their everyday
life. A loyal subject of the great King wants to know what the King
would have him do. When he knows it, it is not for him to question or
to cavil, but to obey. Brothers and Sisters, let us obey, in all
things, the King's Word, and give to His Holy Word the honor that it
justly claims, for, "where the word of a king is, there is power."
Every precept that He gives, He intends us to keep. He does not ordain
it that we may question it. He commands, that we may obey. Let me refer
you to what Solomon says in the second verse of this chapter, "I
counsel you to keep the king's commandments." This is admirable counsel
for every Christian–if the commandments were of men, even the wisest
of men, we might break them and, perhaps, do right in breaking them.
But if they are of the King who gives the command, even the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the King in Zion, then the advice of the Preacher is
wise and weighty–"I counsel you to keep the king's commandments."

Perhaps some of you would ask me, this afternoon, "What is the best
course for me to pursue in certain difficult cases?" "I counsel you to
keep the King's Commandments." "But I am a young man just beginning
life and may get into trouble if I am rigidly scrupulous in doing that
which is right." "I counsel you to keep the King's Commandments." "But
at this present time I may lose my job if I keep all His statutes.
Could I not wink rather hard and forget one of the Commandments for a
little while?" "I counsel you to keep the King's Commandments." If He
is a King, then it is a solemn hazard to your soul if you come short of
the least of His Commandments! Remember that one treason makes a
traitor! One leak sinks a ship. One fly spoils the whole box of
ointment. He that bought us with His blood deserves to be obeyed in all
things, with all our heart, mind, soul and strength!

Such a King as we have ought never to hear us ask the reason why He
commands, but we should be like the brave men of Balaclava, of whom the
poet said–

"Theirs not to reason why, Theirs not to make reply, Theirs but to dare
and die."

Solomon goes on to say, "Be not hasty to go out of his sight." There is
such power in God's Word that I would have you also obey this precept
and seek to remain in His Presence. Some of His people seek to get away
from their Lord instead of keeping close to Him. So little do they
delight in communion with their God that they seem to say, "Where shall
I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your Presence?" Did
it never happen to you as it did to Jonah, when he felt he had to go to
Tarshish, though the Lord told him to go to Nineveh? He did not want
such a large field of labor, such an anxious and unrewarding post of
duty–he would rather go to a village station, or to a seaside place.
For a time he believed that Providence helped him, for he found a ship
going to Tarshish.

There are many devil's providences which make sin easy and obedience
difficult. The precept, not the Providence, is the rule of duty! The
providence which gave Judas the opportunity to sell his Master did not
excuse that son of perdition! "So he paid the fare thereof, and went
down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the Presence of the
Lord." Alas, poor Jonah! To be thus eager to run counter to the Word of
a King! I remember how I felt when first in London–I could not endure
the horrible wilderness of bricks by which I was surrounded! I sighed
for the green fields and the fresh

air–and I longed to get back to my country charge. But this kind of
self-indulgence will not do! "Where the word of a king is, there is
power," and wherever the King sends you, you must go, and go without
questioning.

If He should send you to preach at the gates of Hell, go and preach
there! "Be not hasty to go out of His sight," for if you get out of the
sight of the King–if you no longer wait in His blessed Presence,
depend upon it–like Jonah, you will fall into trial, tempest, sinking
and terror! There may be no whale to swallow you and cast you up,
again–they are not so plentiful, now, as they were then–and you may
not be delivered so easily as Jonah! Keep in the Lord's Presence and
favor, no matter where you may have to go in order to do so. Walk in
communion with Christ in whatever path He may point out to you. Never
mind how rough it is! Do not imagine it is the wrong road because it is
so rough–rather reckon it to be right because it is rough, for seldom
do smoothness and rightness go together. Oh, to abide in Christ the
Word, and to have His Word abiding in us!

Solomon then says, "Stand not in an evil thing." There is such power in
the Word of God that He can readily destroy you, or heavily chastise
you. Therefore, be quick to amend and, "stand not in an evil thing."
Repent, obey, submit, confess, seek pardon at once! He who is a
courtier in a king's court, if he offends against his sovereign, or
does anything disgraceful, apologizes and trusts that he will not so
offend any more and oh, you child of God, if at any time you shall
offend against your gracious Sovereign and He frowns on you, humble
yourself, for His stroke is heavy! "Be you not as the horse, or as the
mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit
and bridle." Have a tender mouth–let God guide you with His eyes–let
a word be enough for you!

I wish we all had great tenderness of conscience. We should tremble at
God's Word and humble ourselves in the dust before Him, praying to be
cleansed by His Grace. If a person wished to practice deeds of infamy,
he would not do it in the Queen's audience room, especially if her eyes
were fixed upon him! And so sin should be impossible to a Believer who
lives in the Presence of the King, in whose Word there is power! Will
you offend Him to His face and slight Him in His own courts? No! Yield
yourself to His mercy and let your holy life prove that His Word has
power over your heart and conscience.

III. And now, thirdly, TO INSPIRE OUR CONFIDENCE, let us think that
"where the word of a king is, there is power." If there is a heart here
that is seeking mercy, if you can go before God with such a promise as
this in your mouth, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He
will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly
pardon"–that Word of His is not a mere sound–there is the power of
the Truth of God in it! If you do what He, there, bids you do, you
shall find that He can and will abundantly pardon! Whatever sins you
have committed, though they are too many to count, and too awful to
mention, if you will come and trust yourself with Jesus Christ, God's
Word is that you shall be saved–and saved you shall be! "He that
believes on Him is not condemned." "He that believes on the Son has
everlasting life." Come and plead these words, now, you who feel your
sinfulness, and you shall prove, in your joyful experience, that they
are the power of God unto salvation!

Even the very worst may come and plead the promises! And they shall
obtain immediate pardon and full forgiveness–and their soul shall know
it because of the sweet peace that comes from forgiven sin! Do you tell
me that you cannot conquer your evil passions and corrupt desires? Here
is a promise from the Word of the Lord, "From all your filthi-ness and
from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you" (Ezek. 36:25). Now come
and plead these precious promises! There is power in them–they are the
Words of a King, and if you plead them at the Mercy Seat, you shall
become a new creature in Christ Jesus! Old things shall pass away! All
things shall become new!

When you get a promise from God, treat it as undoubted truth and rely
upon it as you do upon the promise of your father or your friend. There
are men around you whose promises you never can believe–when they
promise to pay you, you dare not regard it as an asset in business, for
you are too sadly aware that you have a little bundle of their I O U's,
already, and you have had a view of their dishonored bills and checks
endorsed with "insufficient funds." But God's Word is not like that of
false and fickle mortals. No charge of falsehood or failure can be
brought against the God of Truth! He has never broken His Word, yet,
and He never will! Then, dear Souls, if you need forgiveness of sin and
renewal of heart, get the promise to that effect and believe it with
all your soul! And as sure as it is the Word of a King you shall be
washed in the blood and in the water which flowed from the wounded side
of the crucified Christ.

And you Christian people, are there any of you who are struggling, at
this time, with a remaining corruption which you cannot conquer? Come
and lay hold of the promise that you shall overcome and plead it before
the Mercy Seat! If you do but get any promise of God suited to your
case, make quick use of it, for there is power in it! It is the Word of
a King! Mr. Durham, the writer of ancient and precious comments upon
Solomon's Song and the Revelation, when dying, was somewhat distressed
in mind and said to a friend who was standing by his bedside, "Out of
all the Scriptures there is not one text that yields me comfort, save
only one, and that is one that I have often held out to perishing
sinners, little thinking I should have to cling to it myself–'him that
comes unto Me I will in no wise cast out.' Brother So-and-So, do you
think that this is strong enough to bear my weight now?" "Yes," his
friend replied, "and to bear the weight of ten thousand times ten
thousand if they rest upon it."

What was said of that text is true of every other Word of God! The
promise of the Lord will bear the weight of sin and justice, life and
death, judgment and Hell. Lean your whole weight on the Word of God and
you shall find it to be like Mount Zion which cannot be removed, but
abides forever! For my own part, I have no shadow of a hope but in the
Word of the Lord–His Spirit has delivered me from all reliance upon
duties, or feelings, or experiences. The Word of the Lord is the life
of my soul. In the words of King Jesus there is power to save you, to
renew you, to pardon you, to preserve you, to sanctify you and to
perfect you! If you have hold on the promises, they will hold you for
time and eternity, too.

Then, are there any of you in great trouble? I cannot know all your
cases, but if any one of you has a trial which you could not tell, or a
trouble which, if you did tell it, nobody could help you out of–go and
spread it before the Lord. Remember His Word, "Many are the afflictions
of the righteous: but the Lord delivers him out of them all." Go and
tell Him that He has thus spoken and that He has therein pledged
Himself to deliver you out of all afflictions–and be sure of this, He
will be as good as His Word! Do you expect to die soon? Are you
somewhat distressed because sickness is undermining your constitution?
Be not afraid, for His Spirit teaches you to sing, "Yes, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for You
are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me." Go and tell the
Lord of His own Word and you will look forward to death without fear,
singing–

"Knowing as I am known, How shall I love that word, And oft repeat
before the throne, 'Forever with the Lord!' That Resurrection word,
That shout of victory, Once more, 'Forever with the Lord!' Amen–so let
it be!"

Brothers and Sisters, one more point is gained concerning the fear of
death when we remember that it is the voice of a King which will recall
our bodies from the grave and, "where the word of a king is, there is
power." Do we ask mournfully as we survey the graveyard, "Can these dry
bones live?" We are not slow to answer with assurance of faith! He that
brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the
sheep, will also bring forth from their sepulchers all His sheep! "If
the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He
that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal
bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you." We do not doubt this when we
remember that with the trumpet of the archangel shall also be heard the
voice of God, which voice shall speak the Omnipotent

Word–

"Break from His throne, illustrious morn! Attend, O earth, His
sovereign Word! Restore the saint, a glorious form He must ascend to
meet his Lord." IV. Fourthly, I am coming to my last point, on which I
shall crave a little time–and here I intend to address myself to all
people of God who are associated in Church fellowship, striving to do
the Lord's service and to you who will be so associated here. My text
is to be used TO DIRECT YOUR EFFORTS. You need power–not the power of
money, or mind, or influence, or numbers–but "power from on high." All
other power may be desirable, but this power is indispensable.
Spiritual work can only be done by spiritual power. I counsel you, in
order to get spiritual power in all that

you do, to keep the King's Commandments, for "where the word of a king
is, there is power." Lay not a stone of your spiritual Church without
His overseeing! Do all things according as He has ordained! Regard Him
as the wise Master Builder and be, all of you, under the command of His
Word.

The day comes when much that has been built shall be destroyed, for the
fire will try every man's work of what sort it is. It is very easy to
heap up a Church with wood, hay and stubble, which the fire will soon
destroy. And it is very difficult work to build one up with gold,
silver and precious stones, for these are rare materials and must be
diligently sought for, laboriously prepared and carefully guarded. The
materials that will stand the fire of temptation, trial, death and the
like, are not to be brought together by any word but the Word of the
Lord–and these, alone, are worth having. I had sooner have
half-a-dozen Christian people, truly spiritual and obedient to the Word
of the Lord in all things, than I would have half-a-dozen thousands of
nominal Christians who neither care about the Word of God nor the King.
If you need power, keep the King's Commandments! Keep close to them in
all things and make it the Law of your house and the slogan of your
flag.

Wherein you go beyond the Word of God, you go beyond the power. And
wherein you stop short of the Word of God, you also stop short of the
power. In the King's Word there is power and you will have power as
long as you keep to it–and real power is nowhere else to be found. Let
us take care that we do not look elsewhere for power, for that will be
leaving the Fountain of Living Waters to hew out for ourselves broken
cisterns which hold no water. I fear that some Christian people have
been looking in many other directions for the power which can only be
found in the Word of the King. At one time we were told that power lay
in an educated ministry. People said, "We must have a minister who
knows Greek and Latin! You cannot save souls unless you are familiar
with the heathen classics." This superstition has suffered many a blow
from the manifest successes of those whose only language is the grand
old Saxon!

Then the cry was, "Well, really, we do not need these men of
education–we need fluent speakers, men who can tell a great many
anecdotes and stories–these are men of power." I hope we shall outgrow
this delusion, also. The Lord works by either of these classes of men,
or by others who have not the qualifications of either of them, or by
another sort of men, or 50 sorts of men, so long as they keep to the
Word of the King, in which there is power! There is power in the Gospel
if it is preached by a man utterly without education–unlearned men
have done great things by the power of the Word of God! The polished
doctor of divinity has been equally useful when he has kept to his
Master's Word. But if either of these has forgotten to make Christ's
Word first and last, the preaching has been, alike, powerless, whether
uttered by the illiterate or the profound.

Others have thought it necessary, in order to have power among the
masses, (that is the cant phrase), that there should be fine music. An
organ is, nowadays, thought to be the power of God–and a choir is a
fine substitute for the Holy Spirit! They have tried that kind of thing
in America, where solos and quartets enable singing men and singing
women to divide their services between the church and the theater! Some
churches have paid more attention to the choir than to the preaching. I
do not believe in it! If God had meant people to be converted in that
way, He would have sent them a command to attend the music halls and
operas, for there they will get far better music than we can hope to
give them.

If there are charms in music to change the souls of men from sin to
holiness and if the preaching of the Gospel will not do it–let us have
done with Peter and Paul, with Chalmers and with Chrysostom–and let us
exalt Mozart and Handel into their places! And let the great singers of
the day take the places of the pleaders for the Lord. Even this would
not content the maniacs of this age, for with the music room they crave
the flippancy of the theater. Combine with philosophy the sweet flowers
of oratory and those of Covent Garden, adding thereto the man-millinery
and gewgaws of Rome–and then you can exclaim with the idolaters of
old–"These are your gods, O Israel." Men are now looking for
omnipotence in toys! But we do not believe it. We come back to this,
"Where the word of a king is, there is power," and while we are
prepared to admit that all and everything that has to do with us can be
the vehicle of spiritual power if God so wills, we are more than ever
convinced that God has spiritual power to give by His word, alone!

We must keep to the King's word if we desire to have this spiritual
power for the Lord's work. Whatever you find in Scripture to be the
command of the Lord, follow it, though it leads you into a course that
is difficult for the flesh to bear–I mean a path of singular
spirituality and nonconformity to the world. Remember that, after all,
the Truth of God may be with the half-dozen and not with the million.
Christ's power may be with the handful as it was at Pentecost,

when the power came down upon the despised disciples–and not upon the
chief priests and scribes–though they had the sway in religious
matters! If we want to win souls for Christ we must use the Word of God
to do it! Other forms of good work languish unless the Gospel is joined
with them.

Set about reforming, civilizing and elevating the people, and you will
lose your time unless you evangelize them. The total abstinence
movement is good and I would that all would aid it, but it effects
little unless the Gospel furnishes the motive and the force. It will
win its way in proportion as it is carried on in subordination to the
Gospel and is viewed as a means to reach a still higher end! The rod
works no wonder till Moses grasps it and moral teaching has small force
till Jesus operates by it. Those who doubt the power of the Gospel and
leave it for other forms of hopeful good, leave strength for weakness,
Omnipotence for insufficiency. More and more I am persuaded that it is
where the Word of a King is that there is power, and all the rest is
feebleness until that Word has infused might into it.

Everyone must buy his own experience, but mine goes to prove to me that
the direct and downright preaching of the Gospel is the most profitable
work which I ever engage in–it brings more Glory to God and good to
men than all lecturing and addressing upon moral subjects. I should
always, if I were a farmer, like to sow that seed which would bring me
the best return for my labor. Preaching the Gospel is the most paying
thing in the world–it is remunerative in the very highest sense. May
your minister stick to the Gospel, the old-fashioned Gospel, and preach
nothing else but Jesus Christ and Him Crucified! If people will not
hear that, do not let them hear anything at all! It is better to be
silent than to preach anything else. Paul said, and I will say the
same, "I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ,
and Him Crucified."

Then again, if you need power, you must use this Word in pleading. If
your work here is to be a success, there must be much praying.
Everything in God's house is to be done with prayer. Give me a praying
people and I shall have a powerful people. The Word of the King is that
which gives power to our prayers. I have been requested to preach in
certain places and I have replied that I could not go. In a little time
I have received a letter to remind me that two years before I promised
to go. This altered the case–I had no choice. I must go, whether I
could or not, for my word was pledged to it. So if you can go to the
Lord with His pledged Word and say, "Lord, You have said it. You must
do it," He will be true to His Word to you, for there is power in the
Word of a King! There is power in accepting that Word, in getting it
into you, or receiving it. You will never keep the Truth of God till
you have received this Word of a King into your spiritual being and
absorbed it into your spiritual nature. Oh, that you might, every one
of you, eat the Word of God, live on it and make it your daily food!

And then, there is power in the practicing of it. Where there is life
through the King's Word, it will be a strong life. The sinner's life is
a feeble life, but an obedient life–an earnest Christian life–a life
of strength. Even those who hate it and abhor it, cannot help feeling
that there is a strange influence about it which they cannot explain,
and they must respect it. You will see its power in this place! I know
you will see it, for you are resolved, in God's strength, that it shall
be so. You will see its power to fill the place. There is nothing so
attractive as the Gospel of Christ! If you were to give a man the
Tabernacle at Newington, and say to him, "There, you may lecture on
geology, astronomy, or anything you like, twice on the Sunday, and
every night in the week as well, if you please, and see if you can keep
up a full congregation," he would fail!

The people would not come for any length of time and, yet, without any
great oratory, we preach the Gospel again and again, and the people
come–they cannot help it! They hear nothing new–it is always the same
thing over and over again, and yet it is never monotonous! There is
always a glorious freshness about the Gospel. That one silver bell of
the Gospel has more melody in it than can be drawn from all the bells
in all the steeples in the world! There is more sweetness in that one
name, Jesus, than in all the harps of angels, let alone the music of
men! When Jesus Christ's Deity is denied in any chapel, it soon becomes
a howling wilderness. If Christ, the Son of God, is gone, all is gone!
A certain minister preached Universalism, or the doctrine that
everybody would be saved in the end, and after a time his chapel became
empty. His neighbor, who preached that those who did not believe would
be lost forever, had his house full.

One day the Universalist met his neighbor, and asked him, "How is it
that the people come to you when you preach that unbelievers will be
sent to Hell, and they do not come to me, though I tell them that in
the end they will all be in Heaven?" The other replied, "They suspect
that what I tell them is true and that what you tell them is false."
Where gentlemen of this order have been preaching, people have sense
enough to come to the conclusion that if what they say is false

it is not wise to hear them! And if what they say is true there is no
need to hear them. Certain gentlemen are proving to the world that
there is no need of themselves, for if men are not lost, what need is
there of a preacher to tell them how they can be saved? He that cries
peace and safety, if he is a watchman, might as well hold his tongue.
If the watchman woke you up in the middle of the night crying out,
"All's well! A fine starlight night!" you would be very much inclined
to exclaim, "Why on earth do you go about disturbing people when there
is nothing the matter? Go home and get to bed with you!"

And thus these smooth-speaking gentlemen are finding out that they are
not needed and people are ready to say of them, "Let them go home to
bed and there let them abide." But on the other hand, if you preach
Jesus Christ, and even the terrible things of His Word, there will be a
full house, for conscience bids men hear. When you preach the Gospel,
souls will be saved! To secure that end, you must stick to the Gospel,
for that is the one means ordained by God for the conversion of
sinners. The other day a Gospel minister spoke to a woman who had
attended certain revival services, in which there was much shouting of,
"Come to Jesus," but nothing about Jesus. She said, "I heard you preach
this afternoon, and if what you preached is true, then I am a lost
woman, and I have been converted 10 times, already." Ah me! What is the
use of such poor work as this?

We must teach the King's Word if our work is to be blessed to the
salvation of souls. We must plow with the Law and let the people know
what sin means and what repentance means–then we may hopefully sow
them with the Gospel. Some time ago we were told that there was no need
of repentance and that repentance only meant a change of mind. But what
tremendous change of mind true repentance means! Never speak lightly of
repentance. Then, too, the preaching of the Truth of God–the whole
Truth of God–will bring a power of union among you, so that you who
love the Lord will be heartily united. When Christian people quarrel,
it is generally because they do not get sufficient spiritual food. Dogs
fight when there are no bones and Church members fall out when there is
no spiritual food. We must give them plenty of Gospel, for the Gospel
has the power of sweetening the temper and making us put up with one
another!

Preach the King's Word, for it will give you power in private prayer,
power in the Sunday school, power in the Prayer Meeting, power in
everything that you do because you will live upon the King's own Word
and His Word is meat to the soul! The Prophet said, "Your Words were
found, and I did eat them; and Your Word was unto me the joy and
rejoicing of my heart." If you try this meat, you will all find it is
nourishing to you, also. The Lord bless you and grant that it may be
so. Amen.
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Indexes
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