1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. I. ITS INSTRUMENT — revealed truth. Although the word may be present without power, wherever the power is put forth it employs the word as its instrument: although the letter is sometimes dead, it is by that letter, when it lives, that all the real work is done. II. ITS ESSENCE — Christ (1 Corinthians 1:24). Here is the fountain-head of all the force which, through the preaching of the truth, can be brought to bear upon the hearts and lives of men. The word and ordinances stand ready to convey the power, but the redemption that is in Christ is the power which must be led to men's hearts and led on. III. ITS APPLICATION is effected by the ministry of the Spirit. Before His ascension our Lord promised this, and at Pentecost the promise was fulfilled. Then the kingdom came in power to a multitude who had previously known it in word only. From that day to this, with a ministry sometimes silent as the dew, and sometimes terrible as a tempest, the same Spirit has been working in the world. IV. ITS EFFECTS. 1. It subdues. It seizes Saul, and in a moment Jays him prostrate on the earth. It makes him blind, and again gives him light. It strips him of his own righteousness, and forthwith clothes him in another. The soldier is compelled to change his side, and without even putting off his armour marches under another Captain to fight another foe. The conquest, as might have been expected, is more complete than any which earthly powers can achieve (2 Corinthians 10:5). Other monarchs rule men's actions; Christ is King of thoughts. 2. It comforts. It is as much the peculiar prerogative of royalty to make peace, as to declare war. "Peace I leave with you," &c. These are kingly words; only One has the right to use them. 3. It levies tribute. This is the sure mark of a real kingdom. Once the king of Britain claimed to be also king of France. In France his kingdom consisted in word only; in Britain and Ireland it came in power. Here tribute flowed into the royal treasury; there not a penny was paid. Christ's kingdom, wherever it is real, puts forth the taxing power. Tribute, bearing the image and superscription of earthly kings, flows into its treasury to maintain its machinery and extend its bounds; but the self of the subject is the coin in which the King best likes the tribute to be paid. (W. Arnot, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. |
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