April 9, 2008   BACK TO  ARCHIVES >>

"Christ - The Power and Wisdom of God"

"...Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."   1 Corinthians 1:24

He is "the power of God"; this is opposed to the Jews who stumbled at his weakness, his sufferings and death, even the death of the cross; and is to be understood of him, not as God, in which sense he is Mighty, yea, the Almighty, and which appears by his works of creation and providence; but as Mediator, and of him in his low and mean estate, and even when he was crucified through weakness; in respect to that very thing in which he was weakness, and so stumbling, to others, he is to them that are called the power of God; as is clear by his bearing all the sins of his people in his own body, on the tree, the cross whereon he was crucified, and all the punishment due thereunto; and yet he failed not, nor was he discouraged, nor did he give out, till he had satisfied law and justice perfectly, and made a full end of sin, and an entire reconciliation for iniquity; as also by destroying, by his death, the devil, who had the power of death, and spoiling all his principalities and powers, triumphing over them on his cross; by redeeming his people from all their sins, and the curse of the law, and from him that was stronger than they; by abolishing death, and at last raising himself from the dead; all which show him, even when and "though" crucified, to be the power of God, or to be possessed of Almighty power; for these are things which a mere creature could never have done.

And he is "the wisdom of God", also, in the account of these persons; and which likewise is to be understood, it being opposed to the opinions the Greeks had of him, not of him as the essential wisdom of God, as he is the wise Creator and Governor of the universe; but of him as Mediator, and in respect to that for which the Greeks accounted him foolishness: for in redemption and salvation by a crucified Christ, God hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence: there is in this article a high display of the wisdom of God; for hereby justice was satisfied in that nature which sinned, and Satan destroyed in that nature which he himself had been the ruin of; hereby sin was condemned, and yet the sinner saved; pardon and justification came to be in a way of grace, and yet of strict justice; all the divine perfections harmonize, and are glorified, and God has hereby executed his wise designs and counsels of old; yea, even the wisdom of God is seen in Christ's dying the death of the cross, whereby he appeared to be made a curse for us, that he might redeem us from the curse of the law, and that the blessing of Abraham might come upon us.
    — John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Also by
Charles Finney

Enduement Of Power From On High
By Charles Finney

In this article I propose to consider the conditions upon which this enduement of power can be obtained. Let us borrow a little light from the Scriptures. I will not cumber your paper with quotations from the Bible, but simply state a few facts that will readily be recognized by all readers of the Scriptures. If the readers of this article will read in the last Chapter of Matthew and of Luke the commission which Christ gave to His disciples, and in connection read the first and second Chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, they will be prepared to appreciate what I have to say in this article.

1st. The disciples had already been converted to Christ, and their faith had been confirmed by His resurrection. But here let me say that conversion to Christ is not to be confounded with a consecration to the great work of the world's conversion. In conversion the soul has to do directly and personally with Christ.

It yields up its prejudices, its antagonisms, its self-righteousness, its unbelief, its selfishness; accepts Him, trusts Him, and supremely loves Him. All this the disciples had, more or less, distinctly done. But as yet they had received no definite commission, and no particular enduement of power to fulfill a commission.

2nd. But when Christ had dispelled their great bewilderment resulting from His crucifixion, and confirmed their faith by repeated interviews with them, He gave them their great commission to win all nations to Himself. But He admonished them to tarry at Jerusalem till they were endued with power from on high, which He said they should receive not many days hence. Now observe what they did. They assembled, the men and women, for prayer. They accepted the commission, and, doubtless, came to an understanding of the nature of the commission, and the necessity of the spiritual enduement which Christ had promised. As they continued day after day in prayer and conference they, no doubt, came to appreciate more and more the difficulties that would beset them, and to feel more and more their inadequacy to the task.

A consideration of the circumstances and results leads to the conclusion that they, one and all, consecrated themselves, with all they had, to the conversion of the world as their life-work. They must have renounced utterly the idea of living to themselves in any form, and devoted themselves with all their powers to the work set before them. This consecration of themselves to the work, this self-renunciation, this dying to all that the world could offer them, must, in the order of nature, have preceded their intelligent seeking of the promised enduement of power from on high. They then continued, with one accord, in prayer for the promised baptism of the Spirit, which baptism included all that was essential to their success.

Observe, they had a work set before them. They had a promise of power to perform it. They were admonished to wait until the promise was fulfilled. How did they wait? Not in listlessness and inactivity; not in making preparations by study and otherwise to get along without it; not by going about their business, and offering an occasional prayer that the promise might be fulfilled; but they continued in prayer, and persisted in their suit till the answer came. They understood that it was to be a baptism of the Holy Ghost. They understood that it was to be received from Christ. They prayed in faith. They held on, with the firmest expectation, until the enduement came. Now, let these facts instruct us as to the conditions of receiving this enduement of power.

We, as Christians, have the same commission to fulfill. As truly as they did, we need an enduement of power from on high. Of course, the same injunction, to wait upon God till we receive it, is given to us.

Message Continued >>

Read previous
Messages

Read about the Puritan's >>

Christ is the Life of Believers
By Thomas Brooks

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."   Col. 3:4.

The apostle, in the verse before, tells them that their 'life is hid with Christ in God.' These saints might object: but when shall that hidden life be revealed? When shall that life of glory be manifested? He answers in the text: 'When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.' The words do speak out the time when the glorious life of believers shall be manifested, and that is, when Christ shall appear in glory. I have in some other place observed from these words this point-namely, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the life of believers.

'When Christ, who is our life, shall appear.' Life here is, by a metonymy, put for the author of life.

We have shewed that Jesus Christ, he is first the author of a believer's spiritual life. In the 14th of John, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,' (ver. 6.)

Secondly, Jesus Christ, he is the matter of a believer's spiritual life in John 6:48, 'I am the bread of life.' The original hath it more elegantly, 'I am the bread of that life,' that is, of that spiritual life of which before the Lord Jesus Christ had spoken.

Thirdly, Jesus Christ is the exerciser and actor of the spiritual life of believers: John 15:5, 'Without me ye can do nothing.' The original is, seorsim a me; [Calvin, Cameron,] separate from me, or apart from me, ye can do nothing,

Fourthly, The Lord Jesus Christ, he is the strengthener and the cherisher of a believer's spiritual life, Ps. 138:3, 'In the day when I cried, thou didst answer me, and strengthen me with strength in my soul.'

Lastly, The Lord Jesus Christ, he is the completer, he is the finisher of the spiritual life of a saint, Heb. 12:2; Phil. 1:6. We have opened this point, and have made several uses of it. There were one or two things that we could not reach nor speak to when we treated upon this subject; I will only mention them, and so I pass to that special point that I intend to speak to at this time.

Is the Lord Jesus Christ a believer's life? To pass by what we have further spoken upon this point-this same, by way of use, doth serve to bespeak all believers not to repent of anything they have done, or suffered, or lost, for the Lord Jesus. Oh, is the Lord Jesus Christ a believer's life? Why, then, let no believer be disquieted, nor overwhelmed and dejected, for any loss or for any sorrow or suffering that he meets with for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake. What a base and unworthy spirit is it for a man to be troubled and disquieted in e himself for anything that he shall do or suffer for his own natural life!

Oh, Jesus Christ is thy life; do not say this mercy is too dear for Christ, nor that comfort is too great for Christ. Christ is the life of a believer: what wilt thou not do for thy life? The devil hit right when he said, 'Skin for skin, and all that a man hath will he give for his life.' Oh, what should a man then do for Jesus Christ, who is his life! You noble hearts whose particular God hath come near in this sad loss, remember this, that Christ is a believer's life; Christ is that glorious champion's life. Therefore be not over-whelmed, for doubtless he is now triumphing in the love, in the light, in the goodness, and in the glory of him who is his life. Let the sense of this sad loss kindly affect you, but let it not discourage you.

But, secondly, If the Lord Jesus Christ be a believer's life, then this serves to bespeak all believers highly to prize the Lord Jesus. Oh, it is this Christ that is thy life; it is not thy husband, it is not thy child, it not this or that thing; neither is it this ordinance or that, that is a believer's life. No; it is the Lord Jesus Christ that is the author, that is the matter, that is the exerciser, that is the strengthener, that is the completer, of a believer's life. You prize great ones; the Lord Jesus Christ is great-he is King of kings, and Lord of lords. You prize others for their wisdom and knowledge: the Lord Jesus hath in himself all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, Col. 2:3.

Message Continued >>

More from
Ralph Erskine

The Right Rule of Our Love to Christ
By Ralph Erskine

See here the right rule of our love to Christ, namely to love him as the Father loves him. Wherein should our love to Christ resemble the Father's love? Why, the Father's love to the Son was evidenced in choosing him to be our Saviour and Surety: so should our love to Christ be manifested in making choice of him to be our Saviour and Surety; insomuch, that as God hath laid all our help upon him, so we should lay all our help where God hath laid it.

Again, the Father's love to the Son was evidenced in giving all things into his hand: thus should our love to Christ be evidenced in putting all things in his hand as the Father doth; and particularly, you may put your hearts in his hand, that he may keep them; put your souls in his hand, that he may save them; put your plagues in his hand, that he may heal them; put your corruptions in his hand, that he may weaken and subdue them.

Put your wants in his hand, that he may supply them; put your work in his hand, that he may work all your works in you, and for you; put your burdens in his hand, that he may bear them: put all things in his hand, and thus evidence your love to him, by putting honour upon him as a Prophet, to teach you; as a Priest, to pardon; and as a King, to conquer you by his grace, and crown you with his glory.

Previous Manna >>

More from
William Law

William Law   (1689-1761)
"A kindled flame"

William Law, born in 1686, became a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1711, but in 1714, at the death of Queen Anne, he became a non-Juror: that is to say, he found himself unable to take the required oath of allegiance to the Hanoverian dynasty (who had replaced the Stuart dynasty) as the lawful rulers of the United Kingdom, and was accordingly ineligible to serve as a university teacher or parish minister.

He became for ten years a private tutor in the family of the historian, Edward Gibbon (who, despite his generally cynical attitude toward all things Christian, invariably wrote of Law with respect and admiration), and then retired to his native King's Cliffe. Forbidden the use of the pulpit and the lecture-hall, he preached through his books. These include Christian Perfection, the Grounds and Reasons of Christian Regeneration, Spirit of Prayer, the Way to Divine Knowledge, Spirit of Love, and, best-known of all, A Serious Call To a Devout and Holy Life, published in 1728.

The thesis of this last book is that God does not merely forgive our disobedience, he calls us to obedience, and to a life completely centered in Him. He says: "If you will here stop and ask yourself why you are not as pious as the primitive Christians were, your own heart will tell you that it is neither through ignorance nor inability, but because you never thoroughly intended it." The immediate influence of the book was considerable. William Law died in 1761 just a few days after his last book, An Affectionate Address to the Clergy, went to the printers.

Dr. Samuel Johnson said: "I became a sort of lax talker against religion, for I did not think much against it; and this lasted until I went to Oxford, where it would not be suffered. When at Oxford, I took up Law's Serious Call, expecting to find it a dull book (as such books generally are), and perhaps to laugh at it. But I found Law quite an overmatch for me; and this was the first occasion of my thinking in earnest of religion after I became capable of rational inquiry."

Gibbon (as mentioned above) said: "If Mr. Law finds a spark of piety in a reader's mind, he will soon kindle it into a flame."

John Wesley calls it one of three books which accounted for his first "explicit resolve to be all devoted to God." Later, when denying, in response to a question, that Methodism was founded on Law's writings, he added that "Methodists carefully read these books and were greatly profitted by them." In 1744 he published extracts from the Serious Call, thereby introducing it to a wider audience than it already had. About eighteen months before his death, he called it "a treatise which will hardly be excelled, if it be equalled, either for beauty of expression or for depth of thought."

Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, Henry Venn, William Wilberforce, and Thomas Scott each described reading the book as a major turning-point in his life. All in all, there were few leaders of the English Evangelical movement on whom it did not have a profound influence.

Read more Biographies >>

The Imitation of Christ
By Thomas À Kempis

Avoiding Idle Talk
By Thomas À Kempis

SHUN the gossip of men as much as possible, for discussion of worldly affairs, even though sincere, is a great distraction inasmuch as we are quickly ensnared and captivated by vanity.

Many a time I wish that I had held my peace and had not associated with men. Why, indeed, do we converse and gossip among ourselves when we so seldom part without a troubled conscience? We do so because we seek comfort from one another's conversation and wish to ease the mind wearied by diverse thoughts. Hence, we talk and think quite fondly of things we like very much or of things we dislike intensely. But, sad to say, we often talk vainly and to no purpose; for this external pleasure effectively bars inward and divine consolation.

Therefore we must watch and pray lest time pass idly.

When the right and opportune moment comes for speaking, say something that will edify.

Bad habits and indifference to spiritual progress do much to remove the guard from the tongue. Devout conversation on spiritual matters, on the contrary, is a great aid to spiritual progress, especially when persons of the same mind and spirit associate together in God.

Read the whole Book >>

Previous Martyrs

Rudolf Suhner, About A.D. 1643

They also apprehended a young lad, named Rudolf Suhner, who, though young in years, was old in the faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ. He was kept confined nearly two years in Othenbach, during which time he was forced to hard labor.

In the meantime they made his life so bitter to him, by severe threats and terrible representations, that he, through fear of the impending distress, consented to go to church with those that had imprisoned him, whereupon he was released. But soon after, reflecting on his fall, he experienced great sorrow, sincerely wept over his sins, and again prepared himself for the conflict set before him.

Thereupon he was again apprehended, and confined in the afore-mentioned place, but kept much harder than before. For, for a time all food was denied him (even as had been done to Felix Landis), so that some criminals, who were confined close to him, filled with compassion on his account, poured to him some warm liquid food, through a crevice in the wall.

Finally, when in consequence of having suffered hunger so long, he was so weakened, that he could not live any longer, he requested once more, that they would, in his great distress, allow him a little warm food, which the jailer made known to the lords. This, however, they jointly refused to grant in order to cause him, if possible, to apostatize. But finally one of the lords, beholding his misery, gave permission that they should give him some thing to eat again. Which when it was done, he could eat or bear it no more, and thus died famishing in his bonds; for which the Lord shall hereafter, at His heavenly table, reward him with eternal satiation.

"Blessed are ye that hunger now for ye shall be filled." Luke 6:21.

From Martyr's Mirror

More
Great Hymns

To come out of the fiery trial of our faith without the smell of burning means, I think, the fulfilling of that word in Peter, "Whom not having seen ye love; on whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (I Peter 1:8). That follows this word concerning the fiery trial of our faith, "joy unspeakable and full of glory." Here is the crown of a desperately dark time, of maybe years of suffering, of the testing of our faith, joy beyond speech, full of glory. The enemy ever seeks to rob us of our joy and frustrate the desire of the Lord that we should be radiators of His glory; and by the fiery trial all too often he succeeds.

From "Nor... the Smell of Fire..." by T. Austin-Sparks

"In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth ... And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
— Genesis 1:1,3   (written 3,450 years ago)

Science expresses the universe in five terms: time, space, matter, power and motion. "In the beginning (time) God created (power) the Heaven (space) and the earth (matter) ... And the Spirit of God moved (motion) upon the face of the waters."

More Quotes & Stories >>

"If you want the Kingdom speeded, go out and speed it yourselves. Only obedience rationalizes prayer. Only Missions can redeem your intercessions from insincerity."   William Carey

"The invasion of the Church by the world is a menace to the extension of Christ's Kingdom. In all ages conformity to the world by Christians has resulted in lack of spiritual life and a consequent lack of spiritual vision and enterprise. A secularized or self-centered Church can never evangelize the world."   John R. Mott

"There is need of a great revival of spiritual life, of truly fervent devotion to our Lord Jesus, of entire consecration to His service. It is only in a church in which this spirit of revival has at least begun, that there is any hope of radical change in the relation of the majority of our Christian people to mission work."   Andrew Murray

"Whenever, in any century, whether in a single heart or in a company of believers, there has been a fresh effusion of the Spirit, there has followed inevitably a fresh endeavor in the work of evangelizing the world."   A. J. Gordon

"Raymund Lull sought in vain for the sympathy of popes and prelates in his heroic missionary project, and finally had to go forth as a solitary and unsupported herald of the cross among the Muslims. Today this man's grace and apostleship are so fully recognized that historians of missions ask not whether he heard the voice of the Holy Spirit, but whether he was not almost the only one who heard it, in that dreary and unspiritual age."   A. J. Gordon

"The Revival of 1859 helped to lay the foundations of the modem international and interdenominational missionary structure…Every revival of religion in the homelands is felt within a decade in the foreign mission-fields, and the records of missionary enterprises and the pages of missionary biography following I860 are full of clearest evidence of the stimulating effect of the Revival throughout the world."   J. Edwin Orr

"The astonishing missionary advance at the close of the eighteenth century and the onset of the nineteenth was a direct consequence of the Evangelical Awakening."   A. Skevington Wood

"Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after new obedience."   The Westminster Shorter Catechism

"If missions languish, it is because the whole life of godliness is feeble. The command to go everywhere and preach to everybody is not obeyed, until the will is lost by self-surrender in the will of God. There is little right giving because there is little right living, and because of the lack of sympathetic contact with God in holiness of heart, there is a lack of effectual contact with him at the Throne of Grace. Living, praying, giving and going will always be found together, and a low standard in one means a general debility in the whole spiritual being."   Arthur T. Pierson

"Oh, for closest communion with God, till soul and body, head, face, and heart -shine with Divine brilliancy! But oh! for a holy ignorance of our shining!"   Robert Murray M'Cheyne

"Compassion costs. It is easy enough to argue, criticize and condemn, but redemption is costly, and comfort draws from the deep. Brains can argue, but It takes heart to comfort."   Samuel Chadwick

"How careful we should be lest we misrepresent a real work of grace because of some things which occasionally may accompany it! When Whitefield was once preaching in Boston, the place was so packed that the gallery was thought to be giving way, and there was a panic in which several persons were trampled to death. But it would be unfair and unreasonable to blame the revival for this… We do not despise the great river because of the sticks and straws that may occasionally float on its surface."   William Alexander McKay (1890)

"In every revival there is a reemphasis of the Church's missionary character. Men return to Calvary, and the world is seen afresh through the eyes of Christ. The infinite compassion of Christ fills the heart, and the passion evoked by Calvary demands the whole wide world as the fruit of His sacrifice."   John Shearer

"Some people do not like to hear much of repentance; but I think it is so necessary that if I should die in the pulpit, I would desire to die preaching repentance, and if out of the pulpit I would desire to die practicing it."   Matthew Henry

"Depend upon it, if you are bent on prayer, the devil will not leave you alone. He will molest you, tantalize you, block you, and will surely find some hindrances, big or little or both. And we sometimes fail because we are ignorant of his devices…I do not think he minds our praying about things if we leave it at that. What he minds, and opposes steadily, is the prayer that prays on until it is prayed through, assured of the answer."   Mary Warburton Booth

"How we have prayed for a Revival - we did not care whether it was old-fashioned or not - what we asked for was that it should be such that would cleanse and revive His children and set them on fire to win others."   Mary Warburton Booth

"I myself, for instance, am not especially gifted, and am shy by nature, but my gracious and merciful God and Father inclined Himself to me, and when I was weak in faith He strengthened me while I was still young. He taught me in my helplessness to rest on Him, and to pray even about little things in which another might have felt able to help himself."   James Hudson Taylor

Back to Top