yet not be the subject of saving power. It is possible so to preach that men's lives may be reformed, and old habits of sin given up, and yet without any true power-the power of God. And if all these things be true, and every one of us have had experiences of this kind, then it was the case that our Gospel came in word only, not in power, and in the Holy Ghost, or in assurance.

The Gospel without power is like a cloud without rain; it hangs over the land, the promise of good things, but no breaking forth to water the earth or cause the springing seed to respond. It is like a well, digged deep, beautifully fitted with bucket and all, but no water in it, and nobody's thirst quenched by it. It is like a sword lying before a man, bright, keen, and sharp, but no mighty arm to wield it. There is no subject we need to consider with greater humility than this; that we may go forth and preach the Gospel, preach the Gospel, preach the Gospel in word only, but not in power.

Let me call your attention to two or three passages of Scripture in reference to power. Turn again to Luke xxiv. We closed with our Lord saying to the disciples, "Ye are My witnesses." But what follows?" And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."

Then in the first chapter of Acts, at the eighth verse, we have these words: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." And then in Rom. i. 16 the apostle speaks of the Gospel as the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. But he is evidently speaking of the Gospel preached with power; for he says, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ" (when preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven), "for it is the power of God unto salvation."

And so again in 1 Cor. i. 18, 24: "The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." "Unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."

All these passages speaking of the Gospel itself are to be understood in the light of the declaration in 1 Pet. i. 12, "Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us

they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven."

We might multiply these Scriptures very much more, but these are enough to bring before our mind the thought that God is and is to be found in the face of Jesus Christ, in the revelation He gives in Him to us, by His incarnation. By that light I am to see the bond between God and man, in which God has declared His sympathy and tender love to us in every respect. By the cross He expiated and put away our sin. By the resurrection God has testified before all the world to the fact that sin has been put away by Jesus Christ. This is the Gospel, but it is to go forth into the world accompanied by the Holy Ghost sent down from God; the Gospel thus preached comes like a cloud, not without rain, but bursting forth so that the floods fall upon man; it is not a well without water, but a well of salvation, out of which we drink the living water, drinking which we never thirst again; it is not only a sword, but a sword wielded by an arm nerved with all the power of God. thus we come to the important truth that the knowledge of God and His purposes is power. The first secret of power is to understand that we have no power in ourselves, and that there is no power in the Gospel itself, but that power must come down from God. The necessity of this Holy Ghost power is everywhere manifested, not only in the teaching of Scripture but in the experience of Christian men and women. What shall we do with men dead in trespasses and sins, unless we have the power of God? What shall we do with blind men unless we have the power of God to open blind eyes? What shall we do with deaf men unless we have the power of God to unstop dull ears? What shall we do with the halt and lame ? We may say to them "Rise up and walk," but there is no power in us, in them, or in the word alone to make them rise up and walk. You notice that when Christ gave the word, great power was with it. When He gave the word there was power. Not simply speaking the word-any one could speak the word-but when our Lord Jesus spake the word there went out power with it. As the words fell from the lips of Jesus Christ, and were received by men, in faith, out of Him came forth power. We are constantly met by the question, "How can the acceptance of Jesus Christ communicate life?" As, for instance, in reference to that blessed word in John v. 24: "He that heareth My word,

and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life." How, it is asked, can acceptance of the word of Jesus communicate life? Just because it is like the living seed in which there is life and power. Christ's words preached in power are always full of life. When that word is preached in power, when it is understood and taken hold of, it is as the living seed which is dropped into the ground. So as certainly as the Word of God is preached with power and received and rested on, so surely will it spring up as the living seed and produce after its kind.

But there is one point we must bear in mind. All men who have received the Holy Ghost have not power. These disciples had received the Holy Ghost, the Lord had breathed and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," yet they were to tarry until endued with power. All Christians have the Holy Ghost; every man who believes in Jesus Christ is indwelt by the Holy Ghost for his personal salvation-" If ye have not the Spirit of Christ, ye are none of His "—and yet he may have no power for service. We have to receive power from on high, which is very different from the mere possession of the Holy Ghost, as the Comforter, dwelling in us. I am sure no profit is gained by attempts to go beyond what is revealed. It is enough to know clearly and with distinctness the difference between the coming of the Holy Ghost for personal salvation and sanctification, and the coming of that same Spirit in power for service (whether it be a fresh coming or an enlargement of power in a new or special direction in us). However it takes place I do not know, and am not curious to inquire, only I am sure that the power to work for God, the will to work with God, the power to communicate the Gospel, is a power different from the simple indwelling of the Holy Ghost. And let me say I do not think it of the greatest importance to know whence it comes or how it comes; only let us recognise that we must have this power, and that it comes to us on certain conditions. It has been said there are no conditions imposed on the sinner save the reception of God the Saviour, but there are many conditions imposed on believers ere they possess the Spirit of power to work for God.

Now I want to suggest two or three conditions it seems to me are necessary if we are to receive this power. The first condition is a very simple one, and it is not a meritorious, but merely a qualifying one. It is to believe that this power is for

us.

If we are to have power we must believe that power is

for us. If I do not believe God has power for me to work for Him and with Him, I shall never seek it. And He calls us to this, even every one who has received His word, "Ye are My witnesses." Every man and woman has thus a mission from God, whether to witness in the pulpit, in the shop, or in the home circle, no matter where: "Ye are My witnesses." I believe that God has power for every one of His children, to witness for Him, and to save souls.

That, then, is the first condition; and this is the second, that we are to be emptied of our self-sufficiency. I do not mean we are to go to work to empty ourselves, because that is a hopeless undertaking. If you go to work thus, you are going to work backwards in order to get power. To empty ourselves is simply and honestly before God to recognise we

have "no sufficiency " of our own. As Paul says, "not to

think anything as of ourselves." I think one of the great difficulties in preaching the Gospel is that we are more or less weighted with a lurking sense of sufficiency or power of our own, some intellectual ability or knowledge gathered in theological training or Bible study, or experience, or from a thousand other sources. Now we may be thoroughly up in all these things, pass with credit all theological examinations, read the Bible from Gen. i. to Rev. xxii., and know the keyword of every chapter in the Bible, and yet while all these things are useful in their way they will not afford sufficiency in ourselves. And if we lean on these things as a base of supplies, and depend on them as a sufficiency and equipment for teaching the Word of God, we make not only a tremendous blunder, but dishonour the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. Some years ago I was living in Boston, in what we call a "flat." My wife was at the time without a servant, and the summer being hot, the task of preparing the family meals was a very grievous one. Like a good husband I did what I could to lighten her toil. I rose early in the morning and lit the fire in the kitchen range, and though I could not quite do the cooking, I tried to do my best. One day I saw in a shop a capital and wonderful contrivance for cooking-an oil-stove. On examining its arrangement I came to the conclusion it would suit, and thought it was so nice, and would do away with the necessity for the hot range. I strained a point and bought the stove, and brought it home in triumph. "Now," I said to my wife, "you won't have to roast over the old

range any more; here is a capital stove which will just do the work." She was a little sceptical about it, as all good wives ought to be of new inventions their husbands bring them. However, I talked it over, and explained the arrangements, and demonstrated to my own satisfaction the thing would work; and so she said she would try it. "Now I need not

get up to-morrow morning, as you have only to strike a match and set the stove going." However, I wanted to know how the new stove worked; so I got up the following morning and hurried to the kitchen, where I found it cooking beautifully; but there was a roaring fire in the old range. "What do you want the range for?" "I wanted it to fall back upon in case this did not work." If you will allow me to apply that little home illustration-we all recognise the truth of the theory, that if we have not power from on high we cannot work for God. We believe it, and we start out meaning to work upon that line; but at the same time we kindle a roaring fire in the old range, to fall back upon in case we do not get power from on high. We depend more largely upon that than upon God. Unless we just surrender and go about the work of God, deliberately purposing that we will have no fire unless it be fire from heaven, then I think we do not reach the Scriptural idea, which means utter dependence upon God for the power we must have if we are to serve Him.

I do believe that God in His grace allows us as much power as He can trust us with. Sometimes we get a little power, when if we would observe the conditions we would be flooded with power. This condition is, to do our work under the eye of the Master only. One of the snares with Christian workers is the eyes of the people, the good opinion of your fellows. One bitter winter's day I was in the railway-station at New York. There was a large crowd of persons desiring to go from New York to Boston, and we all had to pass through a narrow way by the gate-keeper. Everybody had to show his ticket, and, as usual, there were many who could not conveniently find them. They said they had them, but the gate-keeper was inexorable. "You must show your ticket," he said, "if you please." There was both grumbling and swearing on the part of the passengers. After most of them had passed through, a gentleman said to the ticketcollector, "You don't seem to be very popular with this crowd." He just cast his eyes upwards to the ceiling on the