Year: 1868

els not my word like as fire? saith the
Lord; and like hammer that breaketh
the rock in piecesw Jer. 23-29.


We judge of the magnitude of a
power by its results. The measure or
limit of effects produced is the exact
measure and limit of the power. But
there are invariably adaptations of
the cause to the effect. No man ever
expects a given result without an es-
sential provision for it in the cause it.
self. The one lies potentially in the
other as the plant lies nnwroprnA in
the seed. Knowing the nature Of the
seed, l. e., its minute provisions for the
size, form and precise qualities of the
future plant, we as really know the
essential life which is hidden there as
when the mature plant itself appears,
and we are able to trace it backward
to the seed. AdaptatiOnS, therefore,
to certain results, when clearly seen,
will often give us even a more impress
i've view Of power than the results
themselves. They bring US nearer to
its inner essence and nature, and we
know the power even before it has
found fully the conditions Of its de-
signed and normal action.


In both these aspects, but especial
lv the last, the text affirms the power
Of the word of God. rs not my word
like as a fire? saith the Lord; and
like hammer that breaketh the rock
in pieces ?" The figures here employ
ed are the most intense and impress
i've, and they represent the influence
which the word is adapted to exert,
as we'll as the actual results Of its op-
GRAFTON.


AS the solid unyielding granite, the
hardest substance known in nature,
crumbles to atoms beneath the appli-
ed force of the fire and the hammer ;
and as these agents too, are adapted,
when applied, to break that rock in
pieces, so God says, there is nothing
which does make, or can make, so
deep an impression upon the mind Of
sinful men as his word The Bible
is the written word of God, his re
vealed will to man. Therefore the i'm
agery of the text is appropriately ap-
piled to the Sacred Scriptures.


The Bible is certainly a power in
this world of eviI,-a moral force
working grandly and surely on to a
most glorious end. But what is the
magnitude of that power? How do
we judge Of it? Shall we measure it
by its results? Those results arc yot
partial and Incomplete. We have not
yet reached the period OF the mature
fruit of Christian Revelation. We
are to ascend yet grander heights
But we are able even now to perceive
some of the adaptations to these more
complete results, and from this point
of view we can heighten our concep-
tion Of the magnitude aud grandeur
of the power. This then is to us not
only an appropriate, but an essential
line of study. And we are led, as the
theme of our present thought, to con
slider The poa0er of the 10ord Of God us
manifested IN some gifts adaptations.


|. We shall get some impression of
this power if we observe the adapta-
tation ofthe Bible to instruct and eLeUate
the mind.


The Bible is Intellectually the great
light of the world. 1t is the central
sun around which the lesser lights re
volve. 1t is the essential impelling
force of all human systems of ethics,
philosophy and science; for, however
these systems may differ in their de-
velopmcnt, and however destructive
they may be Of the direct object of
the Bible, and contrary to its teach
ing, they yet start from some basis Of
Bible truth, and are fed by the nutri-
ment which the Bible affords.


All that is healthlul in human thot
finds here its grand germinant power,
while the unconscious debt of infdeI-
ity to the Bible is beyond our compu-
tation. Blot out, if it were possible,
every trace Of its impress upon the
human mind, every vestige of its in
huence upon human society and civil
liZation, and where now would be the
boasted enlightenment Of the 18th
century,-the knowledge of science
and art and language-the ideas of
government, liberty and law, which
place US in the vanguard of all the
ages ? And the Bible is just adapted
to exert this power


1t takes this position by virtue of
its own nature. Rational deduction
alone would lead US to this conclusion
independently of the facts of six thou.
sand years Of history. When the
| Psalmist says, 1.-The entrance of thy
words giveth light" "the command
ment of the Lord is pure, enlightening
the eyes," "the testimony of the Lord
t is sure, making wise the simple" " he
but utters that which he knew to be
, the inherent power of the word of
God. But examine more closely for
moment this adaptation. The Bi-
BILE contains thought, and here is the
very first element Of mental stimulus.
|
with chaotic matter, but only with
mind.


Itmust have something which moves
in its own plane of being. And in
the Bible we are brought into closest
contact with the most vast and high
est possible range of this power
There is the mind of it's infinite Auth
or, the thought of God, branching out