,transcribed from the #ahgg ,hatchards edition by ,david ,price1 email ccx#jgdpglaf4org ,a ,sermon ,,preached ,,in ,,york ,,minster1 ,,on ,st4 ,bartholomew's ,day1 ,friday1 ,august #bd1 #ahgg1 ,,on ,,the ,,occasion ,,of ,,the ,,consecration ,,of ,,the ,,right ,,rev4 ,,rowley ,,hill1 ,,lord ,,bishop ,,of ,,sodor ,,and ,,man4 ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,,canon ,,hoare1 ,,vicar ,,of ,,trinity1 ,,tunbridge ,,wells4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,published ,,by ,,request4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,london3 ,,hatchards1 ,,piccadilly4 ,,tunbridge ,,wells3 ,h4 ,,colbran1 ,,calverley ,,road4 ,,sheffield3 ,p4 ,d4 ,,hopkins4 ,price ,one ,shilling4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,preface4 ,,the ,consecration of the ,bishop of ,sodor and ,man will long be remembered1 both at ,york and ,sheffield2 for no one can have been present on that occasion without having been profoundly impressed by the sight of the overwhelming congregation1 and the many tokens of deep interest manifestly taken in the service4 ,so many of the ,sheffield people desired to be present that two special trains were prepared for their accommodation1 by which there arrived no less than seven hundred persons4 ,the ,dean having heard that they were coming did all in his power to give them a welcome4 ,the whole space in front of the ,communion-rail was filled with seats1 and in the admission of the crowds who were pressing into the ,cathedral precedence was given to the visitors from ,sheffield4 ,but1 notwithstanding all the efforts of the ,cathedral authorities1 ,i am sorry to say that a great many failed to get in4 ,before the ,sermon ,i sat in the stalls1 and to avoid the crowd in the choir ,i was conducted into the nave1 and so outside the choir to the pulpit4 ,in the course of that walk ,i saw hundreds who were unable to obtain admission4 ,some were standing in the nave1 and others straining to see and hear through the glass screen by the side of the choir4 ,when the door was opened to let me in ,i cannot say how ,i longed to take them all in with me4 ,but that was impossible4 ,the whole place was packed1 and every available standing-ground in the neighbourhood of the pulpit was full4 ,nor was it a mere sight-seeing crowd4 ,i found myself surrounded by people who were manifestly there for higher ends1 and who listened with as fixed an attention as any preacher could desire4 ,but the most remarkable part of the service was the ,holy ,communion1 with which it closed4 ,at the end of the ,prayer for the ,church ,militant there was a pause1 in order that those who did not intend to remain for the ,lord's ,supper might retire2 but of the great crowd near the rail very few went away4 ,at first it seemed a doubtful question whether they understood that the time was come for them to go2 but it soon became evident that they perfectly understood what they were doing1 and that they were remaining to partake of the ,lord's ,supper4 ,the bread and wine originally prepared was quite insufficient for such a number of communicants1 and it was necessary to send out for an additional supply4 ,when once the service began everything was done that could be done for the comfort of all that were present2 but as the whole space in front of the rail was filled with seats1 all of which were occupied1 and there was only one narrow passage by which the communicants could both approach and retire1 and as there were eight persons administering1 it was impossible to secure that solemn stillness which we sometimes enjoy in our parochial churches4 ,but nothing could possibly be more interesting4 ,there ,i saw not only ladies and gentlemen1 but many who appeared to me to be mechanics1 and1 scattered through the crowd1 numbers of young men4 ,when ,i looked on that mixed body of communicants1 and observed the earnestness1 the seriousness1 and the apparently deep devotion with which they gathered round the ,table of their ,lord2 and when after the service was over ,i saw them pressing round their beloved ,vicar1 and many of them reaching out their rough hands once more to grasp his with a true1 hearty1 loving grasp1 and heard them wishing him a blessing1 ,i could not help giving thanks to the ,god of all grace who gave that day such a testimony to the faithful reaching of ,his ,gospel4 ,for what were the means employed for the attainment of such a result8 ,not music1 not form1 not the claim to priestly power1 but the plain1 simple1 loving ministry of the ,gospel of the grace of ,god4 ,between three and four years my dear friend had been preaching the great doctrines of ,scripture--such as conversion to ,god1 justification by faith1 free forgiveness through the finished atonement1 and1 new life by the power of the ,holy ,ghost--and ,god had blessed that ministry to the ingathering of a people to ,his name4 ,this was the work of which we that day witnessed the fruit1 and ,i trust the effects on all of us who witnessed it may be that we may work on in our various spheres of labour more than ever resolved1 by ,god's help1 to stick fast to great principles1 and more than ever encouraged to trust ,his promises1 and look out for great results4 ,e4 ,h4 ,,tunbridge ,,wells1 ,august #bith1 #ahgg4 ,a ,,sermon4 #8,ye shall receive power1 after that the ,holy ,ghost is come upon you2 and ye shall be witnesses unto ,me4'--,acts1 i4 #h4 ,,it is said of the saints of ,god in the ,old ,testament1 that #8out of weakness they were made strong1' and none of us who are called to ,god's ministry can think for one moment of our work and our weakness without the deepest sense of our own need of that same gift4 ,we have a work of infinite importance4 ,we are called to be ,god's instruments in making known that which ,god has wrought at no less a price than the most precious blood of ,his well-beloved ,son4 ,we have to encounter the threefold antagonism of the world1 the flesh1 and the devil2 and we ourselves are poor weak creatures1 so weak that we are quite unable to stand alone1 and so utterly fallen that we cannot preserve ourselves even for an hour4 ,it follows1 therefore1 that we all stand in need of power from ,god4 ,and whatever be our position1 whether in the ministry or out of it1 whether laymen1 deacons1 presbyters1 or bishops1 we all require to be strengthened with might by ,his ,spirit in the inner man4 ,if ever the need of this strength was felt it must be felt now1 now that we are passing through the perilous times of the latter days2 and if there be any office in the whole world which appears to require it more than another1 it is the sacred office to which my dear friend is this day admitted1 the holy office of a ,bishop in the ,church of ,god4 ,but1 thanks to ,god6 there is provision made in the ,gospel for weakness as well as for sin2 and the result is1 that the promise of power was almost the last promise made by our blessed ,lord before ,he left us1 so that just before ,his ascension ,he said1 #8,ye shall receive power1 after that the ,holy ,ghost is come upon you2 and ye shall be witnesses unto ,me4' ,now the ,holy ,ghost came on the ,church at ,pentecost1 and as there has never been said one word about ,his being withdrawn1 we are warranted in looking for that power now1 and in spreading out our weakness before ,his throne1 in full assurance that according to ,his promise ,he ,himself will give power for ,his work4 ,let us study1 then1 two points--#ast1 the purpose1 and #bndly1 the source of the power2 and while we study1 may we by ,god's great grace be permitted to experience the gift6 ,i4 ,the purpose3 #8,ye shall be witnesses unto ,me4' ,it in clear1 therefore1 that the power is a power of testimony1 and that its great object is to enable us to be witnesses unto the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,we are not1 therefore1 judges4 ,the witness is never the judge4 ,his business is to bear testimony as to what he has seen and heard4 ,but he has nothing to do with the sentence4 ,that rests with the judge alone4 ,so the witness for ,christ is not the judge over his follow-men4 ,he cannot sit in the ,confessional and pronounce the sentence of life and death4 ,that rests with the ,lord ,himself1 and there must be no usurpation of ,his sovereign right4 ,then1 again1 the witness is not a medium1 or connecting link1 between the soul and the ,saviour4 ,he is not like a telegraph wire through which the electric current is conveyed from one point to another1 for in ,god's salvation there is nothing intermediate between the ,saviour and the sinner4 ,there is no such thing in ,scripture as the idea that the grace of ,god passes from the ,lord ,jesus through any men or body of men to the sinner4 ,all that is human imagination1 pure and simple4 ,the witness is not a conductor or communicator1 not a channel or a medium4 ,his business is to bear such a testimony to the ,lord ,jesus ,christ as shall bring the soul face to face with ,him1 and introduce the sinner into direct communication with ,god ,himself4 ,thus it is that he is a witness unto the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and the more plainly that he sets ,him before the people the more effective is his testimony4 ,if we wish to know the leading subject of the witness we shall find it in ,luke1 xxiv4 ,in the forty-eighth verse of that chapter ,he told ,his little ,church1 as ,he did in this chapter of the ,acts1 that their office was to be witnesses3 #8,ye are witnesses of these things4' ,but we may ask1 ,what things8 ,what were those things to which the ,church were to be witnesses8 ,the previous verse answers the question3 #8,that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in ,his name among all nations4' ,mark1 it says #8preached1' not communicated2 but in ,his name it is to be preached fully and freely4 ,forgiveness through the finished atonement is the leading subject of the testimony4 ,it is the office of the witness to proclaim the great work which the ,lord ,jesus ,christ has completed for the propitiation of sin1 and to invite men to the free and full reconciliation which ,he has promised as the result of that propitiation4 ,we are to proclaim from ,his own word what ,he is1 what ,he has done1 what ,he has promised1 and what ,he is doing4 ,we are to set ,him so clearly1 so vividly1 before the people1 that they may see nothing of us1 but look fixedly on ,him4 ,we are to bear such a testimony to ,his work1 ,his word1 ,his mercy1 ,his grace1 ,his all-sufficiency1 that those who know ,him not may have their hearts burn to know ,him2 that those who are longing after ,him may find ,him1 and have their souls satisfied in ,his love2 and that those who know ,him may be led to such a personal experience of the unspeakable richness of ,his abounding mercies that they may be able to say to us1 as her friends did to the woman of ,samaria1 #8,now we believe2 not because of thy saying3 for we have heard ,him ourselves1 and know that this is indeed the ,christ1 the ,saviour of the world4' ,the best possible result of the testimony of the ,christian witness is1 that those who receive it should be brought into such an independent relationship with the ,lord ,himself that the witness who has brought them to it disappears before the fulness of ,his grace4 ,and the very last thing that such a witness would ever desire is1 that people should come to him as an intermediate mediator between them and their ,saviour4 ,the one object of his life and testimony is that all eyes1 and all thoughts1 and all hearts1 should be directed exclusively to the ,lord ,jesus2 and if that blessed end can be accomplished1 the true witness is only too happy and thankful to be himself quite out of sight4 ,,ii4 ,but in order to this testimony there is power required4 ,there are cases in which the testimony involves nothing short of martyrdom1 as it did in the case of the first martyr1 or witness1 ,stephen2 as it did when the ,huguenots were martyred for the faith on ,st4 ,bartholomew's ,day1 three centuries ago2 and as lately done in our mission stations in ,west ,africa and in ,china4 ,but in all cases the strongest amongst us must remember ,st4 ,paul's words1 descriptive of his ministry at ,corinth3 #8,i was with you in weakness and in fear1 and in much trembling4' ,we all want a power far beyond anything that we can discover in our own hearts4 ,this1 then1 leads me to our second subject1 the source of the power4 ,one thing is perfectly plain1 viz4 that the power does not come from arbitrary assumption1 and high sacerdotal claims to something amounting to superhuman authority2 to such claims as those put forward when the ,bishop's authority is contrasted with that which is #8merely human1' and the ,bishop's voice is declared to be to the clergyman #8the voice of ,god4' ,such assumptions being without the slightest shadow of scriptural authority are sure1 in the long run1 only to weaken power4 ,nor does the power here promised arise from even the legitimate exercise of well-established law4 ,in the ,church of ,england1 ,i am thankful to say1 we are both protected and restrained by law2 and the ,bishop in the ,church of ,england is armed with certain legal powers1 which are of the utmost possible importance to the discipline and well-being of our ,body4 ,the only people who complain of the power of law are those who wish to break it4 ,but this is not the power described in the text4 ,the power here promised is something which no law can either give or take away4 ,it is the direct gift of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ ,himself2 it is nothing less than the power of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,in this gift there is accompanying power1 a power which it is difficult to describe1 but impossible to doubt4 ,it is not the power of intellect or eloquence1 for it is bestowed sometimes on persons that have neither one nor the other3 but it is a power that cannot be mistaken2 for it softens hard hearts1 breaks down the most stubborn wills1 and subdues those who have been previously opponents to truth4 ,it was such a power that accompanied the preaching ,st4 ,paul at ,thessalonica1 of which he said1 #8,our gospel came not unto you in word only1 but also in power1 and in the ,holy ,ghost1 and in much assurance' 7#a ,thess4 i4 #e74 ,but if there be such a power1 both promised and bestowed1 shall any of us be satisfied without the enjoyment of it8 ,shall we be content with powerless work8 ,shall we think it enough if our ministry is respectable and orthodox1 our churches well attended1 and our parochial arrangements complete1 while there is no deep impression on the souls of men1 no conviction of sin1 no earnest inquiry1 no conversions to ,god1 no evidence of a new life1 and no sign of the mighty power of the ,spirit8 ,shall we be satisfied to live on1 and to work on1 just as we should be living and working if the ,lord had never said1 #8,ye shall receive power after that the ,holy ,ghost is come upon you8' ,there is also indwelling power4 ,we must not look merely at that which accompanies1 for the secret of power is in most cases to be found within4 ,we have a remarkable illustration of this in the case of ,stephen4 ,he was accompanied with power1 for #8they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake4' ,but the mystery was explained in the secret of his own soul1 for in v4 #h of that same chapter we read that he was a man #8full of faith and power4' ,there was1 therefore1 a fulness of power within as well as the accompanying power without1 and the secret of this fulness is explained in v4 #e1 where it is said he was a man #8full of faith and of the ,holy ,ghost4' ,here1 then1 was the key to that marvellous and irresistible power which accompanied his work4 ,he himself was full of faith1 and being full of faith1 he was full of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,he was full of faith1 so that he could1 as it were1 see his ,lord at his right hand1 and #8endure as seeing ,him who is invisible4' ,and he was full of the ,holy ,ghost1 so that he was lifted up above mere human nature4 ,he was taught by the ,holy ,ghost2 he was led by the ,holy ,ghost2 his thoughts were prompted by the ,holy ,ghost2 his wisdom was the wisdom of the ,holy ,ghost2 his words were the words of the ,holy ,ghost2 his mind was governed by the mind of the ,holy ,ghost2 and so he was full of power1 for the simple reason that he was #8full of faith and of the ,holy ,ghost4' ,thus the outward and the inward were at one4 ,in his outward activity he was accompanied by the ,holy ,ghost2 in his inward life he was full of the ,holy ,ghost2 and in both one and the other he experienced the truth of the promise1 #8,ye shall receive power1 after that the ,holy ,ghost is come upon you2 and ye shall be witnesses unto ,me4' ,and why should not we be enjoying the same8 ,why should not the same power be given to our brother1 this day raised to the episcopate1 as was given to ,stephen when he laboured #ahjj years ago in the diaconate8 ,of one thing ,i am perfectly sure1 and that is1 that it is the one desire of his heart to be the faithful witness to the ,lord ,jesus2 to bear the same testimony as a ,bishop which he has been enabled to bear as a ,presbyter2 to speak from his episcopal chair with the same clear ring of ,scriptural truth as he has hitherto done from his parochial pulpit1 and which has so greatly endeared him to all of you who are come this day from ,sheffield4 ,and our prayer for him this day must be that he may be1 in his new office1 like ,stephen1 #8full of faith and power1' that so his ministry may be accompanied by the power of the ,holy ,ghost1 and his own soul filled by the ,spirit4 ,but while we pray for him in the high and conspicuous office of a ,bishop1 let us not be unmindful of all those faithful men who1 hidden from the eye of the world1 and without any prospects of the honours of the world1 are toiling on1 some in quiet country parishes1 some in the densely-peopled districts of our large towns1 and some in far-distant missions1 in patient perseverance witnessing for ,christ4 ,when our thoughts are directed to those who by the providence of ,god are brought to the top1 let us not forget those who are patiently toiling at the bottom4 ,do not they equally need the power8 ,or1 rather1 ,do not they especially need the presence of the indwelling ,spirit in their own souls1 and of the accompanying ,spirit to give the power of patient perseverance in their work8 ,o that ,god may grant that power to every branch of the ,church of ,england6 ,power to her bishops1 power to her presbyters1 power to her deacons1 power to her laity6 ,may ,he grant such a measure of ,his ,spirit to fill all our hearts1 and accompany all our work1 that our dear old ,church may remain1 true to her ,reformation principles1--a faithful witness for ,christ2 that her testimony may never be corrupted1 and her work never be powerless2 that so when the ,lord appears ,he may find her with her lamp burning1 without reserve1 and without compromise1 maintaining ,his truth and giving glory to ,his name6 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,london2 ,printed by ,,john ,,strangeways1 ,castle ,st4 ,leicester 99 99 99 99 99 ,by the same ,author4 ,,rome1 ,,turkey1 ,,and ,,jerusalem4 ,fifteenth ,thousand4 #afmo4 cloth1 #as4 #f;d42 paper1 #as4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,palestine ,,and ,,russia4 ,third ,thousand4 #afmo4 cloth1 bevelled1 #as4 #f;d42 paper cover1 #as4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,inspiration3 ,,its ,,nature ,,and ,,extent4 #bnd ,edition1 revised and enlarged4 #afmo4 cloth1 #as4 #f;d42 paper1 #as4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,conformity ,,to ,,the ,,world4 #bnd ,edition1 revised and enlarged4 #afmo4 cloth1 #as4 #f;d42 paper1 #as4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,sermons ,,for ,,the ,,day4 ,fcap4 #hvo4 sewed1 #f;d4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,communion ,,and ,,the ,,communicant4 #dth ,edition1 revised and enlarged4 ,fcap4 #hvo4 sewed1 #f;d4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,baptism4 ,,as ,,taught ,,in ,,the ,,bible ,,and ,,prayer-,,book4 #fth ,edition4 ,fcap4 #hvo4 sewed1 #d;d4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,hatchards1 ,,publishers1 ,,piccadilly1 ,,london4