Existence and Attributes of God

of Man to conceive more than hath been wrought by God in the World. And God can work whatsoever Perfection the Mind of man can conceive: Otherwise the reaches of a created Imagination and Fancy, would be more extensive than the Power of God. His Power therefore is far greater than the conception of any Intellectual Creature; else the Creature would be of a greater capacity to conceive, than God is to effect. The Creature would have a power of Conception, above God's Power of Activity; and consequently a Creature, in some respect greater than himself. Now whatsoever a Creature can conceive possible to be done, is but finite in its own nature; and if God could not produce what Being a created Understanding can conceive possible to be done, he would be less than Infinite in Power, nay, he could not go to the extent of what is Finite. But I have touched this before; That God can create more than he hath created, and in a more perfect way of Being, as considered simply in themselves.

III. The Third general thing, is to declare, How the Power of God appears, in Creation, in Government, in Redemption.

1. In Creation. With what Majestick Lines doth God set forth his Power, in the giving Being, and Endowments to all the Creatures in the World? All that is in Heaven and Earth is his, and shows the greatness of his Power, Glory, Victory, and Majesty. The Heaven being so Magnificent a piece of work, is called emphatically, The Firmament of his Power ; his Power being more conspicuous and unvail'd in that glorious Arch of the World. Indeed, God exalts by his Power , that is, exalts himself by his Power in all the Works of his hands; in the smallest Shrub, as well as the most glorious Sun. All his Works of Nature are truly Miracles, though we consider them not, being blinded with too frequent and customary a sight of them; yet in the neglect of all the rest, the view of the Heavens doth more affect us with astonishment at the Might of God's Arm: These declare his Glory, and the Firmament shows his handy work. And the Psalmist peculiarly calls them His Heavens, and the work of his Fingers: These were immediately created by God, whereas many other things in the World were brought into Being by the Power of God, yet by the means of the influence of the Heavens.

1. His Power is the first thing evident in the story of the Creation. In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth, Gen. 1.1. There's no appearance of anything in this declaratory Preface, but of Power: The Characters of Wisdom march after in the distinct formation of things, and animating them with suitable qualities for an Universal good. By Heaven and Earth is meant the whole mass of the Creatures: By Heaven, all the Aery Region, with all the Host of it; by the Earth is meant, all that which makes the entire inferior Globe. The Jews observe, that in the first of Genesis, in the whole Chapter unto the finishing the Work in six Days, God is called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , which is a Name of Power, and that Thirty two times in that Chapter; but after the the finishing the six days Work, he is called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , which according to their notion is a Name of Goodness and Kindness: His Power is first visible in framing the World, before his Goodness is visible in the sustaining and preserving it. It was by this Name of Power and Almighty that he was known in the first Ages of the World, not by his Name Jehovah; Exod. 6.3. And I appeared unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by the name of God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them. Not but that they were acquainted with the Name, but did not experience the intent of the Name, which signified his Truth in the performance of his Promises: They knew him by that name as promising, but they knew him not by that Name, as performing. He would be known by his Name Jehovah, True to his Word, when he was about to effect the Deliverance from Egypt; a Type of the Eternal Redemption, wherein the Truth of God, in performing of his first Promise, is gloriously magnified. And hence it is that God is called Almighty more in the Book of Job, than in all the Scripture besides, I think about Thirty two times, and Jehovah but once, which is Job 12.9. unless in Job 38. when God is introduced speaking himself; which is an Argument of Jobs living before the Deliverance from Egypt, when God was known more by his Works of Creation, than by the performance of his Promises, before the Name Jehovah was formally published. Indeed, this Attribute of his Eternal Power, is the first thing visible and intelligible upon the first glance of the eye upon the Creatures . Bring a man out of the Cave where he hath been Nurst, without seeing anything out of the confines of it, and let him lift up his Eyes to the Heavens, and take a prospect of that glorious body the Sun, then cast them down to the Earth, and behold the Surface of it with its Green clothing; the first Notion which will start up in his Mind from that spring of Wonders, is that of Power, which he will at first adore with a Religious astonishment. The Wisdom of God in them is not so presently apparent, till after a more exquisite consideration of his Works and Knowledge of the properties of their natures, the conveniency of their situations, and the usefulness of their functions, and the order wherein they are linked together for the good of the Universe.

2. By this Creative Power God is often distinguished from all the Idols and False gods in the World. And by this Title he sets forth himself when he would act any great and wonderful Work in the World. He is great above all gods, for he hath done whatsoever he pleased in Heaven and in Earth. Upon this is founded all the Worship he challengeth in the World, as his peculiar glory. Revel. 4.11. Thou art worthy, Oh Lord, to receive glory, honor, and power, for thou hast Created all things. And Rev. 10.6. I have made the Earth, and created Man upon it. I, even my hands have stretched out the Heavens, and all their Host have I commanded, Isai. 45.12. What is the issue, Verse 16. They shall be ashamed and confounded, all of them, that are makers of Idols. And the weakness of Idols is expressed by this Title, The gods that have not made the Heavens and the Earth, Jer. 10.11. The portion of Jacob is not like them, for he is the former of all things, Verse 16.

What is not that God able to do, that hath created so great a World? How doth the Power of God appear in Creation?

1. In making the World of Nothing. When we say, the World was made of Nothing, we mean, that there was no Matter existent for God to work upon, but what he raised himself in the first act of Creation. In this regard, the Power of God in Creation surmounts his Power in Providence. Creation supposeth nothing, Providence supposeth something in Being. Creation intimates a Creature making, Providence speaks a thing already made, and capable of Government, and in Government. God uses second Causes to bring about his Purposes.

1. The World was made of nothing. The Earth which is described as the first Matter, without any form or ornament, without any distinction or figures, was of God's forming in the Bulk, before he did adorn it with his Pensil . God in the beginning creating the Heaven and the Earth, includes two things: First, That those were created in the beginning of time, and before all other things. Secondly, That God begun the Creation of the World from those things. Therefore before the Heavens and the Earth there was nothing absolutely created, and therefore no Matter in being before an act of Creation past upon it. It could not be Eternal, because nothing can be Eternal but God; it must therefore have a beginning: If it had a beginning from itself, then it was before it was. If it acted in the making itself before it was made, then it had a being before it had a being; for that which is nothing, can act nothing: The action of anything supposeth the existence of the thing which acts. It being made, it was not before it was made; for to be made is to be brought into being. It was made then by another, and that Maker is God. 'It is necessary that the first Original of things was from nothing: When we see one thing to arise from another, we must suppose an Original of the first of each kind: As when we see a Tree spring up from a Seed, we know that Seed came out of the bowels of another Tree; it had a Parent, and it had a Matter; we must come to some First, or else we run into an endless Maze: We must come to some first Tree, some first Seed that had no cause of the same kind, no matter of it, but was mere nothing. Creation doth suppose a production ••• m nothing; because if you suppose a thing without any real or actual Existence, 'tis not capable of any other production then from nothing: Nothing must be supposed before the World, or we must suppose it Eternal, and that is to deny it to be a Creature, and make it God. The Creation of spiritual Substances, such as Angels and Souls evince this; those things that are purely spiritual, and consist not of matter, cannot pretend to any Original from Matter, and therefore they rose up from nothing. If spiritual things arose from nothing, much more may corporeal, because they are of a lower nature than spiritual. And he that can create a higher Nature of nothing, can create an inferior nature of nothing. As bodily things are more imperfect than spiritual, so their Creation may be supposed easier than that of spiritual. There was as little need of any matter to be wrought to his hands, to contrive into this visible Fabric, as there was to erect such an excellent Order as the glorious Cherubims.

2. This Creation of things from nothing, speaks an infinite power. The distance between Nothing and Being, hath been always counted so great, that nothing but an infinite Power can make such distances meet together; either for Nothing to pass into Being, or Being to return to nothing. To have a thing arise from nothing, was so difficult a Text to those that were ignorant of the Scripture, that they knew not how to fathom it; and therefore laid it down as a certain Rule. That of nothing, nothing is made; which is true of a created Power, but not of an uncreated and Almighty Power. A greater distance cannot be imagined then that which is between Nothing and Something; that which hath no being, and that which hath: And a greater Power cannot be imagined, then that which brings Something out of Nothing. We know not how to conceive a Nothing, and afterwards a Being from that Nothing; but we must remain swallowed up in admiration of the Cause that gives it being, and acknowledge it to be without any bounds and measures of Greatness and Power. The further anything is from being, the more immense must that Power be which brings it into being: 'It is not conceivable that the power of all the Angels in one, can give being to the smallest spire of Grass. To imagine therefore so small a thing as a Be a Fly, a grain of Corn, or an Atom of Dust to be made of nothing, would stupefy any Creature in the consideration of it: Much more to behold the Heavens with all the Troop of Stars, the Earth with all its embroidery, and the Sea with all her Inhabitants of Fish; and Man, the noblest Creature of all, to arise out of the Womb of mere Emptiness. Indeed God had not acted as an Almighty Creator if he had stood in need of any Materials, but of his own framing: It had been as much as his Deity was worth if he had not had all within the compass of his own Power, that was necessary to Operation; if he must have been beholden to something without himself, and above himself, for matter to work upon: Had there been such a necessity, we could not have imagined him to be Omnipotent, and consequently not God.

3. In this the power of God exceeds the power of all natural and rational Agents. Nature, or the Order of second Causes, hath a vast Power: The Sun generates Flies and other Insects, but of some Matter, the Slime of the Earth or a Dunghill: The Sun and the Earth bring forth Harvests of Corn, but from Seed first sown in the Earth: Fruits are brought forth, but from the Sap of the Plant. Were there no Seed or Plants in the Earth, the power of the Earth would be idle, and the influence of the Sun insignificant; whatsoever strength either of them had in their Nature, must be useless without matter to work upon. All the united strength of Nature cannot produce the least thing out of nothing: It may multiply and increase things, by the powerful blessing God gave it at the first erecting of the World, but it cannot create. The Word which signifies Creation, used in Gen. 1.1. is not ascribed to any second Cause, but only to God; a word in that sense as incommunicable to anything else, as the action it signifies.

Rational Creatures can produce admirable Pieces of Art from small things, yet still out of Matter created to their hands. Excellent Garments may be woven, but from the Entrails of a small Silkworm. Delightful and Medicinal Spirits and Essences may be extracted by ingenious Chymists; but out of the Bodies of Plants and Min • rals. No Picture can be drawn without Colours; no Statue engraven withou • • tone, no Building erected without Timber, Stones, and other Materials. Nor can any man raise a thought, without some Matter framed to his hands, or cast into him. Matter is by Nature formed to the hands of all Artificers; they bestow a new Figure upon it, by the help of Instruments, and the product of their own Wit and Skill, but they create not the least particle of Matter; when they want it, they must be supplied, or else stand still, as well as Nature; for none of them, or all together, can make the least Mite or Atom. And when they have wrought all that they can, they will not want some to find a flaw and defect in their work. God as a Creator hath the only Prerogative, to draw what he pleases from nothing, without any defect, without any imperfection: He can raise what Matter he please; ennoble it with what form he pleases. Of nothing, nothing can be made by any created Agent: But the Omnipotent Architect of the World, is not under the same necessity, nor is limited to the same Rule, and tied by so short a Tedder as created Nature, or an ingenious, yet feeble, Artificer.

2. It appears, In raising such variety of Creatures from this barren Womb of Nothing, or from the Matter which he first commanded to appear out of Nothing. Had there been any preexistent Matter, yet the bringing forth such varieties and diversities of excellent Creatures; some with life, some with sense, and others with reason superadded to the rest; and those out of indisposed and undigested Matter, would argue an infinite Power resident in the first Author of this variegated Fabric. From this Matter he formed that glorious Sun, which every day displays its Glory, scatters its Beams, clears the Air, ripens our Fruits, and maintains the propagation of Creatures in the World. From this Matter he lighted those Torches which he set in the Heaven to qualify the darkness of the Night: From this he compacted those Bodies of Light, which though they seem to us as little sparks, as if they were the Glow-worms of Heaven, yet some of them exceed in greatness this Globe of the Earth on which we live. And the highest of them hath so quick a motion, that some tell us, they run in the space of every hour 42 millions of Leagues. From the same matter he drew the Earth, on which we walk; from thence he extracted the Flowers to adorn it, the Hills to secure the Valleys, and the Rocks to fortify it against the Inundations of the Sea. And on this dull and sluggish Element, he bestowed so great a fruitfulness, to maintain, feed, and multiply so many Seeds of different kinds, and conferred upon those little Bodies of Seeds a power to multiply their kinds in conjunction with the fruitfulness of the Earth to many thousands. From this rude Matter, the Slime or Dust of the Earth, he kneaded the Body of Man, and wrought so curious a Fabric, fit to entertain a Soul of a heavenly extraction, formed by the breath of God . He brought Light out of thick Darkness, and living Creatures, Fish and Foul, out of inanimate waters , and gave a power of spontaneous motion to things arising from that Matter which had no living motion. To convert one thing into another, is an evidence of infinite Power, as well as creating things of nothing; for the distance between life and not life, is next to that which is between being and not being. God first forms Matter out of Nothing, and then draws upon and from this indisposed Chaos, many excellent Pourtraitures. Neither Earth nor Sea were capable of producing living Creatures, without an infinite Power working upon it, and bringing into it such variety and multitude of Forms; and this is called by some mediate Creation; as the producing the Chaos, which was without form and void, is called immediate Creation. Is not the power of the Potter admirable in forming out of tempered Clay, such varieties of neat and curious Vessels, that after they are fashioned, and past the Furnace, look as if they were not of any kin to the Matter they are formed of? And is it not the same with the Glass-maker, that from a little melted gelly of Sand and Ashes, or the Dust of Flint, can blow up so pure a Body as Glass, and in such varieties of shapes; and is not the Power of God more admirable, because infinite in speaking out so beautiful a World out of nothing; and such varieties of living Creatures from Matter utterly indispos'd in its own nature for such forms?

3. And this conducts to a third thing were in the power of God appears, in that He did all this with the greatest ease and facility.

1. Without Instruments. As God made the World without the advice, so without the assistance of any other. He stretched forth the Heavens alone, and spread abroad the Earth by himself, Isai. 44.24. He had no engine, but his Word; no pattern or model but himself. What need can he have of Instruments, that is able to create what Instruments he pleases? Where there is no resistance in the Object, where no need of preparation or instrumental advantage in the Agent; there the actual determination of the Will is sufficient to a production. What Instrument need we to the thinking of a Thought, or an act of our Will? Men indeed cannot act anything without Tools; the best Artificer must be beholden to something else for his noblest works of Art. The Carpenter cannot work without his Rule, and Ax, and Saw, and other Instruments. The Watch-maker cannot act without his File and Pliars: But in Creation, there is nothing necessary to God's bringing forth a World, but a simple act of his Will, which is both the principal cause, and instrumental. He had no Scaffolds to rear it, no Engines to polish it, no Hammers or Mattocks to clod and work it together. 'It is a miserable Error to measure the actions of an Infinite Cause by the imperfect model of a Finite, since by his own Power and Out-stretched Arm, he made the Heaven and the Earth . What excellency would God have in his work above others, if he needed Instruments, as Feeble men do? Every Artificer is counted more admirable, that can frame curious Works with the less matter, fewer Tools and assistances: God uses Instruments in his Works of Providence, not for necessity, but for the display of his Wisdom in the management of them; yet those Instruments were originally framed by him without Instruments. Indeed, some of the Jews thought the Angels were the Instruments of God in creating Man, and that those words, Let us make Man in our own image, were spoken to Angels. But certainly the Scripture, which denies God any Counselor in the model of Creation , doth not join any Instrument with him in the operation, which is everywhere ascribed to himself without created assistance, Isai. 45.18. It was not to Angels God spake in that affair; if so, Man was made after the image of Angels, if they were Companions with God in that work: But it is everywhere said, that Man was made after the image of God. Again, the image wherein Man was created, was that of dominion over the lower Creatures, as appears verse 26. which we find not confer'd upon Angels; and it is not likely that Moses should introduce the Angels, as God's Privy Counsel, of whose Creation he had not mentioned one syllable. Let us make Man, rather signifies the Trinity, and not spoken in a Royal style, as some think. Which of the Jewish Kings writ in the style, We? That was the custom of later Times; and we must not measure the language of Scripture by the style of Europe, of a far later date than the penning the History of the Creation. If Angels were his Counselors in the Creation of the material World, what Instrument had he in the Creation of Angels? If his own Wisdom were the Director, and his own Will the producer of the one; why should we not think, that he acted by his sole Power in the other? 'It is concluded by most, that the Power of Creation cannot be derived to any Creature, it being a work of Omnipotency: The drawing Something out from Nothing, cannot be communicated without a communication of the Deity itself. The educing things from Nothing exceeds the capacity of any Creature, and the Creature is of too feeble a Nature to be elevated to so high a degree. 'It is very unreasonable to think, that God needed any such aid. If an Instrument were necessary for God to create the World, then he could not do it without that Instrument: If he could not, he were not then All-sufficient in himself, if he depended upon anything without himself, for the production or consummation of his Works. And it might be inquired, how that Instrument came into Being: If it begun to be; and there was a time when it was not, it must have its Being from the Power of God; and then, why could not God as well create all things without an Instrument, as create that Instrument without an Instrument? For there was no more Power necessary to a producing the whole without Instruments, than to produce one Creature without an Instrument.

No Creature can in its own nature be an Instrument of Creation. If any such Instrument were used by God, it must be elevated in a miraculous and supernatural way; and what is so an Instrument, is in effect no Instrument; for it works nothing by its own nature, but from an elevation by a Superior nature, and beyond its own nature. All that power in the Instrument is truly the Power of God, and not the power of the Instrument. And therefore what God doth by an Instrument, he could do as well without. If you should see one apply a Straw to Iron, for the cutting of it, and effect it, you would not call the Straw an Instrument in that action, because there was nothing in the nature of the Straw to do it. It was done wholly by some other force, which might have done it as well without the Straw as with it. The narrative of the Creation in Genesis removes any Instrument from God. The Plants which are preserved and propagated by the influence of the Sun, were created the Day before the Sun, viz. on the Third day, whereas the Light was collected into the body of the Sun on the Fourth day ; to show, that though the Plants do instrumentally owe their yearly beauty and preservation to the Sun, yet they did not in any manner owe their Creation to the the Instrumental heat and vigor of it.

2. God created the World by a Word, by a simple Act of his Will. The whole Creation is wrought by a Word; God said, Let there be Light; and God said, Let there be a Firmament. Not that we should understand it of a sensible Word, but to express the easiness of this operation to God, as easy as a word to Man. We must understand it of a Powerful order of his own Will, which is expressed by the Psalmist in the nature of a Command, Psal. 33.9. He spake and it was done, he commanded and it stood fast; and Psal. 148.5. He commanded and they were created. At the same instant that he willed them to stand forth, they did stand forth. The efficacious Command of the Creator was the Original of All things; he insensibility of Nothing obeyed the act of his Will. Creation is therefore enituled a Calling, Rom. 4.17. He calls those things which are not, as if they were. To Create is no more with God, than to Call; and what he calls, presents itself before him in the same posture that he calls it. He did with more ease make a World, than we can form a Thought. 'It is the same ease to him to create Worlds, as to decree them: There needs no more than a Resolve to have things wrought at such a time, and they will be, according to his pleasure. This Will is his Power: Let there be light, is the Precept of his Will; and there was light, is the effect of his Precept. By a Word was the Matter of the Heavens and the Earth framed: By a Word Things separate themselves from the rude Mass into their proper Forms. By a Word, Light associates itself into one body, and forms a Sun: By a Word are the Heavens, as it were, bespangled with Stars, and the Earth dressed with Flowers: By a Word, is the World both ceil'd and floor'd. One act of his Will formed the World, and perfected its beauty. All the variety and several exploits of his Power were not caused by distinct Words or Acts of Power. God uttered not distinct Words for distinct Species; as let there be an Elephant, and let there be a Lion; but as he produced those various Creatures out of one Matter, so by one Word. By one single Command, those varieties of Creatures, with their Clothing, Ornaments, distinct Notes, Qualities, Functions, were brought forth. By one Word, all the Seeds of the Earth, with their various Virtues. By one Word, all the Fish of the Sea, and Fowls of the Air in their distinct Natures, Instincts, Colours. By one Word, all the Beasts of the Field, with their varieties. Heaven and Earth, Spiritual and Corporeal Creatures, Mortal and Immortal, the Greater and the Less, Visible and Invisible, were formed with the same ease. A Word made the Least, and a Word made the Greatest. 'It is as little difficulty to him to produce the highest Angel, as the lightest Atom. 'It is enough for the existence of the slateliest Cherubim, for God only to will his Being. It was enough for the forming and fixing the Sun, to will the compacting of Light into one Body. The creation of the Soul of Man is expressed by Inspiration: To show, that it is as easy with God to create a Rational Soul, as for Man to breath . Breathing is natural to Man, by a communication of God's goodness; and the creation of the Soul is as easy to God, by virtue of his Almighty Word. As there was no proportion between Nothing and Being; so there was as little proportion between a Word and such glorious Effects. A mere Voice, coming from an Omnipotent Will, was capable to produce such Varieties, which Angels and Men have seen in all Ages of the World; and this without weariness. What labor is there in Willing, what pain could there be in speaking a Word? Isai. 40.28. The Creator of the ends of the Earth is not weary. And though he be said to Rest after the Creation, 'tis to be meant a Rest from work, not a repose from weariness. So great is the Power of God, that without any Matter, without any Instruments, he could create many Worlds, and with the same ease as he made this.

4. I might add also, the appearance of this Power in the Instantaneous production of things. The ending of his Word was not only the beginning, but the perfection of everything he spake into Being; not several Words to several parts and Members, but one Word, one breath of his Mouth, one act of his Will to the whole species of the Creatures, and to every Member in each Individual. Heaven and Earth were created in a moment, Six days went to their disposal; and that comely Order we observe in the World was the work of a Week: The Matter was formed as soon as God had spoken the word; and in every part of the Creation, as soon as God spake the word, Let it be so, the answer immediately is, It was so; which notes the present standing up of the Creature according to the act of his Will: And therefore One observes, that Let there be light, and there was light, in the Hebrew are the same words, without any alteration of Letter or Point, only the conjunctive Particle added 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Let there be light, and let there be light, to show, that the same instant of the speaking the Divine word, was the appearance of the Creature: So great was the Authority of his Will.

2. We are to show God's Power in the Government of the World. As God decreed from Eternity the Creation of things in time, so he decreed from Eternity the particular ends of Creatures, and their operations respecting those ends. Now as there was need of his Power to execute his Decree of Creation, there is also need of his Power to execute his Decree about the manner of Government. All Government is an act of the Understanding, Will and Power. Prudence to design belongs to the Understanding, the election of the Means belongs to the Will, and the accomplishment of the whole is an act of Power. 'It is a hard matter to determine which is most necessary: Wisdom stands in as much need of Power, to perfect; as Power doth of Wisdom, to model and draw out a scheme; though Wisdom directs, Power must effect. Wisdom and Power are distinct things among Men: A Poor man in a Cottage may have more Prudence to Advise, than a Privy Counselor; and a Prince more power to act, than wisdom to conduct. A Pilot may direct though he be lame, and cannot climb the Masts and spread the Sails: But God is wanting in nothing; neither in Wisdom to design, nor in Will to determine, nor in Power to accomplish. His Wisdom is not feeble, nor his Power foolish: A Powerful wisdom could not act what it would, and a Foolish power would act more than it should. The Power expressed in his Government, is shadow'd forth in the Living Creatures, which are God's Instruments in it. 'It is said, Everyone of them had four faces; that of a Man to signify Wisdom; of a Lion, Eagle, the strongest among Birds, to signify their Courage and Strength to perform their offices.

This Power is evident in the Natural, Moral, Gracious Government.

There is a Natural Providence, which consists in the preservation of all things, propagation of them by Corruptions and Generations, and in a Co-operation with them in their motions to attain their ends.

Moral Government is of the Hearts and Actions of Men.

Gracious Government, as respecting the Church.

I. His Power is evident in Natural Government.

1. In Preservation. God is the great Father of the World, to nourish it as well as create it . Man and Beast would perish if there were not Herbs for their food; and Herbs would wither and perish, if the Earth were not watered with fruitful showers. This some of the Heathens acknowledged, in their worshipping God under the image of an Ox, a useful Creature, by reason of its strength, to which we owe so much of our food in Corn. Hence God is styled the Preserver of Man and Beast. Hence the Jews called God Place; because he is the subsistence of all things. By the same Word whereby he gave Being to things, he gives to them continuance and duration in Being to such a term of time. As they were created by his word, they are supported by his word, Heb. 1.3. The same powerful Fiat, Let the Earth bring forth Grass, when the Plants peep'd upon Man out of nothing, is expressed every Spring, when they begin to lift up their heads from their naked Roots and Winter graves. The resurrection of Light every morning, the reviving the pleasure of all things to the eye; the watering the Valleys from the Mountain Springs; the curbing the natural appetite of the Waters from covering the Earth; every draught that the Beast drink, every lodging the Fowls have, every bit of Food for the sustenance of Man and Beast, is ascribed to the Opening of his hand, the diffusing of his Power, Psal. 104.27, &c. as much as the first Creation of things, and endowing them with their particular nature: Whence the Plants, which are so serviceable, are called the Trees of the Lord, of Jehovah, that hath only Being and Power in himself. The whole Psalm is but the description of his preserving, as the first of Genesis is of his creating Power, 'It is by this Power Angels have so many Thousand years remained in the power of understanding and willing. By this Power things distant in their natures have been joined together, a Spiritual Soul and a Dusty Body knit in a Marriage knot. By this Power the Heavenly Bodies have for so many Ages roll'd in their Spheres, and the Tumultuous Elements have persisted in their order: By this hath the Matter of the World been to this day continued, and as capable of entertaining forms as it was at the first Creation. What an amazing sight would it be to see a man hold a Pillar of the Exchange upon one of his Fingers? What is this to the Power of God, who holds the waters in the hollow of his hand, metes out the Heaven with a span, and weighs the Mountains in scales, and the Hills in a balance?

The preserving the Earth from the violence of the Sea is a plain instance of this Power. How is that raging Element kept pent within those lists where he first lodged it; continues its course in its Channel without overflowing the Earth, and dashing in pieces the lower part of the Creation? The natural situation of the Water is to be above the Earth, because it is lighter; and to be immediately under the Air, because it is heavier than that thinner Element. Who restrains this natural quality of it, but that God that first formed it? The word of Command at first, Hitherto shalt thou go, and no further, keeps those Waters linked together in their Den, that they may not ravage the Earth, but be useful to the Inhabitants of it. And when once it finds a gap to enter, what power of Earth can hinder its passage? How fruitless sometimes is all the Art of Man to send it to its proper Channel, when once it hath spread its mighty waves over some Countries, and trampled part of the inhabited Earth under its feet? It hath triumphed in its victory, and withstood all the power of Man to conquer its force. 'It is only the Power of God that doth bridle it from spreading itself over the whole Earth. And that his Power might be more manifest, he hath set but a weak and small bank against it. Though he hath bounded it in some places by mighty Rocks, which lift up their heads above it, yet in most places by feeble Sand. How often is it seen in every stormy motion, when the waves boil high and roll furiously, as if they would swallow up all the neighbouring Houses upon the Shoar; when they come to touch those Sandy limits, they bow their heads, fall flat, and sink into the Lap whence they were raised; and seem to foam with Anger that they can march no further, but must split themselves at so weak an obstacle? Can the Sand be thought to be the cause of this? The weakness of it gives no footing to such a thought. Who can apprehend, that an enraged Army should retire upon the opposition of a Straw in an Infants hand? Is it the nature of the Water? Its retirement is against the natural quality of it; pour but a little upon the ground, and you always see it spread itself: No cause can be rendered in nature; 'tis a standing Monument of the Power of God in the preservation of the World, and ought to be more taken notice of by us in this Island, surrounded with it, than by some other Countries in the World.

1. We find nothing hath power to preserve itself. Doth not every Creature upon Earth require the assistance of some other for its maintenance? Can the Rush grow up without mire; can the flag grow up without water? Job 8.11. Can Man or Beast maintain itself without grain from the bowels of the Earth? Would not every Man tumble into the grave, without the aid of other Creatures to nourish him? Whence do these Creatures receive that virtue of supplying him nourishment, but from the Sun and Earth; and whence do they derive that virtue, but from the Creator of all things? And should he but slack his hand, how soon would they and all their qualities perish, and the links of the World fall in pieces, and dash one another into their first Chaos and confusion? All Creatures indeed have an appetite to preserve themselves, they have some knowledge of the outward Means for their preservation; so have irrational Animals a natural instinct, as well as men have some skill to avoid things that are hurtful, and apply things that are helpful: But what thing in the World can preserve itself by an inward influx into its own Being? All things want such a Power without God's, Fiat, Let it be so: Nothing but is destitute of such a power for its own preservation, as much as it is of a power for its own creation. Were there any true Power for such a work, what need of so many External helps from things of an inferior nature to that which is preserved by them?

No created thing hath a Power to preserve any decayed Being. Who can lay claim to such a virtue, as to recall a withering Flower to its former beauty, to raise the head of a drooping Plant, or put life into a gasping Worm when it is expiring; or put impaired Vitals into their former posture? Not a Man upon Earth, nor an Angel in Heaven, can pretend to such a virtue; they may be spectators, but not Assisters, and are in this case Physicians of no value.

2. 'It is therefore the same Power preserves things which at first created them. The Creature doth as much depend upon God in the first instant of its Being, for its preservation; as it did when it was nothing, for its production and creation into Being. As the continuance of a Thought of our Mind depends upon the power of our Mind, as well as the first framing of that Thought. There is as little difference between Creating and Preserving Power, as there is between the power of mine Eye to begin an act of Vision and continue that act of Vision; as to cast my Eye upon an Object and continue it upon that Object: As the first act is caused by the Eye, so the duration of that act is preserved by the Eye; shut the Eye and the act of Vision perishes, divert the Eye from that Object, and that act of Vision is exchanged for another. And therefore the Preservation of things is commonly called a Continual creation: And certainly it is no less, if we understand it of a Preservation by an inward influence into the Being of things. 'It is one and the same action invariably continued, and obtaining its force every moment: The same action whereby he created them of Nothing, and which every moment hath a virtue to produce a thing out of nothing, if it were not yet extant in the World: It remains the same without any diminution throughout the whole time wherein anything doth remain in the World. For all things would return to Nothing, if God did not keep them up in the elevation and state to which he at first raised them by his Creative Power. Acts 17.28. In him we live and have our being. By him, or by the same Power whence we derived our Being, are our lives maintained: As it was his Almighty Power whereby we were, after we had been nothing; so it is the same Power whereby we now are, after he hath made us something.

Certainly all things have no less a dependence on God, than Light upon the Sun, which vanisheth and hides its head upon the withdrawing of the Sun. And should God suspend that powerful Word, whereby he erected the frame of the World, it would sink down to what it was, before he commanded it to stand 〈◊〉 . There needs no new act of Power to reduce things to Nothing, but the cessation of that Omnipotent influx: When the appointed time set them for their Being comes to a period, they faint and bend down their heads to their dissolution, they return to their elements and perish. Psal. 104.29. Thou hidest thy face, and they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die and return to their dust. That which was Nothing cannot remain on this side Nothing, but by the same Power that first called it out of Nothing. As when God withdrew his concurring Power from the Fire, its quality ceased to act upon the Three Children: so if he withdraws his Sustaining Power from the Creature, its Nature will cease to be.

2. It appears in Propagation. That powerful word, Increase and multiply, pronounced at the first Creation, hath spread itself over every part of the World; every Animal in the World, in the formation of everyone of them. From Two of a kind, how great a number of individuals and single Creatures have been multiplied, to cover the face of the Earth in their continued successions? What a world of Plants spring up from the womb of a dry Earth, moistened by the influence of a Cloud, and hatched by the beams of the Sun? How admirable an instance of his propagating Power is it, that from a little Seed a massy Root should strike into the bowels of the Earth, a tall body and thick branches, with Leaves and Flowers of various colors, should break through the surface of the Earth, and mount up towards Heaven, when in the Seed you neither smell the scent, nor see any firmness of a Tree, nor behold any of those Colours which you view in the Flowers that the years produce? A Power not to be imitated by any Creature. How astonishing is it, that a small Seed, whereof many will not amount to the weight of a grain, should spread itself into Leaves, Bark, Fruit of a vast weight, and multiply itself into Millions of Seeds? What Power is that, that from one Man and Woman hath multiplied Families, and from Families, stocked the World with People? Consider the living Creatures, as formed in the womb of their several kinds; everyone is a wonder of Power. The Psalmist instanceth in the forming and propagation of Man. Psal. 139.14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous are thy works. The forming of the Parts distinctly in the Womb, the bringing forth into the World every particular Member, is a roll of wonders, of Power. That so fine a structure as the Body of Man should be polished in the lower parts of the Earth, as he calls the Womb, verse 15. in so short a time, with Members 〈◊〉 a various form and usefulness, each laboring in their several functions. Can any man give an exact account of the manner, how the Bones do grow in the womb: 'It is unknown to the Father, and no less hid from the Mother, and the wisest Men cannot search out the depths of it. 'It is one of the Secret works of an Omnipotent Power, secret in the manner, though open in the effect. So that we must ascribe it to God, as Job doth, Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about. Thy hands which formed Heaven, have formed every Part, every Member, and wrought me like a Mighty workman. The Heavens are said to be the work of God's hands, and Man is here said to be no less. The forming and propagation of Man from that Earthy matter, is no less a wonder of Power, than the structure of the World from a rude and indispos'd Matter. A Heathen Philosopher descants elegantly upon it: Dost thou understand (my Son) the forming of Man in the womb; who erected that noble Fabric; who carv'd the Eyes, the Crystal-windows of light, and the conductors of the Body; who bor'd the Nostrils and Ears, those Loop-holes of scents and sounds; who stretched out and knit the Sinews and Ligaments for the fastening of every Member; who cast the hollow Veins, the Channels of Blood; set and strengthened the Bones, the Pillars and Rafters of the Body; who dig'd the Pores, the sinks to expel the filth; who made the Heart, the repository of the Soul, and formed the Lungs like a Pipe? What Mother, what Father wrought these things? No, none but the Almighty God, who made all things according to his pleasure; 'tis He who propagates this Noble piece from a pile of Dust. Who is born by his own advice; who gives stature, features, sense, wit, strength, speech, but God?

'It is no less a wonder, that a little Infant can live so long in a dark Sink, in the midst of filth, without breathing: And the eduction of it out of the Womb is no less a wonder, than the forming, increase, nourishment of it in that Cell. A wonder, that the life of the Infant is not the death of the Mother, or the life of the Mother the death of the Infant. This little Creature, when it springs up from such small beginnings by the Power of God, grows up to b • one of the Lord's of the World, to have a Dominion over the Creatures, and propagates its kind in the same manner: All this is unaccountable without having recourse to the Power of God in the government of the Creatures.

And to add to this wonder, Consider also what multitudes of Formations and Births there are at one time all over the World, in every of which the Finger of God is at work; and it will speak an unwearied Power. 'It is admirable in one Man, more in a Town of Men, still more in a greater and larger Kingdom, a vaster World; there is a Birth for every Hour in this City, were but 168 born in a Week, though the Weekly Bills mention more: What is this City to Three Kingdoms; what Three Kingdoms to a populous World? Eleven Thousand and eighty will make one for every Minute in the Week; what is this to the Weekly propagation in all the Nations of the Universe, besides the generation of all the Living Creatures in that Space, which are the works of God's fingers as well as Man? What will be the result of this, but the notion of an inconceivable, unwearied Almightiness, always active, always operating?

3. It appears in the Motions of all Creatures. All things live and move in him; by the same Power that Creatures have their Beings, they have their Motions: They have not only a Being by his powerful Command, but they have their minutely Motion by his Powerful concurrence. Nothing can act without the Almighty influx of God, no more than it can exist without the Creative Word of God. 'It is true indeed, the ordering of all Motions to his Holy ends, is an act of Wisdom; but the motion itself whereby those Ends are attained, is a work of his Power.

1. God as the first Cause hath an influence into the motions of all second Causes. As all the Wheels in a Clock are moved in their different motions, by the force and strength of the principal and primary Wheel; if there be any defect in that, or if that stand still, all the rest languish and stand idle the same moment. All Creatures are his Instruments, his Engines, and have no Spirit, but what he gives, and what he assists. Whatsoever Nature works, God works in Nature; Nature is the Instrument, God is the Supporter, Director, Mover of Nature; that what the Prophet saith in another case, may be the language of universal Nature, Lord, thou hast wrought all our works in us, Isai. 26.12. They are our works subjectively, efficiently, as second causes; God's works originally, concurrently. The Sun moved not in the Valley of Ajalon for the space of many hours, in the time of Joshua ; nor did the Fire exercise its consuming quality upon the Three Children, in Nebuchadnezzar's Furnace : He withdrew not his supporting Power from th ir Being, for then they had van • shed, but his influencing Power from their qualities, whereby their motion ceased, till he returned his influential concurrence to them; which evidenceth, that without a perpetual derivation of Divine Power, the Sun could not run one stride or inch of its race, nor the Fire devour one grain of light Chaff, or an inch of Straw. Nothing without his sustaining Power can continue in Being; nothing without his co-working Power can exercise one mite of those qualities it is possessed of. All Creatures are wound up by him, and his hand is constantly upon them, to keep them in perpetual motion.

2. Consider the variety of motions in a single Creature. How many motions are there in the Vital parts of a Man, or in any other Animal, which a Man knows not, and is unable to number? The renewed motion of the Lungs, the Systoles and Diastoles of the Heart; the Contractions and Dilatations of the Heart, whereby it spouts out and takes in Blood; the power of Concoction in the Stomach; the motion of the Blood in the Veins, &c. all which were not only settled by the Powerful hand of God, but are upheld by the same, preserved and influenc'd in every distinct motion by that Power that stamped them with that Nature. To everyone of those there is not only the sustaining Power of God holding up their Natures, but the motive Power of God concurring to every motion; for if we move in him as well as we live in him, then every particle of our motion is exercised by his concurring Power, as well as every moment of our Life supported by his preserving Power. What an infinite variety of motions is there in the whole World in universal Nature, to all which God concurs, all which he conducts, even the motions of the meanest as well as the greatest Creatures, which demonstrate the indefatigable Power of the Governor. 'It is an Infinite Power which doth act in so many varieties, whereby the Soul forms every Thought, the Tongue speaks every Word, the Body exerts every Action. What an Infinite Power is that which presides over the birth of all things, concurs with the motion of the Sap in the • ree, Rivers on the Earth, Clouds in the Air, every drop of Rain, fleece of Snow, crack of Thunder? Not the least motion in the World, but is under an actual influence of this Almighty Mover.

And lest any should scruple the Concurrence of God to so many Varieties of the Creatures motion, as a thing utterly inconceivable; let them consider the Sun, a natural image and shadow of the Perfections of God; doth not the power of that finite Creature extend itself to various Objects at the same moment of time? How many Insects doth it animate, as Flies, &c. at the same moment throughout the World? How many several Plants doth it erect at its appearance in the Spring, whose Roots lay mourning in the Earth all the foregoing Winter? What multitudes of Spires of Grass, and nobler Flowers, doth it Midwife in the same hour? It warms the Air, melts the Blood, cherishes Living Creatures of various kinds, in distinct places, without tiring: And shall the God of this Sun be less than his Creature?

3. And since I speak of the Sun, consider the Power of God in the Motion of it. The vastness of the Sun is computed to be at the least 166 Times bigger than the Earth, and its distance from the Earth, some tell us to be about Four Millions of Miles; whence it follows, that it is whirled about the World with that swiftness, that in the space of an Hour it runs a Million of Miles, which is as much as if it should move round about the surface of the Earth Fifty times in one hour; which vastness exceeds the swiftness of a Bullet shot out of a Canon, which is computed to fly not above Three mile in a Minute: So that the Sun runs further in one Hours space, than a Bullet can in Five thousand, if it were kept in motion; so that if it were near the Earth, the swiftness of its motion would shatter the whole frame of the World and dash it in pieces; so that the Psalmist may well say, It runs a race like a strong Man, Psal. 19.5. What an Incomprehensible Power is that which hath communicated such a strength and swiftness to the Sun, and doth daily influence its Motion; especially since after all those years of its motion, wherein one would think it should have spent itself, we behold it every day as vigorous as Adam did in Paradise, without limping, without shattering itself, or losing anything of its natural Spirits in its unwearied motion. How great must that Power be, which hath kept this great body so entire, and thus swiftly moves it every day?

Is it not now an Argument of Omnipotency, to keep all the strings of Nature in tune; to wind them up to a due pitch for the harmony he intended by them; to keep things that are contrary from that Confusion they would naturally fall into; to prevent those Jarrings which would naturally result from their various and snarling qualities; to preserve every Being in its true nature; to propagate every kind of Creature; order all the Operations, even the meanest of them, when there are such innumerable Varieties?

But let us consider, that this Power of preserving things in their station and motion, and the renewing of them is more stupendous, than that which we commonly call Miraculous.

We call those Miracles, which are wrought out of the track of Nature, and contrary to the usual stream and current of it; which Men wonder at, because they seldom see them, and hear of them as things rarely brought forth in the World; when the truth is, there is more of Power expressed in the ordinary station and motion of Natural causes, than in those extraordinary exertings of Power. Is not more Power signaliz'd in that whirling motion of the Sun every hour for so many Ages, than in the suspending of its motion one Day, as it was in the days of Joshua? That Fire should continually ravage and consume, and greedily swallow up everything that is offered to it, seems to be the effect of as admirable a Power, as the stopping of its appetite a few moments, as in the case of the Three Children? Is not the rising of some small Seeds from the ground, with a multiplication of their numerous posterity, an effect of as great a Power, as our Savior's seeding many Thousands with a few Loaves, by a secret augmentation of them? Is not the Chimical producing so pleasant and delicious a Fruit as the Grape, from a dry Earth, insipid Rain, and a sour Vine, as admirable a token of Divine Power, as our Savior's turning Water into Wine? Is not the cure of Diseases by the application of a simple inconsiderable Weed, or a slight Infusion, as wonderful in itself, as the Cure of it by a powerful word? What if it be naturally designed to heal, what is that Nature, who gave that Nature, who maintains that Nature, who conducts it, cooperates with it? Doth it work of itself, and by its own strength; why not then equally in all, in one as well as another? Miracles indeed affect more, because they testify the immediate operation of God without the concurrence of second Causes; not that there is mere of the Power of God shining in them, than in the other.

II. This Power is evident in Moral Government.

1. In the restraint of the Malicious nature of the Devil. Since Satan hath the Power of an Angel, and the Malice of a Devil, what safety would there be for our Persons from destruction, what security for our Goods from rifling, by this invisible, potent, and envious Spirit, if his Power were not restrained and his Malice curbed, by one more Mighty than himself? How much doth he envy God, the glory of his Creation; and Man, the use and benefit of it? How desirous would he be in regard of his passion, how able in regard of his strength and subtlety; to overthrow or infect all Worship, but what was directed to himself; to manage all things according to his lusts, turn all thing topsie-turvy, plague the World, burn Cities, Houses, plunder us of the supports of Nature, waste Kingdoms, &c. if he were not held in a Chain, as a ravenous Lion, or a furious wild Horse, by the Creator and Governor of the World? What remedy could be used by Man against the activity of this unseen and swift Spirit? The World could not subsist under his Malice; he would practice the same things upon All, as he did upon Job, when he had got leave from his Governor; turn the Swords of Men into one another's bowels; send Fire from Heaven upon the Fruits of the Earth and the Cattle, intended for the use of Man: Raise Winds, to shake and tear our Houses upon our Heads; daub our Bodies with Scabs and Boils, and let all the humors in our Blood loose upon us. He that envied Adam a Paradise, doth envy us the pleasure of enjoying its out-works: If we were not destroyed by him, we should live in a continued vexation by Spectrums and Apparitions, affrighting sounds and noise; as some think the Egyptians did in that three days Darkness: He would be always winnowing us, as he desired to winnow Peter. But God over-masters his strength, that he cannot move a hairs breadth beyond his Tedder; not only he is unable to touch an Upright Job, but to lay his fingers upon one of the Unbelieving Gadarenes forbidden and filthy Swine without special license. When he is cast out of one place, he walks through dry places seeking rest, new objects for his Malicious designs, but finding none, till God lets loose the reins upon him for a new employment. Though Satan's Power be great, yet God suffers him not to tempt as much as his Diabolical appetite would, but as much as Divine Wisdom thinks fit: And the Divine Power tempers the others active Malice, and gives the Creature victory, where the Enemy intended spoil and captivity. How much stronger is God, than all the Legions of Hell; as he that holds a strong man from effecting his purpose, testifies more ability than his Adversary? How doth he lock him up for a Thousand years in a Pownd, which he cannot leap over? and this restraint is wrought partly by blinding the Devil in his designs, partly by denying him concourse to his motion: As he hindered the active quality of the Fire upon the Three Children, by withdrawing his power, which was necessary to the motion of it; and his power is as necessary for the motion of the Devil, as for that of any other Creature. Sometimes he makes him to confess him against his own interest, as Apollo's Oracle confessed . And though when the Devil was cast out of the possessed person, he publicly owned Christ to be the Holy one of God, Mark 1.24. to render him suspected by the People of having commerce with the Unclean Spirits; yet this he could not do without the leave and permission of God, that the power of Christ in stopping his mouth and imposing silence upon him might be evidenced; and that it reaches to the Gates of Hell, as well as to the quieting of Winds and Waves. This is a part of the Strength, as well as the Wisdom of God, that the deceived and the deceiver are his. Wisdom to defeat, and Power to over-rule his most Malicious designs to his own glory.

2. In the restraint of the Natural Corruption of Men. Since the impetus of Original Corruption runs in the Blood, conveyed down from Adam to the Veins of all his Posterity, and universally diffused in all Mankind; what wrack and havoc would it make in the World, if it were not suppressed by this Divine Power, which presides over the hearts of Men? Man is so wretched by Nature, that nothing but what is vile and pernicious can drop from him. Man drinks Iniquity like water, being by Nature abominable and filthy. He greedily swallows all matter for Iniquity, everything suitable to the mire and poison in his Nature, and would sprout it out with all fierceness and insolence. God himself gives us the description of Mans Nature, Gen. 6.5. that he hath not one good imagination at any time. And the Apostle from the Psalmist dilates and comments upon it: There is none righteous, no not one; their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, &c. This Corruption is equal in all, natural to all; 'tis not more poisonous or more fierce in one Man, than in another. The Root of all Men is the same; all the Branches therefore do equally possess the Villanous nature of the Root. No Child of Adam can by Natural descent be better than Adam, or have less of baseness and vileness, and venom than Adam. How fruitful would this loathsome Lake be in all kind of steams? What unbridled Licentiousness and head-strong Fury would triumph in the World, if the Power of God did not interpose itself to lock down the Flood-gates of it? What rooting up of Human society would there be; how would the World be drenched in Blood, the number of Malefactors be greater, than that of Apprehenders and Punishers? How would the prints of Natural Laws be raz'd out of the heart, if God should leave Human nature to itself? Who can read the first Chapter to the Romans, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 Verses without acknowledging this Truth; where there is a Catalogue of those Villanies which followed upon God's pulling up the Sluces, and letting the malignity of their Inward Corruption have its natural course? If God did not hold back the fury of Man, his Garden would be over-run, his Vine rooted up; the Inclinations of Men would hurry them to the worst of Wickedness. How great is that Power, that curbs, bridles, or changes, as many head-strong Horses at once and every minute, as there are Sons of Adam upon the Earth? The floods lift up their waves; the Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many Waters, yea than the mighty waves of the Sea; that doth hush and pen in the turbulent Passions of Men.

3. In the ordering and framing the hearts of Men to his own ends. That must be an Omnipotent hand that grasps and contains the Hearts of all Men; the Heart of the Meanest person, as well as of the most towering Angel, and turns them as he pleases, and makes them sometime ignorantly, sometime knowingly concur to the accomplishment of his own purposes: When the Hearts of Men are so numerous, their Thoughts so various and different from one another, yet he hath a Key to those Millions of Hearts, and with Infinite Power guided by as Infinite Wisdom, he draws them into what Chanels he pleases for the gaining his own ends. Though the Jews had embrued their hands in the Blood of our Savior, and their Rage was yet reeking-hot against his Followers, God bridled their Fury in the Churches Infancy, till it had got some strength, and cast a Terror upon them by the Wonders wrought by the Apostles, Acts 2.43. And fear came upon every Soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the Apostles. Was there not the same reason in the nature of the Works our Savior wrought, to point them to the Finger of God and calm their rage? Yet did not the Power of God work upon their Passions in those Miracles, nor stop the impetuousness of the Corruption resident in their hearts. Yet now those who had the boldness to attack the Son of God and nail him to the Cross, are frighted at the Appearance of Twelve unarmed Apostles; as the Sea seems to be afraid when it approacheth the bounds of the feeble Sand. How did God bend the Hearts of the Egyptians to the Israelites, and turn them to that point, as to lend their most costly Vessels, their precious Jewels, and rich Garments, to supply those whom they had just before tyrannically loaded with their Chains ? When a great part of an Army came upon Jehoshaphat to dispatch him into another World, how doth God in a trice touch their hearts, and move them by a secret instinct at once to depart from him? As if you should see a numerous sight of Birds in a moment turn wing another way, by a sudden and joint consent. When he gave Saul a Kingdom, he gave him a Spirit fit for Government, and gave him another heart; and brought the People to submit to his yoke, who a little before wandered about the Land upon no nobler employment than the seeking of Asses. 'It is no small remark of the Power of God, to make a number of strong and discontented Persons, and desirous enough of liberty, to bend their Necks under the yoke of Government, and submit to the Authority of One, and that of their own Nature, often weaker and unwiser than the most of them; and many times, an Oppressor and Invader of their Rights. Upon this account David calls God his Fortress, Tower, Shield; all terms of Strength, in subduing the People under him. 'It is the Mighty hand of God, that links Princes and People together in the bands of Government. The same hand that asswageth the Waves of the Sea, suppresseth the Tumults of the People.

III. It appears in his Gracious and Judicial Government.

1. In his Gracious Government. In the Deliverance of his Church: He is the strength of Israel, and hath protected his Little Flock in the midst of Wolves; and maintained their standing, when the strongest Kingdoms have sunk, and the best jointed States have been broken in pieces. When Judgments have ravaged Countries, and torn up the Mighty, as a tempestuous Wind hath often done the tallest Trees, which seemed to threaten Heaven with their Tops, and dare the Storm with the depth of their Roots, when yet the Vine and Rose-bushes have stood firm, and been seen in their beauty next morning. The state of the Church hath outlived the most flourishing Monarchies; when there hath been a mighty knot of Adversaries against her; when the Bulls of Bashan have pushed her, and the whole Tribe of the Dragon have sharpen'd their weapons, and edge'd their Malice; when the voice was strong, and the hopes high to raze her foundation even with the ground; when Hell hath roar'd; when the wit of the World hath contrived, and the strength of the World hath attempted her ruin; when Decrees have been past against her, and the Powers of the World armed for the execution of them; when her Friends have droop'd and skulk'd in Corners; when there was no Eye to pity, and no Hand to assist, help hath come from Heaven; her Enemies have been defeated, Kings have brought gifts to her and reared her; Tears have been wiped off her Cheeks, and her very Enemies, by an unseen Power, have been forced to court her, whom before they would have devoured quick. The Devil and his Armies have sneakt into their Den, and the Church hath triumphed when she hath been upon the brink of the Grave. Thus did God send a mighty Angel to be the Executioner of Sennacherib's Army, and the Protector of Jerusalem, who run his Sword into the hearts of Eighty Thousand, when they were ready to swallow up his beloved City.

When the Knife was at the Throats of the Jews in Shushan, by a powerful hand it was turned into the hearts of their Enemies. With what an Out-stretched Arm were the Israelites freed from the Egyptian yoke? When Pharaoh had mustered a great Army to pursue them, assisted with Six hundred Chariots of War, the Red Sea obstructed their passage before, and an enraged Enemy trod on their rear; when the fearful Israelites despair'd of Deliverance, and the insolent Egyptian assured himself of his Revenge; God stretches out his irresistible Arm, to defeat the Enemy and assist his People; he strikes down the Wolves, and preserves the Flock. God restrained the Egyptian Enmity against the Israelites till they were at the brink of the Red Sea, and then lets them follow their humor and pursue the Fugitives, that his Power might more gloriously shine forth in the Deliverance of the one, and the Destruction of the other. God might have brought Israel out of Egypt in the • ime of those Kings, that had remembered the good Service • f Joseph to their Country; but he leaves them till the Reign of a cruel Tyrant, suffers them to be Slaves, that they might by his sole Power be Conquerors; which had had no appearance, had there been a willing dismission of them at the first summons. Exod. 9.16. In very deed, for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show my Power, and that my Name might be declared throughout all the Earth. I have permitted thee to rise up against my People, and keep them in Captivity, that thou mightest be an occasion for the manifestation of my Power in their rescue; and whilst thou art obstinate to enslave them, I will stretch out my Arm to deliver them, and make my Name famous among the Gentiles, in the wrack of thee and thy Host in the Red Sea. The Deliverance of the Church hath not been in one Age or in one Part of the World, but God hath signaliz'd his Power in all Kingdoms where she hath had a footing: As he hath guided her in all places by one Rule, animated her by one Spirit; so he hath protected her by the same Arm of Power.

When the Roman Emperors bandied all their Force against Her for about Three hundred years, they were further from effecting her ruin at the end, than when they first attempted it: The Church grew under their Sword, and was hatched under the Wings of the Roman Eagle, which were spread to destroy her. The Ark was elevated by the Deluge; and the Waters the Devil poured out to drown Her, did but slime the Earth for a new increase of her. She hath sometime been beaten down, and, like Lazarus, hath seemed to lie in the Grave for some days, that the Power of God might be more visible in her sudden resurrection, and lifting up her head above the Throne of her Persecutors.

2. In his Judicial proceedings. The Deluge was no small testimony of his Power, in opening the Cisterns of Heaven, and pulling up the Sluces of the Sea. He doth but call for the waters of the Sea, and they pour themselves upon the face of the Earth, Amos 9.6. In Forty days time the Waters overtopped the highest Mountains fifteen Cubits; and by the same Power he afterwards reduced the Sea to its proper Channel, as a roaring Lion into his Den. A shower of Fire from Heaven upon Sodom and the Cities of the Plain, was a signal display of his Power, either in creating it on the sudden for the execution of his Righteous sentence, or sending down the Element of Fire, contrary to its nature (which affects ascent) for the punishment of Rebels against the light of Nature.

How often hath he ruined the most flourishing Monarchies, led Princes away spoiled, and overthrown the Mighty? Which Job makes an Argument of his Strength, Job 12.13, 14. Troops of unknown People, the Goths and Vandals, broke the Romans, a Warlike People, and hurled down all before them. They could not have had the thought to succeed in such an Attempt, unless God had given them strength and motion, for the executing his Judicial Vengeance upon the People of his Wrath.

How did he evidence his Power, by daubing the Throne of Pharaoh, and his Chamber of Presence, as well as the Houses of his Subjects, with the slime of Frogs; turning their Waters into Blood, and their Dust into biting Lice; raising his Militia of Locusts against them; causing a Three days Darkness without stopping the motion of the Sun: Taking off their First-born, the excellency of their strength, in a Night, by the stroke of the Angels Sword? He takes off the Chariot Wheels of Pharaoh, and presents him with a Destruction, where he expected a Victory: brings those Waves over the heads of him and his Host, which stood firm as Marble Walls for the safety of his People: The Sea is made to swallow them up, that durst not by the order of their Governor touch the Israelites. It only sprinkled the one as a type of Baptism, and drowned the other as an image of Hell. Thus he made it both a Deliverer and a Revenger, the Instrument of an offensive and defensive War. He brings Princes to nothing, and makes the Judges of the Earth as vanity. Great Monarchs have by his Power been hurled from their Thrones, and their Scepters (like Venice -Glasses) broken before their faces, and They been advanced, that have had the least hopes of Grandeur. He hath plucked up Cedars by the Roots, lopped off the Branches, and set a Shrub to grow up in the place; dissolved Rocks, and established Bubbles. Luke 1.52. He hath shown strength with his arm, he hath scattered the proud in the imagine • tion of their hearts: he hath put down the mighty from their seat, and exalted them of low degree.

And these things he doth magnify his Power in.

1. By ordering the nature of Creatures as he pleases. By restraining their force, or guiding their motions. The restraint of the destructive qualities of the Creatures argues as great a Power, as the change of their Natures, yea and a greater. The qualities of Creatures may be changed by Art and Composition, as in the preparing of Medicines; but what but a Divine Power could restrain the operation of the Fire from the Three Children, while it retained its heat and burning quality in Nebuchadnezzar's Furnace? The operation was curbed while its nature was preserved. All Creatures are called his Host, because he Marshals and ranks them as an Army to serve his purposes. The whole Scheme of Nature is ready to favor Men when God orders it, and ready to punish Men when God comm • ssions it. He gave the Red Sea but a check, and it obeyed his Voice; Psal. 106.9. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; the motion of it ceased, and the Waters of it were rang'd as defensive Walls, to secure the march of his People: And at the motion of the Hand of Moses, the Servant of the Lord, the Sea recovered its violence, and the Walls that were framed came tumbling down upon the Egyptians heads . The Creator of Nature is not led by the necessity of Nature: He that settled the order of Nature, can change or restrain the order of Nature according to his Sovereign pleasure. The most necessary and useful Creatures he can use as Instruments of his Vengeance: Water is necessary to cleanse, and by that he can deface a World; Fire is necessary to warm, and by that he can burn a Sodom: From the Water he formed the Fowl , and by that he dissolves them in the Deluge; Fire or Heat is necessary to the Generation of Creatures, and by that he ruins the Cities of the Plain. He orders all as he pleases, to perform every tittle and punctilio of his purpose. The Sea observed him so exactly, that it drowned not one Israelite, nor saved one Egyptian. Psal. 106.11. There was not One of them left. And to perfect the Israelites Deliverance, he followed them with Testimonies of his Power above the strength of Nature. When they wanted Drink, he orders Moses to strike a Rock, and the Rock spouts a River, and a Channel is formed for it to attend them in their Journey. When they wanted Bread, he dressed Manna for them in the Heavens, and sent it to their Tables in the Desert. When he would declare his Strength, he calls to the Heavens to pour down Righteousness, and to the Earth to bring forth Salvation, Isai. 45.8. Though God had created Righteousness or Deliverance for the Jews in Babylon, yet he calls to the Heavens and the Earth to be assistant to the design of Cyrus, whom he had raised for that purpose, as he speaks in the beginning of the Chapter, verse. 1, 2, 3, 4. As God created Man for a supernatural end, and all Creatures for Man as their immediate end; so he makes them, according to opportunities, subservient to that supernatural end of Man, for which he created him. He that spans the Heavens with his fist, can shoot all Creatures like an Arrow, to hit what mark he pleases. He that spread the Heavens and the Earth by a Word, and can by a Word fold them up more easily than a Man can a garment , can order the streams of Nature; Cannot he work without Nature as well as with it, beyond Nature, contrary to Nature, that can (as it were) fillip Nature with his finger into that Nothing whence he drew it? Who can cast down the Sun from his Throne, clap the distinguished parts of the World together, and make them march in the same order to their Confusion, as they did in their Creation: Who can jumble the whole Frame together, and by a Word dissolve the Pillars of the World, and make the Fabric lie in a ruinous heap.

2. In effecting his Purposes by small Means: In making use of the Meanest Creatures. As the Power of God is seen in the creation of the smallest Creatures, and assembling so many perfections in the little body of an Insect, as an Ant, or Spider: So his Power is not less magnified in the use he makes of them. As he magnifies his Wisdom, by using ignorant Instruments; so he exalts his Power, by employing weak Instruments in his service: The Meaness and Imperfection of the matter sets off the Excellency of the Workman; so the weakness of the Instrument is a foil to the Power of the principal Agent. When God hath effected things by Means in the Scripture, he hath usually brought about his Purposes by weak Instruments.

Moses, a Fugitive from Egypt, and Aaron a Captive in it, are the Instruments of the Israelites Deliverance. By the motion of Moses his Rod, he works Wonders in the Court of Pharaoh, and summons up his Judgments against him. He brought down Pharaohs stomach for a while by a squadron of Lice and Locusts, wherein Divine Power was more seen, than if Moses had brought him to his own Articles by a multitude of Warlike Troops. The fall of the Walls of Jericho by the sound of Rams horns, was a more glorious Character of God's Power, than if Joshua had battered it down with an hundred of Warlike Engines. Thus the great Army of the Midianites, which lay as Grasshoppers upon the ground, were routed by Gideon in the head of Three hundred Men; and Goliath a Giant, laid level with the ground by David a Stripling, by the force of a Sling: A Thousand Philistines dispatched out of the World by the Jaw Bone of an Ass in the hand of Sampson. He can master a stout Nation by an Army of Locusts, and render the Teeth of those little Insects as destructive as the Teeth, yea the strongest Teeth, the Cheek Teeth of a great Lion . The Thunderbolt, which produceth sometimes dreadful effects, is compacted of little Atoms which fly in the Air, small Vapors drawn up by the Sun, and mixed with other Sulphurous matter and petrifying Juice. Nothing is so weak, but his Strength can make victorious; nothing so small, but by his Power he can accomplish his great ends by it; nothing so vile, but his M • ght can conduct to his glory; and no Nation so mighty, but he can waste and enfeeble by the Meanest Creatures. God is great in Power in the greatest things, and not little in the smallest; his Power in the minutest Creatures which he uses for his service, surmounts the force of our Understanding.

III. The Power of God appears in Redemption. As our Savior is called the Wisdom of God, so he is called the Power of God. The Arm of Power was lifted up as high, as the designs of Wisdom were laid deep: As this way of Redemption could not be contrived, but by an Infinite Wisdom; so it could not be accomplished, but by an Infinite Power. None but God could shape such a design, and none but God could effect it. The Divine Power in Temporal deliverances, and freedom from the slavery of human Oppressors, vails to that which glitters in Redemption; whereby the Devil is defeated in his designs, stripped of his spoils, and yok'd in his strength. The Power of God in Creation requires not those degrees of Admiration, as in Redemption. In Creation the World was erected from Nothing; as there was Nothing to act, so there was Nothing to oppose; no victorious Devil was in that to be subdued, no thundering Law to be silenced, no Death to be conquered, no Transgression to be pardoned and rooted out, no Hell to be shut, no Ignominious death upon the Cross to be suffered. It had been in the nature of the thing, an easier thing to Divine Power to have created a new World, than repaired a broken, and purified a polluted one. This is the most admirable Work that ever God brought forth in the World, greater than all the Marks of his Power in the first Creation.

And this will appear,

• 1. In the Person Redeeming.
• 2. In the publication and propagation of the Doctrine of Redemption.
• 3. In the application of Redemption.

I. In the Person Redeeming.

First, In his Conception.

1. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the Womb of the Virgin. Luke 1.35. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Which act is expressed to be the effect of the Infinite Power of God; and it expresses the supernatural manner of the forming the Humanity of our Savior, and signifies not the Divine Nature of Christ infusing itself into the Womb of the Virgin; for the Angel refers it to the manner of the operation of the Holy Ghost in the producing the Human Nature of Christ, and not to the Nature assuming that Humanity into union with itself. The Holy Ghost, or the Third Person in the Trinity, overshadowed the Virgin, and by a Creative act framed the Humanity of Christ, and united it to the Divinity. It is therefore expressed by a word of the same import with that used Gen. 1.2. The Spirit moved upon the face of the face of the Waters, which signifies (as it were) a Brooding upon the Chaos, shadowing it with his Wings, as Hens sit upon their Eggs, to form them and hatch them into Animals; or else it is an allusion to the Cloud which covered the Tent of the Congregation, when the Glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle . It was not such a Creative Act as we call Immediate, which is a production out of Nothing; but a Mediate Creat • on, such as God's bringing things into form out of the first Matter, which had nothing but an Obediential or Passive disposition to whatsoever stamp the Powerful Wisdom of God should imprint upon it. So the substance of the Virgin had no active, but only a passive disposition to this work: The Matter of the Body was Earthy, the substance of the Virgin; the forming of it was Heavenly, the Holy Ghost working upon that Matter. And therefore when it is said, that she was found with Child of the Holy Ghost, 'tis to be understood of the Efficacy of the Holy Ghost, not of the Substance of the Holy Ghost. The matter was Natural, but the manner of Conceiving was in a Supernatural way, above the methods of Nature. In reference to the Active Principle the Redeemer is called in the Prophecy , The Branch of the Lord, in regard of the Divine hand that planted him: In respect to the Passive Principle, The Fruit of the Earth, in regard of the Womb that bare him; and therefore said to be made of a Woman . That part of the Flesh of the Virgin whereof the Human Nature of Christ was made, was refined and purifi'd from Corruption by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, as a skillful Workman separates the Dross from the Gold: Our Savior is therefore called, that Holy thing , though born of the Virgin: He was necessarily some way to descend from Adam. God indeed might have created his Body out of Nothing, or have formed it (as he did Adams ) out of the Dust of the Ground: But had he been thus extraordinarily formed, and not propagated from Adam; though he had been a Man like one of us, yet he would not have been of kin to us, because it would not have been a Nature derived from Adam, the Common Parent of us all. It was therefore necessary to an affinity with us, not only that he should have the same Human Nature, but that it should slow from the same Principle, and be propagated to him. But now, by this way of producing the Humanity of Christ of the Substance of the Virgin, He was in Adam (say some) Corporally, but not Seminally; of the Substance of Adam, or a Daughter of Adam, but not of the Seed of Adam: And so he is of the same Nature that had sinned, & so what he did and suffered may be imputed to us; which, had he been created as Adam, could not be claimed in a Legal and Judicial way.

2. It was not convenient he should be born in the Common order of Nature, of Father and Mother: For whosoever is so born is polluted: A Clean thing cannot be brought out of an unclean : And our Savior had been uncapable of being a Redeemer, had he been tainted with the least Spot of our Nature, but would have stood in need of Redemption himself. Besides, it had been inconsistent with the Holiness of the Divine Nature, to have assumed a tainted and defiled Body. He that was the Fountain of Blessedness to all Nations, was not to be subject to the Curse of the Law for himself; which he would have been, had he been conceived in an ordinary way. He that was to overturn the Devils Empire, was not to be any way captive under the Devils Power, as a Creature under the Curse; nor could he be able to break the Serpents head, had he been tainted with the Serpents breath.

Again, supposing that Almighty God by his Divine Power had so ordered the matter, and so perfectly sanctified an Earthly Father and Mother from all Original spot, that the Human Nature might have been transmitted Immaculate to him, as well as the Holy Ghost did purge that part of the flesh of the Virgin of which the Body of Christ was made; yet it was not convenient that that Person, that was God blessed forever as well as Man, partaking of our Nature, should have a Conception in the same manner as ours, but different, and in some measure conformable to the Infinite dignity of his Person; which could not have been, had not a supernatural Power and a Divine Person been concerned as an active Principle in it. Besides, such a Birth had not been agreeable to the first Promise, which calls him The Seed of the woman, not of the Man; and so the Veracity of God had suffered some detriment: The seed of the woman only, is set in opposition to the seed of the Serpent.

3. By this manner of Conception, the Holiness of his Nature is secured, and his fitness for his Office is assured to us. 'It is now a pure and unpolluted Humanity that is the Temple and Tabernacle of the Divinity: The Fulness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily, and dwells in him Holily. His Humanity is supernaturaliz'd, and elevated by the activity of the Holy Ghost, hatching the Flesh of the Virgin into Man, as the Chaos into a World. Though we read of some sanctified from the Womb, it was not a pure and perfect Holiness; it was like the Light of Fire mixed with Smoak, an infused Holiness accompanied with a Natural t • int: But the Holiness of the Redeemer by this Conception, is like the Light of the Sun, pure and without spot. The Spirit of Holiness supplying the place of a Father in a way of Creation.

His Fitness for his Office is also assured to us; for being born of the Virgin, one of our Nature, but conceived by the Spirit a Divine Person, the guilt of our Sins may be imputed to him because of our Nature, without the stain of Sin inherent in him; because of his Supernatural Conception he is capable, as one of Kin to us, to bear our Curse without being touched by our Taint. By this means our sinful Nature is assumed without Sin in that Nature which was assumed by him: Flesh he hath, but not Sinful flesh, Rom. 8.3. Real Flesh, but not really Sinful, only by way of Imputation.

Nothing but the Power of God is evident in this whole Work: By the ordinary Laws and course of Nature a Virgin could not bear a Son; nothing but a Supernatural and Almighty Grace could intervene to make so holy and perfect a Conjunction. The generation of others, in an ordinary way, is by Male and Female: But the Virgin is overshadow'd by the Spirit and Power of the Highest. Man only is the product of Natural generation; this which is born of the Virgin is the Holy thing, the Son of God. In other generations, a Rational Soul is only united to a Material Body: But in this, the Divine Nature is united with the Human in one Person by an indissoluble Union.

II. The Second Act of Power in the Person Redeeming, is the Union of the two Natures, the Divine and Human. The designing indeed of this was an act of Wisdom; but the accomplishing it was an act of Power.

1. There is in this Redeeming Person a Union of two Natures. He is God and Man in one Person. Heb. 1.8, 9. Thy Throne, O God, is forever and ever: God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the Oil of Gladness, &c. The Son is called God, having a Throne forever and ever, and the Unction speaks him Man: The Godhead cannot be Anointed, nor hath any Fellows. Humanity and Divinity are ascribed to him, Rom. 1.3, 4. He was of the Seed of David according to the Flesh, and declared to be the Son of God, by hi • Resurrection from the dead. The Divinity and Humanity are both Prophetically join'd, Zach. 12.10. I will pour out my Spirit; the pouring forth the Spirit is an Act only of Divine Grace and Power. And they sh • ll look upon me whom they have pierced; the same Person pours forth the Spirit as God, and is pierced as Man. The Word was made Flesh, John 1.14. Word from Eternity was made Flesh in time, Word and Flesh in one Person; a great God, and a little Infant.

2. The Terms of this Union were infinitely distant. What greater distance can there be than between the Deity and Humanity, between the Creator and a Creature? Can you imagine the distance between Eternity and Time, Infinite Power and Miserable Infirmity, an Immortal Spirit and Dying Flesh, the Highest Being and Nothing? yet these are espous'd. A God of unmixed Blessedness is linked personally with a Man of perpetual Sorrows: Life uncapable to Die, join'd to a Body in that Economy uncapable to live without dying first; Infinite Purity, and a reputed Sinner; Eternal Blessedness with a Cursed Nature, Almightiness and Weakness, Omniscience and Ignorance, Immutability and Changableness, Incomprehensibleness and comprehensibility; that which cannot be comprehended, and that which can be comprehended; that which is entirely Independent, and that which is totally Dependant; the Creator forming all things, and the Creature made met together to a Personal Union; the Word made flesh , the Eternal Son, the Seed of Abraham . What more Miraculous, than for God to become Man, and Man to become God. That a Person possessed of all the Per • ections of the Godhead, should inherit all the Imperfections of the Manhood in one Person, Sin only excepted: A Holiness uncapable of sinning to be made Sin; God blessed forever, taking the properties of Human Nature, and Human Nature admitted to a Union with the Properties of the Creator: The Fulness of the Deity and the Emptiness of Man united together ; not by a shining of the Deity upon the Humanity, as the light of the Sun upon the Earth, but by an inhabitation or indwelling of the Deity in the Humanity. Was there not need of an Infinite Power to bring together Terms so far asunder, to elevate the Humanity to be capable of and disposed for a conjunction with the Deity? If a clod of Earth should be advanced to, and united with the Body of the Sun, such an advance would evidence itself to be a work of Almighty Power: The Clod hath nothing in its own nature to render it so glorious, no power to climb up to so high a dignity: How little would such a Union be, to that we are speaking of? Nothing less than an incomprehensible Power could effect, what an Incomprehensible Wisdom did project in this affair.

3. Especially since the Union is so strait. 'It is not such a Union as is between a Man and his House he dwells in, whence he goes out and to which he returns, without any alteration of himself or his House; nor such a Union as is between a Man and his Garment, which both communicate and receive warmth from one another; nor such as is between an Artificer and his Instrument wherewith he works; nor such a Union as one Friend hath with another: All these are distant things, not one in Nature, but have distinct subsistences. Two Friends, though united by love, are distinct Persons; a Man and his Cloaths, an Artificer and his Instruments, have distinct subsistences: But the Humanity of Christ hath no subsistence, but in the Person of Christ.

The straitness of this Union is expressed, and may be somewhat conceived, by the union of Fire with Iron; [Fire pierceth through all the parts of Iron, it unites itself with every particle, bestows a light, heat, purity upon all of it; you cannot distinguish the Iron from the Fire, or the Fire from the Iron, yet they are distinct Natures: So the Deity is united to to the whole Humanity, seasons it, and bestows an excellency upon it, yet the Natures still remain distinct. And as during that union of Fire with Iron, the Iron is uncapable of rust or blackness; so is the Humanity uncapable of Sin: And as the operation of Fire is attributed to the red-hot Iron, (as the Iron may be said to heat, burn, and the Fire may be said to cut and pierce) yet the imperfections of the Iron do not affect the Fire; so in this Mystery, those things which belong to the Divinity are ascribed to the Humanity, and those things which belong to the Humanity are ascribed to the Divinity, in regard of the Person in whom those Natures are united; yet the Imperfections of the Humanity do not hurt the Divinity. ] The Divinity of Christ is as really united with the Humanity, as the Soul with the Body: The Person was one, though the Natures were two, so united, that the Sufferings of the Human Nature were the Sufferings of that Person, and the dignity of the Divine was imputed to the Human, by reason of that Unity of both in one Person: Hence the Blood of the Human Nature is said to be the Blood of God . All things ascribed to the Son of God, may be ascribed to this Man; and the things ascribed to this Man, may be ascribed to the Son of God, as this Man is the Son of God Eternal, Almighty: And it may be said, God suffered, was Crucified, &c. for the Person of Christ is but one, most simple; the Person suffered, that was God and Man united, making One Person.

4. And though the Union be so strait, yet without confusion of the Natures, or change of them into one another. The two Natures of Christ are not mixed, as Liquors that incorporate with one another when they are poured into a Vessel; the Divine Nature is not turned into the Human, nor the Human into the Divine, one Nature doth not swallow up another and make a third Nature, distinct from each of them. The Deity is not turned into the Humanity, as Air (which is next to a Spirit) may be thickened and turned into Water, and Water may be rarifi'd into Air by the power of Heat boiling it. The Deity cannot be changed, because the Nature of it is to be unchangeable: It would not be Deity, if it were Mortal and capable of Suffering. The Humanity is not changed into the Deity, for then Christ could not have been a Sufferer: If the Humanity had been swallowed up into the Deity, it had lost its own distinct Nature and put on the Nature of the Deity, and consequently been uncapable of Suffering: Finite can never by any mixture be changed into Infinite, nor Infinite into Finite.

This Union in this regard may be resembled to the Union of Light and Air, which are strictly join'd; for the Light passes through all parts of the Air, but they are not confounded, but remain in their distinct essences as before the union, without the least confusion with one another. The Divine Nature remains as it was before the Union, entire in itself, only the Divine Person assumes another Nature to himself. The Human Nature remains, as it would have done had it existed separately from the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , except that then it would have had a proper subsistence by itself, which now it borrows from its union with the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or Word; but that doth not belong to the Constitution of its Nature.

Now let us Consider, what a wonder of Power is all this: The knitting a Noble Soul to a Body of Clay was not so great an exploit of Almightiness, as the espousing Infinite and Finite together. Man is further distant from God, than Man from Nothing. What a wonder is it, that two Natures infinitely distant, should be more intimately united than anything in the World, and yet without any confusion? That the same Person should have both a Glory and a Grief; an infinite Joy in the Deity, and an inexpressible Sorrow in the Humanity? That a God upon a Throne should be an Infant in a Cradle; the Thundering Creator be a weeping Babe and a suffering Man, are such expressions of mighty Power, as well as condescending Love, that they astonish Men upon Earth, and Angels in Heaven.

3. Power was evident in the progress of his life. In the Miracles he wrought; How often did he expel malicious and powerful Devils from their habitations; hurl them from their Thrones, and make them fall from Heaven like Lightning? How many Wonders were wrought by his bare Word, or a single Touch? Sight restored to the Blind, and Hearing to the Deaf; Palsy Members restored to the exercise of their functions; a dismiss given to many deplorable Maladies, impure Leprosies chas'd from the Persons they had infected, and Bodies beginning to putrefy raised from the Grave. But the mightiest Argument of Power was his Patience. That he who was in his Divine Nature elevated above the World, should so long continue upon a Dung-hill, endure the contradiction of Sinners against himself; be patiently subject to the Reproaches and Indignities of Men, without displaying that Justice which was essential to the Deity, and in especial manner daily merited by their provoking Crimes. The Patience of Man under great Affronts, is a greater Argument of power, than the Brawnyness of his Arm: A Strength employed in the revenge of every Injury, signifies a greater infirmity in the Soul, than there can be ability in the Body.

4. Divine Power was apparent in his Resurrection. The unlocking the belly of the Whale for the deliverance of Jonas; the rescue of Daniel from the Den of Lions; and the restraining the Fire from burning the Three Children, were signal declarations of his Power, and types of the Resurrection of our Savior. But what are those to that which was represented by them? That was a power over Natural causes, a curbing of Beasts, and restraining of Elements; But in the Resurrection of Christ, God exercised a power over himself, and quenched the flames of his own Wrath, hotter than Millions of Nebuchadnezzar's Furnaces; unlocked the Prison doors, wherein the Curses of the Law had lodged our Savior, stronger than the Belly and Ribbs of a Leviathan. In the rescue of Daniel and Jonas, God overpowered Beasts; and in this tore up the strength of the Old Serpent, and plucked the Scepter from the hand of the Enemy of Mankind. The Work of Resurrection indeed, considered in itself, requires the efficacy of an Almighty Power: Neither Man nor Angel can create new dispositions in a Dead Body, to render it capable of lodging a Spiritual Soul; nor can they restore a dislodged Soul, by their own power, to such a Body. The restoring a Dead Body to life requires an Infinite Power, as well as the Creation of the World: But there was in the Resurrection of Christ something more difficult than this; while he lay in the Grave he was under the Curse of the Law, under the execution of that dreadful Sentence, Thou shalt die the death. His Resurrection was not only the re-tying • he Marriage knot between his Soul and Body, or the rolling the Stone from the Grave; but a taking off an infinite weight, the Sin of Mankind, which lay upon him: So vast a weight could not be removed without the strength of an Almighty Arm. 'It is therefore ascribed, not to an ordinary operation, but an operation with Power , and such a Power wherein the Glory of the Father did appear. Rom. 6.4. Rais'd up from the dead by the glory of the Father, that is, the glorious Power of God. As the Eternal Generation is stupendous, so is his Resurrection, which is called, a new begetting of him, Acts 13.33. 'It is a wonder of Power, that the Divine and Human Nature should be join'd; and no less wonder, that his Person should surmount and rise up from the Curse of God, under which he lay. The Apostle therefore adds one expression to another, and heaps up a variety, signifying thereby that one was not enough to represent it, Eph. 1.19. Exceeding greatness of power, and working of mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead. It was an hyperbole of Power, the excellency of the Mightiness of his Strength; the loftiness of the expressions seems to come short of the apprehension he had of it in his Soul.

Secondly, This Power appears in the Publication and Propagation of the Doctrine of Redemption.

The Divine Power will appear, if you consider,

• 1. The Nature of the Doctrine.
• 2. The Instruments employed in it.
• 3. The Means they used to propagate it.
• 4. The Success they had.

I. The Nature of the Doctrine.

1. It was contrary to the common received reason of the World. The Philosophers, the Masters of Knowledge among the Gentiles, had Maxims of a different stamp from it. Though they agreed in the Being of a God, yet their Notions of his Nature were confused and embroil'd with many Errors; the Unity of God was not commonly assented unto: They had multiplied Deities ac • ording to the Fancies they had received from some of a more elevated Wit and refined Brain, than others. Though they had some notion of Mediators, yet they placed in those Seats, their public Benefactors; Men that had been useful to the World, or their particular Countries, in imparting to them some profitable Invention. To discard those, was to charge themselves with Ingratitude to them, from whom they had received signal benefits, and to whose Mediation, Conduct, or Protection, they ascribed all the Success they had been blessed with in their several Provinces; and to charge themselves with Folly, for rendering an Honor and Worship to them so long. Could the Doctrine of a Crucified Mediator, whom they had never seen, that had conquered no Country for them, never enlarged their Territories, brought to light no new profitable Invention for the increase of their Earthly welfare, as the rest had done, be thought sufficient to balance so many of their reputed Heroes? How ignorant were they in the foundations of the True Religion? The belief of a Providence was staggering; nor had they a true prospect of the nature of Virtue and Vice: Yet they had a fond Opinion of the strength of their own Reason, and the Maxims that had been handed down to them by their Predecessors, which Paul entitles, a Science falsely so called, either meant of the Philosophers or the Gnostics. They presumed that they were able to measure all things by their own Reason; whence, when the Apostle came to preach the Doctrine of the Gospel at Athens, the great School of Reason in that Age, they gave him no better a Title than that of a Babbler, Acts 17.18. and openly mocked him, verse 32. a Seed gatherer , one that hath no more brain or sense, than a Fellow that gathers up Seeds that are spilled in a Market, or one that hath a vain and empty found without Sense or Reason, like a foolish Mountebank; so slightly did those Rationalists of the World think of the Wisdom of Heaven. That the Son of God should veil himself in a Mortal Body, and suffer a disgraceful Death in it, were things above the ken of Reason.

Besides, the World had a general disesteem of the Religion of the Jews, and were prejudiced against anything that came from them. Whence the Romans, that used to incorporate the gods of other Conquer'd Nations in their Capitol, never moved to have the God of Israel worshipped among them. Again, they might argue against it with much fleshly Reason: Here is a Crucified God preached by a Company of Mean and Ignorant persons; What Reason can we have to entertain this Doctrine, since the Jews, who (as they tell us) had the Prophecies of him, did not acknowledge him? Surely, had there been such Predictions, they would not have Crucified, but Crowned their King, and expected from him the Conquest of the Earth under their Power? What reason have we to entertain him, whom his own Nation (among whom he lived, with whom he conversed) so unanimously, by the Vote of the Rulers as well as the Rout, rejected? It was impossible to conquer Minds possessed with so many Errors, and applauding themselves in their own Reason, and to render them capable of receiving Revealed Truths without the influence of a Divine Power.

2. It was contrary to the Customs of the World. The strength of Custom in most Men surmounts the strength of Reason, and Men commonly are so wedded to it, that they will be sooner divorc'd from anything, than the Modes and Patterns received from their Ancestors. The endeavoring to change Customs of an ancient standing, hath begotten Tumults and furious Mutinies among Nations, though the change would have been much for their advantage.

This Doctrine struck at the Root of the Religion of the World, and the Ceremonies wherein they had been educated from their Infancy, delivered to them from their Ancestors, confirmed by the customary Observance of many Ages, rooted in their Mindss and established by their Laws. Acts 18.13. This Fellow persuadeth us to worship God contrary to the Law, against Customs, to which they ascribed the happiness of their States, and the prosperity of their People; and would put in the place of this Religion they would abolish, a new one instituted by a Man whom the Jews had condemned, and put to death upon a Cross, as an Impostor, Blasphemer, and Seditions person.

It was a Doctrine that would change the Customs of the Jews, who were entrusted with the Oracles of God. It would bury forever their Ceremonial Ri •• s, delivered to them by Moses from that God, who had with a mighty hand brought them out of Egypt, consecrated their Law with Thunders and Lightnings from Mount Sinai, at the time of its publication, backed it with severe Sanctions, confirmed it by many Miracles, both in the Wilderness and their Canaan, and had continued it for so many Hundred years. They could not but remember how they had been ravaged by other Nations, and Judgments sent upon them when they neglected and slighted it; and with what great success they were followed when they valued and observed it; and how they had abhorred the Author of this new Religion, who had spoken slightly of their Traditions, till they put him to death with Infamy. Was it an easy matter to divorce them from that Worship, upon which were entailed (as they imagined) their Peace, Plenty, and Glory, things of the dearest regard with Mankind? The Jews were no less devoted to their Ceremonial Traditions, than the Heathen were to their Vain Superstitions.

This Doctrine of the Gospel was of that nature, that the state of Religion all over the Earth must be overturned by it; the Wisdom of the Greeks must veil to it, the Idolatry of the People must stoop to it, and the profane Customs of Men must molder under the weight of it. Was it an easy matter for the Pride of Nature to deny a customary Wisdom, to entertain a new Doctrine against the Authority of their Ancestors; to inscribe Folly upon that which hath made them admired by the rest of the World? Nothing can be of greater esteem with Men, than the Credit of their Law-givers and Founders, the Religion of their Fathers, and Prosperity of themselves; hence the Minds of Men were sharpened against it. The Greeks, the Wisest Nation, slighted it as Foolish; the Jews, the Religious Nation, stumbled at it, as contrary to the received Interpretations of Ancient Prophecies and Carnal Conceits of an Earthly glory. The dimmest Eye may behold the difficulty to change Custom, a Second Nature: 'It is as hard as to change a Wolf into a Lamb, to level a Mountain, stop the course of the Sun, or change the Inhabitants of Africa into the color of Europe. Custom dips Men in as durable a Dye, as Nature. The difficulties of carrying it on against the Divine Religion of the Jew, and rooted Customs of the Gentiles, were unconquerable by any but an Almighty Power. And in this the Power of God hath appeared wonderfully.

3. It was contrary to the Sensuality of the World, and the Lusts of the Flesh. How much the Gentiles were over-grown with base and unworthy Lusts at the time of the Publication of the Gospel, needs no other Memento than the Apostles Discourse, Rom. 1. As there was no Error but prevailed upon their Minds, so there was no brutish Affection but was wedded to their Hearts. The Doctrine proposed to them was not easy; it flattered not the Sense, but checked the Stream of Nature. It thundered down those three great Engines whereby the Devil had subdued the World to himself, the lust of the Flesh, the lust of the Eye, and the pride of Life. Not only the most sordid Affections of the Flesh, but the more refined Gratifications of the Mind: It stripped Nature both of Devil and Man; of what was commonly esteemed great and virtuous. That which was the root of their Fame, and the satisfaction of their Ambition, was struck at by this Ax of the Gospel. The first Article of it ordered them to deny themselves, not to presume upon their own worth; to lay their Understandings and Wills at the foot of the Cross, and resign them up to one newly crucified at Jerusalem: Honors and Wealth were to be despised, Flesh to be tamed, the Cross to be borne, Enemies to be loved, Revenge to be satisfied, Blood to be spilled, and Torments to be endured for the Honor of One they never saw, nor ever before heard of, who was preached with the Circumstances of a shameful Death, enough to affright them from the Entertainment: And the Report of a Resurrection and glorious Ascension were things never heard of by them before, and unknown in the World, that would not easily enter into the belief of men: The Cross, Disgrace, Self-denial, were only discoursed of in order to the attainment of an invisible World, and an unseen reward, which none of their Predecessors ever returned to acquaint them with; a Patient death, contrary to the pride of Nature, was published as the way to Happiness and a blessed Immortality: The dearest Lusts were to be pierced to death for the honor of this new Lord. Other Religions brought Wealth and Honor; this, struck them off from such Expectations, and presented them with no Promise of anything in this Life, but a prospect of Misery: Except those inward Consolations to which before they had been utter Strangers, and had never experimented. It made them to depend not upon themselves, but upon the sole Grace of God. It decried all natural, all moral Idolatry, things as dear to men as the Apple of their Eyes. It despoyl'd them of whatsoever the Mind, Will, and Affections of men, naturally lay claim to, and glory in. It pulled Self up by the Roots, unmanned carnal Man, and debas'd the Principle of Honor and Self-satisfaction, which the World counted at that time noble and brave. In a word, it took them off from themselves, to act like Creatures of God's framing; to know no more than he would admit them, and do no more than he did command them. How difficult must it needs be to reduce men, that placed all their happiness in the Pleasures of this Life, from their pompous Idolatry and brutish Affections, to this mortifying Religion? What might the World say? Here is a Doctrine will render us a company of puling Animals: Farewell Generosity, Bravery, Sense of Honor, Courage in enlarging the Bounds of our Country, for an ardent Charity to the bitterest of our Enemies. Here's a Religion will rust our Swords, Canker our Arms, dispirit what we have hitherto called Virtue, and annihilate what hath been esteemed worthy and comely among Mankind. Must we change Conquest for Suffering, the increase of our Reputation for Self-denial, the natural Sentiment of Self-preservation for affecting a dreadful Death? How impossible was it that a Crucified Lord, and a Crucifying Doctrine, should be received in the World without the mighty Operation of a Divine Power upon the Hearts of Men? And in this also the Almighty Power of God did notably shine forth.

II. Divine Power appeared in the Instruments employed for the publishing and propagating the Gospel. Who were

1. Mean and worthless in themselves. Not noble and dignified with an earthly Grandeur, but of a low Condition, meanly bred: So far from any splendid Estates, that they possessed nothing but their Nets; without any Credit and Reputation in the World; without Comliness and Strength; as unfit to subdue the World by Preaching, as an Army of Hares were to conquer it by War. Not learned Doctors, bred up at the feet of the Famous Rabbins at Jerusalem, whom Paul calls the Princes of the World ; nor nurs'd up in the School of Athens, under the Philosophers and Orators of the time: Not the Wise-men of Greece, but the Fishermen of Galilee; naturally skilled in no Language but their own, and no more exact in that than those of the same Condition in any other Nation: Ignorant of everything but the Language of their Lakes and their fishing Trade; except Paul, called sometime after the rest to that Employment: And after the descent of the Spirit, they were ignorant and unlearned in everything but the Doctrine they were commanded to publish; for the Council before whom they were summoned, proved them to be so, which increased their wonder at them, Acts 4.13. Had it been publishit by a Voice from Heaven, That Twelve poor men, taken out of Boats and Creeks, without any help of Learning, should conquer the World to the Cross, it might have been thought an Illusion against all the Reason of Men; yet we know it was undertaken and accomplishit by them. They publishit this Doctrine in Jerusalem, and quickly spread it over the greatest part of the World. Folly outwitted Wisdom, and Weakness over-poured Strength. The Conquest of the East by Alexander was not so admirable as the Enterprise of these poor men. He attempted his Conquest with the hands of a Warlike Nation, though indeed but a small number of Thirty thousand against Multitudes, many Hundred thousands of the Enemies; yet an Effeminate Enemy; a People inur'd to Slaughter and Victory attack'd great Numbers, but enfeebled by Luxury and Voluptuousness. Besides, he was bred up to such Enterprizes, had a learned Education under the best Philosopher, and a Military Education under the best Commander, and a natural Courage to animate him. These Instruments had no such advantage from Nature; the Heavenly Treasure was placed in those Earthen Vessels; as Gideon's Lamps in empty Pitchers, Judges 7.16. that the excellency or Hyperbole of the Power might be of God, 2 Cor. 4.7. and the strength of his Arm be displayed in the infirmity of the Instruments. They were destitute of earthly Wisdom, and therefore despised by the Jews, and derided by the Gentiles; the Publishers were accounted Mad men, and the embracers Fools. Had they been Men of known natural Endowments, the Power of God had been veiled under the Gifts of the Creature.

2. Therefore a Divine Power suddenly spirited them, and fitted them for so great a Work. Instead of Ignorance they had the knowledge of the Tongues; and they that were scarce well skilled in their own Dialect, were instructed on the sudden to speak the most flourishing Languages of the World, and Discourse to the People of several Nations, the great things of God . Though they were not enriched with any Worldly wealth and possessed nothing, yet they were so sustained that they wanted nothing in any place where they came, a Table was spread for them in the midst of their bitterest Enemies. Their Fearfulness was changed into Courage, and they that a few days before skulk'd in Corners for fear of the Jews , speak boldly in the Name of that Jesus, whom they had seen put to death by the Power of the Rulers and the Fury of the People: They reproach them with the Murder of their Master, and out-brave that great People in the midst of their Temple, with the glory of that Person they had so lately Crucified . Peter, that was not long before qualm'd at the presence of a Maid, was not daunted at the Presence of the Council, that had their hands yet reeking with the Blood of his Master; but being filled with the Holy Ghost, seems to dare the Power of the Priests and Jewish Governors, and is as confident in the Council Chamber, as he had been cowardly in the High Priests Hall , the efficacy of Grace triumphing over the Fearfulness of Nature. Whence should this Ardor and Zeal, to propagate a Doctrine that had already born the Scars of the Peoples Fury be, but from a mighty Power, which changed those Hares into Lions, and stripped them of their Natural Cowardize • o clothe them with a Divine Courage; making them in a moment both Wise and Magnanimous, alienating them from any Consultations with Flesh and Blood? As soon as ever the Holy Ghost came upon them as a mighty rushing Wind, they move up and down for the Interest of God; as Fish, after a great Clap of Thunder, are rowz'd, and move more nimbly on the top of the Water; therefore that which did so fit them for this undertaking is called by the title of Power from on high, Luke 24.49.

III. The Divine Power appears in the Means whereby it was propagated.

1. By Means different from the Methods of the World. Not by force of Arms, as some Religions have taken root in the World. Muhammad's Horse hath trampled upon the Heads of Men, to imprint an Alcoran in their Brains, and robbed Men of their Goods to plant their Religion. But the Apostles bore not this Doctrine through the World upon the Points of their Swords; they presented a Bodily death where they would bestow an Immortal life: They employed not Troops of Men in a Warlike posture, which had been possible for them after the Gospel was once spread; they had no Ambition to subdue Men unto themselves, but to God; they coveted not the Possessions of others; designed not to enrich themselves; invaded not the Rights of Princes, nor the Liberties and Properties of the People: They rifled them not of their Estates, nor scared them into this Religion by a fear of losing their Worldly happiness. The Arguments they used would naturally drive them from an entertainment of this Doctrine, rather than allure them to be Proselytes to it: Their design was to change their Hearts, not their Government; to wean them from the love of the World, to a love of a Redeemer; to remove that which would ruin their Souls. It was not to enslave them, but ransom them; they had a warfare, but not with Carnal weapons, but such as were mighty through God for the pulling down of strong holds, 2 Cor. 10.4. they used no weapons but the Doctrine they preached. Others that have not gained Conquests by the Edge of the Sword and the Stratagems of War, have extended their Opinions to others by the strength of Human Reason, and the Insinuations of Eloquence. But the Apostles had as little flourish in their Tongues, as edge upon their Swords: Their Preaching was not with the enticing words of Mans wisdom ; their Presence was mean, and their Discourses without varnish; their Doctrine was plain, a Crucified Christ; a Doctrine unlac'd, ungarnisht, untoothsom to the World; but they had the demonstration of the Spirit, and a mighty Power for their Companion in the work. The Doctrine they preached, viz. the Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ, are called the Powers, not of this World, but of the World to come . No less than a Supernatural Power could conduct them in this Attempt, with such weak Methods in Human appearance.

2. Against all the Force, Power, and Wit of the World. The Divisions in the Eastern Empire, and the feeble and consuming State of the Western, contributed to Muhammad's Success . But never was Rome in a more flourishing condition: Learning, Eloquence, Wisdom, Strength were at the highest pitch: Never was there a more diligent Watch against any Innovations; never was that State governed by more severe and suspicious Princes, than at the time when Tiberius and Nero held the Rains. No time seemed to be more unfit for the entrance of a New Doctrine than that Age, wherein it begun to be first published; never did any Religion meet with that Opposition from Men. Idolatry hath been often settled without any Contest; but this hath suffered the same Fate with the Institutor of it, and endured the Contradictions of Sinners against itself: And those that published it, were not only without any Worldly prop, but exposed themselves to the Hatred and Fury, to the Racks and Tortures of the strongest Powers on Earth. It never set foot in any place, but the Country was in an uproar ; Swords were drawn to destroy it; Laws made to suppress it; Prisons provided for the Professors of it; Fires kindled to consume them, and Executioners had a perpetual employment to stifle the progress of it.

Rome in its Conquest of Countries changed not the Religion, Rites, and Modes of their Worship: They altered their Civil Government, but left them to the liberty of their Religion, and many times joined with them in the Worship of their Peculiar gods; and sometime imitated them at Rome, instead of abolishing them in the Cities they had subdued. But all their Councils were assembled, and their Force was bandied against the Lord and against his Christ; and that City that kindly received all manner of Superstitions, hated this Doctrine with an irreconcilable hatred. It met with Reproaches from the Wise, and Fury from the Potentates; it was derided by the one as the greatest Folly, and persecuted by the other as contrary to God and Mankind; the one were afraid to lose their Esteems by the Doctrine, and the other to lose their Authority by a Sedition they thought a change of Religion would introduce. The Romans, that had been Conquerors of the Earth, feared Intestine Commotions, and the falling asunder the Links of their Empire: Scarce any of their first Emperors, but had their Swords died Red in the Blood of the Christians. The Flesh with all its Lusts, the World with all its Flatteries, the Statesmen with all their Craft, and the Mighty with all their Strength join'd together to extirpate it: Though many Members were taken off by the Fires, yet the Church not only lived, but flourish'd in the Furnace. Converts were made by the Death of Martyrs, and the Flames which consumed their Bodies, were the occasion of firing Men's hearts with a Zeal for the Profession of it. Instead of being extinguished, the Doctrine shone more bright, and multiplied under the Sickles that were employed to cut it down: God ordered every Circumstance so, both in the Persons that published it, the Means whereby, and the Time when, that nothing but his Power might appear in it, without anything to dim and darken it.

IV. The Divine Power was conspicuous in the great success it had under all these difficulties. Multitudes were Prophecied of to embrace it; whence the Prophet Isaiah, after the Prophecy of the Death of Christ, Isai. 53. calls upon the Church to enlarge her Tents, and lengthen out her Cords to receive those Multitudes of Children that should call her Mother. Isai. 54.2, 3. for she should break forth on the right hand and on the left, and her seed should inherit the Gentiles: The Idolaters and Persecutors should list their Names in the Muster-Roll of the Church.

Presently after the Descent of the Holy Ghost from Heaven upon the Apostles, you find the hearts of Three thousand melted by a plain declaration of this Doctrine; who were a little before so far from having a Favourable thought of it, that some of them at least, if not all, had expressed their Rage against it, in Voting for the Condemning and Crucifying the Author of it : But in a moment they were so altered, that they breath out Affections instead of Fury; neither the respect they had to their Rulers, nor the honor they bore to their Priests; not the derisions of the People, nor the threatening of Punishment, could stop them from owning it in the face of multitudes of Discouragements. How wonderful is it that they should so soon, and by such small Means pay a reverence to the Servants, who had none for the Master? that they should hear them with patience, without the same Clamor against them as against Christ, Crucify them, Crucify them? But, that their hearts should so suddenly be enflam'd with Devotion to him dead, whom they so much abhorred when living. It had gained footing not in a Corner of the World, but in the most famous Cities; in Jerusalem, where Christ had been Crucified; in Antioch, where the Name of Christians first began; in Corinth, a place of Ingenious Arts; and Ephesus, the Seat of a noted Idol. In less than Twenty years there was never a Province of the Roman Empire, and scarce any part of the known World but was stored with the Professors of it. Rome, that was the Metropolis of the Idolatrous World, had multitudes of them sprinkled in every Corner, whose Faith was spoken of throughout the World . The Court of Nero, that Monster of Mankind, and the cruellest and sordid'st Tyrant that ever breathed, was not empty of sincere Votaries to it; there were Saints in Caesar's house, while Paul was under Nero 's Chain : And it maintained its standing, and flourish'd in spite of all the force of Hell 250 years before any Sovereign Prince espoused it.

The Potentates of the Earth had conquered the Lands of Men, and subdued their Bodies; these vanquished Hearts and Wills, and brought the most beloved Thoughts under the Yoke of Christ: So much did this Doctrine overmaster the Consciences of its Followers, that they rejoiced more at their Yoke, than others at their Liberty; and counted it more a glory to die for the honor of it, than to live in the profession of it. Thus did our Savior Reign and gather Subjects in the midst of his Enemies; in which respect, in the first discovery of the Gospel, he is described as a Mighty Conqueror, Revel. 6.2. and still conquering in the greatness of his strength.

How great a Testimony of his Power is it, that from so small a Cloud should rise so glorious a Sun, that should chase before it the Darkness and Power of Hell; Triumph over the Idolatry, Superstition and Profaneness of the World? This plain Doctrine vanquished the Obstinacy of the Jews, baffled the Understanding of the Greeks, humbled the Pride of the Grandees, threw the Devil not only out of Bodies, but Hearts; tore up the foundation of his Empire, and planted the Cross where the Devil had for many Ages before established his Standard. How much more than a human Force is illustrious in this whole Conduct? Nothing in any Age of the World can parallel it; it being so much against the Methods of Nature, the Disposition of the World, and (considering the Resistance against it) seems to surmount even the Work of Creation. Never were there in any Profession such multitudes, not of Bedlams, but Men of Sobriety, Acuteness, and Wisdom, that exposed themselves to the fury of the Flames, and challenged Death in the most terrifying shapes for the Honor of this Doctrine.

To conclude, This should be often meditated upon to form our Understandings to a full assent to the Gospel, and the Truth of it; the want of which Consideration of Power, and the Customariness of an Education in the outward Profession of it, is the ground of all the Profaneness under it and Apostasy from it; the disesteem of the Truth it declares and the neglect of the Duties it enjoins. The more we have a prospect and sense of the Impressions of Divine Power in it, the more we shall have a Reverence of the Divine Precepts.

III. The Third thing is, The Power of God appears in the application of Redemption, as well as in the Person Redeeming, and the publication and propagation of the Doctrine of Redemption.

• 1. In the planting Grace.
• 2. In the Pardon of Sin.
• 3. In the preserving Grace.

1. In the planting Grace. There is no Expression which the Spirit of God hath thought fit in Scripture to resemble this Work to, but argues the exerting of a Divine Power for the effecting of it. When it is expressed by Light, it is as much as the Power of God in creating the Sun; when by Regeneration, 'tis as much as the Power of God in forming an Infant, and fashioning all the Parts of a Man; when it is called Resurrection, 'tis as much as the rearing of the Body again out of putrefied Matter; when it is called Creation, 'tis as much as erecting a comely World out of mere Nothing, or an inform and uncomely Mass. As we could not contrive the Death of Christ for our Redemption, so we cannot form our Souls to the Acceptation of it; the Infinite efficacy of Grace is as necessary for the one, as the Infinite Wisdom of God was for laying the Platform of the other.

'It is by his Power we have whatsoever pertains to Godliness as well as Life : He puts his Fingers upon the handle of the Lock, and turns the Heart to what Point he pleases; the Action whereby he performs this is expressed by a word of Force . He hath snatched us from the power of Darkness; the Action whereby it is performed manifests it. In reference to this Power it is called Creation, which is a production from Nothing; and Conversion is a production from something more uncapable of that state, than mere Nothing is of Being. There is a greater distance between the Terms of Sin and Righteousness, Corruption and Grace, than between the Terms of Nothing and Being; The greater the distance is, the more Power is required to the producing anything. As in Miracles, the Miracle is the greater where the Change is the greater; and the Change is the greater where the Distance is the greater: As it was a more signal mark of Power to change a Dead Man to life, than to change a Sick Man to health; so that the change here being from a Term of a greater distance, is more Powerful than the Creation of Heaven and Earth: Therefore whereas Creation is said to be wrought by his Hands, and the Heavens by his Fingers, or his Word; Conversion is said to be wrought by his Arm : In Creation we had an Earthly; by Conversion, a Heavenly state: In Creation, Nothing is changed into Something; in Conversion, Hell is transformed into Heaven, which is more than the turning Nothing into a glorious Angel. In that Thanksgiving of our Savior for the revelation of the knowledge of himself to Babes, the simple of the World, he gives the Title to his Father, of Lord of Heaven and Earth , intimating it to be an act of his Creative and Preserving Power; that Power whereby he formed Heaven and Earth, hath preserved the standing, and governed the motions of all Creatures from the beginning of the World.

'It is resembled to the most Magnificent Act of Divine Power that God ever put forth, viz. that in the Resurrection of our Savior , wherein there was more than an ordinary impression of Might. 'It is not so small a Power as that whereby we speak with Tongues, or whereby Christ opened the Mouths of the Dumb and the Ears of the Deaf, or unloosed the Cords of Death from a Person. 'It is not that Power whereby our Savior wrought those stupendous Miracles when he was in the World; but that Power which wrought a Miracle that amazed the most knowing Angels, as well as ignorant Man. The taking off the weight of the Sin of the World from our Savior, and advancing him in his Human Nature to rule over the Angelical Host, making him Head of Principalities and Powers; as much as to say, as great as all that Power which is displayed in our Redemption, from the first foundation to the last line in the superstructure. 'It is therefore often set forth with an Emphasis, as Excellency of power , and Glorious power . To glory and virtue, we Translate it; but it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Through glory and virtue, that is, by a glorious virtue or strength.

2. The Instrument whereby it is wrought is dignified with the title of Power. The Gospel which God useth in this great affair is called, The Power of God to salvation, Rom. 1.16. and the Rod of his strength, Psal. 110.2. And the day of the Gospel's appearance in the heart is emphatically called, The day of Power, verse 3. wherein he brings down strong holds and towering Imaginations. And therefore the Angel Gabriel, which Name signifies the Power of God, was always sent upon those Messages which concerned the Gospel, as to Daniel, Zechariah, Mary. The Gospel is the Power of God in way a of Instrumentality, but the Almightiness of God is the Principal in a way of Efficiency. The Gospel is the Scepter of Christ; but the Power of Christ is the Mover of that Scepter. The Gospel is not as a bare Word spoken, and proposing the thing; but as backed with a higher efficacy of Grace: As the Sword doth instrumentally cut, but the Arm that wields it gives the blow, and makes it successful in the stroke. But this Gospel is the Power of God, because he edgeth this by his own Power, to surmount all resistance, and vanquish the greatest Malice of that Man he designs to work upon.

The Power of God is conspicuous,

1. In turning the Heart of Man against the strength of the Inclinations of Nature. In the forming of Man of the Dust of the Ground, as the Matter contributed nothing to the Action whereby God formed it, so it had no Principle of resistance contrary to the design of God: But in Converting the Heart, there is not only wanting a principle of Assistance from him in this work, but the whole strength of Corrupt Nature is alarmed to combat against the Power of his Grace. When the Gospel is presented, the Understanding is not only ignorant of it, but the Will perverse against it; the one doth not relish, and the other doth not esteem the Excellency of the Object. The Carnal wisdom in the Mind contrives against it, and the Rebell • ous Will puts the orders in execution against the Counsel of God, which requires the invincible Power of God to enlighten the dark Mind, to know what it slights; and the fierce Will, to embrace what it loathes. The stream of Nature cannot be turned, but by a Power above Nature: 'It is not all the Created Power in Heaven and Earth can change a Swine into a Man, or a venomous Toad into a holy and illustrious Angel. Yet this work is not so great in some respect, as the stilling the fierceness of Nature, the silencing the swelling Waves in the heart, and the casting out those brutish Affections which are born and grow up with us. There would be no, or far less resistance in a mere Animal to be changed into a Creature of a higher rank, than there is in a Natural Man to be turned into a serious Christian.

There is in every Natural Man a stoutness of heart, a stiff-neck, unwillingness to good, forwardness to evil: Infinite Power quells this stoutness, demolisheth these strong holds, turns this wild Ass in her course, and routs those Armies of turbulent Nature against the Grace of God. To stop the Flouds of the Sea is not such an act of Power, as to turn the Tide of the Heart. This Power hath been employed upon every Convert in the World; What would you say then, if you knew all the Chanels in which it hath run since the days of Adam? If the alteration of one Rocky heart into a Pool of Water be a wonder of Power, what then is the calming and sweetening by his Word those One hundred forty four Thousand of the Tribes of Israel, and that numberless Multitude of all Nations and People that shall stand before the Throne , which were all naturally so many raging Seas? Not one Converted Soul from Adam to the last that shall be in the End of the World, but is a Trophy of the Divine Conquest. None were pure Volunteers, nor listed themselves in his Service, till he put forth his strong Arm to draw them to him. No man's Understanding but was chained with Darkness, and fond of it; no Man but had Corruption in his Will, which was dearer to him than anything else which could be proposed for his True happiness. These things are most evident in Scripture and Experience.

2. As 'tis wrought against the Inclinations of Nature; so against a multitude of Corrupt habits rooted in the Souls of Men. A distemper in its first invasion may more easily be cured, than when it becomes Chronical and inveterate. The strength of a Disease, or the complication of many, magnifies the Power of the Physician, and efficacy of the Medicine that tames and expels it. What Power is that which hath made Men stoop, when Natural habits have been grown Giants by Custom; when the putrefaction of Nature hath engendered a multitude of Worms; when the Ulcers are many and deplorable; when many Cords, wherewith God would have bound the Sinner, have been broken, and (like Sampson ) the wicked Heart hath gloried in its strength and grown more proud, that it hath stood like a strong Fort against those Batteries, under which others have fallen flat?

Every Proud thought, every Evil habit captivated, serves for matter of Triumph to the Power of God . What resistance will a multitude of them make, when one of them is enough to hold the Faculty under its dominion, and intercept its Operations? So many Customary habits, so many Old natures, so many different strengths added to Nature, everyone of them standing as a Barricado against the way of Grace; all the Errors the Understanding is possessed with, think the Gospel Folly; all the Vices the Will is filled with, count it the Fetter and Band. Nothing so contrary to Man, as to be thought a Fool; nothing so contrary to Man, as to enter into slavery. 'It is no easy matter to plant the Cross of Christ upon a Heart guided by many Principles against the Truth of it, and byast by a World of Wickedness against the Holiness of it. Nature renders a Man too feeble and indispos'd, and Custom renders a Man more weak and unwilling to change his Hue . To dispossess Man then of his Self-esteem and Self-excellency; to make room for God in the Heart, where there was none but for Sin, as dear to him as himself; to hurl down the Pride of Nature; to make stout Imaginations stoop to the Cross; to make desires of Self-advancement sink under a Zeal for the glorifying of God, and an over-ruling design for his Honor, is not to be ascribed to any, but an Out-stretched A • m wielding the Sword of the Spirit. To have a Heart full of the Fear of God, that was just before filled with a Contempt of him; to have a sense of his Power, an eye to his Glory, admiring Thoughts of his Wisdom, a Faith in his Truth, that had lower Thoughts of him and all his Perfections, than he had of a Creature: To have a hatred of his Habitual Lusts, that had brought him in much Sensitive pleasure; to loath them as much as he loved them; to cherish the Duties he hated; to live by Faith in, and Obedience to the Redeemer, who was before so heartily under the conduct of Satan and Self; to chase the acts of Sin from his Members, and the pleasing thoughts of Sin from his Mind; to make a stout Wretch willingly fall down, crawl upon the ground, and adore that Savior whom before he out-dared, is a Triumphant Act of Infinite Power that can subdue all things to itself, and break those multitude of Locks and Bolts that were upon us.

3. Against a multitude of Temptations and Interests. The Temptations Rich Men have in this World are so numerous and strong, that the entrance of one of them into the Kingdom of Heaven, that is, the entertainment of the Gospel is made by our Savior an impossible thing with Men, and procurable only by the Power of God . The Divine Strength only can separate the World from the Heart, and the Heart from the World. There must be an Incomprehensible Power to chase away the Devil, that had so long, so strong a footing in the Affections, to render the Soyl he had sown with so many Tares and Weeds, capable of good Grain; to make Spirits, that had found the sweetness of Worldly prosperity, wrapped up all their Happiness in it, and not only bent down, but (as it were) buried in Earth and Mud, to be loosened from those beloved Cords, to disrelish the Earth for a Crucified Christ; I say, this must be the effect of an Almighty Power.

4. The Manner of Conversion shows no less the Power of God. There is not only an irresistible Force used in it, but an agreeable Sweetness. The Power is so Efficacious, that nothing can vanquish it; and so Sweet, that none did ever complain of it. The Almighty Virtue displays itself Invincibly, yet without Constraint; compelling the Will without offering Violence to it, and making it cease to be Will: Not forcing it, but changing it; not dragging it, but drawing it; making it will where before it nill'd; removing the Corrupt Nature of the Will, without invading the Created Nature and Rights of the Faculty; not working in us against the Physical nature of the Will, but working to will . This work is therefore called Creation, Resurrection, to show its Irresistible Power; 'It is called Illumination, Perswasion, Drawing, to show the suitableness of its Efficacy to the nature of the Human Faculties: 'It is a drawing with Cords, which testifies an Invincible strength; but, with Cords of Love, which testifies a Delightful conquest: 'It is hard to determine whether it be more Powerful than Sweet, or more Sweet than Powerful. 'It is no mean part of the Power of God to twist together Victory and Pleasure; to give a blow as delightful as strong, as pleasing to the Sufferer, as it is sharp to the Sinner.

II. The Power of God in the application of Redemption is evident in the Pardoning a Sinner.

1. In the Pardon itself. The Power of God is made the ground of his Patience; or the reason why he is Patient, is, because he would show his Power . 'It is a part of Magnanimity to pass by Injuries: As weaker Stomacks cannot concoct the tougher food, so weak Minds cannot digest the harder Injuries; He that passes over a Wrong, is superior to his Adversary that does it. When God speaks of his own Name as Merciful, he speaks first of himself as Powerful. Exod. 34.6. The Lord, the Lord God, that is, the Lord the strong Lord, Jehovah the strong Jehovah. Let the Power of my Lord be great, saith Moses, when he prays for the Forgiveness of the People : The word Jigdal is written with a great Jod, or a Jod above the other Letters. The Power of God in Pardoning is advanced beyond an ordinary strain, beyond the Creative strength. In the Creation, he had power over the Creatures; in this, power over himself: In Creation, not Himself, but the Creatures were the Object of his Power; in that, no Attribute of his Nature could article against his Design. In the Pardon of a Sinner, after many Overtures made to him and refused by him, God exerciseth a power over himself; for the Sinner hath dishonor'd God, pr •• ok'd his Justice, abused his Goodness, done injury to all those Attributes which are necessary to his relief: It was not so in Creation, nothing was uncapable of disobliging God from bringing it into Being. The Dust, which was the Matter of Adams Body, need • d only the extrinsic Power of God to form it into a Man, and inspire it with a living Soul: It had not rendered itself obnoxious to Divine Justice, nor was capable to excite any disputes between his Perfections. But after the entrance of Sin, and the merit of Death, thereby there was a resistance in Justice to the free Remission of Man: God was to exercise a Power over himself, to answer his Justice, and pardon the Sinner; as well as a power over the Creature, to reduce the Run-away and Rebel. Unless we have recourse to the Infiniteness of God's Power, the infiniteness of our Guilt will weigh us down: We must consider not only that we have a mighty Guilt to press us, but a mighty God to relieve us. In the same act of his being our Righteousness, he is our Strength: In the Lord have I righteousness and strength, Isai. 45.24.

2. In the sense of Pardon. When the Soul hath been wounded with the sense of sin, and its Iniquities have star'd it in the face; the raising the Soul from a despairing condition, and lifting it above those Waters which terrified it; to cast the light of Comfort, as well as the light of Grace, into a heart covered with more than an Egyptian Darkness, is an act of his Infinite and Creating Power; Isai. 57.19. I create the fruit of the lips, peace. Men may wear out their Lips with numbering up the Promises of Grace and Arguments of Peace; but all will signify no more without a Creative Power, than if all Men and Angels should call to that White upon the Wall to shine as splendidly as the Sun. God only can create Jerusalem, and every Child of Jerusalem a rejoicing . A Man is no more able to apply to himself any word of Comfort under the sense of Sin, than he is able to Convert himself, and turn the proposals of the Word into gracious Affections in his heart. To restore the joy of Salvation, is in David's Judgment an act of Sovereign Power, equal to that of creating a clean heart, Psal. 51.10, 12. Alas, 'tis a state like to that of Death; as Infinite Power can only raise from Natural death, so from a Spiritual death, also from a Comfortless death: In his favor there is life; in the want of his Favor there is death. The Power of God hath so placed Light in the Sun, that all Creatures in the World, all the Torches upon Earth kindled together cannot make it Day, if that doth not rise: so all the Angels in Heaven and Men upon Earth, are not competent Surgeons for a wounded Spirit. The cure of our Spiritual Ulcers, and the pouring in Balm, is an Act of Sovereign Creative Power: 'It is more visible in silencing a Tempestuous Conscience, than the Power of our Savior was in the stilling the stormy Winds and the roaring Waves. As none but Infinite Power can remove the Guilt of Sin, so none but Infinite Power can remove the Despairing sense of it.

III. This Power is evident in the preserving Grace. As the Providence of God is a manifestation of his Power in a continued Creation; so the preservation of Grace, is a manifestation of his Power in a continued Regeneration. To keep a Nation under the Yoke, is an act of the same Power that subdued it. 'It is this that strengthens Men in suffering against the Fury of Hell ; 'tis this that keeps them from falling against the force of Hell, the Fathers hand, John 10.29. His strength abates and moderates the violence of Temptations; his Staff sustains his People under them; his Might defeats the Power of Satan, and bruiseth him under a Believers feet. The Counterworkings of Indwelling Corruption; the reluctances of the Flesh against the breathings of the Spirit; the fallacy of the Senses and the rovings of the Mind, have ability quickly to stifle and extinguish Grace, if it were not maintained by that Powerful blast that first inbreathed it. No less Power is seen in perfecting it, than was in planting it ; no less in fulfilling the work of Faith, than in ingrafting the Word of Faith, 2 Thess. 1.11.

The Apostle well understood the Necessity and Efficacy of it in the preservation of Faith, as well as in the fir • t infusion, when he expresses himself in those terms of a Greatness or Hyperbole of Power, his Mighty Power, or the Power of his Might, Ephes. 1.19. The Salvation he bestows, and the Strength whereby he effects it, are joined together in the Prophets Song, Isai. 12.2. The Lord is my strength and my salvation: And indeed, God doth more magnify his Power in continuing a Believer in the World, a weak and half-rigg'd Vessel, in the midst of so many Sands whereon it might split; so many Rocks whereon it might dash; so many Corruptions within, and so many Temptations without; than if he did immediately transport him into Heaven, and cloth him with a perfectly Sanctified Nature.

To Conclude: What is there then in the World which is destitute of Notices of Divine Power? Every Creature affords us the Lesson; all acts of Divine Government are the marks of it. Look into the Word, and the manner of its propagation instructs us in it; your Changed Natures, your Pardoned Guilt, your Shining Comfort, your quelled Corruptions, the standing of your staggering Graces, are sufficient to preserve a sense, and prevent a forgetfulness of this great Attribute, so necessary for your support, and conducing so much to your comfort.