tainly bring the thing to pass. Now, saith he, the might of his strength works efficaciously in all them that believe; 'the exceeding greatness of his power, according to the working of the might of his strength.'

Now, that his scope is to shew the efficaciousness, the irresistibleness of his power in working what he meaneth to work in believers, it appeareth by what followeth. For what doth he instance in? He putteth forth, saith he, the same power toward you believers that he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead to glory. Now, I appeal to all your thoughts what power it was that was put forth when God raised Christ from the dead; a power that could not be resisted; a power that should as certainly raise him up as God is God, and it was impossible it should be otherwise. I will give you Scripture for it and reason.

The scripture is, Acts ii. 24, 'Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible he should be holden by it.' Now, the power that works in a believer is such a power as works according to the efficacy of the might and strength that wrought in Christ in raising him from death to life.

Now, to gather up this. The Apostle here would have them apprehend two things concerning the power of God that is engaged to them. He would have them first to apprehend the excellency of it, that they might admire it as it is in God. That is the scope of the first word, 'to know the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe;' that, as it is Eph. iii. 20, 'To him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, unto him be glory in the churches for ever.' He layeth open the greatness of his power as it is in itself in the first words, that they might admire it in God, and thank him for it. But, secondly, he addeth the efficacy that this power will have in them to bring them to salvation in the next words, according to the working of the might of his power,' to the end to comfort them. He addeth the one that they might admire the power in God; he addeth the other to comfort them, when they shall see such a power works as shall efficaciously bring a thing to pass, and as effectually and irresistibly as it wrought in raising up Christ from the dead. That as it was impossible that God should lose his Son, and his eldest Son, as he had lost him when he was not raised up again; therefore when he raised him up, he saith, 'Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee;' he was lost before. This power, saith he, shall work in you, and bring you to salvation; that power that wrought in Christ when he raised him from death to glory.

II. I will but add one thing more, with which I will end; and that is, the persons whom this great power of God, this exceeding greatness of his power, a power as great as God himself, a power as efficacious as what wrought in Christ when he was raised from the dead; to whom is all this power engaged? It is engaged to us-ward: that is the second thing. I will but speak a word or two to it, and so conclude.

Obs. 1.-The first observation is this: That the simple consideration of what power is in God, of mercy or any other attribute, will never comfort a man's heart, unless that he have a knowledge that it is to us-ward, and for our good. The Apostle doth not, you see, pray simply that they may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power in itself; that would have done them no good; but he prayeth that they may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward. The devils know what mercy is in God; yea, but, say they, it is not to us-ward; therefore all their knowledge of it doth them no good. So likewise you may read, 2 Peter iii. 9, speaking of

the mercy of God to men, and, as is thought, peculiarly to the Jews to whom he there writeth, saith he, it is his 'long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.' Here lieth that which works the comfort in a man's heart; that it is the power of God to us-ward. To us a child is born, to us a Son is given;' and 'peace on earth,' not in hell; because there is peace on earth to us-ward; this is it that draweth a man's heart; this is it which giveth the comfort.-That is the first observation.

Obs. 2.-But the second is the main observation, and it is this: That toward the saints, and for their good and their salvation, God doth engage the uttermost of all his attributes; engageth the uttermost of power, the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward. It is not so in any work else, saith he, or toward any creature else; but it is to us-ward. He doth engage the greatest of his mercies, the uttermost of them, to us-ward. I shall give you Scripture for both by and by. He had mentioned in ver. 11 the power of God that works all things. He worketh all things by the counsel of his will, saith he. But there is a peculiarness of power, the power that works in us that believe; it is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward. The mercies of God are mercies to us-ward, such as to none else they are called therefore by way of distinction' the sure mercies of David;' that is, of David and his seed, the faithful; such mercies as to no creature else, singular mercies, special mercies: others are common mercies, as divines use to call them, but these are mercies to us-ward, sure mercies of David. So now, when he speaks of power in other scriptures, he putteth a singularity of power that works in believers, a power equal to that which works in all things else. Look Phil. iii. 21 and Eph. iii. 20, According to the power that works in us,' so it is in the Ephesians: According to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself,' so it is in the Phillippians. Take all the power whereby he is able to do all things else, and it is but equal to that which he works in the saints.

6

My brethren, the grace of God in Christ, and the salvation of mankind by Christ, was a new stage God set up to bring all his attributes upon, to act their parts to the uttermost. He had shewed them all before, he had shewed power in creating the world, and a great power; but when he cometh to make the new creation, then cometh in the exceeding greatness of his power; he speaks superlatively of it. He sheweth mercy, nay, he sheweth riches of mercy to wicked men; it is called 'the riches of his goodness and long-suffering,' Rom. ii. 4. But when he cometh to speak of mercy to the saints, what doth he do? Read Eph. ii. 7. He doth not only call it riches of mercy, but he calleth it by the same word that is used here, rò ùæegláλλovra Thourov, the exceeding great riches; what is said of power here, the same is said of mercy there when he speaks of mercy to believers: the 'exceeding riches of his grace to us-ward,' there; the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward,' here. All the attributes of God that he bringeth upon the stage, he acts them to the uttermost now in and through Christ.

My brethren, the works of the new creation put down the old. 'I create,' saith he, a new heaven and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered; he will put forth such power in them. Nay, let me yet go further; go to hell, you shall read indeed that he sheweth his power there; so it is, Rom. ix. 22, 'What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and make his power known ;' and believe it, a blow struck in wrath hath a great deal of power in it; for anger stirreth up power, draweth forth the mighty power of God. But what followeth comparatively to hell in his working

toward the saints? It followeth, ver. 10, and the riches of his glory upon the vessels of mercy.' Though he sheweth a glorious power in his wrath in condemning men, yet he sheweth a greater riches of glory, of mercy and of all attributes else, in saving men and bringing men to heaven. The power that God will shew in glorifying his saints will infinitely exceed the power he sheweth in condemning wicked men. The power that love stirreth up is a greater power than what wrath stirreth up in God.

I will give you the reason of it: nothing commandeth power and strength more than love; it commandeth it more than wrath, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy strength,' Mark xii. 30. Doth God love thee? He loves thee with all his strength, as thou lovest him, and art to love him. Jer. xxxii. 41, 'I will rejoice over them to do them good, with my whole heart and with my whole soul;' his love makes him to love them with all his strength, with all his heart. Now, when he sheweth forth the power of his wrath when he cometh to condemn men, yet let me tell you this, it is not with all his heart, there is something that regrets within him; for he considereth that they are his creatures, and he doth not will the death of a sinnér simply for itself, for there is something in him that makes a reluctancy; there is not his whole power in this, though it be the power of his wrath. But when he cometh to shew forth his power out of love, that draws his whole heart; therefore you shall find in Scripture that mercy is called God's strength, because when he will have mercy, all the strength and power of God accompanieth it. Num. xiv. 17, 'Let the power of my Lord be great.' What to do? To destroy them? To do some great work for them? No, but according as thou hast spoken,' saith he,' saying, The Lord is longsuffering and of great mercy; pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of thy mercy.' His mercy is there called his strength, because that love doth draw forth all the strength of God.

Now, my brethren, to gather up to an end and to a conclusion: you therefore that believe, comfort yourselves with the exceeding greatness of this power that is engaged to you; know the exceeding greatness of his power to you-ward. It is a power will do for you above all your thoughts; it exceedeth that way, it is nego in that sense. It is a power that will do beyond all resistance. 'If God be for us, who shall be against us?' saith the Apostle. 'The Father,' saith Christ, 'is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand,' John x. 29. It is a reigning, a domineering power, a power that carries all before it. The word rou xgaτous The ioxúos may signify the sovereignty, the dominion, the absoluteness of his power, such as a monarch hath. Suppose a monarch had strength to do all by himself, and had authority joined with that strength, it were a power that would carry all before it, and command all. Such a power it is that God putteth forth to believers. It is a conquering power: 'He will have mercy upon whom he will have mercy, and who hath resisted his will?' When you come to beg pardon for your sins, what say you? Lord, forgive us our trespasses.' What arguments do you use? For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory.' Sovereignty and dominion and strength are both his, and out of both these he will pardon your sins and save you; and if all that power of God will bring you to salvation, and keep you to salvation, you shall be surely kept.

And, my brethren, let me raise up your thoughts to consider with yourselves, if the exceeding greatness of his power be engaged in you and to you to do for you, what then is the thing that is answerable to this power? If that power that wrought in Christ, to raise him from death to glory, shall

work in us, Lord, whither will it bring us? What, will God bring you to salvation? It must, then, be a thing answerable to the power. What glory, therefore, must it be which God will shew forth in the saints at the latter day! The heavens declare the power and glory of God; yea, but the estate of the saints in heaven declares the exceeding greatness of his power; and what a glory, then, must that needs be !—And so much now for the second thing, the persons; the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward.' There are these two things yet behind

First, to shew wherein, in what it is, that this power is put forth: it is put forth both in working faith and in keeping them to salvation, glorifying them at last. All that work and power that God putteth forth toward a believer, first and last, from his conversion to his salvation, is that which the Apostle here intendeth. This I shall shew the next day.

The second thing that remaineth is this: that it is a power that answereth to the power of raising Christ from death to life, and from death to glory. And therein I must shew these two things

1. That the greatest work that ever God did, and the greatest power that ever was shewed, was in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and raising him up to glory.

2. That the working in the hearts of believers grace and faith, and keeping them to salvation, and glorifying them at last, will hold a proportion with that great power that was shewed in Christ's resurrection. And when I have handled these, I shall have done with the 18th, 19th and 20th verses.

SERMON XXIII.

And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of the might of his power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.-VER. 19, 20.

I SHEWED the last day, the reference or coherence that these words have with and to the former. I did it in many particulars; the chief whereof is this: whereas he had spoken, in the former verses, of the riches of the glory of that inheritance that is provided for the saints, that their hearts might be strengthened against all doubts of attaining that glory, he prayeth that they might see, as the riches of that inheritance, so what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, &c. And he propoundeth, for their comfort, two things to them: the greatness of the power, and the efficacy of it; whereof already they had some experience in their first conversion; which power was engaged to perfect and finish their salvation, and bring them to that glory. And to confirm their faith thus, he presenteth Christ to them as their Head, (as the 22d verse hath it,) whom, as their Head, God hath raised up from the dead, to that surpassing glory which he hath in heaven, far above all principalities and powers, as a pawn that they should one day come thither as well as he; for the same power that wrought in him in raising him from the dead, is engaged, saith he, by virtue of him, and of his being a Common Person for you, to work likewise in you. This, in brief, is the main scope of the Apostle in these and the following words, to the end of the chapter.

The parts of these 19th and 20th verses, or, if you will, of this 19th verse. in a more especial manner, are these four :

Here is, first, a magnific and glorious description-one word heaped upon another of the power that is in God. And take it, first, as it is a general description of it; he setteth out concerning it three things

First, the superexcellent greatness of it. He calleth it not only a greatness of power, but he calleth it an exceeding greatness of power.

:

He setteth it out, secondly, by that infallible and irresistible efficacy of it in its working according,' saith he, 'to the energy or effectual working,'working that always hath success, faileth not,-the thorough working of the might of his power.'

Then the third thing concerning the description of this power is the proportion of its work: according to its working,' saith he. Those are the three things concerning this power in the general. I despatched two of them the last day.

I shewed, first, the excellency of this power; it is a greatness of power, it is ὑπερβάλλον μέγεθος τῆς δυνάμεως, it is a superexcelling power. I shewed that the force of those words contained three things in them: it was a power above all we are able to ask or think in that sense-above all our knowledge, as I shewed the word is used in this epistle to the Ephesians; it is a power