of the Son and of the Father; and teaches them, and orders them, and governs them, and preferves them. And therefore you see here, that the promise of the Spirit is first performed, before, the church of God hath any enlargement or government.

And now, from these general things we proceed to the words more particularly: Ye fhall receive power when the holy Ghost is come upon you. And here we may note two things.

I. What he promises them, and that is power; you shall receive power.

II. How they should be made partakers of that power, and that was, by the holy Spirit's coming upon them.

The point we will infift on from both, is this:

"That the receiving of the Spirit is the receiving of power." Till we receive the Spirit, we are altogether without power; and when we receive the Spirit, then, firft of all, do we receive power; power from on high.

By nature we are all without ftrength, weak, impotent creatures, utterly unable to do any thing that is truly and fpiritually righteous and good. For by nature we are nothing but flesh; for that which is born of flesh, is flesh; and all flesh is grafs, a fading, withering and decaying thing, together with all the flowers of it; that is, the perfections and excellencies of it. So that by nature we are all without power, because we are nothing but flesh; of which weakness is an infeparable adjunct.

But when we receive the Spirit, we receive power; for power is an infeparable adjunct of the Spirit, as weakness is of flesh: yea, the Spirit itfelf which is given us, is power; and that both effentially and operatively, in itself and

in us.

1. The Spirit is power effentially in itself, for it is one God with the Father and the Son, co-effential, co-equal, co(ternal, and fo, as Chrift, is the power of God; fo alfo is

the

the Spirit the power of God: yea the Spirit is the God of power, as well as the power of God. So that the Spirit is power in himself essentially; and he that partakes of the power of the Spirit, partakes of that power which is God, and no creature.

2. The Spirit is power operatively in us, by being in us, 1. A Spirit of knowledge: for the holy Spirit teaches us to know the things that are freely given to us of God: yea, he teaches us to know what fin is, and what righteousness, what death is, and what life; what heaven is, and what hell; what ourselves are, and what God is: and these things he teaches us to know otherwife than other men know them. In a word, the Spirit teaches a christian to know all things: that is, to know God, and the kingdom of God, and all the things of both; all other things being nothing in comparison of these. Thus the holy Spirit is a Spirit of knowledge in us; and fo of power, for knowledge is the Strength of a man. Whereas an ignorant man is a weak man, you may carry him whither you will: but knowledge renders a man strong and immoveable. And in all things wherein the holy Spirit is a Spirit of knowledge in us, he is alfo a Spirit of strength.

The holy Spirit is a Spirit of power in us, by being in us a Spirit of truth. And fo the Spirit is; because it doth not only lead us into all truth; that is, unto the Word, which is the only truth; as it is written, Sanctify them through the truth. Thy Word is truth. But alfo, the Spirit leads us into the truth; it leads us into the truth, and the truth into us; till we and it become one by an infeparable union. The holy Spirit takes a believer, and leads him into one truth after another, till at laft it leads him into all truth. Now wherein the Spirit is a Spirit of truth to us, it is a Spirit of power: for through the truth we learn from the Spirit of truth, we are altogether stedfast and immoveable, among variety of different and contrary

.

winds of doctrine. And this is the very caufe, that among fo many divifions, and factions, and errors, and herefies, which wofully prevail in these present times of ours, the people of God are not feduced and overcome; to wit, because they are all taught of God, of God, and not of men; and have the Spirit of truth, to lead them into the truth, the Spirit, I fay, and not men: and fo it is impoffible that they should fully and finally be deceived. For wherein we are taught by the Spirit of God, it is impoffible we should be perverted by men. Whereas on the contrary, the true ground why fo many are feduced and overcome by the errors and herefies of this age, is because they have taken up their religion only from man's teaching, and have received their opinions or doctrines from men: and fo, what one man hath taught us, another man can unteach; yea, if we be led to the truth itself only by man, man can again lead us from it. For all the world cannot lead any man into the truth, till the Spirit lead him into it and when the Spirit doth lead us into the truth, all the men in the world cannot lead us out of it; but we are fo fure of those things wherein the Spirit hath been a teacher to us, that if all the Councils and Churches in the world, yea all the Angels of heaven, fhould teach us contrary, we should hold them accurfed. But a man that hath not been taught of the Spirit, every day you may win him into new opinions, by the power and authority of men, together with the ftrength of other advantages. But he that hath been led into the truth by the Spirit of truth, is immoveable and invincible among all doctrines. And thus alfo the holy Spirit, by being a Spirit of truth, is alfo a Spirit of power in us.

3. The holy Spirit is a Spirit of power in us, by being in us a Spirit of wisdom and fo it is, because it makes us wife with the wifdom of God; wife upon earth after the rate of heaven; wife to falvation. There is no man wife

without

without the Spirit of God; for the wisdom of carnal men is but foolishness before God, yea before angels and faints: but the wisdom of the Spirit is moft gracious and heavenly wisdom. And this wisdom of the Spirit is the strength of a christian: the more he hath of it, the more mighty he is, both in all his doings and endurings. It is faid, that there was a poor wife man delivered a small city from the power of a mighty king, Eccles. ix. 15. and therefore Solomon concludes that wisdom is better than strength; for it can do greater things than strength can. When David carried bimfelf wifely, Saul, a great king, was afraid of him he thought himself too weak to deal with David, and David too mighty to deal with him, because of his wisdom: and Solomon asked wisdom of God, above all things, for the ftrength of his government; all government without this being but weak and brittle. Thus wifdom contributes ftrength to us; whereas we say of a man who wants wif dom, he is a weak man. And fo the holy Spirit being a Spirit of wisdom in us, is alfo a Spirit of power.

of

power:

and no lefs

power

4. The holy Spirit is a Spirit of power in us, by being in us a Spirit of faith. For faith is a work of the Spirit would work faith in us than that which raifed up Chrift from the dead, Eph.i.19.when he lay under all the fin of man, and all the wrath of God, and all the forrows of death, and all the pains of hell, it must be a mighty power indeed that must raise Chrift then, and that power was the power of the Spirit; and no lefs power will work faith. So that whoever truly believes by this faith of the operation of God, is fenfible in his own foul of the felf-fame power that raised up Chrift from the dead. And thus the holy Spirit is a Spirit of faith in us, and fo of power. For unbelief keeps a man in himself, but faith carries a man out to Chrift, Now there is no man weaker than he that rests on himself; and there is no man ftronger than he that forfakes himself, and refts on Christ.

And fo a man, through the power of faith, is able both to do and endure the felf-fame things which Chrift himself did and endured.

1. He is able to do the fame things that Chrift himself did; and therefore faith Chrift, All things are poffible to him that believeth: fo that a believer hath a kind of omnipotency, and all things are poffible to him; because by faith he lays hold upon the power of God; and all things are poffible to the power of God; and fo all things are poffible to a believer, who is partaker of that power of God. And hence Paul faith, I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me, Phil. iv. 13. This Christ, that ftrengthened him, was the power of God; and this power of God is not a finite power, but an infinite: not a particular power, but a univerfal; and fo can do, not fome things only, but all things: and fo alfo can all they who are truly partakers of it by faith, Yea Chrift himself hath a greater expreffion than this, yea such a one that I never durft have spoken, if Christ himself had not first spoken it; and that is this: He that believeth in me, the works that I do, fhall be do; and greater works than thefe: because I go to the Father, John xiv. 12. Where Chrift faith, a believer fhall not only do the fame works with himself, (which also had been a great thing) but also greater works than himfelf; and this indeed is altogether admirable and wonderful, that a believer fhall do greater works than Christ. But how is this made good? Why thus: Chrift overcame the Law, and Sin and Death and Hell, and the whole power of the devil, in a body and foul free from fin; his. human nature being the immediate formation of the holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary, and fo had not the leaft fpot of fin in it, But now believers overcome the fame evils, even the Law Sin Death Hell, and the whole power of the devil, in corrupted and polluted nature, in bodies and fouls at the first full of fin, and afterwards

defiled