to the E PH ES I AN S. :289 {lrength, fo you may interpret it and tl,e Original tears it; Acccrding to the~ effeflu,ll workmg of" the mtght of his flreng th,, of tht force of bu Jirength, Se~, '!(Xll. Hefctteth forth I fay this Power, Fidl by the excell~ncy and fubl1me gr~atnefs~ of it; and Secondly by the efficacy of it, it is cllicacwus, lt bnngeth tlungs to pnfs. Now to open thefe a little unto you, and to begin lidl. with the defcription of the excellency of this Power. J lhall open the P11rafes to you,for tbat w!ll make way forthe re£1. . He calleth it Fir!l Tbe great11e[s of bJS power. Wheh he fpeaks of the power of creating, he never gtveth fNch a Phrafe to 1t; he fheweth forth Ius power there indeed, he faith, Hts power mtdGodhead, Rom. • ,20. Whenhe fpcaks of the work of Grace and Salvation, then he callcth tt The greatrtejs of !.tspower. You fhall find that ufually, ; .,,;;.,e. 1 as we call it, that is of number is attributed to mercy and to the wifdom of God; but ~iy.9~ namely greatnefs 1t 1s attnbuted to the Powrr of God. You no where read the riches of his Power, you no where read of his powers; but you read of his mercies, and riches of mercy, but his Power confl!leth of greatnrjS. Pfat. I47· )· Gnat is o11r Lord twd of great power. look how great God is in himfelf~ fo great is his Power, if you would knowThe grea11te(s of hts power; but.when he fpeaksof his Under!land– ingin the next words, His tmder(/and111g, fa1th he, . H mfimti!. Look m your Margcnts, in the Hebrew 1t !S, Of hts tmderjla11dmg there ts 110 1/Umber; he attributeth an mfimty of number to Under!landmg, and fo to Ius Mercy; but when he cometh to fpcak of his Power, it is a bulk, Great is the Lord and great is his powtr. Schoolmen have laboured to give reafons why God isomni~ potent, but as Divines well obferve,. all their reafons falj lhort to prove it, and there is no reafon to prove 1t but tlus wluch the Pfalmlfl: g1veth, The Lord is g•·eat, and thereforegreat is his power. . . ' . If you will know therefore how great h1s P?Wer 1s, confider how great a God. he is, and all th.! power that 1s m th1s God ts mgaged to fave a poor Behever; All Being bath fome power that doth accompany it, to do fomething; there is no Creature that bath a Being but hath a power to do fomething, only becaufe the Creatures have limited Beings; one Creature hatb power to do one thing and another Creature bath power to do another thing. Now give me one of an infinite Being and he mu!I have an-infinite power; as he is in Being fo mu£1 he be in worl<ing. The Lord isgreat a11dgreat is his power, his power is as great as himfelf. So much now for the Fir£1 thing, the Grentnejs of his power. He cloth not only fay the greatneJS of his power, but he addeth That Word bath thefe Threeforces in it. In the Fidl: place, it fignifieth an excelling power that putteth all power elfe down. 2 Cor. l· IO. the fame word is ufed where he fpeaks of the Glory of the. Gofpel, The glory, fait_h he, that the Law bath, ~s tlo .~lorJ, n; companjon of that whtch excetleth, 1t IS the fame word wh1ch 1s traoOated helit!, exceeding. Take all created powers, my Brethren, and they are nothu~g to God, I will give you a Scripture for it. It is in I ( or. I. 25. The werJktte{s of God faith he, isjlro11ger tha11 mms's flrmgth. He bath a power that excelleth tha~ exceedetl1, that all the power of the Creature is no power to it. That'is the Firfi thing. In the Second place, the word. T; ><efT;" it cloth fignifie fornerime overcoming; llreva!lmg.. H~ hath a~ exceedmg greatnefs of power in him; mgaged to Be– hevers, wluch 1sa preva1lmgpower, nothmgcan refi£1 it. Saith he, Pht/.3.2" (where he fpeaksof the power that fhall glorifie BelieVers) Accm·ding to the working wherrby he is able even to fubdue at! things to him(e!f; he is able to fubdue them, to cooquer them. It is •eh®-, .it is aconquering, prevailing great– nefs of .h1s power that. 1s able to fubdue all thmgs. It makes notlung rife to fome– tlung, 1t makes all thmgs arnve to whatfoever he will have them come to, they have all an obediential !acuity in them to obey him , he is aMe to {tt6dtte all thmgs to himfel{, and by that power he will glorifie Believers. Again
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