cxxxiii. 20, so that one of them slew a hundred fourscore and five thousand in one ni'ojht in Sennacherih's host. And if tliere be such strength in creatures, what is there in God from whom tliey have it ? for nothing is in the effect but wliat was first in the cause.
Secondly, Let me come to explain this power of God by three dis- tinctions—
1. God's power is twofold — either absolute or actual. (1.) His ab- solute power is that by which lie can do that which he never will do. This is spoken of Mat. xxvi. 53, ' Thinkest thou not that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels ?' Mat. lii. 9, ' God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham ; ' he can do more than ever he did or will do He can do not only what men and angels conceive can be done, but Avliat he himself conceiveth can be done (2.) His actual power is that by which he doth whatever he will : Ps. cxv. 3, ' Our God is in the heavens ; he hath done whatsoever he pleaseth ; ' and Ps. cxxxv- 6, ' Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.' Never shall anything be done but what God wills, and what God wills shall surely come to pass ; which is a notable support in all accidents.
2. God's power is ordinary and extraordinary. (1.) Ordinary is that which is according to the course of second causes and law of nature, when he preserves the creatures, and works by them according to the order which he himself hath established: Ps. cxix. 91, 'They continue this day according to thine ordinance, for all are thy servants.' All the creatines, sun, moon, and stars, do keep the track and path which God hath set unto them, and God preserves the beings of all things, and keeps the ' covenant of night and day,' as it is called in the prophet. (2.) There is God's extraordinary power, by which he can suspend the whole course of nature, as he hath done sometimes upon eminent occasions ; as when the sun stood still in the valley of Ajalom, Josh. x. 12, 13, or when the sun went back ten degrees on the dial of Ahaz, 2 Kings xx. 11 ; his interdicting the Eed Sea that it should not flow, Exod. xiv. 21, 22 ; his causing iron, which is a heavy body, to swim upon the top of the water at the prayer of Elisha, 2 Kings vi, 6 ; his suspending the burning of the fire when the three children were in the furnace, Dan. iii. 27, his shutting the mouths of the hungry lions when Daniel was in the den with them, Dan, vi. 22 ; his making the ravens, which are by nature birds of prey, to be cat- erers to Elijah, 1 Kings xvii. 6.
3. Distinction. There are impossihilia naturce, and impossihilia natura, things impossible to nature, and things impossible by nature. Things impossible to nature God can do, but not things impossible by nature ; he will do things above nature, and besides it, but nothing against it. Things impossible by nature are such as either respect the agent or the object. (1.) With respect to the agent, that which is repugnant to his own essential perfection. Thus God cannot lie . Titus i. 2, ' Which God, that cannot lie, hath promised ;' Heb. vi. 18, ' That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong consolation.' God cannot deny himself: 2 Tim. ii. 13, *If we believe not, yet he abidetli faithful; he cannot
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deny himself;' for these things imply weakness, and not power. God cannot die, God cannot sleep. It is no discredit to a wise man that he cannot play the fool, or to a valiant man that he cannot he a coward. God can do all things, so as that he is still God ; those things that are repugnant to the perfection of his nature he cannot do. (2.) With respect to the ohject, such things as imply a contradiction ; as that a thing should be, and not be, to make a creature finite and infinite, dependent and independent at the same time and in the same respect ; limited to a place and yet in every place ; to make the sun shine and not to shine at the same time ; these are against the nature of the things themselves. These distinctions have their use in many con- troversies that are about religion.
Use. For exhortation. To press you to believe that God is almighty, and to improve it.
1. Believe it. Need we press men to that ? It is a piece of natural divinity, a truth held forth tc us, not only in the book of scripture, but of nature. That light which finds out a deity will discover him to be almighty ; and therefore need we any great ado to persuade men to believe it ? Yes, certainly ; for this is the great thing that we question in cases of difficulty ; we doubt more of the power of God than of his will. Our seeming doubts of his will are but pretences to cover our shameful and atheistical doubts of his power ; that which works subtly iind underground in us, and weakens our confidence in God, and hin- ders the rejoicing of our faith, is a doubt of his power. Surely God knows us better than we do ourselves ; and the scripture shows all along that our doubts are about God's power. When there was a promise brought from God that Sarah should conceive with child, she did not believe the promise: Gen. xviii. 1.3^ 14, 'And the Lord said imto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old ? Is anything too hard for the Lord ? ' There was her doubt and difficulty. So Moses, the man of God, the Lord had told him face to face that he would feed his people, and give them flesh to eat, and he doubted of Gods power : Num. xi. 21, 23, ' The people among whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen, and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month. Shall the flocks and herds be slain for them to suffice them ? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them to suffice them? And the Lord said unto Moses, Is the Lord's hand waxed short?' So whto the prophet foretold there should be such plenty in Samaria, where there was great scarcity, saith the nobleman, 2 Kings vii. 2, 'Behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might this thing be ? ' There was his doubt. So the Virgin Mary, when the angel comes with the mes.sage of the great mystery of the incarna- tion of the Son of God, that he should be born of her, Luke i. 34, 'Then said Mary unto the angeh How can this be, seeing I know not a man?' At this rate still doth unbelief speak in the wilderness ; as the chilJreu of Israel : Ps. Ixxviii. 19, 20, ' Can God furnish a table in the wilder- ness ? Behold he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed ; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people ? ' Certainly the scripture knows what is the special lan- 5jrua";e of our hearts better than we ourselves. Now unbelief is still