Would you know how ? ' Strong is the Lord that judgeth his,' Rev. xviii. 8. He answereth an objection. Oh, but she flourisheth, and hath many princes, emperors, potentates, and strong arms of flesh to support her. ' But strong is the Lord that hath spoken it,' and can do it. If God will consume her, who can support her ? Thus we see what use to * In margin here, ' Anno Dom. 1G31.' f That is, ' altogether,' utterly. — G.
2 COKINTHIANS CHAP. IV, VER. 6. 319
make of tlie foundation of St Paul : he fetclietla it from God's commanding light out of darkness.
It is a very sweet use to search the former works of God, to look back and consider what God hath done in former times. You may see in Isa. xxvii. 3, and Ps. Ixxiv. 16, ' The day is thine, the night is thine.' Thou hast made distinctions between day and night : thou canst deliver thy church. It is a singular grace to make use of common things, even of the works of creation ; for herein a child of God difi'ers from another. Another takes God's common mercies, and sees the works of God, and goeth on brutishly. A fool considers not these things. Oh, but the intelligent Chris- tian considers the great work of creation, of his commanding of all things out of nothing, and he can make no common use of things. And that is the excellency of a Christian ; to support his faith, he can make use of sacraments, and word, and creation. Therefore, let us know we be God's children, by gaining glory to God by our gracious spirits, by shevring our skill by the Spirit, to let nothing pass without observing, which may sup- port our faith and encourage our souls, as the apostle fetcheth comfort from the work of creation. Let us make use of this so great a God, who can do great things, and you can do great things with him. If a company would join in an army of prayers, it were worth all the armies in the world ; it would set the great God on work. He that can raise light out of darkness, what cannot he do to his poor church, if they had a spirit of prayer to set him on work ! Let us pray for the things we have promises for with much confidence : for the conversion of the Jews, and confusion of the ' man of sin.' We have the word for it. God goeth before it. The enemies begin to fall before the church. Follow God wheresoever he goeth. There is something for faith to lay hold upon, and encouragement, that he is mighty; and whatsoever he can do, he will do for the good of the church ; and you see how he can do it. He doth but command, and it is done. God with his beck commands all. He can hiss for an enemy from the farthest part of the world, and have them come presently, Isa. v. 26. His finger will do gi-eat matters : what will his arm do then ? When our blessed Saviour was in the days of his flesh, and said, 'Avoid, Satan,'* he must be gone presently. He commanded away the devil at a word ; he rebuked fevers, sicknesses, waves, tempests : he spake but the word, and all was quiet and still ; the devil and all, at his command. And is not he as strong in heaven as on earth ? It is but a word, out of doubt, to deliver his church, and restore lightsome times again.
' What aileth thee, 0 thou Jordan, that thou gatherest thyself on heaps ? The sea fell back at thy rebuke, 0 Lord,' Ps. cxiv. 5. He hath all things at command. A whale is commanded to receive Jonah, i. 17 ; a fish was at his command to bring tribute. Mat. xvii. 27 ; and all things in heaven and earth. Oh what a God we serve, who as he can bring out of darkness, so he can do it by his word.
Use 4. Therefore, labour from hence for iierfect resignation of our souls, and bodies, and conditions, into the hands of tJus God that can do all with his word, as those three men did in Dan. viii. 16, ' God can deliver us if he will,' but we will resign ourselves into his hands. What lost they by that ? And the poor man in the gospel : ' Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean,' Mat. viii. 2. Presently, ' I will, be thou clean.' If we can, in any disconsolate condition, say, If thou wilt, Lord, thou canst, we shall, in
* That is, ' depart,' or ' go away,' in the etymological sense of the word, not aa now = eschew, shun. — G.
320 COMMENTARY ON
God's blessed time, have an answer, I will ; therefore thou shalt he in a better condition. Leave it to him that knoweth better what is for the good of us, than ourselves do.
And therefore, I beseech you, make this use of it. Give up yourselves to God, and serve him exactly and perfectly. Will you have a rule and a ground to serve God exactly at every beck and command ? Remember you have such a God as commands light out of darkness, and shall not we serve him '? Shall we be slack in obedience to him that can create comforts when we want ? that can bring us out of any condition, or at least, can make any condition comfortable ? He can enter into dungeons, prisons, and make prisons paradises ; he can by his Spirit do immediately what the creature doth ; for what command is in the creature but it is in him ? And he can speak that comfort to the soul that the creature can ;* and therefore, shall we not walk perfectly with him that is an independent worker, that can work above means, against means, that can do all he hath done, and more than he hath done, can do all that he will do, and will do more than we can conceive he can ? And shall not we resign ourselves to him, and walk perfectly with him ? shall we displease him, to please men ? shall we leave his subjects and children, for this and that fear ? Let our condition be never so uncomfortable, he can make it comfortable, and he can make the greatest and most glorious condition in the world a hell ; and therefore, let us make use of these in all the extremities of the church.