VOL. IV. A a
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service to my flosh. And he hath a principle in him, whereby he suLduetl what before was wonderfully powerful in him, which setteth hiui abov( himself.
(4.) There is a power, and excellency of power, in the word, io cnwfort m to raise the soul i)i all d('jcclio)is, in all discovi farts. Therefore it is calle( ' the word of faith,' 1 Tim. iv. 0, an instrument to beget faith in the pro mises. Faith relieth upon better things, and sets the soul above all infcrio things. And so for comfort, it setteth the soul upon a rock, higher thai all trouble ; it setteth the soul upon God's infinite goodness and power an( truth, and promises ; it setteth the soul upon the things promised, heavei and happiness to come. What are these things to the glory to come ? S faith carrieth the soul to heaven, to God, to Christ, to the promises ; i pitcheth the soul upon such a foundation, as no discomforts here below cai shake the soul ; it is above the reach of any trouble. A soul that pitchet itself on the word and Spirit of God, and so upon God himself (for Go and his word are one), it is above the reach of all discomforts whatsoevei so far as it bclieveth ; and therefore it comforteth a man. The comforts c God's word, having the Spirit of God with them, are called ' the consola tions of the Almighty.' ' Despisest thou the consolations of the Almighty • Job XV. 11. We will instance a little in a few promises. Let the soul b in want, it pitcheth itself on the promises in the word. God hath promise ' he will not leave thee nor forsake thee,' Heb. xiii. 5. Let a man be i some weakness and disability, he cannot perform his duty. God hath pre mised his ' Holy Spirit to them that beg it,' Luke xi. 13. We are in man miseries and crosses, ' all things shall work together for the best to thei that love God,' Rom. viii. 28. God is working my good by this cross, an shall I be angry with God for working my good ? No. Let me by fait see the issue of things in this promise. God will turn all to the best, an how will this stay the soul ! God sheweth himself as a Father, and it i for my good, and I shall receive ' the quiet fruit of righteousness,' Hel xii. 11. And so you may see how the soul is stayed in all aftlictions wha' soever. ' I had perished,' saith the psalmist, ' in mine afflictions, but thj thy statutes were my comforts,' Ps. cxix. 92. They were my support; Thus you see in some particular things how there is a power in the won and an excellent power many ways, enabling us to duty, sustaining us in a crosses whatsoever.
(5.) Again, there is a power, an excellency of power, in the ordinance; whereby ire are above all flood things that the icorld affords to ?/s. By tl: word, we know we have lawful use of the blessings, prosperity, peace, ar plenty, God giveth us. We may use them as God's creatures, being i covenant with God. And by the word'we come to manage them, and n( to be slaves to them, as to make them our masters that are our servant; By the word, and by the Spirit accompanying of it, we have a sanctifie use of all. All conditions are sanctified to us, and we sanctified to all coi ditions ; not only to afflictions, but to prosperity and everything. By tl Spirit of God we are raised above prosperity, which subdueth more tha adversity doth. There is an excellent place, Phil. iv. 12, 13 : saith St Pau ' I have learned' — in Christ's school, not at the feet of Gamaliel — ' to wan and to abound ; I can do all things in Christ that strengthens me.' But carnal man, that hath not let the word into his heart by the Spirit of Got he can neither want without murmuring, nor abound without pride an licentiousness. Every thing turneth to his bane, because he giveth n( way to the Spirit. But where the Spirit getteth place in the heart, :
2 CORINTHIANS CHAP. IV, VER. 7. 371
advanceth the heart ahove all conditions. Thus you see, in particular, wherein the excellency of the power in the ordinance of God appeareth.
Now all this is from God, not from us ; and therefore saith the apostle excellently, 2 Cor. x. 4, ' The weapons of our warfare are mighty through God to beat down strongholds' of corruptions, and to beat back tempta- tions. So the weapons of the ministry of the word, they are ' mighty,' but ' through God;' being ' strong in the Lord, and by the power of his might.'
1 have learned, saith Paul, ' to want and to abound,' but it is through Christ. The gospel is a dead letter, the word is dead letters without the Spirit, which is the infusion. Take water without infusion, it is dead; but a drop of aqua rita-, which hath such spirits, is more than a pint without spirits : that is flat and dead. So take the Spirit from God's ordinances, they are the massy substance, but they want infusion. There is the bread, but the staif of bread is gone ; the staff of all the infusion is from God, and not from us. You may see this in the Acts, chaps, i. ii. When the Spirit of God did fiill down upon the apostles, what extraordinary men were they ! It carried them through all oppositions, through all abasements, whips, scourges, imprisonments. It wrought mightily, nay, by help of the Spirit if did greater things than Christ. We may speak it with reverence, for Christ saith, 'You shall do greater things than these,' John xiv. 12, speaking of the mighty power of the Spirit, that should fall on them after his ascension. He never converted so many at once as Peter, who con- verted three thousand, and yet might have preached three thousand ser- mons and not have converted one man, if it had not the Spirit to accom- pany it. He cast the net, and caught three thousand souls, and all because the Spirit was mighty in the ordinance. Acts ii. 42. What maketh the age of the church bad or good, but because there is more and less of the Spirit ? Why were the eight hundred, nine hundred, and thousand years so dead ? Because Christ was not known as he should be ; or so the Spirit was not given in that measure, and therefore they were dead and dull times. So that it is the Spirit of Christ accompanying the ordinance, that maketh it effectual. ' I, even I, am thy comforter,' saith the prophet, Isa. Ivii. 15. Men must speak comfort, but God must comfort the heart. ' I create the fruit of the lips, peace, peace,' ver. 19. The fruit of the lips it cometh by the ordinance, but I will create it, and make it to be so. What is the fruit of the lips, if God create it not ? ' Paul may plant, and Apollos may water,' and if men had the tongue of men and angel, if the Spirit did not accompany them, all were nothing. 1 Cor. iii. 6. Nay, miracles are nothing without Christ. Israel saw the wonders of God in Egypt, yet because God gave them not an heart, they were not eflfectual. Nay, the miracles of Christ did no good. Nay, the doctrines of Christ did no good, without the Spirit. The Jews were not converted, because the Holy Ghost was not so abundantly given, as afterwards. Afflictions and crosses will not work without the Spirit. As it is said of Ahaz, * This is Ahaz,'