* As before, sentence unfinishod, Cf. Vo], I, page 38. — G.
888 COMMENTARY ON
devotion is like to come to that, that God never blessed to that end ? A bastardly devotion from a bastardly means. And usually people give to those kind of things higher measure of admiration than to good and saucti- lied means.
I never knew, nor ever shall know, a superstitious person to like of things sauctilicd of God, but in that i)roportion he grew bitter against that which is indeed sound. See what religion popery is, their study Ijcing to weaken that powerful instrument that God halh sanctified to convey all saving power by. How do they weaken it ? By all the means they can. They hibour to take away the strength of it. They lock it up in an unknown tongue, in Latin ; and not only so, but in a corrupt, vicious translation, and lest it should do much good, they add Apocryphal writings with it — many of which indeed arc holy books, but yet they equal their authority with the Scriptures. Nay, that they may weaken the strength and efficacy of the blessed word by which is wrought whatsoever is savingly good, they make traditions of equal authority with the word. They make the present determination of the present pope of equal power with the word, nay, above it ; for the life and soul of words is the sense and meaning of them. The meaning is the form, and being, and life of speech ; the words are but husks. The kernel and life of words, is the meaning of them. Now they take upon them to give the sense and meaning of the Scriptures. But they go about to judge that, which will one day judge them ; to keep under the word, that will keep them under, and blast them, and consume them, as 2 Thes. ii. 8, ' Antichrist must be consumed with the breath of his mouth,' that is, with the ordinance of God. It is such a wind as he cannot endure ; it will consume him. There is no means sanctified of God to consume antichrist, but the ordinance. There be other civil and apparent ways to ■weaken him, but that that shall ' consume' him indeed, as he ' is antichrist,' is the powerful ordinance of God. And therefore blame them not for being such enemies to that which is such an enemy to them, that is, the power- ful preaching of the word. But we must not dwell upon these things, only I thought it necessary to put you in mind of it, that our hearts may be brought to think highly of that which God so esteemeth, even as we love our own souls.
Other truths may civilise, and other helps may be profitable ; other books besides God's book may do us a great deal of good, and many holy treatises there are, in which the word is unfolded, and made familiar to us. The water in the spring, and water brought in a pipe, is the same water. So that 'the word in Scripture, and the word brought in preaching and holy treatises, is the same. But I speak of other truths we read of in human writers. God giveth a power to every truth, and there be inferior works of the Spirit. But this work of conversion, of setting the image of God upon us, is reserved especially for the ordinances of God. All the learning in the world will not set the image of God upon the soul, will not bring the soul out of darkness into the kingdom of Christ, but the powerful ordi- nance of God, and the powerful work of the Spirit accompanying it. It is not every work of the Spirit, but an almighty work. By embalming, a dead body may be preserved from putrefaction and annoyance a long time, but all the spices and embalmments in the world will not put life into a dead body. So the inferior works of the Spirit, by inferior means, may embalm the soul, that is, may make it civil, and it is very good conversing with civil men. You shall have them fair-conditioned men, and excellent things will break from them, but this is but embalming ; the quickening of a dead soul,
2 CORINTHIANS CHAP. IV, VER. 7. 389
the putting of life into that, is reserved for the ordinance of God, and the power of the Spirit accompanying it. This is that the apostle speaks of, ' the excellency of the power of God.'
3. One thing give me leave to add more, That as God doth powerfully work by his ordinance in us, and in the church, so he doth powerfully work by his ordinance on others, by the church on others. To make it plain thus : There is an excellency of power in the word, in faith, in prayer, in fasting, in the sentence of the church ; there is an excellent power in all these, not only on the soul, upon whom they work, but likewise on others. There is a power in the church and in the minister for to threaten ; and God, to make good those threats to others, worketh on others. And there is a power in prayer, not only of grace to make us fit to pray, but a power by prayer, for God thereby to confound the enemies of the church. There- fore the phrase in the psalms, is, ' God send thee help out of Sion,' Ps. XX. 2, that is, out of the church, by church means ; and ' God is terrible in his holy place,'* Ps. Ixviii. 35. What is the meaning of that? The meaning is : in the church, where God is truly worshipped, where the ordi- nances are in purity and power, there God is terrible out of his holy place. If there come forth prayers against the enemies of the church, God saith Amen to them. Woe be to the enemies of the church, when the church falleth a-praying and fasting. Woe be to Haman, when Esther, Mordecai, and the rest fall to this duty. And woe to popery ! If all Christians would join in prayer and fasting, antichrist had been brought upon his knees, and to nothing ere this time. There is a power in God's ordinances, let them be used as they should be, with faith and persuasion, that God will say Amen to them all, they will work. "What ! Let a man pray with confi- dence, that God will bless it, though not in the particular that he desireth, yet you shall see what wonders God will work by it.