the Spirit the power of God: yea, the Spirit is the God of power, as well as the power of God. So that the Spirit is power in himself essentially; and he that partakes of the power of the Spirit, partakes of that power which is God, and no creature.

2. The Spirit is power operatively in us, by being in us,

1. A spirit of knowledge. for the Holy Spirit teaches us to know the things that are freely given to us of God: yea, he teaches us to know what sin is, and what righteousness; what death is, and what life; what heaven is, and what hell; what ourselves are, and what God is : and these things he teaches us to know otherwise than other men know them. In a word, the Spirit teaches a Christian to know all things: that is, to know God, and the kingdom of God, and all the things of both; all other things being nothing in comparison of these. Thus the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of knowledge in us; and so of power, for knowledge is the strength of a man. Whereas, an ignorant man is a weak man, you may carry him whither you will: but knowledge renders a man strong and immoveable. And in all things wherein the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of knowledge in us, he is also a Spirit of strength.

The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of power in us, by being in us a Spirit of truth. And so the Spirit is; because it doth not only lead us unto all truth; that is, unto the word, which is the only truth; as it is written, Sanctify them through the truth. Thy word is truth. But also, the Spirit leads us into the truth; it leads us into the truth, and the truth into us; till we and it become one, by an inseparable union. The Holy Spirit takes a believer, and leads him into one truth after another, till at last it leads him into all truth. Now wherein the Spirit is a Spirit of truth to us, it is a Spirit of power: for through the truth we learn from the Spirit of truth, we are altogether stedfast and immoveable, among variety of different and contrary

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winds of doctrine. And this is the very cause, that among so many divisions, and factions, and errors, and heresies, which wofully prevail in these present times of ours, the people of God are not seduced and overcome; to wit, because they are all taught of God, and not of men; and have the Spirit of truth, to lead them into the truth; the Spirit, I say, and not men and so it is impossible that they should fully and finally be deceived. For wherein we are taught by the Spirit of God, it is impossible we should be perverted by men. Whereas, on the contrary, the true ground why so many are seduced and overcome by the errors and heresies of this age, is because they have taken up their religion only from man's teaching, and have received their opinions or doctrines from men and so what one man hath taught us, another man can unteach; yea, if we be led to the man can again lead us from it. lead any man into the truth, till it and when the Spirit doth lead us into the truth, all the men in the world cannot lead us out of it; but we are so sure of those things wherein the Spirit hath been a teacher to us, that if all the councils and churches in the world, yea, all the angels of heaven, should teach us contrary, we should hold them accursed. But a man that hath not been taught of the Spirit, every day you may win him into new opinions, by the power and authority of men, together with the strength of other advantages. But he that hath been led into the truth by the Spirit of truth, is immoveable and invincible among all doctrines. And thus also the Holy Spirit, by being a Spirit of truth, is also a Spirit of power in us.

truth itself only by man, For all the world cannot the Spirit lead him into

3. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of power in us, by being in us a Spirit of wisdom and so it is, because it makes us wise with the wisdom of God; wise upon earth after the rate of heaven; wise to salvation. There is no man wise

without the Spirit of God; for the wisdom of carnal men is but foolishness before God, yea, before angels and saints: but the wisdom of the Spirit is most gracious and heavenly wisdom. And this wisdom of the Spirit is the strength of a Christian: the more he hath of it, the more mighty he is, both in all his doings and endurings. It is said, that there was a poor wise man delivered a small city from the power of a mighty king, Eccles. ix. 15. and therefore Solomon concludes that wisdom is better than strength; for it can do greater things than strength can. When David carried himself wisely, Saul, a great king, was afraid of him he thought himself too weak to deal with David, and David too mighty to deal with him, because of his wisdom : and Solomon asked wisdom of God, above all things, for the strength of his government; all government without this, being but weak and brittle. Thus wisdom contributes strength to us; whereas we say of a man who wants wisdom, he is a weak man. And so the Holy Spirit being a Spirit of wisdom in us, is also a Spirit of power.

4. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of power in us, by being in us a Spirit of faith. For faith is a work of the Spirit of power and no less power would work faith in us, than that which raised up Christ from the dead, Eph. i. 19, when he lay under all the sin of man, and all the wrath of God, and all the sorrows of death, and all the pains of hell; it must be a mighty power indeed that must raise Christ then, and that power was the power of the Spirit; and no less power will work faith. So that who ver truly believes by this faith of the operation of God, is sensible in his own soul, of the self-same power that raised up Christ from the dead. And thus the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of faith in us, and so of power. For unbelief keeps a man in himself, but faith carries a man out to Christ. Now there is no man weaker than he that rests on himself; and there is no man stronger than he that forsakes himself, and rests on Christ.

And so a man, through the power of faith, is able, both to do and endure the self-same things which Christ himself did and endured.

1. He is able to do the same things that Christ himself did; and therefore saith Christ, All things are possible to him that believeth; so that a believer hath a kind of omnipotency, and all things are possible to him; because by faith he lays hold upon the power of God; and all things are possible to the power of God; and so all things are possible to a believer, who is partaker of that power of God. And hence Paul saith, I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me, Phil. iv. 13. This Christ, that strengthened him, was the power of God; and this power of God, is not a finite power, but an infinite: not a particular power, but a universal; and so can do, not some things only, but all things: and so also can all they who are truly partakers of it by faith. Yea, Christ himself hath a greater expression than this, yea, such a one that I never durst have spoken, if Christ himself had not first spoken it ; and that is this: He that believeth in me, the works that I do, shall he do; and greater works than these; because Igo to the Father, John xiv. 12. Where Christ saith, a believer shall not only do the same works with himseif, (which also had been a great thing) but also greater works than himself; and this indeed is altogether admirable and wonderful, that a believer should do greater works than Christ. But how is this made good? Why thus: Christ overcame the law, and sin, and death, and hell, and the whole power of the devil, in a body and soul free from sin; his human nature being the immediate formation of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary, and so had not the least spot of sin in it. But now believers overcome the same evils, even the law, sin, death, hell, and the whole power of the devil, in corrupted and polluted nature, in bodies and souls, at the first full of sin, and afterwards

defiled through many corruptions. The devil came to Christ, and found nothing in him; and so he overcame : But he comes to a believer, and finds much in him; and yet he overcomes. And this truly is a greater work than Christ did and these works we do, but not through our own power, but through Christ's, of which we truly partake through faith.

2. A Christian, through the power of faith, is able, not only to do, but also to suffer the same things that Christ himself suffered. Now the sufferings of Christ were the most grievous and intolerable to nature that ever were. For how and Christ, for the present, as it were, lay aside his divine nature, that he might suffer in his human! And how did he suffer in this, the whole weight and condemnation of sin to the very utmost! And the whole wrath of God to the utmost! and all the sorrows of death, and the pains of hell, to the very utmost! And among all his sufferings, had not the least drop of comfort, either from heaven or earth and yet through the power of the Spirit, he endured and overcame all. And so each Christian is able to endure and overcome the same evils by the same power. And therefore Paul desired to know Christ truly: not only the power of his resurrection, Phil. iii. 10. which any one would desire to know; but also the fellowship of his sufferings, which flesh and blood trembles at; yea, and to be made conformable to his very death. Yea, I add yet farther, that it a Christian should chance to fall down into hell, as we believe Christ descended into hell, and so also many of his saints have done, as David and Hezekiah, &c.) yet a Christian, through the power of the Spirit, were able to overcome both the sins and the pains of hell. And therefore saith Solomon, Love (which is the power of the Spirit) is too strong for death, and too hard (or too cruel) for hell: Cant. viii. 5, 6, as is evident in that godly woman, (for I will name but one instance instead of many) who, think