to speak at such a time you would be ready to speak rashly and foolishly to the great prejudice and disadvantage of the truth therefore he will give you not only a mouth but wisdom too and he himself will manage his own cause with your mouths And you shall so speak as all your adversaries shall not be able to resist the truth that you speak but shall be so convinced in their consciences that their tongues shall not know what to say You shall have a mouth and wisdom and they shall want both And thus have many poor mean simple Christians when brought before Rulers and Magistrates been able to carry out the truth in that strength that all their adversaries have been put to silence and shame as you may see in a multitude of examples in the Book of Martyrs And all this they did by the power of the Spirit coming upon them Seventhly and lastly all Christians stand in need of the power of the Spirit to overcome afflictions and persecutions from which it is impossible they should be free in this world they being contrary to the world and the whole world to them A natural man who hath no strength in himself but his own strength faints and fails under affliction and persecution but the faithful have in them strength above natural strength strength above the strength of men even the strength of the Spirit coming on them and so they indure and overcome Our spirits are weak spirits and are conquered by every evil but when they are strenghtned by the power of Gods Spirit they are over all evils more then Conquerors And this is one thing observable between natural and spiritual strength in the overcoming of evil Natural strength seeks alwayes wayes to throw off the evil and so it prevailes but spiritual strength neever seeks the removing of the evil but let the evil be what it will it stands to it and overcomes it For the strength of the Spirit is easily able to overcome all evils that can happen to flesh and bloud whether they arise from earth or hell And thus those blessed Martyrs mentioned Hebr. 11. and thousands and ten thousands of their consorts since have overcome cruel mockings and scourgings and bonds and imprisonment and stoning and sawing in sunder and slaying with the sword and all the woes of poverty and want and banishment and of living in wildernesses and caves and dens of the earth these and all other evils they have mightily overcome by this only power of the Spirit comming upon them Thus we stand in need of the power of the Spirit to overcome affliction and persecution and how much power we have in affliction and persecution to indure them and overcome them just so much of the power of the Spirit we have and no more And thus also have I declared unto you what necessity all Christians have of the power of the Spirit coming on them as well as Ministers And this was to strengthen the Vse of exhortation The second Use is for information and instruction after this manner If the receiving of the Spirit be the receiving of power then it clearly informs us that the way to partake of this power is to obtain this Spirit and the way to increase this power is to increase this Spirit I shall endeavour to speak to both these things and so shall conclude 1. The way to obtain this power is to obtain the Spirit And that we may obtain the Spirit we must first prepare our selves to receive the Spirit Now this Preparation doth not stand as Papists teach and many ignorant persons among our selves think in sweeping the soul from sin and then strewing it with graces that so we may be fit to receive the Spirit For first the sweeping of the soul from sin is not a work of our own before the coming of the Spirit but a work of the Spirit it self after it is come For no flesh can clear the soul of one sin it is the Spirit must do that And secondly for the strewing of the soul with grace neither is this a work of our own but a work of the Spirit it self after it is come For the Spirit it self brings all grace with it and before the comming of the Spirit there is no grace at all So that we cannot by any acts of our own prepare our selves to receive the Spirit but only by the Spirit we prepare our selves to receive the Spirit For it is not any work of our own upon our selves but the immediate work of the Holy Spirit upon us that can make us fit to receive himself It lies wholly in his own power and goodness first to prepare in us a place for himself and then after to receive and entertain himself in that place he hath so prepared Now the workes of the Spirit whereby he first prepares us for himself and â—hen entertaines himself in us are these two especially 1. He empties us and 2. he fills us with himself whom he hath made empty 1. He empties us And this emptying is the first and chief work of the Spirit upon the Elect whereby he prepares them to receive himself For the more empty a man is of other things the more capable he is of the Spirit If you would fill a vessel with any other liquor then it holds you must first empty it of all that is in it before if you would fill it with Wine you must empty it of Beer or Water if any such liqour be in it For two material things cannot possibly subsist in the same place at the same time the substances of each being safe and sound And so if the Holy Spirit who is God must come into us all mortal and unstable creatures together with sin and our selves and what ever else is in us must go forth Humane reason and humane wisdom and righteousness and power and knowledge cannot receive the Holy Spirit but we must be emptied of these if ever we would receive him We must thus suffer our selves to be prepared by the Spirit to receive the Spirit but with this caution That when the Spirit of God hath wrought this in us we do not attribute it to our selves as our own work nor think any thing of our selves but descend into our own meer nothing Otherwise we shall be a hinderance to the Spirit that he cannot work in us after a more excellent manner And when a man is thus empty of himself and of other things then he becomes poor in spirit and such the Spirit alwayes fills and descends into with a wonderful and unresistible power and fills the outer and inner man and all the superior and inferior faculties of the soul with himself and all the things of God And this is the second work of the Spirit to fill those whom he hath emptied Now the usual and ordinary means through which the Spirit doth this are these three 1. The hearing of
For as the Apostle saith If any man love the world the love of the Father that is the Holy Spirit is not in him so if any man love the Father the love of the world is not in him now the more any one loves the Father the less he loves the world and the less he loves the world the more the spirit dwels in him 5. To cease daily from our own works The more we act our selves the less doth the Spirit act in us And therefore we must must from day to day cease from our own works from the operations of our own minds and understandings and wils and affections and must not be the Authors of our own actions For we being flesh our selves what ever we do is fleshly seeing the effect cannot be better then the cause And if we mingle the works of our flesh with the works of Gods Spirit he will cease from working in us But the less we act in our selves according to the principles of our corrupt nature the more will the spirit act in us according to the principles of the divine nature But our own works are alwayes a mighty impediment to the operations of the Spirit 6. To encrease the spirit in us we must give up our selves to the Spirit that he only may work in us without the least opposition and resistance from us That as the soul acts all in the body and the body doth nothing of it self but is subject to the soul in all things so the spirit may do all in us and we may do nothing of our selves without the Spirit but be subject to the Spirit in all its operations For the Spirit of God cannot work excellently in us except it work all in all in us And in such a man in whom the Spirit hath full power the Spirit works many wonderful things that he according to humane sense is ignorant of For as the soul doth secretly nourish and cherish and refresh the body and disperses life and spirits through it even when the body is asleep and neither feels it nor knows it so the Holy Spirit dwelling in the soul by a secret kinde of operation works many things in it for the quickning and renewing it whilst it oftentimes for the present is not so much as sensible of it 7. The seventh means to encrease the spirit is to attribute the works of the spirit to the spirit and not to our selves For if we attribute to the flesh the works of the Spirit and take from the Spirit the glory of his own works he will work no longer in us Wherefore we must ascribe unto the Spirit the whole glory of his own works and acknowledge that we our selves are nothing and can do nothing and that it is he only that is all in all and works all in all and we our selves among all the excellent works of the Spirit in us must so remain as if we were and wrought nothing at all that so all that is of flesh and blood may be laid low in us and the Spirit alone may be exalted first to do all in us and then to have all the glory of all that is done And thus you see the means to encrease the Spirit and so consequently strength as well as to get it And by the daily use and improvement of these means we may attain to a great degree of spiritual strength that we may walk and not be weary and may run and not faint and may mount up as Eagles yea and may walk as Angels among men and as the powers of heaven upon earth to his praise and honour who first communicates to us his own strength and then by that strength of his own works all our works in us And thus is he glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe FINIS a John 4 19. b John 13.1 The summ of Christs discourse with his Disciples after his Resurrection till his Ascension a Psal. 2.8 b Dan. 7.14 c Psal. 72.8 Quest Answ. 1. Gen◠Doctrin Melius est nullum habere quam sacrilegum impium scelcratum ministrum qui non venit nisi ut mactet perdat sicut fur latro Luth. de instir ministr. Eccl. 2. General Doctrine 3. Gener Doctrine The particular handling of the words The Doctr. The Spirit is Power two wayes 1. Essentially in it self 2. Operatively in us By being in us 1. A Spirit of Knowledge 2. A Spirit of Power 3. A Spirit of Wisdom 2 Cor. 1.10 4. A Spirit of Faith Ephes. 1.19 The power of faith inables us 1. to do the same things Christ himself did Phil. 4.13 2. To suffer the same things that Christ himself suffered Phil. 3.10 Cant. 8.5.6 5. A spirit of Righteousness 1. Mortifying sin 2. Imparting grace 6 A spirit of the fear of the Lord Isa 8.13 7. A spirit of love and Vnity Isa 41.15 1. Vse A necessity for Ministers to have the power of the Spirit 1. Otherwise they have no power at all 2. Without this they are insufficient for the work of the Ministry 1. They are unable to preach the Word 2. Unable to preach it powerfully 1. The Ministery cold without this power 2. Weak Acts 6.10 3 Unable to hold out in the Ministery Acts 4.17.18 Acts 4.19 4. Unable to reprove the world 5. Unable to wrestle with and overcome the devil 6 Unable to suffer persecution for the Word * Mihi vero qui vocatus sum decretum certum est ingredi urbem in nomine Domini nostri Iesu Christi etiamsi scirem tot diabolos mihi oppositos quot sunt tegulae in omnibus totius urbis tectis * Verum quid faciam urgent me causae inevitabiles Deus cogit vocat hic nulli creaturae tergiversandum est Age fiat igitur in nomine Iesu Christi qui est Dominus vitae mortis Nihil habeo quod possim perdere Domini ego sum si perdor Domino perdor id est invenior Alium ergo quaere quem terreas Verum ego scio certus sum Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum vivere regnare qua scientia fiducia inflatus non timebo etiam multa millia Paparum Major est enim qui in nobis quam qui in mundo est Quid si me occidat Papa aut damnet ultra Tartara Occisum non suscitabit ut his iterum occidat damnatum vero ego volo ut-nunquam absolvat Confido enim instare diem illum quo destruetur regnum illud abominationis perditionis Vtinam nos primi digni simus vel exuri vel occidi ab eo quò sanguis noster magis clamet urgeat judicium illius accelerari Sed si digni non sumus sanguine testi ficari hanc saltem oremus imploremus misericordiam ut vitâ voce testemur quòd Iesus Christus solus est Dominus Deus noster Benedictus in secula seculorum Luther in Epist. ad Patr. The Holy Spirit and the power of it necessary for all Christians Question Answer They need the Spirit of power They need the power of the Spirit 1. To change their nature 2. To work Grace a Psal. 25.11 2 Pet. 1.14 3. To mortifie sin 1. The whole body of sin Rom. 8.13 2. Particular strong corruptions 4. To perform duties To inable them to the use of the word In private Act. 18.26 In publike To inable them to confess the word 7. To overcome afflictions and persecutions Second use The way to get this power is to get this Spirit To this end we must prepare our selves Wherein preparation doth not consist Wherein it doth 1. The Holy Spirit empties us A caution 2. Fills us The means are 1. The hearing of the Word 2. Faith 3. Prayer 2. The Way to increase this power
but take straight steps towards the mark set before him No fear nor favours nor frowns nor flatteries nor temptations nor insinuations nor designs of others nor ends of his own can turn him aside He carries such strength in his Spirit as he can never be bended and so far forth as he partakes of the power of God is as unmoveable and unchangeable as God him self 3. It makes a man invincible by all evils and enemies Because all the power against him is but the power of the creature but the power in him is the power of God And the power of God easily overcomes the mightiest power of the creature but is never overcome by it And if this power in a Christian should be prevailed against God himself who is that power should be conquered which is impossible To conclude the power of godliness is the doer of every duty in Gods Kingdom the subduer of every sin the conquerour of each tribulation and temptation the life of every performance the glory of each grace the beauty of a Christians life the stability of his conversation the lustre of his Religion his great Honour and excellency both in doing and suffering yea it is the very glory of God himself in the Church of God for by faith the Lord arises on us and by this power of godliness his glory is seen upon us These considerations right honourable moved me to discourse of the power of the Holy Spirit coming on all Christians Ministers and People And besides the importunity of some other friends your Honours earnest desires of these notes hath especially prevailed with me to publish them Not that I am worthy to publish any thing but that the truth of God is worthy to be published be the instrument never so mean and unworthy And although I well know the doubtful success of such undertakings as these yet in this matter I am not at all carefull being most willing to be bound up in one condition with the truth of God and to have with it the same common friends and enemies Besides if Christ dwell in my heart by faith I carry in my bosome already my reward out of whom I neither regard praise or dispraise good or evil Now I was bold to prefix your Honours name to these Notes because your desire of them hath made them yours and also your many noble favors are a strong and continual engagement for me to serve you according to what God hath made me Especially I remember your extraordinary compassion and bowels towards me in the day of my deepest distress when my soul drew near to the Pit and the shadow of death sate upon my eye lids and I had not the least drop of comfort either from earth or heaven Your Honor then shewed me the kindness of the Lord and encompassed me both with your pitty and goodness though then through bitterness of spirit I tasted it not Wherefore when I remember the wonderful goodness of God to me after so great sorrow and darkness I cannot forget that part of his goodness which he was pleased to administer to me by your Honours hands And the remembrance of this causes me to pray that God would double the same goodness on you and that he would pour forth upon my Lord your Honour your noble off-spring and family this power of the holy Spirit here treated of which shall render you a thousand times more precious and excellent before God and his Saints then all worldly Honour and Nobility whatsoever And by this means shall Religion shine in your Family in its native beauty and lustre and the Kingdom of God which stands not in word but in power shall appear in its bright glory among you till the Kingdom of the Son first fit you and then after deliver you up to the Kingdom of the Father and God be all in all immediately Which is the earnest prayer of your most humble and faithful servant WILLIAM DELL The Contents THe Context The Explication of the Words Three General Doctrines 1. That Christ gives his own people sufficient strength for their imployments his own strength for his own Works 2. That when Christ leaves his people in regard of sense he never leaves them without a promise and in that promise his Spiritual presence 3. That the pouring forth of the spirit is the means whereby God both increases and governs his Church The more special Doctrine from the words is That the receiving of the Spirit is the receiving of power For the Spirit it self is power 1. Essentially in it self 2. Operatively in us By being in us 1. A Spirit of Knowledge 2. Of Truth 3. Of Wisdom 4. Of Faith which inables us To do Indure the same things with Christ himself 5. Of Righteousness in Destroying sin Imparting Grace 6. Of the fear of the Lord 7. Of Love and Vnity The Use twofold 1. Exhortation to inforce this the necessity of having this power is urged in reference 1. To Ministers 2. To all Christians 1. Ministers stand in need of the power of the Spirit to come upon them 1. Because without they have this power they are destitute of all power 2. Without this power they are insufficient for the work of the Ministery As being unable 1. To preach the Word that is the true Spiritual and living Word of God 2. To preach it zealously and powerfully But without this presence of the Spirit of power 1. Their Ministery is cold and hath no heat in it 2. Weak and hath no strength in it 3. To persevere in their ministery and to carry it on against all opposition and contradiction 4. To reprove the world of sin For the Spirit of judgement must needs be accompanied with the spirit of might 5. To incounter and overcome the Devil 6. To inable them to be comfortable and invincible against all evils and enemies 2. Christians this Spirit of power and power of the Spirit is necessary for all Christians as well as Ministers Object But do all Christians receive the Spirit of God as well as Ministers Answ. Yes equally and alike without any difference Now this Spirit of power is necessary for them 1. To distingush them from reprobates and Devils 2. To exalt them above all the rest of mankinde who are destitute of the Spirit 3. To unite them unto Christ And the power of the Spirit is necessary for them 1. To change their natures which is the daily work of the Spirit till all be renewed 2. To work grace in them and each grace is so much of the power of the Spirit in the flesh 3. To inable them to mortifie sin and the power of the Spirit mortifies 1. The whole body of sin in all its parts and members and 2. Each particular strong corruption 4. To performe duties For no more strength in any duties then of the Spirit in them 5. To confess the Word before Kings and Magistrates 6. To publish the word and that both 1. In private 2.
In publique in case of necessity 7. To suffer and overcome affliction Natural strength withdraws it self from the evil Spiritual strength stands to it and overcomes it The second Vse is for information and instruction shewing that the way to obtain this power is to obtain the Spirit and to encrease this power is to encrease the Spirit Now that we may obtain the Spirit we must first prepare our selves Wherein this preparation doth not consist Wherein it doth consist that is 1. In emptying us 2. The work of the Spirit after he hath emptied us is to fill us The means through which the Spirit is conveyed to us 1. By the Word and this word the Word of the Gospel 2. By Faith which carries us to Christs flesh to receive of his Spirit Through the word and faith we are born of God and so partake of the Spirit of God 3. Prayer and in prayer we may ask the Spirit either of the Father or the Son Again that we may encrease the Spirit 1. We must be constant and continual in the use of the Word 2. We must daily encrease faith 3. Must be much in prayer 4. Must withdraw our seves from the creatures and live loose from them 5. Must cease from our own works 6. Must give our selves up to the Sprit that he may work his work in us 7. The works of the Spirit we must attribute to the Spirit and not to our flesh Christs Spirit a Christians strength OR A plain discovery of the mighty and invincible power that all Believers receive through the Gift of the SPIRIT Acts 1.8 But ye shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me c. Or You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you THese words are the more remarkable because they are the very last words in the conference between the Son of God and his beloved Apostles immediatly before his ascension into heaven Now you know when dear and intimate friends are to part as their love then runs strongest and their affections are most intire and vehement so then also they especially discourse of those things wherein most of all they desire to be satisfied and resolved Thus was it between Christ and his Apostles never was there such dear and intimate friendship and such sincere and burning love between any as between them The Apostles all of them loved Christ most truly and passionately and Peter who had three times denied him three times professed his love to him and being sorry that Christ should question his love the third time he thus answered Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee And Christ also loved them dearly yea he loved them a first and having b loved his own he loved them to the end and so he was not discontented with them for their leaving and forsaking him through humane infirmity when he was led away to judgement and to death For though death quite puts out all natural love yet spiritual love is not extinguished but enlarged by death Now when such loving friends as these were even now ready to take their last leave one of another in regard of bodily presence who would not most willingly have been present to have heard what discourse passed between Christ and his Disciples at this their last parting Now Luke acquaints us with the whole summe and substance of Christs discourse with his Apostles all the time he lived together with them after his Resurrection till the day wherein he Ascended into Heaven In the third verse of this Chapter he saith he did discourse with them De Regno Dei touching the Kingdome of God That is not only touching his Spiritual Kingdom which he sets up in each particular Christian and which begins at our regeneration and is consummate in glorification but also touching his Mediatory and Monarchical Kingdom which in the time appointed of his Father he should set up in the world When he should have the a Heathen for his inheritance and the utmost ends of the earth for his possession and b all people and Nations and Languages should serve him and he c should reign from sea to sea and from the river to the worlds end This was the summ of Christs discourse with them And the Apostles were fully satisfied touching the thing onely they were unsatisfied touching the time For besides that the setting up of this Kingdom of the Messias in the power beauty and glory of it was at that time the common discourse and expectation of all Israel the Apostles themselves remembred many Prophesies and promises of the Old Testament for the restoring the Kingdom of David And this they thought Christ would have done in the daies of his flesh but presently all their hopes were blasted by his death But when they saw him risen again from the dead then presently their hearts were revived into their former hopes but yet again seeing nothing done all the time he conversed with them after the resurrection when now he was ready to Ascend into Heaven they desire him first to resolve them of this question whether or no he would at that time restore the Kingdom to Israel Lord say they Wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel Now Christ doth not deny the restoring of the Kingdom to Israel but denies to acquaint them with the time when it should be done He tells them it was not for them to know the times and seasons which the Father had put in his own power verse 7. The like answer to the like demand Daniel received in his time For when the Angel had represented to Daniel the totall destruction of the image of worldly Monarchy together with the rise and reign and ruin of Antichrist and the setting up of Christs Kingdom in the world in the stead of the two former Daniel said Chap. 12.8 And I heard but I understood not thou said I O my Lord What shall be the end of these things And he said Go thy way Daniel for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end So that the Angel who discovered the things themselves to Daniel refused to discover to him plainly and expressely the time when they should be done but that was to be closed and sealed up till the time of the end And so here in like manner Christ who had discoursed largely and cleerly to the Disciples touching the Kingdom of God yet denies to discover to them the time when it should be set up in the world And the reason why he denied this to them to whom he had not denyed himself was not for want of loue but because the Father had kept the time and season wherein all this should be done in his own power Had this been placed in Christs power he had no doubt made it known to them as well as he did those other things which he had heard
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 our selves are and what God is and these things he teaches us to know otherwise then 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 unmoveable 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 onely lead us unto the truth that is unto the word which is the onely truth as it is written Sanctifie 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 beleever and leads him into one truth after another till at last it lead 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 unmovable among variety of different and contrary winds of Doctrine And this is the very cause that among so many divisions and factions and errours 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 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 unpossible we should be perverted by men Whereas on the contrary the true ground why so many are seduced and overcom by the errors and heresies of this age is because they have taken up their religion onely from mans teaching and have received their opinions or doctrine from men and so what one man hath taught us another man can unteach yea if we be led to the truth it self onely by man man can again lead us from it For all the world cannot lead any man into the truth till the Spirit lead him into 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 Councels and Churches in the world yea all the Angels of Heaven should teach us contrary we would 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 unmoveable 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 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 indurings It is said Eccles. 9.15 That there was a poor wise man delivered a small city from the power of a mighty King and therefore Solomon concludes that wisdom is better then strength for it can do greater things then 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 that 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 then that which raised up Christ from the dead when he lay under all the sin of man and all the Wrath of God and all the sorrows of death and all the paines 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 whoever truely beleeves by this faith of the operation of God is sensible in his own soul of the self same power that raised Christ up 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 a man out to Christ now there is no man weaker then he that rests on himself and there is no man stronger then he that forsakes himself and rests on Christ And so a man through the power of Faith is able both to do and indure the self same things which Christ himself did and indured 1. He is able to do the same things that Christ himself did and therefore saith Christ all things are possible to him that beleeveth so that a beleever hath a kinde 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 beleever who is partaker of that power of God And hence Paul saith I can do all things through Christ that strengthneth me This Christ that strengthned him was the power of God and this power of God is not a finite power but an infinite nor a particular power but an universal and so can do not some things only but all things and so also can all they who are truly
CHRIST'S SPIRIT A Christians Strength OR A plain discovery of the mighty and invincible power that all Believers receive through the gift of the SPIRIT First held forth in two Sermons on Act. 1.8 and after published for the instruction and use of those that are spiritual Anno 1645. By WILLIAM DELL Minister of the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST at Yelden in the County of Bedford 1 Cor. 4.19.20 I will come to you shortly if the Lord will and will know not the speech of them that are puffed up but the power For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power 2 Tim. 3.5 Having a form of Godliness but denying the power of it from such turn away London Printed for Hen. Cripps and Lod. Lloyd 1651. To the Right Honorable the Lady ELIZABETH Countess of BULLINGBROOK Right Honourable THe form of Godliness is very common in these dayes of ours but the power of it is very rare How few persons shall we finde in the visible Church who live and act in the strength of God But generally men do what ever they do in their own strength and that not onely in humane things but in divine How seldom do we see either in Ministers or Christians in the discharge of their duties in their several places more then the power of men The greatest part by far not onely of those who are called Christians but also of forward Professors being ignorant what it is to be strengthened with might in the inner man according to the glorious power of the great God How little is there among all our plenty of that preaching which is not in the plausible words of mans wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and Power How few Congregations among the many that are in the Kingdom are gathered together in the Spirit and Power of our Lord Iesus Christ How few of those Christians are there in whom is the exceeding greatness of Gods power together with the effectual working of it But the form of Godliness is now become almost the covering of all flesh and in these dayes of light and knowledge it is accounted by all that are not down-right Atheists a great shame not to seem to be religious And when men and families and Congregations are gotten into this form they think themselves both safe and happy as being near the suburbs of the Kingdom of God and close Neighbours to the Saints And this form of godliness as it is of very easie compliance with flesh and blood in this particular in that according to this men onely make their actions new retaining still their old natures so it is also of great credit and esteem with carnal Gospellers But the spiritual man judgeth all things and yet he himself is judged of no man and he being partaker of the power of God himself can in some measure discern both the presence and want of it in others both which he knows in his own experience Now this form of godliness is when men are godly without God and anoynted without Christ and regenerate not having the Spirit that is when they have a semblance of holiness but not the thing it self a semblance of grace retaining their old natures And such Christians as these perform spiritual duties with natural strength heavenly duties with earthly strength the works of God with the power of men In the Religion of these men there is the outward duty done and it may be very speciously and plausibly but there is none of Christ nor the Spirit in the duty There is their own working towards God which is faint and faithless and not Gods own working in them towards himself which is lively and mighty and all the religious acts they do are onely their own operations and not the operations of God in them This form of godliness how pleasing soever it be to a mans self and of what reckoning soever with others who are like himself yet is indeed of very evil and woful consequence whether we regard the doings or sufferings unto which this form necessarily engages For first when men by occasion of this form are called forth to do the great works of God and yet are destitute of the power of God their duties are above their strength and their strength bears no proportion to their duties And so sooner or later meeting with difficulties they faint and languish as a Snail their works being too high for their faculties For nature being strained above its power and offering at that which is beyond its abilities by degrees grows weary and returns to its old temper again And he that sought that glory which was not his own at last lies down in his own shame Again the form of godliness exposes a man to those evils that are incident to the faithful because of godliness Now when a man hath the same evils with the faithful and not the same power to support him under those evils when men have the same evils in the flesh but not the same power in the Spirit the same burthens on their shoulders but not the same everlasting arms underneath them they fall sadly and desperately to the great scandal of the ways of God However if men be not called forth to such eminent doings and sufferings and so scape such manifest discoveries and downfals yet the form of godliness hath this evil in it That it brings a man onely to the troublesome part of Religion but not to the comfortable it engages a man in the same duties with the godly but supplies him not with the same strength it involves him in the same bitterness of flesh but doth not furnish him with the same joy of Spirit For as such a mans Religion doth not reach above flesh and blood no more doth his strength and comforts And so he performs duties at a low rate yea and his bare and empty form casts a black vail upon Religion and utterly obscures its beauty and glory and makes the world judge meanly of it and to think it a matter only of singularity and humour and not of power Whereas when a Christian walks in the strength of the Spirit doing and suffering the will of God beyond all strength and abilities of flesh and blood the world often times wonders and gazes at him and many are provoked to glorifie God who hath given such power to men For this power of godliness among other things hath these three advantages 1. It makes a man do every duty strongly and mightily And whatever might take a man off from duty or distract and disturbe him in it all fals to nothing before this power There is that strength in each duty performed by the power of the anoynting which declares it to be the operation of God himself in man and nothing else but the very power of God that is Iesus Christ himself in action in us 2. It makes a man inflexible in the ways of God that he shall neither turn to the right hand nor to the left
partakers of it by faith Yea Christ himself hath a greater expression then this yea such an one that I never durst have spoken if Christ himself had not first spoken it and that is this John 14 12. He that beleeveth in me the works that I do shall he do and greater works then these because I go to the Father Where Christ saith a beleever shall not only do the same works with himself which also had been a great thing but also greater works then himself and this indeed is altogether admirable and wonderfull That a beleever shall do greater works then Christ But how is this made good Why thus Christ he overcame the Law and Sin and Death and Hell and the whole power of the Devill in a body and soul free from sin his humane 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 beleevers 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 beleever and findes much in him and yet he overcomes And this truly is a greater work then Christ did And these works we do but not through our own power but through Christs 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 sufferd Now the sufferings of Christ were the most grievous and intolerable to nature that ever were For how did Christ for the present as it were lay aside his Divine nature that he might suffer in his humane 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 the sufferings had not the least drop of comfort either from heaven or earth and yet through the power of the Spirit he indured and overcame all And so each Christian is able to indure and overcome the same evills by the same power and therefore Paul desired to know Christ truly and not onely the power of his resurrection 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 further that if a Christian should chance to fall down into Hell as we beleeve 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 As is evident in that Godly woman for I will name but one instance instead of many who thinking of the torments of hell and of the hatred and blasphemy of God which reigned in the damned did earnestly entreat God ut etiam si damnaretur tamen Deum diligeret that though she were damned yet still she might love God Here love was too hard for Hell indeed And thus a beleever through faith is inabled both to do and indure the self same things which Christ himself did and endured and the Holy Spirit by being a Spirit of faith is a Spirit of Power in us 5. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of power in us by being in us a Spirit of Righteousness and so he is two waies 1. In regard of mortifying sin For the Spirit of God dwelling in us is not idle in us but continually active and so from day to day mortifies sin And this is the proper work of the Spirit in our flesh to destroy out of us whatsoever is contrary to it self and that is every sin lust and corruption Now our sins are our weakness a mans pride and passion and envy and covetousness and lust and intemperance and every sin is his weakness Now the Holy Spirit by being in us a Spirit of righteousness mortifies and destroyes all our sins and so takes away our weakness 2. Again as the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of righteousness in us in regard of mortifying sin so also in regard of imparting grace to us For all grace is the fruit and operation of the Spirit in our flesh and as all light is from the sun so is all grace from the Spirit Now every grace is so much strength in the soul Faith so much strength Hope so much strength Love so much strength and so humility and patience and temperance and godliness and brotherly Kindness and all other graces are so much strength and according to each mans measure of grace so is his measure of strength and according to each mans measure of the Spirit so is his measure of grace And thus the Holy Spirit by being a Spirit of righteousness is also in us a Spirit of power 6. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of power in us by being in us a Spirit of the fear of the Lord and so he is by representing God to us in his Glory and Majesty according as he hath revealed himself to us in his word from which knowledge of God springs his fear For what is the reason that the men of the world fear not God but sin securely against the great and glorious God every day Why the reason is because they know not the Lord Now the Spirit comes and reveals the Father in the Son and presents God to the soul through his word in his infinite and eternal power and justice and wisdom and truth and faithfulness and love and mercy and goodness c. and shines to the soul in each attribute of God and now when a man sees God by his own light and knows him by his own teaching then first doth he begin truely to fear God and the fear of God is his strength For he that fears God is free from all other fear he fears not men of high degree nor men of low degree nor the united power of all the creatures he fears not the fear of other men in their evils but in the midst of all fearful things he is without fear because he sanctifies the Lord of hosts in himself in his heart and makes him his fear and his dread And by this means amidst all evils he hath admirable confidence and assurance because he knows that no evil can befall him from any man or from any creature till first it be the will of God and also that what ever evil befalls him according to the will of God it
shall work for good unto him in the end Thus the fear of the Lord is a Christians confidence and a beleevers strength whereas he that fears not God fears every thing yea not onely reall but imaginary evils and as evils multiply his fears so his fears again multiply his evils till at last he be swallowed up of both But the Holy Spirit being in us a Spirit of the fear the Lord is also in us a Spirit of strength 7. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of power in us by being in us a Spirit of love and unity The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of love and unity in the Godhead for the Father loves the Son with the Spirit and the Son loves the Father with the Spirit and the Father is one with the Son in the Spirit and the Son is one with the Father in the Spirit and the Spirit is both the bond of love and unity between the Father and the Son and God being most love and most one is also most strong Now what the Spirit is in the Godhead he is the same in the Church of God which is the true temple and habitation of the Godhead and that is a Spirit of love and unity For why is there such constant love and unity between the members of the same body but because one Spirit runs through them all and so there is such constant love and unity between all beleevers because one Holy Spirit runs through them all And hence we may take notice of a remarkable difference between nature and grace for nature of one makes many for we all who are many among our selves even a whole world of men were but one in Adam omnes eramus ille unus homo but grace of many makes one for the Holy spirit which is as fire melts all the faithfull into one mass or lump and makes of many one body one thing yea it makes them one in the unity of God according to that of Christ John 17.21 that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us mark the words for they are wonderful that they all may be one that is that all beleevers who are many among themselves may be all made one one How one As thou Father art in me and I in thee that is as thou and I being two persons are yet but one God after this highest example of unity let them be made One in us as long as they remain in themselves they are many and how much they remain in themselves they are many for their unity is not in themselves but they are one in us who are one that is how much the saints by the Spirit are carried into the Father and the Son who are one so much also are they made one not onely with the Father and the Son but also with one another You may see in the Acts how the multitude of beleevers after they had received the Spirit so far forth as they had received the Spirit Were of one heart and of one minde And this unity of beelievers is their strength and when God shall take away all those prejudices and suspicions and jealousies and particular ends and interests and divisions and separations and Schismes that are among his own people and the people of God shall be reduced into this blessed unity among themselves and the Lord be one and his name one among them all then shall the Church also be of admirable and invincible power So that all they that strive with it shall perish and all they that war against it shall be as nothing yea then shall the Lord make the Church as a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth and it shall thresh the Mountains that is the Kingdomes of the world and shall beat them small and shall make the hills that is the lesser Common-wealths as chaffe But till the Church of God attain to this unity it shall not do any excellent thing it shall not work any notable deliverance in the earth neither shall the inhabitants of the world fall When the Spirit of God shall be a Spirit of unity in the faithful and shall heal all the sad differences and dissensions that are now between them then also shall it be a Spirit of admirable power in them And thus much for the explication of the point The Vse is twofold 1. The first is to exhort all men everywhere to endeavour to partake of this supernatural spiritual and divine power of the Holy Spirit which is certainly communicated to all the faithful and Elect in Christ Jesus And let no man think it is a thing indifferent whether he have this power or no but know that the having of this power of the Spirit is of absolute necessity and that both for Ministers and for all other Christians 1. There is a necessity of this power of the Holy Spirit for Ministers and to them this present place doth chiefly relate 1. For first if they have not this power of the Holy Spirit they have no power at all For Christ sent them only as his Father sent him and so Christ never gave unto them any earthly or humane or secular power no power of swords or prisons no power of outward constraint and violence Christ gave them no such outward and worldly power for the inlargement of his Kingdom as not being at all sutable to it For his Kingdom is spiritual and what can carnal power do in a Spiritual Kingdom His Kingdom is heavenly and what can earthly power do in a heavenly Kingdom His Kingdom is not of this world and what can worldly power do in a Kingdom that is not of the World And though Antichrist and his Ministers have arrogated and usurped such a carnal and earthly and worldly power to themselves in their pretended managing the Kingdom of Christ yet the faithful Ministers of Christ cannot And therefore seeing the Ministers of the Gospel have no power from beneath they must needs have power from on high seeing they have no fleshly power they must needs have Spiritual power seeing they have no power from earth and from men they must needs have power from heaven and from God that is the power of the Holy Spirit coming on them or else they have no power at all 2. The Ministers of the Gospel must needs have this power of the Holy Spirit because otherwise they are not sufficient for the Ministery For no man is sufficient for the work of the Ministery by any natural parts and abilities of his own nor yet by any acquisite parts of humane learning and knowledge but onely by this power of the Holy Spirit and till he be indowed with this notwithstanding all his other accomplishments he is altogether insufficient And therefore the very Apostles were to keep silence till they were indued with this power they were to wait at Jerusalem till they had received the promise of
the spirit and not to preach till then Yea Christ himself did not betake himself to the work of the Ministery till first the spirit of God came upon him and anointed him to preach And therefore for thirty years together he did not preach publikely and ordinarily till at Johns Baptism he received this power of the spirit coming on him Now if Christ himself and his Apostles were not sufficient for the Ministery till they had received this power from on high no more are any other Ministers whatsoever For as I said it is not natural parts and abilities and gifts and learning and eloquence and accomplishments that make any man sufficient for the Ministery but only the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon him So that who ever is destitute of the spirit of power is insufficient for the work of the Ministery and that in these regards 1. Without this power of the spirit Ministers are utterly unable to preach the Word that is the true spiritual and living Word of God For to preach this Word of God requires the Power of God One may speak the word of man by the power of man but he cannot speak the Word of God but by the power of God And Christ himself in all his Ministery spake nothing of himself in the strength of his humane nature but he spake all he spake by the power of God and without this power of God he could not have spoken one word of God And so in like manner no man is able to preach Christ but by the Holy Spirit which is the power of God For Christ is the power of God and can never be represented but by the Holy Spirit which is the power of God For as we see light in his light that is the Father who is light in the Son who is light or else the Son who is light in the Holy Spirit who is light So we know power in his power that is the Son who is power in the Holy Spirit who is power And Christ who is the power of God can never be made known to the Church but by the ministration of the spirit which is the power of God So that it is not an easie thing to preach Christ the power of God yea none can do it aright but by the power of the Holy Spirit comming upon him 2. Without this power of the Spirit Ministers are unable to preach the word powerfully They may it may be happen upon the outward word yet there is no power in their Ministry till they have received this power of the spirit comming upon them Otherwise their Ministery is cold and there is no heat in it it is weak and there is no strength in it 1. It is cold and there is no heat in it Without men have received the power of the spirit there is no fire in their preaching Their ministery is unlike the ministery of Elias whose ministery was as fire and unlike John Baptists who in his ministery was a burning and shining light and unlike Christs whose ministery made the Disciples hearts burn within them and unlike the Apostles who having received this spirit were as men made all of fire running through the world and burning it up Without this spirit a mans ministery is cold it warms the hearts of none it inflames the spirit of none but leaves men still frozen in their sins 2. It is weak and hath no might in it There is no strength in a Ministery where there is no spirit Whereas when men have received the spirit then their ministery is a powerful ministery as Paul 1 Thess. 1.5 The Gospel came to you not in word onely but in power and in the Holy Ghost and therefore in povver because in the Holy Spirit And again 1 Cor. 2.4 My speech and preaching was not with the entising words of mans wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and power Where you see the spirit and power in the work of the Ministery are alwayes conjoyned as the Sun and light are And that Ministery that is in the spirit is alway in power And being in power it is alwayes effectual either to convert men or to inrage them And the inraging of men is as evident a sign of the spirit of power in a mans ministery as the conversion of men Whereas a cold and dead ministry that is destitute of this power doth as we use to say neither good nor harm neither converts nor inrages neither brings in righteousness nor destroyes sin neither kils nor quickens any but leaves men in their old temper for many years together and never stirs them But the ministration of the spirit and power is operative and mighty and carries all before it And though evil and carnal men will ever be murmuring and wrangling and opposing and contending against such a ministry yet they are never able to resist the wisdom and spirit of it as the Libertines Cyrenians and Alexandrians were not able to resist the wisdom and spirit by which Stephen spake And therefore let them that will needs be striving against such a ministery know that they strive against more then a meer man they strive against power from on high against the greatest power that ever God put forth against the power of Christ himself and his eternal spirit and so they shall never be able to prevail against this power but shall surely sinke under it But to return from whence we have a little digressed 3. Without this power of the spirit as Ministers are not able to preach the Word nor to preach it powerfully so neither are they able to hold out in their ministry and to carry it on strongly against all opposition and contradiction Peter and John preached the Gospel but presently the Rulers and Elders and Scribes convented them and straightly threatned them and commanded them not to speak at all nor to teach in the name of Jesus And now if the Apostles had wanted this power of the spirit they would presently have been suibd and awed and would â—â—ve sneaked away and you should have heard no more of them But they having received this power all the threatnings and scornings of the Rulers and Magistrates could not deterr them from the discharge of their office and that ministery they had received from Christ But though before they were fearful and trembling and daunted at the apprehension of the least danger yet now having received this power they are altogether undaunted and said to the Rulers and Elders whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more then unto God judge ye As if they should have said O ye Rulers and Elders of the people our case is a plain case wherein we are most willing that even your own selves should be Judges For we have received a command from God to preach the Gospel of his Son Iesus Christ and you forbid us to do that which God hath commanded us
Now do you your selves be Judges who is fittest to be obeyed God or you the great and glorious God of heaven and earth or poor wretched men such as your selves Nay what God hath commanded us we must and will obey against all your threatnings and punishments and what ever you can say or do We cannot conceal but must publish what we have seen and known of our Lord Jesus Christ of his incarnation life death resurrection ascension kingdom glory and of that great redemption and salvation which he hath wrought and purchased for all the Elect of God Now I would to God that the unjust commands of all Magistrates and secular Powers whatsoever might be no otherwise obeyed then this unjust command of the Rulers was by Peter and John and that no man would dare to yield more obedience to the creature then to the Lord of all For no Princes or Magistrates in the world have any power to forbid the preaching of the everlasting Gospel which God hath commanded should be published to all Nations for the obedience of Faith I say they have no power at all to forbid the preaching of this Gospel or of any one truth of it though never so cross to their designs And if they should yet herein ought we to know no more obedience then Peter and John did here We ought to obey God and not them and to make known the whole minde of God though it be never so contrary to their minde After the example of Peter and John who having received this power of the Holy Spirit held 〈◊〉 their Ministery against all the countermands and threatnings and punishments of the Magistrates Whereas without this power they had soon fainted and failed and had never been able to have gone through with it 4. Without this power of the Holy Spirit Ministers are not able to reprove the world For every man by nature seeks the amity of the world and no man by his good will would provoke the enmity of it against himself And therefore flesh and blood will never reprove the world of sin but allows it and countenances it in sin But now the Spirit when he is come he will reprove the world of sin When a man hath this power of the Spirit in him then presently he reproves and argues the world of sin and so by his ministery bids defiance to the whole world and provokes the whole world against himself And this no man either can do or dares do except he be first indued with this power of the Spirit coming on him And therefore saith Micah Cha. 3. vers. 8. I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord and of judgement and of might to declare unto Iacob his transgression and to Israel his sin The world of all other things cannot indure the reproof of sin and the declaration of its evil wayes And therefore it is exceedingly offended yea and extreamly rages against the faithful teachers of the Word with all sorts of punishments and persecutions as the examples of all the Prophets Apostles and faithful teachers of the Word of God in all ages do declare Yea and Christ himself testifies touching himself therefore the world hates me because I testifie of it that the works thereof are evil But now they that will connive at sin and flatter the world in its own wayes these are the onely men of reckoning and live in all worldly Honour and prosperity And all ages can witness that all Teachers are not of that strength and resolution to contemn the hatred and fury of the world Nay the most are quite overcome with the prosperity of this present life and with the desire of friends and riches and preferment and so wink at the sins of the world and are Ministers in whose mouths are no reproofs though the whole world lye in wickedness For thus they escape the rage and violence and obtain the favour and love of the men of this world And thus weak and unworthy are those men who are onely indued with their own Spirits But now saith Micah I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord and of judgement and of might to declare unto Iacob his transgression and to Israel his sin As if he should have said the power of the Spirit of the Lord dwelling in me puts forth its self two wayes in judgement and in fortitude 1. In judgement and this signifies the reproving and the condemning sin and wickedness as the Prophet himself explicates saying that I might declare unto Iacob his transgression and to Israel his sin But seeing their being full of judgement doth not want danger but exposes a man to a thousand evils in as much as the world can indure nothing less then the reproof of sin therefore I am by the power of the Spirit not onely full of judgement but also Secondly full of Might and as the Spirit of judgement exposes me to danger so the Spirit of might inables me to contemn those dangers So that though the world because of the Spirit of judgement threatens never so many evils yet the Prophet is not frighted from his office but through the Spirit of might discharges it faithfully in despight of all those threatnings And whatever Ministers want this Spirit of might though out of danger they may be confident yet at the very first incounter of evil they will bend and yeeld and speak and do all things for the favour of the world rather then for the truths sake they will expose themselves to the hatred and opposition of the world 5. Without this power of the Spirit they are unable to wrestle with and overcome the Devil whose subtilty and wrath and malice and power they must needs encounter with in the work of the Ministry Christ as soon as he was indued with this power and anointed by the spirit to preach was immediately led into the wilderness to be temped of the devil who would fain have taken him off from the work of the Ministery if it had been possible But Christ being indued with this power overcame the divel And Christ before he sent his Apostles to preach the Kindgdom of God as you may see Luke 9.1 called them together and gave them power and authority over all devils and when they returned they told him that the devils themselves were subject to them But now the seven sons of Sceva who were destitute of this power when they took upon them to call over one who had an evill spirit the name of the Lord Iesus and to say we adjure you by Iesus whom Paul preacheth The evil spirit answered and said Jesus know and Paul I know but who are ye and so the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped upon them and overcame them and prevailed against them and they fled away naked and wounded Acts 19. So that they being destitute of this power from on high the devil was presently too hard for them and they were overcome by the
devil But now they that are invested with this power of the Holy Spirit are able to wrestle with principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world and to out-wrestle them and to tread Satan himself under their feet Sixthly without this power of the Holy Spirit they are unable to suffer persecution for the Word but the least touch of evil causes them to pull in their hornes and each reproach and opposition and persecution shakes them down Whereas this power makes them confident couragious comfortable and invincible in the midst of all evils See this in some examples Our Lord Iesus Christ being anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power did not onely preach the truth in his life but also witnessed a good confession before Pontius Pilate and sealed to the truth with His death Paul who was indued with the same power when Agabus foretold him by the Holy Spirit his bonds at Jerusalem and the brethren hearing it came weeping to Paul and besought him to keep himself out of bonds by not going up thither Paul reproved them and told them that he was ready not onely to be bound but to dye at Ierusalem for the Lord Iesus Chrysostome was indued with the same power and so resolved to preach the truth and not to depart from the truth though the whole world should wage war against him alone And professed that he desired nothing more then to suffer for the cause of Christ and that if it were offered to him of God whether he would immediately go to heaven or stay on earth and suffer for Christ he would a thousand times rather chuse this latter then the former Because in going immediately to heaven he should seek himself but in staying on earth to suffer for Christ he should wholly deny himself and seek his honour alone Luther was indued with the same spirit of power and so when he was called to Wormes before the Emperour Charls the fifth and before all the estates of the Empire to render a reason of his Doctrine and some of his friends perceiving undue dealing among his adversaries perswaded him not to go to expose himself to danger but he answered with a mighty spirit * I have decreed and am resolved because I am called to go into the City in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ though I knew there were so many Devils to oppose me as there are tiles on all the houses of the City And when he was called to return to Wittenberge by the people which he could not do without most evident and apparent danger he being already condemned by the Edicts and Authority both of the Pope and Emperour and so in regard of them could expect no less then a violent death every day yet for all this he was resolved to return to his charge and upon this occasion hath this passage to the Duke of Saxony * But what shall I do unavoidable causes urge me God himself calls and compells me and here I will turn my back to no creature Go to then let me do it in the name of Jesus Christ who is Lord both of life and death Again in his answer to the Dialogue of Sylvester Prierias who had threatned him he saith I have nothing that I can loose I am the Lords and if I am lost I am lost to the Lord that is I am found And therefore seek some body else to fright for me you cannot Again in his answer to Ambrosius Catharinus he saith of the Pope and his Instruments they seek not to overcome me with Scriptures but to destroy me out of the earth but I know and am sure that Christ our Lord lives and reigns And being even filled with this knowledge and confidence I will not fear many thousands of Popes For greater is he that-is in us then he that is in the World And again in his Epistle to his Father he hath this remarkable passage What if the Pope shall kill me or condemn me below hell He cannot rayse me up again when I am slain and kill me a second and third time And having once condemned me I would never have him absolve me For I am confident that the day is at hand wherein that Kingdom of abomination and destruction shall be it self destroyed But would I might first be counted worthy either to be burned or slain by him that so my blood might cry the lowder and urge his judgement to be the more hastened But if I am not worthy to testifie with my blood let me at least intreat and implore this mercy that I may testifie by my life and Doctrine that Jesus Christ alone is our Lord and God blessed for ever and ever Calme Melancton was indued with the same Spirit of power and so when his enemies threatned him not to leave him a place in all Germany whereon to set his foot he said avido tranquillo animo expecto exilia I expect banishment with a desirous and peaceable mind Many more Examples might be produced to show that when Ministers are indued with the power of the Spirit coming on them then they are stronger then all opposition and Persecution whatsoever otherwise when these evils encounter them they with Demas leave the Work and imbrace the World And thus you see what necessity all the faithful Ministers of the Gospel have of the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon them and without this power though they be called Ministers yet they are none For without this power they are unable to preach the Word to preach it powerfully and to persevere and hold out in the course of the Ministery they are unable to reprove the World to wrestle with and overcome the Devil and to suffer that Persecution which necessarily attends that calling And so without this power they may Minister to themselves but cannot Minister to others the manifold graces of God they may do their own work but they cannot do Gods work they may feed themselves but not the Flock of Christ they may domineer over the sheep but cannot drive away the Wolf they may build up their own houses but cannot build up God house Secondly as the Holy Spirit and the power of it is necessary for Ministers so also for all other Christians whatsoever But some here will be ready to say yea but do all believers receive the Spirit of God and the power of the Spirit as Ministers do Yes Equally and alike with them without any difference This is evident Act. 11.15 where Peter tels the Jews who contended with him for conversing and eating with the Gentiles that when he began to speak the Word to them the Holy Spirit fell on them saith he as on us at the beginning And again ver. 17. Forasmuch then as God gave 〈◊〉 them the like gift as he did unto us who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ what was I that I could withstand God So that God gave the Holy
Spirit to as many Gentiles as believed in like manner as he did unto the Apostles themselves and they received the same power of the Holy Spirit coming on them as the Apostles did Whereby you may perceive that not Ministers only are Spiritual men and all others temporal as the Papists have taught and many Ignorant people among our selves are still perswaded but all true Believers are spiritual as well as they being born of the Spirit and Baptized with the Spirit equally as they are And so all true Believers as well as Ministers being indued with the Spirit are also indued with the power of the Spirit and so have more then an Earthly power in them They have all of them power of another nature then the power of the World they partake of spiritual heavenly and divine power even of the very power of Christ himself which infinitely transcends all the power of the creature You see then clearly that all faithful Christians have the Spirit of power and the power of the Spirit coming on them aswe◠as Ministers And they stand in need of both these for these causes 1. They stand in need of the Spirit of power first to difference and distinguish them from Reprobates and Devils for without the gift of the Spirit there is no difference between us and them For Michael doth not differ from the Devil nor Gabriel from Belzebub but only by the Spirit And Moses differs not from Pharoah nor Abel from Cain not Jacob from Esau nor Peter from Judas in regard of their substance but in regard of the Spirit which the one received and the other were counted unworthy of 2. To advance them above the condition of flesh and blood and above all those in whom is none of Gods Spirit The excellency of each creature is according to its Spirit for the more excellent the spirit of the creature is the more excellent is the creature it self and each creature is valued and rated according to the Spirit of it How excellent then must they be above all the World who have received the Spirit that is of God Surely these are people of the most excellent spirit And hence it is that the righteous is more excellent then his neighbour because his spirit is more excellent then his neighbours 3. To unite them unto Christ The Spirit is the bond of Vnion between the Father and the Son in the Godhead and the Father and the Son are one in the Spirit as we spake before And now the same spirit is our bond of Vnion with Christ and makes us one with Christ as Christ is one with God and unites us unto Christ in the unity of God for as Christ is one with the Father in the Spirit so are we one with Christ in the Spirit For he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit and he that is not one Spirit with the Lord is not joyned to him 4. All faithful Christians stand in need of the power of the Spirit as well as of the Spirit of power 1. To change their nature which is impossible to all power but the power of the Spirit It would be a great power to change clay into Gold and a pibble into a Diamond but it is a greater change that is wrought in a Christian and requires a greater power For the power of the Spirit when it comes into our flesh changes the nature of it For it finds a man carnal it makes him spiritual it finds him earthly it makes him heavenly it finds him a drunkard it makes him sober an adulterer it makes him chast a swearer it makes him fear an oath proud it makes him humble it finds him darkness makes him light in the Lord in a word it finds him nothing but a lump of sin and makes him the righteousness of God in Christ Thus the power of the Spirit changes our whole corrupt nature and makes it conformable to the divine nature as fire makes the Iron in which it prevails like unto it self communicating its own nature to it After this sort the power of the Spirit changes our nature and our nature cannot be changed without it But without this power of the Spirit we shall always remain the same we were born without any change at all Yea our corruption will by daily use and exercise encrease in us till at last it quite eat out that common natural good which God hath given to every one of us for the common benefit of mankind 2. All Christians have need of the power of the Spirit to work grace in them For our natures are wholly carnal and corrupt and nothing can implant grace in them but the mighty power of Gods Spirit And it is as great a 〈◊〉 to see the Grace of God dwelling in the corrupt 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 as to see the Stars grow upon the Earth And yet the power of the Spirit doth this as it is written a truth shall spring out of the earth and again great and precious promises are made to us that we should be partakers of the Divine nature and again he hath predestinated us that we should be conformable to the Image of his Son That is as in other things so also in all his vertues So that the power of the Spirit implants grace in our nature and each grace is so much of the power of the Spirit in our flesh as was said before Wherefore we must needs learn to know whose power the power of grace is For though grace be a power in our flesh it is not the power of our flesh for Paul saith in me that is in my flesh dwels no good thing but and if any good be in my flesh it dwels not in my flesh but in Gods Spirit which dwels in me As light is in the ayr but dwels in the Sun so when men are regenerate good is in the flesh but dwels in the spirit For grace in the soul is nothing but so much of the power of the Spirit immediately dwelling and working in us and when the Spirit is gone all grace goes along with him as all light with the Sun but it dwels in him and is insepararable from him 3. All Christians stand in need of the power of the spirit to enable them to mortifie and destroy sin There is no power in our flesh against sin but all the power of our flesh is for it and therefore it must be another power then the power of our flesh that must destroy sin and that can be no other then the power of Gods Spirit And the power of the Spirit destroys the whole body of sin and each particular strong corruption 1. The whole body of sin in all the parts and members and branches of it each several influence and operation of the Spirit being a several destruction of some sin or other For as the spirit that is in us lusts after envie or pride or vain-glory or covetousness or uncleanness
or the like so the Spirit we have of God according to its mighty power destroys all those sinful works of our corrupt spirit and mortifies all the deeds of our flesh according to that of Paul if ye mortifie the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit ye shall live The flesh will never mortifie its own deeds but the spirit must mortifie the deeds of the flesh and this will mortifie them according to the whole Latitude of them 2. Again as the power of the Spirit sudues the whole body of sin so also it over 〈◊〉 each particular strong corruption and keeps a Christian straight and upright in the ways of God Every man hath some one corruption to which by nature he is more inclined then to another and this is the byas of a man but the strength of the Spirit will over-power this A boul if it be thrown with strength knows not its byas but is carryed on strait as if it had no byas at all So the Godly have still some flesh in them which is their byas and carries them from God to themselves and the World but the strength of the spirit takes away this byas and makes us take straight steps to God 4. All Christians stand in need of the power of the Spirit to inable them to perform duties to perform them aright that is spiritually For spiritual duties may be performed for the outward work carnally and in such duties there is no strength but weakness because there is none of the Spirit in them For there is no power in any duty except there be something of the spirit in the duty There is no more power in praying nor in preaching nor in hearing nor in meditation nor in reading nor in resisting evil nor in doing good nor in any duty of sanctification or of mortification then there is of the Spirit in them And according to the measure of the spirit in each duty is the measure of power in the duty If there be none of the Spirit in a mans duties there is no power at all in them but onely weakness and deadness and coldness and unpofitableness If a little of the spirit there is a little power if abundance of the Spirit there is great power and that duty that is most spiritual is the most powerful And therefore saith Paul I will pray with the Spirit and I will sing with the spirit and all the worship of the faithful is in the spirit Philip 3.3 We are the Circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and have no confidence in the flesh So that there is no more power in any duty then there is of the Spirit in it and there is no more acceptance of any duty with God then there is of power in it Fifthly all Christians stand in need of the Power of the Spirit to inable them to the use of the Word and that both in private and in publique as occasion serves 1. In private for no man can say that Iesus is the Christ but by the Holy Spirit No man can speak of Christ spiritually but by the Spirit and without this spirit which searches the deep things of God and reveals them to us Christians are unable to give the Sense of the Word of God in their families and among their friends and acquaintance and are also ashamed to do it Whereas the Spirit of God gives both ability and boldness as Aquila and Priscilla his wife did not onely speak the word in their family but also took Apollos a Minister home when they perceived him somewhat ignorant in the mystery of Christ and instructed him in the way of God more perfectly 2. They have need of the power of the spirit to inable them to speak the word of God in publike as every Christian may do if he come where people are ignorant of Gods Word and there be no Minister to do it This I say in such a case he may do by vertue of his anointing with the spirit And for this you may see the practise of Stephen and Philip who were but Deacons and not Elders or Ministers and yet published the Word where the people were ignorant yea you may see Act. 8. how all the Disciples except the Apostles were by reason of a great persecution scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria and they that were so scattered went everywhere preaching the Word because the people among which they were were ignorant and there was no body else to do it And God having made known Christ unto them they could not but declare him unto others the love both of Christ and of their brethren constraining them But this is in case of necessity and where other faithful Christians are absent otherwise when Christians are present no man can take that to himself without the consent of all which belongs to all Sixthly all Christians stand in need of this power of the spirit to inable them to confess the word before Kings and Rulers and Magistrates when they are called thereunto Whereas without this power they would tremble and bite in the truth In the 10. Chap. of Mat. Christ tells his Disciples that they should be brought before Governours and Kings for his names sake But saith he vers. 19. When they shall deliver you up take no thought how or what ye shall speak for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you Here Christ tels his Disciples that they should be brought before great men yea before the greatest in the world to give testimony to his truth And surely it is a very hard thing for a man not to be daunted then but to be unmoveable before all worldly power and glory and all the terrible frowns and threats of mighty men Now saith Christ at such a time when you are to speak before the armed power of the world be not troubled beforehand how or what to say For if you have Christ and his Spirit in your hearts you cannot want words in your mouths And the truth which you profess is most glorious when it is most naked and destitute of the garnishings of humane eloquence and wisdom And therefore be not fearful before hand no nor yet careful touching what you shall say for it shall be given to you in that same hour in that same moment you shall have most present help How so for it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father that dwels in you The spirit of truth that dwels in you shall inable you to speak the words of truth when you are called to it And though you it may be are plain and mean men and your lips would tremble and be quite closed up before such an Assembly of power and Majesty yet Gods spirit shall give you a mouth to speak even then And because if you were only supplied with a mouth