77 spiritual sense, the exceeding greatness of God's power; so that it is not by might or power of man, but by the Spirit and Power of the living God. It is God, that of his rich mercy, and because of his great love, and by his almighty power, quickens men dead in sin, dead in law, and exposed unto eternal dead; he speaks life unto them, when he calls them by his grace, breaths into the dry bones the breath of life, and they live spiritually; a life of justification, through the righteousness of Christ, which is the justification of life, or adjudges and intitles them to eternal life; and a life of faith on Christ, and of holiness from him; they live in newness of life, soberly, righteously, and godly; which life is preserved in them, it springs up to everlasting life; it is hid and secured with Christ in God, is a never-dying one, and shall issue in eternal life; in which all the three Persons in the Godhead are concerned, John v. 21-25. and xi. 25. Rom. viii. 2.

Eternal life, so often spoke of in scripture, as what the saints shall enjoy for evermore, is of God; it is what he has provided and prepared for them in his council and covenant; what they are fore-ordained unto in his purposes and decrees, and do most certainly enjoy; what he who cannot lie has promised to them before the world began, and which is his free gift, and flows from his free favour and good will, through Christ, Acts xiii. 48. Tit. i. 2. Rom. vi. 23. "and in which the Son and Spirit have a concern; Christ came that is people might have it, and he gave his flesh for the life of them; it is put into his hands, and he has a power to dispose of it, and give it to his sheep; so that none of them shall perish, but have it, 1 John v. 12. John xvii. 2. and x. 28. And the Spirit, whose grace springs up to it, and issues in it; and he dwells in his people, as the earnest of it; and works them up for it, and brings them into the "full enjoyment of it. Now God must have life in the highest degree of it, as “explained; even essentially, originally, infinitely, and perfectly; or he could never give life in every sense unto his creatures; and he must live for ever, to continue eternal life, particularly to his people, and preserve them in it.

OF THE OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD.

*

SOME of the names of God, in the Hebrew language, are thought to be derived from words which signify firmness and stability, strength, and power; as Adonai, El, El-Shaddai, which latter is always rendered almighty, Gen. xvii. 1. Exod. vi. 3. and very frequently in the book of Job; and the Greek word app is used of God in the New Testament, and is translated almighty and omnipotent, Rev. i. 8.and iv. 8. and xix. 6. and power is one of the names of God, Matt. xxvi. 64. compared with Heb. i. 3. the angel said to the virgin Mary, With God nothing shall be impossible, Luke i. 37. and Epicharmus, the heathen, has the same expression; and so Linus: Omnipotence is essential to Stromot. 1. 5. p. $97. βράδια πάντα θεω τέλεσαι, και αδυνατον εδώ, Linus.

God, it is his nature; a weak Deity is an absurdity to the human mind: the very heathens suppose their gods to be omnipotent, though without reason; but we have reason sufficient to believe that the Lord our God, who is the true God, is Almighty; his operations abundantly prove it; though if he had never exerted his almighty power, nor declared it by any external visible works, it would have been the same in himself; for it being his nature and essence, was from eternity, before any such works were wrought, and will be when they shall be no more; and hence it is called, his eternal power, Rom. i. 20. and may be concluded from his being an uncreated eternal Spirit. All spirits are powerful, as their operations shew; we learn some-what of their power from our own spirits or souls, which are endowed with the power and faculties of understanding, willing, reasoning, choosing and refusing, loving and hating, &c. and not only so, but are able to operate upon the body; and to quicken, move, direct and guide it to do whatever they please, and that that is capable of; and angelic spirits are more powerful still, they excel in strength, and are called mighty angels, Psal. ciii. 20. 2 Thess. i. 7. and have done very strange and surprizing things; one of them slew in one night one hundred and eighty-five thousand men, in the Assyrian camp, 2 Kings xix. 35. and what then cannot God, the uncreated and infinite Spirit, do; who has endowed these with all their power, might, and strength? can less than omnipotence be ascribed to him? This may be inferred from his infinity. God is an infinite Being, and so is every perfection of his; his understanding is infinite, and such is his power; for, as a Jewish writer argues, since power is attributed to God, it must be understood that it is infinite; for if it was finite, it might be conceived that there was a greater power than his; and so privation would fall on God; as if there was not in him the greater power that is to be conceived of. He is unlimited and unbounded, as to space, and so is omnipresent; and he is unlimit ed and unbounded as to time, and so is eternal; and he is unlimited and unbounded as to power, and so is omnipotent: to deny, or to call in question, his omnipotence, is to limit the holy one of Israel, which ought not to be done; this the Israelites are charged with, for distrusting his power to provide for them in the wilderness, Psal. Ixxviii. 19, 20, 41. The omnipotence of God may be argued from his independency; all creatures depend on him, but he depends on none; there is no cause prior to him, nor any superior to him, or above him, that can controul him; none, who, if his hand is stretched out, can turn it back, or stop it from proceeding to do what he will; none can stay his hand, or say unto him what dost thou?" he does what he pleases in heaven and in earth," Dan. iv. 35. Moreover, this attribute of God may be confirmed by his perfection; God is a most perfect being; but that he would not be if any thing was wanting in him: want of power in a creature is an imperfection, and would be so in God, was that his case; but as he is great, his power is great; there is an exuberancy, an exceeding greatness of power in him, beyond all conception and expression; he

* Joseph Albo in Sepher Ikkarim, fol. 68. 2.'

is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think," Eph. i. 19. and iii. 20. And this may be strengthened yet more by observing, the uselessness of many other perfections without it; for what though he knows all things fit and proper to be done, for his own glory, and the good of his creatures, what does it signify, if he cannot do them? and though he may, in the most sovereign manner, will, determine, and decree, such and such things to be done; of what avail is it if he cannot carry his will, determinations, and decrees into execution? what dependence can there be upon his faithfulness in his promises, if he is not able also to perform? and of what use is his goodness, or an inclination and disposition in him to do good, if he cannot do it? or where is his justice in rendering to every man according to his works, if he cannot execute it? So that, upon the whole, it is a most certain truth, that power belongs to God, as the Psalmist says, Psal. lxii. 11. and to whom he ascribes it, even power and might, by which two words he expresses the greatness of power, superlative power, power in the highest degree, even omnipotence, 1 Chron. xxix. 12. and it may be observed, that in all the doxologies or ascriptions of glory to God, by angels and men, power or might is put into them, Rev. iv. 10, 11. and v. 13. and vii. 11, 12. And indeed it belongs to no other; it is peculiar to God: nor is it communicable to a creature; since that creature would then be God; for omnipotence is his nature; nor is it even communicable to the human nature of Christ, for the same reason; for though the human nature is united to a divine person, who is omnipotent, it does not become omnipotent thereby; though the two natures, divine and human, are closely united in Christ; yet the properties of each are distinct and peculiar; and it is easy to observe, that the human nature of Christ was subject to various infirmities, though sinless ones, and stood in need of help, strength, and deliverance; for which, as man, he prayed; and at last he was crucified, through weakness, Heb. iv. 15. Psal. xxii. 19, 20. 2 Cor. xiii. 4. And as for Matt. xxviii. 18. that is said not of the attribute of divine power, which is not given him, but is natural to him, as a divine person but of his authority over all, and their subjection to him as Mediator.

The power of God reaches to all things, and therefore is, with propriety, called Omnipotence; all things are possible with God, and nothing impossible; this is said by an angel, and confirmed by Christ, Luke i. 37. Mark xiv. 36. what is impossible with men is possible with God; what cannot be done according to the nature of things, the laws, rules, and course of nature, may be done by the God of nature, who is above these, and not bound by them, and sometimes acts contrary to them; as when he stopped the sun in its course, in the times of Joshua; made iron to swim by the hands of the prophet Elisha; and suffered not fire to burn in the furnace of Nebuchadnezzar, so that the three persons cast into it were not hurt by it, nor their clothes so much as singed, nor the smell of fire upon them: whereas, it is the nature of the sun to go on in its course, without stopping, nor can any creature stop it; and for ponderous bo

dies, as iron, to sink in water; and for fire to burn. There are some things, indeed, which God cannot do, and which the scriptures express, as, that he cannot deny himself, 2 Tim. ii. 13. nor do any thing that is contrary to his being, his honour and glory, or subversive of it; thus for instance, he cannot make another God, that would be contrary to himself, to the unity of his Being, and the declaration of his word; Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, Deut, vi. 4. he cannot make a finite creature infinite; that would be to do the same, and there would be more infinites than one, which is a contradiction; he cannot raise a creature to such dignity as to have divine perfections ascribed to it, it has not, which would be a falshood; or to have religious worship and adoration given it, which would be denying himself, detracting from his own glory, and giving it to another, when he only is to be served and worshipped: in such manner it is also said of him, and he cannot lie, Tit. i. 2. Heb. vi. 18. for this would be contrary to his truth and faithfulness; he can do nothing that is contrary to his attributes; he cannot commit iniquity, he neither will nor can do it; for that would be contrary to his holiness and righteousness; see Job xxxiv. 10, 12. and xxxvi. 23. he cannot do any thing that implies a contradiction; he cannot make contradictions true; a thing to be, and not to be at the same time; or make a thing not to have been that has becn; he can make a thing not to be, which is, or has been, he can destroy his own works; but not make that not, to have existed, which has existed; nor make an human body to be every where; nor accidents to subsist without subjects; with many other things which imply a manifest contradiction and falshood: but then these are no prejudices to his omnipotence, nor proofs of weakness; they arise only out of the abundance and fulness of his power; who can neither do a weak thing nor a wicked thing, nor commit any falshood; to do, or attempt to do, any such things, would be proofs of impotence, and not of omnipotence.

The power of God may be considered as absolute, and as actual or ordinate. According to his absolute power, he can do all things which are not contrary to his nature and perfections, and which does not imply a contradiction; even though he has not done them nor never will: thus he could have raised up children to Abraham, out of stones, though he would not; and have sent twelve legions of angels to deliver Christ out of the hands of his enemies; but did not, Matt. iii. 9. and xxvi. 53. he that has made one world, and how many more we know not for certainty, Heb. xi. 3. could have made ten thousand; he that has made the stars in the heaven innumerable, could have vastly increased their number; and he that has made an innumerable company of angels, and men on earth, as the sand of the sea, could have added to them infinitely more. The power of God has never been exerted to its uttermost; it is sufficient to entitle him to omnipotence, that he has done, and does, whatsoever he pleases, and that whatsoever is made, is made by him, and nothing without him; which is what may be called, his ordinate and actual power; or what he has willed

So Agathon apud Aristot. Ethic. 1. 6. c. 2.

and determined, is actually done; and of this there is abundant proof, as will appear by the following instances.

"

1. In creation; the heaven, earth, and sea, and all that in them are, were created by God, is certain; and these visible works of creation, are proofs of the invisible attributes of God, and particularly, of his eternal power, Acts iv. 24. Rom. i. 20. Creation is making something out of nothing; which none but omnipotence can effect; see Heb. xi. 3. no artificer, though ever so expert, can work without materials, whether he works in gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, stone, or in any thing else: the potter can cast his clay into what form and figure he pleases, according to his art, and make one vessel for one use, and another for another; but he cannot make the least portion of clay: but God created the first matter out of which all things are made; and which were made out of things not before existing by the omnipotent Being; whom the good woman animating her son to martyrdom, exhorted to acknowledge, 2 Maccab. vii. 28. Nor can any artificer work without tools; and the more curious his work, the more curious must his tools be; but God can work without instruments, as he did in creation; it was only by his all-commanding word that every thing sprung into being, Gen. i. 3. &c. Psal. xxxvi. 9. and every thing created was was done at once; creation is an instantaneous act, is without succession, and requires no length of time to do it in; every thing on the several days of creation were done immediately: On the first day God said, "Let there be light;' and it immediately sprung out of darkness: on the second day he said, "Let there be a firmament," an expanse; and at once the airy heaven was stretched out like a curtain around our earth: on the third day he said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, herbs, and fruit-trees;" and they arose directly out of it, in all their verdure and fruitfulness: on the fourth day he said, "Let there be lights in the heavens;" and no sooner was it said, but the sun, moon, and stars, blazed forth in all their lustre and splendor: on the fifth and sixth days orders were given for the waters to bring forth fish, and foul, and beasts, and cattle of every kind; and they accordingly brought them forth in full perfection immediately; and last of all, man was at once made, compleat and perfect, out of the dust of the earth, and the breath of life was breathed into him; and though there were six days appointed, one for each of these works, yet they were instantaneously performed on those days; and this time was allotted not on account of God, who could have done them all in a moment; but for the sake of men, who, when they read the history of the creation, there is a stop and pause at each work, that they may stand still and meditate upon it, and wonder at it. Whereas the works of men require time; and those that are most curious, longer still. Add to all this, that the works of creation were done without weariness; no labour of men is free from it: if it be the work of the brain, the fruit of close reason-ing, reading, meditation, and study; much study, the wise man says, is a weariness of the flesh, Eccles. xii. 12. or if it be manual operation, it is labour and