Man

up, when he sees God coming against him. Thy love to sin will be an everlasting love, that dies not to sin now; thou and it will go to hell together. Affection to evil becomes almighty, unconquerable, and there is no way but one with the man. must die, or his sin; that justice is at work which will kill one or other. I bleed and mourn to see how some men sin in the face of justice; swear, curse, and drink themselves drunk, and yet going about deadly works. I see plainly now, that a man may see misery, and yet not seek out to be blessed; he may see himself and others very open too, and very near upon deadly danger, and yet neither seek out for himself nor others. Why else do we see so many continue still yet as they were? Paul's spirit surely is few men's happiness, to stir effectually towards God as they apprehend just cause.

Apprehension works divinely upon affection as it keeps itself pure from unbelief, and no otherwise. Unbelief is full of shift and evasion, the life of apprehension dies in this. Apprehension made from the word of God, or works of God, works no longer nor stronger than as faith works with it. Why do such mighty apprehensions as we raise sometimes by the word, die and come to nothing, but because faith dies? Men believe but whilst they see us and hear us speak. Keep faith alive, you will else see hell often, and feel it too, and yet do nothing to shun it. Ye will see misery, and yet not prepare for it, yea, ye will see judgment at the door, and yet scoff at it: so did they of the old world; and another old world is this.

Apprehension works divinely upon the heart as the will is subdued. A stubborn man fights against all apprehension he does not like. "I will not

hear him," says Ahab, " he never prophesies good to me." A stubborn heart prejudges to kill things before they can come near him. Apprehensions work as we manage them; the strongest are quickly killed if we fight against them, the truest are quickly made delusive, if an unsound heart be in us.

Apprehensions are best and work best, as they come from God, and are carried to God. Some apprehensions arise from Satan and his temptations; these often work strongly, but run the soul still against some truth, and off some duty. That truth which is contended against must discover such apprehension to be temptation, and set the soul in again. A man must fight against apprehension, as it fights against God's will, and takes us off from our duty. A man must not make apprehension from fiction, as some tempted souls are taken up this way, but from real words or works of God; these only are of sanctifying power upon the spirit. And yet these which rise well must be kept up well, or else these will be powerless too. A man much in apprehension must be much in prayer; things will die else in the brain, and derive no influence upon the heart. God must hear much of what we see, or else our vision will not be glorious; taking, filling, and leading the heart. Divine apprehensions are God's remindings of man, and man must beseech God often that he may understand them well, and use them well, to know fully what God wishes of us in them, and what we should be to him by them. Apprehensions come in confused, and are shaped and made plain by prayer; as they come from God they are oftimes above us. As carried back again to God by prayer, they are made plain and easy to us, and very effectual upon us. I judge these things

very sweet to some of you, but I doubt they are very useless to many; they do so little lay their eye or ear to God's word, or work, so little busy their apprehension about any thing that is divine. Apprehension now works much, I believe; but I doubt not very divinely if it did, surely we should see better hearts and lives than we do.

:

SERMON V.

COLOSSIANS I. 11.

-GLORIOUS POWER, OR, POWER OF HIS GLORY.

I MAY prosecute this expression both ways, as you have it rendered, and as it is in the original. As you read it, it is rather interpretation than translation. Word for word, as in the original, is according to the strength or force of his glory; which is a peculiarity of speaking in the primitive language, where they would express a glorious thing, to express that by a substantive which we do by an adjective. The power of his glory, for glorious power. Like to this is that expression, "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power," that is, from his glorious power, as we speak, 2 Thes. i. 9. In my text power is put first, according to the power of his glory:" but in that fore-cited glory is put first," from the glory of his power:" both denote one thing, namely, a glorious power.

66

Power is called glorious when it doth glorious

things within or without. Therefore are these ex pressions here made, "strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power." When a christian is made almighty, then is power made all glorious, glorious power," known so, and called so. Thus

66

66

doth Moses and other servants of the Lord call power glorious, when it was extended to do glorious things. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power," saith he in his song, when God had drowned the Egyptians, "Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy," Exod. xv. 6.

Having spoken this to explain, I would speak this to stand on, "That we are to admire and call divine power as it works: when it does great things, almighty things, glorious works in the world, in our hearts, then are we to call it, as the Holy Ghost doth here, glorious power. "Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power."

All out-goings of God should be called and named as we find God in them. Christ the great channel of all, in which God goes forth into the world, power, wisdom, mercy of God and the like, is named according to what of God was in him and to be declared by him. And his name shall be called Wonderful, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. As divine power, mercy, or the like, works in any person, or by any person, so should it be called, mighty, wonderful, glorious, everlasting, &c. Thus the psalmist," His work is honourable and glorious. The works of the Lord are great," says he in the verse foregoing, and then he calls it honourable, and glorious, Psa. cxi. 2, 3. As power works, so it is to be called: as wisdom works, so it is to be called. "His understanding

is infinite," saith the psalmist, speaking of the wisdom of God, Psa. cxlvii. 5.

As Christ goes in this world, so we are to talk of his going. As he rides in this world, so we are also to talk of that. If Christ ride in triumph, we are triumphantly to speak of him; we are to call him Hosanna in the highest, when he shows himself highest. If he take and show the state and power of a king, a glorious king, we are to give him royal and glorious titles ; we are to name him still in word, as he names himself in deed. We are to call Christ as we find him; to name power as we find it, love as we find it, &c. We are to extol Him that rideth upon the clouds: that is, we are to lift up Him that lifteth up himself; we are to set Him in the clouds who hath set himself there. We are to set up God in words, as he sets up himself in deeds; to set up him above all, who sets himself above all, to call him Almighty, who does almightily; to call power glorious, which doth gloriously, "according to his glorious power," &c.

Love leads to this, justice binds to this, to give to God that which is due to his name; to give to power that which is due to power; to put titles suitable to state. Give unto the Lord the glory due to his name, saith the psalmist, that is, to admire and call power as it is, and as it does, in christians and for christians. To call power glorious is but due, when it does glorious things; the apostle so apprehended, that when he spake of power as working at such a height, at an almighty height for the carrying the soul through the worst that might come, that he was bound to call it glorious power. "Vain man would be wise, though he be as the wild ass colt," Job xi. 12. that is, he would be accounted wise, and