1. In some things subservient to our redemption, as in the formation of the human nature of Christ, which is ascribed to the _power of the Highest_, Luke i. 35. and in preserving it from being crushed, overcome, and trampled on, by all the united powers of hell, and earth: it is said, _the arm of God strengthened him, so that the enemy should not exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him_, Psal. lxxxix, 21, 22. It was the power of God that bore him up under all the terrible views he had of sufferings and death, which had many ingredients in it, that rendered it, beyond expression, formidable, and would have sunk a mere creature, unassisted thereby, into destruction. It was by the divine power, which he calls _the finger of God_, Luke ix. 20. that he cast out devils, and wrought many other miracles, to confirm his mission: so, when he _rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child_, it is said, _they were all amazed at the mighty power of God_, chap. ix. 42, 43. and it was hereby that _he was raised from the dead_, which the apostle calls the _exceeding greatness of the power of God_, Eph. i. 19. and accordingly he was _declared to be the Son of God, with power, by this extraordinary event_, Rom. i. 4. Moreover, the power of God will be glorified, in the highest degree, in his second coming, when, as he says, he will appear in _the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory_. Matt. xxiv. 30. 2. The power of God eminently appears in the propagation and success of the gospel. (1.) In the propagation thereof; that a doctrine, so contrary to the corrupt inclinations of mankind, which had so little to recommend it, but what was divine, should be spread throughout the greatest part of the known world, by a small number of men, raised up and spirited to that end; and, in order thereunto, acted above themselves, and furnished with extraordinary qualifications, such as the gift of tongues, and a power to work miracles, is a convincing proof, that the power by which all this was done, is infinite. It was hereby that they were not only inspired with wisdom, by which they silenced and confounded their malicious enemies, but persuaded others to believe what they were sent to impart to them. It was hereby that they were inflamed with zeal, in proportion to the greatness of the occasion, fortified with courage to despise the threats, and patiently to bear the persecuting rage of those who pursued them unto bonds and death. It was hereby that they were enabled to finish their course with joy, and seal the doctrines they delivered with their blood. And the power of God was herein the more remarkable, inasmuch as they were not men of the greatest natural sagacity, or resolution; and they always confessed whatever there was extraordinary in the course of their ministry, was from the hand of God.