Now, when the Lord appears to them, what do they? What is their behavior? It is said, “When they saw him, they worshipped him.” What made them to fall down and worship Him? What saw they in Him? No question, they saw in Him a glorious majesty. This their behavior teaches us, that wheresoever the Lord of Glory is present, there He should be worshipped and adored. His presence requires adoration.

Now follows the Lord’s communing with His dis­ciples, wherein He gives them a commission to go out and preach to the world, baptizing them that believe. But before He gives them this commission, by way of preface He sets down the ground of this commission; to wit, that power and authority which He had. For, says He, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” For it was necessary that the apostles should be informed of this His power and authority which He had given them, to the end that, knowing that infinite power whereupon their com­mission and apostleship were grounded, they might the more cheerfully and willingly, with free hearts and open mouths, discharge their commission and message, being assured that they had Him, who was Lord of heaven and earth, to be their protector and maintainer.

Mark this, brethren. This ministry of the gospel, albeit but a sort of service in the church of God – it is no lord­ship – and albeit men count very basely of it, and esteem it, of all callings in the world, to be the most vile and contemptible, yet it is grounded upon such a power as far surpasses all the power of all the kings and monarchs of the earth; and it is the Lord’s will that both the minis­ters themselves, and likewise the people that hear them, have their eyes fixed, and be exercised continually in the contemplation and consideration of that incomprehensible and infinite power, whereupon this ministry is grounded; to the end that both the ministers may the more cheer­fully and courageously discharge their calling, and also the people that hear them be not offended, nor stumble at the baseness of this outward form of the ministry, not measuring the majesty and glory of the gospel preached unto them by the outward show and form which they see, but by the infinite and incomprehensible power of the Lord, whereupon it is grounded.

It serves to encourage the apostles, and all ministers in the church, faithfully and cheerfully to discharge their calling, so long as they remain here in the earth, and grounding and anchoring themselves upon that infinite power which the Lord Jesus hath upon the earth, to strive and fight courageously and boldly against the assaults of Satan, against the allurements of sin, against the fear and terror of trouble and persecution, and against the man­ners and behavior of this unthankful world, as assured, that His almighty power in the earth shall guard and defend them in their calling, so long as the Lord hath a work (to do) with them.