1. As for the ordinance of the word, it is wondrous delightful, 'sweeter
And it is beautiful likewise in regard of the church itself. The people of God themselves are beautiful; for order is beautiful. Now it is an orderly thing to see many together to submit themselves to the ordinance of God. 'The glory of a king is in the multitude of subjects,'
Prov. 14:28; and it is a glorious thing for God to have many subjects meekly meeting together to attend his pleasure. An army is a beautiful thing, because of the order, and of the well disposed ranks that are within it. In this regard the church is beautiful.
That which makes the house of God beautiful more especially, is the means of salvation: not only God's presence, but the means, solemn and public prayer, the word and sacraments, and likewise the government, that should be in purging the church,—all make the church of God beautiful and lovely. All the ordinances of God in the church of God have a delight in them to spiritual senses.
1. As for the ordinance of the word, it is wondrous delightful, 'sweeter than the honeycomb,' Ps. 19:10, especially the ordinance unfolding the word, the word as it is preached, which is the 'opening of the box.' A box of sweet ointment, if it be not opened, it casts not a sweet savour all the house over; but when the box is opened, the savour comes over all the house. So the publishing of the word in the ordinance, is the opening of the box, the lifting up of the brazen serpent. If the serpent were [not] lift up for the wounded person, he could not behold it. Now [that] Christ is lift up in the ordinance, every wounded soul may look to Christ. The preaching of the word, is the lifting up of the banner of Christ's love. As it is in the Canticles,
Christ's love as a banner draws all after him. When the beauty of Christ is unfolded, it draws the wounded, hungry soul unto him. The preaching of the word doth that that shews the sweet love of God in Jesus Christ. This makes the ordinance of the ministry so sweet. The ordinance of the ministry is that that distributes the portion to every child of God. The ministers of God are stewards, as it were, to distribute comfort and reproof to whom it belongs. Now where there is a convenient distributing of the portion to every one, that makes the ordinance of God so beautiful, when the waters of life are derived