Containing the use and improvement of the second doctrine,
The invaluable Worth of saving Grace.
This is that mercy that gives fouls the highest pleasure this world is acquainted with, or the state of this mortality can bear; for let the well-assured soul but consider what it is assured of, Christ, with the purchases of his blood. O what is this !
" I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine," Cant. ii. 16.
What a vital, ravishing, over-powering efficacy is in that voice of faith! let it but look back a few years, and compare what it was with what it is now ; it was afar off, it is nowmadenigh,
Eph. ii. 12, 13.
It was not beloved, butisnowbeloved, Rom. ix. 25, 26.
It had not obtained mercy, but now hath obtained mercy, I Pet. ii. 10. Or let the assured foul look forward, and compare what it now is, and hath, with what it shortly shall be made, and put in possession of :
Beloved, (faith the a- "
" postle) now are we the sons of God; but it doth not yet appear what we shall be: But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall fee him as he is,"
I John iii. 2.
I say, let the affuredsoulbut steep its thoughts,by meditation, in these subjects, and it will be impossible to keep him from the most agreeable transports of joy and delight.
Owhat alifehaveyou in comparison of other men ? Some have two hells, one present, another coming; you have two heavens, oneinhand, the other in hope.
Some of your own - brethren in Christ, that have been, it may be, many years panting after assurance, are still denied it; butGodhath indulged fo peculiar a favour to you.
Bless ye the Lord, and make his praise glorious.
CHAP.
III.
Containing the use and improvement of DOCT.
II.
That true grace is exceeding precious, and greatly enricheth the soul that hath it : It is Christ's gold.
SECT .
HE Lord Jesus here chuseth the most pure, precious, TH resplendent, durable, and valuable thing, inallthetreafuries and magazines of nature, to shadow forth saving grace, which is infinitely more excellent : Certainly that must be the R2
The invaluable Worth of Saving Grace. best thing, which the best things in nature can but imperfectly shadow forth.
What was the golden oil emptied through the twogoldenpipes, Zech. iv. 12. but the precious graces of God, flowing through Christ, into all his members : Gold is precious; but one drachm of saving grace is more precious than all the gold of Ophir : " It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall
" silver be weighed for a price thereof," Job xxviii. 15. Sure ly gold and silver, sapphires, diamonds, and rubies, are not worth the mentioning, when saving grace is once mentioned.
For confider it, 1. First, In its cause and fountain from whence it flows, and you shall find it to be the fruit of the Spirit, Gal. v. 22. who, upon that account, is called the Spirit of grace, Heb. x. 29.
It derives its original from the Most High ; it is spirit born of Spirit John iii. 6
All the rules of morality, all human dili gence and industry can never produce one gracious habit or act alone ; 2 Cor. iii. 5. " Not that we are fufficientof ourselves," c.
Nay,wespeaknotbecomingtheincomparableworth of grace, when we lay, it is the fruit and birth of the Spirit ; for fo are common gifts also.
There are several emanations from this fun, divers streams from this fountain ; but of all his operations and productions, this of saving grace is the most noble and excellent.
Gifts are from the Spirit as well as grace, but grace is more excellent than the best gifts, 1 Cor. xii 31. " Covet earneflly the best gifts, and yet thew I unto you a more excel- " lent way."
Hence you read in Phil.i. 10. "Of things that " are excellent," or as the original, τα διαφεροντα, might be rendered, things that differ, namely, in respect of excellency, not as good and evil, but as less good and more good differ. Gifts have their value and precioufness, but the best gifts differ as much from grace, as brats from gold, though both be generated by the influence of the same sun.
Gifts (as one faith) are dead graces but graces are living gifts; it is the most excellent production of the highest and molt excellent cause.
2. Secondly, Confider it in its nature, and you will find it divine, 2 Pet. i. 4. " Partakers of the divine nature," viz. in our fanctification ; not that it gives us the properties of the divine nature, they are incommunicable; but the similitude and resemblance of it is stamped upon our souls, in the work of grace.
" Thenewman is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him," Col. iii. 10. The schoolmen, and some of the fathers, place this image or resemblance of God,
The invaluable Worth of Saving Grace.
in the natural faculties of the soul, viz. the understanding, memory, and will ; which is an umbrage of a trinity in unity; but it rather consists in the renovation of the faculties by grace ; for in this we bear the divine image upon our souls, and that image or resemblance of God in holiness is the beauty and honourof our souls.
It is their beauty : " How fair, and how pleasant art thou, " O love, for delights !" faith Christ of his people, Cant. vii.
Natural beauty consists in the symmetry and comely proportion of parts each with the other; spiritual beauty in the harmony or agreeableness of our souls to God: and as it is our chiefest beauty, so certainly it is our highest honour ; for it gives us access unto God, who is the fountain of honour and glory; and this makes the righteous more excellent than his neighbour ; let his neighbour be what he will, though the blood of nobles run in his veins, the righteous is more excel. lent than he, except saving grace be also diffused into his soul.
3. Thirdly, Consider it in its recipient subject, and you will find its value still to increase ; for the precious oil of favinggrace is never poured into any other than an elect vessel.
Hence faith, one branch of fanctification, is, with respect to its subject, stiled The faith of God's elect, Tit. i. 1. Whosoever
-finds true grace in his soul, may(during the evidence thereof) from it strongly conclude his election, looking backward, and his salvation, looking forward, Rom. viii. 30. It marks and seals the person in whom it is, for glory, " God hath set apart
" him that is godly for himself," Psal. iv. 3 .
4. Fourthly, View the precious worth of grace in its excellent effects and inquences upon the soul in which it inheres.
(1.) Itadorns with incomparable ornaments, which are of great price in the fight of God, 1 Pet. iii. 4.
Yea, it reflects such beams of glory in the soul where its feat is, that Christ himself, the author, is also the admirer of it ;
Cant. iv. 9.
" Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse ! thou " haft ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one of " the chains of thy neck !" and as one overcome with its excelling beauty, he faith, " Turn away thine eyes from me, for " they have overcome me," Cant. vi . 5.
(2.) lt. elevates and enobles a man's spirit beyond all other principles in man; it sets the heart and affections upon heaven, and takes them up with the glory of the invisible world, Phil . iii. 20. "But our conversation is in heaven, from whence we
" look for the Saviour "
Whilst others are trading for corn and wine, for theep and oxen, for feathers and trifles, thegraciou
The invaluable Worth ofJaving Grace.
" foul is trading withGodforpardonand peace, for righteousness and life, for glory and immortality :
Truly our fellow- " ship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ,"
John i. 3.
(3.) It doth notonlyraise the spiritbyconverfing with God, and things above, but transforms the soul, by that converse, into the likeness of those heavenly objects it converseth with ;
" It changes them into the same image," 2 Cor. iii. 18.
So that though thesanctifiedman still remains the who he was, yet not the what he was before; the very temper of his spirit is altered.
(4.) It doth not only transform the soul in which it is, but preserves the subject in which it is: it is a singular preservative from fin; so that though finbe in them still, and works in them still, yet itcannotprevail in them still to fulfil the lusts of it, as it was wont to do, Gal.v 17.
Sin conceives, but cannot bring forth fruit unto death; this gives a miscarrying womb.
(5.) It doth not only preserve it from fin,but grace establisheth the soul, in whom it is, far beyond any other arguments without, or any other principles within am an. " It is a good
" thing that the heart be established with grace." Heb . xiii, g.
This is that which the apostle calls our own ftedfastness, or that ballast we have within ourselves ; which keeps us right and stable. O the excellency of grace !
(6 ) To conclude; it is the root of all that precious fruit which we bring forth to God in this world: it is the root of every gracious word in our lips, and of every gracious work in our hands: be the matter of our gracious thoughts never fo
Excellent, the matter of our heavenlydifcourses and prayers never so sweet, still grace is the root of the matter, Job xix.
28. O then what a precious thing is grace !
5. Fifthly, View it in its properties, and you will sooner cover its transcendent excellencies : the richest epithets are no
hyperboles here; we seak not beyond the value of it, when we call it supernatural grace, for so it is: it comes down from above, from the Father of lights, Jam. i. 7.
Nature can never be improved to that height, how much soever its admirers boast of it: nor do we strain too high, when we call it immortal grace; for fo hathGodmade it.
This is that water which springs up in the sanctified foul unto eternal life, John iv. 14.
It will not die when thou diest, but ascend with the soul from which it is inseparable, and be received up with it into glory,
Rom. viii. 10.
You may outhve your friends; you may out-
The invaluable Worth of Saving Grace.
Live your estates ; you may outhve your gifts ; but you cannot outhve your graces.
Shall I say it is the most sweetandcomfortablethingthatever the soul was acquainted with in this world, next Jesus Christ, the author and fountain of it.
Sure, if sol speak, I have as many witnesses to attest it, as there be gracious fouls in the world : nothing is more comfortable than grace, except Christ ; and yet without grace no foul can feel the comforts of Christ, inthetroublesof life, or in the straits of death. This is a spring of comfort!
6. Sixthly, Consider it in its design and scope; and you will till discern more and more of its precious excellency : for what is the aim and endofGod in the infusions and improvements of grace, but to attemper and mould our spirits by it, into a meetnessand fitness for the enjoyment of himself in the world to come ?
Col. i. 12. "Giving thanks to the Father, who "hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the " faints in light." Compare this with 2 Cor. v. 5. "Now he
"that hath wrought us for the self-fame thing is God."
Oblessed design ! how precious must that work be,which is wrought for fo high and glorious a purpose as this is ? No work more excellent, noendmore noble.
7. Seventhly, Consider the means and instruments,both principal and subordinate, employed in this work : many blessed instruments are set on work to be get, conserve, and improve it in our souls; and these all speak the precious worth of it. No wife manwilldigfor abase and worthless metal with golden mattocks. The blood of Christ was shed to procure it, Heb. xiii. 12.
The Spirit of God is sent forth to form and create it; for it is his own workmanship, Ephef. ii. 10. his fruit, Gal. v. 22.
The ordinances and officers of the gospel were at first instituted, and ever since continued in the church, for this work's fake, John xvii 17. and Eph. iv. 12.
It is the fruit of Christ's blood ; yea, and it hath cost the sweat and blood of the difpenfersof the gospel too.
Nay, all the works of providence look this way, and aim at this thing, Rom . viii. 28.
What is the errand of all God'srods, but to make us partakers of his holiness Heb.xii. 10.
8. Eighthly, The high value that the most high God setsupongrace, thews it to be an excellentthing indeed :
It is of " great price in his fight, "
Pet. iii. 4. no service finds acceptationwithGod, but what is performed by grace: None bue fanctifiedvesselsare meet for the master'suse. " The end of the
The invaluable Worth of saving Grace.
" commandment is charity out of apure heart," 1 Tim. i. f.
The weakest performances of grace find acceptance with hìm, thongh clogged with many sinful weaknesses and infirmities, Heb. xi 31, 32.
If God so prize it, well may we : that made the jewel, best understands the value of it.
He 9. Ninthly, The hypocritical pretences made to it all over the professing world, thew what a most precious and defireable thing it is: If there were not some singular glory in it, why doth every one covet to be reputed gracious ? Nay, the devil himself baits many of his hooks of temptation with a shew of grace; for he knows fin hath no native beauty of its own to entice, and therefore he borrows the paint and pretence of ho linesstocover it but, oh ! what a dilemma will the hypocrite be posed with at last ? And how can he answer it when God shall demand ?
If grace were evil, why didst thou affect the name and reputation of it ? And if it were good, why didst thou satisfy thyself with the empty name and shadow of it only ?
10. Tenthly, To conclude: the incomparable esteem that all good men have for it, shews it to be a thing of inestimable price.
Grace is the sum of all their prayers, the scope of all their endeavours, the matter of their chief joy, the reward of their afflictions and sufferings; their chiefjoys and sorrows, hopes and fears in this world, are taken up about it.
By all which it appears that its price is above rubies; and all the gold and silver in the world are butdung anddross in comparison with it.
:SECT.
II.
Containing fix practical inferences from this precious truth.
Infer. 1. Is saving grace more precious than gold ? Let them that have it, bless God for it, and not braft.
Mens hearts are as apt to puff up and swell with spiritual, as with material gold: It is hard to be an owner of,much of this gold, and not be lifted up with it.
To keep down thy heart, and preserve thine eyes from being dazzled with these thy glorious excellencies, it will be needful for thee, Christian, sometimes toconfider, That althoughgracebe one of the most excellent things that ever God created, yet it is but a creature, a dependent thing,
1 Cor. v. 17.
Yea, it is not only a creature, but avery imperfect creature yet inthyfoul, labouring under many weaknesses, Phil. iii. 12. and sometimes ready to die, Rev. iii. 2.
Practical Inferences from the preciousness of Grace.
Though it candomanythings for you, yet it cannot justify you before God: You cannot make a garment of it to cover your guilt, nor plead the dignity of it at God's bar for your discharge: It is not your inherent, but Christ's imputed righteouiness must do that for you, though in other respects it be very necessary.
Nay, remember how excellent soever it be, it is not the native growth and product of your hearts ; all the grace you have is foreign to your natures; and what you have is received,
1 Cor. iv. 7.
And, lastly, remember he that is most proud and conceited of his own graces will be found to be the owner of least grace,
It and hath most cause to question whether he hath any or no. is the nature of grace to humble, abase, and empty the soul ; and it is the strength of ourcorruptions which thus puffs us up with vain conceits.
Infer. 2. Is saving grace more excellent than gold ? What causethenhave the poorest Christians to be wellfatisfied with their lot? To othersGodhath given Ishmael's portion, the fatness of the earth; to you Isaac's, thegracesofthecovenant : Their portion is paid in brass, yours in gold.
Many of you are poor in the world, but " rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom " which God hath promised," Jam. ii. 5.
What is the dust of the earth to the fruits of the Spirit ? You are troubled that you have no more of the world :
It may be if you had more gold, youwouldhave less grace.
You confider nothowmany are poor and wretched in both worlds, moneyless and Christless too : You do not consider you are near come to that state, in which all your wants will be fully supplied; where you shall not need the treasures of the earth, and have your desires satisfied out of the treasures of grace and glory.
Infer. 3. Is saving grace gold ? yea, infinitely more precious than gold?
Then surely declining Christians are great losers, and have cause to be great mourners. The remission of the least degree of grace, is more to be lamented than the loss of the greatest sum of gold.
Though the habits of grace be not lost, yettheacts of grace maybe suspended, 2 Sam. xii. 31. The degrees of grace may be remitted, Rev. iii. 3. The evidences ofgracemaybe clouded, and consequently the comforts of grace maybe suspended,
Ifa. 1. 10. and the least of these is such a loss, as all the treasures oftheearthcannot repair.
Well therefore may declined Chri-
VOL . VII.
Practical Inferencesfrom thepreciousness ofGracc. stians challenge the first place among all the mourners in the world.
In for. 4.
Is grace so invaluably precious ?
How precious then ought the ordinances of God to be to our souls, by which grace is first communicated, and afterwards improved in our souls! " The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thou- *" sands of gold and silver," Psal. cxix. 72. and good reason, whilst it imparts and improves that to which gold and silver are butdross and dung.
None but these that value not grace, will ever flight the means, or despise and injure the instruments thereof.
It is a fad sign of a graceless world, when these precious things fall undercontemptsand lights .
Infer. 5. Ifgracebesoprecious,how watchful should all graciousperfonsbe in the days of temptation! The design of temptation is to rob you of your treasure: When cut-purses get into the croud, we use to say, Friends, look to your puries.
How many brave Christians have we read and heard of, that have rather chosen to part with their lives, than with their graces, who have " resisted unto blood, striving against fin?"
Heb. xii. 4.
O, Christians ! you live ina cheating age; many seeming Christians have lost all, and many real Christians have loft much; fomuch, that they are like to fee but little comfort in this world; who are like to go mourning to the grave with that lamentation, Job xxix. 2, 3. " O that it were with me as in times
" past !"
Infer. 6. To conclude: Is there such precious worth in favinggrace ?
Then blejs God for, and diligently use all means to increase and improve it in your souls.
It is gold for precioufness, and for usefulness, and must not be laid up in a napkin:
That is a fin condemned by the very scope of that parable, Matth. xxv. 14, 15.
All Christians indeed have not the fame advantages of improvement; but all must improve it according to the advantages they have, in order to an account. Reserved Christians, whe live too abstracted from the society and communion of others, and disperse not their streams abroad to the benefit of others, nor improve the graces of others for their own benefit, are wanting both to their own duty and comfort.
See you am an rich in grace, O trade with him if you can, to improve your selves by him ; and the rather, becauseyouknow not how soon death may snatch him from you, and with him all his stock of grace is gone from you too, except what you made your own