This sin-sickness in the land hath pro- duced many direful effects; division, oppres- sion, bloodshed, the very bowels and arteries of the nation are almost torn asunder, so that now God hath fulfilled that threatening upon us, Mic. vi. 13. "I will make thee sick with smiting thee." We had made ourselves sick with sinning, and God hath made us sick with smiting. Now what remains, but that we should go to the great physician, whose blood sprinkles many nations, that he shoidd apply some healing medicines to dying Britain; God can with a word heal; he can give repentance as well as deliverance; he can put us in joint again. Let all the people of the land lie between the porch and the altar, saying, "Spare thy people, O Lord," Joel iii. 17. Our prayers and tears may set Christ on work to heal us, Psal. cvi, 23. " Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his servant stood in the breach to turn away his Avrath," Let us never leave imploring our heavenly physi- cian, till he lay a fig on England's boil, and cause it to recover.
THE BEAUTY OF GRACE. Pet i. 2. Grace unto you, and peace he multiplied.
X. HE blessed apostle having felt the efficacy and sovereignty of grace, is taken up with the thoughts of it ; and so sweet is this wine of paradise, that he commends it to those dis- persed Christians to whom he wTites, wish- ing them all increase. Grace unto you, and jieace he midtiplied.
The words rim in the form of a salutation, " grace unto you, and peace." When we sa- lute our friends, we cannot wish tliem a great- er blessing than grace and peace : other mer- cies lie without the pale, and are dispersed in common to men ; but grace is a special con- giary and gift bestowed on them who are the favourites of heaven. In the words observe,
1. The connexion. 2. The order.
1 . The connexion, Grace and peace. The
way to have peace, is to have grace ; grace is the breeder of peace ; the one is the root, the other the flower ; peace is the sweet wa- ter that drops from the limbeck of a gracious heart.
2. The order. First grace, then peace ; grace hath the priority ; grace and peace are two sisters, but grace is the eldest sister ; and give me leave at this time to prefer the el- der before the younger. " Grace unto you be multiplied." For the illustration, con- sider,
1. Wliat is meant by grace.
2. The Author of it
3. Why it is called grace.
4. The cogency of it.
1. What is meant by grace. This word
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THE BEAUTY OF GRACE.
GRACE hath various acceptations in scrip- ture.
1. Grace is sometimes taken for the favour of God, Gen. vi. 8. " Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord;" God did cast a gra- cious aspect upon him.
2. Grace is taken for beauty ; as we say such a thing is graceful, James i. 11. " The flower falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth."
3. Grace is taken figuratively, and impro- perly, for the show of grace ; as we call that a face in a glass which is but the idea and resemblance of a face; so John ii. 23. " Many believed in his name :" that believing was but a show of faith, as Austin and Theophi- lact note.
4. Grace is taken in a genuine and proper sense ; so in the text, " Grace be multipli- ed ;" it may admit of this description ; grace is the infusion of a new and holy principle into the heart, whereby it is changed from what it was, and is made after God's own heart. Grace makes not only a civil, but sacred change ; it biasseth the soul heaven-ward, and stamps upon it the image and super- scription of God.
2. The author or efficient of grace ; name- ly, the Spirit of God, who is therefore called the Spirit of grace, Zech. xii. 10. The spirit is the fountain from whence crystal streams of grace flow. Man, as Clemens Alexandri- nus observes, is God's harp or timbrel ; the harp will not sound unless touched with the finger ; so the heart of man cannot put forth any sweet melody or harmony, till first it be touched with the finger of God's Spirit ; this blessed Spirit works grace in the subject,
1. Universally. 2. Progressively.
' 1. Universally; 1 Thess. v. 10. "The God of peace sanctify you wholly." The Spirit of God infuseth grace into all the fa- culties of the soul ; though grace be wrought but in part, yet in every part ; in the under- standing light, in the conscience tenderness, in tlie will consent, in the affections harmo- ny ; therefore grace is compared to leaven, Matt. xiii. 33. because it swells itself in the whole soul, and makes the conversation to swell and rise as high as heaven.
2. Tlie Spirit of God works grace progres- ttvely, he carries it on from one degree to