4. Excellency. Grace hath a soul-cleansing excellency. By nature we are defiled ; sin is an impure issue, it is a befilthying thing, 2 Cor. vii. 1. A sinner's heart is so black, that nothing but hell can pattern it ; but grace is a spiritual laver; therefore it is called " the washing of regeneration," Tit. iii. 5. The grace of repentance cleanseth ; Mary's tears, as they washed his feet, so they washed her heart ; faith hath a cleans- ing virtue. Acts xv. 9. " Having purified their hearts by faith." Grace lays the soul a-whitening, it takes out the leopard spots, and turns the cypress into an azure beauty. Grace is of a celestial nature ; though it doth not wholly remove sin, it doth subdue it; though it doth not keep sin out, it keeps it under ; though sin in a gracious soul doth not die perfectly, yet it dies daily. Grace makes the heart a spiritual temple, which hath this inscription upon it, " Holiness to the Lord."
5. Excellency. Grace hath a soul-strength- ening excellency, it enables a man to do that which exceeds the power of nature. Grace teacheth to mortify our sins, to love our enemies, to prefer the glory of Christ before our own lives. Thus the three chil- dren by the power of grace marched in the face of death ; neither the sound of !he music could allure them, nor the heat of the furnace affright them, Dan. iii. 17. Grace is a Christian's armour of proof, which doth more than any other armour can ; it not only defends him, but puts courage into him. Tertullian calls Athanasius an invincible adamant; grace makes us not only bear suf- fering, but glory in suff"ering, Rom. v. 3. A soul steeled and animated with grace, can tread upon the lion and adder, Ps. xciii. 13. and with the leviathan, can laugh at the shaking of a spear. Job xli. 29. Thus doth grace infuse an heroic spirit, and drive strength into a man, making him act above the sphere of nature.
THE BEAUTY OF GRACE.
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6. Excellency. Grace hatli a soul-raising Who can endure tlie smell of a dead corpse '.
excellency; it is a divine sparkle that ascends; when tlie heart is divinely touched with the bad-stone of the Spirit, it is drawn up to God. Prov. XV. 24. " The way of life is above to the wise : " grace raiseth a man above others ; he lives in the altitudes, while others creep on the earth, and are almost buried in it; a Christian by the wings of grace flies aloft ; the saints " mount up as eagles," Isa. xl. 31. A believer is a citizen of heaven, there he trades by faith. Grace shoots the heart above the world, Ps. cxxxix. 17. Phil. iii. idt. Grace gives us conformity to Christ, and communion with Christ, I John i. 3. " Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus." A man full of grace, hath Christ in his heart, and the world under his feet; grace humbles, yet elevates.
7. Excellency. Grace hath a perfuming ex- cellency ; it makes us a sweet odour to God. Hence grace is compared to those spices which are most odoriferous and fragrant. " Myrrh, cinnamon, frankincense," Cant. iv. 13. There is a double perfume that grace sends forth.
1. It perfumes our names, Heb. xi. 2. " By faith the elders obtained a good report." Grace was the spice which perfumed their names. How renowned was Abraham for his faitli, Moses for his meekness, Phinehas for his zeal ? what a fresh perfume do their names send forth to this day ! the very wicked cannot but see a resplendent majesty in the graces of the saints ; and though with their tongues they revile grace, yet with their hearts they reverence it. Thus grace is aromatical, it embalms the names of men ; a gracious person when he dies, carries a good conscience with him, and leaves a good name behind him.
2. Grace perfumes our duties, Psal. cxli. 2. " Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense." Noah's sacrifice was a perfume. Gen. viii. 21. The Lord smelled a sweet
but grace gives a fragrancy and redolency to our holy things, Heb. xi. 4. « By faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, God testifying of his gifts." Abel's sacrifice was better scented, God smelled a sweet savour of it ; for he testified of his gifts. If it be asked what this testimony was God gave of Abel's sacrifice ? Hierom saith, God set his sacrifice on fire ; 1 Kings xviii. 38. so from heaven testifying his acceptance of Abel's offering ; and if grace doth so perfume you, wear this flower, not in your bosoms, but in your hearts.