(laughter 18 all glorious within ; her raiment is of wrought gold,' Ps. xlv. 13. True grace makes the understanding glorious, the affections glorioua It casts a general glory upon all the noble parts of the soul : ' The King's daughter is all glorious wilhin.' And as it makes the inside glorious, bo ii makes the outside glorious : 'Her clothing is of wrought gold.' It makes men look gloriously, and speak gloriously, and walk and act gloriously, so that vain souls shall be forced to say that these are they that have seen Jesus.1 As grace is a fire to burn up and con- sume the dross and lilt h of t he soul, so it is an ornament to beautify and adorn the soul. True grace makes all new, the inside new and the out- aide new : 'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,' 2 Cor. v. 17,2 but temporary grace doth not this. True grace changes the very nature of' a man. floral virtue doth only restrain or chain up the outward man, it doth not change the whole man. A lion in a grate is a lion still ; he is restrained, but not changed, for he retains his lion-like nature still. So temporary graces restrain many men from this and that wickedness, but it doth not change and turn their hearts from wickedness. But now t rue grace, that turns a lion into a lamb, as you may see in Paul, Acts ix., and a notorious strumpet into a blessed and glorious penitent, as you may see in Mary Magdalene, &c, &c, Luke vii.3
[2.] The objects of true grace are supernatural. True grace is con- versant about the choicest and the highest objects, about the most soul- ennobling and soul-greatening objects, as God, Christ, precious promises that are more worth than a world, and a kingdom that shakes not, a crown of glory that withers not, and heavenly treasures that rust not. The objects of temporary grace are low and poor, and always within the compass of reason's reach.4
[&] True grace enables a Christian, when he is hvmself, to do spi- ritual actions witli reel pleasure a ml ih-l'ajht, To souls truly gracious, Christ's yoke 'is easy, and his burden is light;' 'his commandments are not grievous, but joyous.' ' I delight in the law of God after the inward man,' saith Paul.5 The blessed man is described by this, that he 'delights in the law of the Lord,' Ps. i. 2. ' It is joy to the just to do judgment,' saith Solomon, Prov. xxi. 15. To a gracious soul, 'All the ways of the Lord are pleasantness, and his paths are peace, Prov. iii. 17 ; but to souls that have but temporary grace, but moral virtues, religious services are a toil, not a pleasure ; a burden, and not a delight. ' Wherefore have we fasted,' say they, 'and thou seest not ? Wherefore have we afflicted our souls, and thou takest no knowledge ?' Isa. lviii. 3, &c. ' Ye have said,' say those in Malachi, ' It is vain to serve God ; and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?' Mai. iii. 14% 'When will the new moon be gone,' say those in Amos, ' that we may sell corn, and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small,
1 God brings not a pair of scales to weigh our grnces, but a touchstone to try oar graces. Purity, preciousness, ami holiness is stamped upon all saving graces, Acts xv. 9, 'J P< ter iv. 1, Judo 20.
- Kaivn ktiitis, a new creation : new Adam, new covenant, new paradise, new Lord, new Law, new hearts, and new creatures go together.
•■ Ii Beems right to question this admittedly common mode of speaking of Mary of Mag- dala. It is not certain thai the two were identical. — G.
1 2 Cor. iv. 18. Prov. xiv. A saint hath his feet where other rnenVheads are, Mat. vi.
5 Mat. xi. 30 ; 1 John v. 3 ; Rom. vii. 22.
2 Cor. II 11.] against satan's devices. 101
and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit,' Amos viii. 5.
[4.] True grace makes a man most careful, and most fearful of his awn heart} It makes him most studious about his own heart, inform- ing that, examining that, and watching over that ; but temporary grace, moral virtues, make men more mindful and careful of others, to instruct them and counsel them, and stir up them, and watch over them, &c. Which doth with open mouth demonstrate that their graces are not saving and peculiar to saints, but that they are tempo- rary, and no more than Judas, Demas, and the pharisees had, &c.
[5. J Grace will ivovk a man's heart to love and cleave to the strictest and holiest ways and tilings of God, for their purity and sanctity, in the face of all dangers and hardships. ' Thy word is very pure, therefore thy servant loveth it/ Ps. cxix. 140. Others love it, and like it, and follow it, for the credit, the honour, the advantage that they get by it ; but I love it for the spiritual beauty and purity of it. So the psalmist, ' All this is come upon us ; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way : though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadows of death,' Ps. xliv. 17-19. But temporary grace, that will not bear up the soul against all oppositions and discouragements in the ways of God, as is clear by their apostasy in John vi. 60, 66, and by the stony grounds falling away, &c, Mat. xiii. 20, 21. 2
[6.] True grace will enable a man to step over the world's crown, to take up Christ's cross ; to prefer the cross of Christ above the glory of this world. It enabled Abraham, and Moses, and Daniel, with those other worthies in Heb. xi., to do so.
Godfrey of Bullen [Bouillon], first king of Jerusalem, refused to be crowned with a crown of gold, saying, ' That it became not a Christian there to wear a crown of gold, where Christ had worn a crown of thorns.' Oh ! but temporary grace cannot work the soul to prefer Christ's cross above the world's crown ; but when these two meet, a temporary Christian steps over Christ's cross to take up, and keep up, the world's crown. ' Demas hath forsaken us to embrace this present world,' 2 Tim. iv. 10. So the young man in the Gospel had many good things in him ; he bid fair for heaven, and came near to heaven ; but when Christ set his cross before him, he steps over that to enjoy the world's crown, Mat. xix. 19-22. When Christ bid him, 'go and sell all that he had, and give to the poor,' &c, ' he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.' If heaven be to be had upon no other terms, Christ may keep his heaven to himself, he will have none, &c. 3
[7.] Sanctifying grace, renewing grace, puts the soul upon spiritual duties, from spiritual and intrinsecal motives, as from the sense of divine love, that dotli constrain the soul to wait on God, and to act for
1 Ps. li. 10, and cxix. 36, 80, and cxxxix. 23, and lxxxvi. 11.
2 Grace is a panoply against all trouble, and a paradise of all pleasures.