He that drew Alexander, whilst he had a scar upon his face, drew him with his finger upon the scar. So when the Lord comes to look upon a poor soul, he lays his finger upon the scar, upon the infirmitv, that he may see nothing but grace, which is the beauty and the glory of the soul. Ah ! but weak Christians are more apt to look upon their infirmities than on their graces, and because their little gold is mixed with a great deal of dross, they are ready to throw away all as dross. Well, remember this, the Lord Jesus hath as great and as laro-e an interest in the weakest saints, as he hath in the strongest. He hath the interest of a friend, and the interest of a father, and the interest of a head, and the interest of a husband ; and, therefore, though saints be weak, yea, though they be very weak, yet having as great and as large an interest in them as in the strongest saints, he cannot but overlook their weakness, and keep a fixed eye upon their graces.
A fourth support is this :
Suijport 4. That the Lord will graciously preserve and strengthen those weak graces that are in you}
Though your graces be as a spark of fire in the midst of an ocean of corruption, yet the Lord will preserve and blow up that spark of fire into a flame. It was the priest's office in the time of the law, to keep the fire in the sanctuary from going out ; and it is the ofiice of our Lord Jesus, as he is our high priest, our head, our husband, our media- tor, for to blow up that heavenly fire that he hath kindled in any of our souls. His honour, his faithfulness, and his goodness is engaged in it, and therefore he cannot but do it, else he would lose much love and many prayers and praises, did he not cherish, preserve, and strengthen his own work in his own people. The faith of the disciples was Gene- rally weak, as I have formerly shewed you, and yet how sweetly doth the Lord Jesus carry it towards them ! John xvi., Acts ii. He was still a-breathing out light, life, and love upon them ; he was still a- turning their water into wine, their bitter into sweet, and their discour- agements into encouragements, and all to raise and keep up their spirits. His heart was much in this thing, therefore says he, ' It is necessary that I leave you, that I may send the Comforter to be a com- fort and guide unto you.' I will pour out my Spirit upon you, that a little one may become a thousand, and a small one a strono- nation, and that the feeble may be as David, and the house of David as God, as the angel of the Lord, Zech. xii. 8. That is a sweet text, Isa. Ixv. 8, ' Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the clusters, and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it, so will I do for my servants' sake,' &c. Oh, saith Christ to the Father, here are a company of weak saints that have some buddings of grace, oh do not destroy it. Father ! there is a blessing in it, though it be but weak. The genuine sense of the similitude, I think, is this : when a vine being blasted or otherwise decayed is grown so bad and so barren, that scarce any good clusters of grapes can be discerned on it, whereby it may be deemed to have any life, or of ever becoming fruitful again, and the husbandman is about to <^vnh
' The tallest oak was ODce an acorn, and the deepest doctor was once in his horn-book.
^4 THE UNSEARCHABLE [EPH. III. 8.
it up or cut it down to the ground, one standing by sees here a cluster, and there a little cluster, and cries out, Oh do not grub up the vine, do not cut down the vine, it hath a little life, and by good husbandry it may be made fruitful. We may look upon the Lord Jesus as thus pleading with his Father's justice : Father, I know thou seest that these souls are dry and barren, and that there is little or no good in them, and therefore thou mightest justly cut them down. But, 0 my Father ! I see here a bunch and there a i3unch, here a little grace and there a little grace, surely there is a blessing it. Oh spare it, let it not be stubbed up, let it not be destroyed.
Mat. xii. 27, ' A bruised reed shall he not break, nor smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.'^
' A bruised reed shall he not break." The Jewish commentators carry it thus : he shall not tyrannise over, but nourish and cherish the poor, weak, feeble ones, that are wont to be oppressed by great ones. But men more spiritual carry it thus : Christ will not carry it roughly and rio-orously towards poor weak tender souls, whose graces are as a bruised reed and as smoking flax. A reed is a contemptible thing, a tender thino', it will break sometimes before a man is aware ; a bruised reed is more tender, it will be broken with a touch, yet Christ will not break such a braised reed, i.e. a soul weak in grace.
' Nor quench the smoking flax/ The wick of a candle is little worth, and yet less when it smokes, as yielding neither light nor heat, but rather smokes, and offends with an ill smell, which men cannot bear, but will tread it out. But the Lord Jesus Christ will not do so. Souls whose knowledge, love, faith, and zeal do as but smoke out, the Lord Jesus will not trample under foot ; nay, he will cherish, nourish, and streno-then such to life eternal. Look, what tallow is to the wick, or oil is to the lamp, that will the Lord Jesus be to the graces of weak Christians.
' Till he shall bring forth judgment unto victory.' That is, until the sanctified frame of grace begun in their hearts be brought to that j^er- fection that it prevaileth over all opposite corruption.
Thus you see how sweetly the Lord Jesus carries it to souls weak in orace ; therefore let not those that bring forth a hundredfold despise those that bring forth but thirty, nor those that have five talents despise those that have but two. The fifth support is this :
Support 0. That weak saints may be very useful to the strong, and sometimes may do more tlmn strong saints can.
As you may see in 1 Cor. xii. 14 to 28.^ The apostle in this Scrip- ture discovers the singular use of the weakest saint in tJie body of Christ by the usefulness of the weakest and meanest member in the natural body to the strongest : ver. 21, ' The eye cannot say to the hand,
^ iKl^idxy.u) : to bring forth. It is the custom of all writers, and very frequent in the sacred dialect, to use phrases whereby tliey understand much more tlian tliey do express : an example whereof you have in this verse, where Clirist's not breaking; the bruised reed signifies his great mercy and kindness in repairing, and restoring, and curing the bruised weakling. And so his not quenching the smoking flax is his enlivening, quickening, and inllaming that fire or spark of grace or goodness which was almost ijuenched, &c.
* Others un<lerstand the words of Christ setting up tlie profession of the gospel in the world among the heathens, if the Jews will not receive it.
EpH. III. 8] RICHES OF CHRIST. 65