(1.) By a free and frequent acknoidedgment that all your graces fiowfroTii tlie Lord Jesus, the fountain of grace: John i. 16, ' Of his ful- ness we all receive grace for grace.' James i. 17, ' Every good and perfect gift comes do^\Ti from above,' &c. Thou must say, 0 Christian, I have no- thing but what I have received ; I have no light, no life, no love, no joy, no peace, but from above, 1 Cor. iv. 7. The jewels that hang in my breasts, and the chains of pearl that be about my neck, and the_ golden crown that is upon my head, and all the sparkling diamonds in that crown, are all from above, Ezek. xvi. 11-15, Ps. xlv. 8, seq. All those princely ornaments by which I am made more beautiful and lovely than others, and all those beds of spices and sweet flowers, by which I am made more desirable and delectable, is from above. Say, I am nothing. I have nothing of my own ; all I am, and all I have, is from on high. ' We have given thee of thine own,' says David, 1 Chron. xxix. 14. So do thou say, Lord, the love with which I love thee, is thine own ; and the faith by which I hang upon thee, is thine own ; and the fear by which I fear before thee, is thine o^vn ; and the joy which I rejoice before thee with, is thine own ; and the patience with which I wait upon thee, is thine own.^ And therefore say, as David did, upon the receipt of mercy, ' Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our Father, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty ; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine : thine is the kingdom, 0 Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all ; and in thine hand is power and might ; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.'
(2.) You must honour him, hy acknowledging the dependency of your graces upon the fountain of grace. And that your strength to stand lies not so much in your graces, as in their dependency upon the
2 Plutarch, in his Morals \suh iwrnine ; Epaminondas. — G.]. ' Deus nihil coronat nisi dona sua. — Augustine.
138 THE UNSEARCHABLE [EPH. III. 8.
fountain of grace, as in their conjunction with the God of grace. A man by his arm may do much, but it is mainly by reason of its union and conjunction with the head. It is so between a Christian's gi-aces and Christ. The stream doth not more depend upon the fountain, nor the branch upon the root, nor the moon upon the sun, nor the child upon the mother, nor the effect upon the cause, than our graces do depend upon the fountain of grace, Ps. cxxxviii. 3, Philip, iv. 12, 13.
Now that our very graces do thus depend upon the fountain of grace, and that our strength to stand lies not so much in our graces as in Christ, is clear by this, that the graces of the saints may and do most fail them when they have most need of them : Mark iv. 40, ' And he said, Why are ye so fearful ? How is it that ye have no faith ?' When the wind was high, their faith was low ; when the storm was great, their faith was little ; so Luke viii. 25, ' And he said unto them, Where is your faith ?' Are you now to seek it, when you should use it ? Peter denied Christ, when he had need by faith to have confessed Christ. Moses's faith failed him, when it should have been most serviceable to him, Num. xx. 12. And DaA-id's courage failed him, when it should have been a buckler to him, 1 Sam. xxi. 1 3, 14. And the disciples' love failed them, when it should have been most useful to them, John xiv. 28. And Job's wisdom and patience failed him, when they should have been greatest supporters to him. By all which it is most clear, that not only ourselves, but also our very graces, must be supported by the God of grace, the fountain of grace, or else they will be to seek when we most need them.^ Though grace is a glorious creature, it is but a creature, and therefore must be upheld by its Creator. Though grace be a beautiful child, yet it is but a child, that must be upheld by the Father's arms. This, Christians, you must remember, and give glory to God.
(3.) You must honour him hy uncrowning your graces, to crown the God of your graces. By taking the crown off from your own heads, and putting it upon his, or by laying it down at his feet, as they did theirs, in Rev. iv. 10, Acts iii. 11, 12, IG, and iv. 7-10. These scrip- tures are wells of living waters ; they are bee-hives of living lioney ; see and taste.^ The Lord hath often uncrowned himself, to crown his people's graces, as you may see in these following scriptures. Mat. ix. 22, and XV. 28, Mark x. 52, Luke vii. 50. And why, then, should not liis people uncrown their graces to crown him '? Cant. v. 10, seq. That which others attribute to your graces, do you attribute to the God of grace. You must say, Though our graces are precious, yet Christ is more pre- cious ; though they are sweet, yet Christ is most sweet ; though they are lovely, yet Christ is altogether lovely. Your gi-aces are but Christ's picture, Christ's image ; and therefore do not you worship his image, and in the mean while neglect his person. Make much of his picture, but make more of himself Let his picture have your eye, but let him- self have your heart, John i. 39, seq. Your graces are but Christ's
' Though our graces be our best jewels, yet they are imperfect -^and as the moon shines by a borrowed light, so do our graces. If it were not for the Sun of righteousness all our graces would give no light.
'■^ Cerium est nos facerc qnod facinms,scd ille facit,ut faciamns,9,;\\W\ Augustine. True it is that we do what we do^ but it is as true that Christ makes us to do what wo do.
EpH. III. 8. J RICHES OF CHRIST. ] 39
hands, by which he works ; be you therefore careful that you do not more mmd the workman's hands than the workman himself. Your graces are but Christ's servants, therefore do not smile upon the ser- vant, and look asquint upon the Master. Your graces are but Christ's favourites ; therefore do not so stare upon them, and be taken with them, as to forget the Prince on whom they wait, &c. All I drive at is this, that not your graces but Christ, may be all in all unto you, &c.