' Oh tlie joys, the joys, the unconceivable joys ! ciied out Mistress Katliarine BretterRe, who had attained to a great measure of ^race, &c. [As before: see Index, suh nomine. — G.] 2 JSierna erit exullatio, quce bono Ivetatur teterrio, &o.
162 THE UNSEARCHABLE [EPH. III. 8.
sures of grace, as in a crystal glass, the soul sees the glorious face of God shining and sparkling, and this fills the soul with joy : Acts ix. 31, * Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, and were edified ; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.' The more their graces were increased, the more their comforts were augmented.
' If one drop of the joy of the Holy Ghost should fall into hell, it would swallow up all the torments of hell,' saith Austin. Oh ! who would not then labour to increase in grace, that he may abound in joy? The promise lies most fair before their eyes that are rich in grace. Their interest in it is most clear, and rarely that they go without it, unless it is by taking part sometimes with Satan against their interest in Christ, or sometimes through the power of unbelief, which indeed cuts off all the comfort of the soul, or by looking after other lovers, or by not hearkening to the voice of the Comforter, &c. Christians, you often complain of the want of joy and comfort. Oh ! do but abound in grace, and you won't complain of the want of comfort. 'Without delight the soul cannot live,' saith one ; ' take away all delight, and the soul dies.' Let this that hath been spoken, provoke every Christian to labour to be rich in grace.
[2.] But, secondly, consider this, you have singular opportunities and choice advantages to he rich in grace.
There is a price put into your hands, but where are your hearts ? In former times God gave our grace by drops, but now by flagons, Cant, ii. 5. Opportunities, if not improved, will, as that sword that Hector gave Ajax, be turned into your own bowels. This will be a sword in thy bowels, that there hath been soul-enriching opportunities, and thou hast neglected them, and turned thy back upon tliem. The thoughts of this will one day be the scorpions that will vex thee, the rod that will lash thee, the thorns that will prick thee, and the worm that will gnaw thee. ' The stork,' saith the prophet, ' knows his appointed times ; and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of their coming ; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord,' Jer. viii. 7. The market for your souls is open ; slip not your season, lest with the foolish virgins you go to buy when it is too late. Mat. xxv. The mer- chant will not slip his opportunity of buying, nor the sailor his of sail- ing, nor the husbandman his of sowing, and why should you slip yours of growing rich in grace ? Many men lose their souls, as Saul lost his kingdom, by not discerning their time to be spiritually rich.
Tamerlane at first hung out a white flag, but if they slipped that oppor- tunity, then a red, and so death and destruction followed, &c. The Lord Jesus hangs out the white flag of mercy in these days, to entice souls to come in, and to share with him in his glorious and unsearchable riches, in the riches of his grace and mercy ; but if you stand out, Christ hath a red flag, and if tiiat be once put out, you are lost for ever. Tlirice happy are those that take the flrst <^)pportunity of closing with Christ, and of subjecting themselves to Christ.'
Plutarch writes of Hannibal, ' That when he could have taken Rome
' Such there have been who, by giving a glass of water opportunely, have obtained a kingdom, as you may see in the story of Thuuniustus and king Agrippa, &c. [Cf. Index s. n. — G.]
EpH. III. 8.] RICHES OF CHRIST. 163
he would not, but when he would have taken Rome he could not.'* When many men may have mercy, they won't, and when they would have mercy, they shan't, Prov. i. 24, seq. Mercy and grace are some- times upon the bare knee. Christ stands knocking at sinners' doors ; he is willing to come in and make sinners rich and happy for ever; he calls upon souls to open to him. Rev. iii. 20, seq. ' Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors ; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of glory ? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle,' Ps. xxiv. 7, 8. The King of glory comes not vacuis manihus, empty-handed ; no, he comes with his hands and heart full of rich and royal presents, and blessed and enriched for ever are those that open to this King of glory, &c.
[3.] Thirdly, Consider this, souls rich in grace shall have their names immortal.
Every man naturally would have, if it were possible, his name im- mortal. Now there is no way in the world to have your names immor- tal, like this of growing rich in grace. A man that is spiritually rich shall live, and his name shall live when he is dead. In Neh. vii. 2, it is said of Hananiah, that ' he was a faithful man, and feared God above many ;' or, ' he feared God above multitudes,' as the Hebrew hath it : merabbim, from rahab. His name lives, though his body for many hundred years hath been turned to dust. So in Acts vii. 55, ' Stephen was a man full of the Holy Ghost.' Though Stephen was stoned, yet his name lives, his memorial is precious among the saints to this very day. So in Heb. xi. 38, they were such ' of whom this world was not worthy.' And in the third Epistle of John, the six first verses, compared with ver. 1 2, Gains and Demetrius, who were rich in grace, have crowns of honour set upon their heads, their names live, and are a sweet savour to this very day, &c. So in Ps. cxii. 6, ' The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance, but the name of the wicked shall rot.' The great man's name, and the rich man's name, shall rot, saith he, but ' the name of the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance.'^
The Persians use to write their kings' names in golden characters ; so the Lord writes the names of souls rich in grace in golden characters. Their names are always heirs to their lives. Believe it, there is no such way in the world to have immortal names, like this of growing rich in grace. One man thinks to make his name immortal, by making him- self great ; another by heaping up silver and gold as the dust of the earth or the stones of the street, and another by doing some strange exploits, &c. But for all this the Lord will make good his woa'd, ' the name of the wicked shall rot.' If God be God, his name must rot ; but the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance ;' they leave their names behind for a blessing, Isa. Ixv. 15. It is sad to consider what many poor carnal creatures have done and suffered to make their names immortal. The Romans' desires of praise and a name, made them bountiful of their purses, and prodigal of their lives.^