(3.) And then in the pardon, and forgiveness of sins, and justification after — what a wondrous grace is that forgiveness of sins, and adoption to be the sons and heirs of God, ' fellow-heirs with Jesus Christ,' Rom. viii. 17, and thereupon to have angels our attendants. What beauty have we in justifi- cation, to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ; that perfect righteous- ness, that can answer the justice of God much more Satan's cavils and the troubles of our own consciences. That that satisfieth the justice of God, being the righteousness of God-man, it will satisfy conscience, and Satan's temptations. It is a garment without spot. Satan can pick no hole in that glorious garment, the righteousness of Christ. If we have the ward- robe of Christ, we shall be beautiful in that we have from Christ, we shall shine in his beams.
(4.) So go to sanctification. How amiable is God in the privilege of sanc- tification, to set his image upon us, to make us new creatures, to be like his Son, that before were like the devils, full of malice and base afiections. Now for God by his Spirit to frame a new temple for his Spirit to dweU in, to set his stamp upon us, what a wondrous beauty is this ! The church of God is the house where God frameth new creatures. There he sets a stamp upon his creatures.
A BREATHING AFTER GOD. 235
The graces that belong to the church of God are wondrous delight. ' Wisdom makes a man's face to shine,' Eccles. viii. 1 ; and there is no wisdom out of the church. All is but darkness and folly. So of all other graces whatsoever. Graces are the anointing of the Spirit, the oil of the Spirit. They make sweet and delightful, delightful to God, and to the church, and to one another. They are anointed with the oil of gladness and of grace. It ran first upon Christ's head, upon Aaron's head, but then upon the skirts, the meanest Christian.
And so the beginning of glory here ; for all is not kept for the life to come. For God distils some drops of glory beforehand. We see the beautj^ of God here, marvellously even in this world, in regard of the be- ginning of gloiy. For upon justification, and the beginning of holiness wrought in our nature by the Spirit, we have inward peace of conscience, and joy and comfort in all discomforts whatsoever. We have not only the oil of gi'ace, but the oil of comfort. Oh ! the comfort of the children of God, that are members of the church, that are so in the church, that they are of the church too, that are of the chm'ch visible, so as they are of the church invisible. Oh ! the comfort that belongs to them, all the comfort in God's book. So you see the wondi'ous sweet prerogatives and privileges we have in all the passages of salvation in the house of God, and in God reconciled in Jesus Christ.
Nay, God is so lovely to those that are his, his church and people, he is so good to Israel, that he makes everything good to them in the issue. ' All things work for the best to them that love God,' Rom. viii. 28, in the issue. He makes a covenant between everything. So that all the en- deavours of Satan and his instruments, all their plottings, shall turn for the good of the chui-ch. When they think to do most hurt, they do most good ; so sweet, and good, and gracious is God.
Indeed, 'glorious things are spoken,' Ps. Ixxxvii. 3, of the people of God. Take the church for a visible congregation, a mixed congregation ; glorious things are spoken of that. It is the house of God. Take it as visible, ' the vessels of honour and dishonour,' 2 Tim. ii. 20, and the field, the ' tares and the wheat,' Mat. xiii. 1, seq., it is God's field. Though we take the church as visible, it hath a glorious name for the good that is in it, specially for the wheat. But take the church of God for the company of his children that are gathered by the means dwelling in the visible church, enjoying the visible means : so they are the house and temple of Christ, the ' temple of the Holy Ghost, the body of Christ, the spouse of Chi-ist.' They are God's delight, they are spiritual kings and priests, &c. The most glorious things that can be, all other excellencies in the world, are but titular things, mere shadows of things. There is some little reality, but it is nothing in com- parison, it is scarce worth the name of reality, but Solomon calls them 'vanity of vanities.' In comparison of the excellencies of the church all is nothing. I might be large in these particulars. It is enough to give you the gene- rals of the delights and excellencies of God's house, ' the beauty of the Lord.' We see amiableness of God in Christ, in his ordinances, the pri- vileges that we have in the ordinances, graces, and comforts. Indeed the church of God, beloved, is a paradise. Since we were cast out of the first paradise, this second paradise is the church of God, and the thii'd is heaven itself. This paradise, this church, it is the seminary* of young plants, that must be transplanted hence to heaven in due time. In paradise there was the tree of life, Gen. iii. 22 ; in the church, there is the tree of life, * That is, ' seed-plot.'— G.