33G COMMENTARY ON
minister to be a grace, as St Paul saith here, I intended you a * second grace,'
that is, to speak gracious things to you ?
I shall know it, if by that gracious means, by those gracious speeches, God distil into me a spirit to improve them to gracious purposes. As indeed, God turns all to a gracious end to his children : he gives them a principle of grace to work good out of everything ; they see gi'ace in every- thing : in atllictiou they see the love of God. In the worst things, grace will pick out somewhat, and make use of it. As God by his providence intends all to good, so his Spirit, by a provident eye to the word, works good out of everything. ]5ut those that have not grace, they are not grace to them, but tend to their further hardening.
To end this point ; when you come to the communion, come to it as a grace. It is the grace of God that he hath ordained us to salvation. It is the grace of God that he hath sent his word. It is the grace of God that he hath sent his sacrament to seal that word, and all little enough. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows we have need of all, to confirm and help us, the word and the sacraments, even to the end of our days. As the apostle saith, Eph. ii. 22, ' To build us up.' The means of grace are not only necessary for the planting, but for the building up of the church. And therefore come with this purpose, to have grace confirmed, and receive it as a grace of God with thankfulness, that God will condescend to our infirmity, to give us helps, to support our weak fixith. It is a true proverb, grace begets gi'ace. It begets thankfulness, where it is appre- hended as a grace. Therefore come with a thankful disposition to the sacrament ; embrace every ordinance of God with thankfulness. Alas ! do not thousands ' sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death ? ' They do ; and therefore those that find the benefit of God's ordinances, they are dis- posed by the same Spirit that works any good in them, to return thank- fulness to God again.
' That you might have a second grace.' Saint Paul's purpose was to come to them, to bestow ' a grace,' not to take from them ; to bestow good and gracious speeches on them, which he knew the Spirit of God would make efiectual to work some good in them.
Obs. A gracious mcot is a vessel of grace, a)id he sJioidd take all occasions to veut that ivJiich is good.
When St Paul saith, he intended to bestow a second grace, his meaning is, that he would utter things that were gracious, that the Spirit of God should seal to the souls of them that heard him, and make them effectual.
Therefore every Cluistian should have this disposition. St Paul did it as a holy man, as well as a minister. Do we think ourselves vessels of grace, as the Scripture calls the elect, children of God, or no ? Yes ! God forbid else. Now God's children, God hath appointed some to be vessels of gold, some of silver, as the apostle saith to Timothy, some for this use, and some for that : all for good use, 2 Tim. ii. 20. A vessel is to be filled with something, and to be used for something ; therefore set abroach* some good thing when you have the advantage of it, when you are called to it ; not unnecessarily to thrust forward yourselves. Let the desire of your hearts be to do good upon all occasions. A vessel of grace must not be an empty vessel. A Christian he is a member of Christ, and he hath a part in the communion of saints, and he hath gifts for that end. Thex*e is no Chi-istian, but he can comfort, or instruct, or dissuade from ill when it is moved. There is no Christian, but he is furnished as a member ought to * That is, ' causo to flow.' — G.
2 CORINTHIANS CHAP. I, VER. 16. 337
be, in some competent measure. There is no man that hath benefit by the communion of saints, but he hath grace to fit him for that blessed com- munion. He is fitted to comfort, upon occasion ; and he hath some grace, some knowledge to correct. He that hath not is a dead member, not fit for that communion. Therefore we should bestow grace where we come ; and not leave an ill scent behind us, to infect others with filthy speeches, and blasphemous oaths, to open the rottenness of om* own hearts in their presence, and so be conscious of that which is ill in them, because we strengthen it by our example, and by our words. St Paul was a good man. ' I come to bestow a second gi-ace,' that is, to speak that which is gracious, that God's gi-acious providence shall direct to do you special good. For God's word is inspired by the Spirit; and the same Spiiit that breathed the word of God into the penmen of it, the same Spirit is with the word in the uttering of it. When it is done by a gi-acious heart, to a gracious man, it works graciously, it hath a blessed operation with it.