a sweet savour of the knowledge of Christ ; they shall be un- fading ornaments in the place where they grow ; and instead of wounding, like the brier, all that come in contact with them, they shall, like the myrtle, emit the sweeter fragrance the more they are bruised, and perfume, as it were, the very hand that bruises them.]
To impress our minds with a due esteem for the Gospel, let us proceed to consider, II. The excellency of those effects —
There is an inherent excellence in holy dispositions, which, independent of the consequences flowing from them to ourselves or to society, must render them amiable in our eyes. But, as the text limits our views to the honour which accrues from them to God, we shall content ourselves with observing, that the change effected by the Gospel is to the Lord,
1. An occasion of praise —
[None who are quickened and renewed by the word ever take the honour to themselves: all with one voice cry, " He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God; therefore, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be the praise ! " The greater the change that is wrought in any per- son's heart, the less will he be disposed to arrogate any thing to himself on account of it : and most of all, " when the top- stone of the spiritual building shall be brought forth, will he shout, Grace, grace unto it!" From his first acquaintance with divine truth will he begin to speak of God with love and gratitude. His own experience will furnish him with an inexhaustible fund of praise and thanksgiving. Nor will his acknowledgments any longer be a dull recital of an established creed, but the lively effusions of a grateful heart.
Now if that be deemed excellent, which causes the name of any human being to be held in estimation, and to be trans- mitted to posterity with honour, how much more must that be excellent, which makes the name of God to be reverenced and adored!]
2. A monument of glory —
[It is not in this world only that God is glorified by the dispensations of his grace: at the day of judgment every saint will " be to him for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory." " Christ will come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all that believe." How sovereign will the grace of God appear to every one amongst them, when each sees himself as a brand plucked out of the fire ! What stupendous ivisdom