The sweet nature of Grace

The sweet nature of grace(Thomas Brooks, "The Unsearchable Riches of Christ")Dwell much upon the sweet nature of grace.Grace begets the greatest joy and sweetness in the hearts of men, that possibly can be. Grace is a panoply against all troubles—and a paradise of all pleasures.Grace is compared to the sweetest things; to sweet spices, to wine and milk. Grace is a sweet flower of paradise, a spark of glory, etc. Grace is nourished and maintained by that sweet Word, which is sweeter than the honey or the honey-comb, and by sweet union and communion with the Father and the Son. Grace is exercised about the sweetest objects, namely—God, Christ, promises, and future glory. Grace sweetens all your services and duties. Your best religious performances are but stinking sacrifices—if they are not attended with the exercise of grace. Grace is that heavenly salt which makes all our services savory and sweet in the nostrils of God. Grace is of the greatest and sweetest use to the soul. It is an anchor at sea, and a shield at land. Grace is a staff to uphold the soul, and a sword to defend the soul.Grace is bread to strengthen the soul, and wine to cheer the soul. Grace is medicine to cure all diseases, and a plaster to heal all wounds, and a cordial to strengthen the soul under all faintings, etc. Grace is . . . your eye to see for Christ, your ear to hear for Christ, your head to design for Christ, your tongue to speak for Christ, your hand to do for Christ, and your feet to walk with Christ.Grace makes men of the harshest, sourest, crabbedest natures—to be of a sweet, lovely, amiable, pleasing temper. Grace turns lions into lambs, wolves into sheep, monsters into men, and men into angels—as you may see in Manasseh, Paul, Mary Magdalene, Zaccheus, and others. Yet sometimes grace, in a rugged unhewn nature, is like . . . a gold ring on a leprous hand, or a diamond set in iron, or a jewel in a swine's snout, etc.