ous and numerous parts of the world are farving & pining away for plain fcant and want of Chrifts ordis nances, no Scriptures, no Minifters, no Sacraments, and confequently no God,no Christ, no Hope in the world, O dolefull cafe. I had almott faid O dipelaj ull cafe, for turely where Chrift is not, there the Devil' reigns, and fhould not this provoke us to thankful> nek, even to admire and praise the Lord and His goodness; furelie Cbriftian, if ever thou haft trulie rafted that the Lord is fweet and gracious, I doubt not but thou haft fet apart fome time on fet purpofe to bless God for Chrift, to blefs God for the Bible, to blefs God for Ordinances, abd to blefs God that ever thou got good of any of thefe; break forth ins to a new Song, and tune up the harp of thy beart to utter His Praises for ever. Read Pfal. 103. 14. Infer, As we thould blefs God for our meat, fo we thould feek Gods blessing on our meat, that we may be the better and not the worse of it; meat is a blef fing, yet this our blefling may be turned into acurse, yea our table may become afnare: when Jefurum did eat the increase of the fields, when be fucked honey out of the rock, and byl out of the flintie rock &c. and when he did drink the pure blood of the grape, even then Felurum waxed fat and kicked, then he forfook God which made him &c. Deut, 32, 13,14,15. and are we not alfo in hazard of milimproving fpis ritual bleflings without Gods bleffing upon them; are there not many Preachings, are there not many Examination days, are there not many Communi on feafls, are there not many Faft days, are there' not I fay many Gospel opportunities, all but labour in vain, all ineffectual and fruitlefs for lack of Gods blefling and becaule of our turning the grace of God into lafcivioufnels, Pau may plant and Apollos may water, but it is God who gives the increase, 1 Cor. 3.6.7. SECTION VI, A fourth sort of Bavens Wares exposed to Sale: Fourthly, What will ye Buy will ye buy reimens and cloathing? if you mind to buy any thing at all, to be fure you will buy mat and cloath, ye molt ware the penny on thefe, though ye fhould pinch your felves to fave it in other things, these ye mult needs have elle ye perish, hence the great care and cry of the world is, what shall we eat, what shall we drink, wherewithall shall we be cloathed; now 1 fay, will ye buy a fuit of cloaths, will ye buy white raiment; then here ye may bave it; I counfelthee to buy of Me white raiment &c. I dare fay there is many a naked foul among you, and it may be nothing covered but your eyes, that will not let you see your nakednefs, like the wretched Laodiceans here who fanci. ed they bad need of nothing, while in the mean time they were blind, naked e. I fear the most part of you may apply in a fpiritual fenfe that paffage we have Ifa 37. In my house is nesther bread nor cloathing, the foreft marks of deep poverty that can be Now I will tell you of four feveral forts or luits of cloathing that ve muft buy.. 1 The garment of reputed righteousn⋅fs, this is the or Coat of an external profeilion put on in Bap tifm, Gal. 3. 27. My Friends, our Lord Jefus bas enough of Merchants for this kind of cloathing, abun dance put on Chriß, livry this way, but all they who thus put on Chrift are not in Chrift, all who profefs communion with Him, are not really in union with Him, Rom, 2, 18 29. alas Sirs, if you have no more upon you but this one fingle coat, the blast of a form of perfecution will foon blow afide the laps of it, & fo difcover your nakedness;and we call it a garment of reputed righteousness, because every one who is cloathed with this garment of profeffion, is in the judgement of charity to be reputed righteous, till the contrare appear by the feen nakedness of their vices and impieties; or we may call it fo, because alas too many repute themfelves good enough Chris flians, though they have no more but the Profeffion and outward forms of religion, or again, because the molt part put on a profeffion of chriftianity only for reputations fake, like the Church of Sardis, if they have a name they live,they care for no more, Rev. 3.1. 2. The garment of imputed righteousness, there is an abfolute neceffity that ye buy this, elfe the fhame of your nakedness can never be covered, & to whom can ye go for this raiment of imputed righteoufnefs, but to this our Merchant in the Text, all other raiments of righteousness are but filthy rags, that will be fo far from hiding your filthiness, that they are I part of your filthinefs which make you filthie and oathfom in the fight of God, Ifa, 64, 6, hence we ee Rom, 14 6. 7. that it is imputed righteoufnefs that covereth fin, and whofe righteousness is it that is im puted, the Apollle tells us, Phil,3.9 Not having my own righteousness which is of the Law, but that which is through the faub of Cbrif, who of God is made to righteoujn fs and redemption &c. 1 Cor. 30, wha is chat co fay, Chrift is made of God our righteoul nels. i. e. Chrifts imputed righteousness, is a Coat of Gous own making, it is not a clouted Coat of our making, which could never cover our nakedness, but a Coat that the finger of God shaped from eternis ty and fhewed in time. 3. I here is the garment of inberent or internal righteonfefs, that is the inner Coat of heart-holiness, or the renewing of the mind, which like a cloath of fils ver or gold does also shine forth and appear in a be ly fpiritual life, Eph 4 24 Put on the new man, which After God is created in righteousness and true boliness, I Theff. 5. 13. 4. There is the garment as of external & inter nal, fo of eternal righteousness, which we should buy at any rate, by eternal righteoufnefs here, we mean not a different kind or fpecies,from the internal fpe ken of, but only the perpetuity & perfection there of, or that we may be fo cloathed upon with Chrif and His Grace as never again to be uncloathed of thefe goodly Garments till Grace be turned to Glory and Chrift be feen and enjoyed as He is. 2 Refle&tions on this Point, 1. Refl & You must either buy all these Garment or none, Chrift will not part the whole Suit, ye muf be for the practice of piety as well as for the profe fion of piety. ye muft be for inward hólinefs in the life and power of it, as well as for the outward forms and rites thereof, ye must be Saints in time elf elfe you fhall never dwell in the habitation of holi nefs with the Saints in Heaven; we muft with the heart believe unto righteoufnefs, as with the mouth make confeffion unto falvation; ah are there not too many that are frank enough for a profeffion, who yet are rank enemies to the power of godlines, yea & are a notorious difcredit & difgrace to their pretended profellion, Tit. 1.16 They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient &c. Therefore I fay what God hath joined together, let no man put afander, let none dare to tear the feemless Coat of Chrift that He will not have parted into pieces. 2. Refle. As ye muft buy either the whole Suit or none, fo mult ye buy it either now or never, Cheilt fells no wares to the dead, neither keeps he exchange in bell; ye mut either fit your felves with cloaths in time, or elle you will be expofed naked to the in tollerable ftorms of an endless winter, believe it my Friends, there will never fuch a word as this be heard among the damned, I counfel thee to buy of Me white raiment, white cloaths are not fit for the black reaks of the lake;fo that if it might be fuppo fed that any of hells wights fhould cry, Lord, cloath me with white raiment, we may also fuppofe they might meet with this anfwer, O ye unworthy wret ches, ye thought fhame of Me and My Livrie in the world, and now I think shame to own you in your filchinefs and nakedness, therefore poffefs ye the shame of your nakedness for ever. |