128 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [Heb. XII. 14.
thy dealings with thy servants, and holiness shall be written upon thy carriages towards thy children, and holiness shall be written upon all thy behaviours towards thy friends. Whatever thou puttest thy hand to in thy habitation, shall have holiness written upon it : thou shalt make a Jacob's ladder of all thy earthly enjoyments ; all the comforts that be in thy habitation, shall be as so many bright morning stars to lead thee on in a way of holiness, and to lead thee up to a holy Grod. Look upon a holy man in his calling, and you shall find him holy : look upon him in the use of the creatures, and you shall find him holy : look upon him in his recreations, and you shall find him holy. The habitual frame and bent of his heart is to be holy in every earthly thing that he puts his hand unto. A spirit of holiness runs and shines in all the common actions of his Hfe. But now look upon those who have only the shows and appearances of holiness, and you shall find that they have but a common spirit in common things. Take them out of their duties, and you shall find them in a course to be earthly in the use of earthly things, and carnal in the use of carnal things, and worldly in the use of worldly things. All their religion, all their holiness, lies in a few duties ; take them out of these, and you shall find them as carnal, as vain, as foolish, as filthy and as frothy, as light and as slight, as those that have not so much as a cloak of hohness upon them. But he that is really holy, will be holy as well out of duties as in duties. If you look narrowly upon him in all his worldly concernments, you shall find some footsteps of the awe, fear, dread, authority, and glory of God upon his spirit. Look, as an unholy heart is carnal in spiritual things, and earthly in heavenly things, and un- holy in holy things ; so a man that is truly holy, he is as well holy in the ordinary affairs and actions of this life, as he is holy in any of the exercises of religion. But,
11. Eleventhly, True holiness is conformable to the holiness of Christ. The holiness of Christ is that first and noble pattern that real holiness makes us conformable to : 1 John iv. 17, * Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.' There is no grace in Christ which is not in some degree formed in a holy heart, 1 John ii. 6 : and there- fore the work of grace and holiness is caUed a forming of Christ in the soul, Gal. iv. ] 9. Holy hearts have the very prints, stamps, and im- pressions of the graces of Jesus Christ upon them : John i. 16, * Of his fulness we have all received grace for grace.' ^ Look, as face answers to face, so the graces that are in real Christians answer to the graces thaft are in Jesus ; there is such love as answers to the love of Christ, and such lowliness as answers to the lowliness of Christ, and such heavenly- mindedness as answers to the heavenly-mindedness of Christ, and such meekness as answers to the meekness of Christ, and such patience as answers to the patience of Christ, and such faith as answers to the faith of Christ, and such zeal as answers to the zeal of Christ, and such fear as answers to the fear of Christ, in truth and reality, though not in degree and quantity. Look, as in generation the child receives
^ Gratiam super gratiam, say some ; Gratiam gratia accumalatam, say others. Cer- tainly Christ is a seminar}' of graces. He is clara epitome virtutum, an exact epitome of graces.
Heb. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 129
member for member ; or as the paper from the press, letter for letter ; or the glass from the face, image for image ; or as the wax from the seal, stamp for stamp ; so holy hearts receive from Christ grace for grace. Look, as wine in the bottle is conformable to that in the butt, and as water in the cistern is conformable to that in the river, and as light in the air is conformable to that in the sun, and as milk in the saucer is conformable to milk in the breasts, and as money in the pocket is conformable to money in the bag, so the graces that are in a holy Christian are conformable to the graces that are in Christ, 2 Cor. iii. 17, 18. To be a philosopher, saith Plato, is to know God, to be in love with God, and to imitate God. So say I, to be a holy person is to know a holy Christ, to be in love with a holy Christ, and to imitate the virtues of a holy Christ. It was the height of Caesar's glory to walk in the steps of Alexander ; and of Selymus,! a Turkish emperor, to walk in the steps of Caesar ; and of Themistocles to walk in the steps of Miltiades ; so it is the height of a Christian's glory to tread in the virtuous steps of his dearest Lord. And as Scipio accounted it no small disparagement for him to walk one foot awry from that course of life which Cyrus in Xenophon had gone before him in, so a holy heart counts it no small disparagement to him in the least to step awry from that holy pattern that Christ hath set him. Look, as the holy prophet did lay his mouth to the Shunammite's child's mouth, and his eyes to his eyes, and his hands to his hands, 2 Kings iv. 34; so a holy Christian lays his mouth to the mouth of Christ, and his eyes to the eyes of Christ, and his hands to the hands of Christ, and his breasts to the breasts of Christ, and his heart to the heart of Christ : that is, he doth in all things labour to resemble Christ, to be like to Christ ; especially in those holy virtues which were most shining in the heart and life of Christ, 1 Pet. ii. 9. Now certainly they are far from being holy who count it a crime to be virtuous ; and so are they who walk directly contrary to Jesus Christ. He was holy, but they are profane ; he was humble, but they are proud ; he was heavenly, but they are earthly ; he was spiritual, but they are carnal ; he was zealous, but they are lukewarm ; he was meek, but they are contentious,; he was charitable, but they are covetous ; he was courteous, but they are malicious. Will you caH these men holy ? Surely no. But,
12. Twelfthly, He that is truly holy is much affected and afflicted loith the unholiness of others :^ Ps. cxix. 53, ' Horror hath taken hold upon me, because of the wicked that forsake thy law ;' ver. 158, 'I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved, because they kept not thy word ;' ver. 136, ' Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.' By this hyperbolical phrase he sets forth the great- ness of his sorrows, and that not because his enemies had wronged him, but because they had dishonoured his God. It was a great grief to him to see others a-grieving his God. So Jer, ix. 1-3, ' Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night ! oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfar- ing men, that I might leave my people, and go from them.' But why