2. Those that will have good gardens will have flowers of every kind, so a Christian must have graces of every kind. When Ahab was killed there happened a weapon to strike through the joints of his harness, and killed him ; to what purpose was it for him to have harness with loose joints ? He should have had it complete. So we must have complete armour, and not any grace in part. We must not be right in opinion, and loose in action ; not hot in affection, and weak in judgment. We must put on whole Christ for justification and sanctification, and we must add grace to grace ; and when we have put on every grace we must keep them clean, and not defile our profession. Beloved, Christian religion is a pure religion. We must therefore keep our judgments pure, and we must take heed that we be not tainted with errors.
And as we judge, so we must affect and practise. If our judgments bo naught, all is naught.
A Christian owes a due to truth ; his understanding is a spouse to truth ; he must not therefore cleave to this opinion and that opinion, but he must keep close all graces. In our place we must stand for the truth ; and as Jacob's sons strove for the wells, so we should strive for the truth, and not incline to any schismatical or heretical opinion. What a poor thing were it for a man to drag an excellent garment through some sink-hole ! Sure every man would say he were mad. Now, we have an excellent profession, and shall we suffer it to be stained ? What is religion, but to keep ourselves unspotted of the world ? We should therefore hate the garments spotted with the flesh, Jude 23. We should do with religion as we do with our clothes ; he that is a neat man will not endure a spot upon his clothes. Beloved, shall we have such a garment, and care no more for it ? Shall we care for our outward garments, and shall we endure spots in our profes- Bion and in our understanding ?
We live in a leprous time, wherein men are spoiled in their affections, and are of a devihsh disposition, hating God ; whereas we ought to be of holy profession and conversation. A Christian should be glorious, for he hath a dignity above angels. Now, for a man that is a Christian to be failing in justice, what a shame it is ! The very heathens abhorred this ; and shall a Christian be no better than a pagan ? Let us take heed of this our profession. And when we do anything, let us reason thus. Is this becom- ing my religion ? and say thus to ourselves, I should walk worthy of Christ, and as it becometh the gospel ; for what is the ornament of a Christian but the graces he hath ? All the beauty we have is to be religious.
You know if a man be clothed we can see no deformity within him ; so a Christian should be pure, that we may see no deformity in him, but all things that are pure ; we should see Christ in his conversation. Indeed, we should all labour that the Spirit of Christ may speak and act ; for every Christian hath the same Spirit that Christ hath to clothe his soul withal ; therefore nothing should appear in him but Christ ; the Spirit should so shine in him that all might appear glorious.
Shall that man look to have benefit by religion, who is a deceiver, a Har, a loose speaker ? Is this to be clothed with the Spirit of Christ ? Some men are of malicious minds, hating God and goodness ; and yet they will take it as a great indignity to them if they should not have the title of Christians. But you see what they aim at ; they know they should keep all their garments close, and that they should labour to fasten them upon
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thoir souls ; that they may say of themselves as the church in the Canticles, * My beloved is all fair,' v, 16 ; and as the mould gives the true impression of the print, so he may be all fair, not only having the righteousness of Christ, but may have some grace in all the parts of his soul.
We are clothed when wo have the love of all grace and a desire to some of all grace ; and when we complain that we are no better ; and when we endeavour after all that is good, that wherein we fail we may comfort our- selves with this, that though our sanctification be imperfect, yet we are clothed M"ith the perfect righteousness of Christ, which is the evangelical clothing.
This is a point of great consequence, that we have some evidences. We have put on Christ for our clothing, else there is no grace. Where there is faith to lay hold on the righteousness of Christ, there is likewise grace suitable ; and as our souls desire both, so he gives both : he gives the righteousness of Christ and the Spirit of Christ. And then we may know we are clothed, if we have the righteousness of Christ.