Fifty sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London, and elsewhere whereof twenty on the Lords Prayer / by ... Anthony Farindon ... ; the third and last volume, not till now printed ; to which is adjoyned two sermons preached by a friend of the authors, upon his being silenced.

The Seventh and Twentieth SERMON. PART I. (Book 27)

MATTH. XXII. 11, 12.

And when the King came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding-garment:

And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not ha∣ving a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

GReat Feasts have their solemnities great. Not such attendance at the marriage of a Peasant as of a Prince; not such noyse and pomp at Nabal's sheep-shearing as when Ahasuerus feasted his Nobles in his palace at Shushan. Ever as the person is, such is the state of celebration and ceremony. We have here the Feast of a King at the marriage of his son, the dinner prepared, the fatlings killed, the viands and dainties on the table, all things ready; A royal Feast, not to some few provinces, but to every nation and to all peo∣ple; not to the Nobles and Princes and Captains alone, to honorable men of high place and employment, but to the Farmer and the Merchant, men taken up and drowned in worldly affairs; to those in the broad streets and high-wayes, men that walk and talk away their life, men that have little to do; and to those in the by-lanes of the city, men that can do little; to the halt, the maimed, the blind, to men knit and revitted to the world, and to men little better than cast out of the world; to all sorts, to as many as could be found, both bad and good. The King invites all, because the Feast concerns all. And that the house may be filled, and the wedding furnisht with guests, he takes the cup of blessings, the cup of salvation, and drinks a Health to all the world. A royal Feast indeed, where the gates lye open to all commers. And as it is a royal Feast, so it is a lasting, a standing Feast, perpetuae incorruptibilitatis, saith Fulgentius; not, as the King of Persia's, for a hundred and fourscore dayes, but, as the Marriage is, for ever. As Despon∣sabo * 1.1 te mihi in aeternum, so Feriabitur in aeternum. The Marriage is not to be cut off by a divorce, nor the Feast by time: It is an everlasting Marriage, and an eternal Holiday. IN PRINCIPIO, In the beginning, there it be∣gun, and, if we take in the purpose of the King, ANTE PRINCIPIUM, before the beginning, before there was a Before, before the foundations of the * 1.2 world were laid. But take the calculations we hear of it In Paradise the symbolum is cast in, and notice given; The Seed of the woman shall break the

Serpents head. After, Abraham is plainly invited to this Feast; I will be * 1.3 thy God, and the God of thy seed. To this give all the Prophets witness. * 1.4 Isaiah composeth the Epithalamium or Marriage-song, I will sing to my Belo∣ved * 1.5 a song of my Beloved. And indeed almost his whole Prophesie is but a descant on that Song. In Jeremie we find the Bridegrooms name, THE * 1.6 LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. In Ezekiel He is a * 1.7 Prince: in Daniel, a great Prince. Hosea tells of his Espousals, * 1.8 Micah of his Birth. At last, in the fulness of time, the Wedding is chaunted forth by a full quire of Angels; Behold, now all things are ready: come unto the marriage. Of all these things we are witnesses, say the Apo∣stles. Take the Morning of the world, and take the Evening of the world; take them of the first age, and take them of the ast; Fides utrósque conjun∣git, saith St. Augustine, Faith draweth and linketh both together, and pre∣sents them all at this great Feast.

I have told you before I was aware what this Marriage-feast is, and who the guests. Saint Paul delivers himself plainly, where speaking * 1.9 of that indossoluble tye of Marriage, he calls it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a great my∣stery; but then adds, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. Now Nazianzene happily joyneth together 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the name CHRIST and the substance and reality of that name: For as Christs name is not a bare and naked name, but there ••ie wrapt up in it Grace and Peace and Salvation; so Christs Marriage is no•• a bare marriage: No; he hath left dotem Ecclesiae, he hath plenteously endowed his Spouse with graces from above, he hath articled and covenanted with her: Nor is his feast a common feast: No; he hath prepared his table, and set on it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the bread of Angels, bread to nourish and strengthen us till we grow up to an angeli∣cal estate; and castas delicias, those chast delicates, his Word and Sacraments; a Cup running over, calicem inebriantem, an intoxicating Cup, that over∣comes us, and transports us beyond our selves; (Ebrietas ista magìs sobri∣um facit, saith Cyprian. Let us therefore drink of this Cup, no•• guttatim, by drops, but as we do our Sin, or as an Ox doth water: for Intemperance here is the best sobriety.) And the Kings Son, Christ himself, Legis & gratia molâ aptatum in farinam, ground between the Law and his Grace and tender Mercies into fine flowre, and kneaded into good Bread. In a word, he sets before us not only 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, strong meat, but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, cakes and dainties; meats to nourish us, and meats to delight us; cordials and anti∣dotes, and pleasant wine; the bread of life, and the rivers of his plea∣sures.

So this is the Feast, and we are invited to it. Now all the King desires of us is, as the Apostle speaks, that we would keep the feast, keep it as such a feast should be kept; no•• 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, according to the letter; that is Jewish: no•• 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, according to our sensual affections; that is heathen∣ish: but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, spiritually, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as the Spirit would have it kept. Now the Spirit and the Bride say, Come; Come unto the marriage. But come not naked, but come prepared, but come with a wedding-gar∣ment; not with our clouted shooes and old garments, as if we were on a journey, or going into the field or vineyard to labour for the meat that pe∣risheth: But observe 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a decorum: Yeild an awful reverence to the Person, the Master of the Feast, a King; to the Place, the Princes Bride-chamber; to the Feast, a royal lasting feast. At least for his loves sake that invites us, come like guests, not spies; like friends, not traytours: come as to a wedding, not a market: come vestiti apparell'd, that we be not naked; and, that we be not unmannerly, veste nuptiali, with a vesture sutable, with a wedding-garment.

Indeed a great pity it is, nay a great sin it is, that so high a Feast should

be slighted, that we should come ragged into the Kings Court, or like Ruf∣fians into the Presence-chamber. But in the parable we read it, and in the moral and practick exposition of the parable we find it, that slighted it was; that some were angry that they were invited, angry there was any such feast at all; that they intreated the servants spitefully, and slew them. And we know what became of them; Armies were sent forth to destroy those mur∣derers, v. 7. But in my Text we find one that dealt not so roughly, drew not his sword: at the invitation, gave good words yet, and came; but so unprepared, so ill qualified, that being ask'd why he came so, his tongue would not serve him to give an answer, but he was struck silent and dead with a question; And he said unto him, Friend, &c.

This is the sum of these words. But we can hardly divide them. For here is a Question without an Answer, Quaestio ducens ad absurdum, a Question that draws & binds either to silence or to an absurdity. Answer what he will it was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, absurdly done, so to come. And Quaestio ducens ad impossibile, a Question that shuts up his mouth in silence, or drives him to a flat contradi∣ction. He is come, and he is not come; invited, and not a guest; in the Church, and not of the Church. We see the King asks the question, How he came thither? 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, capistratus est, he was muzzled. It was a question that muzzled, that thrott••ed him; in a word, a question unanswerable.

But for our more orderly proceeding we will first take the words in that form and habitude they lye, as they are a Question. Then we will resolve the Question; for so a question may be resolved into a Syllogism. And there we shall fill our mouth with arguments against him that came so un∣prepared. But before we can ask the Question, or reason against him, we must lay down certain 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, positions eminent in the Text, and send them before to make way to the right understanding of the Question. And then the points will be these: 1. That clothed we must be if we come to this marriage-feast; 2. What this wedding-garment is; 3. That one of the guests had it not; 4. That he was questioned for it; together with the Compel∣lation, Friend: And then 5. in the last place, we will look upon the par∣ty questioned, not able to reply, amazed, muzzled, silent; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, but he was speechless. Of these in their order.

The Marriage is of Christ and his Church. And he that will be parta∣ker of the Feast must be clothed. In Christ all fülness dwelleth, and he * 1.10 loves not emptiness and vacuity. He is clothed with righteousness; and he would not have us come naked to him. The holy Ghost seems to delight himself with this Metaphor. He apparels God as it were; He puts on Righteousness as a breast-plate, and a helmet of Salvation on his head: he puts on the garments of Vengeance as a garment, and was clad with Zeal as a cloak. * 1.11 Nuditas notat Diabolum, saith the Father; Nakedness is a mark of the De∣vil. We never read of his cloathing. Stript he was of his Angels wings, of his eminent Perfection: And our first parents, he stripped in Paradise of that rich robe of original Justice, and left them so naked that they were even ashamed of themselves, and sewed fig-leaves together to make them a∣prons: And us he strippeth every day, and leaves us nothing but fair pre∣tences and false excuses to shelter u••, scarce so good a covert as their fig∣leaves. We read of Belshazzar, that he was weighed in the balance, and * 1.12 was found minus habens, too light, wanting something: And in the next verse, PERES, his kingdom is divided from him. At the entrance of the King here, the guest that was found to be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, not having somthing that he should have, was thrust out of doors, and cast into utter darkness. Christ gives not to wilfull bankrupts: No; HABENTI DADITUR, To him * 1.13 that hath it shall be given, and he shall have abundance; and vestitus super∣vestietur, he that is clothed already shall be clothed-upon with a robe or im∣mortality. * 1.14

But every garment fits not a Christian. Every garment is not worth the keeping. There is strange apparel, and the Prophet tells us * 1.15 who they were that wore it, v. 5. even they that worshipt the host of heaven on the house-tops, and swore by Malcham; that leaped on the threshold, and filled their masters houses with violence and deceit. A garment fitter for Micah in his house of gods, fitter for Judas, or Barabbas, at a plot of treason, or an insurrection, than for a true Disciple of Christ. This is not the wedding-garment. We must then take a true pattern to make it by, or else fitted we shall not be. And where can we take it better than from Christ himself? Summa religionis est imitari quem colis, saith the Father; It is the sum of Religion, all the piety we have, to imitate him whom we worship, to be Christiformes, to keep our selves in a uniformi∣ty and conformity to Christ;

Sic oculos, sic ille manus, sic ora ferebat;

Thus He lookt, thus He did, thus was He apparrelled? Now what was Christs apparrel? The Prophet will tell us that it was glorious; that he was * 1.16 formosus in stola, very richly arrayed; and St. Mark, that he had a white gar∣ment, * 1.17 whiter than any Fuller could make it. And St. John tells us of his re∣tinue, that they were clothed in white linnen, white and clean. Look into * 1.18 Christs wardrobe, and you find no torn or ragged apparel. No: old things are done away. The robe of Righteousness, the garment of Innocen∣cy, * 1.19 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the spotless coat of Temperance and Chastity, these Christ had, and with these he went about doing good. Out of this wardrobe must we make up our wedding-garment. We must, saith the Apostle, put on the Lord Jesus Christ; put him on all, his Righteousness, his Obedience, * 1.20 his Love, his Patience. We must be conformable to Christ, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, according to proportion. In the Rule of our Obedience; we must not wear a garment of our own phansying, an irregular unprescribed devotion: In the Ends of it, to glorifie God on the earth: and in the Parts of it; not * 1.21 a parcel garment: It must fit every part; it must be universal. The School∣man must be speculum Christi, a Looking-glass reflecting Christ's graces up∣on himself, presenting to him his own image in all righteousness and holi∣ness. We will not say, with Fastus Socinus, that Christ was married to his Church only to this end; that Christ came into the world non ad satis∣factionem, sed exemplum; not to be the way to life, but to cut one out; not to pay down our accounts, but to teach us an art of thrift to be able to pay them our selves; not to be a sacrifice for sin, but an ensample of godly life: A most horrid blasphemy! But this we may say, That Christs fulfilling the Law was not to that end that we should break it; That he sa∣tisfied not by death but for those who would be conformable to his death. * 1.22 That he dyed not for Traytours and Rebels; That he marryed not to the Church, sealing it with his bloud, to let in Ruffians and Fools and men of Belial to the wedding; to let in those that will rip up his wounds, and cast his bloud in the dust, and trample it under their feet. No: he that cometh to him must know that he is, and that he is a lover of righteousness. He that cometh to him, must come, not with spotted garments; his Soul defiled with luxury: not with torn garments; his Soul divided and pulled in pieces by Envy and Malice; his Reason distracted, and his Affections scattered and blown abroad; his Love on the World, his Hatred on Good∣ness, his Anger on good Counsel, and his Desires on Vanity: but with a garment of the Bridegrooms spinning, even Righteousness, Obedience, and Sanctity of conversation. And thus the Fathers make it up: Charitas est vestis nuptialis, saith Gregory; and so saith Augustine. Hierome com∣poseth it of Christ's Precepts. Others bring in gratiam Spiritûs San∣cti, the gracious effects of the Spirit. Basil, on Psal. 9. tells us it is Faith;

Vestiri in Christo est fidem habere. In this variety there is no difference. He that taketh in Charity, leaves not out Faith as a ragg fit to be flung to the dung-hill: and he that entertains Faith, shuts not Charity out of doors. Methinks the disputation held up this day in the world with that eagerness and heat is uncharitable, Whether should have the precedency, Faith, or Good works; Whether is the better piece to put into a Garment; and as un∣charitable, so unnecessary. Why should I question which is the best piece, when the want of either spoils the garment? When both reflect upon each other by a mutual dependance, what talk we then of priority? Heat fur∣thers Motion; and Motion encreaseth Heat. Faith begins Good Works; Good works elevate and quicken and exalt our Faith, give it growth as it were, promote and further it, not in the act of Justification, but in the Knowledge of God, in the Contemplation of his Majesty and Goodness, in the dilating and enlargement of our Love and Devotion. Faith is the mo∣ther of Good works; and Good works the nurse of Faith. Can you sepa∣rate Light from a burning Taper? or Brightness from the Flame? Then may you divide Faith and Charity. A good Work without Faith is but a worthless action, and Faith 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, without works is dead. Non * 1.23 negant poenitentiam & bona opera, saith Bellarmine; The Protestants deny not Repentance and Good works. And our Charity will say, Non negat fidem, The Papists do not casheer Faith. Let us take them both, and make them up, like Christs garment, in tunicam inconsutilem, into a seamless coat, and the question is stated, the controversie at an end.

But may we not seem here to spin a thred of our own, to make an inter∣texture, and weave-in between our own inherent Righteousness; and then the Apostle comes in with a 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, not having the righteousness by the Law; * 1.24 And he will not be found in that apparrel. Put in our Passions to our A∣ctions, our Afflictions to our Alms, our Martyrdom to our Prayers, and it will not be worth the while to put them on. Our best Righteousness is but of a course rotten thread. Stillamus in patinam bonorum operum sani∣em concupiscentiae, Our natural Corruption drops upon the webb of our Good works; and that rots them. Our Chastity; a wanton thought de∣floureth it: our Prayers; a wandring imagination scatters them: our Li∣berality; a grudging mind, vain-glory and the noise of a trumpet drowns it. Our best Righteousness is but pannus menstruatus: (It is the holy Ghost's phrase) but as menstruous rags: ill materials to make up a wedding gar∣ment. * 1.25 They that talk so much of JUSTITIA PROPRIA, of their own Righteousness, when they see how ill it becomes them, put it off, and are ashamed of it. In the day time they wear it for fashion: but at night, when they are about to ly down in the grave, then, JUSTITIA NOSTRA EST INJUSTITIA: then away with it; it is not worth the wearing. Be∣fore it was the more honorable wear; but now, propter incertitudinem pro∣priae justitiae, because there is no sure harbour under the covert of our Good works, Christs Righteousness is called-in with a TUTISSIMUM EST, as the far safer ware: And here they will abide till the storm be over∣past.

All this is true: Yet we must remember that Christs Righteousness, though it be a large cloak, as St. Bernard calls it, yet it covereth no unrighteous person. His Feast is not for every rude unmannerly guest, malè cinctis, ma∣lè Sanctis, for men that little set-by what habit, what garments they come in. Imputative Justice, our Elder Brothers robe, is our own shelter; but inherent Righteousness is a decent wear. Christs Righteousness without a lively Faith, like a garment in the press, neither covers nor adorns us. It is like a Pardon about the neck of an executed traitor: He is condemned already, saith Christ. He is under the power of darkness; and the bright∣ness * 1.26

of Christs Righteousness cannot shadow him. St. Jude tells us he is twice dead; and it is to small purpose to cloath a dead man: He receives neither warmth nor life; but rot he will and stinck in the richest vestment, in cloth of wrought gold. But then our Righteousness without Christs is but a thin wear: mox perpluet; it will keep out neither wind, God-wot, nor weather; not irae stillicidia, not the droppings of Gods wrath; What say we then to his hail stones and coals of fire? It is a moth-eaten garment; nay it is but a moth; levi tactu teritur, a ••ight touch dashes it to nothing: Or, if it be a garment, it is a garment rent and torn to pieces with the ri∣ots of our youth, with the frowardness of our age; with the intemperance of our first age, and the covetousness of our last: and the least breath of Gods displeasure blows it asunder, and scatters it before the wind, and leaves us naked to the great day of wrath and retribution.

Men and brethren, what shall we do? Why surely seeing we cannot be as the Sun in the firmament, and shine with our own light, let us strive to be stars, and be resplendent with a borrowed one, and in Christs ••ight see light. Let his Day complete our twilight, his absolute Perfection our weak endeavours, his Fasting our feeble abstinence, his earnest Supplica∣tions our faint devotion, his Death our mortification. And seeing the sheep of a thousand mountains cannot cloth us, seeing, nothing we can do nothing we can suffer, can shelter us, let us put on the Lord Jesus Christ and offer up himself to himself, that our Faith may be enricht with his merits, our Hope dilated by his promises, and our Charity resplendent in his excessive love; and that so we may make up this glorious vestiment, this wedding garment, and with boldness inter into the Kings Court, and sit down at his table.

And now we may freely speak that Faith and Good works, or Faith working by Love, make up this wedding-garment. These are traduces ca∣pessendae aeternitatis, derive and deliver to us a capability of eternity, yea eternity it self. They present Christ to us comfortable in his Sacraments, faithful in his Promises, bountiful in his Rewards; and they present us back again to Christ, reverent at his Table, waiting on his Word, filled with his abundance, and running-over and diffusing our selves by an over∣flowing gratitude. O vestem auro contra non charam! O garment inesti∣mable above pearl and precious stones! I am sure David would not have left it for the richest robe in Sauls wardrobe. It was better to him than * 1.27 thousands of gold and sylver. St. Paul speaking to Women, who, as Hie∣rome saith, are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 genus, much affect trimness in apparrel, and are glad of a Holiday to be seen in their best cloaths, tells them plainly that broydered hair, and gold, and pearls, and costly array are not so becoming a * 1.28 wear as good works. These we are bidden to be very charie of, to keep * 1.29 them as our best apparrel; lest Christ steal in upon us at unawares, and find us naked, and discover our shame. Garments then these are. But we shall better understand the Metaphor, if we stay a while, and take notice of the ends and uses of Apparrel. And first, Clothes are for covert. Vestis, quasi domus corporis, saith Tertullian; A garment is as a house; the body dwells in it. So are Faith and Sanctity of life unto us. The rain descends, the winds blow, and beat upon the house; but we are safe, safe from those winds which blow out of the Devils treasury, from all his insinuations, suggestions, and strong temptations. But alass when we are without this house, we are tectum jugiter perstillans, a house with the roof open, drop∣ping thorough, wherein we can neither eat nor sleep quietly, but are dri∣ven from one corner to another. Every step is a snare, every drop a tem∣pest; every assault, an overthrow. But put this garment on, and we have shelter.

And as Clothes are for covert, so are they also for warmth. And so is Faith, not only like Fire, purifying the heart; but like Clothes, warming * 1.30 the affections to a temperate and active heat. An unbeliever, Lord! what a frost there is at his heart! how cold and chill and denumn'd he stands, not able to pull his hand out of his bosom, as Solomon speaketh! Lay the whip upon the fools back, yet he moves not, in better case to suffer than to be up and doing▪ But Faith strikes a heat through us. It is active in the Hand, vocal in the Tongue, compassionate in the Heart; It sets the brain a working, seeking and pursuing opportunities of doing good; It makes our Feet like hinds feet, and enlargeth the soul, that we may run the way of Gods commandments.

Again, Garments, as they are indumenta, for covert and warmth, so are ornamenta too, for decencie and ornament. And sure Faith and Holiness of life are a comely wear. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Nazianzene, Goodness is equally venerable to all men. It is not so much that good men hold her in esteem: Her very enemies praise her in the gate. Qui tot ar∣gumentis scripserunt; They who by their black deeds have prescribed her, and sent her a bill of divorce, will be ready enough to tell you that she is the horn of beauty, fairer than the children of men: Judge of her by her contrary. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Sin is shy of the light, and keeps least in sight. She hath a foul face, and her best friends fling durt at her. Hoc ha∣bet; sibi displicet, saith Seneca; They that put her on are ashamed to walk abroad with her, but fling her off in the streets, as ready to disgrace Sin as to commit it. The Profane gallant thunders out an oath, and the next breath is a prayer that God would forgive the villanie. The Superstitious wanton watche•• her sins as she doth her beads; but drops them faster. Her first care is, an opportunity to commit sin; and then to deliver up the full tale to her ghostly Father. The Adulterer and the Priest, like the Sun and the Moon, have their seasons; in the night, Uncleanness; and when the Sun is up, Confession. Ashamed she is of this loose garment but unwilling to put it off: nay, put it off she does, but not to fling it away. An argument of some dislike; she so often changes. Tertullian saith well, Omne ma∣lum aut timore aut pudore natura perfudit; Nature hath either struck Vice pale, or dyed it in a blush. When we sin, we either fear, or are ashamed. But Righteousness and Charity are of a good complexion, and, like a health∣ful body, inde colorem sumunt unde vires, from thence have their beauty from whence their strength. Righteousness is amiable in her going: The young men see her, and hide themselves; and the aged arise, and stand up. * 1.31 The ear that hears her, blesseth her; and the eye that sees her, gives witness to her. If the whole world were a Sun, and all the men in it one eye, yet she dares come forth at noon-day, before the sun and the people:

Ad medium properat, lucémque nitescere poscit.

We see then, this is not only a Garment to cover us, but also an Ornament to deck us; not for necessity alone, but for decency also. St. Paul goes further, and tells us it is an Armour to defend us, a complete armour, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, * 1.32 Take the whole armour of God. And he furnisheth the spiritual Souldier with Shooes, Girdle, Breast-plate, Helmets and all necessary accoutrements from top to toe. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Take it, non ad pom∣pam, sed ad pugnam; not to make a glittering shew, like Darius, but to fight like Alexander; to demolish strong holds, to cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth it self against us in our way: non ad resisten∣dum, sed ad proficiendum, saith Augustine; not only to beat back the ene∣mies darts, but to gain ground of him; to take-in those places, those cor∣ners

of our souls, which he hath beleaguerd; to enlarge in us the kingdom of grace, that so our passage may be free to the kingdom of Glory.

To these we may add a fourth. Garments are not only for Necessity, Decen∣cy, and Security, but also for Distinction. So saith St. Augustine, Charitas dividit inter filios regni & filios perditionis; Charity puts a distinction be∣tween true heirs and sons of perdition. The character and mark of a Christian, saith Nazianzene, is the letter Tau in his forehead, by which God doth know his, and is known of his. Bellarmine hath no less than fifteen marks of the true Church: but this one here is worth them all. We talk much of the book of life, but we never read it, and whose names are writ∣ten therein we cannot tell. All the light we have is from this fire of Chari∣ty. He that hath her hath, if not written his name in that book, yet sub∣scribed to it: he that casts her off, hath drawn out to himself those black lines of reprobation. All the mark we know good Christians by here, all the marks we shall know Saints by hereafter, is Charity: Rank and order Gods Decrees how we will, and tell them at our fingers ends, all the light our Saviour gives us is this, They that have done well, that have this mark, shall enter into everlasting life; and they that have done evil, that have it not, * 1.33 into everlasting fire.

So then this is a Garment, and doth cover us; and not only cover, but adorn; not only adorn, but defend; not only defend, but distinguish. Take them together, they are an antidote against Fear, which doth so often stagger the best of us. They wipe-out 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the phansie and conceit of some evil drawing near; whether it be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a destructive evil, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a troublesome evil. Fear? what should we fear? A storm? Here is a Covert. Shame and contempt, which David so feared, and would * 1.34 have removed. Here is a rich Robe to adorn us. The chill cold of Tempta∣tions? This is the endromis, the Winter-garment. The violence of the E∣nemy? Here is Armor of proof to defend us. To be numbred with the transgressours? Here is a Mantle with a badge upon it, to distinguish us. No: Fear not, saith the Angel, when he delivered the Gospel. And Faith makes it Gospel unto us. We need not fear in the evil day, in our worst dayes: not let go our hold-fast, not cast away our confidence. Here is that * 1.35 that confirms and radicates and establishes us, and sets us, not only upon, but (as the Wiseman speaketh) makes us an everlasting foundation. Or, * 1.36 to keep us to the Metaphor, a Garment it is for all uses. If we have this on, neither storm, nor cold, nor disgrace, nor the enemy, nor ill company shall hurt us.

But, in the next place, it may be for all these uses, yet not a wedding-garment. Every garment is not for a feast. There are sack-cloth, and sables and blacks; but for mourners: not for guests. These are not for our turn: We are going to a wedding, not to a funeral. Now we go to a wedding with joy: And this is a garment of joy. It maketh the face to shine, and the heart to leap, and the tongue to glory. He that invites us, joyes that we come, and we come with joy. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Rejoyce with * 1.37 me, say they. Let us eat, and be merry, saith he: and he taketh in the * 1.38 Angels to bear a part in that mirth. And, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith the Apostle, Rejoyce in the Lord alwayes. And lest we should forget it, he addeth, And again I say, Rejoyce; O aureas vices! O happy interchange, * 1.39 when the Bride-grooms voice is Joy, and the guests Joy the eccho of that voice; when he delights to call, and we are forward to come, when the feast is a feast of joy, and we are merry at the feast. To enter a triumph in blacks, to come to a feast as if we were going to a charnel-house, to sit down at table as if we were in gives, to loath the bread of life, to be afraid of the Sacraments, to have our stomach turn at Christs Dinner as if we were to

take down gall and aloes, is but an ill sign, a sign of one ill affected. Vestis affectum indicat; The Garment, as it covereth the body, so discovers the mind and affections. He that hath a wedding-garment on, goes with joy and triumph to the wedding.

Again, as by our attire we express our Joy, so do we our Gratitude. The best thanks we can give the King, the best amends we can make him, is to come in our best clothes. Gratè ad nos pervenisse indicamus effusis affe∣ctibus, saith Seneca; Then a benefit meets with a grateful heart, when it is ready to pour forth it self in joy and respect; when the affections cannot contain themselves, but are dilated and break forth; when they are visible in our eyes, our hands, our tongues, our gesture, our garments. Will you think him grateful that takes a fish with the same countenance he would take a serpent? that is no more affected with the gift of a pearl, than of a peble∣stone? What is his estimate of the feast, think you, that comes thither as if he cared not whither he came thither or no, as if it were not worth the coming to? that hears the Preacher as he would hear a song? reads the Go∣spel, and is no more affected than with Aesops Fables? we receive the bread in the Sacrament as if it were no more but, as the Papists scoff is, Calvins loaf? in a word, counts the bloud of the Covenant a common, an unholy thing. * 1.40 Away with such bold neglect. A garment we must come in, and in a wed∣ding-garment. Sanctity of life is our best retribution. The best payment is when we pay God out of his own mint, with his own coyn, when we shew him his own image and superscription: the price he values himself at is a QUOTQUOT RECEPERUNT, only to receive him. The price he puts upon Aeternity is but to prefer it before a span of time. His bles∣sings, do but think them so, you have purchased them. All the thanks he expects for his great dinner is but a short grace, a few dayes drawn out and spent in a thankful acknowledgment, an open hand for a gift, a minute for eternity, a desire for a blessing, a heart for himself. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Clemens. Fear not upbraiding. He thinks his great cost well spent, if thou come but mannerly, if thou bring with thee 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a wedding-garment. For by our having this garment on we are not only grateful, but we also publish our gratitude. We do it not in a corner, remotis arbitris, as if we were afraid or ashamed to be seen and to have some witness nigh. Upon the sight of our garment all the country can tell we are going to a feast. And this is it the King expects. Gaudet beneficium suum latiùs patere; His Benefits he would have as large as all the world, his Graces increased in thee, and diffused and spread a∣broad upon others; thy Grain of mustard-seed grow up into a tree as high as heaven, thy Talent become ten, that thy growth, thy thrift may be seen and taken notice of. God hath not made us only vessels, to contain water, but conduits, to convey it; no brokers of his blessings, to im∣prove them for our selves, but stewards, to distribute them to others; like beacons, not only burning our selves, but giving notice to the whole coun∣try; one example of goodness being kindled by another, and a third by that, and so multiplying everlastingly. Thy habit and attire may draw others to the feast; and then thy welcome is doubled, because thou bring∣est in company. Good examples bear with them a command: Therefore Philo the Jew, in his Book which he writ De Abrahamo, calls the lives and acts of the Patriarchs Leges & jura Patriarcharum non scripta, The unwritten Ordinances and Laws of the Patriarchs; as if they had 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a compulsive power, and were as forcible in their command as statute-law. God loves these ocular Sermons, and would have the Eye ca∣techized as well as the Ear. Look upon the high Priest under the Law; his gesture, his motion, his garments, all were vocal. Quicquid agebat, quic∣quid

loquebatur, doctrina erat populi, saith Hierom; His Actions were di∣dactical as well as his Doctrine, his very Garments were instructions, and the Priest himself was a Sermon. Goodness is neither Anchorite nor Hermite, neither for the closet nor the wilderness; but she expoundeth and publish∣eth her self, she cryeth in the streets; so that he that hath ears to hear may hear her, and he that hath eyes to see may see her; the hungry taste her, the naked feel her, and the smell of her is like the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. If thou art not a very Idol, thou must needs be the better for her. To conclude; She is a garment for use to our selves, and a wedding∣garment to be looked on by others: The fashion and beauty of the work may chance to take a stander-by, and win him to a liking. She is a gar∣ment to defend us from fear; and she is a wedding-garment to cloth us with joy; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a wrought garment: a Covert, a Wear, a Defence; these are in the cloth: to Become, to Separate and Distinguish; these are in the making and the fashion: Joy, and Gratitude, and Respect, and the Reflexi∣on of its glory and brightness upon others; these are the colours and em∣broidery.

We have now made-up this wedding-garments; and should proceed to the Party questioned for his not having it on. But I fear I have been too troublesom: I will leave him therefore at the bar to be examined the next opportunity.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Hos. 2. 19.
• * 1.2

  Eph. 1. 4.
• * 1.3

  Gen. 17 7.
• * 1.4

  Acts 10. 43.
• * 1.5

  Isa. 5. 1.
• * 1.6

  Jer. 23. 6.
• * 1.7

  Ezek. 34. 24.
• * 1.8

  Dan. 12. 1. Hosea 2. 19. Mic. 5. 2.
• * 1.9

  Ephes. 5. 32.
• * 1.10

  Col. 1. 19. and 2. 9.
• * 1.11

  Isa. 59. 17.
• * 1.12

  Dan. 5. 27.
• * 1.13

  Matth. 25 29.
• * 1.14

  2 Cor. 5. 4.
• * 1.15

  Zeph. 1. 8.
• * 1.16

  Isa. 63. 1.
• * 1.17

  Chap 9. 3.
• * 1.18

  Rev. 19. 8.
• * 1.19

  2 Cor. 5. 17.
• * 1.20

  Rom. 13. 14.
• * 1.21

  John 17. 4.
• * 1.22

  Phil. 3. 10.
• * 1.23

  James 2.
• * 1.24

  Phil. 3. 9.
• * 1.25

  Isa. 64. 6.
• * 1.26

  John 3. 18.
• * 1.27

  Psal. 119. 72.
• * 1.28

  1 Tim. 2. 9, 10.
• * 1.29

  Rev. 16. 15.
• * 1.30

  Acts 15. 9.
• * 1.31

  Job 29. 8. 11.
• * 1.32

  Eph. 6. 11.
• * 1.33

  John 5. 29.
• * 1.34

  Psal. 119. 22.
• * 1.35

  Hebr. 10. 35.
• * 1.36

  Prov. 10. 25.
• * 1.37

  Luke 15. 6, 9.
• * 1.38

  Luke 15. 23.
• * 1.39

  Phil. 4. 4.
• * 1.40

  Hebr. 10. 29.