IN these Words, beloved, which I have now read unto you, we have these two parts.

In the first place, we have some things which the Apostle endeavours to perswade Christians from.

In the second place, we have some things which the Apostle endeavours to perswade Christians to.

The things perswaded from, are the works of darkness; the things per­swaded to are these.

• 1. That we put on the armour of light, and that we walk honestly.
• 2. The Apostle having exhorted us to this two-fold duty.

1. The casting off the works of dark­ness, and the putting on the armour of light, here sets down expresly some Christian directions how this is to be done; and that two wayes.

• 1. Negatively, and then,
• 2. Affirmatively.

1. Negatively, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envy.

2. Affirmatively, by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, and denying of the works of the slesh; and the mo­tives here laid down, whereupon the Apostle enjoyns this duty, are these [Page]in the 12. verse, The night is far spent, the day is at hand, therefore (saith he) let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Where by the way, we may observe, that works of darkness are very un­suitable and unseasonable to the times of the Gospel, light and darkness are contrary.

In the words then you see, 1. Here is a duty exhorted unto, and that is laid down in the 12. verse.

And then 2. you have here also the Apostles amplification and illustrati­on of this duty here exhorted unto, and that is set down particularly in the 13. and 14.verses.

The duty exhorted unto you see here is two-fold.

1. Here is something to be cast off.

And then 2. Here is something to be put on.

1. The things to be cast off, are the works of darkness.

2. The things to be put on, are the armor of light: Let us cast off the works darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

And as the exhortation is two-fold, so likewise are the reasons whereupon the Apostle grounds his exhortation also.

1. The night is far spent.

And 2. the day is at hand.

Before I proceed to the observati­on, give me leave a little to open the words unto you; and first, I shall en­deavour to shew what is here meant by the night, and then secondly, what is here meant by the day: by the night here may be meant the times of darkness and ignorance, in which the Gentiles lived in before the breaking forth of the Gospel of Christ, and those times may very well be compared to the night for these three reasons.

First, In the night men cannot so well see their way, and therefore may the more easily wander out of their way, for it is onely the want of light that makes men to erre.

2. In the night no thing is visible or discernable but darkness, all light is then extinguished; the blind man is not able to value or judge what a [Page]mercy it is to have the fruition and enjoyment of the light of the Sun.

3. The night is the most suitablest time and season for the doing of evil, in Job 24.14, 15, 16. The murderer (saith Job) rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me, and disguiseth his face. In the dark they dig through houses, they know not the light. They that are drunk (saith the Apostle) are drunk in the night, 1 Thes. 5.7. In Psal. 25.20. The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.

And then secondly, by the day here is meant the times of the Gospel, it is night in the soul, till such time as the day light of the Gospel breaks forth and shines into it, Matth. 4 16. The people which sate in darkness saw a great light, and to them that sate in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up.

In John 13.19. Light is come into the world, and men love darkness ra­ther then light; and why so, the reason [Page]is (saith he) because their deeds were evil. For every one that doth evil ha­teth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. Ephes. 5.8. Ye were sometimes dark­ness, (saith the Apostle) but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.

In 1 Pet. 2.9. God hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light. Luke 1.78, 79. The day-spring from on high hath visited us: To give light to them that sit in darkness.

In Acts 26.17, 18. The Apostle was sent to the Gentiles, to turn them from darkness unto light.

In 1 John 2.8. The darkness is past, and the true light (saith the Apostle) now shineth.

In Acts 17.30. The times of Hea­thenisme are there called the times of ignorance, and it must néeds be night in such souls wherein Christ the Sun of righteousness never did arise; as it is never day in the worid until the Sun ariseth, so it is never day in the soul till Christ the Sun of righteous­ness ariseth with healing in his wings.

Now there are several useful and profitable points of doctrine, which naturally from hence for our in­struction and edification, I shall one­ly name them, and so procéed to that which I chiefly intend.

The first point of doctrine is this, that works of darkness are works of the night, night works.

Secondly, that the times of the Go­spel are times of light.

Thirdly, that in the day of the Go­pel all these works of darkness are to be cast off: when the Sun shines, it dispels and scatters all those mists and fogs of darkness that lie upon the earth; so when Christ the Sun of Righteousness arises in the soul, he dispels and scatters all those mists and fogs of sin and wickedness which naturally ariseth in the soul.

Fourthly, in Gospel times, or times of light, men should live Go­spel lives, or walk in the light of the Gospel: while ye have light walk as children of the light. Walk (saith our Saviour, John 5.35, 36) while ye have light, lest darkness come upon you: [Page]for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.

Fifthly, that rioting and drunken­ness, chambering and wantonness, strife and envy, are not works of the day, but of the night.

Sixthly, they that would live as becomes the Gospel of Christ, should cast off all those unfruitful works of darkness.

Seventhly, that Iesus Christ is a Christians garment.

Eighthly, that Iesus Christ is a garment to be put on.

Ninthly, that all of Christ, whole Christ is to be put on; put ye on the Lord Iesus Christ as a King to rule you, as a Priest to offer up himself a sacrifice for you, and as a Prophet to teach and and instruct you.

Tenthly and lastly, that the put­ting on of the Lord Iesus Christ is accompanied with the casting off all sinful and fleshly works.

Now the point of doctrine that I shall chiefly insist upon shall be this, [Page]namely, that the Lord Iesus Christ is a garment; in handling whereof I shall briefly touch upon, and speak something to all the rest by way of use and application.

The Doctrine then to be insisted upon is this, That the Lord Iesus Christ is a Christians garment; in handling whereof, I shall endeavour by the assistance of God to shew you the natural agreement and resem­blance that is betwéen the Lord Iesus Christ and our natural garments.

First, wherein they do agree, and secondly, wherein they do not agree.

And having done this, in the next place, God willing, I shall endeavour to shew you what kinde of garment Christ is, and how this garment is to be worn.

Thirdly and lastly, to whom and for what he is a garment; and then having done this, I shall briefly en­deavour to give you some directions by way of motives to perswade you to the putting on of this garment, and so conclude all by the assistance of God in a word or two of use and appli­cation.

I begin with the first of these, wherein the Lord Iesus Christ is or may be said to be a garment, and this this will appeare briefly in these two things.

• 1. Considering what we are; and
• 2. Considering what Christ doth.

1. Christ may be said to be a gar­ment, considering what we are by nature, the best of us are but, as St. John saith; Rev. 3.17. empty, naked, miserable sinners: the best garments we have by nature are nothing else but rags, yea filthy rotten rags, as the Prophet Isaiah expresses it in Isa. 64.6. We are all of us by nature poor and blinde, miserable and naked, till Christ appears in us, thereupon the Apostle Paul, in Phil. 3.8, 9. desires so earnestly that he might be found in Christ, not having on his own righ­teousness, which he accounted dross and dung in comparison of Christ and his righteousness.

2. Christ is a garment in regard of what he doth to us; he covers our nakedness by casting over us the skirts of his love, as in Ezek. 16 8.

And to illustrate this a little, I shall here take occasion to show you wherein Christ may be said to be a gar­ment, by giving you the resemblances that are between the Lord Iesus Christ and our natural garments; and what our garments are to our bodies, the same, and much more is Christ to our souls.

Now the natural use of our natu­ral garments are chiefly these three.

• 1. Our natural garments are for necessity.
• 2. For distinction.
• 3. For ornament.

First, for necessity; our natural garments are necessary, yea, they are of necessity, we cannot be well without them: they are needful for us to cover and shelter us, to cherish and preserve our weak, frail, naked bodies, from all the dangers and in­cumbrances which would irresistably fall upon us, without the use of them.

Our garments are useful to cover and preserve us from the cold bluster­ing storms of the world, how unable would our frail weak mortal bodies [Page]be to subsist and live without the na­tural use of our natural garments, to cherish and preserve us; and this, and more then this doth Christ to our souls.

As our bodies are not able to subsist without cloathes, no more are our souls able to subsist without Christ, who is the life and garment of our souls.

As our natural garments serve to defend us from the cold blustering storms of the weather, so Christ the garment of our souls preserves and shelters us from all those raging as­saults of Satan, which in the world we are often, yea, alwayes lyable unto.

Secondly, as our natural gar­ments serve to defend us from the cold stormes of winde and weather, so likewise they serve to defend us from the violent and scorching heat of the Dun.

As in the blustering storms of rain and cold, our garments preserves us from perishing under them; so in the violent searching heat of the Sun, our [Page]garments serve to keep us from being melted and devoured by its violent and scorching heat.

Of the like use is Christ to our souls; as 'tis onely Christ that can preserve us from the cold blustering storms of the world, so 'tis onely Christ that can preserve us from the violent and scorching heat of persecu­tions and fiery tryals in the world.

A second use of our natural gar­ments is for distinction, to distin­guish between sex and ser, noble and ignoble, high and low, rich and poor, magistrates and people; so likewise Christ is a garment for distinction, yea, he is the onely distinguishing garment in the world.

Christ distinguisheth the saint from the sinner; the holy from the unholy, the sheep from the wolves; yea, the true sheep from the wolves in sheeps cloathing; the sincere and upright souls from formal falshood, hypocri­tical Professors: and as it distinguish­eth the saints from sinners here, so if will also distinguish them hereafter; they that have not on this garment at [Page]the last day, shall be set on the left hand of Christ in judgement; its this wedding garment that distinguisheth who are the guests for the marriage feast, there is no coming to heaven without it.

Thirdly, the natural use of our natural garments are for ornament, our uncomely parts being cloathed become abundant more comely; our bodies being decked and adorned by clothing, although in themselves un­comely, do thereby become beautiful and lovely: of the like use is Christ to our souls; there is nothing in the world, beloved, that will so adorn your souls as this garment of Christ; yea, it is the onely becoming gar­ment, it will make your souls ami­able and lovely, yea, altogether love­ly, our souls being cloathed upon with this garment of Christ and his righteousness, will appear lovely and beautiful in the eyes of God him­self, and by it we are made to be ac­ceptable in the Lord: as we are in our selves, we are vile, wretched, sin­ful, deformed creatures, altogether [Page]unlovely, but in Christ we are made to be amiable and beautiful, yea, al­together lovely.

Having thus given you the resem­blances between Christ and our natu­ral garments, and having shewed you briefly wherein they do agree, I shall now in a word or two, shew you where­in they disagree, or rather wherein this spiritual and heavenly garment of Christ super exceeds and excells all the garments in the world, be they never so rich and costly; and herein lies the disagreement.

First, our natural garments are not durable, they will last us but a little while before they be quite worn out; but Iesus Christ is a durable and lasting garment, yea, an ever­lasting garment that will never be worn out while thou livest, though thou livest never so long, it will last thee for ever and ever, both here and hereafter.

Secondly, our natural garments they are the worse for wearing, yea, the longer we wear them the worse they grow; and at the last, by being [Page]over-worn, they come to be worth no­thing? I, but it is not thus with Christ, this heavenly garment of Christ is the better for wearing, and the longer we wear it, the better it is, and the better we are, it doth not onely grow better it self, but it also makes us grow better. I, but it is not thus with our natural garments, they if they be worn often, or by often wearing, they grow worse and worse, and at last they decay.

Thirdly, our natural garments as we put them on in the morning, so we put them off at night; but where ever Iesus Christ is put on as a gar­ment, he is not, nay, he cannot be put off again; Christ is a garment as well for the night as for the day: the soul that hath once given up it self to Christ, by a true and saving faith, can never be taken away, I mean not finally from Christ, by all the craft and policy of the Devil; they that are chosen by God in Christ, shall be preserved by God in Christ.

Fourthly, our natural garments grow out of fashion very often and [Page]suddenly, but Iesus Christ is a gar­ment that will never be out of fashion; a better then which can never be ima­gined nor invented.

Iesus Christ is a garment as well for Summer as for Winter, for all weathers; in the Summer heat of per­secutions and tryals, Christ is a gar­ment, either to keep them off, or else to sustain us under them: and in the Winter of adversity Jesus Christ is a garment to defend and cherish us from all evils; let the storms be never so great, let the fire be never so hot, Christ can sustain and uphold his peo­ple; witness Daniel in the Lions Den, and the Children in the fiery Furnace, &c.

Fifthly, our natural garments they are fitted to our bodies, but to this garment of Christ out souls are made fit; Christ is a garment made fit for all souls, natural garments if they fit one, they are either too big or too lit­tle for another; but Iesus Christ is a garment fit, or made fit for all souls, for souls of all sorts; a garment for men, and a garment for women: a [Page]garment for parents, and a garment for children: a garment for poor, and a garment for rich: a garment for Magistrates, and a garment for Mi­nisters, and a garment for people: a garment for Jews, and a garment for Gentiles. Christ is and will be to all his people, an ornament of grace here, and of glory hereafter.

I come now in the next place to shew you what kinde of garment Iesus Christ is, and how he is to be worn; and I shall briefly give it you in these following considerations.

And first of all, he is a precious gar­ment: to you therefore which believe he is precious, 1 Pet. 2.7. precious in regard of his nature, God and man; precious in regard of his worth and excellency, the chiefest and the choicest of ten thousands. But I must not insist upon these things.

Secondly, Christ is a costly gar­ment, a garment that's said to be of great price, a garment of Gods own making, a garment that cost a dear price, the precious life and blood of a Saviour.

In a word, for I must be brief, he is a garment of more worth then all the world.

Thirdly, Christ is a cheap garment, the cheapest garment that ever thou worest in all thy life; thou mayest have this garment, as we use to say for God a mercy, he is freely offered to thee: Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money: come ye, buy and eat, come buy wine and milk without money, and without price.

Thou mayest have this garment for asking for; it is true, this gar­ment cost the dearest price that ever any garment did, the Blood of God, one drop whereof is of more worth then ten thousand Worlds; but Christians, remember, this garment is paid for already, its purchased by God the Father for thee; shouldst thou go about to buy it, thou couldst never be able to purchase it; all thou hast, nay, all that all the men in the world have, would never have been able to have bought this garment: it was onely the rich God, that God [Page]who hath all, and is all, that was onely able to purchase this precious, this costly, this excellent, and this glorious garment; and yet not with­standing all this, thou mayest have him for nothing, he is freely ten­dered and offered to thee in the Gos­pel of life: though it be a costly gar­ment to God yet it will be a cheap garment to thee; God hath paid all, and there is nothing at all left for thee to pay, or to do, but to take him and put him on.

Fourthly, Iesus Christ is a seam­less garment, as Christ coat was seamless, so is his person seamless, there is no rent nor divisions in this precious garment; and as there is no rents nor divisions in Christ, so there ought to be none in Christians: if there be no rents nor divisions in the head, certainly there ought to be none in the Church, which is the body.

And here beloved, we might take up a sad and a bitter lamentation in in consideration of the sad rents and divisions that are now in the Church of Christ: whereas one saith, He is [Page]of Paul, and another of Apollos, are we not therefore carnal? 1 Cor. 1. Cer­tainly beloved, these things ought not so to be, all the Saints or God, they shall all have one head [...], so they must all be saved by one faith: and there­fore surely they should all be of one heart, if not of one minde; and there­fore by the way, those who go about to make rents and divisions in the Church of God, doth not do Gods work, but the Devils: the spirit of God is not a spirit of division, but of love, of peace, and a pure minde; and as the Apostle Jude calls seducers and false teachers, ungodly men; and sepa­rates from the Church, are said by Jude in his 19. verse, to be sensual, and not to have the spirit.

And before I pass this point, I hope it will not be amiss to shew you the wickedness and sin of those who go about to make divisions in the Church of Christ.

And first of all, sowers of divisions are renters of Christ; it is a horrible violence offered to the Body of Christ, a dividing of Christ, as St. Paul calls [Page]it, in 1 Cor. 1.13. it would make Christ seem to be the head of two bo­dies, a most monstrous conceit in­deed.

Secondly, it resisteth the commands of Christ, which is love, and op­poses the very end of Christ in dying for sinners, which was, that all his Saints should be one.

Thirdly, division in the Church is very dishonourable and injurious to the Church; for how can a body be rent and torn without prejudice: it hin­ders also the peace of the Church, Schismaticks, saith one, more opposes the peace of the Church then heathens do; if the body be rent and torn, it is surely with much pain and smart; and tearing and renting in the church will surely cut the very heart of one that's a true Member of the Church. It makes the Saints mourn, and to be sure, it makes the Devil laugh; therefore let us labour to be rentless and seamless, as Christ is.

To this end, in the first place la­bour after holiness, division and sepa­ration is a badge and mark of unholi­ness; [Page]children in unholiness are ever men in malice.

Secondly, be not overtaken with new fancies and novelties; those new lights which hath set the Church of God so much on fire in these our dayes, have all been taken out of the dark Lanthorns of old Hereticks and Ie­suits: all those lights which receive not their light from the word of God, are all false lights and vapors that onely appear on purpose to draw men out of the way. Truth should alwayes be imbraced, though it be never in so old a dress, they are itching ears that are most taken with novelties.

Lastly, divisions beger sensuality, sensuality usual follows seperation even at the heels, separating them­selves, saith Jude, sensual, not having the Spirit: not to speak any more of this, our own sad experience hath too manifestly witnessed this for a truth. What horrid impiety, desperate vil­lanies have been commited by wicked and ungodly seducers in our dayes, my heart trembles with the very thought thereof.

Fifthly, Christ is a spotless gar­ment, there is not so much as a spark or spot in this garment; and therefore it is, that the Saints are said in Scripture to be cloathed in white robes, Rev. 6.11. and that he offered himself without spot to God, Heb 9.14. and the Saints are said to be cloathed in fine linnen, white and clean, Rev. 19.14.

And as Christ is spotless himself, so he takes away all spots and defile­ments from his people, they are washed in his blood, and therefore are said to be clean by Chritst himself, John 13.10. John 15.3. and there­fore he is called the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, John 1.29. It was onely a sinless Saviour that could satisfie for, and take away the sins of sinful men.

If Christ had not been without spots himself, he could never have taken away our spots: he that was manifest, saith St. John, to take away our sin, in him was no sin, 1 John 3.5 Christ hath suffered for us, saith St. Peter, 1 Pet. 2.21, 22. who did no [Page]sinne, neither was guile found in his mouth; it is onely the blood of Christ that washes, and needs no washing: if he had not been without sin, he could not have saved us from our sins; nay, he himself then had stood in need of a Saviour: and although he took up­on him our nature, and was made slesh, yet the nature of Christ was a pure nature in it self; and therefore that of the Apostle doth most sweetly express this, where he sayes of Christ, that he in the likeness of sinfull flesh, condemned sin in the flesh, Rom. 8.3. and though he was in all things like unto us, yet saith the Apostle, Heb. 4.13. he was without sin.

Christ was not born in sin, as we are, he was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and borne of a pure Virgin; its true, Christ was a sinner, yea, the greatest of sinners by imputation, he having all the sins of all the Clect of God laid upon him.

But first, had not Iesus Christ been sinless in himself, he had never been able to have unvergone so heavy a burthen: Christ suffered not for

But first, had not Iesus Christ been sinless in himself, he had never been able to have undergone so heavy a burthen: Christ suffered not for [Page]his own sins, but for our sins; He his own self (saith the Apostle) bore our sinnes on the Cross. We indeed) saith the converted thief on the Cross) do suffer justly, but this man hath done no­thing amiss, Luke 23.41. He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, saith the Apostle, 2 Cor. 5.21. He did no violence, neither was there any guile found in his mouth, Isa. 53.9.

Sixthly, Christ is a comely gar­ment, a garment that will never be out of fashion; He is the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever: there is no­thing so lovely and amiable in the eyes of Christians as Christ is. Christians I beseech you consider, you are never well drest till you have put on this garment, nor you shall never be blest without it.

Seventhly, Christ is a lasting, yea, an everlasting garment, a garment that will last thee as long as thou livest, and will never be the worse for wearing, but will alwayes be the better for wearing; the more thou wearest this garment the more glo­rious it will be: and as this garment [Page]will last thee as long as thou livest, so thou mayest carry it along with thee when thou dyest; thou canst not carry any thing out of the world with thee; for naked camest thou into the world, and naked shalt thou go out of the world; but if thou hast put on Christ as a garment in thy life, thou canst not leave him behind thee when thou dyest, thou shalt carry this gar­ment with thee into the next world.

I should come now to shew you how this garment is to be worn, but I shall speak of that by way of Use and Appli­cation.

Now the Uses that I shall make of this useful point, shall be these.

Is it so that Iesus Christ is a Christians garment, then in the first place I beseech you observe the mise­rable and wretched condition of wick­ed and ungodly men; men out of Christ they are naked, and have not (as we use to say of some poor people) a rag to cover their nakedness withal. Ah! sinners, for the Lords sake, for your precious and immortal souls sake, I beseech you consider, and lay [Page]to heart a little your own most mise­rable and sad condition, how will you be able to stand in the day of the Lords wrath, and how wilt thou be able to contend with the Almighty, when once he is angry, thou hast no­thing to shelter thee against the storms and fury of the Lords indig­nation. I beseech you then as you love your own souls, that you would now put on the Lord Iesus Christ, O put him on, he is freely offered to thee, O then do not be so foolish, and Bedlam mad, as to refuse him, it thou doest thou art undone for ever: art thou naked, and wilt not thou take this garment of Christ to cover thy nakedness withall; consider a lit­tle I beseech thee thy own sad condi­tion as thou art in thy self out of Christ,

In the first place thou art liable to all dangers, every sinner out of Christ lies open to every danger; every mercy thou enjoyest out of Christ is in wrath, thy preservation is but by common providence, and its cursed as well as common, as one [Page]saith sweetly, Thy preservation is but a reservation of thee to the day of wrath, thou art kept, but remember, thou art kept but as a malefactor to the day of execution, thou hast no­thing to guard thee from the wrath of God: it is possible thou mayest be se­cure in thy sin, but remember thy se­curity is not from want of danger, but from the want of dicovery of that danger which is every day and hour hanging over thy head, and ready to fall upon thee; wert thou but once se­riously sensible of that danger which every day thou art in. I am confident thou couldst no more rest in thy sins out of Christ, then thou couldst go to bed when thy house is on fire about thy ears.

Secondly, thou art, if out of Christ, in the power of every Devil and every lust; thou art the devils for egress and regress, when he pleases thou art taken captive by him at his will, as the apostle expresses it, 2 Tim. 2.26. Thou art like a Common without a hedge, a prey to every beast of prey; thou wilt not take Christ as a garment [Page]thou wilt not let God be a hedge to keep thee from straying into sin, and God will not be an hedge to preserve thee from being destroyed in and for thy sin.

O sinner, thy condition is very sad and very dreadful, thou liest at the mercy of the devil every moment, at the cruel courtesic of every temptati­on; thou hast a hole it may be to keep thy Swine in, but if thou hast not a Christ to lodge thy soul in, thou art liable to all the curses in the book of God; how dreadful is it to want the benefit of every street promise in the word of God, to want a Iesus to de­liver us from the wrath to come. Doest thou think thou canst the able to endure the wrath of God to all eter­nity; if thy foundation be not laid up­on the rock of Christ, thy whole buil­ding will soon be destroyed, and thou wilt be found to be the veriest fool in the world; it thou art out of Christ thou canst never be safe, thou art a mad man, and thou delightest in thy own destruction.

Secondly, by way of motive, con­sider [Page]I besecch you, Christ will not onely cover thy nakedness, and shelter thee from the wrath of God, but will be an ornament of grace and glory to thee for ever.

But how shall we get this garment of Christ, may some say? I see my own nakedness, but how shall I do to get this garment? I answer, in the first place, thou must beg it of God, thou mayest have it for asking for; ask and thou shalt have, it is freely offered unto thee.

Secondly throw away all thy own rotten rags of sin, thou must strip thy self even naked of all selfe-righteous­ness; Christ will not be a garment to any but to such as shall first put off their own rags, throw away then all thy old rotten rags, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ; put him on, he is freely offered to thee, do not despise thy own mercy; get Christ for thy garment here, if ever thou expectest to have Christ for thy comfort here­after. Remember without Christ there is no happines to be had here­after, thou art miserable here, and [Page]thou shalt be miserable to all eternity hereafter. O consider this, all ye that forget God, left he tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver you, Psalm 50.22.

In the next place, is it so, is Christ a garment, then here is matter of great joy and comfort to those that are Christs: O happy Christian, God hath made a blessed exchange with thee, he hath taken away from thee thy own rotten filthy stinking rags, and he hath in the room thereof put thee on his own most glorious white Robes! O happy soul! O blessed exchange.

But before I proceed any further, I shall a little endeavour to give you some few, but brief directions for your better instruction and edifi­cation.

And first of all, hast thou put on the Lord Iesus Christ as a garment, O then for the Lords sake do not put him off again, keep him on while thou hast him on; children you know when they have gotten a new garment they do not love to put if off again, [Page]they would wear it alwayes if they might.

Secondly, hast thou put on the Lord Iesus Christ as a garment, then wear him cleanlily, have a care that thou doest not soil this precious gar­ment; O do not dirty it, nor sully it. Men when they have gotten on their best garments, or any thing that's rare and choice, how curious, how careful, how circumspect are they, they will have a care where they go, and what they do so long as they have those garments on. Men will not go about to rake dunghills in silken gar­ments, a little spot of oust is soon seen in a clean garment; do not do the Devil drudgery with the gar­ment of Christ: O do not rake in the filthy stinking dunghills of sin, with the silken cloaths of Christianity up­on thy back; remember such base things are too low, for such noble souls as Christians are; to be imploy­ed in.

Thirdly, is Christ a garment, then wear him as a garment, put him not on as a cloak, but put him on as a [Page]garment; remember, as one saith sweetly, as Christ is the best gar­ment, so is he the worst cloak: for to make Christ and Christianity a cloak for thy sin, is the horre [...]st thing in all the world. Those woldes who are in sheeps cloathing are the most dangerous woldes of all; to be Saints in appearance outwardly, and Devils in substance inwardly, O horrid impiety! Will you swear and lye, couzen and cheat, and do all manner of evil, and yet profess Chri­stianity; O take heed of this, they that make Christ a Cloak for their sin, do manifestly shew that they never yet tasted of the love of God in Christ, in the pardoning of their sins; Christ is not a cloak to hide sin, but Christ is a garment to preserve us from sin; they that put on Christ as a cloak, never yet put on Christ as a gar­ment.

Fourthly, is Christ a garment, and hast thou put him on, then wear him constantly, never put him off, he will last thee as long as thou livest, I and longer too; thou canst not carry [Page]a rag of thine own clothes with thee out of this world? I but thou mayest carry this garment with thee into the next world; thou mayest go to heaven with this garment upon thee, nay, thou shalt never get to heaven with­out it; put him on then, and never put him off, wear him every day, day by [...], even to thy dying day, he will last thee as long as thou livest, and will be a comfort, yea, an exceeding great comfort to thee when thou dyest, and will be a glory, an everlasting glory to thee for ever in the world to come.

Fifthly, is it so, is Christ a gar­ment? then here is matter of com­fort to all that are Christs in times of danger and trouble; let we tell thee Christian, thou that hast put on the Lord Iesus Christ as a garment, thou art armed as well as cloathed, thou hast armour of proof upon thy back, such armour as never yet could be pierced, such armour as will keep off all the gun-hots of the Devil, and the world, be they never so great, be they never so furious, be they never [Page]so many: thy garment Christian will keep out a showre, I, and a storm too, nothing can pierce it, nothing shall be able to hurt thee if thou hast put on Christ, neither sin nor Satan: If God be for us, who can be against us, Rom. 8.33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect? it is Christ that hath dyed.

First, thou hast put on Christ as a garment, he will defend thee Ile warrant thee, let come what will come: see what the Lord saith to such as are clothed with his Son, in Isa. 47.1, 2. Fear not, for I have redeeem­ed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt; neither shall the flame kindle up­on thee.

And this was it which so ravished the hearts of the blessed Martyrs, and carried them through all their tor­ments with so much joy and comfort; and so likewise the three Children in [Page]the fiery furnace, all the violent and scorching heats of those burning fiery furnaces, could not, nay did not hurt so much as the least hair of their heads; and the reason was, because they were the Children of the most high God, and were cloathed with the Lord Iesus Christ, as with a garment. So likewise Daniel in the Lions Den, he was defended from the fury of those raging beasts, by his be­ing clothed with this garment of Christ.

In a word, let come what will come, let the Devil and all his instru­ments rage never so much, let the storms of persecution be never so hot, let the waves beat never so fiercely, thy house shall stand, and thou shalt be carried through all, because thy house, thy faith is built upon a Rock, even upon the reck of Ages, the Lord Iesus Christ. Men out of Christ are naked, they have nothing at all to de­fend them, all those rich and costly garments of the gallants of the world, be they never so rich and gaudy, are not half so costly as this garment is; [Page]for believe it Christian, it cost Christs precious Life and Blood to purchase it for thee.

Sixthly, is Christ a garment, then let us not be proud of our own garments: alas, what are they, no­thing but rags in comparison of this garment of Christ, bodies of sin; sin was the first founder and inventer of theme if Adam had not sinned, he had never stood in nerd of a garment. A thief (saith on very swertly) may as well be proud of his halter, as a man or woman may be proud of their gar­ments; and set me tell thee, thou that art proud, thou art proud of that which is anothers, it is none of thy own, thou hast nothing of thy own to be proud with: what thou hast is but lent thee, and thou knowest not how soon the owner may take them away, and leave thee as naked as he found thee: and then if thou art found out of Christ thou art undone for ever I Woe, woe be unto thee, and that for evermore.

Seventhly, is Christ a garment, then I note from hence, that abun­dance [Page]of outward enjoyments do no­thing at all adorn a man, its onely the garment of Christ that will make a Christian lovely; earthly things they do not adorn us in the sight of God; it matters not whether we be rich or poor, naked or cloathed, in rags or in robes: I, but it matters whether thou beest: in Christ or no; God will look upon thee onely as thou art cloathed with his Son: if thou art not found in Christ, cloathed upon with the glorious white robes of his righteousness, at the last day God will never own thee for his child, he will then say unto thee, Depart from me, I know you not.

Eightly, I note from hence, that they that live in sin are none of Christs, they are not cloathed upon with this garment; Let every one (saith the Apostle) that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, saith the Lert) and make no provision for the flesh. Christianity and sin are no kin one to another, sin is a work of the night; and if ever thou wouldst put [Page]on the Lord Iesus Christ, thou must cast off and forsake all thy sins; but if thou wilt needs keep thy sorry rags of sin still upon thy back, let me tell thee, Christ will never be a Saviour unto thee, thou shalt have nothing to defend thee in the evil day of the Lords wrath.

In the last place, by way of mo­tive, O that I could persivade you this day to embrace Iesus Christ, as he is tendered and offered unto you in the Gospel; wouldst thou put on the Lord Iesus Christ as a garment? then in the words of the Apostle, I beseech you, Cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light: Walk honestly, as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, and do not commit works of darkness at noon-day; even the light of nature should make men blush to commit sin in the very face of the Sun it self.

Remember, I beseech you, how unsuitable and unseasonable rioting and drunkenness is to the profession of the Gospel of Christ: Let every one (saith the Apostle) that nameth [Page]the name of Christ depart from iniqui­ty: Christ will never be a garment to thee if thou delightest in sin, its impossible to serve God and Mam­mon, thou canst never wear the li­very of Christ, add the livery of Sa­tan together: as holiness is the badge and livery of Christ, so sin and wick­edness is the badge and Livery of the Devil: in this the Children of God are manifest, saith the Apostle, and the children of the Devil: Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God, John 1.3, 10. and in the 6, 7, 8. verses of the same Chapter, Whosoever abi­deth in him sinneth not, and whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, nor known him: He that committeth sin, is of the Devil: Ye are of your Father the De­vil, saith our Saviour to the unbelie­ving Jews, John 8.44. and the works of your father ye will do: wicked men will do the Devils work, although they are sure to dye for it; The work of your father ye will do.

And let me tell you, beloved, they that will do the Devils work, must look for nothing but the Devils pay, [Page]and the Devill will be sure to give them their due at the last: And I be­séech you remember what the wages of sin is; in Romans. 6.23. The wages of sin is death, death eternal; the wick­ed in hell they are alwayes dying, and yet never dead; the torments of the damned in hell, as they are ease­less, so they are endless. O consider this you that forget God, lest he tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver you.

Wouldst thou put on the Lord Iesus Christ as a garment? then in the last place, and so I have done, Do not make provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof; spend not thy time in rioting and drunkenness, not in cham­bering and wantonness, but casting off and abhorting all these unfruitful works of darkness: Labour to live up to that God who has so dearly loved us, and bought us with his own most precious blood; that so living here to all the intents and purposes of his Grace, and walking daily before the Lord in all manner of holiness and righteous­ness all thy dayes, thou mayest in the [Page]end of thy dayes here live and reign for ever with Christ in glory here­after.

Now blessed are all those, and for ever blessed shall they be, who so live, and so walk, as that they may be tru­ly said to have put on the Lord Iesus Christ, and do so give up themselves to be ruled and guided by him in Grace here, that so when they come to dye, they shall be found in Christ, cloathed upon with the glorious white Robes of Christ his righteousness, and shall for ever live and reign with Christ in Glory hereafter; to whom be Glory and Honour, for ever and ever. Amen.