W I C K E D M E N N A K E D. Book IV. I!. f-low doth it w.rrn the Godly to look to themfelves: for if the good Man of the : l Ioufe had known at wbat Time the Thief would have come, he would have watched. W I C K E D M E N N A K E D. And covered Jhy Nakednefs, &c. 'fhou haft not remembered the Days of thy Y outh, when Jhou ""ert naked and b::re, &c. Ezek. xvi. 8, 22. 'Poor, a>td bliud, and naked, &c. R ev. iii. 17. THERE is a rwo-folJ Nakednef,, viz. an external, and an internal Nakednefs; the Nakednels of the Soul, as well as of the Body. P A R A L ' L ·E L ~ I. NAKEDNESS fincc the Fall doth not only import not having of Cloathes, but r".~ Want of Cloarhes. 1\s Admn before he fell, had no Cloathes, fo he needed none; his Nakedr.efs was an Ornament to him; but no fooner had he finned, but he faw the Want of a Garment: So all ungodly Men are not only without fpirirual Cloathes, but ther exceedingly need them ; as they have no Righreoufnefs ro cover them, fo it is their Milery. It is a iamenrable·Thing to be naked, and it is a far more arievous Thing to be fpirirually naked, to have no real and divine Cover for the Soul. · 0 I I. The Shame, Deformity, and all natural Filthinel.1 of a nak~d l'erfon cloth ap– , pear; Jt ts ~tfible, and he IS thereby expnfed to Reproach: So the Shame, Deformtty, and Vilcne!s of wtcked Men, who are fpltltually naked, havmg not rhe Ri"hteouf– nefs of Chrill: to cover them, doth appear; and this expoli:rh them to Sha':ne and Reproach. Sin is the Sbame of any P_eople, Prov. x. 34: To fee a Man naked, that hath a rotten and polluted Carcafe, lull of Sores and lbnktng Ulcers, is a loathfome Si<Yht: But fuch is the State of the Souls of ungodly Men, they are naked, and rhe; r jn:;:,ard Filthinefs lies fully open to the Eyes of the great God, nav, and much of it appears to the · Sight of Men; fpi rirually there is no Soundnefs in them, from the Crown of therr H eads to the Soles of thetr Feet, nuJhmg but Wounds, Bruifes, and pu- . trifying Som, !fa. 1. 6. . . · HI. A naked Perfon IS expofed to the Exrrenmy both of Cold ·and Heat. Cloathes keep the Body warm in Winter, and defend from the parching H ear in· Summer ; and he that is without them, from hence is in .a miferable Cond ition ; every Blaft pinches him, the Sun fcorches him, &c. So wicked Men lie open to the dreadful Wrath of God, wluch IS fer torth tn Scripture by Thmgs extreme in rheir Natwe, both in refpeEt of Heat and Cold. 0 how unable will thefe naked Souls be ro abide the Day of God's Wrath, or to ll:and before him who is aconfuming Fire! T he Riah– teoufnefs of Chrift will be as a Cover and Screen between the Saints, and the devo~>rino- Flames of God's Anger: But w.icked Men have no Defence, no Screen nor Cover; . (l;~y are naked, expofcd not only to rhe Shame of every Eye, bur to the direhd Ef– feCts of.God's dreadful \ Vrach and Vengeance, &c. whilft they live, and "hen they die,.. and for ever. : lV. ·A naked Man is expofed to great·Danger·by his Enemies; every fmall Blow may wound him, who hath nothing on to defend him from it; every fmall prick wrli make him bleed: But much greater Danger is he in by great Strokes, and Thrulls of Swords and Spears, and by Arrows and Darrs that E nemies may let Ay again it him; his Condition is not ftdl of Shame, bur alia full of Danger: So wickeci' Men, who are fpirirually naked, are expof~d, {0 gre~t Danger .from the E!:emies· of the Sou l. ("I.) Sin, nay, every Sm \VOLHlt:tS mm; tne leafi Sm makes a wound m h1s Soul, what ·wounds then do great Sins make! ( a.) Conlcience-wounds him, and !allies him lorely. ( 3 .) Satan lets Ay his fi~,ry Darts and Arrows agamlt lum, and wounds htm to rhe very }:kart, and, hke an bungry-Lwn, tears Ius Soul, as it wer<",-to Pteces. (4.) Death and ·Wrath wound him, he having nothing to defend hun from .any of thefe, &c. V. ·A naked Perfon is not fit for any Employment ; he is not fit to fight, nor fir to labor: So fuch who are Ipi ritually naked, are not fit for any fpiritual Service; they can neither work for God, nor fuifer for God, · nor refift Sin and Satan; they are not fit for any Society of fpiritual Men, but ar.e. unfpeakably ·m:ferable every way. 3 DI~
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