204 FIFTH SERMON amongst briers, Cant. ii. 2. to make it appear that spiritual wisdom causeth the face to shine, Ecc. viii. 1. That holiness is indeed a most beautiful thing, which commendeth us to the eyes of God and angels ; a robe worn by Christ the King of saints, and by which we are made like unto him who is the fairest of ten thou- sand, and altogether lovely ; we should take heed of anything whereby our holy profession may be ble- mished, and the name of God defiled by our means : of such levity as is inconsistent with the majesty of holiness ; of such moroseness as is inconsistent with the meekness of holiness ; of such drooping as is in- consistent with the joy of holiness ; of such stiffness and sourness as is inconsistent with the lenity of holiness. In one word, we should labour by the in- nocency, purity, elegancy, fragrancy, fruitfulness ; by the winning ingenuousness, the mild and humble con- descension, the prudent insinuation, the meek, quiet, and graceful managing of a holy life, to show forth the praises of him that hath called us, and to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, who, like blacka- moors, despise beauty, as dogs bark at the shining of the moon, and speak evil of the things they know not. [2.] He promiseth that his church should cast out his roots as Lebanon : though she should have the beauty of the lily, yet she should be freed from the infirmity of it, an aptness to fade and wither, beauti- ful to -day, and to- morrow cast into the oven. But she should have stability like the cedar, which is one of the strongest of trees, and least subject to putrefac- tion, and therefore the church is compared to it, Ezek. xvii. 22, 23. and the temple is said to be built of it, 1 Kings vi. 15, 16. To signify the strength and duration of the church, against which the gates of hell
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