of in that glory; it abides, and will have no end. For such are the things of God, enduring,
and above all change or end. For the glory of that state is not from without, but from within.
I mean, it consists not in a multitude of servant, or of chariot, nor in costly garments. Inde-
pendently of these things, the man himself is clothed with glory. Here, without these things,
the man appears naked. In the baths, we see the illustrious, the undistinguished, and the
base, alike bare. Often have the great been exposed to danger in public, being left on some
occasion by their servants. But in that world men carry their glory about with them, and
the Saints, like the Angels, wherever they appear, have their glory in themselves. Yea rather
as the sun needs no vestures, and requires no foreign aid, but wherever he appears, his glory
at once shines forth; so shall it then be.
Let us then pursue that glory, than which nothing is more venerable; and leave the glory
of the world, as beyond anything worthless. “Boast not of thy clothing and raiment.” (Ecclus.
xi. 4.) This was the advice given of old to the simple. Indeed the dancer, the harlot, the
player, are arrayed in a gayer and more costly robe than thou. And besides, this boasting
were of that, which if but moths attack, they can rob thee of its enjoyment. Dost thou see
what an unstable thing it is, this glory of the present life? Thou pridest thyself upon that
which insects make and destroy. For Indian insects, it is said, spin those fine threads of
which your robes are made. But rather seek a clothing woven from things above, an admirable
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and radiant vesture, raiment of real gold; of gold not dug by malefactors’ hands out of the
mine, but the produce of virtue. Let us clothe ourselves with a robe not the manufacture of
poor men or slaves, but wrought by our Lord Himself. But your garments, you say, are in-
wrought with gold! And what is that to thee? He that wrought it, not he that wears it, is the
object of admiration, for there it is really due. It is not the frame on which the garment is
stretched at the fuller’s, but the maker of it, that is admired. Yet the block wears it, and has
it bound on itself. And as that wears it, but not for use, even so do some of these women,
for the benefit of the garment, to air it, they say, that it may not be moth-eaten! Is it not then
the extreme of folly to be solicitous about a thing so worthless, to do anything whatever, to
risk your salvation for it, to make a mock at Hell, to set God at defiance, to overlook Christ
hungering? Talk not of the precious spices of India, Arabia, and Persia, the moist and the
dry, the perfumes and unguents, so costly and so useless. Why, O woman, dost thou lavish
perfumes upon a body full of impurity within? why spend on what is offensive, as if one
should waste perfumes upon dirt, or distill balms upon a brick. There is, if you desire it, a
precious ointment and a fragrance, with which you might anoint your soul; not brought
from Arabia, or Ethiopia, nor from Persia, but from heaven itself; purchased not by gold,
but by a virtuous will, and by faith unfeigned. Buy this perfume, the odor of which is able
to fill the world. It was of this the Apostles savored. “For we are (he says) a sweet savor, to
some of death, to others of life.” (2 Cor. ii. 15, 16.) And what means this? That it is as they
say, that the swine is suffocated by perfumes! But this spiritual fragrance scented not only
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1 Timothy 1:5-7