in the most eminent Degree which he is pleas'd to communicate to inferiour Beings and is infinitely more excellent than the Workmanship of his own hands And since 't is natural for us to proportion our Esteem and Veneration of things according to that Worth and Dignity we apprehend to be in them it will from hence follow that the Contemplation of these infinite Perfections will require and ought to raise our Praise and Adoration For we receive all that we have from him and therefore we ought in the most solemn manner imaginable to return him the Praise and Glory due unto his Holy Name So that whether we contemplate the Excellencies of the Divine Nature in the general or the Effects of his Goodness deriv'd down to us in particular either of them will afford sufficient Motives to oblige us to frequent the Publick Worship of God For to what end can we imagine our reasonable Soul is plac'd in us Why were our Bodies enlightned with this Ray of Divinity But that we might be in a Capacity of considering and contemplating the wonderful works of God's Creation and Providence To what end have we a Power given us of communicating our Thoughts one to another but that we might joyn together in celebrating the Praises of our great Creator And 't is for this Reason that the Psalmist calls the Tongue man's Glory Psal 57.8 because the first and chief End of our Speech was to Praise and Glorifie God From these and such like Reflections the generality of Vertuous and thinking Men have given their Assent to this Truth That the Publick Worship of God is absolutely necessary and our indispensible Duty And therefore how wide soever Men of different Perswasions are from one another in their Way and Manner of worshipping God which proceeds from their different Notions of the Perfections of God yet all Religions in the World centre and agree in this common Truth and Principle that the Worship of God ought to be Publick and Solemn Publick Worship therefore is the Dictate of Nature a Precept of universal and eternal Obligation But besides 't is our declar'd Duty by positive Institution The Jews we know had a set and Solemn Worship dictated to them by God himself they were under his immediate Guidance and Government he was their God and their King too their Civil and Religious Sanctions were blended together and their Worship so truly Publick That we do not find any expresly Commanded by the Law of Moses which was not so And this I the rather mention because 't is on all hands agreed that the Jewish Worship was a Type of the Christian and tho' the Ritual part of it was no longer obliging than till the coming of the Messiah who was typify'd thereby yet all those Duties which were founded upon Moral and eternal Reasons as Publick Worship is confess'd to be were to continue to the end of the World And therefore our Saviour tells us That he did not come to destroy the Law Matth. 5.17 but to fulfil it i. e. he came to perform those things which were represented by the Types and Ceremonies of the Law which having had their Completion in him we might reasonably expect should pass away But he came to confirm and establish Moral Duties to place them in a clearer Light and to give Mankind juster Notions of them and to engage us to perform them by more powerful Motives To this end he made it his first and principal Care to establish the Publick Worship of God and to refine it from its Dross and to reform it from all those Superstitions and Abuses which in a long Tract of time were crept into it Because the Purity of Divine Worship is the Foundation of all Religion the Cement of Society and the Sourse and Original of all Moral Vertue To this end our Saviour instituted an Evangelical Priesthood a particular Order of Men invested with Authority to preach the Gospel to the whole World to offer up Publick Prayers and Thansgivings unto God and to unite Men into Societies for the Publick and more solemn Performance of the Duties of Religion and to gather him a Kingdom or Church through the whole World i. e. A Society of Men who enter into Covenant by Baptism to obey the Authority of our Saviour Christ and to live by those Laws which he has instituted and appointed in his Holy Gospel He therefore who neglects the Publick Worship of God which is one of the Principal Institutions of the Christian Religion doth in effect disown God's Authority denies his Saviour and casts himself out of his Protection And therefore the Apostle so earnestly exhorts the Hebrews Not to forsake the assembling of themselves together Heb. 10.25 as being one effectual Means to engage them to hold fast the Profession of their Faith and to secure them from the Commission of that heinous and dangerous Sin of Apostatizing from the Christian Religion 2. If we consider the Nature of Divine Worship it will from thence appear that to Worship God Publickly is absolutely necessary and our indispensible Duty For since Worship is an Acknowledgment of the Excellencies and Perfections of that Being whom we adore 't is evident that the more Publick this Acknowledgment is the more perfect and acceptable is the Worship in the sight of God because 't is more conducive and answerable to those Ends for which he at first instituted and design'd it Now the Reason why we are oblig'd thus Publickly to acknowledge the Excellencies and Perfections of God is that we may hereby express the Sense of our poor indigent and necessitous Condition and the infinite Majesty Power and Goodness of God that we receive every thing we possess from this Fountain of Goodness and depend on him for all that we enjoy And therefore since we can make him no other Returns we ought not to with-hold that of a verbal Acknowledgment and the natural Expressions of a grateful Mind And since God is Good not only to every one of us in particular but to all the whole Race of Mankind and since his most valuable tho' most unregarded Favours are bestow'd upon us in Common therefore we ought to joyn together in celebrating his Praises and to express our Thankfulness with the greater Veneration and Solemnity 3. Consider the Benefits which accrue both to our selves and others from the Publick Worship of God We are Creatures naturally addicted to Imitation and rather inclin'd to do as others do than to take their Advice and believe what they say Example has a strange influence upon us in matters Spiritual as well as Temporal our Passions are wonderfully rais'd when by a Holy kind of Emulation we as it were contend in the Fervency of our Devotion For as Fire kindles Fire and turns all other Materials into its own Nature So a Holy and Christian Zeal will produce its like in the Breasts of all who behold it A Man may go on a long time
performance of them III. In things indifferent 't is our Duty many times to abridge our selves in our Christian Liberty for the good of our Brother and to abstain from such things which we foresee will give him just occasion of Scandal and Offence And 1. We must not do the least evil Action under this Pretence that much Glory will accrue to God or much good to our Neighbour thereby for God has not given us any Permisson much less has he laid upon us any Necessity of committing the least Sin tho' upon never so plausible a Pretence he has chalk'd out to us the plain Path of Integrity and Honesty and has plac'd a Monitor within us which continually gives us this Advice Isa 30.21 This is the way walk therein and whenever we go astray through the Sollicitation of a prevailing Lust he recalls us unto the Practice of our Duty As the end to which all our Actions ought to tend is Holy so he has appointed such means to attain it as are pure and Holy too and has given us sufficient Power to do our Duty without making use of any indirect means It highly derogates from the Honour of an absolutely good and all powerful Being to fansie that he cannot bring about his Designs by just and lawful means or that he has any occasion for the Sins of Men to advance his Glory What can any Man have to say for himself more than Vzza had 1 Chron. 13.9 who driving the Cart in which the Ark of God was plac'd and seeing the Oxen stumble so that the Ark was in manifest Danger of falling put forth his hand and took hold of the Ark which was only lawful for the Priests to do and we are told Verse 10. That the anger of the Lord was kindled against Vzza and he smote him because he put his hand to the Ark and he died there before God St. Paul has plainly determin'd this Point with a God forbid And not rather as we are slanderously reported of Rom. 3.6.8 and as some affirm that we say Let us do Evil that Good may come whose Damnation is just The Almighty Arm of God is sufficient for the Government of the World and since he can bring about the wise Designs of his Providence by an immediate Act of his Power he has no need of our Assistance And therefore when we venture upon any unlawful Action out of an honest Design as we think of doing good we usurp God's Prerogative and interpose in that which doth not belong to us Like undisciplin'd Soldiers we run out of our Ranks and leave the Posts in which we were plac'd and tho' we may do some Service yet we must expect to be punish'd for our Mutiny and Disobed nce And for the most part God blasts the Designs of such Men who care not what means they make use of to bring them about They are generally unsuccessful in their Enterprizes and convinc'd by fatal Experience that the most hopeful Attempts prove Abortive unless prosper'd and protected by the Divine Grace and Blessing thus it is for the most part but whenever it proves otherwise and God sees it fit to permit evil Men to prosper for some time yet there is always some fatal Calamity or other which either attends or follows such sinful Actions and puts a plain difference between the Uprightness of the Righteous and the crooked and perverse Ways of the wicked Let us therefore never be prevail'd on to do the least Evil tho' for a good End for God has obliged us to do no more Good than lawfully we can do nay Good ceases to be so and turns into Evil when brought about by unwarrantable Means For to a good Action 't is necessary that every Circumstance do concur and that the means as well as the end is agreeable to the Laws of God tho' a Deficiency in any one Circumstance is sufficient to denominate it an evil Action 'T is therefore our wisest Course to make the Law of God the Rule of all our Actions and he who is justly sensible how often he transgresses this Law will never be guilty of the Folly of endeavouring to be righteous over-much and to do what God has not made his Duty But this is not all For 2. It may so happen that a good Action lawfully may and ought to be omitted when some Evil may proceed or some Scandal may be taken at the performance of it For tho' we are always oblig'd to do all the good we can yet we are not oblig'd to do it at all times 't is in many Cases left to our own Prudence to determine what times and places are most fitting and convenient for the performance of some Duties The positive Command of God ought certainly to be obey'd and executed when commanded us how pernicious soever the Consequence of it may seem to be because the Omission of a known Duty is a wilful Sin Yet when only the Duty in general is commanded us and the time and manner of the performance of it left to our own Discretion then our Christian Prudence will direct us so to perform it as most Glory may redound to God most good to our Neighbour and we our selves may reap most benefit thereby Our Saviour Christ doth exhort us to imitate the Wisdom of the Serpent Matth. 10.16 as well as the harmless Simplicity of the Dove and 't is the great Wisdom of a good Man to manage and husband wisely the Opportunities of doing good that every Duty may be perform'd in its proper time and place for as he who gives seasonably is said to confer a double Benefit So he that has the Skill to fit out every Duty with its proper Circumstances will entitle himself to the more excellent Reward in the World to come For it sometimes happens that an indifferent Action perform'd in due time and place may have an admirable influence on those who behold it and be the occasion of much good and then every good Christian ought to embrace so happy an Opportunity At another time an Action which in it self is Good and Praise-worthy may be the occasion that God may be blasphem'd and our Neighbour injur'd and then 't is certainly our Duty to omit that good Action till some more convenient Opportunity presents it self This is the meaning of that excellent Rule of the Schools Affirmativa praecepta obligant semper sed non ad semper i. e. though the positive Commands of God are always obliging yet they do not always limit us to the present time of performing them I shall make this plain by an instance or two to reprove those who do amiss especially those who are committed to our Care and live under our Jurisdiction is our unquestionable Duty and enjoyn'd us by the Laws both of God and Man but when this Duty must be perform'd is left to our Christian Prudence and Discretion for many times it will be necessary to wink at their Faults
Apostles Advice That we should not only think on those things which are just and honest Phil. 4.8 but whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any Vertue if there be any Praise think on these things But here I shall interpose one Caution that in all these Cases 't is suppos'd that the Action still remains indifferent For those Actions which are in their own Nature indifferent may become necessary by some Circumstance limiting and bounding them and if my indifferent Action is annex'd to a necessary Duty or determin'd by a lawful Authority I am no longer at Liberty which way to Act nor will an appearance of Evil be a sufficient Excuse for my abstaining from it These are some of those Rules which the best Casuists have laid down but yet they will not reach to all particular Cases and where they fall short our Christian Prudence will be the best Guide and Director hereby following the Example of the Apostles of our Saviour Christ who did not live themselves up to any particular Rule but in indifferent Matters suited their Actions to the Exigences of things and comported themselves so as that they might best promote the Glory of God the good of the Church If therefore we have to deal with such as having had leisure and parts and Opportunity to examine things may reasonably be thought to dissent from us our of Interest and Design and are so unjust as to deny us that Freedom which they themselves enjoy my Advice is to stand fast in that Liberty with which Christ has made us free Gal. 5.1 least by any mean and undue Compliances we should confirm the Erroneous shake the Faithful encourage the Adversary and disturb the Peace of the Governmentâ— both in Church and State which is setled amongst us But of others let us have Compassion Jud. 22. making a difference those who are indeed weak in the Faith and for want of a due Information are scrupulous in the lesser matters of Religion let us instruct them in the Extent of their Christian Liberty and the Lawfulness of those indifferent things they are offended at let us be careful that we do not give them just occasion of offence or disgust them either by our Words or Actions but endeavour to win them over by all the lawful Arts and Endearments of Kindness and Condescention And if we must still differ in smaller Matters let us love as Brethren If we cannot be of one Mind and of one Opinion Yet let us be all of one Heart and of one Soul Amen and Amen SERMON VII ECCLES V. 1. Keep thy foot when thou goest into the House of God and be more ready to hear than to give the Sacrifice of Fools for they consider not that they do Evil. THE Design of the Royal Preacher in these Words is to perswade his Hearers to approach with humble Reverence both of Body and Soul into God's immediate Presence and to behave themselves during the time of Publick Worship with a becoming Decency and Devotion to come into his House with â—ouls affected with awful and reverential Apprehensions of his Divine Majesty with open Ears and obedient Hearts disposed to do whatsoever he commands them Keep thy foot says the Wise Man when thou goest into the House of God i. e. Prepare and fit thy self to partake of these holy Ordinances compose thy Mind and thy Body to a Behaviour suitable to the Dignity of those Duties thou art about and the weight and importance of them The Expression is a plain Allusion to the Custom of the Eastern Countries of plucking off their Shooes when they made any Profession of solemn Respect or trod on Consecrated Ground and of washing their Feet before they entred the Palaces of their Kings or the Places dedicated to God's Publick Worship Of these Customs we have several Instances in the holy Scriptures Exod. 3.5 when God appeared unto Moses in the Bush he commanded him to put his shooes from off his feet because the place whereon he stood was holy ground And the Captain of the Host said unto Joshua Josh 5.15 loose the shooe from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy Loosing or plucking off the Shooe was a Ceremony of the same import with uncovering the Head amongst us a Token of Respect and Reverence And therefore they wash'd and made clean their Feet when they went into Publick Assemblies So that Keeping the feet is a very proper Expression to denote that Respect and Veneration that Humility of Mind which is a requisite Qualification for every devout Worshipper who enters into the House of God and that Reverent demeanor of himself whilst he is there Keep thy feet when thou goest into the House of God or as the Original may be rendred when thou comest into the House of God which denotes to us both how we ought to Prepare our selves before we come to the place of God's Publick Worship and how we must comport and demean our selves when we are there And therefore 't is presently added And be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools i.e. be sure to bring an attentive Ear and an obedient Heart along with thee with which God will be better pleas'd than with those Sacrifices whereby wicked Men think tho' very foolishly to appease the Anger of God and to render him favourable and propitious to them tho' they lead their Lives and Conversations never so contrary to his Laws for they consider not that they do Evil they do not consider that God has openly declar'd That he hates and abhors the Sacrifices of such Men who offer them up with unclean hands and an impure heart such as those who think that their Attendance upon the publick Offices of Religion will atone and make amends for the wickedness and immorality of their Lives This being the plain meaning of the words I propose to make some Enlargement upon them under these following Heads I. I shall consider how we ought to Prepare our selves before we joyn in the Publick Worship of God II. How we ought to demean our selves whilst we are Worshipping him III. What is to be done after the performance of the publick Duties of Religion 1. How we ought to Prepare our selves before we joyn with the Congregation in the Publick Worship of God For our Edifying and receiving benefit by the Publick Duties of Religion in a great measure depends on a due Preparation for them 't is to no Purpose to sow the good seed of the Word unless our Hearts are manur'd and cultivated Prepar'd and dispos'd to receive it Our Prayers will be turn'd into Sin Isay 29.13 if whilst we speak to God with our lips our hearts are far from him nor will our receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper be of any use to us if whilst we are partaking of the Holy Elements we cherish and harbour sinful and impure Thoughts