than the bare performance of duty which is usually exprest by some Verb or other There are many necessary requisites to and essential ingredients in the true worship of God which if they be wanting the external performance of it is as a thing of nought in Gods valuation though the worship be materially good not idolatrous superstitious uncommanded or unlawful in it self but such as God hath instituted and enjoyned yet it may be formally evil and want such conditions and qualifications as would render it acceptable to God Men may pray hear receive sacraments be much in duties of worship and yet do nothing from a principal of grace in obedience to God with a due respect to His glory and is not all this think you as good as nothing in point of acceptation with the Lord A man may be doing every day and yet do nothing in Religion All his prayers may be nothing else but the lazie wishings and wouldings of sinfull sloath the bablings of formality the cravings inordinate selfish greed cravings of his lusts the discontented murmerings and grumblings of the flesh or howlings in a time of affliction Hosea 7. 14. Yea as the plowing of the wicked is sin Prov. 21. 4. so is his praying also The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord Prov. 15. 8. God lookes with a gracious aspâ—ct on him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at His Word But he that without these inward holy dispositions of spirit slayeth an Oxe is as if he slâ—w a man c. Isa. 66. 2. 3. Of so little account with God is external worship without the internal as He will hardly allow it the name of invocation and wor ship but gives it very hard names importing that such invocation is indeed a great provocation of God All the use that I would make of it is in these three Words First This may serve to check the pride and petulancy to beat down the confidence and conceit of hypocrites that glory in their performances and reckon God indebted to them for their servivices That think they have done some great matter when they have prayed tosted heard Gods word done these or those duties and bear themselves high upon the frequency of their external devotion and think God doth them great wrong if He doth not consider and reward their diligence and dutifulness No Hypocrite acts beyond the sphere of the Covenant of Works but think to winn it and wear it And is whatever he professeth of a mercenary spirit and quarrels with God if he do not hear his prayers and reward his services so those supercili us proud hypocrites wherefore have we fasted saith they and thou seest not Wherefore have we afflicted our souls and thou takest no knowledge Isa 58 3. Thus they fly out and expostulate with God because their external humiliations and hypocritical performances were not regarded and rewarded according to their mind There is this saucy spirit in all hypocrites Ah! poor proud man thou mayest boast of thy prayers and duties and quarrells with God that He doth not hear and reward but thou hast no reason for take this home with thee thou hast never prayed in thy life never called upon God to this day thou hast done much in a way of duty in thy kind and fond opinion of thy self but as good as nothing in God's account Thou hast more reason to admire the patience and mercy of God for not punishing thee for such sinfull as well as insignificant performances then expostulate with Him and question His justice and faithfulness because He hoth not rewarded them Secondly We see then we have great reason to examine our selves and bring all our services to the test and touchstone of the Word of God and try whither our worship of God is true or false sincere or hypocritical any thing indeed or nothing in God's estimation What if God should say to thee after all the prayers thou hast made Fasts thou hast kept Sermons thou hast heard Sabbath-days Lecture dayes in season and out of season and Sacraments thou hast received Man Woman thou hast never called upon Me nor worshiped Me unto this day no thou hast never yet prayed one Prayer heard one Sermon received one Sacrament sanctified one Sabbath done one duty of religious Worship Truely it is to be feared this is the very case of many Professors amongst us Oh! the cold dead sleepy Prayers infamilies the dull and drowzie work we make on dayes of humiliation the careless fruitless hearing the flight unworthy receiving of Sacraments that is amongst us May we not fear this is the general condition of Professors amongst us in these 〈◊〉 and perrilous times We can travel into a Road of Duty jogg on in a formal heartless manner in a way of religious performances But Oh where is the reverance of the Divine Majesty the faith in His Son and Promises the hope in His mercie the love to Him and the zeal for His glory the unutterable groans and fervency of spirit the attention of mind and intention of will and affections to such like gracious dispositions and qualifications of the worship of God Are not these things growen out of fashion with us I doubt not but there are many through grace among us that call upon God in truth wrestling Israels a generation of seekers praying souls that can weep and make supplication and prevail with God in a princely manner Many that pray and hear and receive Sacraments and worship God in spirit and in truth that are accepted acknowleâ—dged owned and shal be rewarded as true worshippers I would not be all in complaining it is good to be thankful for what there is of God among us Many there are of the good old generation many of the middle and of the young generation yea more I doubt not then we are aware of that call upon God in sincerity yea there may be many a wise Virgin in a slumbering fit that may say with the spouse Cantic 5. 2. I sleep but my heart waketh That must by no means be secluded and so shut out of the company of true worshippers As there were seven thousand in Elijah's time a time of the greatest Apostacy of Israel that had not bowed a knee to Baal nor defiled themselves with idolatrous worship so no doubt there were many thousands that called upon God and worshiped Him indeed even in those degenerous times when the Lord said Thou hast not called upon me O Iacob But He speakes of the body of that People that were hypocritical formall and irreligious So questionless we have many among us in these dayes of degeneracy and apostacy that worship God aright and seek Him with their whole heart bear up the Pillars of our Land Are the Chariots and Horse-men of our Israel and can do wonders upon their knees But what shal we say or think of the body of this People May not God upbraid us and say Thou hast
makes a man if he do not wholly turn aside from the way of duty yet to be very unconstant and uneven and make many balks in it He walks with God at all adventures Levi. 26. 21. Not by any stedy rule or keeping any constant pace Hence we neglect the service of God secret prayer and other duties and then a terrible Sermon or some dangerous Sicknesse some sore affliction or remarkable providence awakens him to his work and then he prayes and reforms and does duties a while but in a little time the impression of those things wear off his spirit and then he relapseth into his former neglect and is as bad as ever This is weariness indeed of Gods service like the Israelites that in times of affliction sought God with much affection but there was no stedfastness in them Psal. 78. 34 37. 6. To perseverance to the end in a way of duty Gods servants must hold on in a way of service and not give in till they come to the end of their race It is the persevering Saint that shal have the reward He that endureth to the end shal be saved Matth. 24. 13. But now this weariness of Gods service tends to and frequently 〈◊〉 such in a totall apostacy Where such men as be weary of duty have served God in their lives by fitts and starts and in some good mood for a time they do at last many times grow quite cold and turne aside to the service of sin and satan Like Demas that accompanied Paul and did service a while but then forsook the service of Christ and embraoed the world and as Ecclesiasticall story says of him became a Priest in an idols temple This weariness of Gods service oft ends in a forsaking of it And no wonder if a man cast off his burthen as soon as he can Thus professors are weary of Godsservice it self or of the kind and matter of obedience and this weariness of Gods service is attended with II. Weariness of their relation to God as their Master They look upon the service of God as very grievous and God himself as an hard Master and hence are weary of the relation of servants to him They do not find His yoke easie and His burthen light but it is intollerable to their wretched hearts hence they grow into a dislike of God Himself and are weary of their relation to Him They seemed to have chosen Him for their Master but upon experience of his service they repent their choice and now He shall be no Master of theirs Now they can change away their glory Ier. 2 11. Renounce their relation to and interest in the Lord if it cannot be had on easier terms then such hard service Like that people that said to the Prophets Isa. 30. 10 11. Prophesie smooth things and get you out of the way turn ye aside out of the path we do not like this way of preaching law and duty threatnings and judgments here and damnation hereafter to the disobedient leave this way of preaching and cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us Trouble us no more with messages from God talk no more of Him and His Commands and threatnings we are weary of His Word and service and care to hear no more of it They loved not to hear their duty of Gods service pressed upon them They had done with God and His service Such are not like the servant that in the year of release was contented out of love to his Master and liking of his service to have his ear bored and to serve him for ever Exod 21. 6. But have such a dislike of the service of God that they are willing to cast off His hard service and abandon their relation to Him This is attended with III. Weariness of their Covenant obligation to the Lord and His service whereby they are engaged to be His People Subjects Servants to bear true faith and allegiance to Him and renouncing all other Lords that have had dominion over them to cleave to Him trust in Him fear love and serve Him alone They could even wish their Indentures cancelled and burnt are sorry they are so far ingaged in Church-covenant and fellowship that they are under such strickt solemn tyes and obligations to service and obedience It troubles them that they are tyed up so short so chained so bound with the bonds of the Covenant that their hands are so manicled that they cannot act as they would feet so fettered that they cannot walk as they please They cannot endure these shackles could wish they were handsomely quit of their Covenant-engagements which hold them in abridg and infringe their liberty to live as they list They are impatient of being staked down to so short a tedder that they cannot range as they please In some good mood and for some by end they entered into Covenant with God and His People but now they are sorry that the yoke of obedience and service is with their own consent so bound and fastned to their neck by the Covenant that they know not well how to shake it off and get clear of it So much weariness of the service of God so much weariness there will be of Covenant-obligations to it Again IV. Weariness of Divine Truth which directs them in the way of Gods service They would have smooth things not right things prophesied unto them Deceit and errours that will countenance their hypocrisie and sloath and give them liberty and elbow room rather then this severe truth that leads them right on in the way of piety and obedience and will not allow them to turn aside from it to the right or left hand They see no beauty and glory in Divine Truth have had little or no experience of the power of it upon their hearts receive not the love of it 2 Thessalonians 2. 10. Have no stomach or appetite to it wholesome Truths referring to Christian practice will not down with them they cannot endure found Doctrine but love dawbing with untempered Morter to be stroked and flattered and strengthned in a way of looseness and to have Pillows sewed under their Elbows This Truth is a biteing them and they cannot bear it Hence men make no great difference between Truth and Errour are not concerned for defence of the Truth and suppression of Errour have no zeal to contend earnestly for the Faith Truth may sink or swim for all them Nay they had rather it were drowned and buried out of the way it is so troublesome to them Again V. Weariness of Gods providential discipline as I may call it whereby He would quicken them to His service and reduce them into the way of it when they have wandred from it My meaning is God in His providence exerciseth severe discipline in His visible Church by chastisements and afflictions in order to their correction and emendation He will not bear that in His Covenant-People that He will overlook and wink at in others
the Law but all this you have done in such a wretched manner without Faith and Obedience in hypocricy and formality and so not for me as you pretend but against me in Truth not for my Glory but to my great dishonour not for my satisfaction but to my grief and trouble When men pray hear the word performe duties of worship but without an inward principle of grace with a false and hypocritical heart without any care and conscience of Evangelicall Obedience nay in effect to palliate their sins that they may go on without regrett and remorse in a way of wickedness truely then their prayer and worship is not for God but against him to his great provocation and dishonour God is affronted and despighted rather than delighted and gratified with such worship so ill circumstanced conditioned The great designe of God in instituted outward worship is to produce exercise increase draw forth faith obedience in his people to his Glory But when this is not done but externall worship is kept up without any due regard to Faith and Obediance nay for a cover excuse and protection as it were of unbelief and disobedience it looses its end is good for nothing but to dishonour and provoke God with the greater solemnity But we need not labour much here about the vanity of reversions We may safely keep to our English Translation which is genuine plain expressive of the Originall And so there are two propositions in the words as we have intimated Thou hast not called upon me O Jacob but thou hast been weary of me O Israel And then in the latter words there is a gradation and aggravation of their sins Thou hast not only not called upon me but thou hast been weary of me I need not tell you that Israel here is the same with Jacob there Children descended from that holy powerfull Patriarch whose Names were Jacob and Israel inheriting their Father's Name even when they had little of His Piety The Lord charges them here with a weariness of Him that in-stead of calling upon Him with Faith fervency delight as they should have done in all respects they were grown weary of Him Here Observe 2. Doct. That 't is sometimes the generall but unworthy wretched frame of the visible Church and People of God to be weary of God The Lord speakes here to Iacob and Israel a People in Covenant with Him the only Church He had then upon the face of the Earth the People of His holiness His peculiar Treasure whom He had honoured above all other Nations in giving His Word unto Iacob His statutes and judgements unto Israel whereas He had not dealt so with any other Nation Psalm 147. 19 20. He had committed to them His Oracles and Ordinances formed them into a Church and Common-wealth for Himself and His own Glory planted their Heavens laid the Foundation of their Earth and said unto them Thou art my People They were a People very near and dear to the Lord as appeared by His redeeming them from Egyptian bondage leading them through the Wilderness giving them His Laws taking them under the wing of His Covenant conducting them to and setling them in the Land of Canaan and then giving them all things richly to enjoy Yet this People after all as to the body of them grew weary of God This we may think was monstrous dis-ingenuity and ingratitude to grow weary of Him that was their Father founder Protector Benefactour on all accounts better to them then all the world We may think when we read the Story the Jews were a very strange unworthy people in their deportments towards the Lord and so they were indeed But know withall that we have the same hearts and natures and are disposed also to the like frame too prone to make God the like requitall of His kindness to us and to grow weary of Him Gospell Churches are not secured from but subject to this unworthy sinfull frame of spirit It is too oft the case of Professors in these Gospell times to be weary of God We shal here enquire 1. Quest. When is a Person or People weary of God Answ. The original word as Avenarius observes hath not so much respect is not so much referred to the weariness of the flesh or body as of the mind and spirit Doubtless it is soul-weariness that is here intended Now this would require a large discourse but I shal bring all into as narrow a compass as I can Prosessors then are said to be weary of God when they are weary of subjection service and obedience unto God The Lord charged them with omission or neglect of His worship and service Thou hast not called upon me O Iacob and then subjoynes but thou hast been weary of me O Israel Thou hast been so far from serving me according to my will and thy duty that thou hast been weary of me and my service That service and obedience unto God that should have been esteemed by them as it was indeed their priviledge honour benefit and happiness was their load burthen trouble and they were sick and weary of it This includes sundry things 1. Weariness of the service of God it self or of the kind and matter of obedience When professors are weary of the work that must be done in Gods service they are weary of God The matter of Christian obedience is the preceptive will of God summarily comprehended in the Decalogue or morall Law in the two Tables containing ten Commandments When men are weary of doing and suffering what God in His Law requires so that to worship God with his own prescribed worship in that reverential awfull holy manner at such times as he requires and to make conscience of keeping close to all the Rules of Justice and Charity in their converses and dealings with men or in the Apostles concise and comprehensive expressions To live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Tit. 2. 12. and to have due respect to or walk in all the Commandments of God and to fulfill all His Wills as the phrast is Act. 15. 22. When I say men call this a weariness a bondage and burthen so as to esteem the burthen of Christ that He layes upon them a burthen indeed and the yoke of His Law galling and troublesome and His Commands very grievous then doubtless they are weary of God Wearinesse of Gods Lawes and holy wayes is weariness of God himself in a just construction When men have set upon a course of reformation and obedience seem to run well for a time but then tyre and grow weary Religion is not a matter of Theory and Orthodox notions only but of practice and labour We may say of Theologie as the Philosopher of civill prudence and pollicy the end of it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not bare knowledge but practice God will have no idle servants in His family He hath set them work to do there is a race of odedience set
before them and the line of their obedience must run parallel with the whole Law of God But when men are weary of this work and hard duty as they account it they are weary of God Paul exhorts the Galathians cap. 6. 9. and the Thessalonians 2 Epistle 3. 13. not to be weary in wel-doing applying it to the particular duties He is there pressing upon them Now when men are not only weary or wearish in but weary of wel-doing according to the revealed will of God they are weary of God And this wearinesse of Gods service will be better understood if we consider it as opposed 1. To a love and liking of the service of God When there is love to God and His service it will carry a man unwearedly in a course of obedience that though he may be weary in it he will not be weary of it The flesh may be weak and tiresome but the spirit is willing Love will not easily tire or grow weary Amor meus pondâ—â— meum saith Austine â—o feror quocunque feror Love is the weight and wing of the soul that carrieth on above all difficulties and discouragements in a course of service It is strong as death and will not be stopt and hindered in its way But weariness of Gods service implyes a dislike of it displicency in it It is not gratefull in a carnal heart so much weariness of Gods service so much aversation of it and want of love to it When the Israelites were weary of the Manna their souls loathed that light bread Num. 21. 5. So when men are weary of the service of God in duties and ordinances and all kind of evangelicall obedience their souls dislike and loath it They do even nauseate and grow sick of Prayer Sermons Sacraments Sabbaths Duties of Piety and Charity all those wayes wherein God is to be served by us 2. To strength courage vigour in the service of God Where this is there is no difficultie no Lyon in the way no discouragement that will deter and dishearten a man from his duty Or if through that infirmity that the best of Saints are subject to man should give in or give back and shrink back from his service of God for a time yet he will recover himself again and go forward in the way of duty whatever he meet with in it It is an observable expression of Solomon The way of the Lord is strength to the upright Prov. 10. 20. Other wayes tire men the further they go the weaker they grow But the Lords way of faith and obedience is strength to the upright whatever it is to the unsound hypocrite the further he travels in it the stronger and more vigorous he growes The righteous shall hold on his way and he that hath clean hands shal be stronger and stronger Iob 17. 9. Now this weariness of Gods service as opposed to this growing strength courage and vigour in the wayes of God is when a man hath no life no spirit no vigour in the service of God He dare not obey God in the way of duty because of difficulties he hath weak hands feeble knees he hath no heart no strength no vigour in the service of God and this not only for a fit and in an hour of temptation but in the whole course of his profession unlesse in some good mood and paug of affliction which hath no root or spring and soon vanisheth away The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal. 6. 9. rendered let us not be weary imports a shrinking from our duty through pusilanimity and cowardly dastardly weakness of spirit and it is explained also by that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if we faint not This weariness imports a resolution as it were of sinews a kind of Paralytick weakness opposite to strength courage and vigour of spirit 3. To Alacrity and chearfulness of spirit in the service of God There ought to be a promptness and alacrity of mind in our obedience without which it is of no value with the Lord God loves a Chearfull giver 2 Corinthians 4. 7. not a dull heartless but a lively chearfull servant that will do or suffer for Him with alacrity He loves to be served with joyfulness and gladness of heart Deut. 28. 47. They that will keep a Sabbath aright must call it a delight Isa. 58. 13. They that will worship God is publick assemblies must be glad when they say let us go into the house of the Lord Psal. 112. 1. They that will wait upon God in His ordinances must wish joy draw water out of the Wells of Salvation Isai. 12. 3 They that will serve God by giving to any pious use or work of charity must do it with chearfulness not grudgingly or of necessity for God loveth a chearfull giver 2 Cor. 4. 7 So when they contributed to the Temple in David ' s time King and People rejoyced greatly 1 Chron 29. 9. A man looseth all he doth otherwise in Gods service It is said of Jehosaphat to his commendation that his heart was lift up in the wayes of the Lord 2 Chron 17. 6. It signifieth both his courage and cheerfulness in the work of reformation But weariness of Gods service is of a quite other import Such as are weary of Gods service if they do not profanely cast it off yet go on very dully in it They drive on very heavily as the Egyptians drave their Chariots when God had taken off their wheeles Exod. 14. 25. They do all as a task in a slavish way They have no delight no comfort no joy nor alacrity in their obedience 4. To Zeal in the service of God Zeal is a genuine concomitant of true obedience It is good to be zealously affected alwayes in a good thing Gal. 4. 18. As the service of God is the best thing we can be occupied about This zeal is an intense degree of sincere affection to God and his service It is the love vigour alacrity in Gods service before spoken of boiled to the height a fervour of spirit in the work of God So Apollos was servent in spirit teaching diligently the things of the Lord Act. 18. 25. It is one of Paul's exhortations that we should not be slothful in businesse but servent boiling hot in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12. 11. But those that are weary of Gods service are luke warm yea cold dead slothfull indifferent in it Their prayers freez in their lips and there is no fervency of spirit put forth in their service 5. To constancy and evenness in the way of Gods service It is an excellent thing when a man keeps on his pace in the way of service or if there be any difference he minds his pace and doth better and better When he holds on his way and grows stronger and stronger Iob. 17. 9. That he doth not flagg and falter but continue his progress and endeavour to do the work of God But this weariness of Gods service is contrary thereunto It