Selected quad for the lemma: glory_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
glory_n	honour_n	lord_n	name_n	7,248	5	5.1958	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66519	The building, beautifying, or repairing of Churches, an act of religion A sermon preached in the parish church of St. Helens, London, on Sunday, August 8. 1697. At the first opening of that Church after it had been repair'd. By Tho. Willis, M.A. vicar of St. Helens.	Willis, Thomas, 1651 or 2-1701.	1692 (1692)	Wing W2857; ESTC R219576	8,966	35

The Building Beautifying or Repairing of Churches an Act of Religion A SERMON Preached in the Parish Church of St. HELENS London On Sunday August 8. 1697. At the first opening of that Church after it had been Repair'd By Tho. Willis M.A. Vicar of St. Helens LONDON Printed for John Southby at the Harrow in Cornhil MDCXCVII To my Worthy and Loving Friends the Parishioners of St. Helens Gentlemen I Heartily bless Almighty God for that Station which by his Providence I have amongst you where I have no need to rack my Invention to study Arguments of Perswasion but rather proper terms of Praise you generally doing of your duty without giving me time or opportunity as your Minister to recommend it to you This last Act of yours which occasioned this ensuing discourse which is now humbly presented to you will I doubt not make you famous and eminent for your Piety and Zeal throughout this great and populous City That such a small number of Persons as you are should repair such an old large decay'd Church at your own proper cost and charges without assistance from the Publick must needs redound much unto your honour in the Eyes of your fellow-Citizens God Almighty grant that this and all your other Works of Charity and Religion which are many may be rewarded an hundred fold in this World and in the World to come with Eternal Life This is and shall be the daily and hearty Prayer of Gentlemen Your unworthy But most Faithful Minister and Servant Tho. Willis 1 Chron XXII 5. The house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding Magnifical of Fame and of Glory throughout all Countries REason is the distinctive Character of Man and Religion is his Crown and Glory Religion which is the Holy Worship of God is the great end of man's Life and Being in the world By Religion it is that man gives to God that Glory and Honour which is due to his great Name Now God is a Being infinite in all Excellencies and Perfections and by a hearty acknowledgment of his infinite Excellencies man gives Honour to God But then this acknowledgment must be manifested by agreeable Actions God hath given man a body and a soul and he ought to be and will be honour'd by both Man rightly honours God by an internal estimation of his excellencies demonstrated by his external Actions And amongst these actions sure not any more tends to the divine honour than the having of a house erected to the Lord especially such a house as by its amplitude splendor and beauty may be a visible demonstration of a very high esteem of God and such was the design of holy David here mentioned in my Text for the house to be built by his Son Solomon The house that is to be builded c. Here in these words we have 1. Mention made of a house to be built for the Lord i. e. for the name the honour and service of the most high God 2dly We have an account given us of the excellency and pre-eminence of this house above other Houses The house that is builded for the Lord must be exceeding magnifical i. e. it must be magnificent to the height and then lastly 3dly We have the reason or end of this Magnificence assigned it must be for a name renown and glory throughout all Lands throughout the whole habitable World That thereby the name of God and the fame of his excellent Greatness might be extended to the ends of the Farth The greatest works of men should be designed to the highest honour of God Man cannot exceed in magnificence in those things that tend to the honour of the Divine Majesty Man should not satisfy himself in bringing a small tribute of praise to his Maker But he should endeavour to lift up his glory to the Heavens and to extend his honour to the ends of the Earth But the one thing which upon this our first meeting in this place after the great cost you have been at for the repairing beautifying and adorning this house which is set apart for the honour of God Almighty's Name I shall now endeavour in a short discourse to demonstrate in this that it is a proper act of natural and rational Religion to have a house a stately and magnificent house to the honour and glory of God which will lead me in the close of my discourse to take notice of and commend your piety and zeal which has rendered this place we now once more are assembled in such a one Religion is the holy Worship of God God is a Spirit and as our blessed Saviour told me woman of Samaria is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth Joh. 4.23 And this worship is acceptable to him as well in a Clay Cottage as in a Marble Palace Three Wise men or Kings Matt. 2. as some will have them we read worshipp'd Christ in a Stable and sure it was no less acceptable than if they had done it in a Glittering Court Nay give me leave to say that it was a higher Act of Religion in them to adore Christ in a Stable lying in a Manger than it would have been to have done so had they found him in a Royal Palace sitting in Princely State upon a Throne of Gold Though when these Princely Sages of the East came to him there was no appearance of any humane Greatness in him yea notwithstanding the extraordinary meanness of his Condition they acknowledg'd his Royalty and Divinity with humble Homage and Adoration They Address to him as a King they Worship him as a God But yet after all I must say that though this Spiritual Worship be acceptable to God in every Place as being indeed the very Soul of Religion it must not be without a Body I mean it must demonstrate itself when occasion is offered by some visible Acts to the Honour of God and so it is an eminent Act of Religion to have a Stately and Magnificent House to the glory of his Name God we all know is an Invisible Power an Immense Being The most High dwelleth not in Temples made with hands as saith the Prophet Heaven is my Throne and Earth my Footstool what House will ye build me saith the Lord or what is the place of my Rest Hath not my Hand made all these things Yet to this the Apostle premises Solomon built him a House as you find Acts 7. from verse 47th to the 50th And our Blessed Saviour sufficiently vindicated the Honour of his Fathers House by scourging the Buyers and Sellers out of the Courts of the Temple Matt. 21.12 13. To have a Stately Beautiful and well adorned House to the Honour of God for a Renown and Glory amongst men is a proper Act of Religion an Act of Religion I say not of Jewish Paganish or Popish Superstition but of Natural Rational and Real Religion Which is no less proper and agreeable to Christians under the Gospel than to holy and

good men under the Law This I shall endeavour to clear and prove 1. By the Nature and Reason of the thing 2dly By its agreeableness to the Nature and Reason of man and 3dly By the Approbation and Acceptance of God First then I say to have a Stately Beautiful and well adorned House or Church call it which you will to the Honour of God for a Renown and Glory amongst men appears to be a proper Act of Religion by the Nature and Reason of the thing What is Religion but the right Worship of the only true God It is a giving him the Honour due to his great name by an acknowledgment of his infinite Excellencies And this acknowledgment must be open and visible as it were to the Eyes of the World by some eternal Temstimonies and Actions Thus in Levit. 10.3 we read that the Lord spake saying I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the people I will be glorified Now this must either be done by words as in Prayers or Praises or by some certain actions and gestures And indeed by the self-same Actions by which we pay our Respects and give Honour to men we must testifie our acknowledgments of the Divine Excellencies to the Honour of God as particularly by uncovering the Head and bowing the Knee Now how can a Subject be supposed more to honour his Prince and Soveraign than by erecting a magnificent Pallace or repairing and beautifying a decayed stately structure to his Honour And thus may a man honour the great King of Kings whose Subject he is the most high God I mean by either building beautifying or repairing a Temple or Pallace as David calls it 1 Cron. 29.1 when he says the Pallace is not for man but for the Lord God to the Glory and Honour of his great Name By such acts as these a man makes a visible and practical acknowledgment of the Majesty Greatness and Royal dignity of God He that acknowledges the divine Excellencies in words such as Praises are truly honours God according to that of the Psalmist Psal 50.23 Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me but he that doth such Works as these by doing so may be said to honour God much more than the other who only chants forth his Praises A stately and well adorned Palace is for the honour of the King and a beautiful Temple as that of Solomons formerly was is for the honour of Almighty God Praises we know are but cheap acknowledgments but he that repairs an old decay'd Temple to God such as we all know this lately was cannot be said to honour him with that which costs him nothing The Pious man by his Praises acknowledges God to be a good God but he that does this latter acknowledges him to be a great King And thus I have shewed you how to have a stately magnificent and well adorned House wherein to serve God and to attend upon all the ordinances of his Worship is an act of natural rational and real Religion from the nature and reason of the thing I proceed now then to prove it to be so 2dly By its agreeableness to the Nature and Reason of man Now this plainly appears in that in all Nations of the World they who have apprehended an adorable Divinity have built a magnificent Temple to the honour of the God or Goddess whom they have adored and from time to time have adorned and beautified such Temples thus built with the choicest and richest of their Treasures Such was the Temple of Jupiter in a certain City of Mysia Cizicus the Pillars of which were four Cubits thick and in height fifty The whole was of polished stone and each stone was joined to the other with no meaner a cement than a line of Gold But that which Queen Semiramis erected to the same supposed God in Babilou was far more sumptuous and costly and richly beautified and adorned with Gold and Silver The Temple of Diana was twenty years in building and above one hundred and fifty in adorning The temple of Peace in Rome was built by Vespasian three hundred Foot in length and in breadth two hundred and all the rarieties of the golden House of Nero were bestowed as Ornaments for this Temple Now though these Persons who built such stately Fabricks and so richly adorned them to the honour of their supposed Divinities grossly erred in the object of their Worship yet by this it is apparent that it is agreeable to the dictate of Nature and consonant to the reason of Man to have a Magnificent and Beautiful House or Temple to the Divinity we adore as an expression of that Honour which is due from us to God It is not consistent with the high and honourable thoughts which men ought to have of God to be content to attend the solemnities of his Holy Service in a mean and sordid House He is not worthy of the honourable Title of God Almighty's Servant who hath less regard to that House which is dedicated to his Service and Honour than he hath to that of his own Dwelling and Abode and can willingly lay out his Wealth for the furnishing and adorning the latter and be well satisfied though the former lies in a desolate and ruinous condition The Nature of Man cannot in the most corrupted state but be so ingenuous as to dictate this Truth that that Being who gives the best most certainly does deserve the best So that if God gives the best Blessings to us he deserves the best returns from us What matter is it if we offer our earthly Treasures to him from whom we expect Grace here and everlasting Glory when we go hence It is true God is not taken with any shining or beautiful Adornments as men are but yet it is very meet and fitting that by such things as these we should testifie our high esteem of him and great Love to him That man who hath a due apprehension of the Greatness and Majesty of God and of his mercy and goodness to man will think no cost too great or Ornament at any time too rich for that House which is set apart for the Honour of his Name That this is not a stranger or screed Conception but the natural thought and sentiment of Mankind is further apparent in that the famous Temple of Solomon formerly was built according to the dictates of Natural Reason in King David for it was in the mind of that Pious Prince to do this before the will of God concerning it was declared and made known For it is said 1 Kings 8.17 that it was in the heart of David to build a House for the name of the Lord God of Israel And yet if you turn to 2 Sam. 7.7 You find that in time past God never had spoke a word to any of the Iribes of Israel saying why build ye me not a House of Caedar So that the first contrivance of this was the natural product of that holy man 's own

he should dye in his Sins and lye in the tormenting Flames below for ever Now there is so necessary a connection of these two that the one cannot possibly be separated from the other No man that does not give to God the Glory that is due to his Name in the Duties of his Holy worship can secure the Salvation of his own Soul For Gods glory is the great end of Mans Salvation and therefore that man that gives not Glory to God must himself expect no interest in his saving Mercy God should seem accessary to his own dishonour which is not imaginable if he should bring that man to a State of Honour and Happiness in Heaven who refuses to give to him the Glory due to his Name whilst he is here on Earth But now that man that gives glory to God by an humble attendance on the Ordinance of his solemn Worship and Service uses the most proper means to secure the Salvation of his Soul and if his Life carry not a contradiction to his Religion he shall certainly be saved For he that gives honour to God in the duties of his Worship and gives not a lye to himself in his Life and Conversation is in the right and direct way to Heaven and Everlasting Happiness Now if it be thus necessary to give Glory to God and to take care of the Salvation of our Souls by a due and reverent attendance upon God in Duties of his publick and solemn Worship and Service then it must needs be necessary that there be some place where we may conveniently meet for this end and purpose Now this is the place appointed for this purpose this is the House built for this end but how unfit not long since it was for the Holy Worship of Almighty God your selves well know But now to your honour and praise be it spoken it is reduced to a due decency for so sacred and solemn a Service for so Divine and Glorious a Presence as that of God is This is done like your selves who I will say always appeared persons of brave and generous Spirits whenever the Cause of God or Religion gave you an opportunity of shewing your selves By this act of yours you have shew'd your fellow-Citizens how high a Regard you have for that great Majesty that glorious God whom we adore This is Work which tends to the glory of God the honour of Religion and the special Renown of this Parish But then my honoured and well beloved Brethren let me as your Minister make one humble Request to you which is this that you would let this great Work of Piety be accompany'd with the Actions of a good Life and the exercise of the Graces of Christianity I would indeed have every Christian Church well adorned with beautiful Pictures Be not amazed for the Pictures I mean are Pious Christians the lively Pictures of God and Christ on Earth Nothing can be more unagreeable than the Picture of the Devil in the Temple of God and yet such I will say is every wicked man an Abomination in the Holy Place whenever he appears there To conclude then be we holy in Heart and Life and we shall be companions of Angels have Communion with God and Christ in his Holy Ordinances and hereafter be admitted into the Temple of Glory there to celebrate the Praises of our God to Eternity To him be Glory Might Majesty Dominion and Praise both now and ever Amen Books Printed for John Southby at the Harrow in Cornhil 1. MR. Warren against Dr. Burnet's Theory of the Earth in 3 pts complt 2. His Family Devotions containing Morning and Evening Prayers 3 The Unworthy Non-Communicant a Treatise shewing the danger of neglecting the Blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper and Rectifying the mistakes of many in this Age with Prayers 4 The Benefit of early Piety fit for youth Both by Mr Smythies of Cripplegate Price each 1 s. 5 A short view of the duty of Receiving the Sacrament with Prayers 24 s. Price six pence 6 Two Sermons by Dr Blagrave before the late Queen 7 Piligrims Guide Price one shilling 8 A Treatise of Contentment Price six pence 9 The Charter of the City of London 10 Malbranche of Nature and Grace FINIS

Breast which renders the Action agreeable to a man's natural reason and understanding And seeing this was no act of Ceremonial Service it is equally agreeable to the times of the Gospel And after the Abolition of Legal Sacrifices the Apostles made use of the Temple thus built for evangelical services for as we read Acts 2.46 They continued daily with one accord in the Temple But as thus to erect or beautify a House to the Honour of God wherein to perform the offices and services of Religious Worship appears to be agreeable to the nature and reason of man so 3dly It may be evidenced to be a proper act of Religion by the approbation and acceptance of God Thus we read in 1 King 8.18 that the Lord said unto Dadid Whereas it was in thy Heart to build a House unto my Name thou didst well that it was in thine heart and if you peruse the 2 Sam. 7. throughout you will find God by his Prophet Nathan approving of David's Religious purpose and promising great Benefits and Blessings to his seed upon that account 〈◊〉 Antiq. Jud. 15. Cap. 14. And it is very memorable what Josephus writes that during the time of the building of this Temple or the repairing it rather and eight years in doing it never rained by day but by night only so that the Workmen were not lett or hindered God who commands the Clouds by thus ordering and disposing of the showers of Heaven approving of the re-edifying of his House on Earth The Temple I grant indeed was typical of Christ and Prayers were directed towards it and sacrifices to be offered only at it But the building of it I say was a proper act of Natural Religion for it was as worded in my Text for the honour of the most high God I know Origen says the Christians have no Temples and Arnobius we i. e. Christians do not Honour God by building of Temples to him but yet I find the word Temple was used by some Christians in early days for Ingatius tells the Magnesians All of you meet together in one place and go as one man to the Temple of God It is true that the generality of the Primitive Christians did shun the name of Temple partly in respect of the typical use of the Temple of Solomon to which the moral service was directed and much of the Ceremonial was confined And this upon the Account of the שכינה or divine Presence But now God who is every where graciously present in his Church is every where acceptably worshipp'd Again the primitive Christians generally shunn'd the name of the Temple partly too in opposition to the Temples of the Heathens in which they shut up the worshipp'd their Divinities whereas the Christians acknowledged Gods immensity and declared Heaven it self could not contain him According to that of Acts 7.48 49. The most high dwelleth not in Temples made with hands for Heaven is his throne and earth is his footstool But though for these reasons the Name of Temple was by the primitive Christians generally avoided and shunned they yet call'd their places for publick Worship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Churches and the more stately structures that were erected for the honour of God and the Christian Religion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Royal Palaces acknowledging by doing so Gods Soveraign Majesty and Supreme Authority as King of the Church which to do I hope you will allow to be a proper Act of Natural and Rational Religion and both these they call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Houses of God as being dedicated to his immediate service and honour The House of John Grot. in Acts 7.4 Surnamed Mark being the place of our Saviour's eating the last Passover and instituting his Holy Supper the place where the Disciples afterward assembled and Christ came to them and where the Holy Ghost descended this Houses I say was afterwards made a fair Fabrick and a famours Church as St. Hierom and venerable Bede both tells us Under the Emperor Severus the Christians began to build Churches to God but when Diclesian came he beat them down thinking at one and the same time to demolish Churches and to destroy the Christian Religion Taylor 's life of Christ p. 242. Maximinus when he ascended the Throne gave leave that the demolish'd Churches might be rebuilt Upon this the Christians presently were overjoy'd and quickly rais'd them to an incredible Height and an incomparable Beauty Lucian calls the Christian Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Golden-roofed House This we must say was more for Ornament than Service for the honour of God rather than the necessary use of Mon. The Temple and every Basilica or stately Christian Church is properly speaking a Type of that Heaven where the Holy Angels incessantly attend the most high God in Glory for herein is God adored so far as mans meanness can attain in a way agreeable to his Greatness and Majesty Thus St. Chrysostom chiding his people of Antioch for walking and talking in the Church says the Church of God is not a Shop of Merchandize but the place of Angels and Arch-Angels the Court of God and an Image of Heaven and St. Gregory calls the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heaven on Earth And thus have I endeavour'd according to my promise to clear it to you that it is a proper act of Natural and Rational Religion to have a House a stately magnificent and well adorned House or Church to the Honour and Glory of God And now my Brethren instead of recommending your Duty to your Practice in the close of my discourse I cannot but applaud you for having done it How can I choose but commend your Piety and Zeal for the Honour of the Lord our God evidenced in the Reparation of this lately ruinous House wherein we now are and the Reduction of it at your great cost and charge to a due decency and fitness for the use for which it is appointed I mean the solemn Worship and Service of Almighty God This is a work I believe you are all satisfied was necessary to be done and now it is done I must tell you is honourable and acceptable to God The solemnity of Gods Service and the Publick exercise of Religion is certainly the most necessary and honourable Work in the whole World It is so esteemed by all Nations as well Heathens who worship false Gods as Christians that adore the true The solemn acts of Religion are designed to a twofold end which renders the publick Worship of God of such mighty concern to all men and so very necessary that nothing in the world can be more so or of greater concern to any man Now these are the Honour and Glory of God and the Salvation of the Souls of men This is the great end of mans Life and Being and better indeed a man had never seen the Light or had a Being in the World than that neglecting the means of the Salvation of his Soul