Anger and a reward in the bosom strong wrath Prov. 21. 14. so secret confession of sin bitter mourning for it and begging forgiveness in the Name of Jesus will prevail for the pacifying of God's fiercest displeasure and the obtaining of his Love and Grace 2. There is an Attendance upon God that is Private in the Family This has been wofully sinfully shamefully neglected not only by the prophane but by them that call themselves Professors though hardly worthy of that Name Family Worship has been much press'd from the Pulpit Oh when shall it once be that every ones practise will be answerable I read not only of a Dedication of the Tabernacle and Temple but also of the Houses of the Israelites Deut. 20. 5. Psal 30. was composed at the Dedication of the House of David The Israelites justly called their Houses God's Houses And those tumultuous combined and insulting Enemies of theirs in Pride Scorn and Derision said Let us take to our selves the Houses of God in possession Psal 83. 12. Houses were dedicated to the Lord's Service Joshua says I and my House we will serve the Lord and all Israel promise the same Josh 24. 15 21. David says he will walk within his House with a perfect Heart Psal 101. 2. there be Songs of Mercy and of Judgment Indeed the voice of rejoycing and Salvation is in the Tabernacle of the Righteous Psal 118. 15. The Lord is adored and praised in the Tabernacles of them to whom he has shewed himself a God of Salvation Cornelius one of the first-fruits of the Gentiles was a devout Man and he feared God with all his House and prayed to God alway Act. 10. 2. And fearing of God implies calling upon his Name as casting off fear and restraining of Prayer are joyned together Job 15. 4. so that he prayed unto God with all his House and there is not the least reason to think that they did not pray altogether unless such kind of praying had been any where forbidden We read of a Curse and a Blessing not only upon Persons but upon Families Prov. 3. 33. The Curse of the Lord is in the House of the wicked but he blesseth the Habitation of the Just. Surely Families have reason to Pray against the one and that the other may rest on them And truly our Lord Jesus in that Prayer of his own making which is the great Directory for Prayer when he does instruct us to say Give us this day our daily Bread very plainly signifies that those in Families that daily Eat together ought also daily to pray together And are they only to pray together for daily Bread no they are also to Pray for the hallowing of God's Name the coming of his Kingdom and that his Will might be done on Earth as 't is done in Heaven They are to pray for the forgiveness of past trespasses and that Grace may prevent their being led into Temptation and may deliver them from Evil. You see here is ground enough for Families to give their Attendance upon God Families are the Seminaries from which both Church and State are furnished and if there were more of Devotion and Instruction and Discipline there the Church in all probability would be more pure and the State more righteously and better ordered Whereas if Families live without God in the World the Governours the Children and Servants are all usually wicked and likely to become worse and worse and the Churches Face is foul'd with odious spots and stains and the State grows more corrupt till at length 't is ripe for ruine 3. There is an Attendance upon God that is publick in the Congregation In publick Assemblies the true God is owned and honoured in the Face of the Sun and the Lord Christ is glorified Christians Assembling in his Name depending upon his Promise to be in the midst of them and to bless them He walks in the midst of the Golden Candlesticks Rev. 1. 13. He blesses the Ordinances himself has instituted to the enlightning purifying and Consolation of sincere Attendants on him In these Publick Assemblies Saints unite their spiritual strength in wrestling with God the Faith and holy Desires of a great many Believers together being conjunct are likely to be the more prevailing These Assemblies ought to be valued and frequented to forsake them is ill to the forsaker Hence that caution Heb. 10. 25. Not forsaking the Assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as ye see the day approaching The breaking of solemn publick Assemblies should be an Heart-breaking thing to us and the Lord has promised to gather those that are sorrowful upon this score Zeph. 3. 18 I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn Assembly who are of thee to whom the reproach of it was a burthen V. There is an Attendance upon God on his own day and upon other days 1. An Attendance upon God on his own day A seventh part of our time is hallowed by the fourth Commandment Six days are for Labour a seventh for Rest from that Labour and that we may have leisure with greater seriousness to attend upon God The great Creator having made the World in six days rested on the seventh and appointed it for a Sabbath and blessed it And the Apostle tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ the great Redeemer is entred into his Rest having ceased his own works as God did from his and therefore there remains a rest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a keeping of a Sabbath to the People of God Heb. 4. 9 10. As the Jewish Sabbath was kept in Commemoration of the Lord 's resting from Creation so the Christian Sabbath is to be observed in Commemoration of Christ who is over all God blessed for ever his resting from the work of Redemption it is in him that we have rest by Faith at present and hope for a blessed glorious and everlasting Rest in Heaven The day that Christ rose was the day on which he rested for his lying in the Grave was not his rest but part of his Humiliation and that was the first day of the Week On this Christian Churches assembled for Worship Acts 20. 6 7. The Apostle was at Troas seven days We read not a word being among Christians that he solemnly Worshipt on the seventh day but upon the first day of the Week the Disciples came together to break Bread Upon this day Christians being assembled together Collections were made for good Uses at Corinth and in the Churches of Galatia 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. Nay this is called the Lord's Day Rev. 1. 10. Now as the Lord's Supper is a Supper of the Lord's Institution so the Lord's Day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a day of the Lord 's appointing and ordaining The prophanation of this Christian Sabbath has been punished with remarkable Judgments The Ordinances administred thereon have been owned and blessed to the Conversion and Confirmation of
Thousands and Millions of Souls On this Christian Sabbath what kind of Attendance on God should ours be Before the day comes it should be longed for and when 't is come it should be most welcom Assoon as our Senses are unlock't in the Morning our Souls should be as it were caught up to the third Heaven and there continue until Night Our Lord is risen indeed and we should rise with him and seek those things which are above where he sits at the right hand of God Col. 3. 1. Things on Earth will be intruding into our Hearts and Thoughts but no Entertainment must be given them A Desire or Wish must not be allowed them unless it be that we may not be distracted with them When Abraham was just come to Mount Moriah he says to his Servants Abide you here and I and the Lad will go yonder and Worship Gen. 22. 5. So when the Lord's Day comes we should say to all our Worldly Businesses and Concerns Abide as you are cease from our Care and Thoughts whilst we and our Hearts ascend unto the Hill of the Lord and Worship This day is appointed for our more solemn approaches unto God and that we may have more intimate Fellowship with him and if Communion with him be enjoyed we shall find so much Grace and Strength and Peace therein that we shall be perfectly of the Psalmist's mind That a day in God's Courts is better than a Thousand Psal 84. 10. The very Palaces of the wicked are contemptible No place under Heaven is so desirable as the Sanctuary 2. There is an Attendance upon God on other days He is the Lord of our time and therefore every day he should have some part of it We should be careful to know how he would have us to employ that time which himself gives and will call us to account for We should live the rest of our time in the Flesh to the Will of God not to the Lusts of other Men or our own 1 Pet. 4. 2. and we should grieve that so much has been wasted to his Displeasure and Dishonour David was glad to go up to the House of God on the Sabbath but he was also a daily Attender on him Psal 86. 3. Be merciful unto me O Lord for I cry unto thee daily So Heman Psal 88. 9. Lord I have called daily upon thee I have stretched out my Hands unto thee And Daniel rather than omit praying daily unto God ventured to be cast into the Lion's Den and God miraculously appears for him his Mouth having been open so often in fervent Supplication God shuts the Lions Mouths that though in the Den among them they did not make a Prey of him Every day we should be in the Fear of God and have Faith in him and if in the midst of our Worldly Business our Hearts frequently step aside to attend on God in mental Applications to him that attendance will be both acceptable and profitable But some times every day we should sequester our selves from other business that this greatest and best business may be minded which is to draw near to God 6. There is an attendance upon God in a time of Liberty and a Calm and an attending upon him in a time of Persecution and a Storm In a time of Liberty the Lord has many Followers who leave him when a Storm of Persecution beats in their Faces When the King of Navarre was about to Apostatize to Popery and Beza came to confirm him in the Truth he made this Answer That he would never go so far to Sea as not to be able to put to Shore when he pleased He shewed plainly that he could turn Papist to get the Kingdom of France but he was resolved not to go through much Tribulation to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven The Hearers compared to stony ground heard the Gospel with forwardness and joy while the Gospel and Prosperity were conjoyned but when Persecution and Tribulation arose because of the Word they were offended they kept not their standing but in that time of Temptation fell away Mat. 13. 20 21. We should be other kind of attendants than so Let us count the cost of being Disciples and conclude that Grace and Glory will quit the cost Our Lord was offended at nothing that was to be done or suffered for our Redemption surely neither his Commands nor his Cross should be matter of offence to us but still we should remain his followers I might also add another distinction There is an attendance upon God in Earth and in Heaven the one is Duty the other is Reward the one is short the other is endless and yet in that Service there shall not be the least weariness nay so far from that that there will be fulness of Joy and everlasting Pleasure Thus I have spoken of the several sorts of attending upon God In the fourth place I am to assign the reasons why the Children of Men ought to give their attendance upon God 1. The Command to attend upon God is written on the Heart of Man by Nature There is both the Creed and the Law of Nature There are several Truths that are apparent without a supernatural Revelation as that there is a God that he rules the World that he sees all the works of the Children of Men and that he will call them to an account for all that they have done There are also Commands which are written in the Hearts of Men. Rom. 2. 14. For when the Gentiles which have not the Law do by Nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law are a Law unto themselves which shew the work of the Law written in their Hearts and among these Commands this is as plain as any That God is to be worshipped The Gentiles therefore are blamed because this Command was not observed Rom. 1. 21. Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkned Now as sins have their peculiar aggravations that are committed against the Light of Nature so neglect of Duty is highly aggravated when 't is evident by the Light of Nature that such Duty ought to be performed 2. Attendance upon God is frequently called for and urged in the Scripture The Lord spake this with his own Voice from Heaven and afterwards wrote it with his own Hand upon the Tables of Stone that we should have no other Gods before him that we should not Worship Idols that we should not take his Name in vain Exod. 20. Our Lord repeats what was enjoyned long before Mat. 4. 10. It is written thou shalt Worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve and he says Joh. 4. 24. God is a Spirit and they that Worship him must Worship him in Spirit and in Truth So Psal 22. 23. Ye that fear the Lord praise him all ye the Seed of Jacob glorifie him and
we are engaged in holy Ordinances how uncomely would this be How inexcusable should we be How much displeased would the Lord be 8. To attend without distraction implies refusing to be diverted from attending upon God without great necessity Indeed since the Lord will have mercy and not sacrifice he will excuse our attendance when unavoidable necessity and the Mercy he requires us to shew does divert us from it but Hearts that are truly gracious are troubled when they are thus diverted When our Lord admonishes his Disciples to pray that their flight might not be in the Winter nor on the sabbath-Sabbath-Day Mat. 24. 20. he plainly intimates that to be disturbed on the Sabbath and to be hindred from engaging in Ordinances ought to be lookt upon as a very great Affliction Carnal Minds are glad of occasions that seem to justifie their omission of Holy Duties but sanctified and renewed hearts are otherwise minded they are sensible that Worship and Duty is owing to the Lord and that he is not benefited but they by giving it The Farm the Merchandise and things of that nature cannot hinder their coming to the Marriage Supper They are deaf to the perswasions of carnal Relations and Friends who would draw them off from Exercises of Religion They know that time was given them not that chiefly they should mind things temporal but those things that are invisible and eternal To be far from God is the way to perish 't is good 't is pleasant 't is safe to be near him Psal 73. 27. To be diverted from attending on the Lord is to be diverted from the most blessed thing on earth Psal 65. 4. Blessed is the Man whom thou chusest and causest to approach unto thee that he may dwell in thy Courts we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy House even of thy holy Temple 9. To attend without distraction implies abiding with God and perseverance in his Service The undistracted attendant is stedfast in the Lord's Covenant his Bonds and Cords are Bonds and Cords of love and why should any say Let us break these Bonds asunder and cast away these Cords from us They were good words and they that spake them were as good as their word Jer. 50. 5. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward saying Come and let us joyn our selves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall not be forgotten This perpetual Covenant should be kept in everlasting remembrance and there is good reason for it Psal 25. 10. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his Covenant and his Testimonies He that attends without distraction ceases not to be an Attendant but perseveres in his Lord's Service he takes care to have his Loyns girt about for spiritual Labour his Light burning for he is waiting and expecting his Lord's coming An ancient Father wished when Christ came that he might find him aut precantem aut praedicantem either Praying or Preaching Every Christian should have a wish of this nature that he may be found either praying hearing or practising what he hears Blessed are those Servants whom the Lord when he comes shall find so doing Luke 12. 43. In the third place I am to assign the reasons why with such care we should take heed of distraction in the Lord's Service And these Reasons shall be of two sorts The first sort shall be drawn from the evil of distraction The second sort shall be drawn from the benefit of attending without distraction The first sort of reasons shall be drawn from the evil of distraction and the evil of this I shall make manifest and apparent 1. In distraction there is great irreverence and contempt of God Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God says the Psalmist Psal 10. 13. There is no reason he should do it nay there is all the reason in the World to the contrary that he should adore and serve him The wicked contemn God by running away from him and a total neglect of his Service but his Attendants contemn him when they make their addresses to him if instead of offering spiritual Sacrifices they offer Affronts to God and there is a special offensiveness in so doing therefore he protests that such Service were a trouble to him that he was weary to bear them that his Soul hated them Isa 1. 14. If a Man should address an earthly Potentate and instead of speaking to the King should ever and anon talk to some inferiour Person that stood by instead of hearing the King should turn his Eye and his Ear away from him and not mind a word he should say Royal Majesty would look upon this as an Affront insufferable But thus in distracted Duties the King of Glory is treated the Mind is upon the Creature and this and that and t'other worldly affair when the Tongue is speaking to the Creatour and what he speaks the Ear many times hears not and the Heart is farther off from heeding Thus what would not be done to a Governour is done to the highest and best and greatest King whose dreadful Name all the Earth should stand in awe of 2. In distraction there is a taking of God's Name in vain the third Commandment is broken the Transgressors whereof the Lord says he will not hold guiltless Exod. 20. 7. This may be called the first Commandment with threatning as the fifth is said to be the first Commandment with promise For though in the second Commandment mention is made of the Mercy of God and of his Jealousie yet the one is provoked by them that hate God the other is promised to them that love him and keep his Commandments so that Commandments in the general are mentioned not this particular Commandment specified To what purpose is a Duty performed where distraction is allowed The Name of God is not hallowed but profaned when it sounds from the Lips but the heart thinks not of nor sanctifies him whose Name it is When distraction prevails all Ordinances are engaged in vain nay there is not only a missing of that benefit that is promised unto serious Engagers but guilt is contracted and by such distracted Duties the distance becomes greater between God and the performers Bernard complains Aliud canto aliud cogito I sing and pray one thing and think another And afterwards Vae mihi quoni am ibi pecco ubi peccata emendare debeo I commit faults wo is me even in those Duties by which my faults should be amended It was well he said Wo is me Because of these distractions else God would have said Wo to thee because of them And indeed where they are not minded nor bewailed the case is woful God takes it amiss and is very much displeased that such Hypocrites take his Name into their Mouths 3. In distraction there is a slighting of Jesus the Advocate and Mediatour Our Lord's Heart and Soul was in the Work of our Redemption he was forward to undertake
of their Father they will do He is an hater of God and so are they All wicked Men are alienated from God and Enemies in their Minds by wicked works they dislike him and his Service they get out of his ways and turn aside out of his paths and say Cause the holy One of Israel to cease from before us Isa 30. 11. they care not to hear to think of this holy One they cannot abide to walk in his holy ways Now if love to God be the first and great Command how great a sin must the hatred of God be called and how unfit are they to be admitted hereafter into his glorious Presence and Kingdom who now say unto God depart from us Most worthy they are to be sent away from him with his Curse and to be sentenced to that everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels whom they resemble in hating of God and with whom they have joyned in rebelling against him 2. They are to be reproved who account Attendance upon God needless The Mind of Man appears to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 void of Judgment in determing what things are mainly to be minded Things that are vanity and vexation of Spirit what pains are taken to get them what care is taken to keep them The one thing needful is neglected as if it were the only thing unnecessary The Heathen Poet cryed out O curas hominum O quantum est in rebus inane The Care of Man about empty things how injudicious is it Time can be found for every thing but the making provision for Eternity and yet the providing for Eternity is the main thing to be done in time and time was given chiefly for the doing of this Are these to be our great enquiries What shall we eat and drink and wherewith shall we be cloathed and adorned How shall we heap up wealth and gratifie our selves with sensual pleasures How shall we live plentifully our selves and leave abundant substance to Posterity Certainly there are matters of far greater importance and necessity to be regarded The truly grand Enquiries are of another Nature How shall sin be pardoned and the Wrath of God appeased How shall the Heart be changed and made a new one and the Soul that is so precious saved How shall God be attended on and served and glorified so as to be enjoyed and eternal blessedness attained in the Enjoyment of him Attendance upon God is no more to be accounted needless than eternal happiness is needless than the loss of a Soul more valuable than the whole World is to be esteemed a small matter 3. They are to be reproved who look upon attendance on God as a weariness and grievous In following and trudging after Mammon they are unwearied How swift and many are the steps in the way to Earthly Delights and Treasure They rise up early sit up late rack their Wits grow Lean with Care for the things of the World and they are not grudging at all this Toil and Labour But when they come to wait upon God time moves very slowly a quarter seems longer than an hour Duties are tedious to them they are loth to begin and assoon as they have begun they do not wish for Communion with God or that they themselves might be better'd but that their Duties were at an end The Prophet is very sharp against them who despised the Table of the Lord and look'd upon the fruit and meat of it contemptible and they said behold what a weariness it is Mal. 1. 12 13. God is weary of such unwilling Services as yours are Isa 1. 13 14. Bring no more vain Oblations they are a trouble to me I am weary to bear them And as he is weary of your services so he quickly may be weary to bear you and he may count it a comfort to be rid of you Ezek. 5. 13. Thus my anger shall be accomplished and I will cause my Fury to rest upon them and I will be comforted and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it in my Zeal when I have accomplished my Fury in them We read of some that were weary of Sabbaths the Ordinances then administred were to them no priviledges and when will the Sabbath be gone was their Language Amos 8. 5. but ver 7. the Lord swares he would not forget their works and he threatens ver 11. to send a Famine in the Land not a Famine of Bread nor athirst for Water but a Famine of hearing the words of the Lord And how unlikely were they ever to be saved from whom even the means of Salvation were taken away 4. They are to be reproved who are sinfully ashamed or afraid to attend upon God Some Ages are so degenerate that Religion grows exceedingly out of fashion and contempt of God and prophaneness is the thing that is al-a-mode When great Men think it below them to be good and Policy contemns Piety when the vilest Men are exalted and wickedness grows into credit when Judgment is turned away backward and Justice standeth afar off when Truth is fallen in the Streets and Equity cannot enter and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a Prey Isa 59 14 15. then this fear and shame that I am speaking against is apt to prevail But why should any be ashamed to own themselves Servants to the greatest and best of Lords Is not he glorious in Holiness Are not his Precepts concerning all things to be esteemed right Are not all those ways false that lead from him Has he not said Those that honour me I will honour and those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed 1 Sam. 2. 30. Christ will be ashamed of them at the great day who are ashamed of him and of his Word before a perverse and wicked Generation And why should any be afraid to attend upon that mighty Lord who does according to his Will in the Armies of Heaven and among the Inhabitants of the Earth and all the Inhabitants of the World are reputed as nothing before him Dan. 4. 35. Attenders upon God should banish the fear of Man for God has evil Men and evil Angels in a Chain and his sincere Servants under his own keeping Those who are afraid of Man that shall dye forget the living God and their Duty towards him and how able he is to protect them in the faithful discharge of it 5. They are to be reproved who attend upon God that they may cover and cloak their wicked and worldly and selfish designs They put on a form of Godliness but 't is the better to hide their wickedness They are for external Worship but when they seem to seek after God most of all they are nothing at all but self-seekers and Religion is most unworthily made subservient to secular Interest Thus the Birds of Prey when they soar highest towards Heaven have their Eyes still downwards towards the Earth to see what they may seize on there But what abominable Hypocrisie
purifie your Hearts ye double-minded So Psal 24. 3 4. Who shall ascend into the Hill of the Lord and who shall stand in his holy place He that hath clean Hands and a pure Heart The Gospel strictly commands good works without these Faith is dead and vain and Love is only a seeming Fire The Apostle speaks with great vehemency Tit. 3. 8. This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works Our Lord owns them for his near and dear kindred who are doers of his Father's Work and Will Mat. 12. 50. He stretched forth his Hand towards his Disciples and said behold my Mother and my Brethren For whosoever shall do the Will of my Father which is in Heaven the same is my Brother and Sister and Mother Attenders upon God must not allow themselves in the doing of Evil Fellowship with the unfruitful works of Darkness and Fellowship with God are inconsistent 1 Joh. 1. 6. If we say we have Fellowship with him and walk in Darkness we ly and do not the truth Unless there be a living to God serving of him in Ordinances is of no account with him And as Hands must be cleansed so the Hearts of Attenders on God must be pure The Heart must not defile it self by regarding any iniquity so as to be unwilling to have it subdued Psal 66. 18. If I regard iniquity in my Heart the Lord will not hear me Regarded iniquity will cry so loud for a denial that Prayer will find no Audience The Heart must not pollute it self by love to the World for if this love prevail there can neither be any true love to the Father nor any Interest in the Father's love 1 Joh. 2. 15 Love not the World neither the things that are in the World if any Man love the World the love of the Father is not in him The Heart must consent to the crucifixion of all the affections and lusts of the Flesh It must not be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 double-minded on and off with God but steddy and right with him It s resolution must be to be holy still and its desire to be still holy more and more to have holiness perfected in the sear of God 6. Our Attendance upon God must be with Humility Fear and Faith without wrath and doubting Humility becomes the very Angels for all their excellency is derived and they are charged with possible folly Job 4. 18. 't is owing to the Election and confirming Grace of God that some Angels stood when others being left to the freedom of their own Will apostatized How humble should the Children of Men be who are fallen by their Iniquity The best of Saints have reason to be low in their own Eyes considering how many Talents they owed before they were satisfied for and paid by their Surety and how apt they are still to trespass It may be said of the strongest Christian stand he could not stand he would not were he not upheld by the Lord 's free and mighty Spirit But an humble Sense of our Worthlesness and ill-deserving should not hinder the acting of our Faith in Jesus when we come before the Lord. Our great Redeemer has bought us with a Price and he has bought all things for us We our selves are his Purchase and so is all that Grace we need and all that Glory we hope for God has made a Covenant with Christ and has promised to give us to him for his Inheritance and Possession Psal 2. 8. Ask of me and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy Possession And to be Christ's Inheritance and Possession implies our being separated from the World our being secured our being made fruitful and our eternal continuing to be enjoyed by him and to enjoy him Promises of all and especially of the best Blessings are made to us for Christ's sake and he will see to the making of them good because the accomplishment of them is so much for the Father's Glory as well as our truest Welfare All this may exceedingly strengthen and raise our Confidence and Hope when we attend on God Doubts concerning our speeding should be look'd upon as unreasonable when we come in such a prevailing Name as Christ's unto his Father and our Father his God and our God and we ask only for things agreeable to his Will 1 John 5. 14 15. And this is the confidence we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his Will he heareth us and if we know that he heareth us we know that we have the Petition we desired of him And as Faith is opposed to doubting so to wavering James 1. 6 7. But let him ask in Faith nothing wavering for he that wavereth is like a Wave of the Sea driven with the Wind and tossed For let not that Man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. He is the wavering Man whose Mind hangs doubtful and unresolved between God and the World Christ and Satan Sin and Holiness Such an Attender upon God who is more inclined to serve other Lords shall certainly be rejected Finally The Apostle forbids not only Doubting but Wrath also 1 Tim 2. 8. I will therefore that Men pray every where lifting up holy hands without Wrath or Doubting The Wrath of Man worketh not the Righteousness of God nay it causes an abounding in Transgression The Leaven of Anger and Malice is diligently to be searched for and purged out as that which if it remains will prove us carnal 1 Cor. 3. 3. For whereas there is among you Envying and Strife and Divisions Are ye not carnal and walk as Men Civil Discords Church-Divisions unruly Passions should be avoided with Care and Fear we should be full of Holy Love to all our Brethren ready to forgive the greatest Injuries and Enemies forward to pursue and promote Vnity and Peace whenever we attend upon Him who has called himself the God of Love and Peace 7. Our Attendance upon God should be with Gladness and Delight and a sense how good 't is for us to approach his presence Where the Will of God is best done and that is in Heaven there is the greatest Joy in the doing of it The chearful joyful Servant is a Credit to his Work honours his Lord and is a great Eye-sore to the evil one for Satan is very much afraid lest the Attenders upon God being full of Gladness others should be induced to try that Work and Service which these find so exceeding comfortable Hypocrites that go no further than the out-side of Religion count it wearisome because they do not understand it But as God takes pleasure in the Vpright so the Upright find the truest Pleasure in God and in his Ways The Psalmist speaks upon very good ground Psal 32. 11. Be glad in the Lord and rejoyce ye Righteous
with Lord shew me thy Will and let my Will in all things and at all times be determined by thine This is becoming Language and every Soul should sincerely speak it He is the most eminent and perfect Christian who stands most perfect and compleat in all the Will of God 7. When we look upon God as Lord we should never quarrel or murmur at any thing he is pleased to do to us or with us Arbitrary Power is very much affected by the Potentates of this World though it would be much more truly great in them to do as they ought than to do as they please Arbitrary Power is justly challenged by the Lord the universal Sovereign He may do whatever he pleases and it will please him to do nothing but what becomes his own Wisdom Goodness and other glorious Excellencies A mighty Monarch who had walked in Pride at length was so abased that he acknowledged and honoured this highest Lord of all and he says All the Inhabitants of the Earth are reputed as nothing and he doth according to his Will in the Armies of Heaven and among the Inhabitants of the Earth Dan 4. 35. The Dispensations of Divine Providence must not fall under our Censure He that reproveth God will ill answer for it 'T is sinful Boldness to strive with him and say What dost thou As if he had not done so well as he might 'T is more becoming with obedient Patience and Submission to cry out Oh the Depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his Judgments and his Ways past finding out Rom. 11. 33. and Psal 145. 17. The Lord is righteous in all his Ways and holy in all his Works When under his severer Dealings with us we charge him with Rigour and want of Care we do but charge God foolishly His Understanding is infinite Psal 147. 5. therefore he is not liable to the least Mistake His Bowels are tender and he can never become Cruel 'T is inconsistent with his Justice to lay upon any Man more than is right that he should enter into Judgment with God Job 34. 23. He is so gracious that he afflicts when his People need and t is good for them to be afflicted That Man spake very ill who said I do well to be angry Whatever the Lord does to his People he does wisely justly faithfully how then can their Fretting and Impatience be justified It would be far better for them to cease their Contention and Disputing and to answer as Job at last did Job 40 4 5. Behold I am vile what shall I answer thee I will lay my Hand upon my Mouth once have I spoken but I will not anwer yea twice but I will proceed no farther 8. When we look upon God as Lord we should long to behold his Glory in his Kingdom It was the Desire of Moses Exod. 33. 18. I beseech thee shew me thy Glory It is but little that the Saints see of the King of Saints in comparison of what they shall see They know but in part and how should they long that that which is perfect may come and that which is in part may be done away 1 Cor. 13. 10. The Earth is the Lord's Footstool and here we behold but some Footsteps and Shaddows and have a darker Discovery of him but the Heaven is his Throne and when we come to stand before his Throne how bright will be his Majesty in our Eyes How glorious his Holiness How will his Face be all Light and Love And how ravishing will the fullest Sense of that Love be It should be our Care by a continual Increase of Purity in Heart to be fitted for this beatifical Vision of the Lord of Glory Mat. 5. 8. Blessed are the pure in Heart for they shall see God And this Vision should the more longed for because it will be transforming When we behold the Lord's Glory we shall partake of it when we see him we shall to our eternal Excellency and Satisfaction be like him 1 Joh. 3. 2. Beloved now are we the Sons of God but it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is In the last place follows the Application USE I. shall be of Reproof Well may the Mouth of his Messengers be full of Reproof since the Lord that sends them is so generally disregarded Several sorts of Persons are worthy Reprehension 1. They are to be reproved who say with Pharaoh who is the Lord that we should obey his Voice How many are there who will not acknowledge they owe him any Service or if they do acknowledge it they are so wicked and unrighteous that they will not render what they cannot but confess is due to him How many say Our Lips are our own who is Lord over us Psal 12. 4. who is he that would give laws to our Tongues and put them under a Bridle They say also our Members are all our own and therefore we will employ them as we please though that employing is abusing and abasing of them to be Instruments of Unrighteousness unto Sin Our Time also is our own and therefore we will pass it according to our own Pleasure as if Time were a thing of no Value and to have it well or ill with them to Eternity were a matter of meer Indifferency They that now cry Who is the Lord When they stand as they all must before his Judgment Seat he will make them know who he is How terrifying will his Looks be How heavy will his Hand be felt They would not obey the Scepter of his Word and he will break them with his Iron Rod and dash them in pieces like a Potter's Vessel Psal 2. 9. 2. They are to be reproved who have a greater Reverence for Man than for God who is the sovereign Lord of all They dare not displease great Men but the great God they make bold to offend Men whom they depend upon they are careful to keep in with but that God in whose Hand their Breath is and whose are all their Ways they do not glorifie Dan. 5. 23. They depend upon this Lord for their Being and Blessedness and all things Their Life is continued only during his Pleasure all things that they have are of his bestowing and if ever they are blessed 't is God must make them so and yet the Favour and Anger of this God are contemned in Comparison of the Love and Hatred of Man How many will comply with the Lusts of Men that will not conform to the Will of God Mens Inventions are regarded more than God's Institutions Thus the Statutes of Omri were kept and all the Works of the House of Ahab and Israel did walk in their Counsels Mic. 6. 16. when they rejected the Counsel of God against themselves and cast the Laws of Jehovah behind their Backs But how poor a thing is Man's
by no means entertain an Imagination that at your own Pleasure you can work in your selves to will and to do but always acknowledge the necessity and Efficacy of the Grace of Christ and glorifie that Grace saying when you obey and labour it is not I but the Grace of God that is with me 4. Earnestly desire that your Hearts may be circumcised to love both the Lord himself and his Service likewise It is a Promise worth more and if made good to us will enrich us more than the Wealth of both the Indies Deut. 30. 6. The Lord thy God will circumcise thy Heart and the Heart of thy Seed to love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul that thou mayst live An Heart to love him is his own Gift and the Heart must be circumcised by himself before it will be brought to love him The Prophet speaks of the Foreskin of the Heart that must be taken away Now this Foreskin of the Heart is Carnal and Worldly Love together with Enmity against God and his Law Cry to the Lord according to his good Word of Promise to mortifie the one and to subdue the other And that he would give you a new Heart and Nature cause a new Light to shine that may manifest his glorious Goodness in the Face of Christ and so direct your Hearts into the Love of himself If he be truly loved he will be the more willingly obeyed and truly his Precepts are worthy to be loved too the better they are kept the more truly excellent are those that keep them And themselves are kept in more perfect Peace The Psalmist says My Soul hath kept thy Testimonies and I love them exceedingly Psal 119. 167. and no wonder for he had said before v. 165. Great Peace have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them Such a Lord such a Law deserves Love and Love will sweeten Service it will not count this Service tedious but mightily incline the Heart to Perseverance in its Duty 5. Let your Fear and Awe of the Lord's Majesty when you attend upon him be joyn'd with an Hope in his Mercy If Fear and Hope are thus joyned together as you will be the more encouraged in God so God will take the more Pleasure in you For the Lord takes Pleasure in them that fear him and in those that hope in his Mercy Psal â—47 11. The Mercy of God is magnified in his Word on purpose that Hope may be raised and rise still higher and higher This Lord on whom you ought to attend is rich in Mercy His merciful Kindness is great Psal 117. 2. He has Mercy not upon the account of Merit in Man but because he will have Mercy Rom. 9. 18. And how often is it said Psal 136. that his Mercy endures for ever Here is a large and firm Foundation for Hope to build on And if your Hope be not presumptuous but of a purifying Nature you may from such a merciful Lord confidently expect that Grace and those good things you need in time And when your short time is at an end the best things of all unto eternity I have done with the second Doctrine Doct. III. I come now to the third and last Doctrine which I principally design to insist on That Attendance upon the Lord should be without Distractien 'T is not only Apostacy from the Faith and the Practice of Religion which the Apostle bids us to take heed of which is a more gross departing away from God but he cautions against any Withdrawings of Heart from that Lord with whom we have to do Therefore in a time of Distress and Persecution he prefers a single State before Wedlock not that Marriage in it self considered has any thing of Sin in it for 't is honourable in all not that a single State in it self has any thing of Holiness but because the Cares that attend Marriage are apt to distract the Mind and to hinder the things that belong to the Lord from being cared for as they ought and might be Indeed in the Context there is a plain Intimation that 't is a great part of Christian Prudence so to order our secular Affairs and to make choice of such a Condition of Life as may be most subservient to our spiritual Designs and may least interfere with our main Business which is the Lord's Service that that may be done without Distraction They are pronounced to be the blessed ones who keep God's Testimonies and that seek him with the whole Heart Psal 119. 2. And since the whole Heart must seek him the Thoughts the Affections the all of the Heart must attend upon him nothing of the Soul must be absent or withdrawn The Prophet speaks of the Hearts engaging to approach unto God Jer. 30. 21. For who is this that engageth his Heart to approach unto me Saith the Lord. That the Heart may be thus engaged for God it must be disengaged from other things and all that is within it too must be engaged to approach to him When Moses and the Children of Israel were to go into the Wilderness to serve the Lord They went with their young and old with their Flocks and their herds there was not an Hoof left behind Exod. 10. 26. And when we go to serve our God we should go with our all No Power of our Souls should be exempted not so much as a Thought should be left behind In the handling of this Doctrine I shall First tell you what Distraction in attending upon God is Secondly What it is to attend upon the Lord without Distraction Thirdly Assign the Reasons why with such Care we should take heed of Distraction in serving him Answer in the fourth place some Cases of Conscience about these Distractions Fifthly make Application In the first place I am to tell you what Distraction in attending upon God is 'T is the first Step to the Cure to know our Disease and to have a right Sense of it Several things are here to be premised 1. Distraction is the Fault of the Heart That deceitful and wicked thing how many Faults has it And how often does it withdraw when we have to do with God flying as Jonah from his Presence and being any where but where it should be Indeed sometimes this Distraction does but too visibly and scandalously appear by unnecessary Whisperings by Salutations when Persons are in God's Sanctuary and Service by the wandring of the Eye and other irreverent Carriage and Behaviour in the time of Worship These when ordinarily allowed are plain Indications that the Heart is not in God's Work and which is worse cares not to be engaged therein And how blameworthy then is it It is the Heart which foolishly departs from the Lord. It is not so right and stedfast with him as it should be Psal 78. 8. A Generation that set not their Heart aright and whose Spirit was not stedfast with God has a Brand set
your Hearts rise and ascend after him 9. Ever commit the keeping of your Souls to God himself in well-doing 1 Pet. 4. 19. Apprehending how liable you are to distraction in his Service intreat that he would undertake for you He that spans the Heavens and in his Hand does hold the Winds so that they stir not in the least against his Will certainly is able to keep your Hearts undistracted in your Duties and close to himself The Lord makes and searches and new makes and fixes the Heart of Man and none of this is to be done by any power less than his When David's Soul followed hard after God he acknowledged it was the Lord's own right hand which upheld him Psal 63. 8. Call in help from Heaven against distraction if you would be helpt effectually The Christian not only when he is leaving the World but when he is engaging in any Religious Duty should say with the Psalmist Psal 31. 5. Into thy Hands O Lord I commit my Spirit He and he alone can keep it in a serious and composed frame USE IV. Shall be of Counsel as to some particular Duties which I shall insist on and shew you how they may with less distraction be performed And there are four Duties which at present I shall speak of The first is Reading the Holy Scriptures The second is Hearing the Word Preached The third is The Duty of Prayer The fourth is Communicating at the Lord's Table Of these in order I begin with Reading the Holy Scriptures and that these may be read with less distraction 1. Be firmly perswaded of the Scriptures Divine Authority and Verity When you take the Bible to look into it remember 't is a Book of God's own making you have in your hands The Writers of it were but his Penmen they wrote not their own but God's Mind and Will and were moved and inspired by the Holy Ghost To be distracted and regardless of what you read is to contemn God in disregarding his Word Mind what you read for the Scripture can make you wise to Salvation 2 Tim. 3. 15. You may securely trust to his Word its light is infallible 't is certain in its Promises and Threatnings 't will by all be found true to eternity The word of the Lord endures for ever 1 Pet. 1. 25. 2. Believe the Scriptures perfection and sufficiency as a means most full and plain to guide you to everlasting blessedness Here you are faithfully warned to flee from the Wrath to come and from sin which does deserve it and here you may find God's Counsel by which you may be guided safe to Glory Psal 73. 24. You need not be distracted and doubtful in your own Minds as if in the Scriptures God's Mind was declared only in part Man's additions are needless nay impious Prov. 30. 6. Add thou not unto his Words lest he reprove thee and thou be found a Liar and Mens Traditions are vain Heed the Word of God as that which enlightens the Eyes converts the Soul rejoyces the Heart as that which is profitable for Doctrine Reproof for Correction instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works 2 Tim. 3. 16 17. 3. Look upon the Scriptures as much directed to you in particular and laying an obligation upon you as if they had dropt from God out of Heaven into your hand The word forbids sin in you as well as in any other in the World the Commands of it reach you as truly as if you had heard the Lord calling to you by Name to yield Obedience The offers of the Gospel are really made to you and upon acceptance the Blessings offered are your own if they are refused how can you ecape the Wrath of him who from Heaven speaks to you for your good Heb. 12. 25. That such a particular application should be made is signified by Solomon whose word is as a Goad and a Nail fastned to stir you up to your Duty and to settle you in it Prov. 22. 19 20. That thy trust may be in the Lord I have made known to thee this day even unto thee Have I not written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge 4. See the Lord himself just by you when you read his Word and hear him bidding you take heed how you read As he has magnified his Word above all his Name so he requires a special regard should be had to it He looks with approbation and pleasure upon that Man who trembles at his Word Isa 66. 2. but when he perceives instruction to be hated and that his Law is cast behind the Back he admonishes such forgetters of God to consider what this neglect will cost them if not repented of and he threatens to tear them in pieces so as that there shall be none to deliver Psal 50. 17. 22. 5. Lift up your Eyes to Heaven for instruction from the Spirit by whose inspiration the Scripture was given 'T is the Spirit of Christ who opens Mens Vnderstandings to understand the Scriptures Luke 24. 45. Be humbly sensible of your ignorance and proneness to error and mistake A promise is made to the humble and meek that God will guide them in Judgment so that they shall judge aright of things and he will teach them his way Psal 25. 9. Cry to the Lord to make you mind what you read and to profit by what you mind Desire Scripture knowledge that what you know may have a deep impression upon your Spirits may excite holy and gracious Affections and Resolutions in your Hearts and be mightily effectual unto the more thorow amending of your ways and doings 6. In all your ways seek for light from the holy Scriptures that every step you take may be rightly ordered Go not in any way which the word of truth calls a false way How well and wisely does he walk that can say with the Psalmist Thy Word is a Lamp to my Feet and a light unto my Path Psal 119. 105. When you go let this Word lead you and then when you sleep there is a promise to keep you and when you awake it will talk with you and be telling you what you must avoid believe and do that you may be blessed for ever The Commandment is a Lamp and the Law is light and the reproofs of instruction are the way of Life Prov. 6. 22 23. And as the Word talks to you so you should talk of the word you read it will fix it in your Thoughts and Hearts the better and make your Discourse more edifying to others Deut. 6 6 7. And these words which I command thee this Day shall be in thy heart and thou shalt diligently teach them to thy Children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy House and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest down and when thou risest up The more the word is written in your Hearts the more Grace is there and
that crawl upon the ground How should you look to the frame of your Spirits when you are before him The Passion of fear calls in the Blood to the Heart that the Vitals may be fortified and truly the Grace of fear will call in the Thoughts of the Heart that Duties performed to so great a Majesty may not be an heedless trifling with him 2. Sequester your selves from other business to intend Prayer the more you are disentangled from your Secular Affairs the more free and fit your Hearts will be to be poured out before the Lord in your supplications The further you step out and off from the World when you come to knock at Heaven Gates the more certainly will the Door be opened to you If Mammon has your Thoughts and Desires when you are praying to God you have a jealousie provoking Idol in your Hearts while in his Presence and how offensive must this needs be to him to see an Idol there where he chuses to dwell One thing says the Psalmist have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after Psal 27. 4. Other things were esteemed worthless comparatively Let not other matters distract you when you are calling upon God that you may pray in Prayer and do nothing else but pray Remember distracted Confessions increase Guilt and Wrath distracted Petitions ask for a denial and distracted Praises will tend very much unto the stopping of the Current of Mercies 3. Be perswaded that the Lord will attentively mind what you pray if you intently mind what you pray for your selves He takes pleasure in uprightness and this Heart-searcher well knows who are sincere and not so much as a Sigh or Groan from a sincere Soul shall be disregarded If you from your Heart cry for Mercy Mercy shall compass you about Psal 32. 10. The Prophet tells us That the Lord hearkned and heard Jer. 8. 6. Indeed most speak not aright they repent not of their wickedness saying what have we done But those who do speak aright and being truly sensible of the evil of their doings fervently pray to have their sins covered and all their defilements purged away The Lord who hearkens so attentively will surely hear all such Cries and in no wise deny what is cryed for Believe the mighty efficacy of fervent Prayer and what rich returns this Trading to Heaven brings in and what Treasures Prayer is a Key to unlock that you may be enriched thereby A sacred coveting these unsearchable Riches will make you mind what you are doing when you are praying to partake of them and the Apostle tells you for your encouragement Rom. 10. 12. There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him 4. Cry earnestly for the holy Spirit of Promise You will never pray aright or to any purpose without his aid The Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of Grace because all true Grace is from him and so are all gracious desires and actings He is also called the Spirit of Supplication all acceptable Confessions Petitions and Thanksgivings are of his enditing And this Spirit is promised and how ready is our heavenly Father to give the Spirit to any that ask him Now we read that he which searcheth the heart knoweth what is the Mind of the Spirit for he maketh intercession for the Saints accorning to the Will of God Rom. 8. 27. Saints Prayers are called the Mind of the Spirit he makes them to be according to the Will of God and that not only as to the matter of them but also as to the manner The Spirit of God at first moved upon the face of the Waters and how many useful Creatures did he produce out of a Chaos of Confusion And if that Spirit move upon your Hearts in Prayer he can keep your Thoughts that they stir not from God and cause Faith and godly Sorrow and Hope Humility and Love to be in actual exercise and the more Grace is exercised Prayer will be the less distracted and more successful 5. Let Vigilancy and watching go before keep pace with Prayer and follow after it Why has a Christian new Eyes and Light but that he might watch with the one and by the other Our Lord joyned watching and praying together Prayer without watching will be heartless watching without Prayer will be insufficient for your security Watching with Prayer makes it more serious and to succeed the better The Apostle says The end of all things is at hand be ye therefore sober and watch unto Prayer 1 Pet. 4. 7. Watching unto Prayer summons the whole Soul with all its Faculties to attend upon God and to prepare to meet him We also read Col. 4. 2. Continue in Prayer and watch in the same with Thanksgiving Watching in Prayer is a mighty help against the Heart's straggling This straggling is the sooner observed and the straggling Thoughts presently reduced And he that watches after Prayer diligently and with all thankfulness observes the Answers of Prayer And thus to do will strongly induce you to give your selves more to Prayer in good earnest and to wrestle with him with whom you do so often prevail The fourth and last Duty I shall mention is Communicating at the Lord's Table and that this may be done with less distraction 1. Let there be more serious self-examination before you engage in that holy Ordinance 1 Cor. 11. 28. But let a Man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup. Look into the State of your Souls and your State is good if you know the true God so as to love him and prefer him in your choice before all things besides and if you know Christ so as to rely upon him with consent to be ruled by him as your Lord and Saviour Joh. 17. 3. This is life eternal thus to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent Take great notice also of Remember that Christ himself is really present at his Table and his Eye which is as a flame of fire observes the frame of every heart Fix your Eye upon your own Hearts since Christ's Eye is upon them the present frame of your Hearts that you may know in what Graces they are weakest and what kind of Lustings of the Flesh are aptest to prevail and what things they are which are most likely to distract your Minds and draw away your Hearts when at the Table your watch hereupon will be the stricter and your thoughts will run the more upon the particular Graces that are to be strengthened and upon the sins too which are to be struck more dead by the power of the Death and Crucifixion of Christ Jesus 2. Let the Death of Christ put you in mind what you were and would have been still if he had not died for you you would have been dead in Law under the damnatory Sentence of it and you would have been dead in