of those who differ from us As to the Frequency of Celebrating the Lord's-Supper I find many People of opinion that the Scriptures have determined nothing in it that therefore it is intirely left to the discretion of the Ministers how often they will Celebrate it and to the People's how often they will receive it And that on this Account every one is left to judge for himself when he will be a partaker of it as he thinks it most for his Comfort and Edification which makes the Celebration and Receiving it so Arbitrary a thing that many never receive it at all And the Universal neglect of it is become one of the Crying sins of these Kingdoms and a great Objection against the Reformation But if we Consider the Institution of this Sacrament it will help us to pass a right judgment as to the Obligation of the frequency that lies on us I shall endeavour to make this plain in the following particulars 1. Our Saviour when he had blessed broken and delivered the Bread to his Disciples Commanded them to Take Eat and do This that they saw Him do in Rememberance of him and when He had Blessed the Cup and given it to them he Commanded them to Drink all of it and as often as they drink it to do it in Remembrance of him 1 Cor. xi 26 Now I conceive the most Natural Interpretation of these words of our Saviour Do this in Remembrance of Me and This do Ye as often as often as you drink it in Remembrance of Me to be as if he had said We have now Celebrated together the Jewish Passover in Remembrance of our Fore-fathers deliverance out of Egypt But I am about to purchase for you by my Death a much more glorious deliverance from the slavery of Sin and the power of Hell And I order you for the future to do this which you see done by me in Remembrance of Me as what you have hitherto done has been in Remembrance of your Deliverance out of Egypt From this Institution it appears 1. That the Lord's-Supper is substituted in the place of the Passover which was Commanded by the Law to be Celebrated once in the Year and that in a place appointed by God where all Israel were to assemble for it 2. That Our Saviour has confin'd us to no Place or prefixt time for the Celebration of his Supper that succeeds it which makes it much more easy for us to observe it and renders us much more inexcusable if we neglect it 3. Since Our Saviour has taken off the Confinement to Time and Place that made the Passover such a Burthen It follows that they who Celebrate it seldomer then the Jews did their Passover must needs have less regard to the memory of Christ's Death and the deliverance wrought by it then the Jews had to their Deliverance out of Egypt There being no other imaginable reason that can tempt them to neglect purifying themselves for this solemnity of Worship and frequenting it but the deadness of their Hearts towards Christ and the want of Sense Gratitude and Love towards their Master 4. Christ's positive Command to Do this in Remembrance of Him c. must oblige us in some Times and in some Circumstances And there can be no better way of determining when we are obliged to do it then by observing when God in his goodness gives us Opportunity for either we are then obliged to do it or else we may choose whether we will ever do it or no there being no better means of determining the frequency then this of God's giving us the opportunity And the same Rule holding in all other general positive Commands such as in those that oblige us to Charity we may be sure it holds likewise in this Therefore whoever slights or neglects any Opportunity of Receiving which God affords him does sin as certainly as he who being enabled by God to perform an Act of Charity and invited by a fit Object neglects to Relieve him or shuts up his Bowels of Compassion against him concerning whom the Scripture assures us That the Love of God dwells not in him And the Argument is rather stronger against him who neglects this holy Sacrament for how can it be supposed that a Man has a true love for his Saviour or a due sense of his sufferings who refuses or neglects to remember the greatest of all benefits in the easyest manner tho' Commanded to do it by his Redeemer and invited by a a fair opportunity of God's own offering 5. It is manifest that if it be not our own Faults we may have an Opportunity every Lord's Day when we meet together And therefore that Church is guilty of laying aside this Command whose Order of Worship doth not require and provide for this Practice Christ's Command seems to lead us directly to it For Do this in remembrance of Me implies that Christ was to leave them that they were to meet together after he was gone and that he required them to remember him at their Meetings whilst he was absent The very Design of our Publick Meetings on the Lord's Day and not on the Jewish Sabbath is to remember and keep up in our Minds a sense of what Christ did and suffered for us till He come again and this we are obliged to do not in such a manner as our own Invention suggests but by such means as Christ himself has prescribed to us that is by celebrating this Holy Sacrament It seems then probable from the very Institution of this Sacrament that our Saviour designed it should be a part of God's Service in all the solemn Assemblies of Christians as the Passover was in the Yearly Assemblies of the Jews To know therefore how often Christ requires us to celebrate this Feast we have no more to do but to enquire how often Christ requires us to Meet together that is at least every Lord's Day II. And the same is farther manifest in the second place from the Examples of the Apostles and of the Churches of God in the New Testament They cannot be supposed but to have understood what Christ meant by these words Do this in Remembrance of Me and if it appears that they did make this Feast a constant part of their Ordinary Worship we may safely conclude That Christ meant it should be so And here 't is observable That we do not find any solemn stated Meeting of Christians for Worship in the whole New Testament without it At first the Disciples had their Meetings every Day and then they likewise daily received this Sacrament Acts ii 46 And they continued daily with one Accord in the Temple and in breaking Bread from House to House And St. Paul supposes that their Meeting together was on purpose and with express Design to Celebrate this Feast 1 Cor. x. 20 When ye come together therefore into one place this is not to eat the Lord's Supper which intimates That one main Design of their coming
together was and ought to have been to eat the Lord's Supper tho' by their misbehaviour they so corrupted the Ordinance that it could not be called His Supper If one should now reprove Christians whom they observe to mis-behave themselves in Church in these words When you come together into one place this is not to hear the Word of God Preached to you for one is Talking and another is Sleeping Wou'd not every Body conclude That in the Opinion of the Reprover the Hearing the Word of God Preached ought to be one End of their coming together And then surely the Apostles saying that when you come together into one place this is not to eat the Lord's Supper c. gives us ground to conclude that in his Opinion Eating the Lords Supper ought to be one constant End of our coming together Which is further manifest from the Advice he gives them Vers. 33. Wherefore my Brethren when ye come together to eat tarry one for another One End therefore of their coming together was as Children come together in a Family at Meal-time that is to be fed at their Father's Table For what the Apostle called in the former Verse coming together into one place in this Verse he calls coming together to eat intimating that a main end of their coming together into one place was to eat 3. When the Meeting of Christians came to be fixed to the First Day of the Week or the Lord's Day the Breaking of Bread was likewise brought to the same Day So Acts xx 7 And upon the first Day of the Week when the Disciples came together to break Bread Paul preached unto them From which words we may conclude two things First That the First Day of the Week was the Disciples time of Publick Worship Secondly That the Breaking of Bread or celebrating the holy Eucharist was a part of that Worship The Scripture is as plain for the one as the other There have been some Disputes raised about Changing the Day of Worship from the Last to the First Day of the Week and this place is usually produced to justifie the Change And sure the same place is as clear for the Celebration of the Lord's Supper on that Day as for the Observation of the Day it self instead of the Sabbath And therefore whoever wilfully passes the Lord's-Day without it doth not observe it as the Scriptures from the Practice of the Disciples direct us to do 4. I have endeavoured all along to confine my self to the plain words of Scripture and to use such Arguments only as the meanest persons might be able to judge of from their Bibles Yet in a Controverted place of Scripture concerning the meaning of a Command of Christ relating to some positive Duty I take the constant practice of the Church from the Apostles downward to be a good means of determining the sense of it And as there is not any Example of a stated Assembly for Worship in the New Testament without the Lord's Supper so I think there is not any Example of that Nature in all Antiquity For the truth of which I appeal to those that are skill'd in it The nearer we come to the Apostles we shall still find the Lord's Supper the more punctually observed as a constant part of the Ordinary service of the Church And 't is remarkable that when first some who had been present at the Prayers and Preaching of the Church began to go away from the Publick Assemblies without Receiving which was a corruption that came in about 300 years after Christ it was looked on as so great an Innovation and breach of the Scripture Rule that the Church decreed whosoever was guilty of it should be Excommunicated So particularly the Ninth of those commonly called the Canons of the Apostles and the second Canon of the Council of Antioch Thus the Practice of the Church continued for many Ages And tho' the generality of Men could not be persuaded constantly to partake of the Lord's Supper after the Discipline of the Church was dissolved and the piety of Men began to cool yet still it was Celebrated on the Lord's day according to the first setled Practice of the Church 5. And indeed the corrupt practice of the solitary Masses of the Papists is a further evidence of its being counted Originally a part of the ordinary Worship of God I think it is confessed by all even by the Papists themselves that those Masses had their Original from the universal corruption and negligence of Christians For whilst the People had either Piety or Zeal they communicated with the Bishop or Ministers in every Assembly at least a competent number of them But when Piety and Devotion were in a manner lost in the corrupt Ages of the Church it came to pass that tho' the Minister Consecrated the Elements every Lord's-day according to the Example of the Holy Scriptures and Antiquity yet he could prevail with few or none to receive with him but was often forced to receive alone This was a great corruption and a falling from the Scripture precedent but the Roman Church instead of Reforming the abuse by obliging the people to receive as formerly corrupted her principles as well as practice and decreed it lawful and sufficient for the Priest to receive alone Yet this abuse shews us what should be and what has been the practice and that the Church has constantly reckoned the Lord's-Supper as an Ordinary part of Publick Worship in Christian Assemblies on solemn days and sure then to lay it aside can be termed no less then an Invention of our own Since we can neither in Scripture or in the Church of God for 1400 years together which is a sufficient commentary on the Scripture Text produce one Example of a stated solemn Christian Assembly without it Sect. 2. The Practice of Our Church as to frequent Communions I. HAving thus consider'd the Rules and Examples that the Scriptures afford us in this point let us in the second place compare the Rules and Practices of Our Church with this pattern I will not pretend that they come fully up to it this being the most defective part of the Reformation But I doubt not on view it will appear that Our Church comes nearer the Scripture precedent then perhaps any other 'T was the design of the Reformation to throw out the corruptions of the Church of Rome and to bring things back to what was practised in the Apostles time and in the purer Ages of thâ— Church And as to the present point before us Our Reformers found two corruptions crept in by time The first was That the Priest received the Lord's-Supper alone without the people which destroyed the Nature of this Holy Sacrament as a Communion The second was That the people thought they had sufficiently observed the Lord's-day if they saw Mass without understanding it or receiving Our Church therefore to Reform the first of these Ordains That there shall be no Communion except
the sense of it and in that respect very inconvenient and is likewise a late invention of our own never used by any Foreign Church either Popish or Reformed for ought I can find to this day and has been taken up to supply the negligence and laziness of people who will not now as formerly be at pains to get Psalms by heart or so much as procure Books or learn to read them 5. Notwithstanding your Directory requires the voice in singing Psalms to be tuneable and gravely ordered yet you have not only refused the Use of Instruments which are a natural means to help the Voice and make it tuneable and are used by most of the Reformed Churches in Europe but have also determined it to be Unlawful I would intreat you to consider that though perhaps it may not be so proper to press the Use of Instruments in the service of God in these parts where so many for want of being used to them have entertained prejudices against them and some are uncapable of being affected by them yet the making them Unlawful is against Nature and Scripture and is on that account a dangerous Superstition and Encroachment on Christian Liberty 6. The same Superstition and Encroachment it is not only to forbear to praise God in singing or saying Psalms and Hymns by way of Responses or Answering of which I have given such Noble Precedents out of Scripture but even to determine it to be Unlawful Lastly I would entreat you to consider That forasmuch as appears you have altogether laid aside the Psalms in Prose and the other Scripture Hymns that are of God's immediate Appointment and for the Use of which we have the Example of our Saviour and his Saints insomuch that they are no where used by you in the Praises of God but in their stead you have substituted as is before observed a few Verses of a Psalm of Human Composure without Scripture-Example or Precedent and sing them in a way that has nothing of Antient Practise much less Scripture for it but is purely and immediately an Invention of Men. IV. The Case then between our Church and you in this point I think impartially stands thus Our Church praises God every day with five or six Psalms besides other Hymns of His Own Appointment and in His own Words and Method and yet is deserted and condemned by you in this very point as Teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of Men whereas you who only praise Him in a piece of a Psalm of a few Verses and in a Method of your own finding out perswade your selves that you keep the Ordinances of God pure and unmixed from Human Invention This is a thing seriously to be considered by you for as it is easie to think what all unprejudiced Men will judge of it now so we may conclude what God will judge it at the last day If you in earnest lay these things to heart and reflect on them I perswade my self that they will at least prevail with you to be modest in your Censures of us your Brethren and prevent your Judging much less Condemning us or our manner of praising God as Unacceptable to Him CHAP. II. Of Prayer Sect. 1. What the Holy Scriptures prescribe concerning it I. LEt us now proceed to the Second main part of the Worship of God in the Publick Meetings of Christians which I observed was Prayer or Supplication And if we consider what Rules Directions and Examples the Scriptures afford us for the performance of this Duty we shall find That they direct us to offer up our Prayers in a set and prepared Form of Words That we may more clearly judge of this matter it will be fit to consider the several parts of Prayer distinctly by themselves such as Confession Supplication Intercession c. 1. Confession of our own Unworthiness and of God's Mercy to aggravate it is commonly looked on as the first part of Prayer and proper to introduce our Supplications Now in searching the Scriptures we shall find express Command to use a set Form of Words in both these sorts of Confession So Deuteron xxvi 3 Thou shalt go unto the Priest that shall be in those days and say unto him I profess this day unto the Lord thy God that I am come unto the Countrey which the Lord sware unto our fore-Fathers to give us And then the Offerer was to make his Confession vers 5 And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God A Syrian ready to perish was my Father c. Here we have a Form of Confession of the person's Vnworthiness and of God's Goodness and Mercy together with a profession of Obedience and dependance on Him prescribed by God Himself in set prepared words The same appears from Solomon's prescribing a Form of Confession for the penitent Israelites 1 Kings viii 47 which words we find accordingly applied in Psal. cvi 6 and made part of a larger Form of Confession to be used in their Captivity as Solomon designed them which appears from the 47th Verse of the same Psalm taken from the Form prescribed by David 1 Chro. xvi 35 And Daniel in his Form of Confession in Captivity Chap. ix vers 5. uses the same Form of Words From whence it appears that they were not left Arbitrarily to Choice or Discretion tho' other Words might be joyned with them when there was occasion to enlarge or vary the Form Many of the Psalms are Forms of Confession and were used and daily Repeated by the Jewish Church Psal. li. was the Form of Confession David prepared and us'd for his Murther and Adultery and he not only used it himself but directed it to the Master of his Choire to be used in the Publick Service as appears from the Title of it Psal. lxxviii is a general Confession for the whole people setting forth at large the Mercies of God to them and their Ingratitude Disobedience and Rebellion and this not as a Pattern but as a set and prepared Form to be used in their publick Service All which shew us that Addresses to God in such Forms are of Divine Institution and are a warrant to us that he approves that our Confession should be made to him in that manner 2. The second part of Prayer is Supplication for good things and in this Case we have likewise the Commandment of God for a Form of Words Deut. xxvi 13 15. Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God Look down from thy holy Habitation from Heaven and bless thy people Israel and the Land which thou hast given us as thou swarest unto our Fathers c. So Hos. xiv 2 Take with you words and turn to the Lord your God and say unto Him Take away all Iniquity c. Moses in the Wilderness used a set Form of Words to this purpose and recommended it to be used by the Church of God for ever as is manifest from Psal. xc which has this Title A Prayer of Moses
the Man of God When such a person by the Inspiration of the holy Ghost used and left to be used by us in our Supplications such a set and prepared Form of Words we ought not to doubt but that manner of Address is acceptable to God 3. The third part of Prayer is Intercession in the behalf of others Now Blessing is an eminent sort of Intercession and for the use of a set Form of Words in this we have likewise the Command of God Numb vi 23 On this wise ye shall bless the Children of Israel saying unto them The Lord bless thee and keep thee c. Here we have not onely a Blessing but an earnest Intercession with God for his people and the Form and Words prescribed by Himself which were not to be used by mean ignorant people who are only now supposed by some to need the help of Forms but by Aaron and his Sons the Chief Priests From which we may be assured That God approves that manner of Address in our Blessings and Intercessions for one another not onely from mean people but from the greatest 4. The fourth part of Prayer consisteth in Petitions for averting evil commonly called Deprecation and for this purpose we have several Forms prescribed by God Joel i. 14 Gather the Elders and all the Inhabitants of the Land into the House of the Lord your God and say unto the Lord Alas for the day the day of the Lord is at hand c. We have God's Commandment for another Form Joel ii 17 Let the Priests the Ministers of the Lord weep between the Porch and the Altar and let them say Spare thy people O Lord and give not thine heritage to reproach c. From whence it clearly follows that God approves the use of a Form in this part of Prayer tho' commonly the most earnest and importunate and such as seems least to admit of being bounded by a Form so that we have the Approbation and Commandment of God for the use of a set Form of Words in all the parts of Prayer II. And accordingly we find Holy Men of God tho' full of Wisdom and of his Spirit using the same set Form of Prayer always on the same occasion Thus the Scriptures inform us concerning Moses Num. x. 35 When the Ark set forward Moses said Rise up Lord and let thine Enemies be scattered and let them that hate thee flee before thee And when it rested he said Return O Lord unto the many Thousands of Israel From whence it appears that God approves the use of one set constant Form of Words in our Prayers as long as the occasion of repeating them is the same for I presume none will suspect it was for want of Words or of the Spirit of Prayer that Moses confined himself to this Form I shall add further that the whole Book of Psalms is a Collection of Prayers of all sorts And there are few of them but what are most Excellent Forms of Prayer expressed in such pathetick significant and moving words that we have great reason to thank God for furnishing us with them and which we can never hope to equal by any of our own invention such are the 4 5 6 7 9 10 12 c. On this account they were used by the Jews as the constant Service and Liturgy performed in their Temple as we may gather from what I formerly quoted 2 Chron. xxix 30. III. But perhaps some may think these Commands and Examples of set Forms of Prayer not to be a sufficient Warrant to Christians because they are taken out of the Old Testament before the Spirit was poured out in so plentiful a measure as under the Gospel I shall therefore proceed to examine the Commands and Examples of the New Testament and here 1. I think it is certain that our Saviour and his Apostles prayed by a Form for they joyned in the Worship of the Temple and Synagogues which consisted in Psalms as I have already shewed and in some certain Forms of Prayers added to them and constantly used in their daily Service as we learn from those that give an Account of the Jewish Worship at that time Now our Saviour and his Apostles being frequently present at their Service both in the Temple and Synagogues 't is manifest they approved the manner of Addressing themselves to God in a set Form of Words 2. But our Saviour has put this matter out of all dispute with impartial Men by prescribing a Form to his Disciples when they desired him to teach them to pray as John taught his Disciples For we find his way of Teaching them was not by directing them to wait for the impulses of the Spirit and immediate Inspiration from God of what they were to offer up to him We do not find him saying When ye pray speak what shall then come into your minds or what shall be given you in that hour without taking thought about what they should say as He did in another case that is when they should be brought before Governours and Kings for his sake Mat. x. 19 But in addressing themselves to God he prescribed them a Form of Words and Commanded them to use it Luke xi 2 And he said unto them When ye pray say Our Father which art in Heaven c. Here is an express Command of Christ to his Disciples to use these Words when they pray Our Father c. A Command for the use of a Form so plain that it is impossible to express it in clearer terms 'T is not to be doubted but Religious Persons among the Jews offer'd up constantly prayers to God We see it in David Psal. lv 17 and in Daniel Chap. vi 10 And no doubt the Disciples of our Saviour were not wanting in this Duty nor in skill to perform it since we find that other devout Persons of their time had their hours of Prayer as we see in Acts iii. 1 Therefore what they desired of our Saviour was not to teach them absolutely or in general to pray but to teach them to pray as John also taught his Disciples that is to give them a Form of Prayer proper to His Institution as they saw the Disciples of Moses and John had proper to theirs Upon which our Saviour gave them the Lord's-Prayer as a summary of the main points of his Doctrine and as a constant badge of their being his Disciples As if he should have said When ever you offer up to God your usual Prayers which Religious Custom has taught you as Jews and Disciples of Moses or of John whether in Secret or Publick add this always to your other prayers for a continual Remembrance to you of those Duties Priviledges and Qualifications which belong to you as My Disciples and as a means of obtaining Grace from your Heavenly Father to enable you to persevere in them The Lords-Prayer is therefore a badge of Our Profession imposed by Christ himself and to be used by Us
iv 16 When this Epistle is read amongst you cause that it also be read in the Church of the Laodiceans and that ye likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea And it was but reason since the Gospel contained the Christian Law that it should be read in the Christian Assemblies as well as the Law of Moses was in the Synagogues And that it was so read in the first Christian Assemblies I might shew by many instances out of the Antient Fathers if there were occasion IV. This publick Reading the Law was of so great Reputation that it is termed Preaching it as we may see from Acts xv 21 For Moses of old time hath in every City them that preach him being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day The word Preaching has a peculiar sense in the New Testament and signifies properly to Declare or Proclaim the Word of God as a Herauld or Cryer proclaimes the Laws or Orders of a King Hence only those that Proclaim'd the Gospel to such as had not heard it before or read the Old Testament to the people are said to Preach Preaching is distinguished from Teaching and Exhortation and 't is observable that in the whole New Testament tho' reading the Scriptures is called Preaching yet interpreting them applying them or exhorting the people from them in a Christian Auditory is never called by that name If it be objected that St. Paul is said to preach to the Disciples Acts xx 7 when he only in probability made a Sermon or Exhortation to Believers as is usual now I answer that the Original of this Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is never translated preach in any other place of the New Testament and should not have been here but discours'd disputed spake or reason'd so it is translated in Acts xvii 2 17. xviii 19 xix 8 9. Heb. xii 5 c. for the Original Words which properly signifie preaching are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From all which it is manifest that there are only two ways by which the Word of God is properly preached the first is when it is declared to those that never heard of it before and the second is when the very words of the Scripture are read publickly to the peodle as a Cryer doth a Proclamation which he doth not word himself but reads it in the words in which it is delivered to him In short The Scriptures are Sermons out of the Mouth of God being dictated by his Holy Spirit for the Reading of which to the People for their Conviction and Instruction there is a peculiar Command of God and where this Ordinance is duely observed they are sure of the Word of Life and 't is impossible they should be ignorant of their Duty for the Scriptures are sufficient to mak◠them wise to Salvation and the hearing them with Humility and Attention is a means sufficient to beget Faith in the Hearts of those that hear them for they are profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect thorowly furnished to all good Works as we see 1 Tim. iii. 16 17. V. We find in Holy Scripture that the Publick Reading of the Word of God was with great Solemnity 'T is observed Nehem. viii 5 When Ezra opened the Book all the people stood up and Ezra blessed the Lord the great God and all the people answered Amen Amen with lifting up their hands and they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground and I find it generally agreed that both the Readers and Hearers stood up whilst the Law was read tho' not when other things were read or taught hence it is observed Luke iv 16 that our Saviour stood up for to read and Vers. 20. after closing the Book that he sat down to teach Hence Rev. v. God is represented in allusion to the High-Priest with a Book in his Right Hand containing the Revelations of his Will and the Lamb as his Minister takes it out of his Hand to declare the Contents of it and Vers. 8. When he had taken the Book the four Beasts and four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb And they sung a New Song The Angels joyn with them Vers. 11. and the whole Creation Verse 13. From whence we see the Scriptures teach us to receive the Revelations of God's Will out of the Book of Life with Adoration and Praises And therefore we find that at the Reading the Law Confessions and Praises of God were intermixed and succeeded one another Neh. ix 3 And they stood up in their place and read in the Book of the Lord their God one fourth part of the Day and another fourth part they Confessed and Worshiped the Lord their God VI. We find that the Word of God is to be read in such a Language as the People understand After the Captivity the People being Born and Educated in a strange Land their Language was changed and they did not understand at least Universally the pure Hebrew in which the Law was first written therefore when Ezra read in the Law a certain number of the Priests and Levites interpreted the Words of the Law as Ezra read them to the People Neh. viii 7 And they caused the people to understand the Law and the people stood in their place so they read in the Book in the Law of God distinctly and gave the sence and caused them to understand the reading And this Custom continueth among the Jews to this Day first the Hebrew Text is read and then a Translation or Paraphrase in a Language understood by the Hearers And indeed there may be good reason for reading the Originals in Publick Assemblies such a Custom being an effectual means to preserve the knowledge of them but they cannot be useful to the People without a Translation Therefore St. Paul doth not absolutely forbid speaking in Unknown Tongues in the Church but orders 1 Cor. xiv 27 Let one interpret but if there be no Interpreter let him keep silence in the Church VII We find that after reading the Word of God there was sometimes an Enlargement or Comment on some part of it and an Exhortation to the People Thus when our Saviour had read a portion of Scripture He applied it to the people in a Discourse to that purpose But it doth not appear that this was constantly done on the contrary it is rather probable that it was not For had there been a constant Provision for such Enlargement and Exposition of the Law and Exhortation from it there had been no occasion for the Rulers of the Synagogue Acts xiii 15 to send to St. Paul and Barnabas after the reading of the Law and Prophets that Message we find there Ye Men and Brethren if ye have any Word of Exhortation for the People say on St. Paul supposes him who Teaches and him whose Office it was to Exhort distinct from him that Ruled
Unlawful This Luther did for Germany and Calvin for Geneva and for the French Church whose Liturgyes are still used by them Yet I find this weighs not much with you tho' you seem to me to have little to oppose to it besides a strange fondness and passion you have entertained for the contrary and let me tell you that it is no hard matter to give a reason why the generality of the people are better pleased with such Extemporary Prayers than with Forms For can any one wonder that a prayer which people never heard before and is adapted to the Fancies and Humours of a Party with all the Advantages which Novelty gives shou'd gratifie carnal and itching Ears more than the fixt and settled prayers of a Church or that Form dictated by Christ himself To joyn in these with Devotion requires us duly to prepare our Hearts to strain and lift up our minds with much seriousness and attention or we cannot be affected by them whereas there is a pleasure and a kind of sensual delight in the novelty of the other Prayers and the tone with which they are sometimes delivered makes the Hearers imaginarily Devout tho' they come to them without taking pains to strain their minds to true Devotion But you ought to remember that Images and Relicks and Mediatory Saints had the very same effect on people long ago which made them so fond of them that they brought them into their Worship in spite of the Bishops and Pastors of the Church as you have now brought in Extemporary Prayers But 't is rare to find the generality of Men fond of what is truly Spiritual And therefore people's fondness of your peculiar way of Worship is so far from being an Argument for it as I find some of you use it that on the contrary it is a shrewd presumption that it is not from God Especially since ill people are fond of it as well as good As is manifest from many undeniable Instances which could not be so if it were Truly and of it self Spiritual 3. I would desire you to consider that nothing can generally induce our Clergy to decline these Extemporary Prayers but their Conscience and Conviction that they are not convenient in the Publick Service of God 'T is manifest that Extemporary Prayers would be much more easy to most of us and less burthensome then the Service we use you may think otherwise but assure your selves that you are mistaken And I dare appeal to those that have tryed both whether is most easy There are such both amongst You and Vs who have made the Experiment And I dare referr it to them to declare on their Consciences which of the two Services they look on to be the greater burthen to him that performs them Whatever You may think if we would Indulge our selves it were no hard matter for the meanest of Vs to pass an Extemporary Prayer on our Auditory or to turn the Heads of our Sermons into one Lastly I have one thing which I would more especially request of You that You would believe that I sincerely and heartily desire and study the good of your Souls and that I have in this Treatise endeavoured to promote it and by God's Assistance ever shall in all my Undertakings And if You had the same Apprehensions with Me You would not wonder at my concrn in this matter for how is it possible that any man that has a zeal for the purity of God's Worship should not have his Spirit moved within him to see a well-meaning people so strangely misled as to content themselves to meet together perhaps for some Years with a design to Worship God and yet hardly ever see or hear any thing of God's immmediate Apointment in their Meetings Now to my thoughts this is manifestly the case of many of You since a Man may frequent some Meetings amongst You for some Years and never hear a Prayer a Psalm or Chapter which has been immediately dictated by God and never be called on to bow his knee to God or see either Minister or People address themselves to him in that humble posture Lastly never see any body offer to Administer or desire to receive the food of Life in the Lord's-Supper These are Melancholy Reflections to me who believe that God has required these in his Worship And therefore I hope you will take it in good part that I endeavour to restore them to You. I have only to add my most earnest Prayers to God for You. And to beseech him who is the God of Mercy and Purchaser of his Church by a price Inestimable to vouchsafe his blessing to these my Endeavours for your Souls Instruction That You may reap the benefit and I the comfort of them in the great day of our Lord Jesus Christ who only is the true Teacher of Souls by his Spirit and is able to Seal the Instructions of his Ministers to Your Hearts to open the Eyes of Your Understandings and to guide You into all Truth FINIS Errata PAge 5 l. 20. for words read word pa. 13 l. 10 r. the timbrel p. 14 l. 16 r contrary p. 24 l. 22 for judge it r. judge of it p. 33 ult r. pursuance p. 39 ult Levitical p. 41 l. 15 r. omitted p. 45 l. 11 instead of Exclusive of the use of Forms r promise to furnish us with words in Prayer without the use of Sett and Premeditated Forms p 54 l. 6 r. rashness p. 72 l. 15 and 16 r. people p. 73 l. 3 r. throughly p. 83 l. 16 instead of the first of put in a semi-colon p. 97 l. 7 r. deceive p. 98 l. 25 r. Meditated p. 101 l. 11 r. Calendar p 112 l. 1 after the same r. Person p. 114 l. 16 r. in the next p. 115. l. 4 de which Ibid. p 16 for much deelare r. much more declare p. 118 l. 17 after for ic r. And that p. 120 l. 1. after and r. to p. 127 l. 1 after Scriptures a colon Ib. 3 after Supper a comma p. 131 l. 7 de are 137 l. 16 de their Ib. l. 18 r. receive p. 149 de a. p. 164 l 14. for owning r. own 169 l. 3. after table a comma * Much to this purpose might be urged out of the Rabbins but the Author thinks it fit to confine himself to Scripture See Durel and Knoxes Book of Disc. The Author's Intention is not to assert that the Scriptures require Kneeling at the Lord's-Supper but to shew that it is not contrary to the Institution of Christ or Practise of the Apostles who compare our receiving it with the Jews partaking of their Altar to which they approached with Adoration