greatest concernment Pag. 104 CHAP. II. COncerning Publick Worship Pag. 110 Publick Worship to be preferred before private tho it were not expresly commanded by God Pag. 111 Publick Worship a greater honour to God than private Devotions Pag. 116 External Worship must be publick Pag. 118 God is a publick Benefactor and therefore publick Worship is due to him Pag. 120 Publick Worship instituted by God under the Law Pag. 122 And by Christ under the Gospel the true Notion of a Church requires it Pag. 125 This proved from the nature of Christian Communion and Sacraments Pag. 126 The same proved from the Institution of the Gospel-Ministry and the power of the Keys Pag. 130 And from the publick profession of Christianity Pag. 133 And from the Duty of Princes to encourage and propagate Religion Pag. 134 CHAP. III. Section 1. COncerning those who plead Conscience for Separation and set up distinct Communions of their own Pag. 138 Some Inquiries with reference to their honesty and sincerity in this Matter Pag. 139 1. Whether they separate upon true Principles of Conscience the difference between private Opinion and Conscience and the use of this Distinction ibid 2. Whether they consider the great Evil of Schism Pag. 151 3. Whether they believe our Communion to be unlawful Pag. 156 4. How they came to think our Communion unlawful Pag. 156 5. Whether they ever impartially examined the Reasons of their Separation Pag. 170 6. How they behave themselves towards their Governors Pag. 184 Section 2. Some general Considerations in order to remove those Prejudices which some have entertained against the Worship of the Church of England Pag. 188 1. From the Nature of God Pag. 190 2. From the Nature of Christian Religion Pag. 193 3. From the Example of our Saviour Pag. 207 4. From the practice of the Apostles and the first and best Churches Pag. 208 Section 3. An answer to some popular Cavils Pag. 215 Concerning Will-Worship Pag. 216 Concerning Superstition Pag. 222 The Church of England charged with Idolatry Pag. 235 And with Popery Pag. 236 PART II. CHAP. I. COncerning Parochial Communion CHAP. II. Concerning irreverence in Worship 267 CHAP. III. Concerning the neglect of the publick Prayers of the Church 281 CHAP. IV. Concerning the publick administration of Baptism 289 CHAP. V. Concerning the publick instruction of Youth 296 CHAP. VI. Concerning the great neglect of the Lord's Supper ERRATA PAge 6. line 26 read Apollos P. 9. l. 13. r. and that none P. 18. l. 15. r. that they either P. 50. l. 14. f. we r. be P. 105. l. 18. r. you 'l P. 124. l. 26. r. who P. 164. l. 9. r. fell P. 185. l. 2. r. them P. 208. l. 6. r. so P. 212. l. 11. f. if r. that P. 219. l. 24. r. now though P. 224. l. 12 13. r. difficult P. 230. l. 5. r. had P. 331. l. 18. f. rule r. rite P. 346. l. 28. f. truth r. faith A Practical Discourse OF Religious Assemblies The INTRODUCTION 1. Containing a short Account of the nature of Christian Assemblies for Publick Worship 2. A Scheme of the Design of this following Treatise 3. The seasonableness of such a Discourse 1. RELIGION is the greatest Concernment of Mankind both with respect to this life and the next and the Worship of God is the most excellent part of Religion as having GOD the most excellent Being for its immediate Object This is the Work and constant Imployment of Angels and blessed Spirits in Heaven who see the Face of God dwell in his Presence admire his essential Glory and infinite Perfections and sing Eternal Hallelujah's to Him When we come to Heaven we shall have no unruly Passions and Appetites to govern and tho our Souls shall be transformed into a pure Flame of Divine Love yet there will be no place for the laborious exercise of Charity in pitying and relieving one another where all the Inhabitants shall be perfectly happy in the enjoyment of the most perfect Good Indeed in this World Temperance and Charity are no Christian Vertues but as they are acts of Worship that is as they flow from a great sense of God and veneration for him for God is the sole Object of Religion and to be sober and to be charitable upon some meaner Considerations without any respect to God as the last end of all is to serve our selves or our Friends or to follow the inclinations of our nature but is not properly the Service of God Whatsoever we do out of a just sense of God is in some respects an act of Worship for it is to honour the Deity which may as effectually be done by actions as by words verbal praises are of no value with God are meer lip-labour and formal complements when they are alone and produce no answerable effects in our lives This is what the Apostle calls a form of Godliness without the power of it Religion is nothing else but such a vital sense of God as excites in us devout affections and discovers it self in a divine and heavenly Conversation But yet that which we more strictly call Worship is the most visible and solemn expression of our Honour for God when we lift up our hearts and our eyes and hands to God in Prayers Praises and Thanksgivings and when it is sincere and hearty has a powerful influence upon the government of our Lives For what sincere Worshipper can be so void of all fear of God as to break his Laws and contemn his Authority and despise his Judgements and therefore that vain and hypocritical semblance of Religion wherewith some bad Men deceive themselves and flatter God is called the form of Godliness without the power it being only an external imitation of Religious Worship without that powerful sense of God which governs the Lives of truly devout and pious Men. And as the Worship of God is the most excellent part of Religion which has the most universal and most powerful influence upon our Lives So publick Worship is the most excellent Worship as you shall hear more hereafter Indeed the right and power of holding Publick Assemblies for Worship is the fundamental right of the Church whereon all Church-Authority depends as has been well observed and proved by a Learned Man of our Church The Power of the Keys signifies no more than Authority to take in and to shut out of the Church the first is done by Baptism the second by Church-Censures the highest of which is Excommunication which debarreth Men from all parts of Christian Communion And therefore the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews makes forsaking Christian Assemblies either to be an Apostacy from Christianity as it was in those days or at least a fair step towards it he exhorts those to whom he writ to hold fast the profession of their Faith without wavering that is to continue firm and stedfast in the profession of Christianity and in order to this gives them this Caution Not
God open their Eyes to see and adore that God who made them and cure their Souls of that most fatal and mortal Disease which makes them Beasts here and Devils hereafter Secondly Another Proposal I would make to these Men is That they would not publickly affront Religion that they would not so impudently attempt to laugh God and Religion out of the World that they would not make sport with those Things which other Men account Sacred that they would not prophane the Holy Scriptures by turning them into Ridicule or obscene and impious Burlesque This possibly will be thought a very odd Proposal to these Men who think it the only way to justify their Atheism by making Religion look ridiculously but yet had I to deal with reasonable Men though they were Atheists I would not despair of convincing them of the reasonableness of this Proposal For first this is nothing but what the Laws of Civility and good Manners require from them No well-bred Man will chuse to put a publick Affront upon his Friends and Neighbours though he sees them daily guilty of great Follies and Indiscretions The Laws of Conversation require us to treat all Men with just respects though their Understandings be of different makes and sizes and their Fortune and way of Life very different from our own much less then can a modest Man endure the thoughts of affronting Man-kind or laughing at any thing which is received or established by an Universal Consent Though the Belief of God were as very a Dream and Fancy as the Tales of Faries yet there is a certain Reverence due to Humane Nature at least from Men and since all Man-kind in all Ages of the World excepting some few wise and cautious Atheists have believed that there is a God and have honoured him with publick Worship it is an affront to Humane Nature to laugh at the Being of God though we do not believe it Nay this is not only an Affront to Humane Nature but to Publick Government In all Nations one Religion or other is established by a Law so that these Men do not only laugh at the Dreams and Dotages of single Men but at the united Counsels and most mature Resolves of all the World which is an Argument of great Boldness but of very little Wit or Manners A modest Man would be apt to suspect his own judgment of Things when he found himself opposed by the general Consent of all Men and the Wisdom of all the World but if this did not make him of the Common Opinion yet at least he would not rudely contradict it But not only the Wisdom but the Authority of Government is affronted by these Men when they laugh at such publick Constitutions at Religion considered as established by Law So much do such Men recede from the Principles of their great Master who though he had no great opinion of Religion in it self yet thought it something considerable when it became the Law of the Nation But neither the Wisdom nor Authority of Laws can command respect from some Men without a vigorous execution of them and that would soon teach them better Manners than ever they will learn in the School of Atheism Nay to laugh at the Being of God and at Religion is not only to affront the general sense of Man-kind and the Wisdom and Authority of all Governments but the Wisdom of the sagest Philosophers and the most inquisitive Men of all Ages Among all the Ancient Philosophers no Man expresly denied the Being of God or that Worship which was due to him Epicurus indeed denied his Providence which was only a more civil way of turning him out of the World though he pretended to worship him upon account of his infinite but idle and unactive Perfections Socrates died a Martyr for Religion and Plato and Aristotle did both acknowledg a supream Being and the later Philosophers though they differed about the Nature of God yet did not question but there was one so that the Being of a God is not the mistake meerly of a few ignorant unphilosophical Heads but has in all Ages had such Learned Patrons as at least do not deserve to be laughed at by Men of the least modesty and good breeding Secondly I would desire these Men to consider how little they consult their own Reputation in laughing at Religion it is a very silly thing for some few Men though they were in the right to think to out-laugh all the World the loudest laughter will always be on that side right or wrong where there are the greatest numbers though indeed all Men have such a veneration for God and Religion that such Abuses and Affronts of Religion do not so much provoke Men to laughter as to a holy jealousie and indignation No Man can endure with patience to hear that exposed to contempt which he admires and adores Such Atheistical Scoffers are looked on as the common Enemies of Mankind all Men but such like themselves abhor and scorn them fly their Company hate their very Names as Traitors to the Majesty of Heaven and the great Pests of Humane Conversation and the reproach and shame of Humane Nature And can any wise Man let his Opinions be what they will who designs to live happily in this World as me-thinks those above all others should desire who expect nothing hereafter think this the best way to happiness to forfeit the Love and Friendship of all Men who love and worship God or make any shew of Religion which are so much the greatest numbers that he does in a manner banish himself from Humane Conversation or render it very unpleasant and uneasy I know there are some who expect to gain the Reputation of great Wits and very cunning Men by unsetling Foundations and breaking a merry Jest upon Religion but they should consider that the generality of Men who will be Judges of these Matters whether they will or no look upon the Being of God as so plain and evident a Truth that that Man infallibly forfeits the reputation of his Understanding who sets up for Atheism Atheists may make a Scene and Theatre for themselves and admire and applaud one another but all the rest of the World despise them for indeed it is no argument of any great depth and subtilty to raise Objections and start Difficulties which a Man of very mean parts may do but it is a greater tryal of Judgment to answer them which the Atheist it seems cannot do when Men are so over-subtil that they cannot understand these plain and obvious Demonstrations which convince all Man-kind and are understood by every Plow-man such subtilty is never admired but despised And as for Wit it is so very undecent to jest with grave and serious Matters that though it have never so much Salt it is nauseous and offensive to sober Minds no Man admires his Wit who abuses his Prince his Father or his Friend Prophane Wit is the easiest of all as
purpose to trouble their heads about any form of Religion for they may be mistaken after all and they had as good be of no Religion as not of the right But if these Men did but wisely consider of what infinite concernment true Religion is they would conclude quite otherwise that seeing there is so much dispute which is the true Religion they would use the greater diligence and honesty to find it out and hope that God would pardon those Mistakes which are meerly the Errors of their Understanding when they offer up to him a pious and devout Soul that an honest Man who is not byassed by Interest and does not chuse a false Religion upon a Design will be accepted for his Sincerity and Devotion by that God who is a merciful and compassionate Father and very ready to pardon all invincible Mistakes when they are not made invincible by our own Fault But to cast off all Religion because there is some difficulty in finding the right is just as if a Traveller when he meets with a great many cross Wayes should resolve to go no farther for fear he should mistake the right Road though he is sure that he shall never get home if he go no farther Others are so tired with their Secular Affairs and hard Labour all the week that truly they must make Sunday a Holy Day not for Devotion but for Rest and Pastime as a Holy Day commonly now signifies and therefore they cannot go to Church which will tire them more than all thir weeks Work did that is to say They feel the Wants and Necessities of their Bodies and must take care of them but their Souls must shift for themselves they cannot bear hunger and cold and nakedness but never consider Who can dwell with devouring Fire who can dwell with everlasting Burnings But more of this presently Such kind of foolish Reasonings as these make Men neglect the Worship of God and should any Man act or reason so weakly in his Worldly Affairs he would be beg'd for a Fool if he were worth the keeping Thus I have endeavoured to convince these Men of the Evil Danger and Folly of Irreligion I now proceed to the second Thing proposed to perswade them to take care of their Souls 2. Let me therefore earnestly exhort all Men to take care of their Souls for this is the true Reason why they neglect the Worship of God Because they are sottishly unconcerned what will become of their Souls after Death whether they shall be happy or miserable in the World to come For all Men who make it the great Business of their Lives to get Heaven who are impatiently desirous to see God and to enjoy him who are afraid of nothing so much as of being banished from his Presence I say these Men are serious and hearty in their Religion They seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness For tho Religious Worship be a Natural Debt which we owe to God as we are his Creatures yet God in great wisdom and goodness has so ordered all the parts of Worship that we may at the same time and in the same Act worship and glorify God and serve and supply the Wants and Necessities of our own Souls The Worship of Innocent Creatures consisted principally in praising that great wise and bountiful Maker and Governor of the World but the Religion of Sinners is fitted to a lapsed state to heal and recover our Souls restore us to the perfection and happiness of our Natures and to intitle us to new and glorious Rewards Since we are Sinners God hath made it one part of Religious Worship and given us great encouragement to confess our Sins and to ask pardon and forgiveness for them And can any Man who loves his Soul and considers that the Wages of Sin is Death be careless in suing out his Pardon Must thou die eternally Sinner unless thou obtainest thy Pardon from God and wilt thou not fall down upon thy Knees and lie prostrate in the Dust before him Dost thou think it sufficient to reserve this Work for thy last Breath when thou art so hasty to procure a Pardon from thy Prince when thou hast only forfeited a perishing Estate or a mortal Life Me thinks I should see thee run with all speed to Church for fear thou shouldest come too late to offer up thy Confessions and Prayers with the Congregation by the Mouth of God's Minister who is appointed to pray for thee and to receive that reviving Absolution which is promised to all humble Penitents confessing and praying Sinners And since our own unworthiness our manifold and great Sins might justly discourage us from approaching the Presence of so Holy a God God has in infinite Mercy provided a great High-Priest for us to offer up our Prayers to God and to intercede for us and has commanded us to come to him in his Name and shall we forfeit our Interest in our Saviour's Intercession by neglecting to beg pardon in his Name For the Work of our great High-Priest is to offer up our Prayers to God incensed and perfumed with his own Merits But this supposes that we must offer up our Prayers to God in his Name and therefore those who do not pray to God in Christ's Name have no part nor interest in his Intercession He is an Advocate for none but those who Worship God in his Name And since our Natures are greatly corrupted and we are very weak and unable to serve God in an acceptable manner in our own strength God has made it a part of his Worship to beg the supplies of his Grace and has promised to give his Holy Spirit to them who ask him and when we find by daily experience how liable we are to the Assaults of Temptations and how easily we are conquered by them and know how impossible it is ever to get to Heaven unless we be renewed and sanctified by the Holy Ghost Can any Man who loves his Soul exposes himself naked and unarmed to a tempting World and Devil without so much as begging the Auxiliary Forces and Divine Aids of the Holy Spirit which we may have for asking but shall never have without You are glad of any help and assistance to promote your secular Interest When a City is besieged by powerful and numerous Enemies they send Embassadors to their Allies and Confederates and will never want help for want of asking it and shall we be so foolish as to become the triumph and the scorn and a prey to our Spiritual Enemies for want of crying to God to save us For the same Reason our blessed Lord has appointed and instituted the Holy Feast of his Sacramental Body and Blood as a conveyance of new Life and Grace to us and have those Men any care of their Souls as well as any honour for their Crucified Lord who deny themselves so inestimable a priviledg of feasting on the Symbols of Christ's Body and Blood which seals to all
World And yet it is much worse than this too for such Men will not only miss of Heaven but sink into Hell a place of endless Torments where there is no ease and no hope So well might our Saviour ask that Question What shall it profit a Man to gain the whole World and to lose his own Soul Or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul And can any thing in the World deserve more of our care and industry than to obtain eternal Happiness and to avoid eternal Misery And yet this cannot be done without a sincere and devout performance of all the Acts of Religious Worship Those Persons do not deserve to be God's Friends and Favorites who do not worship him and those are not capable of the Joys of Heaven who cannot relish the Pleasures of Religion and the Worship of God CHAP. II. Concerning those who forsake Christian-Assemblies for want of a due sense of the Nature and Necessity of Publick Worship Several proofs of the Necessity of Publick Worship from the Nature of Religious Worship from the Nature of the Mosaick Worship from the Institution of a Christian Church and the Nature of Christian Worship and Discipline OThers there are who either wholly or in a great measure forsake our Communion for want of a due sense of the Nature and Necessity of Publick Worship They acknowledg it is their Duty to Worship God but they think they can worship God as well at Home as at Church that it is not the Place which makes their Prayers more or less effectual but God hears us where-ever we pray and is always pleased even with the single and private Devotions of good Men and the World is now so well stored with good Books that they can spend their time in reading at Home to as good purpose as if they went to Church to hear a Sermon And I need not observe how many there are who Act according to these Principles i. e. who seldom or never come to Church though how they spend their Time at home I know not but have great reason to suspect that with too many a warm Bed in the morning and a bottle of Wine in the Afternoon serves instead even of their private Devotions Now before I proceed to shew what a great and dangerous mistake this is I shall briefly expostulate the Case with these Men supposing it to be as they say That we may serve God very acceptably at Home without attending the publick Assemblies of Christians Supposing the Case to be equal in it self considered yet I beseech you Why should you prefer your own Private before the Publick Devotions of the Church Cannot you serve God at least as well at Church as you do at Home And Publick Worship having bin the universal Practice of the World in all Ages and under all Religions does it become a modest Man to affront so general a Custom which if it be not expresly commanded by God yet at least has no hurt in it And since the generality of Mankind have not only consented in such a Practice but have believed it to be their Duty to pay their joyn'd and publick Acknowledgments to their Universal Lord and Father and are apt to suspect these Men of Atheism and Irreligion who deny or neglect it What Reason can be sufficient to perswade any Religious Man to oppose so universal a Belief and to incur the publick censures of Insidelity and Irreligion Especially since the publick Exercise of Religion is enjoyned by Humane Laws and to neglect it is an affront to the publick Wisdom and Authority of a Nation which though other things were equal makes publick Assemblies a Duty and private Devotion when we ought and may attend on publick Assemblies to be a Sin And indeed we cannot imagine that God should take it well of any Man how devout soever he be in private who will rather affront the Universal Practice founded upon as Universal a Consent of Mankind will rather be thought an Atheist or an Insidel will rather trample upon all Humame Authority than joyn with his Fellow-Creatures and Subjects and Neighbours in the publick Acts of his Worship Put the case any of you were the Father of a very numerous off-spring and that without any express Command from you most of your Children should agree by a common consent to visit you together once a week to ask your Blessing and pay their thankful Acknowledgments for your great care of them in their Education and in that liberal Provision you have made for them but one or two of your Children should chuse to come alone to you in private when no body sees them and obstinately refuse to come with the rest of their Brethren though they were censured by them with undutifulness and ingratitude for such a Neglect I am apt to think there is none of you would accept of such private Acknowledgments from those who refused the more publick and solemn Addresses and we have as little reason to expect acceptance from God when we refuse to worship him in the Congregation of his Saints how devout soever we are alone Nay though we should grant that private Devotions were as acceptable to God as Publick supposing they were performed with equal Zeal and Fervency of Mind yet upon this account Publick Worship has much the advantage good Company in all Cases is apt to give us greater briskness and vigour of Mind the very presence of devout Souls who breath forth their ardent Desires to God is enough to fire our cold and chill Spirits and good Men receive warmth and quickness from each other and grow into greater ardours and transports Hypocrites have no other sense of Devotion but what they receive from good Company but good Men themselves who have a true and constant sense of God many times experience a great difference in this respect between their private Retirements and the more publick and solemn Acts of Worship Thus you see that tho we could produce no express proof of the necessity of publick Worship yet there are sufficient reasons to prevail with every wise and good Man not to withdraw himself from the Communion of Religious Assemblies and therefore indeed we shall never find that a truly wise and good Man does Private Devotion may be a pretence to justify the neglect of publick Worship but I dare appeal to these Men's own Consciences that it is never the true Cause for Men who do heartily desire to worship God will chuse to worship him in the best and most solemn manner that is in the publick Assemblies of Christians But yet to take away this very pretence from them I come now to consider our Obligations to publick Worship 1. And first I shall argue from the Nature of Religious Worship and the fundamental Reasons of it Now Worship signifies all that part of Religion which immediately respects God as it is distinguished from Sobriety and Righteousness and is commonly known by the
that I need not insist on the proof of it Their several sorts of Sacrifices were to be offered at the Tabernacle or Temple by the Priests who were publick Persons even those particular Sacrifices which were offered for particular Men either Expiatory or Eucharistical to make atonement for their Sins or to be an oblation of Praise for particular Mercies were yet offered at the Temple and besides this they had Sacrifices for the whole Congregation as on the great day of Expiation which was not for any particular Man but for the whole Body of the People and therefore considered them all as united in the same Religion and Worship God appointed also a publick Place of Worship viz. the Tabernacle or Temple at Ierusalem and a publick place for Worship can be of no use if there were no obligation to publick Worship God also instituted publick Times of Worship the Seventh day Sabbath their New Moons and Annual Festivals when all their Males were to appear three times a Year before the Lord And such Times as these are described by calling Assemblies and solemn Meetings because then they met together for publick Worship for indeed it seems to be a contradiction to appoint publick and solemn Times for private Worship If Men are bound only to worship God in private there is no need of publick Days of Rest dedicated to God's Worship for every Man may take his own Time for it as he finds most convenient and useful but fixed and stated Times of Worship do necessarily suppose publick Worship and evidently prove that Solemn and Publick Days for Worship are not sanctified meerly by private Acts of Worship And therefore we may consider further that God entred into Covenant with the Children of Israel not as particular Persons but as the Seed of Abraham as a People and Nation whom he had chose for himself to be his peculiar Inheritance and therefore every part of his Covenant and the institution of Religious Worship is none of the least parts of it concerns them as a Nation So that this was a National Covenant and a National Religion and Worship and I need add no more to prove that according to God's Institution it was a publick Worship for God was the King of Israel and therefore required as publick Homage from them as other Princes expect from their Subjects as publick I say tho he can Challenge more divine Regards than earthly Princes because he was their God as well as their King And therefore the Children of Israel themselves are frequently called the Congregation of Israel and the whole Congregation as consisting of such Persons as used to meet together for publick Worship how had a right to Worship at the Tabernacle of the Congregation Let us then thirdly consider the Religion of our Saviour and what Obligations that lays on us to all the Acts of Publick Worship Now I need not tell you that Christ has instituted a Church which is so often in the Writings of the Apostles called a Church and the Church of Christ. Now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifies a Meeting and Assembly which is called together and so acquaints us what the Nature of a Christian Church is that it is a Society of Men united and combined together in the Faith and Worship of Christ For the Church of Christ is purely a Religious Society Our Saviour had no Temporal Kingdom as the Jews expected his Kingdom was not of this World and therefore his Church is nothing else but a Society of Men for the Worship of God through Christ which is a plain demonstration that every Member of the Christian Church is bound to join in all the Offices of publick Worship for there can be no Christian Church if there be no publick Worship because the Christian Church is a Religious Society that is a Society instituted for Religious Worship nor can he be a Member of the Christian Church who wholly neglects or despises publick Worship for he can at best be only a nominal Member of an Assembly who neglects to assemble with them especially when it is essential to our Membership to frequent such Assemblies Now we may safely conclude that Christ would never have instituted a Church or Religious Assembly for publick Worship had not publick Worship been much more acceptable to God than our private Devotions had it been so indifferent as some Men presume whether we worship God singly or in a Body and Society whether at Home in our Closet or in the publick Congregation And we may observe farther That this Church is called the Body of Christ and the Apostle tells us that there is but one body and one Spirit even as you are called in one hope of your Calling Now to be one Body as all good Christians are if Christ have but one Body signifies a very near and intimate union between all the Members of the Body this is agreed by all but then the Question is wherein this Unity consists Some place the Unity of Christians in one Faith in believing all the Articles of the Christian Faith or in having a mutual Kindness and Charity and it must be acknowledged that these are absolutely necessary to unite Christians to make them the one Body of Christ. But yet this is not all for there may be great Dissensions and Schisms where there is but one Faith as it was of old in those fearful Schisms of the Novatians and Donatists who differed not in Matters of Faith but Discipline and as our own sad Experience convinces us at this Day and Men may exercise a Christian Charity and Forbearance to each other without being Members of the same Body and therefore we must consider that this one Body is one Church and the Unity of a Church or Religious Assembly must of necessity consist in one Communion and therefore he who separates himself from Christian Communion who forsakes the Publick Assemblies for Religious Worship destroys the Unity of the Church which is a sufficient Argument that publick Worship when we can enjoy the Opportunities of it is essential to the Notion and Being of a Christian Church And therefore we find that this was the constant practice of Christians from the very first Foundations of a Christian Church Thus we read of those new Converts That they continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and in breaking of Bread and in Prayers And they continuing daily with one accord in the Temple and in breaking Bread from House to House did eat their Meat with gladness and singleness of Heart Here you see the Example of the first Christians they continued in the fellowship of the Apostles in the communion of Doctrine Sacraments and Prayers which is the true description of the Unity of the Christian Church and therefore the Christian Church is called a Communion or Fellowship That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that you may have fellowship with us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that you may become Christians and enter into our Society and truly our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Iesus Christ. And therefore the Sacrament of Baptism is our admission into the Christian Church that is gives a right to all the Priviledges of Christian Communion for we are baptized into one Body and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is expresly called the Communion it is that common Table which all Christians have a right to The Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ the Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ For we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all partakers of that one Bread It is essential to the nature of the Lord's Supper that it is a common Feast of which all Christians partake for it signifies not only our Union to Christ but our Union to one another in the same Body for which Reason the Reformed Churches universally condemn the private Masses of the Church of Rome where the Priest receives by himself and truly private Devotions when they thrust out publick Worship are much of the same nature So that the very Institution of a Church the Example of the Primitive Christians and those Sacraments of our Religion which our Saviour has instituted as the Badges of Christianity and the Conveyances of Spiritual Life and Grace may convince us how necessary Christian Communion and Publick Worship is if we will be the Disciples of Christ and we are expresly commanded by the Writer to the Hebrews Not to forsake the assembling of our selves together But we may consider farther that Christ has instituted an Evangelical Priesthood the publick Ministers of Religion whom he has commanded to instruct his Church to feed his Flock to pray for his People and to bless in his Name to whom he has committed the Power of the Keys to let in or to shut out of the Church Now what use could there be for publick Ministers unless publick Worship were a great and necessary Duty If it were so indifferent a thing whether Christians frequent the Religious Assemblies and continue in their Doctrine and Fellowship breaking Bread and Prayers it does not seem worth the while to have invested Men with such Power and Authority which is of so little use especially since Christianity is so much known and so far spread in the World whereas our Saviour promises to be with his Apostles unto the end of the World which could not be meant of the Persons of the Apostles for they are long since dead but of their Successors who retain their Office and Power as far as is necessary to the present state of the Church And the force of this Argument from the Apostolical Office will be better understood if we consider wherein the Power of the Keys consists which Christ committed to St. Peter and the rest of the Apostles or what is the true ancient Discipline of the Christian Church Now the Power of the Church which is truly Spiritual consists only in letting into the Church or shutting out The admission into the Church is by administring Baptism which they are made the external Judges of who are fit to be received into the Church by Baptism and who not shutting out of the Church is by exercising Censures upon Offenders which consists only in this in removing such Men from Christian Communion either in part or wholly for a time or for ever according to the severity of the ancient Discipline Some were not permitted to come into the Christian Assemblies but lay at the door lamenting their wickedness and begging their Prayers Others were admitted to publick Instructions but not to the Communion of Prayers or at least if they were admitted to the Prayers of the Catechumens those who were publickly instructed and catechised but not yet baptized were not allowed to be present at the Prayers of the Faithful Others were admitted to Prayers but not to the Supper of the Lord. Now all this supposes that Christian Communion is not only a necessary Duty but a great Priviledg since they had no other way of punishing Offenders but by denying them the liberty of Worship in their Assemblies but what would those Men value Church-Censures who make so slight of publick Worship as daily to excommunicate themselves Certainly these Men are greatly mistaken or else the very Office and Authority of an Apostle is a very inconsiderable thing and that dreadful Sentence of Excommunication which was so formidable in the Ancient Church is a very innocent and harmless thing since Men may as well worship God alone as in Christian Assemblies and that they might do when excommunicated or shut out of Christian Assemblies And I observe farther That our Saviour requires of us the publick profession of his Name and Worship which necessarily includes publick Worship Whosoever therefore shall confess me before Men him will I confess before my Father which is in Heaven but whosoever shall deny me before Men him will I deny before my Father which is in Heaven To confess Christ is to own him for our Lord and Saviour not only in words tho too many such there are whom our Saviour will not own will not confess before his Father which is in Heaven but by paying him such publick Homage and Worship as is a visible demonstration that we do own him for our Lord. For thus to confess Christ signifies With the mouth Confession is made unto Salvation for whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved The Christian Church was to be a Visible Society like a City that is set on a Hill or like a Candle placed in a Candlestick to give light to all that are in the House But the Church can never be visibly distinguished from the rest of the World without the publick and visible exercise of Religion and therefore our Saviour exhorts his Disciples Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven which must refer to all parts of Religion and therefore includes Acts of Worship as well as Acts of Mercy and Charity To conclude this Argument It is the acknowledged Duty of a Christian Prince to take care to encourage and propagate true Religion in his Dominions which can never be done without encouraging publick Worship correcting publick Abuses and punishing the neglect or profanation of it for if Mens Religion be confined to their Closets no Man can possibly tell what Religion they are of they may be Pagans Mahometans Papists or Infidels and no Man the wiser if they can but keep their own counsel And therefore if it be the Duty of Magistrates to encourage and reform Religion and yet nothing can fall within his cognizance or under his care but what is publick it is easy to conclude That publick Worship which is the Care of
Ages of the World and under all Forms of Religion Whatever Religious Rites are a Dishonour and Reproach to the Divine Nature or unbecoming the Seriousness and Solemnity of Worship natural Reason condemns as Idolatrous or Superstitious but whatever is no Dishonour to God and may be useful to Men is so far from being condemned that it is little less than the Law and Voice of Nature At least thus much we may certainly conclude that there can be no intrinsick evil in these things which are neither repugnant to the Nature of God nor the Reason of Man much less can it be Idolatry or Superstition to use a Form of Prayer and some significant Ceremonies in Religious Worship for Idolatry and Superstition are not made so by positive Laws and Institutions but to worship a false God or to pay such a false Worship to the true God as is a reproach to his Nature is Idolatry and Superstition consists in false Notions repugnant to the Nature of Worship and Men may be guilty of Superstition in using or not using very lawful and indifferent things when by an abused Fancy and ill instructed Conscience they imprint either a religious or sinful Character upon them either think they shall please God or fear they shall displease him by doing things in their own Nature indifferent and neither good nor bad but according as they are used And this is no small advance towards satisfying Mens Minds in the lawfulness of those Religious Ceremonies which tho indifferent in their own Nature yet are enjoyned by the Publick Authority of Church and State for the Order Decency and Solemnity of Worship For that which does not contradict the Light of Nature which has no repugnancy to the Nature of God nor is forbid by any plain positive Law is the matter of Christian Liberty and falls under the Government and Direction of our Superiors as will more evidently appear if we consider Secondly The Nature and Design of the Christian Religion which I shall discourse of only as it concerns the present Debate and if it shall appear that Liturgies and Ceremonies do no more contradict the Nature of Christianity than they do the Nature of God let us all seriously consider how we shall answer Disobedience to our Governours and Separation from the Church upon such accounts as these to our great Lord and Master when he comes to judg the World And here I shall do these two things 1. Shew you what that Worship is our Saviour instituted and how far it is from condemning the use of sober Liturgies or decent Ceremonies 2. What there is in the Christian Religion which countenances both 1. What the Worship is our Saviour Instituted Christ came into the World to reform Religion and there are four things he seemed principally to design 1. To Spiritualize our Worship 2. To strip it of all Types and Shadows 3. To deliver Religion from the Incumbrances of Superstitious Observances 4. To put a difference between the Substance Circumstances and Appendages of Religion between what is Natural and Moral and the Instrumental and External parts of Worship 1. Our Saviour's great design was to Spiritualize our Worship The Jewish Worship consisted in so many external Rites and Usages in Washings Purifications Sacrifices Oblations and the like that the generality of them placed the Worship of God in the Homage of the external Man If they did but worship God at the right place and with such Sacrifices and Ceremonies as he had appointed they took little care of inward Devotion But now our Saviour teaches the Woman of Samaria to worship God in Spirit and Truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth Which our Saviour does not oppose to external and bodily Worship which is the only visible Worship God can have in this World but either to a typical Worship of which more presently or to such external Worship as is separated from the Devotion of the Mind when Men draw nigh to him with their Lips but their Hearts are far from him So that if we can offer up a devout Soul to God in a Form of Prayer if the external Ceremonies of Religion do not hinder the Devotion of the Mind and Spirit so far we do not contradict or oppose the nature of Christian Worship and if Men do sink down into an external Form of Religion and never raise up their Hearts to God the Fault is not owing either to Liturgies or Ceremonies but to a carnal and earthly Mind Extemporary and conceived Prayer has indeed usurped the Name of Spiritual Prayer but for what Reason I know not for I suppose few Men will pretend to pray by Inspiration and tho extemporary Prayer may more heat the Fancy there may be more serious Devotion and Piety in using a Form when we have nothing to do but to offer up our Souls to God without setting our Inventions upon the Rack what to say An extemporary Prayer is as much a Form and does as much confine and stint the Spirit in all but the Speaker as a Book-Prayer does and that is a very sorry Devotion at best which owes its Heates and Passions not to an inward Sense of God but to a musical Voice earnestness in the Speaker surprising Invention or popular Rhetorick 2. Our Saviour's design was to strip Religion of Types and Shadows He did not indeed do this while he was upon the Earth because the Jewish Oeconomy was not ended all things were not fulfilled which were necessary to put an end to that State till Christ died nor did his Apostles do it immediately at least not in all places but yielded to Jewish Prejudices and indulged Jewish Converts in their Observation of Circumcision and other Mosaical Rites Tho St. Paul the great Apostle of the Gentiles would not suffer the Gentile Churches to be brought under that Bondage which occasioned a great many Disputes with the Jews as you may see in the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians But the abrogation of Mosaical and Typical Ceremonies does not infer a prohibition of all significant Ceremonies in the Christian Worship because the Reason and Nature of them were very different The Mosaical Ceremonies were Types of Christ who was to come in the Flesh and therefore to retain them in their proper Nature Use was to deny that Christ was come in the Flesh for when the Antitype appears there is no longer any use of a Type But now a few innocent Ceremonies which are neither burthensome for their number to encumber Religion and clog and shackle our Devotions nor signify any thing contrary to the Nature Design of Christianity but add to the external Decency and Solemnity of Worship and may withal suggest pious and devout Thoughts to us are far enough from a Typical Nature and therefore cannot be presumed to be shut out of the Christian Church together with the
visible Worship because it is separated from all external and visible signs of honour And therefore we may observe that good men in all Ages have not contented themselves meerly to worship God with devout thoughts and passions but with such external acts of Religion as either a Divine Institution or the Custom of their Countrey and the practice of the Church had made external signs of honour Such as uncovering the head or putting off their shooes or bowing the body or kneeling or prostration or lifting up eyes and hands to Heaven where God dwells For this we have the ancient Patriarchs the Jewish Church Christ and his Apostles and the whole Christian Church for many Ages for our example and it will be hard to find any sort of people in the World that pretended to any Religion but took great care of the exâ—eâ—nal solemnities and decent circumstances of Worship I know of no Age of the Christian Church till very lately wherein those men would have been allowed to be of any Religion or admitted to Christian Communion who should have betrayed such slight thoughts of God in a rude and slovenly Worship as too many among our selves are now guilty of and indeed this has insensibly crept upon us ever since those hot disputes about Ceremonies and the externals of Religion have troubled the Church for when men began to dispute down all good order and decent administration of Religious Offices they soon disputed away all external Worship and many who still pretend no great dislike to publick Constitutions are so far infected with this disease that they are not sufficiently careful of the gravity and seriousness of their devotion and some are so afraid of Fanaticism that they dare not look solemnly nor lift up their eyes and hands to Heaven for fear of being thought Fanaticks or hypocrites Thus while some men out of a groundless fear of Superstition strip Religion of all useful and decent Ceremonies and others out of as wild a suspicion of Fanaticism are afraid to appear grave and serious in their Religion the publick solemnities of Worship are either left to every mans fancy or performed in so careless and trifling a manner that the Name of God is dishonoured and his Worship profaned and scorned But my business at present is with those of our own Communion and possibly it may do them some good to tell them that they who appear so zealous against Fanaticism and are yet so trifling in their Worship are much the worst Fanaticks of the two For many of our Dissenters though they reject the use of our Ceremonies and neglect that external decency of Worship which has been in use in all Ages of the Church yet however they make a shew of great seriousness in their worship and seem to be very sensibly affected with it and therefore this looks like Worship though it want some external solemnities which may be thought needful but when men stare and gaze about them laugh or whisper at their prayers and betray great vanity and lightness of mind to say no worse instead of an awful sense and reverence of God this is so far from making any shew of Worship how exact soever they may be in their postures or responses that it is downright profaneness They are thus far fanatical in their principles that they must believe if they consider any thing that God does not much regard the Worship of the outward man for did they believe he did they would be more careful to pay it him for the bare doing any thing in Religious Worship such as kneeling at Prayers or standing up at the Hymns and Creed and the like does not make it so much as an external sign of Worship unless it be performed with that gravity and seriousness which is essential to all Religious Worship and if they believe that though God does expect the Worship of the body he matters not the Worship of the mind nor how carelesly external Worship is performed so it be done This is so wild a principle that it out-does all the Fanaticks that ever were in the World Those who were arrant hypocrites and yet very punctual in the externals of Religion such as the Scribes and Pharisees were in our Saviours dayes were withal very solemn and demure in those external superstitions and those who reject external Ceremonies of Religion yet pretend to great devotion of mind and rapturous ardours and transports of spirit but these men are for an external bodily Worship without so much as the least visible appearance of external devotion and if there be no other remedy I wish with all my heart that these men would make a Sect by themselves too and not reproach the Church of England by continuing in her Communion which has brought a greater scandal upon our Worship than all the arguments and cavils of Dissenters though the better way would be and that which I heartily beg of God and do earnestly beg all men to correct this fault and to wipe off that reproach of a cold formal Worship by expressing that grave and serious and ardent devotion which so much becomes all the true Worshippers of God is so essential to Religious Worship and so interwoven with all the publick Offices of our Religion which are admirably fitted to serve all the ends of a grave and serious Piety 2. Let us consider now the peculiar presence of God and holy Angels in Religious Assemblies Did we see God in a visible glory as he used to appear to Moses at the door of the Tabernacle every time we meet to worship him I am apt to think we should all express greater signs of Reverence and devotion and yet there is none of you but will pretend to believe that God is present in your Assemblies and that he takes a more particular notice of your carriage and behaviour when ye meet to worship him than he does at other times that is that he expects now that ye should take a more particular notice of his presence and behave your selves with a suitable reverence as those who believe that God is present in a peculiar manner though ye do not see him Under the Law God dwelt in the Tabernacle and Temple which was his house and therefore when the Tabernacle was finished God filled it with his presence and glory there was the Mercy-Seat covered with Cherubims which was a figure of Gods presence and the attendance of Angels and it was a constant opinion among the Heathens that their Gods dwelt in their Temples and Images consecrated to their Worship and though they were ridiculously foolish in thinking to charm their Gods by some Magical Rites and Mysteries and confine them to certain places yet the original of this was only a traditional belief that God was alwayes peculiarly present in all places of his Worship It is sufficiently evident that the Primitive Christians did believe that Angels who are Gods Retinue and Ministers do attend Christian Assemblies and are
consisting in such bold Allusions as any Man may make who has neither Modesty nor Grace and those Men who have no way to shew their Wit but by abusing their Maker have nothing to boast of but the very scum and putrefaction of Wit Thirdly These Men should consider what mischief they may do to publick Societies by laughing at Religion and exposing it to contempt for Religion is the firmest Bond of Humane Societies and if once Men should cast off the Fear of God nothing but external Fear and Power could restrain and govern them Atheism is a Secret which he who has it ought in prudence and interest to keep to himself for an Atheist can never mend his condition but may greatly injure himself by propagating Atheism All the Ends he can serve by Atheism he enjoys in greatest perfection while no Man understands the Secret but himself for the only end he can propose in it is to be delivered from the Fears of Invisible Powers to have no restraints laid upon his sensual Enjoyments but what Caution and Interest suggest that he may satisfy his Lusts by any means so long as he can secure himself from present danger Now when he is an Atheist alone he has great advantage of the rest of Mankind because they are restrained by a sense of Religion and the Fear of God which is as unequal a Match as to fight with a Man whose hands are tied when your own are free But now if he should by his Wit and Learning proselite a whole Nation to Atheism Hell would break loose upon Earth and he might soon find himself exposed to all those Violences and Injuries which he now securely practises When there is nothing to restrain Men from doing any wickedness they have a mind to but only the Fear of Humane Power this World will quickly prove a very miserable State and Scene of Confusion and Disorder of Rapes and Adulteries of Violence and Rapine of Blood and Murders especially if the great Leviathan who is intrusted with the Soveraign Power understands his own Liberty as well as his Atheistical Subjects do theirs So that no wise Man can think it his Interest to promote Atheism and therefore it cannot be his Interest to deride Religion and expose it to contempt Fourthly Another Reason why they should at least be modest Atheists is for fear that they should find a God when they come into the other World for they are not so absolutely certain that there is no God as to be perfectly secure that there is none though they think they can answer all the Arguments whereby Men prove there is a God which is the utmost they pretend to though they know how to make a World without God and can laugh at the silly Cheats which have been put upon Man-kind by some cunning States-men who invented the Belief of a God and the Fears of Religion to make their Government more easy and secure yet after all they dare not undertake to demonstrate that there is no God and that it is impossible there should be one and till they can do this they can never be perfectly secure that there is none And therefore lest they should find that there is a God when they come into the other World they should offer as few Affronts to him as may be here to deny his Being when he has furnished us with so many ways of knowing him is a sufficient Affront without any other additional Aggravations but if it were nothing but meer incurable ignorance which made Men Atheists the Fault is much less than when they express so much scorn and contempt of the very Name of God and Religion for this looks like a profest enmity to the Deity that they are not only ignorant of him for want of sufficient Evidence but that they hate and despise the least Thoughts and Imagination of such a Being as Men call God And therefore were it possible to separate the disbelief of a God from a hatred and contempt of him as certainly it might be were Men Atheists meerly for want of Evidence it would concern such Men though they enjoyed the other Liberties which Atheism allows yet to be very modest and civil even to the fanciful Idea and Imagination of a God For fifthly whether Religion be true or false it is no ridiculous thing and therefore it argues great folly for any Man to laugh at it If there be no God all Religion indeed is a Mistake but it is no ridiculous Mistake when there is such Evidence for it as convinces the generality of Mankind even the wisest and most inquisitive Men and what we call Religion is so grave and serious a Thing and of such high importance and concernment to us that if it be not true all Mankind have reason to wish it were true What more lovely and desirable Being could there possibly be than is represented by the Notion of a God an infinitely Wise and Powerful Holy and Just Being who made and who takes care of all his Creatures who governs the World with the kindness and tenderness of a Parent and takes care not only of the Great and Publick Affairs of Kingdoms and Empires but of every particular Creature how mean and contemptible soever it appears and if there be no God what Man who loves himself could forbear wishing that there were One on whom he might securely trust and depend in all Events And what is more worthy of a Reasonable Creature than to adore and worship so perfect and glorious a Being to pay our thankful Acknowledgments to our great Maker and constant Benefactor which is one great part of Religion which is nothing else but to love reverence and obey the most Lovely Excellent Powerful Wise and Holy Lord and Judg of the World And what can be more noble than the end of Religion which is not meerly to live happily a few Years in this World but to be happy for ever a Thing so agreeable to those vehement Desires of Immortality which are imprinted on our Natures and does so raise our Minds above the mean and beggarly Enjoyments of Sense that it makes a truly-religious Man almost as much differ from earthly Men and sottish Atheists as a Man differs from a Beast Here certainly is nothing that is contemptible nothing but what deserves to be admired and though the Atheist may think that we are mistaken in all this yet we cannot say that we have made a foolish choice This may suffice for the second Proposal to perswade them not to put publick Affronts upon God and Religion Thirdly If what I have already said could perswade these Men to treat the Name of God and Religion with some external Modesty and Respect my next Proposal to them should be Not to forsake the Publick Assemblies for Religious Worship and indeed they cannot do this unless they will set up for Atheism and openly profess it or at least bring themselves under a great suspicion of it Now
Sinners reasonably expect from God and much less challenge it as a right that he should redeem them from that state of Misery into which they had brought themselves by such an amazing stupendious and incomprehensible expression of his Love as the Incarnation and Death and Sufferings of his own Eternal only begotten and well-beloved Son Here is such a height and depth and length and breadth of the Love of God as passeth all Understanding this is Grace free Grace the Riches of Grace the abundant Riches of Grace And therefore this brings us under such Obligations of Love and Gratitude as infinitely excel all the Obligations of Natural Justice Now we are not our own but are bought with a price and therefore must glorify God both with our Bodies and Spirits which are God's We are now redeemed not with corruptible Things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as a Lamb without blemish and without spot who gave himself for us to redeem us from all Iniquity and to purify to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works As the whole Oeconomy of Man's Salvation by Christ is the effect of meer Grace and Love so Gratitude is the only true Principle of Gospel-Obedience to serve God out of a prevailing sense of his Goodness to feel that constraining Love and Power of Christ's Love engaging us to live to him who died for us For those Men greatly mistake the Nature and Obligations of Gratitude who think that Gratitude leaves them at liberty to do or not to do it as they please whereas the Obligations of Gratitude especially in our present Case are infinitely more strong and forcible than those of Justice and the punishment of Ingratitude proportionably great For how shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation if we refuse to hear him who spake from Heaven to us if we have troden under-foot the Son of God and counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith we were sanctified an unholy Thing and have done despite unto the Spirit of Grace Since then we are now under such powerful Obligations as the Love and Grace of God declared to us in the Gospel of his Son to love serve and worship him we should consider how unkind and ungrateful it is especially in those who call themselves Christians to slight or neglect the Worship of their God and Saviour certainly such Men cannot expect to be saved by Christ after all he has done and suffered for them when they will not thank him for it when they will not go to God in his Name As nothing is more infamous among Men so nothing does more provoke God than such rude Affronts of his Goodness to sin against the Grace of the Gospel and those surprising Discoveries and Manifestations of the Divine Goodness argue so brutish so diabolical a temper of mind such a perfect contrariety and contradiction to the Nature of God that such Men must naturally sink into the lowest Hell for those who have no sense of the Gospel-Grace who cannot be conquered nor affected with all the Charms of so powerful a Love are as incurable as Apostate Spirits Fourthly Another Aggravation of the Guilt of this Sin is That those who are baptized and professed Christians and I suppose I write to none else are under the Obligation of their Baptismal Vow to worship God and therefore to neglect his Worship is Perjury and breach of Covenant it is an Apostacy from Christianity though they still retain the Name of Christians And dost thou know what this is thou profane Wretch who thinkest it lost time to serve God who canst not spare so much time from worldly Cares or from thy Sports and Pleasure as to attend the Worship of God in the Assemblies of Christians Wast thou ever Baptized and dost thou know what the signification of Baptism is That thou art taken into Covenant with God and hast obliged thy self to serve and worship him that thou art incorporated into the Christian Church and therefore obliged to live in the Communion of the Church that is to frequent Christian Assemblies and to join in all the Parts and Offices of Religious Worship and art not thou afraid to deal falsely and treacherously with thy God For Vengeance is mine saith God I will repay it It is a dreadful thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God To have our Portion with Hypocrites and Unbelievers signifies in the New Testament the greatest miseries of the next World Now as Unbelievers signifies such Infidels as obstinately refuse to believe the Gospel when it is fairly proposed to them So Hypocrites does not only signify as some Men mistake the word those who counterfeit Religion who make a fine external shew and appearance of Piety and Devotion when they are rotten at the Heart but it signifies those also who live contrary to their Profession who are suppose nominal and titular Christians who have been baptized in the Name of Christ and own his Religion as the Religion of their Country but live lewd and profligate lives make no Conscience of worshipping God nor ever think of saving their Souls These are the Men who are proposed as the Patterns and Examples of the severity of God's Judgments to deter any Man from imitating their wickedness lest they be punished with Hypocrites and Unbelievers Those who are baptized into the Christian Church into the Faith and Worship of Christ do not only forfeit all the Blessings of the Covenant by renouncing or contradicting their Baptismal Vow in an habitual course of a wicked and licentious Life but become obnoxious to all the Threatnings of the Gospel in their utmost severity which is a much worse state than the poor Heathens are in who never heard of Christ for they shall not be judged by the Gospel which was never preached to them and therefore shall not be condemned by the Gospel neither as St. Paul tells us That as many as have sinned without Law shall also perish without Law and as many as sinned in the Law shall be judged by the Law And by the same Reason we may add As many as have sinned in the Gospel shall be judged by the Gospel Now to perish without the Law signifies a much easier punishment than to be judged by the Law and to be judged by the Gospel signifies a great deal more than that for as God hath increased his Grace to Man-kind so he has always annexed severer Punishments to the abuse of it Thus our Saviour tells us It shall be easier for Sodom and Gomorah in the day of Iudgment than for Capernaum Sodom and Gomorah were as vile infamous Places as were in the World and God destroyed them by very memorable Judgments by raining Fire and Brimstone on them from Heaven but yet they never enjoyed those means of Grace which Capernaum did where our Saviour himself preached in Person and confirmed the Truth of his Doctrine by many mighty Works and therefore they should
escape better at the last Judgment than Capernaum and Capernaum I doubt will escape much better than the Infidels and Atheists and profane despisers of Religion in our days because they laboured under old and inveterate Prejudices which could not easily be removed but required time and patience and the exercise of free and impartial Reason to wear them off But now when the Gospel has prevailed in the World for so many Ages when Men are educated in the Christian Religion and have all the Prejudices of their first and early Instructions on the right side when it is so difficult a thing to cast off their reverence for God and to silence and stupify their clamorous Consciences for Men to use so much Art and Industry to turn Atheists or Infidels or profane Scoffers at Religion will admit of no excuse but is the highest Affront to God and will receive the sorest Punishment and a Sentence as amazing and astonishing as the Sin is Thus I have represented the evil and heinous Nature of this Sin and if these Men do believe that there is a God as they profess to do would they give themselves time seriously to consider these things I cannot imagine but it must have some good effect upon them For can any Man who believes a God if he ever consider such Matters endure the least thought of putting such a scorn and contempt upon God as the neglect of Religious Worship does naturally signify He knows what a sharp resentment he himself has of a slight or neglect how ill he takes it if Men industriously avoid his Company if they do but talk and seem to mind something else when he is telling a Story if his Friends neglect to visit him and turn their heads another way when they pass by his Door and he knows how sensible Superiors especially are of such neglects from their Inferiors For a Prince to be slighted by his Subjects or a Father by his Children or a Master by his Servants is thought so unsufferable a rudeness as cannot be too severely punished And therefore considering that infinite distance which is between God and Creatures he may easily conclude how ill God takes the neglect of his Worship which is the greatest slight that can be put upon him and argues very mean and contemptible Thoughts of him if such Men did think of him at all And when he considers also how many Obligations he lies under to worship God he cannot but blush to be guilty of so great injustice not to praise and magnify him who deserves to be praised and to be had in reverence by all those who are about him He thinks it great injustice to detract from the Praises of worthy and deserving Men or to conceal them what is it then not to ascribe to God the Glory and Perfection of his Nature and Works which are proclaimed by all the World Not to adore and worship our Maker who made us for this end that we might see and speak of his Glory Did God give me Eyes may such a Man say to see the Glory of this World and an Understanding to search out the first Cause to whom the Praise of all is due that when I have found him I should take no notice of him neither confess his Power nor admire his Wisdom nor praise his Goodness Did he give me a Tongue to talk of every Trifle and never to be silent but where it ought to be most vocal in the Praises of my Maker How ill should I take it could I make any Being that could understand or speak should it refuse to acknowledg from whence it was and to whom it owes its Being Consider my Soul how thou shouldest resent the neglect of a Son of a Client of a redeemed Captive or of any one whom thou hast obliged and by thy Bounty raised from a low to a splendid Fortune who owes his Being his Fortune his Liberty and all the Comforts and Blessings of Life to thee And is it nothing then to neglect the Worship of that God who is the Universal Parent Lord and Benefactor of the World who has redeemed thee with the Blood of his Son and designed a more glorious Happiness for thee if thy unjust and ungrateful neglects of him do not render thee uncapable of his Favour But how unpardonable is it for a Man to be false to his Oaths and Covenants Such Persons are not thought fit for Humane Conversation who break the most Sacred Ties and therefore can never be trusted but yet no Man ever broke his Word much less an Oath or Covenant but when he expected to make some advantage of it And shall I break the Covenant of my God a Covenant to which I owe all my hopes of Happiness all the Good I now enjoy and all that I expect If I forfeit my Interest in this Covenant I must be miserable and perish like a Fool and since I cannot forfeit my Interest without breaking my Covenant I must perish like an Apostate a Runnagate a Traitor or like one who deserves to suffer the worst things but deserves no Pity and is it so grievous a thing to worship God that I should chuse rather to be unjust to be ungrateful to be perfidious to God to forfeit his Love and Favour and to incur his hottest Displeasure than acknowledg that I owe all to him that I have and that I expect all from him SECT III. Concerning the Danger of Irreligion both with respect to this World and the next and the folly of it with a serious Exhortation to these Men to take care of their Souls SEcondly I shall now consider the Danger of Irreligion in neglecting or contemning the Worship of God For those who will not be wrought on by a sense of Justice or Gratitude may yet be governed by the more brutish Principle of Fear Now the Danger of this respects both this World and the next 1. The Danger of Irreligion with respect to this World Now whoever believes there is a God who governs all Humane Affairs in whom we live move and have our Being who disposes of our several Fortunes and Conditions of Life must needs apprehend himself in great danger of being miserable here while he neglects to adore and reverence the soveraign and unaccountable Lord of the World We find throughout the Scripture that the Promise even of Temporal Blessings and Deliverance is made only to those who beg it of God by their servent and importunate Prayers This is the course all good Men in all Ages have taken and found the blessed success of it Call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me For thou Lord art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in Mercy unto all them that call upon thee Give ear O Lord unto my Prayer and attend unto the Voice of my Supplications In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee for thou wilt answer me He shall
all manner of Wickedness and naturally tends to harden Men in Sin and very often ends in down-right Atheism Men who have cast off all sense and reverence for God have no other restraint from the greatest Villanies but what the Laws of the Land their own natural Tempers their Education and Converse and such-like Considerations lay upon them which can keep very few Men who have cast off the Fear and Reverence of God within any tolerable bounds and thus Men run into the wildest Excesses and wound their Consciences and stain their Reputations till they grow hopeless desperate and impudent Sinners Men who are very bad and yet will not neglect their Prayers nor absent themselves wholly from Christian Assemblies do what they can find great checks of Conscience and have a great many sober Intervals they cannot say their Prayers and confess their Sins to God and beg his Pardon and Mercy but their Consciences will reproach them and put them at least upon some imperfect resolutions of amendment and when they attend the preaching of the Word they often are so startled and scared and labour under such strong Convictions that they are not able to resist any longer and the good Spirit of God does not wholly forsake those Men who attend the Publick Ministries of Grace but sometimes works such miraculous Cures as are the triumphs of a Soveraign Grace and therefore the Case of these Men can never be so desperate and hopeless as theirs is who take care to think of him as little as possibly they can and withdraw themselves from Publick Instructions that they may sin on without disturbance till they drop into Hell Thirdly Let us now consider the folly of Irreligion and there is the more reason to do this because the Irreligious and Profane the Practical as well as the Speculative Atheist is very apt to boast of his Wit and Understanding and to think himself much above the ordinary level of Mankind But the Spirit of God calls them Fools The Fool hath said in his Heart There is no God which is not meant of the Speculative but of the Practical Atheist who though he professeth to believe that there is a God yet lives as if there were none And if Religion be the onely true Wisdom Irreligion must be the greatest folly and yet so we are taught in Scripture that the fear of the Lord that is the Worship of God which is the most natural expression of our reverence of him that is Wisdom The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom a good understanding have all they that do his Commandments The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom and the Knowledg of the Holy is Understanding Now what I have already discoursed of the Evil and Danger proves also the Folly of Irreligion for what can be more foolish than that which contradicts the best Reason of our Minds and our natural Obligations to worship God founded on the highest Wisdom What can be more foolish than to undermine our own Interest to lay Trains of Misery for our selves and to forfeit our present and future Happiness That is cursed contemptible Wit which will droll away a Man's Life and his Soul together But besides all this the Folly of Irreligion will appear if we consider these two Things 1. That it transforms a Man into a Beast and then though such a Man may have all the wild conceits of Apes and Monkeys and the craft and subtilty of a Fox yet he has not the Understanding and Wisdom of a Man He may have an inferior sort of Wit and may be reckoned the top and perfection of the meer Animal and Sensitive Life but is fallen vastly below the Attainments of Men for it is not Reason but Religion which is the Glory and Perfection of Humane Nature as every one must acknowledg who believes that there is a God for God is the noblest Object of our Minds and to adore and worship him is to act according to the most excellent capacity of our Natures I doubt not at all but brute Creatures have an inferior degree of Reason fitted to the low Attainments of their Natures and that they commonly reason more wisely and truly in their own Concerns than Irreligious Men do in theirs but they cannot know God nor worship him they cannot see nor adore his infinite Perfections their Reason is confined to a narrow compass to those things which concern the preservation of their own Being and the enjoyments of their Natures and such a kind of Being is an Irreligious Man whose Reason indeed is capable of higher and nobler flights but is pinnioned down and confined to present and sensible Objects and serves only to corrupt and deprave a more excellent Nature into a brutish State Now if that be the true Wisdom and Glory the specifical Difference of a Man which distinguishes him from all inferior Creatures then Religon as the Scripture tells us must be his Wisdom and whatever Wit Irreligious Men may pretend to being so much below the Attainments nay being no better than the Corruption of Humane Nature it may set them a degree above the Wit of a Beast but is no better than folly in a Man 2. There is not a more certain demonstration of folly than for Men to act foolishly especially in Matters of vast Concernment and this consideration impeaches the Irreligious Man of the most despicable Folly as to give you some Instances of this Some neglect to worship God out of a careless trifling humour they never consider what God is how much they owe to him how intirely they are at his disposal what the danger and punishment of Irreligion is and if it be folly not to use the wisest Thoughts and best Consideration we have in matters of the greatest moment then Irreligion is Folly Others neglect the Worship of God because it disturbs them in the secure enjoyment of their Lusts and puts a great many black and melancholy Thoughts into their Heads which is just as wise as to shut our Eyes and run down a Precipice because it makes us melancholy to open our Eyes and see our Danger whereas a wise Man would rather chuse to open his Eyes that he might see how to avoid it Others take offence at Religion because they see a great many Hypocrites zealous pretenders to Religion and they had as good never mind Religion as be Hypocrites but is this a good Reason not to mind Religion because Hypocrites pretend to Religion when indeed they have none Cannot they be sincerely Religious though Hypocrites be not Are there not a great many Religious Men who are no Hypocrites And is not that a better Reason to be Religious without Hypocrisy than to be of no Religion to declare to all the World that we are not Hypocrites Others are scandalized at the great variety of Religions which are as contrary to each other as Light to Darkness and conclude that it is to no
reasonable exception against Truth if there are any new Discoveries to be made in this last Age of the World yet we all know when we speak only of the Power of Prejudice that it is a harder thing to perswade Men to part with such Doctrines Customs Usages Religions which they have received from their Ancestors for many Generations than to part with some novel Invention whose very Novelty will not admit of any strong and lasting Prejudice Thus we know the Antiquity of the Pagan Religion which pleaded the Prescription of unknown Ages made it extreamly difficult to perswade Men to renounce their Country Gods and to embrace Christianity and that Objection of Novelty tho it were false was yet a great hinderance to the reception of the Gospel which I alleadg to shew that a long and immemorial Prescription is a more powerful Prejudice than some few Years Education and therefore if the Prejudices of Education be thought sufficient to justify our Dissenters it is a much better Justification of Pagans and Papists in forreign Countries For 2ly it may cause a reasonable suspicion in honest Dissenters sufficient to put them upon a new search and enquiry when they remember that the King and the Church of England fall together that those who altered the Government of the Church pulled down Monarchy and transformed themselves into as many different shapes and forms in the State as they set up new Models of Discipline and Government in the Church which is an Argument that they were not the most infallible Men nor acted by the best Principles that ever were The Church of England as established by Law has had possession in this Nation ever since the Reformation and a few Years interruption in a time of Rebellion and great Confusion is not sufficient to dispossess it and therefore all Men ought to have laid aside their Prejudices and to have returned to the Communion of the Church as well as to their Loyalty to their Prince unless they could shew some better Reasons against it than the Prejudices of Education which can be no just excuse at this day for he is a very unreasonable Man who shall desire any more than twenty Years to wear off the Prejudices of twenty Years Education Especially when we consider thirdly That no other Religion or form of Church Government ever had a legal possession of this Nation during this Anarchy and Interregnum of Church and State Neither Presbytery Independency nor Anabaptism were setled by Law but they shuffled as well as they could and used their utmost skill to establish themselves by the numbers and power of their several Parties and sometimes one praviled and sometimes another and instead of one National Church we had twenty National Schisms but no Church Which 4thly plainly shews That the Prejudices of Education can be no good Plea in this Case for it is impossible the Prejudices of Education should be strong and invincible where there is no one fixed Church nor one face of Religion in a Nation but several Churches quarrelling and contending with each other Those who are brought up in a Country where the People never heard but of one Religion as it is in Spain or at least never heard of any other but under such dismal frightful Characters as may raise their indignation and their hatred of such Monsters it is no wonder I say if such Men's Prejudices be very strong and almost invincible but when Men see Religion in so many shapes and converse with Men of different Perswasions and see that they are not Monsters but Men like themselves this rather inclines them to uncertainty and Scepticism in Religion to be sure it is not apt to possess them with any fixt and unalterable Prejudices for or against any Religion And therefore we find in this state of things how Men make their advances from one Church to another till at last they come to Quakerism the end and centre of all Confusion as being at the greatest distance from all good Order Now when Men are in such a wandring state like Travellers who have no certain Abode but pass out of one Country into another visit all and stay no where which is the deplorable Case of many thousand poor injudicious People it is ridiculous to plead Prejudice in their Justification 2. Others engage themselves in Schism out of lightness and giddiness of Mind They have no fixt and stable Principles and can never like one thing long together or they run into Conventicles out of a wanton curiosity and are taken with any thing or with nothing as it happens and thus by degrees contract Prejudices against that Church whose Communion they forsook without any reason and then believe it to be unlawful without any The Zeal of their Preachers and those hard words they give the Church and Churchmen makes them believe there is some cause for it tho they know not what and they learn by roat some popular Objections and Cavils and when they are once engaged lay aside all thoughts of further consideration or a timely retreat When Men first begin to separate and then learn some Doubts and Scruples and in time improve those Doubts into lasting Principles of Schism it is no Argument of any great honesty for an honest Man must first have very undeniable proof that Communion is unlawful before he can entertain the least thought of a Separation and did Men take this course the Schism would soon be at an end 3. Others take distaste at the publick Administrations of Civil Government and hence take occasion to quarrel with the Church This seems strange that whatever is done amiss in the State should be made an Argument against the Church when the Church in a Christian Kingdom is subordinate to the State and has no power to correct the Miscarriages of Civil Government as Civil Governors have to correct and reform the Abuses and Exorbitances of Ecclesiastical Power But some Persons observing that close Union which is between Church and State think it a vain thing to attempt the Crown till they have first pulled down a Legal Church But tho these Men may talk very much against Church-Impositions and seem as much concerned for Liberty of Conscience as they are for the Liberty of the Subject it is plain Religion is the least thing in their thoughts they love Schism only for the sake of Rebellion and look upon Schismatical Conventicles as admirable Nurseries for the Camp tho I am willing to hope they may be mistaken in it That this was the plain state of the Case in our late Troubles we have been lately told in print by one who is no great Friend to the Church of England tho I wonder so grave and wise a Man should thus openly betray the Secrets of his Party tells us That when the War was begun by Church-men who had no design at first to pull down the Church the Auxiliaries of the Parliament the Scots would not
prevail with some honest but less thinking Men to forsake our Communion And I shall only mention those which concern the Rites and Ceremonies of our Church and all that I shall at present do here shall be to answer some hard Words and ill Names which are given to our Worship and shew how ignorantly and injuriously they are applied to the Church of England Such are these Will-Worship Superstition Idolatry Popery These are hard Words which very few People understand and therein the great force of the Objection lies as will appear from a particular examination of them First Will-Worship Now when Men charge the Church of England with Will-Worship they generally understand such a Worship as is not commanded by God but is originally owing to the Will and Invention of Men. Now this I absolutely deny that there is any such thing as Will-Worship in the Church of England The Worship of the Church of England consists in publick Prayers and Praises in reading the Scriptures and expounding them to the People and instructing them in the great Articles of Faith and Rules of Life in singing Psalms and administring the Supper of our Lord and such like Exercises of Devotion All which are expresly commanded in Scripture and therefore cannot be Will-Worship in this Sence for they are not the Inventions of Men but the Institutions of Christ. It is true there are some Circumstances and Ceremonies of Religious Worship used and enjoyned in the Church of England which are not commanded by God but these are no parts of Worship and therefore not Will-Worship We do not think wearing a Surplice to be an act of Worship nor expect to please God by any external Dress or Habit but we think it a decent Garb for those to use who minister in holy things We do not think kneeling at the Sacrament to be an Act but a Posture of Worship as it is of Prayer and therefore not kneel to the Bread and Wine but receive them kneeling as expressing that Reverence and Devotion of Mind which becomes such a mysterious Worship and as a Posture suitable to those Prayers which in the Act of receiving we put up to Heaven The Cross in Baptism is not designed as any act of Worship to God but as a visible Profession of our Faith in a crucified Saviour it is not a dedicating and covenanting Sign which respects God but at most an engaging Sign which respects the Church and therefore is not an Act of Worship much less Will-Worship To institute any new Kind or Species of Worship is certainly unlawful as to make any new object of Worship whether it be a visible representation such as a Picture and Image or invisible Beings as Angels and deisied Men a numerous company of whom are worshipped in the Church of Rome or any new Acts of Worship such as frequent Washings Purgations Sacrifices Pilgrimages c. But the Circumstances and Ceremonies of Religious Actions which are no where determined by God may and must be determined either by our own Prudence or by the Prudence of our Governours without the least suspicion of Will-Worship because they neither are nor are designed for Acts of Worship But we must observe further that this Word Will-Worship is found but once in all the Scripture and some very wise and learned Men question whether in that place Will-Worship be condemned by the Apostle as an ill thing the Words are these Which things have indeed a shew of Wisdom in Will-Worship and Humility and neglecting the Body not in any honour of satisfying the Flesh For they observe that Will-Worship is joyned with two other very good things Humility and neglecting the Body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies external Severities and Mortifications to keep down the Body and bring it into Subjection not to pamper it with high Nourishment nor to make Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof which seems to be the meaning of what follows not in honour in satisfying the Flesh for Honour as St. Hierom observes signifies taking Care of and making Provision for it So that we may as well say that Humility and bodily Severities Strictness and Austerity of Life in suppressing all the Motions of Lust and the least inclinations to sensual Pleasures are forbidden or censured by the Apostle as that Will-Worship is for there is as much appearance of his condemning one as t'other And besides this the Apostle says that these things have a shew of Wisdom in Will-Worship c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now we expound this to signify only a false appearance of Wisdom yet that supposes that Will-Worship and Humility and bodily Severities are in themselves good things and parts of Religious Wisdom when other things which are not good gain a Reputation of Wisdom by being like them for that which makes these things to have a shew of Wisdom is that they are mistaken for Will-Worship Humility and neglecting the Body And therefore according to this way of expounding the Words by Will-Worship we must understand voluntary Worship which answers to Free-Will-Offerings under the Law which were not commanded by God but yet were very acceptable to him when Men do something more than God has expresly commanded and deny themselves those Liberties and Enjoyments which God allows in order to some Spiritual End to refine and purge their Souls that they may arrive at more perfect attainments in Goodness And there is so much to countenance this Interpretation that all the Superstitions in the World do deceive and abuse Men and pass for excellent attainments in Religion under the shew and appearance of voluntary Worship and Free-Will-Offerings of doing something more than God has enjoyned them whereby they think they so highly merit of God as to obtain the pardon of their Sins and become his peculiar Favourites Thus the Pharisees thought to do by observing the Traditions of their Fathers by their frequent Washings Purifications Fastings and Tything even Mint and Cummin Thus the Papists do by their Fasts Pilgrimages and Penances but the mistake is that this is but a false appearance of Wisdom because tho at first it looks like the noble generous Worship of Free-Will-Offerings yet it is not so For tho under the Law Free-Will Offerings were not commanded which had destroyed the Nature of a Free-Will Offering yet there are directions given what such Persons shall offer to God in case they do offer at all and in particular that there shall be no blemish in it which signifies that this voluntary Worship must be confined to such Instances as we know are acceptable to God and therefore when Men spend their Zeal in some voluntary Superstitions which cannot please God such things have only a shew a false appearance of Wisdom in voluntary Worship because tho their Worship be voluntary and so far commendable yet they do not make a wise choice of the Acts of Worship do not worship God in an acceptable manner And this is
all the publick solemnities of Worship 4. Publick Baptism is very much for the edification of the Church It minds Christians of their Baptismal Vow which I fear too many are apt to forget it puts good thoughts into them when they see what a grave and serious thing it is to be a Christian it sets their consciences on work to review their past lives and to consider how they have kept their Baptismal Vow it minds Children and Servants of their duty who are seldome at private Baptism and are many times more affected with such a sight than with the best counsels It minds those who have been God-Fathers or God-Mothers what charge they have undertaken which they are to look upon as somewhat more than a complement to a friend or matter of ceremony even a trust and a trust of the highest nature an obligation to God and to his Church to take care of the Vertuous and Religious Education of such Children Which may convince all considering men of what great use it is that Baptism should be administred with all the aweful and publick solemnities that may be and not be huddled over in private as a thing that must be done though it matters not how 5. For this we have the example of the Primitive Christians who always administred Baptism in publick places and in the presence of the Congregation At first indeed they baptized in Rivers or Ponds as Iohn the Baptist did in Iordan where our Saviour himself was baptized which made many in the Primitive Church ambitious to be baptized there also as Eusebius reports of Constantine the Emperour though he was disappointed in it afterwards they built Fonts near the Church then in the Church-porch and at last in the Church it self and never allowed of private Baptisms but in danger of death And to make the action more solemn they had publick times for Baptism which in most Churches were Easter and Whitsunday when all their Catechumens who desired Baptism and were judged fit to receive it were admitted into the body of Christians and made members of Christ and of his Church And thus it continued in following Ages and so it ought still to be according to the Rubrick of our Church I mean as to the publick administration of Baptism though it be not now confined to such certain times which allows of no private Baptisms but in danger of death So that this is a plain transgression of the Rule and therefore such a disorder as no man should be guilty of who professes himself a member of our Church CHAP. V. Concerning the publick Instructions of Youth ANother great miscarriage is that few men are so ready and careful as they ought to be to submit their Children and Servants to publick Instructions Of what mighty concernment the Religious and Vertuous Education of Youth is I need not tell you for in a great measure their happiness in this World and in the next depends on it when Children are brought up in ignorance and folly it layes a foundation of Atheism and Debauchery in their riper years Unless they be tâ—ught to know and to fear God betimes they are in great danger of laughing at God and Religion and making a mock of sin as they grow in years and wickedness I doubt not but the Atheism and lewdness of this present Age has been as much owing to the miscarriages of Parents and Governours in the Education of Children and Youth as to any one cause besides How many Children have never been taught any other Catechism than some flattering Complements modish Oaths and obscene talk How many have been instructed in prophane and impious Jests and all the topicks of irreligious Wit and no wonder there are so many great Proficients who are wicked above their age and can as pertly and confidently laugh down God and Religion as the gravest and most studied Atheists Others are not so industrious to corrupt Youth but yet take no care to instruct them better to possess their tender minds with the knowledge and love of God and true goodness and then there is no great need to teach them to be wicked If the ground been't tilled and cultivated you can expect no good fruit but weeds will grow of themselves Others possibly do take care to instruct their Children in the Principles of Religion and to train them up to the practice of Vertue and I only wish there were greater numbers of these men we might then hope in time to see the World reformed and Religion grow into fashion and credit again at least the next generation might see the blessed effects of those seeds of Vertue and Piety which are sown now But there is one great neglect of very mischievous consequence easie to be observed among us and we can expect no great good till it be reformed and that is the neglect of publick Catechizing which may be sometimes the neglect of the Minister but is oftner the neglect of the people who cannot be perswaded to submit their Children and Servants to publick instructions nor to give any incouragement to it by their own presence and attendance That this is so is too evident and yet I cannot make any probable conjecture what should be the cause of this For 1. No man certainly can think it an indifferent thing whether his Children be thoroughly instructed in the principles of Christian knowledge for knowledge must be both the rule of practice and the motive of obedience the Laws of the Gospel must be the rule of our life and practice and no wonder men do amiss who know not what they ought to do the Articles of the Christian faith are the motives and principles of obedience to enable us to conquer the corrupt inclinations of our nature and the allurements and temptations of this World and no wonder men are conquered who understand not the use of their spiritual armour who are ignorant of those things without the belief and knowledge of which they cannot conquer Such as the being and nature and providence of God the incarnation death and sufferings resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God the influences and assistances of the Divine Spirit the Judgement to come and everlasting life after death Nor is it sufficient to be able to say over these words without some competent understanding of the sense and meaning of them the Articles of our Creed do not work like Spells or Charms by the Magical power or sound of words but as arguments and motives that is as they convey such a sense of things to our minds as govern our affections and subdue them to the obedience of Christ and therefore no man can be the better for his faith who does not throughly understand what he believes And though hearing Sermons may help somewhat towards the instruction of Youth yet this cannot be so effectual as Catechizing for the first principles of knowledge ought to be taught by few and plain words and instill'd