Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	world_n	worship_n	zeal_n	152	3	7.5881	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

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

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

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