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
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
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
name of Godliness as the Apostle divides the several Duties of Religion into three parts living soberly righteously and godlily in this present World And the proper Notion of worshipping God is to honour him all the several Acts of Worship honour God as they signify our great sense and devout acknowledgment of his Being Power and Providence of the Excellencies and Perfections of his Nature our dependence on him submission to him trust and affiance in him such as are great and venerable apprehensions of God Prayers Praises Thanksgivings and the like Now every Man must acknowledg that Honour is always the greater the more publick it is That he who has great and admiring Thoughts of God and publishes this to the World in the most solemn manner honours God a great deal more than he who keeps these Thoughts to himself and praises God so privately that no Man knows it but himself The Prophet David resolves to make his Praises of God as publick as he could I will declare thy Name unto my Brethren in the midst of the Congregation will I praise thee And exhorts others to exalt him in the Congregation of the People and praise him in the Assemblies of the Elders Praise ye the Lord I will praise the Lord with my whole Heart in the Assembly of the Upright and in the Congregation And besides this we may consider that there are two parts of Worship the Worship of the Mind which consists in honouring God with devout and pious Affections in bowing our Souls before him and the external and visible expressions and significations of this Honour which is external and visible Worship such as praying and praising God with an audible Voice falling down on the ground kneeling uncovering the Head and those other outward Expressions of Devotion which signify the humble and devout Affections of the mind now tho these external signs of Honour may and ought to be used in Private and Closet Devotions so it be with due caution not to make them publick which is a piece of Pharisaical Hypocrisy yet the proper use of them is in publick Acts of Worship to testify our concurrence and agreement with other devout Persons in the same Acts of Worship for God knows our Thoughts and Affections and therefore needs not to be acquainted with our Desires by cloathing them with words he hears the most silent breathings of our Souls and therefore needs not that we should speak to him in an audible Voice he sees the bending of our Souls and the most humble submission and prostration of our Minds and needs not be informed of this by bending or bowing our Bodies to him but Men cannot see this but by external signs nor join in the same Petitions and Praises without words so audibly pronounced that all present may hear them and therefore those Scriptures which require these external Signs of Worship suppose that this Worship must be publick too that we must meet together to offer up our united Prayers and Thanksgivings to God And accordingly we find that all the Psalms of David were penned for publick Worship for the use of the Temple and delivered to the Master of Musick to be sung as publick Hymns of Prayer or Thanksgiving And if we enquire into the fundamental Reasons of Worship we shall find our Obligations much more strong to publick than to private Worship tho that be our Duty also especially when we want such publick Opportunities The natural Reason of worshipping God is that he is the most excellent and perfect Being the great and universal Parent and Benefactor and the Soveraign Lord and Judg of the World for it becomes us to acknowledg and adore him who is our Maker in whom we live move and have our being who feeds and cloaths us who defends us from Evil who encompasseth us with his loving kindness and tender mercies and therefore these are the Subjects of most of those Forms of Worship Prayer and Thanksgiving which we find recorded in Scripture especially in the Writings of the Old Testament Now all this is a more cogent Reason for publick than for private Worship for though we are bound to acknowledg those particular Favours and Blessings which God hath bestowed on us which is the foundation of private Worship yet God is not so much to be considered a private as a publick Benefactor as an universal Parent and soveraign Lord and therefore must be worshipped as a publick Benefactor that is with publick Worship for there is no visible Worship of God as the Supream Lord of the World unless it be publick And since all Mankind are God's Creatures and the Subjects of his Care and Providence and are every one of them bound to worship the same God natural Reason will inform us that we ought all to join in the same acts of Worship which gives a greater awe and solemnity to it for we cannot think that Man was made a sociable Creature for every thing else but only for Acts of Worship which is his highest End and greatest Perfection and therefore if Men unite themselves into Societies for Civil Order and Government it is as highly reasonable that they should unite for Religious Worship unless we think that Bodies Politick Kingdoms and Common-wealths are not bound to worship God as every particular Person is tho it be an old Maxim of Government That Religion is the surest Bond and Cement of Civil Societies Especially when we consider that the greatest Blessings we are to praise God for are such as are bestowed on us in common with others or all Mankind such as the influences of Heaven and the fruitfulness of the Earth the blessing of Peace and Plenty deliverance from Enemies the advantages of good Government and all other National Mercies and above all the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ so that God is defrauded of his Glory if our Acknowledgments be not as publick as his Blessings are For private Praises are not just Returns nor due Acknowledgment of publick Mercies And therefore when the Psalmist celebrates the publick Mercies of God he invites all Israel to join in his Praises Praise ye the Lord sing unto the Lord a new Song and his praise in the Congregation of Saints Let Israel rejoice in him that made him let the Children of Zion be joyful in their King And all this is confirmed by the universal practice of Mankind who tho they differed in the Objects and Nature of their Worship yet all agreed in making their Worship publick and solemn and such an universal Consent is no less than the Voice of Nature Secondly Let us now consider what that Worship is which God himself instituted and ordained and I shall at present instance in the Jewish Worship which was typical also of the Christian. Now it is so evident that every part of the Jewish Worship which God commanded by Moses was of a publick Nature and to be performed in a publick manner
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
call upon me and I will answer him I will be with him in trouble I will deliver him and honour him The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him to all that call upon him in Truth He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him he also will hear their cry and will save them The Lord preserveth all them that love him but the wicked will he destroy Where those who love God are those who pray unto him and therefore the wicked whom God will destroy are those who do not pray to him who neglect or despise his Worship whence it is the Psalmist describes God that he is One that heareth Prayers O thou that hearest Prayer unto thee shall all flesh come For indeed it is not reasonable to expect that God should bestow those Blessings and Deliverances on us which we do not think worth asking or will not own him to have the disposal of those who will not pray for those good Things they want will not bless God for giving them and no wise Man thinks it prudent to place his Favours where they shall meet with no return which is like burying good Seed in a barren Soyl that deceives the expectation of the Husbandman God indeed being the Maker of the World takes care of all his Creatures but then he expects that reasonable Creatures should beg the protection and provisions of his Providence because this is an excellent Instrument of Government as it keeps Man-kind under a constant sense of his Power and Providence and in a constant dependence on him Those who expect all good Things from God dare not provoke him to anger by the breach of his Laws Men are naturally ashamed of approaching the Presence of God when they are conscious to themselves of any great Crime but sneak and hide themselves as Children do when they have displeased their Parents and dare not ask any kindness till they have first obtained their Pardon which makes it highly reasonable and necessary for God to discountenance Irreligion by casting off the care of such Men who refuse to worship him It is true very many Irreligious Men do thrive in this World and arrive to great Estates and to great Honours for God does not make such an exact difference between good and bad Men in this Life as he will do in the World to come and can serve the Ends of his Providence in the prosperity of bad Men. But yet there is a vast difference between God's permitting the prosperity of bad Men and that constant Providence which watches over good Men. Bad Men may advance themselves by Injustice Oppression and Perjury but they are not advanced by the Blessing but by the Permission of God for God never blesses any wicked Arts and therefore such Mens Prosperity is very uncertain and as tottering as the Thrones of Usurpers for though they have a good Title with respect to Men yet they are but Usurpers with respect to God and therefore are tumbled down again at his pleasure but the only sure way of thriving in the World is by God's Blessing these are the only lasting and durable Riches and Honours which are free from such Vexations and Troubles Fears and Disappointments which attend on unjust Possessions as the Wise Man tells us The Blessing of the Lord it maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow with it The sum is this It is possible for Irreligious Men to enjoy great prosperity without God's Blessing and those who like this way may take it but it is a very uncertain and a very slippery way it often ends in Poverty and Contempt or leads to the Gallows or Men lose their standing when they are almost got up to the top of the Precipice and they tumble down faster than ever they got up But those who desire God should take care of them must pray to him and worship him for as St. Iames told those he writ to Ye have not because ye ask not Some bad Men are for awhile prosperous but a hundred for one are miserable and no Man can be secure from Misery but in the Protection of God Secondly There is a much greater Danger than this in Irreligion and that is The loss of our Souls the loss of Eternal Happiness and the miseries of an Eternal Death now it is Godliness which hath the promise of this Life and of that which is to come and the Grace of God which brings Salvation that is the Gospel of Christ which contains the Promises of eternal Life hath appeared unto all Men teaching us that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godlily in this present World These are the Conditions of Eternal Life without performing which we shall never see God but the intemperate unrighteous ungodly Men shall be condemned to the punishment of Devils to outward darkness where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth for evermore For Godliness which consists in such a constant sense of God as expresses it self in all Acts of Homage Worship and Obedience is the only vital Principle of Religion though Men have a great many very good Qualities and sociable Vertues though they are modest and temperate just in their Dealings pitiful to the Poor of a liberal and generous Spirit in promoting good Designs very affable courteous and obliging in their Conversations yet if they have no sense of God as these Men have not who neglect his Worship all this is no part of Religion but owing to natural Temper and good Breeding or humane Policy or such other Causes as may make Men good Neighbours and Citizens but cannot make them good Christians They may reap some Temporal Rewards of these Vertues but they cannot carry them to Heaven for indeed such Men are not qualified for the Work and the happiness of Heaven which is to know and love and admire and praise the great Maker and Redeemer of the World which no Man can do who hath not a quick and prevailing sense of his Excellencies and Perfections And how intolerable would it be for such Men to keep an Eternal Sabbath in Heaven to worship God and sing his Praises day and Night for ever and ever who think it lost time and a dry insipid wearisom thing to worship God here on Earth but they need not fear that Penance for they shall never be troubled with it None shall be received into Heaven but those who by the constant Exercises of Devotion on Earth have spiritualized their Minds and made Religion in some measure their Happiness as well as their Work and Duty And because there are a sort of inconsiderate Men who think to grow very religious and to repent of all their Sins before they die and thereby prevent the danger of Eternal Damnation I would desire them to consider Thirdly That the great Danger of Irreligion of an habitual neglect of God's Worship is That it lets loose the Reins to