such as he did of old to the Jews Isai 1. bring no more such vain Oblations they are a trouble to me I am weary to bear them Is not this to offer strange fire unto the Lord and such as may justly kindle his Wrath against us And how is it possible to remedy these Evils whilst Men are left to vent what they please and are only fond of their own Inventions Fourthly That which helps us to perform the Duty of Prayer with the greatest fervency and the least distraction must best preserve the Reverence of Publick Worship but this is best done by a publick Liturgy and therefore that must be the most serious and solemn way of Worshiping God For the better understanding of this Argument we must call to Mind what I before premis'd that the Duty of Prayer consists not in Words and much less in the Novelty and Variety of them for God Almighty is not to be charm'd by the Arts of Speech or wrought upon by the importunity of words No he understands the most silent breathings of the Soul after him and hears the Language of those Sighs and Groans that cannot be utter'd and these things are of greater force and efficacy with him than the most pompous Rhetorick or flourish of Words All the use of words in the Service of God is with respect to our selves that we may join and agree together in our Petitions and with one mouth offer up the same Prayers and Praises to God which renders them the more pleasing and the more prevalent with him But whether this be best done by the well-advised words of a form or the sudden Effusions of conceiv'd Prayer is the thing in Question For the clearing whereof we must note farther That the inventing of Words in Prayer which is the work of the Head is one thing and the exciting Affections suitable to them which is the work of the Heart is another Now because the Soul of Man is of so limited a Nature in all its Operations that it cannot attend to two or more things at once at least so closely and intensely as it can to one therefore the inventing of words in Prayer which is the exercise of the Brain must needs be a hindrance to the Soul in exciting the Affections which is the great business of the Heart Now herein plainly appears the Usefulness and Conveniency of Publick forms in which the words being prepared to our hands the Mind hath nothing to do but to excite and imploy Affections suited to them as namely to stir up Sorrow in Confessing Desire in Petitioning Joy in Thanks-giving and the like which cannot be so well done when when other things are to be minded at the same time And therefore a form of Prayer which gives the Soul full scope and leisure to attend to these things without calling it off to the study of words must best promote the inward fervency and devotion of the Mind in which the life of Prayer doth mainly consist And this is true with relation both to the Minister and People The Minister in a conceiv'd Prayer is wholly employ'd in finding out Matter and putting it into Words which is work enough to take up his Thoughts and his Head being thus busied about these things it must necessarily hinder the greater work and business of the Heart since the Soul cannot so closely attend to both at the same time And as for the People they not knowing what the Minister will utter must attend likewise as the words come to the sence of them and bethink with themselves whether they may safely join in them And so the People too are put upon Studying instead of Praying and many times before they can do this the Minister goes too fast for them and whilst they are considering one thing he is gone to another by which means they must be often at a loss and their Devotion miserably distracted and confounded Whereas in a well-composed form all this trouble is saved for the Matter and Words being well known and consider'd before there will be no need of employing the Mind either in inventing or in judging of the sence or soundness of our Prayers but being well satisfied of this before-hand the Soul hath nothing to do but to apply it self to the Duty without distraction by which means the Affections may keep pace with the Words and the Heart go all along with the Prayers Fifthly That Way of Worship in which the whole Matter of Prayer may be best compriz'd in full and comprehensive sence and likewise best digested into due Order and Method is certainly the most reverent and solemn Way of Publick Worship But both these may be far better done in a Publick Liturgy than by sudden Effusions and therefore that must be the most solemn and reverent Way of Publick Worship That the whole matter of Prayer is to be compriz'd and taken care of in Publick Worship is evident because if it be defective in any part the People may go without some Blessings for want of asking If it be redundant they may ask and not receive because they ask amiss So that nothing necessary ought to be omitted and nothing needless and superfluous ought to be asked in our Publick Worship Now that these things may be better taken care of in a standing Liturgy than by suddenly conceiv'd and extempore Prayers is no less evident because in the one all that we are allow'd or requir'd to pray for that is all things that are agreeable to the Will of God and necessary for the Wants of the People may be duely considered and digested into proper and particular forms as they are in our excellent Liturgy where the daily matter of our Prayers being still the same is summ'd up in general Confessions Petitions and Thanksgivings in which as all People are concern'd so they all may and ought heartily to join and as for other occasional Wants they are provided for in particular Forms and Collects as the Exigence of Times and Necessities require Whereas in extempore Prayer these things cannot be so wisely taken care of for in that some things through hast and incogitancy may be omitted that ought to be pray'd for other things through weakness and inadvertence may be added which are not fit to be asked by which the Sacrifice becomes either lame and imperfect or else monstrous and impertinent both which must render it unfit to be offered to our Maker Then as for Order and Method that too is to be taken care of in the Publick Devotions For God Almighty who hath stil'd himself a God of Order 1 Cor. 14. hath required that all things in his Service be done decently and in order Now this in pious and well-consider'd forms may be in some competent measure provided for as may be seen likewise in our Excellent Liturgy where all the parts and offices of Religion are dispos'd in a comely and orderly Method Dr. Comber Dr. Beveridge as by
THE EXPEDIENCY OF A Publick Liturgy To Preserve the REVERENCE OF PUBLICK WORSHIP IN A SERMON PREACH'D at BRIDGEWATER FOR THE Satisfaction of an Eminent DISSENTER By MATTHEW HOLE B. D. and Vicar of Stokegursey in Somersetshire 1 Cor. 14. ult Let all things be done decently and in Order LONDON Printed for Matt. Wotton at the Three Daggers in Fleet-street MDCXCVII A SERMON ON PSALM lxxxix 7. God is greatly to be feared in the Assemblies of his Saints and to be had in reverence of all that are round about him THESE Words are a brief Direction how to behave our selves in the House and Presence of God which we are here told must be with Fear and Reverence The occasion of them was from the Psalmist's deep and serious Contemplation of the Works of God together with those glorious Attributes and Perfections that shine so brightly in them The Meditation whereof fill'd his Heart with Joy and his Mouth with the Praises of his Maker The Psalm begins with a Song in Praise of his Goodness Vers 1. My Song shall be always of the loving Kindness of the Lord with my Mouth will I shew forth his Truth from one Generation to another And after some remarkable instances of it he breaks out in Admiration of his Greatness saying Vers 5. The Heavens shall praise his wondrous Works and the Earth shall sound forth the Glory of his Power In a word the infinite Wisdom Bounty Truth and Faithfulness of God appear'd in such lively Colours stamp'd upon all the Works of his Hands that made him in the Verse before the Text to cry out Vers 6. Who in the Heavens can be compar'd unto the Lord or what is he among the gods that can be liken'd unto him And then to imprint the greater awe and dread of him upon our Minds he adds these words God is greatly to be feared in the Assemblies of his Saints and to be had in Reverence of all that draw nigh to him The Sense of which Words I shall briefly summ up and handle in this plain Proposition viz. That all our Addresses to the Divine Majesty must be accompanied with a Holy Fear and Reverence God is greatly to be fear'd c. In treating of this Proposition I shall not need to insist much upon the proof of it For the bare Light of Nature will teach us that the Worship of God is to be perform'd with the greatest Solemnity and Reverence For this being the Homage we are to pay to the Supream Being or the just Acknowledgment we owe to our great Creator Reason wills that it be done with all imaginable Deference and Humility And since we receive and expect all from him 't will farther teach us that the profoundest Reverence and Veneration we can pay to him must come vastly short of his infinite Excellencies and Perfections But if the Light of Nature and Reason were more dim and defective in this Point than it is The Light of Scripture would abundantly supply it for there we read many clear and express Precepts to this purpose The Royal Psalmist in our Text makes this to be a Tribute due to the infinite Greatness and Glory of our Maker God is greatly to be feared saith he in the Assemblies of his Saints and to be had in reverence of all that draw nigh to him And therefore he calls upon the greatest Persons even the Princes and Potentates of the Earth to serve the Lord with fear Psal 2. and to rejoyce before him with trembling Yea we find God Almighty challenging this Homage from us If I be a Father where is my Honour Mal. 1.6 if I be a Master where is my Fear saith the Lord of Hosts And elsewhere he threatens the Neglect and encourages the Performance of this Duty Them that honour me 1 Sam. 2.30 I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteem'd In the New Testament we are call'd upon to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear Implying Heb. 12.28 that our Service cannot be acceptable unless it be attended with these things I shall therefore take this for granted as a Matter wherein we are all agreed that God is to be serv'd with Reverence and godly Fear The great things to be consider'd in this case are What this Reverence is and how it may be best express'd or perform'd in the Worship of God Accordingly therefore in handling of these words I shall enquire First Into the Nature of this Reverence that is requir'd in the Service of God and shew wherein it consists Secondly Into the Manner how it may be best observ'd and secured in the Publick Assemblies I begin with the First which is to shew the Nature of this Reverence and wherein it consists In order to which I say in general That Reverence is such a Religious sense of the Glory and Greatness of the Divine Majesty as engages us to behave our selves becomingly in his presence And this is partly Internal and partly External Internal Reverence consists in the aweful Apprehensions of the Mind concerning the Greatness of the Person we address to External Reverence consists in the decent Demeanour of the Outward Man by well ordering of our words and gestures in our Applications to him The former is the Reverence of the Soul and the latter of the Body both which are to attend us into the House of God and to be carefully minded in our serving of him 1. I say There is an Inward Reverence of the Soul that is to accompany Divine Worship And this consists in aweful Apprehensions of the Mind concerning him we draw nigh to This is hinted to us in the First part of our Text God is greatly to be feared in the Assemblies of the Saints That is our Minds are to be possessed with a profound and aweful Dread of the Divine Majesty in our approaches to him which the Apostle stiles a Godly fear And this ariseth from a sense of our infinite distance from God and of our daily and necessary dependance upon him For when we consider how vastly the great Soveraign of the World is above sinful Dust and Ashes and are so affected with the Thoughts of it as never to appear before him but with the deepest Humility and lowliness of Mind when we entertain such mean and abject thoughts of our selves and our own vileness as even to blush and be asham'd to approach so great a Presence when I say we have such a true sense of this infinite distance and disproportion between him and us then are we said to fear God in the Assemblies of the Saints and to have a Religious awe and dread when we draw nigh unto him Now to beget this holy Fear and Dread in us we are frequently in our thoughts to descend to a particular Consideration of the infinite Attributes and Perfections of our Maker and this will help to screw up our Minds to a due pitch of Reverence and Veneration for
him Thus if we Consider 1. The infinite Power of God who made the World and all things in it by the Word of his Mouth who as he spake them all into Being so can he speak them back again into Nothing when he pleases And then think with our selves that 't is this great and glorious Being that in our Publick Assemblies we are speaking to and attending upon This will strike our Minds with a holy Awe and Dread of him and make us afraid to dally with such an immense and powerful Being Again 2. If we Ponder upon the infinite Knowledge of God who searches the heart and understandeth our thoughts long before hand that his Eyes behold and his Eye lids try the Children of Men that all things are open and naked before him and nothing can be hid from his Presence And then consider That 't is this All-knowing and Heart-searching Being that in our Publick Assemblies we address to This will farther imprint this Sacred Awe and Dread upon our Souls and keep us from all Irreverence in so great a Presence Moreover 3. If we take into our Consideration the manifold Mercies and transcendent Goodness of God who giveth us life and breath and all things upon whose Bounty we entirely depend If we call to Mind that he is daily heaping his Mercies and Blessings upon us that we live wholly upon him and cannot subsist one moment without him And then Consider That 't is this gracious and bountiful Being that in our Publick Assemblies we are directing our Worship to This will make us fear the Lord for his goodness Hos 3.5 and so fix our Minds in the Love and Contemplation of him that we shall be both ashamed and afraid to offend so great and good a Benefactor Lastly If we Consider how infinitely Jealous and tender God Almighty is of his honour and that he whom we Address to will not be mock'd with Vain and Hypocritical Pretences of Serving of him That he is to be lov'd with all our Heart and all our Mind and all our Strength and will not be Rival'd by the World the Flesh or the Devil in the acts of Worship And then call to mind that in our Publick Assemblies we are Serving this Jealous God who watches all the Wandrings of our Heart from him This will make us in the Psalmist's Phrase to serve the Lord with fear and even to rejoice before him with trembling In a word if we seriously meditate on the boundless and adorable Perfections of the Divine Nature and bethink with our selves who and what that God is in whose Presence we are when we enter his House and offer up our Prayers and Praises to him 'T will make us bow our Souls before him and create those devout and awful Apprehensions of him in which this Inward reverence and Godly fear doth mainly consist And this is one Reason why the Publick Liturgy of our Church was cast into so many short Prayers or Collects each of which beginning with some Attribute or Perfection of God proper to usher in the Petition that follows it is thereby fitted both to keep up the Reverence and Attention of the Mind in asking it and to quicken our Faith and Hopes of obtaining it And so much briefly of that Inward fear and reverence that is to attend all our Addresses to the Divine Majesty held forth in those words God is greatly to be feared in the Assemblies of his Saints Now these Internal awful Apprehensions of the Mind concerning God are to be express'd 2. By the Outward Reverence of the Body which consists in the well-ordering of our words and gestures in our Applications to him And this is held forth to us in the last words of the Text And to be had in Reverence of all that are round about him That Reverence relates to the Outward Man and implies becoming gestures and behaviour of the Body is evident not only from the Nature of the thing but from the universal Consent and Practice of Mankind who have always shewed their Respect this way to those that are above them Mephibosheth the Son of Jonathan fell on his Face and did Reverence to David 2 Sam. 9.6 1 King 1.31 Bathsheha bowed her Face to the Earth and did Reverence to the King All the King's Servants bowed and did Reverence to Haman Hest 3.2 By which it appears that humble and decent Postures of the Body have been ever reckon'd to be Tokens of Respect and Reverence That this External Reverence is to be us'd likewise in the Worship of God is evident too from many Precepts and Examples in Holy Scripture Rom. 12 1â— St. Paul beseeches the Romans to present their bodies as a living holy and acceptable Sacrifice unto God which is our reasonable Service Where the Apostle calls the presenting our bodies a living Sacrifice in Opposition to the dead bodies that were offer'd to him under the law And because brute beasts and irrational Creatures were then offer'd up He stiles the presenting our bodies a reasonable Service which as it is more holy so it is a more fitting and acceptable Present to our Maker The same Apostle exhorts the Corinthians 1 Cor. 6.19 20. to glorifie God with their bodies as well as Souls which is to be done by reverent and becoming Gestures in his Service And to engage them thereunto tells them that they are both his and must be both dedicated to him He that breath'd into us a Living and immortal Soul did likewise frame the Body to be a fit Mansion and Companion for it and united them together for his Service And therefore justly expects the Homage and Service of both Yea he further adds that Christ redeemed the Body as well as the Soul from the bondage of Corruption And God hath promised to glorifie both hereafter And therefore both are requir'd to glorifie him here The Truth is an inward Reverence for God will always draw after it the Reverence of the outward Man And where the Mind is possess'd with awful Apprehensions of the divine Majesty it will discover it self in the External Decency both of Words and Actions And accordingly we find that good Men in all Ages have taken Care not only to keep up a Religious Awe and Dread of God in their Souls but have been as careful likewise to express it by the External Acts and Postures of the Body Now what outward Gestures are most expressive of Honour and Reverence the Practice of the Church and the Custom of the Country where we live will be the best Guides to direct us Vncovering of the Head Bowing the Body putting off the Shooes Kneeling Prostration lifting up the Eyes and Hands unto Heaven Lamen 3.41 have been Ancient Signs and Tokens of Honour Exod. 3.5 The Lord commanded Moses to put off his Shooes because the place whereon he stood was Holy Ground And to this Solomon alludes when he directs Men to look to their Feet Eccl.
two Eminent and Learned Divines of our Church hath been made fully to appear Whereas in extempore conceiv'd Prayers Confusion and Disorder cannot well be avoided there not being sufficient time to weigh the Connexion and Dependance of one thing upon another and so they must be dealt out to the People not as they are in order to each other but as they come first to hand In a word it must be utterly impossible that the Matter and Method of publick Prayers should be so well digested by sudden and unpremeditated speech as they may be upon serious and mature deliberation Sixthly That Way of Worship which prescribes the Use of the most decent gestures and behaviour of the Body in the Service of God does best preserve the Reverence and Solemnity of publick Worship But this is best done by an establish'd Liturgy and therefore that must best preserve the Reverence of publick Worship That God Almighty expects the Service of the Body as well as that of the Soul and that the inward reverence of the Mind must be accompanied with the humble and decent demeanour of the outward Man hath been observed and proved already Now that herein likewise a publick Liturgy hath vastly the Advantage of conceiv'd and extempore Effusions will be obvious to any considering person For the one directs to and prescribes all the decent Postures of Devotion The other leaves men loose to all manner of rudeness and irreverence in Religious Exercises Indeed Publick Worship being that open and solemn Acknowledgment we jointly make to our great Creator ought in reason to be perform'd with all outward as well as inward signs and tokens of Honour For what Humility of Body what Decency of Words and Behaviour can be great enough to be shew'd to the Majesty of Heaven Especially when we come to make our solemn appearance together before him For this reason we find in our excellent Liturgy such pious Rules and Orders of external decency that in the use of them we may be enabled to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear For in our Confession of Sin we are directed to be upon our Knees in token of the low abasement of our selves in the sence of them in our Confession of Faith we stand in token of our owning and steady adhering to it At the Name of Jesus which is above every Name and at which all things in Heaven and Earth are commanded to bow we reverently bow our Bodies in the Hymns and Praising of God we lift up our Selves and our Hearts unto God which is the proper posture of Joy In our Prayers we cast our selves down again on our Knees which is the humble posture of Supplicants calling for Mercy and begging Grace to help in time of need And thus in all the parts and offices of Religion we are directed to those becoming gestures which are most Consonant to Antiquity and most expressive of the Reverence that is to be shew'd in Divine Worship Whereas in those Assemblies where extempore Prayers guide the Devotion of the People little or no regard is had to bodily Reverence for Sitting at Prayers when they are Speaking to God Covering their head at Sermons when God is Speaking to them with other such Indecencies which would not be allowed in Addresses to our Superiours are commonly seen among them Ever since the Cry against innocent Ceremonies was begun and carried on by cunning and designing Men they have lost all the Reverence and Decency of Divine Worship and have brought in great Disorder and Confusion in the room of it But if these Men would more seriously consider that God is to be glorified by our Bodies as well as Souls and that 't is not the bare attendance but the humble and good behaviour of our Bodies that is expected from us they might soon learn better manners in the presence of their Maker which nothing can better teach them than a publick and well-composed Liturgy Lastly That which best prevents Tautologies vain Repetitions and all other Indecencies in the Service of God doth best preserve the Reverence of publick Worship But this is better done by a publick Form than sudden Effusions and therefore that must best preserve the Reverence of publick Worship That these things are very offensive unto God in our approaches to him plainly appears by the sharp Rebukes our Saviour gave the Pharisees for their much speaking and vain repetitions in Prayer And that these and the like impertinences are incident to sudden and unpremeditated Speech hath been before observ'd and the Experience of such as use it can abundantly testifie For how frequent and fulsom are their Invocations of Lord Lord when they are at a loss what to say and how usual is it to supply the defects and failures of their Invention with taking God's Name in vain And indeed few can be ignorant with what nauseous and vain Repetitions such Prayers do generally abound Insomuch that after a long extempore Prayer there is many times great need of a short form to beg Pardon for the rudeness and irreverence of such an Address Now what better Expedient can there be to prevent these Evils than an establish'd Liturgy where the Tongue is bound up from such loose Excursions and kept to a more serious and solemn Method of Devotion And therefore we have been told of one who having an extempore Prayer taken after him in Short-Hand was after presented with a View of what he had offer'd up to God and how he had entertain'd the People the sight whereof fill'd him with that blushing and confusion at the Impertinences and Tautologies of that exercise that he resolved never more to make so bold with God Almighty and ever after betook him to a composed Devotion But before I dismiss this Argument I shall take notice of two or three great Inconveniences which are known to attend conceived Prayers which can only be cured by prescribed Forms As 1. If he that officiates be a Person of Mean parts that is of a slow Invention a bad Memory and an unready Tongue the Religious Exercise must necessarily partake of his weaknesses and so must be very lamely and imperfectly perform'd which cannot but disturb the Devotion both of the Minister and People For if he happen to hesitate or express himself in flat or phantastick Terms the Hearers instead of minding the matter will be observing the Oddness and Emptiness of his Expressions And this will cause some to pity his Weakness others to condemn his Impertinence both which must marr the Gravity and Solemnity of the Exercise Yea sometimes as one hath observ'd the wretched dullness of the Performance occasions laughter in the Hearers And if it be help'd out with mimical Tones and Gestures becomes rather a Scene of Mirth than Devotion This is a piece of Irreverence too well known in some parts of the Kingdom Which plainly shews how unsafe it is to leave the publick Offices of Religion to the Weaknesses and Imperfections