â—hildren kneeled down and prayâ—◠〈◊〉 though they were upon the shore â—â—ct 21.5 And certainly we cannot possibly offend whilst we imitate such holy and primitive examples 'T is true indeed it was a custom amongst the Jews especially towards the period of their Oeconomy to pray standing in the Synagogues and therefore we read that the Pharisees like some among our selves loved to pray standing in their Synagogues as well as in the corners of the streets Math. 6.5 But because these did it that by the elevation of their bodies they might be seen of men you may not perhaps think it fitting to take such for an example But howsoever it is no less but more certain that the primitive Christians did sometimes pray standing on their feet as well as kneeling upon their knees For besides the posture in their devotions on the Lords day it is notoriously known that they did not kneel in their publick worship from Easter to Whitsuntide But then they gave these two reasons in excuse of their posture 1. That they might by some outward gesture and significant ceremony express their joy for the resurrection of our Saviour 2. That it was in token also of their confident expectation of the descent of the Holy Ghost Both these things were lawful and proper whilst Christianity was contemned by the Rulers of the world and such great temptations were given to the proselytes to this religion to apostatize That I may draw then towards the conclusion of this particular since the gestures of the body have been differently used in prayer unto God suitable to the various wayes of signifying respect in divers Countries and the constitutions of those Churches to whose customs men subjected themselves and since all such things are still to be used in subordination to a greater and more lofty end the raising and testifying the affections and faith of mens minds I shall leave you to practise Saint Austins rules That in private prayer ye so frame the gestures of your bodies as may best conduce to the elevation of your minds and the continuance of great devotion in your prayers But in publick that ye conform to the commands and practice of that Christian Church which imposes nothing sinful as a condition of her communion within whose pale you are inclosed that ye may not become factious and schismatical divide from substantials for a ceremony nor rend the Church and make a separation for what is really in it self indifferent Humility and reverence do certainly become such as address themselves to God and he that has lived here among us that upon the view of our usual approaches to our superiours and the custom of the nation in their addresses to one another can find another gesture more aptly and decently expressing these things than bowing the body uncovering the head and bending the knee may if our superiors please who have authority to order indifferent matters use it and recommend it to others Nay obtain a Law to force it upon all Yet this will be but little to their profit since I know none that upon such slender terms will relinquish their own right to make way for others to enter their possessions because they will not make religion to consist in the use or forbearance of things that are indifferent in themselves But howsoever till this time of tryal comes we were in my judgment better fulfill what God once confirmed by an Oath That unto him every knee should bow and every tongue should swear by his name Isai 45.23 Which Saint Paul thought good to express the subjection of mankind to the supream Being by in the New Testament As I live saith the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God Rom. 14.11 And truly when any good Christians pretend to express their real and devout subjection to God 't is not so well to forsake the ceremony which God himself the command of the Church and the reason of men using the ceremonies of this Nation especially when it is conjoyned with custom may render not only lawful but expedient But yet I must proceed farther That with the former circumstances supposed kneeling at prayers will become a duty where the formentioned impediments do not plead for a necessary and unavoidable dispensation 'T is true indeed that bodily exercise profiteth little yet something it does if not conjoyned with the devotion of the mind and does not tend to the improvement of the soul in the habits of vertue and true religion But when this accomplishes the ends to which it is most rationally designed it then becomes such a sacrifice with which God is well pleased I beseech you therefore brethren as St. Paul exhorts by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable divine service Rom. 12. 1. Nay we do not worship with the whole man when we neglect Gods service with a part Moreover it seems not to be a reasonable service when the actions of the body do not accompany the affections of the mind when both are joyn'd together in this world We think it to be rational to express the petitions conceived in our hearts by the language of our tongues Why should we not then signifie our humility that must accompany such prayers as God accepts by those gestures that represent and express it 'T is exceeding natural to mankind to make shew of their inward affection by external signs and the kindest demonstrations that the actions of their bodies are able to represent and we put a force and restraint upon our selves when our hearts are full of fervour and devotion and yet we will not manifest it by our actions and deportments But certainly he who has created the bodies of men as well as their souls has an equal right to the service of both and he that made the whole man will not be satisfied with a partial sacrifice we must worship therefore and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker Our redemption also no less calls for the homage of our bodies than it does for the reverence and devotion of our souls The Apostle sayes Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodies and your spirits which are Gods 1. Cor. 6.20 Nay if we expect the final glorification of both 't is but equal that they should both conspire in all the demonstrations of vertue and religion where both may contribute their several parts That so since their interest is united they may in conjunction work out their salvation with fear and trembling Lastly The humble and decent postures of our bodies when we address our selves to God do not only demonstrate the internal devotion and reverence of our minds but according to the observation of all excepting such as are unwilling to make the experiment they excite and continue our internal affections recall our wandrings and put us in remembrance of what we are about if
able to blast us in a moment and destroy us with a word and scatter abroad dust and ashes with the breath of his nostrils and can when he pleases cause an hasty word uttered before him to choak the person who is bold to speak it nay without pointing the arrow backward cause either it self to perish upon the string or him that is shooting it to drop down dead before him And is this God with a ruder confidence to be address'd to The Egyptian Gods were figured with their fingers in their months to command awe and forbid clamours to those who came nigh to worship them And shall the true sensible and living Being who is infinite in all glorious perfections be more confidently dealt with by those who pretend to a pure worship than the deportment of men durst testifie before those who indeed were no Gods Shall the common nature and reason of men in a land of darkness give rules to render devotion strict and no limits be imposed to the rudeness of Gods creatures in a land of light When a society of men agree together to desire any boon or favour from one that is their superiour on Earth how cautious are they in wording their Address How do they chuse such as they are able to confide in to draw it up With what a critical seriousness and grave consideration is it afterwards review'd by the whole body How strict are they in the most minute circumstances And when they have passed it through many objections and amendments how choice are they in pitching upon one that has a good tongue a quick apprehension and is most powerful both in Argument and Rhetorick to present it in writing and if need be to speak in relation to the heads of it And shall the great God of all the World in comparison to whom the tallest Cedars are but shrubs who can drive all mankind before him like dust before a storm who can cause Kings and Emperors too to vail their Crowns and lay their Scepters at his feet Shall this infinite Majesty be address'd to so carelesly and inconsiderately as if he were our familiar Companion Cannot he discharge the Artillery of Heaven and cause his Lightning to consume the World or the voice of his Thunder to make us afraid Is not he able to recall our breath in as short a moment as that in which he first gave us life and make us a prey to rottenness and Vermin The great Maker and Preserver of the World is not certainly so small a thing as the hasty and rude devotions of some men might cause others to believe that he is Nay that we may not conjecture that because he needs not adoration and homage from any even his most rational creatures because he wants nothing to render him eternally happy neither the outward respect of the bodies of men nor their internal acts of reverence and devotion to make additions to his own glory he neither regards the one nor minds the other See himself attesting his own Dignity and declaring what he expects from those who being the workmanship of his hands he has caused by his favour to become related to him and rebuking those Priests that were too bold either with himself or such things as were dedicated to his Service A Son saies he honoureth his Father and a Servant his Master If then I am a Father where is mine honour and if I be a Master where is my fear unto you O Priests that despise my name And when they confidently ask wherein have we despised it His answer is Ye offer polluted bread upon mine Altar and say that the Table of the Lord is contemptible And for that they offered the blind and the sick and the lame Offer it now saies he to thy Governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person first Chap. of Malac. That lofty one who inhabiteth Eternity whose we are and whom we serve will not accept of such services to himself as are not worthy enough to be given to men And how indeed is it possible that he can either in justice or honor Unless he should relax the reins of Government and cast things into an eternal confusion by a voluntary departure from his own Glory which yet he has resolved not to give to another But yet omitting other Arguments if our own reason when divorc'd from passion will conclude that we ought to pay deference to others either distinct from or of the same natures with our selves suitable to that dignity they obtain in the universe or the several degrees that some of our own species are justly advanced and exalted to by any regular and commanded motion and if we are when we depart not from our own Inferences obliged to be cautious in our-deportment to other men rendring honour to whom honour is due Certainly if we have a true notion of the Deity and that the God whom we worship is self-existent and includes all possible perfection There is much more reason that we should be very circumspect about the actions and homage which we devote to him The Apostle informs us that the worship that is expected under the Gospel must be such as comports with the principles of right reason and therefore he does exhort when he might have commanded and beseech the Romans when he might have Canonically injoin'd them I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable Service Rom. 12.1 And as he draws an Argument for such an invitation from the mercies of God in this place So he infers in another from the price of our redemption that we must glorifie God in our bodies and our Spirits which are his 1 Cor. 6.20 And since both were Created and Redeemed by him 't is but equal that he should have the Services of both And because we with faith and hope expect that future Glory should as well reward our Bodies as our Souls it is but reasonable that both should join in the discharge of those duties which our Creator and Redeemer too has commanded for us not only as testimonies of our gratitude for all but as conditions too to qualifie us for the possessions of Eternal life and prepare us both to enjoy and relish the Glorious and everlasting refreshments above which are only to be had in such a gracious and transporting presence as the great God in his Glorious Trinity makes accompanied with his trains of Angels and the Spirits of just men made perfect CHAP. XII NOw from all the foregoing Discourse at large we may without prejudice or severity charge our Brethren who upon the false pretence of greater Reformation separate from us and become our Adversaries with these following particulars in which they are either defective in or over-do those rational and Divine acts of worship to God which discharging our Tribute and Homage to him become a service acceptable and well pleasing Whilst
we find after an excursion of our thoughts that we are yet in the posture of prayer when otherwise we might by the inadvertency or diversion of our souls or an unusual heaviness and oppression in our bodies forget the duty which we are conversant about But especially in our publick devotions the devout gestures of others about us mind us of what we should do our selves and we cannot remain cold and stupid when we see others express the affection and ardour of their minds by those actions in which we commonly represent them when by the gestures of their bodies they seem to pour out their very souls in prayer How do we see the eyes of men sparkle with zeal when void of all passion or Hypocrifie How does humility and some mens low conceits of themselves cause their bodies to stoop and their knees to bend How does faith and hope again lift up the most feeble hands at once to beg and receive Gods favours And such devout actions if they are not hypocritical will raise and evidence our own affections however must certainly inflame others To conclude this particular then I cannot but speak of the external gestures of our bodies and the inward intention and fervour of our minds what the Poets said of Castor and Pollux That when they are only single they portend mischief and are the fore-runners of a Storm But when they appear both together they presage a fortunate passage to the Church declaring piety in whom they shine and a solid and well grounded devotion And thus I have done with the second particular referring to the manner of our prayer which relates to the deportment and gesture of our bodies The third and last enquiry about the manner of our prayers is to make a search into our words and expressions and to determine what is fitting to be done in this matter when we speak to so great and glorious a God especially in our joynt and common petitions There are not more frequent extravagancies among men exposed to the cognisance of others than what usually proceed from the slipps or designed actions of our tongues These are so nimble when the body becomes heated and chafed as if all our spirits flew thither that 't is difficult for some warm constitutions to afford them any rest at all they are so talkative when we are awak'd that they are tatling too whilst we are asleep Therefore the skilful and prudent Government of the tongue is the most difficult task of the Empire within our selves and needs the prescription of a multitude of Laws and a great and wary caution to be given us that we may be very vigilant to stop the sallies of it that our words may be guided with discretion The tongue saies St. James is a little member but boasteth great things and he compares it to fire a spark of which often turns Cities into ashes such is this among our members that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature when it self is kindled by the flames of Hell And therefore if any man offend not in word saies the Apostle the same is a perfect man and able to bridle the whole body James 3.2 5 6. Now as this is so peccant in our conversation with men so is it apt to err in our converses with God when it assumes too much familiarity with him becoming pert and rude in our prayers and devotions As some men whom a Prince honours with his daily converses are so sensibly blown up with the reception of his breath that their former Acquaintance must not know them so oftentimes they become saucy to him that has advanced them and blow his breath back upon himself when they have first poysoned it in their own bodies And thus is it with many men in reference to the great God that made them uttering such language in their addresses to him as would cause men to scorn and reject their petitions and all for want of due consideration and impressing themselves with a just aw from the distance and disproportion betwixt their Maker and themselves 'T is true indeed we are exhorted to come with an humble boldness to the Throne of grace since we have an acceptable person to intercede for us Heb. 4.16 But who can think that such a Text gives incouragement to dust and ashes to fly against the face of their great Creator and advance their priviledge into a confident rudeness Rather surely the same Apostles sober advice must give a check to extravagant presumptions and cause us to serve God in an acceptable manner with profound reverence and a godly fear because he is a consuming fire Heb. 12.28 29. To manage therefore our prayers unto God in such language as may be suitable to our Maker and our selves we may take if we are willing these following directions 1. That our words must be plain and intelligible 2. They ought to be grave and serious 3. They must be expressive and full 4. They ought to be as brief and short as may consist with perspicuity And therefore Lastly they must be premeditated and fix'd First our words and expressions in our solemn prayers must be plain and intelligible Because it is impossible that a man should mind however be affected with that which he does not understand or if he is 't is without reason and he does not act like a man We have indeed too melancholy and woful experience of some that being taken with musical stroaks and any thing which makes curious and grateful percussions upon their ears are extreamly delighted with such sounds of words as are void of sense But 't is a great mistake if we think that the gratification of our senses becomes a reasonable service unto God Prayer requires that our apprehensions and wishes keep a parallel with our words in which we utter our wants and necessities we may otherwise beg a Serpent when we intend a Fish and ask for a stone instead of bread If in publick we understand not the language of him that offers service in our behalf he may curse us in the name of the Devil when we think he blesses us in the name of God It cannot at the bare mention of it but appear to be a strange and ridiculous service when we offer to God we know not what And if we could trust any man with his bundle of infirmities in a business of so great importance as our prayers so as to leave him either to his quick or dull invention as his body or his mind is either vigorous or disturbed so that we might with any tolerable knowledge or due consideration say Amen to what is uttered or composed for us by some men to be delivered by our selves yet sure I am we can never proportion our affections or the intention of out minds suitable to those expressions which we do not understand Prayer especially what is publick should be a plain thing and worded so as to be understood by all
from the Lord who does not ask in faith but for want of Gods promise must waver in his hope and he has sufficient reason to suspect his success James 1.6 7. To make Gods promise the foundation of our petitions will hinder our prayers from interfering with his will to which our desires must always be subjected by the eminent example of our Saviour himself even when he prayed for the diversion of his passion Nevertheless not my will but thine be done Luk. 22.42 And this is suitable to a comprehensive petition in that prayer which he gave to his Disciples and in and by them commanded all Christians to use and imitate Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven Now this excludes three things from being the subject matter of our prayers 1. Such as are not necessary to us in that rank and station in which we live or if it may be better expressed according to the figure we make in the world For the prayer for other things above us argues nothing less than covetousness and ambition within our selves and then we regard iniquity in our hearts and being thus possessed the Lord will not hear us Such petitions are directed to a wrong end the things we ask being superfluous to us in that condition in which God has placed us wherewith we ought to be content Our prayers must not exceed our station 'till Gods providence moves us to an higher seat 2. Those things must be excluded from our prayers that are inconvenient for God to grant or for us to receive Some things which may be lawful in themselves without reference to circumstances attending may yet be so unsuitable to Gods providence in governing the world that the concession of them may thwart and contradict it Again other things may be unlawful for us to receive Because such may be our tempers and dispositions that when we possess them we may prove troublesome to our selves or very great disturbers of others For some men that may be quiet peaceable and kept in order in a lower degree may prove factious and turbulent when mounted into an higher Sphere 'T is true we have heard of a Dictator drawn from the Plough tail who yet has behaved himself excellently in his office and we have had some good Bishops who never knew what 't was to be a Parish Priest But rare examples will not annul general observation when Divine providence makes men leap into seats of honour God overlooks the whole world and orders the parts with reference to the whole His ways are oftentimes unsearchable and his paths past finding out Yet this we are assured of that as power and authority discovers the disposition of him that has it though his low condition might hide it before so persons that may be modest and humble whilest God keeps them in an inferior order may become proud and insolent when they are placed under a Canopy of honour and have a larger confluence of the things of this world and may turn the grace of God into wantonness And if God should grant such mens petitions as sometimes he does in anger to them for the punishment of others or for many designs hidden from us we usually find this true that Asperius nihil est c. Lastly such things must be excluded from the matter of our prayers that tend to the promotion of our own sins the supporting the wretched tyranny of the Devil or the cruel oppressions of wicked men For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness his countenance doth behold the upright Psal 11.7 And we cannot expect that prayers wishing those things that are contrary to this should find any acceptance with God who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity or bestow things upon the children of men that may Sstrengthen the hands of wickedness or give incouragement to their sins From all which we may easily conjecture why God many times suspends his answers or denies our requests As he does afflict his people in faithfulness so does he in kindness reject their prayers as well as grant or deny some in wrath For sometimes we are not in a present capacity to receive what we ask and most earnestly desire We frequently come to the house of prayer when yet our sins lay at the door and most abominable hypocrisie lodges in our hearts We have not many times prepared our souls according to the preparation of the Sanctuary but either for want of humility or charity we must leave our gift before the Altar or when we offer it we do not perform it with true devotion and a suitable and earnest intention of our minds We oftentimes pray amiss and so lose the fruit of our requests nay we fail not only in the designs of our prayers but even in the manner of performance We are not like the importunate Widow which Parable was delivered to this end to encourage men always to pray and not to faint Luk. 18.1 Or else we do not as Cornelius did joyn alms with our prayers for these are an admirable preparative to devotion or an excellent conclusion to close our petitions with they help to lift up our desires to heaven being such a sacrifice with which God is well pleased Heb. 13.16 Or else we come before the Maker of the world with some great sin wasting our consciences which we have not confess'd and repented of and the fear of this may justly contract our hearts and imprison our spirits and whilst this hovers over our heads we cannot see to the God that made us nor to him who is the Redeemer of our souls and therefore wanting faith our petitions can neither be accepted or answered Our sin that we have not repented of hangs over us as a thick cloud hindring our prayers from ascending to heaven and intercepts the favours and mercies of God causing them to recoil back to himself Nay we too frequently approach his presence with hearts ungrateful for the mercies we have received and though we have obtained what Divine Providence both in spirituals and temporals flowing from infinite wisdom and power has hitherto thought fitting to bestow we instead of being thankful for our receipts murmur and repine because we have no more Like persons here below we are perpetually grumbling at the Governments of this World because we have not what we wish for though perhaps we have more than we deserve And further as this is a great argument that we take not the true measures of our selves so we are extremely willing that Gods thoughts should be like our own rather than our wishes should be regulated by his wisdom And therefore he frequently denies our requests in prayer because being guided by our narrow and short prospect of things we sometimes ask that which if granted would prove our ruin For as St. Paul says we know not what to pray for as we ought Rom. 8.26 We have not the just view of our selves and cannot with certainty see what is future and
to have their advantage by it and have several years tried their skill but Gods Providence was too hard for them And even yet praised for ever be the great name of the eternal Jehovah though the Romanists as well as other weak yet presumptuous men have thought us marching directly towards Rome we have a Protestant King to rule and govern us such generous and faithful Counsellors who advise him and such skilful and stout Champions to encounter them and above all the God of Protestants to undermine and resist them that we may yet say The Lord is our helper we will not fear what man can do unto us Nay though an host of men should be encamped against as we will not slavishly fear evil although we are sensible that in this Cause of Religion which loves not to be planted with the point of a Sword our Adversaries have exchanged their writings for strategems left their Arguments and were almost ready to run to their weapons But whither will zeal transport a man beyond the present subject of debate when he meets with an enemy that is always betraying and ready to pierce a mans Bowels I shall therefore inforce this Argument and Inference against the Papists prayers in an unknown tongue with two Considerations that seem to me to determine the Controversie and are sufficient with reference to this particular to abate the kindness of any person at least all that are well instructed to the Roman Church and check any inclinations to the embracement of such a Communion whole constitution hinders them from understanding their prayers that ignorance may make men fit for their devotions and parting with their reason and sence too they may be drawn after the Popes Chariot with their eyes put out and at last be led into a feigned Purgatory howling and squaling as if they were all Quakers that he may when he pleases as the silver moves open the doors or keep them fast and when he turns the Key at last instead of giving them joy and liberty they may find they are entered into a real Hell from which there is no redemption at all But yet before we go thither or pray away our own understandings in such a worship in which it is impossible for those to joyn who ken not Latin in which it is delivered Let us 1. Consider whether St. Paul be not above the Pope and the word of God rather to be credited than the cunningly devised Fables of men This great Apostle and Doctor of the Gentiles 1 Cor. 14.14 acquaints the World with such language as this If I pray says he in an unknown tongue my Spirit prayeth but my undersanding is unfruitful By unknown tongue every body knows what is meant but in the latter clauses some may be ignorant and others make use of these expressions and their own vanity and unskilfulness together to lead men from Latin Service into a rude and ungovernable devotion By Spirit therefore is meant the gift of the Spirit not flowing forth in extempore expressions now but in strange languages in the times of the Apostles as appears by St. Pauls interpretation of himself For when he had exhorted men to employ one of the Spiritual gifts forementioned in this Chapter to the edification of the Church ver the 12th In the next he explains it by an unknown tongue Nay in the very particular Text quoted the praying of the Spirit is apparently the praying in an unknown tongue If I pray sayes he in an unknown tongue my Spirit prayeth but mine understanding is unfruitful That is though he understood the language himself yet it being unknown to others his being acquainted with the sense of his own prayers could not render them beneficial to those that heard them And therefore he concludes upon the whole that he would pray with the Spirit yet so that he might pray with the understanding too He would not only pray in such a language by himself which he understood that he might accompany his words with due intention and suitable affections But he would pray also that his understanding might be fruitful unto others by putting his petitions into such a language as the people might be able to understand that so they might joyn with him and be edified by it Secondly Consider that prayer not understood by those who are to joyn in it being uttered in a language which they are ignorant of loses those blessed influences and ends to which it was designed and ought to have upon the Devotionists particularly by their understandings to move their wills and obtaining their consent to raise their affections suitable to the petitions made for them that so the act of the Minister may become their own and they knowing what is delivered may rationally consent and earnestly desire the things prayed for and have their several interests in all For they are Beasts rather than men who are driven on they know not whither and say Amen to such petitions or at all adventures assert the truth of such propositions which they have no apprehension of and may with reference to their understandings be as well false as true In such a case they fix their seal either by the example or authority of another to what for ought they know obliges them to ruin and may sign their execution when they hope to receive a pardon It is impossible at man should with any reason signifie his assent to that or heartily wish for those things mentioned in a prayer when he does not understand whether they are included in it or no Unless men can think it rational to set their hands at all adventures to every paper that is brought to them when they may sign a Bond instead ofa Release or make away an estate instead of making it sure to them But I may be confident men are wary enough in this and need not unless they are foolish to a Proverb any Monitor to caution them in it though their want of skill may cause them to advise in some nice and critical difficulties And is it reasonable think ye that the Children of this world should be always wiser than the Children of light Or that any to whom the glorious Gospel is revealed should be more cautious and exact in relation to their secular welfare than they are with reference to their eternal advantages Will they beg a Serpent instead of a Fish or desire a Stone instead of Bread A little Child will hardly be so gull'd and cheated but when such an exchange is profer'd will throw it away with rage and contempt But further that which aggravates the fault of men so easily imposed upon is that where they give their assent without reason and desire what they do not understand whether it be advantagious or unprofitable to them they chuse what is no object of their choice because it is impossible for them to apprehend any goodness at all in that whose nature and accommodation to them they are totally ignorant of
expressions could not certainly be stopt by the Clouds but must dart themselves clear through them and ascend above the Moon Sun and more lofty Stars and lodge themselves in the highest Heavens Nay they themselves who by rubbing and chafing and other implements have been advanced to this height of carrying their souls out of their bodies like the Heathen Enthusiasts who divined in a fury have caused other men to believe that to be inspired from above which takes its original from mens own indisposition and madness Such things being the fruits of a warm constitution and the effects of an odd temperament in mens bodies pass frequently for the perfection of the mind and an airy soul when it breaths forth extraordinary fancy is supposed to be blown upon first by that which bloweth where it listeth And yet this may be the fruits of passion and the effects of an ill temperament of body that passes for the perfection of an inspired mind and many things are supposed to proceed from the communication of Spirits which are nothing but a disease of the body nay oftentimes the product only of craft and subtilty This may imitate some primitive inspired extraordinary worship when the Prophets spake by turns and others were to hold their tongues But though it resembles some kind of worship to God 't is now no more than an unreasonable service And 't is no wonder that error and falshood being fairly varnished with a shew of truth should be embraced by many Proselytes who either will nor or cannot give themselves time and retirement to consider and search diligently into causes and effects And this is too apparent and troublesom also to many men who find these things much operating on the weaker Sex who are usually more guided by affection than reason and so are led captive to divers lusts Yet that which causes error to be courted instead of truth is some resemblance it bears to it because it has as Plutarch reports of the Egyptian Fables 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some faint and obscure representations of truth and these things are very often promoted by a persons education predisposition and temperament of body in which a soul is imprisoned and locked up but at last breaks loose by the strength of the disease through the pores of the body and obtains an unusual vehicle to carry it We read of some in Tully de Divinat lib. 1. who affirmed and we need not go so far back for them ad opinionem imperitorum fict as esse religiones That Religion was fitted according to the opinions of those that were unskilful and not able to make inquisition into the nature and truth of things But if ever there were the Being and Attributes of God so stated as we consent in here and yet a worship given to that Being as unsuitable to him as it is almost possible which imposed a cheat upon mankind Then considering the principles the favourers pretend to be their conduct an odd sort of Dissenters among us apparently practise it Nay their way of worship is suited to the dispositions of the weaker and more infirm judgements and this appears in very many of the Proselytes to it who really believe what they profess and their Religion is not weighed by their advantage For we find by experience and more converse than they were willing formerly to have with us that Women are wonderfully devoted to Separation and though their Husbands are prevailed upon to come to Church the Wives are yet addicted to a Conventicle But few men who do not make secular interest their God of any briskness and strength of parts embrace those methods Yet some there are that permit themselves to be bound hand and foot with their wives apron-strings or follow the paths and allurements of a Mistress or the custom of their Trade or the advantage of an Office and the same Motives when Religion is so low will bring them back to Church again or equally incline them to Geneva or Rome And truly I have observed in my time though I wish not for the opportunity again that the numbers of Sexes are extremely disproportionable among them Which has created some wonder but no astonishment For I quickly found that it had been the method of the great Deceiver of mankind to gain an interest in the weaker Sex that he might the more easily entangle the stronger Thus the old Serpent began with Eve and proceeded afterwards by Miriam the Sister of Moses and still persisted by the wife of Job Nay after the Revelation of the glorious Gospel when his power and craft was ebbing and must abate the Jews by his instigation stirred up the devout and honourable women to expel Paul and Barnabas out of their Coasts Acts 13.50 Thus also Simon Magus that bewitching Father of the Gnosticks accomplished his designs by the help of Helena Montanus by Maximilla the French men by their Pucelle de Dieu and our English Anabaptists by their Maid of Kent I mention not these things to undervalue the glory of that Sex although it may serve to abate their pride and stop their mouths when they are troublesom and censorious since not only the sin of man but the propensity and inclination to it came at first by the means of a Woman But I urge this to abate our zeal and affection to such a worship in which the weaker sort become the great Devotionists and not to espouse wayes of Religion by the example of those whose airy thoughts will not settle long enough upon one object to consider it well And though this be not a sufficient argument to conclude against the worship of those with whom we have now entered into debate yet it is enough to raise suspition and make us inquisitive about such matters But if we approach nearer to the worship of our Dissenters we shall find their prayers many times to consist of such expressions as are too often unworthy of the Deity whilst they assume too great familiarity with God and the persons that utter them in their peoples behalf are more bold with him than a well bred person will pretend to even among such as are not much his superiours Cotta in Tully De natur Deor. lib. 3. having severely disputed against the Grecian and the Roman Gods says Omnis igitur talis à philosophiâ pellatur error ut cum de diis immortalibus disputemus dicamus digna diis immortalibus When we speak of the Immortal Gods let us speak things worthy of them The Heathen may here instruct the Christian or at least some that pretend to it who in spight of confutation would be accounted the best of that denomination that bold expressions uncouth clamours and loose incoherent and many times insignificant sentences which are the effects of inconsideration sudden inventions and the extempore raptures of a nimble fancy do not suit with the wisdom and greatness of that God to whom all our prayers are addressed nor the reason and understandings
in the mean time these wilful or at least ignorant Separatists pretend still with the greatest confidence to be the best if not the only worfhippers in Spirit and in truth But this assertion is vain and fond Because First They usually separate what the great God has joined and accepts together Nor do they worship him or at least they account it not necessary with their outward man as well as with the hidden man of the heart 'T is true indeed bodily worship profiteth little yet something it does but nothing at all when it is divorc'd from the intention and affections of the mind because it is a perfect demonstration of Hypocrisie which is very odious both to God and man But yet men cannot well pretend the devotion of their minds especially so as to convince others when it is not accompanied with humble and suitable deportments of their bodies For if there were no regard to be had to mens bodily gestures when they pretend to pay homage and worship to God then if we argue like men that have reasonable souls given them to discern betwixt good and evil it must be because our Maker knowing the designs of our hearts does not expect external demonstrations of what he concludes to be lodged within us But then we need no other pains to address our selves but only to raise our conceptions to the strongest and most fixed thoughts nimble apprehensions would be enough to compose a prayer and it would be utterance sufficient if we did but only temper our lips cough and raiseflegm into our throats nay without any action of our bodies at all if our prayer were composed or rather intended within our selves without the delivery of our own inventions or any signification of the purports of our hearts by the language of our tongues And if this were right Women themselves might bring forth too without any travail or pains to them if they could but keep their own counsel But alas such notions as these in those prayers which are in common do not signifie so much as a man that gapes when he ought to speak For even words in prayer serve only to utter our minds and are no more than an external sign and representation of what we had before inwardly conceived And since this is by all men of sence accounted to be a service acceptable to God why may he not receive the signatures and impressions of our souls by any other corporal demonstration Why cannot the lifting up of our hands to our mouths and kissing them as in old time be proper adoration Why cannot inclining our heads or bowing our bodies still continue to be a certain token of reverence and submission and of worship too Why cannot kneeling or prostration upon the ground Religiously signifie the humility devotion and the most profound lowliness of our minds Especially since 't is as old as David to worship and fall down and to kneel also before the Lord our Maker But if such reasoning may not be admitted by those who account all reason carnal from the experience of their own especially when it contradicts themselves If men can at all be brought to themselves nay but so far as not to think that Adams Fall has not beaten out the brains of his Posterity If we approvedly use words in our devotions to God although he knows our conceived petitions when no expressions are uttered by our mouths discerning our thoughts a far off Nor do I desire that even this plain position may be precarious or granted by Adversaries without proof since if they will but yield God to be a Spirit they may easily conjecture that he can be more quickly sensible of the thoughts of our souls especially if they account him to be infinite too by a certain near and prying intuition the mode of which is not so adapted to our apprehensions than having not the organs of sense by which we understand and express things he can be said in a literal sence to hear our prayers But for all this in publick prayers we having others to join with us as we use words to signifie our petitions which express the sentiments of our minds So do we also by habits and gestures represent our devotions and conceptions to others to raise their affections in proportion to our own that they by all means possible understanding what we are about may be inclined to assent and say Amen and be prevailed on to frame themselves into the same resemblance of mind and body that there may not only be an unity in our common worship but Uniformity too And if these other signs besides words in the postures of our bodies or both in conjunction may effectually conduce to the same end which is the raising and signifying our devotion I see no reason why the actions of other members of our bodies besides the articulate motion of our tongues that notoriously declare profound humility and present our devotions and signifie in the eyes of all the world unless it be to those who are resolved to shut them in their prayers to avoid the Argument our homage to and dependance on God should not be used in worshipping our Maker as well as words which an absolute necessity of understanding one another has improved and made copious by custom and art and a long time since were rendered fashionable in the world as being more ready than other signs and representations from any different members of the body For these are also the action and labour of the tongue and lips It will appear to all men that in prayer and devotion the body ought to accompany the mind they being such intimate and united friends that both make but one man because any that in private address themselves to God when they are in different appartments from one another and when they enter into their Closets and are still if they pray with any earnestness and affection being moved to it by the consideration of that great God to whom they address their own meanness when compared to him or the absolute necessity of obtaining those things which they petition for they express their minds with such servor and humility as affect their bodies and cast them into postures that customarily signifie and represent these things to other men However methinks they who dissenting from the Service of our Church are advanced to be the mouth of others ought in justice to declaim for the worship of mens bodies since commonly the motions and activity of their bodies in all even their publick devotions is that which more recommends them to their people than the sense of their petitions or the decency of the words by which they express it But let us argue this thing fairly with our selves and then can any man who has stript himself of prejudice and prepossessions in his enquiries about the worship of his Maker do otherwise than conclude that we nearer arrive at the perfection of that homage due to him by how much