to the legal Holiness of Places and Things God dwelt among the Jews in the Temple of Jerusalem where were the Symbols and Figures of his Presence it was God's House and therefore a holy place and every thing that belonged to it had a legal Holiness for the Holiness of Things and Places under the Law was derived from their relation to God and his Presence this was the only place for their Typical and Ceremonial Worship whither all the Males of the Children of Israel were to resort three times a year and where alone they were to offer their Sacrifices and Oblations to God the very place gave Virtue to their Worship and Sacrifices which were not so acceptable in other places nay which could not be offered in other places without sin as is evident from Jeroboam's sin in setting up the Calves at Dan and Bethel for places of Worship and the frequent Complaints of the Prophets against those who offered Sacrifices in the High Places and therefore the Dispute between the Jews and Samaritans was which was the place of Worship whether the Temple at Jerusalem or Samaria but Christ tells the Woman of Samaria that there should be no such distinction of places in the Christian Worship Woman believe me the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the father But the hour cometh and now is 4 John 21 23. when the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth Not as if the Father should not be worshipped neither at Jerusalem nor Samaria but that neither the Temple at Jerusalem nor Samaria should be the peculiar and appropriate place of Worship that God's Presence and Worship should no longer be confined to any one place that the Holiness of the place should no longer give any value to the Worship but those who worshipped God in spirit and in truth should be accepted by him where-ever they worshipped him Such Spiritual Worship and Worshippers shall be as acceptable to God at Samaria as at Jernsalem and as much in the remotest Corners of the Earth as at either of them for God's Presence should no longer be confined to any one place but he would hear our devout Prayers from all parts of the World where-ever they were put up to him and consequently the Holiness of places is lost which consists only in some peculiar Divine Presence and with the Holiness of places the external and legal Holiness of things ceases also for all other things were Holy only with relation to the Temple and the Temple-Worship For indeed God's Typical Presence in the Temple was only a Figure of the Incarnation Christ's Body was the true Temple where God dwelt for which reason he calls his Body the Temple Destroy this Temple and I will raise it up in three days And the Apostles assure us that the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Christ bodily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 really and substantially in opposition to God's Typical Presence in the material Temple and therefore when Christ was come who was the true Emmanuel or God dwelling among us and had by his Incarnation accomplish'd the Type and Figure of the Temple God would no longer have a Typical and Figurative Presence I will not quarrel with any man who shall call the Christian Churches and the Utensils of it holy things for being employed in the Worship of God they ought to be separated from common uses and Reason teaches us to have such places and things in some kind of religious Respect upon the account of their relation not to God but to his Worship but this is a very different thing from the Typical Holiness of the Temple and Altar and other things belonging to the Temple and there are two plain differences between them the first with respect to the cause the second with respect to the effect the cause of this legal Holiness was God's peculiar Presence in the Temple where God chose to dwell as in his own House which Sanctified the Temple and all things belonging to it the effect was that this Holiness of the Place Sanctified the Worship and gave value and acceptation to it the first needs no proof and the second we learn from what our Saviour tells the Scribes and Pharisees Wo unto you ye blind guides which say whosoever shall swear by the temple it is nothing but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple 23 Matth. 16 17 18 19. he is a debtor ye fools and blind for whether is greater the gold or the temple that sanctifieth the gold And whosoever shall swear by the altar it is nothing but whosoever sweareth by the gift that lieth upon it he is guilty ye fools and blind for whether is greater the gift or the Altar that sanctifieth the gift So that it seems there was such a Holiness in the Temple and Altar as conveyed a Holiness and Sanctity to other things even to the Oblations and Sacrifices which were offered there But now whatever Holiness there is in Christian Churches and Oratories they are sanctified by the Worship that is performed there not the Worship sanctified by them It is the Assembly of Christians themselves that is the Church the House the holy and living Temple of God not the building of Wood or Stone wherein they meet God and Christ is peculiarly present in the Assemblies of Christians though not by a figurative and symbolical Presence and thus he is present in the places where Christians meet and which are consecrated and separated to Religious Uses and there is a natural Decency in the thing to shew some peculiar Respects to the places where we solemnly Worship God but the Presence of God is not peculiar to the place as it was appropriated to the Temple of Jerusalem but it goes along with the Company and the Worship and therefore the place may be called Holy not upon account of its immediate relation to God as God's House wherein he dwells but its relation to Christians and that Holy Worship which is performed there and I suppose every one sees the vast difference between these two and thus all that vast number of Ceremonies which related to this external and legal Holiness of Places Vessels Instruments Garments c. have no place in the Christian Worship because there is no typical and symbolical Presence of God and consequently no such legal Holiness of places and things under the Gospel 4ly Nor are material and inanimate things made the Receptacles of Divine Graces and Vertues under the Gospel to convey them to us meerly by Contact and external Applications like some Amulets or Charms to wear in our Pockets or hang about our Necks There was nothing like this in the Jewish Religion though there was in the Pagan Worship but under the Gospel Christ bestows his holy Spirit on us as the principle of a new divine Life and from him alone we must immediately receive all Divine Influences and Vertue and not
mortifying his Lusts be at the trouble of Whippings and Fastings c. not to mortifie his Lusts but to keep them and to make satisfaction for them Would any man travel to Jerusalem or the Shrine of any Saint who believes he shall not be forgiven unless he leaves his Sins behind him which he might as well have parted with at home The true notion of Superstition is when men think to make satisfaction for neglecting or transgressing their Duty by doing something which is not their Duty but which they believe to be highly pleasing to God and to merit much of him Now no man who believes that he cannot please God without doing his Duty would be so fond of doing his Duty and doing that which is not his Duty nor pleasing to God into the bargain 3. And yet these meritorious and satisfactory Superstitions are very troublesome to most men and though they are willing to be at some pains rather than part with their Lusts yet they would be at as little trouble as possibly they can and herein the Church of Rome like a very indulgent Mother has consulted their ease for one man may satisfie for another and communicate his Merits to him and therefore those who by their Friends or Money can procure a vicarious Back need not Whip themselves they may Fast and say over their Beads and perform their Penances and Satisfactions by another as well as if they did it themselves or they may purchase Satisfactions and Merits out of the Treasury of the Church that is they may buy Indulgencies and Pardons or it is but entring into some Confraternity and then you shall share in their Merits and Satisfactions This is an imputed Righteousness with a witness and I think very External too when men can satisfie and merit by Proxies 4. And I think it may pass for an External Righteousness too when men are sanctified and pardoned by Reliques Holy-water Consecrated Beads Bells Candles Agnus Dei's c. And how unlike is all this to the Religion of our Saviour to that purity of Heart and Mind the Gospel exacts and to those means of Sanctification and methods of Piety and Vertue it prescribes Whoever considers what Christian Religion is can no more think these Observances Christian Worship than he can mistake Popish Legends for the Acts of the Apostles II. Let us now consider what kind of Worship Christ has prescribed to his Disciples And the general account we have of it 4 John 23 24. But the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth Now there are three things included in this description of Gospel Worship 1. That we must worship God under the Notion of a Pure and Infinite Spirit 2. That we must worship him under the Character of a Father 3. That we must worship him with the Mind and Spirit First We must worship God under the Notion of a Pure and Infinite Spirit who has now confined his peculiar Presence to no place as he formerly did to the Temple at Jerusalem for this was the present Dispute Whether God would be worshipped at the Temple at Jerusalem or Samaria as I observed above In opposition to which our Saviour tells the Woman that God is a Spirit and therefore not confined to any place he is every-where and present with us every-where and may be worshipped every-where by devout and pious Souls that though for Typical Reasons he had a Typical and Symbolical Presence under the Jewish Dispensation yet this was not so agreeable to his Nature who is a Spirit and therefore he must not now be sought for in Houses of Wood and Stone And indeed the Reformation of the Divine Worship must begin in rectifying our Notions and Apprehensions of God for such as we apprehend God to be such a kind of Worship we shall pay him as is evident from the Rites and Ceremonies of the Pagan Worship which was fitted to the Nature and History of their Gods for where there are no instituted Rites of Worship all Mankind conclude that the Nature of God is the best Rule of his Worship for all Beings are best pleased with such Honours as are suitable to their Natures and no Being can think himself honoured by such Actions as are a contradiction to his own Nature and Perfections Now if God will be worshipped more like a pure and infinite Spirit under the Gospel than he was under the Law if this be the fundamental Principle of gospel-Gospel-Worship that God is a Spirit and must be worshipped as a Spirit I think it is plain that nothing is more unlike a pure Spirit than a material Image nothing more unlike an infinite Spirit which can have no shape or figure than a finite and figured Image made in the likeness of a man or of a thing in Heaven and Earth nothing more unlike an infinite Spirit which is Life and Mind and Wisdom than a dead and senceless Image and if under the Law where God suited his Worship more to a Typical Dispensation than to his own Nature he would not allow of the Worship of Images much less is this an acceptable Worship to him under the Gospel where he will be worshipped as a pure Spirit for there is nothing in the World more unlike a Living Infinite Omnipotent Omniscient Spirit than a little piece of dead senceless figured Gold or Silver Wood or Stone whatever shape the Carver or Engraver please to give it since God has none Now would any man who understands this that God is a Spirit and will under the Gospel be worshipped as a Spirit should he go into many Popish Churches and Chappels and see a vast number of Images and Pictures there and People devoutly kneeling before them suspect that these were Christian Oratories or this Christian Worship unless he knew something of the matter before For there you shall find the Pictures of God the Father and the ever Blessed Trinity in different forms and representations the Pictures of the Blessed Virgin and other Saints and Martyrs devoutly adored and worshipped and would any man guess that this were to worship God as a pure and infinite Spirit A Spirit cannot be painted and then to worship God as a Spirit cannot signifie to look upon any Representation of God when we pray to him which to be sure cannot give us the Idea of an infinite Spirit He who worships God as a Spirit can have no regard to Matter and Sense but must apply himself to God as to an infinite Mind which no man can do who gazes upon an Image or contemplates God in the art and skill of a Painter for to pray to God in an Image and in the fame thought to consider him as a pure and infinite mind is a contradiction for though a man who believes God to be a
salvation is of the Jews wherein he informs the Woman that though she inquired only of the place of Worship the Samaritans were guilty of a greater sault than setting up the Temple at Samaria in opposition to the Temple at Jerusalem viz. in a false Object or an Idolatrous manner of Worship they Worshipping a Dove as the Symbol and Representation of God and thus to Worship God in Spirit is expresly opposed to Worshipping God by Images 5ly However this comes much to one for if God being a Spirit his Worship must not be confined to any Place or Symbolical Presence then he must not be Worshipped by an Image for an Image is a Representative Presence of God or of the Saints for the use of Images is to represent that Being whom we Worship as present to us and therefore if men consider what they do they go to Images as to Divine Presences to Worship Images which as set up in Churches and Chappels for the Worship of God or of the Saints are confined to places and make those places as much appropriate and peculiar places of Worship as the Jewish Temple was excepting that the Temple was but one and they are many Heathen Temples were the Houses of their Gods or of their Images which were the Presence of their Gods and if we must not appropriate the Presence of God to any place then we must not Worship him by Images which are of no use but to represent God as sensibly present with the Image or in the place where the Image is If God be better Worshipped before an Image than without one then the Worship of God is more confined to that place where an Image is than to those places which have no Images I cannot see how to avoid this that if God must be Worshipped by Images then there must be appropriate places of Worship viz. where the Image is if there be no appropriate places of Worship under the Gospel like the Temple at Jerusalem then God must not be Worshipped by Images for an Image must be in some place and if God must be Worshipped at or before his Image then that is the proper and peculiar place of Worship where his Image is nay though the Image be not fixt to any place but be carried about with us yet if we must Worship God by Images the Image is not only the Object but makes the place of Worship for there we must Worship God where his Image is if we must Worship him before his Image It is impossible to separate the Notion of Image-Worship from the Notion of a peculiar and appropriate place of Worship for the Image determines the place as the presence of the Object does and as under the Gospel we may Worship God any where because he is an infinite Spirit and fills all places and is equally present with all devout Worshippers where-ever they Worship him So where the Image is Consecrated for a Divine Presence it is not only the Object but the peculiar place of Worship because God is peculiarly present there or more acceptably worshipped there than where there is no Image So that if a peculiar and appropriate place of Worship be contrary to the Notion of an Infinite Spirit the Worship of Images is much more so for besides that they are gross and corporeal representations of a Spirit they are Divine Presences too and appropriate places of Worship Secondly As God must be worshipped under the notion of a Spirit so under the character of a Father as our Saviour expresty tells us The hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and Truth 4 Joh. 23. for the Father seeketh such to worship him and therefore he taught his Disciples to pray Our Father which art in heaven Under the Law God was worshipped as a King and that not so much as the King of the whole World but as in a peculiar manner the King of Israel The Lord reigneth let the people tremble he sitteth between the Cherubims in his Temple at Jerusalem let the earth be moved 99 Ps 1 2. The Lord is great in Zion and he is high above all people But under the Gospel the peculiar character of God is a Father and that not only as he is the maker of all men and so the Father of all but as he is the Father of Christ and in him the Father of all Christians Now this makes a vast difference in our Worship from what is daily practised in the Church of Rome For 1. When we pray to God as our Father we must pray to him as dwelling in Heaven as our Saviour teaches us to say Our Father which art in Heaven For as a Father Heaven is his House and Habitation In my Fathers House are many mansions that is 14 John 2. in in Heaven which is his House as a Father as the Temple at Jerusalem was his Palace considered as the King of Israel and this is one reason our Saviour intimates why the presence of God shall no longer be confined to any particular Place or Temple because he shall be worshipped as the universal Father not as the King of Jury Now when he is to be worshipped as a Father from all Parts of the World he must have such a Throne and Presence to which all the World may equally resort and that can be no other then his Throne in Heaven whither we may send up our Prayers from all Corners of the Earth but had he confined his Presence to any place on Earth as he did to the Temple of Jerusalem the rest of the World must have been without God's peculiar Presence could have had no Temple nor Place of Worship but at such a distance that they could never have come at it for though God fills all places it is a great absurdity to talk of more Symbolical Presences of God than one for a Symbolical Presence confines the unlimited Presence of God to a certain place in order to certain ends as to receive the Worship that is paid him and to answer the Prayers that are made to him and to have more than One such Presence as this is like having more Gods than One. So that all our Worship under the Gospel must be directed to God in Heaven and that is a plain argument that we must not Worship God in Images on Earth for they neither can represent to us the Majesty of God in Heaven nor is God present with the Image to receive our Worship there if God must now be Worshipped as dwelling in Heaven it is certain there can be no Object of our Worship on Earth for though God fill all places with his Presence yet he will be Worshipped only as sitting on his Throne in Heaven and then I am sure he must not be Worshipped in an Image on Earth for that is not his Throne in Heaven This the Mercy-seat in the Holy of Holies was an Emblem of for the Holy of
The Second Part OF THE Preservative AGAINST POPERY Shewing how Contrary POPERY is to the True Ends OF THE Christian Religion Fitted for the INSTRUCTION OF Vnlearned PROTESTANTS By WILLIAM SHERLOCK D. D. Master of the Temple The Second Edition LONDON Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet-street M DC LXXXVIII THE Second Part OF THE PRESERVATIVE AGAINST POPERY Imprimatur Liber cui Titulus The Second Part of the Preservative against Popery May 3. 1688. Guil. Needham R. R. in Christo P. ac D. D. Wilhelmo Archiepisc Cant. Ã Sacr. Domest The Second Part OF THE PRESERVATIVE AGAINST POPERY CHAP. IV. Some Directions relating to particular Controversies THose who would understand the particular Disputes between Us and the Church of Rome must of necessity read such Books as give the true State of the Controversie between us and fairly represent the Arguments on both sides and where such Books are to be met with he may learn from a late Letter Entituled The Present State of the Controversie between the Church of England and the Church of Rome Or an Account of Books written on both sides But my present Design is of another nature to give some plain and easie Marks and Characters of true Gospel-Doctrines whereby a man who has any relish of the true Spirit of Christianity may as certainly know Truth from Error in many cases as the Palate can distinguish Tasts There are some things so proper to the Gospel and so primarily intended in it that they may fitly serve for distinguishing marks of true Evangelical Doctrine I shall name some of the chief and examine some Popish Doctrines by them SECT I. Concerning IDOLATRY 1. ONe principal intention of the Gospel was more perfectly to extirpate all Idolatry 1 John 3.8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil That is not only all Sin and Wickedness but the very Kingdom of Darkness that Kingdom the Devil had erected in the World the very Foundation of which was laid in Idolatrous Worship To this purpose Christ has expresly taught us that there is but one God and has more perfectly instructed us in the nature of God 1. Joh. 18. For no man hath seen God at any time but the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him Ignorance was the Mother of Pagan Idolatry because they did not know the true God they Worshipped any thing every thing for a God and therefore the most effectual course to cure Idolatry was to make known the true God to the World for those men are inexcusable who know the true God and Worship any thing else Tho' indeed according to some mens Divinity the knowledge of the true God cures Idolatry not by rooting out Idolatrous Worship but by excusing it by making that to be no Idolatry in a Christian who knows God which was Idolatry in a Heathen who did not know him for if as some say none can be guilty of Idolatry who acknowledge one Supreme Being then the Heathens when once they were instructed in the knowledge of the one true God might have Worshipped all their Country Gods which they did before without being guilty of Idolatry which is as if I should say that man is a Rebel who through mistake and ignorance owns any man for his Prince who is not his Prince but he is no Rebel who knows his lawful Prince and pays Homage to another whom he knows not to be his Prince And therefore our Saviour confines all Religious Worship to God alone Mat. 10. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy GOD and him only shalt thou serve It is his Answer to the Devil when he tempted him to fall down and worship him but he gives such an Answer as excludes all Creatures not only bad but good Spirits from any share in Religious Worship Our Saviour does not deny to worship him meerly because he was the Devil tho' that a man may do without the guilt of Idolatry who knows him to be the Devil if those men are in the right who allow nothing to be Idolatry but to worship some Being for the Supreme God who is not Supreme for then you may worship the Devil without the guilt of Idolatry if you do not believe him to be the Supreme God but our Saviour's reason for not worshipping him was because we must worship none but God. Which is as good a reason against the worship of the most glorious Angel as of the Devil himself Nay our Saviour denies to worship him though the Devil made no terms with him about the kind or degrees of Worship He does not require him to offer Sacrifice to him which is the only Act of Worship the Church of Rome appropriates to the Supreme God but only to bow down before him as an expression of Religious Devotion he did not demand that degree of Worship which the Church of Rome calls Latria and appropriates to the Supreme God nay he confesses that he was not the Supreme God for he does not pretend to dispose of the Kingdoms of the World in his own right but says they were given to him and he had power to give them to whom he pleased in which he acknowledges that he had a Superiour and therefore could not in the same breath desire to be owned and worshipped as the Supreme But our Saviour denies to give him this inferiour degree of Worship and thereby teaches us that no degree of Religious Worship must be given to any Being but the Supreme God. And because Mankind were very apt to worship inferiour Daemons as believing them to have the care of this lower World and that it was in their power to do great good to them to answer their Prayers and to mediate for them with the Superiour Deities or with the Supreme God if they believed one Supreme which appears to be a received Notion among them to prevent this kind of Idolatry God advances his own Son to be the universal Mediator and the Supreme and Soveraign Lord of the World that all Mankind should make their Addresses and Applications to him and offer up their Prayers only in his Name that in him they should find acceptance and in no other Name Which was the most effectual way to put an end to the Worship of all inferiour Deities and Creature-Patrons and Advocates for when we are assured that no other Being can mediate for us with effect and power but only Christ it is natural to Worship no other Mediator but him who being the eternal Son of God may be worshipped without danger of Idolatry Thus St. Paul tells us That tho' the Heathen World had Gods many and Lords many 1 Cor. 8.5 6. yet to us there is but one God the Father and one Lord Jesus Christ One Supreme and Soveraign Deity and one Mediator between God and Men. Now this being so apparently one end of Christ's coming
Spirit may be so absurd as to worship him in an Image yet an Image cannot represent a Spirit to him and therefore either he must not think at all of the Image and then methinks he should not look on an Image when he worships God for that is apt to make him think of it or if he does think of the Image while his mind is filled with such gross and sensible representations it is impossible in the same act to address to God as to a pure invisible and infinite Spirit Which shews how unfit and improper Images are in the Worship of God for they must either be wholly useless and such as a man must not so much as look or think on which is very irreconcileable with that Worship which is paid to them in the Church of Rome or while he is intent upon a Picture or Image his mind is diverted from the contemplation of a pure and infinite Spirit and therefore cannot and does not worship God as a Spirit And the same is true of the Images of Saints and the Blessed Virgin for though to make Pictures of Men or Women is no reproach to the Divine Nature since they are not the Pictures or Images of God who is a Spirit but of those Saints whom they are intended to represent yet if all Christian Worship be the Worship of God it is evident that the Worship of Images though they be not the Images of God but of the Saints can be no part of Christian Worship because God must be worshipped as a Spirit and therefore not by any Image whatsoever Now the Church of Rome will not pretend that the Worship of Saints and their Images is a distinct and separate Worship from the Worship of God but to justifie themselves they constantly affirm that they worship God in that Worship which they pay to the Saints and their Images for they know that to do otherwise would be to terminate their Worship upon Creatures which they confess to be Idolatry since all Religious Worship must terminate on God and therefore should they give any Religious Worship to Creatures distinct and separate from that Worship they give to God it were Idolatry upon their own Principles Now if they worship God in the Worship of Saints and their Images then they worship God in the Images of Saints and that I think is to worship him by Images the Worship of a pure infinite and invisible Spirit will admit of no Images whether of God or Creatures as the Objects or Mediums of Worship But it may be said that this is to graft our own Fancies and Imaginations upon Scripture for though Christ does say that God is a Spirit and must be worshipped in Spirit he does not say that to worship God in Spirit is not to worship him by an Image but to worship God in Spirit in our Saviour's Discourse with the Woman of Samaria is not opposed to Image-Worship but to confining the Worship of God to a particular place such as the Temple at Jerusalem and Samaria was as I observed above Now to this I answer 1. To worship God as a Spirit does in the nature of the thing signifie this for to worship God by any material or sensible Representations is not to worship God as a Spirit for an infinite Spirit cannot be represented by Matter nor by any Shape and Figure because it neither is material nor has any figure 2. If God will not have his peculiar Presence confined to any place under the Gospel much less will he be worshipped by Images and Pictures for it is not such a contradiction to the nature of an infinite Spirit to shew himself more peculiarly present in one place than in another as it is to be worshipped by sensible Images and Pictures Though God fills all places there may be wise Reasons why he should confine the Acts of Worship to some peculiar place and such typical Reasons there were for it under the Law but there never can be any Reason why a Spirit should be represented and worshipped by an Image which is such a contradiction and dishonour to the nature of the Spirit and therefore when God confined his symbolical Presence to the Temple at Jerusalem yet he strictly forbad the Worship of Images and much less then will he allow of Image-Worship when he will not so much as have a Temple 3. For we must observe farther that what our Saviour here says God is a Spirit and will be worshipped in Spirit is not a particular Direction how to Worship God but a general Rule to which the nature of our Worship must be conformed and therefore it is our Rule as far as the plain reason of it extends Under the Law they were not left to general Rules but God determined the particular Rites and Ceremonies of his Worship himself for under the Law God had not so plainly discovered his own Nature to them as he hath done by his Son in the Gospel For no man hath seen God at any time but the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him And therefore the Nature of God was never made the Rule of Worship before Thô God was as much a Spirit under the Law as he is under the Gospel yet this was never assigned as a reason against Image-Worship that God is a Spirit but either that they saw no Likeness or Similitude in the Mountain when GOD spake to them 4 Deut. 15 16. or that he is so great and glorious a Being that nothing in the World is a fit Representation of him To whom then will ye liken GOD 40 Isa 18 c. or what likeness will ye compare unto him It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are as grashoppers that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in c. But that God is a Spirit who has no shape and figure is a much better Argument against Image-Worship than all this but this God had not so plainly declared to them and if God forbad the Worship of Images when he thought fit to give no other reason for it But that he had never appeared to them in any Likeness or Similitude or that he was too great to be Represented we our selves may now judge how unfit it is to Worship God by an Image since our Saviour has declared that he is a Spirit who has no Likeness or Figure and that now he expects to be Worshipped by us as a Spirit and therefore without any Image or sensible Representation 4. And yet some learned men think that our Saviour in these Words had as well respect to the Worship of God by Images as to his Worship in the Temple for that he had respect to the Object as well as Place of Worship is evident from what he adds Ye worship ye know not what we know what we worship 4 Joh. 20. for
Holies in the Jewish Temple did signifie Heaven and the Mercy-seat covered with Cherubims signified the Throne of God in Heaven whither we must lift up our Eyes and Hearts when we Pray to him for though it is indifferent from what Place we put up our Prayers to God while we have regard to the External Decency of Religious Worship yet it is not indifferent whither we direct our Prayers for we must direct our Prayers to the throne of grace 4 Heb. 16. if we would obtain mercy and find grace to help him in time of need Now the Throne of Grace is only in Heaven whither Christ is ascended to make Atonement for us for he is the true Propitiatory or Mercy-seat And therefore if to direct our Prayers to God to his Picture or Image or to the Images of the Virgin Mary or any other Saints did not provoke God to jealousie yet it would do us no good unless such Images are God's Throne of Grace for all other Prayers are lost which are not directed to God on his Throne of Grace where alone he will receive our Petitions If a Prince would receive no Petitions but what were presented to him sitting on such a Throne all men would be sensible how vain a thing it were to offer any Petition to him else-where And yet thus it is here A Sinner dare not must not approach the Presence of God but only on his Mercy-seat and Throne of Grace for any where else our God is a Consuming Fire a Just and a Terrible Judge now God has but one Throne of Grace and that is in Heaven as the Mercy-seat was in the Holy of Holies which was a Type of Heaven thither Christ ascended with his Bloud to sprinkle the Mercy-seat and to cover it with a Cloud of Incense which are the Prayers of the Saints as the High-Priest did once a Year in the Typical Holy Place Which is a plain proof that all our Prayers must be immediately directed to God in Heaven where Christ dwells who is our true Propitiatory and Mercy-seat who has sprinkled the Throne of God with his own Bloud and has made it a Throne of Grace and where he offers up our Prayers as Incense to God. 2. To Worship God as our Father signifies to Worship him only in the Name and Mediation of his Son Jesus Christ for he is our Father only in Jesus Christ and we can call him Father in no other Name By the right of Creation he is our Lord and our Judge but he is the Father of Sinners only by Adoption and Grace and we are Adopted only in Christ so that if Christian Worship be the Worship of God as a Father then we must Pray to God in no other Name but of his own Eternal Son The Virgin Mary though she were the Mother of Christ yet does not make God our Father and then no other Saint I presume will pretend to it which shews what a contradiction the Invocation of Saints is to the Nature of Christian Worship and how unavailable to obtain our requests of God. If we must Worship God only as our Father then we must Worship him only in the Name of his Son for he owns himself our Father in no other Name and if he will hear our Prayers and answer our humble Petitions only as a Father then he will hear only those Prayers which are made to him in the Name of his Son How great Favourites soever the Blessed Virgin and other Saints may be if God hear Prayers only as a Father it is to no purpose to Pray to God in their Names for he hears us not 3. To Worship God as a Father signifies to Pray to him with the humble assurance and confidence of Children 8 Rom. 15. This is the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father For because ye are sons God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts 4 Gal. 6. crying Abba Father A dutiful Son does not question his Father's good will to him nor readiness to hear and answer all his just requests he depends upon the kindness of his Father and his interest and relation to him and seeks for no other Friends and Favourites to recommend him And upon this account also the Invocation of Saints is a contradiction to the Gospel-Spirit of Prayer to that Spirit of Adoption which teaches us to cry Abba Father for surely those have not the hope and assurance and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Children who dare not go to their Father themselves but must send their Petitions to him by the hands of Favourites and Intercessors To pray to God in the Name of Christ is only to pray to him as Sons for it is in his Name only that he owns us for Sons and this is the true Spirit of Adoption in the Name and Mediation of Christ to go to God as Children to a Father but to pray to him in any other Name how powerful soever is not to go to him as a Father but as to our Lord and King who must be Addressed to by the Mediation of some great Favourites To pray to God in any other Name which does not make us his Sons is to distrust our Relation to him as our Father in Christ and this is contrary to the Spirit of Adoption which teaches us to call God Father and gives us that assurance of his Fatherly goodness to us in Christ that we need and desire no other Advocates Thirdly To Worship God in Spirit is to Worship him with our Mind and Spirit for that is most agreeable to the Nature of God who is a Spirit God cannot be Worshipped but by a reasonable Creature and yet a Beast may Worship God as well as a Man who Worships without any act of Reason and Understanding or devout Affections To pray to God without knowing what we say when neither our Understandings nor Affections can joyn in our Prayers is so absurd a Worship of a pure Mind that Transubstantiation it self is not more contrary to Sence than Prayers in an unknown Tongue are to the Essential Reason and Nature of Worship I suppose no man will say that to pray to God or praise him in words which we do not understand is to Worship God in Spirit unless he thinks that a Parrot may be taught to pray in the Spirit What difference is there between a man 's not speaking and speaking what he does not understand Just so much difference there is between not praying and praying what we do not understand and he honours God to the full as much who does not pray at all as he who prays he knows not what and I am sure he affronts him a great deal less However if Christian Worship be to worship God in Spirit Prayers in an unknown Tongue in which the Mind and Spirit cannot be concerned is no Christian Worship SECT IV. Concerning the Reformation and Improvement of Humane Nature by the Gospel of CHRIST 4.