Invocate and give thanks to his Father in the New-Testament are they not External Ceremonies and Services Did not the Apostles and the whole Church then and the whole Church after them supplicate God the Father by this Rite They continued breaking of Bread i. e. in the use of the Holy Sacrament and Prayers And Therefore in the Primitive Church they used to say all the Service at the Altar to Signify that they sent up their prayers in the Name of him whose Sacrifice the Ground of all attonement and Intercession was in that place Exhibited and Commemorated yet it seems very Novel to us to have part of our Service read there But least you might say the meaning is not that God will have no External Service but he will be worshipped by no External Gestures or Postures I say this also contradicts our Saviours Practise who himself lifted up his Sacred Eyes to Heaven when helprayed for Lazarus fell on his Face when he Prayed in his Agony c. What was Imposition of hands but an External gesture when God was invoked by way of benediction besides I see no reason why in the point of Evangelical worship Gesture should be more excepted against than Voice Is not Confessing Praying Praising an External Bodily worship as well as that of Gesture why then should the one derogate from the worship of the Father in Spirit and Truth and not the other In a word there never was yet in the World any Society of men that worshipped the Father in such a manner as this interpretation doth emply and therefore this cannot be the meaning Our Saviour intends here to reprehend the Idolatrous worship of the Samaritans The true sence who worshpped they knew not what Viz. God under the Representation of a Dove as the Israelites in Jeroboams time and long after under the similitude of a Calfe The Samaritans Idol This was the Object of the Samaritans worship as appears out of the writings of the Jewish Rabbies This was their Idolatry they worshipped God in a Bodily shape and the reason which our Saviour gives seems to emply this For God saith he is a Spirit i. e. he hath no body nor is he such therefore he must be worshipped as a Spirit for so indeed he is and not by any bodily Representatation So that the sense here is this The hour cometh and now is that the true worshippers shall Worship the Father in Spirit that is conceiving of him no otherwise than in Spirit and in Truth that is not under any Corporal or Visible shape for those that Worship under any Corporal similitude do indeed belye him For the Apostle saith of such as changed the Glory of the Incorruptible God into an Image made like to Corruptible man Rom. 1. they changed the truth of God into a lye Hence Idols also are called Lyes Amos. 6.4 Some interpret these words the true worshippers shall worship God in Spirit that is no longer by Jewish Ceremonies but in and by Christ who is the substance of those shadows This sence though it be true and plausible yet it is not congruous to our Saviours reason For God saith he is a Spirit and must be c. If this be the reason then God should never have been worshipped with Jewish Ceremonies and Rites for God was a Spirit from the beginning and manifested himself so to be even to the Jews who Worshipped him with Rites and Ceremonies Therefore I adhere to my first sense Thus your main Fort is blown up The Second Objection drawn from Goos Protestation against Sacrifices Michel 6.6 7 8. Hos 6.6 Isaiah 1. Psalm 51. with the Answer Vid. In a word Religion as man hath both a Body and Soul the Soul of our Service is the Service of our Soul but the Body of that Soul is the Service of our Body one must inform the other and both make a compleat man of God For as the Body without the Soul is dead so the Soul without the Body is imperfect God loves no maimed Sacrifice God calls for the Heart because he knows it commands the whole Man and therefore if he have the Heart at his devotion he is sure of the Body also Obj. Suppose all this God is to be adored outwardly as well as inward ly Yet this manner of Adoration is Dangerous and may become many ways Evil. For 1. It is Scandalous to weak brethren who hereat are offended 2. It may be an occasion to some Ignorant Ones to Commit Idolatry by Adoring the very Table 3. It is a fair Introduction to Popish Superstition 1. Every Scandal or offence taken is not a Scandal given Therefore that is properly called Scandalous which in its own nature tends to give offence not that which through willfulness or blindness may by accident become such Resp Resp Was not Christ himself a Scandal and Rock of offence to the Jews a Stumbling-block to the Greeks foolishness was not his Cross a Scandal should not therefore Christ have come and been Crucified because this proved an occasion of Scandal but who are these weak Ones and how is this an offence For the weak Ones Who are the weak they are such as usually think themselves strongly grounded in the Faith and able to confute this Worship we here maintain Such as though they be Women and Weavers think they can teach twenty of us thred-bare Schollers for all our Learning These are the weak Ones forsooth weak I confess in their knowledge for they are blind and therefore the bolder but in their own conceipt strong enough But how are these offended Why are they offended Are they drawn to imitate us in our Worship waveringly and doubtingly not knowing through the weakness of their Judgment whether they sin or no Scandal but relying on the knowledge and conscience of him whom they imitate thereby ensnare their consciences in sin This is properly a Scandal 1 Cor. 8. as the Apostle shews expresly were he makes that a Scandal given when in a thing in it self indifferent as Eating of meat Sacrificed to Idols not as such but as bought in the Market by a man of knowledge who knoweth that meat commendeth not to God and takes no notice of the Idol to whom it was offered but Eats is as Common or Ordinary When I say this Act of him that hath knowledge doth occasion one weak in knowledge to Eat the same meat with conscience of the Idol grounding himself upon the example of him whom he imitates and so offends Thus then comes in the Scandal The strong Eat of that without conscience of the Idol among the weak or ignorant that know not how to make such a distinction They imitate the strongs example as thinking what is lawful for the strong is lawful for them and so Eat of it with conscience of the Idol or as devoted to an Idol which is Idolatry Thus the strongs knowledge is an occasion of Sandal to the weak that
or would not hear him any where else Or that Solomon thought God could not or would not hear any prayer but what was made in his Temple certainly he did not For the reason why he beseeched God to have respect unto the Place which he had made and to hear the Prayers of those that prayed in it or towards it was only this because it was built for the Memorial of Gods Name for the place of his special presence and God had promised to place his Name there And mark Gods Answer 2 Chr. 7.14 2 Chr. 7.14 If my People shall humble themselves and Pray c. Then will I hear and forgive Now mine eyes shall be open and mine ears attent to the Prayert that are made in this place Would you know the reason why God would hear in this place rather than in another Though God did not abridge himself of hearing in anyother place It is expresly set down in the next Verse For now I have chosen and Sanctified this house that my Name that is my Memorial or special presence might be there for ever and my Eyes and my Heart shall be there perpetually Is there not the same reason for Gods presence in our Churches as in their Temple if they be as much Sanctified to this end viz. Gods Memorial or Name to Inhabit in as that was And to what other end were these ever Consecrated Now unless you can shew this promise of Gods meeting and blessing men by a peculiar manner in all places where he recorded his Name was proper to the Jews or hath been since reversed by God then certainly our Churches have as much of Gods special presence as the Temple And God will there meet with us and bless us especially and we are to adore God as much towards our Memorial as the Jews towards theirs Thus I have proved the Lawfulness of Adoration towards the Altar out of Scripture Now for the Opinion and Pratise of the Church That it was the Opinion and Practise of the Old Church 1 Kings 8.22 2 Kings 19.14 2 Chr. 7.3 is apparent by what is said Hezekiah in his distress went into the Temple and their Prayed towards the Place of his presence Viz. the Mercy Seat and therefore compellates God by this Title Thou that dwellest between the Cherubims Might not the King have Prayed at home was not God present in his house or had he confined him between the Cherubims No but Hezekiah knew that God had more especially promised his Presence in this Place and therefore here he comes and prostrates himself before Gods Memorial How the Christians Esteemed ever and reverenced their Churches Vid. c. And how highly they regarded their Altars Chrisost Hom. 20. In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians Optatus in his 6th Book describing the Dignity of the Altar illustrates it from this Viz. That it was the Seat of the Body and Blood of Christ Alexander Bishop of Constantinople falling down at the foot of the Altar besought God that he would subvert the furious Plots and Endeavours of the Arrians the next day Arrius as he was exonerating nature withal voided his Guts and Bowels Nazians Or. p. 1. or in some 25. tells That his Sister Gorgonia being Sick applies her self to the chief Physitian of all mortals and casting her self down before the Altar and Invocating him who was Honoured upon the same she recovered her former health By which Examples it may seem that God by his miraculous benefits hath confirmed this Reverence Tertull tells how penitents after they are restored to the Church at their entrance into it were wont to cast themselves down before the Priests from whom they were to receive absolution and to bow themselves submisly before the Altar of God c. God cares not for any complements He requires the Heart Object and the Inward Devotion thereof and so our Saviour teacheth us to serve God John 4.23 The hour cometh and now is that they that worship the Father must worship him in Spirit and Truth This Text is much abused to prove that God in the Gospel allows not of External or Bodily worship or Service but requires this of the Spirit only and consequently to make this the main difference between Gods worship under the Old-Testament and the New Now first I will shew the absurdity of this meaning which they give of the words and then declare the true sense This sense is inconsequent from our Saviours Words The absurdities of the Puritance exposition for he did not speak any thing to the woman about Bodily worship but only about the place of worship and the Object For her question to our Saviour perceiving him to be a Prophet was about a main controversy between the Jews and Samaritans who were bitter Enemies about the Place of worship They mistake the Scope so whether Mount Gerizim or Jerusalem were the place appointed for Gods worship This you may see is nothing concerning the manner of worship whether it should be Outward or Inward But our Saviour in answering waves the question and tells her that was not so material a controversy but that there was a greater Question than that about the place Viz. about the object of their worship for you saith he worship you know not what but we Jews know what we worship After which follows the words cited But the hour cometh c. This is the first absurdity it hath not Consistance with the contest Secondly They add to the Letter Their interpretation addeth to the very Letter of the Text For our Saviour saith not we must worship him in Spirit only there is no such word This exclusive particle our Saviour useth not So that though he might mean that we must worship him cheifly or Principally in Spirit yet it follows not but we might worship him with our bodies also Subordinately for the Principal doth not exclude the Subordinate but include it And none dare say that outward worship is opposite to inward This is the Second Absurdity they add to the letter what our Saviour never said or thought Thirdly This Exposition is directly contrary to the words For our Saviour saith God must be worshipped in Spirit and Truth but God is not nor yet can be worshipped in Truth without Bodily worship for his worship is not true 'T is conerary to the Doctrine and practise of Christ and of all Christians in all Ages unless it be entire and Universal as hath been shewen and entire it is not without the Joynt-worship of the Body Fourthly This Exposition contradicts the Ordinances of the Gospel expresly together with the practise of our Saviour his Apostles and the Church in all Ages For the blessed Sacraments are External Rites and Services Baptisme wherein we make our first Stepulation with God to become his Servants The Eucharist which is substituted in place of those Bloody Sacrifices of the Law to be a Rite and mean of our Address to
to the approved Practise of the Saints in all Ages First 1 It is lawful to determine our Worship towards some place It is lawful to specify or determine our Worship of God in his house to some place 1. Because it is necessary man should tender his Worship towards some place in special it being a bodily Act and he must look and bow one way either to the right or left to the upper or lower end unless he will turn round as he Worships or look nine ways at once that he might not be thought to adore the place he bows toward Secondly And to one place rather than another which is no Idolatry As our Worship must be done towards some place in special so it is lawful to do it towards one place rather than another 1. There is no Idolatry in it for unless we make the place the object of our Worship some ways it is no Worship of an Idol But we tender none of our Worship to the place You may as well say we cannot look up to Heaven when we say our Prayers but we must Worship the Heavens Besides if to Worship God towards one place rather than another be Idolatry then Daniel when he Worshipped God toword the Temple and the Jews when they worshipped toward the Altar and Ark committed Idolatry For if they could not Worship God toward one place more than nother but they must Worship the place Certainly ' God who is Jealous of his Glory in point of Idolatry would never have commanded or permitted it What was then no Idolatry cannot be now for Idolatry is the same thing now and then and the second commandment did alike concern them and us And as there is no Idolatry No superstition so there is no superstition in it For we no ways circumscribe God's Immensity or omni presence or confine it to a place hereby no more than Solomon did when he built a Temple for him or God himself did circumscribe himself when he commanded a Tabernacle to be set up for him to dwell in Neither was it in his heart that men hereby should have such a conceit of him as if he could be limited or contained in any place Nor indeed had they any such conceipt for saith Solomon The Heaven of Heavens is not able to contain thee how much less the house that I have built Now if we do not imagine that God cannot be confined to any Church why should any dream that we confine him to some place in the Church more than another Do you think God is confined in the Church when you go out of your Houses thither to worship him would you think well of them that should so judge of you Why should you then judge of us that we tye God to one place in the Church because we worship him toward one place rather than another Nor that it is Will-worship Nor Will worship I shall prove by shewing it consonant to God's word which thus I do That which is decent and orderly But Consonant to Gods word is not only Consonant to but Commanded by Scripture But to Specify our worship to one place is Decent and Orderly Ergo. If the promiscuous and in different Worship of God towards any place left to every ones discretion be indecent and disorderly and a confusion then the determining of it to one place is Orderly and Decent But c. Ergo. For tell me is there any Order where there is not Conformity and Uniformity Is there any Conformity or Uniformity that when Men come into the Church one should bow towards the Font another toward the Pulpit a third towards the Table a fourth towards the Windows one one way and another another Surely this is not Conformity or Uniformity and therefore not Decency and therefore a breach of the Apostles command and a disorderly Service of the God of Order If any think this various worship Orderly I ask whether he thinks it would be orderly for one to come into the Church creeping another going another reeling another dancing one Covered another bare If not Order in this neither in the other for the Ground of Order is Uniformity but there is no more Uniformity in such Worship than in such coming into the Church 2 It is Lawful to determine our worship toward the Altar or Holy Table Lawful to Adore towardsâ— the Altar proved Negâ—tively That it is neither Idolatry nor Superstition is apparent by what I said before for we neither tender any worship to the Table nor Circumscribe Gods presence there When a man pulls off his Hat at his coming into the Church he may as well be said to adore the Stones or Walls and to Confine Gods presence there for he doth not come into his own House in that manner And that it is not will-worship Affirmatively Rom. 12.1 I prove because it is agreeable to the analogy of Faith that requires our worship or service should be reasonable and such is this For if we adore Necessity enforceth us to bow to some place Decency requires to bow to one place and Reason would that place should be the that fittest place One place in the Church is more Holy then another Now the fitness of this place is to be judged by the Dignity and Excellency of it and that is to be measured by the Degree of Relation it hath to God and the Highness of the use whereunto it is appointed Now what part of all the Church or what thing in the Church hath so near a Relation to God as the Holy Table or what is appointed for so high and Holy an Use as that That which hath a nearer relation to God a higher use than other things must needs participate of more External Sanctity and Dignity than other things Else you may say the Belfry is as Holy as the Pulpit or Communion Table The H. Table more Holy then the rest and as excellent But the H. Table hath nearer relation unto God is destined to an higher use than any other thing in the Church Ergo it is more Holy excellent consequently the fittest place to tender our Devotions toward There is nothing likely to stand in competition with it Than the Pulpit but the Pulpit or the Font but neither of these have so near a Relation or so high an use First the Pulpits dignity proceeds from the Word of God therein read or preached but Gods Spirit hath not made so near a Union between the word it self as the Son of God hath done at the Sacrcement celebrated on the Altar As for the Font True it is Then the Fonâ— the Scripture calls it the Laver fo Regeneration the New-birth and that by the washing thereof we receive remission of Sins Baptisme the Analogy of it But the Analogy of that Sacrament is only thus that as in our first birth when we come out of our Mothers Womb we are