himself in this place prescribes But to return where I was that Christ in Circumstantials hath left his Church some power is granted but she must take heed lest in the exercising of it she go beyond her limits As she must take heed of neglecting those conveniencies tha◠he does allow her so she must likewise take heed of transgressing her bounds and going too far and that both as to the nature and number of her constitutions As to the nature of them she must if she expect to be obeyed take heed of framing such things as are liable to just exception and imposing them on her members with rigour and severity Christ hath dealt tenderly with her and it may not become her to deal austerely and harshly with them As they on the one hand must remember to shew her filial respect beware of contemning her Authority and not but upon very weighty grounds reject what she recommends to them so she on the other hand must take heed of provoking them to wrath or shewing her self cruel remembring her Authority as some of her wisest Sons have told us is not coercive but directive not imperative but declarative And if it so fall out that some of them refuse to close with or obey any or all of her injunctions she must not presently interpret it a perverse obstinacy against her whiles they are known to be sound in all fundamentals of holy lives and peaceable spirits but fear of offending God whom above all as she her self hath taught them they must labour to please suspecting not only their affection and fidelity to her but the equity of her impositions on them considering her self to be fallible and liable to mistakes as whole multitudes of repealed Canons do abundantly shew And in reference to the number of her constitutions she must take heed of transgressing her bounds that way she must beware of breaking forth into an unbridled licentiousness as the Church of Rome hath done making her members groan and sigh under the multitude of her decrees and impositions As she must take care that those things she frames be requisite and necessary at least innocent and lawful so she must take care they be few in their number lest they become burdensome and take her members of higer and greater matters And when her constitutions are warrantable both in respect of the nature and number of them it is our duty to close with them and we should greatly offend if we should refuse to do it So long as her determinations in particular cases be consonant to the general Rules she is to walk by we must by no means deny our obedience But if she make such constitutions as are unwarrantable for the nature or number of them or both and impose them on us with rigour she must not think it much if we disobey her nay if according to the authority granted us and the trust reposed in us we stand up for our own liberty fit in Judgment upon her and plead with her And so much for the Cautions as also the doctrinal part of this Discourse 6. I am now in the last place in pursuance of the propounded Method to give you the Vses of the point And 1. May be for Information to teach us these two particulars 1. That the Catholick Church is invisible Amongst other points disputed betwixt us and the Papists this is one Whether the Catholick Church be invisible we say it is they say it is not Dr. Whitaker to mention no more hath learnedly and judiciously discussed this point and amongst other Texts which he urges for confutation of them this I am now upon is one His Argument runs thus If that only saith he be the true Catholick Church of Christ that does worship and serve God in spirit and in truth then the Catholick Church is invisible but the former is true and therefore so is the latter And indeed the consequence is evident for such as the worship is such is the Church If the Worship be invisible so is the Church If we see not who they are that worship God in spirit and in truth we neither see which is the true Church for that is 〈◊〉 Worship Christ hath appointed and does enable that Society which is his true Church to worship him with Were the Church a body meerly politick like other incorporated Societies the Papists might upon better grounds tell us it is as visible as the Commonwealth of the Venetians or the Kingdom of France or Spain but it is not so it is as the Apostle calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a spiritual house standing on a spiritual foundation made up of spiritual materials and govern'd after a spiritual manner Or were it a body meerly Physical they might on better grounds plead for its Visibility but it is not so it is a mystical body and a spiritual body Now that which is spiritual is not the object of sense but faith which is the evidence of things not seen The Church therefore being thus spiritual is not visible to the Eye but credible if I may so speak to the Mind Hence that passage in the Creed I believe the holy Catholick Chruch intimating its certain there is an holy Catholick Church but withal that its invisible Indeed in respect of its accidental and external form it 's visible and as visible as other Societies but in respect of its essential and inward form which is that which gives it its being and is mainly to be looked after it 's altogether invisible To know who they be that profess as Church-Members is easie but to know who they be that believe worship and live as such is not so And thus much Bellarmine grants and what 's this but to grant us all we contend for and say as we do 2. That a ceremonious Worship in the days of the Gospel is utterly unlawful and unwarrantable contrary to the will of God the design of Christ and the nature of the dispensation he hath put his Church under This is Beza's inference To introduce saith he new Figures or any Shaddows into the Church we affirm out of the Word of God who does so expresly condemn all Will Worship and in times past prohibited the bringing of strange Fire to his Altar is wicked audaciousness If it belong to God to prescribe his own Worship and he hath been pleased in his word to do it therein telling us that he will be worshipped in spirit and in truth that is as you have heard with the inner man and in simplicity without the use of ceremonies then to introduce and set up a ceremonious Worship must needs be wicked audaciousness It is no less then an affronting his Majesty a contemning his Authority a resisting of his Will and so no doubt will be interpreted by him Had he only commanded us to worship him in general and left the specification or manner of it to us then we had been
more plain and grave habit even in truth And with this agrees that which God spake by a Prophet of a latter standing in every place saith he incense shall be offered to my name and a pure offering It s usual with the sacred pen-men as the Papists themselves who alledge this place for the Sacrifice of the Mass confess to speak of Gospel Ordinances and duties under legal terms and so this Prophet doth in this place By incense and offering he means not such as the ceremonial law required and as the Jews in the Old Testament in conformity thereunto used he well knew that such things upon the death of Christ the great Sacrifice were to be laid aside but he means somewhat of a more spiritual nature having analogy or agreement therewith as prayer thanksgiving and the like which are our Gospel incense and offering and which we are to tender to God in these dayes as they did their bloody Sacrifices and such like matters in those of this there is no doubt all the question is what is meant by this attribute 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pure and wherein the purity of Gospel incense and offering doth consist Some think pure denotes the spirituality of the service which is not to be celebrated as the Jews and Gentiles was modo corporuli by slaying of Beasts and such like work but in a spiritual manner by putting up of prayers giving of thanks singing of Psalms with other duties of that nature Others think it denotes conscientiam offerentis the good Conscience of the offerer not polluted with misapprehensions unbelief hypocrisrie as the Consciences of both Jews and Gentiles were but sound believing and upright Others restraining the words to the Sacrament of the Eucharist think it denotes rem significatam or the thing represented in it which is Jesus Christ who is a sacrifice not like one of the Jews corrupt and polluted but immaculate and perfect without spot or blemish But the first seems to be most probable and therefore is embraced not only by Justin Martyr and Tertullian among the ancients as the above mentioned Author confesses but likewise by the ablest and soundest modern writers A Lapide mentions it as the common opinion of the Protestants Calvin saith he and the hereticks who deny all sacrifice under the Gospel properly so called take offering mystically that is to say for the worship of God by faith hope charity prayer invocation praise and pious works especially those of mercy almes and conversion of souls And he confesses that Clarius and Vatablus were of the same mind The sense then of the Prophet we may take to be this that the Church of God in the dayes of the New-Testament is to worship him in a more pure spiritual inward manner then heretofore Though the worship she yielded to him in the time of the Old Testament was of Divine institution yet was it not so pure as this here foretold because it was attended with and wrapped up in so many outward ceremonies Her worship then was a mixt kind of worship partly consisting of outward ceremonies and partly of inward devotion but the Prophet here foretells that when the time of reformation should come she should serve him after another manner that she should then offer him a pure offering Calvin makes this place parallel with the Text looking upon it as a prophesie of the spirituality and simplicity of Gospel service which is not to be folded up as the legal was in rites and ceremonies but to be carryed on in a grave and plain manner To be short as our Saviour in the Text sets truth in opposition to ceremonies so doth the Prophet in this place set pure both of them holding forth this truth that God would have his Church in these days of the Gospel to worship him without the use of them Now if it be true that the Scriptures have foretold that God would put his Church in the dayes of the Gospel under a spiritual administration and have her to worship him in truth then we ought all to do it We must not only take notice of prophecies but so far as the keeping of our places and callings will permit contribute our assiftance towards the fulfilling of them God often joyns the accomplishment of his prophecies and the performance of our duty together so that the one is done in and with the other And thus it is in this case and therefore if we would see him accomplish the one we must betake our selves to the performance of the other We must not as many do get prophecies into our minds and then stand gazing to see what will be done but we must out of a true zeal to the name of God which is concerned therein do what we can to help them to the birth God foretells in the forementioned places that all shall know him and call upon him now we must not only wait to see these things accomplished but we must endeavour in the places wherein we are that they may be accomplished So he doth in like manner foretell that his people in the New-Testament shall worship him in truth that is without Ceremonies now we must not stand looking about us to see what others will do and do nothing our selves but we must put to our helping hand and do what we can towards the promoting and furtherance of the work 3. Because the time designed by God for our worshipping of him in truth is come As the time designed by him for his peoples worshipping him in the use of Ceremonies is expired so the time designed by him for their worshipping him in truth is come That he once allowed nay commanded them to worship him with ceremonies is granted but that administration was not to be perpetual but temporary it was not to continue alwayes but as some of the Jewish Rabbi's themselves confess to abide for a certain season and then to be laid aside But choose what they say Paul is very clear in it The Law saith he was our School master to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith But after that faith is come we are no longer under a Schoolmaster By faith he means not actus animae or that grace whereby we are justified but tempus Evangelii or the dayes of the New-Testament in which there is no necessity of such Ceremonies as the Church before the coming of the Messias stood in need of The Ceremonial Law was no other than Evangelium velatum or Gospel with a mask or veil upon it directing to and pointing at Christ in all the parts of it Amongst all those rites that they used there was not one but it had its signification and there were very few of them but they did in some degree or other referr the Jews to Christ and Preach him to them We must not think that all those ceremonies God appointed them were empty ciphers signifying nothing that were to reproach both
imperfect and finite but when we appear before God and do reverence to him we must do it with apprehensions of eminency and that such as is uncreated perfect infinite There are two dangerous rocks we are apt to dash our selves upon the one is the ascribing to the creature the perfections of God by conceiving of him carrying our selves towards him as God and the other is the ascribing to God the imperfections of the creature conceiving of him and carrying our selves towards him as a creature Now to give to the creature the Prerogative of God and to charge upon God the defects of the creature are equally absurd and dangerous It must therefore be our care that our worship be suitable to the object to which it is tendered That is fit for the Creator that is not fit for the creature and that is fit for the creature that is not fit for the Creator In our worshipping the creature we must take heed of going too far and in our worshipping the Creator we must take heed of falling short As God would not have us give to him the honour he hath allowed the creature so neither will he have us to give the creature that honour he hath reserved for himself but we must give unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God the things that are Gods If we neglect to worship man we offer violence to the commandments of the second table if God then we offer violence to the commandments of the first To worship God and not man is to overthrow that beautiful and comely order he hath established in the world and to worship man and not God is to deny him that natural right that belongs to him and prefer his own creature before him which must needs be a sin of a very hainous nature We must see therefore that we worship both man and God man with the worshhip belonging to him and God with the worship belonging to him which what it is more particularly is the next thing I am to speak of 2. I am to shew what is meant by worshiping God in spirit For the better understanding whereof let us first enquire what is meant by the simple term spirit For if it be a true rule that the way to finde out the meaning of a complex term is first to take it asunder and seek out the meaning of the simple terms included in it then the way to find out the meaning of the worshipping God in spirit is first to take the clause asunder and seek out the meaning of the simple term spirit We cannot tell what is meant by worshiping God in spirit till we have first found out what is meant by spirit and when we know that we may easily know the other Now the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or spirit is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word of various significations too many here to be reckoned up It is a word that the holy Ghost hath made use of to express the highest and eminentest beings in the world There is not any intelligent being whatsoever but it is applyed to it Sometimes it s spoken of God considered both essentially and personally Sometimes of angels both good and bad Sometimes of the soul of man and that not only vital but rational as it comprehends the understanding conscience heart will affections and all the powers thereof And in this last sense that is as it is put for the reasonable soul it uses to be taken when it is mentioned with the service and duty that we owe to God Though the sacred Pen-men put it for several things yet when they joyn it with our duty to God they mean by it the reasonable soul which as it is the interiour so it is the superiour nobler and better part of man whereby only he is capable of knowing God understanding his will and doing him service Witness these passages God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit And I will pray with the spirit And praying alwayes with all prayer and supplication in the spirit And so our Saviour uses the word in this place by spirit he means the reasonable soul or inner man as it stands in opposition to the body or outward man The meaning then of worshiping God in spirit is this that we must not worship him only with the body or outward man as heathens and hypocrites use to do but with the soul or inner man which is that which he in all holy addresses mainly looks after This I might have been larger on but I shall have occasion to say somewhat of it under the next particular 3. I am to shew you the meaning of worshiping God in truth And of this passage I may say as Maldonate did of another perhaps it had been easier had not men obscured it by their expositions Having perused several writers upon it I find them very different in their apprehensions concerning it Such of their opinions as are most remarkable I shall give you an account of and then recommend to you that which I take to be the true and genuine sense of it 1. Some think that by spirit in this place we are to understand the third person in the Trinity and by truth the second and that to worship God in spirit and in truth is to worship the Father in the Son and the Son in the Holy Ghost which is to worship the whole Trinity This way goes Athanasius but as Tolet the Jesuit saith truly it is difficult to accommodate this to the context Had this been our Saviours meaning he should rather have said they that worship him must worship him in truth and in spirit than as it is here in spirit and in truth But the mistake is evident and therefore I need to say no more of it 2. Others think to worship God in spirit and in truth are one and the same thing that to worship him in spirit is to worship him in truth and to worship him in truth is to worship in spirit and so they will have the one to be an exposition of the other And they say to worship him in spirit and in truth is not to worship him under a visible representation or similitude as if he were a material substance or body For the Samaritans worshipped him under the image of a dove and circumcised their children in the name thereof And so they will have our Saviours words to imply as much as if he had answered the woman thus Thou enquirest of me concerning the true place of worship whether it be mount Garizim or Jerusalem which is a thing now not very material for as much as the time is at hand that the worship of God shall be confin'd to neither of them But there is a greater difference betwixt us then that of place which thou takest no notice of and that is about the object of worship ye worship ye know not what
we know what we worship q. d. ye worship the true God as we do but ye worship him under a visible similitude whereby it appears ye know him not but the hour cometh and now is that the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth c. That is they shall not worship him under any visible shape as you do but shall conceive of him as he is namely a spirit This was the opinion of our learned country man Mr. Mede But notwithstanding the respect I bear to the author and his excellent works I conceive this is none of our Saviours meaning For 1. how will it be proved that the Samaritans worshipped God under the similitude of a dove L'empereur a great master in critical learning denies it And Cunaeus doth not only acquit them from this pretended idolatry of the Dove but from all Idolatry whatsoever He grants that they did formerly live in idolatry but withal saith that they wholly renounced it and that before the time of Sanballat following the religion prescribed by Moses 2. Grant they did worship God as is alledged under the shape of a Dove yet the antithesis or opposition in the words will not admit this to be the sense of them For our Saviour doth not set the worshipping of God in spirit and in truth only in opposition to the worship of the Samaritans but also of the Jews who conceived of God as a spirit and so worshipped him Had he insisted only on the worship of the Samaritans and set worshipping God in spirit and in truth only in opposition to their worship then this sense had carried more probability along with it but it is evident that this worshipping God in spirit and in truth stands in opposition as well to the Jewish as the Samaritan worship and therefore this cannot be the meaning of them 3. Others think by worshipping God in spirit we are to understand the worshipping of him not only with the outward but the inner man and by worshipping him in truth the worshipping him in righteousness telling us that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 truth and righteousness are used promiscuously Those say they worship in righteousness that worship in truth and those worship in truth that worship in righteousness Thus Heinsius But this seems not to be the sense For though it be very true that to worship God in spirit is to worship him with the inner man and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are put sometimes the one for the other yet this sense agrees not with the adversative which we are to have great respect to as yielding much light to the finding out the meaning of the words Our Saviour tells the woman ye worship ye know not what we know what we worship but saith he the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth By which adversative it appears that the worshipping God in spirit and in truth is a worshipping of him in such a way as is different both from that of the Samaritans and the Jews And so far Bellarmine is in the right when he saith these words manifestly signifie that our Saviour spake of a new way of worship which was not before and which would have its beginning from him But according to this opinion the worshiping God in spirit and in truth is not different from all former worship in particular not from that of the Jews for though many of them were hypocritical and profane yet were there some amongst them that worshipped God with the inner man and in righteousness To go no further we read of Zachary and Elizabeth who were both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless It is not against the abuse of a lawful worship that our Saviour speaks but against the worship it self according to its institution which he would have laid aside and another kinde of worship of his own appointment substituted in the room of it 4. Others think that worshipping God in spirit is here set in opposition to the carnal external worship of the Jews and worshipping him in truth to the fictitious false worship of the Samaritans And so they will have the words of our Saviour to amount to thus much both Jews and Samaritans worship the Father the one at one place and the other at another The one in a carnal way the other in a false way but the time is at hand that both the one and the other shall worship him after another manner The Jews laying aside their carnal worship shall worship him in spirit and the Samaritans laying aside their false worship shall worship him in truth And this sense Pererius with other Jesuits gives of the words But not to repeat what I have already alledged which shews this cannot be the meaning I see no reason wherefore spirit should be restrained to the carnal external worship of the Jews and truth to the fictitious false worship of the Samaritans For there was want of spirit not only in the worship of the Jews but also of the Samaritans and there was want of truth not only in the worship of the Samaritans but also of the Jews I understand not therefore how this limitation may be justified 5. Others think to worship God in spirit is to worship him with the inner man and to worship him in truth is to worship him without the use of such ceremonies as were types of things to come Not without the use of all ceremonies but only such as were shadows of things to come They say the Jews and Samaritans before the coming of Christ worshipped God with bloody Sacrifices and with many rites and ordinances depending thereon which prefigured some thing to come but Christ being come that was prefigured by them he lets the woman know that this kind of worship should cease and that God would be worshipped after another manner sc. in spirit and in truth As if he had said God will not now be worshipped in the types of things expected but according to the verity of what is already exhibited After this manner speak Maldonate and others But I understand not wherefore we should restrain the words only to the exclusion of such ceremonies as are figures of things to come They are a plain assertion of the spirituality and simplicity of Gospel worship which will consist no better with other ceremonies than such as are shaddows of things to come Should we worship God in the use of as many ceremonies as the Jews did though they were not figures of things to come but of things past or present yet our worship would be no more in spirit and in truth than theirs Besides it is to be observed that Christ at his coming did not only abrogate such ceremonies as were typical and shadowed forth things to come but such
sufficient in all matters of this nature but from the confessions of those very sects that are likeliest to think otherwise that God is to be worshipped with the inner man as well as with the outward and that the services of the latter without the former are vain and ineffectual and therefore it concerns us if we should worship him in an acceptable successfull way to ingage the one in it as well as the other And thus I have given you the reasons of the former branch of the Doctrine shewing you wherefore the sons of men ought in these dayes of the Gospel to worship God in spirit not that I think it is so their duty to do it now as that it was not their duty to do it in the dayes of the Law or that he did not require it or expect it then or that many did not then do it but that he requires it and looks for it now in a peculiar way affording greater means to enable them to it now than he did then Paul in that famous Sermon of his to the Athenians saith Now God commandeth all men every where to repent not that he did not command them to do it before for he did it all along both by his Prophets and his Providences but that now he commanded them to do it in a more especial manner presenting to them greater incentives and laying before them stronger motives to do it And the like may be said in the present case I shall now proceed to the latter branch of the Doctrine and shew you wherefore the sons of men ought in these dayes of the Gospel to worship God in truth The reasons thereof are these 1. Because God himself hath ordained and appointed them to worship him in that way And were there nothing else this fingle reason were sufficient not only to warrant their doing of it but incite them to it For as he may justly challenge worship from us so he may justly prescribe what way he will be worshipped by us His Church is his Kingdom and it belongs to him to make laws for his own Kingdom and set dówn what way his subjects therein shall express their respect to him and serve him It is not for us to set down wayes of worship our selves but to observe the way that he in his word hath set down for us And the way that he therein hath set down for us is this that we do it in truth that is without the use of Ceremonies If you inquire after the part wherewith you are mainly to serve him he tells you You must do it in spirit and if you inquire after the external mode or dress he tells you You must do it in truth not in a gawdy pompous manner but in a way of holy simplicity and plainness This is the way that he hath appointed and he would have us in all cases how difficult and strange soever they be to look upon his appointment as a sufficient ground for us to proceed upon It was a difficult task that Joshuah was to undertake when he was to succeed Moses in the government and conduct of Israel and to lead them over Jordan among the Canaanites whom he was to dispossess and drive out before them yet God would have him to look upon his command as a sufficient ground for him to undertake the business Arise saith he go over Jordan thou and all thy people into the Land which I give unto them have not I commanded thee q. d. Though the difficulties thou art to encounter with be great and the dangers that lye before thee be many yet surely at my command thou maist venture upon the work why know for thy incouragement that I have commanded thee Nay the very Heathens had such apprehensions of God that they thought there was no neglecting of his commands but that they ought by all means to be observed and obeyed Whatsoever saith Artaxerxes is commanded by the God of Heaven let it be diligently done We may dispure of cases before God determine them but when he hath once passed sentence all disputings must cease Till his command come forth we are at liberty and may take which way we please but when that is once out then our liberty ceases and we must take that way only that he therein chalks out for us Then we must turn all our disputings and contests into silent submission and all our inquiries and opinions into cheerfull obedience If then God hath appointed us to worship him in truth as it plainly appears by the Text he hath then we ought without any disputing or drawing back to do it 2. That the Scriptures may be fulfilled The Scriptures are not only doctrinal but prophetical they do not only contain precepts of holy living but predictions of things to come to pass in after-times As God hath therein set down whatever he would have us to do so he hath there set down much of what he himself will do And amongst other things he hath declared he would do this is one that he would put his Church in the dayes of the New-Testament under a spiritual administration wherein he will not have her worship him as in times past in the use of shadows and ceremonies but in a more plain and simple manner even in truth Behold the dayes come saith the Lord that I will make a new Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah Upon our violation of the covenant of works God was pleased to grant forth a Covenant of grace promising therein pardon and salvation to the penitent and believing And this covenant he thought fit to have dispensed under a double administration that of Moses and that of Christ. The former he appointed to be carryed on in a way of types and figures agreeable to the state of the church in the Old Testament the latter in a way of spirituality and simplicity agreeable to the state of the Church in the New And this it is that the Prophet relates to in this place when he speaks of a new Covenant For we must not think that the Covenant Israel was under in the time of the Old Testament and the Covenant we are under now in the time of the New are two seral Covenants essentially and substantially different but one and the same Covenant passing under two distinct administrations the former of which was typical and ceremonious the latter plain and simple The covenant that they were under then and we are under now differ no more than one and the same person differs from himself in several habits or dresses Briefly the words of the Prophet imply as much as if he had said in the dayes of the New Testament when Jesus Christ the bridegroom of the Church shall come down from Heaven to her she shall put on new vestments go in a new garb and serve him in a new manner not in that ceremonious puerile dress she was in before but in a
his to devise and that blasphemous tongue of his to utter but far different from what the Holy-Ghost dictaed to the Prophets and Apostles As God would not have us to worship him with the body only so neither would he have us to worship him with the soul only but with soul and body both together He is maker and Lord both of the one and the other and therefore he expects to be worshipped with the one as well as with the other When he calls so much for our worshipping him in spirit he doth not thereby exclude or discharge us from worshipping him with the body he never intended any such thing He calls upon us indeed to worship him with the spirit principally but not only Thus the Saints of old acted and guided by the Holy Ghost ever understood him and therefore did not only imploy their spirits in worshipping him but their bodies also To instance in the duty of prayer therein they bowed their knees lifted up their eyes voice hands smote upon their breasts and the like thereby teaching us that when we imploy our selves in the worship of God we must not only ingage the soul but the body likewise And Amyrald who writes against such quodlibetick spirits tells us that there never was any Nation that thought it enough to serve God in thought only without making demonstrations of their devotion by gestures and external actions And though bodily exercise as it is single and divided from the spirit doth as the Apostle saith profit little yet when it joyns with it it profits much It assists the spirit elevates the heart inflames the affections excites to devotion and makes us far more lively in the service of God than otherwise we should be What difference is there commonly in the intention of mens affections betwixt their praying only inwardly in the spirit and outwardly with the voice what deadness and straitness do usually attend the one and what life and inlargement the other Hence we find that the ancient Christians when they set upon the service of God did on purpose take in the body to assist the soul and further their devotion in it Witness that of Augustin by words saith he and other signes we greatly excite our selves to increase holy desire And upon this and such like grounds Aquinas teaches that prayer though secret may be vocal or that in our closet-performances when we have no spectators but God and Angels we may use the voice Anatomists say there are certain strings that come from the heart to the tongue so that the agitation and motion of the tongue doth stir and shake the heart and thereby awaken and affect it rendring it more vigorous and lively in its present services If therefore when we are waiting upon God in secret we find our hearts dead and liveless we may make use of the tongue for the quickning of them and rendring them more fit for the enjoyment of communion with him and better carrying on of his service The truth is such is the indisposition of our hearts to good that they are apt like Eutichus to drop asleep in the service of God and therefore we have need of something to awaken them and if we find the voice will do it we may use it If we find them lively and in good frame and fit for the service we are about we may then spare it and pray as Hannah did in her heart but if otherwise we may and ought to use it This I speak of the duty of prayer and that prayer which is secret the use of the voice is also necessary when one prayes in the person of many as the Master in his family or the Minister in the Congregation Those that are to joyn with them are to know what Petitions they make and say Amen to them which they cannot do except they use the voice And as the voice is thus to be used in the worship of God so must other parts of the body as the occasion serves and the nature of the duty requires And this is the common Doctrine of Protestants and therefore it is an unworthy slander of Maldonate the Jesuite that the Calvinists interpret worshipping in spirit a worshipping with faith alone as if they were Solifidians and against all external services Now what shall be done to thee thou false tongue sharp arrows of the Almighty and coals of Juniper This is even as true as that the Devil ran away with Luther that Calvin dyed blaspheming that Beza recanted that Junius had a cloven foot Nay this is as true as that their St. Patrick caused the stoln Sheep to bleat in the belly of him that had eaten it that St. Lupus shut the Devil all night up in a Tanckard that St. Dunstan held him fast by the nose with a pair of Tongs that St. Dominick made him hold him the Candle till he burnt his fingers with abundance of such ridiculous childish fables which yet their deluded vulgar take to be as true as the Gospel it self Let any man that hath eyes but read Calvin himself on the Text and he shall find him speaking not only for faith and purity of heart but likewise for prayer giving of thanks and innocency of life Nay their own Cajetan hath spoken as much if not more upon this Text for internal worship than Calvin hath done In spirit that is saith he not in the Mount not in Jerusalem not in any place not with temporal worship not with the tongue but with inward worship consisting in spirit that is in the mind as it bears the office of the spirit and layes out it self in spiritual matters What if Calvin had said all this then the angry Jesuite would sure have opened his mouth indeed But we may not wonder that the Jesuites carry it thus towards us Their friend Jarrigius hath told us what kind of dealing we are to expect from them It is saith he speaking to one of them your ordinary custome according to the secret and mysterious rules of the society to impose things upon the pastors of the reformed Churches in your injurious and treacherous refutations and make the world believe they say what never came into their thoughts A Jesuites tongue then is no slander but no more of this 2. Though it be our duty in these dayes of the Gospel to worship God in truth or without the use of Ceremonies yet we do not understand this to the exclusion 1. Of such Ceremonies as are of divine institution When Christ abolished the Jewish and Samaritan Ceremonies he instead thereof instituted some of another nature that were to continue Of this sort are water in Baptism bread and wine in the Supper with the several actions pertaining to them That these are Ceremonies both Papists and Protestants as Chamier shews grant and that they are of divine institution none but infidels will deny And these ceremonies notwithstanding what hath been
Cause acknowledging himself unworthy of such a favour To these were it needful I might add the Examples of multitudes more of blessed Saints who cheerfully hazarded all for Christ while they were on Earth and now are receiving their Reward with him in Heaven But the case is so well known that none except such who are strangers in Israel can be ignorant of it and therefore I shall forbear Now things being thus what shall we think of those that make temporal impunity and outward safety their very Rule aiming at it in all their Designs and framing all their Proceedings in a way of subserviency to it They will either continue in their present Religion or part with it either be of one way or another so they may but sleep in a whole skin and preserve themselves from trouble They will dishonour God venture their Souls or do any thing rather than expose themselves to danger If Providence call them to suffer for the Truth they 'l find out an hundred unheard-of impertinent silly distinctions but they 'l evade it When ever their Souls upon any Convictions begin to talk of Suffering they presently take them rebuke them saying as Peter to Christ Be it far from thee this shal not be unto thee Certainly such persons as these are an offence to Christ and savour not the things that be of God but the things that be of Men. And thus I have shewed you both the impediments that hinder men from worshipping God in Spirit and those likewise that hinder them from worshipping him in Truth Let us now see how far we are concerned in them how far they or any of them stand in our way and accordingly let us get them removed The worshipping of God in spirit and in truth is the Worship he would have this he will only accept of and this he will only reward and therefore let us be sure to worship him with this kind of Worship not suffering our selves by any endeavours or means whatsoever to be taken off it It is but a while and Jesus Christ who instituted this Worship will come again and vindicate it against all that oppose it It is but a while and he will come to his Temple whip out the Buyers and Sellers and purge it from the impurities and defilements that cleave unto it It is but a while and he will call all Nations down into the Valley of Decision and there he will plead with the Troublers of his Church and such as have muddied the Waters of his Sanctuary and polluted those Silver Streams with their sinful mixtures and then it will appear whether the outward ceremonious worshipping of God or the worshipping of him in spirit and in truth be the true Worship In the mean time le ts keep close to God study our duty and both cheerfully and constantly notwithstanding all the troubles we may thereby expose our selves to persist in the performance of it Though men frown upon us and threaten us with Censures Imprisonment Banishment Confiscation and all the evil humane might and cruelty can do us yet let 's not be moved but count our selves happy we have an opportunity to do or suffer any thing whereby we may testifie our respect to so good a cause Whose is all we have but Gods and for what end did he put it into our hands but that we should lay it out for him As therefore the primitive Christians sold their Lands and Houses brought the prices thereof and laid them down at the Apostles feet So let us bring our Estates Enjoyments Liberties Lives and all we have and lay it down at the feet of Christ being willing to sacrifice all so we may but further his opposed Interest and bear witness to his despised Truth Bucer in an Epistle to Calvin tells him That there were some that would willingly redeem to the Commonwealth the ancient liberty of worshipping Christ with their very lives True Grace and Christian Zeal are of an heroick nature ready to endure any thing for Christ his Worship and Truth If therefore we will evidence our Grace to be true and our Zeal to be Christian we must be willing to suffer It is a vanity to think of passing to Heaven without suffering the Saints have hitherto found the way thither paved with troubles and we may not think of finding it otherwise now Constantine the Great as piously as wittily told Acesius the Novatian that if he would not take up with Persecution and such like dealing he must provide him a Ladder and climb alone to Heaven Unless we will either be content without Heaven or find some other way to it than the Saints have yet found we must look for troubles They have been found in the way of Heaven hitherto and so they will be to the end of the World If then we will go the way of Heaven let 's make account to meet with them and prepare for them and when they fall upon us let us with all holy submission and Christian cheerfulness undergo them In a word whatever comes of it whether Prosperity or Adversity Liberty or Bonds Life or Death since God hath made it our Duty let us make it our Practise to worship him in Spirit and in Truth FINIS ERRATA In the Margent Page 18. for Judel read Tudel p. 27. f. abrogare r. abrogari p. 36. after fumus add In the Book P. 37. l. 30. for it r. in p 40. l. 1. for should r. would p. 63. l. 4. for tradtion r. tradition p. 64. l. 13. for call r. calls p. 67. l. 15. for higer r. higher Rev. 12. 7. Isa. 53. 10 11. Mat. 4. 25. Mat. 3. 7. Psal. 35. 12. Josh. 24. 1. Mat. 11. 25 Gen. 33. 18. Consentaneum vero cum eo loci habitarit etiam plures puteos fodisse In loc Joseph Antiq Judaic l. 11. c. 8. Graecol p. 382. Epiphan t. t. l. 1. haeres 14. p. 30. Ed. Paris Cunaeus de Rep. Hebr. l. 2. c. 16. p. mihi 208. 2 Kings 17. 25. Deut. 7. 3. Vid. Selden de Iure Nat. l. 2 c. 5. p. 177. Ed. Nov. Joh. 4. 9. Drusius de trib sectis l. 3. c. 11. p. 135. Doct. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est more catellorum ad pedes alicujus tanquam domini totum se prosternere subjectionis gratiâ Vol. 2. de Secund. praecept p. 567. Gen. 17. 3. Ruth 2. â—â— Simplex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 osculari significat amoâ—is aut hono is causâ Exerc. in Gen. 33. 3. Job 31. 27 28. Solent cultores solis luna hâc ceremoniâ c. in loc 1 Kings 19. 18. Hos. 13 2. Non persuadet vir doctus c. Exercit. in Gen. 41. 40. He means Drusius who thought otherwise Psal. 2. 12. Honor omnis qui à religione imperatur aut religione suadente exhibetur alicui dictur aliquando religiosus Amesius de Consc. l. 4. c. 1. p. 161. Gen. 18.