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-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