signifies a gracious and favourable Acceptance and this no Man can promise himself who will not pray where God has promised to hear All the Promises of the Gospel are originally made to the Christian Church the Body of Christ and to particular Christians as Members of and in Communion with the Christian Church But those cannot pretend to be in Communion with the Church who never Communicate with it who though they form no Schism yet withdraw themselves from its Publick Assemblies and will either be no Christians which I fear is too often the Case or will be Christians by themselves Now if they know of any Promises made to them in this single Capacity let them take the Comfort of it for my part I know of none Those who live in Communion with the Church and serve God in his House as oft as Leisure and Opportunity will permit may expect a Gracious Return to their Private Prayers which are offered to God in the Name of Christ and in the Communion of the Church but this is no Encouragement to those who set up Private Devotions against Publick Worship 4thly Let us worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness that is when we approach the House of God let us take care to worship him This is the proper Work of the Place we have no other Business here and it is Prophaneness not to do it There is no Reverence due to the House as I observed before but there is to that God who dwells in it When Moses and Ioshua were commanded to put off their Shoes because the Ground was Holy it was not to worship the Ground but that God who was present there And for the same Reason if we believe the Presence of God in Christian Churches it will not only justifie but require all the visible Signs of a Religious Reverence that to uncover the Head and bow the Body may escape the Censure of Superstition or Idolatry And while we are in the House and Presence of God especially in time of Worship we must carefully abstain from all irreverent Behaviour Laughing Whispering Talking or any such Indecencies as unbecoming the Presence of a Prince or any Superiours much more the Presence of God And yet this is too familiar a Practice and that among some who if they have no sense of or Reverence for the Divine Presence themselves yet in good Manners and common Prudence ought not to affront Christian Assemblies nor set such a scandalous Example to others What St. Paul said to the Corinthians concerning their irreverent Behaviour at the Lord's Supper is very applicable to these Men Have ye not Houses to converse and talk and laugh in or despise ye the Church and Presence of God And when we approach the House of God let us heartily joyn in all the parts of Worship with Attention of Mind and fervent Passions This becomes the Place and the Presence we are in We come to worship God and not to worship him is a Contempt and a Contempt put upon him in his own Presence And truly I know not how to excuse those from this Contempt who turn their Backs upon any part of the Christian Worship You may easily guess what I mean Is Communicating at the Lord's Table any Part of the Christian Worship Nay is it not the principal Part of it How comes it to pass then that when our Churches are crowded at Prayers or Sermons the Table of the Lord is deserted Certainly if Christ be ever present with us it is in this Mysterious Supper Why then do we fly from the Presence of our Lord Why do we approach his House and refuse to eat and drink at his Table though he offers us the dearest Pledges of his Love his Flesh to eat and his Blood to drink To God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost be Honour Glory and Power now and for ever Amen SERMON XIV Preach'd at St. Paul's Cathedral November 22. 1699. Being the Anniversary Meeting of the Lovers of Musick Psalm LXXXI 1 2. Sing aloud unto God our strength make a joyful noise unto the God of Iacob Take a Psalm and bring hither the Timbrel the pleasant Harp with the Psaltery TO Praise God is acknowledged by all men to be the most Excellent part of Divine Worship it is the Religion of happy Creatures and the Natural Homage due to Infinite Goodness which is the most Glorious Perfection of the Deity It exercises the best Passions of our Souls in the most perfect manner Love Ioy Reverence Admiration which are the proper Passions of Devotion made for God who is their last Object and made for the praise of God which is their most perfect Exercise We cannot well conceive what other Acts of Religion can be proper for Heaven when we shall be advanced to the utmost perfection of our Natures when we shall have put of Mortality and Corruption and all other wants with them when a Complete and Consummate Happiness shall leave no more place for Desire when we shall have nothing more to ask of God nothing more to expect but the secure Possession and Enjoyment of those Pleasures which fill but never satiate which are Eternally repeated and are Eternally New and Fresh I say in such a State as this as Faith will be turned into Sight and Hope into Enjoyment so Prayer also which is so great a part of the Worship of Sinners and indigent Creatures will be all turned into Thanksgiving and Praise Now as for this reason St. Paul prefers Charity before Faith and Hope because though they are admirable Graces for the state of Christians in this World and absolutely necessary to carry us to Heaven yet they cannot enter into Heaven themselves where Charity attains its greatest Glory and Perfection so by the same Reason it appears that Praise and Thanksgiving is the most excellent part of Worship because this is the Religion of Heaven and therefore ought to be the chief Delight and Entertainment of those who hope to go to Heaven But what is it to praise God Is it only to sing aloud and to make a joyful noise to God Does it consist meerly in the Harmonious Melody of Voices and Musical Instruments Does he praise God best who composes the best Anthems or sings them best Or do we think that we then praise God best when we feel our selves the most transported and ravished with excellent Musick performed by the best Voices the choicest Instruments and the greatest Masters This is a very easy and a pleasant way of praising God if this would carry us to Heaven but this is only to praise the Musick the Composition or the Performance when we think of nothing else come for no other end and mean no more by it I would not have you mistake me I do not appear in this place at this time to decry or disparage the use of Musick in the Worship of God which would neither become this Presence nor my own Character
is vain and fruitless for there is no Medium to unite in The only way to Peace is to silence all these Disputes as matters which Mankind will never agree about and wherein Religion is no more concerned than the Government of Kingdoms or States and on which the Salvation of our Souls no more depends than the conduct of our Secular Affairs or the preservation of this Mortal Life For the dispute about Decrees Predestination God's Power over our Wills how God and Creatures produce the same Effect what belongs to God and what belongs to the Creature in every Action since in him we live and move concerns every thing else as well as Religion and yet in all other cases men let Philosophers dispute these Points and quietly go about their Business and do what is fit to be done as if there were no Controversy about these matters and I cannot imagine why they should not do so in Religion too Believe what is plainly taught and do what is commanded use the greatest Wisdom and our utmost diligence in doing good and depend upon the succours of the Divine Grace and leave these Disputes to be decided at the day of Judgment and that will decide them all By this means I am sure most of the Disputes among Protestants which have given the greatest Disturbance to the Church would be for ever silenced and Christian Religion would not be clogged nor reproached with such Philosophical Controversies 2ly The Unity of Communion and that consists in our worshipping God together when we resort to the same Church to offer up our united Prayers and Thanksgivings to God and to partake of that holy Supper which is the Sacrament and Symbol of our Union to Christ and to each other and this indeed is true Church-Unity and it is greatly to be lamented that men who profess the same Faith and agree in all the Essentials of Worship should divide Communion and refuse to Pray together and to Feast at the same holy Table of our Lord. We cannot indeed Communicate with the Church of Rome because they have corrupted the very Essentials of Christian Worship Most men do not understand their Prayers and therefore cannot joyn in Prayer with them they worship Images and Pictures which is expresly forbidden by the second Commandment Instead of praying to God in the Name of our only Mediator and Advocate Jesus Christ they have joyned other Intercessors with him pray to Saints and Angels and the Virgin Mary to pray for them and help them They worship the Host which we believe to be nothing but Bread and Wine as to the substance and therefore no Object of Worship and turn the Sacramental Feast of Christ's Body and Blood into a propitiatory Sacrifice for the Living and the Dead Such a Worship as this we dare not joyn in because it is Sinful and Idolatrous But the case is quite different among Protestants they pray to the same God in the only Name of the same Lord Jesus Christ put up the same Petitions offer the same Thanksgivings and Praises observe the same Divine Institutions without any essential change and alteration and yet cannot worship God together as if it were an impious thing to put up the same Prayers and to offer the same Praises to God in a pious and grave and well-composed Form of Words which others do it may be not so well and decently in their conceived Prayers as if the Devotion of the Communicant in receiving so inestimable a Blessing as the Sacramental Body and Blood of Christ upon his knees were a prophanation of that Holy Feast as if a white Linnen-Garment which never underwent any Religious Conjurations and is used only as a decent Habit without any opinion of its Virtue or Sanctity were a just reason to drive men out of the Church from the Christian Communion of Prayers and Sacraments These would be surprizing stories to any Christians in the World who had never heard before of such Disputes among us Pray give me leave to speak my mind freely upon this occasion Upon the best and most impartial Inquiries and Observations I can make I do in my Conscience believe the Church of England to be the most Apostolical and best Reformed Church in the World I see no reason from the nature of things to make any material Alterations in her Doctrine or Worship and therefore I confess it has given me very just Resentments to hear our Church charged with such unjust Imputations of Popery Superstition Idolatry Will-worship and what not and to see a blind and furious Zeal ready to raze up the very Foundations of it It has often grieved me to see such a Church as this rent and torn by Schisms which a man of ordinary prudence might easily foresee would give great advantage to the common Enemy of the Protestant Faith This and the care of mens Souls and of their temporal Fortunes too moved several Divines of this Church when the Government thought fit to re-enforce the Laws of Uniformity to examine and answer all the Arguments of our Dissenting Brethren which they performed with that good Temper with that perswasiveness and strength of Argument as will be a Vindication of our Church to future Ages and I wish it may upon second thoughts have yet a better effect upon those who were not then perswaded and this I suppose will not be called Persecution much less can the many kind Offices they did in keeping off Ecclesiastical Censures be called a Persecution And yet after all when it is so apparent that Prejudices are grown as obstinate as they are unreasonable when not the reason of the thing but the weakness of some and the ill designs of others require some compliance and condescension we have reason to hope that the CHURCH of ENGLAND which at the beginning of the Reformation took such prudent are not to offend the Papist by going farther from them than was necessary will whenever it is likely to do good condescend a great deal farther than it is necessary to Reform to meet the Dissenter for while the external Decency Gravity and Solemnity of Worship is secured no wise and good Man will think much to change a changeable Ceremony when it will heal the Breaches and Divisions of the Church and let us all heartily Pray to GOD that there may be this good and peaceable Disposition of Mind in all Conformists and Non-conformists towards a happy Re-union and all considering Men will think it time to lay aside such little Disputes when it is not merely the Church of England nor any particular Sect of Protestants whose Ruin is aimed at but the whole Protestant FAITH 3ly Another kind of Unity is Love and Charity and a mutual forbearance This I confess is a very difficult thing when the Dispute runs so high as to divide Christian Communion for it seems in effect to declare Men to be Heathens and Publicans when we refuse to Worship GOD with them and few Men can
that we cannot hear them because Sounds are not the Objects of Sight nor Colours of Hearing Now no man pretends that the pure Natures and Essences of things or their Essential Reasons Properties Unions Operations are the Objects of Humane Reason for no man living knows any thing about them And yet this is all the Incomprehensibility men have to complain of in the Doctrine of the Trinity and the Incarnation That they cannot comprehend how God can beget an Eternal Son nor how Three Divine Persons should be so united as to be essentially One God nor how the Divine and Humane Nature can be united into one Person God-man All which concern the Essence and Essential Properties Operations Unions Relations of the Deity which a modest man might allow to be incomprehensible if God be Infinite though he could comprehend the Natures Essences and Essential Reasons and Properties of Created Beings but when all Created Nature is such a Mystery to us that we know not the pure Nature and Essence of any one thing in the World is it an affront to our Reason that we cannot comprehend the Divine Nature Such Matters as these are neither without Reason nor against Reason nor contrary to Reason because Reason has nothing to do with them and can take no cognizance of them They belong not to Reason but to that Infinite Mind which comprehends it Self and the Ideas of all possible Beings A perfect comprehensive Knowledge of Nature belongs only to the Maker of all things for it is not only to know what things are but how to make them which would be a vain Curiosity and useless Knowledge to those who have not a Making and Creating Power This is to know things à priori with an Intuitive Ideal Knowledge which is infinitely more superiour to Reason â—…an Reason is to Sense And it is the â—…ffectation of this Intuitive making Knowledge which makes some Men Atheists and others Hereticks 2dly Another great Objection against such a Revelation as contains matters which Natural Reason cannot comprehend is To what purpose such â—…a Revelation serves What Merit there can be in believing such Doctrines And of what good use such a Faith can be to us Now I confess I cannot think it meritorious merely to believe things which are incomprehensible or that God any more intended to puzzle our Faith with revealed Mysteries than to puzzle our Reason in making a Mysterious World Whether we receive our information from Sense or Natural Reason or Revelation it is certain we must believe Mysteries if we believe any thing for all things have something mysterious and incomprehensible in their natures what natural Reason cannot account for and what God never intended we should understand For God never intended to teach us how to make the World nor how every Creature was made and therefore we cannot and are not concerned to know the internal Frame and Constitution of Nature But though neither Natural nor Revealed Knowledge extends to the Reasons and Causes of Nature and of essential Properties and Operations yet both natural and revealed Knowledge is of as much use to us as if we did perfectly understand all the secret and incomprehensible Mysteries of the nature of God or of the Natures of Creatures Both natural and revealed Knowledge are alike upon this account That they only acquaint us what things are and what ends they serve and then we know what use to make of them without understanding the secret Mysteries of Nature Is this World or any thing in it the less useful to us because we cannot conceive how God created all things of nothing Or because we do not understand the Nature of Matter nor how the several parts of Matter came by their different Virtues and Qualities Is Corn or Fruit or Herbs the less nourishing or refreshing because we know not how they grow Does it require any Philosophy to know how to eat and drink and sleep Will not our Food nourish us â—…less we understand how it is concoctâ—… and turned into Chile and Blood â—…d Spirits Nay is it of no use to â—…ow that God is an Eternal Omnipoâ—…nt Omniscient Omnipresent Being â—…less we can conceive how any Being â—…n be Eternal without a Cause and â—…ithout a Beginning Or can compreâ—…end how he can do and know all things â—…d be present in all places at once â—…ithout Extension and without Parts â—…e may make all the use that can be â—…ade of this World and of every thing 〈◊〉 it without understanding the essential â—…easons and Causes or internal Nature â—…f any thing and we must do so if we will make any use of it and we know God to all the ends and purposes for which Creatures ought to know God â—…hough his Nature be incomprehensible And thus it is in matters of pure Revelation such as the Doctrine of the Trinity and the Incarnation how unaccountable soever the Mystery of a Trinity in Unity the Eternal Generation and the Incarnation of the Son of God be yet it is the most useful Knowledge in the World Though we know not how the Eternal Father begat an Eternal Son of his own Substance nor how this Eternal Son in time became Man yet it is the most desireable Knowledge in the world to Sinners to know That God has an Eternal Son and that he so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son for the redemption of mankind that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life and that this Eternal Son of God became Man lived a poor necessitous laborious Life and died an accursed Death for the Salvation of Sinners and to know That the Holy Spirit which proceeds from Father and Son dwells in the Christian Church and quickens and animates the whole Body of Christ. If this be true as we must suppose in this Argument all Mankind must confess that this is a very useful Knowledge and never the less useful because a Trinity in Unity and the Eternal Generation and the Incarnation of the Son of God are great and unconceivable Mysteries Could we give a Rational and Philosophical Account of the Eternal Generation and of the Incarnation we should know more than we now do but Faith makes it as useful to all the purposes of Religion as the most perfect intuitive Knowledge could do This is a sufficient Answer to that Objection against the Usefulness of such Mysteries as have something incomprehensible and unconceivable in their Natures Which is an equal Objection against all created Nature which is but one great Mystery and yet the World is a very useful World and we know in some good degree what use to make of it And the Knowledge of those Gospel Mysteries which are the Subject of our present Dispute are manifestly of infinite use to us if the certain knowledge of the Pardon of Sin and Eternal Life by the Obedience and Sufferings and Death and Intercession of the Son of God Incarnate be of any use and