way or other appear to be against me in such duties that I tender up unto him Now you will say How doth God appear that he doth not accept of them He will appear in these three things 1. First By blasting those that do worship him thus in a formal way It shall at first be secret but afterwards it will appear more apparantly and we see it by experience that such as have been Professors of Religion and worship God in hypocrisie and in formality they have been blasted in their parts and common gifts The Judgment of God upon Nadab and Abihu that did not Sanctifie Gods Name it was secret at first It struck them dead and though by fire yet if you reade the story you shall find that their cloathes were not burnt and yet they were burnt in their bodies So the Lord sometimes doth blast men inwardly in their Spirits in their Souls in their Parts in their common Gifts He blasts them I say inwardly though it doth not appear outwardly yet at length it will appear before men that they are blasted and in these times of the Gospel the Lord doth come with spiritual judgments rather than with outward temporal judgments In the time of the Law those that did not Sanctifie the Name of God in holy duties the Lord did appear by some external and visible way upon their bodies but now in the time of the Gospel there God comes with more spiritual judgments upon mens souls and those are the most terrible judgments We have a notable Scripture for this in Isa 29. 13. How God doth blast those that do not sanctifie his Name in holy duties Wherefore the Lord said Forasmuch as this people draw neer me with their mouth and with their lips do honor me but have removed their heart far from me and their fear towards me is taught by the Precepts of men Mark what follows Therfore behold I wil proceed to do a marvelous work amongst this people even a marvelous work and a wonder for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid What do they come and draw neer me with their lips and their hearts are far from me and do they worship me in a formal way I 'le take away the wisdom from the wise and the understanding from the prudent And that is the reason why so many great Scholers are blasted in their very Parts because they would worship God according to the precepts of men in a formal way and so all Hypocrites and formal Worshipers the Lord doth blast them in one way or other the judgments of God upon the spirits of men were sometimes in the time of the Law But in the times of the Gospel there we find generally the judgments of God to be more spiritual upon the hearts and consciences of men we find it by experience God doth discover that he doth not accept of such as those are and therefore when you see any that have made profession of Religion that had excellent Parts at first many common gifts and now are as we say no body Remember this Text That God will be sanctified in those that come nigh Him Secondly The Lord doth manifest that he will be sanctified in those that draw nigh him by awaking their consciences many times upon their sick beds and death beds the Lord doth force them to give glory to Him and there to acknowledg that they did not worship God in Uprightness but in Formality And now they are in horror of conscience and cry out in the anguish of their souls upon the apprehension of the dreadful wrath of God that is upon them Take heed for the Lords sake of this thing when you are performing of the duties of Worship do not rest in the outward duties for they will never comfort you upon your sick and death beds you may perhaps put off your consciences a little for the present but when you come upon your sick beds there will be no comfort unto you and then you will be forced to say wel all this while I have but taken the Name of God in vain and now God hath rejected me and all my services and you will then speak to those that come about your beds side and bid them take warning by you take heed that when you worship God you worship him to purpose I have spent time in prayer and hearing but for want of this I find I have no comfort at all but the Lord appears to be terrible to my soul and comes out against me as an enemy I say now Gods Name is sanctified whatever becomes of thee he will force glory from thee one way or other and it may be even here in this time of thy life but however at the great day when the secrets of all hearts must be disclosed before Men and Angles then the Lord will appear to be a holy God by rejecting all such services that thou didest tender up to him and it will then be a great part of the work of the day of Judgment for God to be sanctified in those that did worship him by declaring before Men and Angels how did he reject such formal and hypocritical worship that they did tender up unto him Oh that God would strike this upon your hearts that it may abide upon you every time you come to worship him to think thus Let me look to it to sanctifie his Name now for I hear that God will sanctifie it himself if I do not do it But then on the other side If so be that thou makest conscience of sanctifying Gods Name in duties then he will sanctifie his Name in a way of Mercy that is he will manifest how he doth accept of the least degree of holiness though there be much mixture God hath a way to take away the mixture by the blood of his Son and then to accept of any holiness he sees in thee He will sanctifie his Name by meeting with thee and revealing his glory to thee when thou art worshiping of him There is an excellent Scripture for this Exod. 29. 43. There I will meet with the Children of Israel and the Tabernacle shall be sanctified by my Glory Thou that hast a gracious heart and art worshiping of God in sincerity thou art as a Tabernacle of God and God hath his Service and Worship from thee thou art as the Temple of God and there will I meet with thee saith God and I will sanctifie my Tabernacle by my Glory God wil sanctifie thy heart by his Glory if thou dost sanctifie his Name Further Thou shalt it may be not alwaies have such glorious comforts the full beams of the Sun rising upon thee but at one time or other the Lord will break in upon thee and manifest his Glory to thee and it 's like if thou hast not such full comforts now yet upon thy sick bed though God doth not then alwaies manifest himself fully for
therefore it was not an ordinary Fire it was some Coelestial Fire struck into them to slay them for so saith the text in the 4. ver Come neer carry away your Brethren from before the Sanctuary out of the Camp and so they went and carried them in their crats out of the Camp so that their cloathes and bodies were not consumed only they were kil'd by the Fire they were struck with a sudden death and that in the presence of the Lord such a death as God had never threatned in the Word before God had never threatned the Priests and said If you offer strange Fire you shall be consumed by Fire but yet God smites them with death by Fire they had not time to seek God no not so much as we use to say as to say Lord have mercy upon me they had no time to promise amendment at all now upon this heavy judgment the heart of Aaron could not possibly but be very much troubled yea and the spirit of Moses too for Moses was their Unkle and Aaron their father they could not but be exceedingly much grieved but Moses being the brother of Aaron seeing his spirit no question exceedingly troubled being under such a sad affliction and that such a Godly man even as Aaron was should have such a sad judgment befal his children Moses comes and speaks comfortably to him and labors to support his spirit and how doth he do it He comes not as ordinarily you use to visit your brethren Oh! you must be content with this no but he comes and applies the Word of God and shews how God must be sanctified and by that he comes to quiet the heart of his brother Aaron This is that which the Lord hath spoke saith Moses He seeks to stay the heart of his brother with that which God spake But where do we find that God spake this It 's hard to find in any Scripture these very words in terminis before this time and therefore Augustin thinks it was only the word God spake but not written and so they had it from hand to hand by tradition as many other things as the Prophesie of Enoch that the Apostle Jude speaks of you do not find it written in the Book of God and yet the Apostle speaks of it so that indeed it was from hand to hand yea and we find in the new Testament when Paul speaks of a thing that Christ should say how that our Lord saith It is a more blessed thing to give than to receive you find it not recorded in the Gospels that Christ said so So this is that which the Lord said though it was not written from the beginning of Genesis to this very place or otherwise though it be not recorded in express terms yet somthing is recorded to the same purpose and effect and so it may seem to have reference to that Scripture Exod. 29. 43. there we have a Scripture comes as neer to it as any I know And there wil I meet with the children of Israel and the tabernacle shal be sanctified by my glory that 's as much in effect as I will be sanctified in those that come nigh me in those that come to worship me in my Tabernacle I will be sanctified in all things that concern my Worship I will be sure to be sanctified there I will be sanctified I will be Hallowed for it is the very same that you have in the Lords Prayer Hallowed be thy Name only that 's the Greek word and this is the Hebrew but if you would translate this word into Greek you must translate it by the same word that Christ spake when he taught his Disciples to pray Hallowed be thy Name Hallowed and Sanctified is all one Lord let thy Name appear to be Holy so I will be Sanctified that is I will have my Name appear to be Holy I will be made known unto my People and to all the world that I am a Holy God that 's the meaning of I will be Sanctified I will be known to all the world that I am a Holy God And before all the people I will be Glorified so it is in the latter part of the verse as if God should say I account it to be my glory that I should be manifested to be Holy before all the world I will be Sanctified that is I will have my People to demean and carry themselves so as to hold forth their acknowledgment of my Holiness so as by their carriage I may appear to be a Holy God I will be sanctified by them or otherwise if they shall not in an active way Sanctifie my Name that is if they shall not demean themselves so as to hold forth the glory of my Holyness then I will be sanctified upon them I will demean and carry my self towards them so as by my actions upon them I will make it appear what a Holy God I am So God is Sanctified two waies either by the Holiness of his People in their carriage towards him holding forth the glory of Gods Holiness and so in that 1 Pet. 3. 15. Sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts the Saints do Sanctifie God in their hearts when they fear God as a Holy God and Reverence him and Love him as a holy God and so sanctifie him in their lives when their lives do hold forth the glory of Gods Holiness then God is Sanctified But then if we do not do so then God sanctifies himself that is in waies of Judgment upon those that do not in waies of Holiness sanctifie his Name And thus you have it Ezek. 28. 22. And say Thus saith the Lord God Behold I am against thee O Zidon and I wil be glorified in the midst of thee and they shal know that I am the Lord when I shall have executed judgment in her and shal be sanctified in her And this is al one with I wil be glorified in the midst of them And in the 38. of Ezek. 16. 23. you have to the same purpose And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel as a cloud to cover the Land it shal be in the latter daies and I wil bring thee against my Land that the Heathen may know me when I shall be sanctified in thee O Gog before their eyes And in the 23. ver Thus wil I magnifie my self and sanctifie my self and will be known in the eyes of many Nations and they shall know that I am the Lord in the way of the execution of Judgment thus I will sanctifie my self so I will be sanctified in those that draw nigh me In those that are nigh me Nigh ones so it may be read that is especially the Priests that did approach to God Ezek. 42. 13. they approach to God especially But it is meant generally of all those that shall have to deal in my Worship whosoever shall come to Worship me let them look to it they must sanctifie my Name they must so demean themselves in
my Worship as to hold forth my Name to be Holy or otherwise I will manifest my self against them in the waies of Judgment for I will appear to be a Holy God I will have the glory of my Holiness one way or other saith God in those that come neer Me As if God should say Though it 's otherwise with men they indeed will be ready to favor those that are neer them but I will not do so Men will sooner pass by the offences of those that are neer them than those that are not as suppose that a stranger commits an offence you would be severe towards him but suppose it were one of your own Children or Kinsmen what would you do then Do not we see that men will rather favor their own Kindred than strangers though the offence be the same But I will not do so saith God Suppose it be one of your own family wil not you be ready to excuse them Suppose it were your own child that should cōmit such an offence Oh! what friends would you make to take him off from punishment Though men would do so towards their own yet be bitter severe towards strangers Yet I wil not be so saith God Let those that are neer me look to it I will be sanctified by them I will be sanctified in those that draw neer me Now upon this when Moses said thus That God would be sanctified in those that draw neer him this was Moses scope to Aaron as if Moses should say Aaron though I confess the hand of God is heavy upon you this day Yet it is fit for you to submit to God 't is fit that God should be glorified what ever becomes of you you are dear to God but Gods Name is dearer to him than you are what ever the lives of your sons were yet it is fit that God should be honored and his Name Sanctified what ever become of your Sons or of your Comforts and therfore let your heart be quieted you have had a great loss and affliction upon you but God hath had glory God hath glorified himself How hath God glorified himself Very much by this way for God by this way hath done an act to make all the People of the Land fear before him to cause them to Worship him with al reverence All the people of the Land seeing such a Judgment as this and hearing of it they will learn for ever to fear and reverence this God they will say How shall we appear before this Holy God We had need take heed how we appear in his presence and Worship him according to the way that He Himself would be Worshiped As if Moses should say This Honor that God hath by this means in the hearts of his people it is that that you should account a greater good than the Lives of your Children what ever they are This is the scope of Moses speech to Aaron Now upon this the Text saith Aaron held his peace He was silenced It may be before He was expressing himself in grief and sorrow'd exceeding much in words but now he was quiet and had nothing to say he did by his silence acknowledge his Children were deer to him but it 's fit that God should be glorified what ever becomes of his Children and therefore Aaron holds his peace But the word that is here translated Holds his peace It hath more in it than meer silence for the Hebrews have another word that signifie meer silence of speech but this signifies a staying of the heart that it doth not further proceed in and trouble of spirit a silence in the very heart and staying of it a staying of the motions of the heart I find the same word to be used in Scripture when Joshua said to the Sun stand still stay thy self on Gibeon Jos 10. 12. It is the same word that is here translated and Aaron held his peace that is he was stayed from further vexing or troubling of himself or being disquieted whereas his heart was in a strong violent motion Now Moses speech did stop him and gave a stop to his heart to make it stand still in a wonderful manner As the Sun when Joshua spake to it to stand still As if the Lord should have spoken to his heart Aaron thy heart is in a mighty strong motion but consider that I must be sanctified in those that draw nigh me and let all those motions of thy heart be stopt and quiet Thus now you see the meaning of the Scripture and the Scope of it Now in this Scripture you have these Three special and notable Points 1 That in worshiping of God there is a drawing nigh unto Him 2 That when we do draw nigh to God we should take heed to our selves that we sanctifie Gods Name 3 If we do not sanctifie Gods Name in our drawings nigh to Him then certainly God will sanctifie his own Name upon us These are the Three Points that I intend to handle And especially the second to handle largely among you I confess upon another occasion in one Sermon I have spoke out of these words but now I intend not only in general to shew you how you should sanctifie Gods Name in Worship but likewise in the particular Acts of Worship As sanctifying His Name in Prayer in Receiving the Sacrament in hearing the Word in the several chief parts of the Worship of God how his Name should be sanctified For in all these you do draw night to God And for that end I have pitch'd my thoughts upon this Scripture But before I come to these Three great Points that are the principal Points in the words read unto you I shall take up divers other Notes of observation that lie up and down as it were scattered that are of great use and will help us further to make use of this Scripture in the other points that I shall come to afterward and handle more largely The first Note is this That in Gods Worship there must be nothing tendered up to God but what he hath commanded whatsoever we meddle with in the Worship of God it must be what we have a Warrant for out of the Word of God For this speech of Moses is upon occasion of the Judgment of God upon Aarons Sons for offering strange Fire They offered Fire that God had not commanded Hence I say that all things in Gods worship must have a warrant out of Gods word must be commanded It 's not enough that it is not forbidden I beseech you observe it it is not enough that a thing is not forbidden and what hurt is there in it But it must be commanded I confess in matters that are Civil and Natural there this may be enough If it be but according to the rules of prudence and not forbidden in the word we may make use of this in Civil and Natural things But now when we come to matters of Religion and the Worship of God we must either
have a command or some what out of Gods Word by some Consequence drawn from some command wherein God manifests his will either a direct command or by comparing one thing with another or drawing consequences plainly from the Words We must have a warrant of the Worship of God One would have thought that these Priests offering Incense to the true God what hurt was there in taking other Fire But there was no Command for it and therefore it was not accepted It 's true there are some things in the Worship of God that are Natural and Civil helps and there we need not have any Command As for instance when we come to worship God the Congregation meets they must have a convenient place to keep the air and weather from them now this is but a natural help and so far as I Use the place of Worship as a natural help I need have no Command But if I will put any thing in a Place beyond what it hath in its own nature There I must look for a Cammand For if I account one place more Holy than another or to think that God should accept of worship in one place rather than in aother This is to raise it above what it is in its own Nature So that when any creature is rased in a Religious way above what it hath in it by Nature if I have not Scripture to warrant me I am therein superstitious It 's a very useful rule for to help you If any Creature that you make any use of in a way of Religion beyond what it hath in its own Nature if you have not some warrant from the Word of God whatsoever specious shew there may be in it it is Superstition As now for the Place there was a place that was Holy but then it had an Institution from God And so for garments to use those that are decent the light of reason is enough but if I will put any thing upon them beyond what there is in them in their own Nature as heretofore in a Surplis what Had that any more decency in its own nature but only mans Institution Now when man shall put a Religious respect upon a thing by vertue of his own Institution when he hath not a warrant from God here 's superstition we must al be Willing worshipers but not Wil-worshipers We must come freely to worship God but we must not worship God according to our own wills and therefore what ever we do in the Worship of God if we have not a warrant for it when this is said Who requireth this at your hands It will stop our mouthes another day In Matthew 15. 9. In vain do they worship me teaching for Doctrin the Commandements of men In vain it is a vain thing to Worship God when there is nothing but a Commandement of man for this Worship If you would Worship God you must have a Commandement of God for the worship And in Isa 29. 13. there is a place to the same purpose that shews how the Lord is offended with any man that shal teach his fear by their own precepts Wherefore the Lord said Forasmuch as this people draw neer me with their mouth and with their lips do honor me but have removed their heart far from me and their fear towards me taught by the precepts of men Mark it Now if this be so the Lord have mercy upon us in this thing You have cause to be humbled every one of you I beleeve in some degree or other this Congregation very much and most Congregations that have had the fear of God taught them by the precepts of men How many things have there been in the Worship of God that you can shew no warrant in the Word for A great many things meerly mens inventions however they are now cast out because Authority came in and cast them out and so you submit to it but that is not enough for you to submit to it because Authority would have it so but you ought to be humbled before God for all your Will-worship for all your yieldings to any thing in the Worship of God that was taught by the precepts of men You see how severe God was to Nadab and Abihu for but taking other fire than that which God had appointed to offer up Incense though there was no direct Commandement against it If the Lord hath spared you and not manifested any displeasure upon you you have cause to acknowledg Gods mercy and to be humbled for all your false worship Certainly God doth expect it from this Land to be humbled for their Wil-worship or otherwise they sow among thorns All the Reformation that is among us if there be not a humiliation before for all our false-worship 't is not enough that we set up now the true Worship of God but we must be humbled for our false Worship And that 's the First Note That in the Worship of God there must be nothing but what God Commands The Second Note is In the matters of Worship God stands upon little things Such things as seem to be very small and little to us yet God stands much upon them in the matter of Worship For there is nothing wherein the Prerogative of God doth more appear than in Worship as Princes they stand much upon their Prerogatives Now God hath written the Law of natural Worship in our hearts as that we should love God fear God trust in God and pray to God this God hath written in our hearts But there are other things in the Worship of God that are not written in our hearts that only depend upon the Will of God revealed in his Word which were no duties except they were revealed in his Word And these are of such a nature as we can see no reason for but only this because God will have them As now There are many kinds of Ceremonies to manifest honor to Princes that there is no reason for them at all but meerly because it is a Civil Institution so appointed So God would have some waies for the honoring of him that the Creature should not see into the reason of them but meerly the Will of God to have them so Now God stands much upon little things though men would think it a little matter whether this Fire or that Fire and will not this burn as well as that But God stands upon it And so for the Ark when Vzza did but touch the Ark when it was ready to fall we would think it no great matter but one touch of the Ark cost him his life There is not any one minnim in the Worship of God but God stands mightily upon it In the matter of the Sabbath that 's His Worship for a poor man to gather a few sticks what great matter is it But God stands upon it And so when the men of Bethshemesh did but look into the Ark it cost the lives of Fifty thousand threescore and ten men If it be a
the Word and I hope I shall cover some wickedness this way If there be any in this place whose conscience tells them that they subject the Worship of God to such a base end as this is the Lord rebuke them this day and speak to their hearts If I knew any I would set mine eyes upon them and say as the Apostle to Simon Magus I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity and as he said to him that did seek to draw the Deputy from the Faith O thou child of the Devil and full of all subtilty to damn and undo thy self eternally that seekest to cloak any wicked way by any duty of Gods Worship Is it a great evil for a man or woman to make use of any of Gods Creatures to be serviceable to their lusts as meat and drink c What a damnable thing is it then to make use of any duty of Gods Worship sometimes extraordinary Worship as Fasting and Prayer to be a cloak to cover their wickedness Thou art so far from sanctifying Gods Name that thou pollutest Gods Name thou doest what in thee lies for to cast even dirt in the face of God himself that doest so The second base end is to subject the duties of Gods Worship to the praise of men as to perform duties of Gods Worship for the esteem of men and because we shall be well thought of take heed of this you yong ones and others you would fain be esteem'd well of by those that you live withal It is a desirable thing to have a good esteem from those that are godly but take heed that you do not subject the duties of Gods Worship to this Indeed it may be an encouragement to you as David saith Psal 52. 9. This is good before thy Saints David did encourage â—â—â—self to praise God because it was good before Gods Saints and I confess it may be an encouragement because holy duties are good before Gods Saints but take heed that this be not thy highest end that thou aimest at and that which carries thee on in the work meerly to get the praise of men and that they shall think that thou hast good gifts and parts and therfore thou art inlarged in that regard take heed of that know that now thou doest not worship God but thou worshipest men thou dost make the praise of men to be thy God For whatsoever thou doest lift up in the highest place that 's thy God whatsoever it be therefore if thou liftest up the praise of men and makest that they end thou makest that thy God and so thou art a worshiper of men but not a worshiper of God Thirdly Take heed of making Self thy end there are some that are not so base and low in their hearts as to make the praise of men their end but they aim and look at themselves that is they aim at their own peace and satisfying their own consciences in the performance of duties now though it 's true when we perform duties of Gods Worship we may expect to receive some good to our selves and we may be encouraged to the Duties by the expectation of good to our selves yet we must look higher we must look at the honor and praise of God that the Name of the blessed God may be honored Now I am going to Prayer Oh that I may pray so as I may lift up Gods Name I am going to Hear Oh that I may hear so as God may be honored by my hearing 't is this that carries me on to hearing the Word and makes me rise readily and to go forth cheerfully I hope that God may have some honor by my hearing this day and God knows that this is the thing that I aim at I do not come for company nor to be seen of men neither do I come meerly to satisfie mine own Conscience Others go and hear such Truths of God as do good to their Souls and if I should neglect them meerly for mine own ease my Conscience would not let me be quiet howsoever there are many whose Consciences will be quiet enough though they lose an opportunity in the Worship of God but yet there are others whose Consciences cannot do so their Consciences would tell them when they are lying and turning themselves upon their bed How do you know but that God had something to speak to thy heart this morning that may never be spoken to thy heart at any other time therefore they cannot be at quiet except they attend upon God in the duties of his Worship But still this is not enough meerly to satisfie conscience thy main end it must be that thou maiest this day know some part of the mind of God that God may speak to thy heart that so thou maiest be sitted to honor the Name of God that thou maiest be enabled to live to his Honor the week following so much the better As in this manner thy thoughts should be Lord I find a drossie carnal heart I am busie in the world in the week time and I find that my heart is sullied and defiled with the business of the world and entangled but Lord thou hast appointed thy Sabbath and Word to be a means to sanctifie my heart and to clense it Oh Lord communicate thy Grace to my soul through thy Ordinances upon this Day that so I may be enabled the week following the better to live to thy Honor Lord I come into thy presence to that end that I might know some part of thy Will and that I might get thy Spirit to be conveyed through this Word of thine into my heart this should be thy end when ever thou comest and not only self I wil give you two or three Scriptures to shew that God regards little any duties where self is the highest end The first is in Hosea 7. 14. They howled upon their beds saith the text there but they cryed not to me The Lord there did acknowledg that they were very much affected in their prayers but what was it It was but a howling upon their beds And how so It was because only they did cry for themselves They have not cried unto me saith the Lord with their heart when they howled upon their beds It was but meerly for Corn and Wine and Oyl but not unto Me they aim'd at Themselves and not at Me. And in Amos 5. 22. there the Lord professes that he did reject the fat of their Peace offerings Though ye offer me saith he burnt offerings and your meat offerings I wil not accept them neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts They were careful to offer their fattest beasts in their peace-offerings and will not God regard them It was in their peace-offerings that they offered their fat beasts and there they were to eat a great part of it themselves Indeed the burnt offering was wholly offered unto God God had all that but the Peace-offerings
Angels and Men that I do acknowledg that the Lord is present with me in this duty 4. Fourthly Consider God is an unchangable God immutable That is another Attribute of God He is unchangeable First Therefore our hearts must be taken off from these mutable things and set upon God as that unchangable good Secondly We must be humbled for our fickleness and unconstantness there is no shadow of change in God and there is no shadow of constancy in us Thirdly When we come into the presence of a God who is unchangable then we should look upon God as being the same now that ever He was heretofore He hath as much displeasure against sin now as ever he had and that God that hath done such great things for his Church in former times is the same God to do good to His people as ever he was And make use of this When you reade the Word and there find how God hath made Himself appear to be glorious for His people and now every time I am to worship God I should think that I am to deal with God that is the same that ever he was a merciful and gracious and just and powerful as ever he was and so my heart is to work towards him 5. Fiftly When I am to Worship God I am to look upon Him as the Living God as that God that hath life in Himself and gives life unto his Creatures Then what sutable behavior doth become me I must come before His presence with fear It is a fearful thing to fall into his hands that is the living God that hath my life under his feet He hath the absolute dispose of my present and eternal condition He gave me my life he hath preserved my life and so may take it away when he pleases and bring death eternal death unto me These things may marvelously help your meditation when you are to come before Him you who are barren in your meditations go over the Attributes of God thus and consider what you may be able to draw from thence God He is the living God What behavior then doth beseem me towards this living God Oh let me be afraid lest my soul depart from the living God Let me bring a living Service to Him I must not bring a dead heart let me take heed how I come before the living God with a dead heart and with a dead service to sacrifice that which is dead before it comes it 's like a carrion that lies dead in the ditch Oh let us be humbled for our dead hearts and dead sacrifices it is a living God that I am worshiping and therefore I must pray Lord turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity and quicken my heart in thy Law Psal 119. 37. Remember when thou comest to worship that thou come with a quikned heart for thou hast to deal with a living God A man or woman that is of an active spirit cannot endure a dull and heavy servant in the family but the Lord is a pure act and nothing else but act and therefore he doth expect that all his people should have quick active and lively spirits 6 When you come to worship God you are to look upon Him as Almighty And so are First To fear his great Power when you come before Him And Secondly Then you are not to be discouraged by any difficulties I come to seek for some great thing and I come to seek to a great God that hath all Power in Heaven and Earth and infinitely more power than there is in all creatures in Heaven and Earth I am praying to a God that can create peace create help My condition cannot be so desperate but this Infinite Almighty God is able to help me Let me make him the object of my faith as he is so infinitely Almighty What a full object of faith is this God that hath all power in Him Let me therefore come to him as a strong Tower Run to the Name of God as a strong Tower that can help in all straights whatsoever There would be much drawing forth of our Faith if we could present the Lord before us as an infinite Almighty God when we see outward helps and means neer at hand then we can beleeve that we may have some succour from him but when all outward helps and means fail then we are discouraged we do not sanctifie Gods Name but we rather take this Name of God in vain when as our hearts are discouraged with any difficulties now the Lord expects that all his Children that come to worship him should worship him as the Almighty God and so have their hearts working towards him there would be mighty workings of Spirit towards God if we saw him by the eye of Faith as well as Reason 7. Look upon God as an Omniscient God as a God infinitely understanding all things Now what doth this call for First If God be a God of infinite understanding then let not me bring a blind Sacrifice to God then let not me bring an ignorant heart to God this is the excellency of an understanding creature to know the rule and end of its own Actions now thou comest to worship an infinite God of infinite understanding then know the rule of what you do and know the end of what you do and come with understanding in His presence Secondly If He be so understanding come with a free open heart to open whatsoever is in thine heart to God take heed of keeping any secret resolutions in thine own heart God knows thee and can tell how to find thee out God knows all that is in thine heart before all the secret baseness that is in thine heart the Lord doth understand it the Lords eye is a piercing eye He sees thorow and thorow thy heart It 's a vain thing for thee to come and conceal any thing before Him You will say If God understand a mans heart what need he come and confess Yes He requires it as thy duty that thou shouldest come and open all before him In spight of thy heart thou canst not cover any thing from the Lords eyes but the Lord will see whether thou beest willing of thy self that He should understand al God doth not require us to come and confess our sins that so he might know that which he knew not before but for this end That there might be a testimony that thou art willing that he should know all that is in thy heart therefore now when thou comest to worship him ransack every corner of thy heart and confess all before the Lord and give glory to his Name as that God that is an All-seeing God that knows all the windings and turnings of thy heart Now meditate of these things that be presented to thee and it will be a mighty means to help thee to sanctifie his Name 8. God is a God of infinite Wisdom therefore when we come to worship God let us be ashamed of our folly When thou comest
sometimes the disease may be a hinderance yet it is ordinary that those that in their constant way did sanctifie Gods Name in holy duties they do lie comfortably upon their sick beds and a glorious entrance is made for them into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ And then again All things are sanctified unto them as on the other side those that do not sanctifie Gods Name all things are cursed to them if thou doest not make conscience of sanctifying Gods Name in duties God cares not to sanctifie any thing for thy good But now those that make conscience of Sanctifying Gods Name in holy duties the Lord takes care that all things shall be sanctified for their good for the surtherance of their eternal good And however it be here yet hereafter at the great day of Judgment it will be a part of the glory of God to manifest before Men and Angels how he did accept of those holy services that thou didst tender up to him when Hypocrites shall be cast away and abhor'd and thou who hadst an upright sincere heart shalt be owned before God and before men and Angels at that great Day and God shall say Well it is a part of the glory of my Holiness to make it appear that I have accepted of these holy things that these my poor servants have tendered up to me And this now is of marvelous use for the comforting of a gracious heart those duties that thou doest now think thou hast lost and there will nothing come of them thou shalt certainly hear of them another day God will make it appear there is nothing that he stands more upon than the glory of his Holiness and it is the glory of his Holiness that is thy strength in this thing and that makes it certain to thee that there must be a manifestation of thy acceptance and therefore take these Truths into thy heart about sanctifying the Name of God You have had only the Point in general opened to you Oh that the Spirit of God would bring things unto your remembrance SERMON VIII Leviticus 10. 3. I will be Sanctified in them that come nigh me WEE have as you may remember Preached many Sermons upon that Point Of Sanctifying the Name of God in the Duties of his Worship We have spoken unto the Point in the General the last day we finished it I do not intend to look back to any thing that was said but we are to proceed to shew how the Name of God should be Sanctified in the Particular Duties of his Worship Now the Duties of Gods Worship are especially these Three 1. The Hearing of the Word 2. Receiving of the Sacrament 3. And Prayer Other things come under Worship but yet these are the three chief duties of Worship and I intend to speak to al these three and to shew how we should Sanctifie the Name of God in drawing nigh unto him in the Word Sacrament and Prayer We might chuse several Texts for all these but they fall full within the General and therefore it shall be sufficient for to ground the Sanctifying of Gods Name in these Duties of Worship upon this Text. 1. Of Sanctifying the Name of God in the Hearing of the Word THat which we are to speak to this morning it is the Sanctifying of the Name of God in the hearing of his Word If you would have the ground of what we are to say concerning this in a particular Scripture you may have it in Luke 8. 18. take heed therefore how ye hear It is not enough to come to hear the Word that is good and no question but God is pleased with the willingness of people to come to hear his Word but you must not rest barely in hearing but take heed how you hear Now this is a Point of great consequence and I hope it may do good to help to make many Sermons to be profitable to you and the Point I hope is seasonable and will be very sutable unto you For those that come to hear so soon in a morning and are willing even in hard weather to come out of their beds they give some good testimony that they do desire to honor God in their hearing and to get good by their hearing and 't is pity that labor and pains should be bestowed and no profit but hurt rather got by it which God forbid Therefore now I am to speak to a Point that may help you so to hear as may recompence all your labor and pains in hearing In preaching to those that come to hear so that they may get good and benefit by it there is a great deal more encouragement than to such as come in a formal way because they use to come therfore this Point being a great Point I shall open it somewhat largely and cast into this Method First I shall shew you That the hearing of Gods Word is a part of the Worship of God for otherwise I could not ground it upon my text Secondly I shall shew you How we are to sanctifie Gods Name in the hearing of his Word either in regard of preparation unto it or our behavior in hearing of the Word Thirdly Why it is that God will be sanctified in this Ordinance of his Fourthly How God will sanctifie himself in such as do not sanctifie his Name in the hearing of his Word Fifthly How God will sanctifie his Name in waies of mercy to those that are careful to sanctifie his Name in the hearing of the Word These are the Five Principal things that concern this Argument For the first That the hearing of Gods Word it is a part of Gods Worship You heard in the opening of the Worship of God in the general what it was I told you it was a tendring up of the creatures homage to God as testimony of the respect that the creature did owe to God Now if that be the nature of Worship certainly the hearing of Gods Word it is a part of the Worship of God for in the hearing of Gods Word we First Do profess our dependance upon God for the knowing of his Mind and the way to Eternal Life Every time we come to hear the Word if we know what we do we do thus much We do profess that we do depend upon the Lord God for the knowing of his Mind and the Way and Rule to Eternal Life we do as much as if we should say Lord of our selves we neither know thee nor the way and means how we should come to be saved and therfore that we might testifie our dependance upon thee for this thing we here present our selves before thee Now this is a Testimony of the high respect we owe to God Secondly The hearing of Gods Word is a part of his Worship because in it we come to wait upon God in the way of an Ordinance to have that good conveyed to us by way of an Ordinance beyond what the thing in it self
throughly plowed as it ought but by the Word therefore at the first coming to hear there is not hope that men will sanctifie Gods Name till the Word gets into plow them and so by getting at one time into their hearts they come to be prepared for hearing at another time And yet somewhat may be done before by that natural knowledg that men have they may come to know themselves to be sinners and come to understand themselves to be very weak and ignorant by some knowledg that they may have by the works of God and by conference with others and by reading and the like and so they may in some measure come to have their hearts to be humble And it is good to make use of these to humble the heart but now You that have heard the Word often and yet have not sanctified Gods Name there be Truths that you have heard heretofore that if you had made use of in private to have plowed up your hearts they would have prepared your hearts for the next time in hearing of the Word If therefore you would hear the word with a great deal more profit than formerly your hearts must be plowed by humiliation Secondly The heart must be plowed by laboring to get out those throns that are in the heart those lusts that grow deep in the heart as throns grow in the ground labor to pluck them out that is when thou comest to hear the word get thy heart into that frame as to be willing to profess against every known sin that thou hast found in thy heart labor to find out those lusts that are in thy heart and then profess against them that thou art willing to have them to be rooted out of thy heart if men and women would but do thus when they come to hear that God might see this in them that they have before they come profest against every known sin This would be an excellent thing indeed 3. Again in the third place which will follow from hence When thou comest to hear the Word come with resolution to yeeld to what ever God shall reveal to be his Mind I am now going to hear thy Word O Lord to wait upon thee to know what thou hast to say to me and thou that art the searcher of the secrets of all hearts Thou knowest that I go with such a resolution to yeeld up my self to every truth of thine How would the Name of God be sanctified if you did thus come to hear the Word If you did come with such a resolution Job 32. 34. That which I know not teach thou me and if I have done iniquity I will do no more In Isa 2. 3. you have a Prophsie of the Gentils how they should come to the Word And many people shall go and say Come ye and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his waies and we will walk in his paths Here 's a blessed disposition when you come to hear the Word Some of you come together in streets and lanes and over the fields when you come together and meet one with another as you walk over the fields make use of this text Oh! that this Prophesie might be fulfilled in your coming over the fields every Lord's day morning and at other times that you would say one to another or when you call one upon another to go to hear Come let us go up to the house of the Lord and he will teach us of his waies and we will walk in his paths We are resolved that what ever the Lord shall teach us to be his waies we will submit unto it This is a due preparation of the heart for the sanctifying of Gods Name in the hearing of his Word Fourthly When you come to hear the Word come with longing desires after the Word come with an appitite to it As in 1 Pet. 2. 2. As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby Do it as new-born babes Now you know little babes they do not desire milk to play withal but only to nourish them Children of three or four yeers old they may desire milk to play with but new-born babes never care for it but when they are hungry to nourish them And so it is true many come to hear the Word to play with it But now you should come to hear the Word as new-born babes with a hungring desire after the Word that your souls may be nourished therby That were excellent if every Lords day and at other daies you did come as hungry to the Word as ever you went to your dinner or supper the Word of God should be unto you more than your appointed food and then you are like to grow by it and to sanctifie Gods Name in it Fifthly Pray beforehand That God would open thine eyes and open thine heart and accompany his Word Thus did David Open mine eyes O Lord that I may understand the wonders of thy Law And you know what is said of Lydia The Lord opened her heart to attend to the Word that was spoken Now seeing it is an Ordinance thou doest exspect more good from than what it self of its own nature is able to convey thou hadest need to pray Lord I go to such an Ordinance of thine and I know there is no efficacy in it self it is not able to reach to such effects as I exspect that is To have my heart spoken too and quickned and to have mine eyes opened But O Lord open mine eyes and open mine heart Lord my heart naturally is lockt up against thy Word there are such wards in my heart that except thou are pleased to put in a key that may fit my heart it will never open Man he is not able to know my heart and therefore he cannot fit a key to answer every word to resolve every doubt to silence every objection but Lord thou canst do it Do thou Lord therefore â—it thy Word this day that may meet with my heart Lord I have gone often to thy Word and the key hath stuck in it and it hath not opened but Lord if thou wouldst but fit it and turn it with thine own hand my heart would open Oh! come with such a praying heart to the Word and thereby shalt thou sanctifie the Name of God in hearing his Word This is to come to the Word as to the Word of God You must not come to the hearing of the Word as to hear a Speech or an Oration but come in such a preparation as this is and so I say God will be glorified and you shall be profited The next thing is What should be the behavior of the soul in the sanctifying Gods Name in the Word when it is come Now to that there are these Particulars First There must be a careful attention unto the WORD you must set your hearts unto it as Moses in
Word than to entertain Christ in your houses You that are of loving dispositions that if a good Minister shall come to your houses or a good Christian that you see but the Image of Christ in your hearts spring within you and you will do any thing to entertain them Well but what if Jesus Christ should come if you knew that such a man that came within your doors were the Son of God how would you bestir your selves to entertain him But know it is a more acceptable service to Jesus Christ to attend upon his Word than to provide for him in your houses And there is great reason too that we should be diligent in drawing nigh to the Word and give ear unto it because you find that the Lord doth express himself in the Scripture how he gives ear to us when we speak to him God is said to encline His ear sometimes to open His ear sometimes to bow His ear sometimes to cause His ear to hear and divers such expressions there are to that purpose Now if God when we that are poor wretches speak to Him shall bow His ear bend His ear open His ear cause His ear to hear much more should we when we come to attend upon Him 2. Secondly as there must be attending to the Word of God so there must be an opening of the heart to receive what God speaks to you it is true it is the work of God to open the heart but God works upon men as upon rational creatures and He makes you to be active in opening your hearts so that when you have any truth come to be revealed you should open your understandings your conscience and will and affections Oh Lord thy truth which thou art presenting here to my soul at this time let it come in let me receive it as the expression is in Prov. 2. 1. My Son if thou wilt receive my words and then in ver 10. When wisdom entereth into thy heart The words of wisdom the Words of God they must enter into the heart get in it may be they get into thy ear but that 's not enough they must get into thy heart in Job 8. 37. There Christ complains that His Word had no place in them that 's a sad thing when the Word of God shall have no place in the heart If a temptation to sin comes that hath a place in the heart but when the Word comes that hath no place in the heart I say it is a very sad thing that we can find no room for the Word we should get room for the Word Open ye gates Stand open ye everlasting doors that the King of Glory may come in Know that when you come to hear the Word the Lord is knocking at the doors of your hearts have not you felt it sometimes Open O open the doors let all be opened to receive the Word into your hearts That is the second thing for the behavior of the soul in hearing 3. The third thing is The careful applying of the word so in Prov. 2. 2. There must be an applying of the heart to the word and an applying of the word unto the heart All action is by an application of the thing that doth act unto the subject there must be an application of the word to thy soul as now suppose thou comest to hear the Word and thou hearest of some sin that it may be thou knowest thou art guilty of take the Word and lay it to thy heart and say The Lord hath met with my soul this day the Lord hath spoken to me to the end that I might be humbled for this sin and the other sin that my conscience tells me I am guilty of So doth the Lord put thee upon a duty that concerns thee acknowledge this the Lord hath spoken to me this day and put me upon the reformation of my family and the reformation of mine own heart Is there a word presented apply that and let not the trouble of thy heart cause thee to cast off that word that God hath spoken to thee The application of the word to thy heart is of mervelous use and it concerns not only Ministers in general to lay before people the doctrin of the Gospel but to apply it And know that it concerns you as well as Ministers to apply it And not only when they come to that that is called Use but all the way in the opening of the word it concerns you all to apply it to your own souls and to consider how doth it concern me in particular My brethren there is no such way to honor God or get good to your own souls as the application of the word unto your selves As a man that is asleep if there be a noise made it will not awake him so soon but come and call him by his name and say John or Thomas and that will awake him sooner than a greater noise will So when the word makes a noise when it is delivered only in the general men take little notice of it but when the word comes particularly to the souls of men and doth as it were call them by name this awakens them Now God many times doth speak to your hearts but you should apply it you know the word is compared to meat and it must be applied to the body Then do we worship God in a right way when as we take notice of Gods word as concerning us in particular as that notable Scripture that you have in 1 Cor. 14. 25. Where there come a poor man into the Church of God and hears Prophesying hears the word opened and the text saith he is convinced of all he is judged of all and then in vers 25. Thus are the secrets of his heart manifest and so falling down on his face he worships God and reports that God is in you of a truth That is when the word comes and meets with his soul in particular that he finds himself to be aim'd at by the Word then he worships God and saith that God certainly is in them Here 's the reason now that when you come to hear the Word you do not worship God because you apply it not to your selves you are ready to say This was well spoken to such a one and it concerns such a one but how doth it concern thy soul in particular Sometimes the Lord doth even force men and women to apply it whether they will or no for that they think the Minister speaks to them in partiticular and that no body was spoken too in the Congregation but themselves This is a mercy when the Lord doth it unto you but it is a greater mercy when the Lord gives you a heart to apply to your selves and although it may trouble you a little for the present yet be willing to apply it and account it a great mercy from the Lord That the Lord will be pleased to speak in particular to your souls 4. Fourthly We must mix
give an accompt of any one Sermon they have heard in all their lives hardly I say but the Word which they heard is presently taken away from them and yet these are accounted honest men in the world But this is not the honest heart the Scripture speaks of And many there are that go further than these that come to hear the Word with joy and yet they have not this honest heart Yea they may hear the Word so as to bring forth a Blade and yet not have this honest heart But this honest heart I take therefore to be meant this An heart that deals squarely and truly with God behaving it self in a beseeming manner sutable to that Authority and Excellency that there is in the Word of God As now for Example 1. First Among men he is accounted an honest man that deals squarely and truly with men in all actions such a man you will say is an honest man as honest a man as ever broke bread that is one that will deal squarely with men not only in one thing but turn him to any thing and you shall find a proportion between one action and another So this is an honest heart not one that only will be forward for God in some one action wherein he may enjoy himself as well as God but one that deals squarely with God let God put him upon duty upon any service God shall find him still to be the same man Put him upon any easie service as many will imbrace that or put him upon a difficult service it is all one if it be the mind of God you shall find him square in every thing though he be put upon that which he is like to suffer very much in yet he goes on according to his principles An honest heart is one that hath received gracious principles and accordingly he acteth all the world cannot take him off from his principles of godliness that the Lord hath put into his heart 2. Secondly An honest man is one that provides things honest before men that doth all things in a seemly way in all those relations that he hath unto others that we account honesty So when a mans behavior towards the Word is such as doth beseem the Word of that God with whom he hath to deal That look what excellency what glory there is in the Word of God such a sutable behavior there is in the heart of a man to it this is an honest heart So that there are those two things when a man is square with God in one thing as well as another and when there is a sutableness in the behavior of the soul to what excellency there is in the Word when the heart of man will not abuse the Word at all but behaves it self honestly according unto the gravity holiness and weight that there is in the Word And thus now with such a good and honest heart we are to receive the Word if we will sanctifie Gods Name in it 10. A tenth particular is this If we will sanctifie Gods Name in the Word we must hide the Word in our hearts we must not only hear the Word but keep it preserve it and then we do declare that we account the Word of God to be worth something indeed For what is it to sanctifie God as we have opened before in the General but such a behavior towards him as may testifie the Excellency of the Name of God so the behavior of the soul in hearing the Word must be such as must give a testimony to the Excellency of the Word and manifest the high esteem I have of it Now if I received a thing that is of great value if I slight it and let any body take it from me I do not give a testimony of the excellency of that thing but if I take it and lock it up and keep it under lock and key I do thereby give a testimony of the esteem that I have of the excellency of that thing So now when I come to hear the Word and meet with Truths that I have gotten into my soul I close with them and am resolved within my heart as I am hearing of them well This Truth I will keep through Gods Grace this concerns me and I will make much of it and although I forget other things yet I hope I shall remember this To sanctifie Gods Name in hearing of the Word In Isa 42. 23. Hear saith the holy Ghost there for the time to come When we come to the Word we must not only hearken for the present as many of us while we are hearing our hearts are stir'd for the present Oh that we could but have that affection of heart alwaies as we have when we are hearing of the Word How many of you have said when you have been hearing such a Sermon Oh! then me thought I could have gone through fire and water for God I but mark it you must hear for afterwards And in Psalm 119. 11. there the Prophet David profest That he did hide the Word in his heart the Word was sweet unto him Thy Word saith he have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee You that come and hear those Truths upon the Lords day if you would hide them thus in your hearts and keep them all the week they would help you against the many temptations that you meet withal you go abroad on the week daies into company and there you meet with a temptation and it overcomes you and you complain Alas I am weak I have met with a temptation and it hath foil'd me But had you hid the Word that you heard on the Lords day in your heart it would have kept you from the strength of your temptation that it should not have overcome you Those that are truly godly they have a care to hide the word in their hearts when they hear it they think This word shall help me against such and such sins which I am prone to by nature and when a temptation comes to that sin I hope I shall have use of the word that I have heard this day As now Suppose you hear a word against passion then you should hide that word in your hearts against that time that temptation comes to passion And you hear a word against sensuality and abuse of the creatures you should hide that word against that temptation cometh And you hear a word against unrighteousness and unjust dealings when a temptation comes to that sin you should hide that word against that time So you hear a word that speaks of obedience to Parents and servants duties to Governors now you should hide that word in your hearts against that time I have hid thy word in my heart that I might not sin against thee You say that you would fain withstand and not be overcome with temptations Then here 's the way Hide the word within thee that thou maiest not sin against him And so in Prov.
hearing of his Word you will be the glory of the Ministers of God at the great day of Judgment You will be an honor to them before the Lord and his Saints and Angels In Phil. 2. 16. Holding forth saith the text the Word of Life This is the duty of all the hearers of the Word that they must hold forth the Word of Life When you go home you must hold forth the power of the Word you hear well what wil become of that That I may rejoyce in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain neither labored in vain Let that be one Motive amongst the rest Saith the Apostle This will be such a glory to me That I in the day if Iesus Christ shall rejoyce that I have not labored in vain I shal bless God for all my studies and care and all the pains that ever I have taken and venturing my self for this people I shall bless God in the day of Jesus Christ Would it not be a comfortable thing to you that all the Ministers of God that come to preach the Word saithfully to you if at the day of Christ you should hear them blessing God that ever he did send them to preach the Gospel in such a place and you should hear them saying O Lord it may be had I been sent to another place I should have spent all my strength in vain but through thy mercy I was sent to a teachable people that were ready to imbrace thy Word Oh! this is my crown and glory Would it not do good to any whose hearts are faithful to think this That their holding froth the Word of Life will not only be a glory to God which is the chief but it will be a glory to the Ministers to recompence all their labors that you shall not only be saved your selves in the day of Jesus Christ but you shall add to the glory of his faithful Ministers likwise when they do appear before Christ 5. I shall add one particular more There is a time coming when God shall magnifie his word and make it honorable What a joy shall it be to thee when the Lord before Men and Angels shall come to magnifie his Word and make it honorable for thee then to think This is the Word that spoke to my heart at such and such a time this is that Word that I did reverence that I did obey that I did love that I made to be the joy of my heart this Word the Lord now doth magnifie and make to be honorable This will be comfortable to thy soul THE ELEVENTH SERMON Leviticus 10. 3. I will be Sanctified in them that come nigh me THE last day we finished the Point fanctification of the Name of God in the hearing of his Word and now we will proceed to the sanctification of the Name of God in receiving the Sacrament That 's the next duty of Worship Now first for the word Sacrament I confess we have not that word in all the Scripture as neither have we the word Trinity and divers other words which Ministers make use of to set forth the Mysteries of Religion by but yet it is usefull to consider the meaning why Ministers in the Church have given this name unto those sings and seals that the Church receives Sacrament is to hallow a thing or to dedicate because in the Sacraments there are outward things that are made holy for holy and spirituall ends Secondly We our selves do as it where hallow or dedicate our selves unto God in the vse of these Ordinances That one reason from whence it hath the name Or otherwise as some will have it Sacramentum because it is to be received sacrament with a holy mind and therefore caled the Sacrament The Churches have vsed it a long time in Tertulliar's time which was above fourteen hundred years since he was the first that we find vsed this word and most that would open the word unto us say that especially it was taken from the practice of Solders who when they came listed themselves bound themselves in to a solemn Oath to be faithfull to their Captain and to the cause that they did undertake and the Oath they were wount to call Sacramentum A Sacrament Now in regard that Christians when they come to this Ordinance they come to seale a Covenant with God and though they do not formally and explicitely take an Oath yet they bind themselves in a holy Covenant which hath the strength even of an Oath in it For a solemn Promise to the high God hath the strength of an Oath in it and from thence they were call'd by these names Srcraments but that for the Word that you may understand it But the word the Scripture useth to set out this Sacrament by that that now I am speaking of is the communion of the body and blood of Christ so you have it in 1 Cor. 10. 6. The cup of blessing which we bless is it not Communion of the blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ I say we are now treating about this point how we are to sanctifie the Name of God in that which the Scripture cals the Communion of the body and blood of Christ And now for the opening of that First we must know that this is a part of the Worship of God and we draw nigh to God in this or otherwise it will not come up to our point And then we shall shew that God is to be sanctified in this duty of worship And then thirdly how First We do in this draw nigh to God We worship God For when we are coming to receive these holy Signs and Seals we come to present our selves before God and we have to deale with God Himself in a service that He Himself requires of us in a Holy in a Divine service we come to present our selvess to God for blessing for communication of some higher good unto us than pobssily those Creatures that we have to deal with are able of themselves to convey to us we come for a higher good than to tast a pece of bread or to drink a draught of wine we come I say to present our selves to God that we might have Communion with him and that we might have the blessing of the Covenant of grace conveyed unto us through these things now certainly this is a drawing nigh to God for to present our selves for the conveyance of the blessing of the Covenant of Grace through these Creatures yea that we might have communion with God himself in them this is drawing nigh to him when we come to his Table therefore we draw nigh to God had not God instituted and appointed these Creatures Bread and Wine and the actions about them to be the means of conveyance of blessing unto us it had been Will-worship for us to have expected any further presence of God in such creatures than there is in the
Gospel-Worship OR The Right Manner of Sanctifying the Name of GOD in General And particularly in these Three great Ordinances Viz. 1. Hearing of the WORD 2. Receiving the Lords SVPPER 3. PRAYER By JEREMIAH BURROUGHS Being the Second of the Seven Volumns lately published by Thomas Goodwin William Bridge William Greenhil John Yates Sydrach Sympson Philip Nye William Adderly COLE 1216. London Printed by Peter Cole in Leaden-Hall and are to be sold at his Shop at the sign of the Printing-Press in Cornhil near the Royal Exchange 1653. TO the READER OVR purpose in this Preface is not to speak either of the eminent Worth of the Author whose memory is blessed in the hearts of all the godly in this Nation or of this Piece it self here published but only to assure thee That it is his And although it riseth not up to that exactness and perfection as might have been in them had he publish'd them himself yet with that different allowance which is to be given Notes taken from his mouth in ordinary and frequent Preaching We doubt not but that in their use and benefit they may be as profitable to the Saints as other of his Writings being as full of weighty and Divine Materials having also the impress of the Spirit and language of this holy Man one of the greatest Preachers of this Age stampt all along upon them We to whom this our Brother was most dear and precious being entrusted with the publishing of his Sermons have thought good first to usher abroad these few which if they receive that welcom they deserve many other excellent Pieces of his may soon after have encouragement to appear in publick view The Points treated of in these are of great concernment and therefore we conceive the Author though in handling of them he had room enough for the discussing many of the controversies of the times yet he purposely waved it and bent himself to the single delivery of that which tended most to edification and best suted with such a popular Auditory as that was to whom he spake The Lord of Heaven bless them to thy spiritual advantage and enable thee by such means as these to sanctifie his Name in the use of all his Ordinances which is the desire of Thomas Goodwyn William Greenhil Sydrach Sympson Philip Nye William Bridge John Yates William Adderly The CONTENTS of the several ensuing Sermons SERMON I. THe occasion of the words 1 The words opened 5 Observ 1 There must be nothing in Gods Worship but what he hath commanded 8 Obs 2. God stands upon little things in matters of his worship 11 Obs 3. No priviledg can secure from Gods stroke 12 Obs 4. The more dignity the more danger ibid Obs 5. The beginnings of great matters meet with difficulties 13 Obs 6. Those that enter into publick places have need of the fear of God ib. Obs 7. We should pick out Gods meaning from dark expressions in his word 14 Obs 8. Sinners may meet with judgments never threatned in the Word 16 Obs 9. God is very quick with some in the way of judgment 17 Obs 10. The holiness of a duty will not bear a man out in his miscarriage in it ib. Obs 11. The Lord is terrible out of his holy places 18 Obs 12. Gods judgments are oft sutable to mens sins ib. Obs 13. We should take heed of bringing strange fire to Gods service 19 SERMON II. Obs 14. Gods saints many times meet with afflictions in their children 20 Obs 15. Gods judgments come many times in an invisible way 21 Obs 16. Gods glory more precious to him than mens lives 22 Obs 17. The nearer any are to God the more careful they should be to glorifie him ib. Obs 18. When judgments are exemplary we should look to the word how God makes it good 23 Obs 19. The great honor of Gods Name in the making it holy ib. Obs 20. True friendship to comfort friends in distress from the Word 24 Obs 21. The way to quiet the heart in affliction is to think God wil have honor by it 25 Doct. 1. In worshiping God we draw nigh to him 26 In what respect we are said to draw nigh God in worship 27 Use 1. To take heed what we do when we worship God 30 Use 2. Why guilty consciences fly from the worship of God 31 Use 3. Why Hypocrites meet with such severe judgments 32 Use 4. To neglect Gods Worship is to depart from him 33 Use 5. Exhortation to be much in Gods worship 34 SERMON III. Use 6. The honor of Gods Servants to draw nigh him 39 Doct. 2. We must sanctifie Gods Name in drawing nigh to him 42 First In preparation to his worship ib. 1 Because he is a great God 43 2 The duties of Gods worship are great 44 3 Our hearts are naturally unprepared 46 4 The hindrances of Gods worship are many ibid 5 The Heathens prepared to worship ship their Idols ibid 6 Preparation shews sincerity of heart 47 Five things wherein preparation consists 48 1 A right apprehension of God 49 2 Taking the heart from sinful waies ibid 3 Taking off the heart from the world ibid 4 In watching and prayer 50 5 In acting the faculties and graces 51 Four things of the excellency of Preparation 52 1 It will make duties easie ib. 2 We shal do much in a little time ib. 3 The Lord will pass by weakness in duties 53 4 It will make the heart alway ready for duty 54 SERMON IV. Cases of Conscience 1 Whether we be alway bound to set some time apart for preparation to duties 55 2 Whether being not prepared the duty may be omitted 57 Answered in 4. particulars 1 The omission of duty will not fit the soul for duty 58 2 It is but a temptation to keep from duty 59 3 If the duty be done in sincerity though there be not due preparation it is better than to omit it ib. 4 While people struggle with their corruptions and seek not God they fall into snares 61 In what manner duties are to be performed that Gods Name may be sanctified ibid 1 We must perform them so that we may glorifie God as a God 62 Which is done 1 When we offer all we have 63 2 When we grieve that we can do no more 64 3 There is an impression of Gods infinitness on the duties of his Saints ibid 2 When the soul follows after God as a God 66 3 When the soul comes expecting the choicest mercies of God ib. How the heart must behave it self to sanctifie Gods Name in respect of his greatness and glory ibid 1 It must be a sanctified heart 67 1 Because the Lord accepts the person before he accepts the action 69 2 God looks more at the principle of the duty than at the duty ib. 3 According as the heart is so will the duty be 70 SERMON V. 2 In sanctifying Gods Name in Worship we must have high thoughts of God 71 3 We must have
any miscarriage for do not think that because your duties are very good and holy that by doing thereof you may venture upon mixture take heed of mixing any evil any miscarriage in any holy thing though you have performed a thousand holy duties yet it will not bear you out in the miscarriage of them The Eleventh Note is this That the Lord is very terrible out of his holy places The Note is the same that you have in Psal 68. 35. The Lord is terrible out of his holy places When we have to deal with God who can stand before this holy God our God is a consuming fire The Lord manifests himself here most dreadfully to strike with Fire these two Priests as in Ezek. 9. 6. Begin at my Sanctuary saith God God is terrible terrible towards those that shall dare to approach unto him and yet are wicked and ungodly in their approaching he is terrible to those that are neer unto him God would have us all to tremble at his presence In the Twelfth place Gods Judgments are often very sutable to mens sins Here they sinned by fire and they are consumed by fire They offended by strange fire and God strikes them by a strange fire The Judgments of God are very sutable to the sins of men oftentimes As here by fire so another time we find it by water Pharaoh he sins by drowning the Infants of the people of Israel in the waters and God drowns him in the Sea If you will be drowning by water you shall have water enough saith God And so here if you will be medling with strange Fire you shall have strange Fire saith God God doth many times proportion Judgments to sinners that his righteousness might the more appear those very creatures in which we sin many times God makes them or others of the same kind to be the Executioners of his Wrath. So it was with the Jews they would sell Christ for 30. pieces of silver and they were sold 30. of them for a penny afterwards And so the story of Adoni-bezek in the first of Judges that was so cruel in such a way to cut off Thumbs and Toes of Kings even so he was served in the like kind and it 's ordinary for men that are of cruel fiery spirits to meet with cruel fiery spirits likewise And I would apply it in this particular You that are stout Children to your Parents if God lets you live you many times meet with the very same in your Children and when you that are Parents meet with stubborn Children you should reflect Doth not God come righteously upon me And so you that are Servants you are stout to your Masters and afterwards when you come to have Servants they will be so to you and perhaps you were unfaithful to your Governors afterwards when you come to have servants it 's a thousand to one but they will be so to you Now you should strike your hand upon your heart and say It 's just with God that it should be so and that He should come upon me in my own kind Another Note is this They offered strange fire Let 's take heed all of us how we bring strange fire into Gods Service Bring strange fire into Gods Service What 's that I find diverse Writers speaking upon this saith Ambrose Lusts and Covetousness are this strange Fire That which I would have you consider of is this Above all strange fire take heed of the strange Fire of passion and anger and especially in the Worship of God and at any time when you find your hearts heated and fired with Anger when you are about to worship God remember this Scripture Nadab and Abihu were consumed by God with fire from God for coming into Gods presence with strange fire Now O Lord how often have we come into thy presence with strange Fire Perhaps your hearts have been burning hot with passion when you have been coming into Gods presence You are to pray with fervency for so the Scripture saith we are indeed to be heat in prayer by the holy Ghost in our hearts but certainly not to come with the fire of passion and anger Lift up your hands without wrath and doubting If you have been passionate and your hearts have been heat that way be sure you get your hearts cold before you go to Prayer And so when you come to hear the Word if your hearts have been heat with passion be sure you get them cold before you come to hear the Word Receive with meekness the ingrafted Word that may save your souls And so when you come to the Lords Supper Take heed of coming with wrath and malice for then you come but to offer strange Fire It is a special Consideration for Ministers that come to preach they should take heed of bringing strange fire into ther Pulpits that is of venting their own passions That hath been ever a rule that I have been convinced of since I knew any thing of Preaching That that man that is appointed to reveal Gods wrath had need to conceal his own wrath that 's certainly a rule for all Preachers for the Lord sends his Preachers to make known his wrath against mens sins but now the more they make known his wrath the more they should conceal their own and so by that means when they come in the openest way to manifest Gods wrath the more their preaching would be accepted Now it 's true a carnal heart would be ready to think That when a Preacher speaks out of true zeal to God he will be ready to say That he hath aiming at himself Take heed of that I beleeve you have had but little occasion of such a temptation in this place but however this I know it is the duty of the Ministers of God to be sure to bring nothing but the Fire of the Spirit of God the Fire that they have from the Alter their tongues being touch'd with one of these Coals and not that they should come with their own passions to further the Righteousness of God no The wrath of man doth not accomplish the Righteousness of God There are some other particulars which being laid down we shall come to the Three main Points SERMON II. Leviticus 10. 3. I will be Sanctified in them that come nigh me WEE began these words the last day and shewed the scope of them and opened the meaning of them and spake of divers Notes of Observation that we gathered from this story of Nadab and Abihu and of Gods dealing with them From the general story of it there were many Points of notable Observation that were drawn from thence I 'le ad some few now and so come to the main Doctrinal Point in the Text. A further Note of Observation is this That many times even the dear Saints of God do meet with very sore and grevous offlictions in their Children That the most eminent Saints of God are not freed from very grievous afflictions even
not daunt thee Now is the presence of God in the very faces of his Saints terrible to a guilty conscience how terrible is the presence of God in his Ordinances then Indeed those men and women whose consciences are not enlightened but are ignorant and sottish they can sin against God and go into his presence without any trouble you shall have men swear and be drunk over night and come to the Sacrament the next day What 's the reason Because there is no light sn their consciences their consciences are in darkness they are besotted in their sin but I speak now of one who hath an enlightened conscience the presence of God is terrible to such an one A Third Use is this Here 's the reason why Hypocrites do meet with such vengeance from God as they do I confess we shall meet with this more especially afterwards only by the way take notice of it Hypocrites above all men may expect the severest judgments of God upon them because they come so nigh God for they come often to the Duties of Gods Worship now they that will come so nigh Gods presence and come with base and ungodly hearts to cloak their villany of all in the world they must expect to have the severe vengeance of God let down upon them they that stand nighest the bullet must expect to have the strength of it to be the more upon them so when the wrath of God proceeds out upon sinners wicked men that stand nighest Him they have the greatest stroke of Gods wrath But of that more when I come to the Third Point That God will be Sanctified in those that draw nigh Him The Fourth Use is this If to Worship God be to draw nigh Him then to neglect Gods Worship is to depart from Him that must needs follow And this is a dreadful thing it is the Sentence that shall be at the last day of Judgment Depart from me Thou now art willing to depart from God Oh consider of this you that neglect Worship the Worship of God in your Families and in your Closets and in the Congregation in the Communion of the Saints thou hast little minded or regarded the Worship of God it may be all thy daies what hast thou been doing all this while thou hast been departing from God all this while and when thy conscience shall be but enlightned and awakened to see how far thou art from God how terrible will it be to thee Remember this you that have no mind to the duties of the Worship of God but love the Commission of sin you neglect Gods Worship you were wont to worship him in a constant way in your closets and families but now you grow more loose and so you grow more dead every day than other you go off from God more and more Surely there can be no good to neglect Gods Worship And those that are loth to Worship God because they cannot worship him as they ought from this Point it appears plainly That there can be no good gotten by neglecting Gods Worship for it is departing from God whatsoever plea there may be by any temptation to neglect Gods Worship certainly there is danger in it and therefore never listen to any such temptation as shall draw your hearts from the duties of Gods Worship There are a generation of wantons in these times that make little matter of continuing the duties of Gods Worship they were wont constantly to worship God and to attend upon the Word but now it is nothing to them and they are even ready to thank God for it that they make not such conscience as they were wont to do in the duties of the Worship of God It may be they will say That heretofore some slavish terror did carry them on in the duties of Gods Worship more than the understanding of the freeness of the grace of God would admit of but shall the understanding of the freedom of the grace of God carry thee on less than thy slavish terror did Oh blind and wanton spirit that knowest not the waies of God nor the freeness of the grace of God nor the riches of it Oh what a dishonor art thou to Jesus Christ and to the freeness of his grace that thou canst go up and down from day to day and never Worship God! Did Jesus Christ come into the world for that end for to cause thee to depart more from God 'T is plain out of the Word That the duties of Gods Worship are those duties whereby the soul comes to draw nigh to God And I beseech you Brethren observe these men whether there be that Holinese in their lives that Spiritualness as there was wont to be No you shall find them by degrees to grow loose yea run sometimes into gross sins grow many times to lying and deceiving and to drunkenness and company-keeping yea to worse things by degrees Perhaps they are at first ready to say Is thy Servant a dead Dog that I should do this But by departing from God they grow dead to holy duties we find it by experience That the Professors of Religion have not that Holiness Heavenliness Spiritualness as they were wont to have in former times and no mervel for now they keep not so nigh to God as they were wont You that are Sea-men and Travellers sometimes you are neer the Sun and then you are hot but the further off the Sun you go you grow to be colder and colder And so those that neglect the Worship of God they go from warm Sun they go from the light of Gods Countenance and from the presence of God and so they grow cold and chill and by degrees they grow to prophaness and it is to be feared that many of them will grow to meer Athiesm Another Use is this An Use of Exhortation that we would be encouraged to worship God and to be much in the Worship of God In Heb. 10. 22. Let us draw neer saith the Text Who would not draw neer to God Oh what a good thing is it to be in the presence of God Is not the Lord the fountain of thy life Is it not a sweet thing to be in his presence We think it a sweet thing to be in the presence of godly men Oh that we might alwaies live with such men and be nigh them That Martyr Doctor Taylor rejoyced in this That ever he came into prison to be acquainted with that Angel of God holy Master Bradford and as I remember some among the Heathens that profest they would rather be in prison with Cato than be in the greatest glory with some other It is a blessed thing to be in the presence of God to be with him that is the God of our lives and the fountain of all good let us draw nigh to God often let us know that it is a mercy that we may draw nigh to God we might have been banished from the presence of the Lord long e're this time
God in the way of the Gospel we are to prepare as well as they because God is coming For that that is observable is Why they were for two daies together to make such preparation the argument is because of the presence of God The Lord said to Moses Go and Sanctifie the people to day and tomorrow and let them wash their cloaths and be ready against the third day Why for the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai The Lord will come down in the third day and therefore let them be sanctisied So when thou goest to worship God thou expectest or shouldest expect that God will come to thee and that thy heart shall be drawn to God and therfore thou shouldest make some preparation For the time of preparation we shall speak to afterward when we come to the cases of Conscience about preparation for worship And so in Chr. 22 5. 14. David makes preparation for the House of God because it was the House of God that he had to build though he could not do it himself in his own time yet being the House of God what great preparation was made by David The moral of which is this That the House of God being a Type of the Church and the Worship of God as well as of Christ it shews that there should be much preparation when we have to deal with God in his Ordinances Secondly As God is great that we draw nigh to so the duties of Gods Worship are great duties they are the greatest things that doth concern us in this world and it is a sign of a very carnal heart to slight the duties of Gods Worship to make account of them as little matters Carnal hearts ordinarily the things that concern their businesses in the world they think great matters Oh I may not neglect that I may not neglect that I may not neglect such a business or I may not neglect to visit or gratifie such a friend but now for the Worship of God it is good indeed but whether it be done or not it is no great matter therefore they can put off Prayer if they have any business the time of prayer must pay for it they can put off that upon any slight occasion they do not account the duties of Gods Worship great matters My brethren I beseech you learn this lesson this morning to account the duties of Gods Worship great matters they are the greatest things that do concern you here in this world for they are the homage that you tender up to the high God as you heard and those things wherein God communicates himself in his choise Mercies now being such great matters there is cause that we should prepare For that one thing of prayer saith Luther It is a great work and a difficult work and therefore there had need be preparation for it Business of great consequence we make preparation for indeed if a business be a slight business we can fall upon it on a sudden you make not preparation to go in a Boat one the Thames but to go a voyage you make great preparation Now if men and women would but understand the duties of Gods Worship to be great they would see a necessity to make a preparation Many men for want of preparation to duties they lose a great part of the time when they come to perform a duty of Worship in prayer they spend half the time that is convenient to be spent in prayer before they begin to pray and so in hearing the Word they are a long time before they can settle themselves to attend to the Word or in any other kind of worship I say a great deal of time in the worship is spent ordinarily before we can get our hearts to close with the worship now that is a sore and a great evil to lose any part of the time of worship Christians I beseech you account highly of the time of your worship you have been so long time at prayer yea but how much of it hath been lost because you have not prepared beforehand for it perhaps you kneel'd upon your knees but you were a long time before you could get your hearts warm at your work why you should have been warm before you had come It is so oftentimes with many men when they meet together and there is no preparation for their business they come together and they are a long time before they can buckle to the business that they came about because there is no preparation but if there be preparation made that every man knows beforehand what his work is they can fall to it and they can dispatch as much in one hour as others do in two or three but of that we shall speak more afterwards Thirdly There must be preparation because our hearts are naturally exceedingly unprepared for every good work we are all naturally even reprobate to every good work the duties of Gods Worship are high and spiritual and holy things but by nature our hearts grovel in the dirt and we are carnal sensual drossie dead slight sottish and vain altogether unsit to come into the presence of God Oh that we were but apprehensive and sensible of the unfitness of our hearts to come into Gods presence Perhaps because thou knowest not God thou canst rush into his presence without any more ado but if thou knowest thy self and God thou couldest not but see thy self altogether unfit for his presence and so as to wonder that the Lord should not spurn thee out of his presence every time thou comest unto him there had need then be preparation because we are so unsit to come into his presence Fourthly There had need be preparation because of the great hinderances of the Worship of God This business and the other business would hinder the intanglements they would hinder the temptations of the Devil they would hinder sometimes the indisposition of our bodies doth mightily hinder and the stirrings of the passions of our minds they hinder if there be any business fals out amiss in the family and any thing go but cross how are we put off the hinges and made unfit for holy duties There had need be preparation therefore because there are so many hinderances in the way many of you will complain that you are much hindered but do you do what you can to make preparation beforehand Do the hinderances that you complain of put you on to be so much the more carefull to make due preparation for Holy Duties Fiftly We find that the Heathens themselves by the light of Nature when they did but worship their Idol gods they would make some preparation such as was sutable to those gods that they worshiped therfore they would wash their flesh and purge themselves but though their preparation was but very poor yet they taught us thus much That they were convinc'd in their consciences that when God was to be worshiped people should be prepared
The sixt and last reason hath a great deal in it which I beseech you consider of we find that the Scripture doth make the uprightness of the heart much to consist in preparation for worship and doth make the falsness of the heart to consist in this that men do not prepare Perhaps you have not so much thought of this but yet it is of excellent use unto you We shall find the Scripture doth make the very uprightness of the heart to consist in the preparation for duty and the falsness of a mans heart to consist in this That he makes not conscience to prepare his heart for God and His Worship And this I will shew unto you very plainly and cleerly take these two Examples The first of Rehoboam and the second of Jehoshaphat one a wicked man whose heart was false and the other a godly man whose heart was right with God The falsness of the heart of the one is in 2 Chron. 12. 14. there you have what Gods thoughts of Rehoboam were in the verses before but now he brings the reason of his sentence upon him and saith the text he did evil because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord there were many good things that Rehoboam did I might shew you some things as how he did obey the Prophet of God when he was seeking to avenge himself upon those that did rend themselves from his obedience the Lord did but send his Prophet and though he had an Army ready to revenge himself upon those that in a way of rebellion did rend themselves from under his government and he obeyed the Word of the Lord but for all that he did evil in the sight of the Lord God looked upon him as a man that had no uprightness in him Why For he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord Saith God I look upon all Rehoboam did as nothing look upon his waies as evil and himself as a wicked man why Because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord if his heart had been upright with me he would have prepared his heart to seek me I beseech you now lay this text to your hearts Do you prepare your hearts to seek God when ye go to prayr Can you say that you take pains in preparing your hearts for it and in hearing the Word and so likewise for receiving the Sacrament Now for Jehoshaphat a godly man in 2 Chron. 19. 3. there you may see what the Lord saith of Jehoshaphat that was godly Nevertheless there are good things found in thee in that thou hast taken way the groves out of the land and hast prepared thine heart to seek God Jehoshaphat was found guilty in joyning himself to wicked men too much the Prophet comes and saith to him Wouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord Therfore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. Jehoshaphat here we see was very faulty in joyning with those that were wicked and is rebuked by the Prophet from the Lord What wilt thou joyn with the wicked the wrath of God is upon thee Well but for all that I beseech you observe it That at that time when the Lord is most displeased against Jehoshaphat and sends his Prophet in his Name to pronounce this that the wrath of God is out against him yet for all this God cannot but take notice of this that he had an upright heart though he failed in that particular yet there is some good found in thee in that thou hast prepared thy heart to seek God Indeed through some sudden temptations thou art drawn aside in this particular act Yea but it hath been thy care to prepare thy heart to seek me and in that regard I do look upon thee as having an upright heart And thus you see how much the Scripture puts upon the preparation of the heart to seek God And so in 1 Sam. 7. 3. you shall find that the Scripture makes the uprightness of the heart to consist in this And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel saying If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts what then Then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you and prepare your hearts unto the Lord and serve him only As if Samuel should say If you will return indeed to the Lord if indeed your hearts be upright according to what you seem to profess in turning to God Then prepare your hearts to seek the Lord. You do not in truth turn to God except you make conscience to prepare your hearts Therefore you that never yet knew what it was to make conscience to prepare your hearts for holy duties know that you have not turned with all your heart unto the Lord there hath not been the true turning of your hearts unto the Lord. Thus you see there is much lies upon preparation to the duties of Gods Worship Well you will say seeing there lies so much in it I pray open it wherein it doth consist To that I answer It consists in these Five things which I shall briefly name First In the possessing the heart with the right apprehension of that God before whom we come to tender our duties Then do we make conscience to prepare our hearts when we labor upon our going to worship God to get our hearts before-hand possessed with right apprehensions of the Majesty of that God that we are going to worship and of the greatness and weight of the duty that we are setting about the nature of it the manner how it is to be performed the rule by which we are to be guided the end that we are to aim at Meditation is a good preparation to holy duties And these are the general Heads of our Meditation for our Preparation to Duty Viz. 1. What God he is we have to deal with Meditate of God in his Attributes and then meditate of the weight of our Duties and the nature of them and the rule of them and the end of them get your hearts possessed with meditations of this nature and in this at a special thing doth consist your preparation to holy duties 2. The Second thing wherein the preparation to a duty consists it is this The taking off of the heart from every sinful way the endeavor at least If there be iniquity in thine hand or heart labor to put it out When thou art to come into Godâ— presence do not bring into the presence of God the love of any sin in thy heart but labor to put it from thy heart in 2 Chron. 29. 5. we find there what is required to preparation the text saith Hezekiah said unto them Hear me ye Levites sanctifie now your selves and sanctifie the house of the Lord God of your fathers and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place That is sanctifying a thing to carry forth the filthiness out of that thing that we would sanctifie So the sanctifying of our hearts it is by
carrying forth the filthiness out of our hearts so as to be fit for a duty And in Job 11. 13 14. If thou prepare thine heart and stretch out thine hand towards him What then If iniquity be in thine hand put it far away and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles These Two must be together 3. A Third thing is this The preparation of the heart it is The dis-intangling of the heart from the world and from all occasions and businesses in the world I am to worship God but how is my heart insnared and intangled in this and the othere business Now when I come to worship God I must lay aside all for there 's the preparation of the heart the separating of it for such a work for that 's the nature of Sanctification the separating of a thing from a common use I am to worship God now I must labor to separate my heart from a common use At other times God gives me liberty to let out my heart to common uses but now when I come to worship him I must separate my heart from all common uses that my heart may be wholly for God I remember it is said in the story of Cicil which was Lord Treasurer that when he went to read he would lay his gown off and say Lie there Lord Cicil So when we go to duty we should say Lie by world and by laying aside the world I mean laying aside of all houshold affairs or affairs in trading c. I must be as one that hath nothing to do in the world for that time It is true the time cannot be said to be holy for this as the time of the Sabbath day is holy You will say Why may not any time be said to be holy that I spend in holy duties No that is not enough to make time holy for the time that God makes holy it is not holy because of the duties that I perform in it but the duties that I perform then are more acceptable because they are done in such a time and so that makes a place holy not because it is appointed for holy duties and uses but because it is so appointed by God and the performing a duty in that place is more acceptable to God than in another place But now though we cannot make our time holy in that second sense yet in the first it is time set apart for a holy use and in that regard it is holy and so we should look upon it as not to have our outward business to devour that time that is holy in that regard as Nehemiah When Tobiah and Sanballat sent to him to come and confer with them No saith he I cannot go for the work is great that I have to do So we must not intangle our selves to meddle with other things when we are to come to worship God for our work is great The Fourth thing for preparation is To Watch and to Pray We should watch over our hearts lest they be made unfit for duties So we should prepare for Prayer all day long in this sense that is we should watch over our hearts that they be not let out so far as to hinder us in prayer when we come to do it I remember that Tertullian saith That the Christians did so sup as if they were to pray So when thou art in company thou shouldest watch unto prayer Oh that you did so you cannot but be conscious to your selves that oftentimes when you have bin in company your hearts have been put out of tune and frame that you have been no way fit for prayer when you come home your house and family finds it so You that take such delight in company and sitting up late I appeal to your consciences whether you can come home and find your selves fit either in your family or closet to go and open you hearts to God This is one Note by the way wherby you may come to know whether you have been immoderate in company at any time God gives not men liberty to be busie in any outward occasions so as to unfit them for his Service Preparation consists in that in watching over your hearts that you may not be unfitted for any holy duty when God calls you to it but that you may be ready even to every good work The Fifth Note is this Preparation consists in the readiness of the faculties of the Soul and the Graces of the Spirit of God ' presently to act upon the setting upon an holy Duty When a man or woman shall find the faculties of their soul and the graces that are in them to be ready to act assoon as ever they fall upon duty Just as you see a company of Ringers when they have made all preparation for the raising of the Bells then in an instant when thy begin to pul all the Bels go in that tune that according to their skil they set them in And so it should be with our hearts the faculties of our souls and graces though now we are not upon duty yet we should be so ready that as it were upon a pul all the faculties of our souls and the graces of Gods Spirit should work in a melodious way There are those that keep their hearts so prepared as at the very first moment that they set about the duty of Worship all faculties and graces begin to act and stir and are working towards God As a fire when all the matter is ready laid presently it comes to be kindled and flame out and thus it should be with our hearts So that now you see wherein preparation of our hearts to Duty consists The next thing is The Excellency of this Preparation and that may be in way of Application to you to make you to be in love with preparation for holy duties There is abundance of good in it As First By this means we come to make every Duty of Worship easie to us Things are difficult when we come upon them unprepared If you have a friend come to dinner or supper to you and should come suddenly and you have nothing prepared there would be a great deal of stir in the house but if you have every thing prepared it would be carried on in an easie way And the reason why people complain so much of difficulty in duty it is because their hearts are not prepared Indeed we have naturally many things that keep us off from God but when the heart is prepared for a holy duty it goes off as easie to God even into the infinite Ocean of all mercy and goodness as a Ship goes off to be lancht when you have made preparation for it so the heart can go with an holy holdness to God when you have made preparation for holy duties In Job 11. the place which I quoted before for the work of preparation do but consider a verse or two further and you shall find what abundance of good there comes upon the keeping of
the heart prepared in things that are good vers 13. If thou prepare thine heart c. and then vers 15. Then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot yea thou shalt be stedfast and shalt not fear When the heart is prepared for that that is good when it comes into the presence of God it is able to lift up it self without fear in a stedfast comfortable way and this will quit the cost of any labor Secondly If the heart be prepared it will do a great deal in a little time In a Chron. 29. 36. it is said That Hezekiah rejoyced and all the poeple that God had prepared the people for the thing was done suddenly The thing came off freely and suddenly when as that they were prepared Hezekiah rejoyced and blessed God for such a mercy as this was It is a great mercy to have the hearts of people prepared unto a good work And so in 2 Chron. 27. 6. the text saith Jotham became mighty because he prepared his waies before the Lord his God Jotham he grew mighty by this And so certainly the way to grow to be very strong mighty to be able to do a great deal in a little time it is to make preration there may be as much work done in one hour so as in ten times so much time when the heart is not prepared for it In Ezra 7. 10. you shall find that the reason is given why Ezra had such good success in his journey it was because he had prepared his heart Make preparation for holy duties and you shall have success in holy duties There is a notable Scripture for that in Psal 10. 17. where the holy Ghost saith that God prepares the heart And what then when God doth prepare the heart he doth then cause his ear to hear There was never a prayer made wherein the heart was prepared for it but that prayer was heard they go both together Lord thou wilt prepare their heart and thou wilt cause thine ear to hear if God hath once prepared thy heart thou wilt be sure to be heard then Is it not worth a world for to know ones self to be accepted of God in every duty of Worship that we tender up to him this one Scripture Psal 10. 17. will shew it Oh the excellency that there is in preparation to duty There is one thing more that is very observable and that is this Where the heart is prepared to Duties there the Lord will pass by weaknesses and imperfections in duties When thou comest to perform holy duties thou art troubled Will the Lord have regard to such a duty as this is Thou maiest have certain assurance that the Lord will have regard if thou canst make this point good to thine own soul that it was thy care to make preparation for this duty Canst thou say Lord I have endeavored and done what I could to fit my heart for duty but O Lord I find when I am at it wonderful distractions much deadness and vanity What shall I do Why canst thou make good the former and appeal to God that indeed it was thy care to make preparation I 'le give thee one Scripture then for the quieting of thy heart in this That the weakness of the duty shall be pardoned and past by where there is care to prepare beforehand the Scripture is in 2 Chron. 33. 18 19. But Hezekiah prayed for them saying The good Lord pardon every one what every one every one that prepareth his heart to seek the Lord God of his fathers though he be not clensed according to the purification of the Sanctuary As if he should say Oh Lord there are many things amiss in this People they are not in many regards purified according to the order that thou hast set but Lord if thou doest but see any heart prepared to seek thee though they fail in such particulars Lord heal them and pardon them and did God hearken to his prayer Mark the following words And the Lord hearkned to Hezekiah and healed the people Nay saith God I wil not stand so much upon the purification of the Sanctuary if they have prepared their hearts to seek me Take this Scripture know it 's written for thine instruction and thou mayest make use of it to thine own soul this day if thou canst appeal to God that thou art careful to prepare thy heart though thou shouldest not have that pureness of thy heart as thou doest desire the Lord will pardon thee and heal thee make conscience of preparation to holy duties Again further By being careful to make preparation for duties within some little time thou wilt bring the heart to such a frame as it will alwaies be ready for duty without much ado Indeed at first it is somewhat hard You will say Are we bound to spend some time every time we go to prayer beforehand or every time we come to the Word That should have been one of the Cases of Conscience but I cannot come to Answer that but this we may say Be careful to prepare for duties you that are yong beginners or you that have made profession a longer time but yet have not had the weight of this duty upon your spirits now be careful for a while to prepare for every duty of Gods Worship that God calls you to and I say within a little time thou mayest bring thy heart into such a temper as thou mayest be ready at all times to perform holy duties because you shall be able to come to that temper and frame that the Apostle exhorts to Pray continually for indeed so it should be with us we should be alwaies prepared either for Prayer hearing the Word or receiving Sacraments Now because Sacraments are so rare those that have any enlightened conscience they think they dare not but prepare for Sacraments but you should be alwaies in a preparation for the receiving of the Sacraments as the primitive Christians did And those that have been acquainted with this Point that I am upon of preparing for duties they have come to such a frame of spirit as that there is not so much time required of them as of others for they are in a constant fitness so that there is no instant of time in the whol day but if God calls them to prayer they could presently fall down upon their knees and pray so as to Sanctify Gods Name in prayer that were an excellent temper indeed if you could find it so that you walk so spiritually and holily before God as there could be never a quarter of an hour from morning to night nor from the beginning of the week to the end but if you were cal'd to pray or to receive the Sacrament you had your heart fitted that you could come into Gods presence with a prepared heart and were able to sanctify Gods Name in the duty Acquaint your selves with this work of Preparation and so you may have hearts fitted to come into
Gods presence at any time SERMON III Leviticus 10. 3. I will be Sanctified in them that come nigh me WEE proceed now to what remains There are only for the perfecting of this Point two Cases of Conscience to be resolved And then we are to proceed to other things The First is Whether we ought at all times to set apart some time for Preparation to every duty of Gods Worship Secondly Suppose we do not find our hearts prepared as we do desire Whether it were better to leave off the duty than perform it For the First of these Viz. Whether we are alwaies bound to set some time apart for preparation to the duty that we are to perform The answer to that is this we must distinguish of persons There are some that are exercised in the way of godliness and do keep their hearts close with God in the waies of holiness now for them it may be supposed that through their exercise in the waies of Godliness and keeping of their hearts constant with God in communion with him walking with God closely that they are at all times prepared to every good work and fitted to fulfil that command of the Apostle Pray continually that is in the disposition of their hearts they are fit to pray at any time there is no day in the week nor no hour in the day but they if God call them to it could fall down to solemn Prayer And indeed this is an excellent condition and a good evidence of the hearts walking close with God that there is no time but they are fit to pray and fit for any Ordinance yea to receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper It is possible to keep the heart so close to God as to be fit for Prayer and for the hearing of the Word and for receiving the Sacrament every day or any hour in the day but this needs a very close walking with God and communion with God and the truth is this is very rare most men let out their hearts so much to other things as their consciences cannot but tell them that if God call them to Prayer at such a time in the day they are altogether unfit for it If they were called to receive the Sacrament their consciences would accuse them and tell them they are unfit for it but it is not so with those that walk close with God though they be in the world You wil say If a man have business in the world how can this be Yes Though they have business in the world yet they carry the heavenliness of their hearts along with them Our Conversation is in Heaven saith the Apostle Phil. 3. Now the word that is translated Our Conversation it is a word that signifies Our City Converse our trading is in Heaven when we go to the City or Exchange or about any business yet our trading is alwaies in Heaven But now there are other sorts of people that had need at all times to look to their hearts in way of preparation As First Those that first set upon the duties of Religion yong beginners that begin at first to set their faces towards Heaven to worship God they had need look to their hearts they should spend some time in Preparation when they come to holy Duties and the truth is When the conscience of a man or woman is at first enlightned and awakened they will be very careful in preparing to holy duties the fear of God it is mighty upon their spirits at first and it should not be less afterward the constancy of Gods fear should bring their hearts to such a holy temper as to make them fit for holy duties alwaies Secondly Those men and women that any time shall sin against conscience shall commit such sins as shall in a kind even lay wast conscience shall break their peace between God and their souls they had need spend some time in preparation for holy duties they cannot come into the presence of God to enjoy communion with God but they had need beforehand be very serious in the examination of their hearts and to endeavor the working of their hearts into mourning for their sin and to labor to possess their souls with the presence of God even before they come These two sorts of people such as have not been acquainted with the waies of Godliness or such as have broken their peace with God by some evil carriage of theirs towards God in some vile way I say it is requied of them to be more solemn in the Work of Preparation 2. But now for the Second Case which indeed is the main Suppose when we come to duties and begin to examine our hearts and begin to bethink our selves whether we be prepared yea or no to holy duties and we do not find our hearts prepared according to that that we do desire Whether then we may let the duty go for that time and forbear the performance of it as suppose Prayer or receiving the Sacrament or coming to the Word or any other holy Duty And the reason of this doubt is Because when any man or woman is consciencious they think with themselves that they must Sanctifie Gods Name in Holy Duties now if they cannot find their hearts in a fit disposition to sanctifie the Name of God in holy duties they are ready to think thus Were it not better to neglect this duty and lay it aside for the present Will God accept of a duty when I perform it and am not set for it Therefore for the Answer to this because it is a temptation that sometimes carnal hearts have and they are ready to take this temptation and willing to neglect the duty upon such a thoughts as this that they are not prepared And the truth is they are more glad to let the duty fall than they are sorry for want of the preparation of their hearts for the duty I beseech you consider of this whether you have not found it so that sometimes when you have not been fit to perform a holy duty there hath not been a more secret willingness of the heart to let the duty go than a sorrow of the heart because you are not fit for the duty This is a very evil sign that the heart is very much distempered Those that are godly indeed when they find not their hearts prepar'd for the duty it is the trouble of their souls it is that which goes neer their hearts when they think with themselves that they are now like to lose a duty of the Worship of God they are now like to lose their communion with God in a holy duty they even look upon themselves in an evil case in regard of this and it makes them watchful for time to come to take heed of those things that have put them in such an unpreparation as they find their hearts to be in at this time Now if it be so with thee it is a good sign that thy heart may be upright with God
ever any creature in the world had God accepts of that and that you must look unto Can you say so when you go to worship God Lord it is true there is much weaknes in my spirit but thou that knowest all things knowest That thou hast more of my heart than ever any creature in the world had This is sutable to God God will account this in the Covenant of Grace to be a present sutable to Himself As in the Law when they offered to the building of the Temple every one could not offer gold and silver and precious stones but some came and offered Badgers-skins and some women did spin and offered Goate-hair to the building of the Temple and so God accepted of that being the most they could do 2. In the second place When we do not only offer unto God the most we can but when we ad to this the grief of our souls that we can do no more when the soul shall strive to the uttermost it can and when it hath done all saith I am an unprofitable servant Oh that I could do more This is sutable to God 3. Thirdly The People of God though they be weak yet the weakest Servant of God is able to offer up to God somewhat that is sutable to the infinite Majesty of God upon this Third Ground because there is a kind of impression of Gods infinitnes in those services that a gracious heart doth tender unto God and therefore sutable unto God You will say God is an Infinite Glorious God Be it so He is Infinit that 's certain but the duty of Worship that a grations heart tenders unto God it hath an impression of Gods infinitness upon it How is that If that can be made out then indeed we may be encouraged to worship God Thus That that a gracious heart tenders up to God hath an impression of His infinitness in this regard because as God hath no limits of His Being so a gracious heart when it comes to worship God will not propound any limits or bounds but in the desires of it would fain be enlarged infinitly if it could If it were possible for a creature to been larged to God infinitly it would be Here lies I conceive the main difference between the most glorious Hypocrite in the world and one that hath true Grace yea that hath but the least degree of grace The most glorious Hypocrite in the world who it may be for the outward act doth more than one that hath true grace yet such a one doth limit himself he doth great things but he doth it so as he limits himself that is so much as may serve for such and such ends of his so much as may serve his turn either to satisfie his Conscience or to get credit and esteem to be accounted eminent in such a way so much he doth do but his duty is alwaies limited within such bounds and if he could conceive that he might go to Heaven and that he might have as much Credit and Honor and as much peace of Conscience with doing less he would do less But now one that hath grace though but little though but the least dram of grace he goes farther Indeed saith he Though through the little grace that I have I cannot do what another can do yet this doth so enlarge my heart that I would have no bounds set in what I do for God but I would have it enlarged to the uttermost latitude if it were possible beyond whatever yet was done for God in the world and the more I do the more I do desire to do That 's now a kind of infinitness that there is in the heart where grace comes I say grace enlarges the heart to a kind of infinitness that the more it doth the more it would do there is no Hypocrite but will have his periods he will rise thus and thus and thus high ordinarily you shall find that if he lives in some company there he is high but if he lives in other company there he is lower Now there is nothing doth limit a gracious heart but to all Eternity it would work and work more and more for God Here now is a Worship that is some way sutable to the infinite Excellency that there is in God Here 's a kind of proportion as I may so speak even between the Creature and God himself in this thing but it is the grace of God in the Creature here is the Image of God indeed because grace doth so enlarge the heart even to an infinitness as it were for God And thus you see in the general what it is to sanctifie Gods Name to tender up to God that which is some way sutable to the glory of the infinite God 2. You know there was a Second thing viz. That then I do sanctifie Gods Name when I come so to Worship God as my heart works and follows after God as a God so as it doth beseem the soul of a Creature to follow the infinite Creator and to work after the inâ—â—nit Creator So David in Psal 63. 5. My soul followeth hard after thee O God and mark it 's a very sweet Scripture thy right hand upholdeth me Those whose hearts follow hard after the Lord they have the right hand of God upholding of them It 's a mighty encouragement to put forth the heart to the uttermost because when 〈…〉 â—o the right hand of God upholds thee so that thy heart must follow after God more than it followed after any creature 3. When I come to draw nigh to God I come to present my self for the CoÌ„munication of the choicest of His Mercies so then I sanctifie Gods Name when I labor to prepare and open my heart for God as for the choicest Mercies that God 〈◊〉 to bestow upon His Creature When there is such a temper of heart that my conscience tels me it is sutable to that that is fit for a soul to have that expects to receive the choicest mercie from God but that we spake too more in the opening of our drawing nigh to God Now we are to come more particularly to this to open the Sanctifying Gods Name First In what particulars the behavior of the heart may be discovered to be sutable to God in respect of Gods greatness and glory Secondly What the behavior of the heart should be as sutable to the several Attributes of God It will cost us some time to open the particular things in the behavior of the heart as in reference to the greatness and Majestie of God considered more generally as in Psalm 48. 1. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised And so in Mal. 1. 14. Cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing why for I am a great King saith the Lord and therefore cursed is he that doth not offer a sacrifice sutable to my greatness And in 2 Chron. 2. 5. we find
that Solomon when he was preparing for the Temple he would build a great Temple why Because God was a great God that he would build it too So that the Worship of God must be some great thing because the Lord is a great God and it must be sutable to his greatness Now if you ask me in what particulars doth the behavior of the soul consist that is very sutable to the greatness of God in the general There are many things in this The first is You must be careful to bring a sanctified heart You cannot tender up a worship sutable to his greatness except you bring a sanctified heart with you there must be holiness in the heart Under the Law you know if any one came to offer a sacrifice in his uncleanness he must be cut off and so it must be here we must look to it that we offer not to God in our uncleanness Wash you and make you clean in Isa 1. and then Come let us reason together There is no coming to God without washing and making clean in Psal 93. 5. Holiness becometh thy House O Lord for ever Holiness becometh the presence of God for ever we must look to get a sanctified heart Sanctification consists in those two parts Mortification and Vivification there must be a mortifying of the lusts of the heart We reade in the Law that every Sacrifice was to be salted with salt that did signifie the mortification of our hearts when we come to offer up our selves as a Sacrifice to God the salt did eat out the raw humors and kept the flesh from putrifying so doth the grace of God in mortifying our lusts In Heb. 9. 14. you have a notable Scripture for the clensing of our hearts when we come to offer any service to God How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your Consciences from dead works to serve the living God So that you cannot serve the living God until your consciences be purged from dead works And how comes your consciences to be purged from dead works It is through the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God he must purge your consciences So that here 's the way of sanctifying Gods Name by applying of Jesus Christ who was offered to God without spot that our consciences might be purged from dead works that we might be purged from that natural filthiness and uncleannness in which we all were for the whol world doth lie in filth as a carrion doth lie in his slime Now if we would worship God so as to Sanctifie him we must apply Christ to our souls and get our conscience purged from dead works and to have the Spirit of Christ in us to quicken up our hearts in the waies of holiness to have the Image of Jesus Christ in us whereby we may be holy according to our proportion even as he himself is holy this is the sanctifying of the heart There must be an habitual sanctification and actual sanctification of the heart An Habitual that is that the heart must be changed through the work of Regeneration there must be a Regeneration in the heart there must be Divine Principles of the Graces of the Spirit of God in the heart But you will say May not an unregenerate man Pray To that I answer It is true it is his duty to pray Powr forth thy wrath upon the Heathen and upon the families that call not upon thy Name But it 's as true that they cannot sanctifie Gods Name in doing of it But if we would sanctifie Gods Name in it there must be an Habitual holiness in the heart for every thing doth act according to its Principles in Nature it is so and so doth the heart when it comes to worship God it doth act according to the Principles that it hath And then there must not only be Habitual sanctification but Actual sanctification likewise as in Exod. 19. 10 11. there you see what ado there was to fit them for the hearing of the Law because God was to come among them God is to come among us and we are to come to God when we are to perform holy duties therefore it is not enough to have Grace but there must be an improving of Grace there must be an acting of Grace not only when you come to receive the Sacrament to think that then there must be an acting of Grace but every time you pray and hear there must be an acting of Grace A purging out of your corruptions and an acting of Grace So that one cannot sanctifie Gods Name in holy duties unless he come thus far to be able to say Lord thou that knowest all things knowest there is nothing that thou doest reveal to be contrary to thy Will but my heart is against it that 's the least thou canst not have any peace of conscience in drawing nigh to God until thou come thus far to have thy heart to work thus against sin and to be set upon every good that God reveals to be his mind You know when a man of quality comes to your house what a deal of stir there is not only in sweeping but in making all things as clean and tite and shining as possible can be Thus it should be when thou comest to God And the Reason why there must be this sanctifying of the heart is First Because the Lord doth first accept of the Person before he doth accept of the action Men indeed do accept of the persons of men because they do good actions but God accepts of the actions of men because thesr persons are good If indeed we see a man do good then we love him and accept of the person of the man but God first will accept of the person before the action As the Lord accepted of Abel first and then he accepted his offering So you must look to that to have your persons first accepted of God before any duty can be accepted You think though you be wicked and sinful yet if you amend your life God will accept of you you go that way to work but certainly that is the wrong way you must first look after means of acceptation of your persons which is through the Righteousness of Jesus Christ and through the sanctification of his Spirit whereby you come to have his Image and Life and so are accepted and then all that proceeds from you comes to be accepted There is not any action which comes from you that comes to be accepted to eternal life until your persons be accepted before God and therefore there must be a sanctifying of the heart before there can be a sanctifying the Name of God in the duties of his Worship Therefore when you come to perform any duties of Gods Worship you should consider this Is my heart Sanctified I must sanctifie Gods Name and how can I do that except my heart be sanctified
Secondly Our hearts must be sanctified because the Lord doth look more to the principle from whence a thing comes than at the the thing it self As indeed were our hearts right as they should then all the good things that come to us we would not so much regard what the things are that we do enjoy from God as what the principle is from whence they come that is Whether what we do enjoy from God is from the love of God in Jesus Christ or no Whether it it be from the general Bounty and Patience of God or from the special love of God in Jesus Christ Our hearts would regard that most if we were spiritual now then look as a godly man is not satisfied with enjoying any good thing from God except he knows it comes from a principle of love to him in Jesus Christ So God is not pleased with any thing that comes from us except he knows that it comes from a principle of Love Grace and Holiness in our hearts Thirdly According as the heart is so will the service be Certainly if the heart be unclean the duty will be unclean perhaps the words may be fine and brave but if there be an unclean heart the duty will be unclean As it is with a man that hath the Plague suppose he makes a brave Oration yet his breath is infectious so it is in our services with God If so be that our hearts within us have the plague then certainly the breath that comes from us all our duties will be unclean and therefore that is the first thing that we are to look for in the sanctifying Gods Name in holy duties Look to have thy heart sanctified and consider from what principle it comes 't is for want of this that thousands of our duties are cast aside and God never doth regard them But this is the first Particular there are many more to speak of SERMON V. Leviticus 10. 3. I will be Sanctified in them that come nigh me WEE proceed The next thing therefore for the behavior of the soul in the sanctifying Gods Name in Worship is this When we come to Worship God if we would sanctifie Gods Name we must have high thoughts of God we must look upon God as he is upon his Throne in Majesty and in Glory as in Isa 9. 1 2. you shall find that the Prophet saw the Lord upon his Throne It is an excellent thing when all who come to worship God every time they come to worship Him have their eyes darted up to Heaven and behold the Lord God sitting in his Glory upon his Throne So you shall find in Rev. 4. the 24. Elders that worshiped God they saw him upon his Throne in his Glory and so they worshiped him they worshiped God to purpose indeed when they saw the Lord in that Majesty as he was We should at all times have high thoughts of God take heed of having low thoughts and apprehensions of the infinite Majesty of God at any time but especially when thou art to worship the great God then look upon the Lord in that infinite distance that there is between him and thy self yea that infinit distance that there is between him and all creatures in the world look upon the Lord as lifted up in glory not only above all creatures but above all excellencies that all Angels and Men in Heaven and Earth are able to imagine Look upon the Lord as having all Excellencies in Himself joyned in one and that immutably look upon him as the Fountain of all excellency good and glory that all creatures in the world have and look upon the Lord every time thou comest to worship him as that God whom Angels do adore and before whom the Devils are forc'd to tremble behold him in this his Glory and this will help thee to sanctifie his Name when thou comest to him The great Reason why people come and worship God in a slight way it is because that they do not see God in his glory 't is a great Mercy for God to give unto us a sight of himself a sight of his glory here in this world while we are worshiping of him this would keep our eyes and our thoughts from wandring if we had a sight of the glory of God and had high thoughts of God What 's the reason why we wander so as we do but meerly because we see not God As now suppose you were in your house and looking after every feather that were flying up and down if you should hear that the King were come into the room or any great Person it would compose your spirits because you have high thoughts of such as of those that are above you So let us look upon God as in his excellency and His glory and have high thoughts of him and this is that whereby we are to sanctifie Gods Name when we come before Him in holy duties And that 's the second thing First a sanctified heart and then high thoughts of God 3. A third thing is High-ends Raised-ends in the worshiping of God Prov. 15. 24. The way of life is above to the wise It is on high in this respect when he worships God his heart is lifted up on high there is a holy raising of the heart which is well pleasing to God Our hearts should be on high in regard of the high ends that we aim at in holy duties Lift up thy prayer saith Hezekiah to the Prophet in another case so I may say Lift up thy soul when thou comest to worship God in regard of the high ends that thou aimest at when we are worshiping God we should have our hearts above all creatures and above our selves Let not our hearts then be groveling upon the ground mingled with base and drossie things when we come to worship the Lord Indeed it is fit that we should have our hearts low as we shall shew hereafter in regard of humility but not low in regard of any baseness of spirit to mix with any base and low ends Now there are low and base ends in worshiping of God As First We must take heed we do not subject the Worship of God unto our Lusts that is a cursed thing thou art far from sanctifying Gods Name in worshiping of Him that shalt subject His Worship to thy base lusts this is an abominable and a cursed thing indeed You will say Who doth thus who is the man or where is he that will do this subject the Worship of God to his base lusts To that I answer Whosoever doth make use of any duty of Worship as Prayer Hearing the Word or what ever it be to cloak any kind of wickedness whosoever is conscious to himself of any kind of secret wickedness and yet shall think to cover it by the performance of duties and shall reason in this manner Who will think me to be guilty of such a vile thing when I pray so as I do and am so careful to hear
those that did offer it they did eat a great part of it themselves now they were very careful in those offerings that they were to partake of themselves to offer fat beasts you do not see that the holy Ghost takes any notice of fat beasts in their burnt offerings Now the Note from hence is this That in those things where men are interested themselves they will be very careful to have the best things But now the Lord rejected the fat beasts of their Peace-offerings saith God You were very careful to offer fat beasts in your Peace-offerings where you may feed your selves but for those offerings wherein I have all there you are not so careful and therefore I regard them not The third Scripture is in Zach. 7. 7. there they did keep many daies in seeking of God it is an observable Scripture for these times Speak unto all the People of the Land and to the Priests saying When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month even those seventy years Did ye at all fast unto me even unto me Mark the phrase You fasted in the fifth and seventh month and for seventy yeers together but saith the Lord Did you at all fast unto me and then mark how he doubled it To me even unto me Noting that when we fast or pray or do any thing in the Worship of God we should be sure to aim at God more than our selves that God may not say of us another day Do you do it to me even to me You may ask me this Question How may I know that I am acted by self-ends in holy Duties for it is a hard thing for one to know ones own heart when one is acted by principles of self and when we aim at God in holy Duties Now for that I will give you these Notes to try whether you be acted from your selves or no. The First is this If a man loves holy Duties though he finds no present good comes in by them because they are such things as God requires and therefore though I get nothing by them yet this is enough to carry me on and to carry me on readily and willingly in the Worship of God those that can delight in Gods Worship even at that time though they find nothing coming in to themselves But now when we find not that coming in that we do desire we begin to be weary of Worship and say Why have we fasted and thou seest it not This is an Argument that thou art acted by Self rather than by God Secondly To know whether we be acted by self-ends or rather by high ends for God Those men that can rejoyce in others that are able to honor God in holy duties more than themselves they may have a good evidence to their own souls that when they worship God they are acted by higher ends than Self but now such as are straightned themselves and when they see other more enlarged in the Worship of God they rather envy them are griev'd and troubled know that Self is a great ingredient in those duties that thou doest perform if thy heart were raised high to God though thou canst not thy self be enlarged in holy duties yet thy soul would be glad that any others are though I have a wretched and vile heart of my own yet blessed be God that there are any others that can worship God better than I can Thirdly A man that is acted by Self in holy duties he regards holy duties but little save in time of extremity in time of fear or in sickness or in danger But now one that hath high ends in holy duties makes the duties of Gods Worship to be the joy of his soul in the midst of his prosperity and that is an evident sign that thou art not acted by self ends but by higher ends Canst thou in the midst of thy abundance say Lord thou givest me all conveniences in this world and all outward things that I want but Lord this is that which is the joy of my soul this is that which makes my life comfortable even communion with thy self in the duties of thy worship that I have free access unto the Throne of thy Grace to worship Thee the Lord and there meet with thee when I am in the performance of holy duties O Lord thou that knowest all things knowest that this is the thing that makes my life comfortable It is not that I have a Table furnished with variety of dishes and that I can have liberty of time to go into company and spend according as I please but Lord those incomes of thy Spirit that I do find in the duties of thy Worship those are the things that makes my life blessed indeed unto me Such a man is able thus to appeal to God surely when he worships God he is acted by high ends and not by self-ends And that 's the Third thing that is necessary for sanctifying Gods Name in holy Duties thou must have a sanctified heart high thoughts of God and high ends In the fourth place There must be much reverence and much fear when thou comest into the presence of God to worship him thou doest not glorifie God as God except thou doest come into his presence with much fear reverence of his great Name Fear in worshiping of God it is so necessary that many times in Scripture we find that the very Worship of God is called The fear of God they are put both for one I might give you divers Scriptures for it and hence it was that the Name of God was called the Fear of Isaac Jacob did swear by the Fear of his father Isaac because Isaac being a great Worshiper of God kept his constant times to worship God and worshiped him in such a constant way as except David and Daniel we do not find mention of the constancy of any in the worshiping of God as we do of Isaac's for it is said that he walked but into the fields in the evening as he was wont to do to Meditate and to Pray and therefore God is called The fear of Isaac In Psal 89. 7. is a notable Scripture for this drawing nigh to God with fear God is greatly to be feared in the Assembly of the Saints and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him God is to be had in reverence of all them that are about him but in the Assembly of his Saints he is greatly to be feared he is daunting terrible so the words are in the Assembly of the Saints When thou comest nigh to God thou hadst need have thy heart possest with much fear So in Psal 2. 11. the Kings and Princes of the earth are called upon to serve the Lord with fear Let them be never so great yet when they come into Gods presence they must serve him with fear And so in Psal 5. 7. In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy Temple Now this fear of God it must not
be a servile fear but a filial and reverential fear For my brethren there may be a great deal of slavish fear where God is not honored there may be fear from some terrible apprehensions of God which yet is not owned by God to be this grace of fear I 'le give you two notable Scriptures for that in Deut. 5. 23 24. compared with the 29. It came to pass saith the text vers 23. when ye heard the voyce out of the middest of the darkness for the mountain did burn with fire that ye came neer unto me even al the heads of your Tribes and your Elders And ye said Behold the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness and we have heard his voyce out of the midst of the fire we have seen this day that God doth talk with man and he liveth now therefore why should we die for this great fire will consume us If we hear the voyce of the Lord our God any more then we shall die See with what a terror they were struck at the apprehension of Gods appearance you would think surely these men did fear God much but mark in vers 29. O that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me Why did they not fear the Lord Were they not struck with such fear that they thought they should die they saw this presence so terrible that they were afraid they should die and yet O that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me So that it appears by this That one may be struck with much terror in the apprehension of Gods presence and yet have no true fear of the Name of God So some of you it may be in time of thunder or danger are filled with terror but yet may it not be said presently after O that there were the fear of God in the heart of this man or woman this youth or maid They are terrified somtimes but yet there is not a filial and reverential fear of God in them And I find in 1 King 19. where you have the story of Gods appearing in that most terrible manner unto the Prophet Elijah by Fire by Thunder and in a mighty Wind the Prophet was not so struck with fear of Gods presence when he did appear in the mighty wind or earthquake or fire as when God did appear in the smal still voyce therfore in vers 13. it is said And it was so when Elijah heard it that is the soft voyce after the fire and earthquake and the mighty wind that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out stood in the entring in of the Cave and behold there came a voice unto him and said What doest then here Elijah Then his heart was more struck with fear where was most of Gods presence though it was in a soft voyce than when the fire and earthquake did appear It is a good sign of a gracious fear when the soul can be struck with more fear from the Word and from the sight of God in enjoying of communion with him in his Worship than when God appears in the most terrible way of his works or when there is terror in a mans conscience through fear of Hell when God appears as though he would send him down presently to Hell though God expects to be feared then but when the soul in enjoying communion with God in holy duties and the more communion he hath with God the more is he struck with reverence and the fear of God this is a sign of sanctifying fear and then Doth the heart sanctifie the Name of God indeed when it is so possessed with fear in the duties of Worship Now this fear of God should be indeed in the soul and expressed outwardly when you are in the Assembly by such reverent carriage in prayer as if a Heathen should come in he may see Gods Name sanctified and may say How great is this God that this People do Worship And in your Families a reverent carriage not lying all along in prayer upon your elbows sleeping but carrying your selves so that if a Heathen should come into your families they may say O how great is this God that this people do worship And likewise this fear it must be an abiding fear not only at that instant when you are worshiping of God or speaking of any of Gods Titles and Names but a fear that must abide upon your hearts after duty is over that is after you are come out from your Closets one may perceive the fear of God upon you and so walking all the day long in the fear of God as it becomes those that have been solemnly setting themselves to worship Him Now this fear and reverence is contrary to the slightness vanity the boldness and presumptuousness that there is in the hearts of men and women when they are worshiping of God Fifthly The duties of Gods Worship must be full of strength for they are not sutable to God else because God is a God infinite in power and glory himself therefore God cannot endure vain worshiping In Isa 1. 13. I hate vain oblations Vanity of spirit in worshiping of God is very hateful to God it doth defile the Name of God God is dishonored by the vanity of mens spirits Now this strength is Three fold First The strength of Intention Secondly The strength of Affection Thirdly The strength of all the Faculties of the soul and the strength of body too as much as we are able should be put forth in the worshiping of God 1 First the strength of Intention We must intend our work as if it were for our lives If ever we were seriously Intentive or Attentive about any thing it must be when we are worshiping of the Name of God When you are coming to Pray be intent about it You shall see some when they are going in the street when they have much intention about their businesse their friends meet them and they never mind them one may perceive as they are going That they are mightily intent about their businesse My Brethren look upon every duty of Worship as a great thing which you must be intent in your thoughts about and not give way to the wandring of your thoughts I have read of one Martyr that when he was to die and the fire a kindling saith an Officer What! will you not speak when you see the Fire kindling Saith he I am speaking to God that is he was praying and he minded not at all what they were doing Oh what little things do take our thoughts away from holy duties When every toy every feather every light matter cals them off Is this to Sanctifie Gods Name Would not we account it a dishonorable thing If we were talking to one about serious businesse and when we are talking every one that comes by he should be looking after them and turning aside to talk with them If a Superior be talking with you he doth expect
that you should mind what he saith But when God is speaking to you and you are speaking to God every vain thought that comes by you are turning aside too as if it were a greater thing to talk to vain thoughts and temptations than to the great and glorious God Therfore now that is the very time that the Devil chuses for to bring temptations when we are in holy duties for the Devil knows then he doth two works at once he doth disturb us in our duties and call off our hearts to that that is wicked and doth agravate our sin exceedingly It may be thou wilt not dare to commit that sin that the temptation doth turn thy thoughts upon yea but the Devil hath spoiled the duty by it The Lord doth expect that there should be strength of Intention when thou art upon the duty and there is no time to parlie with temptations now whatever thoughts come in The truth is though they be good thoughts that should come into thy mind and that time that thou art Praying yet if they be not pertinent to the duty thou must cast them away as the temptation of the Devil You will say Can any thing that is good come from the Devil Certainly that which is materially good and coming unseasonably may be from the Devil the Devil may take advantage by what is in it self materially good and bring in that in an unseasonable time and so he may turn it to evil As now when thou art hearing the Word it may be the Devil thinks he cannot prevail to cause thee to have thy heart running about uncleanness yea but saith the Devil If I can inject good thoughts I will put into their minds some place of Scripture that is no way pertinent to this only to divert them The Devil gets much by this therefore look to it and know that God expects the strength of thy spirit in duty that is Strong intention thou art worshiping of God and therefore thou hadst need be intent about what thou art doing Indeed sometimes before you are aware evil thoughts will come into your minds As when a man is keeping of a door and there is a crowd of people without that would come in perhaps the man doth open the door for some Gentleman that he hears is at the door but when he opens it for one that is to come in fourty others will crowd in And so it is many times with the soul that when it opens the door for some good thought a great many evil thoughts will crowd in Those people might come in if they would stay their time but they should not now come in So about worldly businesses that are not in themselves unlawful if they will stay the time they may come in but they must be bard out now at this time There is required strength of Intention 2. Secondly Strength of Affection is required also That is The Affections must work mightily after God striving with God in Prayer If ever thou hadst a heart inflam'd in any thing it should be when thou art praying or attending upon the Word as the Heathens that worshiped the Sun sometimes I have told you that they would not have a Snail but a flying Horse they would offer that that was swift so when we come to the living God we must have living Affections our Affections boyling and that will be the way to cure vain thoughts as the Flies will not come to the Honey if it be boyling hot but when it is cold So if the heart be boyling hot and the affections a working it will keep out vain thoughts and temptations It is a sign of the breath of life when it is warm but artificial breath you know it is cold as now the breath that comes out of the body that is warm but the breath that comes out of a pair of bellows that is cold So the breath of many people in Prayer it is discovered to be but artificial breath because it is so cold but if there were spiritual life then it would be warm Ther must be strength of affection 3. Thirdly There must be likewise the strength of all the Faculties We should stir up whatever we are or have or can do to work in Prayer then the bent of Mind and Conscience and Will and Affection yea and the body should be put to it also and those that worship God to purpose they spend their bodies in nothing so much as in the worshiping of God It will be a sad thing another day when this shall be charged upon many Thou hast spent the strength of thy body upon lusts but when didst thou spend any strength of the body about any holy duty What a riddle is this to most people to tell them of spending the strength of their bodies in Prayer or hearing of the Word or Sanctifying a Sabbath they think the Sabbath is a time of rest I confess it is a time of rest from an outward labor but it is a time of spending strength in a spiritual way and those that shall worship God a right on the Sabbath will find it a spending of a great deal of strength and blessed is that strength that is spent in the Worship of God rather than in the waies of sin as most spend their strength If God gives thee a heart to spend thy strength in His Worship thou maiest think thus Lord thou mightest have left me to have spent my strength in sin how much better is it spent in the Worshiping of thy Name There is one notable Scripture in Jer. 8. 2. that shews how much strength the Idolaters put forth in the worshiping of their Idol they would not do it in a slight and vain way but their hearts were much in that false-worship saith the text And they shall spread them before the Sun and the Moon and all the host of Heaven mark now whom they have loved and whom they have served and after whom they have walked and whom they have sought and whom they have worshiped All these are put together in reference to their Idols Oh that it could be said so of us in reference to God when we come to worship him whom we have loved and whom we have served and after whom we have walked and whom we have sought and whom we have worshiped there is all these several expressions to shew the strength of their spirits in following after their Idols And that is the Fift thing in our Sanctifying Gods Name 6. The Sixth is If thou wilt Sanctifie Gods Name in Worship there must be an humble frame of spirit worship him with much humility of soul Abraham did fall upon the ground before the Lord and dust and ashes saith he hath begun to speak unto thee yea we reade of Jesus Christ groveling upon the earth and the Angels they cover their faces in the presence of God and so should we be humble when we come before the Lord there is nothing more abases the
soul of man than the sight of God and the great reason of the pride of all mens hearts is because they never knew God If thou didest but see God thy heart must needs be abased And when doth the soul see God if not when it comes to worship him In Job 42. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now my eye seeth thee wherefore I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes Now this humility must be in the sense of our own meanness and baseness Ps 34. 6. This poor man cryed to God They are poor souls that come into Gods presence that sanctifie Gods Name most even those souls that do apprehend and are sensible of their own baseness and meanness before God This poor man cried to God we use to say Give that poor man somewhat It doth affect the heart of God when he sees much poverty of spirit when we come before Him we must be sensible of our infinite dependance upon God Come as the woman of Canaan O Lord even dogs do receive crums and though I be a dog yet let me receive crums here is humility of spirit Now this humility of Spirit appears in these things 1. First admiring Gods goodness that we do live at this time and that we have liberty to come before him we might have been past praying and worshiping of God think thus What a mercy is it that we are not banished out of Gods presence that the Lord hath not spurn'd us out of his sight as filth and cast us out as an everlasting abhorring while others have been praying we might have bin yelling under the wrath of the eternal God Come with this apprehension of thy self and adore Gods goodness that thou art alive to pray and alive to hear Gods Word And that it is not only a duty but a rich priviledg and mercy that God will admit of thee to come into His Presence Again it is the goodness of God that He will vouchsafe to look upon the things that are done in Heaven then if the Lord doth humble Himself to behold the things that are done in Heaven then how doth the Lord humble Himself to behold me a poor vile captive as I am in my self and yet that God should not only behold me before Him but invite me to come into His presence What mercy and goodness is this 2. Our hearts must be taken off from the thoughts and apprehensions of all excellencies in our selves we must not come in the pride of our hearts because we have abilities more than others what do all thy parts commend thee to God thou hast ability in expressing of thy self in prayer why do thy parts commend thee to God Whatever is natural in any of our duties is nothing to God only that which is from his own Spirit and therefore thou shouldest come in thine own thoughts as vile as if thou hadst no parts and abilities at all Lay aside all such apprehensions of thy self for the truth is some poor broken hearted sinner that can but sigh out a few groans to God and is not able to speak two or three sentences together in a right language but only breath out his soul to God may be a thousand thousand times more acceptable to God than thou that art able to make great Orations when thou comest before Him 3. Thou must come without any righteousness of thy own thou must never come to Gods presence but as a poor worm and if there be any difference that is made between thee and others in outward respects it is nothing to thee when thou art in the presence of God thou art as a base vile worm though thou beest a Prince or Emperor 4. Thy heart must be taken off from what thou doest If thou hast any abilities of grace yet thy heart must be taken off there there may be pride not only from ones parts but it may be God hath given me enlargements in Prayer the Devil will come in and seek to puff up thy heart even because of this But thy heart must be taken off there and thou must deny thy self in all when thou hast done the best service of all yet thou must conclude thou art an unprofitable servant when thou hast prayed the best yet rise with shame and take heed of having thy heart puft up even through the assistance of the graces of the Spirit of God in holy Duties 5. Lastly Thou must come with a humble resignation of thy self to God to be content to wait upon God as long as he pleases to wait upon God in regard of the time and of the measure and of the manner of the Communication of himself in regard of the means by which he will please to communicate himself wait upon him Let me have mercy though at the last hour This now is an humble heart in Prayer and when we come with such a poverty of spirit as this is we may expect that the Lord will accept of us Give this poor man somewhat will God say This poor man cryed and the Lord heard him In the Seventh place We must bring that which is Gods own in sanctifying Gods Name I spake to this before in the Point of Preparation Viz. That in Gods Worship we must give him his own I will only mention it here in the sanctifying of Gods Name in two regards 1. First To give God His own for the matter of it 2. Secondly To give God His own that is what comes from the work of His own Spirit or else we do not sanctifie Gods Name I will give you one text further about the matter of it in Exod. 39. if you reade the Chapter you shall find that there is ten times said that they did as God had commanded Moses And then in the close of the Chapter when they had done as God had commanded in His Worship the text saith Moses blessed them That people is a blessed people that do observe the Worship of God as God hath commanded them But the main thing is all that we do it must be acted by the Spirit of God it is not enough to have true silver and gold but it must have the rigbt stamp or else it cannot go for current coyn And so it is not enough that the things that we offer to God in His Worship be Gods own be what we have warrant for out of Gods Word but it must have the stamp of the Spirit of God In the Worship of God there be two Questions that He will ask First Who required this at your hands But then if you can answer thus Thou O Lord didst require it It is well But then God hath another Question Whose Image and Superscription is this If thou canst not give an Answer to that it will be rejected too Thou must be acted by Divine Principles in all that thou doest there must be the stamp of the Spirit upon that which is tendered to God else it is nothing To
open this Point fully will ask some time First Therefore I will shew you how we may know when our duties are acted by our natural parts rather than by the Spirit of God Secondly How we may know whether our duties be acted by natural Conscience rather than by the Spirit of God 1. First If thou art acted by natural parts they will not change thy heart Men that do perform duties by the strength of natural parts they may be as large as others and speak to the edification of others but those duties do never change their hearts now if thou beest acted by the Spirit of God thou wilt be changed into the very Image of his Spirit 2. Secondly If men are acted by Natural parts they will not carry them through difficulties and discouragements but now the Spirit of God if thou hast acted by him though thou doest meet with never such difficulties and discouragements thou wilt be carried through them all 3. Thou maiest know it by this wherein dost thou account the excellency of a duty to consist either in thy self or others Thou performest a duty now it may be thy parts do act very lively and to thy credit and yet thy conscience tells thee that thy heart was straightened Now canst thou rise up with joy because thou hast thy ends At another time perhaps thy heart is more troubled and broken But thou doest not express thy self so much then thou art discouraged And when thou seest another perform a duty if thou seest but any failing in their expressions thou pitchest upon that and lookest upon it as a poor thing thou art not able to see an excellency in holy duties except there be an excellency of natural parts but those that have the Spirit of God they can find the Spirit of God acting in others though they have not such natural parts 4. Those that are acted by their natural parts in secret they are less enlarged than they are before others a great deal Their parts act much before others But what is there between God and their own souls 5. They that be so acted will not be very constant you shall have yong ones that begin to look towards Religion their parts are a little fresh and they are mightily enlarged in holy duties and the thing is good for them to make use of their parts but how ordinary it is that after a few yeers they are deader and duller than they were before and have less mind to the duties of Gods Worship than they had formerly Were this the Spirit of God you would find as much savour and relish in them afterwards as there was at that time Secondly For natural Consciences which sometimes puts men upon acting of duties and indeed is better than meerly natural parts 1. If it be only natural Conscience it puts upon duties but gives no strength to do them but when the Spirit of God puts thee upon a duty it gives thee some strength to perform it some strength whereby thou gettest some Communion with God 2. If it be natural Conscience it puts upon the duty but makes not the heart glad of the duty and to love the duty but if it be the Spirit of God it makes thee to delight in it and to love it 3. If it be natural Conscience thou doest not by that encrease thy communion with God thou doest thy duties as in a round but now when the Spirit of God puts thee upon holy duties it is not a task done but thou findest more and more encrease in communion with God thy heart more raised to God and more closing with the Lord and so still more and more in the course of thy life I had a little converse with God at first when God began to acquaint my soul with His Waies but through His mercy now I find more communion with Him and so thou 〈◊〉 bless thy self in God in that converse that thou hast in communion with Him thou wouldst not lose that Communion thou hast with God in holy duties for all the world others have their companions that they have their communion withal much good may do them but the Lord hath shewen me another manner of communion which my soul can have with himself in which it hath sweet satisfaction And thus you have had Seven Particulars for the Sanctifying of the Name of God in Holy Duties SERMON VI. Leviticus 10. 3. I will be Sanctified in them that come nigh me 4. AGain As Natural Conscience doth give no strength to do the duty so it makes not the duty to be strong to the soul that is thus Thre's no strength got by the duty they are not by one duty prepared for another But the way of the Lord is strength to the upright that is when a gracious heart is in the way of Gods Worship it finds the very duty of the Worship of God to be strength to it and so it fits it for another Duty 5. Further A Natural Conscience limits its self and is bounded that is so much as will serve the turn for its own peace and quiet so much it will do and no more But when one is acted by the Spirit of God one is enlarged without any limits at all not bounded to ones own peace for the more peace a gracious heart hath in duty the more it is enlarged in duty Now a Natural Conscience that puts to duty and will act you when you want peace when you are in trouble and fear but when you are not in trouble and fear then it puts not on the heart to performance of duty but the Spirit of God puts on the Soul to Duty when there is most peace and comfort 6. A little will serve the turn to satisfie natural conscience so be it they perform the duty it is enough but one that is acted by the Spirit of God in duty must meet with much of God or else he is not satisfied he goes mourning in the day time if he hath not met with much of God in the morning in the performance of duty Thus you see there is much difference between the acting of Natural parts and conscience in duty and the acting of the Spirit of God There be only now Two things more for the Sanctifying of Gods Name in Duty and then we are to come to shew how we should sanctifie Gods Name in Duty in reference to the several Attributes of God But First for those Two Heads Further 7. The Seventh thing is this When you come to perform holy duties if you would sanctifie Gods Name you must consecrate your selves to God there must be a resignation of Soul and Body Estate Liberty Name and all you are have or can do unto God This is to sanctifie Gods Name the consecration of your selves unto God And the professing of this is the performance of duty when you are to pray were a very good thing actually to profess your selves to be Gods to profess that you do
do come and present my body to hear the Word or my body to receive the Sacrament this is not to worship God as a Spirit If indeed that our God were as the Heathens that were corporeal then it were another matter then bodily worship would serve the turn but God being a Spirit he must have Spiritual Worship therefore my soul and all that is within me magnifie his Name saith David my Soul magnifie his Name not my lips only but my soul The Apostle in 1 Tim. 4. 8. saith that bodily exercise profits little it is no great matter for the body God looks but very little at bodily exercise but it is godliness that is profitable it is the work of the Spirit when we come to pray we must pray in the Spirit that is we must pray with our souls we must powr forth our souls before God and when we come to hear our hearts must not go after our covetousness we must set our hearts to what we hear we must hear with our hearts as well as with our ears our souls must be at work in hearing of the Word when you hear it is not enough for you to come and sit in a Pew and have the sound of a mans voice in your ears but your souls must be at work And so when you come to receive the Sacrament your souls must feed upon Jesus Christ Bodily-worship without Soul-worship is nothing but soul-worship may be accepted without bodily-worship therefore it is the Soul that God doth principally look at in holy duties If you be not able to worship God in your bodies you may worship him in your souls and God regards that bodily exercise in holy duties is little worth somewhat it may be worth I confess sometime bodily exercise may further the soul as a reverend carriage of the body and the like but it is nothing in comparison the great work is the work of the soul for God is a Spirit and must be worshiped in Spirit And God is said to be a Spirit not only in that he is not of so thick a Capital substance but it notes the simplicity of God he is without any composition whatsoever is in God is God Himself He is absolutely One there are not divers things in God now then those that come to worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth that is there must not be a heart and a heart there must not be a compounded heart but you must bring simple hearts before God without any composition of dross in your selves and of any kind of falsness but in the simplicity of your hearts you must come to worship God and thus you shall worship him with such worship as is some way sutable to him as he is a spirit 2. Further consider God as he is an eternal God what sutable disposition doth this require of me when I am to look upon God as an eternal Being it requires this only That therefore thy heart must be taken off from all temporal good things and set upon that eternal good thou mayest indeed desire these outward good things but in order to thy eternal good Then further Thou art worshiping an eternal God hence then whatsoever sin thou doest confess although committed 20. or 40. yeers ago thou must look upon it as if it were now presently committed and be humbled as much before the Lord as if it were now committed at this present You will say Why so Because God is an Eternal God Yes For if I understand Gods Eternity I know that there is no succession in Gods Being therefore the sins that I committed in my youth if I come to confess them they are before God as if they were now a doing in regard of time and therefore I must as much as I can look so upon them and be humbled for them as if they were sins lately committed Many people are troubled for their sins the very day after they commit them but a little time wears off their trouble but if you did consider that you had to deal with an eternal God then you would look upon your sins though a long time since committed as if they were but now done Likewise there will be this required from the consideration of Gods eternity You must come with such a disposition of heart as not to think much though what you desired be deferred and not granted in your time when you would have it For if there be no time that alters with God but a thousand yeers are with God as one day then that that we account long before it s done it is nothing with God and therefore we must have our hearts so work towards God as towards an Eternal God as one with whom there is no alteration of time at all with whom there is no succession of time If we come to a man and seek any thing of him if he doth not answer us presently we will think that he will forget it and other things will come into his mind but when we come to worship God we must look upon him as an Eternal Being and that time alters nothing with him Thus understanding God in a right way wil much help us in his Worship and to Sanctifie his Name We cannot Sanctifie Gods Name without knowing his Name without having serious thoughts about his Name and getting our hearts to work accordingly 3. Thirdly Look upon God when you come to Worship Him in His comprehensible Being that is as a God that fils all places His being is real in the room that we are praying in the place that we are meeting in as it is in Heaven Now then when we come to worship Him we must consider that that infinite glorious Being stands before us looks upon us is at our elbow and therefore especially when you worship in secret consider this it is good to consider it when you are with others but especially I say consider it when you are in secret and know that when you are most private you have one that looks on you and takes notice of you who is more than if you had ten hundred thousand witnesses standing by you and looking upon you For it is the Lord that stands by you and sees your behavior sees what you do in your worshiping of Him take heed therefore that there be nothing done by you that is unbeseeming the presence of such a God as the Lord is Suppose that some of you were praying and there were some godly able Minister stood neer you it would be some means to stir up your hearts to mind what you did but now the Lord He is not in the next room only but in the same room and stands by you Let there be nothing done therefore unbeseeming the presence of that infinite holy God that stands by you and hold this truth forth The Lord is present with me I acknowledg it and I own it and therefore I carry my self thus and all because I would witness to
to have to deal with God look upon him as a God of infinite Wisdom and I say be thou ashamed of thy folly then and do thou exercise the grace of wisdom too when thou comest to God that is by propounding right ends of which we spake before That is one part of wisdom to have right ends and right means towards those ends so that the meditation of the wisdom of God when we come to worship him will further us to sanctifie his Name And further This is to Sanctifie Gods Wisdom when thou comest into Gods presence in thy greatest straights deny thy own wisdom come with a resolution to be guided by the Wisdom of God in this manner Lord I know not how to order my steps there is much folly and vanity in my heart but thou art a God of infinite Wisdom I come to thee for direction and I profess here I am willing to give up my whol Soul to be guided by thy wisdom If every time we come to Worship God we came thus Oh Lord whatsoever our thoughts have been heretofore yet if thou shalt but reveal thy mind to us we will hearken to thee Lord we beleeve that thy Wisdom it is thy Self and therefore we profess to give up our selves to thy Wisdom Now this is to Sanctifie the Name of God 9. Consider the holiness of God God is a God infinitely pure from all sin and therefore when we come to Worship God we must be ashamed of our holiness as the Prophet in Isa 6 when he heard the Seraphins cry Holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts he fals down and saith Wo is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips And is God a holy God Then let me take heed when I come before Him that I bring not with me a love to any sin for the Lord hates it and let me take heed that I do not cast dirt in the very face of Gods Holiness but give up my soul to be rul'd wholly by Him And labor that there may be a sutableness between the holiness of thy heart and of the infinite God Now this is to sanctifie Gods Name when the consideration of this Attribute of God hath such effect upon my heart that I labor upon this to come with a sutable heart before God 10. When thou comest before God Consider that thou comest to a merciful God And what should this work First It should make me come joyfully into His presence as a God that is willing to do good to his poor creatures that are in misery Secondly It should make me to come with a heart sensible of the need of this mercy O Lord I have had my heart let out to other vain things heretofore but now Lord thy mercy it is that my soul comes for as that wherein my chief and only good consists Thirdly It should make me come with expectation of great things from God do not come unto God as unto an empty Vine but as unto a full Vine and the more thy faith is raised to expect great things from God the more acceptable art thou to God Certainly the higher any ones faith is raised when they come into his presence to expect the greatest things the more acceptable It is otherwise with God than men if you come to men to beg a little thing you may be welcome but if you come to ask a great matter they will look askew upon you but the truth is the greater the things are that we come to God for the more welcome are we into Gods presence and those that are acquainted with God they know it and therefore they come the more fully When they come to ask Jesus Christ himself and his Spirit that is more worth than ten thousand worlds they come with more freedom of Spirit than when they come to ask their healths and the like Fourthly It will be likewise another means of sanctifying this Attribute of God when thou comest to him If thou doest come with a merciful heart towards thy brethren Take heed whensoever you come to worship God that you come not with a rugged and cruel heart towards any of your brethren therefore you find that Christ laies this upon you in teaching how to pray you most say Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive our brethren that trespass against us And you find it repeated again If you forgive then your Heavenly Father will forgive and not otherwise As if Christ should say When you come to beg mercy be sure you bring merciful hearts Fifthly It is a good way to sanctifie the Name of God in this Attribute for the soul to be solicitous with it self What is that that will hinder me from the mercy of God and let me avoid it It is otherwise a taking of the Name of God in vain for me to come to profess what need I have of Gods mercy and yet for al that never regard to avoid those things that may hinder the work of his Grace upon me 11. Consider the Justice of God that 's another Attribute Consider that thou hast to deal with an Infinite Righteous and Just God Do not think that if thou beest a Beleever that thou hast nothing to do with the Justice of God for certainly thou art to sanctifie the Justice of God Now you will say How should a Beleever sanctifie the Justice of God Thus First He should be apprehensive and sensible how by sin he hath put himself under Justice and deserved the stroke of Justice to be upon him to eternity he should consider what he is in himself It 's true that Jesus Christ hath come between a beleeving soul and the Justice of the Father and hath taken the stroke of Justice upon himself yea but though he hath done it it doth not hinder but that thou shouldst be apprehensive of what thou hast deserved thy self Secondly Here is a special thing in the sanctifying of the Justice of God When we come before him we should consider that we have to deal with an infinite just God and therefore not to dare to come but through a Mediator Here you have the reason why we must tender up all in the Name of Jesus Christ because when we are to come before God we are to sanctifie the Name of his Justice For thee to think thus I have sinned and God is merciful and I will go and pray to him that he might be merciful and there 's an end Is this all Oh no God requires the sanctifying of his Justice and there is nothing that doth sanctifie his Justice so much as this That when a poor creature sees the infinite distance that sin hath made between that infinite God and it it sees that though sin it hath made its self liable to Justice and when it sees that there is an absolute necessity that infinit Justice must have satisfaction and thinks the sinner If it comes to me that I must satisfie the Justice of God
I am never able to do it but there is a Mediator and therefore I 'le fly to him and by Faith tender up to the Father all the merits of his Son as a full satisfaction to his infinite Justice When thou comest thus before the Lord thou Sanctifiest his Name indeed Many think that when they come to pray they should look upon Gods Grace and Mercy and not upon his Justice but thou must look upon both Another Attribute it is Gods Faithfulness Consider thou hast to deal with a God of infinite Truth and Faithfulness and therefore look upon him as an object of thy Faith to rest upon And likewise thou must bring a faithful heart sutable some way to this Faithfulness of God that is a heart faithful with him to keep within the Covenant that thou hast entered into and to perform all the Vows that thou makest with God Remember thou hast to deal with a Faithful God and as the Lord delights to manifest his Righteousness to poor Creatures that seek His face so this God doth expect that thou shouldest be faithful in all the Covenants that thou doest make with Him and this is to sanctifie Gods Name Now then put all these Attributes of God together and there you have his Glory the infinitness of his Glory The shine and lustre of all the Attributes together is Gods Glory I have then to deal with a glorious God and let me labor to perform such services as may have a spiritual Glory upon them that some Image of the Divine Lustre that there is in God may be upon my services and let me look for glorious things seeing I have to deal with such a glorious God You will say Here is a great deal of do in serving of God how much is here that we must do I appeal to any gratious heart What canst thou want of any of these or what wouldest thou want Doest thou say Her 's a great deal Can there be too much to make thee happy These things are not only thy duty but thy happiness glory and excellency consists in them If any one should bring you a great many Jewels and Pearls would you say Here 's a great deal ado Oh no the more the merrier So say I this one meditatiion would take off the thoughts of a deal for in all these my happiness consists and the more I have of these the more shall I enjoy of God the more happy shall I be both here and for ever Now I had thought to have given you some Reasons why the Name of God must be sanctified only I beseech you by all that hath been said go away with this thought What little cause is there that any of us should rest upon any of our duties If this be required of us thus to sanctifie the Name of God in duty I say we have little cause any of us to rest on any duties that we perform There are many poor creatures that have no other Saviors to rest upon but their Prayers and coming to Church and taking the Communion Now if in all these the Lord expects that thou shouldst thus sanctifie his Name Thou hast little cause to rest upon any thing that thou hast done thou hast cause rather to go alone and mourn for taking the Name of God in vain in the duties of his Worship Rest not in any of your performances labor to perform duties as well as you can but when you have done know that you are unprofitable servants after all and renounce all as in the point of Justification and rest upon something else otherwise you are undone for ever SERMON VII Leviticus 10. 3. I will be Sanctified in them that come nigh me WEE are coming now to the conclusion of this great Argument of sanctifying Gods Name in holy duties for the general God expects that we should all in our drawings neer to Him in the duties of worship sanctifie His Name Now we are to consider of divers Reasons why God will be Sanctified in all the duties of His Worship 1. The first Reason is this It is the very Nature of God to Will Himself the last end and all other things to work sutable to the lifting up of Himself as the last end I say it is as essential to Him as any thing for Him to will Himself as the highest end and that all things should work so as to be sutable unto that Glory of His for the furtherance of it God should cease to be God if so be He should not will Himself as the highest end and so will that all things that have any being should some way or other work for Himself This is the very nature of God It is that which I conceive the very nature of Gods Holiness consists in the willing Himself as the last end and so to work al things as sutable unto His own infinit Excellency Now as this is Gods holiness so it is the holiness that God requires in His Creatures that are capable of holiness that they should will Him as the last end and all things sutable to that infinite Excellency of His. Now if this be the nature of God and this be His holiness then certainly it must needs be a necessary duty in al those that would have cōmunion with God and would honor God to wil as God himself doth will that is that all things should work sutable to the infinite Excellency of God that God may attain the Glory of His infinite Excellency and this makes it to be a necessarie dutie that when we come to Worship Him we should Sanctifie His Name So that the first reason is taken from the very nature of God it is the very being of God that all things should work to Himself and in such a sutable way as to lift up His Excellency and Glory 2. Secondly We must sanctifie God in the duties of His Worship because it is the special glory that God hath in the world to be actively honored for his passive glory that is to be glorified in a passive way that he hath in Hell but the special glory that God would have it is that he might be glorified actively Now there is no such way of glorifying the Name of God actively as by worshiping of him in a holy manner and therefore God stands much upon this That when we come to worship him we sanctifie his Name for saith God If I be not sanctified in my Worship what active glory have I in the world it is the special active Glory that God hath in the world the sanctifying of his Name in the duties of his Worship 3. Thirdly That which we have intimated before That the duties of Gods Worship are the most precious things the special conveyances of the choice mercies that he intends to bestow on his Saints and therefore though he loses his Glory in any thing else he would not lose it in that wherein he doth especially convey his mercy and goodness to his
didest or shalt commit I am preswaded if people that have rested upon duties heretofore would but seriously have this thought in their minds That I must rest upon nothing for my acceptation for life and salvation but that that must have such worth in it as to satisfie God for all my sins that ever have been committed or shall be committed this would take them off for ever from resting in duties Yea and it must be such as must be the object of the Infinite holiness of God to take content in Surely the duties that we perform are no such duties to rest upon the truth is If we would seriously consider what they are at they come from us we would even abhor our selves in dust and ashes and account of them as the Prophet speaks of his own righteousness as menstruous cloathes they are such as if God should deal with us as justly he may do he might cast them and us to the dogs for they are as the Prophet saith torn and rent sacrifices now if a man in the time of the Law should bring to the Lord a Sacrifice that was all torn and rent before he brought it would such a sacrifice have been accepted All the duties we preform as they come from us they are such we reade in Exod. 22. 31. concerning such things as were torn and rent that they should cast them to the dogs Ye shall be holy men unto me saith he verse ult neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field ye shall cast it to the dogs because ye are holy men unto me Must the People of Israel manifest their holiness in this That they must eat nothing torn by beasts but cast it unto dogs Or was the holiness of the People of Israel such as God required them that they must eat nothing that was torn by beasts What then is the holiness of the infinite God Our services that we perform are of themselves such as are torn by our beastly lusts many times How many are there that bring Sacrifices to God that are as Carrion that Swine have been tearing beforehand and yet these are the Sacrifices that they bring to God and not only think that God should accept of them but they do rest upon them for their acceptation to eternal life How infinitely are these people mistaken how little do they know of God or of the way of acceptation to eternal life That is the first Use Secondly If all this be required for the Sanctifying of Gods Name in Duties that we cannot perform the Duties of Worship without this behavior of Soul Hence we see that the work of Religion is a hard and difficult work to flesh and blood A main work of Religion is the work of worshiping of God for indeed those that are not Religious and Godly they never worship God to any purpose then we come to worship God when we begin to be Religious and godly Now it must needs be a busie work to be a religious and a godly man because there is so much required in the Sanctifying of Gods Name in holy duties Many people think it a very easie matter to worship God and the worship that they tender up to God is an easie matter there is little in it If it were nothing else to worship God but meerly to go and say a few Prayers and come and hear a Sermon and take a piece of Bread and Wine then it were the easiest matter in the world to come and worship God but there is more required in the Duties of Gods Worship than thou hast been acquainted with there is a power of godliness in it That Text of Scripture is a very famous one that shews the difficulty that there is in the Worship of God and how men are mistaken in thinking it such an easie and slight matter to worship God it is in Josh 24. 16. 19. where Joshua doth call upon the people to worship God and they came off presently and said They would worship him so you shall find them profess verse 16. But mark what the Text saith in verse 19. And Joshua said unto the People Ye cannot serve the Lord for he is an holy God he is a jealous God and he will not forgive your transgressions and your sins As if he should say You think it is nothing to serve the Lord and that it is an easie matter to serve him you think to put off God with any thing Alas you cannot serve the Lord for he is a holy God and is a jealous God and you must have other manner of hearts than yet you have and you must understand his Worship in another manner than yet you do The Lord will be sanctified in those that draw nigh him and therefore until you understand God and his waies and Worship you cannot serve the Lord. Know that the work of Religion is a very hard and difficult work for it requireth all this and therefore the soul had need to be very diligent and laborious that would come to Worship God in a right way Thirdly Hence it is an Use of humiliation to us all even to the best of us Oh how little how little hath the best of us all sanctified the Name of God! how far have we all come short of the sanctifying of Gods Name in holy Duties And when we look abroad in the world and see what poor service God hath generally from the Men and Women of the Earth it should make our hearts bleed within us Where almost is the man or woman that according to that text in Isaiah stirs up himself to take hold on God And I verily beleeve that in the opening of this Point Of Sanctifying of the Name of God in holy Duties that I have been in the bosoms of as many as in the opening of any Point whatsoever and as many may have cause to lay their hands upon their hearts and say Certainly I have come short of what is required here and have not been acquainted with this way this mystery of Godliness Of Sanctifying of Gods Name in holy Duties as I ought to be Oh be humbled for this for all the uncleaness of your hearts in the performance of holy duties Exod. 27. 4 5. you reade that at the Altar where the Sacrifices were to be offered the Lord required that there should be a grate made Thou shalt make for it meaning the Altar a grate of net-work of brass and upon the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof and thou shalt put it under the compass of the Altar beneath that the net may be even to the middest of the Altar There was as it were a grate for the ashes of the Altar to go thorow As you have grates in your fires to make them burn cleer and for the ashes to fall down so the Lord would have such a grate for the ashes of the Altar to fall down We had need of such a
grate Oh the ashes dirt and filth that there is in our services when we come to offer and tender them up to God! so that we have cause I say to be humbled for holy offerings There be many godly people that through Gods mercy are able to keep from gross sins they do not find it any great matter to keep from company swearing drinking uncleanness lying or wronging of others and such kind of sins as those are so that they see not such need of humiliation in this regard unless it be for that their natures be as corrupt as any though they break not forth into those actual gross sins but the main work of the humiliation of those that are godly it is to be humbled for their thoughts for the mispending of time and for not sanctifying of Gods Name in holy duties those are the main things that are the subject of the humiliation of the Saints beside the body of sin and death that they carry about with them And it would be a good sign that thy heart hath some tenderness in it when thou makest these to be the matter of thy humiliation Carnal people are little troubled for these if they fall into such sins as that their consciences do fly in their faces then they are troubled and humbled but for such things as these are they are seldom humbled To be humbled for thy holy offerings is a good sign of a gracious heart We reade of Cherubims that they had six wings and with two of their wings the text saith they covered their faces So my Brethren we had need have wings as it were to cover our best duties they had wings and with two they covered their legs and with two their faces we had need not only of a covering for our lower parts meaner duties but a covering for our holy duties to cover our faces our best duties of all the most heavenly duties we perform had need be purged by the blood of Christ in Levit. 16. 16. we reade of their holy things that there was need of purging them by blood and so it should be in our holy duties Let us be humbled for our best performance that ever we performed in our lives The best had need be so But then as for others that have made little or no conscience of sanctifying of Gods Name how had they need be humbled Thou hast something more to repent of than thou thoughtest of for the truth is Those that have not made conscience of sanctifying of Gods Name in holy Duties they never in all their lives did any service for the honor of God thou hast lived perhaps thirty or fourty it may be sixty years or more and didst never yet honor God in any one thing that ever thou didst in all thy life You will say God forbid Have not I prayed and heard the Word much and received the Communion often and yet have I never honored God If thou hast not been acquainted with this Mystery of Godliness in sanctifying his Name in these things this is said from God to thee this morning That thou hast never done any one action to the honor of God Thou hadst need begin presently for thy time is not long And wilt thou go out of this world and the Name of God never to be honored by thee Yea and further Thou hast lost all thy duties all the time hath been lost that thou hast been in performance of duties now it is an ill thing to idle away time in the things of the world When a man hath an opportunity for to gain in the world if so be he loses his time and neglects it we account it a very sad thing to him but now to lose our trading-time for Heaven for the times of the worshiping of God are our trading times for Heaven that 's sad indeed And yet thou that makest not conscience of sanctifying the Name of God in holy duties all the time thou hast spent is lost And yet further You that have been false in the performing of duties and hypocrites not only all your pains and labor is quite lost for if that were so it might be well with you but you have aggravated your sins by your holy Duties Those Duties that others have enjoyed Communion with God in and furthered their eternal life by thou hast aggravated thy sins by them yet it was thy duty to do them but I say by not sanctifying of Gods Name thou hast aggravated thy sins so much the more As those that are godly they work out their salvation even in their natural actions they sanctifie Gods Name in eating and drinking and following their business they perform those actions in such a holy manner as they honor God in them and further their eternal peace but as they in their Natural and Civil actions work out their salvation so thou in the very religiousest actions dost work out thy damnation Certainly wicked men that are not acquainted with this work of Godliness to Sanctifie Gods Name in holy duties they work out their damnation even in the performance of them You will say Then they had better not do them Yes they are bound to do them but they are bound to do them in a right manner as sometimes I have given you this instance and it is a ful and a cleer one to shew that men are bound to perform holy duties and not to leave them undone and yet they may further their own damnation while they are doing of them As for example If so be that a Prince should appoint a man to come into his presence such a day to Petition for his life which he hath forfeited by the Law If he do not come he may be a dead man But now if this man be drunk on that day and come drunk into the Kings presence he may be a dead man too for presuming to come drunk before him So wicked and ungodly men whether they worship or worship not they are in danger to perish But of this more when we come to shew that God will be sanctified In the fourth place here is an use of Exhortation That seeing we have this truth thus presented to us and opened before us Oh that we had hearts to apply our selves now to it with all our might to seek to sanctifie the Name of God when we draw nigh to him The Lord hath shewen thee what it is that he requires of thee make conscience of it for time to come thou doest not know what blessed communion thou mayest have with God if thou doest make conscience of this the truth is If you have not been acquainted with this you have not been acquainted with the way of a Christian in his enjoyment of Communion with God thou doest not know what the comfort of a Christian life means do but make tryal of this for time to come and thou wilt find more comfort in the waies of Godliness and more thriving in them in one quarter of a
to hear is the Word of God That it is not the speaking of a man that you are going to attend upon but that you are now going to attend upon God and to hear the Word of the Eternal God Possess your souls with this you will never sanctifie Gods Name else in the hearing of his Word therefore you find that the Apostle writing to the Thessalonians he gives them the reason why the Word did them so much good as it did It was because they did hear it as the Word of God 1 Thes 2. 13. For this cause also saith he thank we God without ceasing because when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us ye received it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the Word of God which effectually worketh also in you that beleeve Mark so it came effectually to work because they received it as the Word of God many times you will say Come let us go hear such a man preach Oh no let us go hear Christ preach for as it doth concern the Ministers of God that they preach not themselves but that Christ should preach in them So it concerns you that hear not to come to hear this man or that man but to come to hear Jesus Christ We as the Ambassadors of Christ do beseech you saith the Apostle 2. Possess your hearts likewise with this Consideration That I come to hear the Word as an Ordinance appointed by God to convey Spiritual good to my soul and this is a very useful consideration and especially it concerns men of understanding and parts for the helping of them to hear For men that are of understanding and parts when they come to hear this temptation is ready to come upon them that except they hear some new thing that they did not understand before wherefore should they come I am able to understand as much in such a point as can be said And when I have come and heard many times I have heard but that I knew before and upon that they think there is no use of coming to hear Now this is a great mistake when you come to hear the Word you do not come alwaies to hear what you did not know it may be sometimes God may dart in something that you did not think of before or so fully understand but suppose it be not so you are to come to it as an Ordinance of God for the conveyance of spiritual good to your souls You will say Cannot we sit at home and reade a Sermon But hath God appointed that the great Ordinance for the converting and the edifying of souls in the way to eternal life True there is some use of it but the great Ordinance is the Preaching of the Word Faith comes by hearing the Scripture saith and never by reading So that though when you come to hear you do not hear that which you heard not before yet you come to attend upon this Ordinance for the conveyance of some spiritual good that it may be hath not been conveyed before or in a further degree than it hath been conveyed before and so you should come to hear the Word with your hearts possest with that meditation That it is the Word of God and the great Ordinance that God hath appointed for the conveyance of spiritual good so that I come now in obedience to God and in this I do testifie my respect to God that I wil attend upon this Ordinance of His for the conveyance of spiritual good to me and although I may think that this or the other means may do the deed as well yet because God hath appointed this to be his Ordinance therefore in obedience to him I will attend upon this means rather than upon other means as you know Naaman he thought the other waters would have been as good as the waters of Jordan to have healed him but if God will appoint him the waters of Jordan that they should heal him rather than other waters he must wash there No question but other waters had as much natural vertue in them as they had but because the waters of Jordan were the Ordinance that God for that time had appointed to cure his Leprosie withal he must come and wash in those waters rather than in any other So because preaching of the Word is the great Ordinance that God hath appointed to convey himself by therefore he doth require that thou shouldest shew thy respect to him so far as to attend upon him in this Ordinance The Second thing that is to be done in way of preparation it is To plow up the fallow ground of your hearts and not to sow amongst thorns as you have it in Jer. 4. 3. and so in Hosea 10. The Word of God you know is compared to seed in that Parable of Christ in Mat 13. And an Auditory is compared to the ground I suppose you are al acquainted with that Parable of the sower that it is to set out the Ministry of the Word and what fruit it hath upon the hearts of men a Congregation is like the field and a Minister preaching is like the Sower that sows the seed in the field he knows not which Truth whether that or the other will prosper the seed being sowed in some part of the ground is lost and in another part it grows so in one Pew the seed of the Word is lost in another Pew it grows up But now if people that are compared to the ground would so hear the Word as Gods Name may de sanctified in it their hearts must be plowed as if one should sow seed upon green soil saw it in the fields upon green grass What would become of it The ground must first be plowed for the preparation of the seed But you will say What is the meaning of the plowing of our hearts for the preparation of the Word The meaning is nothing else but this The work of humiliation the humbling of the soul before the Lord when it doth come to hear Gods Word Humble it in these two regards First Be humbled for your Ignorance that you know so little of Gods Mind as you do Secondly Be humbled for all the sinfulness of your hearts be sensible of the sinfulness and wretchedness of your hearts and the miserable condition that you are in if you can get your hearts broken with the sence of your sin and misery and come so to hear the Word it is very like the Word may be of mighty use and Gods Name may be very much sanctified in your hearing of the Word You will say Must we plow up our hearts before we come to hear It must be the Word that must plow us the Word is the Plow and so the Ministers of God are compared to Plowmen in the Word He that puts his hand to the Plow and looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven It is true it cannot be expected that the heart should be
they have been or are guilty of it puts a shame upon them and therefore their hearts do rise against it It is a dreadful thing to have the heart rise against the Word As we reade of that froward Prince Jehoiakim in the Prophesie of Jeremiah that when the Roll was read in his hearing sitting in the winter time by a great fire he took a penknife and cut it in pieces and threw it into the fire in anger and I have read that the Jews kept a Fast every yeer to mourn for that great sin and yet this Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah whose heart did melt at the hearing of the Word he had an humble and meek heart when the Law was read and yet see what a different spirit Jehoiakim had either from his Father or Grand-Father It is a great dishonor to the Name of God for men to give liberty to their passions to rise against the Word take heed of passion either while you are hearing the Word or after the Word as many of you while you are discontented with what is said when you come in company what a fury are many men in upon the hearing of some things in the Word that comes close to their hearts Remember when you are hearing of the Word that it is that which is above you and it is not fit for one that is an inferior to shew himself passionate in the presence of a Superior It is true the Ministers they may be in as low a condition as you and in a lower but the Word they speak it is above all the Princes and Monarchs upon the face of the Earth and it is fit therefore we having to deal with God that we should behave our selves in a meek disposition 6. The next thing for the sanctifying Gods Name in the hearing of the Word is this We must hear it with a trembling heart with fear as well as meekness and for that you have that famous Scripture in Isa 66. beginning Thus saith the Lord The Heaven is my Throne and the earth is my Foot-stool where is the house that the build unto me and where is the place of my rest For all those things hath my hand made and all those things have been saith the Lord but to this man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my Word This is a most admirable Scripture Mark how God lifts up himself in his Glory so great a God as the Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my Foot-stool where is that house that ye will build unto me But then may a poor soul say How shall I be able to stand before this God that is so glorious Saith God Be not discouraged poor soul who doest tremble at my Word for I look to you And then this is a further thing observable That God hath a regard to that soul that trembles at this Word rather than to any that should build the most sumptuous buildings in the world for him for saith God here The Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my Foot-stool where is the house that ye build unto me and where is the place of my rest They have built a glorious Temple to God but what do I regard that saith God I regard one that trembls at my Word more than that great house that you have built unto me It is a notable Scripture to shew what a high respect God hath to one that trembles at his Word he regards them more than this glorious Temple that was built unto him If you were able to build such a place as this was for the service of God you would think it a great matter it is not so much regarded as if you could bring a trembling heart to Gods Word that 's a special thing wherein the sanctifying of the Name of God consists when we come to see the dreadful Authority that there is in the Word of God when we are able to see more Glory of God in his Word than in all the works of God besides for there is more of his Glory in the Word than there is in the whol Creation of Heaven and Earth take the Sun and Moon and Stars you that are Marriners you have seen much of the Glory of God abroad that one would think might strike terror into all your hearts but know That there is more of the dreadfulness of Gods Name in his Word than in all his Works In Psal 138. 2. Thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy Name the Word it is magnified above all the Name of God whatsoever and it is a very good sign of a spiritual enlightened soul that can see the Name of God more magnified in his Word than in al his Works besides I appeal unto your consciences in this thing Have you ever seen the Name of God to be more magnified in his Word than in all his Works I may with very good confidence affirm this That there is no godly soul upon the face of the Earth that hath the weakest degree of grace but hath seen more of the glory of God revealed in his Word than he hath seen in all the VVorks of God besides and his heart hath been more taken with it It requires therefore a trembling frame of heart when we hear it And then further When this is considered that the word is that which bindeth the soul over either to life or death mens eternal estates are to be cast by the word certainly then it requires a trembling heart to hear that by which the eternal estate of man is to be cast we do not sanctifie Gods Name when we come to hear the word except we come with trembling hearts and they are the most likely of all men and women to understand the mind of God as for such as come with conceited spirits that they understand as much before they come and think their reach of wit or capacity is beyond the capacity of any that shall open the word unto them yet that were not so much if it did but only rest upon the man and not reflect upon the word it self Now these that are rich in their own thoughts and understandings are sent empty away but those that come with trembling hearts to the word they are the men that are like to understand Gods Counsels revealed in his word In Ezra 10. 2 3. Shechaniah the Son of Jehiel one of the Sons of Elam answered and said unto Ezra We have transgressed against our God have taken strang wives c. Yet now there is hope ni Israel concerning this thing now therefore let us make a Covenant with our God according to the counsel of my Lord and of those that tremble at the Commandement of our God So that those that tremble at Gods Word and such as are fittest to counsel they understand most of Gods mind and that 's another particular of the behavior of the soul in sanctifying Gods Name in hearing
His Word 7. The next is a humble subjection to the Word that we hear our hearts must bow to it must lie under the Word that we hear it is a very remarkable Scripture that we have in 2 Chron. 36. 12. There it is said concerning a great King Zedekiah He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the Prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord. It is a very strange expression as any we have in the Book of God that Zedekiah a great King should be charged with this as a great sin that he did not humble himself Humble himself before whom you will say We are bound to humble our selves before God but here it is that he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the Prophet Why before the Prophet Because he spake from the mouth of the Lord. If it be any messenger that speaks from the mouth of the Lord God expects that we should humble our selves so that if any truth comes to be delivered unto you the Lord expects that you should fall down and yeild obedience to it whatsoever your thoughts your judgments your opinions have heretofore been if there come any thing in the Word against it you must submit your judgments submit your very consciences you must submit your wills whatsoever your hearts have been set upon though it hath been never so contentful to your spirits before yet now submit and yeild though it go never so cross unto your minds your wills your ends yet all must be submitted and laid down flat before the Word so as to be willing to deny your selves of any thing in the world When a man or woman can say thus Lord it is true I confess before I heard thy word opened in the evidence and demonstration or the Spirit unto me I was of such a mind and my heart went after such and such contentments and I thought it was impossible that ever my heart should be taken from them but O Lord thou hast been pleased plainly to shew to me by the opening of thy Word in the evidence of thy Spirit what thy mind is Now whatsoever becomes of my name of my comforts of my contentments in this world Lord here I cast down al before thee I submit unto thy Word this is a gracious frame Now is the Name of God extol'd and lifted up in hearing of the Word the Name of God is sanctified in such a word of spirit as this is I have read of a German Divine writing to Oecolampadius another famous German Divine he hath this expression Oh let the Word of God come and though we had 600 necks we would all submit them unto the Word of God saith he So it should be the temper of such as hear the Word and desire to sanctifie Gods Name in it let the Word of God come this morning let God speak and we will submit had we 600. necks we will submit all we are or have to this Word of the Lord it is the Word of God that we are willing should triumph over us To have a Congregation to lie down under the Word of God that is preached to them is a most excellent thing and Gods Name is much sanctified we do not brethren desire you should lie under us we are not only willing but we are very desirous that you would examin what we speak to you whether it be according to the Word of God or no. But look to it that if we do speak to you that which is the Word from the mouth of the Lord know then that God expects that you should submit your estates your souls your bodies all that you are and have to this Word and that is another particular in the sanctifying of the Name of God in hearing the Word there must be an humble submission of the soul unto it 8. Another particular wherein the behavior of the soul for the sanctifying of Gods Name consists is this the Word it must be received with love and with joy it is not enough for you to be convinc'd of the authority of it and to think thus well I must yield to it this is the Word of God and if I do not yield to it I must expect the plagues and judgments of God to follow it that is not enough but you most yield to it with love and with joy except you receive the Word with love and with joy it is not sanctified you do not sanctifie Gods Name nor is it sanctified unto you You must receive the Word not only as the true Word of the Lord but as the good Word of the Lord. In Thess 2. 10. we find it to be the cause of mens being given over to a spirit of delusion because they received not the Word of God in love It is spoken of Antichrist that at his coming he shall come with all deceivableness and he shal prevail with them that perish Who are they They that receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved It is not enough my Brethren to receive the truth that we might be saved but we must receive the love of the truth if ever we would be saved Good is the Word of the Lord to my soul And we must receive it with joy too as well as with love Prov. 2. 10. When wisdom entereth into thy heart and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul then discretion shall preserve thee understanding shall keep thee c. That is a great matter when the Word reveals some truth to thy understanding and thou canst so receive it as it should be pleasant to thy soul that thy soul rejoyces in it it is a good Word it is that which doth me good at the heart When a people can hear the Word and the Word coming near unto them they can say This Word doth me good at the heart it is pleasant to my soul that is excellent In Act. 2. 41 the godly are described those that did receive the Word so as to sanctifie Gods Name in it by this That they gladly received the Word and were baptized and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls There were three thousand in one day that did gladly receive the Word What an Auditory had Peter at this time Then the Word it did them good when they gladly received it Quest But it may be said Wâ— reade in Matth. 13. of the stony ground the hearers that were not good and did not profit by the Word so as to be saved yet they received the Word with joy And Herod it is said of him That be heard John Baptist gladly It seems then that it is not enough to receive it with gladness Answ To that I Answer First There must be that which Hypocrites may have if there be want of that we cannot sanctifie Gods Name But you will say We must go further or else Gods Name is not sanctified That I confess Therefore
when I speak of gladness and joy know that I mean another kind of joy than the stony ground had and so certainly the pleasantness that is spoken of in Prov. which I mentioned before And the gladness that the three thousand did receive the Word withal is different from the gladness of the stony ground If you ask me wherein it differs I would answer it differs thus The gladness of an Hypocrite in receiving Gods Word it ariseth either from the novelty of it because it is a new thing and he gets new notions that he had not before or else he is joyful from some other carnal excellencies that he finds going together with the Word some Esteem or Honor that he shall get by it some selvishness there is that makes his heart to be glad for there is a great deal of natural and carnal excellency that goes along many times with the Word But now this gladness that is spoken of in the Acts and in the Proverbs it is the gladness that ariseth from the apprehension of the Spiritual excellencies that there is in the Word as that it is that Word that reveals God and Christ to my soul that word that comes neerest to my soul to the mortifying of my lusts and the Sanctifying of my heart This is that which makes me rejoyce in the Word the holiness and the Spiritual excellency that I see to be in the Word Thy Word is pure saith David and therefore doth thy servant love it and rejoyce in it This no Hypocrite can say I see the Image of God in his Word I see the very glass of Gods holiness in the word I feel that in the word that may bring my soul to God wherein my soul enjoys communion with God and Jesus Christ and it is this that glads my soul If we receive the word with joy thus we shall come to sanctifie the Name of God in hearing of it And that 's the Eighth Particular 9. The Ninth Particular is this If we would sanctifie the Name of God in his word We must receive the Word into honest hearts This you have in Luke 8. 15. the parable of the Sower you shall find there that there are divers grounds that do receive the Seed and by those divers grounds are meant divers sorts of hearers There is first the high-way ground that is Such as hear the word and never regard what they hear and assoon as ever they go out of the Congregation the seed of the word is quite gone and is as if they had not heard at all And then there is the stony ground and the thorny ground that is those that hear with joy as was spoken of before but the cares of the world choak the seed of the Word as soon as ever they are gone they are upon their worldly business and their thoughts and hearts runs that way But then there is the good ground that is Those that receive the Seed of the Word into a good and honest heart a good and an honest heart they are both ioyned together By a good heart is meant a heart that hath no malice in it a heart that doth desire to empty it self of every thing that is against the Word and which is not sutable to the spiritualness of the Word A heart I say that entertains nothing in it that any way makes against the Word A good heart is a heart which as the Apostle saith in Jam. 1. 21. and that place may very well come in here to be opened is clensed from all silthiness and superfluity of naughtiness The Word that is there translated silthiness it signifies Excrements that which is unclean that which comes from the body such is the sinfulness of your hearts you come to hear the Word if it be with evil hearts you mingle that very filthiness which is as vile before God as excrements are And superfluity of naughtiness by that I take is meant as if the holy Ghost should say Do not think it enough for to purge away filthiness that is notorious stinking evils abominable sins that you do not come with such filthy vile hearts but whatsoever there is in your heart that is any way against the Word of Grace it is a superfluity of naughtiness all kind of evil thoughts and evil affections that are more than needs Look into your hearts and affections and see whatsoever you find there that is more than ought to be running out unto any thing that they should not labor to purge out that saith he do not satisfie your selves in any kind of evil whatsoever it may be you are clensed from the notorious evils of the world but if there remains any naughtiness any kind of drossiness in your hearts that is not grace it is to be purged out for it is superfluity So then that is a good heart that entertains no kind of evil in it It may be there is some evil but it doth desire to purge out not only that that is silthy nasty and abominable but if there be any thing that should not be there a good heart is against it And that is a good heart that is willing to receive any thing that God reveals as we use to say Such a man is a good man that is you can propound nothing to him that is fit to be done but he is willing to hearken to you A good man he hath no kind of evil ends in him no evil designs at all but he is willing to hearken to every thing that is good So a good heart whatsoever is good he is ready to entertain if it be a good thing his heart is sutable to it and runs presently unto it having a good heart it doth presently close with the good Word of the Lord. But what is meant by an Honest Heart By honesty of heart certainly there is more meant than such a one that we call an honest man that is a man that is honest in his dealings between man and man there is many a man that is accounted a very honest man in the world but hath not an honest heart I beseech you observe it That man that hath an honest heart to God is one that receives the seed of the Word so as he goes beyond the high-way ground the stony ground or the thorny ground he goes beyond those three sorts of professors he is one that hath an emenency in profession of Religion beyond those three Now the world accounts many honest men that do not go beyond any of those three yea the world doth ordinarily account any of those three to be honest men As the high-way ground Are there not many honest men in the world that regard not the Word of God at all but only come to hear a Sermon and assoon as they have done as it came in at one ear so it goes out at the other I fear there are some men and women that are accounted honest men and women in the world that can hardly
or no Saith Christ in Job 8. 47. He that is of God heareth my Word ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God Certainly he that hath the knowledg of God and any interest in God and that belongs unto Him nothing is more sweet to him than the hearing of His Word but because ye are not of God saith Christ Therefore you hear not his Word Those men and women that have no interest in God but live without God in this world they regard not to hear His Word O how many have we that belong to this place that do so How many live without God in the world and do declare to all the world that they are not of God they have no part nor portion in God in that they hear not His Wâ—â—â— Some there are that come to hear it but they come to hear it as a meer matter of indifferency in a meer formal and customary way or for companies sake or to give content to others These are poor and low ends thou shouldest come to hear the Word as expecting God should speak to thy soul for the furtherance of thy eternal good but your consciences may tell you what vain and wandring heart you have when you come to hear it The eyes of the fool saith Solomon are in all the corners of the earth up and down wandring little minding that you are to com to hear God Himself speak to you in the Ministry of man And if so be that it be minded yet ordinarily the hearts of men do put off the Word and if it come any thing neer to them they think to shift it from themselves to others We have a notable Scripture in Heb. 12. 25. for such men as shift off Gods Word when it comes many times very neer to them See that ye refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from Him which speaketh from Heaven See that ye refuse not him that speaks the Word see that you do not put him off And that is the signification of it if you compare it with Luke 12. 18. you should find that there is the same word used where speaking of those that were invited to the supper it is said They all with one consent began to make excuse they began to shift it off that is the same word Oh take heed of this that when you are hearing the Word and Christ comes and speaks to your hearts and you begin to think that it way concern you and your consciences begin to stir take heed that you do not shift him off take heed that you do not put away the Word from you by any kind of pretence whatsoever It may be you will say If I were certain it were the Word of God and that God spake to me God forbid but that I should submit unto it But though it may be the hearts of men are not so notoriously rebellious as to resolve to sin against the Word which they will acknowledg to be the Word of God yet this is the deceit of the heart when the heart hath no mind to obey it will shift off the Word and have pretences and put-offs Oh take heed that you do not shift off him that speaks from Heaven by making any kind of excuse whatsoever but when thou hearest if the Word of God come to thy conscience do not listen to vain reasonings that are against it Others there are that cannot tell how to shift off the Word but it will come upon them when they are hearing it may be they are a little stir'd but it is presently gone so that they are far from holding the Word far from keeping it in their hearts Oh! How many of you have been stir'd when you have been hearing the Word and how happy had it been for you if you had hid those words in your heart that the Lord hath spoken to you in the Ministry of it If you had but the Invitations of the Spirit now that sometimes you have had how happy were it for you But it is with many in hearing the word just as with you Marriners when you are to go abroad Your friends come with you take their leaves of you and then you see them stand upon the shore a while but when you sail a little further your friends are out of sight and then you see only the shore you sail on a little further and then you see only the houses you sail a little further and then you see only the steeples and such high places and you sail yet a little further and then you see nothing but the Ocean So it is in hearing the Word It may be when you go home there are some things fresh in your mind but on the munday morning you have lost some but then there are some others that do yet present themselves before you and then you lose more and more untill you have lost the sight of all all truths are gone you see no more of the Word as if you had never heard it this is not to sanctifie Gods Name you should treasure up the Word as the most rich Treasure that may be Another sort to be rebuked are those who are so far from falling down before the Lord to receive the Word with meekness as they can bless themselves in their wicked waies notwithstanding the Word comes and meets with them I only name this because of that notable Scripture we have in Deut. 29. 18 19. saith Moses there to them Take heed lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood what 's that root that beareth gall and wormwood And it come to pass when he heareth the words of this curse that he bless himself in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart c. Take heed there be not among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood This is a bitter root in mens hearts when they can hear the Word of God and have their hearts rise against it and think with themselves that there is no such matter these are but meer words but meer wind let the Minister say what he will and talk as long as he will I will go on in my way I shall do well enough that which he saith it is but his opinion I say when men can bless themselves thus in their way and when there are such tumulcuous and rebellious thoughts rising in their hearts this is a root of gall and wormwood and take heed of it it will bring forth bitter fruit one day But I should quickly be prevented if I should lanch into this argument to reprove the several waies of sinning against God in hearing of his word And therefore I leave those and come to shew what a fearful thing it is for men and women not to sanctifie the Name of God in the hearing of his word that
any certain sign of Reprobation therefore I cannot say of any man he hath now such a mark upon him as doth evidently prove that he is a Reprobate we cannot tell that because we know not what God may do afterwards but we may say this That it is as dreadful a sign as any There are not any more dreadful signs than these two First For a man to be suffered to prosper in a sinful course For God to let men go on and have their hearts desire satisfied in an ungodly way And then secondly For the Lord to leave them to themselves so as the Ministry of the Word shal not work upon them that they shall be by Gods providence so disposed of as to live under a faithful and powerful Ministry and that it should not work upon them These are the two blackest signs of Reprobation and therefore it is a most dreadful thing to sit under the Ministry of the Word and not to sanctifie Gods Name in it 6. In the next place Surely there can be nothing sanctified to thee who doest not sanctifie Gods Name in His Word The Scripture saith That every thing is sanctified by the Word and Prayer And how canst thou exspect that the Word should sanctifie any thing unto thee seeing that thou doest not make conscience of sanctifying Gods Name in the Word The godly think thus 'T is the Word that must sanctifie all things to my soul and I had need then sanctifie Gods Name in that from which I exspect the sanctified use of all blessings You therefore that can sit under it and make not concience of sanctifying Gods Name in it I say you can expect no sanctified use of any thing that you have in this world 7. Such as do not sanctifie Gods Name in the Word are very nigh to a curse There is a notable Scripture for this in Heb. 6. 7 8. where the Apostle compares the Word to the rain that fals upon the ground For the earth that drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receiveth blessing from God But saith he that which beareth thorns and bryars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned The meaning is this plainly The rain here is the Word the good hearers they are like the ground that receive the rain and bring forth fruit and receive a blessing But now ill hearers that do not sanctifie Gods Name in his Word they are like ground that receives the rain as much as the other hear as many Sermons as the other but they bring forth nothing but thorns and bryars and mark what a dreadful expression is against them First It is rejected Secondly It is nigh to cursing Thirdly Whose end is to be burned Thou rejectest the Word doest thou The Lord rejecteth thy soul If thou hast no need of the Word the Word hath no need of thee it is a dreadful thing to be rejected of God And then thou art uigh unto cursing It may be the Lord may for the time withdraw Himself from the soul and manifest that it is at it were rejected but yet the soul hath not the curse of God upon it to say Well let this soul perish for ever but some there are that are under an actual curse and saith God Well My Word shall never do good to this soul such a one hath sate under it thus long and hath rejected it My Word shall never do good to him Like as in Luk. 14. where those that made excuses when they were bidden to the Supper the text saith at length That the Master of the Feast was angry which was God Himself that invited them by the Gospel to partake of His Son and when men would not come in but make excuses and refused the offer of the Gospel Verily saith he none of those men that were bidden shall tast of my Supper They shall never partake of any good of the Gospel This is a dreadful curse Now the Lord deliver you from having this curse pronounced against you but yet I beseech you tremble at this Scripture in the Hebrews they are nigh to cursing Who knows how nigh some soul in this place may be to this curse for God to say This soul hath been often invited and yet hath made excuses and put off all he shall never tast of my Supper of the good things in Jesus Christ the Word that hath been so rejected shall never do them good more you had better never been born than to have this curse actually upon you Oh fear and tremble lest your condition be such as to be nigh to cursing Who knows what a day a week may bring forth It may be the Lord may spare and be willing to pass by the neglect of former Sermons but who knows what the next actual rebellion against the Lord in His Word may do to bring the curse upon thee And then if so the next part of the verse will prove to be thy portion Whose end is to be burned Oh! It is a dreadful thing to sin against the Word God stands much upon it 8 Eightly Know that if Gods Name be not sanctisied in it the end that God hath appointed it for will be turned quite contrary to thee The proper end that God hath appointed his Word for it is to save souls but now where Gods Name is not sanctified it is turned quite contrary so the Apostle in 2 Cor. 2. 16. To the one we are the savor of death unto death and to the other the savor of life unto life It is a dreadful thing that the good Word of God in which there is such treasures of Gods mercy wherein the counsels of God concerning mans eternal estate comes to be revealed that this should prove to be the savor of death unto death unto any soul that is to have such an efficacy in it as to kill them by the very scent of it as it were As some things have such a poyson in them as the very scent is enough to poyson one So saith the Apostle to some our word hath that efficacy being turned quite to the contrary end some souls are sav'd and are and shal be blessing God to al eternity for the Word and thy soul is damn'd by the Word so as thou wilt hereafter curse the time that ever thou camest to hear it That wil be a dreadful thing that the same Word that others shal be blessing of God eternally in Heaven for that thou shalt be cursing eternally in Hell for it will be turned to the quite contrary end if it works not in the right way it will work the other the truth is it hardens mens hearts if it brings them not to God there is nothing that doth harden the hearts of men more than the Ministry of the Word yet by accident not by its self there is no men in the world have such hard hearts as those that
are wicked under the Ministry of the Word it is not only an argument that their hearts are hard but they are hardened by it That in Isa 6. 9 10. is remarkable for this and the rather because I find it so often quoted by Christ I think it is quoted three or four times in the Gospel And he said Go and tell this People hear ye indeed but understand not and 〈◊〉 ye indeed but perceive not Make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed This is a strange Scripture What must a Prophet go to them to make their hearts fat and to shut their eyes why the word is appointed to open mens eyes but here the Prophet is sent to shut their eyes that they might not be converted this is dreadful this is for the punishment of some former neglect of the word of God sent unto this people above all Judgments you should be afraid of this It is not so much that a fire should be upon your houses as that God should make his word to be a means to harden your hearts In Ezek. 14. we have a dreadful expression to this purpose by the Prophet there where the Lord saith The people did come to enquire of him with setting up their Idols in their hearts but saith God I will answer them according to their Idol If men come to the Ministry of the word with their beloved sins and resolve that they will not part with them the Lord many times in his just judgment suffers some things in the word to be accidentally a means to harden them in that sin of theirs I will answer them according to their Idol Those men are in a dreadful estate whose hearts come to be hardened by the word 9. Ninthly If thou doest not sanctifie Gods Name in the hearing of the word what comfort canst thou ever have by the word in the day of affliction Certainly when the day of thy affliction comes then there is nothing can comfort thee but the word Vnless thy Law had been my delight saith David I should then have perished in mine affliction But thou having been exercised in the word so much and Gods Name not sanctified thou must not expect to have thy soul comforted in the day of thy affliction No marvel then though the word hath been applied again and again to your hearts and nothing would stick I remember it was an expression of one in a great deal of terror of conscience many came to apply comfortable Scriptures to him and he himself for a while did take those Scriptures and lay them upon his heart to passifie his troubled conscience but a little before he died he cries out with a most fearful terror There is a fair Plaister made but it will not stick on it wil not stick on so died despairing so there is in the word such a plaister as may help a wounded and troubled conscience but canst thou expect that hast not sanctified Gods Name in thy life time that it shall stick upon thy soul in the day of thy afflction never expect it for the Lord hath said otherwise Prov. 1. Because when I cryed and call'd ye would not hear you shal cry and call and I will not hear The Lord in His Word cries to the Oh thou sinfull soul who are going on in the waies of sin and eternall destruction Return return that is the way that will bring thee to eternall miseries but here is the way that wil bring thee to life and eternall salvation Thus the Lord cries and cals to day to day and thou stopest thy ear Oh how just is it with God to stop his ear from thy crying and calling in the day of thy affliction 10. Further Know that thou that doest not sanctife the Name of God in his Word that all the Word of God wil be made good one day upon thee God hath His time to magnifie his Law and to make it honorable Isa 42. 21. You slight Gods Law you slight His Word and despise it but God will magnifie it and make it honorable there is not any sentence that thou hast heard in the Word but it shall be made good whatsoever becomes of thy soul Thou thinkest that God is a merciful God he will not damn thee but though God be merciful and hath regard to His Creatures yet the Lord hath ten thousand times more regard to His Word than to all the souls of men and woman in the world and God will stand to make that good he will not have such regard to that wretched vile sinfull soul of thine as not to honor His Word He will honor His Word whatsoever becomes of thee and al that thou hast heard and rejected shall be made good upon the on day 11. Again the Word that thou doest reject and sin against it shall be the Word that shall judg thee Joh. 12. 48. Look to it as well as you will This Book of God out of which we preach and those truths that we delivered to you from his Word they must be called over again at the great day to judg your souls by the sentence of every of your eternal estates must be tryed out of this book Oh look upon it as the word that must judg your souls at the last day and then you will see it a dreadfull thing not to sanctifie Gods Name in it And then when the Word doth judg you you shall obey it whether you will of no. Now the Word convinces you and you will not obey it but when God comes to judg you by the Word then you shall obey it Then when God comes to reade that sentence out of the Word Go ye cursed into everlasting fire then I say you shall be forced to obey it 12. Lastly There is yet one thing more which should have been mentioned before which is very remarkable That those men which do not sanctifie Gods Name in his Word they will be blasted even here while they live their parts and common gifts that they yet have will be blasted wither and come to nothing We find it ordinarily that many that are yong had very good beginnings and very good parts that were very hopeful and would speak very savorly where they came afterwards beginning by degrees to neglect the Word the Lord hath blasted them their gifts have withered the common gifts of the Spirit have been taken from them I will give you one text for that in Luke 8. 18. Take heed therefore how you hear It is an Exhortation that follows upon the parable of the Sower that went out to sow because it is so that when the Word is sowen as seed there is so little of it doth prosper and most hearers do not sanctifie Gods Name in it therefore look to your selves Why For whosoever hath to him shal be
Gospel Concerning the Word of the Law there is two things wherein that comes short of the Word of the Gospel First It is not so nigh thee Secondly It is not so certain to assure thy soul what shall become of thee to all eternity The Word of the Law saith Who shall ascend into Heaven c. but the Word of the Gospel is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart You will say Why is not the Word of the Law as nigh one as the Word of the Gospel I Answer The Word of the Law you hear it in your ears but it is not written in the heart as the Word of the Gospel is The Law cannot work savingly upon the heart of a man to bring salvation those that are meerly Legal they can hear the duties that are required but the Word hath no power to write in their hearts what they do hear But now when you come to hear the Word of the Gospel that is nigh you even in your very hearts as wel as in your ears God speaks in it and it comes into your hearts and there it works efficaciously which the Law cannot The Law is but a dead Letter in comparison of the Word of the Gospel If you come meerly to hear the Law preached add not in an Evangelical way you may hear it a hundred times and it wil never be written in your hearts but when you come to hear the Gospel in an Evangelical way that will come to be written in your hearts so that the Word of the Gospel is nigh you But what is the meaning of the other Say not who shall ascend up into Heaven c The meaning is this As if the Apostle should say The truth is while you have no other but the righteousness of the Law you are at an infinite uncertainty about your eternal estates The Law saith Do and live but you can never know when you have done enough so as to be certain that you are well for eternity That saith Who shal ascend into Heaven to know the mind of God concerning me whether he will accept of me and of that obedience and worship that I tender up to him Who shall go down into the deep Who shall go down to Hell to know there whether that place be prepared for him or no It is a phrase that only expresseth an uncertainty that one cannot be satisfied about his eternal estate except he could go to Heaven and there see and read Gods Book and so discover Gods mind concerning him or go down to Hell and so know whether that place be appointed for him or not except I can do one of these I cannot certainly tell meerly by the Law whether I shall go to Heaven or Hell As you that are Merchants and Dealers abroad you are at a great deal of uncertainty what shall become of your estates Indeed if I could send one over to the Indies to tell me now my Ship prospered then I could be at a certainty then I should hear whether I were a rich man yea or no but except I could do such a thing I am at an uncertainty Such is the expression here As if a poor soul should say I would fain be saved and loth to perish eternally But all the while the soul remains under the Law it remains in an uncertain condition but now saith he The Word of the Gospel is nigh thee even in thine heart and that is the Word that we preach that saith Rom. 10. 9. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt beleeve in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved As if he should say This Word of the Gospel that is come into thine heart doth assure thy soul of thy eternal estate so that though thou canst not go up to Heaven nor go down to Hell yet thou hast that in thine heart that doth as it were assure thee that thou shalt be eternally saved as if thou wert able to go up to the highest Heavens and fetch News from thence Oh now the good Word of the Gospel how should we prize it and keep it in our hearts for that 's in our hearts that will assure us of our salvation to all eternity and of Gods eternal purpose to do thee good in Heaven You would account it a great happiness if there could be any art to send abroad to the Straits or to other place to know how things fare with you but now if thou hast the Word of the Gospel within thee if that prevails in thy soul thou hast alwaies got something in thy heart that will tell thee how things are with thee in Heaven and what shall become of thee for all eternity Oh who would not sanctifie the Name of God in hearing of His Word seeing it is such a blessed Word wherein the Gospel is opened with more clearness than it hath been to many of our fore-fathers 2. It is a certain evidence of your election in Thess 1. 3. 4 5. Remembring without ceasing your work of Faith and labor of Love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father Knowing Brethren beloved your election of God Why For our Gospel came not to you in Word only but also in Power and in the holy Ghost and in much assurance And know this excellency there is in Sanctifying Gods Name in hearing the word I beseech you mark it that it is a more blessed thing than if you did bear Jesus Christ in your wombs You that are women would not you have accounted it a great happines if Christ had been born in your wombs Now if thou comest to the hearing of the word and sanctifiest Gods Name in it thou art in a better condition and hast a greater blessing upon thee than if thou hadest born Jesus Christ in thy womb In Luk 11. 27 28. And it came to pass as he spake these things that a certain woman of the company lift up her voice and said unto him Blessed is the womb that bear thee and the paps which thou hast sucked Seeing Christ and what gracious things came from him she spake so But he said Yea rather blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it That is Labor to sanctifie my Name as hath been opened in the particulars rather is that woman blessed that doth so than the woman that bear Christ Me thinks this one Scripture should be such a Scripture for women to cause them to sanctifie Gods Name in hearing of the word instead of a hundred Scriptures certainly thou maiest be so blessed if thou wilt beleeve the word that comes from Christs mouth 3. Do you sanctifie the Name of God in the Word that will sanctifie you by that your souls come to be sanctified and it will comfort you in the day of your affliction and it will save you at last 4 You that do sanctifie Gods Name in
you use then to seal So it must be here I would appeal to many of your consciences that have come to the Lords Supper what transactions have there been between God and your souls Canst thou say the Lord was pleased to reveal Himself to me to make known to me my wretched condition and the way of grace and salvation and shewed me that upon my coming in to receive His Son he would be merciful to me and pardon my sins and I have found the Spirit of God working my heart to Jesus Christ the Lord from Heaven speaking to me and I sending an Answer to Heaven again how willing my soul was to accept of the Covenant which the Lord hath made with poor creatures in the word of His Gospel canst thou say this in the uprightness of thy heart if not know that this Seal belongs not to thee untill the Lord hath by His word subdued thy heart to this agreement first with him Secondly This Ordinance it is the Ordinance of spiritual nourishment of eating the flesh of Christ and drinking blood in a spiritual way Now it must needs suppose that first there must be life before there can be any nourishment received in If it be appointed to nourish and encrease grace then surely there must be grace before what nourishment can a dead child take The very first thing that is to be done is nourishment here The word hath power to convey life then to nourish but we reade of no such thing here but that which is to be done here is presently to feed to eat and to drink that is the end of the Sacrament therfore it must be supposed that thou must have Spiritual life there must come no dead soul to this Ordinance but those who are quickned by the Spirit of Jesus Christ they must come for nourishment Thirdly the act here required doth note That only those that are holy and godly can receive this Sacrament we are required by the Apostle examine our selves To examine our selves of what It must be of our godliness examine what work of God hath been upon the soul how God hath brought the soul to Himself and what Graces of the Spirit of God are there And how we have been brought into Covenant with God Now if only those can receive worthily and are to come that first examine themselves then certainly such only as are godly are to come for they only can perform those acts that are required Fourthly It is a Sacrament of Communion with God and Communion with the Saints now what Communion hath Light with Darkness what fellowship hath Christ with Belial If it be a Sacrament of Communion of coming to the Table of God Will God have enemies to come to his Table you will invite no enemies to your Tables but your children and friends so they must be the Children of God and the Friends of God those that are reconciled to God in the blood of his Son and those that are his Children that must sit at his Table therfore they must be holy Now this may suffice for that first thing that this is not an Ordinance for al sorts of people but such as have submitted to the condition of the Covenant before Such as have grace and ability to examin themselves of their graces and such as are children and reconciled to God and so are fit to sit at the Table of God and to enjoy Communion with him and with his Son and with the Saints for we are one body sacramentally when we come to this holy Ordinance all others therfore certainly are to be kept from this Sacrament but such 2 The Second thing wil make it out more fully and that is It is not enough that we be holy our selves and so al ignorant prophane and scandalous yea al that are meerly civil that cannot make out any work of godliness upon their hearts in bringing them to Christ are excluded But 1 It is to be done in a holy communion and is cleer one of that place in 1 Cor. 10. 16 17. The Cup of blessing which we bless it is not the Communion of the blood of Christ the bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ And then saith the Apostle in the 17. verse for we being many are one bread and one body therefore all that come to receive the Sacrament thay must so come as they must be one body one spiritual Corporation this very consideration That those with whom we receive the Sacrament are one body with us it hath a great deal in it for the helping of us to sanctifie Gods Name this Ordinance I say it is to be received only in a holy Communion one Christian cānot receive the Sacrament alone there must be a Communion wheresoever it is to be administred it is not enough there is one godly man there but there must be a Communion of Saints and in that Communion it is to be received Quest You wil say Must it be received in a Communion of Saints what if wicked men do come there will that hinder us from sanctifying Gods Name in partaking of the Sacrament with them Do not we find in Scripture that the Church had alwaies wicked men among them there are alwaies tares growing up with the wheat If you reade even in the Corinthians you shall find that there were some in that Church that were wicked yea and it 's thought that Iudas himself did receive the Sacrament therefore what if wicked men be there doth that hinder Answ I answer First it is true That in the Church of God there have been wicked men and 't is like there will be wicked men to the end of the world but yet wheresoever there is a right Communion of Saints there ought to be the power of Christ exercised to cast out those wicked men or at least to withdraw from them This is the Law of Christ That if there be any that have Communion with you if any of them do appear to be wicked you are bound in conscience to go and tell them if they do not reform you are bound to take two or three and if they do not yet reform then you are bound to tell the Church to tell the Assembly of the Saints when they meet together for so the word Church doth signifie and we find in the 1 Cor. 5. chap. that when there was an incestuous person to be cast out it was done in the presence of the Congregation Thus far you are bound to do otherwise you cannot say that it is nothing to you if wicked men be there for you have not discharged your conscience and so you come to be defiled and you do not sanctifie Gods Name in this Ordinance because you have not done to the utternost of your duty for the casting out of those wicked men And mark in 2 Cor. 5. 7. there the Apostle writing to the Church bids them that they should purge out the old leaven
never have to do with such sin that was the cause of such sufferings to my Savior that did shed his Blood If so be that thou sawest a knife that had cut the throat of thy dearest child would not thy heart rise against that knife Suppose you come to a Table and there is a Knife laid at your Trencher and it was told you This is the Knife that cut the Throat of your Child or Father if you could use that Knife as another Knife would not any one say There was but little love to your Father or Child So when there is a Temptation comes to any sin this is the Knife that cut the Throat of Christ that pierc'd his Sides that was the cause of all his sufferings that made Christ to be a curse now wilt not thou look upon that as a cursed thing that made Christ to be a curse Oh with what detestation would a man or woman fling away such a Knife and with the like detestation it is required that thou shouldest renounce sin for that was the cause of the death of Christ I remember it is reported of Anthony when Caesar was slain he comes to stir up the people against those that had slain Caesar and he takes the cloaths that were bloody and holds them forth to the people and saith Here is blood of your Emperor and upon that the people were enraged against those that had slain him and went and pulled down their houses upon them So when thou comest to this Sacrament thou seest the blood of Christ gushing out and for thy sin if ever thy sin be pardoned either thy soul must be eternally damn'd for thy sin or else thy sin cost the gushing out of the blood of Christ now when thou seest this this should cause an holy rage in thy soul against sin that caused this surely the putting away sin the rising of the heart against sin must needs be a disposition sutable to such an Ordinance as this is And that 's the Third thing required in sanctifying of Gods Name in this Ordinance the purging out of sin and rising of the heart against it 4. The Fourth thing that is to be done for the sanctifying of Gods Name here it is the hungring and thirsting of the soul after Jesus Christ whosoever comes hither he comes to a feast and the Lord exspects that all his Guests should come with stomachs unto his feast come with hungring and longing for Jesus Christ this should be the disposition of the soul Oh that my soul might enjoy Communion with Jesus Christ now this is the end that I am come for Oh! the Lord that knows the workings of my heart knowes that this is the great desire of my soul that I might enjoy Communion with Jesus Christ Oh! that I might have more of Christ that I might meet with Christ that I might have some further manifestation of Jesus Christ that I might have my soul further united to the Lord Christ and so have further influence of Christ to my soul I come with thirst after the Lord Christ knowing my infinite need of him and the infinite excellency that there is in Jesus Christ my soul doth famish and perish for ever without Christ but in the enjoyment of Christ there is a fulness for the satisfying of my soul that I have had of Christ somtimes in the Word and somtimes in Prayer that have been sweet unto me but I expect a further communion with Christ here for this is the grand Ordinance for Communion with Jesus Christ indeed the word in this respect it is beyond this Ordinance that is it is not only for the increase of Grace but for the begetting This is only for the increase of Grace and not appointed for the begetting now in that respect the Word is above the Sacrament but now this Sacrament is a more full Ordinance for Communion with Jesus Christ this is the Communion of the body of Jesus Christ and of his blood and therfore there ought to be hungring and thirsting desires of the soul after Jesus Christ therefore you must take heed you do not come with your stomachs full of trash as children when they can get Plums and Pears and fill their stomachs with them when they come to your Tables though there be never so much wholsome diet they have no mind at all to it so it is with men of the world they fill their hearts with the trash of this world and with sensual delights and hence it is that when they come to such a great Ordinance to enjoy communion with Jesus Christ that then they feel no want at all of Christ only they come and take a little piece of bread and a draught of wine but for any strong pausing desires to meet with Jesus Christ there in the Ordinance to come so as they know not how to live without Christ even as a man that is an hungred cannot live without his meat and drink and so for the soul to have such a disposition after Christ this is a rare thing but know that Gods Name is not sanctified unless thou doest come in such a way unto his holy Sacrament that 's the fourth thing hungry and thirsty desires after Christ from a deep sence of the need of him and the apprehension of the excellency in him 5. In the fift place there must be an exercise of faith for the Sanctifying of Gods Name here Faith that is both the hand and the mouth of the taking of this spiritual meat and spiritual drink when thou comest to the Feast of the Lord Faith first is the eye and then the hand and mouth it is the eye of thy soul to give a real sight to what there is here you are not able to discern the body of the Lord but by the eye of Faith if thou comest only with bodily eyes to look upon what is here thou seest nothing but a little Bread and Wine but now where the eye of Faith is there is a real apperance of Jesus Christ to the soul as if Christ were bodily present and we need not have the bread truned in to his body for Faith cannot see the body of Christ through the bread and the blood of Christ gushing in the Wine And it is a mighty thing to have Christ and such sprituall things made real and not to be a fansie If one look upon the fire that is painted one cannot heat ones self in cold wether with that but fire that is really burning upon the harth so those that come to receive the Sacrament and not come with Faith that have only the eye of their bodies they only see as it were a painted Christ they do not see Christ really his body and blood and those great mysteries of the Gospel are not presented as real things to their souls and hence it is that they go away and get nothing but now when the soul comes with the eye of Faith the soul sees the
Sacrament he gave thanks he gave thanks for what he gave thanks to God the Father that he was pleased to send him into the world to die for poor souls now shall Jesus Christ give thanks unto God the Father for that which did cost him his life yea saith Christ I see that here is a way to save souls and let it cost me my life if it will yet I bless thee O Father if souls may come to be saved though it cost me my life Christ rejoyced in his Spirit in thanking his Father for this then how should our hearts be enlarged with thankfulness when we come to this that the Ancients were wont to call the Eucharist that is a thanksgiving we are to give God thanks for every mercy you will not eat your own bread without giving of thanks but when we come to have this bread this bread of life here is matter of thankfulness here is matter of enlargment of soul thou that hast the deadest and dullest soul and straightest Spirit yet when thou comest hither and understandest what thou doest here thou canst not but see matter for the enlargment of thy heart and wish that thou hadst ten thousand thousand times more strength to express the praises of the Lord here is a thing that must be the subject of the Hallelujahs and doxologies that Angels and Saints must for ever sound out in the highest Heavens dost thou know what the Lord presents to thee here it is more than if the Lord should say I will make ten thousand worlds for the sake of this creature and give all these worlds to him thou wouldest think that thou wert bound to bless him then only when God in Bread and Wine reaches out to the the body and Blood of his Son here is more matter of praise then if ten thousand thousand worlds were given to thee and therefore God expects that thou shouldest say to thy soul My soul praise thou the Lord and all that is within me praise His holy Name bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all His benefits who forgiteth all thine iniquitie who healeth all thy diseases O poor soul here is the foundation of all mercies dost thou praise God for Justification for sanctification here is a glorious application of the mercie of God to the souls of sinners and therefore if ever thou wert thankfull be thankfull here The Sabbath my Brethren that is appointed to be the set constant day of thanksgiving for the great mercies of God in Christ and there are other daies for National mercies now a special work of the Lords day is The celebration of this holy Sacrament and the Christians in former times were wont to do it every Lords day because that is the day appointed by God for to be the day of thanksgiving for that great mercy the Lord Jesus Christ and that 's the reason why the Sabbath was changed the last day in the week was the Jewish Sabbath and that was to celebrate the memorial of the Creation of the World and the first day now it is to be the day of thanksgiving for al the work of God in mans Redemption Eighthly A further thing is this If you would sanctifie Gods Name you must be willing to renew your Covenant that 's the end of it there must be an actual renewing of your Covenant with God that 's thus I come to receive this Bread this wine and this is to be as the Seal of the Covenant on Gods part now this will be emplied in the nature of the thing that if I take the Seals of Gods Covenant that I must be willing to set to my Seal too to renew the Covenant that God calls me to now know all men and women that are sav'd they are sav'd by the vertue of the Covenant of Grace and there God on his part promises and makes a Cavenant That he will bestow his Son Life and Salvation through him and thou must likewise come in on thy part and beleeve on his Son and repent which is the Tenour of the Gospel now every time thou comest to receive this Sacrament thou comest to renew this Covenant As if thou shouldest say Lord thou hast been pleased to make a Covenant of Grace as the first Covenant was broken and all men were cast by that Covenant now thou hast made a Covenant of Grace and callest thy servants whom thou intendest to save that they should renew their Covenant with thee in this Sacrament of thine Lord here I come and Lord here I renew it and set to my seal to promise and Covenant with thee That as ever I expect to receive any good from Christ so Lord here I will be thine I will give up my self for ever to thee as thou hast given me the Body and Blood of Christ for my salvation so Lord here I consecrate my body and blood to thee the last drop of my heart blood shall be given to thee and so my strength and estate and name or what ever I am or have shall be thine Have you done thus when you have come to receive the Sacrament have you actually renewed your covenant with God you that have taken the body of Christ have you given up your body to Christ What 's the reason then that you sin so much with your bodies that you abbuse your body with uncleanness and drunkenness and other wickedness afterwards Oh you prophane the name of God and the very Body and Blood of Christ in this except thou givest up the body and soul to God in way of Covenant Ninthly in the last place for the sanctifying of Gods Name there is required the renewing of Love the coming with lovely dispositions and the renewing of the grace of love not only towards God but towards our Brethren for it is the feast of the Lord and it is an act of communion Communion not only with Christ but with His Churches with his saints and as I have told you that there is a profession of our selves to be of the same body with Jesus Christ then the Lord requireth that His Children should not fall out that come to His Table but that there should be love and peace there 's a mighty bond upon thee when thou comest to the Sacrament and therefore first all heart burnings and heart grudges must be laid aside and secondly you must come with a willinness to be reconcilled one to another willingnes to pass by all infirmities in thy Brethren here I have the Seal of Gods wllingness to pass by al my sins and therefore I must be willing to pass by all infirmities in my Brethren I must now cast out all ill wishes towards others and come with a disire of all good unto them and with a heart ready to imbrace any opportunity to do any good thou doest lye unto God except thou comest with such a heart as this is Lord thou knowest that I am willing to take all opportunities to do good
to those that I now do communicate with for it is the neerest Communion that possible can be in this world between one Creature and another and this is the reason why there should be that Ordinance of Christ set up every where to cast out those that are unworthy because it is the greatest union and Communion that possibly can be for it is the Sacrament and Communion of the same body they are the same Members of Christ Now if thou doest not think such an one to be a Member of Christ why doest not thou do what thou canst to have him cast out but so long as thou hast done nothing in private to him or in telling the Church thou doest own him to be a Member of Jesus Christ if thou doest so take heed how thy heart be estranged from him take heed how thou behavest thy self to them take heed how thou livest in a jarring and a contentious way with them and holdest them off at staves end or walking at a distance from them though they be never so poor and mean know that thou doest prophane this holy Ordinance every time thou comest to it when thou comest with such an heart as this is if thou dost not find this renewed love Lord there began to be a strangeness between me and those that have communicated with me but Lord thou art pleased to vouchsafe us to come once more to this Ordinance and Lord here we do profess that this Ordinance shall unite our hearts together more than ever they were I will study to do what good possibly I can to my brother that as we joyn here to the feast of the Lord with comfort so we may live together in peace love as it becomes the Saints of God and the Members of the Body of Jesus Christ Oh how far are people from any such work of God as this is The Lord expects this should be in you every time you come to the holy Communion Here hath been Nine particulars now mentioned for the sanctifying of the Name of God when we come to partake of the Sacrament but O Lord what cause have we to lay our hands upon our hearts for if this be to sanctifie thy Name then it hath been a riddle a mysterie to us Certainly my brethren these things are the Truths of God which I have delivered and so fare as you have been wanting in any of these know so far you have taken Gods Name in vain is this holy Ordinance you have not been worthy receivers of this Sacrament you have cause to look back to your former waies and spend much humiliation for your sin herein and not to be so greedy of it as some are they must have the Communion but I put it to your consciences Have you repented you for the profaning of Gods Name And that 's that we should further have spoken of That God will be sanctified that 's thus If we do not sanctifie Gods Name it will quite turn to the contrary it is the proper end of the Sacrament to seal up our salvation but if we sanctifie not Gods Name it will seal up our condemnation if it hath not been thy endeavor to sanctifie the Name of God so many times as thou hast received the Sacrament so many seals hast thou upon thee for the sealing up of thy condemnation But yet for thy comfort while thou art alive it is possible that these sels may be broken open as we reade in the Revelations that John saw the Book that had seven seals upon it and none could be found that was able to open it at length the Lamb that was slain he was found worthy to open the Book So I say thy condemnation is sealed up with many seals and there is no creature that is able to conceal these seals only the Lamb Jesus Christ yea that Christ whose blood thou hast shed and been guilty of only he is worthy and he is willing to open these seals for as it was with those that did crucifie Christ yet they were saved by the same blood that thay had shed as in Acts 2. So though thou hast been guilty of shedding the blood of Christ again and again by thy prophane coming to the Sacrament yet know seeing there is life in thee and the day of Grace is continued it is possible that thy soul may be sav'd by that blood that thou hast crucified Oh how many are cut off that have thus prophaned the Name of God in this Sacrament and never came to understand this danger they are cut off and now are undone for ever then bless God that thou art alive to hear more about this Sacrament and how Gods Name should be sanctified that thou art alive and hast time to repent the of this great evil of prophaning the Name of God in this holy Sacrament SERMON XIII Leviticus 10. 3. I will be Sanctified in them that come nigh me THere is one thing more about the Sanctifying the Name of God in the Sacrament which cleerly concerns us and that is To keep the Institution of the Sacrament for this is such a Worship of God as depends meerly upon institution that is upon a positive Law upon the wil of God There are some duties of Worship which are natural that we may know by the light of nature they are due to God but the Sacrament is a duty of worship that is only by institution and if God had not revealed it we had not been bound to it therefore in these duties of institution God stands very punctual upon them we must be very exact neither to err on the right hand nor the left to make any alteration in the points of Institution Now therefore for the Institution of this Sacrament we find it in divers of the Evangelists in Matth. 26. 26. there you shall find that Christ and his Disciples they eat the Sacrament together and this was the way of it They were together sitting at the same Table so it is called the Table of the Lord sometimes in Scripture therefore that 's the first thing that is according to the institution that those that do communicate must come to the Table as neer as they can as many as can sit about it and all to come as neer as they can and the reason is Because that otherwise you will not be able to attain the end why God should have you come to receive the end is to remember the death of Christ now except pou be able to see the Sight to see what is done to have your eye as well as your ear exercised you do not fully accomplish the end that is appointed for this is a Sacrament that doth present to our eyes the death of Christ and the great mysteries of salvation and therefore it is according to the institution that every Communicant must be where he may behold what is done he must be where he may see the breaking of the Bread and the powring forth of the
upon the heads of the wicked therefore Gods Name is to be sanctified in Prayer It is to be sanctified first in preparation Psalm 10. 17. Thou wilt prepare their heart thou wilt cause thine ear to hear It is the Lord that prepareth the heart and then he causes his ear to hear and therefore in 1 Pet. 5. 7 we are there required to watch unto prayer men and women should keep a narrow watch over their hearts and minds that they may not be hindred in their prayers that they may be alwaies in a fit posture to pray watch unto prayer it 's that that would help us against many temptations to evil if I give way not to such and such temptations it will hinder my prayers I shall not have that freedom and enlargement in prayer as otherwise if I give way to such and such things therefore let me take heed of this or it will hinder my prayers As if the Apostle should say this should be the care of Christians then they are like to sanctifie the Name of God in prayer if this be their great care that there is nothing in the world that shall hinder their prayers O let me take heed I do nothing to hinder my prayers if I go abroad into company and am merry and jocond and there game and drink and sprot my self in company will not this hinder my prayers will not this hinder the spiritualness of my heart in Communion with God in prayer when I come home at night I appeal to you have you had that freedom in prayer afterwards surely no therefore watch unto prayer Now for the preparation of the heart to prayer we must understand either First What is to be done in the course of ones life Or. Secondly What 's to be done just when one comes to prayer For the first The course of ones life labor to keep all things even and cleer between God and your souls that so you may not come with shakles about your legs with guiltiness I mean upon your consciences men that have given way to any base sinful way when thay come to prayer the guilt of there hearts doth even sink them but those that can keep their peace with God in the course of thier lives they have other manner of freedom in prayer than you that walk loosly and contract guiltiness upon your spirits And then the second thing is To keep our hearts sensible of our continual dependance upon God sensible how we depend upon God for whatsoever we are whatsoever we have whatsoever we do for the blessing of all is from God The beams of the Sun do not so depend upon the Sun as we upon God that if he doth but withdraw Himself never so little from us we all sink down to nothing and perish for ever that soul that every day and hour is sensible of the infinite dependance it hath upon God for its present and eternal estate will be fit for prayer and that should be our care for to carry our selves as any hour in the day or minute in the hour we might be fit to go to prayer and that 's one meaning of that place in the Thessalonians Pray continually not that every moment we should be praying but that we should keep our hearts in a praying frame some of you when you have let out your passions and are in a distemper what will you go to prayer now your conscience will tell you that you are not fit to go to prayer at that time Certainly if you be not fit to pray you are not fit to live you are in an ill condition at any time if you be not fit to pray and there can be no excuse whatsoever that can be sufficient to plead for your selves why you should not be fit to pray at any time there is that continual dependance upon God for all and that need you have of the blessing of God for every thing that there is reason you should be in a fit condition for praying at all times but now when you come to prayer at the set time then there should be a special preparation First You should prepare your selves by getting fresh and powerful apprehensions of the glory of God before whom you go prepare by meditation about the glory of that infinite God that you are now addressing your self unto possess your selves with thoughts and meditations of the glory of the great God that 's the first Secondly Labor to get your hearts sensible of what you go for I am now going to God for what for pardon of sin or for assurance of his love or for power against sin or for such and such mercies let me by meditation work my heart to be sensible of these things that I am going to God for to set a due price upon those mercies that I am praying for and to get my heart affected with them Thirdly Labor to get your hearts separated from the world and from all things that are here below in the world and that should have been a third thing in the course of your lives you should never let out your hearts to any creature either to businesses or pleasures in the world so but that you may have command of your hearts to call them when you will to call them in to God in prayer and then when you come to prayer there should be an actual separation of your hearts from all things in the world dedicating your selves to God for this time as one that hath nothing to do with the world nothing to do with anie thing but this dutie that now you are about this is the preparation of your hearts to prayer in the course of your lives Now then for the Prayer its self First We must consider of the Matter of Prayer And Secondly Of the Manner of it First for the Matter of it We must look to it that it be according to Gods will 1 John 5. 14. This is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us therfore for the Matter we must be sure it must be good that we pray for it must be for the Glorie of God for the good of our selves and the good of our Brethren First for the Glorie of God that should be the chief matter that we are to pray for so Christ when he teacheth us to pray he begins the very first Petition Matthew 6. 9 1â— Hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy Will be done First begin with the Glorie of God mind that in the chief place above all other things God gives you leave to pray for outward things but first for the Glorie of God minding that before your own benefit before the pardon of sin and your dailie bread how few do sanctifie Gods Name in this people have little mind to pray but when they are in outward afflictions when they are upon their sick beds then they wil pray or at Sea in storms then they
will pray then it seems that the main matter of your prayer is onlie for your selves but how hath the matters of the Glorie of the great God and the good of the Churches taken your hearts all this while how have your hearts been affected with this that the Name of God hath been so little sanctified in the world and that the Kingdom of God hath not come and that the Will of God hath not been done have these things taken up your heart in prayer the matters of the Glorie of God and the good of Churches though your selves have not anie particular interest in them if these things did but take up your hearts in Prayer then when you are at Sea you would remember the cause of the Churches as much as your selves the Church is as it were in the midst of the Sea tost up and down and in a great storm now why do not you pray as earnestly for the Kingdom of Christ among his Churches as for your selves when you are in a strom at sea yea and spiritual things should be the chief matter of your prayer for they are the nearest to the glory of God though God hath his glory from other things yet spiritual things are neerest the glory of God now in these daies of prayer many will come to pray that they might be freed from danger that they might have outward peace this is good but spiritual things are the chief things and therefore the strength of your spirits should be thus powered forth to God Oh that I could get my heart to God and the assurance of the love of God! Oh that I could get the shine of his face Oh that I could get power over such and such corruptions And I beseech you observe this That spiritual things may be prayed for absolutly but outward things must be prayed for conditionally I may pray and never put any condition in at all That the Lord would pardon my sins and help me against my corruptions c. But when I pray for the health of my body I ought to pray if this be according to thy wil then restore me to the health of my body or the health of my husband or the health of my wife but thou maiest pray Lord convert the soul of my husband or the soul of my wife without any condition at al When your estates at sea are in danger when you pray for them you must make conditions Lord as thou seest best for me so do thou deale with me this shewes the excellency that there is in spirituall things above outward things surely spiritual things are more to be desired for they are to be prayed for absolutly and the others to be prayed for only conditionally That 's for the first In the second place We are to pray for our owne good God doth give us leave to do so onely here comes in a Question Quest Whether it be sinfull to pray for afflictions as somtimes some will be ready to do Answ To that I answer frist Take it absolutely considered we may not pray that God would afflict us because afflione is in its self materially an evil thing and a fruit of the curse therefore we may not I say absolutely pray for it but thus far we may pray for afflictions disjunctively conditionally comparatively Disjunctively thus Lord either grant unto me a sanctified use of such a mercie or otherwise let me rather be without it let me have a sanctified use of my siknes or otherwise let my sickness be continued to me thus now you may pray for continuing in sickness Or thus conditionally ' Lord if thou seest that my heart be so vile and wretched that I will abuse through my corruption such and such mercies Lord rather take them from me and let me be without them if thou seest that there be no way to break this proud heart of mine but such a way Lord let that be thy way to break it if thou seest it according to thy will as the fittest way Then comparatively thus Lord rather let me have any afffiction then sin rather let me suffer loss of my estate than sin against thee than depart from thee any thing Lord rather than sin Thus you may pray for afflictions but not absolutly You must not pray that God would send you afflictions absolutely for you do not know your hearts it may be if afflictions should come your hearts may be as stubborn under your afflictions as they are now for affliction hath no power in it self to do us any good And then for the good of others for Christ teaches us to pray Our Father c. There comes in here a rebuke of the wicked practice of divers in cursing and then a question about it It is a wicked thing to use curses but it 's a most wicked thing to wish evil to others in way of prayer yet how manie doe so though it may be they do not think it they speak to God and desire him to bring such and such evils upon their neighbors yea somtimes parents upon their children this is a wicked practice of men what is it not wickedness enough for thee to have any desire that there should any evil befall thy brother but wilt thou dare to presume to call God to be an instrument of the execution of thy base sinfull wrath that God must be a drudg as it were to thy wrath and to thy passion this is abominable wickedness Any of you that ever have been guilty of this sin of cursing others Wives Children Servants or Friends the Lord rebuke you for this sin how far hast thou been from sanctifying Gods Name in Prayer whereas instead of sanctifying the holy Name of God thou hast called God to be a servant and a drudg to thy passion God must be call'd to help the venting of thy passion Oh! remember this you that have been at Sea and have been angry and things not going according to your mind have fallen a cursing and wishing such and such evils might come upon those you are angrie with that 's a kind of prayer but it 's a most fearful taking the Name of God in vain in the highest degree and certainlie God will not hold him guiltless that shall so take his Name in vain therefore be humbled for this sin Object But you will say Do not we reade in the Book of Psalms where many times the Prophet David doth curse the Enemies of God and wishes evil to come upon them Answ To that I answer First That the Prophet and those that pen'd the Psalms they had a prophetical spirit and those places that you reade that are in a way of cursing they are rather prophetical predictions of evil than direful imprecations they are rather fore-telling what shall be in a way of prophesie than wishing what should be Secondly If they be wishing what should be then I answer That those which were endued with such a prophetical spirit they did know who were
abominable thoughts rising from the stream and corruption of their hearts such thoughts as their hearts do close withal in prayer and they can roll those thoughts about in their minds as a Child will roll a piece of Sugar in its mouth and this is the wickedness of manie men and womens hearts Take but this one Note with you That all those dreadful vile unclean covetous thoughts of thine in Prayer they have been to God as if you had spoken them in words thoughts to God are all one with him as words are to men for God is a Spirit and the Spirit doth converse with God in thoughts as well as men do converse with men in words and what a woful guiltines would have been upon you had you spoken such vile and wicked things to men as somtimes hath been in your minds even when you have been praying to God how would the company have even spit in your faces and kick'd you from them none that have any face of godliness would have endured you in their company and yet here 's the evil of it your hearts are not troubled but you rise off your knees and away you go thou hast a cauterised conscience a seared conscience that canst entertain such vile thoughts at any time without having thy spirit afflicted and going away with shame and confusion as if the greatest evil had befallen thee therefore take heed of this SERMON XIV Leviticus 10. 3. I will be Sanctified in them that come nigh me WEE are first to sanctifie Gods Name in regard of the matters of our Prayers And secondly in regard of the manner For the first we made an end of it the last day and came unto the manner and there where two things mentioned First That we must pray with understandining Secondly we must give up our selves to Prayer Now in the close of the exercise we had occasion to fall upon that Argument about the wandering of our thoughts in Prayer and by that we come to take Gods name in vain instead of sanctifying of His Name God expects that we should have our thoughts and wills and affection our whol souls acting upon him in the duty of prayer or els we do not pray to God as unto a God vain thoughts in Prayer doe pick up the Sacrifice like the brids that Abraham drove away from the Sacrifice that they should not pick it Wicked lusts in mens hearts are like swine to take the meat and al to hale it in the dirt so their Prayers are filthy and durty with their lusts but those that are otherwise Godly yet by their vaine thoughts the beauty and excellency of there prayers is taken away as Wine and Beer that have the spirits of them gone so the life and spirit of our duties are gone by our vain thoughts and therefore vain thoughts do dead the heart very much So saith David in the 119. Psal Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity and quicken me in thy Law while our eyes look upon vanity there will be no quickness in our hearts in any service that we tender up to God now many of Gods people have experience of the evil of this and they groan under the burden of this as I said the last time if so be that the Lord should speak from Heaven to them and ask them what he should have they having already the asurance of his love in Christ they would ask the deliverance from a vain spirit in the performance of 〈◊〉 Duties Bring no vain Oblation saith God in Isa 1. 13. Oh what vain Oblation do we bring by the vanity of our thoughts in prayer 'T is true the best of us al will have vain thoughts somtimes but yet as one compares the vain thoughts of men in paryer like to a Spaniel that goes out with a man he walkes perhaps but half a mile but the Spaniel will be runing up and down this way and that way and if all the space of ground which the Spaniel hath gone over should me measured it may be while you are walking half a mile the Spaniel fetching compasses here and there would be halfe a dozen miles so our fances are like a Spaniel which will have fetches about this way and that way in a thousand vain thoughts but thus now it is with a godly man as a Spaniel though running from his master yet if he give him a call he is able to call him to him presently and it were well if it were so with us though our fances be wild yet if we were able to call in our fances and to have them at command it were well with us And I find very much that those that are new comers they complane much of the vanity of their thoughts they were wount to pray before and they never had such vane thoughts as now they have the reason why there is so much vanity of thoughts or at least so much taken notice of It is first because there is but a little grace in the midst of a great deal of corruption in yong converts like a spark of fire in the midst of a great deal of ashes now if there lies a heap of ashes and nothing else you do not stir them but if there be ashes and some fire then you will stir them and be blowing those sparks to kindle another fire by Now when you come to make any motion then the ashes wil flie about wheras before they lay still So it is here before God wrought upon thy heart there was nothing else but ashes upon thy soul and then they lay still but now God hath kindled some sparks of grace in thy heart and God is blowing them up to a greater heat and is bringing of them to a flame upon this motion that is in thy heart and the stirring to kindle those sparks further in thy heart it is that the ashes of thy corruption do as it were flie about thine ears and that there is such stirrings of corruption more than there was before 't is not because there is more corruption than there was formerly but before there being nothing else but corruption it lay still and now because there is something else therefore it is that corruption doth so stir and besides you know a man that was wont to keep lewd company if God turn him that he will keep that company no more at first he shall be more troubled with them than he was before and they will keep oftener knocking at his door and laboring to get him to them again so 't is here when the soul vanity and lusts were as friends together there was no disturbance and taking notice of any thing then but now when the soul is casting out those sinful distempers and will have no more of them they for the present will be more importunate active and stirring than they were before And besides the Lord doth this to humble thy heart the more that thereby thou mayest come to see the great
corruption that was in thy soul before the working of thy corruptions will discover much evil in thy heart that thou didst not think was there before when the corruptions of men and women lie still they think there is no such thing in their souls as your civil men what 's the reason that they bless themselves and think they are in a good condition it 's because their corruptions lie still in them and do not stir they cannot beleeve what abundance of wickedness there is in their hearts if God should open the wickedness that there is in the hearts of men naturally and so all unregenerate men they would think you spake strange riddles whereas they bless themselves they bless God they know no such thing in their hearts No yes there are such things only they are not stir'd but they lie quiet as mud in the bottom of a pond there it is yet you cannot see it till it be stir'd at first conversion I say the Lord suffers thy corruption thus to stir that he may discover to thee what an evil heart thou hast what abundance of sin there is in thy heart and therefore your yong converts they look upon themselves as more loathsom and vile than ever they thought they had been And besides The Devil sees it a vain thing to tempt a yong Convert to any gross act of sin when conscience hath life and power in it he shall never prevail that way but now he thinks he may prevail to disturb them with vain thoughts and therefore he laies his strength most that way therefore let not such be discouraged that find their spirits anoyed and pestred with them if they make them to be the burden of their souls notwithstanding much vanity of thoughts the Lord will accept of any desire that they have to sanctifie his Name in holy Duties And I shal give you these three or four Rules to help you against these wandring and vain thoughts in holy Duties and especially in Prayer First When thou goest to prayer account it to be a great work set a high price upon thy prayer not as having any excellency in it as it comes from thee but set an high price upon it as a great Ordinance of God wherein there is communion with God to be enjoyed and the influence of the grace of God to be conveyed through it so set an high price upon prayer at every time thou art going to prayer Lord I am now setting upon a work that is of very great consequence and much lies upon it and I would account it to be a sore and a great evil to me if I should lose but this prayer this would be a special means to compose thy spirit and to keep thee from wandring as Nehemiah in Nehem. 6. 3. a place which I have sometimes quoted upon such an occasion when the enemies of Nehemiah that would hinder the building of the Temple sent to him that they might talk together no saith he I am doing a great work to that I cannot come down so when the Devil and the vanity of thine own heart would send to thee to parly and talk as it were with thee give an answer I cannot stand parlying with these things the work that I am about is a great work there are verie few people that do account the work of prayer a great work if thou didst it would help thee much against the vanitie of thy thoughts Secondly Every time thou goest to prayer thou that art most troubled with such vain thoughts renew thy resolutions against them I have been troubled with vain thoughts heretofore and am afraid if I look not to it that I shall lose this Prayer also and therefore O Lord here I renew my resolutions to set against them in this prayer with all my might it is very much that may be done with strong resolutions and especially if thy strong resolutions be renewed resolutions for an old resolution begins to grow weak a man that hath resolved upon a thing a great while ago it hath little power over him but now when a man hath resolved upon a thing but this morning and just at the time when he is going about it now he doth resolve upon it and set himself upon it and doth resolve through the Grace of God that whatsoever difficultie he meets withal whatsoever it cost him that he will go through this work I say that resolutions renewed have a great deal of power and you cannot imagine what a great deal of power the renewing of resolution against vain thoughts will have if they were renewed everie time thou goest to prayer until thou gettest power over thy thoughts do but make trial of this thou hast lost many a prayer by vain thoughts and thou hast been troubled for them and yet they come again do but trie for this week as I remember I said in the point of passion and anger that we should resolve with our selves well whatsoever falls out this morning I am resolved I will bear it so bethink thy self how many Prayers thou hast lost by vain thoughts and now renew thy resolutions and Covenant with God that for this Prayer I will set my self against them whatsoever pains I take I will be sure yet withal to look up to Gods Grace to assist me I will be sure this prayer to keep my heart close to what I am about and perhaps that will help you a little but yet some vain thoughts wil come for all that then the next night renew them again and the next morning renew them again and that till thou comest to a habit of keeping thy heart close to the dutie though now thou feelest thy heart so wild that thou thinkest it is impossible to bring it into order but certainly by such a means thy heart will be brought into order Thirdly Be sure to set the presence of God before you in prayer have a real sight of the infinite Greatness Majestie and Glorie of that you present your selves unto when you are calling upon him if so be that thou canst be a real sight of God in his Glorie it will keep thy heart close to the dutie as if a man be wandring with his eyes and looking after everie feather if the King or some great person come into the room all his thoughts would be about the King or the great person that were coming in so if you would present the Lord in his Glorie and Greatness Excellencie Majestie and Power before you and what a dreadful God he is in himself and yet what a merciful God he is to us in his Son this would mightily compose our hearts certainly men and women that are so wandring in their prayers it is because their eyes are not open to look upon God in his Glorie they are as it were dreaming and do not apprehend that God stands and looks upon them and observes them and that God takes notice of everie wandring thought that comes from them
they do not consider that God doth converse with the thoughts of men as well as men do with the words of men that 's the third Rule Fourthly Take heed thou beest not deceived because that those thoughts thou hast in prayer do not appear to be verie evil in themselves This is a great deceit and hinders manie in the sanctifying of Gods Name in Prayer there is sometimes darted in some vain thoughts now because the thought hath no great evil in it self therefore they think they may play with it and their hearts close with it and so run along with it as the fish doth with the bait if the Devil casts in a thought of blasphemie that makes thee quake and shake but if thy thoughts have no great evil in them but they are slight things matters of no moment one way or other upon that thy heart begins to be dandling and playing with them therefore remember this Rule That in the time of prayer whatsoever thoughts be in thy mind that do not concern the present dutie they are sinful before God though the thoughts for the matter of them be never so good yet thou art to abandon them as sinful at that time Therefore never be deceived with this that the thoughts are not verie sinful that 's another Rule In the last place observe this Rule If ever God hath helped thee at any time in prayer that thy heart hath been kept close to a dutie and thou hast had communion with him bless God for that bless God for that help 't is a Rule of verie great use for us to get further assistance from God in any thing if so be our hearts be enlarged to bless God for any assistance we have had heretofore and the reason why we gain and prosper so little in our Christian course it is because we do not take notice of what God hath done for us to give God glorie for mercies formerly received and therefore God takes little or no delight in coming in with further mercies to us as if you had a yong Nurserie of Trees and they began to thrive very well but there comes a companie of Caterpillars and spoils almost all the yong Trees that are set only two or three are kept from the Caterpillars a man goes into his Orchard and looks upon his Trees and this is spoiled and that is spoiled but he sees two or three and these flourish fairly and these are full of Buds and are like to come to something and he rejoyces mightily in those because they are sav'd when so manie others are spoil'd and so do thou view thy Prayers and consider how many nie hath been spoiled as it were by these Caterpillars for I compare wandring vain thoughts in Prayer unto Caterpillars that are upon the trees and we see that if stormy rainy weather comes the Caterpillars will fall and one would think that these blustering storms and the hand of God that hath been out against us should have clensed our thoughts and souls from these Caterpillars that have been upon our duties but manie duties have been spoiled yet thou maiest say that through Gods mercie such a morning in my closet the Lord hath preserved a prayer to himself and I have gotten power over this vain heart of mine bless God for this and so the Spirit of God will be more readie to come in and help thee another time But thus much shall suffice to speak to this That 's the second thing we must give up our selves wholly to this dutie The third thing for the sanctifying of Gods Name in Prayer is this There must be the breathings of the Spirit of God otherwise Gods Name is not sanctified that in Rom. 8. 26. is cleer for this Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered If any of you should say How can we sanctifie Gods Name we are poor and weak we can do little Mark it is said here That the Spirit helpeth our infirmities to pray and the word is exceeding emphatical in the original in your books it is but meerly helping our infirmities but the meaning of the word is In these two things the Spirit helps that is look how a man that is taking up an heavie piece of Timber at one end he alone cannot get it up but there comes another and takes it up at the other end and so helps him the word signifies such a kind of helping as when a man takes a thing at the other end or on the other side one standing the one way and the other standing the other way or one taking up one end and the other the other end that is the meaning of it he helps our infirmities the poor soul is pulling and tugging with its own heart and finds his heart heavie and dull like a log in a ditch And have not many of you found your hearts so but now when you are tugging with your hearts and would fain lift up your hearts to God in prayer there comes the Spirit of God at the other end and takes the heaviest end of the burden and helps you to lift it up If a Child were at one end of the log and that were but light and the other end very heavie if one come and take up the heaviest end a little strength will serve for the lighter end So the Spirit comes and takes up the heavier end in duty and so helps our infirmities helps together And then the other word is The Spirit that is together with the acting of the graces of the Spirit in our hearts you must not say so Alas what can I do it must be the Spirit of God that must do it It 's true he doth all First he gives converting and habitual grace and assisting and actuating grace but now when the Spirit hath wrought grace so as to convert the heart and hath given habitual grace in thy heart why then when the Spirit comes to assist it doth expect that thou shouldest stir up all the gifts and graces of the Spirit and the very strength of thy body the Spirit of God expects that thou shouldest act to the uttermost thou art able what power hath been given thee by God and when thou art in acting then the Spirit comes and helps together with us noting that we are to put forth what strength we have and thus Gods Name will be sanctified when as we putting forth the graces of the Spirit in us then the Spirit comes and helps and what comes from us now comes from the breathings of the holy Spirit in us and then God who knows the meaning of the Spirit will know now the meaning of our sighs and groans therfore when thou art going to prayer thou art to eye the Spirit of God thou art by the eye of faith to look upon the Spirit of God and to cast thy
soul upon the assistance of the Spirit of God thou art to look upon the holy Ghost as appointed by the Father and the Son to that Office to be a helper to his poor servants in the duties of Worship and especially in that great duty of prayer now upon the reading of this text and having it thus opened this is one good help for thee in prayer reade this text and then exercise thy faith upon it Lord hast thou not said that thy Spirit helps our infirmities when we know not what we pray for nor how to pray for any thing as we ought but the Spirit will come now Lord make good this Word of thine to my soul at this time and let me have the breathings of the Spirit of God in me alas the breaths of men if it comes from gifts and parts I know thou wilt never regard it except there be the breathings of the holy Ghost in me in prayer now if you would know whether the Spirit of God doth come in or no you may know it by this the Spirit of God carries unto God and it makes the Prayer sweet and delightful so much of the Spirit of God as is there it comes to the soul in the duty and it leaves a savour behind it a gracious savour is alwaies left behind when the Spirit of God comes to breath O the breath of the Spirit of God is a sweet breath and it makes prayers sweet it never comes into the soul but after it hath done any work it came for it leaves a sweet scent after that the soul finds a sweetness in that prayer now many of you have been in the morning at prayer but I appeal to you what sweet savor of the Spirit of God is left behind certainly if the Spirit hath been there it is like Civit that is put into a little box though you should take out the Civit yet there will be a sweet savor left behind so though the Spirit of God in respect of the present assistance withdraws it self yet it leaves a sweet savor behind The fourth thing is puritie of heart pure hearts and hands in Heb 10 22. Rev. 5. 8. having every one of them harps and golden vials ful of odors which are the prayers of Saints mark the prayers of Saints are odours in golden vials the golden vials I may compare to the heart the hearts of the Saints must be as golden vials and then their prayers will be as odours in 1 Tim. 2. 8. the holy Ghost giving directions how we should pray it is with this qualification I will therefore that men pray every where lifting up holy handes without wrath and doubting the outward conversation must be pure and the heart pure in Job 22. 26. mark what 's said concerning that holy man there 's a promise made to him for the lifting up of his face to God putting away iniquitie from his Tabernacle that by putting away evil from our Tabernacles and from our hearts we may be able to lift up our hearts with joy to go and that 's the fourth thing puritie of heart and hands The fift thing is in truth when we come to call upon God we must call upon him in truth Psalm 145. 18. vers the Lord is nigh unto all to all that call upon him in truth you will say What is the meaning of that to that I answer First There must be inward dispositions answerable to the expressions as for instance when I come to express the greatness of the Majestie of God then I must have an inward disposition sutable to this expression I must have a fear and reverence of the infinite Majestie of God Secondly When I come to confess my sin to judg my self for my sin there must be an inward disposition sutable to such a confession O how many men and women will come and speak great things against themselves for their sins and judg themselves for their sins and yet there is no such disposition in their hearts sutable to their words you shall have some in praying with others they will be a means to break the hearts of others they will so follow their sin and take such shame and confusion upon themselves for their sin and yet God knows their hearts not stir'd all this while and then they will call upon God for pardon of sin and for power against their sin and yet God knows that their hearts do close with their sin and are loth to part with their sin in the mean time this is falsness of heart when the inward disposition is not answerable to outward expressions I beseech you my brethren consider of the prayers you have made and especially you that pray much with others look what expressions you have made and see whether there be answerable dispositions to the expressions you have made and how that the Lord doth remember every expression that you have made Thirdly We must call upon God in truth that is Conscionably to performe the engagements of prayer prayer puts an engagement upon the heart now those that call upon him in truth are conscionable to perform the engagements as now do I pray for any good thing I am engaged to endeavour in the use of al means for the attaning of the good thing When you confess a sin why you are engaged by that means to endeavour all your might against that sin and when you pray for my grace you are engaged to make use of all means you can for the attaining of that grace and then besides in prayer there is much profession unto God for our sinceritie and uprightness and of our willingness to be at his dispose perform these engagments that thou makest to God in prayer if God should present to us all our professions that We have made to him in prayer and tell us how we have come short of them it would make us be in shame and confusion in our own thoughts Another thing in prayer must be faith pray without doubting as in the former Scripture the prayer of faith prevails much James 1. 6 7. a man that wavereth and doubteth must not think to obtaine any thing of God But I should have opened what that faith is that we should have in prayer we must have faith to beleeve that the thing that we do pleaseth God and faith in Gods promises and faith in Gods providence this should be exercised in the time of our prayers And therefore after we have done to go away beleeving as Hannah in 1 Sam. 1. 18. we read of her that after she had been praying she went away and lookt no more sad the text saith noting that after we have been powring forth our souls to God we should beleeve and exercise faith and not go in as drooping a way as ever we did Object You will say Yea if we knew certainly that God would hear us Answ The way to be assured that God will hear you is by casting your selves upon God
how can you know that he will hear but by resting upon him I have been with God and I have been doing the duty of a poor creature and for the success I leave it to God and therfore it must be with faith But I have so many sins mixt with my prayers how can I beleeve You have an excellent Scripture for that to help a soul to exercise faith in prayer notwithstanding there hath been many infirmiities in psal 65. 2 3. O thou that hearest prayers unto thee all flesh shall come Thou hearest prayers but I haue a great manie sines that hinders no mark what though iniquitie prevails against me as for our transgressions thou shalt purge them away Oh make use of this Scripture though you remember not other things yet you that have dejected hearts and are afraid that God will not hear your prayers see what text saith Thou hearest prayer Lord But will not my sins hinder no saith David Iniquity prevails against me as for our transgressions thou shalt purge them away exercise faith in this and know that God doth not hear prayer because thou art not sinful because of thy worthyness but meerly for his free grace Another holy disposition in prayer should be this The soul should come with a holy freedom with the Spirit of adoption to God crying Abba Father if thou comest to God meerly as to a Judg though it 's true those that do not know that God loves them yet bound as creatures to pray but thou canst never sanctifie the Name of God til thou hast a child-like Spirit the spirit of adoption the Lord loves to have his Children come with freedom of Spirit to Himself in prayer to come as Children and not to come with dejected countenance and discouraged hearts but come freely to open thy heart to God as any child would open his heart to a gratious and loving Father Another disposition is fervency in Prayer the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much and that will be a means to help against vain thoughts too as when the Honey is scalding hot then the flies will not come to it if thy heart were as it were scalding hot in prayer thou wouldest not have such vain thoughts Next there must be constancie in prayer in 1 Thess 5. 17. by that I mean this never to give over until we have that we pray for or somthing else in leiu of it it may be thou heast prayed and nothing is come of it but not discouraged thou hast to deale with a great God and therefore pray againe and againe again and pray with this resolution Well let God do with me what he will I will as long as I live call upon Him and if God shall cast me away yet he shall cast me away calling upon Him as the poor woman of Canaan when Christ called her dog and discouraged her yet stil she will pray I but Dogs may have crums that heart is in an ill condition that is discouraged in prayer because it doth not get what he would and therefore to think themselves I had as good not pray at all take heed of any such thoughts Again If you would pray to God indeed so as to sanctifie his Name in Prayer there should be humility in your hearts so as to be sensible of your own unworthyness I spake somwhat about being sensible of the distance between God and us when I spake about sanctifying of Gods name in general The last that I shall speak of this is when you have done all this all these qualifications will not sanctifie Gods Name except all be tendered up in the Name of Jesus Christ and in the power of his merits let a man or woman pray with as much fervencie zeal constancie puritie in truth and sinceritie yet except he puts up all in the Name of Christ I say he cannot be accepted our spiritual offerings must be tendered up in His Name but I have preached much about that But now put all that hath been said together and this it is to pray That is when as I pray understandingly when I give my self to prayer when there are the breathings of the holy Ghost in my prayer when there is puritie of heart like a golden vial together with sinceritie when it is in truth of heart when it is in faith when it comes from a spiritual Adoption when it is in fervencie when in constancie reverence humilitie and all put up in the Name of Jesus Christ now a man prayes as it is said of Saul Behold he prayeth so I may say of those that are instructed in ths Art Behold they pray You see now that prayer is more than to reade in a book more than to say a few words ye see it is a verie hard thing to pray a work of great difficultie and no marval though we have lost so manie of our prayers as we have done we must not charge Prayer and God with it but look to our selves I mean not charge the Ordinance of Prayer but the vileness of our carriage in our prayers and let us for time to come know what a Christian life means It is said of Christ in Luke 9 29. that as he was praying the fashion of his countenance was changed Oh that s an excellent thing that when we have been in our closets at prayer to come away with our faces shining my Brethren could we but pray in such a manner as this is the very fashion of our countenances would be changed as Moses when he came from the presence of God upon the Mount or as Christ that had the fashion of His countenances changed Prayer it is the sweet ease of ones spirit it 's the help at a dead lift it 's the great Ordinance of our Communion with God in this world and therefore let us learn this Art of sanctifying Gods Name in prayer I shall conclude all in this you have heard the mysterie of the sanctifying the Name of God in worshiping God now I beseech you you that have been a long time in the School of Christ as it were Apprentices to Christ to learn Christianitie be ashamed that you have understood so little of this art in sanctifying the Name of God in Prayer It is an art and mysterie that you must be instructed in and you are not Christians till you are instructed in this as in an art and mysterie And that man and woman that shall be instructed truly in this art and mysterie in sanctifying Gods Name now in the worshiping of him such a man and woman shall be to all eternity sanctifying the Name of God in praising of him There is a time coming when all the Saints must be in the presence of God and be alwaies praising of him and they shall then sanctifie Gods Name for ever let us now learn this art of sanctifying Gods name in praying that we may eternally sanctifie his Name in praising of him The Alphabetical TABLE A
Absolutely SPiritual things to be prayed for absolutely Page 277 Accept Acceptation Acceptation of our persons the means of it 69 God accepts not the duties of wicked men 116 The services of the Saints accepted 120 Act Actual Action see Grace Actual sanctification 68 The Lord accepts the person before the Action 69 God is a pure Act and requires Actual service 97 Adoption Sign of adoption to desire to be oft in Gods presence 36 We must pray in the spirit of adoption 294 Affections Affections the strength of them required in Gods Worship Page 82 Aggravation Aggravation of sin to neglect due hearing of the Word 200 Afflictions see Honor They that sanctifie not God in hearing the Word can have no comfort from it in afflictions 206 Whether it be lawful to pray for afflictions 277 Afflictions in themselves materially evil 278 All All that we have must be given to God 63 All things sanctified to the godly 319 Altar Christ is the Altar upon which we must offer all our sacrifices 92 Angel Angel what it signifieth Page 91 Angels the aggravation of their sia 195 Anger Anger not to be brought into Gods service 19 Apply We must apply the Word in hearing it 175 Apostasie see Schism Apostasie the ground of it 106 Assurance The Gospel gives assurance of salvation 212 Attention Attention must be given in hearing the Word 171 B Beginners Beginners in Religion to be careful of preparation 56 Beleeving Beleeving the condition of the Covenant of grace 232 Birds Wandring thoughts in prayer as the birds to Abrahams sacrifice 283 Blast God blasts those men that sanctifie him not in Worship 117 God will blast those that neglect his word 208 Bless Many bless themselves in evil waies 198 To bless God for helping us against wandring thoughts in prayer 289 Blind Blind sacrifice not to be offered to God 98 Blood A fearful thing to be guilty of Christs blood 230 Breathing see Spirit Broken see Heart What kind of broken heart is required in receiving the Lords Supper Page 255 Christs body broken for us 268 C Children Gods Saints may meet with afflictions in their Children 20 Ground of Consentment in afflictions upon our Children 21 Church Church what it signifies 235 Church defiled by wicked men uncast out 236 Civil see Worship Christ All worship must be tendred in the Name of Christ 91 All must be tendred in Christ because of Gods Justice 101 They that reject the Word reject Christ 201 All our prayers must be tendered in the Name of Christ 296 Command Nothing must be tendred to God in worship but what he hath commanded 8 No express command for many things in the New Testament 15 Comfort see Word Communion Communion with God not encreased by duties done with natural conscience 88 The Sacrament the Ordinance of our Communion with Christ 229 The Sacrament must be received in a holy Communion 234 How far the presence of wicked men hinder this communion 234 No close Church communion with wicked men 240 More communion with Christ in the Sacrament than in the Word Page 251 Confession Ground of confession to God 98 Conscience Sinners against Conscience need great preparation to Duties 57 Duties acted by natural conscience 88 Natural conscience limits it self in duties 89 Trouble of conscience should make men meekly hear the Word 180 Consciences of wicked men troubled about the Sacrament 230 Constant Men acted by Natural parts are not constant in Duties 88 There must be constancy in our prayers 295 Contrary The Word will be made good on the contrary to those that abuse it 205 Conversion Conversion not wrought by the Sacrament 232 Covenant In the Sacrament we make a solemn Covenant 226 Covenant of grace sealed in the Sacrament 229 Those that receive the Sacrament must be in the Covenant of grace 232 Condition of that Covenant ibid Renewing of Covenant in the Sacrament 257 Crucified Christ crucified in the Sacrament 248 Curse They that neglect the Word are nigh to a curse 203 Cursing of others sinful 278 How far we may curse the Enemies of the Church 280 D Danger see Dignity Dark see Mind Dead Death Fear of death taken away how Page 38 We must not bring dead services and hearts to the living God 97 Consciences of carnal men opened upon their death bed 118 Death of Christ to be meditated on in the Sacrament 165 Dear see Glory Delight God delights in our drawing nigh to him 37 Depart To neglect Gods Worship is to depart from him 33 Dependance We should continually be sensible of our dependance on God 274 Desire We must hear the Word with a desire after it 170 Devil Devil gratified by omission of duties 59 Vnseasonable motions though materially good come from the Devil 82 Wandering thoughts in prayer suggested by the Devil 286 Difficulty Natural parts in performance of duties will not carry through difficulties 87 Not to be discouraged in difficulties considering Gods power 97 The work of Religion difficult 109 Dignity see Prerogative The more dignity the more danger 12 Dishonor It were a dishonor to God to accept the services of wicked men 116 Disposition Inward disposition in prayer 292 Divine see Service Doubt The time of receiving the Sacrament no time of doubting 254 We must pray without doubting Page 293 Duty The holiness of a duty will not bear men out in the miscarriage in it 17 Omission of duty will not fit for duty 58. 113 The doing of one duty prepares for another 60 Duties not to be rested on 103. 107 115 To be humbled for our best duties 111 All duties of carnal worshipers lost 112 Sin of hypocrites aggravated by holy duties ibid E Easie Preparation to make duties easie 52 Election Evidence of Election 213 End see Extremity Our ends must be high in the worship of God 72 Base ends of men in Gods worship ib. To have right ends a part of wisdom 99 It is the nature of God to will himself the last end 104 Engagement Engagements of prayer to be performed 293 Envy see Mean Eternity Eternity of God how to be considered in our Worship 94 Excellency Thoughts of our own excellency to be cast off in our worship 85 Exemplary Exemplary judgments should make us look into the word how God makes it good 23 Extremity Men that regard duties only in extremity make themselves their end 77 Examination Examination required in partaking of the Sacrament Page 233 Eye Faith as an eye to see Christ in the Sacrament 252 F Faith Faithfulness Faithfulness of God what it should teach us 102 Faith must be mixed in hearing the word 177 Faith exercised in receiving the Sacrament 252 Faith how to act it in the Sacrament 271 We must pray in faith 293 Faculties All the faculties of the soul to be given up in prayer 281 Familiarity see Potent Drawing nigh to God breeds familiarity 37 Benefit of familiarity with God 38 Falling away Falling away the ground of it 34 Fear see Publick
God they by their very strugling to prepare themselves many times do ensnare themselves It may be thou hast thoughts of Atheism or other wickedness the very strugling with those thoughts may ensnare thy heart now the better way were to fall upon prayer and to cry to God to help thee against them for while thou art strugling and striving with those thoughts thou art striving with the corruption of thy heart and with the Devil all alone but now when thou fallest to the duty thou callest in the help of God and of Jesus Christ and that is a great deal better while thou art musing plodding and troubling thy heart that way I say thou art strugling alone but now when thou fallest upon the duty then thou callest in help from God and so thou art more able to the performance of the duty than thou wert before And therefore it is the best way to fall upon a duty though thou canst not find thy heart prepared as thou doest desire the very falling upon it will fit thee for it And thus much for the Answer unto those two Cases of Conscience Now then we are to proceed further in the opening of the Sanctifying of Gods Name in holy duties Thus much for the preparation of the heart But when the heart comes to it in what manner should the duty be performed so as the Name of God may be sanctified in the duty or what is the behavior of the soul in the sanctifying of Gods Name when it is in the very act of the duty To that I answer First in general thus When the soul labors to perform duties so as God may have such glory from the duty aâ— is fit for a God to have in some measure then do I Sanctifie Gods Name You will say this is a very hard thing to perform a duty so as that we should give God the glory that is fit for a God to have Certainly this is not done by every manner of performance of a duty of Worship yet you shall hear this opened to you and I hope you shall have it made very plain before you First therefore I shall shew you that when we are to perform a duty of Worship we should set our selves to glorifie God as a God that is to do it in that manner that God may have that Glory that is fit for a God to have As now in the duty of Praise Psal 66. 2. Make his Praise glorious that is do it so as you may lift up His Name in it and that God may be glorious in your praise And Rom. 1. 21. there the Apostle speaking of the Heathens he doth rebuke them For what It was for this Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful now this is spoken especially of the Worship of God for he saith afterwards ver 23. That they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible men c. So that it 's spoken of the Worship of God that they glorified not God as God That is then to sanctifie Gods Name to glorifie God as God and therefore our Savior in the 4. of John when he spake to the woman of Samaria he tels her that God is a Spirit and must be worshiped in spirit and truth that is we must labor to suit our worship to what therâ— is in God that our worship my be proportionable in some measure even to the nature of God himself And therfore God being a Spirit His Worship must be a Divine Worship I have read of some of the Heathens that dip worship the Sun for a God and they would offer to the Sun something sutable therefore because they did so admire at the swiftness of the motion of the Sun they would not offer a Snail to the Sun but a fâ—ying Horse a Horse with wings now a Horse is one of the swiftest creatures and the strongest creature to continue in motion for a long time together and they added wings to the Horse and they thought that sutable to be a sacrifice for the Sun So when we come to worship God that is to sanctifie His Name we must behave our selves so as to give him the glory that is fit for a God to have As now in those three particulars which I opened to you when I shewed you wherein we draw nigh to God This was one I told you that when we come to worship God we come to tender up some present to God now then we must tender up such a present as is sutable to Gods excellency If a man should come to a poor man to give a present if it were not worthy twelve pence yet it may be taken well but if you were to tender up a present to a Prince a Monarch an Emperor then you must tender a present that is fit for the quality of the preson Therefore in Malachi 1. 8. When the Lord rebukes them for their sacrifices that they were such poor things Go saith God and tender up this to your Governor and see whether he will accept of it or no. So certainly that which may be accepted of by a mean man would be accounted a scorn if you should tender it up to a Prince or an Emperor Now when we come to worship God we must consider that we are to tender up our service to God who is the great King of Kings and Lord of Lords But you will say Is it possible for any creature which comes to tender up its worship to God to tender up that which is fit for a God to have This may rather be a discouragement unto prayer or any other duty of worship than an encouragment To that I answer thus Though we be very poor and mean yet it doth not hinder but we may tender up that to God which God will acknowledg to be sutable to his infinite excellency as First If we tender up to God all that we have Though we be never so poor and mean yet if God hath the strength of our souls God accepts it For we are to know that God doth not stand in need of what we have or of what we do but that we might shew our respect to Him Therefore if we give all that we have God accepts it As a Child if it puts forth all its strength that it hath to do a business which the father bids him whether the business be doue or no the father looks upon it and accepts it as sutable to the childs strength and it shews the respect that the child hath to his father And as it is storied of an Emperor that when a poor man had nothing to offer him but a little water that he had taken up with his hand he having nothing else the Emperor accepts of it So that 's that which God looks for that the Creature should lift him above all If therefore when thou comes to worship God God hath more in thy heart than