Spiritual Refining, Religious treatise · Section 11 · Sermon 95
SERMON XCV.
That Converted Perſons are very Carefull and Tender of the Worſhip of God, obſerving that and only that which he hath commanded.
EZEK. 36. 27.
I will cauſe them to walk in my Statutes, and keep my Judgements, and do them.
WE ſubdivided the Grace here promiſed in the later part of the Chapter, wherein was conſiderable, The Action, I will cauſe you to walk. 2. The Object of the Action, In my Statutes; and this we are to treat upon at this time.
Now although there are three words in the Scripture, which often are uſed for the ſame thing, Commandments, Statutes and Judgements, yet there is alſo in many places a difference between theſe.
Commandments being properly thoſe perpetual rules of the moral Law, which Commandments.enjoyn the ſame Duties in all ages of the Church.
Judgements are ſtrictly uſed for, thoſe Duties of the Judaical Law, which concern Judgements.Juſtice and equity one to another.
Statutes are all thoſe Rites, and that manner of worſhip which God had commanded; Statutes.and howbeit we may in this Text make Statutes and Judgements. all one, yet its better to diſtinguiſh them, becauſe the holy Ghoſt doth here ſeem as it were to branch out the whole practice and life of a converted perſon, which lieth in two things, His Duty to God, and that is, To walk in Gods Statutes; His Duty to man, and that is, To walk in his Judgements to do them. And although in the New Teſtament, we have not the ſame Statutes of worſhip as they had, nor the ſame judicial Law for juſtice and equity between man and man, yet the meaning is, that God will cauſe his people to walk in all that worſhip and equity which God at any time ſhall command: And it is very uſual in the Old Teſtament to expreſſe the Worſhip of God, which ſhall be uſed in the times of the Goſpel, under theſe names, which were proper to the legal Adminiſtration. This then is the ſenſe, That when God hath put this new heart and new ſpirit into his children, he will make them diligent in all that worſhip which he hath commanded, they will be careful to worſhip him in that pure and holy manner, which is appointed: All their Worſhip will be Statute-worſhip, there is the Statute-Law of the Scripture for it. They dare not take up any form or manner of workſhip concerning of which God may ſay to them, Who hath required theſe things at your hands? From whence obſerve,
That converted Perſons are very carefull and tender in the worſhip of God, obſerving Doct.all that, and onelyonly that which he hath commanded.
You may diſcover the work of Grace in a man, as much about h…s principles and practice in the worſhip of God, as about moral principles and actions. Idolatrical and ſuperſtitious worſhip groſly practiſed, is no more conſiſtent with grace, then prophane and ungodly wayes. I grant indeed that even godly men may for want of light and better information live in ſome rel…ques of ſuperſtitious worſhip. As in ſome good Kings Reigos, the high-places were not taken away; and Johns Diſciples, yea and Chriſts Diſciples they were but old bottles, they were not able ſuddenly to receive ſuch pure and ſpiritual worſhip, as Chriſt intended for them: Nay in the Infancy of the Church how much were Believers led aſide with their love of, and doting upon the ceremonial Worſhip! they would be circumciſed ſtill, they would obſerve meats and dayes ſtill, yea the worſhip of Angels was brought in under pretence of humility.
To open this point conſider,Conſiderations to open the point. 1.
Firſt, That Divines make a two-fold Worſhip, Internal and External, Internal are all thoſe spiritual graces of the ſoul, which are immediatly terminated upon God himſelf. Thus faith in God, and love of God, to give him the preheminency and chief room in the heart, is the worſhip of God: This is ſpiritual and inward, and this Worſhip is commanded in the firſt Commandment. But the external Worſhip of God conſiſts in all thoſe viſible parts and means of worſhip which God hath appointed, as in the Old Teſtament praying, reading the Word, offering of Sacrifices, and many bodily adorations; and theſe are commanded in the ſecond Commandment: for when God forbids the worſhipping of him by Images, he doth thereby forbid the making to a mans ſelf, without the Commandment of God, any part or means of Divine Worſhip. In the New Teſtament Gods external Worſhip lieth in prayer, reading and hearing the Word, adminiſtration of the Sacraments, ſanctifying of his Sabbaths, and ſinging of Pſalms; ſo then he who is truly godly, he will be carefull to perform all thoſe Duties of Religious Worſhip, which are commanded in the New Teſtament. He doth not take up the vain cuſtoms of men, neither doth he follow the traditional worſhip of his Fathers, but he worſhippeth as it is written, he knoweth God is moſt jealous of his Worſhip; God is very ſenſible of any abuſe of his Worſhip, any corruption or mixture of it by humane preſumption.
Secondly, Although God hath commanded this Statute-worſhip, yet that golden Rule of our Saviours muſt alwayes be remembred, John 4. where Chriſt taking off 2.the woman of Samaria from her old traditional worſhip, thinking that ſuch a Mountain was better to worſhip God on, then other places, God (ſaith he) is a Spirit, and will be worſhipped in spirit and truth, and my Father ſeeketh ſuch: By this we are admirably inſtructed, that all external worſhip of God must yet be ſpiritual: It is not the bowing of the body, nor the external humiliation that God looks after, God is a Spirit, and ſo doth chiefly require Spirit-worſhip: This Text would have been like the flaming fiery ſword to have kept off that intollerable burden of falſe worſhip which afterwards crept into the Paradiſe of God. It is a ſin that we are very prone unto, to reſt upon an external worſhip, not lifting up our hearts unto God, and that made the Apoſtle ſpeak ſo contemptibly even of the ceremonial Worſhip, and all thoſe Jewiſh Ordinances though appointed by God, calling them carnal and beggarly elements. The ſuperſtitious Jewes made them Elements, even the firſt principles and foundation of Religion, but he cals them beggarly, becauſe they were without Chriſt; ſo that all thy outward ſervice and worſhip of God is but an empty, beggarly Religion, unleſſe it be ſpiritually performed, and that is mainly by reſting on Chriſt in thoſe Ordinances. But I do not intend an exact treating upon the religious and divine Worſhip of God; I ſhall therefore in the next place inſtance in two or three of the New Teſtament Statutes which God hath commanded to be religiouſly obſerved, and then ſhew the grounds of this pious and religious diſpoſition in converted perſons.
And firſt one of Chriſts main Statute-worſhips is Prayer. Not in the Socinian ſenſe who make Pryera new inſtituted worſhip by God, and that it was not a Prayer.Duty commanded before; Not ſo, only Chriſt continueth and confirmeth this Duty, revealing the manner of it more clearly. Thus you have many Precepts and Examples for prayer, yea and this is to be done fervently, humbly, inceſſantly; and it is recorded as a ſign of Pauls Converſion, Behold he prayeth, Act 9. 11. and Zach. 12. The Spirit of Prayer and Supplication, with mourning and hearty grief is promiſed under the Goſpel: Inſomuch that you cannot have a ſurer ſigne of a graceleſs man then one who is not diligent in this Duty and worſhip of God, Prayer. For although our own manifold neceſſities of all ſorts might provoke us to this Duty, God hath alſo ſo diligently enjoyned it, that there might be an opportunity to open the fountain of his mercy to us. Oh then how few are there that partake of this benefit? Where is he of whom we may ſay, Behold he prayeth, conſtantly, fervently, effectually? nay in ſtead of Prayer there is curſing, ſwearing and blaſpheming; if they do pray, they have ſome ſhort prayers of rote, which they utter as Parrats underſtanding nothing of it, and ſo irreligiouſly diſcharging of it: Now Prayer is three-fold, Private, perſonal Prayer, of which David ſpeaks much, and Chriſt went many times apart to prayer. Tell me then, Doſt thou take Chriſts command, Enter into thy cloſet, and ſhut thy door after thee, Matth. 5. Doth God ſee thy ſecret groans, thy ſecret tears, thy private debaſements? if grace be in thee, thou wilt be diligent in this courſe. Then there is publick prayer, of which the Prophet Jeremiah ſpeaks, and Chriſt alledgeth it, That his houſe ſhall be called an houſe of Prayer; and our Saviour ſpeaks of two or three, any company gathered together, Matth. 18. 20. to ask any thing of the Father in Chriſts Name. Now this publick Prayer is alſo much obſerved by the new heart, for therein is an united ſtrength and force to lay hold upon God, and God is in the midſt of his people ſo gathered together, to open his hand plentifully to beſtow on them his mercies.
Laſtly, There is Family-prayer, ſo Joſhua, I and my houſe will ſerve the Lord, Joſh. 24. 15. And God takes ſpecial notice of Abraham, He knew Abraham would make his Family to ſerve the Lord, Gen. 18. 19. Jeremiah prayeth, That God would pour his wrath upon thoſe families that call not on his name, Jer. 10. 25. You may reade of the Churches in ſome Chriſtians houſes, becauſe of the ſpiritual worſhip of God therein. If then God had ever wrought this new heart in thee, how diligent wouldſt thou be to walk in all the ſtatutes of Prayer, Private, Publick, Family-prayer; Thou dareſt not for a world ſo ſinfully neglect this worſhip of God, as thou doeſt; Think not that any civil and honeſt converſation in the world is enough without this worſhip. Oh but what unclean dens, yea noiſome hels are ſome mens families! Is prayer there? Is there conſtant religious calling upon God? No, in ſtead of theſe, diſſoluteneſſe and prophaneneſſe; Oh the pillars of the houſe, and the wals thereof will one day witneſſe againſt ſuch.
The ſecond Statute for religious duties, I ſhall only inſtance in, is of The Lords The Lords-dayday, and the ſtrict holy Obſervation of that: Where godlineſſe is, there they will call the Sabbaths a delight, Iſa. 58. 13. and not ſpeak their own words, or think their own thoughts; that is a promiſe to be fulfilled in the times of the Goſpel. That the obſervation of a ſeventh day is not Jewiſh, is plain, becauſe it was inſtituted for Adam in innocency; ſo that although Adam was made ſo pure and holy, that in all his works of his calling, viz. To till the garden, &c. he could not but have an heavenly heart, yet God would have him to have one day, which God bleſſed and ſanctified, for the wholly applying of himſelf to the immediate worſhip of God; and for the continuation of a ſeventh day, though the Jewiſh day be altered, you have upon Chriſts Reſurrection plain examples of the altering of it to the firſt day of the week, ſo that we reade of their Church-aſſemblies on that day; and John cals it, The Lords day, Rev. 1. All which conjoyned make it appear, That there is a moral and perpetual obligation lying upon us to the diligent obſerving of it. So then, Where God puts his new Spirit, there he makes a willingneſſe, a tender conſcience and delight to ſanctifie it; Oh then take heed of thoſe licentious Doctrines that cry down the Lords-day, for by the holy ſanctiſying of it, thou wilt come to delight in the Lord more, thy graces will increaſe and flouriſh; As ſome from corrupt principles neglect it, ſo others from vicious and prophane affections, or from worldly covetous deſires. Thus they in the Prophet asked, When will the Sabbaths be over, that they might buy and ſell and get gain? Amos 8. 5. Thy tender conſcience therefore about the holy ſanctiſying of the Sabbath, will much demonſtrate the ſavoury work of grace upon thee. This may ſuffice for two examples of the Statute-worſhip of God in the New Teſtament.
Now let us ſee, why the godly are ſo careful and tender about Gods worſhip.Why the godly are ſo tender about Gods worſhip. 1.
And firſt it is, Becauſe God himſelf is ſo tender about it. There is no ſin about which Gods jealouſie is ſo much ſaid to he provoked, as in matter of falſe worſhip: Reade the Prophets, you ſhall ſee the great controverſie God had with his people, was for the corrupting of his worſhip; This in every Chapter is almoſt complained of; therefore the common word the Scripture uſeth for Idolatry and falſe worſhip is Abomination: And Chriſt uſing that expreſſion, What is highly eſteemed amongſt men is abomination unto God, ſpeaketh it chiefly to that phariſaical inſtituted worſhip, wherein they did place all their righteouſneſſe; now this, that was ſo highly advanced as the onelyonly religion and ſerving of God, was abomination unto him: Seeing therefore that Gods worſhip is the apple of his eye; the main thing he is ſo jealous about, and his judgements have been ſo terrible upon men, who have in any manner violated his order about religious things; as his puniſhing Nadab and Abihu for offering with ſtrange fire, and ſtriking Uzzah dead for not keeping meerly to order, makes a godly man very carefull about the worſhip of God, to ſee he giveth nothing but that and all that which God requireth.
Secondly, He therefore is diligent in this, becauſe the word of God is the onelyonly Rule of worſhip, and ſo every one muſt be able to give a reaſon from Scripture, becauſe 2.of ſuch and ſuch religious Duties. Thoſe that have a new heart are made light in the Lord; They take the Scripture for the way to walk in; and whatſoever is not Scripture-worſhip, what Religion is not Scripture-religion, they dare not own it. Tell a godly man of the Antiquity of ſuch worſhip, of the univerſality of it, of the excellent fitneſſe it hath to keep humble and devout, all theſe are but fig-leaves. Is it commanded worſhip? Is there the Statute Law of the Scripture for it? Alas, let thy Fathers and Grand-fathers, yea let all the world admire ſuch and ſuch worſhip; if it be not Gods command, it is a vain thing: How clear is our Saviour, In vain do they worſhip me, teaching for Doctrines the traditions of men. Our Saviour told the woman of Samaria, She worſhipped ſhe knew not what, becauſe ſhe had not the Scripture, Joh. 4. Oh then, how might this put to ſilence all the cavils and fooliſh pleas many people have, for ſuperſtitious falſe wayes of worſhip, bring thy Scripture for it, ſhew Gods word for it: Thy doting and raging for theſe things, where Gods word is no light to thee, is as great an argument of a carnal heart devoid of grace, as well as prophaneneſſe, and they for the moſt part goe together; Thoſe that are for ſuch ſuperſtitious worſhip are commonly prophane, and ungodly in their lives.
Thirdly, Therefore the people of God are carefull of worſhip, and that only which God hath commanded, becauſe they are a ſpiritual heavenly people, endowed with knowledge 3.and wiſdom out of Gods word, and ſo able to diſcern of things that differ. The Apoſtle Col. 4. uſeth this argument againſt obſervation of ſuperſtitious worſhip, which he had ſpoken againſt in the Chapter before, If ye be riſen again with Chriſt, ſeek thoſe things that are above, and ſet your affections on things above; which Calvin doth ſolidly underſtand, not only of luſts and earthly things, but alſo of thoſe humane Ordinances and will-worſhip he had immediately ſpoken of before; ſo that he is of a brutiſ, blinde minde, an unclean beaſt that never cheweth the cud, who doth not conſider and well adviſe about the worſhip of God, but takes every thing out of cuſtom, and what is obtruded upon him; but a godly man is of a more noble rational ſpirit, he will ſearch the Scripture whether ſuch things are to be done or no.
Fourthly, Therefore the godly are diligent in the pure worſhip of God, becauſe God 4.draweth nigh in thoſe religious Duties; where every thing is done according to his will, there he delights to be preſent; How many glorious bleſſings did God promiſe to his pure worſhip in the Temple, till they defiled it by abominations; and then he deſtroyed both the Nation and the Temple. Where therefore the pure worſhip and ordinances of God are, there he walketh, there he poureth out his love. The Church is then in no ſtrange habit, but the beautiful ornaments God hath decked her with; and when Gods worſhip is thus purely performed, he addeth to their graces; None ſeek Gods face in vain, his promiſé and inſtitution go along together; let a man a thouſand times over uſe ſuch Ceremonies and worſhip God hath not commanded, he will never be the more holy. There cannot be any ſpirituall effect communicated unto him, becauſe God will onelyonly work where he hath promiſed, and his promiſe is only to his own inſtitutions.
Fiſthly, They are careful to obſerve his Statute-worſhip, becauſe it is a Duty to God; 5.He is their Lord and God, their Soveraign from whom they have all, and outward worſhip is a paying of homage to him, as an humble and ſubmiſſive acknowledgement of God; Come (ſaith the Pſalmiſt) let us fall down and worſhip before him, becauſe he hath made us and not we our ſelves; All ſolemn religious Duties, they are not onelyonly inſtituted means of grace, but ſolemn teſtifications and acknowledgements of our humility, ſubmiſſion, dependance upon God, and exaltation of his great excellency; ſo that if the godly man ſhould be negligent here, he ſhould not give unto God that which is Gods: And hereby is greatly diſcovered the falſhood and arrogancy of thoſe ſpirits who think they are above Ordinances; for ſuppoſe (which is not in this life) that thou wert already ſo holy and perfect, that thou wert above any benefits by the Ordinances, that thou didſt not need the benefit of the Word preached, and the Sacraments; yet thou canſt not be above them, as they are teſtifications of thy duty towards God. Hence the Angels in Heaven they worſhip and ſerve God according to their Men that ſay they are above Ordinances.way; and wilt thou (O vain man!) ſet up thy ſelf on ſo high a pinacle, as not to worſhip God? Remember Ordinances are not only means of grace, but ſolemn teſtifications of our humility and dependancy on God.
Uſe of Examination, Try the work of grace in you by this particular, how Uſe.tender and carefull are you about the worſhip of God? Are you ſuch who pray for the purity of Ordinances, to have every thing in Church-aſſemblies done according to the patern in the Scripture? David cried out, How amiable are thy Tabernacles, O Lord of hoſts? In what zeal was Chriſt, when he ſaw the Temple of God turned into a den of thieves? What holy invectives doth Paul in his Epiſtles make againſt ſuperſtitious worſhip? yet how few are the men that minde the pure inſtituted worſhip of God, that would have the fountains of Iſrael without the mixture of any mud in them? Outward oppreſſions in Popery were nothing ſo heavy upon the godly, as the corrupt mixtures in Gods worſhip; but if you obſerve the general diſpoſition of men, they are wholly carried out to ſome ſenſible ſuperſtitious wayes of worſhip. They love not the ſimplicity and purity of Gods worſhip. It is great proficiency in Chriſtianity not to have our minds corrupted herein. As children delight in babies, ſo do men in ſome worſhips of their own that they have made. What is Popery but a meer ſtage-play in the worſhip of God? And if you ask of hundreds of Ceremonies they have, Whoſe Image and Superſcription is upon them? you ſhall finde none of Gods imprinted on them. There were the Statutes of the Heathens, Levit. 20. and theſe the people muſt not go in, Ezek. 20. There are ſtatutes of our fathers we muſt not walk in: Oh there is too much of this ſuperſtition ſtill in men! Men by falſe worſhip, manifeſt they have not ſpiritual hearts.