Existence and Attributes of God, Discourse 4 (3 of 3)
1. How therefore are our hearts prepared to worſhip? Is our diligence greater, to put our hearts in an adoring poſture, than our bodies in a decent garb? Or are we content to have a muddy Heart, ſo we may have a dreſt Carcaſs? To have a Spirit a Cage of unclean Birds, while we wipe the filth from the outſide of the Platter, is no better than a Phariſaical devotion, and deſerves no better a name, than that of a whited Sepulcher.
Do we take opportunities to excite and quicken our Spirits to the performance, and cry aloud with David, awake, awake my glory? Are not our hearts aſleep when Chriſt knocks; when we hear the voice of God, ſeek my face; Do we anſwer him with warm reſolutions, thy face Lord we will ſeek *Pſal. 27.8.? Do we comply with ſpiritual motions, and ſtrike whiles the Iron is hot? Is there not more of reluctancy, than readineſs? Is there a quick riſing of the Soul in reverence to the motion, as Eglon to Ehud; or a ſullen hanging the head at the firſt approach of it? Or if our hearts ſeem to be engaged, and on fire; What are the motives that quicken that fire? Is it only the blaſt of a natural Conſcience; fear of Hell; deſires of Heaven as abſtracted from God? Or is it an affection to God; an obedient will to pleaſe him; longings to enjoy him, as a holy and ſanctifying God in his Ordinances, as well as a bleſſed and glorified God in Heaven?
What do we expect in our approaches from him? That which may make divine impreſſions upon us, and more exactly conform us to the divine nature? Or do we deſign nothing but an empty formality, a rowling eye, and a filling the Air with a few words, without any openings of heart to receive the incomes, which according to the nature of the duty might be conveyed to us? Can this be a ſpiritual worſhip? The Soul then cloſely waits upon him, when its expectation is only from him, Pſal. 62.6. Are our hearts ſeaſoned with a ſenſe of ſin; a ſight of our ſpiritual wants; raiſed notions of God; glowing affections to Him; ſtrong appetite after a ſpiritual fulneſs? Do we rouze up our ſleepy Spirits, and make a Covenant with all that is within us to attend upon him? So much as we want of this, ſo much we come ſhort of a ſpiritual worſhip: In Pſal. 57.7. My heart is fixed, oh God, my heart is fixed. David would fix his heart, before he would engage in a praiſing act of worſhip: He appeals to God about it, and that with doubling the expreſſion, as being certain of an inward preparedneſs: Can we make the ſame appeals in a fixation of Spirit?
2. How are our hearts fixed upon him, How do they cleave to him in the duty? Do we reſign our Spirits to God, and make them an intire Holocauſt, a whole burnt-offering in his worſhip? Or do we not willingly admit carnal thoughts to mix themſelves with ſpiritual duties, and faſten our minds to the Creature, under pretences of directing them to the Creator? Do we not paſs a meer complement on God, by ſome ſuperficial act of devotion; while ſome covetous, envious, ambitious, voluptuous imagination may poſſeſs our minds? Do we not invert Gods Order, and worſhip a Luſt inſtead of God with our Spirits, that ſhould not have the leaſt ſervice, either from our Souls or Bodies, but with a ſpiritual diſdain be ſacrificed to the juſt indignation of God? How often do we fight againſt his Will, while we cry hail Maſter; inſtead of crucifying our own thoughts, crucifying the Lord of our Lives; Our outward carriage plauſible, and our inward ſtark naught? Do we not often regard iniquity more than God in our hearts, in a time of worſhip? Roul ſome filthy imagination as a ſweet morſel under our tongues, and taſte more ſweetneſs in that, than in God? Do not our Spirits ſmell rank of Earth, while we offer to Heaven, and have we not hearts full of thick Clay, as their hands were full of blood *Iſa. 1.15.? When we ſacrifice, do we not wrap up our Souls in communion with ſome ſordid fancy, when we ſhould entwine our Spirits about an amiable God? While we have ſome fear of him, may we not have a love to ſomething elſe above him? This is to worſhip, or ſwear by the Lord, and by Malchom *Zeph. 1.5.. How often doth an Apiſh-fancy render a ſervice inwardly ridiculous, under a grave outward poſture; skipping to the Shop, Ware-houſe, Compting-houſe in the ſpace of a ſhort Prayer? And we are before God as a Babel, a confuſion of internal languages; and this in thoſe parts of worſhip which are in the right uſe moſt agreeable to God; profitable for our ſelves; ruinous to the Kingdom of Sin and Satan, and means to bring us into a cloſer communion with the Divine Majeſty: Can this be a ſpiritual worſhip?
3. How do we act our graces in worſhip? Though the Inſtrument be ſtrung, if the ſtr…ngs be not wound up, what melody can be the iſſue? All readineſs and alacrity diſcover a ſtrength of nature, and a readineſs in Spirituals, diſcovers a ſpirituality in the heart. As unaffecting thoughts of God are not ſpiritual thoughts; ſo unaffecting addreſſes to God, are not ſpiritual addreſſes. Well t…en, what awakenings, and elevations of Faith and Love have we? What ſtrong outflowings of our Souls to him? What indignation againſt Sin? What admirations of redeeming Grace? How low have we brought our corruptions to the foot-ſtool of Chriſt, to be made his conquered Enemies? How ſtraitly have we claſpt ou… Faith about the Croſs and Throne of Chriſt, to become his intimate Spouſe? Do we in hearing hang upon the lips of Chriſt; in prayer take hold of God, and wil not let him go; in confeſſions rent the Caul of our hearts, and indite our Souls before him with a deep humility? Do we act more by a ſoaring love than a drooping fear? So far as our Spitits are ſervile, ſo far they are legal and carnal; ſo much as they are free and ſpontaneous, ſo much they are evangelical and ſpiritual. As men under the Law are ſubject to the conſtraint of Bondage *Heb. 2.15.all their life-time, in all their worſhip: ſo under the Goſpel they are under a conſtraint of love*2 Cor. 5.14: How then are believing affections exerciſed, which are alway accompanied with holy fear, a fear of his goodneſs that admits us into his preſence, and a fear to offend him in our act of worſhip? So much as we have of forced or feeble affection, ſo much we have of carnality.
4. How do we find our hearts after worſhip? By an after carriage, we may judge of the ſpirituality of it.
1. How are we as to inward ſtrength? When a worſhip is ſpiritually performed, grace is more ſtrengthened, corruption more mortified: The Soul, like Sampſon after his awakening, goes out with a renewed ſtrength: As the inward man is renewed day by day, that is, every day; ſo it is renewed in every worſhip. Every ſhower makes the graſs and fruit grow in good ground where the root is good, and the weeds where the ground is naught: The more prepared the heart is to obedience in other duties after worſhip, the more evidence there is that it hath been ſpiritual in the exerciſe of it. 'Tis the end of God in every diſpenſation, as in that of John Baptiſt, To make ready a People prepared for the Lord *Luke 1 17.. When the heart is by worſhip prepared for freſh acts of obedience, and hath a more exact watchfulneſs againſt the incroachments of Sin. As carnal men after worſhip ſprout up in ſpiritual wickedneſs; ſo do ſpiritual Worſhippers in ſpiritual graces: Spiritual fruits, are a ſign of a ſpiritual frame. When men are more prone to ſin after duty, 'tis a ſign there was but little communion with God in it, and a greater ſtrength of ſin, becauſe ſuch an act is contrary to the end of worſhip, which is the ſubduing of Sin. 'Tis a ſign the Phyſick hath wrought well, when the ſtomach hath a better appetite to its appointed food; and worſhip hath been well performed, when we have a ſtronger inclination to other acts well pleaſing to God, and a more ſenſible diſtaſte of thoſe temptations we too much reliſht before. 'Tis a ſign of a good Concoction, when there is a greater ſtrength in the vitals of Religion, a more eager deſire to know God. When Moſes had been praying to God, and prevailed with him; he puts up a higher requeſt, to behold his Glory *Exod. 33.13, 18.. When the appetite ſtands ſtrong to fuller diſcoveries of God, it is a ſign there hath been a ſpiritual converſe with him.
2. How is it eſpecially as to humility? The Phariſees worſhip was without diſpute, carnal; and we find them not more humble after all their devotions, but over-grown with more weeds of ſpiritual pride; they performed them as their righteouſneſs. What men dare plead before God in his day, they plead before him in their hearts, in their day; but this men will do at the day of Judgement, we have propheſied in thy Name, &c. Mat. 7.21. They ſhew what tincture their ſervices left upon their Spirits: That which excludes them from any acceptation at the laſt day, excludes them from any eſtimation of being ſpiritual in this day. The carnal Worſhippers charge God with Injuſtice in not rewarding them, and claim an acceptation as a compenſation due to them, Iſa. 58.3. Wherefore have we afflicted our Souls, and thou takeſt no knowledge? A ſpiritual Worſhipper looks upon his duties with ſhame, as well as he doth upon his ſins with confuſion, and implores the mercy of God for the one as well as the other. In the 143 Pſalm v. 2. the Prophet David after his ſupplications, begs of God not to enter into Judgment with him, and acknowledges any anſwer that God ſhould give him, as a fruit of his faithfulneſs to his promiſe, and not the merit of his worſhip.*Pſal. 143.2. In thy Faithfulneſs anſwer me, &c. Whatſoever ſprings from a gracious Principle, and is the breath of the Spirit, leaves a man more humble; whereas that which proceeds from a ſtock of nature, hath the true blood of nature running in the veins of it, viz. that pride which is naturally derived from Acam. The breathing of the Divine Spirit is in every thing to conform us to our Redeemer; that being the main work of his Office, is his work in every particular Chriſtian-act influenced by him. Now Jeſus Chriſt in all his actions was an exact Pattern of Humility. After the inſtitution and celebration of the Supper, a ſpecial act of worſhip in the Church; though he had a ſenſe of all the Authority his Father had given him, yet he humbles himſelf to waſh his Diſciples feet *John 13.2, 3, 4: And after his ſublime Prayer, John 17. He humbles himſelf to the death, and offers himſelf to his Murderers, becauſe of his Fathers pleaſure, John 18.1. When he had ſpoken thoſe words, he w…nt over the Brook Kedron into the Garden. What is the end of God in appointing worſhip, is the end of a ſpiritual heart in offering it; not his own exaltation but Gods glory: Glorifying the name of God, is the fruit of that Evangelical-worſhip the Gentiles were in time to give to God, Pſal. 86.9. All Nations which thou haſt made, ſhall come and worſhip before thee oh Lord, and ſhall glorifie thy Name. Let us examin then what debaſing our ſelves there is in a ſenſe of our own vileneſs, and diſtance from ſo glorious a Spirit. Self-denial is the heart of all Goſpel-grace. Evangelical Spiritual-worſhip cannot be without the ingredient of the main Evangelical Principle.
3. What delight is there after it? What pleaſure is there, and what is the Object of that pleaſure? Is it Communion the we have had with God, or a Fluency in our ſelves: Is it ſomething which hath touched our hearts, or tickled our fancies? As the ſtrength of ſin is known by the delightful thoughts of it after the commiſſion; ſo is the ſpirituality of duty, by the object of our delightful remembrance after the performance. It was a ſign David was ſpiritual in the worſhip of God in the Tabernacle, when he enjoyed it, becauſe he longed for the ſpiritual part of it, when he was exil'd from it: His deſires were not only for Liberty to reviſit the Tabernacle, but to ſee the power and glory of God in the Sanctuary, as he had ſeen it before*Pſal. 63.2.: His deſires for it could not have been ſo ardent, if his reflection upon what had paſt, had not been delightful; nor could his Soul be poured out in him for the want of ſuch opportunities, if the remembrance of the converſe he had had with God, had not been accompanied with a delightful reliſh*Pſal. 42.4..
Let us examin what delight we find in our ſpirits after worſhip.
Ʋſe 3. Is of comfort. And 'tis very comfortable to conſider, that the ſmalleſt worſhip with the Heart and Spirit, flowing from a principle of grace, is more acceptable than the moſt pompous veneration; yea, if the oblation were as precious as the whole Circuit of Heaven and Earth without it. That God that values a Cup of Cold water given to any as his Diſciple, will value a ſincere ſervice above a coſtly Sacrifice. God hath his eye upon them that honour his nature; He would not ſeek ſuch to worſhip him, if he did not intend to accept ſuch a worſhip from them: When we therefore invoke him, and praiſe him, which are the prime parts of Religion; he will receive it as a ſweet favour from us, and overlook infirmities mixed with the graces.
The great matter of diſcomfort, and that which makes us queſtion the ſpirituality of worſhip, is the many ſtarts of our Spirits, and rovings to other things.
For anſwer to which,
1. 'Tis to be confeſt, that theſe ſtarts are natural to us. Who is free from them? We bear in our own boſoms a neſt of turbulent thoughts, which like buſie Gnatts will be buzzing about us, while we are in our moſt inward and ſpiritual converſes. Many wild beaſts lurk in a mans heart, as in a cloſe and covert wood, and ſcarce diſcover themſelves, but at our ſolemn worſhip.
No duty ſo holy, No worſhip ſo ſpiritual, that can wholly priviledge us from them: They will jogg us in our moſt weighty employments, that, as God ſaid to Cain, ſin lyes at the door, and enters in, and makes a riot in our Souls. As it is ſaid of wicked men, they cannot ſleep for multitude of thoughts*Eccleſ. 5.12.; ſo it may be of many a good man; he cannot worſhip for multitude of thoughts: There will be ſtarts, and more in our Religious, than natural imployments; 'tis natural to man: Some therefore think, the Bells tied to Aarons Garments between the Pomegranates, were to warn the People, and recall their fugitive minds to the preſent ſervice when they heard the ſound of them, upon the leaſt motion of the High prieſt. The Sacrifice of Abraham, the Father of the Faithful, was not exempt from the Fouls pecking at it.*Gen. 15.11. Zechariah himſelf was drowſie in the midſt of his Viſions, which being more amazing, might cauſe a heavenly intentneſs*, Zech. 4.1. The Angel that talked with me, came again and awaked me, as a man is awaked out of ſleep. He had been rouzed up before, but he was ready to drop down again; his heart was gone, till the Angel jogged him. We may complain of ſuch imaginations, as Jerem. doth of the Enemies of the Jews*Lam. 4.19.. Our Perſecutors are ſwifter than Eagles; they light upon us with as much ſpeed, as Eagles upon a Carcaſs; they purſue us upon the Mountain of Divine inſtitutions, and they lay wait for us in the Wilderneſs, in our retired addreſſes to God.
And this will be ſo while,
1. There is natural corruption in us. There are in a Godly man two contrary principles, Fleſh and Spirit, which endeavour to hinder one anothers acts, and are alway ſtirring upon the offenſive or defenſive part*Gal. 5.17.. There is a body of death continually exhaling its noyſom vapours; 'Tis a body of death in our worſhip, as well as in our natures; it ſnaps our reſolutions aſunder*Rom. 7.19.; it hinders us in the doing good, and contradicts our wills in the ſtirring up evil: This corruption being ſeated in all the faculties, and a conſtant Domeſtick in them, has the greater opportunity to trouble us, ſince it is by thoſe faculties that we ſpiritually tranſact with God; and it ſtirs more in the time of religious exerciſes, though it be in part mortified: As a wounded Beaſt though tired, will rage and ſtrive to its utmoſt, when the Enemy is about to fetch a blow at it. All duties of worſhip tend to the wounding of corruption; and it is no wonder to feel the ſtriving of ſin, to defend it ſelf, and offend us when we have our Arms in our hands to mortifie it, that the blow may be diverted which is directed againſt it.
The Apoſtles had aſpiring thoughts; and being perſwaded of an earthly Kingdom, expected a Grandeur in it: And though we find ſome appearance of it at other times; as when they were caſting out Devils, and gave an account of it to their Maſter, he gives them a kind of a check*Luke 10.20, intimating that there was ſome kind of evil in their rejoycing upon that account: Yet this never ſwelled ſo high, as to break out into a quarrel who ſhould be greateſt,*Luke 22.24 until they had the moſt ſolemn Ordinance, the Lords Supper to quell it*. Our corruption is like Lime, which diſcovers not its fire by any ſmoke or heat, till you caſt water, the Enemy of fire, upon it: Neither doth our natural corruption rage ſo much, as when we are uſing means to quench and deſtroy it.
2. While there is a Devil, and we in his Precinct, As he accuſeth us to God, ſo he diſturbs us in our ſelves: He is a bold Spirit, and loves to intrude himſelf when we are converſing with God: We read, that when the Angels preſented themſelves before God, Satan comes among them*Job. 1.6.. Motions from Satan will thruſt themſelves in with our moſt raiſed and Angelical frames; He loves to take off the edge of our Spirits from God; He acts but after the old rate; He from the firſt envied God an obedience from man, and envied man the felicity of communion with God; He is unwilling God ſhould have the honour of worſhip, and that we ſhould have the fruit of it; He hath himſelf loſt it, and therefore is unwilling we ſhould enjoy it; and being ſubtil, he knows how to make impreſſions upon us ſutable to our inbred corruptions, and aſſault us in the weakeſt part: He knows all the avenues to get within us, (as he did in the temptation of Eve) and being a Spirit, he wants not a power to dart them immediatly upon our fancy; And being a Spirit, and therefore active and nimble, he can ſhoot thoſe darts faſter than our weakneſs can beat them off: He is diligent alſo, and watcheth for his Prey, and ſeeks to devour our ſervices as well as our Souls, and ſnatch our beſt morſels from us: We know he mixed himſelf with our Saviours retirements in the Wilderneſs, and endeavoured to Fly-blow his holy converſe with his Father in the preparation to his mediatory work.
Satan is Gods Ape, and imitates the Spirit in the Office of a Remembrancer: As the Spirit brings good thoughts and divine promiſes to mind, to quicken our worſhip; ſo the Devil brings evil things to mind, and endeavours to faſten them in our Souls to diſturb us: And though all the fooliſh ſtarts we have in worſhip are not purely his iſſue; yet being of kin to him, he claps his hands, and ſets them on like ſo many Maſtives to tear the ſervice in pieces.
And both thoſe diſtractions which ariſe from our own corruption, and from Satan, are moſt riſe in worſhip, when we are under ſome preſſing affliction. This ſeems to be David's Caſe, Pſal. 86. when in v. 11. He prays God to unite his heart to fear and worſhip his Name; he ſeems to be under ſome affliction, or fear of his Enemies; Oh free me from thoſe diſtractions of Spirit, and thoſe paſſions which ariſe in my Soul, upon conſidering the deſigns of my enemies againſt me, and preſs upon me in my addreſſes to thee, and attendances on thee. Job alſo in his affliction complains, Job. 17.11. That his purpoſes were broken off: He could not make an even thread of thoughts and reſolutions; they were frequently ſnapt ſaunder, like rotten Yarn when one is winding it up.
Good Men and ſpiritual Worſhippers have lain under this trouble: Though they are a ſign of weakneſs of grace, or ſome obſtructions in the acting of ſtrong grace; yet they are not alway evidences of a want of grace: What ariſeth from our own corruption, is to be matter of humiliation and reſiſtance; what ariſeth from Satan, ſhould edge our minds to a noble conqueſt of them. If the Apoſtle did comfort himſelf with his diſapproving of what roſe from the natural ſpring of ſin within him, with his conſent to the Law, and diſſent from his Luſt; and charges it not upon himſelf, but upon the ſin that dwelt in him, with which he had broken off the former League, and was reſolved never to enter into Amity with it: By the ſame reaſon we may comfort our ſelves, if ſuch thoughts are undelighted in, and alienate not our hearts from the worſhip of God by all their buſie intruſions to interrupt us.
2. Theſe diſtractions (not allowed) may be occaſions by an holy improvement to make our hearts more ſpiritual after worſhip, though they diſturb us in it: By anſwering thoſe ends for which we may ſuppoſe God permits them to invade us. And that is,
1. When they are occaſions to humble us.
(1.) For our carriage in the particular worſhip. There is nothing ſo dangerous as ſpiritual pride; It deprived Devils and Men of the preſence of God, and will hinder us of the influence of God. If we had had raiſed and uninterrupted motions in worſhip, we ſhould be apt to be lifted up; and the Devil ſtands ready to tempt us to ſelf-confidence. You know how it was with Paul *2 Cor. 12. from v. 1. to v. 7.; His buffetings were occaſions to render him more ſpiritual than his raptures, becauſe more humble. God ſuffers thoſe wandrings, ſtarts and diſtractions to prevent our ſpiritual pride, which is as a Worm at the root of ſpiritual worſhip, and mind us of the duſty frame of our Spirits, how eaſily they are blown away: As he ſends ſickneſs to put us in mind of the ſhortneſs of our breath, and the eaſineſs to loſe it. God would make us aſhamed of our ſelves in his preſence; that we may own, that what is good in any duty, is meerly from his Grace and Spirit, and not from our ſelves. That with Paul we may cry out, by Grace we are what we are, and by Grace we do what we do: We may be hereby made ſenſible, that God can alway find ſomething in our exacteſt worſhip, as a ground of denying us the ſucceſsful fruit of it. If we cannot ſtand upon our duties for Salvation, what can we bottom upon in our ſelves? If therefore they are occaſions to make us out of love with any righteouſneſs of our own, to make us break our hearts for them, becauſe we cannot keep them out; If we mourn for them as our ſins, and count them our great afflictions; we have attained that brokeneſs which is a choice ingredient in a ſpiritual Sacrifice: Though we have been diſturbed by them, yet we are not robbed of the ſucceſs; we may behold an anſwer of our worſhip in our humiliation, in ſpite of all of them.
(2.) For the baſeneſs of our Nature. Theſe unſteady motions help us to diſcern that heap of vermin that breeds in our nature. Would any man think he had ſuch an averſeneſs to his Creator and Benefactor; ſuch an unſutableneſs to him; ſuch an eſtrangedneſs from him, were it not for his inſpection into his diſtracted frames? God ſuffers this to hang over us as a Rod of Correction, to diſcover and fetch out the folly of our hearts. Could we imagin our natures ſo highly contrary to that God who is ſo infinitely amiable, ſo deſirable an Object; or that there ſhould be ſo much folly and madneſs in the heart, as to draw back from God in thoſe ſervices, which God hath appointed as pipes through which to communicate his grace, to convey himſelf, his love and goodneſs to the Creature? If therefore we have a deep ſenſe of, and ſtrong reflections upon our baſe nature, and bewail that maſs of averſneſs which lies there, and that fulneſs of irreverence towards the God of our mercies, the Object of our worſhip; 'tis a bleſſed improvement of our wandrings and diverſions. Certainly if any Iſraelite had brought a lame and rotten Lamb to be ſacrificed to God, and afterward had bewailed it, and laid open his heart to God in a ſenſible and humble confeſſion of it; That Repentance had been a better Sacrifice, and more acceptable in the ſight of God; than if he had brought a ſound and a living Offering.
(2.) When they are occaſions to make us prize duties of worſhip: When we argue, as rationally we may, that they are of ſingular uſe; ſince our corrupt hearts and a malicious Devil doth chiefly endeavour to hinder us from them: And that we find we have not thoſe gadding thoughts when we are upon worldly buſineſs, or upon any ſinful deſign which may diſhonour God and wound our Souls: This is a ſign Sin and Satan diſlike worſhip; for he is too ſubtle a Spirit to oppoſe that which would further his Kingdom. As it is an argument the Scripture is the Word of God, becauſe the wickedneſs of the world doth ſo much oppoſe it; ſo it is a ground to believe the profitableneſs and excellency of worſhip, becauſe Satan and our own unruly hearts do ſo much interrupt us in it: If therefore we make this uſe of our croſs ſteps in worſhip, to have a greater value for ſuch duties, more affections to them and deſires to be frequent in them: Our hearts are growing ſpiritual, under the weights that would depreſs them to carnality.
(3.) When we take a riſe from hence, to have heavenly admirations of the graciouſneſs of God. That he ſhould pity and pardon ſo many ſlight addreſſes to him, and give any gracious returns to us. Though men have fooliſh rangings every day, and in every duty; yet free grace is ſo tender as not to puniſh them, Gen. 8.21. And the Lord ſmelt a ſweet ſavour; and the Lord ſaid in his heart, I will not curſe the Ground for mans ſake, for the imagination of mans heart is evil from his youth. 'Tis obſervable, that this was juſt after a Sacrifice which Noah offered to God, v. 20. But probably not without infirmities common to human nature, which may be grounded upon the reaſon God gives; that though he had deſtroyed the Earth before, becauſe of the evil of mans imaginations, Gen. 6.5. He ſtill found evil imaginations; He doth not ſay in the heart of Cham, or others of Noah's Family; but in mans heart, including Noah alſo; who had both the Judgments of God upon the former world, and the mercy of God in his own preſervation before his eyes; yet God ſawevil imaginations rooted in the nature of Man; and though it were ſo, yet he would be merciful: If therefore we can, after finding our hearts ſo vagrant in worſhip, have real frames of thankfulneſs that God hath ſpared us; and be hightned in our admirations at Gods giving us any fruit of ſuch a diſtracted worſhip; we take advantage from them, to be raiſed into an Evangelical frame, which conſiſts in the humble acknowledgments of the grace of God. When David takes a review of thoſe tumultuous paſſions which had rufled his mind, and poſſeſſed him with unbelieving notions of God in the perſons of his Prophets *Pſal. 116.11.; how high doth his Soul mount in aſtoniſhment and thankfulneſs to God for his mercy *verſe 12.? Notwithſtanding his diſtruſt, God did graciouſly perform his promiſe, and anſwer his deſire; Then it is what ſhall I render to the Lord? His heart was more affected for it, becauſe it had been ſo paſſionate in former diſtruſts. 'Tis indeed a ground of wondring at the patience of the Spirit of God, that he ſhould guide our hearts when they are ſo apt to ſtart out; as it is the patience of a Maſter to guide the hand of his Scholar, while he mixes his writing with many blots. 'Tis not one or two infirmities the Spirit helps us in, and helps over, but many *Rom. 8.26.. 'Tis a ſign of a ſpiritual heart, when he can take a riſe to bleſs God for the renewing and blowing up his affections, in the midſt of ſo many incurſions from Satan to the contrary, and the readineſs of the heart too much to comply with them.
(4.) When we take occaſion from thence to prize the mediation of Chriſt. The more diſtractions jogg us, the more need we ſhould ſee of going out to a Saviour by Faith. One part of our Saviours Office is to ſtand between us and the infirmities of our worſhip: As he is an Advocate, he preſents our ſervices, and pleads for them and us*1 John. 2.1.; for the ſins of our duties, as well as for our other ſins. Jeſus Chriſt is an High-prieſt, appointed by God to take away the iniquities of our holy things, which was typified by Aarons Plate upon his Mitre*Exod. 28.36, 38.. Were there no imperfections, were there no creeping up of thoſe Froggs into our minds, we ſhould think our worſhip might merit acceptance with God upon its own account: But if we behold our own weakneſs, that not a tear, a groan, a ſigh is ſo pure, but muſt have Chriſt to make it entertainable; that there is no worſhip without thoſe blemiſhes; and upon this, throw all our ſervices into the Arms of Chriſt for acceptance, and ſollicite him to put his merits in the front, to make our ciphers appear valuable; 'tis a ſpiritual act, the deſign of God in the Goſpel being to advance the honour and mediation of his Son. That is a ſpiritual and evangelical act, which anſwers the evangelical deſign. The deſign of Satan and our own corruption is defeated, when thoſe interruptions make us run ſwifter, and take faſter hold on the High-prieſt who is to preſent our worſhip to God, and our own Souls receive comfort thereby. Chriſt had temptations offered to him by the Devil in his Wilderneſs retirement; that from an experimental knowledge, he might be able more compaſſionatly to ſuccour us *Heb. 2.18.; we have ſuch aſſaults in our retir'd worſhip eſpecially, that we may be able more highly to value him and his mediation.
3. Let us not therefore be diſcouraged by thoſe interruptions and ſtarts of our hearts.
(1.) If we find in our ſelves a ſtrong reſiſtance of them. The Fleſh will be luſting; that cannot be hindered; yet if we do not fulfil the luſts of it, riſe up at its command and go about its work, we may be ſaid to walk in the Spirit*Gal. 5.16, 17.: We walk in the Spirit, if we fulfil not the luſts of the Fleſh, though there be a luſting of the Fleſh againſt the Spirit: So we worſhip in the Spirit, though there be carnal thoughts ariſing, if we do not fulfil them; though the ſtirring of them diſcovers ſome contrariety in us to God, yet the reſiſtance manifeſts, that there is a principle of contrariety in us to them; that as there is ſomething of Fleſh that luſts againſt the Spirit, ſo there is ſomething of Spirit in worſhip which luſts againſt the Fleſh: We muſt take heed of omitting worſhip, becauſe of ſuch in-rodes; and lying down in the mire of a total neglect. If our Spirits are made more lively and vigorous againſt them; If thoſe cold vapours which have riſen from our hearts, make us like a Spring in the midſt of the cold Earth, more warm: There is in this caſe more reaſon for us to bleſs God, than to be diſcouraged. God looks upon it as the diſeaſe, not the wilfulneſs of our nature; as the weakneſs of the Fleſh, not the willingneſs of the Spirit. If we would ſhut the door upon them, it ſeems they are unwelcome company: Men do not uſe to lock their doors upon thoſe they love; If they break in and diſturb us with their impertinencies, we need not be diſcomforted, unleſs we give them a ſhare in our affections, and turn our back upon God to entertain them: If their preſence makes us ſad, their flight would make us joyful.
(2.) If we find our ſelves excited to a ſtricter watch over our hearts againſt them. As Travellers will be careful when they come to places where they have been rob'd before, that they be not ſo eaſily ſurprized again. We ſhould not only lament when we have had ſuch fooliſh imaginations in worſhip breaking in upon us, but alſo bleſs God that we have had no more, ſince we have hearts ſo fruitful of weeds. We ſhould give God the glory when we find our hearts preſerved from theſe intruders, and not boaſt of our ſelves, but return him our praiſe for the watch and guard he kept over us to preſerve us from ſuch Thieves.
Let us not be diſcomforted; for as the greatneſs of our ſins, upon our turning to God is no hinderance to our juſtification, becauſe it doth not depend upon our converſion as the meritorious cauſe, but upon the infinite value of our Saviours ſatisfaction, which reaches the greateſt ſins as well as the leaſt; ſo the multitude of our bewail'd diſtractions in worſhip are not a hinderance to our acceptation, becauſe of the uncontroulable power of Chriſts interceſſion.
Ʋſe 3. Is for exhortation. Since Spiritual worſhip is due to God, and the Father ſeeks ſuch to worſhip him, how much ſhould we endeavour to ſatisfie the deſire and order of God, and act conformable to the Law of our Creation and the love of Redemption? Our end muſt be the ſame in worſhip which was Gods end in Creation and Redemption; to glorifie his name, ſet forth his perfections, and be rendred fit as Creatures and Redeemed ones to partake of that grace which is the fruit of worſhip. An Evangelical diſpenſation requires a Spiritual homage; to neglect therefore either the matter or manner of Goſpel duties, is to put a ſlight upon Goſpel priviledges. The manner of duty is ever of more value than the matter; the Scarlet dye is more precious than the cloth tinctured with it. God reſpects more the dipoſition of the Sacrificer than the multitude of the Sacrifices *foreign … Abſtinentia.. The Solemn feaſts appointed by God, were but Dung, as managed by the Jews, M…. 2.3. The heart is often welcome without the body, but the body never gra… ful without the heart; The inward acts of the Spirit require nothing from without to conſtitute them good in themſelves; but the outward acts of devotion require inward acts to render them ſavory to God. As the goodneſs of outward acts conſiſts not in the acts themſelves, ſo the acceptableneſs of them reſults not from the acts themſelves, but from the inward frame animating and quickning thoſe acts, as blood and Spirits running through the veins of a duty to make it a living ſervice in the ſight of God. Imperfections in worſhip hinder not Gods acceptation of it, if the heart Spirited by Grace be there to make it a ſweet Savour. The ſtench of burning fleſh and fat in the legal Sacrifices might render them noyſome to the outward ſenſes; but God ſmelt a ſweet ſavour in them, as they reſpected Chriſt. When the heart and Spirit are offered up to God, it may be a ſavory duty, though attended with unſavory imperfections. But a thouſand Sacrifices without a ſtamp of faith, a thouſand Spiritual duties with an habitual carnality, are no better than ſtench with God.
The heart muſt be purged, as well as the Temple was by our Saviour, of the Thieves that would rob God of his due worſhip. Antiquity had ſome Temples, wherein it was a crime to bring any gold; therefore thoſe that came to worſhip laid their gold aſide, before they went into the Temple. We ſhould lay aſide our worldly and trading thoughts before we addreſs to worſhip, Iſa. 26.9. With my Spirit within me will I ſeek thee early. Let not our minds be gadding abroad, and exil'd from God and themſelves. It will be thus when the deſire of our Soul is to his name and the remembrance of him, ver. 8. When he hath given ſo great and admirable a gift, as that of his Son, in whom are all things neceſſary to Salvation, Righteouſneſs, Peace, and pardon of ſin, we ſhould manage the remembrance of his name in worſhip with the cloſeſt unitedneſs of heart, and the moſt Spiritual affections. The motion of the Spirit is the firſt act in Religion, to this we are obliged in every act: The Devil requires the Spirit of his votaries; ſhould God have a leſs dedication than the Devil?
Motives to back this exhortation.
1. Not to give God our Spirit is a great ſin. Tis a mockery of God, not worſhip; contempt, not adoration, whatever our outward fervency or proteſtations may be*N…n valet pr… teſtatio c…ntra jactum is a rule in the civil law.. Every alienation of our hearts from him is a real ſcorn put upon him: The acts of the Soul are real, and more the acts of the man than the acts of the body; becauſe they are the acts of the choiceſt part of man, and of that which is the firſt ſpring of all bodily motions; 'tis the foreign the Inrenal ſpeech whereby we muſt ſpeak with God: To give him therefore, only an external form of worſhip without the life of it, is a taking his name in vain: We mock him, when we mind not what we are ſpeaking to him, or what he is ſpeaking to us; when the motions of our hearts are contrary to the motions of our tongues; when we do any thing before him ſlovenly, impudently or raſhly. As in a Lutiniſi, it is abſurd to ſing one Tune and play another; ſo it is a foul thing, to tell God one thing with our lips, and think another thing with our hearts; 'tis a ſin like that the Apoſtle chargeth the Heathens with, Rom. 1.28. they like not to retain God in their knowledge; their ſtomachs are ſick while they are upon any duty, and never leave working, till they have thrown up all the ſpiritual part of Worſhip, and rid themſelves of the thoughts of God, which are as unwelcome and troubleſome Gueſts to them: When men behave themſelves in the ſight of God, as if God were not God; they do not only defame him, but deny him, and violate the unchangeable perfections of the Divine Nature.
(1.) 'Tis againſt the Majeſty of God. When we have not awful thoughts of that great Majeſty to whom we addreſs; when our Souls cleave not to him, when we petition him in Prayer, or when he gives out his Orders to us in his Word. 'Tis a contempt of the Majeſty of a Prince, if whiles he is ſpeaking to us, we liſten not to him with reverence and attention, but turn our backs on him, to play with one of his Hounds, or talk with a Begger; or while we ſpeak to him, to rake in a Dunghill. Solomon adviſeth us to keep our foot when we go to the Houſe of God *Eccleſ. 5.1.. Our affections ſhould be ſteady, and not ſlip away again; why? v. 2. becauſe God is in Heaven, &c. He is a God of Majeſty; earthly durty frames are unſutable to the God of Heaven; low Spirits are unſutable to the moſt High. We would not bring our mean Servants, or durty Dogs into a Princes Preſence Chamber; yet we bring not only our worldly, but our prophane affections into Gods preſence: We give in this caſe, thoſe ſervices to God, which our Governour would think unworthy of him*Mal. 1.8.. The more excellent and glorious God is, the greater contempt of him it is to ſuffer ſuch fooliſh affections to be Competitors with him for our hearts: 'Tis a ſcorn put upon him to converſe with a Creature while we are dealing with him; but a greater to converſe in our thoughts and fancies with ſome ſordid luſt, which is moſt hateful to him: And the more aggravation it attracts, in that we are to apprehend him the moſt glorious Object ſitting upon his Throne in time of worſhip, and our ſelves ſtanding as vile Creatures before him, ſupplicating for our lives, and the conveyances of grace and mercy to our Souls: As if a grand Mutineer, inſtead of humbly begging the pardon of his offended Prince, ſhould preſent his Petition not only ſcribled and blotted, but beſmeared with ſome loathſome excrement. 'Tis unbecoming the Majeſty both of God, and the worſhip it ſelf, to preſent him with a Picture inſtead of Subſtance, and bring a world of naſty affections in our hearts, and ridiculous toys in our heads before him, and worſhip with indiſpoſed and heedleſs Souls.
Malac. 1.14. He is a great King, therefore addreſs to him with fear and reverence.
(2.) 'Tis againſt the Life of God. Is a dead worſhip proportioned to a living God? The ſeparation of heavenly affections from our Souls before God, makes them as much a Carcaſs in his ſight, as the divorce of the Soul makes the Body a Carcaſs; When the affections are ſeparated, worſhip is no longer worſhip, but a dead offering, a liveleſs bulk; for the eſſence and ſpirit of worſhip is departed: Though the Soul be preſent with the Body in a way of information, yet it is not preſent in a way of affection, and this is the worſt; for it is not the ſeparation of the Soul from informing, that doth ſeparate a man from God, but the removal of our affections from him. If a man pretend an application to God, and ſleep and ſnore all the time; without queſtion ſuch a one did not worſhip: In a careleſs worſhip, the heart is morally dead while the eyes are open: The heart of the Spouſe *Cant. 5.2.waked whiles her eyes ſlept, and our hearts on the contrary ſleep while our eyes wake.
Our bleſſed Saviour hath died to purge our Conſciences from dead works and frames, that we may ſerve the living God *Heb. 9.14.; to ſerve God as a God of Life Davids Soul cried and fainted for God under this conſideration*Pſal. 42.2.: But to preſent our Bodies without our Spirits, is ſuch a uſage of God, that implies he is a dead Image, not worthy of any but a dead and heartleſs ſervice: Like one of thoſe Idols the Pſalmiſt ſpeaks of*Pſal. 115.5., that have eyes and ſee not, ears and hear not, no life in it: Though it be not an objective Idolatry, becauſe the worſhip is directed to the true God; yet I may call it a ſubjective Idolatry, in regard of the frame, fit only to be preſented to ſome ſenſleſs ſtock. We intimate God to be no better than an Idol, and to have no more knowledge of us and inſight into us, than an Idol can have: If we did believe him to be the living God, we durſt not come before him with ſervices ſo unſutable to him, and reproaches of him.
(3.) 'Tis againſt the infiniteneſs of God. We ſhould worſhip God with thoſe boundleſs affections which bear upon them a Shadow or Image of his Infiniteneſs; ſuch are the deſires of the Soul which know no limits, but ſtart out beyond whatſoever enjoyment the heart of man poſſeſſes. No creeping Creature was to be offered to God in Sacrifice; but ſuch as had leggs to run, or wings to fly: For us to come before God with a light creeping frame, is to worſhip him with the loweſt finite affections; as though any thing though never ſo mean or torn, might ſatisfie an infinite Being; as though a poor ſhallow Creature could give enough to God without giving him the heart, when indeed we cannot give him a worſhip proportionable to his infiniteneſs, did our hearts ſwell as large as Heaven in our deſires for him in every act of our duties.
(4.) 'Tis againſt the ſpirituality of God. God being a Spirit, calls for a worſhip in Spirit; to withold this from him, implies him to be ſome groſs corporeal matter: As a Spirit, he looks for the heart; a wreſtling heart in Prayer; a trembling heart in the Word*Iſa. 66.2.: To bring nothing but the Body when we come to a ſpiritual God to beg ſpiritual benefits, to wait for ſpiritual communications, which can only be diſpenſed to us in a ſpiritual manner, is unſutable to the ſpiritual nature of God: A meer carnal ſervice implicitely denies his ſpirituality, which requires of us higher engagements than meer corporeal ones.
Worſhip ſhould be rational, not an imaginative ſervice, wherein is required the activity of our nobleſt faculties; and our fancy ought to have no ſhare in it, but in ſubſerviency to the more ſpiritual part of our Soul.
(5.) 'Tis againſt the ſupremacy of God. As God is one, and the only Soveraign; ſo our hearts ſhould be one, cleaving wholly to him, and undivided from him: In pretending to deal with him, we acknowledge his Deity and Soveraignty; but in with holding our choiceſt faculties and affections from him, and the ſtarting of our minds to vain Objects, we intimate their equality with God, and their right as well as his to our hearts and affections: 'Tis as if a Princeſs ſhould commit Adultery with ſome baſe Scullion, while ſhe is before her Husband; which would be a plain denial of his ſole right to her. It intimates that other things are ſuperior to God; they are true Soveraigns that ingroſs our hearts. If a man were addreſſing himſelf to a Prince, and ſhould in an inſtant turn his back upon him, upon a beck or nod from ſome inconſiderable perſon; is it not an evidence, that that perſon that invited him away, hath a greater ſoveraignty over him, than that Prince to whom he was applying himſelf? And do we not diſcard Gods abſolute dominion over us, when at the leaſt beck of a corrupt inclination, we can diſpoſe of our hearts to it, and alienate them from God? As they in Ezek. 33.32. left the ſervice of God for the ſervice of their covetouſneſs; which evidenced that they owned the authority of ſin more than the authority of God: This is not to ſerve God as our Lord and abſolute Maſter, but to make God ſerve our turn, and ſubmit his Soveraignity to the Supremacy of ſome unworthy affection. The Creature is preferred before the Creator, when the heart runs moſt upon it in time of religious worſhip, and our own carnal intereſt ſwallows up the affections that are due to God: 'Tis an an Idol ſet up in the heart *Ezek. 14.4.in his ſolemn preſence, and attracts that devotion to it ſelf, which we only owe to our Soveraign Lord; and the more baſe and contemptible that is to which the Spirit is devoted, the more contempt there is of Gods dominion. Judas his kiſs with a hail Maſter, was no act of worſhip, or an owning his Maſters authority; but a deſigning the ſatisfaction of his Covetouſneſs in the betraying of him.
(6.) 'Tis againſt the Wiſdom of God. God as a God of order, has put earthly things in ſubordination to heavenly; and we by this unworthy carriage invert this order, and put heavenly things in ſubordination to earthly; in placing mean and low things in our hearts, and bringing them ſo placed into Gods preſence, which his Wiſdom at the Creation put under our feet. A ſervice without ſpiritual affections, is a ſacrifice of Fools, Eccleſ. 5.1. which have loſt their Brains and Underſtandings: A fooliſh Spirit is very unſutable to an infinitely wiſe God: Well may God ſay of ſuch a one, as Achiſh of David who ſeemed mad; Why have you brought this Fellow to play the Mad-man in my preſence? Shall this Fellow come into my Houſe? 1 Sam. 21.15.
(7.) 'Tis againſt the Omniſciency of God. To carry it fair without and impertinently within, is as though God had not an all-ſeeing eye that could pierce into the heart, and underſtand every motion of the inward faculties; As though God were eaſily cheated with an outward fawning ſervice, like an Apothecaries box with a guilded title, that may be full of Cobwebs within: What is ſuch a carriage, but a deſign to deceive God; when with Herod we pretend to worſhip Chriſt, and intend to murder all the motions of Chriſt in our Souls? A heedleſs Spirit, an eſtrangement of our Souls, a giving the Rains to them to run out from the preſence of God to ſee every Reed ſhaken with the Wind, is to deny him to be the Searcher of hearts, and the Diſcerner of ſecret thoughts; as though he could not look through us to the darkneſs and remoteneſs of our minds, but were an ignorant God, who might be put off with the worſt as well as the beſt in our Flock. If we did really believe there were a God of infinite Knowledge, who ſaw our frames, and whether we came dreſt with Wedding-garments ſutable to the duties we are about to perform; ſhould we be ſo gariſh, and put him off with ſuch trivial ſtuff, without any reverence of his Majeſty?
(8.) 'Tis againſt the Holineſs of God. To alienate our Spirits, is to offend him while we pretend to worſhip him; Though we may be mighty officious in the external part, yet our baſe and carnal affections make all our worſhip but as a heap of Dung; and who would not look upon it as an affront, to lay Dung before a Prince's Throne? Pro. 21.27. The Sacrifice of the Wicked, is an abomination: How much more when he brings it with a wicked mind? A putrified Carcaſs under the Law, had not been ſo great an affront to the Holineſs of God, as a frothy unmelted heart, and a wanton fancy in a time of worſhip. God is ſo holy, that if we could offer the worſhip of Angels, and the quinteſſence of our Souls in his ſervice, it would be beneath his infinite purity: How unworthy then are they of him, when they are preſented not only without the ſenſe of our uncleaneſs, but ſullied with the fumes and exhalations of our corrupt affections, which are as ſo many Plague ſpots upon our duties, contrary to the unſpotted purity of the Divine Nature? Is not this an unworthy conceit of God, and injurious to his infinite Holineſs?
(9.) 'Tis againſt the Love and Kindneſs of God. 'Tis a condeſcenſion in God to admit a piece of Earth to offer up a duty to him, when he hath miriads of Angels to attend him in his Court and celebrate his Praiſe: To admit Man to be an Attendant on him and a Partner with Angels, is a high favour. 'Tis not a ſingle mercy, but a heap of mercies to be admitted into the preſence of God, Pſal. 5.7. I will come into thy houſe in the multitude of thy mercies. When the bleſſed God is ſo kind as to give us acceſs to his Majeſty, do we not undervalue his kindneſs when we deal uncivilly with him, and deny him the choiceſt part of our ſelves? 'Tis a contempt of his Soveraignty, as our Spirits are due to him by nature; a contempt of his Goodneſs, as our Spirits are due to him by gratitude: How abuſive a carriage is it to make uſe of his mercy to encourage our impudence, that ſhould excite our fear and reverence? How unworthy would it be for an indigent Debtor to bring to his indulgent Creditor, an empty Purſe inſtead of Payment? When God holds out his Golden Scepter to encourage our approaches to him; ſtands ready to give us the pardon of ſin and full felicity, the beſt things he hath; Is it a fit requital of his kindneſs, to give him a formal outſide only, a ſhadow of Religion; to have the heart overſwayed with other thoughts and affections; as if all his profers were ſo contemptible, as to deſerve only a ſlight at our hands? 'Tis a contempt of the love and kindneſs of God.
(10.) 'Tis againſt the Sufficiency and Fullneſs of God. When we give God our Bodies and the Creature our Spirits, it intimates a conceit, that there is more content to be had in the Creature than in God bleſſed for ever; that the waters in the Ciſtern are ſweeter than thoſe in the Fountain: Is not this a practical giving God the Lye, and denying thoſe promiſes wherein he hath declared the ſatisfaction he can give to the Spirit, as he is the God of the Spirits of all Fleſh?
If we did imagin the excellency and lovelineſs of God were worthy to be the ultimate Object of our affections, the heart would attend more cloſely upon him, and be terminated in him; did we believe God to be all ſufficient, full of grace and goodneſs, a tender Father, not willing to forſake his own; willing, as well as able to ſupply their wants; the heart would not ſo lamely attend upon him, and would not upon every impertinency be diverted from him. There is much of a wrong notion of God, and a predominancy of the world above him in the heart, when we can more ſavourly reliſh the thoughts of low inferior things than heavenly, and let our Spirits upon every trifling occaſion be fugitives from him: 'Tis a teſtimony that we make not God our chiefeſt good. If apprehenſions of his excellency did poſſeſs our Souls, they would be faſtned on him, glued to him; we ſhould not liſten to that rabble of fooliſh thoughts that ſteal our hearts ſo often from him. Were our breathings after God as ſtrong as the pantings of the Hart after the water Brooks, we ſhould be like that Creature; not diverted in our Courſe by every Puddle. Were God the predominant ſatisfactory Object in our eye, he would carry our whole Soul along with him.
When our Spirits readily retreat from God in worſhip upon every giddy motion, 'tis a kind of repentance that ever we did come near him, and implies, that there is a fuller ſatisfaction, and more attractive excellency in that which doth ſo eaſily divert us, than in that God to whoſe worſhip we did pretend to addreſs our ſelves: 'Tis as if, when we were petitioning a Prince, we ſhould immediately turn about, and make requeſt to one of his Guard; as though ſo mean a perſon were more able to give us the boon we want, than the Soveraign is.
2. Conſideration by way of motive. To have our Spirits off from God in worſhip, is a bad ſign. It was not ſo in Innocence. The heart of Adam could cleave to God; the Law of God was engraven upon him; he could apply himſelf to the fulfilling of it without any twinkling; there was no folly and vanity in his mind, no independency in his thoughts, no duty was his burden; for there was in him a proneneſs to, and delight in all the duties of worſhip: 'Tis the Fall hath diſtempered us; and the more unwieldineſs there is in our Spirits, the more carnal our affections are in worſhip, the more evidence there is of the ſtrength of that revolted ſtate.
(1.) It argues much corruption in the heart. As by the eructations of the Stomach, we may judge of the windineſs and foulneſs of it; ſo by the inordinate motions of our minds and hearts, we may judge of the weakneſs of its complexion. A ſtrength of ſin is evidenced by the eruptions and ebullitions of it in worſhip, when they are more ſudden, numerous, and vigorous than the motions of grace. When the heart is apt like tinder to catch fire from Satan, 'tis a ſign of much combuſtible matter ſutable to his temptation. Were not corruption ſtrong, the Soul could not turn ſo eaſily from God when it is in his preſence, and hath an advantagious opportunity to create a fear and aw of God in it: Such baſe fruit could not ſprout up ſo ſuddenly, were there not much ſap and juice in the root of ſin.
What communion with a living root can be evidenced without exerciſes of an inward life? That Spirit which is a Well of living waters in a gracious heart, will be eſpecially ſpringing up when it is before God.
(2.) It ſhews much affection to earthly things, and little to heavenly. There muſt needs be an inordinate affection to earthly things, when upon every ſlight ſollicitation we can part with God, and turn the back upon a ſervice glorious for him, and advantagious for our ſelves, to wedd our hearts to ſome idle fancy that ſignifies nothing. How can we be ſaid to entertain God in our affections, when we give him not the precedency in our underſtandings, but let every trifle juſtle the ſenſe of God out of our minds? Were our hearts fully determined to ſpiritual things, ſuch vanities could not ſeat themſelves in our underſtandings, and divide our Spirits from God. Were our hearts ballanced with a love to God, the world could never ſteal our hearts ſo much from his worſhip, but his worſhip would draw our hearts to it.
It ſhews a baſe neutrality in the greateſt concernments; a halting between God and Baal; a contrariety between Affection and Conſcience, when natural Conſcience preſſes a man to duties of worſhip, and his other affections pull him back, draw him to carnal objects, and make him ſlight that whereby he may honour God. God argues the prophaneſs of the Jews hearts from the wickedneſs they brought into his houſe, and acted there, Jer. 23.11. Yea, in my houſe, that is, my worſhip, I found their wickedneſs, ſaith the Lord. Carnality in worſhip is a kind of an Idolatrous frame; when the heart is renewed, Idols are caſt to the Moles and the Batts Iſa. 2.20.
(3.) It ſhews much hypocriſie to have our Spirits off from God. The mouth ſpeaks, and the carriage pretends what the heart doth not think; there is a diſſent of the heart from the pretence of the body.
Inſtability is a ſure ſign of Hypocriſie. Double thoughts argue a double heart. The Wicked are compared to Chaff *Pſal. 1.4., for the uncertain and various motions of their minds, by the leaſt wind of fancy. The leaſt motion of a carnal Object diverts the Spirit from God, as the ſcent of Carrion doth the Raven from the flight it was ſet upon.
The People of God are called Gods Spouſe, and God calls himſelf their Husband; whereby is noted, the moſt intimate union of the Soul with God, and that there ought to be the higheſt love and affection to him, and faithfulneſs in his worſhip; but when the heart doth ſtart from him in worſhip, it is a ſign of the unſtedfaſtneſs of it with God, and a diſreliſh of any communion with him; It is as God complains of the Iſraelites, a going a whoreing after our own imaginations.
As grace reſpects God as the object of worſhip, ſo it looks moſt upon God in approaching to him. Where there is a likeneſs and love, there is a deſire of converſe and intimacy; if there be no ſpiritual entwining about God in our worſhip, it is a ſign there is no likeneſs to him, no true ſenſe of him, no renewed image of God in us: Every living Image will move ſtrongly to joyn it ſelf with its original Copy, and be glad with Jacob, to ſit ſteadily in thoſe Chariots that ſhall convey him to his beloved Joſeph.
Motion 3. Conſider the danger of a carnal worſhip
(1.) We loſe the comfort of worſhip. The Soul is a great Gainer when it offers a ſpiritual worſhip, and as great a loſer when it is unfaithful with God. Treachery and perfidiouſneſs hinder commerce among men; ſo doth Hypocriſie in its own nature, communion with God. God never promiſed any thing to the Carcaſs but to the Spirit of worſhip. God hath no obligation upon him by any word of his, to reward us with himſelf, when we perform it not to himſelf: When we give an outſide worſhip, we have only the outſide of an ordinance: We can expect no kernel, when we give God only the ſhell: He that only licks the outſide of the Glaſs, can never be refreſhed with the rich Cordial encloſed within. A cold and lazy formality, will make God to withdraw the light of his countenance, and not ſhine with any delightful communications upon our Souls; but if we come before him with a livelineſs of affections, and ſteadineſs of heart; he will draw the vail, and cauſe his glory to diſplay it ſelf before us. An humble praying Chriſtian, and a warm affectionate Chriſtian in worſhip, will ſoon find a God who is delighted with ſuch frames, and cannot long withold himſelf from the Soul: When our hearts are enflamed with love to him in worſhip, 'tis a preparation to ſome act of love on his part whereby he intends further to gratifie us. When John was in the Spirit on the Lords day, that is in ſpiritual employment, and meditation and other duties, he had that great Revelation of what ſhould happen to the Church in all ages*Rev, 1.10.; His being in the Spirit, intimates his ordinary courſe on that day, and not any extraordinary act in him, though it was followed with an extraordinary diſcovery of God to him; When he was thus engaged, he heard a voice behind him.
God doth not require of us ſpirituality in worſhip to advantage himſelf, but that we might be prepared to be advantaged by him. If we have a clear and well diſpoſed eye, 'tis not a benefit to the Sun, but fits us to receive benefits from his Beams. Worſhip is an act that perfects our own Souls; they are then moſt widened by ſpiritual frames, to receive the influence of divine bleſſings, as an eye moſt opened receives the fruit of the Suns light, better than the eye that is ſhut. The communications of God are more or leſs, according as our ſpiritual frames are more or leſs in our worſhip: God will not give his bleſſings to unſutable hearts. What a naſty Veſſel is a carnal heart for a ſpiritual communication? The chief end of every duty enjoyned by God, is to have communion with him; and therefore it is called, a drawing near to God: 'Tis impoſſible therefore, that the outward part of any duty can anſwer the end of God in his inſtitution. 'Tis not a bodily appearance or geſture whereby men can have communion with God, but by the impreſſions of the heart, and reflections of the heart upon God: Without this, all the rich ſtreams of grace will run beſides us, and the growth of the Soul be hindered and impaired. A diligent hand makes rich, ſaith the wiſe man; a diligent heart in ſpiritual worſhip, brings in rich incomes to the humble and ſpiritual Soul.
(2.) It renders the worſhip not only unacceptable, but abominable to God. It makes our Gold to become Droſs; it ſoyls our duties, and beſpotts our Souls. A carnal and unſteady frame ſhews an indifferency of Spirit at beſt; and luke warmneſs is as ungrateful to God, as heavy and nauſeous meat is to the ſtomach, he ſpues them out of his mouth *Rev. 3.16.. As our gracious God doth overlook infirmities where intentions are good, and endeavours ſerious and ſtrong; ſo he loaths the ſervices where the frames are ſtark naught, Pſal. 66.118. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear my Prayer. Luke warm and indifferrent ſervices ſtink in the Noſtrils of God. The heart ſeems to loath God when it ſtarts from him upon every occaſion, when it is unwilling to employ it ſelf about, and ſtick cloſe to him: And can God be pleaſed with ſuch a frame? The more of the Heart and Spirit is in any ſervice, the more real goodneſs there is in it, and the more ſavoury it is to God; the leſs of the Heart and Spirit, the leſs of goodneſs, and the more nauſeous to God, who loves Righteouſneſs and Truth in the inward parts *Pſal. 51.6.. And therefore infinite Goodneſs and Holineſs cannot but hate worſhip preſented to him with deceitful, carnal and flitting affections: They muſt be more nauſeous to God, than a putrified Carcaſs can be to Man: They are the prophanings of that which ſhould be the habitation of the Spirit: They make the Spirit, the ſeat of duty, a filthy dung-hill; and are as loathſome to God, as Mony-changers in the Temple were to our Saviour.
We ſee the evil of carnal frames, and the neceſſity and benefit of ſpiritual frames: For further help in this laſt, let us practiſe theſ… following directions.
Direction 1. Keep up ſpiritual frames out of worſhip. To avoid low affections, we muſt keep our hearts as much as we can in a ſetled elevation. If we admit unworthy diſpoſitions at one time, we ſhall not eaſily be rid of them at another*Fitzherbert Pol. in relig. part. 2. cap. 19. § 12.: As he that would not be bitten with Gnats in the Night, muſt keep his windows ſhut in the Day; when they are once entred 'tis not eaſie to expel them: In which reſpect, one adviſeth, to be ſuch out of worſhip as we would be in worſhip. If we mix ſpiritual affections with our worldly employments, worldly affections will not mingle themſelves ſo eaſily with our heavenly engagements. If our hearts be ſpiritual in our outward calling, they will ſcarce be carnal in our religious ſervice. If we walk in the Spirit, we ſhall not fulfil the luſts of the Fleſh *Gal. 5.16.. A ſpiritual walk in the day, will hinder carnal luſtings in worſhip. The Fire was to be kept alive upon the Altar when Sacrifices were not offered, from morning till night, from night till morning, as well as in the very time of Sacrifice. A ſpiritual life and vigour out of worſhip, would render it at its ſeaſon ſweet and eaſie, and preſerve a ſpontaneity and preparedneſs to it, and make it both natural and pleaſant to us.
Any thing that doth unhinge and diſcompoſe our Spirits, is inconſiſtent with religious ſervices, which are to be performed with the greateſt ſedateneſs and gravity. All irregular paſſions diſturb the ſerenity of the Spirit, and open the door for Satan *Eph. 4.26.27.. Saith the Apoſtle, Let not the Sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the Devil. Where wrath breaks the Lock, the Devil will quickly be over the Threſhold; and though they be allayed, yet they leave the heart ſometime after, like the Sea rowling and ſwelling after the ſtorm is ceaſed.
Mixture with ill company leaves a tincture upon us in worſhip. Ephraims allying himſelf with the Gentiles, bred an indifferency in Religion. Hoſ. 7.8. Ephraim hath mixed himſelf with the People. Ephraim is a Cake not turn'd: It will make our hearts, and conſequently our ſervices half Dough, as well as half bak'd: Theſe and the like make the holy Spirit withdraw himſelf, and then the Soul lies like a wind-bound Veſſel and can make no way. When the Sun departs from us, it carries its Beams away with it; then doth Darkneſs ſpread it ſelf over the Earth, and the Beaſts of the Foreſts creep out *Pſal. 1…4.2….When the Spirit withdraws a while from a good man, it carries away, (though not habitual, yet) much of the exciting and aſſiſting grace; and then carnal diſpoſitions perk up themſelves from the boſome of natural corruption. To be ſpiritual in worſhip, we muſt bar the door at other times againſt that which is contrary to it: As he that would not be infected with a contagious diſeaſe, carries ſome Preſervative about with him, and inures himſelf to good ſcents.
To this end, be much in ſecret ejaculations to God; theſe are the pureſt ſlights of the Soul, that have more of fervor and leſs of carnality; they preſerve a livelineſs in the Spirit, and make it more fit to perform ſolemn ſtated worſhip with greater freedom and activity: A conſtant uſe of this would make our whole lives, lives of worſhip. As frequent ſinful acts ſtrengthen habits of ſin; ſo frequent religious acts ſtrengthen habits of grace.
Direction 2. Excite and exerciſe particularly a love to God, and dependence on him.
Love is a commanding affection, a uniting graces; it draws all the faculties of the Soul to one Center. The Soul that loves God, when it hath to do with him, is bound to the beloved Object; It can mind nothing elſe during ſuch impreſſions. When the affection is ſet to the worſhip of God, every thing the Soul hath will be beſtowed upon it: As David's diſpoſition was to the Temple, 1 Chron. 29.3. Carnal frames like the Fouls, will be lighting upon the Sacrifice; but not when it is enflam'd: Though the ſcent of the fleſh invite them, yet the heat of the fire drives them to their diſtance. A flaming love will ſinge the Flies that endeavour to interrupt and diſturb us. The happineſs of Heaven conſiſts in a full attraction of the Soul to God, by his glorious influence upon it; There will be ſuch a diffuſion of his goodneſs throughout the Souls of the Bleſſed, as will unite the affections perfectly to him: Theſe affections which are ſcattered here, will be there gathered into one flame, moving to him and centring in him: Therefore the more of a heavenly frame poſſeſſes our affections here, the more ſettled and uniform will our hearts be in all their motions to God, and operations about him.
Excite a dependence on him, Pro. 16.3. Commit thy works to the Lord, and thy thoughts ſhall be eſtabliſhed. Let us go out in Gods ſtrength and not in our own; vain is the help of man in any thing, and vain is the help of the heart: 'Tis through God only we can do valiantly in ſpiritual concerns as well as temporal; the want of this makes but ſlight impreſſions upon the Spirit.
Direction 3. Nouriſh right conceptions of the Majeſty of God in your minds. Let us conſider, that we are drawing to God; the moſt amiable Object, the beſt of Beings, worthy of infinite honour, and highly meriting the higheſt affections we can give; a God that made the world by a word; that upholds the great frame of Heaven and Earth; a Majeſty above the conceptions of Angels; who uſes not his power to ſtrike us to our deſerved puniſhment, but his love and bounty to allure us; a God that gave all the Creatures to ſerve us, and can in a trice make them as much our Enemies as he hath now made them our Servants. Let us view him in his greatneſs, and in his goodneſs, that our hearts may have a true value of the worſhip of ſo great a Majeſty, and count it the moſt worthy employment with all diligence to attend upon him. When we have a fear of God, it will make our worſhip ſerious; when we have a joy in God, it will make our worſhip durable. Our affections will be raiſed, when we repreſent God in the moſt reverential, endearing and obliging circumſtances. We honour the Majeſty of God, when we conſider him with due reverence according to the greatneſs and perfection of his works; and in this reverence of his Majeſty doth worſhip chiefly conſiſt. Low thoughts of God will make low frames in us before him: If we thought God an infinite glorious Spirit, how would our hearts be lower than our knees in his preſence? How humbly, how believingly pleading is the Pſalmiſt, when he conſiders God to be without compariſon in the Heavens; to whom none of the Sons of the Mighty can be likened; when there was none like to him in ſtrength or faithfulneſs round about*Pſal. 89.6, 7, 8.? We ſhould have alſo deep impreſſions of the Omniſcience of God; and remember we have to deal with a God that ſearcheth the heart and tryeth the reins; to whom the moſt ſecret temper is as viſible, as the loudeſt words are Audible; that though man judges by outward expreſſions, God judges by inward affections. As the Law of God regulates the inward frames of the heart; ſo the eye of God pitches upon the inward intentions of the Soul. If God were viſibly preſent with us, ſhould we not approach to him with ſtrong affections; ſummon our Spirits to attend upon him; behave our ſelves modeſtly before him? Let us conſider, he is as really preſent with us, as if he were viſible to us; let us therefore preſerve a ſtrong ſenſe of the preſence of God. No man but one out of his wits, when he were in the preſence of a Prince, and making a Speech to him; would break off at every Period, and run after the catching of Butter-flyes. Remember in all worſhip you are before the Lord, to whom all things are open and naked.
Direction 4. Let us take heed of inordinate deſires after the world. As the world ſteals away a mans heart from the Word, ſo it doth from all other worſhip; It chokes the Word *Mat. 13.27.; it ſtifles all the ſpiritual breathings after God in every duty: The edge of the Soul is blunted by it, and made too dull for ſuch ſublime exerciſes. The Apoſtles rule in Prayer, when he joyns ſobriety with watching unto Prayer, 1 Pet. 4.7.is of concern in all worſhip, ſobriety in the purſuite and uſe of all wordly things. A man drunk with worldly fumes cannot watch, cannot be heavenly, affectionate, ſpiritual in ſervice. There is a magnetick force in the Earth, to hinder our flights to Heaven: Birds, when they take their firſt flights from the Earth, have more flutterings of their wings, than when they are mounted further in the Air, and got more without the Sphear of the Earths attractiveneſs; the motion of their wings is more ſteady, that you can ſcarce perceive them ſtir; they move like a Ship with a full Gale. The world is a clog upon the Soul, and a bar to ſpiritual frames: 'Tis as hard to elevate the heart to God in the midſt of a hurry of worldly affairs, as it is difficult to meditate when we are near a great noiſe of waters falling from a Precipice, or in the midſt of a Volly of Muskets. Thick claiy affections bemire the heart, and make it unfit for ſuch high flights it is to take in worſhip: Therefore get your hearts clear from worldly thoughts and deſires, if you would be more ſpiritual in worſhip.
5. Let us be deeply ſenſible of our preſent wants, and the ſupplies we may meet with in worſhip. Cold affections to the things we would have, will grow cooler: Weakneſs of deſire for the communications in worſhip, will freez our hearts at the time of worſhip, and make way for vain and fooliſh diverſions. A Begger that is ready to periſh, and knows he is next door to ruin, will not ſlightly and dully began Alms; and will not be diverted from his importunity by every ſlight call, or the moving of an Atom in the Air. Is it Pardon we would have? Let us apprehend the blackneſs of ſin with the aggravations of it as it reſpects God; Let us be deeply ſenſible of the want of pardon and worth of mercy, and get our affections into ſuch a frame, as a condemned man would do: Let us conſider, that as we are now at the Throne of Gods grace, we ſhall ſhortly be at the Bar of Gods Juſtice; and if the Soul ſhould be forlorn there, how fixedly and earneſtly would it plead for mercy? Let us endeavour to ſtir up the ſame affections now, which we have ſeen ſome dying men have, and which we ſuppoſe deſpairing Souls would have done at Gods Tribunal.*Guliel. Paris. Rhetor. Divin. cap. 26. p. 350. Col. 1. We muſt be ſenſible that the life or death of our Souls depends upon worſhip. Would we not be aſhamed to be ridiculous in our carriage while we are eating; and ſhall we not be aſhamed to be cold or gariſh before God, when the Salvation of our Souls as well as the Honour of God is concerned? If we did ſee the heaps of ſins, the eternity of puniſhment due to them; If we did ſee an angry and offended Judge; If we did ſee the riches of mercy, the glorious outgoings of God in the Sanctuary, the bleſſed Doles he gives out to men when they ſpiritually attend upon him; both the one and the other would make us perform our duties humbly, ſincerely, earneſtly, and affectionately, and wait upon him with our whole Souls, to have miſery averted and mercy beſtowed. Let our ſenſe of this be encourag…d by the conſideration of our Saviour preſenting his merits: With what affection doth he preſent his merits, his blood ſhed upon the Croſs now in Heaven? And ſhall our hearts be cold and frozen, flitting and unſteady, when his affectio…s are ſo much concerned? Chriſt doth not preſent any Mans caſe and duties without a ſenſe of hi… wants, and ſhall we have none of our own?
Let me add this; let us affect our hearts with a ſenſe of what ſupplies we ha… met with in former worſhip: The delightful remembrance of what conver… we have had with God in former worſhip, would ſpiritualize our hearts for the preſent worſhip. Had Peter had a view of Chriſts glory in the Mount, freſh in his thoughts, he would not ſo eaſily have turned his back upon his Maſter: Nor would the Iſraelites have been at leaſure for their Idolatry, had they preſerved the ſenſe of the Majeſty of God diſcovered in his late Thunders from Mount Sinai.
6. If any thing intrudes that may choak the Worſhip, caſt it ſpeedily out. We cannot hinder Satan and our own Corruption from preſenting Coolers to us, but we may hinder the ſucceſs of them: We cannot hinder the Gnats from buzzing about us when we are in our buſineſs, but we may prevent them from ſetling upon us. A man that is running on a conſiderable Errand, will ſhun all unneceſſary diſcourſe that may make him forget or loyter in his buſineſs. What though there may be ſomething offered that is good in it ſelf; yet if it hath a tendency to deſpoil God of his honour, and our ſelves of the ſpiritual intentneſs in worſhip, ſend it away. Thoſe that weed a Field of Corn, examin not the nature and particular virtues of the Weeds; but conſider only how they choak the Corn, to which the native juyce of the Soil is deſign'd. Conſider what you are about; and if any thing interpoſe that may divert you, or cool your affections in your preſent worſhip, caſt it out.
7. As to private worſhip, let us lay hold of the moſt melting oportunities and frames.
When we find our hearts in a more than ordinary ſpiritual frame, let us look upon it as a Call from God to attend him: Such impreſſions and motions are Gods Voice, inviting us into communion with him in ſome particular act of worſhip, and promiſing us ſome ſucceſs in it. When the Pſalmiſt had a ſecret motion to ſeek Gods face, and complied with it*Pſal. 27.8., the iſſue is the encouragement of his heart, which breaks out into an exhortation to others to be of good courage, and wait on the Lord, v. 13, 14. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he ſhall ſtrengthen thy heart, wait I ſay on the Lord.
*Reynold'sOne blow will do more on the Iron when it is hot, than a hundred when it is cold: Melted Metals may be ſtampt with any impreſſion; but once hardned, will with difficulty be brought into the figure we intend.
8. Let us examin our ſelves at the end of every act of worſhip, and chide our ſelves for any carnality we perceive in them. Let us take a review of them, and examin the reaſon; why art thou ſo low and carnal oh my Soul? As David did of his diſquietedneſs, Pſalm 42.5. Why art thou caſt down oh my Soul, and why art thou diſquieted within me? If any unworthy frames have ſurprized us in worſhip, let us ſeek them out after worſhip; call them to the bar; make an exact ſcrutiny into the cauſes of them, that we may prevent their incurſions another time; let our pulſes beat quick, by way of anger and indignation againſt them: This would be a repairing what hath been amiſs; otherwiſe they may grow, and clogg an after worſhip more than they did a former. Dayly examination is an Antidote againſt the temptations of the following day, and conſtant examination of our ſelves after duty, is a Preſervative againſt vain encroachments in following duties; and upon the finding them out, let us apply the blood of Chriſt by Faith for our Cure, and draw ſtrength from the death of Chriſt for the conqueſt of them, and let us alſo be humbled for them. God lifts up the humble: When we are humbled for our carnal frames in one duty, we ſhall find our ſelves by the Grace of God more elevated in the next.