Existence and Attributes of God, Discourse 4 (2 of 3)
6. Spiritual worſhip is performed with acting Spiritual habits. When all the living ſprings of Grace are opened, as the Fountains of the deep were in the deluge, the Soul and all that is within it, all the Spiritual impreſſes of God upon it, erect themſelves to bleſs his holy name.*Pſa. 103.1.
This is neceſſary to make a worſhip Spiritual. As natural agents are determined to act ſutable to their proper nature; So rational agents, are to act conformable to a rational being: When there is a conformity between the act and the nature whence it flows, tis a good act in its kind; if it be rational, tis a good rational act, becauſe ſutable to its principle: As a Man endowed with reaſon muſt act ſutable to that endowment, and exerciſe his reaſon in his acting; So a Chriſtian endued with Grace muſt act ſutable to that nature, and exerciſe his Grace in his acting. Acts done by a natural inclination are no more human acts, than the natural acts of a beaſt may be ſaid to be human; Tho they are the acts of a Man as he is the efficient cauſe of them, yet they are not human acts, becauſe they ariſe not from that principle of Reaſon which denominates him a man. So acts of worſhip performed by a bare exerciſe of reaſon, are not Chriſtian and Spiritual acts, becauſe they come not from the principle which conſtitutes him a Chriſtian; Reaſon is not the principle, for then all rational Creatures would be Chriſtians: They ought therefore to be acts of a higher principle; Exerciſes of that Grace whereby Chriſtians are what they are: Not but that rational acts in worſhip are due to God; for worſhip is due from us as men; and we are ſetled in that rank of being by our reaſon. Grace doth not exclude reaſon, but ennobles it, and calls it up to another form: But we muſt not reſt in a bare rational worſhip, but exert that principle whereby we are Chriſtians. To worſhip God with our reaſon, is to worſhip him as Men: To worſhip God with our grace, is to worſhip him as Chriſtians, and ſo Spiritually: But to worſhip him only with our bodies, is no better than Brutes.
Our deſires of the word are to iſſue from the regenerate principle, 1 Pet. 2.2. As new born babes deſire the ſincere milk of the word: It ſeems to be not a compariſon but a reſtriction. All worſhip muſt have the ſame ſpring, and be the exerciſe of that principle; otherwiſe we can have no Communion with God. Friends that have the ſame habitual diſpoſitions, have a fundamental fitneſs for an agreeable converſe with one another; but if the temper wherein their likeneſs conſiſts, be languiſhing, and the ſtring out of tune, there is not an actual fitneſs; and the preſent indiſpoſition breaks the converſe, and renders the Company troubleſome. Tho we may have the habitual graces which compoſe in us a reſemblance to God, yet for want of acting thoſe ſutable diſpoſitions, we render our ſelves unfit for his converſe, and make the worſhip, which is fundamentally Spiritual, to become actually carnal. As the Will cannot naturally act to any object, but by the exerciſe of its affections: So the heart cannot Spiritually act towards God, but by the exerciſe of graces. This is Gods Muſick: Eph. 5.19. Singing and making melody to God in your hearts. Singing and all other acts of worſhip are outward, but the Spiritual melody is by grace in the heart. Col. 3.16. This renders it a Spiritual worſhip; for it is an effect of the fulneſs of the Spirit in the Soul, as v. 19. But be filled with the Spirit: The overflowing of the Spirit in the heart, ſetting the Soul of a beliver thus on work to make a Spiritual melody to God, ſhews that ſomething higher than bare reaſon is put in tune in the heart. Then is the fruit of the Garden pleaſant to Chriſt, when the holy Spirit, the North and South wind blow upon the ſpices, and ſtrike out the fragrancy of them.*Cant. 4.16. Since God is the Author of graces, and beſtows them to have a glory from them, they are beſt employed about him and his ſervice. Tis fit he ſhould have the Cream of his own gifts. Without the exerciſe of grace we perform but a work of nature, and offer him a few dry bones without marrow.
The whole ſet of graces muſt be one way or other exerciſed. If any treble be wanting in a Lute, there will be a great defect in the Muſick. If any one Spiritual ſtring be dull, the Spiritual harmony of worſhip will be ſpoiled. And therefore,
1. Firſt, Faith muſt be acted in worſhip. A confidence in God. A natural worſhip cannot be performed without a natural confidence in the goodneſs of God. Whoſoever comes to him, muſt regard him as a Rewarder and a faithful Creator.*Heb. 11.6. A Spiritual worſhip cannot be performed without an Evangelical confidence in him as a gracious Redeemer. To think him a Tyrant meditating revenge, damps the Soul; to regard him as a gracious King full of tender bowels, Spirits the affections to him. The mercy of God is the proper object of truſt; Pſal. 33.18. The eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy. The worſhip of God in the old Teſtament is moſt deſcribed by fear: In the new Teſtamen by faith. Fear, or the worſhip of God and hope in his mercy are linkt together; when they go hand in hand, the accepting eye of God is upon us: When we do not truſt, we do not worſhip.*Zeph. 3.2. Thoſe of Judah had the Temple worſhip among them, eſpecially in Joſiah's time, Zeph. 3.2. the time of that Prophecy; yet it was accounted no worſhip, becauſe no truſt in the Worſhippers. Intereſt in God, cannot be improved without an exerciſe of Faith. The Goſpel worſhip is prophecied of, to be a confidence in God, as in a Husband more than in a Lord, Hoſ. 2.16. Thou ſhalt call me Iſhi, and ſhalt call me no more Baali: Thou ſhalt call me, that is, thou ſhalt worſhip me, Worſhip being often comprehended under Invocation. More confidence is to be exerciſed in a Husband or Father, than in a Lord or Maſter.
If a Man have not Faith, he is without Chriſt; and though a Man be in Chriſt by the habit of Faith, …e performs a duty out of Chriſt without an act of Faith: Without the habit of Faith, our perſons are out of Chriſt; and without the exerciſe of Faith, the duties are out of Chriſt. As the want of Faith in a perſon is the death of the Soul; ſo the want of Faith in a Service, is the death of the Offering. Though a man were at the coſt of an Ox; yet to kill it without bringing it to the door of the Tabernacle, was not a Sacrifice, but a Murder.*Levit. 17.3, 4. The Tabernacle was a Type of Chriſt; and a look to him is neceſſary in every ſpiritual Sacrifice. As there muſt be Faith to make any act, an act of obedience; ſo there muſt be Faith to make any act of worſhip, ſpiritual. That ſervice is not ſpiritual, that is not vital; and it cannot be vital, without the exerciſe of a vital Principle: All ſpiritual life is hid in Chriſt, and drawn from him by Faith *Gal. 2.20.. Faith as it hath relation to Chriſt, makes every act of worſhip, a living act, and conſequently a ſpiritual act. Habitual unbelief, cuts us off from the Body of Chriſt, Rom. 11.20. Becauſe of unbelief they were broken off; and a want of actuated belief, breaks us off from a preſent communion with Chriſt in Spirit. As unbelief in us hinders Chriſt from doing any mighty work, ſo unbelief in us hinders us from doing any mighty ſpiritual duty.
So that the exerciſe of Faith, and a confidence in God, is neceſſary to every duty.
2. Love muſt be acted to render a worſhip ſpiritual. Though God commanded love in the Old-Teſtament; yet the manner of giving the Law, beſpoke more of Fear than Love. The diſpenſation of the Law, was with Fire, Thunder, &c. proper to raiſe horror, and benum the Spirit; which effect it had upon the Iſraelites, when they deſired that God would ſpeake no more to them. Grace is the Genius of the Goſpel, proper to excite the affection of Love. The Law was given by the diſpoſition of Angels, with ſigns to amaze; the Goſpel was uſher'd in with the ſongs of Angels, compoſed of peace and good-will, calculated to raviſh the Soul. Inſtead of the terrible voice of the Law, do this and live: The comfortable voice of the Goſpel is Grace, Grace: Upon this account, the principle of the Old teſtament was Fear; and the Worſhip often expreſt by the Fear of God. The principle of the New-teſtament is Love. The Mount Sinai gendreth to Bondage *Gal. 4.44.; Mount Sion, from whence the Goſpel or Evangelical Law goes forth, gendreth to Liberty; and therefore the Spirit of Bondage unto Fear, as the Property of the Law is oppoſed to the State of Adoption; the principle of Love, as the property of the Goſpel*Rom. 8.15.: And therefore the worſhip of God under the Goſpel, or New-teſtament, is oftner expreſt by Love than Fear; as proceeding from higher principles, and acting nobler paſſions. In this State, we are to ſerve him without fear; *Luke 1.74.without a Bondage-fear; not without a fear of unworthy treating him; with a fear of his goodneſs as it is propheſied of*Hoſ. 9.9.: Goodneſs is not the object of terror, but reverence. God in the Law, had more the garb of a Judge; in the Goſpel, of a Father. The name of a Father is ſweeter, and beſpeaks more of affection. As their ſervices were with a feeling of the thunders of the Law in their Conſciences; ſo is our worſhip to be with a ſenſe of Goſpel-grace in our Spirits: Spiritual worſhip is that therefore, which is exerciſed with a ſpiritual and heavenly affection, proper to the Goſpel. The heart ſhould be enlarged, according to the liberty the Goſpel gives of drawing neer to God as a Father: As he gives us the nobler relation of Children, we are to act the nobler qualities of Children. Love ſhould act according to its nature, which is deſire of Union; deſire of a moral union by Affections, as well as a myſtical union by Faith; as flame aſpires to reach flame, and become one with it. In every act of worſhip, we ſhould endeavour to be united to God, and become one Spirit with him: This Grace doth ſpiritualize Worſhip: In that one word Love, God hath wrapt up all the devotion he requires of us: 'Tis the total ſum of the firſt Table, Thou ſhalt love the Lord thy God. 'Tis to be acted in every thing we do: But in Worſhip, our hearts ſhould more ſolemnly riſe up and acknowledge him amiable and lovely, ſince the Law is ſtript of its curſing power, and made ſweet in the blood of the Redeemer. Love is a thing acceptable of it ſelf; but nothing acceptable without it. The gifts of one man to another are ſpiritualized by it. We would not value a Preſent, without the affection of the Donor: Every man would lay claim to the love of others, though he would not to their Poſſeſſions. Love is Gods right in every ſervice, and the nobleſt thing we can beſtow upon him in our adorations of him. Gods gifts to us are not ſo eſtimable, without his love; not our ſervices valuable by him, without the exerciſe of a choice affection. Hezekiah regarded not his deliverance, without the love of the Deliverer; In love to my Soul thou haſt delivered me *Iſa. 38.17.: So doth God ſay, in love to my honour thou haſt worſhipped me.
So that Love muſt be acted, to render our worſhip ſpiritual.
3. A ſpiritual ſenſibleneſs of our own weakneſs, is neceſſary to make our worſhip ſpiritual. Affections to God cannot be without relentings in our ſelves. When the eye is ſpiritually fixed upon a ſpiritual God, the heart will mourn, that the worſhip is no more ſpiritually ſutable. The more we act love upon God, as amiable and gracious, the more we ſhould exerciſe grief in our ſelves, as we are vile and offending. Spiritual worſhip is a melting worſhip, as well as an elevating worſhip; It exalts God, and debaſeth the Creature. The Publican was more ſpiritual in his humble addreſs to God, when the Phariſee was wholly carnal with his ſwelling language. A ſpiritual love in worſhip will make us grieve, that we have given him ſo little, and could give him no more. 'Tis a part of ſpiritual duty to bewail our carnality mixed with it; as we receive mercies ſpiritually, when we receive them with a ſenſe of Gods goodneſs and our own vileneſs, in the ſame manner we render a ſpiritual worſhip.
4. Spiritual deſires for God render the ſervice ſpiritual. When the Soul follows hard after him *Pſal. 63.8.; purſues after God as a God of infinite and communicative goodneſs, with ſighs and groans unutterable. A ſpiritual Soul ſeems to be transformed into hunger, and thirſt, and becomes nothing but deſire. A carnal Worſhipper is taken with the beauty and magnificence of the Temple; a ſpiritual Worſhipper deſires to ſee the glory of God in the Sanctuary*Pſal. 63.2.; He pants after God: As he came to worſhip, to find God, he boyls up in deſires for God, and is loth to go from it without God, the living God, Pſal. 42.2. He would ſee the Ʋrim and the Thummim; the unuſual ſparkling of the ſtones upon the High-prieſts Breaſt-plate. That deſerves not the title of ſpiritual worſhip, when the Soul makes no longing inquiries; ſaw you him whom my Soul loves? A ſpiritual worſhip is, when our deſires are chiefly for God in the worſhip: As David deſires to dwell in the Houſe of the Lord; but his deſire is not terminated there, but to behold the beauty of the Lord*Pſal. 27.4., and taſte the raviſhing ſweetneſs of his preſence. No doubt but Elijah's deſires for the enjoyment of God, while he was mounting to Heaven, were as fiery as the Chariot wherein he was carried. Unutterable groans acted in worſhip, are the fruit of the Spirit, and certainly render it a ſpiritual ſervice*Rom. 8.26.. Strong appetites are agreeable to God, and prepare us to eat the fruit of worſhip. A ſpiritual Paul preſſeth forward to know Chriſt, and the power of his Reſurrection; and a ſpiritual Worſhipper actually aſpires in every duty to know God, and the power of his Grace. To deſire worſhip as an end, is carnal; to deſire it as a means, and act deſires in it for communion with God in it, is ſpiritual, and the fruit of a ſpiritual life.
5. Thankfulneſs, and admiration are to be exerciſed in ſpiritual ſervices. This is a worſhip of Spirits. Praiſe is the adoration of the bleſſed Angels *Iſa. 6.3., and of glorified Spirits, Rev. 4.11. Thou art worthy oh Lord, to receive Glory, and Honour, and Power: And, Rev. 5.13.14. they worſhip him, aſcribing Bleſſing, Honour, Glory and Power to him that ſits upon the Throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever. Other acts of worſhip are confined to this Life, and leave us as ſoon as we have ſet our foot in Heaven; There, no notes but this of Praiſe are warbled out: The Power, Wiſdom, Love and Grace in the diſpenſation of the Goſpel, ſeat themſelves in the thoughts and tongues of bleſſed Souls. Can a worſhip on Earth be ſpiritual, that hath no mixture of an eternal heavenly duty with it? The worſhip of God in Innocence, had been chiefly an admiration of him in the works of Creation; and ſhould not our Evangelical worſhip be an admiration of him in the works of Redemption, which is a reſtoration to a better State? After the petitioning for pardoning Grace*Hoſ. 14.2., there is a rendring the Calves or Heifers of our lips, alluding to the Heifers uſed in Euchariſtical Sacrifices. The Praiſe of God is the choiceſt Sacrifice and Worſhip, under a diſpenſation of redeeming Grace; This is the prime and eternal part of worſhip under the Goſpel. The Pſalmiſt, Pſalm 149. and 150. ſpeaking of the Goſpel times, ſpurrs on to this kind of worſhip; Sing to the Lord a new Song; Let the Children of Zion be joyful i… …ir King; Let the Saints be joyful in glory, and ſing aloud upon their beds; Let the high praiſes of God be in their mouths: He begins and ends both Pſalms with praiſe ye the Lord. That cannot be a ſpiritual and evangelical worſhip, that hath nothing of the praiſe of God in the heart. The conſideration of Gods adorable perfections diſcovered in the Goſpel, will make us come to him with more ſeriouſneſs; beg bleſſings of him with more confidence; fly to him with a winged Faith and Love, and more ſpiritually glorify him in our attendances upon him.
7. Spiritual Worſhip is performed with delight. The Evangelical worſhip is prophetically ſignified by keeping the Feaſt of Tabernacles;*Zach. 14.16. they ſhall go up from year to year, to worſhip the King the Lord of Hoſts, and to keep the Feaſt of Tabernacles: Why that Feaſt, when there were other Feaſts obſerved by the Jews? That was a Feaſt celebrated with the greateſt joy; typical of the gladneſs which was to be under the exhibition of the Meſſiah, and a thankful comemmoration of the Redemption wrought by him. It was to be celebrated five days after the ſolemn day of Atonement, Levit. 23.34. compared with v. 27. wherein there was one of the ſolemneſt types of the Sacrifice of the death of Chriſt. In this Feaſt they commemorated their exchange of Egypt for Canaan; the Manna wherewith they were fed; the Water out of the Rock wherewith they were refreſht: In remembrance of this, they poured water on the ground, pronouncing thoſe words in Iſaiah, they ſhall draw waters out of the Wells of Salvation, which our Saviour referrs to himſelf, John 7.37. inviting them to him, to drink, upon the laſt day, the great day of the Feaſt of Tabernacles, wherein this ſolemn Ceremony was obſerved. Since we are freed by the death of the Redeemer from the Curſes of the Law, God requires of us a Joy in ſpiritual priviledges. A ſad frame in worſhip, gives the lye to all Goſpel-liberty; to the Purchaſe of the Redeemers Death; the Triumphs of his Reſurrection: 'Tis a carriage, as if we were under the influences of the legal Fire and Lightning, and an entring a Proteſt againſt the Freedom of the Goſpel. The Evangelical worſhip is a Spiritual worſhip; and Praiſe, Joy and Delight are prophecied of, as great ingredients in attendance on Goſpel Ordinances, Iſa. 12.3, 4, 5. What was occaſion of terror in the worſhip of God under the Law, is the occaſion of delight in the worſhip of God under the Goſpel. The Juſtice and Holineſs of God ſo terrible in the Law, becomes comfortable under the Goſpel, ſince they have feaſted themſelves on the active and paſſive obedience of the Redeemer. The approach is to God as gracious, not to God as unpacified; as a Son to a Father, not as a Criminal to a Judge. Under the Law God was repreſented as a Judge, remembring their Sin in their Sacrifices, and repreſenting the puniſhment they had merited; in the Goſpel as a Father, accepting the Atonement, and publiſhing the Reconciliation wrought by the Redeemer. Delight in God, is a Goſpel frame; therefore the more joyful, the more ſpiritual: The Sabbath is to be a delight; not only in regard of the Day, but in regard of the Duties of it*Iſa. 58.13.; in regard of the marvelous work he wrought on it; raiſing up our bleſſed Redeemer on that day, whereby a foundation was laid for the rendring our perſons and ſervices acceptable to God, Pſal. 118.24. This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will be glad and rejoyce in it. A lumpiſh frame becomes not a day and a duty, that hath ſo noble and ſpiritual a mark upon it.
The Angels in the firſt act of worſhip after the Creation, were highly joyful, Job. 38.7. They ſhouted for joy, &c.
The Saints have particularly acted this in their Worſhip. David would not content himſelf with an approach to the Altar, without going to God as his exceeding joy, Pſal. 43.4. My triumphant joy: When he danced before the Ark, he ſeems to be transformed into delight and pleaſure, 2 Sam. 6.14, 16. He had as much delight in Worſhip, as others had in their Harveſt and Vintage. And thoſe that took joyfully the ſpoiling of their Goods, would as joyfully attend upon the Communications of God. Where there is a fullneſs of the Spirit, there is a waking melody to God in the heart *Eph. 5.18.19.; and where there is an acting of love, (as there is in all ſpiritual ſervices) the proper fruit of it is joy in a neer approach to the Object of the Souls affection. Love is appetitus unionis: The more love, the more delight in the approachings of God to the Soul, or the out-goings of the Soul to God. As the Object of Worſhip is amiable in a ſpiritual eye, ſo the …hs tending to a communion with this Object are delightful in the exerciſe: Where there is no delight in a duty, there is no delight in the object of the duty; The more of grace, the more of pleaſure in the actings of it: As the more of nature there is in any natural Agent, the more of pleaſure in the Act; So the more heavenly the Worſhip, the more ſpiritual. Delight is the frame and temper of Glory. A heart filled up to the brim with joy, is a heart filled up to the brim with the Spirit: Joy is the fruit of the Holy-Ghoſt.*Gal. 5.22.
1. Not the joy of Gods diſpenſation flowing from God, but a gracious active joy ſtreaming to God. There is a joy, when the Comforts of God are dropt into the Soul, as Oyle upon the Wheel; which indeed makes the faculties move with more ſpeed and activity in his ſervice, like the Chariots of Aminadab: And a Soul may ſerve God in the ſtrength of this taſte, and its delight terminated in the ſenſible comfort. This is not the joy I mean, but ſuch a joy that hath God for its Object, delighting in him as the term, in worſhip as the way to him: The firſt is Gods diſpenſation, the other is our duty; The firſt is an act of Gods favour to us, the ſecond a ſprout of habitual grace in us. The Comforts we have from God, may elevate our duties; but the grace we have within, doth ſpiritualize our duties.
2. Nor is every delight an argument of a ſpiritual ſervice. All the the requiſites to worſhip muſt be taken in. A man may invent a worſhip, and delight in it; as Micah in the adoration of his Idol, when he was glad he had got both an Ephod and a Levite *Judges 17.. As a man may have a contentment in Sin, ſo he may have a contentment in Worſhip; not becauſe it is a worſhip of God, but the worſhip of his own invention, agreeable to his own humor and deſign, as Iſa. 58.2. 'tis ſaid, they delighted in approaching to God, but it was for carnal ends. Novelty ingenders Complacency; but it muſt be a worſhip wherein God will delight; and that muſt be a worſhip according to his own Rule and infinite Wiſdom, and not our ſhallow fancies.
God requires a cheerfulneſs in his ſervice, eſpecially under the Goſpel, where he ſits upon a Throne of Grace; diſcovers himſelf in his amiableneſs, and acts the Covenant of Grace, and the ſweet relation of a Father. The Prieſts of old were not to fully themſelves with any ſorrow, when they were in the exerciſe of their functions. God put a bar to the natural affections of Aaron and his Sons, when Nadab and Abihu had been cut off by a ſevere hand of God*Lev. 10.6.. Every true Chriſtian in a higher order of Prieſt-hood, is a perſon dedicated to joy and peace, offering himſelf a lively Sacrifice of praiſe and thankſgiving: And there is no Chriſtian duty, but is to be ſet off and ſeaſoned with cheerfulneſs: He that loves a cheerful Giver in acts of Charity, requires no leſs a cheerful Spirit in acts of Worſhip: As this is an ingredient in worſhip, ſo it is the means to make your Spirits intent in worſhip. When the heart triumphs in the conſideration of Divine excellency and goodneſs, it will be angry at any thing that offers to jogg and diſturb it.
8. Spiritual worſhip is to be performed, though with a delight in God; yet with a deep reverence of God. The Goſpel in advancing the ſpirituality of worſhip, takes off the terror, but not the reverence of God; which is nothing elſe in its own nature, but a due and high eſteem of the excellency of a thing according to the nature of it: And therefore the Goſpel preſenting us with more illuſtrious notices of the glorious nature of God, is ſo far from indulging any diſeſteem of him, that it requires of us a greater reverence ſutable to the hight of its diſcovery, above what could be ſpell'd in the Book of Creation: The Goſpel worſhip is therefore expreſt by trembling, Hoſ. 11.10. They ſhall walk after the Lord; he ſhall roar like a Lion; when he ſhall roar, then the Children ſhall tremble from the Weſt. When the Lion of the Tribe of Judah ſhall lift up his powerful voice in the Goſpel, the Weſtern Gentiles ſhall run trembling to walk after the Lord. God hath alway attended his greateſt manifeſtations with remarkable Characters of Majeſty, to create a reverence in his Creature: He cauſed the wind to March before him; to cut the Mountain, when he manifeſted himſelf to Elijah, 1 Kings 19.11. A Wind and a Cloud of Fire, before that magnificent Viſion to Ezekiel, Ezek. 1.4, 5. Thunders and Lightnings before the giving the Law, Exod. 19.18. And a mighty wind before the giving the Spirit, Acts 2. God requires of us an aw of him in the very act of performance. The Angels are pure, and cannot fear him as Sinners, but in reverence they cover their Faces when they ſtand before him*Iſa. 6.2.: His power ſhould make us reverence him, as we are Creatures; His Juſtice as we are Sinners; His goodneſs as we are reſtored Creatures.*Daille Sur. 3. Jean. P. 150. [God is clothed with unſpeakable Majeſty; the glory of his face ſhines brighter than the Lights of Heaven in their beauty. Before him the Angels tremble, and the Heavens melt; we ought not therefore to come before him with the Sacrifice of Fools, nor tender a duty to him, without falling low upon our faces, and bowing the knees of our hearts in token of reverence.] Not a ſlaviſh fear, like that of Devils; but a Godly fear, like that of Saints*Heb. 12.28, joyned with a ſenſe of an unmoveable Kingdom becomth us: And this the Apoſtle calls a grace neceſſary to make our ſervice acceptable: And therefore the grace neceſſary to make it ſpiritual, ſince nothing finds admiſſion to God, but what is of a ſpiritual nature. The conſideration of his glorious nature, ſhould imprint an awful reſpect upon our Souls to him: His goodneſs ſhould make his Majeſty more adorable to us, as his Majeſty makes his goodneſs more admirable in his condeſcenſions to us. As God is a Spirit, our worſhip muſt be ſpiritual; and being he is the ſupream Spirit, our worſhip muſt be reverential: We muſt obſerve the State he takes upon him in his Ordinances; He is in Heaven, we upon the Earth; we muſt not therefore be haſty to utter any thing before God, Eccleſ. 5.7. Conſider him a Spirit in the higheſt Heavens, and our ſelves Spirits dwelling in a dreggy Earth. Looſe and gariſh frames debaſe him to our own quality: Slight poſtures of Spirit, intimate him to be a ſlight and mean Being: Our being in Covenant with him, muſt not lower our awful apprehenſions of him: As he is the Lord thy God, 'tis a gloririous and fearful Name, or wonderful *Deut. 28.58.: Though he lay by his Juſtice to Believers, he doth not lay by his Majeſty: When we have a confidence in him, becauſe he is the Lord our God; we muſt have awful thoughts of his Majeſty, becauſe his name is glorious. God is terrible from his Holy-places, in regard of the great things he doth for his Iſrael *Pſal. 68.35.: We ſhould behave our ſelves with that inward honour and reſpect of him, as if he were preſent to our bodily eyes: The higher apprehenſions we have of his Majeſty, the greater aw will be upon our hearts in his preſence, and the greater ſpirituality in our acts. We ſhould manage our hearts ſo, as if we had a view of God in his heavenly glory.
9. Spiritual Worſhip is to be performed with humility in our Spirits. This is to follow upon the reverence of God. As we are to have high thoughts of God, that we may not debaſe him; we muſt have low thoughts of our ſelves, not to vaunt before him. When we have right notions of the Divine Majeſty; we ſhall be as Worms in our own thoughts, and creep as Worms into his preſence: We can never conſider him in his Glory, but we have a fit opportunity to reflect upon our ſelves, and conſider how baſely we revolted from him, and how graciouſly we are reſtored by him. As the Goſpel affords us greater diſcoveries of Gods nature, and ſo enhaunceth our reverence of him; ſo it helps us to a fuller underſtanding of our own vileneſs and weakneſs, and therefore is proper to ingender Humility: The more ſpiritual and evangelical therefore any ſervice is, the more humble it is. That is a ſpiritual ſervice, that doth moſt manifeſt the glory of God; and this cannot be manifeſted by us, without manifeſting our own emptineſs and nothingneſs. The Heathens were ſenſible of the neceſſity of Humility by the Light of Nature*Plutarch Moral. P. 344.; after the Name of God ſignified by foreign inſcribed on the Temple at Delphos, followed foreign whereby was inſinuated, that when we have to do with God, who is the only Ens, we ſhould behave our ſelves with a ſenſe of our own infirmity, and infinite diſtance from him. As a perſon, ſo a duty leavened with Pride, hath nothing of ſincerity, and therefore nothing of ſpirituality in it, Hab. 2.4. His Soul which is lifted up, is not upright in him. The Elders that were crowned by God to be Kings and Prieſts, to offer ſpiritual Sacrifices; uncrown themſelves in their worſhip of him, and caſt down their Ornaments at his feet *Revel. 4.1…. compared with 5. and the 1….: The Greek word to worſhip foreign ſignifies to creep like a Dog upon his belly before his Maſter; to lye low. How deep ſhould our ſenſe be of the priviledge of Gods admitting us to his worſhip, and affording us ſuch a mercy under our deſerts of wrath? How mean ſhould be our thoughts, both of our perſons and performances? How patiently ſhould we wait upon God for the ſucceſs of worſhip? How did Abraham the Father of the Faithful, equal himſelf to the Earth, when he ſupplicated the God of Heaven, and devote himſelf to him under the title of very Duſt and Aſhes *Gen. 18.27.? Iſaiah did but behold an Evangelical Apparition of God and the Angels worſhipping him, and preſently reflects upon his own uncleaneſs *Iſa 6.5.. Gods preſence both requires and cauſes Humility. How lowly is David in his own opinion, after a magnificent duty performed by himſelf and his people? 1 Chron. 29.14. Who am I? And what is my people, that we ſhould be able to offer ſo willingly? The more ſpiritual the Soul is in its carriage to God, the more humble it is; and the more gracious God is in his communications to the Soul, the lower it lies.
God commanded not the fiercer Creatures to be offered to him in Sacrifices, but Lambs and Kids, meek and lowly Creatures; none that had ſtings in their tails, or venom in their tongues*Caudam aculeatam vel linguam nigram Alexand. ab Alex. l. 3. c. 12.. The meek Lamb was the daily Sacrifice: The Doves were to be offered by Pairs: God would not have Hony mixed with any Sacrifice, Levit. 2.11. That breeds Choler, and Choler Pride; but Oyle, he commanded to be uſed; that ſupples and mollifies the parts. Swelling Pride, and boiling Paſſions render our ſervices carnal; they cannot be ſpiritual, without an humble ſweetneſs and an innocent ſincerity: One grain of this tranſcends the moſt coſtly Sacrifices. A Contrite Heart puts a gloſs upon Worſhip*Pſal. 51.16, 17. The departure of men and Angels from God, began in Pride; Our approaches and return to him muſt begin in Humility: And therefore all thoſe Graces which are bottom'd on Humility, muſt be acted in worſhip, as Faith, and a ſenſe of our own indigence. Our bleſſed Saviour, the moſt ſpiritual Worſhipper, proſtrated himſelf in the Garden with the greateſt lowlineſs, and offered himſelf upon the Croſs a Sacrifice with the greateſt humility. Melted Souls in worſhip, have the moſt ſpiritual conformity to the perſon of Chriſt in the ſtate of humiliation, and his deſign in that ſtate: As worſhip without it is not ſutable to God, ſo neither is it advantageous for us. A time of worſhip, is a time of Gods Communication. The Veſſel muſt be melted to receive the Mould it is deſigned for: Softned wax is fitteſt to receive a ſtamp, and a ſpiritually melted Soul fitteſt to receive a ſpiritual impreſſion. We cannot perform duty in an evangelical and ſpiritual ſtrain, without the meltingneſs and meaneſs in our ſelves which the Goſpel requires.
10. Spiritual worſhip is to be performed with Holineſs. God is a holy Spirit; a likeneſs to God muſt attend the worſhipping of God as he is: Holineſs is alway in ſeaſon; It becomes his houſe for ever *Pſal. 91.5.. We can never ſerve the living God, till we have Conſciences purged from dead works, Heb. 9.14. Dead works in our Conſciences, are unſutable to God, an eternal living Spirit. The more mortified the heart, the more quickned the ſervice. Nothing can pleaſe an infinite Purity, but that which is pure: Since God is in his Glory, in his Ordinances; we muſt not be in our Filthineſs. The Holineſs of his Spirit doth ſparkle in his Ordinances; The holineſs of our Spirits ought alſo to ſparkle in our obſervance of them. The Holineſs of God is moſt celebrated in the worſhip of Angels*Iſa. 6.3. Revel. 4.8.: Spiritual worſhip ought to be like Angelical: That cannot be with Souls totally impure. As there muſt be perfect holineſs to make a worſhip perfectly ſpiritual; ſo there muſt be ſome degree of holineſs to make it in any meaſure ſpiritual. God would have all the Utenſils of the Sanctuary employed about his ſervice to be holy: The Inwards of the Sacrifice were to be rinſed thrice*As the Jewiſh Doctors obſerve on Lev. 1.9.. The Crop and Feathers of ſacrificed Doves, was to be hung Eaſtward towards the entrance of the Temple, at a diſtance from the Holy of Holies where the preſence of God was moſt eminent*Lev. 1.16.. When Aaron was to go into the Holy of Holies, he was to ſanctifie himſelf in an extraordinary manner*Lev. 16.4.. The Prieſts were to be bare footed in the Temple, in the exerciſe of their Office; ſhoes alway were to be put off upon holy ground: Look to thy foot when thou goeſt to the Houſe of God, ſaith the wiſe man, Eccleſ. 5.1. Strip the affections, the feet of the Soul, of all the dirt contracted; diſcard all earthly and baſe thoughts from the heart A Beaſt was not to touch the Mount Sinai, without loſing his Life: Nor can we come near the Throne with brutiſh affections, without loſing the life and fruit of the worſhip. An unholy Soul degrades himſelf from a Spirit to a Brute, and the worſhip from ſpiritual to brutiſh. If any unmortified ſin be found in the Life, as it was in the comers to the Temple, It taints and pollutes the Worſhip *Iſa. 1.15.. All worſhip is an acknowledgment of the excellency of God as he is holy: *Jer. 7.9, 10.Hence it is called a ſanctifying Gods Name: How can any perſon ſanctifie Gods Name, that hath not a holy reſemblance to his Nature? If he be not holy as he is holy, he cannot worſhip him according to his excellency in Spirit and in Truth: No worſhip is ſpiritual wherein we have not a communion with God. But what intercourſe can there be between a holy God, and an impure Creature; between Light and Darkneſs? We have no fellowſhip with him in any ſervice, unleſs we walk in the Light, in ſervice and out of ſervice, as he is Light*1 John 1.7.. The Heathen thought not their Sacrifices agreeable to God, without waſhing their hands, whereby they ſignified the preparation of their hearts, before they made the Oblation: Clean hands without a pure heart, ſignify nothing: The frame of our hearts muſt anſwer the purity of the outward Symbols. Pſal. 26.6. I will waſh my hands in Innocence, ſo will I compaſs thine Altar, oh Lord: He would obſerve the appointed Ceremonies, but not without cleanſing his heart as well as his hands. Vain Man is apt to reſt upon outward acts and rites of worſhip: But this muſt alway be practiſed: The words are in the preſent Tenſe, I waſh, I compaſs. Purity in worſhip ought to be our continual Care. If we would perform a ſpiritual ſervice, wherein we would have communion with God, it muſt be in Holineſs: If we would walk with Chriſt, it muſt be in white *Revel. 3.4.; alluding to the white Garments the Prieſts put on, when they went to perform their ſervice: As without this we cannot ſee God in Heaven, ſo neither can we ſee the beauty of God in his own Ordinances.
11. Spiritual worſhip is performed with ſpiritual ends, with raiſed aims at the glory of God. No duty can be ſpiritual that hath a carnal aim: Where God is the ſole Object, he ought to be the principal End: In all our actions he is to be our End, as he is the principle of our Being; much more in Religious Acts, as he is the Object of our worſhip. The worſhip of God in Scripture, is expreſt by the ſeeking of him *Heb. 11.6,; Him, not our ſelves; all is to be referred to God. As we are not to live to our ſelves, that being the ſign of a carnal ſtate; ſo we are not to worſhip for our ſelves, Rom. 14.7, 8. As all actions are denominated good from their end, as well as their object; ſo upon the ſame account they are denominated ſpiritual. The end ſpiritualizeth our natural actions; much more our religious: Then are our faculties devoted to him when they center in him. If the intention be evil, there is nothing but darkneſs in the whole ſervice, Luke 11.34. The firſt inſtitution of the Sabbath, the ſolemn day for worſhip, was to contemplate the glory of God in his ſtupendous works of Creation, and render him a homage for them, Revel. 4.11. Thou art worthy oh Lord, to receive Honour, Glory and Power; for thou haſt created all things, and for thy pleaſure they are and were created. No worſhip can be returned, without a glorifying of God; and we cannot actually glorify him, without direct aims at the promoting his honour. As we have immediately to do with God, ſo we are immediately to mind the praiſe of God. As we are not to content our ſelves with habitual grace, but be rich in the exerciſe of it in worſhip; ſo we are not to acquieſce in habitual aims at the glory of God, without the actual outflowings of our hearts in thoſe aims.
'Tis natural for Man to worſhip God for ſelf: Self-righteouſneſs is the rooted aim of Man in his worſhip ſince his revolt from God, and being ſenſible it is not to be found in his natural actions, he ſpeaks for it in his moral and religious. By the firſt Pride we flung God off from being our Soveraign, and from being our end; ſince, a Phariſaical Spirit ſtruts it in nature, not only to do things to be ſeen of men, but to be admired by God, Iſa. 58.3. Wherefore have we faſted and thou takeſt no knowledge? This is to have God worſhip them, inſtead of being worſhipped by them. Cain's carriage after his Sacrifice, teſtified ſome baſe end in his worſhip; he came not to God as a Subject to a Soveraign, but as if he had been the Soveraign, and God the Subject; and when his deſign is not anſwered, and his deſire not gratified, he proves more a Rebel to God, and a Murderer of his Brother. Such baſe ſcents will riſe up in our worſhip from the body of death which cleaves to us, and mix themſelves with our ſervices, as Weeds with the Fiſh in the Net. David therefore, after his People had offered willingly to the Temple, beggs of God, that their hearts might be prepared to him *1 Cron. 29.18.; that their hearts might ſtand right to God, without any ſquinting to ſelf-ends.
Some preſent themſelves to God, as poor men offer a preſent to a great perſon; not to honour him, but to gain for themſelves a reward richer than their gift. What profit is it that we have kept his Ordinance, &c? Mal. 3.14. Some worſhip him, intending thereby to make him amends for the wrong they have done him; wipe off their ſcores, and ſatisfie their debts; as though a ſpiritual wrong could be recompenſed with a bodily ſervice, and an infinite Spirit be outwitted and appeaſed by a carnal flattery. Self is the Spirit of Carnality: To pretend a homage to God, and intend only the advantage of ſelf, is rather to mock him, than worſhip him. When we believe that we ought to be ſatisfied, rather than God glorified; we ſet God below our ſelves, imagin that he ſhould ſubmit his own honour to our advantage: We make our ſelves more glorious than God, as though we were not made for him, but he hath a Being only for us; this is to have a very low eſteem of the Majeſty of God. Whatſoever any man aims at in worſhip above the glory of God, that he forms as an Idol to himſelf inſtead of God, and ſets up a Golden-Image: God counts not this as a Worſhip. The Offerings made in the Wilderneſs for forty years together, God eſteemed as not offered to him, Amos 5.25. Have you offered to me Sacrifices and Offerings in the Wilderneſs forty years, oh Houſe of Iſrael? They did it not to God, but to themſelves; for their own ſecurity, and the attainment of the poſſeſſion of the promiſed Land. A ſpiritual Worſhipper performs not worſhip for ſome hopes of carnal advantage; he uſes ordinances as means to bring God and his Soul together; to be more fitted to honour God in the world, in his particular place: When he hath been inflamed and humble in any addreſs or duty, he gives God the glory; his heart ſutes the doxology at the end of the Lords-prayer, aſcribes the Kingdom, Power and Glory to God alone; and if any viper of Pride ſtarts out upon him, he endeavours preſently to ſhake it off. That which was the firſt end of our framing, ought to be the chief end of our acting towards God: But when men have the ſame ends in worſhip as Brutes, the ſatisfaction of a ſenſitive part; the ſervice is no more than brutiſh. The acting for a ſenſitive end, is unworthy of the Majeſty of God to whom we addreſs, and unbecoming a rational Creature. The acting for a ſenſitive end, is not a rational, much leſs can it be a ſpiritual ſervice; though the Act may be good in it ſelf, yet not good in the Agent, becauſe he wants a due end: We are then ſpiritual, when we have the ſame end in our redeemed ſervices, as God had in his redeeming love, viz. his own Glory.
12. Spiritual ſervice is offered to God in the name of Chriſt. Thoſe are only ſpiritual Sacrifices, that are offered up to God by Jeſus Chriſt *1 Pet. 2.5., that are the fruits of the Sanctification of the Spirit, and offered in the mediation of the Son: As the Altar ſanctifies the gift, ſo doth Chriſt ſpiritualize our ſervices for Gods acceptation; as the Fire upon the Altar ſeparated the airy and finer parts of the ſacrifice from the terrene and earthly: This is the Golden Altar upon which the Prayers of the Saints are offered up before the Throne *Revel. 8.3.. As all that we have from God ſtreams through his blood: ſo all that we give to God aſcends by vertue of his merits. All the bleſſings God gave to the Iſraelites came out of Sion *Pſal. 134.3. The Lord bleſs thee out of Sion., that is, from the Goſpel hid under the Law; all the duties we preſent to God are to be preſented in Sion, in an evangelical manner: All our worſhip muſt be bottomed on Chriſt. God hath intended that we ſhould honour the Son as we honour the Father: As we honour the Father by offering our ſervice only to him, ſo we are to honour the Son by offering it only in his name: In him alone God is well pleaſed, becauſe in him alone he finds our ſervices ſpiritual and worthy of acceptation: We muſt therefore take faſt hold of him with our Spirits, and the faſter we hold him, the more ſpiritual is our worſhip. To do any thing in the name of Chriſt, is not to believe the worſhip ſhall be accepted for it ſelf, but to have our eye fixed upon Chriſt for the acceptance of it, and not to reſt upon the work done as carnal people are apt to do. The Creatures preſent their acknowledgments to God by Man; and man can only preſent his by Chriſt. It was utterly unlawful after the building of the Temple, to ſacrifice any where elſe: The Temple being a type of Chriſt, it is utterly unlawful for us to preſent our ſervices in any other name than his.
This is the way to be ſpiritual. If we conſider God out of Chriſt, we can have no other notions but thoſe of horror and bondage. We behold him a Spirit, but environ'd with Juſtice and Wrath for Sinners: But the conſideration of him in Chriſt, vails his Juſtice; draws forth his Mercy; repreſents him more a Father than a Judge. In Chriſt the aſpect of Juſtice is changed, and by that the temper of the Creature; ſo that in and by this Mediator, we can have a ſpiritual boldneſs, and acceſs to God with confidence *Eph. 3.12.; whereby the Spirit is kept from benummedneſs, and diſtraction; and our Souls quickned and refined. The thoughts kept upon Chriſt in a duty of worſhip, quickly elevates the Soul, and ſpiritualizeth the whole ſervice. Sin makes our ſervices black, and the blood of Chriſt makes both our perſons and ſervices white.
To conclude this Head.
God is a Spirit infinitely happy, therefore we muſt approach to him with cheerfulneſs; He is a Spirit of infinite Majeſty, therefore we muſt come before him with reverence; He is a Spirit infinitely high, therefore we muſt offer up our Sacrifices with the deepeſt humility; He is a Spirit infinitely holy, therefore we muſt addreſs with purity; He is a Spirit infinitely glorious, we muſt therefore acknowledge his excellency in all that we do, and in our meaſures contribute to his glory, by having the higheſt aims in his worſhip; He is a Spirit infinitely provoked by us, therefore we muſt offer up our worſhip in the name of a pacifying Mediator and Interceſſour.
3. The third general, is why a ſpiritual worſhip is due to God, and to be offered to him. We muſt conſider the Object of Worſhip, and the Subject of worſhip; the Worſhipper and the Worſhipped. God is a ſpiritual Being; Man is a reaſonable Creature. The nature of God informs us, what is fit to be preſented to him; our own nature informs us, what is fit to be preſented by us.
Reaſon 1. The beſt we have is to be preſented to God in worſhip. For
1. Since God is the moſt excellent Being, he is to be ſerved by us with the moſt excellent thing we have, and with the choiceſt veneration. God is ſo incomprehenſibly excellent, that we cannot render him what he deſerves; We muſt render him what we are able to offer; the beſt of our affiections; the flower of our ſtrength; the Cream and Top of our Spirits. By the ſame reaſon that we are bound to give to God the beſt worſhip, we muſt offer it to him in the beſt manner. We cannot give to God any thing too good for ſo bleſſed a Being: God being a great King, ſlight ſervices become not his Majeſty*Mal. 1.13, 14.: 'Tis unbecoming the Majeſty of God, and the reaſon of a Creature, to give him a trivial thing: 'Tis unworthy to beſtow the beſt of our ſtrength on our Luſt, and the worſt and weakeſt in the ſervice of God. An infinite Spirit, ſhould have affections as near to infinite as we can: As he is a Spirit without bounds, ſo he ſhould have a ſervice without limits: When we have given him all, we cannot ſerve him according to the excellency of his nature*Joſh. 24.19.; and ſhall we give him leſs than all? His infinite excellency and our dependance on him as Creatures, demands the choiceſt adoration: Our Spirits being the nobleſt part of our nature, are as due to him, as the ſervice of our bodies which are the vileſt: To ſerve him with the worſt only, is to diminiſh his honour.
2. Ʋnder the Law, God commanded the beſt to be offered him. He would have the Males, the beſt of the kind; the fat, the beſt of the Creature*Exod. 29.13. The inward fat not the of-fails.: He commanded them to offer him the Firſtlings of the flock; not the Firſtlings of the Womb, but the Firſtlings of the Year: The Jewiſh Cattle having two breeding times, in the beginning of the Spring, and the beginning of September; The latter breed was the weaker which Jacob knew*Gen. 30., when he laid the Rods before the Cattle when they were ſtrong in the Spring, and witheld them when they were feeble in the Autumn. One reaſon (as the Jews ſay) why God accepted not the offering of Cain was, becauſe he brought the meaneſt, not the beſt of the fruit; and therefore 'tis ſaid, only that he brought of the fruit of the Ground, Gen. 4.3. not the firſt of the fruit, or the beſt of the fruit; as Abel who brought the Firſtling of his Flock, and the Fat thereof, v. 4.
3. And this the Heathen practiced by the light of Nature. They for the moſt part offered Males, as being more worthy; and burnt the Male, not the Female Frank incenſe, as it is divided into thoſe two kinds: They offered the beſt, when they offered their Children to Molock. Nothing more excellent than Man, and nothing dearer to Parents than their Children, which are parts of themſelves. When the Iſraelites would have a Golden-Calf for a repreſentation of God, they would dedicate their Jewels, and ſtrip their Wives and Children of their richeſt Ornaments, to ſhew their devotion. Shall men ſerve their dumb Idols with the beſt of their ſubſtance, and the ſtrength of their Souls; and ſhall the living God have a duller ſervice from us, than Idols had from them? God requires no ſuch hard, but delightful worſhip from us, our ſpirits.
4. All Creatures ſerve Man, by the providential order of God, with the beſt they have. As we by Gods appointment receive from Creatures the beſt they can give, ought we not with a free will render to God the beſt we can offer? The Beaſts give us their beſt Fat; the Trees their beſt Fruit; the Sun its beſt Light; the Fountains their beſt Streams: Shall God order us the beſt from Creatures, and we put him off with the worſt from our ſelves?
5. God hath given us the choiceſt thing he had. A Redeemer that was the Power of God, and the Wiſdom of God: The beſt he had in Heaven, his own Son, and in himſelf, a Sacrifice for us, that we might be enabled to preſent our ſelves a Sacrifice to Him. And Chriſt offered himſelf for us, the beſt he had, and that with the ſtrength of the Deity through the Eternal Spirit; and ſhall we grudge God the beſt part of our ſelves? As God would have a worſhip from his Creature, ſo it muſt be with the beſt part of his Creature. If we have given our ſelves to the Lord *2 Cor. 8.5., we can worſhip with no leſs than our ſelves. What is the Man without his Spirit? If we are to worſhip God with all that we have received from him, we muſt worſhip him with the beſt part we have received from him: 'Tis but a ſmall glory we can give him with the beſt, and ſhall we deprive him of his right by giving him the worſt? As what we are, is from God; ſo what we are, ought to be for God. Creation is the foundation of worſhip, Pſal. 100.2, 3. Serve the Lord with gladneſs: Know ye that the Lord he is God; 'tis he that hath made us: He hath ennobled us with ſpiritual affections; where is it fitteſt for us to employ them, but upon him? and at what time, but when we come ſolemnly to converſe with him? Is it Juſtice to deny him the honour of his beſt gift to us? Our Souls are more his gift to us, than any thing in the World: Other things are ſo given that they are often taken from us, but our Spirits are the moſt durable gift. Rational faculties cannot be removed without a diſſolution of nature.
Well then*Amyraut. Mor. Tom. 2. P. 311.; As he is God, he is to be honoured with all the propenſions and ardor that the infiniteneſs and excellency of ſuch a Being requires, and the incomparable obligations he hath laid upon us in this ſtate deſerve at our hands: In all our worſhip therefore, our minds ought to be filled with the higheſt admiration, love and reverence. Since our end was to glorifie God, we anſwer not our end, and honour him not, unleſs we give him the choiceſt we have.
Reaſon 2. We cannot elſe act towards God according to the nature of rational Creatures. Spiritual worſhip is due to God, becauſe of his nature; and due from us, becauſe of our nature. As we are to adore God, ſo we are to adore him as men: The nature of a rational Creature makes this impreſſion upon him: He cannot view his own nature without having this duty ſtriking upon his mind. As he knows by inſpection into himſelf, that there was a God that made him; ſo, that he is made to be in ſubjection to God; ſubjection to him in his Spirit as well as his Body, and ought morally to teſtifie this natural dependance on him: His conſtitution informs him, that he hath a capacity to converſe with God; that he cannot converſe with him, but by thoſe inward faculties: If it could be managed by his Body without his Spirit, Beaſts might as well converſe with God as Men. It can never be a reaſonable ſervice as it ought to be*Rom. 12.1., unleſs the reaſonable faculties be employed in the management of it: It muſt be a worſhip prodigiouſly lame, without the concurrence of the cheifeſt part of Man with it. As we are to act conformably to the nature of the object, ſo alſo to the nature of our own faculties. Our faculties in the very gift of them to us were deſtined to be exerciſed; about what? What? All other things but the Author of them: 'Tis a conceit cannot enter into the heart of a rational Creature, that he ſhould act as ſuch a Creature in other things, and as a ſtone in things relating to the Donor of them; as a man, with his mind about him in the affairs of the world, as a Beaſt without reaſon in his acts towards God. If a man did not employ his reaſon in other things, he would be an unprofitable Creature in the world: If he do not employ his ſpiritual faculties in worſhip, he denies them the proper end and uſe for which they were given him; 'tis a practical denial that God hath given him a Soul, and that God hath any right to the exerciſe of it. If there were no worſhip appointed by God in the world, the natural inclination of man to ſome kind of Religion would be in vain; and if our inward faculties were not employed in the duties of Religion, they would be in vain: The true end of God in the endowment of us with them would be defeated by us, as much as lies in us, if we did not ſerve him with that which we have from him ſolely at his own coſt. As no man can with reaſon conclude, that the Reſt commanded on the Sabbath and the Sanctification of it, was only a reſt of the body; that had been performed by the Beaſts as well as Men; but ſome higher end was aimed at for the rational Creature: So no man can think that the Command for worſhip, terminated only in the preſence of the Body; that God ſhould give the Command to Man as a reaſonable Creature, and expect no other ſervice from him than that of a Brute.
God did not require a worſhip from man, for any want he had, or any eſſential honour that could accrue to him; but that men might teſtifie their gratitude to him, and dependance on him. 'Tis the moſt horrid ingratitude, not to have lively and deep ſentiments of gratitude after ſuch obligations, and not to make thoſe due acknowledgments that are proper for a rational Creature. Religion is the higheſt and choiceſt act of a reaſonable Creature: No Creature under Heaven is capable of it that wants reaſon. As it is a violation of reaſon not to worſhip God, ſo it is no leſs a violation of reaſon not to worſhip him with the Heart and Spirit: It is a high diſhonour to God, and defeats him not only of the ſervice due to him from Man, but that which is due to him from all the Creatures. Every Creature, as it is an effect of Gods Power and Wiſdom, doth paſſively worſhip God; that is, it doth afford matter of adoration to man that hath, reaſon to collect it and return it where it is due: Without the exerciſe of the Soul we can no more hand it to God, than without ſuch an exerciſe we can gather it from the Creature: So that by this neglect, the Creatures are reſtrained from anſwering their chief end; they cannot pay any ſervice to God without man; nor can man without the employment of his rational faculties, render a homage to God, any more than beaſts can. This engagement of our inward power ſtands firm and unviolable, let the modes of worſhip be what they will, or the changes of them by the Soveraign Authority of God never ſo frequent; this could not expire or be changed, as long as the nature of Man endured. As Man had not been capable of a Command for Worſhip, unleſs he had been endued with ſpiritual faculties; ſo he is not active in a true practice of Worſhip, unleſs they be imployed by him in it. The conſtitution of Man makes this manner of worſhip perpetually obligatory; and the oblation can never ceaſe, till man ceaſe to be a Creature furniſht with ſuch faculties: In our worſhip therefore, if we would act like rational Creatures, we ſhould extend all the powers of our Souls to the utmoſt pitch, and eſſay to have apprehenſions of God, equal to the excellency of his Nature, which though we may attempt, we can never attain.
Reaſon 3. Without this engagement of our Spirits, no act is an act of worſhip. True worſhip being an acknowledgment of God and the perfections of his Nature, reſults only from the Soul, that being only capable of knowing God and thoſe perfections, which are the object and motive of worſhip: The poſture of the body, is but to teſtifie the inward temper and affection of the mind: If therefore it teſtifies what it is not, 'tis a lye and no worſhip: The cringes a Beaſt may be taught to make to an Altar, may as well be called Worſhip; ſince a man thinks as little of that God he pretends to honour, as the beaſt doth of the Altar to which he bowes. Worſhip is a reverent remembrance of God, and giving ſome honour to him with the intention of the Soul: It cannot juſtly have the name of Worſhip, that wants the eſſential part of it: 'Tis an aſcribing to God the glory of his Nature, an owning ſubjection and obedience to him as our ſoveraign Lord: This is as impoſſible to be performed without the Spirit, as that there can be life and motion in a body without a Soul: 'Tis a drawing neer to God, not in regard of his eſſential preſence; ſo all things are neer to God; but in an acknowledgement of his excellency, which is an act of the Spirit; without this, the worſt of men in a place of worſhip, are as neer to God as the beſt. The neceſſity of the conjunction of our Soul, ariſeth from the nature of worſhip; which being the moſt ſerious thing we can be employed in, the higheſt converſe with the higheſt object, requires the choiceſt temper of Spirit in the performance. That cannot be an act of worſhip, which is not an act of Piety and Vertue; but there is no act of vertue done by the members of the Body, without the concurrence of the Powers of the Soul. We may as well call the preſence of a dead Carcaſs in a place of worſhip, an act of Religion, as the preſence of a living body without an intent Spirit: The ſeparation of the Soul from one is natural, the other moral; that renders the body lifeleſs, but this renders the act loathſome to God: As the being of the Soul gives life to the Body, ſo the operation of the Soul gives life to the actions: As he cannot be a man that wants the form of a man, a rational Soul; ſo that cannot be a worſhip that wants an eſſential part, the act of the Spirit: God will not vouchſafe any acts of man ſo noble a title, without the requiſite qualifications, Hoſ. 5.6. They ſhall go with their Flocks and their Herds, to ſeek the Lord, &c. A multitude of Lambs and Bullocks for Sacrifice, to appeaſe Gods Anger: God would not give it the title of worſhip, though inſtituted by himſelf, when it wanted the qualities of ſuch a ſervice: The Spirit of Whoredom was in the midſt of them, v. 4. In the judgment of our Savior, it is a vain worſhip, when the Traditions of Men are taught for the Doctrins of God *Mat. 15.9.; and no leſs vain muſt it be, when the Bodies of Men are preſented to ſupply the place of their Spirits. As an omiſſion of duty is a contempt of Gods Soveraign Authority, ſo the omiſſion of the manner of it, is a contempt of it, and of his amiable excellency; and that which is a contempt and mockery, can lay no juſt claim to the title of Worſhip.
Reaſon 4. There is in worſhip, an approach of God to Man. It was inſtituted to this purpoſe, that God might give out his bleſſings to Man: And ought not our Spirits to be prepared and ready to receive his communications? We are in ſuch acts, more peculiarly in his preſence. In the Iſraelites hearing the Law, it is ſaid God was to come among them *Exod. 19.10, 11.: Then, men are ſaid to ſtand before the Lord*Deut. 10.8.: God before whom I ſtand, that is, whom I worſhip: And therefore when Cain forſook the worſhip of God ſetled in his Fathers Family,*Kings 1.17. he is ſaid to go out from the preſence of the Lord, Gen. 4.16. God is eſſentially preſent in the world; graciouſly preſent in his Church. The name of the Evangelical City is, Jehovah Shammah *Ezek. 48.35., the Lord is there. God is more graciouſly preſent in the Evangelical inſtitutions, than in the Legal: He loves the Gates of Zion, more than all the dwellings of Jacob*Pſal. 87.2.: His Evangelical Law and Worſhip which was to go forth from Zion, as the other did from Sinai, Mic. 4.2. God delights to approach to Men, and converſe with them in the worſhip inſtituted in the Goſpel, more than in all the dwellings of Jacob. If God be graciouſly preſent, ought not we to be ſpiritually preſent? A liveleſs Carcaſs ſervice, becomes not ſo high and delectable a preſence as this: 'Tis to thruſt him from us, not invite him to us: 'Tis to practiſe in the Ordinances, what the Prophet predicts concerning mens uſage of our Saviour, Iſa. 53.2. There is no form, no comelineſs, nor beauty that we ſhould deſire him. A ſlightneſs in worſhip, reflects upon the excellency of the object of worſhip. God and his worſhip are ſo linkt together, that whoſoever thinks the one not worth his inward care, eſteems the other not worth his inward affection. How unworthy a ſlight is it of God, who profers the opening his Treaſure; the reimpreſſing his Image; conferring his bleſſings; admits us into his preſence, when he hath no need for us, who hath millions of Angels to attend him in his Court, and celebrate his Praiſe? He that worſhips not God with his Spirit, regards not Gods preſence in his Ordinances, and ſlights the great end of God in them, and that perfection he may attain by them. We can only expect, what God hath promiſed to give, when we tender to him what he hath commanded us to preſent. If we put off God with a Shell, he will put us off with a Husk. How can we expect his heart, when we do not give him ours; or hope for the bleſſing needful for us, when we render not the glory due to him? It cannot be an advantagious worſhip, without ſpiritual graces; for thoſe are uniting, and Union is the ground of all Communion.
Reaſon 5. To have a ſpiritual worſhip is Gods end in the reſtoration of the Creature; both in Redemption by his Son, and Sanctification by his Spirit. A fitneſs for ſpiritual Offerings, was the end of the coming of Chriſt *Mal. 3.3.; He ſhould purge them, as Gold and Silver by Fire, a Spirit burning up their droſs, melting them into a holy compliance with and ſubmiſſion to God: To what purpoſe? That they may offer to the Lord an Offering in Righteouſnes; a pure Offering from a purified Spirit: He came to bring us to God *1 Pet. 3.18.in ſuch a Garb, as that we might be fit to converſe with him: Can we be thus, without a fixedneſs of our Spirits on him?
The offering of ſpiritual Sacrifices, is the end of making any a ſpiritual Habitation, and a holy Prieſt-hood *Pet. 2.5.. We can no more be Worſhippers of God, without a Worſhippers nature, than a man can be a man without humane nature. As man was at firſt created for the honour and worſhip of God; ſo the deſign of reſtoring that Image which was defaced by Sin, tends to the ſame end. We are not brought to God by Chriſt, nor are our ſervices preſented to him, if they be without our Spirits: Would any man that undertakes to bring another to a Prince, introduce him in a ſlovenly and ſordid habit, ſuch a garb that he knows hateful to him? Or bring the Clothes or Skin of a Man ſtuft with ſtraw, inſtead of the Perſon? To come with our Skins before God without our Spirits, is contrary to the deſign of God, in Redemption and Regeneration.
If a carnal worſhip would have pleaſed God, a carnal heart would have ſerved his turn, without the expence of his Spirit in Sanctification: He beſtows upon man a ſpiritual nature, that he may return to him a ſpiritual ſervice: He enlightens the Underſtanding, that he may have a rational ſervice; and new moulds the Will, that he may have a voluntary ſervice. As it is the Milk of the Word wherewith he feeds us, ſo it is the ſervice of the Word wherewith we muſt glorifie him. So much as there is of confuſedneſs in our underſtanding, ſo much of ſtarting and levity in our Wills; ſo much of ſlipperineſs and skipping in our affections; ſo much is abated of the due qualities of the worſhip of God; and ſo much we fall ſhort of the end of Redemption and Sanctification.
Reaſon 6. A ſpiritual worſhip is to be offered to God, becauſe no worſhip but that can be acceptable. We can never be ſecured of acceptance without it; He being a Spirit, nothing but the worſhip in Spirit can be ſutable to him: What is unſutable, cannot be acceptable: There muſt be ſomething in us, to make our ſervices capable of being preſented by Chriſt for an actual acceptation. No ſervice is acceptable to God by Jeſus Chriſt, but as it is a ſpiritual Sacrifice, and offered by a ſpiritual heart, 1 Pet. 2.5. The Sacrifice is firſt ſpiritual, before it be acceptable to God by Chriſt: When it is an offering in righteouſneſs, it is then, and only then pleaſant to the Lord, Mal. 3.3, 4. No Prince would accept a gift that is unſutable to his Majeſty, and below the condition of the perſon that preſents it: Would he be pleaſed with a bottle of water for drink, from one that hath his Cellar full of wine? How unacceptable muſt that be, that is unſutable to the Divine Majeſty? And what can be more unſutable, than a withdrawing the operations of our Souls from him, in the oblation of our Bodies? We as little glorifie God as God, when we give him only a corporeal worſhip; as the Heathen did, when they repreſented him in a corporeal ſhape*Rom. 1.21.; one as well as the other denies his ſpiritual nature: This is worſe, for had it been lawful to repreſent God to the eye, it could not have been done, but by a bodily figure ſuted to the ſenſe; but ſince it is neceſſary to worſhip him, it cannot be by a corporeal attendance, without the operation of the Spirit. A ſpiritual frame is more pleaſing to God, than the higheſt exterior adornments; than the greateſt gifts, and the higheſt Prophetical illuminations. The glory of the ſecond Temple exceeded the glory of the firſt*Hag. 2.8, 9.: As God accounts the ſpiritual glory of Ordinances moſt beneficial for us, ſo our ſpiritual attendance upon Ordinances is moſt pleaſing to him; He that offers the greateſt ſervices without it, offers but fleſh, Hoſ. 8.13. They ſacrifice Fleſh for the Sacrifices of my Offerings, but the Lord accepts them not. Spiritual frames are the Soul of Religious ſervices; all other carriages without them, are contemptible to this Spirit: We can never lay claim to that promiſe of God, none ſhall ſeek my face in vain: We affect a vain ſeeking of him, when we want a due temper of Spirit for him: And vain Spirits ſhall have vain returns: 'Tis more contrary to the nature of Gods Holineſs to have communion with ſuch, than it is contrary to the nature of Light to have communion with Darkneſs.
To make uſe of this.
Ʋſe 1. Firſt it ſerves for information.
1. If ſpiritual worſhip be required by God; How ſad is it for them that are ſo far from giving God a ſpiritual worſhip, that they render him no worſhip at all? I ſpeak not of the neglect of publick, but of private; when men preſent not a devotion to God from one years end to the other. The ſpeech of our Saviour, that we muſt worſhip God in Spirit and Truth, implies that a worſhip is due to him from every one: That is the common impreſſion upon the Conſciences of all men in the world, if they have not by ſome conſtant courſe in groſs ſins, hardned their Souls, and ſtifled thoſe natural ſentiments. There was never a Nation in the world, without ſome kind of Religion; and no Religion was ever without ſome modes, to teſtifie a devotion: The Heathens had their Sacrifices and Purifications; and the Jews by Gods order had their rites, whereby they were to expreſs their Allegiance to God.
Conſider,
1. Worſhip is a duty incumbent upon all men. 'Tis a homage Mankind ows to God, under the relation wherein he ſtands obliged to him: 'Tis a prime and immutable juſtice to own our Allegiance to him. 'Tis as unchangeable a truth that God is to be worſhipped, as that God is: He is to be worſhipped as God; as Creator; and therefore by all, ſince he is the Creator of all, the Lord of all, and all are his Creatures, and all are his Subjects. Worſhip is founded upon Creation, Pſal. 100.2, 3. 'Tis due to God for himſelf and his own eſſential excellency, and therefore due from all: 'Tis due upon the account of mans nature: The human rational nature is the ſame in all. Whatſoever is due to God upon the account of mans nature, and the natural obligations he hath laid upon man, is due from all men, becauſe they all enjoy the benefits which are proper to their nature.
Man in no ſtate was exempted, nor can be exempted from it: In Paradiſe he had his Sabbath and Sacraments; Man therefore diſſolves the obligation of a reaſonable nature, by neglecting the worſhip of God.
Religion is in the firſt place to be minded. As ſoon as Noah came out of the Ark, he contrived not a Habitation for himſelf, but an Altar for the Lord, to acknowledge him the Author of his preſervation from the Deluge*Gen. 8.20.: And whereſoever Abraham came, his firſt buſineſs was to erect an Altar, and pay his arrears of gratitude to God, before he ran upon the ſcore for new mercies*Gen. 12.7. Gen. 13.4.18.; He left a teſtimony of worſhip where ever he came.
2. Wholly therefore to neglect it, is a high degree of Atheiſm. He that calls not upon God, ſaith in his heart there is no God; and ſeems to have the ſentiments of natural Conſcience, as to God, ſtifled in him*Pſal. 14.1, 4: It muſt ariſe from a conceit that there is no God, or that we are equal to him, adoration not being due from perſons of an equal ſtate; or that God is unable, or unwilling to take notice of the adoring acts of his Creatures: What is any of theſe but an undeifying the ſupream Majeſty? When we lay aſide all thoughts of paying any homage to him, we are in a fair way opinionatively to deny him, as much as we practically diſown him. Where there is no knowledge of God, that is, no acknowledgment of God, a gap is opened to all licentiouſneſs*Hoſ. 4.1, 2.: And that by degrees brawns the Conſcience, and raſeth out the ſenſe of God. Thoſe forſake God that forget his holy Mountain *Iſa. 65.11.; They do not practically own him as the Creator of their Souls or bodies. 'Tis the ſin of Cain, who turning his back upon worſhip, is ſaid to go out from the preſence of the Lord *Gen. 4.16.. Not to worſhip him with our Spirits, is againſt his Law of Creation: Not to worſhip him at all, is againſt his act of Creation: Not to worſhip him in truth is Hypocriſie: Not to worſhip him at all is Atheiſm, whereby we render our ſelves worſe than the worms in the Earth, or a toad in a Ditch.
3. To perform a worſhip to a falſe God, or to the true God in a falſe manner, ſeems to be leſs a ſin, than to live in perpetual neglects of it. Though it be directed to a falſe Object inſtead of God; yet it is under the notion of a God, and ſo is an acknowledgement of ſuch a Being as God in the world; whereas the total neglect of any worſhip, is a practical denying of the exiſtence of any ſupream Majeſty.
Whoſoever conſtantly omits a publick and private worſhip, tranſgreſſes againſt an univerſally received dictate; For all Nations have agreed in the common notion of worſhipping God, though they have diſagreed in the ſeveral modes and rites whereby they would teſtifie that adoration. By a worſhip of God, though ſuperſtitious, a veneration and reverence of ſuch a being is maintained in the world; whereas by a total neglect of worſhip, he is vertually diſowned and diſcarded, if not from his exiſtence, yet from his Providence and Government of the world: All the mercies we breath in are denied to flow from him. A fooliſh worſhip owns Religion, though it beſpatters it. As if a ſtranger coming into a Country miſtakes a Subject for the Prince, and pays that reverence to the Subject, which is due to the Prince, though he miſtakes the object, yet he owns an Authority; or if he pays any reſpect to the true Prince of that Country after the mode of his own, though appearing ridiculous in the place where he is, he owns the Authority of the Prince; whereas the omiſſion of all reſpect would be a contempt of Majeſty: And therefore the Judgments of God have been more ſignal upon the Sacrilegious Contemners of worſhip among the Heathens, than upon thoſe that were diligent and devout in their falſe worſhip; and they generally owned the bleſſings received, to the preſervation of a ſenſe, and worſhip of a deity among them. Though ſuch a worſhip be not acceptable to God, and every man is bound to offer to God a devotion agreeable to his own mind; yet it is commendable, not as worſhip, but as it ſpeaks an acknowledgment of ſuch a Being as God in his power in Creation, and his beneficence in his Providence.
Well then, omiſſions of worſhip are to be avoided. Let no man execute that upon himſelf, which God will pronounce at laſt as the greateſt miſery, and bid God depart from him, who will at laſt be loath to hear God bid him depart from him. Though man hath natural ſentiments that God is to be worſhipped; yet having an hoſtility in his nature, he is apt to neglect, or give it him in a ſlight manner: He therefore ſets a particular mark and notice of attention upon the fourth Command, Remember thou keep holy the Sabath-day. Corrupt nature is apt to neglect the worſhip of God, and flagg in it: This Command therefore which concerns his worſhip, he fortifies with ſeveral reaſons.
Nor let any neglect worſhip, becauſe they cannot find their hearts ſpiritual in it. The further we are from God, the more carnal ſhall we be. No man can expect heat by a diſtance from the Sun beams, or other means of warmth. Though God commanded a circumciſed heart in the Jewiſh ſervices; yet he did not warrant a neglect of the outward teſtimonies of Religion he had then appointed: He expected according to his Command, that they ſhould offer the Sacrifices, and practiſe the legal Purifications he had commanded; he would have them diligently obſerved, though he had declared that he impoſed them only for a time. And our Saviour ordered the practiſe of thoſe poſitive rites as long as the law remained unrepealed, as in the Caſe of the Leper *Mark 14.4.. 'Tis an injuſtice to refuſe the offering our ſelves to God according to the manner he hath in his Wiſdom preſcribed and required.
If ſpiritual worſhip be required by God; then
2. It informs us, that diligence in outward worſhip is not to be reſted in. *Daille melange. des Sermon: Ser. 2.Men may attend all their days on worſhip, with a juiceleſs heart and unquickned frame, and think to compenſate the neglect of the manner, with abundance of the matter of ſervice. Outward expreſſions are but the badges and liveries of ſervice, not the ſervice it ſelf. As the ſtrength of Sin lies in the inward frame of the heart, ſo the ſtrength of worſhip in the inward complexion and temper of the Soul. What do a thouſand ſervices avail, without cutting the throat of our carnal affections? What are loud Prayers, but as ſounding Braſs and tinkling Cymbals, without Divine Charity? A Phariſaical diligence in outward forms without inward Spirit, had no better a title vouchſafed by our Saviour, than that of hypocritical. God deſires not Sacrifices, nor delights in burnt Offerings: Shadows are not to be offered inſtead of Subſtance. God required the heart of man for it ſelf; but commanded outward Ceremonies, as ſubſervient to inward worſhip, and goads and ſpurs unto it: They were never appointed as the ſubſtance of Religion, but auxiliaries to it. What value had the Offering of the human nature of Chriſt been of, if he had not had a divine nature to qualifie him to be the Prieſt? And what is the oblation of our Bodies, without a Prieſtly act of the Spirit in the preſentation of it? Could the Iſraelites have called themſelves Worſhippers of God according to his Order, if they had brought a thouſand Lambs that had died in a Ditch, or been killed at home? They were to be brought living to the Altar; the blood ſhed at the foot of it: A thouſand Sacrifices killed without, had not been ſo valuable as one brought alive to the place of Offering: One ſound Sacrifice is better than a thouſand rotten ones. As God took no pleaſure in the blood of Beaſts without its relation to the Antitype; So he takes no pleaſure in the outward rites of worſhip, without Faith in the Redeemer. To offer a Body with a ſapleſs Spirit, is a Sacriledge of the ſame nature with that of the Iſraelites when they offered dead Beaſts. A man without ſpiritual worſhip is dead whiles he worſhips, though by his diligence in the externals of it he may like the Angel of the Church of Sardis, have a name to live *Revel. 3.1.. What ſecurity can we expect from a multitude of dead ſervices? What weak ſhields are they againſt the holy eye and revenging wrath of God? What man, but one out of his wits, would ſollicite a dead man to be his Advocate or Champion?
Diligence in outward worſhip is not to be reſted in.
Ʋſe 2. Shall be for Examination: Let us try our ſelves concerning the manner of our worſhip. We are now in the end of the world, and the dreggs of time; wherein the Apoſtle predicts, there may be much of a form, and little of the power of Godlineſs *2 Tim. 3.1, 5.: And therefore it ſtands us in hand to ſearch into our ſelves, whether it be not thus with us? Whether there be as much reverence in our Spirits, as there may be devotion in our countenances and outward carriages.