creatures express to him in their being. So that if God were not to be worshipped, the end of man's faculties, and of all the creation must be much frustrated. Man's reason is given him that he may know his Maker; his will, and affections, and executive powers are given him, that he may freely love him and obey him; and his tongue is given him principally to acknowledge him and praise him: whom should God's work be serviceable to, but to him that made it?

2. As it is the natural use, so it is the highest honour of the creature to worship and honour his Creator: is there a nobler or more excellent object for our thoughts, affections, or expressions? And nature, which desireth its own perfection, forbiddeth us to choose a sordid, vile, dishonourable work, and to neglect the highest and most honourable.

3. The right worshipping of God doth powerfully tend to make us in our measure like him, and so to sanctify and raise the soul, and to heal it of its sinful distempers and imperfections. What can make us good so effectually as our knowledge, and love, and communion with him that is the chiefest good? Nay, what is goodness itself in the creature if this be not. As nearness to the sun giveth light and heat, so nearness to God, is the way to make us wise and good; for the contemplation of his perfections is the means to make us like him. The worshippers of God do not exercise their bare understandings upon him in barren speculations; but they exercise all their affections towards him, and all the faculties of their souls, in the most practical and serious manner, and therefore are most likely to have the liveliest impressions of God upon their hearts; and hence it is that the true worshippers of God are really the wisest and the best of men, when many that at a distance are employed in mere speculations about his works and him, remain almost as vain and wicked as before, and professing themselves wise, are (practically) fools d.

4. The right worshipping of God, by bringing the heart into a cleansed, holy, and obedient frame, doth prepare it to command the body, and make us upright and regular in all the actions of our lives; for the fruit will be like the tree;

e Read Mr. Herbert's Poem called "Providence."

Rom, i. 21, 22.

and as men are, so will they do. He that honoureth not his God, is not like well to honour his parents or his king: he that is not moved to it by his regard to God, is never like to be universally and constantly just and faithful unto men. Experience telleth us that it is the truest worshippers of God that are truest and most conscionable in their dealings with their neighbours: this windeth up the spring, and ordereth and strengtheneth all the causes of a good conversation. 5. The right worshipping of God is the highest and most rational delight of man. Though to a sick, corrupted soul it be unpleasant, as food to a sick stomach, yet to a wise and holy soul there is nothing so solidly and durably contentful. As it is God's damning sentence on the wicked, to say, "Depart from me;" so holy souls would lose their joys, and take themselves to be undone, if God should bid them, "Depart from me; worship me, and love me, and praise me no more." They would be weary of the world, were it not for God in the world; and weary of their lives, if God were not their life.

6. The right worshipping of God prepareth us for heaven, where we are to behold him, and love, and worship him for ever. God bringeth not unprepared souls to heaven: this life is the time that is purposely given us for our preparation; as the apprenticeship is the time to learn your trades. Heaven is a place of action and fruition, of perfect knowledge, love, and praise: and the souls that will enjoy and praise God there, must be disposed to it here; and therefore they must be much employed in his worship.

7. And as it is in all these respects necessary as a means, so God hath made it necessary by his command. He hath made it our duty to worship him constantly; and he knoweth the reason of his own commands. "It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. If God should command us nothing, how is he our Governor and our God? and if he command us any thing, what should he command us more fitly than to worship him? and he that will not obey him in this, is not like to obey him well in any thing; for there is nothing that he can with less shew of reason except against; seeing all the reason in

the world must confess, that worship is most due to God from his own creatures.

These reasons for the worship of God being undeniable, the objections of the infidels and ungodly are unreasonable : as, Object. 1. That our worship doth no good to God; for he hath no need of it.' Answ. It pleaseth and honoureth him, as the making of the world, and the happiness of man doth doth it follow that there must be no world, nor any man happy, because God hath no need of it, or no addition of felicity by it? It is sufficient that it is necessary and good for us, and pleasing unto God.

Object. 11. Proud men are most unlike to God; and it is the proud that love to be honoured and praised.' Answ. Pride is the affecting of an undue honour, or the undue affecting of that honour which is due. Therefore it is that this affectation of honour in the creature is a sin, because all honour is due to God, and none to the creature but derivatively and subserviently. For a subject to affect any of the honour of his king, is disloyalty; and to affect any of the honour of his fellow-subjects is injustice: but God requireth nothing but what is absolutely his due; and he hath commanded us even towards men, to give “fear and honour to whom they are due "."

Direct. 111. Labour for the truest knowledge of the God whom you worship.' Let it not be said of you, as Christ said to the Samaritan woman, "Ye worship ye know not what h: nor as it is said of the Athenians, whose altar was inscribed, "To the unknown Godi." You must know whom you worship; or else you cannot worship him with the heart, nor worship him sincerely and acceptably, though you were at never so great labour and cost: God hath no pleasure in the sacrifice of fools." Though no man know him perfectly, you must know him truly. And though God taketh not every man for a blasphemer, and denier of his attributes, whom contentious, peevish wranglers call so, because they consequentially cross some espoused opinions of theirs; yet real misunderstanding of God's nature and attributes is dangerous, and tendeth to corrupt his worship by the corrupting of the worshippers. For such as you take God to be, such worship you will offer him; for your h John iv. 22. 1 Acts xvii. 23.

Rom. xiii. 7.

Eccles, v. 1. 4.

worship is but the honourable acknowledgment of his perfections; and mistakingly to praise him for supposed imperfections, is to dishonour him and dispraise him. If to know God be your eternal life, it must needs be the life of all your worship. Take heed therefore of ignorance and error about God.

Direct. IV. Understand the office of Jesus Christ as our great high priest, by whose mediation alone we must have access to God.' Whether there should have been any priesthood for sacrifice or intercession if there had been no sin, the Scripture telleth us not expressly; but we have great reason to conjecture there would have been none, because there would not have been any reasons for the exercise of such an office. But since the fall, not only the Scriptures, but the practice of the whole world doth tell us that the sinful people are unmeet immediately thus to come to God, but that they must come by the mediation of the priest, as a sacrificer and intercessor. So that either nature teacheth sinners the necessity of some mediator, or the tradition of the church hath dispersed the knowledge of it through the world: and certainly no other priest but Christ can procure the acceptance of a sinful people upon his own. account; nor be an effectual mediator for them to God, unless in subserviency to an effectual mediator who can procure us access and acceptance for his own sake. For all other priests are sinners as well as the people, and have as much need of a mediator for themselves. 1. See therefore

you never appear before God, but as sinners, that have offended him, and have deserved to be cast out of his favour for ever, and such as are in absolute necessity of a mediator to procure their access and acceptance with God: come not to God without the sense of sin and misery. 2. See also that you come as those that have a mediator in the presence of God; even Jesus our high priest who appeareth before God continually to make intercession for us: come therefore with holy boldness, and confidence, and joy, having so sure and powerful a friend with God, the beloved of the Father, whom he heareth always.

Direct. v. Look carefully to the state of thy soul, that thou bring not an unholy heart to worship the Most Holy God.' Come not in the love of sin, nor in the hatred of ho

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liness; for otherwise thou hatest God, and art hated of him, as bringing that before him which he cannot but hate. And it is easy to judge how unfit they are to worship God, that hate him; and how unlike they are to be accepted by him whom he hateth. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight; thou hatest all the workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercies; and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple'." "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me m." "Who shall abide in God's tabernacle, but he that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness"?" God will be sanctified in them that come nigh him; and are unsanctified persons fit for this? and can the unholy offer him holy worship? "The carnal mind is enmity against God;" is it fit then to serve and honour him? "Let him that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity P." It is a purified, peculiar, holy people that Christ hath redeemed to be the worshippers of God, and as priests to "offer him acceptable sacrifice." If you will "receive the kingdom that cannot be moved, you must have grace in your hearts to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire'." I know an ungodly person, as soon as he hath any repenting thoughts, must express them in confession and prayer to God. as no prayers of an ungodly man are profitable to him, but those which are acts of his penitent return towards God; so no worship of God hath a promise of Divine acceptance, but that which is performed by such as sincerely return to God: (and such are not ungodly). "The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delights." I know the wicked must "seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he

1 Psal. v. 3-7.

m Psal. lxvi. 18.

• Rom. viii. 7, 8. Sec 2 Cor. vi. 15-18.

9 Tit. ii. 14. 1 Pet. ii. 5, 9.

• Prov. xv. 8.

D Psal. xv. 1, 2.

P 2 Tim. ii. 19.

r Heb. xii. 28, 29.

But