Page images
PDF
EPUB

dreadfull is this place; this is no other but the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven, Gen. 28. 16, 17. Oh then when thou fetteft thy foot over the threshold of Gods Temple tremble to think who is there, lift up thine awfull eyes, and bow thine humble knees, and raise up thy devout and faithful foul to a religious reverence and fear of those mighty and Majestical Spirits that are there; and of that great God of Spirits, whofe both they and thou art; and ftudy in all thy carriage to be approved of fo glorious witneffes and overfceres. That fo at the laft thofe bleffed Spirits with whom we have had an invisible converfation here, may carry up our departing foules into the heaven of heavens, into the prefence of that infinite, and incomprehenfibly-glorious God, both theirs and ours, there to live and raign with them in the participation of their unconceivable bliffe and glory. To the fruition whereof he that hath ordained us, graciously bring us by the mediation; and for the fake of his bleffed Son Jefus; To whom with thee O Father of Heaven,and thy co-eternall Spirit, three perfons in one God, be given all praise, honor, immortality now and for ever.

HOLY

HOLY DECENCY

IN THE

WORSHIP of GOD.

By J.H. B. N.

Know that a clean heart, and a right spirit is that which God mainly regards; For as he is a Spirit fo he will be ferved in Spirit; but withall, as he hath made John. 4. the body, and hath made it a partner with the Soul, 24. fo he justly expects, that it fhould be alfo wholly devoted to him; fo as the Apoftle, upon good reason, prayes for his Theffalonians, that their whole Spirit, and Soul, and body may be 1 Thef.5. preferved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jefus Christ; and be- 23. feeches his Romans by the mercies of God that they prefent their bodies a living facrifice, holy acceptable to God.

[ocr errors]

Rom.12.

I.

Now as the body is capable of a double uncleannefs; the one, morall; when it is made an inftrument, and agent in fin; the other naturall when it is polluted with outward filthinefs, fo both of these are fit to be avoided in our addreffes to the pure and holy God; the former out of Gods abfolute command, who hath charged us to cleanfe our felves from all filthiness both of the flesh and 2 Cor.7. Spirit; the latter out of the juft grounds of Decency, and expe- 1. dience: for though there be no finfull turpitude in those bodily uncleaneneffes, wherein we offer our felves to appear before the Lord, our God; yet there is fo deep an unbefeemingnefs in them, as places them in the next door to fin: Perhaps Gods ancient people the Femes were too fuperftitioufly fcrupulous in thefe externall obfervations; whofe Talmud tells us of one of their great that would rather fuffer under extremity of hunger and thirst, then

Rabbies

taft

1

taft of ought with unwafhen hands: as counting that neglect equall to lying with an harlot ; and who have railed a great queftion whether if any of their poultry have but dipped their beak in the bowle, the water may be allowed to wash in ; forbidding to void the urine ftanding (except it be upon a defcent of ground) left any drop fhould recoyle upon the feet; and in cafe of the other evacuation, befide the paddle-ftaffe, and other ceremonics in uncovering the feet, injoyning to turn the face to the South, not to the East or Weft, because those coafts had their faces directed towards them in their devotions: what fhould I speak of their extreme curiofity in their outward obfervances concerning the Law; which no man might be allowed to read whiles he was lut walking towards the unloading of nature or to the Bathe, or near to any place of annoyance; no Man might fo much as fpit in the Temple or before that facred Volumn, or stretch forth his feet towards it, or turn his back upon it, or receive it with the left hand no Man might prefume to write it but upon the parchment made of the skin of a clean beaft: nor to write or give a bill of divorce but by the fide of a running ftream: yea the very Turks as they have borrowed our circumcifion, fo alfo religious niceties from thefe Jewes, not allowing their Alcoran to be touched by a perfon that is unclean.

But furely, I fear thefe men are not more faulty in the one extreme, then many Chriftians are in the other; who place a kinde of holineffe in a flovenly neglect; and fo order themfelves as if they thought a nafty care leffeneffe in Gods fervices were moft acceptable to him: Hence it is that they affect homely places for his worship; abandoning all magnificence, and coft in all the acts and apendances of their devotion; clay and fticks please thern better, then Marble and Cedars; Hence it is that their dreffes make no difference of feftivals all ftuffes, all colours are alike to them in all facred folemnities; Hence that they ftumble into Gods house without all care or fhow of reverence; and fit them down at his Table, like his fellows, with their hats on their heads; Hence that they make no differance of coming with full panches to that heavenly banquet; and that the very dogs are allowed free acceffe and leave to lift up their legs at thofe holy tables, In quibus populi vota & membra Christi portata funt,Optat.Milevit l. 6.where we partake of the Son of God.

For

I Cor.14

40.

For the rectifying of which mifconceits and praeifes, let it be laid down as an undoubted rule; that it is a thing well-pleafing to God that there fhould be all outward cleanlinefs, gravity, reverent and comely poftures, meet furniture, utenfils, places, used and obferved in the fervice of the Almighty: a truth fufficiently grounded upon that irrefragable Canon of the Apoftle: Let all things le done decently and in order; whereof Order refers teiperfons, and actions; decency to the things done,and the fashion of doing them: diforder therefore and indecency, as they are a direct violation of this Apoftolick charge, fo doubtleffe they are justly offensive to the Majefty of that God whofe fervice is difgraced by them, as for diforder it falls not into our prefent difcourfe;in matter of indecency the main difquifition will be how it may be judged,and determined; to know what is comly, hath been of old noted to be not more commendable then difficult; for the mindes of men may be of a different diet; one may approve that for decent which another abhors as most unbefeeming: Suarum rerum nemo non mitis arbiter & pius judex, Petrarch. A Cynick curre or fome Turkish Saint may think it not uncomly to plant his own kind in the open market place; and Xenophon tells us of a certain people, called Mofynecians whofe pra- Ra etife was to do all thofe acts in publick which other men men (placing fhame in them) are wont to referve for the greatest fe- &c. xecrecy? and contrarily: to do thofe things in private, which other not. de xped. Cy Nations thought fit for the opencft view, and we finde that thes. Stigmatical Saint of the Church of Rome (who could fay of himself that God would have him fatuellum quendam) Dixit mibi Dominus Conform. quod volebat me effe unum fatuellum in boc mundo,) thought Separait no fhame to go ftark naked through the streets of Affifium: tor. So did Theodore the Taylor and feven Men, and five Women Anabaptifts ftrip themselves and ran naked through Amfterdam, Guy de Pref. Idem fecit coram Epifcopo Affifii.lib. Conform.p. 211. But certainly there are unquestionable rules, whereby decency may be both regulated and judged: The great Doctor of the Gentiles when 1 Cor. he would correct an indecent practife in his Corinthians ufes thefe 11. 13, three expreffions, Fudge in your felves is it comly? Doth not nature it 14.16. Self teach you? we have no fuch cuftome, nor the Churches of God: Wherein he fends us for the determination of decency, to the judg ment of our right reafon, undebauched nature, and approved cuftome;

Ee

τις πάντων

:

cuftome; and furely, if we follow the guidance of thefe three, we cannot cafily erre in our decifion of comlineffe both in our carriage in humane affaires,and in the fervices of God; all thefe will tell us that it is moft meet that all outward cleanlinefs gravity, modefty, reverence,fhould be used in all the actions of divine worship;and will in form us that whatfoever fafhion of deportment is held rude & uncivil in humane converfation,is fo much more indecent in divine actions, by how much the perfon whom we deal with is more awful,and worthier of the highest observance.

It is no other then an error therefore in those men who think that if they look to the inward difpofition of the foul it matters not in what pofture, or what loathfome turpitude the body appears before the Almighty; Even that flovenly Cinick when he saw a wo man bowing her felf forward too low in her devotion, could chide her for her unregard to thofe deities, which beheld her on al fides; Our bleffed Saviour though he had good cheere at the Pharifces houfe, yet he fomewhat taxeth his hoft for want of a due complement; I entred into thine houfe, thou gavest me no water for my feet, Luc. 7. mine head with oyle didft thou not anoint, &c. He looks ftill for meet formalities of good entertainment as well as the fubftance of the difhes: It was Gods charge that no fteps fhould be made to go up Exod.20 to his altar; left the nakedneffe of the facrificer fhould be discovered;for this caufe it was that he who made the firft fute of skins for our first parents,ordained linnen breeches for his Pricfts in their miniftrations.

44.46.

26.

God hath no where commanded us to cut our nailes, or our hair; but it were a foul indecency not to do both: and if we would justly loath a man that fhould come to our table like wild Nebuckadnezzar in the defert, with hair to his waft,and clawes on his fingers, how much more odious would this feem in a man, that should thus thrust himself in to the Table of the Lord? and if our displeasure would juftly arife at that barbarous gueft, which fhould come to our board with his hands befmeared with ordure or blood, how can we think it can be otherwife then ill-taken of the holy God, that we should in a beaftly garbe offer our felves into his prefence.

It is not onely in regard of fpiritual filthynefs, that the evill Spi rits are called unclean; but even of external alfo; wherein how much they delight; we may well appeal to the confeffions of thofe

Witches

« PreviousContinue »