The reverence of Gods house· A sermon preached at St. Maries in Cambridge, before the Universitie on St. Matthies day, anno 1635/6. By Joseph Mede B.D. and late fellow of Christs Colledge in Cambridge.

THE REVERENCE OF GODS HOUSE . ECCLESIASTES C. 5. vers. 1. Look to thy foot [ or feet ] when thou comest to the House of God : and be more ready to obey , then to offer the sacrifice of fooles ; for they know not that they doe evill .

SOLOMON , whom God chose to build that sacred and glorious Temple to his Name , it hath pleased his holy Spirit to make also our principall Instructor how wee ought to demeane our selves in such sacred places . This appeares , as by that his solemne and famous praier made at the dedication therof , so also by this Scripture which I have now begun to reade ; the first seven verses of this chapter , if we will rightly understand them , being wholly spent upon that argument , and conteining praecepts and instructions fitted to the severall duties of holy worship we are to performe , both at our coming thither , and whilest we remaine there .

To unfold them all , were too much for the shortnesse of the time allotted me : May it please you therefore to vouchsafe me your Christian patience , and charitable attention , whilest I utter my thoughts upon the words I have now read . For the better and more distinct explication whereof , consider in them these two parts : An Admonition , and a Caution . 1. An Admonition of reverent and awfull demeanour when we come to Gods House ; Look to thy foot , or feet , when thou comest to the House of God . 2. A Caution , Not to praeferre the secondary Service of God before the first and principall ; Be more ready to obey , than to offer the sacrifice of fooles ; for they know not , that they doe evill . In the first or Admonition I will consider two things . 1. The Place , Gods House . 2. The Duty of those who come thither ; Look to thy feet . Of these in order , and first of the Place , Gods House .

SECTION 1.

THE House of God is the place set apart for his worship and service , and so hath peculiar Relation unto him : wherewith being invested , it becomes sacred & holy ; not onely whilest divine duties are performed therein , as some erroneously affirme , but as long as it is for such use : namely according to the nature of other sacred things , which continue their state of separatenesse and sanctitie , so long as that relation they have unto God ( wherein this Sanctity consists ) be not quite abolished .

To erect and set apart such places as these for the exercise of the Rites of Religion , is derived from the instinct of nature , and approved of God from the beginning . It began not with that Tabernacle or ambulatorie Temple which Moses caused to be made by Gods appointment at Mount Sinai ; but was much more ancient . Noah built an Altar , as soone as he came out of the Ark : Abraham , Isaak , and Iacob , ( wheresoever they came to pitch their Tents ) erected places for divine worship , ( that is , Altars with their septs and enclosures ) without any speciall appointment from God . Iaakob in particular vowed a place for divine worship , by the name of Gods House , where he would pay the tithes of all that God should give him , Gen. 28. Loe here a Church endowed ! Yea Moses himselfe , Exod. 33. 7. before the Ark and that glorious Tabernacle were yet made , pitched a Tabernacle , for the same purpose , without the Campe , whither every one that sought the Lord was to go . And all this was done tanquam recepti moris , as a thing of custome , and as mankinde by tradition had learned to accommodate the worship of their God , by appropriating some place to that use ; nature teaching them , that the work was honoured and dignified by the peculiarnesse of the place appointed for the same , and that if any work were so to be honoured , there was nothing it more beseemed , than the worship and service of Almightie God , the most peculiar and incommunicable act of all other .

Nay more than this : It was beleeved in those elder times , that that Country or Territory , wherein no Place was set apart for the worship of God , was unhallowed and uncleane . Which I think , I rightly gather from that Story in the Book of Josua , of the Altar built by Reuben , Gad , and the half Tribe of Manasseh upon the bank of the River Jordan : which Iosua and the Elders , as their words intimate , supposed they had done , lest the land of their possession , being by the River Jordan cut off from the land of Canaan , where the Lords Tabernacle was , and so having no place therein consecrated to the worship of their God , might otherwise be an uncleane and unhallowed habitation . Heare the words of Phineas and the Princes sent to disswade them , Iosua 22. 19 and judge whether they import not as I have said . If the land ( say they ) of your possession be * * Note that our Copies of the Lxx here corruptly read 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . uncleane , then passe ye over unto the Land of the possession of the LORD where the LORDS Tabernacle dwelleth , and take possession amongst us : but rebell not against the LORD , nor against us , in building you an Altar , besides the Altar of the LORD your God .

Now concerning the condition and propertie of Places thus sanctified or hallowed , what it is ; whence can we learne better , than from that which the Lord spake unto Moses , Exod. 20. immediately after he had pronounced the Decalogue from Mount Sinai : where premising , that they should not make with Him gods of gold and gods of silver ; but that they should make him an Altar of earth ( as namely their ambulatory state then permitted , otherwise of stone ) and thereon sacrifice their burnt offerings and peace-offerings : he addes ; In all places where I record my Name , I will come unto thee and blesse thee , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 In every place where the remembrance or memoriall of my Name shall be ; or , wheresoever that is , which I have , or shall appoint to be the remembrance or memoriall of my Name and presence , there I will come unto thee , and blesse thee . Loe here a description of the Place set apart for divine worship : It is the Place where God records his Name , and comes unto men to blesse them . Two things are here specified ; the monument , record or memoriall of Gods Name : secondly , His coming or meeting there with men . Of both let us enquire distinctly , what they meane .

I know , it would not be untrue , to say in generall , that Gods Name is recorded or remembred in that place upon which his Name is called , or which is called by his Name ( as the Scripture speakes ) that is , which is dedicate to his worship and service : but there is some more speciall thing intended here ; namely , the Memoriall or Monument of Gods Name , is that token or Symbole whereby he testifieth his Covenant and commerce with men . Now although the Ark called the Ark of the Covenant , or Testimonie ( wherein lay the two Tables ●i . Heb. 9 4. the Book or Articles of the Covenant , and Manna , the Bread of the Covenant ) were afterwards made for this purpose , to be the standing Memoriall of Gods Name and presence with his people yet cannot that be here , either onely , or specially aimed at ; because when these words were spoken , it had no being , nor was there yet any commandement given concerning the making thereof . Wherefore the Record here mentioned , I understand with a more generall reference to any Memoriall , whereby Gods Covenant and commerce with men was testified : Such as were the Sacrifices , immediately before spoken of , and the seat of them the Altar ; which therefore may seeme to be in some sort , the more particularly here pointed unto . For that these were Rites of remembrance , whereby the Name of God was commemorated or recorded , and his Covenant with men renewed and testified , might be easily proved . Whence it is , that that which was burned upon the Altar is so often called the Memoriall ; as in Leviticus the 2. 5. 6. and 24. chapters . Accordingly the son of Syrach tels us , c. 45. 16. that Aaron was chosen out of all men living , to offer Sacrifices to the Lord , incense and a sweet savour , for a Memoriall , to make reconciliation for his people . Adde also that , Isay 66. 3. Qui recordatur thure , quasi qui benedicat Idolo . He that without true contrition and humiliation before the Lord ) recordeth , or maketh remembrance , with incense , is as if he blessed an Idol . But I must not stay too long upon this .

You will say ; What is all this to us , now in the time of the Gospell ? I answer , Yes . For did not Christ ordaine the holy Eucharist to be the Memoriall of his Name in the New Testament ? This ( saithe he ) is my Body , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Doe this for my commemoration , or in Memoriall of me . And what if I should affirme , that Christ is as much present here , as the Lord was upon the Mercy-seat between the Cherubins . Why should not then the Place of this Memoriall under the Gospell have some semblable sanctitie to that , where the Name of God was recorded in the Law ? And thogh we be not now tyed to one onely Place , as those under the Law were ; and that God heareth the faithfull prayers of his Servants , wheresoever they are made unto him , ( as also hee did then : ) yet should not the Places of his Memoriall be promiscuous and common , but set apart to the sacred purpose . In a word , all those sacred Memorials of the Jewish Temple are both comprehended and excelled in this One of Christians , the Sacrifices , Shew-bread , and Ark of the Covenant ; Christs Bodie and Bloud in the Eucharist being all these unto us in the New Testament , agreeably to that of the Apostle , Rom. 3. 25. God hath set forth Iesus Christ to bee our 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 through faith in his bloud , that is , our Propitiatory or Mercy seat , for so it is called in the Greek both of the old and new Testament , nor is the word I think ever used but in that sense , unlesse in Ezech. 43. for the Settle of the Altar .

But you will say , This Christian Memoriall is not alwaies actually present in our Churches , as some one or other at least of those in the Law were in the Temple . I answer ; It is enough , it is wont to be ; as the Chaire of estate loses not its relation and due respect , though the King be not alwaies there . And remember , that the Ark of the Covenant was not in Jerusalem , when Daniel opened his windows and prayed thitherward ; yea that it was wanting in the Holy Place ( I meane that sacred Cabinet made by Moses ) all the time of the second ( or Zorobabels ) Temple , and yet the place esteemed notwithstanding as if it had been there .

You will yet except and say ; That in the Old Testament those things were appointed by divine Law and Commandment ; but in the New we finde no such thing . I answer , in things for which we finde no new Rule given in the New Testament , there we are referred and left to the analogy of the Old . This the Apostles proof taken from thence for the maintenance of the Ministers of the Gospell , 1 Cor. 9. [ viz. Thus were they , Ergo so God hath ordained that we ] will give us to understand : likewise the practice of the Church in baptizing Infants , derived surely from the analogie of Circumcision : The hallowing of every first day of the week , as one in every seven , from the analogie of the Jewish Sabbath , and other the like . St. Hierome witnesseth the same in that saying of his , Ad Evegrium . Vt sciamus , traditiones Apostolicas sumptas ex Vet. Test . quod Aaron , & Filii ejus , at que Levitae in Templo fuerunt ; hoc sibi Episcopi , Presbyteri , at que Diaconi vendicant in Ecclesia . That we may know ( saith he ) that the Apostolick traditions were derived from the Old Testament : that which Aaron , his Sons , and the Levites were in the Temple , the same doe Bishops , Priests and Deacons claime in the Church . For we are to consider , that the end of Christs coming into the world was not properly to give new lawes unto men , but to accomplish the Law already given , and to publish the Gospell of reconciliation , Matth. 5. 17 , 18 through his Name , to those who had transgressed it . Whence it is that we finde not the style of the New Testament to carry a forme of enacting Lawes , almost any where : but those which are there mentioned , to be brought in occasionally , onely by way of proofe , of interpretation , exhortation , application , or the like , and not as by way of constitution or re-enacting . Meane while , lest I should be mistaken , mark well that I said not , the Old Testament was to be our rule simply in the case mentioned , but the Analogy thereof onely ; that is , this regulation is to be made according to that proportion , which the difference of the two Covenants , and the things in them admits , and no further ; the more particular application and limitation of which Analogy , is to be referred to the judgement and prudence of the Church .

There comes here very fitly into my minde a passage of Clemens ( a man of the Apostolick age , Philip. 4. 3. he whose name St. Paul saith was written in the Book of life ) in his genuine Epistle Ad Corinthios , lately set forth , pag. 52. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( saith he ) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that is ; All those duties , which the Lord hath commanded us to doe , wee ought to doe them regularly and orderly : Our Oblations and divine Services to celebrate them on set and appointed times . For so he hath ordained , not that we should doe them at hap hazard , and without order , but at certaine determined daies & times . Where also , & by whom he will have them executed , himself hath defined according to his supreme will . But where hath the Lord defined these things , unlesse he hath left us to the Analogy of the Old Testament ?

It followes in the text alledged ; There I will come unto thee , and blesse thee . In the Place where the Lords Memoriall is , where his Colours , as I may so speak , are displayed and set up , there , in a speciall manner , he vouchsafes his presence with the sons of men to blesse them : or to speak rotundè , Where his memoriall is , there His 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 SHECINAH or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is ( as the Hebrew Masters terme it ) that is , His GLORY . The Gentiles ascribed the presence of their gods to the places where Images and Statues were erected & consecrated for them . Hermes Trism . in Asclepio . Athenag . Legat. pro Christ . Origen contra Cels . lib. 7. & 3. Euseb. Praepar . Ev. lib. 5. c. 15. But such personall similitudes the God of Israel abhorres , and forbids to be made unto Him ; yet promiseth his presence in every place where the Memoriall or record of his Name shall be ; but of his owne appointment , not of mans devising . For thus , I suppose , is the text there to be understood , and to be construed by way of Antithesis or opposition : You shall not make with me gods of silver , nor gods of gold : An Altar onely of earth or of * * Vers. 25. stone shalt thou make unto me , to offer thy Sacrifices upon . For in every place , where I shall record my Name , I will come unto thee , and blesse thee . And here take notice , that for this reason the Tabernacle of the Lord was called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 The Tabernacle of meeting ; not of mens meeting together , as is commonly supposed , when we translate it , Tabernacle of the Congregation , but of Gods meeting there with men . I have a good author for it . For so the Lord himself gives the reason of the name in three severall places of the Law ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 The Tabernacle of meeting , where I will meet with you . See Exod. 29. 42. | 30. | 36. Num. 17. 4. and Masius in Ios. c. 18.

SECTION 2.

THus WE have seene , what is the condition and property of that Place , which in my Text is called Gods House . But before I proceed to speak of the Duty of those who come thither ( which was the second thing I propounded ) there is one thing yet to be cleared , concerning that which I last mentioned ; namely , How God is said to come unto , to be present with men in one place more than another ; seeing his Presence fils every place , heaven being his throne , and the whole earth his footstoole . For although we read often in holy Scripture of such a SHECINAH or specialitie of the divine presence , and have it often in our mouthes ; yet , what it is , and wherein the Ratio thereof consisteth , is seldome , if at all , enquired into . When we speak of Churches , we content our selves to say , that Gods speciall presence there is in his Word and Sacraments : But though it be true , that the Divine Majesty is there specially present where his Word and Sacraments are ; yet seemes not this speciality of presence to be the same with his Word and Sacraments , but a diverse relation from them . This may be gathered , in some sort , out of those words of Exodus , whereupon we have so long dwelt , as where the recording of Gods Name , and his coming thither , are spoken of as two : but is more strongly evinced by such instances of Scripture , where the Lord is said to have been specially present in places where this Record of his Word and Sacraments was not ; as for example , to Moses in the Bush , to Iaacob at Bethel , and the like . The true Ratio therefore of this SHECINAH or Speciality of divine presence must bee sought , and defined by something which is common to al these , and not by that which is proper to some onely .

Well then , to hold you no longer in suspense : this Specification of the divine presence , whereby God is said to be in one place more than another ; I suppose ( under correction ) to consist in his traine or retinue . A King is there where his Court is , where his traine and retinue are : So God the Lord of Hosts is there specially present , where the heavenly Guard , the blessed Angels keep their sacred station and rendevous .

That this is consonant to the revelation of holy Scripture , I shew first from the collection of inference which the Patriarch Iacob makes , upon that divine vision of his at Bethel : Gen. 28. where having seen a ladder reaching from heaven to earth , and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon it : Surely ( saith he ) the Lord is in this place , and I knew it not . How dreadfull is this place ! It is no other but the House of God , even the gate of heaven ; that is , Heavens Guildnall , Heavens Court ; namely because of the Angels . For the Gate was wont to be the Judgement Hall , and the Place where Kings and Senators used to sit , attended by their guard and ministers .

Secondly , I prove it from that interpretative expression used in the New Testament of the Lords descent upon Mount Sinai , when the Law was given ; intimating that the specification of the presence of the Divine Majesty there , also consisted in the Angelicall retinue there encamping . For so St. Steven , Act. 7. 53. You who have received the Law by the disposition of Angels , and have not kept it . St. Paul twice ; First , Gal. 3. 19. The Law was added because of transgressions , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ordained by Angels in the hand of a mediator . And againe , Heb. 2. 2. hee cals the Law , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the word spoken by Angels . Howbeit in the story it selfe we find no such thing expressed , but onely that the Lord descended upon the Mount in a fiery and smoking cloud , accompanied with thunders and lightnings , with an earthquake , and the voice of a trumpet . Whence then should this expression of St. Steven and the Apostle proceed , but from a supposition , that the speciall presence of the Divine Majesty , wheresoever it is said to be , consisted in the encamping of his sacred retinue the Angels : for that of himself , hee , who filleth the heaven and the earth , could not descend , nor be in one place more than another ?

Yea all the Apparitions of the Divine Majesty in Scripture are described by this retinue : That of the Ancient of dayes coming to judgement , Dan. 7. 10. Thousand thousands ministred unto him , and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him ; to wit , of Angels . Whence we reade in the Gospell , that Christ our Saviour shall come in the glory of his Father , that is , with an host of Angels , as the Holy Ghost himselfe in the same places expounds it . For 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or Glory here signifies the presence of the Divine Majesty .

In the same style , of the same Appearing prophecieth Enoch , the seventh from Adam , in the Epistle of St. Iude. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Behold , the Lord cometh with his holy Myriads , or ten thousands . For so it ought to be rendred , and not as we have it , with ten thousand of his Saints . Wherefore here the vulgar Latine comes nearer , which hath , Ecce , Venit Dominus in sanctis millibus suis . A like expression whereunto of the Divine presence we shall find in Moses Blessing , Deut. 33. The Lord ( saith he ) came * * That is , came unto them resting upon Sinai . Compare Psal. 68. vers. 17. or 18. from Sinai unto them , ( .i. unto Israel ) and rose up from Seir unto them , he shined forth from mount Paran , he came with his holy ten thousands , or holy myriads , ( for so it should be translated ; then it followes ) from his right hand went a fiery law for them . From whence perhaps that notion of the Jewish Doctors , followed by St. Steven and the Apostle , that the Law was given by Angels , had its beginning . And thus you have heard out of Scripture , what that is , whereby the speciall presence of the Divine Majesty is ( as I suppose ) defined , that is , wherein it consists ; namely , such as is applyable to all places , wherein hee is said to be thus present , even to Heaven it selfe his throne and seat of glory , the proper place ( as every one knowes ) of Angelicall residence .

Now , according to this manner of presence , is the Divine Majesty to be acknowledged present , in the Places , where his Name is recorded : as in his Temple under the Law , and in our Christian Oratories , or Churches under the Gospell ; namely , that the heavenly Guard there attend , and keep their rendevous , as in their Masters House : according to that vision which the Prophet Isay had thereof , Isay 6. I saw the Lord ( saith he ) sitting upon a Throne high and lifted up , and his traine filled the Temple , [ Lxx , and Iohn 12. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that is , the Angels and Seraphims his stipatores ; as may be gathered from that which immediately followes , where it is said , The Seraphims cried one unto another , Holy , Holy , Holy is the Lord God of hoasts ; the whole earth is full of his Glory .

This King Agrippa in * * De Bello Iud. lib. 2. cap. 16. Josephus intimates , in that Oration he is said to have made unto the Jewes , a little before that fatall siege , dehorting them from rebelling against the Romans . Where speaking to the people hard by , and in view of that sacred Temple , he hath these words : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , I call to witnesse your sacred Temple , and * * To whom some think that voice may be referred before the destruction of the Temple , Migremus hinc . the holy Angels of God ; namely , which encampe there .

The same is imployed in that of the 138. Psalme , according to the translation of the Lxx. and Vulgar : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , In conspectu Angelorum psallam tibi , adorabo ad Templum sanctum tuum , & confitebor Nomini tuo .i. Before the Angels I will sing praise unto thee , I will worship towards thy holy Temple , and praise thy Name .

And according to this sense I understand that of Solomon in this Book of Ecclesiastes within a two or three verses of my Text , concerning vowes to bee made in Gods House : When thou vowest a vow , deferre not to pay it — Better it is , thou should'st not vow , than vow and not pay . Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin , neither say thou BEFORE THE ANGEL , It was an errour — that is , Let not such a foolish excuse come from thee in the house of God , before the holy Angels . For note , that the word Angell may be taken * * As tree for trees , leafe for leaves , Gen. 3. 2 , 7 , &c. collectively , for more than one .

For this cause all the curtaines of the Tabernacle were filled with the pictures of Cherubins , and the wals of Solomons Temple within with carved Cherubins ; the Ark of the Testimony overspread and covered with two mighty Cherubins , having their faces looking towards it and the Mercy-seat ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) with their wings stretched forth on high , called Heb. 9. 5. The Cherubins of glory , that is , of the divine Presence : all to signifie , that where Gods sacred Memoriall is , the ensigne of his Covenant and commerce with men ; there the blessed Angels out of duty give their attendance .

Nor is it to be overpassed , that the Jews at this day continue the like opinion of their moderne places of worship : namely , that the blessed Angels frequent their assemblies , and praise and laud God with them in their Synagogues : notwithstanding they have no other memoriall of his there , than an imitative one onely ; to wit , a Chest with a volume or roll of the Law therein , in stead of the Ark with the two Tables . For thus speaks the Seder Tephilloth or Forme of prayer used by the Jewes of Portugal : O Lord our God , the Angels that supernall company , gathered together with thy people Israel here below , doe crowne thee with praises , and all together doe thrice redouble and cry that spoken of by thy Prophet : Holy , Holy , Holy Lord God of hoasts , the whole earth is full of his glory . They allude to Isayes Vision of the Glory of God , above-mentioned .

You will say ; Such a presence of Angels perhaps there was in that Temple under the Law ; but there is no such thing in the Gospell ? No ? why ? Are the Memorials of Gods Covenant , his Insignia in the Gospell , lesse worthy of their attendance , than those of the Law ? or have the Angels , since the nature of man , Jesus Christ our Lord , became their Head and King , gotten an exemption from this service ? Surely , not . St. Paul , if we will understand and beleeve him , supposes the contrary , in his first Epistle to the Corinthians , chap. 11. vers. 10. where treating of a comely and decent accommodation to be observed in Church assemblies , and in particular of womens being covered or veiled there , he enforces it from this presence of Angels . For this ( saith he ) ought the woman to have a covering on her head , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , because of the Angels ; namely , which are there present . For otherwise the reason holds not , that she should more be covered in the Place of Prayer , than any where else , unlesse the Angels be more there , than elsewhere . This place much troubleth the Expositors : But see , what it is , to admit a truth : for now there is no difficulty in it .

And that the ancient Fathers conceived no lesse venerably of their Christian Oratories in this particular , than the Jews did of their Temple , appeares by St. Chrysostome , who is very frequent in urging an awfull and reverent behaviour in Gods house from this motive of Angelicall presence . As in his Homily * * In Morali . 36. in 1 Cor. where reproving the irreverent behaviour of his Auditory in that Church , in talking , walking , saluting , and the like , ( which he saith , was peculiar unto them , and such as no Christians elsewhere in the world presumed to do ) he enforces his reproof , with words that come home to our purpose : Non tonstrina , inquit , neque unguentaria of ficina , neque ulla alia opificum qui sunt in foro , taberna , est Ecclesia ; sed Locus Angelorum , Locus Archangelorum , regia Dei , ipsum coelum . The Church ( saith he ) is no Barbers , or Drug-sellers shop , nor any other crafts-mans or merchants workhouse or warehouse in the market place ; but the place of Angels , the place of Archangels , the palace of God , heaven it selfe .

And in his 4. Hom. de incomprehensibili Dei natura , towards the end ; Cogita apud quem proximè stas , quibuscum invoces Deum ; scil. cum Cherubim , cum Seraphim , cum omnibus coeli Virtutibus : animadverte quos habeas socios : satis hoc tibi sit ad sobrietatem , cum recorder is te corpore constantem , & carne coagmentatum admitti cum Virtutibus incorporeis celebrare omnium Dominum . Think neare whom thou standest , with whom thou invocatest God ; namely , with Cherubims and Seraphims , and all the Power of heaven : consider but what companions thou hast : let it bee sufficient to perswade thee to sobriety , when thou remembrest , that thou , who art compounded of flesh and bloud , art admitted with the incorpore all Powers , to celebrate the common Lord of all . But all this you will say , the Angels may doe in Heaven ? well , let it be so , yet is it not altogether out of our way : but the next places I shall bring , will not be so eluded .

Namely that in his 15. Homily upon the Epistle to the Hebrewes , against those that laughed in the Church : Regiam quidem ingrediens , & habitu , & aspectu , & incessu , & omnibus aliis te ornas & componis . Hîc autem verè est Regia , & planè hîc talia qualia coelestia , & rides ? Atque scio quidem , quod tu non vides . Audi autem , quod ubique adsunt Angeli , & maxime in Domo Dei adsistunt Regi , & omnia sunt impleta incorporeis illis Potestatibus . When thou goest into a Kings Palace , thou composest thy selfe to a comelinesse in thy habit , in thy look , in thy gate , and in all thy whole guise . But here is indeed the Palace of a King , and the like attendance to that in heaven , and doest thou laugh ? I know well enough thou seest it not . But heare thou me , and know , that Angels are every where , and that , chiefly in the house of God , they attend upon their King , where all is filled with incorporeall Powers . ;

The like unto this you shall find in his 24. Homily upon the Acts of the Apostles . Knowest thou not , that thou standest here with Angels , that with them thou singest , with them thou laudest God with hymnes ? and dost thou laugh ? See the rest .

I will alledge but one passage more of his , lest I should grow tedious , and that is out of his 6. Book de Sacerdotio , not very far from the beginning , where speaking of the time when the holy Eucharist is celebrated : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( saith he ) Then the Angels stand by the Priest , and the whole Quire resounds with celestiall Powers , and the place about the Altar is filled with them , in honour of him who is laid thereon , that is , of his Memoriall . Compare with it a like passage in his 3. Hom de incompreben sibili Det natura ; Item Hom. 1. de verbis Isaiae .

St. Ambrose acknowledgeth the same in c. 1. Luc. Non dubites assistere Angelum , quando Christus assistit , Christus immolatur .

Yea Tertullian ( in whose time , which was within 200. yeares after Christ , some will scarcely beleeve , that Christians had any such places as Churches at all ) if I understand him , intimates as much in his lib. de Oratione c. 12. where reprehending the irreverent gesture of some in sitting at the time of prayer in the Church : Siquidem ( saith he ) irreverens est assidere sub conspectu , contraque conspectum ejus , quem cum maximè reverearis ac venereris : quanto magis sub conspectu Dei vivi , ANGELO adhuc ORATIONIS adstante , factum illud irreligiosissimum est ; nisi exprobramus Deo , quod nos oratio fatigaverit ? If it bee an irreverent thing to sit in the sight and before him , whom thou in a speciall manner honourest and reverencest : how much more is it an act most irreligious to doe it in the presence of the living God , the ANGEL OF PRAYER yet standing by ; unlesse we upbraid God , that wee have wearied our selves with praying ? Marke , In the presence of the living God , the Angel of prayer standing by ] that is , in the presence of the living God specified by his Angel ; the latter being an explanation of the former . It is like unto that in this chapter of my Text ; Say not thou before the Angell , It was an errour : yet I beleeve not borrowed thence ; forasmuch as the Lxx , whose translation Tertullian was onely acquainted with , and every where followes , have no mention of Angel in that place , but of God ; rendring it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Say not before the presence of God . Which shewes how they understood it .

I cite the passages of these Fathers thus at large , lest I might to some seeme to broach a novelty . And though some of those of St. Chrysostome be hyperbolically expressed ; yet for the maine and substance of what he intended , I beleeve it to bee true , and ground my beleefe upon the authority of St. Paul before alledged , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Because of the Angels . If any shall say , whatsoever were then , they will not beleeve there is any such kinde of presence in our Churches now : I must tell them ; If it be so , it is because of our irreverent and unseemly behaviour in them , which makes those blessed spirits loath our companie . For though they be invisible and incorporeall creatures , yet can they not look into our hearts , ( that is God their Masters prerogative ) but are witnesses of our outward behaviour and actions onely ; and it was a case of externall decorum , wherein the Apostle mentions this presence of theirs for a motive or reason : For this cause ought the woman to have a covering on her head , because of the Angels . For they love not to behold any thing that is uncomely and unbeseeming , but flye from it : and if we lose their company , the best members of our congregation are wanting .

Thus you have heard what is the dignity and prerogative of Gods House . Who now that considers and beleeves this , ( and there was a time when it was beleeved ) will not say with the Patriarch Iacob , when he saw the Angels ascending and descending at Bethel , Quam reverenda sunt haec loca ! How reverend are these places ! For every Place where the Name of God is recorded is Bethel , where the Angels of God are ascending and descending , that is , God in a special manner present and meeting with men . How seemly therefore , orderly and awfully should we compose our selves in them ? how reverent should our manner be at our coming into them ? which is the second thing I propounded to speake of . Thus much therefore of Gods House ; I come now to the Duty of those who come thither ; Looke to thy feet when thou comest to the House of God .

SECTION 3.

LOOK TO THY FEET , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : for so the Cethib or textuall reading hath it ; the Masorites in the margine note another reading 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the singular number . But which way soever of the two it bee read , the sense is still the same ; Look to thy foot being to be expounded plurally Look to thy feet , as in other places of Scripture . The symbolicall application of this precept to the purifying and ridding the minde of corrupt and fleshly thoughts , though it be usefull , and the thing it selfe true , yet I will let passe , as being not argumentative ; and betake my self wholly to the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or literall meaning , which the symbolicall or tropologicall signification destroyeth not , but presupposeth . The meaning therefore in generall is : Have a care , that thy feet be as they should be , when thou goest , ( or comest ) to the house of God . But what is that ? Most of the Interpreters ( saith Aben Ezra ) compare it with that which is said of Mephibosheth , 2 Sam. 19. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 He did not his feet , that is , He washed them not . So here , Look to thy feet , when thou goest to the House of God , is as much as to say , Come not into Gods House illot is pedibus , with unwashed feet . This is true , but goes not far enough . For I suppose here is an allusion in particular to that rite of Discalceation used by the Jews and other nations of the Orient , at their coming into sacred places ; namely , that whereof the Lord spake to Moses , Ex. 3. and againe to Iosua , Ios. 5. Exue calceamenta tua de pedibus tuis ; locus enim in quo stas , terra sancta est . Put thy shooes from off thy feet ; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground .

For although the verb 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 here used , signifies properly motum à loco , that is , to goe ; and not in locum , to come , ( in which respect the rite of washing the feet perhaps , being a preparatory act , might agree better with it ) yet is it not alwayes so used : besides , it is an usuall trope in Scripture , ex antecedente intelligere consequens ; which hath place here . That whereby I gather it , is because the precepts following my text , whereunto this word of motion belongs 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ( .i. in common ) are , not of things to be done , when we are going to the House of God , but when we are come thither : as , when thou comest to the House of God , be not rash nor hasty to utter any thing before God , &c. When thou comest to the House of God , and makest a vow before him , defer not to pay it , — neither say thou before the Angel , &c. — To which may be added the latter part of my text , When thou comest to the House of God , be more ready to heare , or obey , than to offer the sacrifice of fooles . All , as you see , are of things to be done , when we are come unto Gods house . Therefore 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 which is common to them , should rather note motum in termino ad quem ; not when thou goest , but when thou comest to the House of God ; Accordingly the vulgar Latin hath ingrediens Domum Dei . and accordingly this admonition of care to be had of the feet , to intend something to be observed , when we come there , rather than when we are going thither . Which was , as I have said , among the Jews and other Nations , of the Orient especially , that rite of Discalceation , or putting off their shooes , still used and continued amongst them unto this day , when they come into their Temples and sacred places .

Which that I affirme not without good warrant , in case any one shall doubt therof , these testimonies following will sufficiently evidence ; First , that symbole of Pythagoras , Apud I amblich . Protrept . 21. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; OFFER SACRIFICE AND WORSHIP WITH THY SHOOES OFF. What mysticall or symbolicall sense he intended , I enquire not : but it is plaine , his expression alludes to some such custome then used by those who came to worship in the Temples of their gods .

Wherein that my collection failes mee not , Edit. Paris . p. 95. Iustin Martyr will beare me witnesse in his second Apol. where he tels us , That those who came to worship in the Sanctuaries and Temples of the Gentiles , were commanded by their Priests 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , .i. to put off their shooes . Which their gods learned ( saith he ) by way of imitation , from that which the Lord spake to Moses out of the flaming Bush : Loose thy shooes from off thy feet , for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground . This testimony for the antiquity of the practice is without exception . Yet by the Fathers good leave I am prone to think , that those words unto Moses gave not the first beginning unto it ; but were an admonition onely of the divine presence , thereby commanding the rite then accustomed in places so hallowed : and that therefore it was rather , as other religious rites , derived unto the Gentiles by tradition from the Patriarchs before Moses ; of whom both the Jews , and those Nations of the Orient , which agreed with them in this custome , were descended . Concerning whose present custome , Drusius in his notes upon Iosua affirmeth , Quod etiam nunc apud plerásque Orientis gentes , piaculum sit , calceato pede Templorum pavimenta calcasse : That even to this day , among most of the nations of the Orient , it is reputed a piaculary crime , to tread upon the pavements of their Temples with their shooes on their feet .

For the Jews in particular , that this rite of veneration was anciently used by them in places sanctified by the divine presence , Maymonides puts us out of doubt , telling us in his Bech habechirah , cap. 7. That it was not lawfull for a man to come into the mountaine of Gods House , with HIS SHOOES ON HIS FEET , or with his staffe , or in his working garment , or with dust on his feet , and the like . The same hath Rabbi Solomon upon the 19. of Leviticus , vers. 30.

It is further confirmed by their modern practice in their Synagogues ; even here in these Westerne and colder parts of the world : where though no such custome be in use , as in the Orient , nor our manners with conveniencie capable thereof ; yet they still observe it , as farre as the guise of the West will permit them ; an argument it descends unto them by a strong and rooted tradition from their forefathers . My author is Buxtorf Synagog . Iudaic. lib. 5. c. 5. where he hath these words : Ante Synagogam vel Scholam ipsorum ferrum quoddam habent immuratum ; ad quod quilibet calceos immundos , aut coenosos abstergere tenetur ; idque Solomonis authoritate , qui , Custodi , ait , pedem tuum — Quis quis crepidis indutus est , is eas immundas de pedibus suis detrahere enetur — prout scriptum est ; Solve calceamenta tua de pedibus tuis , &c. .i. Before their Synagogues they have a certaine iron fastned in a wall ; whereat every one is bound to make cleane his foule or dirty shooes ; and that by the authority of Solomon , who saith , Look to thy foot , &c. Whosoever hath slippers on , is bound , they being foule , to put them quite off , ( viz. before he enters into the Synagogue ) according as it is written : Loose thy shooes from off thy feet , &c.

And for the Mahumetans , what they doe in their Mosquees , Bartlemew Georgivez , who was a long time a captive amongst them , can best informe us , in his Book de ritu & ceremoniis Turcarum . Quicunque ( saith he ) veniunt ad orationem , debent abluere manus , pedes , &c. postremò ter spargunt aquam super capita , recitando haec verba , ELHEMDV LILLANI , ( .i. gloria Deo meo : ) Deinde exutis calceamentis Patsmagh dictis , iísque ante januam Templi relictis , introeunt , alii NVDIS PEDIBVS , alii habentes munda calceamenta Mesth dicta . .i. Such as come to pray , their duty is first to wash their hands , feet , &c. at last they sprinkle water over their heads thrice , repeating these words , ELHEMDV LILLANI , that is , Glory be to my God . Then putting off their shooes , called Patsmagh , and leaving them before the doore of the Temple , they enter , some bare-footed , others having a cleane kinde of Sandall , which they call Mesth : namely as the custome is with us , when we pull off our hats , to weare a cap.

Lastly , that wee may not want an instance among Christians : Zaga Zabo an Aethiopian Bishop , sent Ambassador from David King of the Abyssines to Iohn the 3. King of Portugal , above an hundred years since ; in his Description of the Religion and rites of the Abyssine Christians , thus informes us : Prohibitum est apud nos ( saith he ) ne aut gentes , aut canes , aut alia hujusmodi animalia , in Templa nostra intrent . Item non datur potestas nobis adeundi Templum , nisi NVDIS PEDIBVS ; neque licet nobis inipso Templo ridere , obambulare , aut de rebus prophanis loqui , neque spuere , aut screare in ipso Templo . Quia Ecclesiae Aethiopum non sunt similes terrae illi , ubi populus Israel comedit Agnum paschalem decedens ab Aegypto ( in quo loco , propter terrae pollutionem , jussit eos Deus comedere indutos calceamentis & zonis accintos ) sed similes sunt monti Sinai , ubi Dominus locutus est Mosi , dicens : Exue calceamenta tua de pedibus tuis , quoniam terra quam pedes tui premunt , sancta est . .i. It is prohibited amongst us , that either Pagans or dogs , or any other beasts should come into our Churches . Moreover , it is not permitted to us to goe into the Church , but BARE FOOTED ; nor is it lawfull for us in the Church * * Eadem planè Iudaeorum magistri prohibent a suis in Synagogis fieri , apud Maimoniem Misnae Part. 1. lib. 2. Tract . 7. De benedictionibus & conse●r . per preces quae & in Templo olim observari solita . Et Greg. Nazian. i● orat . fun . pro patre laudat matrem suam Nonnam , quòd in Templo D●ine vocem quadem emitteret nisi de rebus mysticis & divinis neq●e unquam tergum altari obverteret , aut sacrum pa●i nentum conspueret . De quibus L●ctor pro pr●dentia sua statuat , an & q 〈…〉 ●sque nobis 〈◊〉 . conducat . to laugh , or to walk up and down , or to speak of secular matters ; no not to spit , hauk or hem in the Church . Because the Churches of Aethiopia are not like unto that Land , where Moses , ready to depart out of Aegypt , eat the Paschal Lamb ( where , because of the pollution of the country , God commanded them to eat it with their shooes on their feet , and their loynes girded ) but they are like unto Mount Sinai , where God spake unto Moses , saying ; Put off thy shooes from thy feet , for the ground whereon thy feet treadeth is holy . Thus Zaga Zabo of the Abyssine Christians , whereof he was a Bishop . And till the contrary be shewed me , I am prone to beleeve that some other Christians of the Jacobite sect may have the like custome , as it is certain that in most of their rites they agree with them .

Now the religious guise of the Jewes and other Nations of the Orient , having anciently beene ( and still being ) such as you have heard , when they entred into their Temples , or remained in them ; the words of my text , Look to thy foot or feet , being taken for an expression borrowed from , and alluding thereto , will have the same sense ; as if we , inflecting them to our manners , should say ; Look unto thy head ( .i. have a care thy head be fitted as it ought to be ) when thou comest into the House of God ; meaning that he should put off his hat , or be uncovered , when he comes thither , and use such other reverence , as is wont to accompany it . For know , that the Holy Ghost , mentioning or specifying but one rite , is yet so to be understood , as implying therewith the rest of the same order accustomed to goe with it ; according to that usuall trope of Scripture , by a part , or that which is more notable or obvious in any kinde or rank of things to imply the rest ; the rule whereby we interpret the Decalogue , and is the more fitly appliable here , because this guise of Discalceation was a leading ceremonie to the other gestures of sacred veneration then used , as that of putting off the hat ( in civill use at least ) is wont to be with us . Not as if Solomon or the Holy Ghost in this Admonition intended the outward ceremonie onely , and no more , ( that were ridiculous to imagine ) but the whole act of sacred reverence commenced in the heart and affection , whereof this was the accustomed and leading gesture : to wit , the very same , and all that which the Lord commandeth in that originall law , Levit. 19. 30. Sanctuarium meum reveremini , Reverence my Sanctuary ; which Ionathans Targum explaineth ; Ye shall goe to the House of my Sanctuary with reverence ; Solomon paralleleth here with , Look to thy foot when thou goest to the House of God . For so is the maner of Scripture almost everywhere , under the name of the gesture onely , to understand and imply the whole dutie of veneration , which such gesture representeth and importeth .

But as this is most true , so is it on the other side as false , if any shal from hence collect , That therefore the outward worship may securely bee neglected ( in time and place where and when it may be done ) so the inward be performed . Nay the contrary follows . For if the inward worship be chiefly intended , when the outward or bodily is onely named , as it is granted ; is it not then absurd to imagine , that where that which is not expresly named is meant , there that which is only mentioned should be excluded ? Nay surely , where the outward is mentioned ( as here in my Text ) there no doubt , but the outward , in one kinde or other , is a part of the dutie commanded , whatsoever besides it bee intended . And because it is a disease almost proper to our time ( for our forefathers were mostly sick of the other extreme ) so farre to sleight and disesteeme ( that I may not say , disdaine ) the worship of God by the body , as to think it may be omitted and neglected , even in time and place convenient , as in Gods House and publick service , without all guilt of sinne : Give me therefore leave to propound a few considerations , for the cure of such as are sick of that maladie . For as that which seemes but some lighter symptome at the first , if the cure thereof be neglected and contemned , often times proves fatal , and destroyes life it selfe ; so may this . I would have them therefore consider ;

1. That we all looke not onely for the glorification of our soules , but of our bodies in the life to come : Now a reward presupposeth a work . It is meet and right therefore we should worship and glorifie God here in this life with the bodie as wel as the soule , if we looke that God should one day glorifie both .

2. That as the outward worship without the inward is dead , so the inward without the outward is not complete ; even as the glorification of the soule separate from the bodie is not , nor shall not be consummate , till the bodie be againe united unto it .

3. That those who derogate so much from bodily worship , in the service of the true GOD , as kneeling , bowing , and the like , make by consequent Idolatrie a sin farre lesse hainous in degree than it is . For is not Idolatrie to communicate that honour with a creature , which is due unto the Creator alone ? By how much therefore the worship of gesture and posture is lesse due unto God , when we do our homage unto him ; by so much is the sin the lesse hainous and grievous , when the same is given unto an Idol . For I beleeve , they will not deny , but part of the sin of Idolatrie consists even in the outward worship given unto an Idol , as kneeling , bowing , and falling down before it , and the like .

4. Lastly , that although bodily worship , being considered in it self , be one of the minor a legis , of the lesser things of the law , and the honour done unto God therby of no great value ( though not of none ) in his fight : yet may a voluntary and presumptuous neglect , even of so small a duty , be a great and hainous sin ; because such a neglect proceeds from a prophane disposition and election of the heart . For a sin is not alwayes to be esteemed according to the value of the duty omitted , but from the hearts election in omitting it . Non est bonum per se ( saith Seneca ) munda vestis , Epist. 93. sed mundae vestis electio , quia non in re bonum est , sed in electione : that is , A cleane garment hath no goodnesse of it selfe , but it is the election of a cleane garment which commendeth ; because the goodnesse consists not in the thing , but in the election thereof . So say I here : it is not the value of merit of the work , which aggravates the sin in omitting the doing therof , but the election not to doe it .

Now therefore to returne to my hypothesis . By that which hath beene delivered it appeares , That it is not onely lawfull to use some reverentiall gesture , when wee come into Gods House ( which yet some think , they are very liberall , if they grant ) but that it is a duty commanded by God himselfe , and so no will-worship : As namely in that divine admonition given first to Moses , and afterwards to Iosua ; Put thy shooes from off thy feet , &c. in that Law , Reverence my Sanctuary ; in this instruction by Solomon , Look to thy feet when thou comest to the House of God : That the Saints and people of God in the old Testament , and Christians in the New , have used such reverence : That the neglect thereof is condemned of prophanenesse , by the practice of Jews , * * Seneca 2 lib. 7. nat. qq . c. 30. Intramus Templa compositi , ad sacrificium accessuri vultum submittimus , togam adducimus , in omne argumentum modestiae fingimur . Gentiles , Pagans , Mahumetans , all Religions whatsoever . If any be to bee excepted ( proh pudor & dolor ) it is our selves .

But without doubt , in this we are not in the right , nor was it so from the beginning . Whatsoever is dedicated unto God , in generall , or ( to speake in the phrase of Scripture ) whatsoever is called by his Name , that is , is His by peculiar relation , ought to be used with a different respect from things common : and Gods House ( as you have heard ) hath something singular from the rest . Should wee then come into it , as into a Barne or Stable ? It was not once good manners so to come into a mans house . For our blessed Saviour , when he sent forth his Disciples to preach the Gospel , Mat. 10. said , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , when ye enter into an house , salute it . Why should we not thinke it a part of religious manners to doe something answerable , when we come into the House of God ? that is , to blesse the Master thereof ( you know , how farre that word extendeth ) and if not to say , God be here , ( which hath beene the forme , and is somewhere still , when we enter into a mans House ) yet to say with Jacob at Bethel , God is here , and to testifie in some manner or other , as the Saints of God were wont to doe , that we acknowledge it ; and that both at our first coming thither , and while we continue there ; for the one followes from the other . And because I paralleled before that Orientall rite of Discalceation ( whereunto I supposed the words of my Text to have reference ) with ours of uncovering the head , by the name of a leading ceremonie : if any shall therefore ask me , what other gesture I implyed thereby , as fitting to accompany this , in the case we speak of : I answer , That belongs to the discretion of our Superiours , and the authority of the Church to appoint , not to me to determine . For here , as in other ceremonies , the Church is not tyed , but hath liberty to ordaine ( having respect to the analogy of the old Testament ) what she shall judge most sutable and agreeable to the time , place , and manners of the people where she lives . But if I may without offence or presumption , speak what I think ; then I say , That adoration , or bowing of the body , with some short ejaculation , ( which the Church of Israel used in their Temple , together with discalceation , and which the Christians of the Orient use at this day , and time out of minde have done at their ingresse into their Churches ) is of all other the most seemly , ready and fitting to our maners : which yet I submit : namely , according to that of the 132. Psal. ver. 7. Introibimus in Tabernacula ejus , incurvabimus nos scabello pedum ejus : We will goe into his Tabernacle , and worship before ( or toward ) his Footstoole ; that is , the Ark of the Covenant of Mercy seat ; which you shall finde thus styled , 1 Chron. 28. 2.

And according to that Psal. 5. 8. I will enter into thine House in the multitude of thy mercies ; in thy feare will I worship toward thy holy Temple , ( .i. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; for they stood in the Courts when they worshipped ) which is the forme the Jewes use at this day , when they come first into their places of worship , and so might we too , for any thing I know . The ordinary forme among the Greekes is that of the publican , God be mercifull to me a sinner : yet sometimes they premise this of the Psalme before it .

SECTION 4.

ANd thus I have done with the first part of my text , which for distinction sake I called the Admonition : I come now to the second , which I termed a Caution ; Be more ready to obey , than to offer the sacrifice of fooles : as much as to say , Preferre not the secundary service of God before the first and principall . Our translation hath , Be more ready to heare , than , &c. whereby some have taken occasion childishly to apply this Scripture against that custome of a short and private prayer at our first coming into the Church , before we joine with the congregation . For we should ( say they ) rather heare and listen to what the Minister is reading or speaking ( as Solomon here bids us ) than at such a time to betake our selves to any private devotion ; which , say they , is but the sacrifice of fooles . But I would themselves who thus argue , were as wise as they should be . For if they were , they would consider , both that Solomon ( according to the time wherin he spake ) must needs meane of another kinde of Sacrifice , than what so loose a notion importeth ; namely of such as were then used in the Temple he had built ; and besides that this sense of theirs directly thwarts the purport and meaning of the words going before : which is , that we ought to use some signe of reverence when we come into the house of God ; such , as according to the custome of the West , is this . But though none of these things were , yet would this text be nothing to their purpose . Forasmuch as by Hearing in this place is not meant auricular hearing , but practicall , that is , obedience to Gods commandments , according as the Vulgar hath , Melior est obedientia quàm victimae stultorum . For it is the same with that proverbial sentence of Scripture , Obedience is better than sacrifice ; which Samuel used in that bitter reproofe of K. Saul , for sparing Agag , 1 Sam. 15. and the best of the spoile of the Amalekites , upon a pretence of sacrificing to the Lord in Gilgal . Hath the Lord ( saith he ) as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices , as in obeying the voice of the Lord ? behold , to obey is better than sacrifice , and to hearken than the fat of rams . The word here twice rendered obey , is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the same which is in my text , and it is an ordinary signification thereof in Scripture . The case is cleere .

But was not the offering of Sacrifice , will some man say , part of the obedience due unto the divine Law ? How come they then to be thus opposed one to the other ? Give mee leave therefore , before I give my full explication of this passage , to enquire and consider of some others , of much more difficultie in this respect , yet their meaning conducing to the understanding of this .

There are divers places in Scripture disparaging and vilifying sacrifices ; yea so farre , as if sacrifice were a service , which God neither appointed nor approved . As Psal. 51. Thou desirest not sacrifice ( saith David , ) else would I have given it thee ; but thou delightest not in burnt-offerings . The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit : a broken and contrite heart , O God thou wilt not despise . Hosea 6. 6. I will have mercy and not sacrifice . Michah 6. vers . 6 , 7 , 8. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord , and bow my selfe before the most High ? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings , with calves of a yeare old ? 7. Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams , and with ten thousands of rivers of oyle ? shall I give my first borne for my transgression , the fruit of my body for the sin of my soule ? 8. He hath shewed thee , O man , what is good ; and what doth the Lord require of thee , but to do justly , and to love mercy , and to walk humbly with thy God ? Nay Ier. 7. ver. 21 , 22. he seemes to say expresly , that he never commanded them : Put ( saith he ) your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices , and eat flesh . For I spake not unto your Fathers , nor commanded them , in the day that I brought them out of the land of Aegypt , concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices : But this thing commanded I them , saying , Obey my voice , and I will be your God , and ye shall be my people : and walke ye in the wayes that I have commanded you , that it may bee well with you .

Yet nothing is more plaine , than that God ordained Sacrifices at Mount Sinai . How then shall this difficulty be resolved ? Some , and those of the ancients too , have affirmed , that these ordinances of Sacrifice were not given to Israel at first , nor prima intentione Dei ; but were ( as they call them ) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , superinducta , afterwards imposed upon them , when they had committed idolatry in making and worshipping the golden Calfe . But the contrary to this is also apparant . For to passe by Cain and Abels sacrifices , and the sacrifices of Noah and Abraham ; when the Lord pronounced the Decalogue from Mount Sinai , he added this , as it were an appendix thereto : Ye shall not make with me gods of silver , neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold : Onely an Altar thou shalt make unto me , and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings , and thy peace-offerings , thy sheep , and thine oxen , &c. and this before Moses came downe from the Mount , or the Calfe was yet made . Nay , more than all this , when Moses and Aaron were sent unto Pharaoh , the effect of their Embassie was , Exod. 3. 18. & 5. 1 , 3 , 8. The God of the Hebrewes saith , Let my people go , that they may sacrifice unto me , three dayes journey in the wildernesse . ; And when Pharaob would have given them leave to have sacrificed to their God in the Land : Exod. 8. 27. No ( saith Moses ) we will go three dayes journey into the wildernesse , and there sacrifice to the Lord our God , as he hath commanded us . What shall we answer then to those passages of Scripture , where God disclaimeth sacrifice , saying , hee required no such service at his peoples hands ; yea , that hee commanded them no such thing , when hee brought them out of the Land of Aegypt ?

For the assoyling of this difficultie , according to the differing qualitie of the passages , which are , or may be produced to this purpose , I lay downe these three propositions . 1. That , according to the proprietie and genius of the Hebrew tongue , a Comparative sense is often expressed after the forme of an Antithesis : As in that of Ioel , Rent your hearts , and not your garments : that is , more , or rather than your garments . Prov. 8. 10. Receive my instruction , and not silver : that is , rather than silver ; as the words following teach us to construe it : And knowledge rather than choice gold . Likewise in the New Testament : Lay not up treasures for your selves on earth , but lay up for your selves treasures in heaven . i. Treasures in heaven , rather than treasures on earth ; have more care to lay up the one , than the other .

According to this construction onely , without more adoe , some of the aforesaid passages will be discharged of their difficulty : as namely that of Hosea , I desired mercy and not sacrifice , .i. more or rather than sacrifice ; as the following words give us to understand , which are : And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings ; and according as the same sense is elsewhere expressed ; as Prov. 21. 3. To do justice and judgement is more acceptable to the Lord , than sacrifice . But all will not be thus salved .

Wherefore I lay down this second proposition ; That antecedenter it is true , that God commanded not sacrifice should be offered unto him , neither when the Law was given , nor before ; but consequenter , consequently onely . For the understanding whereof , we must know , That Sacrifice was a rite whereby men renewed a covenant with God , by making attonement for their sinne . Therefore it presupposed a breach and transgression of the Law . But the will of God was not , that men should transgresse his Law , and violate the covenant he had made with them , but that they should observe and keep it ; which if they did , sacrifice would have no place . This is that I meane , when I say , That God required not , nor commanded sacrifice antecedently , but that men should keep his Commandments . But in case sinne were committed , and the Articles of his covenant violated , then and in such a state God ordained , and admitted of Sacrifice for a rite of attonement and redintegration of his covenant with men : that is , he commanded Sacrifice onely consequenter , as a remedy if sinne were committed . And if those Ancients could bee thus understood , who say , that sacrifice was not ordained when the Law was first given , but after it was transgressed ; namely , if their meaning were onely , that the ordinance of sacrifice presupposed a transgression of the Law , then their assertion were true ; but otherwise historically taken , it cannot be defended . Now according to this proposition is that of Ieremy chap. 7. to be understood , ( or if there bee any other like it : ) I spake not unto your Fathers , nor commanded them , in the day that I brought them out of the Land of Aegypt , concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices : But this thing commanded I them ; Obey my voice , and I will be your God , and ye shall be my people : and walke yee in all the wayes that I have commanded you , that it may bee well with you .

My third proposition is this : That when sacrifice was to be offered , in case of sinne ; yet even then God accepted not thereof primariò , primarily and for it selfe ; as though any refreshment or emolument accrued to him thereby , ( as the Gentiles fondly supposed of their gods ) but secundarily onely , as a testimony of the conscience of the offerer , desiring , with humble repentance , to glorifie him with a present , and by that rite to renew a covenant with him . For Sacrifice ( as I have said ) was oblatio foederalis . Now Almighty God renewes a covenant with , or receiveth againe into his favour , none but the repentant sinner , and therefore accepts of sacrifice in no other regard , but as a token and effect of this . Otherwise it is an abomination unto him , as whereby men professed a desire of being reconciled unto God , when they had offended him , and yet had no such meaning . Hence God rejects all sacrifices wherein there is no contrition , nor purpose to forsake sinne , and keep his commandments , which are the parts of repentance . So is to bee taken that in the first of Isay : To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices ? — Bring no more vaine oblations ; incense is an abomination unto me — Wash ye , make you cleane , put away the evill of your doings from before mine eyes , cease to do evill — then ( if you offer sacrifice unto me ) though your sinnes be as scarlet , they shall be as white as snow , &c. — And that Isay the last : To this man I look , to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit . Hee that killeth an oxe ( namely otherwise ) is as if he slew a man : be that sacrificeth a lamb ( unlesse he comes with this disposition ) as if he cut off a dogs neck , he that offereth an oblation , as if he offered bloud , he that burneth incense , as if he blessed an Idoll . And surely , he that blesseth an Idoll , is so farre from renewing a covenant with the Lord his God , that he breakes it . So did they , who without conscience of repentance presumed to come before him with a sacrifice , not procure attonement , but aggravate their breach .

According to one of these three senses are all passages in the Old Testament , disparaging and rejecting sacrifices , literally to be understood : Namely , when men preferred them before the greater things of the law ; valued them out of their degree , as an antecedent duty ; or placed their efficacy in the naked rite , as if ought accrued to God thereby : God would no longer owne them for any ordinance of his ; nor indeed in that disguise put upon them were they . I will except onely one passage out of the number , which I suppose to have a singular meaning ; to wit , that of David in the 51. Psalme , which the ancient translations thus expresse : Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium , dedissem utique ; sed holocaustis non oblectaberis ( vel , holocaustum non acceptabis . ) Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus , &c. — If thou wouldest have had a sacrifice , I would have offered it ; but thou wilt accept no burnt-offering , &c. — For this seemes to be meant of that speciall case of adulterie and murder , which David here deploreth : for which sinnes the Lord had provided no sacrifice in his law . Wherefore David in this his poenitentiall confession tells him , That if hee had appointed any sacrifice for expiation of this kinde of sinne , hee would have given it him : but he had ordained none , save onely a broken spirit and a contrite heart : which , thou O God ( saith he ) wilt not despise , but accept that alone for a sacrifice in this case , without which , sacrifice in no case , is accepted .

Now out of this discourse we are sufficiently furnished for the understanding of this caution of Solomon in my Text : Bee more readie to obey , than to offer the sacrifice of fooles ; or as the words in the Originall import , Be more approaching God with a purpose and resolution of obedience to his commandments , than with the sacrifice of fooles ; that is , Have a care , rather to approach the Divine Majesty with an offering of an obedientiall disposition , than with the bare and naked rite ; but the sense is still the same , namely , the House of God at Jerusalem was an House of sacrifice , which they who came thither to worship , offered unto the Divine Majesty , to make way for their prayers and supplications unto him , or to finde favour in his sight . Solomon therefore gives them here a caveat , not to place their religion , either onely or chiefly in the externall rite , but in their readinesse to heare and keepe the Commandements of GOD ; without which , that rite alone would availe them nothing , but bee no better than the sacrifice of fooles , who when they doe evill , thinke they doe well . For without this readinesse to obey , this purpose of heart to live according to his Commandements , God accepts of no sacrifice from those who approach him , nor will pardon their transgressions when they come before him . Hee therefore that makes no conscience of sinning against God , and yet thinks to bee expiate by sacrifice , is an ignorant foole ; how wise and religious soever he may thinke himselfe to be , or appeare unto men , by the multitude or greatnesse of his sacrifices . The reason , because the Lord requires obedience antecedently and absolutely , but sacrifice consequently onely : and then too , not primariò , or chiefly and for it selfe , but secundarily onely , as a testimony of contrition , and a ready desire and purpose in the offerer , to continue in his favour by obedience .

This is Solomons the Preachers meaning Wherein behold , as in a glasse , the condition of all externall service of God in generall ; as that which he accepteth no otherwise than secundarily ; namely , as issuing from a heart respectively affected with that devotion it importeth . For God , as hee is a living God , so he requires a living worship . But as the body without the soule is but a carcasse ; so is all externall and bodily worship , wherein the pulse of the hearts devotion beats not .

But if this bee so , you will say , it were better to use no externall worship at all of course , as we doe the worship of the bodie in the gestures of bowing , kneeling , standing , and the like , than to incurre this danger of serving God with a dead and hypocriticall service ; because it is not like , the heart will be alwayes duely affected , when the outward worship shall bee required . I answer ; Where there is a true and reall intent to honour God with outward and bodily worship , there the act is not hypocrisie , though accompanied with many defects and imperfections . Here therefore that rule of our Saviour touching the greater and lesser things of the law must have place : Matth. 23. 23. & Luke 11. 42. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , These things ( .i. the greater things of the Law ) we ought to doe , and not to leave the other ( though the lesser ) undone . For otherwise , if this reasoning were admitted , a man might upon the same ground absent himselfe from comming to Church upon the dayes and times appointed , or come thither but now and then , alledging the indisposition of his heart to joyne with the Church in her publicke worship at other times : Or if he came thither , act a mute , and when others sing and praise God , to be altogether silent , and not open his mouth , nor to say Amen , when others doe . For all these are externall services ; and the service of the voice and gesture are in this respect all one , there is no difference . But who would not thinke this to be very absurd ? We should rather upon every such occasion rouze and stirre up our affections with fit and seasonable meditations , that what the order and decency of a Church-assembly requires to be done of every member outwardly , we may likewise doe devoutly and acceptably . These things we ought to doe , and not leave the other undone .

But you will say , What if I cannot bring my heart unto that religious feare and devotion , which the outward worship I should performe requireth ? I could say that some of the outward worship which a man performes in a Church-assembly , he does not as a singular man , but as a member of the Congregation . But howsoever , I answer : Let the worship of thy body , in such a case , be at least a confession and acknowledgement before God , of that love , feare , and esteeme of his Divine Majesty thou oughtest to have , but hast not . For though to come before God without that inward devotion requisite , bee a sinne : yet to confesse and acknowledge , by what our outward gesture importeth , the duty we owe unto him , but are defective in , I hope is not ; no more than the confession of any other sinne . For our worship , in such a case , if we will so intend it , is an act of repentance : and as the moderne Greekes are wont to call their Adorations 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Repentances ; so may we in this case make ours to be ; namely , as if wee said , Lord , I ought to come before thee with that religious feare , humble reverence , and lifting up of heart , which the gesture , the posture , I here present , importeth : but Lord be mercifull to me a sinner . If any mans heart be so prophane and irreligious , as not to acknowledge thus much : I yeeld , that such a one might better spare his labour , and not come into the presence of God at all . Otherwise I conclude still with our blessed Saviours determination in the like case , Those greater things we ought to doe , and not to leave the other undone . * ⁎ *

FINIS .