fying of the Calling of the Gentiles and the Evangelical way of Worship, brings in God himself prescribing Rules, how he would be worship'd and honour'd in his Church; and then threatning those, who, prefuming upon his Goodness, and prefent Forbearance of them, could therefore entertain fuch vile Thoughts of him, as to imagin him Like Themselves, a Patron or Approver of Wickedness, or one that might be brib'd or wrought upon by the Officiousness of their Services, or by Prayers and Offerings, to connive at them, or to favour them in their Wickednefs, or in any Unjuft or Evil Cause, Verse 21. Thefe things haft thou done (faith God,) and I held my tongue; and thou thoughtest wickedly that I am even fuch an one as thy felf: But I will reprove thee, and fet before thee the things that thou hast done. Thy Impiety fhall not go unpunished; I will furely avenge it. Thus we see that our Sins, fo long as we retain them, render all our Services Unacceptable to God. And if we think to compound with him for our Sins by our Worship and Service of him, we are so far from Atoning thereby for our Sins, that we only provoke his farther Displeasure, and double our Condemnation. Inftead of Honouring God we do plainly Dishonour him by such Services; Reflecting thereby either on his Omniscience, that he does not Perceive; or on on his Holiness that he doth not Resent; or on his Veracity and Juftice, that he will not Punish, fuch Hypocritical Prefumptuous Profanation of his Holy Ordinances. 2 dly. I am now to fhew what it is, that will make our Services moft Acceptable to God. And if retaining our Sins makes our Services Unacceptable and Hateful to him, no doubt but our Forfaking and Casting them off, is what will make them moft Acceptable and well pleasing in his Sight. For if we will effectually renounce and forfake our Sins at his Command, This fhews that we do truly Believe in God; that we believe his Threats and Promises; that we will obediently keep his Commandments, and do defire to Live in Subjection to his Laws; that we Believe the Lord our God is Holy, and we will therefore Worship him with Holy Worship; That we Honour and Efteem God and his Favour above all Things, and are ready to part with All, even our Beloved Sins, our own Heart's Lufts, for his Sake. That we may therefore come to the Houfe of God, duly Prepar'd for his Worship on his Holy Day, we may do well to begin the Day, (after Thanksgiving for his Protection from the Dangers and Terrours of the past Night,) with recollection and serious reflection upon our Ways, (particularly on All that has pass'd the foregoing Week ;) What our Life has been? Whether fuch as the Law of N 3 God God requires? Humbling and Condemning our felves for our Mifcarriages; Imploring his Mercy for whatsoever has been amiss, either by Omiffion or Commiffion; begging farther Affiftance of his Holy Spirit, and forming new and fteady Refolutions of more Care and Watchfulness for the time to come. Then Offering up our Praises and Thanksgivings to him, for that we have not been fnatch'd away in our Sins, but have farther Time to Repent given us, and the Means of Grace to Reform us; For that we have ftill the Door of Mercy flanding open to us, and Opportunity still, as at this time, afforded us, of attending upon God in his Holy Ordinances; Where we may have the Bleffing and Comfort of hearing the Abfolution and Remiffion of our Sins, declar'd by the Mouth of his Ministers, to whom he has given Power and Commandment to declare and pronounce it, to all that do truly Repent, and fincerely purpose from thenceforth to Live a Godly, Righteous and a Sober Life, to the Glory of his Holy Name. This weekly Self-Examination, and Penitential Reflection on our Spiritual State, will keep us from ever running far behind in our Accounts; and will not fuffer our Sins to be forgotten by us, nor to flide away from us Unrepented of: It will keep Confcience always Awake, and fenfible of the Danger and Evil of Sin; and will fend us to the Houfe Houfe of God with Zeal and Ardour of Devotion; and will keep us better upon our Guard for ever after. And when this SelfExamination and Reflection has laid us open to our felves, and fhew'd us the Danger we are in, we shall no longer fatisfy our fel ves with a Form of Godliness, nor dare to go on in a Customary Road of Serving God with our Lips, whilft in our Works we Deny him, Diffembling with him with a Double Heart; but shall refolve to part with our Sins in good earnest, and to ferve him not only with our Lips but in our Lives, defiring to give our felves up wholly to his Service, to ferve him with a Perfect and an Upright Heart, and with our whole Heart, in Holiness and Righteousness before him all the Days of our Life. But after we have done all This; after we have laid afide our Worldly Business, and difburden'd our felves of our Sins, and taken up Refolutions againft them; ftill there may be One thing lacking to make our Worship Perfect; I mean Perfect in a Human Degree, as Perfect as we must expect it will be on this Side Heaven, whilft we have the Infirmities of our Nature hanging upon us, and our Souls clog'd with the Burden of the Flesh: And that is IIIdly. The Putting our Souls into a Present Frame and Pofture of Devotion, such as is proper for the House and Service of God. N 4 Whilft Col. iii. 2. Whilft we fuffer our Mind and Affections to follow their own Bent and Inclinations, they will be groveling on the Earth, and following after the World and Worldly Objects, with which they have so much convers'd; But when we are to go to the House of God, we go to Converse with God and Heaven, which requires another Frame of Spirit. We must therefore not only withdraw our Thoughts from the World and Worldly Things, but must endeavour to raise up our Minds Heaven-wards, and remove our Affections from Things on the Earth to Things Above. This may best be done by Reading fome proper Portion of Scripture, or other Books of Piety and Devotion; but especially by Proper Pious Meditations, which is the Thing that will moft conduce to fix our Thoughts and Spiritualize out Affections, and digeft our Reading and Hearing, and all our Christian Knowledge, into good Christian Practice, till Chrift be formed in us. We may contemplate God in the Glory of his Attributes, and in the Greatness of his Works. The Contemplation of any of God's Attributes will create in us fome suitable Affections and Difpofitions of Mind. Some of them will be proper to excite us to Love; fome to a Religious Fear of him; and others to Hope and Trust in him: Some of his At tributes |