Annesley - Houston-Packer Collection BX9327 .M6 1664

456 Hoty may me are Diflral"fion: Serm. 19. God flightly you lofe ground by coming, till at length you look upon Worfhip as a meer Cuflome, or fomething done for fafhions fake. Secondly, Particularly. 1.1c is an affront r to God, and a kind of moc- kery ; we wrong his Omnifciency, as it he faw not the heart, and could WA tell man his thought. It is Gods Eff ntial glory in Worfhip to be acknowledged an all-feeing Spirit, & according" to be worfhipped in nirit and in truth, ?oh.4.z4.Tboughts are as audible with him as words, therfore when you prattle words Ado not make confcicnce of thoughts, you do not worfbip him as a fßirit. We wrong hid Majefly when we (peak to him in Prayer and do not give heed to what we fay ; furely we are not to prattle like rayes, or Parrots, words without aff:c4ion . and feeling, or to chatter like Cranes, or be like Ephraim whom the prophet calls a filly Dove without an heart. A mean man taketh it ill when you have bufinefs to talk with hire about, & your minds are elfe- where ; you would all judge it to be an affront to the MA jefly of God i fa man fhould fend his cloathsfluffed with ftraw, or a Puppet dreffed up inftead of himfelf into the Aferriblies of Gods people, and think this fhould fupply his perfonal prefence, yet our cloaths Ruffed with » I Sam,19. firaw, or an Image dreffed up inftead of us, fuch ac * Michol but into 12,13 Davids bed,would be lefs offenlive to God than our bodies without our fouls ; the abfence of the fßirit is the abLnce of the more noble part: We pretend to fpeakto God, and do not hear our Lives, nor can give any account of what we pray for ; or rather let me give you Chry- foflom's Comparifon,A man would have been thought to have propha- * Chryf. Hom, ned the mylleries of the Levitical Worfhip, if inttead of * fweet incenfe 74. in Mat. be fhould put into the Cenfer Sulpher or Brimflone, or mingle the one with the other, Surely our Prayers fhould be fet forth as Incenfe, Pfal. 141. z.And do not we affront God to his face,that mingle fo many vain, finfull, proud, filthy, blafphemous thoughts ? What is this but to mingle Sulpher with our incenfe ? Again, when God fpeaketh to :u, and knocks at the heart, , and there is none within to hear him, is it not an affront to his Majefly ? Put it in a Temporal Cafe, if a great perfon fhould talk to us, and we fhould negleft him, and entertain our felves with his fervants, he would take it as a4efpight and cotatempt done to him. The Great God of heaven and earth doth often call you together to /peak to Jos; Now if you think fo flightly of his fpeeches as not ro attend, but fet your minds adrift to be carried hither and thither with every wave, where is thatrcverence you owe to him ? It is a wrong to his goodnefs,and the comforts of bis holy profence,for eñet you fay that you do iapt find that feetnefs in God which you expedt,

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