DISCOURSE XVIII.

A fecond Difcourfe on the right Ufe of the Church, or Temple of God, &c.

PSALM Xviii. PART OF THE 6th VERSE.

-He beard my voice' out of his temple, and my cry came before Him,

N the first part of the Sermon upon this fub

of holy fcripture, that the visible temple, or church, is truly to be confidered as the house of God, for these plain and undeniable reafons: Because the fervice of the Lord is therein performed; fuch as preaching, and hearing his holy word; calling upon his heavenly name in humble prayer; giving him thanks for his great and innumerable benefits to us; and that the due adminiftration of his facraments is likewife celebrated in this place. It was alfo further proved from the word of God, that all truly pious Chriftians are ftrictly bound to repair to the fervice of this holy house, for the above purposes of worshipping the Lord of life and glory, at all duly ftated times, in fpirit and in truth, which is the kind of worship God requires.

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In the conclufion of the former Difcourfe, the dread of incurring even temporal punishment was an argument advanced for the perfuafion of all whom it might be particularly calculated to affect, and it was fupported by the cleareft evidence of holy fcripture.

We come now, in the fecond place, to propose fome fuch further reasons, as may be effectual in impreffing the mind with a true fenfe of the cause in queftion, and which are likewife drawn from the fame pure fource that furnished those we employed before. First then, all who come to this holy place ought feriously to confider, how highly incumbent upon them it is, to behave with gravity, decency, and reverence; and, on the contrary, to be ex¬ tremely cautious not to yield to thoughtlessness and indifference, much lefs to be inftrumental to the leaft difturbance in the folemn bufiness of the place.

It may help to teach us how much it becometh Chriftians to behave themselves most reverently in God's house of prayer, by only recollecting in what great veneration the Jews in the old law held their temple. This appears from many paffages of Scripture, a few of which I will deliver to you at this time. You must remember, that it is recorded in the xxvith of St. Matthew's Gospel, that it was laid to our Savior's charge (by the two falfe witneffes before a temporal judge) as a matter worthy of death, that he had faid he could deftroy the temple of God, and in three days build it up again. The fuccefs of their evidence was built upon this perfuafion within themselves, that if they could make men believe that Chrift had spoken any thing against the temple, (a place thought worthy of fuch high refpect) he must appear deferving death by all men. Again, their reverence for their publick place of worship is marked by another particular circumftance. When

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(as it is related in Acts xxi.) the Jews found Paul in the temple, (which they fuppofed he had polluted by introducing profane and improper perfons,) they laid hands upon him, crying out, Men of Ifrael, belp! This is the man that teacheth all men, every where, against the people, and the law, and this place: and further, be bath brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath defiled this holy place. Now from this it is clear, that they held it equally an offence to speak against the temple of God, as against the law of God, and that they judged it right, that none but true worshippers and devout perfons should enter into God's house. And it appears that the very fame fault was laid to the Apoftle's charge by the orator Tertullus, in the xxivth chapter, who accufed him of deferving death, according to the law, on the fuppofition of his having gone about to profane the temple. What regard they paid likewife to the purity of this holy place, is no lefs obferveable from the conduct of the chief priests, in the xxviith of St. Matthew, who, when the traitor Judas brought again the thirty pieces of filver, took council, and bought with them the Potter's field, to bury ftrangers in, conc uding that it was not lawful to put them into the treasury boufe of the temple, because it was the price of blood. And fo great was their veneration for this place, under the idea of God's prefence there, that they not only forbid any unclean perfon, but even any dead thing, that was judged unclean, to enter into the temple, or any part belonging to it.

Nothing can more confirm the fenfe of their extreme nicety in this, than the following fpeech of St. Paul, 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15, and 16, which rifes in the force of a continued comparison, till it is completed in the very point in hand. What fellowskip (faith he) bath righteousness with unrighteoufnefs? And what communion bath light with darkness? And what concord bath Chrift with Belial? Or what part bath he

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that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement bath the temple of God with idols? Now this laft fentence, although, from what immediately follows, it may be faid to relate chiefly to the temple of the mind in this place, yet as both the fimilitude, and the fpirit of the argument are borrowed from the actual temple, it proves that no ungodliness, especially of idols or their images, can any more be fuffered in the temple (which is the true place of God's worship) than light can agree with darkness, or Chrift with Belial: the worshippers of God, and the worshippers or reverence of images, being as contrary as any two extremes that can be mentioned.

But refpecting the reverence which the Jews demonstrated for their temple, perhaps fome will be ready to fay, they honored it fuperftitiously, and by far too much; crying out the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, while they led the most abandoned lives, and are accordingly moft justly reproved by the prophet Jeremiah, and commanded not to truft in lying words, Jer. vii. 4. Now, though it should be granted, that the eftimation of the outward temple might favor of fuperftition, in the conduct of fuch, as only considered its outward glory, yet I fear many of us must be allowed to fall as far fhort of becoming veneration for spiritual notice of the house of God, as perhaps thefe Jews exceeded in a partial and national attachment to the very building. And if the prophet reprehended them properly, in this refpect, it is worth our notice at the fame time to confider, what the Lord requireth at our hands, in order to judge whether we are lefs blameable than they were.

It is written, in the vth chapter of Ecclefiaftes, ift verfe, Keep thy foot when thou geeft to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the facrifice of fools, for they confider not that they do evil; fpeak no

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thing rafhly there, neither let thine heart be hafty to utter any thing before God, for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few. Now here you may obferve, what modefty and humility of behavior, what filence and awe is required in the house of God, as it is most properly called, in this place. The caution in this text extends, no doubt, to all. unfeemly disturbance, that may hinder the devotion of others, and discover contempt of God, and the - pious fervice of his creatures; it is intended, likewise, to guard us against an improper use of our tongues. at this time; that they employ no words, without confideration, before the Lord; none which would be inconfiftent with the purity of his fervice, and especially to prevent all worldly and light converfation, talking of concerns that perhaps might be improper and unprofitable out of the houfe of God; not confidering that here we are in a peculiar manner in the presence of the Moft High, who dwelleth in heaven, and yet humbleth himself to behold the things on earth, in comparison of whofe tremendous Majesty we are truly but as reptiles in his fight; and reflecting always, that if account is to be given at the great day, of every idle word, wherever it is spoken, how much heavier will be the condemnation for all unbecoming difcourfe delivered in God's house, to the great dishonor of his name, and the offence of all who hear them.

And as to the congregation of the people, the church or temple is appointed for them, to be hearers in it, and not fpeakers: the word of God is there read and taught for that good end: at which it is their bounden duty to give regular attendance, with all reverence and filence. The common prayers and thanksgivings are alfo offered by the public minifter, in the name of all thofe prefent, to which it is both decent and expedient, that they fhould duly give attention, and conftantly confent, by faying amen. This St. Paul advises, in 1 Cor. xivth chap.

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