is therefore called the holy place, Lev, xvi. 30, seq. And thirdly, There was a place which the high-priest might only enter into, and that but once a year, and that is called the holy of holies, the holiest place of all, Heb. ix. 3. But now since the death of Christ, there is no place in the world that is holier than other. The prayer of faith is as powerful and as prevalent with God in one place as in another. Paul describes the faithful to be such as call upon God in every place, 1 Cor. i. 2. ' And I will,' saith he, ' that men pray everywhere,' 1 Tim. ii. 8. ' And where two or three,' saith Christ, ' are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them,' Mat. xviii. 20. That every place should be free for the people of God to worship the Lord in, was foretold by the prophets, as a singular privilege that should come to the church in the days of the gospel : Zeph. ii. 11, ' And men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen;' that is, all countries, though not encom- passed with the sea, for the Jews called all lands islands whither they could not come but by water. Men should worship, not only at Jeru- salem, as once, but in all places ; they should lift up ' pure hands and hearts without wrath or doubting,' 1 Tim ii. 8, both in church and chamber. Any place whatsoever shall be a sufficient oratory, so that God be worshipped in spirit and in truth : Mai. i. 11, ' For from the rising of the sun, even to the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles ; and in every place,' not in Judea only, ' incense shall be offered unto my name,' — here the prophet frames his words to the capacity of the people, and by the altar and sacrifices he meaneth the spiritual service of God, which should be under the gospel, when an end shall be put to all these legal ceremonies by Christ's only sacrifice — ' and a pure offering : for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.' The poor blind besotted Jews thought that God was so tied to them, that if they did not worship him at Jerusalem, he would have no service nor worship in the world. But God tells them that they were under a very high mistake, for he would take care of his own name and glory. ' For from the rising of the sun, even to the going down of the same, my name shall be great' — that is, the knowledge of it, and of the right worship of it — ' among the Gentiles,' [this is an excellent pro- phecy of the cutting off i the Gentiles ;] — ' and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name.' My worship, saith God, shall not be confined to Judea or Jerusalem, or the temple, but in every place 1 will have a people that shall worship me, and that shall be still offering of prayers and praises and thanksgivings to me.^ Christ, by his death, hath taken away all difference of places. And indeed it was but necessary that, when the body was come, the shadow should cease. Yea, since Christ's death, all difierence of persons is taken away : ' For in every nation under heaven, such as fear God, and work righteousness, are accepted of him.' ' There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female : for ye are all one in Christ Jesus,' Acts x. 34, 35 ; Gal. iii. 28. And therefore all difference of places must needs also be taken away, for this difference of places was as a partition- wall between the Jews and
^ Query, ' calling of ' ?— G. ' See Isa. Ixvi. 19, 20, Ix. 8, and xix. 19.
226 London's lamentations on [Isa. XLII. 24, 25.
the Gcntilcf, Eph. ii. 14, 15. Now mark, since the destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem, the Lord hath not sanctified any other place in the world, or consecrated it to a more holy use than the rest, and it is only God's institution and word that can make any thing or any place holy, 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5. Nothing can make any place or any tiling else holy, but the ordinance and institution of God. It is Judaism, it is a denying of Christ to be come in the flesh, to hold or affirm that one place is holier than another. I know the papists put more holiness in some places than they do in others ; for they hold that it is more advantageous to the dead to be buried in the church- yard than out of it ; and in the church, more than in the churchyard ; and in chancel, more than in the church ; and near the high altar, more than in any other place of the chancel ; and all out of a super- stitious conceit, that these places are consecrated and hallowed, that they are holier than other places are. But Christians that live under a bright shining gospel understand the folly and vanity of these men's spirits, principles, and practices. Such as are wise in heart know that since Christ by his death hath taken away all religious difference of ])laces, England is as holy as Canaan, and London as Jerusalem, and our houses as the temple.
Under the law they were wont to dedicate their houses, and conse- crate them to God, before tliey dwelt in them : Deut. xx. 5, ' And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it ?' — l)y prayers, hymns, and other holy solemnities ; — ' let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.' Now though this were done in those times, with sundry ceremonies which are now abolished, yet the equity of the duty still remains. And doubtless the best way for a man to bring down a blessing upon himself and his house, is to dedicate himself and his house to God: 2 Sam. vi. 11, ' And the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obed-edora the Hittite three months : and the Lord blessed Obed-edora, and all his household:' ver. 12, ' And it was told king David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth to him, because of the ark of God.'i In this scripture you see that when men do anything to the advancement of religion, or to the furtherance of God's worship and service, he takes it kindly at their hands. The meanest service that is done to Christ or his church hath a patent of eternity. Again, in this scripture you may run and read a real retri- bution and remuneration, God does not put off Obed-edom with a fine feather, or with empty favours, or court-compliments, but he really blesses him and all his household. Obed-edom had been at some cost and charge in giving entertainment to God's ark ; but God defrays all the charges, and pays him abundantly for his kind enter- tainment, with interest upon interest. No man ever gave the gospel a night's lodging, that hath been a loser by it. God will pay all such with use and principal, who do anything to the furtherance of his