Part 284

_Direct._ XI. It much glorifieth God to worship him rationally and purely, in spirit and in truth, according to the glory of his wisdom and goodness; and it dishonoureth him to be worshipped ignorantly and carnally, with spells, and mimical, irrational actions, as if he were less wise than serious, grave, understanding men.--The worshippers of God have great cause to take heed how they behave themselves; lest they meet with the reward of Nadab and Abihu, and God tell them by his judgments, "that he will be sanctified in all them that come nigh him, and before all the people he will be glorified," Lev. x. 1-3. The second commandment is enforced by the jealousy of God about his worship. Ignorant, rude, unseemly words, or unhandsome gestures, which tend to raise contempt in the auditors; or levity of speech, which makes men laugh, is abominable in a preacher of the gospel. And so is it to pray irrationally, incoherently, confusedly, with vain repetitions and tautologies, as if men thought to be heard for their babbling over so many words, while there is not so much as an appearance of a well composed, serious, rational, and reverent address of a fervent soul to God. To worship God as the papists do, with images, Agnus Dei's, crucifixes, crossings, spittle, oil, candles, holy water, kissing the pax, dropping beads, praying to the Virgin Mary, and to other saints, repeating over the name of Jesus nine times in a breath, and saying such and such sentences so oft, praying to God in an unknown tongue, and saying to him they know not what, adoring the consecrated bread as no bread, but the very flesh of Christ himself, choosing the titular saint whose name they will invocate, fasting by feasting upon fish instead of flesh, saying so many masses a day, and offering sacrifice for the quick and the dead, praying for souls in purgatory, purchasing indulgences for their deliverance out of purgatory from the pope, carrying the pretended bones or other relics of their saints, the pope's canonizing now and then one for a saint, pretending miracles to delude the people, going on pilgrimages to images, shrines, or relics, offering before the images, with a multitude more of such parcels of devotion, do most heinously dishonour God, and, as the apostle truly saith, do make unbelievers say, "They are mad," 1 Cor. xiv. 23, and that they are "children in understanding," and not "men," ver. 20. Insomuch as it seemeth one of the greatest impediments to the conversion of the heathen and Mahometan world, and the chiefest means of confirming them in their infidelity, and making them hate and scorn christianity, that the Romish, and the eastern, and southern churches, within their view, do worship God so dishonourably as they do: as if our God were like a little child that must have pretty toys bought him in the fair, and brought home to please him. Whereas, if the unreformed churches in the east, west, and south were reformed, and had a learned, pious, able ministry, that clearly preached and seriously applied the word of God, and worshipped God with understanding, gravity, reverence, and serious spirituality, and lived a holy, heavenly, mortified, self-denying conversation, this would be the way to propagate christianity, and win the infidel world to Christ.