I. "Keep thy foot when thou goeft into the house of God," Eccl. v. i. e Look to your affections, which are te feet of the foul, by which men go to God, and walk or converfe with him. Firmly believe, and conftantly remember, that God's eye is very much on your behaviour while you are in his houfe. Therefore in the tabernacle, which was the place of public worship, it was commanded, Exod. xxv 37. "Thou fhalt make feven lamps, and they fhall light the lamps that they may give light;" to teach us, that nothing there could efcape God's fight; for in his houfe there was always light. You cannot fin in fecret there, for there are feven lamps to discover your miscarriages in the Lord's houfe. And, when the temple fucceeded the tabernacle, God fays of it, 1 Kings ix. 3. "Mine eye fhall be there perpetually." God hath an eye, 1. of Obfervation, Jer. xvi. 17. to notice with what fincerity and livelinefs you offer your services and performances. 2. An eye of good will, Amos ix 4. to approve and bless you, if you worship him fincerely and faithfully. 3. An eye of indignation, Jer. xxi. 10. to bring wrath on you, if you approach God irreverently, worthip him carelessly, and profane his day.. Now, you may be assured of it, that God is as jealous of his courts under the gospel, as he was under the law, and doth take special notice of his people's behaviour there; for he tells us, " Where two or three are gathered in his name, he is in the midft of them," Matth. xviii. 20.

As you ought to have a lively fenfe of God's omnifcience when you enter God's house, so you ought to have awful impreffions of God's greatnefs, into whofe prefence you come, and a deep fenfe of your vileness and unworthinefs to appear before him: And therefore be putting up ejaculations to God for acceptance in Christ Jesus. I do not mean that you should stand up (as fome do) to private prayer in a public way, as the Pharifees did of old in the fynagogues, to be seen of men, for which our Saviour reproves them, Mat. vi. 5. 6. telling us, that fecret prayer fhould be performed in a fecret manner: And far lefs (hould this be practifed (as fome do) when, the congregation is employed

employed in other worship: for this were a confounding of worship, and unacceptable to him who is the God of order, and is plainly reproved by the apostle; 1 Cor. xiv. Alas! it is to be fufpected of many that do so, that these are all the prayers they use on Sabbath morning, for preparing themfelves or their families for the public worship. But, if you come in before worfhip be begun, it is very proper you have your private ejaculations, and be lifting up your thoughts to heaven in a private manner; and, when you are fet down in your feats, fee if you be able to give a fatisfying anfwer to that queftion the Lord put to the prophet, 1 Kings xix. 13. What doft thou here, Elijah?" Can you fay, "Lord, I have come, at thy command, to the place where thy honour dwelleth, to the place where thou ufeft to tryst with thy people, that I might meet with thee, and get a glimpse of thy countenance?" Alas! it is much to be regretted, that many come to church, they cannot tell for what end, like thofe Ephefians, mentioned Acts xix. 32. "The more part knew not wherefore they were come together." They come for nothing, and they ordinarily go away with nothing.

But as for you, whofe errand is to meet with God, and get quickening to your fouls, look to the frame of your hearts, let yourselves to hear God's word, and join in his worthip with great reverence and fear; confider, not only ministers (God's ambassadors) are present, but the glorious angels are prefent, nay, the God of angels himfelf is prefent; therefore fay, as Jacob did of Bethel, Gen. xxviii. 16, 17. "Surely the Lord is in this place. How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the houfe of God, and the gate of heaven." In every part of God's worthip, this day, whether finging, praying, hearing, partaking, ftudy to behave as one that believes he is fifted in the prefence of the all-feeing God, as one that is working for his immortal foul, as one that, within a few days, fhall enter the gates of death, and render an account at the bar of the great Judge of the world.

II. Study to be at the beginning of worship, that you may be able to fay with Cornelius, Acts x. 33. "Now we are all here prefent before God, to hear all things

that

that are commanded thee of God." Think not that you are in time if you win to the lecture or fermon, though you miss the prayers that went before; for, if you finfully miss these, you have no ground to expect good by the whole day's preaching, fince it is by the means of the public prayers that the word is fanctified to you, and you are prepared for it; and what good can the word do you, if God blefs it not to you? and how can you look for the bleffing, if you come not to feek it? It is not the way to profit by one ordinance, to neglect another. To be late of coming is offenfive to God, ftumbling to ferious Chriftians, and injurious to your own fouls. Alas! upon what small and frivolous excufes do many stay back from the public worship, or linger in coming to it? A little búfinefs, a little rain, fnow, or cold, will detain them from the means of fal vation. You that cannot hear the word, or come in time to God's worship for a little cold now, confider what an alteration there will be in hell; there it will be hot enough, and you fhall not have liberty of hearing. Did the cold hinder you? There the heat fhall punith you for it. Doth a little rain or fnow keep you at home, when Chrift is calling you to receive him? How then will you endure that horrible tempeft, which he will rain on gofpel-flighters, even a flood of kindfed brimftone that wil never ceafe nor quench.

III. When you firft fee the minifter this day in the pulpit, think, "O how welcome fhould I make him that bringeth glad tidings, even the news of reconciliation to a perifhing world? Lord, how great is thy clemency to us this day, in fending thy ambaffadors with an olive branch of peace, and not a trumpet of war in their mouths?" Confider our reiterated rebellions and provocations, it might have been expected we fhould have had a fearful meffage fent us, like that of te flying angel, Rev. viii ult. "Wo, wo, wo to the inhabitants of the earth," &c. But, inftead of this, we have the sweet meffage in Ifa. Iv. 1. renewed, "Ho, 'every one that thiffteth, come to the waters, and he that hath no money, come, buy," &c. and that in ver. 7. "Let the wicked forfake his way, and the unrighteous

man

man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him," &c. That is a joyful found," How then fhall we escape, if we neglect. fo great falvation ?"

IV. Study to be devout and reverend in the public worship, both as to the frame of your mind, and gesture, of your body. It was a good advice of one, for this end. "Fix your eye on the minifter, your ear on the word, and your heart on God." Awe your hearts into a holy reverence, by viewing the holinefs and power of that God whom ye worship, and revolving his titles of majefty; fo did the Pfalmift, Pfal lxxxix. 6. 7. 8. "Who in heaven can be compared to the Lord? &c. God is greatly to be feared in the affembly of his faints, &c. O Lord God of hofts, who is a ftrong Lord like unto thee &c. Make a covenant with your eyes," that they gaze not about in spying your neighbours cloaths and geftures. A gadding eye is the ready way to make a wandering heart. The devil hath many objects to tempt and divert us; firft men let loose their eyes, and then away goes the heart. Make a covenant with your eyes this day, that they neither shut with fleep, nor wander after vanity. Though bodily fervice without the heart profiteth little, yet the worship of our bodies is not to be wholly flighted; God hath a right to the adoration of our bodies as well as our fouls, for Chrift fuffered for both, 1 Cor. vi. 20. And we find Chrift and the faints in the fcripture ufing reverent geftures in prayer. I dare not precifely reftric people to any one particular gesture in public prayer, neither defire I to lay more stress upon geftures than they will bear, fince I know communion with God may be obtained in any gefture; yet I must own, that it is the unhappy effect of our contention a bout geftures, that fome ferious perfons, who have a devout refpect to God and holy, things, do yet seem more irreverent in their outward carriage, than fome who are ftrangers to the power of godlinefs and immoral in their converfations. I know thefe place all their religion in outward geftures and forms, and go no further; yet this warrants none to run to the other extreme, to defpife a decent or devout gefture. If weakness of nature VOL. IV. require

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require a perfon to fit in time of public prayer, I do not quarrel it, but, when no juft caufe can be pleaded for it, I cannot fay that it is a fuitable praying pofture at public worship. A lazy fluggish pofture in prayer tends to bring on fleep and drowfinefs, and makes us forget what we are about; whereas, when we ftand up, and univerfally change our pofture when public prayer begins, it helps to awaken people to think upon the folemn addreffes they are making to the great God. Only let us také care, that there be no vanity, felf-conceit, or affectation, in the poftures of our bodies at worship.

V. Come to hear the word with a fincere purpose to obey it, and comply with the whole will of God without referve, be it pleasant or harsh to nature; be ready to perform every known duty, and part with every known fin, be it as dear as your right-hand, or right eye. It is not enough to fay, We are all prefent to hear the fermon; but you must fay, with Cornelius and his company, Acts x. "We are prefent to hear all things commanded us of God.” And in a special manher you must be ready to hear and obey his "great command, of believing on the name of his Son," which is the great end of preaching and hearing Wherefore, when Chrift knocks by his word at the door of your heart, be ready to open, and welcome him in with joy; fay to him, as Laban to Abraham's fervant, Gen. xxiv. 31. "Come in, thou bleffed of the Lord; wherefore ftandeft thou without?" Though alas I cannot say what follows, "I have prepared the house, yet, Lord come in and prepare it for thyfelf: And though "I be unworthy that thou shouldít come under my roof," yet a word from thee can cleanse and repair the house, yea, and prepare an upper room" for thyfelf; "Lord, fpeak the word and it fhall be done."

VI. Give clofe attention to the word.

God loofes you

this day from the world, that you may attend on the Lord without distraction," 1 Cor. vii. 35. Attend this day to what your Lord faith to you, as men who believe that every Sabbath and every fermon, that every prayer and exhortation, every call and offer of grace, bring you a ftep nearer heaven, or nearer hell; nearer

to