Place and Time of Prayer. HOM. XX.* yet so oft as they could conveniently, they resorted to the material temples, there with the rest of the congregation to join in prayer and true worship. Wherefore, dearly beloved, you that profess yourselves to be Christians, and glory in that name, disdain not to follow the example of your master Christ, whose scholars you say you be; shew you to be like them whose school-mates you take upon you to be, that is, the Apostles and Disciples of Christ. Lift up pure hands, with clean hearts, in all places and at all times. But do the same in the temples and churches upon the Sabbath-days also. Our godly predecessors, and the ancient fathers of the priinitive church, spared not their goods, to build churches; no, they spared not their lives in time of persecution, and to hazard their blood, that they might assemble themselves together in churches. And shall we spare a little labour to come to churches? Shall neither their example, nor our duty, nor the commodities, that thereby should come unto us, move us? If we will declare ourselves to have the fear of God, if we will shew ourselves true Christians, if we will be the followers of Christ our Master, and of those godly fathers that have lived before us, and now have received the reward of true and faithful Christians, we must both willingly, earnestly, and reverently come unto the material churches and temples to pray, as unto fit places appointed for that use, and that upon the Sabbath-day, as at most convenient time for God's people to cease from bodily and worldly business, to give themselves to holy rest and godly contemplation, pertaining to the service of Almighty God: whereby we may reconcile ourselves to God, be partakers of his holy sacraments, and be devout hearers of his holy word, so to be established in faith to God ward, in hope against all adversity, and in charity toward our neighbours. And thus running our course as good Christian people, we may at the last attain HOM. XX. Place and Time of Prayer. the reward of everlasting glory, through the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ: to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory. Amen.. This Homily is a striking and forcible reply to those persons who imagine that any Time and any Place for worshipping God is alike acceptable to him: and an awful Reproof to those Christians, so cailed, who profane the sabbath with travelling, visiting. or foolish. conversation. The whole of it is of the utmost importance to every rational being. The Second Part of the Homily of the Place and Time of Prayer. IT hath been declared unto you, good Christian people, in the former sermon read unto you, at what time, and into what place ye shall come together to praise God. Now I intend to set before your eyes, first, how zealous and desirous ye ought to be to come to your church. Secondly, how sore God is grieved with them that do despise, or little regard to come to the church upon the holy restful day. It may well appear by the Scriptures, that many of the godly Israelites, being now in captivity for their sins among the Babylonians, full often wished and desired to be again at Jerusalem. And at their return, through God's goodness, (though many of the people were negligent) yet the fathers were marvellous devout to build up the temple, that God's people might repair thither, to honour him. And King David, when he was a banished man out of his country, out of Jerusalem the holy city, from the sanctuary, from the holy place, and from the tabernacle of God; what desire, what ferventness was in him toward that holy place! What wishings and Place and Time of Prayer, HOM. XX. prayers made he to God to be a dweller in the house of the Lord! One thing,' saith he, have I asked of the Lord, and this will I still crave, that I may resort and have my dwelling in the house of the Lord, so long as I live.' Again, O how I joyed when I heard these words: We shall go into the Lord's house.' And in other places of the Psalms he de clareth for what intent aud purpose he hath such a fervent desire to enter into the temple and church of the Lord: 'I will fall down,' saith he, 'and worship in the holy temple of the Lord.' Again, I have appeared in thy holy place, that I might behold thy inight and power, that I might behold thy glory and magnificence. Finally, Finally, he saith, I will shew forth thy name to my brethren, I will praise thee in the midst of the congregation.' Why then had David such an earnest desire to the house of God? First, because there he would worship and honour God. Secondly, there he would have a contemplation and a sight of the power and.glory of God. Thirdly, there he would praise the name of God, with all the congregation and company of the people, These considerations of this blessed prophet of God ought to stir up and kindle in us the like earnest desire to resort to the church, especially upon the holy restful days, there to do our duties, and to serve God, there to call to remembrance how God even of his mere mercy, and for the glory of his name sake, worketh mightily to conserve us in health, wealth, and godliness, and nightily preserveth us from the assaults and rages of our fierce and cruel enemies, and there joyfully in the number of his faithful people to praise and magnify the Lord's holy name. Set before youreyes also that ancient father Simeon, of whom the Scripture speaketh thus, to his great commendation, and an encouragement for us to do Psal. cxxii. Psal. lxiii HOM. XX. Place and Time of Prayer. the like : "There was a man at Jerusalem, named Simeon, a just man, fearing God: he came by the Spirit of God into the temple, and was told by the same Spirit, that he should not die before he saw the anointed of the Lord.' In the temple his promise was fulfilled, in the temple he saw Christ, and took him in his arms, in the temple he brake out into the mighty praise of God his Lord. Anna a prophetess, an old widow, departed out of the temple, giving herself to prayer and fasting day and night and she coming about the same time, was likewise inspired, and confessed, and spake of the Lord to all them that looked for the redemption of Israel.' This blessed man, and this blessed woman, were not disappointed of wonderful fruit, commodity, and comfort, which God sent them, by their diligent resorting to God's holy temple. Now ye shall hear how grievously God hath been offended with his peaple, for that they passed so little upon his holy temple, and foully either despised or abused the same. Which thing may plainly appear by the notable plagues and punishments which God hath laid upon his people; especially in this, that he stirred up their adversaries horribly to beat down, and utterly to destroy his holy temple with a perpetual desolation. Alas,, how many churches, countries, and kingdoms of Christian people have of late years been plucked down, and over-run, and left waste, with grievous and intolerable tyranny and cruelty of the enemy of our Lord Christ, the great Turk, who hath so universally scourged the Christians, that never the like was heard or read of! Above thirty years past, the great Turk had over-run, conquered, and brought into his dominion and subjection, twenty Christian kingdoms, turning away the people from the faith of Christ, poisoning them with the devilish religion of wicked Mahomet, and either destroying Lnke ii. Place and Time of Prayer. HOM XX. their churches utterly, or filthily abusing them with their wicked and detestable errors. And now this great Turk, this bitter and sharp scourge of God's vengeance, is even at hand in this part of Christendom, in Europe, at the borders of Italy, at the borders of Germany, greedily gaping to devonr us, to over run our country, to destroy our churches also, unless we repent our sinful life, and resort more diligently to the church to honour God, to learn his blessed will, and to fulfil the same. The Jews in their time provoked justly the vengeance of God, for that partly they abused his holy temple with the detestable idolatry of the heathen, and superstitious vanities of their own inventions, contrary to God's commandment; partly they resorted unto it as hypocrites, spotted, imbrued, and foully defiled with all kind of wickedness and sinful life; partly many of them passed little upon the holy temple, and cared not whether they came thither or no. And have not the Christians of late days, and even in our days also, in like manner provoked the displeasure and indig nation of Almighty God? partly because they have profaned and defiled their churches with heathenish and Jewish abuses, with images and idols, with numbers of altars, too superstitiously and intolerably abused, with gross abusing and filthy corrupting of the Lord's holy Supper, the blessed sacrament of his Body and Blood, with an infinite number of toys and trifles of their own devices, to make a goodly outward shew, and to deface the plain, simple, and sincere religion of Christ Jesus; partly, they resort to the church like hypocrites, full of all iniquity and sinful life, having a vain and dangerous fancy and persuasion, that if they come to the church, besprinkle them with holy water, hear a mass, and be blessed with the chalice, though they understand not one word of the whole service, nor feel one motion of repentance in their hearts, all is well, all is sure. Fie upon such mocking and blaspheming of |