HOM. XX. Place and Time of Prayer. God's holy ordinance. Churches were made for. another purpose, that is, to resort thither, and to: serve God truly, there to learn his blessed will, there to call upon his mighty name, there to use the holy sacraments, there to travail how to be in charity, with thy neighbour, there to have thy poor and needy neighbour in remembrance, from thence to depart better and more goaly than thou camest thither. Finally, God's vengeance hath been and is daily provoked, because much wicked people pass nothing to resort to the church, either for that they are so. sore blinded, that they understand nothing of God, and godliness, and care not with devilish example to, offend their neighbours, or else for that they see the church altogether scoured of such gay gazing sights, as their gross fantasy was greatly delighted with, because they see the false religion abandoned, and the true restored, which seemeth an unsavoury thing to their unsavoury taste; as may appear by this, that a woman said to her neighbour, "Alas, Gossip, what shall we do at church. since all the saints are taken away: since all the goodly sights we were wont to have, are gone: since we cannot hear the like piping, singing, chanting, and playing upon the organs, that we could before." But, dearly beloved, we ought greatly to rejoice, and give God thanks, that our churches are delivered out of all those things which displeased God so sore, and filthily defiled his holy house and his place of prayer, for the which he hath justly destroyed many nations, according to the saying of St. Paul: If any man defile the temple of God, God will him destroy.' And this ought we greatly to praise God for, that such superstitious and idolatrous manners as were utterly naught, and defaced God's glory, are utterly abolished, as they most justly deserved: and yet those things that either God was honoured with, or his people edified, are. 2 Cor. iii. 3 D Place and Time of Prayer. HOM. XX. decently retained, and in our churches comely practised. But now, forasmuch as ye perceive it is God's determinate pleasure ye should resort unto your churches upon the day of holy rest; seeing ye hear what displeasure God conceiveth, what plagues he poureth upon his disobedient people; seeing ye understand what blessings of God are given, what heavenly commodities come to such people as desirously and zealously use to resort unto their churches; seeing also ye are now friendly bidden, and jointly calle, beware that ye slack not your duty, take heed that you suffer nothing to let you hereafter to come to the church at such times as you are ordinarily appointed and commanded. Our Saviour Christ telleth in a parable, that a great supper was prepared, guests were bidden, many excused themselves, and would not come: 'I tell you,' saith Christ, 'none of them that were called shall taste of my supper.' This great supper is the true religion of Almighty God, wherewith he will be worshipped in the due receiving of his sacraments, and sincere preaching and hearing of his holy word, and practising the same by godly conversation. This feast is now prepared in God's banqueting-house, the church; you are thereunto called and jointly bidden: if you refuse to come, and make your excuses, the same will be answered to you that was unto them. Now come therefore, dearly beloved, without delay, and cheerfully enter into God's feasting-house, and become partakers of the benefits provided and prepared for you. But see that ye come thither with your holy-day garment, not like hypocrites, not of a custom and for manner's sake, not with loathsomeness, as though ye had rather not come than come, if ye were at your liberty. For God hateth and punisheth such counterfeit hypocrites, as appeareth by Christ's former parable. My friend,' saith God, 'how camest thou in without a wedding-garment? And therefore commanded his servants to bind him HOM. XX. Place and Time of Prayer. hand and foot, and to cast him into utter darkuess, where shall be weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.' To the intent that ye may avoid the like danger at God's hand, come to the church on the holy-day, and come in your holy-day garment; that is to say, come with a cheerful and a godly mind, come to seek God's glory, and to be thankful unto him; come to be at one with thy neighbour, and to enter in friendship and charity with him. Con sider that all thy doings stink before the face of God, if thou be not in charity with thy neighbour. Come with an heart sifted and cleansed from worldly and carnal affections and desires, shake off all vain thoughts which may hinder thee from God's true service. The bird, when she will fly, shaketh her wings shake and prepare thyself to fly higher than all the birds in the air, that, after thy duty duly done in this earthly temple and church, thou mayest fly up, and be received into the glorious temple of God in heaven, through Christ Jesus our Lord; to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all glory and honour. Amen. The unkind speeches of professed friends but real enemies to Christ's Church, in conjunction with the poison of inbred sin, have rendered a due attention to the Time and Place of Public Worship, a matter of great indifference to man persons; a careful perusal of this Homily is well adapted to kindle a becoming zeal for divine ordinances in their proper place, and at their proper hours. HOM. XXI. On Cor mon Prayer, &c. HOMILY XXI. Herein is declared, that Common Prayer and Sa-· craments ought to be ministered in a tongue that is understood of the hearers. Know AMONG the manifold exercises of God's people, dear Christians, there is none more necessary for all estates, and at all times, than is public Prayer, and the due use of Sacraments. For in the first we beg at God's hands all such things, as otherwise we cannot obtain; and in the other he embraceth us, and offereth himself to be embraced of us. ing therefore that these two exercises are so necessary for us, let us not think it unmeet to consider, first, what Prayer is, and what a Sacrament is; and then, how many sorts of Prayers there he, and how many Sacraments; so shall we the better understand how to use them aright. To know what they be, St. Augustine teacheth us in his book, entitled, Of the Spirit and the Soul: he saith thus of Prayer; "Prayer is (saith he) the devotion of the mind, that is to say, the returning to God, through a godly and humble affection, which affection is a certain willing and sweet inclining of the mind itself towards God.". And in the second Book against the Adversary of the Law and the Prophets, he calleth Sacraments holy signs. And writing to Bonifacius of the baptism of infants, be saith, "If Sacraments had not a certain similitude of those things whereof they be Sacraments, they should be no Sacraments at all. And of this similitude they do for the most part receive the names of the self-same things they signify." HOM. XXI. On Common Prayer, &c. By these words of St. Augustine it appeareth, that he alloweth the common description of a Sacrament, which is, that it is a visible sign of an invisible grace; that is to stay, that setteth out to the eyes and other outward senses the inward working of God's free mercy, and doth, as it were, seal in our hearts the promises of God. And so was Circumcision a Sa-crament, which preached unto the outward senses the inward cutting away of the foreskin of the heart, and sealed and made sure in the hearts of the circumcised the promise of God touching the promised seed that they looked for. Now let us see how many sorts of Prayer, and how many Sacraments there be. In the Scriptures we read of three sorts of Prayer, whereof two are private, and the third is common. The first is that which St. Paul speaketh of in his Epistle to Timothy, saying, I will that men pray in every place, lifting up pure hands, without wrath, or striving. And it is the devout lifting up of the mind to God, without the uttering of the heart's grief or desire by open voice. Of this prayer we have example in the first Book of Samuel, in Anna the mother of Samuel, when in the heaviness of her heart she prayed in the temple, desiring to be made fruitful. She prayed in her heart,' saith the text, 'but there was no voice heard.' After this sort must all Christians pray, not once in a week, or once in a day only; but, as St. Paul writeth to the Thessalonians, without ceasing. And as St. James writeth, "The continual prayer of a just man is of much force.' The second sort of Prayer is spoken of in the Gospel of Matthew, where it is said,' 'When thou prayest, enter into thy secret closet; and when thou hast shut the door to thee, pray unto thy Father in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee.' Of this sort of Prayer there be sundry examples in the Scriptures; but it shall suffice to 1 Tim. ii, 1. Sam. i. 1. Thess. iii. James v. Matth. vi. |