Sermons, preached partly before His Majesty at White-Hall and partly before Anne Dutchess of York, at the chappel at St. James / by Henry Killigrew ...

The Ninth Sermon. (Book 9)

MARK vii.37.

—He hath done all things well: he maketh both the Deaf to hear, and the Dumb to speak.

OUR Lord had cured a man that was born deaf and dumb, by pronouncing the word Ephata, or be opened, and given him and the Standers-by a Charge not to make known the Miracle: but streight, (as if the Ephata spoken to one, had been to many thousands; the untying the Dumb mans tongue had been the letting loose of the whole Multitudes) all the People began to spread and divulge the Fact; and whereas he forbad them to whisper it, they pro∣claim'd it; whereas he restrained them the Use of the Tongue, they employ'd, as I may say, the Trum∣pet; and he that could make the Deaf to hear, and the Dumb to speak, could not make the Multitude hold their peace. Neither does it appear that they

were faulty, but grateful, in what they did; perverse or refractory, but faithful and just. There were some Kind of Miracles, or rather some Conjunctures of Time in which our Lord wrought his Miracles, that he thought fit to suppress the Knowledge of them; not that they were less Glorious, or likely to prove less Edifying, but contrariwise too Edifying and too Glorious, and would have disclosed his Di∣vine Nature too early and abruptly to the World, before his Counsels permitted it. But the People (who supposed the reason of his concealing his Mira∣cles proceeded only from a Modesty that fled publick Applause after the performing Noble Actions) out of an Honest Disobedience, as I may say, refus'd to keep the Silence he enjoined them: For after he had done such Wonderful things, and no less Good and Bene∣ficial, than Great and astonishing, they could not, they would not consent they should be smothered; that that which was Praise-worthy, should go away without Praise; that that which deserved so well of the World, should not be known to the World; and they even contested with our Lord in this mat∣ter, as 'tis said ver. 36. By how much the more he charged them to keep Silence, by so much the more a great deal they publisht it. 'Tis reported that Virgil condemned his incomparable Poems to the fire, and that this endeared them the more to Posterity; men setting a Value on them afterwards, not only because they were Excellent, but because they were Preserved. And the People in like manner here set a higher Rate on those Miracles our Lord sought to Conceal, because he sought to Conceal them; more industriously endeavoured to make them Illustrious, because they were condemned to Obscurity and Ob∣livion; to pay them their due Honour, because it was

denyed them. When the Pharisees out of Envy ur∣ged our Lord to rebuke his Disciples and the Multi∣tude for crying Hosanna before him, he said unto them, If these should hold their peace, the Stones would cry out: And if the People had not done him the Right they did, the Stones would have proclaim'd his Glory; and I look not upon their words in my Text, as proceeding from the Spirit of Opposition and Contradiction, but from the Spirit of Grace and Truth, even from the Inspiration and Dictate of the Holy Ghost himself. He hath done all things well: he maketh both the Deaf to hear, and the Dumb to speak.

Before I proceed yet to the Division, it will not be amiss to premise some things more particularly both concerning the Words, and the Speakers of them. And the Words, in the first place, are plainly a Ju∣stification of our Saviour from the mouth of the People, their Verdict given upon him in Opposition to the Censure of their Priests and Rulers. But of What are they a Justification? Of his Innocent and holy Conversation among men? There was no need of that, He went about his whole Life, as S^t Peter says, doing Good, conferring Health, as well as Faith; Curing, as well as Converting men: and though the Malice of his Adversaries joined with the Malice of Hell at his arraignment to bring an Accusation against him, they found none. There was as little need also of their Justification of his Miracles; for they were wrought in the face of all Judea; and the Sanhedrim, as well as the People, confest them; What do we do? (say they, John 11.47.) for this Man doth many Mi∣racles! Of what then was their Justification? Not so much of his Life and Miracles, as of the Divine Pow∣er or Principle by which he wrought all that he did.

There was a Division in the Thoughts of men con∣cerning him, upon the Sight of his works, and some said, He was a Good Man, and others again, Nay, but he deceiveth the People; secretly intimating, that every One that made a holy Show, was not a holy Person; that every Worker of Miracles, was not a Messenger of God's; but many times the most seem∣ing Instruments of Heaven, were indeed Agents and Instruments of the Devil. In these Extremes of a good and bad Opinion, the People adhered to the most Favourable, concluded, that he was a Good Man, and no Seducer; that a Great Prophet was risen among them, and that God had visited his People. And their [omnia bene] in my Text, [he hath done all things well] points not so much at his Morality, as at his Mission from God; at the Truth of his Miracles, as at the Truth of his Pretences, viz. that all he taught and did, was by the Power and Spirit of God.

Secondly, The Persons that pronounc'd this Sen∣tence, were the Multitude; the Judgment proceed∣ed ex ore populi, from the mouth of the People: But it was ne'er the worse for that; what is to be con∣cluded upon the Sight of an undoubted Miracle, may be believed as well, nay perhaps better, from the impartial Opinion of the People, than from the bi∣ass'd Reasonings of the Great Ones: in those things where Common sense is a sufficient Guide, 'tis safer many times to submit the Tryal to the Country, than to the Bench; to honest and plain Dealing, than to Wit and Learning; for too often it comes to pass, that the Politicks of Persons in high Place extinguish their Ethicks; and that the Truth of Religion is cor∣rupted for Reasons of State: As may be seen in the Church of Rome, where Truth holds always the se∣cond place to Interest, and is frequently on its ac∣count

allow'd no place at all. The Scribes and Pha∣risees saw the same Miracles, which the People did; but while they were ambitious to be Teachers them∣selves, while Vain-Glory, Envy, and other by-Re∣spects possest them, they were not Converted, but hardened by them, John 9.24. when our Lord had cured one that was born blind, the Pharisees said to him, Give God the Praise, we know this Man is a Sinner: But the Person cured (that was one of the People, and unconcern'd in their Pretences) pro∣nounced, If he were not of God, he could do nothing. Again, Matth. 12.22. when our Lord healed ano∣ther that was blind and dumb, and possest with a Devil, the Pharisees said, This Fellow doth not cast out Devils, but by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils: But what said the Multitude on the other side? Is not this the Son of David? i. e. the Great Prophet or Messiah that was to come into the World? Such were the Collections of a Simple and Sincere People free from Envy and Malice. We owe the Growth of Christian Religion to plain honest Men, that heard the Gospel with disinteressed and unprejudiced Affections, and closed with it, when they saw it consonant to Right Reason; and Christ found at first but few of the Great or Learned that were fit to be Evangelists, or yet Disciples; 'twas three hundred Years before any Scepter submitted to Christ, and none were so fierce Opposers of the Faith in the In∣fancy of it, as the Philosophers. But the Ignorant People that knew not the Law, as the Pharisees re∣proach'd them to weaken their Testimony, convey'd to us the Knowledge of the Gospel; and in my Text, and many places beside, it may be truly said, Vox populi, Vox Dei, the Voice of the People, was the Voice of God.

O how happy and blessed were this Nation, if it had a People of the like Temper! that without Pre∣judice and Prepossession, without Siding and Faction would embrace Sound Doctrine, and bear Testimony to it by their peaceable and holy Lives; be profita∣ble H••••rers of the Word, and not, like the Phari∣sees, a••fect to be Teachers of it; Followers of Christ and his Apostles, and not think they are all Christs and Apostles themselves; believe, because the first E∣vangelists were Fishermen, that therefore all Fisher∣men and Fishermen-like are Evangelists; because God can enable the most Unlearned and Ignorant to be Expounders of his deepest Mysteries, that therefore the most Ignorant and Unlearned are the best Ex∣pounders of them; in a word, because want of Scholarship is no Obstruction to God's Omnipotent Power, that 'tis therefore the highest Qualification of a Person to preach. Alas, my Brethren, though the Multitude could give Testimony to Christ's Miracles, they could not preach Christ's Sermons; though the People could say, Diseases cannot be cured, Devils cast out, the Dead raised to Life, by a Word speak∣ing, unless a Divine Power accompanied that Word: yet even the Apostles were not able to understand the Prophecies which related to our Lord's Person and his Kingdom, till he interpreted to them the Scriptures concerning himself; and as it was a Speech of Inge∣nuity to say, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the Deaf to hear, and the Dumb to speak: so it had been no less than a Prodigy, if the People had taught the Pardon of Sins through the Bloud of Christ, Justification through Faith, or any other re∣vealed Doctrine. When therefore the People in these Days take upon them to condemn the Doctrine and Worship of the Church they were bred in, to

reject all Antiquity, and to expound the hardest Scri∣ptures without Learning by their New-Lights, 'tis not enough for them to say, The Apostles, who were Handy-Crafts men like us, did such things in the Jew∣ish Church before us, unless they can also shew the like Warrant and Commission from Heaven which the Apostles did, namely, unless they can speak all Tongues, cure all Diseases, utter such Wisdom, as all the Learning in the World cannot withstand. For we must not take out-of-Fashion Hats and Coats, rude Behaviour, Thouing and Theeing their Betters, for Miracles and the Seals of a Divine Calling; ac∣cept of Ignorance and Presumption, for Gifts of the Holy Ghost; Non-sence and Dreams of Inspiration, for Inspiration. In the days of the Prophet Zechary there arose a Sort of Mock-Prophets or Teachers like these, who having no Divine Gift to countenance their pretended Mission from Heaven, apishly imita∣ted the Outward Garb and Free Speech of the True Prophets. And the like Entertainment which the People of God gave to those Impostors, ours deserve to receive. For 'tis recorded, that the very Father and Mother, that begat the False Prophet, said unto him, Thou shalt not live, for thou speak'st Lyes in the Name of the Lord: and they thrust him through, and made him ashamed every one of his Vision, and that he had prophesied: so that they wore Rough Garments no more to deceive, but were constrained to say, I am no Prophet, I am a Husbandman: for men have taught me to keep Cattel from my Youth, Zech. 13.

To come at length to the Division of the Words, they offer these two things in general to our conside∣ration: 1. Our Saviour's Performance, He made the Deaf to hear, and the Dumb to speak 2. The Ver∣dict or Testimony of the People upon it, He hath done all things well.

In our Saviour's Performance we may consider more particularly: 1. The Substance of it, Giving of Hearing, and giving of Speech. 2. The Cere∣monies or Circumstances which he used in giving them, set down ver. 33. the Touch of his Finger, his Spittle, the lifting up of his Eyes and Sighing, and the Word he utter'd, Ephata, or be opened.

The Testimony or Verdict of the People offers al∣so three things to our consideration. 1. The Appella∣tion they give our Lord, He, or this Man. 2. The Kind or Nature of their Verdict, 'twas an Approbation, that he had done Well. 3. The Extent of their Approbation, that he had done All things Well. I begin, first, with the Substance of Christ's Performance.

Giving of Hearing, and giving of Speech:

Deaf and Dumb are in Effect one and the same Infirmity, Evils so complicated, that one is a neces∣sary Consequence of the other, and the Word in the Original 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 signifies both Deaf and Dumb: to cure also the one, is to cure the other, i. e. he that o∣pens the Ear, does with one and the same Act so far release the Tongue, as to put it into a Capacity of re∣covering Speech. But yet the People here very pro∣perly exprest these as two distinct Cures: for though that which makes a Bar on the one Sense, tyes a Knot likewise on the other, yet they are really two Impo∣tencies, and the Operation of our Lord was, as I may say, a Single Double Miracle; Single, consider∣ing the necessary Complication of the two Evils; Double, considering the opening of the two Doors, the Door of Audience, and the Door of Utterance; and the People with good Reason Separated, as well as Extolled, the Fact, viz. that our Lord, with the

simple Clue or Key only of his Finger did perforate and discover all the subtile Wards and Meanders of the Ear, and the hidden Vaults of the Mouth; and so rectifie the Imperfections of them, that Sound en∣tered into the one, and was formed and made to issue Articulately out of the other. The Senses may re∣ceive Help from the Arts and Inventions of men, but not Creation; the Orator, with a Pebble in his mouth, might help his Pronunciation, and by an In∣strument conveying Sound, the Hearing may be as∣sisted: but a total Privation, or rather Privative Abnegation or Original Impotence, that derides the Operations of the Surgeon, and the Prescriptions of the Physician, and the Cure can never be wrought, but where the Finger of Christ is the Probe and the Salve.

But I have not yet declared the Greatness of the Miracle, it was still more wonderful, if, as Interpre∣ters conjecture, and not without reason, Christ did not only open the Ears and loosen the Tongue of the Impotent Person, but also enricht his Understanding; instructed his Mind, as well as healed his Senses; be∣stowed on him Knowledge, which through defect of Hearing, must needs be defective in him; conferred on him Words, as well as the Power to pronounce them; and Conceptions, as well as Words; thus gi∣ving him linguam & linguam, not only a Tongue, but also a Language: infusing into his Soul the Dicti∣onary or whole Treasure of Words in a Moment, together with a Competency of Principles and Noti∣ons; which, even to those that have the Use of the Organs, is opus dierum, a Work of Time and Labour to acquire; after the Miracle done upon the Deaf and Dumb Man, there was need of Study and Indu∣stry to inform him; when the Surgeon had done

his Work, there was place still for the Teacher. As may be seen by him that was newly recovered of his Blindness in the following Chapter, I see, says he, Men like Trees walking, i. e. I see, but I know not well what I see; I cannot distinguish Men from Trees, but that they walk. Those that are endowed with the Senses they were not born with, cannot im∣mediately make a Right Use of them: and upon this account divers Counterfeits have been detected, while they have too soon confest a distinct Know∣ledge of Objects and their Accidents after their pre∣tended Recovery; shewing at once both their Fraud and Ignorance, by their too quick revealing their Experience. This therefore, I say, greatly adds to the Glory of the Miracle, if it were indeed so, that the Organ and the skill; the Faculty, and the Learn∣ing were both given together.

We are taught from hence these two Lessons: 1. That whatever our Wants or Distresses are, how∣ever amazing and seemingly insuperable our Dangers, yet to trust and confide in that Omnipotent God, to whose Power nothing can give check; who when the Senses could not be cured, could yet create them; and when there was no Remedy in Nature, could find one by a Miracle! 2. We are taught no less to adore his Bounty and Goodness, who knows no other Measure of Giving, but to supply all that is Necessary: who to the Impotent Man gave Senses, to his Senses added Knowledge, to his Knowledge Faith, to his Faith Salvation. For God deals no o∣therwise with men at this day, if they reject not his Grace; whoever are his Patients, he desires should be also his Disciples; upon whomsoever he bestows Corporal or Worldly Blessings, he is more ready to bestow Spiritual and Heavenly. And let this suffice

to be said of the first Particular, the Substance of Christ's Performance, his giving of Hearing, and gi∣ving of Speech. I shall consider in the next place, the Manner of his doing it, or the Ceremony and Circumstances which he used in performing his Cure. The first of which was

The Touch of his Finger.

But you will say what need was there of this? Do but speak the Word, as the Centurion said, and my Servant shall be whole: so do but speak the Word, and the Deaf and Dumb shall hear and speak: Christ's Ephata had been enough, without his Touch; the Breath of his Mouth could have wrought the Cure, without the help of his Finger. 'Tis true, and in many of his Miracles our Lord used only his Voice, he restored Lazarus to Life, still'd the Tempest, cast out Devils merely by his Word. But yet frequently he did his Cures by his Touch, he took the Damsel that was dead, by the hand, and she arose; and he laid his hands upon the Sick, and healed them. For some reason therefore it must be, that not only at this time, but at many others, he performed by many Circumstances, what he could have perform∣ed, if he had pleased, by fewer, or by none at all.

And the first Reason might be this, That the Be∣holders might see, the Cure came from himself, from no Confederacy with Spirits, or any External Power, and from thence might have a greater Veneration both of his Person and his Doctrine; be perswaded, that what proceeded from his Mouth must be True, when they saw what proceeded from his Body was Divine.

The second Reason might be, That by a greater

Number of Circumstances the Miracle might make a deeper Impression, and be longer remembered both by the Person healed, and by the Standers-by; re∣main a Monument, as well as a Demonstration of his Power and Goodness. God, in the days of Moses, gave not only his Precepts in Writing, but expos'd them to the Touch and Sight of his People; made his Commandments dangle between their Eyes in Phylacteries, and trail at their feet in Fringes, that what they would have forgot in Books, they might remember, wearing as Dresses and Ornaments. And 'twas for a like reason to this, that our Lord in∣stituted Baptism, and his Last Supper: for he could have convey'd to us the Pardon of our Sins, and the Grace of his Holy Spirit, without the Ceremonies of Washing, and breaking of Bread: but he thought fit to adde these Performances, not only to make Spi∣ritual things more plain and conceiveable, but to make Transient things more permanent; that his Benefits being thus rendred operatiora, more full of Business and Toil, they might be also memorabiliora, more full of Remark, and better fixt in our Minds.

The third Reason why our Lord wrought this Mi∣racle by his Touch, and such a Singular Touch, as thrusting his Finger into the Ear, and putting his Spit∣tle upon the Tongue, might be; because these Acti∣ons have a Resemblance and kind of Similitude to the Means, which Art ordinarily uses in like Cases; Obstructions are opened by Perforations, and Leni∣tives cause Lubricity and Volubility; and the more to set off the Greatness of his Power, he would have it seen, that he could cure by the Figures and Ima∣ges only of those things, by which Surgeons and Physicians exercise their Narrow and restrained Skill: he used, as one says, Metaphoram in facto, a Meta∣phor

in Fact, employ'd his Finger as a Probe, and his Spittle as an Ointment. It was a wonderful Perfor∣mance to cure an Original Dumbness and Deafness by any Means; but to do it by such things, as were in∣deed No Means, that was more Wonderful. To proceed, the second Ceremony Christ used, was

The Lifting up of his Eyes, and Sighing.

A Look to Heaven and a Sigh are the Prayers of them, that have no other Opportunity to make their Supplications. Levavi oculos meos, says the Psalmist, I lift up mine Eyes unto the Hills, from whence cometh my help. That little Motion of the Prophets, the looking only for Help in Faith, was his Impetration of it: and S^t Paul says, By Sighs and Groans the Spi∣rit makes Intercession for things that cannot be uttered, [or distinctly exprest.] Thus our Lord, by casting up his Eyes to the Throne of God, made his Petiti∣on; and his Sighing, was his Strong Intercession. Not that the Father did not hear him readily, and at all times, as himself said, but he pray'd after this man∣ner, to shew the Correspondence he held with Hea∣ven, and that the People might see, that the Mira∣cles which he wrought were the Return of his Prayers; that as his Finger toucht the Ear and Tongue of the Impotent Man, so his Request toucht the Throne of God. But we must look upon this, and all other Ceremonies which Christ used in work∣ing his Miracles, as things no way needful to what he did, but needful to our Imbecillity; to help our Faith, not to help him in his Performances; they were like the Voices that came to him from Heaven, not for his own Sake, but for the sake of the Standers-by.

The third Circumstance, was the Word our Lord used, Ephata, or be opened. And if the former Cir∣cumstances which he made use of, express'd any seem∣ing Weakness or Insufficiency, this last declared the Fullness of his Power and Omnipotence; it being a Word like that which God spake at the Creation, Let there be Light, and there was Light; a Word pronounced as Imperatively and Magisterially, and which found as ready Obedience; it was dictum fa∣ctum, as 'tis said, a Word and a Deed. The Poets tell of a famous Enchantress, whose Spells were so dreadful, that the Celestial Orbs yielded Obedience to her—carmenque timent audire secundum, and durst at no time stay her second Charm. But though this were but a Fiction or Juggle; yet so it was that all the Creatures, without any Demur, speedily and con∣stantly obeyed the Injunctions of our Lord, and ne∣ver stay'd his second Command; whether they were Elements, Diseases, or Devils themselves. And as when he commanded the Storm to cease, the Mari∣ners ask'd amazedly, What manner of Man is this, that even the Sea and the Winds obey? So the Mul∣titude were no less astonisht here, when they saw not only the deaf Elements obey, but Deafness it self to lend an Ear; when I say upon the pronouncing only of this single powerful Ephata, they beheld the Doors of Audience and of Utterance both fly open; the Dumb to speak, and the Deaf to be so quick of hear∣ing; their Mouths were also open'd in Lauds and Praises, and with one Universal Consent they gave our Lord this Testimony or Elogy: He hath done all things Well: he maketh both the Deaf to hear, and the Dumb to speak. Which brings me to my second Ge∣neral Part, The Verdict and Approbation of the Peo∣ple. But the time will not suffer me to go through

the Several Stages of it; I shall therefore only make some Use of what I have said, and conclude at pre∣sent.

We have heard, that our Lord (not only in the present Miracle before us, but in many others) used divers Ceremonies, though he could have wrought them, if he had pleas'd, without so much as seeing the Persons, as he did the absent Servant of the Cen∣turion: But while such Ceremonies edified the Be∣holders, instructed their Ignorance, made a deeper and more durable Impression in their Minds of his Glorious Works, while they added Authority to his Words, and Veneration to his Person, he disdained not to serve himself with them. And though the Wisdom of our Church (for the like prudential Rea∣sons, viz. to explain her Doctrines, to adde Order and Beauty to her Worship, to stir up Zeal and Re∣verence in her Worshippers, and the like) has admit∣ted of some few Ceremonies: yet they lye under so great a Prejudice to many, that to name them only without Detestation, is enough to render the Person that names them Detestable. But what our Lord has so far approved of, as to practise, ought not to be detested by his Followers.

It will not be possible in the few Minutes remain∣ing to me, to treat fully of this Subject: But what are Ceremonies, which are so cry'd-out against, but the Outward Expressions of the Faith and Devotion we have Inwardly in our Hearts to God? As the A∣postle says, With the Heart we believe unto Righteous∣ness, and with the Mouth Confession is made unto Salva∣tion: For we may manifest our Belief by Actions as well as by Words; neither is it material by which we do it, so we do it sincerely; and whatever Excepti∣ons can be made against Ceremonies, may be made

also against Words, viz. that they may be Abused: But then as men reject not the Use of Words, be∣cause some do Deceive with them: So neither ought they to reject Ceremonies, the Outward Expressions of a Devout Soul, because they are used by some Super∣stitiously and Idolatrously.

And the true Cause indeed of so manys abhor∣ring Ceremonies, is the Excessive and Idolatrous Use of them in the Church of Rome, the multitude of their Cringings, Bowings, Crossings, Prostrati∣ons, Sprinklings of Water, tinklings of Bells, cen∣sing and kissing of Books, Images, and Altars, chan∣ging of Vestments, exposing of Reliques, lighting and extinguishing of Candles, &c. all in one and the same Service, insomuch that the Worship of God, a∣mong so many busie Fooleries, is the least part of it self: and Religion so far from being Explained and Adorned by these things, that 'tis Disfigured, and ren∣dred only more Dark and Mysterious. Which while some have taken just offence at, they have run as much into the other Extreme, and condemned all Ceremonies in general, and endeavoured to justifie their transport against them by Scripture; Unskilful∣ly or Unsincerely wresting, whatever they find spo∣ken against the Old Jewish Ceremonies, to the Chri∣stian: Whereas the Apostles Quarrel against the Jewish Ceremonies, was not for any thing which they had in Common with those that are used at this day in the Church of Christ: but for their being directly Contrary to Christianity: they were Types of Christ and of the Gospel, and while they were kept on foot, they denyed that he was come into the World. However therefore that Ceremonies have been abused, or that it may be said, that the Outward Worship of the Body, if compared with the

Inward Worship of the Soul, is but as the Outward Court of the Sanctuary to the Holy of Holies: Yet if we consider rightly of the Exterior Acts of Devo∣tion, they are no less the Acts of the Heart, than the Interior: for as the one are the Elicite, the other are the Imperate Acts of the Soul; and, though in a Degree once removed, may be as Cordial and Sin∣cere as the other; and are in many respects not only Useful, but Necessary in Religion.

For first, It is not possible to perform the Publick Worship of God without them, the assembling in his House, in his holy Name, and on his Own Day, the bowing our Knees before him, and lifting up our Hands and Eyes to Heaven, and the like, are all Ce∣remonies, Outward Expressions of the Faith, Reve∣rence, and Dependence we have on God: and those that are so Unreconcil'd to some of these things, ne∣cessarily and unavoidably practise others of the like nature to those they condemn. And what reason can these Men give, when they can dishonour and sin against God with their Body, why they may not also honour him with it? When with their Body they can commit Idolatry, why with their Body also they cannot perform a Legitimate and holy Worship? The Body is to be Partaker with the Soul hereafter in Glory, and no reason can be given why it should not now join with the Soul in the Duties of Religi∣on. How graciously did God accept and reward the Formal, Outward and Ceremonial Humiliation of that Hypocrite and Idolater Ahab? for his Fasting, and putting on Sackcloth, and walking softly, (upon hearing the Judgments denounced against him by E∣lijah) God revers'd his Judgments! Seest thou, says God to the Prophet, how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not

send the Evil in his days, &c. If men rightly consi∣dered these things, they would not come into God's House, as if they came to affront, and not to adore him, neither baring the Head, nor bending the Knee; out of a foolish fear to commit Idolatry, deport themselves in his Presence like Idols; and as if they came there to be worshipp'd, and not to worship.

2. Ceremonies are useful in regard of the Persons that use them: for they are Wings to their Devotion, and raise it to a higher Pitch, than the quiet Actings of the Heart alone can do. And as a man by vehe∣ment Speeches and Emotions of his Body may chafe himself into a greater Degree of Anger: so by de∣vout Gestures in Prayer he may heighten and enflame his Zeal.

3. Ceremonies are useful in regard of the Behold∣ers. The reverent, solemn, and holy Rites of the Church being suited to the Majesty of the Deity that is worshipp'd, excite Faith and a more awful Regard in the Hearts of men; and 'twas for this very Rea∣son, as I said, that our Lord used so many Circum∣stances and Ceremonies in the working of his Mira∣cles. For such Visible Performances are many times more Efficacious Lessons, than long Harangues; and though men affect to appropriate the term of Edifica∣tion to Sermons only, the External Parts of Religi∣on are not without their Edification too; and a ho∣ly Practice or Custom may make a smarter Impression on the Soul, than the Inculcations of a flat and heavy Sermon.

4. Ceremonies are useful in regard of the Light they give to many Doctrines, which being assisted and seconded by such Sensible Circumstances, as Ex∣hibit them to the Eye as well as to the Ear, they are the better explain'd, and establish'd in the Un∣derstanding

by the help of two Senses, as Differen∣ces in Law are by the Mouths of two Witnesses; and we may term the Ceremonies which accompany the Precepts of Religion, the Jael, or Nail that fastens the Substance of them in our Minds, as the holy Ma∣tron of that Name rivetted the temples of Sisera to the ground: Or we may call them the Masorah of the Church: for as the Jewish Masorah by an exact and critical Calculation of the Number of Words, Syllables, and Letters in the Scripture, hedg'd in the Text both from Mutilations and Additions: So Ce∣remonies often empale the Substance of Religion, and guard it from Innovation and Corruption. And may we not then justly condemn the Perverseness of those, that make such Out-cries against such Useful, such Innocent, nay such Necessary things, as Cere∣monies? who decry the same things for Superstition, when used in the Church, which they allow to be Wisdom, when practis'd by our Saviour? But Wis∣dom is justified of her Children impartially, and those that have the Ingenuity and Goodness of the People in my Text, and no Taint of Pharisaical Pride and Hypocrisie, will approve the Rites of our Church, as well as her Doctrines; and say, She has done all things Well, She has made the Unanimous in Faith, Uniform in Worship; added to the Beauty of Truth, the Beauty of Holiness; neither dressing up the Service of God in that Strumpet-like Attire, which the Church of Rome does; nor stripping it in∣to that deformed and sordid Nakedness which is seen in the Fanatick and Congregational Assemblies.