where the Almighty had disclosed himself in visions to his servants, or in those places of public worship where he was supposed more immediately to be, was entertained by the patriarchs and the prophets of old with the most reverential awe.

The house of God was, moreover, their delight; and they knew no happiness equal to that of having a free and frequent resort to it: insomuch that when the holy Psalmist was under the greatest personal distresses; when his children rebelled; when his friends deserted, and his enemies reviled him, he felt no distress so deeply as his banishment from the house of God.

My soul longeth, says he, yea for the courts of the Lord: flesh cry out for the living God.

my

even fainteth heart and my

O then send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me, let them guide me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacle!

Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God, my exceeding joy; yea upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God!

There is a remarkable passage in the prophet Daniel, in which he implores heaven for the rebuilding of the fallen sanctuary.

Cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary, that is desolate.

Thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.

They revered the very ruins of what had once been the house of God; and loved even the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Babylon.

Nothing, indeed, could be more magnificent than the ideas which the ancient people of God had of their places of worship. They believed that the divine Presence was attended by multitudes of angels, and exalted beings, which, though invisible, joined in the worship of the Almighty. Thus when Agrippa dissuades the Jews from rebelling against the Romans, he calls to witness their holy temple, and the angels.

But this opinion was not peculiar to the Jews only, it was received likewise by the Christians, as appears from various passages in the writings of the Fathers'. And Saint Paul has confirmed the matter, where he observes that the women ought, in decency, to have, their heads covered, because of the angels. I might observe too, that a Prelate near our own times, distinguished for his evangelical

a

Joseph. de Bell. Jud. lib. ii. c. 16.

For this opinion, vid. Orig. cont. Cels. lib. viii. p. 420. -Procop.-Chrysost. Hom. 36. in 1 Cor. et Hom. 24. in Act. Apost.-Basil. Liturg. &c.

piety, was of the same opinion, did I not consider this part of my subject rather as matter of curiosity than of use.

I. What I have here principally to insist upon is the propriety of a reverent and attentive deportment in the house of God.

There is something so solemn, so great and affecting in the appearance of a congregation uniting in the worship of the almighty Providence, that one should think the awfulness of the scene itself might impress the mind with that religious veneration, which the nature of the duty, when considered, must inspire.

But it appears that the duty itself stands in need of consideration; and let us, therefore, consider it as we ought. In the first place, what is the occasion of our assembling here? Do we come merely to meet our friends or acquaintance? Was it our errand to censure the dress or appearance of our neighbours? Or was it to exhibit our own persons to the eye of public curiosity and respect? Were these, or any of these, the purpose of this assembly? Every man, for himself, will answer in the negative.

But what then, I ask, was the design of this meeting? The answer you would make

C

Bp. Taylor. Great Exemplar. p. 175.

is obvious-the public worship of Almighty God: this is a most important purpose indeed; the first and greatest duty of a rational creature. But is it possible that what you tell us should be the case? Is the Almighty to be worshipped by levity and impertinence? Come you into his courts to indulge your curiosity, your malignity, or your indolence? Is this really the temple of God, or is it the temple of idleness, where we may yet indulge a little slumber, a little sleep, a little folding of the arms? Is this then a place of divine worship, or is it not rather sacred to impertinent curiosity? a place convenient for making censorious remarks, to gaze about us with stupid impudence, and to sit down contented if we see a foible in our neighbour?

If such was our business, or if such be our behaviour, we come, indeed, as the royal Preacher says, to offer the sacrifice of fools: for nothing can be a more flagrant proof of folly, than to act contrary to all decency and propriety. And surely to bring the airs of levity and vanity, to come with a censorious, an indolent, or a trifling spirit, into a place set apart for divine worship, is not only in the last degree indecent and improper, but must be attended with no inferior degree of guilt.

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II. For, in whose presence is it that we thus behave? Is it before an earthly prince? No; in such a case we should be careful not to give offence by a trifling levity, or an idle inattention. It is not in the courts of an earthly prince that we should thus demean ourselves; but, it is in the Lord's house, even in the courts of the house of our God; it is in the presence of that great and ever-adorable Being, whose eye is over all his works; of that infinite and amazing Power, at whose command these stupendous worlds were created; these worlds, and all that moveth therein.

In whose presence is it, I say, that we thus behave? Is it only before mortal beings, creatures that are frail and dependent like ourselves? No; if we assembled in the name and for the worship of God, that is not the case for has he not promised, that wherever two or three are gathered together in his name, there will HE be in the midst of them?

It is therefore, confessedly, in the presence of God himself that we assemble to worship him. Were it otherwise, what would our worship be? would not that too be the sacrifice of fools? Were there no eye, no ear attentive to our devotions, would they not be absurd? would they not be unworthy of a rational being?