Gospel-worship, or, The right manner of sanctifying the name of God in general and…

Christians, I beseech you account highly of the time of your worship, you have been so long time at prayer, yea, but how much of it hath been lost because you have not prepared beforehand for it? perhaps you kneel'd upon your knees, but you were a long time before you could get your hearts warm at your work, why you should have been warm before you had come: It is so oftentimes with many men, when they meet together and there is no preparation for their business, they come together and they are a long time before they can buckle to the business that they came about, because there is no preparation, but if there be preparation made, that every man knows beforehand what his work is, they can fall to it, and they can dispatch as much in one hour as others do in two or three; but of that we shall speak more afterwards.

Thirdly, There must be preparation because our hearts are naturally, exceedingly unprepared for every good work, we are all naturally even reprobate to every good work, the duties of Gods Worship are high and spiritual, and holy things, but by nature our hearts grovel in the dirt and we are carnal, sensual, drossy, dead, slight, sottish, and vain, altogether unfit to come into the presence of God: Oh that we were but apprehensive and sensible of the unfitness of our hearts to come into Gods presence! Perhaps because thou knowest not God thou canst rush into his presence without any more ado, but if thou knowest thy self, and God, thou couldest not but see thy self altogether unfit for his presence, and so as to wonder that the Lord should not spurn thee out of his presence every time thou comest unto him, there had need then be preparation because we are so unfit to come into his presence.

Thirdly, There must be preparation because our hearts are naturally, exceedingly unprepared for every good work, we are all naturally even reprobate to every good work, the duties of Gods Worship are high and spiritual, and holy things, but by nature our hearts grovel in the dirt and we are carnal, sensual, drossie, dead, slight, sottish, and vain, altogether unsit to come into the presence of God: Oh that we were but apprehensive and sensible of the unfitness of our hearts to come into Gods presence! Perhaps because thou knowest not God thou canst rush into his presence without any more ado, but if thou knowest thy self, and God, thou couldest not but see thy self altogether unfit for his presence, and so as to wonder that the Lord should not spurn thee out of his presence every time thou comest unto him, there had need then be preparation because we are so unsit to come into his presence.