The saints treasury being sundry sermons preached in London /

Again, labour to magnify God this way: as God is glorious in holiness, so set him out in his glory by keeping his worship pure. It is a special thing God looks at, that we take heed what we do in defiling of his worship. Gods Ordinances are the beauty of his holiness, therefore we must labour to come pure and clean unto them: 'tis that which God commands his Church, to keep the vessels of his sanctuary holy, and those are the ordinances: and we are unfaithful in our charge, if we do not keep the ordinances holy: in Exod. 20. 24. 25. God gives them charge there to make him an Altar: but says God, If thou wilt make me an Alter of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewen stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. What, might they say, shall we have an Altar of rude stone? shall we not polish and make it fine and sumptuous? will not that make it more specious to look upon? no, says God; if you lift up a tool upon it you pollute it. We are apt to think, that such and such mixtures of men, and such and such ceremonies would make the worship of God glorious; but this is a great mistake. It is a usual thing for whores to paint their ⟨p. 28⟩faces; they will not be content with their natural beauty, but are more pompous in their apparel then the chaste Matrons are. It is so with the whore of Babylon: how glorious are they in all their worship? and what strange things have they to take the outward senses? they are fain to dress and trick up themselves, having not the purity of Gods worship: but certainly these things defile the worship of God: compare two Texts for this, Isai. 44, 9. They that make a graven Image are all of them vanity, and their delectable things shall not profit: mark, the Images of Idolaters are delectable things in their esteem: but see what God speaks of them, Ezek. 7. 20. As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in Majesty: but they made the Images of their abominations, and of their detestable things therein. They call them delectable things, but God accounts them detestable: but when God speaks of his own ordinances, he says, as for the beauty of his ornament he set it in Majesty. O the worship of God in the plainness and simplicity of the Gospel it is the ornament of God, the beauty of his ornament, and the beauty of his ornament set in Majesty: what phrases are here? this is Gods worship;