Gospel-Worship

You see how severe God was to Nadab and Abihu for but taking other fire then that which God had appointed to offer up ⟨p. 11⟩Incense, though there was no direct commandment against it. If the Lord hath spared you, and not manifested any displeasure upon you, you have cause to acknowledge Gods mercy, and to be humbled for all your false Worship; certainly God doth expect it from this Land to be humbled for their Will-worship, or otherwise they few among thorns: All the Reformation that is among us, if there be not an humiliation before for our false Worship: 'tis not enough that we set up now the true Worship of God, but we must be humbled for our false Worship. And that's the first Note; That in the Worship of God there must be nothing but what God commands.

You see how severe God was to Nadab and Abihu for but taking other fire then that which God had appointed to offer up ⟨p. 11⟩Incense, though there was no direct commandment against it. If the Lord hath spared you, and not manifested any displeasure upon you, you have cause to acknowledge Gods mercy, and to be humbled for all your false Worship; certainly God doth expect it from this Land to be humbled for their Will-worship, or otherwise they few among thornes: All the Reformation that is among us, if there be not an humiliation before for our false Worship: 'tis not enough that we set up now the true Worship of God, but we must be humbled for our false Worship. And that's the first Note; That in the Worship of God there must be nothing but what God commands.

The Second Note is,¹ In the matters of Worship God stands upon little things: Such things as seem to be very small and little to us, yet God stands much upon them in the matter of Worship. For there is nothing wherein the Prerogative of God doth more appear then in Worship: as Princes, they stand much upon their Prerogatives, now God hath written the Law of natural Worship in our hearts, as that we should love God, fear God, true in God, and pray to God: this God hath written in our hearts: but there are other things in the Worship of God that are not written in our hearts, that only depend upon the Will of God revealed in his Word, which were no duties except they were revealed in his Word. And these are of such a nature as we can see no reason for but only this, because God will have them. As now, there are many kind of Ceremonies to manifest honour to Princes that there is no reason for them at all, but merely because it is a Civil Institution so appointed: so God would have some ways for the honouring of him that the creature should not see into the reason of them, but merely the will of God to have them so, now God stands much upon little things, though men would think it a little matter whether this fire or that fire, and will not this burn as well as that? But God stands upon it: And so for the Ark, when Uzza did but touch the Ark when it was ready to fall, we would think it no great matter; but one touch of the Ark cost him his life. There is not any one minnum in the Worship of God, but God stands mightily upon it: In the matter of the Sabbath, that's his Worship, for a poor man to gather a few sticks, what great matter