2. The holiness of an ordinance will not excuse a miscarriage in it.
than it was written,' was dangerous, and needed Hezekiah's prayer to God for a pardon of them, 2 Chron. 30:18. He that came 'without a wedding garment' could have relished the sweetness of the meat, but, intruding in an unbecoming garb, was turned out as unfit for the king's table. As God hath the love of a friend, so he hath the greatness of a sovereign. He will not be treated with as an ordinary friend, but 'sanctified in all that draw near to him,' Lev. 10:3. His gracious indulgence must not diminish our awful thoughts of his majesty. Though it is a crucified Christ we remember, one clothed with infirmities, yet it is one that hath dropped his mantle, and is exalted at the right of the majesty on high. Since he is God in heaven, we must not be hasty to present ourselves in an unbecoming garb before him: Eccles. 5:2, 'Let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God, for God is in heaven.' Circumstances in worship are more than ciphers; but if they were no more, take away all the ciphers joined with an unit, how is the sum curtailed to nothing?*
The voluntary omission of a circumstance necessary to an action doth not excuse but aggravate.
2. The holiness of an ordinance will not excuse a miscarriage in it.
Some are nourished by this ordinance, others pollute themselves.
The fruit is not according to the holiness of the ordinance, but the disposition of the receiver. Before the destruction of the temple,
Ezek. 10:2, God saith, 'Fill thy hand with coals, and scatter them over the city.' The fire in the temple, which they thought was to serve for the expiation of their sin, should serve for the destruction of the city.
The temple hath thunders and lightnings in it as well as music, Rev.
4:5. The most wholesome food sinks † under the power of corrupt humours in the stomach. Nadab and Abihu were the true priests of God; they intended to offer incense to the true God. The incense was according to the mind of God, and the censers were of the consecrated vessels. They erred only in taking strange fire, which God had not commanded, and this cost them their lives, Lev. 10:1, 2.
We may have right ordinances, direct our addresses to the true God; but the holiness of those will not excuse the want of heavenly fire, the