condition whereunto they are taken upon their Faith in Christ Jesus They are made Children of God by Adoption and it is meet they be taught to carry themselves as becomes that new Relation Because ye are Sons he hath given you the Spirit of his Son without which they cannot walk before him as becometh Sons He teacheth them to bear and behave themselves no longer as Foreigners and Strangers nor as Servants only but as Children and Heirs of God Rom. 8. 15. He endoweth them with a frame and disposition of heart unto Holy filial obedience For as he takes away the distance making them to be nigh who were Aliens and far from God so he removes that fear dread and bondage which they are kept in who are under the power of the Law 2 Tim. 1. 7. For God hath not given us the Spirit of fear but of power and love and of a sound mind Not the Spirit of fear or a Spirit of bondage unto fear as Rom. 8. 15. that is in and by the efficacy of the Law filling our minds with dread and such considerations of God as will keep us at a distance from him But he is in the Sons on whom he is bestowed a Spirit of Power strengthening and enabling them unto all Duties of Obedience This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is that whereby we are enabled to Obedience which the Apostle gives thanks for 1 Tim. 1. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Christ that enableth me that is by his Spirit of Power For without the Spirit of Adoption we have not the least strength or Power to behave our selves as Sons in the Family of God And he is also as thus bestowed a Spirit of Love who worketh in us that Love unto God and that delight in him which becometh Children towards their Heavenly Father This is the first genuine consequent of this Relation There may be many Duties performed unto God where there is no true Love to him at least no love unto him as a Father in Christ which alone is genuine and accepted And lastly he is also a Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a modest grave and sober mind Even Children are apt to wax wanton and curious and proud in their Fathers House but the Spirit enables them to behave themselves with that Sobriety Modesty and Humility which becometh the Family of God And in these three things spiritual Power Love and Sobriety of mind consists the whole deportment of the Children of God in his Family This is the State and Condition of those who by the effectual working of the Spirit of Adoption are delivered from the Spirit of Bondage unto fear which the Apostle discourseth of Rom. 8 15. Those who are under the Power of that Spirit or that efficacious working of the Spirit by the Law cannot by virtue of any Aids or Assistance make their Addresses unto him by Prayer in a due manner For although the means whereby they are brought into this State be the Spirit of God acting upon their Souls and Consciences by the Law yet formally as they are in the State of Nature the Spirit whereby they are acted is the unclean Spirit of the World or the influence of him who rules in the Children of disobedience The Law that they obey is the Law of the Members mentioned by the Apostle Rom. 7. The Works which they perform are the unfruitful works of darkness and the fruits of these unfruitful Works are Sin and Death Being under this Bondage they have no power to approach unto God and their Bondage tending unto fear they can have no Delight in an access unto him Whatever other provisions or preparations such Persons may have for this Duty they can never perform it unto the Glory of God or so as to find acceptance with him With those who are delivered from this State all things are otherwise The Spirit whereby they are acted is the Spirit of God the Spirit of Adoption of Power Love and a sound mind The Law which they are under Obedience unto is the Holy Law of God as written in the fleshly Tables of their Hearts The Effects of it are Faith and Love with all other Graces of the Spirit whereof they receive the Fruits in peace with joy unspeakable and full of Glory Thirdly An Instance is given of his effectual working these things in the adopted Sons of God in the Duty of Prayer crying Abba Father 1. The Object of the especial Duty intended is God even the Father Eph. 2. 18. Abba 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abba is the Syriack or Chaldee name for Father then in common use among the Jews And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was the same name amongst the Greeks or Gentiles So that the Common Interest of Jews and Gentiles in this Priviledge may be intended Or rather an holy boldness and intimate confidence of Love is designed in the Reduplication of the name The Jews have a saying in the Babylonian Talmud in the Treatise of Blessings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Servants and handmaids that is Bondservants do not call on such a one Abba or Imma Freedom of State with a Right unto Adoption whereof they are uncapable in regard unto this Liberty and confidence God gives unto his adopted Sons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a frèe Spirit Psal. 51. 14. a Spirit of gracious filial ingenuity This is that Spirit which cryes Abba that is the word whereby those who were adopted did first salute their Fathers to testify their affection and obedience For Abba signifies not only Father but my Father For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my Father in the Hebrew is rendred by the Chaldee Paraphrast only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abba see Gen. 19. 34. and elsewhere constantly To this purpose speaks Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Being willing to shew the ingenuity that is in this Duty he useth also the language of the Hebrews and says not only Father but Abba Father which is a word proper unto them who are highly ingenuous And this he effecteth two ways 1. By the Excitation of Graces and Gracious Affections in their Souls in this Duty especially those of Faith Love and Delight 2 By enabling them to exercise those Graces and express those Affections in Vocal Prayer For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denotes not only crying but an earnestness of mind expressed in Vocal Prayer It is praying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is said of our Saviour Math. 27. 50. For the whole of our Duty in our Supplications is expressed herein Now we are not concerned or do not at present enquire what course they take what means they imploy or what helps they use in Prayer who are not as yet Partakers of this priviledge of Adoption It is only those who are so whom the Spirit of God assists in this Duty And the only question is What such Persons are to do in complyance with his Assistance or what it is that they obtain thereby And we may compare the different expressions
or Spiritual Faculty of exercising Faith Love Reverence Fear Delight and other Graces in a way of vocal Requests Supplications and Praises unto God In every thing making our Request known unto God Phil. 4. 6. This Gift and Ability I affirm to be bestowed and this Work by Vertue thereof to be wrought in us by the Holy Ghost in the Accomplishment of the Promise insisted on so crying Abba Father in them that do believe And this is that which we are to given an account of wherein we shall assert nothing but what the Scripture plainly goeth before us in and what the experience of Believers duly exercised in Duties of Obedience doth confirm And in the Issue of our Endeavour we shall leave it unto the Judgement of God and his Church whether they are ecstatical enthusiastical unaccountable Raptures that we plead for or a real Gracious Effect and Work of the Holy Spirit of God The first thing we ascribe unto the Spirit herein is that he supplieth and furnisheth the mind with a due comprehension of the Matter of Prayer or what ought both in general and as unto all our particular occasions to be prayed for Without this I suppose it will be granted that no man can pray as he ought For how can any man pray that knows not what to pray for Where there is not a Comprehension hereof the very nature and being of Prayer is destroyed And herein the Testimony of the Apostle is express Rom. 8. 26. Likewise also the Spirit helpeth our Infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with groans that cannot be uttered It is that expression only which at present I urge We know not what we should pray for as we ought This is generally supposed to be otherwise Namely that men know well enough what they ought to pray for only they are wicked and careless and will not pray for what they know they ought so to do I shall make no excuse or Apology for the wickedness and carelesness of men which without doubt are abominable But yet I must abide by the truth asserted by the Apostle which I shall further evidence immediately namely that without the especial Aid and Assistance of the Holy Spirit no man knoweth what to pray for as he ought But yet there is another Relief in this matter and so no need of any Work of the Holy Ghost therein And we shall be accounted Impudent if we ascribe any thing unto him whereof there is the least colourable pretence that it may be otherwise effected or provided for so great an unwillingness is there to allow him either Place Work or Office in the Christian Religion or the practice of it Wherefore it is pretended that although men do not of themselves know what to pray for yet this defect may be supplied in a Prescript form of words prepared on purpose to teach and confine men unto what they are to pray for We may therefore dismiss the Holy Spirit and his Assistance as unto this Concernment of Prayer for the due matter of it may be so set down and fixed on Ink and Paper that the meanest capacity cannot miss of his Duty therein This therefore is that which is to be tryed in our ensuing discourse Namely what whereas it is plainly affirmed that we know not of our selves what we should pray for as we ought which I judge to be universally true as unto all Persons as well those who prescribe Prayers as those unto whom they are prescribed and that the Holy Spirit helps and relieveth us herein whether we may or ought to relinquish and neglect his Assistance and so to rely only on such supplies as are invented or used unto that end for which he is promised that is plainly whether the Word of God be to be trusted unto in this matter or not It is true that whatever we ought to pray for is declared in the Scripture yea and summarily comprised in the Lords Prayer But it is one thing to have what we ought to pray for in the Book another thing to have it in our Mind and Hearts without which it will never be unto us the due matter of Prayer It is out of the abundance of the Heart that the Mouth must speak in this matter Mat. 12. 34. There is therefore in us a threefold defect with repect unto the matter of Prayer which is supplied by the Holy Spirit and can be so no other way nor by any other means And therein is he unto us a Spirit of Supplication according to the Promise For 1. we know not our own wants 2. we know not the supplied of them that are expressed in the Promises of God and 3. we know not the end whereunto what we pray for is to be directed which I add unto the former Without the knowledge and understanding of all these no man can pray as he ought and we can no way know them but by the Aid and Assistance of the Spirit of Grace And if these things be manifest it will be evident how in this first Instance we are enabled to pray by the Holy Ghost 1. Our wants as they are to be the Matter of Prayer may be referr'd unto three Heads and none of them of our selves do we know aright so as to make them the due Subject of our Supplications and of some of them we know nothing at all This first consists in our outward straits pressures and Difficulties which we desire to be delivered from with all other temporal things wherein we are concerned In those things it should seem wondrously clear that of our selves we know what to pray for But the truth is whatever our sense may be of them and our natural desires about them yet how and when under what conditions and limitations with what frame of heart and Spirit what submission unto the pleasure of God they are to be made the matter of our Prayers we know not Therefore doth God call the Prayers of most about them howling and not a crying unto him with the Heart Hos. 7. 14. There is indeed a Voice of nature crying in its distress unto the God of nature But that is not the Duty of Evangelical Prayer which we enquire after And men oft-times most miss it where they think themselves most ready and prepared To know our Temporal wants so as to make them the matter of Prayer according to the mind of God requires more Wisdom than of our selves we are furnished withal For who knoweth what is good for man in this Life all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow Eccl. 6. 12. And oft-times Believers are never more at a loss than how to pray aright about temporal things No man is in pain or distress or under any wants whose continuance would be destructive to his Being but he may yea he ought to make deliverance from them the matter of his Prayer So
unto his own Condition Relations Occasions and Duties Certainly there is not a man in the World who hath not forfeited all his Reason and Understanding unto Atheism or utterly buried all their Operations under the fury of brutish Affections but he is convinced that it is his Duty to pray to the Deity he owns in words of his own as well as he is able For this and none other is the genuine and natural notion of Prayer This is implanted in the Heart of Mankind which they need not be taught nor directed unto The Artificial help of constant forms is an Arbitrary Invention And I would hope that there are but few in the World especially of those who are called Christians but that at one time or other they do so pray And those who for the most part do betake themselves to other Reliefs as unto the reading of Prayers composed unto some good End and Purpose though not absolutely to their occasions as to the present state of their minds and the things they would pray for which is absolutely impossible cannot as I conceive but sometimes be conscious to themselves not only of the weakness of what they do but of their neglect of the Duty which they profess to perform And as for such who by the prevalency of Ignorance the Power of Prejudice and infatuation of Superstition are diverted from the Dictates of Nature and Light of Scripture directions to say a Pater-noster it may be an Ave or a Credo for their Prayer intending it for this or that end the benefit it may be of this or that Person or the obtaining of what is no way mentioned or included in what they utter there is nothing of Prayer in it but a meer taking the name of God in vain with the horrible Prophanation of an Holy Ordinance Persons tyed up unto such Rules and Forms never pray in their Lives but in their occasional Ejaculations which break from them almost by Surprizal And there hath not been any one more effectual means of bringing Unholiness with an ungodly Course of Conversation into the Christian World than this one of teaching men to satisfy themselves in this Duty by their Saying Reading or Repetition of the words of other men which it may be they understand not and certainly are not in a due manner affected withal For it is this Duty whereby our whole Course is principally influenced And let men say what they will our Conversation in walking before God which principally regards the frame and disposition of our Hearts is influenced and regulated by our Attendance unto and Performance of this Duty He whose Prayers are Hypocritical is an Hypocrite in his whole Course and he who is but negligent in them is equally negligent in all other Duties Now whereas our whole Obedience unto God ought to be our reasonable service Rom. 12. 1. how can it be expected that it should be so when the foundation of it is laid in such an irrational supposition that men should not pray themselves what they are able but read the Forms of others instead thereof which they do not understand 2. All the Examples we have in the Scripture of the Prayers of the Holy men of Old either under the Old Testament or the New were all of them the effects of their own Ability in expressing the gracious Conceptions of their minds wrought in them by the Holy Ghost in the way and manner before described I call it their own Ability in opposition to all outward Aids and Assistances From others or an antecedaneous prescription of a Form of Words unto themselves Not one Instance can be given to the contrary Sometimes it is said they spread forth their Hands sometimes that they listed up their voices sometimes that they fell upon their knees and cryed sometimes that they poured out their Hearts when overwhelmed all according unto present occasions and circumstances The Solemn Benediction of the Priests instituted of God like the present Forms in the Administration of the Sacraments were of another Consideration as shall be shewed And as for those who by immediate Inspiration gave out and wrote discourses in the form of Prayers which were in part Mystical and in part Prophetical we have before given an Account concerning them Some plead indeed that the Church of the Jews under the Second Temple had sundry Forms of Prayers in use among them even at the time when our Saviour was conversant in the Temple and their Synagogues But they pretend and plead what they cannot prove and I challenge any Learned man to give but a tolerable Evidence unto the Assertion For what is found to that purpose among the Talmudists is mixed with such ridiculous fables as the first suiting the number of their Prayers to the number of the Bones in the back of a man as fully defeats its own Evidence 3. The Commands which are given us to pray thus according unto our own Abilities are no more nor less than all the Commands we have in the Scripture to pray at all Not one of them hath any regard or respect unto outward Forms Aids or helps of Prayer And the manner of Prayer it self is so described limited and determined as that no other kind of Prayer can be intended For whereas we are commanded to pray in the Spirit to pray earnestly and servently with the mind and understanding continually with all manner of Prayer and Supplication to make our Requests known unto God so as not to take care our selves about our present concerns to pour out our Hearts unto God to cry Abba Father by the Spirit and the like I do not understand how those things are suited unto any kind of Prayer but only that which is from the Ability which men have received for the entire discharge of that Duty For there are evidently intimated in these Precepts and Directions such various Occasional Workings of our Minds and Spirits such Actings of Gracious Affections as will not comply with a constant use of a prescribed Form of Words 4. When we speak of mens own Ability in this matter we do include therein the conscientious diligent use of all means which God hath appointed for the Communication of this Ability unto them or to help them in the due use exercise and improvement of it Such means there are and such are they to attend unto As 1. The diligent searching of our own Hearts in their Frames Dispositions Inclinations and Actings that we may be in some measure acquainted with their state and condition towards God Indeed the Heart of man is absolutely unsearchable unto any but God himself that is as unto a compleat and perfect knowledge of it Hence David prays that God would search and try him and lead and conduct him by his Grace according unto what he found in him and not leave him wholly to act or be acted according unto his own Apprehensions of himself Psal. 139. 23 24. But yet where we do in sincerity enquire
better But for evident reasons we will not be bound to stand unto the Testimony of those men although they shall not here be pleaded In the mean time we know that from him which hath not is taken away that which he had And it is no wonder if Persons endowed sometimes with a Gift of Prayer proportionable unto their Light and Illumination improving neither the one nor the other as they ought have lost both their Light and Gift also And thus suitably unto my design and purpose I have given a delineation of the Work of the Holy Ghost as a Spirit of Grace and Supplication promised unto and bestowed on all Believers enabling them to cry Abba Father CHAP. IX Duties inferred from the preceding Discourse THE issue of all inquiries in these things is How we may improve them unto Obedience in the Life of God For if we know them happy are we if we do them and not otherwise And our practice herein may be reduced unto these two heads 1. A due and constant returning of Glory unto God on the account of his Grace in that free Gift of his whose Nature we have enquired into 2. A constant Attendance unto the Duty which we are graciously enabled unto thereby And 1. We ought continually to bless God and give Glory to him for this great priviledge of the Spirit of Grace and Supplication granted unto the Church This is the principal means on their part of all holy entercourse with God and of giving Glory unto him How doth the World which is destitute of this fruit of divine bounty grope in the dark and wander after vain imaginations whilst it knows not how to manage its convictions nor how at all to deal with God about its concerns That World which cannot receive the Spirit of Grace and Truth can never have ought to do with God in a due manner There are by whom this Gift of God is despised is reviled is blasphemed and under the shades of many pretences do they hide themselves from the Light in their so doing But they know not what they do nor by what Spirit they are acted Our Duty it is to pray that God would pour forth his Spirit even on them also who will quickly cause them to look on him whom they have pierced and mourn And it appears two ways how great a Mercy it is to enjoy and improve this priviledge 1. In that both the Psalmist and the Prophet pray directly in a Spirit of Prophecy and without limitation that God would pour out his fury on the Families that call not on his name Psal. 79. 6. Jer. 10. 25. and 2. In that the whole work of Faith in Obedience is denominated from this Duty of Prayer For so it is said that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved Rom. 10. 13. For Invocation or Prayer in the Power of the Spirit of Grace and Supplications is an infallible evidence and fruit of saving Faith and Obedience and therefore is the Promise of Salvation so eminently annexed unto it Or it is placed by a Synecdoche for the whole Worship of God and Obedience of Faith And it were endless to declare the benefits that the Church of God and every one that belongeth thereunto hath thereby No Heart can conceive that Treasury of Mercies which lye in this one priviledge in having Liberty and Ability to approach unto God at all times according unto his Mind and Will This is the Relief the Refuge the Weapons and assured Refreshment of the Church in all Conditions 2. It is a matter of Praise and Glory to God in an especial manner that he hath granted an Ampliation of this Priviledge under the Gospel The Spirit is now poured forth from above and enlarged in his dispensation both intensively and extensively Those on whom he is bestowed do receive him in a larger measure than they did formerly under the Old Testament Thence is that Liberty and boldness in their access unto the Throne of Grace and their crying Abba Father which the Apostle reckons among the great priviledges of the Dispensation of the Spirit of Christ which of old they were not partakers of If the difference between the Old Testament State and the New lay only in the outward letter and the Rule thereof it would not be so easily discerned on which side the advantage lay especially methinks it should not be so by them who seem really to preferr the Pomp of Legal worship before the plainness and simplicity of the Gospel But he who understands what it is not to receive the Spirit of Bondage to fear but to receive the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father and what it is to serve God in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter understands their difference well enough And I cannot but admire that some will make use of Arguments or a pretence of them for such helps and Forms of Prayer as seem not compliant with the Work of the Spirit of Supplication before described from the Old Testament and the practice of the Church of the Jews before the time of our Saviour though indeed they can prove nothing from thence For do they not acknowledge that there is a more plentiful effusion of the Spirit on the Church under the New Testament than of the Old To deny it is to take away the principal difference between the Law and the Gospel And is not the performance of Duties to be regulated according to the supplies of Grace If we should suppose that the People being then carnal and obliged to the observation of carnal ordinances did in this particular stand in need of Forms of Prayer which indeed they did not of those which were meerly so and only so nor had that we know of any use of them doth it follow that therefore Believers under the New Testament who have unquestionably a larger portion of the Spirit of Grace and Supplication poured on them should either stand in need of them or be obliged unto them And it is in vain to pretend a different dispensation of the Spirit unto them and us where different fruits and effects are not acknowledged He that hath been under the Power of the Law and hath been set free by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus knows the difference and will be thankful for the Grace that is in it Again it is extensively enlarged in that it is now communicated unto Multitudes whereas of old it was confined unto a few Then the dews of it only watered the land of Canaan and the Posterity of Abraham according to the Flesh now the showrs of it are poured down on all Nations even all that in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord both theirs and ours In every Assembly of Mount Zion through the World called according to the mind of Christ Prayers and Supplications are offered unto God through the effectual working
of the Spirit of Grace and Supplication unless he be despised And this is done in the accomplishment of that great Promise Mal. 1. 11. For from the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place Incense shall be offered unto my name and a pure Offering for my name shall be great among the Heathens saith the Lord of hosts Prayer and Praises in the Assemblies of the Saints is the pure Offering and that Sacrifice which God promiseth shall be offered unto him And this Oblation is not to be kindled without the Eternal Fire of the Spirit of Grace No Sacrifice was to be offered of old but with fire taken from the Altar Be it what it would if it were offered with strange fire it was an Abomination Hence they were all called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the firings of the Lord. And this was in a Resemblance of the Holy Ghost Whence Christ is said to offer himself to God through the eternal Spirit And so must we do our Prayers In the fruits and effects of his Workslyes all the Glory and Beauty of our Assemblies and Worship Take them away and they are contemptible dead and carnal And he carrieth this Work into the Families of them that do believe Every Family apart is enabled to pray and serve God in the Spirit and such as are not do live in darkness all their Dayes He is the same to Believers all the World over in their Closets or their Prisons They have all where ever they are an Access by one Spirit unto the Father Eph. 2. 18. And for this enlargement of Grace God justly expects a revenue of Glory from us 3. It is assuredly our Duty to make use of the Gift of the Spirit as that which is purchased for us by Christ and is of inestimable advantage unto our Souls There are two ways whereby men may be guilty of the neglect of this heavenly favour 1. They are so when the Gift it self is not valued nor sought after nor endeavoured to be attained And this is done under various pretences some imagine that it is no Gift of the Spirit and so despise it others think that either by them it is not attainable or that if it be attained it will not answer their labour in it and diligence about it which it doth require and therefore take up with another way and means which they know to be more easy and hope to be as useful By many the whole Duty is despised and consequently all Assistance in the performance of it is so also None of those do I speak unto at present But 2. We are guilty of this neglect when we do not constantly and diligently on all Occasions make use of it for the End for which it is given us yea abound in the exercise of it Have you an Ability to pray always freely given you by the Holy Ghost why do you not pray always in private in Families according to all occasions and opportunities administred Of what concernment unto the Glory of God and in our Life unto him Prayer is will be owned by all It is that only single Duty wherein every Grace is acted every Sin opposed every good thing obtained and the whole of our Obedience in every instance of it is concerned What difficulties lye in the way of its due performance what discouragements rise up against it how unable we are of our selves in a due manner to discharge it what Aversation there is in corrupted nature unto it what Distractions and Weariness are apt to befall us under it are generally known also unto them who are any way exercised in these things Yet doth the Blessedness of our present and future Condition much depend thereon To relieve us against all these things to help our Infirmities to give us Freedom Liberty and Confidence in our Approaches to the Throne of Grace to enable us as Children to cry Abba Father with Delight and Complacency is this Gift of the Spirit of Grace and Supplication given unto us by Jesus Christ. Who can express how great a folly and Sin it is not to be found in the constant exercise of it Can we more by any means grieve this Holy Spirit and endamage our own Souls Hath God given unto us the Spirit of Grace and Supplication and shall we be remiss careless and negligent in Prayer Is not this the worst way whereby we may quench the Spirit which we are so cautioned against Can we go from day to day in the neglect of Opportunities occasions and just seasons of Prayer How shall we answer the Contempt of this gracious Aid offered us by Jesus Christ Do others go from day to day in a neglect of this Duty in their Closets and Families blame them not or at least they are not worthy of so much blame as we They know not how to pray they have no Ability for it But for those to walk in a neglect hereof who have received this Gift of the Holy Ghost enabling them thereunto making it easy unto them and pleasant unto the inner man how great an Aggravation is it of their Sin Shall others at the tinkling of a Bell rise and run unto prayers to be said or sung wherein they can have no spiritual interest only to pacify their Consciences and comply with the prejudices of their Education and shall we be found in the neglect of that Spiritual Aid which is graciously afforded unto us How will the blind Devotion and Superstition of multitudes with their diligence and pains therein rise up in Judgment against such negligent Persons We may see in the Papacy how upon the ringing of a Bell or the lifting up of any Ensign of Superstition they will some of them rise at Midnight others in their Houses yea in the Streets fall on their knees unto their Devotions Having lost the conduct of the Spirit of God and his gracious Guidance unto the performance of Duty in its proper seasons they have invented ways of their own to keep up a frequency in this Duty after their manner which they are true and punctual unto And shall they who have received that Spirit which the World cannot receive be treacherous and disobedient unto his Motions or what he constantly inclines and enables them unto Besides all other Disadvantages which will accrew hereby unto our Souls who can express the horrible Ingratitude of such a Sin I press it the more and that unto all sorts of Prayer in private in Families in Assemblies for that end because the Temptations and Dangers of the daies wherein we live do particularly and eminently call for it If we would talk less and pray more about them things would be better than they are in the World at least we should be better enabled to bear them and undergo our portion in them with the more satisfaction To be negligent herein at such a Season is a sad token of such