it shall be with so much more brightness and clearness that in comparison of the obscure and glimmering way whereby we know God here it may be called a seeing of him Face to Face and knowing him as we are known by him though to speak in absolute Propriety of Speech these things are not possible to any Creature Object 3 It may seem no small disparagement to God to be every-where present What! for the Glorious Majesty of God to be present in such vile and filthy Places as are here upon Earth Answ 1 To this I answer God doth not think it any disparagement to him nor think it unworthy of him to know and make all these which we call vile and filthy places why then should we think it unworthy of him to be present there God is a Spirit and is not capable of any pollution or defilement from any vile or filthy things The Sun-beams are no more tainted by shining on a Dunghil than they are by shining on a Bed of Spices no more can God be sullied by being present in filthy Sinks to speak with Reverence than to be in the glorious Heavens because he is a Spirit and his Essence is not subject to any taints from the Creature The vilest things that are have still a being that is good in their own kind and as well-pleasing to God as those things which we put a greater value and esteem upon Lastly It reflects no more dishonour upon God to be present with the vilest Creatures than to be present with the noblest and highest because the Angels are at an infinite distance from God There is a greater disproportion between God and the Angels than there is between the vilest Worm and an Angel all are at an infinite distance to his Glory and Majesty Thus much for the Objections APPLICATION Vse 1 First Is God thus infinitely present every-where and thus in and with all his Creatures then what an Encouragement is here unto Prayer Thou canst not say Alas I now pray but how shall God hear He is in Heaven above and I am on Earth below many Thousands of Miles distant from his presence How then shall my weak Whisperings that can scarce reach the Walls of mine own Closet ever be able to reach his Ear No God's Essential Presence is with thee wheresoever thou art as he is in Heaven it self and God is all Ear he can understand the silent Motions of thy Lips every-where yea he can understand the secret Motions of thy Heart When Hannah prayed for her Son Samuel Eli the Priest of God thought her Gesture did proceed from a distempered Head and not from an holy Heart but God was present with her Lips and that Prayer which was thought by the Priest of God to be but a dumb shew yet to God himself it was powerful Rhetorick and as loud as Thunder in his Ears The Scripture generally intimates that all our Prayers shall be directed to God in Heaven So Solomon prayed 1 Kings 8.32 Then hear thou in Heaven c. And it is again expressed in the 30th Verse So that most excellent Composure which Christ taught his Disciples in the beginning of it Our Father which art in Heaven it gives our thoughts a Lift to Heaven Now this doth not imply that God doth no where hear our Prayers but only in Heaven But how then Why is this Phrase used For these two Reasons First Because Heaven is the most glorious place there God especially hath established his Throne of Grace and sits upon it Now because it is most Glorious and Majestick and since God is there to hear Suits and receive Petitions that are tendred up by all his Servants here on Earth therefore the Scripture directeth us to that most glorious and celestial place Hear thou in Heaven Hence we have that Expression Acts 10.4 Thy Prayers and thine Alms are come up for a Memorial before God Certainly if our Prayers should not be heard till they come to Heaven they are so weak and faint that they would be out of breath by the way and not be able then to speak for themselves But yet God speaks in us by his Spirit and keeps alive the Sense of his Majesty upon our Hearts that he would not have us think it to be a mean and trivial thing to have our Prayers heard therefore he represents himself to us Arrayed in all his Glory Secondly Our Prayers are directed to God in Heaven because though he hears them where-ever they be uttered yet he no where hears them with acceptation but in Heaven only Our Prayers are accepted by God because they are heard in Heaven Thy Prayers are not accepted by God because God hears them upon Earth as they are heard in thy Closet or as they are heard in thy Heart but only as they are heard in Heaven and the reason is because that Prayers are acceptable only as they are presented before God in the Mediation and Intercession of Jesus Christ He must mingle them with the Incense of his Merits before they can ascend up before God as a sweet Savour Now Christ performs his Mediatory Office no where but in Heaven for though as God he be every-where present as the Father is and therefore hears your Prayers wheresoever they be put up yet as Mediator they are only heard in Heaven by him and he hears no Prayers but the Prayers of his People as he is Mediator and therefore it is no comfort to you that Christ hears your Prayers as he is God only for so he doth and cannot but do it unless he hears your Prayers likewise as he is Mediator Now Christ as he is Mediator he is God-man for as he wrought out our Salvation in both Natures so he still continues to mediate for us in both Natures And since the Human Nature is only in Heaven therefore it follows he performs the Mediatory Office only in Heaven Now it is the Mediatorship of Christ alone that makes all our Prayers and Duties acceptable to God himself therefore it concerns us still to pray Lord hear us in Heaven It is in vain that thou hearest me on Earth unless thou hearest in Heaven too My Prayers cannot be heard acceptably unless thou hearest them twice thou hearest my Prayers on Earth not a Word of my Tongue but thou hearest but what will it avail thy Servant unless thou hearest my Prayers a second time repeated over to thee in the Intercession and Mediation of Jesus Christ in Heaven And therefore saith Solomon 1 Kings 8.34 Hear thou in Heaven and forgive When God shall only hear on Earth he will be so far from forgiving that he will be avenged but when he hears our Prayers in Heaven through the Mediation of Christ then he is inclined to forgive and pardon us Hence we find that the Jews prayed towards the Temple which was a Type of Heaven and the Altar and Incense and Mercy-seat in this Temple were Types of Christ who is now
so should a Christian pass from one Duty to another and draw forth the sweetness of Communion with God from every one of them 3. To work for Salvation a difficult Work Thirdly To evince the greatness of this Work consider it is a Work that must be carried on against many Encounters and strong Oppositions that a Christian will certainly meet with within are strong Corruptions without are strong Temptations you have a treacherous and deceitful Heart within and this Traitor holds Intelligence and League with your great Enemy the Devil without You are sure to meet with Difficulties Affronts and Discouragements from a peevish ill-condition'd World in which you live Never any yet could scape free to Heaven without meeting with these Things And doth not all this call upon you to work and strive for Salvation Is it a time to sit still when you have all this Opposition to break through so many Temptations to resist so many Corruptions to mortify Satan that old Serpent to repel and make him become a flying Serpent Doth not all this require a morose Constancy and a kind of sour Resolvedness to go thorough the ways of Obedience notwithstanding all Opposition These great Things are not to be atchieved without great Pains and Labour and therefore if you resolve to do no more than a few heartless Wishes no more than a few more heartless Duties will amount to never raise your Expectations so high as Salvation for let me tell you Salvation will not be obtained at such a rate as this no there must be great Struglings and Labour with earnest Contendings if ever you intend to be saved And thus much for the first Argument taken from the consideration of the greatness of the Work To work Salvation out is a great Work and requireth great Pains But lest the setting out the greatness of this Work should rather deter and fright Men from it than excite and quicken their Endeavours to it let me add a second Thing And that is to consider what an infinite 2. It is infinite Mercy that Sinners may work for Salvation incomparable Mercy it is that God will allow you to work for your Lives that he sets Life and Death before you and gives them into your Hands to take your Choice If you will indulge your Sloth then you choose Death but Life may be yours if you will It will indeed cost you much Pains and Labour but yet it may be yours And is it not infinite Mercy that Salvation and Happiness may be yours though upon any Terms Wicked Men are apt to say O how happy had we been if God had never commanded us to Work if he had never required from us such harsh and difficult Duties if we were but once free from this hard Task and heavy Burden of Obedience But alas foolish Sinners they know not what they say as happy as they count this to be yet if God required no working from them he should then shew them just so much Mercy as he doth to the Devils and damned Spirits and no more from whom God requires no Duty as well as from whom he receives no Duty and unto whom he intends no Mercy You think it a hard Restraint possibly to be kept under the strict Commands of the Law Oh! that God required no such Observances from you But what do you desire herein but only the unhappy Priviledge of the Damned to be without Law and without Commands But should God send to the Spirits now imprison'd and should he declare to them that if they would Work they should be saved oh how would they leap in their Chains at such glad Tidings as these are and count it part of Salvation that there was but a possibility of it No but God commands nothing from them because he intends nothing but Wrath upon them he will not vouchsafe so much Mercy to them as to require those Duties from them that you repine and murmur at as grievous And furthermore consider this if you do not now work but perish under your Sloth in Hell you will think it an infinite Mercy if God would command you more rigid and severe Obedience than ever he commanded from you on Earth It would be a great Mercy there if it might be your Duty to Repent and Pray and Believe nay you would count a Command then to be as comfortable as a Promise for indeed there is no Command but connotes a Promise No but these things shall not so much as be your Duty in Hell for there you shall be freed for ever from this rigorous and dreadful Law of God that now you so much complain of and murmur against Oh! therefore be persuaded while you are yet under the Mercy of the Law give me leave to call it so and while you have so many Promises couched in every Command before God hath left off his merciful Commanding before the time of Duty be expired be persuaded to Work Delay not you know not how long God will vouchsafe to require any thing from you and as soon as that ceaseth truly you are in Hell And this is the second Argument to press this Duty upon you Work and that speedily too while you may Work there is hope that upon your working you may be saved and therefore while God calls upon you and whilst he will accept of Obedience from you it is time for you to begin to work 3. Time to work for Salvation in is very short Thirdly Consider what a short scantling of Time is allowed you to do your great Work in And this I shall branch out into two Particulars First Consider how sad it will be for your Time to be run out before your great Work be done Alas what are threescore Years if we were all sure to live so long from the date of this present moment How short a space is it for us to do that which is of eternal Concernment in and yet how few of us shall live to that which we so improperly call old Age Our Candle is lighted and it is but small at the best and to how many of us is it already sunk in the Socket and brought to a Snuff and how soon the Breath of God may blow it out neither you nor I know Night is hastning upon us the Grave expects us and bids other Corpses make room for us Death is ready to grasp us in its cold Arms and to carry us before God's Tribunal and alas how little of our great Work is done What can any shew that they have done Where are the actings of Faith the labour of Love the perfect Works of Patience Where are those Graces that are either begotten or increased Where are the Corruptions that you have mortify'd These are Works that require Ages to perform them in and yet you neglect them that have but a few Days nay possibly but a few Minutes to do them in But what is God severe Is God unjust to require so
than when they first believed that they are perfecting Holiness in the fear of God and every Day growing nearer unto Heaven and Happiness than other And though these Works of theirs are now imperfect yet they shall be shortly finished and consummate in Glory Well then if Pleasure and Delight do affect you here you see is that which is solid and substantial it springs from Success in your Work and from that suitableness that is in your renewed part thereunto also And therefore the more Work the greater Delight you find because the greater progress you make and the more suitable to it your Will becomes Nay your Delight is of the same Nature with that which you shall enjoy in Heaven The Work the Blessed are there imploy'd in is of the same Nature with yours only their suitableness to it is perfect and therefore their Delight and Pleasure is perfect And accordingly the more suitable your Hearts are to your Work the more Delight and Pleasure you will find in it This is that makes Heaven a place of Happiness because there is no Corruption no Body of Sin and Death there to make those Duties that are there required from glorified Saints to be irksom and grievous to them 2. The Reward of working for Salvation Secondly Consider the exceeding greatness of your Reward Doth Job fear God for nought was the Cavil of Satan when God applauded himself that he had such a Servant as Job was upon the Earth The Devil himself thought it no wonder that Job should fear and serve a rewarding God a God whose Hands are as full of Blessings as his Mouth is full of Commands And yet what were these great Something 's that the Devil envies Job for and thinks every one would have done as much as he if they had but as great a Recompence for it It was but Hedging of him about Job 1.10 but blessing of the Works of his Hands and increasing of his Substance as it is in Job 1. Why alas these are poor mean Rewards to what God intends to bestow such Rewards they are as that God still reckons himself in Arrears to his Children till he hath given them something better than he can bestow upon them here upon Earth These Things he casts but as Crumbs unto Dogs when he reserves a far better Portion for his Children And yet Satan thinks Job well paid for his Service in having of these lower Enjoyments in causing the Works of his Hands to prosper Doth Job serve God for nought And therefore if Satan doth not wonder that Job fears and serves God for Temporal Mercies will it not be to the great wonder of Satan himself that you should not fear and serve God that have infinitely better Things promised to you than Temporal Mercies are Do you deserve your Breath in spending of it some few Hours in Prayer Or do you deserve your plentiful Estate by laying out some small part of it for God Why to be able to Think or Speak to enjoy Health and Strength are such Mercies though outward Mercies as can never be recompenced to God although you should think of nothing but of his Glory and speak of nothing but of his Praise although you should impair your Health and waste your Strength and languish away in the performance of holy Duties These tho' they are Obligations to Obedience yet they are not the Reward of Obedience no far higher and more glorious Things are provided promised and shall be conferred upon you if you will but work For there is First your set standing Wages and that is eternal Salvation no less And Secondly besides this there are many incident Vails accrew to God's Servants in their performance of his Service And is not here Reward and Wages enough First 1. Working for Salvation shall be rewarded with Heaven 1 Cor. 2.9 Consider there is that eternal weight of Glory that shall be the Reward of the Saints in Heaven This now is so great that it is impossible for you to conceive It is such as Eye hath not seen Ear hath not heard nor hath it ever enter'd into no nor can it ever enter into the Heart of Man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love him as the Apostle speaks If St. Paul were now preaching and pressing this very Consideration of the infinite glorious Reward it would possibly be expected that he who suffered a Translation and was admitted as a Spy into the Land of Promise should at his return make some Relation of it and discover something of the Riches and Glory of that Place and would not all flock about him as Men do about Travellers to enquire for a Description of the Country whence they come Who the People and Inhabitants are What are their Manners and Customs What is their Imployment Who is their King and what Subjection they yield unto him Thus inquisitive truly our Curiosity would be And yet when St. Paul purposely relates his Voyage to the other World all that he speaks of it is only this I knew a Man caught up into Paradise who heard things that no Man could nor is it lawful for any Man to utter The Glory of Heaven is such that it can never be fully known till it be fully enjoyed and yet if Heaven were ever made chrystally transparent to you if ever God opened you a Window into it and then opened the Eye of your Faith to look in by that Window think what it was that you there discovered what inaccessible Light what cherishing Love what daunting Majesty what infinite Purity what over-loading Joy what insupportable and sinking Glory what Rays and Sparklings from Crowns and Scepters but more from the Glances and Smiles of God upon the heavenly Host who forever warm and Sun themselves in his Presence And when you have thought all this then think once again that all your Thoughts are but Shadows and Glimmerings that there is Dust and Ashes in the Eye of your Faith that makes all these Discoveries come infinitely short of the Native Glory of these Things and then you may guess and guess somewhat near what Heaven is Nay as God by reason of his infinite Glory is better known to us by Negatives than by Affirmatives by what he is not than by what he is so is Heaven by reason of the greatness of its Glory better known to us by what it is not than by what it is and we may best conceive of it when it is told us There is nothing there that may affright or afflict us nothing that may grieve or trouble us nothing that may molest or disquiet us but we shall have the highest and sweetest Delight and Satisfaction that the vast and capacius Soul of Man can either receive or imagine Are you now burthened with Sin and Corruption those Infirmities that tho' they are unavoidable yet they make your Lives a Burthen to you Why the old Man shall never more molest you there that
Body of Sin and Death shall never enter with you into Life the Motions of Sin shall for ever cease in that Eternal Rest Are you here oppressed with Sorrows Do Afflictions overwhelm you Why there God shall kiss your blubbered Eyes dry again and wipe with his own Hands all Tears from your Eyes Are you pester'd here with Temptations and doth the evil One without intermission haunt you with black and hellish Thoughts with dreadful and horrible Dejections There you shall be quite beyond the Cast of all his fiery Darts and instead of these you shall have within you an ever-living Fountain bubling up spiritual and sprightly Contemplations and holy Raptures for ever such as you never knew when you were here upon Earth no not when you were in the most spiritual and heavenly Frame Are you here clouded and cast down with Desertions and doth God sometimes hide his Face from you in Displeasure In Heaven there shall be an everlasting Sun-shine God shall look freely and stedfastly upon you and you shall no more see him through a Glass darkly but Face to Face without any interruption or obscurity Think O Soul and then think of any Thing else if thou canst What is it to see the Father of Lights in his own Rays What is it to see the Sun of Righteousness lie in the Bosom of the Father of Lights What is it to feel the eternal Warmth and Influence of the Holy Ghost springing from both these Lights What is it to converse with Holy Angels and the Spirits of just Men made perfect to join with them in singing the same Hallelujahs for ever And when you have thought all this think once more Heaven is all this and more also Well then since Heaven is such and since such a Heaven as this is may be yours what should I say more but only with the Apostle 2 Cor. 7.1 Having these Promises dearly Beloved Promises of so certain and vast a Glory as this is let us cleanse and purify our selves from all filthiness and pollution both of Flesh and Spirit and perfect Holiness in the fear of God Is this Heaven attainable upon your Working Will God give it into Wages after working Will he share Stars nay will he share himself and his Christ among you Truly methinks Christians should not have patience to hear any more methinks it is too much dulness to indure another Motive besides this Why do you not interrupt me then Why do you not cry out What shall we do that we may work the Works of God Why do you not say and pray Lord work in us both to will and to do of thy good pleasure Why is there not such a holy Tumour and Disturbance among you some Questioning some Praying some Resolveing all some way or other testifying a sense of Salvation upon you But alas there is a general Silence Men and Women set as quiet in their Seats as if their Seats were filled rather with Monuments than with Men as if Heaven and eternal Salvation were of no Concernment for them to look after And wherefore is all this but because their Sight is short and their Faith weak They do not see afar off nor believe a far off Heaven they look upon as at a great distance and very unwilling they are to go so long upon Trust and sensual Persons as they are they look for present Reward and present Wages and will not stir till they have received it And this is the Reason why the Consideration of this great and infinite Glory affects Men no more they look for something present Well be it so Will God's Work bring in no present Profit The Reward in working for Salvation is great Yes it will and that such as you your selves shall acknowledge to be great And therefore Secondly Besides those set Wages that are to be received at the end of our Lives there are many Vails and occasional Incomes that accrew to God's Servants in the performance of their Work As First 1. God will provide for us while we are working Such are assured that God will provide for them while they are doing of his Work he hath assured them of the Mercies and good Things of this Life by Promise I do not say of the troublesome abundance of them but of the Enjoyment of them so far forth as they are Mercies and good Things Godliness says the Apostle is profitable for all things 1 Tim. 4.8 having the promise of the Life that now is and of that which is to come It hath the Promises of this Life and that is a large Charter by vertue whereof God feeds them and cloaths them and provides Sustenance and comfortable Enjoyments for all those that work in his Service And therefore that I may note it by the way most Men are greatly mistaken that labour and toil in the World to get Riches and great Estates this is not the right thriving Course if you would grow Rich First seek the kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof work out your own Salvation Labour for the true Riches and this will not only increase and improve your inward Graces but inincrease and improve your outward Mercies also It is true indeed Earth Worms may by carking and caring by pinching and drudging increase their heap of Dirt but let who will for my part I will not nor cannot call that Man a rich Man that hath more Curses than Enjoyments Well thus we see what great Vails God gives his Servants he gives them not only those of another Life but those of this Life so far as they are Mercies and that is one Vail Secondly As God provides for his Servants while they are working so their very Work is Wages and Reward enough for it self If God should only give us our Labour for our Pains as we use to say and never bestow a Penny more upon us than what we get in his Service we were even in that sufficiently rewarded It was certainly a violent Pang of distempered Zeal in that Person that carried Fire in the one Hand and Water in the other and being demanded a Reason of it his Answer was He would burn up Paradise and quench Hell-fire that so God might be served and Holiness embraced upon no other Motives than themselves This was a violent Pang and cannot be allowed this Fire was strange Fire and this Water was too much muddied to be Water of the Sanctuary But yet certainly that Man who abstracting from the Consideration of Heaven and Hell eternal Rewards and Punishments would not rather choose the Works of God and the Ways of Holiness than the Works of Sin and the Ways of Iniquity let that Man know he never yet had much Acquaintance with that Way and with that Work What says holy David concerning the Commandments of God In keeping them there is great Reward not only after keeping them when those Commands that have here been the Rule of our Holiness and Obedience
the Holy Ghost we must pray conditionally if the Lord will for these Things are not absolutely necessary neither are they absolutely promised to us by God neither any degree of Grace or any Consolation of the Spirit is absolutely promised to us But however our Prayers ought to be so much the more fervent and importunate for these Things than for outward temporal Things by how much these are of far greater concernment than the other Thirdly 3. We may also pray for temporal Blessings conditionally To pray for outward and worldly Blessings is not contrary to the Will of God for he hath promised to bestow them But then as his Promise is conditional if it may stand with our good so truly also must our Prayers be conditional that God would give them to us if it may stand with his Will and with our Good whatsoever we thus ask we do it according to the Will of God and we are sure of speeding in our Request either by the obtaining of our Desires or by being blessed with a Denial for alas we are blind and ignorant Creatures and cannot look into the Designs and Drift of Providence and see how God hath laid in order Good and Evil in his own purpose oftentimes we mistake Evil for Good because of the present appearance of Good that it hath yea so short-sighted are we that we can look no farther than outward and present appearance but God who sees through the whole Series and Connexion of his own Counsels he knows many times that those Things we account and desire as Good are really evil and therefore it is our Wisdom to resign up all our Desires to his disposal and to say Lord though such temporal Enjoyments may seem good and desirable to me at present yet thou art infinitely wise and thou knowest what the Consequence and Issue of them will be I beg them if they may stand with thy Will and if thou seest they will be as really good for me as I suppose them now to be if they be not so I beg the Favour of a Denial This is the right Frame that a Christian ought to have upon his Heart when he comes to beg temporal Mercies of God and whilst he thus asks any worldly Comforts he cannot ask amiss It was an excellent Saying of the Satyrist We ask those Things of God says he that please our present Humours and Desires but God gives those things that are best and fittest for us for we are dearer to him saith the Heathen than we are to our selves And says another very well it is mercy in God not to hear us when we ask Things that are evil and when he refuseth us in such Requests it is that he might not circumvent us in our own Prayers for indeed whilst we ask rashly and intemperately whatever we foolishly set our Hearts upon God need take no other course to plague and punish us than by hearing and answering of us So much for the matter of our Prayer it must be for Things that are according to God's Will Fourthly 4. How we must pray Observe also the manner how our Prayers must be directed unto God That is 1. In 〈◊〉 Name of Christ First We must pray in the Name of Christ Before the Fall Man might boldly have gone to God in his own Name and speak to him upon his own account but since the great Breach made betwixt Heaven and Earth since that great Quarrel and Enmity arose betwixt God and Man there is no hope of Man's finding acceptance with God upon his own account and therefore he must go to God in the Name of a Mediator Hence Christ saith If ye ask any thing in my Name I will do it for you John 14.31 Now to ask in the Name of Christ is nothing else but in all our Addresses to God to plead his Merits and to depend upon his Mediation for the obtaining of those good Things that we desire It was truly said God heareth not Sinners John 9.31 John 9.31 And how then can we who are Sinners yea the chiefest of Sinners hope for audience and acceptance with him who heareth none such But yet though God heareth not Sinners yet he always heareth his Son who is continually making Intercession for Sinners yea and he always heareth Sinners that come to him in the Name of his Son and by Faith tender up his Merits through which alone they expect Favour and to prevail with God All Things go by Favour and Friendship in the Court of Heaven if we stand upon our own Merits and Deserts we shall be shamefully disappointed in our Expectations no Merit takes place in Heaven but only the Merit of the Lord Jesus Christ and whilst we argue that by Faith with God we come to him in the Name of his Son Secondly 2. We must pray in Faith Jam. 1.6 Our Prayers must be put up with Faith James 1.6 Let him ask in Faith says the Apostle nothing wavering for let not such a Man that is let not such a Man that wavers think to receive any good Thing of God Heb. 11.6 So in Heb. 11.6 He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him Faith is the Souls Hand whereby it receives those Blessings that God willingly bestows Now this is the Reason why though we do so often pray to God yet we are still so indigent and necessitous God's Ears are not heavy his Arms are not shortned neither are his Bowels dried up no still he hath the same Power the same Will and the same Love to his Children that ever he had but we want a Hand to receive those Mercies that God hath a Heart and a Hand to give forth unto us and that 's the reason of our Necessitousness notwithstanding we do so often come before God in Prayer 3. Prayer must be with Affection and Fervency Rom. 12.14 Thirdly Our Prayers must be put up as with Faith so with Fervency also and therefore it is required that we should be fervent in Spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.14 and so the forecited place The effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous Man availeth much We should strive to kindle in our Souls a holy Flame of heavenly Affections when we come to God in Prayer The Prayers of the Saints were typified under the old Law by Incense but now no Incense was to be offered up without Fire So truly there should be no Prayer offered up to God without the Fire and Flame of holy Affections and Fervency How do you think that a dull and heavy Prayer should mount up as high as Heaven Or that God should hearken or regard what we speak when we scarce regard what we speak our selves That for the manner of our Prayer Fifthly 5. The End of all our Prayers must be the Glory of God We must observe the End that we ought to aim at in our
neither did his Flesh see Corruption it is spoken so in Gen. 37.35 Jacob speaking concerning the supposed Death of his Son Joseph says I will go down into the Grave to my Son mourning Concerning the Resurrection of Christ from the Grave Gen. 37.35 Job 17.13 that word which we translate the Grave we translate also Hell Now saith the Prophet Though I should go down to the Grave and be covered from the sight and forgotten out of the mind and thoughts of Men yet thou art there and observest every Dust how it molders and crumbles away My Body cannot be more in the Grave than thou art there If we take Hell for the place of the damned God's presence is there likewise One would think if from any place God would exclude himself it should be from Hell since his presence is sufficient to make an Heaven any where but so infinite is his unlimited Being that when the Body is in the Grave and the Soul in Hell yet then is God present both with the Soul and with the Body If I make my Bed in Hell that is If I cover my self never so close and draw the Curtains of the thickest Darkness round about me If my Body should lye in the deepest Intrails of the Earth and my Soul be wrapt about with a Winding-sheet of Smoak and Flames yet thou art there and thy presence would soon find me out Job 26.6 Hell is naked before him and Destruction hath no covering Yea the Apostle tells us 2 Thess 1.9 That the Wicked in Hell shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his Power That is not only that their punishment shall be to be separated from the presence of the Lord but look how they are said to be punished from the glory of his Power so likewise are they to be punished from his Presence their Destruction shall be from the Glory of his Power that is his Power in inflicting most dreadful Punishments upon them and his Power in sustaining them under those Punishments when with one Hand the Lord shall hold them up in Hell and lift up the other as high as Heaven to give them redoubled Strokes of everlasting Vengeance So likewise they shall be punished from the presence of the Lord that is God himself will be present in Hell to torment and punish them that at the very same time that he shall be a cherishing God in Heaven he will be a tormenting God in Hell because in them he hath established his two great Thrones the one of his Mercy the other of his Justice But yet possibly there may be found some neglected place here below where God hath no such concernment to be present in it as he hath to be present in Heaven and in Hell Now saith the Psalmist Verse 9. If I take the Wings of the Morning and dwell in the uttermost Parts of the Sea even there shall thine Hand lead me and thy Right-hand shall hold me Wings of the Morning is an elegant Metaphor and by them we may conjecture is meant the Sun-beams called Wings because of their swift and speedy motion making their passage so sudden and so instantaneous as that they do prevent the observation of the Eye called the Wings of the Morning because the Dawn of the Morning comes flying in upon these Wings of the Sun and brings Light along with it and by beating and fanning of these Wings scatters the Darkness before it Now saith the Psalmist If I could pluck these Wings of the Morning the Sun-beams if I could imp my own Shoulders with them if I should fly as far and as swift as Light even in an instant to the uttermost parts of the Sea yea if in my flight I could spy out some Solitary Rock so formidable and dismal as if we might almost call in question whether ever a Providence had been there if I could pitch there on the top of it where never any thing had made its abode but Coldness Thunders and Tempests yet there shall thy Hand lead me and thy Right-hand shall hold me Thus you see the Text declares this Ubiquity and Omnipresence of God both in Heaven and Earth and Hell and in all Places and in all Things I shall first handle this Point Doctrinally and then Practically observing this Method I shall 1. Lay down some Positions 2. Demonstrate the Truth of them by some cogent and convincing Arguments 3. Answer some Objections which may be made against the Omnipresence of God 4. Make some Improvement of this Point The first Position I shall lay down is this Position 1. That God is intimately and essentially in all parts and places of the World yea this Presence being essential is also necessary so that it is simply impossible that God should not be wheresoever the Creature is By the World I mean whatsoever was at the beginning created by the Power of God the Heavens the Air the Earth and Sea and all things visible and invisible God is with them and in them all There are three things briefly to be touched upon here First That God is intimately present with the Creatures He passeth through their very Beings and Inward Parts he is in the very Center of their Essence and this flows from the Spirituality of his Essence From hence it is that it is impossible that he should be excluded out of the most close compacted Being Bodies cannot thus enter one another because of their gross and material Substances they can only stand without and knock for admission they cannot enter into the substance one of another Water when sucked up by a Spunge doth not pass into the substantial part of it but only fills up those Caverns and hollow Pores that were before filled with Air. The Air we breath in cannot enter into the Substance of our Bodies but only into those Pores and hollow Recesses that are by Nature fitted to receive it so of all other Corporeal Beings But Spirits are not tied up to this Law The Soul of Man because it is a Spirit resides not only in the empty void Spaces of the Body but also in the midst of the most solid and substantial part of it Angels who are a degree of Spiritual Beings above the Soul they cannot be excluded from being present in the most condensed Bodies and we know not how often they are in us we know not how often they pass through us nor how many of them are now present with us We read of no less than a Legion which is Six Thousand that quartered themselves together in one possessed person Mark 5.9 Then certainly God between whom and the Angels there is infinitely more distance than between Angels and Bodies cannot possibly be shut out of any Being but diffuseth himself to every part of his Creatures Secondly God is not only intimately present with his Creatures because as he is a Spirit he passeth through the most inmost part of them