to procure it not to implant Grace but to purchase it You cannot therefore sit down and say what need is there of my working Christ hath already done all my Work for me to my Hands No Christ hath done his own Work he hath done the Work of a Saviour and a Surety but he never did the Work of a Sinner If Christ by meriting Grace had bestowed it upon thee and wrought it in thee then indeed there was no more required of thee to become Holy but to cast back a lazy Look to the purchase of Jesus Christ then thy Sloth would have had some pretence why thou dost not labour But this will not do our Saviour commands all Men To seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof Mat. 6.33 Acts 8.22 And the Apostle exhorts Simon Magus himself though in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity yet pray says he if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee Do not therefore cheat your own Souls into Perdition by lazy Notions of Christ's Merits What though Christ hath merited yet God requires that you should work and labour to change your own Hearts and reform your own Lives but if you sit still expecting till the meriting Grace of Christ drop down into your Souls and of its own accord and change your Hearts truly it may be before that time you your selves may drop down into Hell with your old unchanged Hearts And this is the first thing Christ requires Secondly 2. Those that have Grace must Labour for Salvation Christ expects and requires that those that have Grace should put forth the utmost Strength and Power thereof in labouring after that Salvation that he hath purchased for them He hath merited Salvation for them but it is to be obtained by them through their own Labour and Industry Is not that which Christ hath already done sufficient for them Is it not enough that he hath reconciled them to God by the Blood of the Covenant that he hath made their Peace and procured their Pardon for them But must Christ Repent and Believe and Obey for them This is not to make him a Saviour but a Drudg He hath done what was meet and fit for a Mediatour to do He now requires of us what is meet for Sinners to do namely to Believe to Repent to be Converted and to Obey He now bids you Wash and be Clean and what would you have more Would you have the great Prophet come and strike off your Leprosy and you only mark the Cure and do nothing thereunto Or is it indeed enough that Salvation and Happiness is purchased that the way to Heaven is made passable that the Bolts and Bars of the new Jerusalem by Christ are broken off Alas what of all this thou mayest still be as far from Heaven and Glory as ever if thou dost not walk in the way that leads to it Still thou art as far from entring into Heaven as ever if thou dost not strive at the entrance into the strait Gate It is therefore in vain that Christ died it is in vain that thou art Justified it is in vain that thou art Adopted it is in vain that Heaven is prepared for thee Christ may keep Heaven and Glory and his Crowns and Robes for ever to himself unless as he hath purchased these great things for his People so also he hath purchased to himself a peculiar People Zealous of good Works A People who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Immortality and by that way obtain it Thus we see Christs doing all for us is no excuse for our doing nothing He hath indeed done all for us that belongs to him as a Mediatour meriting and procuring Grace and Salvation but he never intended to do all for us as to the conveying of them to us and making of them ours No that is still to be done by us And therefore tho Christ's Works alone were meritorious yet by the actings of Faith we must apply his Merit and by the acting of Obedience confirm them to our selves I might add also when Christ is said to obey the Law in our stead as well as to suffer in our stead Though his bearing the punishment of the Law by Death doth excuse and exempt us from suffering yet his obeying of the Law doth not excuse our Obedience unto the Law Christ obeyed the Law in a far different respect to the Obedience which is now required from us He obeyed as a Covenant of works we only as a Rule of Righteousness If he had failed in the least tittle he could not have purchased Life that was promised but we though we fall infinitely short in our Obedience may yet inherit that Life that Christ hath purchased Christ's Obedience was fully perfect yet ours is not derogatory thereunto because it proceeds from other grounds than Christ's did But I will not proceed further in this only conclude this Answer with two practical things in reference to this Question First So work with that Earnestness Constancy and Unweariedness in well doing as if thy Works alone were able to justifie and save thee Look with what Affection and Fervency you would pray if now God with a Voice from Heaven should tell you that for the next Prayer you make you should be either Saved or Damned Look with what Reverence and Attention you would Hear with what Spiritualness of Heart you would Meditate if your eternal State and Condition were to be determined and fixed by the next of those Duties that in this kind you were to perform with the same Fervency Affection and Spiritualness perform all the Obedience that you do Why should you not do so Are not Gods Commands as peremptory and as Authoritative for Obedience under the Covenant of Grace as they were under the Covenant of Works Is not Obedience of as absolute necessity now as ever though not to the same end and purpose And since the end of our Obedience is graciously changed doth not this chang lay a farther obligation of Gratitude upon us to obey God who requires it from us not as Merit but as Duty Still there is as great an obligation to obey now under the condition of the Covenant of Grace as ever there was while Mankind stood under the tenour of the Covenant of Works Certainly Christ's Merit was never given to slacken our Obedience and it is the most unworthy nay let me say it is the most accursed use that any Christian can make of them that from the Merit of Christ he shall take encouragement to grow more remiss and slack in Obedience Would you not therefore turn the Grace of God into Wantonness Would you not abuse the infinite Mercy of a Mediator Think with your selves how would I strive and struggle were I to stand or fall upon the account of my own Works and Duties use the same Diligence put forth the same Endeavours as indeed in that
that require not much time to perform their Errands in for there is a holy Mystery in pointing our earthly Employments with these heavenly Ejaculations as Men point their Writings sometimes with Stops ever now and then shooting up a short mental Prayer unto Heaven such Pauses as these are you will find to be no Impediments to your worldly Affairs This is the way for a Christian to be retired and private in the midst of a Multitude to turn his Shop or his Field into a Closet to trade for Earth and yet to get Heaven also into the Bargain So we read of Nehemiah 2.4 Nehem. 2.4 That whilst the King was discoursing to him of the State of Judea it is said that Nehemiah prayed unto God that is he sent up secret Prayers to God which tho' they escaped the King's notice and observation yet were they so prevalent as to bow and encline his Heart 4. It is always to keep our Hearts in a praying Frame Fourthly and Lastly There is yet something more in this Praying without ceasing and that is this We may then be said to pray without ceasing when we keep our Hearts in such a frame as that we are fit at all times to vent our selves before God in Prayer When we keep alive and cherish a praying Spirit and can upon all Opportunities draw near to God with full Souls and with quick and vigorous Affections This is to pray without ceasing and this I take to be the most genuine natural Sense of the Words and the true Scope of the Apostle here to have the Habit of Prayer enclining them always freely and sweetly to breath out their Requests unto God They that would maintain a praying Temper must be careful of Two Things and to take all Occasions to prostrate themselves before his Throne of Grace Now those that would maintain this praying Temper must be especially careful of Two Things 1. That they immerse not themselves in the World First That they do not too much ingulf themselves in the Businesses and Pleasures of this Life for this will exceedingly damp and deaden the Heart to this holy Duty as Earth cast upon the Fire puts it out so the World when it is spread over the Affections must needs stifle and extinguish that holy Flame that should ascend up to Heaven How hard is it for a Man that oppresseth himself with a heap of Businesses to raise his Heart unto God under all that Load How hard is it for those that let out their Hearts thus too and fro a thousand ways to summon them in the next moment to attend upon God with that awful and serious Frame that becomes all those that appear before him When we come to Prayer reaking hot out of the Affairs of this World we find our Hearts subject to manifold Distractions and Discomposures and our Thoughts scattered like Bees still flying from one Flower to another still bringing some Intelligence from worldly Objects even then when we are about divine Employments Secondly 2. That they fall into no known and presumptous Sin If you would maintain a praying Temper of Soul be careful not to fall into the commission of any known presumptuous Sin The Guilt of Sin lying upon the Conscience will exceedingly deaden the Heart to Prayer Alas how can we go to God with any freedom of Spirit How can we call him Father with any Boldness and Confidence while we are conscious to our selves that we have daringly provoked him by some wilful Offence I may appeal to your own Experience in this Do not your Consciences fly in your Faces Do they not take you by the Throat and even choak your Speech while you are praying with some such Suggestions as these What can I pray for the Pardon of Sin that frequently commit that which I know to be Sin Shall I dare to lift up unclean Hands before his pure and holy Eyes or to speak to him in Prayer when as those Sins that rancor and fester in my Conscience must needs make my Breath unsavory and noisome to him Will the Lord hear such Prayers Or if he doth hear them will he not account them an Abomination You now whose Consciences thus accuse you do you not find such Reflections as these to be great Deadnings to your Hearts such Damps to Duty such Clippings of the Wings of the Spirit of God and takings off of the Wheels of the Soul so that it drives on but slowly and heavily in the performance of that Duty Certainly Guilt is the greatest Impediment to Duty in the World for it takes off from the Freeness and Filialness of our Spirits and fills us with Distrust Diffidence and a slavish Fear of coming before God rather as our Judge than as our Father And therefore we find that as soon as Adam had sinned against his Maker he hides himself from him Yea and we may observe it in our selves what a slavish dejectedness and deadness seizeth upon us when we come to God in Duty after we have wronged him by any known Sin how doth this make us come with such misgiving Fears as if we would not have God to take notice that we were in his Presence making us to be continually in Pain until the Duty be done And thus you see what it is to Pray without ceasing It is to pray constantly at set Times and Seasons it is to pray importunately and vehemently it is upon all Occasions to be sending up holy Ejaculations unto God and especially to keep alive and cherish a praying Frame of Heart Which whosoever would do he must beware of emerging himself in the World and of committing any known and presumptuous Sin And so much for the doctrinal part An Exhortation unto Prayer The Application shall be to stir us up and excite us to the performance of this Holy Duty wherein indeed the Vitals of Religion and Holiness do consist And to press this upon you consider with me these following Particulars 1. Prayer is a Sign of the new Birth First Prayer is one of the greatest Signs of a Man's new Birth As in the natural Birth we know the Child is living by its Crying when it comes into the World so also in this spiritual Birth it is an evidence that we are born living Souls to God when we cry mightily unto God in Prayer And therefore in Acts 9.11 Acts 9.11 when God sent Ananias unto Paul that he might take off that Fear from him that might otherwise seize upon him in going to such an enraged Persecutor as he was he tells him St. Paul was changed for behold he prays This is an infallible Sign that we are Children of God when we can with a Holy Reverence and Boldness cry Abba Father 2. Prayer is an inestimable Priviledge Secondly Consider it is a great and inestimable Priviledge that God will permit us to approach so near to himself that he will permit such vile Dust and Ashes
from accusing and condemning of you So much for this Time and Text. A DISCOURSE UPON Perseverance IN PRAYER WITH Exhortations thereunto ON 1 THESSAL v. 17. By EZEKIEL HOPKINS Late Lord Bishop of London-derry LONDON Printed for Jonathan Robinson A. and J. Churchill John Taylor and John Wyat. 1696. A DISCOURSE UPON Perseverance IN PRAYER 1 THESS v. 17. Pray without ceasing THIS Text is one of those many Commands that the Apostle lays down in this Chapter being now almost at the end and close of his Epistle and not willing to omit the mentioning of Duties so necessary for their Practice he pours them out in short but weighty Exhortations the Connexion betwixt most of them is dark if there be any I shall not therefore vex the Words by tacking them either to the precedent or subsequent Verses by any forced Coherence but take them as they are in themselves in one entire Proposition and so they contain in them a Duty and that is Prayer and the manner also of performing of it and that is without ceasing and both of these do administer to us this plain Doctrin Doctrin That it is a Christians Duty to pray incessantly This is a plain and necessary Point and I intend to handle it in as plain and familiar a Method And there are two Things that I shall enquire into First What it is to Pray And then Secondly What it is to Pray without ceasing 1. What it is to Pray 1. I shall begin with the First What it is to Pray I Answer To Pray is by the Assistance and Help of the Holy Ghost in the Name and Mediation of Jesus Christ with Faith and Fervency to make an humble representation of our Desires unto God for those Things that are according to his Will with submission to his Pleasure and with reference to his Honour This is that holy Duty of Prayer in which of all that belong to Religion the Soul usually enjoys the most near and sweet Communion with God When we are oppressed with Guilt or overwhelmed with Fears and Griefs what sweeter Retreat than to betake our selves to our God and to our Father into whose Bosom we may unload all our Burdens It is the greatest solace of an afflicted Mind to lie prostrate before the Lord and melt it self down in holy Tears and in holy Affections at his Feet Hence it is said of Hannah 1 Sam. 1.18 That after she had poured out her Soul before God her Countenance was no more sad And therefore this is not so much our Duty as our Privilege it is the Happiness of the glorious Angels in Heaven and of the Spirits of just Men made perfect that they are always near unto God in their Attendance upon him that they are Waiters about his Throne And Prayer gives to us the very same high Privilege and brings us into the Presence and before the Throne of the same God only with this difference they draw near to a Throne of Glory and we draw near to a Throne of Grace Let us now take a more particular View of this excellent Duty of Prayer according to the Description given of it 1. The efficient cause of Prayer is the Spirit First The efficient cause of Prayer is the Holy Ghost then we Pray when we breath out those Requests unto God that the Holy Ghost hath breathed unto us and therefore it is said Rom. 8.26 The Spirit helpeth our Infirmities Rom. 8.26 for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with Sighs and Groans that cannot be uttered All Prayers that are not dictated by the Holy Ghost is but howling in God's esteem And though wicked Men in their Distresses may be very passionate and very vehement in their Requests yet they have no Promise that their Prayers shall prevail with God Sometimes indeed God doth hear them and out of his common Bounty and Goodness grants to them those temporal good Things that they crave he that hears the young Ravens when they cry he that hears the lowing of the Oxen sometimes also hears wicked Men under their Afflictions when they roar to him as wild Bulls in a Net as the Prophet expresseth it but yet such Prayers of wicked Men tho' they are answered yet they are never accepted God accepts no Petitions but such as are presented to him through the Intercession of Christ now Christ makes Intercession for none in Heaven but only for such in whose Hearts the Spirit makes Intercession here upon Earth their Prayers alone ascend up to God as sweet Incense being perfumed with that much Incense that Christ offers up with the Prayers of all the Saints God always hears and answers them either in the very Thing that they pray for or else in what oftentimes is far better when they ask that which will be to their own Hurt then he answers them graciously by denying them In James 16. the Apostle tells us there Jam. 5.16 That the effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous Man availeth much This indeed may seem a needless Tautology to say an effectual Prayer availeth for it is but one and the same thing to avail and to be effectual but if we consult the Original we shall find the Words may be translated The in-wrought Prayer and possibly we may with more Congruity render it thus The Prayer of a righteous Man wrought in him that is to say by the Spirit of God such a Prayer availeth much Secondly As the efficient cause of our Prayers is the Holy Ghost 2. God is the Object of Prayer essentially and personally consider'd so the only Object of our Prayers is God for it is a representation of our Wants and Desires unto him Now God may be consider'd either essentially or personally and under both respects we may direct our Prayers unto him 1. All the Persons in the Trinity are to be prayed unto First If we consider the Persons of the glorious Trinity so they are all adorable with this Act of divine Worship None will deny but that we may direct our Prayers unto God the Father and that God the Son may be distinctly prayed unto we have an uncontroulable Instance in that of S. Stephen Acts 7.59 Acts 7.59 Lord Jesus receive my Spirit yea Acts 7.59 and this Adoration is due not only to the Divine Nature of Christ which was from all Eternity the same in Being in Majesty and Glory with the Father but it is also due unto Christ as Mediator as God-Man and so his humane Nature is also joined in the participation of this high Honour through its union to the Divine Nature The very Angels in Heaven are commanded to adore him as God-Man as Mediator Heb. 1.6 Heb. 1.6 When he bringeth in his first begotten into the World that is when he brought him into the World as Man he saith and let all the Angels of God worship him Indeed we no
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
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
in Heaven And therefore Daniel when in Babilon he prayed his Window being open towards Jerusalem towards the Temple as if no Prayer were acceptable to God but what was heard in Heaven So Jonah when he was in the Belly of the Whale Jonah 2.7 My Prayer came in unto thee into thine Holy Temple Jonah was a strong Orator when he was in the slimy Paunch of the Whale yea but God was there and God heard him there but yet his Prayer would have been as filthy as his Person if God had not heard him elsewhere than in the Belly of the Whale My Prayer came in unto thee into thine Holy Temple That is God heard him in Heaven And therefore though the Breath of Jonah could have no sweetness yet the Prayer that he breathed forth came up as Incense and a sweet Perfume before God as it came into the Holy Temple Thus God hears the Prayers of his in Heaven but the Prayers of the wicked he hears only upon Earth he hears them when they speak them but God never hears their Prayers in the Mediation of Christ but the Prayers of his own People he hears on Earth as he is an omnipresent and omnipotent God and he hears them in Heaven as he is a gracious and reconciled Father If thou dost but Whisper thy Prayer God will hear it that which is but whispered on Earth it rings and eccho's in the Court of Heaven and if Christ speaks your Prayers over to God they become so loud that God cannot stop his Ears against them The Voice of Prayer is not like other Voices the further they reach the weaker they grow no that Voice which is so weak that it cannot be heard beyond the compass of thy Closet yet when it is put forth in Prayer it fills all Heaven with its sound But where is the encouragement unto Prayer in all this If thou dost belong to God thou may'st have great encouragement to Prayer from the Consideration of his Omnipresence for because of this there is no Prayer of a Child of God but shall be heard in Heaven tho' it be uttered in secret For consider that tho' Christ as Man is only in Heaven yet Christ as God is every-where present and hears the Prayers of all Men in the World Those that are wicked he regards no further but gives them the hearing but for his own he regards their Prayers and presents what he hears from them to God in Heaven Christ makes his Omniscience and Omnipresence to be subservient to the Work of his Mediatorship One of his Offices is to be a faithful High-Priest and an Advocate to God for us and Christ being such an Advocate that hears all the Suits and all the Causes of his Clients we may be assured that there is not one Prayer that God hears on Earth from us but he hears it also in Heaven through Christ It was a notable Scoff of Elijah to Baal's Priests 1 Kings 18.27 Cry aloud for he is a God c. peradventure he sleepeth and must be waked As if he should say You serve an unworthy God that cannot hear those that pray unto him And indeed how should he do so that is not Omnipresent He is talking or he is pursuing or travelling Cry Cry aloud and peradventure if he sleepeth that will awaken him But though you should cry never so loud though your Cry should reach from Earth to Heaven he would be silent such a God as yours could never hear And therefore when Elijah himself came to pray Verse 36. the Text doth not tell us he cried aloud but that he came neer But when Baal's Priests roared and howled like distracted Men and cut themselves in an idolatrous manner Baal is not prevailed with to hear them Now Elijah came near that is he came in a calm and sedate manner and poured out his fervent composure to God as knowing that that God whom he prayed to is present every-where The Voice in Prayer is necessary upon a threefold Account First As it is that which God requires should be imployed in his Service for this is the great end why our Tongues were given to us that by them we might bless and serve God James 3.9 Secondly When in private it may be a Help and Means to raise up our own Affections and Devotions then the Voice is requisite keeping it still within the bounds of decency or privacy Thirdly In our joyning also with others it is a help likewise to raise and quicken their Affections otherwise were it not for these three Reasons the Voice is no more necessary to make known our Wants to God than it is to make them known to our own Hearts for God is always in us and with us and knows what we have need of before we ask it Secondly As the Consideration of Vse 2 of God's Omnipresence should encourage us in Prayer as knowing that God certainly hears us so it should affect us with a Holy Awe and Reverence of God in all our Prayers and Duties and in the whole Course of our Lives and Conversations Certainly it is an excellent Meditation to prepare our Hearts to Duty and to compose them in Duty to be much pondering the Omnipresence of God to think that I am with God he is present in the Room with me even in the Congregation with me and likewise in my Closet and in all my Converse and Dealings in the World How can it be possible for that Man to be frothy and vain that keeps this Thought alive in his Heart If the Presence of some Earthly Person strike an Awe in our Hearts when we come before them how much more should the Consideration of God's Presence affect us with an Holy Fear Suppose an Angel should fly in the midst of us that are here present with a rushing and dazling Glory how would it make all our Hearts beat and throb within us It would make us soon abandon all those vain Thoughts that now we feed upon those Thoughts that eat out the Heart and Life of Duty how much more should it affect us and fill us with Holy Fear that God is now and always in the midst of us whose Glory stains and sullies the Beauty and extinguishes the Light of Angels Oh! that God that is always present with us should be worshipped and served with a Holy Fear and remembred with the greatest Veneration Now to imprint this the more deeply I shall suggest two or three Particulars First Because God is in all things therefore he sees and knows all things The Omniscience of God is grounded upon his Omnipresence Jer. 23.24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord do not I fill Heaven and Earth saith the Lord Nothing in Heaven or Earth can be hid or concealed from God's Eye Heb. 4.13 All things are naked and opened before the Lord. There is no Corner so retired so shady so dark no Gulph so deep that can hide
and Honour and Power to him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for evermore Always are they beholding admiring and adoring of God and burning in Love to each other and mutually rejoycing in God and in one another And this is the Work of that Eternal Rest a Work never to be intermitted nor to cease And therefore it is worth our observing that both those Places that do chiefly speak of the future Rest of the People of God do also intimate a Work in that Rest So the Apostle to the Hebrews tells us Heb. 4.9 There remains a Rest for the People of God the Word is There remains a Sabbath for the People of God Look now you are to be imployed on a Sabbath such shall be your Imployment in your Eternal Rest Is it not your Work now upon a Sabbath-day to raise your Thoughts and Affections to Heaven to fix and terminate them upon God to maintain Communion with him to admire him in all his Works both of Grace and Providence to stir up your own Hearts and to quicken the Hearts of others to praise and adore him Why this shall be the Work of your Eternal Sabbath And when you are at any time lifted up to a more than ordinary Spiritualness in these Things then may you give some guess what your Work shall be in Heaven and what the frame of your Hearts shall be in your eternal Rest And so that other place in the Revelations Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their works follow them Which may be meant not only of the Reward of their Works that they shall then receive but of the Works themselves that here they performed on Earth these shall follow them and enter into Heaven with them and as they were done by them weakly and imperfectly here so there the very same Works shall be done by them with absolute and consummate Perfection all those Works I mean that for the Matter and Substance of them do not connote a sinful State and Condition Now then since you must be imploy'd in such a Work as this is to Eternity why do you not accustom your selves to it while you are here Col. 1.12 The Apostle to the Colossians Blesseth God who had made them meet to be made Partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Were it a meet thing that those that spend their whole time in Sin should be abruptly snatcht up into Heaven to spend an Eternity there in Holiness And therefore God accustoms those whom he saves in an ordinary way and manner to work those Works here on Earth that they are to be imployed in hereafter in Heaven here they are Apprentices as it were that they may learn the Trade of Holiness that when that time comes they may become fit Citizens of the New Jerusalem here God is trying their Eyes with more qualified and allayed Discoveries of himself that when they come to view him Face to Face they may be able to bear the exceeding Brightness of his Glory And therefore though you profess Heaven to be your Country and that you are Strangers and Pilgrims here on Earth yet say not with the Captive Jews Psal 137. How shall we sing the Song of Sion in a strange Land Yes you must accustom your selves to that Song you must mould and warble it here on Earth that you may be perfect in it when you come to join with Saints and Angels in their eternal Hallelujahs You must try your Eyes by seeing of God and your Voices by singing that Song that you must continually sing in Heaven And were it only for this disposing and fitting of your selves for the Work of Heaven this were Motive enough to persuade to begin it now 5. A Christian hath many helps to work for Salvation Fifthly Another encouraging Consideration to persuade you to work out your own Salvation is this as your Work is great so the Helps and Assistances that God gives for the performance of this Work are many So that your Work is not greater than your Aids are nor is it more difficult than they are potent And therefore though you are weak in your selves and so weak that were you left to your own Strength you would faint in the most easy Service yea the weight but of one holy Thought would sink you for we are not sufficient says the Apostle as of our selves to think any good thing Yet when we consider those mighty Auxiliaries that are afforded and promised as Comfort when we Droop Support when we are Weak that we shall Rise when we Fall Recruits when we are Worsted Omnipotency to supply our Impotency All-sufficiency to make up our Defects When we consider these Things then may we triumphantly say with the Apostle When we are Weak then are we Strong and tho' of our selves we are nothing and therefore can do nothing yet through these mighty Assistances we are able to do all Things Now I shall rank these Auxiliary Forces into Two Bands Some are External others are Internal External Helps are various I shall only instance in Three First You have the exciting Examples of others who have already happily gone through this Work You are not commanded that which never yet was imposed upon any of the Sons of Men nor that whoever undertook failed in the performance and sunk under the burthen of it No there are Hundreds and Thousands gone before you from whom God required as much as he doth from you and these have demonstrated that the Work is possible and the Reward certain And therefore as Israel followed the Cloud for their Conduct into the Land of Canaan So may you be led into a Land of better Promise by a Cloud of Witnesses of those who have already passed through the same Faith Patience and Obedience wherein you are to follow them It is Superstition heightned to Idolatry to make use of the departed Saints as substituted Mediators and under Advocates unto Christ that Christ may be our Advocate unto God the Father what their present Prayers for us are we know not but this we are certain of their past Example ought to be propounded and improved by us for our Incouragement in the ways of Holiness and Obedience Hence the Apostle exhorts us that we should be diligent not slothful and he grounds it upon this because in so doing we should be followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises In difficult and hazardous Enterprizes every Man is apt to stand still and see who will lead the way and according to the Success of the first Attempters so either to be incouraged or dismayed Now what says our Saviour Mat. 11.12 The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force You are not the forlorn Hope you are not the first Assailors no whole Armies of Saints have in former Ages storm'd Heaven they have heretofore planted strong Batteries
at the very entrance of it you concluded you should never make good Work of it you should never bring the Duty to a good Issue And yet have you not in the midst of these your Distempers found a mighty assistance and influence shining down from Heaven into your Hearts filling them with holy and divine Affections transporting them beyond all that deadness that did oppress them enlarging them with sweet and heavenly Enlargements so that no Duties were ended with more Comfort and Revivings than those that were begun with such dead Hearts and cold Affections Have you not often found it so And what is this but a sensible feeling of Gods working in you that in the same performance you see your own weakness when you are left to your selves and you see the Power of Gods Assistance when he comes in to help you and there is no Duty but this divine Assistance may be hoped for and expected by you to enable you in the performance of it Are you to do Isa 43.2 God works in you the Will and the Deed. Job 5.19 Are you to suffer When you pass through the Fire and through the Water he will be with you he will deliver you in six Troubles and in seven there shall no Evil touch you Are you to pray His Spirit maketh Intercession for us Rom. 3.26 God doth not as the Scribes and Pharisees did lay heavy Burthens upon others and not touch them with the least of his Fingers no he is pleased to become a Co-worker with you he begins he carries on and he also perfects whatever concerns your Duty here and your Happiness hereafter and is not this a mighty Encouragement to Obedience Will you any longer delay since God affords you such Assistance as this Why do you not presently attempt this Work But you will say how shall I know that God will assist me Why put it to the Trial. Was it ever known that God ever failed any that resolutely ventured Dispute not concurrence but believe and by looking for it and depending upon it you ingage God to help you It was the consideration of the all-sufficient Assistance of God that made one of the Ancients cry out Da Domine quod jubes jube quod vis Give Lord what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt Sixthly 6. God looks at Sincerity more than Perfection Consider for your Incouragement it is not so much the absolute and legal perfection of the Work as the perfection of the Worker that is the perfection of the Heart that is looked at and rewarded by God And is not this a great Incouragement There is a twofold perfection the perfection of the Work and the perfection of the Workman The perfection of the Work is when the Work doth so exactly and strictly answer the holy Law of God that there is no irregularity in it The perfection of the Workman is nothing but inward Sincerity the uprightness of the Heart towards God which may be where there are many Imperfections and Defects intermingled If God should accept and reward no Work but what is absolutely perfect in respect of the Law this would be such a sadning Discouragement that it would take off the Wheels of all Endeavours for all our Obedience falls far short of legal perfection in this Life We our selves are conscious of many failings and imperfections in our best Services and God knows far more and since we can do nothing without Infirmities who would venture to do any thing upon the account of those Infirmities lest God should cast back all again as Dung into our Faces No but we do not stand upon such Terms as these are with our God it is not so much what our Works are as what our Heart is that God looks at and will reward Yet know also lest any should too soon lay hold on this if our Hearts are perfect and sincere we shall endeavour to the utmost of our Power that our Works may be perfect according to the strictness of the Law I speak not this therefore to incourage ignorant sottish Sinners that though they live in a constant course of Sin and neglect of Duty yet sooth up themselves with this God knows their Hearts are good sincere and upright Let me cut off the foolish Hopes of these Men in a Word It is impossible the Heart should be sincere where there is the allowance and liking of any one sin in the Life But I speak what I have said to those who upon the sight and sense of their many Failings of the deadness and untowardness of their Hearts of their averseness and indisposition of their wandrings and formality in the performance of what is holy and good upon the sense of these things are ready to be dejected and discouraged and to give over doing of any thing because they can do nothing well Let such know though their Works have not this legal Perfection yet if they do proceed from a sincere upright perfect Heart they shall be accepted and rewarded by God Hezekiah had his Failings and the Prophet sharply reproves him for his Pride c. making a glorious and boasting Ostentation of his Treasure to the King of Babylon yet he prays and appeals to God Remember O Lord how I have walked before thee in Truth and with a perfect Heart Isa 38.3 There may therefore be a perfect Heart where there are imperfect Works and if you can make this Plea let me tell you the perfection of your Hearts will swallow up the imperfections of your Works that they shall never come up in remembrance against you before God 7. Success in working for Salvation is certain Seventhly and Lastly Consider for your Incouragement though your Work be great yet the success of it is certain The greatest check to Industry is fear of Disappointment from which you have no security while you labour for any thing besides your own Salvation All Worldly Affairs are moved by such invisible Wyers and turned upon such small Pins that if the Finger of Providence displace but one of them the whole Fabrick of our Design is thereby disordered and our Hopes defeated and God sometimes delights to frustrate Mens Attempts about Worldly Concernments Hab. 2 13. It is not of the Lord of Hosts says the Prophet that the People labour in the Fire and that the People weary themselves for very vanity To labour in the Fire signifies two Things First Great Pains Secondly Great Disappointment They work in the midst of scorching Flames and what they do produce with so much Anguish they enjoy it not but it consumes betwixt their Fingers When Men have weaved a curious Web of earthly Contrivances and think to wrap up themselves therein and to keep them warm God breaths secret Flames into it that singe it that it can no more hold together than so much Tinder And wherefore doth God blast Mens Endeavours but that seeing the vanity of all their
the Defilement of our Sins An historical Faith may keep the Soul from contracting Defilement but this justifying this saving Faith washes out the Stains and Defilements that we have contracted and makes us white and spotless in the Blood of the Lamb. Faith is that Conveyance that God hath appointed to bring the Blood of Christ to stream forth upon the defiled Soul and Conscience and upon every renewed Act of Sin we ought by a renewed Act of Faith to lay our spotted and defiled Souls under the fall of that Fountain that is set open to wash and cleanse us from our Filth and Pollution Thus Faith cleanseth the Conscience mystically and by the Actings of Faith we may thus get and keep our Consciences clear and inoffensive Fifthly 5. Set a strict Watch and Guard upon your selves If you would keep your Consciences clear then set a strict Watch and Guard upon your selves both upon your inward and upon your outward Man Set a Guard to your Heart and to all the Approaches to your Heart 1. Keep a narrow Guard upon your Heart 1. Set a Guard upon your Heart The Heart is the great meeting Place where Objects Thoughts and Affections do swarm and crowd together And as much Concourse leaves Dirt behind it upon the Place so this great Heart-Assembly usually leaves it foul and polluted Our Saviour Mark 9. tells the Jews That it was that which was within them that Wickedness which lay latent in their Hearts that which proceedeth from the Heart that defiles the Man There is a Defilement in the Thoughts and in the Desires as well as in the more gross and bulky Sins of the Life Hence the Prophet Jeremy speaks Jer. 4.14 O Jerusalem wash thine Heart from Wickedness Why wherewith is it polluted Why the next Words shew it How long shall thy vain Thoughts lodge within thee Vain Thoughts leave a Stain and Contagion upon the Soul and certainly if a vain Thought that is such a fleeting and volitary Thing breaths a kind of Contagion and Taint upon the Heart they certainly then must have foul Hearts indeed and their Spots in Grain who lie soaking and stewing themselves in Unclean Malicious and Covetous Thoughts and Designs Since then that Conscience is apt to receive Taint but with the breathing of a vain and sinful Thought upon it how doth it concern us then to keep a watchful and circumspect Eye over every Motion of our Hearts It is the wise Man's Counsel as you have heard Keep thy Heart with all diligence for out of it are the Issues of Life Look to it therefore that you suffer not your Hearts to be defiled with sinful Thoughts or sinful Affections by those inward and invisible Corruptions that settle at the bottom of it though the Life be never so clear and cristal yet if that Mud be but stirred and raised Conscience becomes thereby defiled and an evil Conscience And therefore the Apostle 1 Tim. 1.5 1 Tim. 1.5 joins them together speaking of a pure Heart and a good Conscience but if the steems of Lust rise up thick in the Heart they defile and pollute the Conscience Hence the Apostle again joins them together Tit. 1.15 Tit. 1.15 a defiled Mind and a defiled Conscience The Mind and Conscience says he is defiled How can the Mind be defiled unless it be with Sins of the Mind Evil Thoughts and evil Affections which as sprightly and aerial as they seem to be yet they leave a Stain upon the Conscience As the breathing upon a Glass sullies it and dims the Representation of the Face that looks into it so the breathing of evil Cogitations upon Conscience the Glass of the Soul leaves a Mist and Cloud upon it that it can but dimly and darkly represent to us our true State 2. Watch diligently as the Heart it self so all the Approaches unto the Heart 2. Watch diligently all the Approaches to the Heart The Approaches to the Heart are like your Roads to a great City which are full of Passengers and usually full of Dirt also And these are the Senses by which and through which Objects are continually travelling to the Heart and carry with them a World of Wickedness These are Sluces which instead of letting in pleasant Streams to refresh commonly they let in nothing but Mud which pollutes the Soul There is no actual Filthiness in the Hearts of any but what enters in by these Inlets through these the Devil casts in abundance of Filth stirs up and increaseth indwelling Lust and by sinful Objects that the Senses convey to the Soul dungs that Ground that is of it self but too too fruitful Thus the Devil makes use of the Ear through it he blows up the Bladder of Pride by the Breath of popular Applause and Praise And thus he makes use of the lascivious Eye as a burning Glass to set the Heart on Fire and so also he makes use of the other Senses as Sinks of Luxury and Intemperance Now if you would keep your Consciences clear and undefiled set a strict Guard and narrow Watch upon all these Passages to your Hearts critically examin every Thing that goes in and every Thing that comes out by these Gates arrest whatever cannot produce its Pass and Warrant from the Word of God keep the same Watch upon these Gates that God would keep on the Gate of the Heavenly City the New Jerusalem It is said Rev. 21.27 Rev. 21.27 That there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth Why so let us who would keep our Consciences clear guard all the Approaches to them with the same strictness and let nothing that defileth enter in by these Approaches to our Hearts Sixthly and Lastly 6. Listen to the Voice of Conscience take this Direction Be sure to listen to the Voice of Conscience Those that stop their Ears and will not hear Conscience when it directs and reproves shall be sure to hear it loud enough when it shall accuse and condemn them Conscience is the Voice of God in the Soul why now if this Voice be slighted beware lest the next time it speak to you in Thunder Do nothing contrary to the Dictates of your Consciences for this will provoke God to give you up to a reprobate Sense and judicially to harden you in your Sins for if sinning against your Consciences doth not corrupt them by making them insensible and stupid it will certainly corrupt them by making them enraging and despairing Well now for your Encouragement let me tell you while you are careful by following these Directions to keep your Consciences clear you shall also keep them peaceable It is the foulness of a Gun that makes it recoil in discharging And so it is the foulness of Men's Consciences that makes them recoil back again upon them in discharging of their Offices But while Conscience is kept clear and void of Offence it will be also kept free from quarrelling with you and
as we are to speak to him who is the God of the Spirits of all Flesh The holy Angels in Heaven stand always ministring in the presence of God and Prayer doth in some kind associate us with them it brings us to lye prostrate at the Feet of God at whose Feet also Angels and all the Powers in Heaven do with much more Humility than we fall down and worship him we and they fall down together at the Feet of the great God we in Prayer and they in Praises This Priviledge cost Jesus Christ dear for it is through him as the Apostle speaks that we have access with boldness unto the Throne of Grace All Access thither was barred against Sinners till Christ opened a Passage for us by his own Death and most precious Blood And shall not we make use of a Priviledge purchased for us at so dear a Rate as that is Hath Christ shed his Blood to procure us liberty to pray and shall not we spend our Breath in praying Hath Christ died such a cursed cruel Death to purchase liberty for us to pray and shall we rather choose to die an eternal Death than make use of it This is to despise the Blood of Jesus Christ to offer an high Affront and Indignity unto him to account it a vile and contemptible Thing when we make no more esteem of that for the purchase of which he shed his precious Blood We look upon it as a great Priviledge to have free and frequent access to those that are much our Superiors and shall we not reckon it a much higher Priviledge that we may at all times approach the presence of him who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and higher than the highest as we may do at all times in Prayer 3. Prayer is a sovereign Remedy for an afflicted Mind Thirdly Prayer it is the most sovereign Medicine and Remedy for an afflicted Mind Nothing is so desirable in this World as a faithful Friend to whom we may at all times unbosom our selves and make all our Secrets and Grievances known Now Prayer directs us to go to God himself he is our most faithful Friend that can best counsel and best help us and Prayer is a means whereby we reveal the Secrets and Troubles of our Souls unto him Prayer it is our discoursing with God When our Hearts swell with Grief and are ready to break within us how sweet is it then to take God apart and give our Hearts vent Prayer it is a making our Case known to him and a spreading our Wants before him casting all our Burthens upon him who hath promised to sustain us Fourthly consider 4. Prayer is a means appointed by God for all Mercies that we want Prayer is a means appointed by God for the obtaining of those Blessings and Mercies that we stand in need of for all Things are Gods he is the great Lord and Proprietor both of Heaven and Earth whether they be spiritual or temporal Mercies that we desire if it be Wealth Strength or Wisdom all are his If we would have spiritual Blessings conferred upon us our Faith our Love our Patience our Humility strengthned and encreased he is the God of all these Graces and Prayer it is a means appointed by God to convey all these unto us Our Prayers and God's Mercy are like two Buckets in a Well while the one ascends the other descends So while our Prayers ascend to God in Heaven his Mercies and Blessings descend down upon us 5. We are always in want therefore we should pray always Fifthly consider All our Supplies are only for our present Exigences to serve us only from Hand to Mouth the stock of Mercy is not ours but God's he still keeps it in his own Hands and this he doth that he might keep us in a constant Dependence upon him and in a constant Expectation of Mercy from him Our Wants grow up very thick about us and if we did but observe it we should find every Day yea every Hour new cause to present new Requests and Supplications unto God and therefore as our Necessities never cease so neither should our Prayers 6. They â—hat will not Pray shall Howl Sixthly consider this If you will not be persuaded to pray you shall one Day be made to howl You that will not now look up to Heaven in Prayer shall hereafter look up in Blaspheming Isai 8.21 Isai 8.21 They shall fret themselves says the Prophet and curse God and their King that is in their horrid Despair and Anguish they shall Curse and Blaspheme both God and their King that is the Devil and they shall look upwards Tho' now wicked Men will not look to Heaven yet then God will force them to look upwards There may Two Objections possibly be made against this Duty of Prayer Object 1 First God doth before-hand know all our Wants and Desires and therefore what Necessity is there of Prayer Answ To this I answer with St. Augustine God says he doth require that we should pray to him not so much to make known what our Will and Desire is for that he cannot be ignorant of but it is for the exercise of our Desires and to draw forth our Affections towards those Things that we beg at his Hands that thereby we may be made fit to receive what he is ready to give Object 2 Secondly Say some It is in vain to pray because all our Prayers cannot alter the course of God's Providence we cannot by our most fervent Prayers change the method of God's Decrees if he hath resolved from Eternity to bestow such a Mercy upon us we shall receive it whether we pray or pray not if he hath resolved we shall never partake of it if we do pray all our Prayers will be in vain Answ I have long since Answered this Objection and told you That it is true God's Providence is immutable But the same Providence that orders the End to be obtained hath likewise ordered the Means by which it must be obtained As God hath decreed Blessings to us so he hath decreed that they should be obtained by Prayer and therefore we must pray that we may obtain those Blessings for that is the Means God hath decreed for the obtaining of them Directions how we must Pray so as to be accepted Some possibly may say If we must thus pray without ceasing how shall we be assured that God will hear us If it be our Duty to pray how shall we pray so as that our Prayers may become acceptable unto God I Answer 1. They that hear God God will hear them First If you would have God hear you when you pray you must be sure to hear him when he speaks See that place Prov. 1.24 28. Because I have called and you have refused and have set at nought all my Counsels therefore says God you shall call but I will not answer you shall seek me early but shall not