Repentance they cease to be sinners If the Repentance be true perfect and serious the Sinner thereby cleanseth his Soul and in that Moment may be truly said to lift up holy Hands in Prayer If not so an imperfect or a feigned Repentance will no more promote the Efficacy of Prayer than if the Supplicant had still continued in the open Practice of his Sins Nor ought this to be any Disswasion from early and constant Innocence that the same Promises of Audience and Favour are annexed to the Prayers of penitent Sinners as to those of holy Men who need no Repentance that is no total Change of their Life and Actions That was indeed objected by the envious Labourers in the Vineyard against the good Housholder who rewarded the late-comers into his Vineyard equally with those who had born the Heat and Burden of the Day as an Act of Injustice and unequal Distribution To this it may be sufficient to answer what that good Housholder representing God in the Parable replied Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own Is thine Eye evil because mine is good That is in a strict Sense a Man Pious from his Infancy without any notorious Sin deserveth no more from God than a penitent Sinner newly return'd to Obedience yet to assert both the exactness of the Divine Justice and to inforce a constant Holiness from the Motive arising from this Consideration I will proceed in it a little further It is most true that God hath promised pardon and Favour to the Petitions of repenting Sinners that he will blot out their Iniquities take away their Guilt and remove the Punishment of their Sins This he did to Manasseh to the Ninevites to many both under the Old and the New Testament But we find neither Promise nor Example of any extraordinary Favour beside Pardon conferred immediately at the Prayers of Penitents such as miraculous Deliverance from Enemies Prolongation of Life Communication of Benefits to others for their sakes Effusion of eminent Graces and the like All which seem to have been Rewards reserved to Persons of more illustrious and more constant Piety who by a long Obedience gave undoubted Proofs of their Devotion to the Service of God and were in their times as shining Lights in the World such as Abraham Moses and Daniel the Prophets and Apostles who were never defiled with any notorious Habit of Sin And therefore as they distinguished themselves from the World by remarkable Acts and uninterrupted habits of Piety so they were distinguished by God by visible and extraordinary Benefits and Graces consequent to their Prayers Their Piety Patience and Obedience were raised far above the Standard of latter times No wonder then that we who have so far degenerated from their Example find not the same Effect of Prayer and that we even dare not to ask those things which were so easily vouchsafed to them Many indeed of those extraordinary Benefits granted at the Prayers of ancient Saints were intended as so many miraculous Proofs of the Doctrine which they professed and under the Law were the only promised Reward and under the Gospel were at first necessary to confirm the Faith yet still we may be assured that the Efficacy of Prayer doth at this Day decrease with the Excellency of Piety and may be raised with it A second Reason of the Necessity of lifting up holy Hands in Prayer is taken from the Nature and chief Design of it which as I before largely proved is the Worship of God in that it acknowledgeth his Dominion over Mankind his Justice his Power his Goodness and his Omniscience In praying to God man declareth his Belief of all these Divine Attributes but without lifting up holy Hands at the same time he affronts them all defeats the End and Design of Prayer and far from worshipping God in it denieth his Perfections and overthroweth what otherwise he might be supposed to do This we shall soon be convinced of if we pass through all the Reasons upon the Account of which Prayer is an Act of Divine Worship If it be considered as a Testimony of Obedience because the Practice of a Duty enjoyned by God no less is that concomitant Purity commanded for which we now plead The same Authority which requireth Prayer willeth withal that it be offer'd up with Innocence and Purity of Mind To perform the Act and withhold the Condition is then no other than to confess an Obligation and immediately to deny it If Prayer includeth a Confession of our Wants and Imperfection and Dependance upon God continuance in Sin argueth that we have no Sense of that Imperfection that we affect to be independent from God and exempted from his Government If in that Man professeth Subjection to him by not purging his Mind from Sin he makes his Profession to be no other than a Protestation against plain Fact If there he implyeth a Belief of the Justice and Goodness of God here he manifests by his practice that he thinks it not just to be deprived by his Laws the satisfaction of his beloved Lusts. If by addressing himself to God he confesseth him to know all things and to be every where present by his Sins he pretends to escape his Knowledge and retire from his Presence If in the one he publisheth a Belief of his Almighty Power in the other he defieth the Execution of it He boweth his Knee indeed and prostrates his Body in Honour of God but at the same time he giveth up the Government of his nobler part the Soul to the Adversary of God the Devil Thus a Sinner willfully continuing in sin destroyeth that Adoration which by Prayer he pretendeth to pay to God Nor is that the only Consequence attending Sin in Prayer that it defeateth the Act of Adoration and obstructeth the Rewards annexed to it It farther involveth the Soul of Man in a most horrid Crime in that he therein affronteth all those Perfections of God which in praying to him he professeth to believe The guilt of Perjury consisteth in commiting the Fact after a solemn and deliberate Invocation of the Divine Presence and the guilt of Blasphemy in reviling the Attributes of God after a particular mention and profession of them Both these and many more Crimes are Acted as often as a Love or Resolution of sinning is retained with Prayer So that if the mind of Man were not depraved to a most deplorable Degree it would fear to approach to God in Prayer without a perfect Innocence that is either Conscience of having committed no sin or unfeigned Sorrow for it If we joyn all the Aggravations of sins in one we still shall not conceive a greater than to fall down and worship God professing his supreme Dominion and at the same time proceed to violate the â—aws which he hath founded to call him by the Glorious name of God and acknowledge his Power yet neither to revere his Majesty nor to fear his Punishments to celebrate
Imperfections which necessarily do attend it Errors of this nature in matters of Religion are yet much more Dangerous and at the same time more unreasonable because not founded in internal Perfections of our Nature but in extraneous Advantages such as the extraordinary and unaccountable Favour of God whereby he prefers some Men before others without any respect to the Merits or Demerits of either An easie way indeed of gaining Heaven and as what flatters the Ambition of Men is commonly acceptable to them a pleasing Delusion But such Men are to know that altho' themselves proceed herein without any other Principles than a strong Imagination prompted by a vehement Pride yet that the most wise God never Acts without sufficient Reason is not to be swayed by any Partiality and Dispenseth his Favours with the most exact Justice If they believe God will oversee Faults in them which he will not pass by in others they prefer themselves to the inestimable Blood of the Son of God which being shed to purchase a particular Covenant of Remission of Sins they fondly imagine that the Conditions of it shall be Dispensed with for their sake Lastly If any imagine themselves to lay an Obligation upon God by their own Acts of Piety and Obedience this indeed will be a strong Perswasion of extraordinary Dignity since it implies an absolute Independency from God But as this is Blasphemous so the Belief of that is highly Criminal If we performed an exact and unsining Obedience we should still do no more than our Duty it is what we owed to God in Right of our Creation and Dependence on him And then surely even in Affairs of this Life we do not believe our selves to have obliged any Person when we pay a just Debt to him But if we reflect upon our many Sins more numerous than our Acts of Obedience and consider that the first is the sole Act of our own Will the latter the effect of the Grace of God enabling us and working with us that the first is always perfect the latter even when best still imperfect we shall find abundant Arguments of Humility but none of Arrogance II. The usefulness of this Exhortation of the Apostle and what hath been Discoursed by me in the Prosecution of it appears not only in preventing these fatal Errors which have been markt out and opposed by us but also extends to many Actions of Life and Duties of Religion As first This will secure to us constant Peace and Satisfaction of Mind amidst all the inconveniences of Life Whatsoever is wont to render the Mind of Man uneasie may be reduced either to the want of some desired Good or the presence of some vexarious Evil. And herein Men put no Bounds to their Desires or Resentments They passionately desire the acquisition of some Good or removal of some Evil which is sometimes impossible in Nature and ofttimes denied them by the ordinary Providence of God Hereupon they grow Discontented many times repine against God and think themselves injured and all upon a mistaken supposal of their deserving whatsoever they shall desire Whereas if they would contract their ambitious Desires and think Soberly as the Apostle adviseth they would soon be convinced that Man is no such excellent Creature for whose sake the ordinary course of the World should be changed or God work Miracles to please his Fancy That if Infirmities and Diseases attend his Body it is no more than the natural Consequence of the Constitution of it If adverse Fortune doth afflict him it is an effect of the steady Continuation of the same general Laws of Providence in the Universe whereof himself is but an inconsiderable Member If the grant of his Desires be denied to him it is no Wonder his Merits are too small to require the Performance of all his Wishes If all these together trouble him he hath no injury done unto him he cannot accuse Heaven of Injustice All these Inconveniences are the necessary Consequences of his Nature and then if he be willing to continue his Existence it is no less than absurd to desire to change the Properties of it If he murmurs against God because his Nature is not more Excellent he shews himself yet more Unreasonable since all proceeds from the free Gift of our Creator to whom we ought rather to be thankful that we are raised above the Order of Beasts than repine because we are set beneath the Dignity of Angels Secondly this will teach us Humility which is nothing else but a sobriety of Thought or just esteem of our own Merits And that first with our fellow Christians which was the peculiar design of the Apostle when he laid down this general Precept directing it against those who upon supposal of their extraordinary Merits above other Men boasted of a particular Favour with God despised their Brethren as Carnal and perhaps Reprobate made Ostentation of those Graces which were the free Gift of God or pretended to those which really they did not possess And in Confidence of either invaded those Offices in the Church which were not committed to them violated the Rules of Ecclesiastical Discipline and presumed to exempt themselves from the Obligation of it Such Spiritual Pride hath in all Ages continued to infest the Church and still continues to molest it But since I have hitherto waved the Prosecution of this particular Design of the Apostle I will return to the more general Use of his Exhortation and observe in the last place That 3. This will teach us Humility towards God and give us a just Idea of our relation to him It is almost impossible to form any rational Act of Adoration to him without obtaining a true Notion of the infinite Distance betwixt him and us That there is nothing in our Nature which could attract his Love that our most perfect Obedience can confer no Benefit upon him that neither our celebrating him on Earth nor our Society in Heaven will add to the infinity of his present Happiness It will demonstrate the inconceivable Greatness of the Divine Mercy towards us in sending his Son to dye for us in proclaiming Pardon to our Sins in offering terms of Salvation to us when nothing could be found in us which could deserve so great a Favor It will add to the Love of Christ that he was content to lay down his Life for such inconsiderable Creatures and thereby not only bestow upon us one full Pardon of all precedent Sins but renew his Pardons as often as Men should sincerely renew their Repentance in giving assurances to us of all this by the Participation of his own precious Body and Blood which for that purpose should be for ever continued and often celebrated in the Church To this whosoever approacheth with Humility Faith and Repentance will assuredly receive Remission of his Sins past and Grace to avoid them for the future But without these preparative Dispositions of Mind it is vain to expect the Benefit upon a
thoughts will easily recur as often as the words of the Prayer are repeated and immediately create a real Devotion in the Soul which hath by frequent hearing and Meditation of those words fully attained the whole Scope of them and long since received deep Impressions from them By this Benefit the devout Members of the Church are enabled and directed to put themselves in a certain method of Devotion and Worship which mightily facilitates their Conceptions removes their Distractions and leaves them free to attend to that alone on which they are then employed This alone ought to recommend the Duty of Prayer and frequency of it to Mankind that it makes up the principal part of the positive Worship of God Yet this Consideration will perhaps be more perswasive that it produceth great Advantages and Benefits to Men which are so amplified in Scripture by the many Promises of granting to devout Supplicants whatsoever they shall desire by the frequent Examples of the wonderful Deliverances and Benefits obtained by Prayer that 't is almost impossible the Duty should be neglected by any who are not either devoid of Faith or regardless of their own Interest It is not only Promised by Christ That whatsoever Men shall ask in his name shall be given to them That if they have Faith nothing which they desire shall be impossible to them That the door shall be open to them that knock That the effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous Man availeth much even to obtain more than is included in the ordinary and general Promises of God as is there illustrated by Examples But God hath also been pleased to represent himself as labouring under the ordinary Passions and Infirmities of Men who often Grant what they had not designed to avoid the restless importunity of the Petitioner that so no Sense of his own unworthiness might discourage Man from applying himself to God by Prayer Thus Luk. XI our Lord describeth God under the Parable of an Housholder who altho' he would not lend to his Neighbour upon the account of Friendship yet did it to satisfie his Importunity And Luk. XVIII he resembleth God to an unjust Judge who altho' he would not do Justice to the poor Widow for Justice sake as who neither feared God nor regarded Man yet did it to be rid of her troublesome Importunity These Representations may perhaps appear surprizing it being unaccountable that God should dispense his Favours without respect to the Merits of the Petitioners and impossible that he should fall under any Temptations common to Man Yet if we look a little nearer we shall find this whole Conduct agreeable to the Justice and Wisdom of God God indeed bestows not any Favours but upon the worthy Receivers He hath affixed certain Conditions to all his Gifts and will not separate them in favour of any one He ever giveth Judgment according to the Merits of Causes and is deaf to the Prayers of wicked Men yet granteth many Petitions to the Importunity of the Petitioners which without that Importunity would never have been obtained For he who prayeth importunately to God doth thereby qualifie himself for his Favour since it cannot easily be conceived that any Man should address himself by frequent and fervent Prayer to God and not at the same time purge his Conscience from every Sin which may obstruct the Grant of his Desire And herein his Care will be no less intense than is his Desire of what he then requesteth His very addressing himself to God manifests that he believeth him to be the Fountain of all Good that he is convinced of his Power and Goodness that he depends upon him and founds the hopes of his Happiness in his Favour If the Prayer be often repeated as is always in Cases of Importunity the Soul doth thereby contract an habit of Piety of thinking upon God and submitting to his Power of fearing him and depending on him And when Man by the use of Prayer is brought to this Disposition no wonder that God should then grant to him what at first he was unworthy of and then indulge to him the Rewards of the Faithful since he is now become as one of the Faithful Thus Prayer hath a natural Efficacy to reform the Mind of Man to expel Prophaness Infidelity and the contempt of God and to introduce all those Vertues which will at last give a just Claim of Divine Favour to him Man by presenting himself to God in Prayer doth accustom his Mind to just Conceptions of his Power his Goodness and his Command over us doth imprint therein an awful regard of his Majesty After many Resolutions formed and renewed in Prayer she findeth the very inclinations of his Will changed What at first he did but coldly desire after many Reflections on the worth of it he vehemently affects what at first he was but lightly perswaded of after many Professions he is fully convinced of what in the beginning was but a weak impression of Mind after frequent Iteration of the same thoughts becometh a well fixed Habit. It must be an unnatural sort of Perverseness which dares to invoke the name of God in Prayer to confess therein his Justice Power and Omnipresence and yet immediately Affront them all which can desire the Favour of God by frequent Petitions and yet oppose him by constant Rebellions The Minds of very few Persons are capable of such monstrous wickedness And upon this account Prayer is not only a Duty of Men already pious and religious but also an effectual method to make Men such which when it is once performed they then become qualified to receive the Benefit of all those illustrious Promises which are annexed to Prayer Thus much of Prayer in general I now proceed to apply all this to publick Prayer for that was the principal design of St. Paul in this place This whole Epistle is directed to a Bishop a Governor of the Church and is almost wholly taken up in prescribing Rules of external Worship and Government In this Chapter then the Apostle giveth direction for publick Prayer as appears by his opposing the Form of Prayer he there commanded to that in use among the Jews in those words I will that Men pray every where or more literally in every place The publick and solemn Worship of the Jews was affixed to the Temple at Jerusalem The publick Worship of Christians was to be celebrated equally in all places that is in all parts of the World wherever Christianity prevails God being equally present in all Congregations of devout Believers Had the Apostle here spoken of private Prayer the opposition of it to the Jewish manner of Prayer had been frivolous and also false For the Jews did believe and maintain no less than himself that private Prayer both might and ought to be offered up equally in all places Besides in the very next Verse the Apostle giveth rules for the Dress of Women in which they were to appear in the publick Place of
to learn how to worship him and to be excited to it The chief Design of your meeting in this holy Place is that you may worship God herein But how can you be said to worship him who place your selves in no Posture of Worship who express no Concern at the words of publick Prayer joyn not in them nor add an Amen to them Can you really believe standing or sitting to be a posture of Worship Or will you not confess kneeling to be really the most humble Posture And if so surely the Creator of Heaven and Earth the Lord of Life and Death is to be approached in the most humble and most devout manner Be not ashamed to correct an ill Custom study to offer up to God a compleat Service to be present at the beginning of Prayers to attend diligently to them to joyn devoutly in them to worship God both with Body and Soul since both were created by him So shall you truly worship God so shall you Entitle your selves to all those glorious Promises which are annexed to true Piety and Devotion obtain your Desires and save your Souls The Sixteenth SERMON PREACH'D 1690. At LAMBETH CHAPEL 1 Tim. II. 8. I will therefore that Men pray every where lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting IN my last Discourse upon these words I treated largely of the Duty of Prayer enjoyned in the former part of the Verse I will that Men pray and urged the Obligation of this Duty from these two Conâ—iderations especially that Prayer is a principal Act of Adoration and the most essential part of the positive Worship of God which being a Duty incumbent upon all Men and at all times maketh the Duty and the frequency of Prayer to be no less necessary In the Second place I laid open the Advantages to be received from Prayer and the Promises annexed to it that so if the Sense of Duty could not engage yet at least that of Interest might perswade I then proceeded to apply all this to publick Prayer having first proved to you that the Apostle in this place treateth of that especially and therein manifested how much greater the Obligation is to publick Prayer how more expressive of our Subjection to God what greater Advantages it bringeth to devout Supplicants and what more noble Promises are annexed to it It remaineth now to pass through the other parts of the Text which are these three I. The place of Prayer Every where II. The posture of Prayer Lifting up holy hands III. The Conditions of Prayer required to make it acceptable and effectual Lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting I. The place of Prayer the Apostle teacheth to be every where that is not in all places alike but in all parts of the World wherever any Members of the Christian Church are to be found Herein he distinguisheth the publick Worship of Christians from that of the Jews among whom the more solemn parts of Divine Worship nay all the parts of the positive Worship of God instituted by himself were affixed to one certain place where the Priests daily offered Sacrifices and performed the other Offices of Legal Worship and adult Males among the Jews thrice every year gave their Attendance This was both easie to the Jews by reason of the small Dimensions of their Country and also necessary to preserve them from relapsing into Idolatry and Superstition which would not have been avoided in that stiff-necked People had the publick Worship of God been permitted to them in many separate places where the High Priest had not the immediate over-sight of them as they did actually fall into Idolatry and corrupted their Religion whensoever quitting the Temple at Jerusalem they began to worship God upon every high Hill and under every green Tree To this Temple therefore after the full Settlement of the Jews in the promised Land the publick Worship of God was wholly affixed out of which it was not lawful to offer Sacrafice nor was any Expiation of sin provided To it many glorious Promises were appropriated as that God would hear the Prayers offered up in it and be gracious to his People for the sake of it But in the Christian Religion which was not to be contained in one Family or Nation but to be propagated to all the Members of Mankind the Observation of this Institution became both impossible and unnecessary and was therefore abolished by God The publick Worship of him was thenceforward commanded to be alike celebrated in all places that is in all parts of the Church His Presence was not confined nor his Promises annexed to one place he is equally present in all Congregations of devout Believers and receiveth their Petitions with equal Favour Upon this account the Apostle distinguishing the Christian from the Jewish Worship directeth publick Prayers to be offered up every where as he had before distinguished it upon another respect in the first Verse of this Chapter there commanding that Supplications Prayers and Intercessions be made for all Men whereas the Jews never prayed for any but those of their own Nation and Communion This Enlargement of the place of Worship could not indeed but be extremely surprizing to the Jews who had been brought up in a profound Veneration of the Sanctity of the Temple of Jerusalem to which the publick Worship of the true God had been now appropriated for near twelve hundred Years And therefore the Divine Wisdom which from all Ages determined to enlarge his limits of the Church and gather into it as many of the Jews as by a right use of their Reason should be brought to believe in Christ had both by precedent and subsequent Facts provided abundant Reasons to convince the Jews that the publick Worship of himself should not always be confined to the Temple of Jerusalem but after the coming of the Messias should be extended into the whole Earth Thus Zeph. II. 11. it is foretold That when God should found the glorious Kingdom of the Messias then Men shall worship him every one from his place even all the Isles of the Heathen And in Mal. I. 11. For from the rising of the Sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering for my name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of hosts Which Prophesies did clearly instruct the Jews that when the Gentiles should be gathered into the Church that is at the coming of the Messias he should be worshipped alike in all places of the Earth and even those Acts of publick Worship which were more peculiar to the Temple of Jerusalem that is Incense and Sacrifice should be then offered up from the rising up of the Sun to the going down of the same although in a more spiritual manner This Doctrine and Institution therefore ought not to have appeared strange unto the Jews whose Minds God had prepared for
in obedience to him and then Temptation in them will be so far from being a Crime that it will be an Act of Duty On the other side God could not be excused from the Imputation of all those ill Consequences as might attend such Temptation For whatsoever is performed by a supernatural Power derived from him is to be ascribed to him only Whatsoever happens in the ordinary Course of things or is effected by the natural Power of any Creature is only permitted by him he is not to answer for it but what is caused by his extraordinary Power delegated to any Creature may truly be said to be done by his direct Will and special Commission So that to avoid the charging of Injustice upon God we ought not to entertain any such Opinion of him He permits indeed the Devil to exert his Malice in the continual Temptation of Men and hinders not his Operations by a perpetual interposition of his Almighty Power nor would it be reasonable for us to expect it much less to conceive unworthy Thoughts of the Divine Government of the World which hath so settled the Frame of things that as if the Pleasures of the World the violent craving of a sensual Appetite and the Difficulty of Vertue were not sufficient to divert Men from their Duty the restless Sollicitation of evil Spirits is added to all these Arguments and Incentives to sin That it should be so was not a primary institution but a depravation of Nature accidental to the order of the World at first settled by the Author of it which when once happened God was no more obliged to remove or suspend by an extraordinary Miracle than he is to hinder the bad example Suggestions or Sollicitations of one Man to another And this is no small Encouragement to us to oppose the assaults of evil Spirits with Constancy and Resolution to consider that they act not against us by any extraordinary Communication of an infinite Power but by their own natural force only which must be finite and limited We read indeed in Scripture that the Devils are sometimes extraordinarily employed by God to execute his Will and that in relation to Mankind in which case they act by a supernatural Power derived from him but this extendeth not to Temptation They were at their first Creation intended for Ministerial Spirits an Office which the Blessed Angels still enjoy and although those wicked Spirits endeavoured to free themselves from Subjection to God which endeavour occasioned their fall yet what is none of their least Torments they are forced to acknowledge their subjection by executing his Commands An eminent example of this we find to have been frequent in the Apostles times when Persons who were Excommunicated by the Church with the highest censure or formally delivered up to Satan were seized on by him in a conspicuous manner and either wholly possessed by him and deprived of the use of their reason or immediately afflicted with violent Diseases Thus in the case of the incestuous Corinthian St. Paul commandeth the Governours of that Church solemnly to excommunicate him to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the Flesh that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. V. An employment surely very ungrateful to the Devils since nothing could tend more to the confirmation of the Christian Faith the Glory of God and the conviction of Men than such visible punishments which conduced also to the Salvation even of those who were affected with them striking them with a due awe of the Almighty Power of God and forcing them to enter into a serious consideration of their unhappy State and abhorrence of those sins which occasioned it If such exemplary punishments do not at this day attend the solemn Censures of the Church it is for the same reason for which the Gift of Miracles is denied to it although it is to be believed that the Devil acquires still no small power over such Persons when the Sentence is rightly and justly pronounced by their loss of that supernatural Grace which all true Christians receive in their Communion with the Church and in vertue of which they are chiefly enabled to withstand the wiles of the Devil Another example of this extraordinary power given to the Devils may be that of Demoniacks whose number seems to have been considerable at the time of our Saviour and perhaps somewhat of a like if not the same kind may still be found That the Devils possessed these unhappy Persons not by their own natural power but by extraordinary commission derived from God seems unquestionable For it cannot be imagined that any finite Being could by its ordinary power alter the course of Nature If so Miracles would be no Argument of Divinity and the foundation of all revealed Religion would fall One of the most eminent and frequent Miracles of our Saviour was the cure of Demoniacks Now if the Devils could take possession of Men by their own power they might also quit that possession at their will and by quitting it opportunely perform the same Miracle as to the Eyes of Men which Christ himself did They acted therefore herein as the Executioners of God who might command and impower them to seize on the Bodies of Men to alter their natural Constitutions bereave them of the use of their Reason and afflict them with continual Torments in punishment of their Sins For which reason also we may well believe these Demoniacks to have been more numerous among the Jews than they ever were among Christians For the Covenant of the Jews included chiefly Temporal Rewards and Punishments in vertue whereof the Honour of God was concerned to inflict dreadful Punishments upon Notorious Sinners even in this Life while he had not yet made fully known to the World his Resolution of punishing Men in another Life But neither of these Cases doth infer a Command or Commission to the Devil to tempt Men yet there is one instance in Scripture which if not rightly understood may seem to infer it And that is the case of Job whose Patience and Submission God tried by the Ministry of the Devil It were enough to say that such extraordinary Examples are no more to be brought in proof and illustration of the ordinary conduct of God in relation to us than was his Command to Abraham of offering up his Son Isaac However neither here did the Devil receive any extraordinary Power of tempting Job in a strict Sense He was impowered indeed to raise that Tempest whereby the Sons of Job were buried in the ruins of their House But this is very agreeable with what I laid down before and may well be supposed to have been in punishment of their Sins of the greatness of which Job was so sensible that he daily offered Sacrifice to God in expiation of them The Devil was further enabled to destroy his Possessions and torment his Body with a loathsome Disease But all this
of Gratitude from the Jews for Deliverance from a temporal corporeal Bondage and leave us without any Obligation of rendring publick and solemn Honour to him for freeing us from a spiritual and eternal Slavery The Redemption wrought by Christ is to us what the Deliverance out of Egypt was to the Jews The Feast of Easter instituted in the remembrance of the Completion of that Redemption is to us what the Feast of the Passover was to them appointed in Memory of their Deliverance Christ is our Passover as we heard this Morning from 1 Cor. V. Let us therefore keep the Feast The Determination of our Christian Festivals is to be taken from the most illustrious Actions of Christ our Redeemer and when they are determined they are to be celebrated with no less Religion than were the Festivals of the Jews nay rather with greater Expressions of Joy Gratitude and Devotion because they Commemorate far greater Benefits That this Festival therefore was particularly instituted by the Apostles those words of St. Paul do not obscurely intimate but the Practice of the universal Church immediately after their times do most evidently manifest it Scarce was St. John the last Liver of the Apostles Dead when the Eastern and Western Churches began to divide about the time of Solemnizing Easter not whether it should be solemnized but whether it should be a fixed or a moveable Feast both contending for their own Custom as for an essential Point of Religon in that indeed straining a Circumstance too far but clearly proving thereby that the solemn Observation of Easter was then by all Christians accounted an essential Institution of Religion in that they esteemed it unlawful to vary the least Circumstance formerly received in the Observation of it And as this Festival hath succeeded instead of the Jewish Passover which did prefigure the whole Mystery of our Redemption so the due manner of our Celebration of it was typified by the Ceremonies prescribed by God to them in eating the Paschal Lamb. As they were commanded to remove all Leaven out of their Houses so we are to put away the Leaven of Malice and Wickedness in the words of St. Paul As they then sung Hymns of Thanksgiving to God for their Deliverance out of Egypt so we ought to give Praise and Glory to God for consummating our Redemption by the Resurrection of our Lord upon this day As they eat the Paschal Lamb with bitter Herbs in a Habit and Posture expressing their readiness to go out of Egypt with great Testimonies of rejoycing and mutual Kindness So we should receive the Elements of Bread and Wine representing the Sacrifice of Christ the Lamb of God once offered upon the Cross for the sins of the whole World which is the chief and most solemn Act of our Worship to be paid upon this day with a bitter Repentance and Sorrow for past sins with a stedfast reliance upon the Promises of God with a perfect Submission to his Will and readiness to go wherever he shall lead us with a sincere Charity towards one another and to all the Members of Mankind for whom Christ died that is for all Men without Exception and with the most intense Thanksgiving that our Souls can form for all the Benefits of our Redemption but more particularly for raising to Life as upon this day him who died for our sins and rose again for our Justification So by worthily Celebrating here on Earth the Memory of the glorious Resurrection of our Lord we shall obtain to be hereafter admitted to follow the Example of his Resurrection and share in the Glory which he now enjoys in Heaven Which God of his infinite Mercy grant for the sake of him who died and rose again our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to whom with the Father c. The Fifteenth SERMON Preach'd on April 5th 1690. At LAMBETH CHAPEL 1 Tim. II. 8. I will therefore that Men pray every where lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting PRAYER being one of the greatest Duties of a Christian Life that whereby we chiefly pay our Adoration to God whereby we obtain the Remission of our Sins and the Relief of our Necessities to which so many Promises are annexed and so frequent Exhortation to the Practice of it to be found in Scripture we ought to be well instructed in the Nature the Necessity and the Conditions of it To effect this was the chief Intention of the Apostle in this whole Chapter in which this Verse being more comprehensive than the rest I have chosen it for the Subject of my intended Discourse of Prayer In it the words easily direct me to insist on these Four Heads I. The Duty of Prayer I will that Men pray II. The Place of it Every where III. The posture of Prayer Lifting up their hands IV. The Conditions required to make it acceptable and effectual Lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting I. The Duty of Prayer is expresly commanded in the first words I will c. To inforce the Authority of which Command the Apostle saith in the former Verse that he was ordained a Preacher an Apostle and Teacher of the Gentiles acted herein by Divine Commission And surely it was no light Matter when the Apostle whose Authority was long since received in all the Churches founded by him thought fit to produce his Commission before he imposed the Command a Command not first introduced by him but often repeated by our Lord himself who taught his Disciples a Form of Prayer and injoyned them to watch and pray But since none as I suppose will dispute the Command or deny the Authority of it it will be of more advantage to shew the reasonableness and the use of Prayer Which I proceed to do First then Prayer is the principal Act of Adoration paid by Man to God and upon that account becomes necessary to us Man being the Creature of God at first produced out of nothing by his Almighty Power and afterward all his Life long depending on his Providence and maintained by him oweth to God all that Service which he is capable to pay and that is no other than to adore his Majesty to acknowledge his Power to celebrate his Praises to admire his infinite Perfections in all things to own his dependence on him to profess himself the Creature the Servant the Subject of God and to behave himself as such This is all which Man can pay to God for those infinite Benefits which he hath received from him God hath no Interests of his own to be promoted by us The Infinity of his Nature hath set him beyond all want of external Aids and even beyond all increase of Happiness even that Glory which he receiveth from our Worship is of no advantage to him yet is it not the less required of us since it declares our Conviction of that Gratitude Subjection and Obedience which are due to his Benefits and his Power that Honour Worship and Reverence which belong
therein by consequence adore him and all received Forms of Prayer do expresly include an Act and Confession of Worship much more doth a fervent and devout Soul which prayeth to God in the most perfect and excellent manner truly adore him at the same time For he who prayeth as he ought to pray doth at the same time submit himself to the Divine Will with the most absolute Complacency and Subjection which his Soul can Form conceives himself to be so far the Creature that he is as nothing in respect of God as such wholly devotes himself to him and depends not only upon his Power for the execution of his Desire but also upon his good Pleasure for the Grant and upon his Wisdom for the convenience of it In imitation of our Lord who in his admirable Transport of Devotions in the Garden committed his request to the Will of God with an intire Subjection And all this put together is the most intense Act of Adoration which Man can pay to God Add to this that humble posture of Body which Men of all Ages and Religions have been wont to use in Prayer and it will appear that Prayer is in all Respects a compleat Act of Worship Men have differed indeed as to the particular Posture some using Prostration others stretching out the Hands and most Kneeling but in this all have agreed that that Posture was to be employed which might best denote the Subjection of the Supplicant to God But the farther Consideration of this belongs to the third Head proposed Upon the whole it is manifest that Prayer is the most natural and most expressive Act of Worship And if so the same necessity which we before shew to lye upon us of adoring God will also require us to offer up Prayers to him And as our Subjection to God and other Reasons for which we owe Adoration to him always continue the same and equally oblige a Man in every part of his Life so Prayer for the same Reasons ought to be continually addressed to him altho' we have many times no particular Wants which we desire to be supplied by him Prayer as an Act of Worship is a Debt at all times due to God and as such is also founded upon eternal Reasons which admit no change Our dependance upon God always continueth the same the same infinite Perfections are invariably possessed by him the same Relation between God and Man persists unalterable Adoration therefore is in almost all Cases to be formed upon the same Conceptions to be raised by the same Considerations to be founded upon the same Reasons to consist in the same Operations of Soul and Body So that altho' it be repeated in the same manner ten thousand times it is no more than what is the Duty of Man to do no more than what is reasonable and a â—ational Man can no more alter the Thoughts upon which Adoration is founded than he can the eternal Causes upon which those Thoughts are raised No wonder then that in all well constituted Churches the publick Forms of Prayer whereby Men worship God always continue the same are over and over again repeated every day oft-times a day and that for many Ages together For it cannot be denied that we owe Worship to God every day every part of the day altho' the Necessities of Life require that not all but some certain fixed times be employed in it This Worship is to proceed upon the same Reasons In adoring God we confess our selves his Creatures we acknowledge his Supreme Authority we implore his Mercy we sollicit his Goodness When we worship him a second time the same Thoughts return if a third time 't is but the renewal of the same Conceptions What then can be more reasonable than that the words of Prayer which we employ in this Act of Adoration should always continue the same It is therefore a most unreasonable Objection against set Forms of Prayer that in them the same words are repeated again and again every day For is not God to be worshipped again and again Are not his infinite Attributes deserving Adoration the same yesterday to day and for ever Can our Conceptions be really changed while the Object remains the same Have these Persons discovered new Perfections in God or new Foundations of Worship since the last Act of it Do they believe that God continually affects new Complements and new Harangues that there is any Vertue in the words themselves or any Magical force in the Variation of them That were to espouse the very grossest Error of the Heathens which our Lord reprehendeth in the VI. of St. Matthew who placed the Efficacy of their Prayers not in the Devotion of the Heart but in the Vertue and multitude of their words Yet cannot this Error be avoided by those who cry up the necessity of extempore Prayer or frequent change in it For since the Internal Conceptions of the Mind in the Act of Adoration being founded upon the eternal Attributes of God always continue the same to what Purpose is any change in the external words unless there be some secret Vertue in the words themselves If they pretend that this change more effectually promotes the Devotion of the Hearer it is so far from true that it rendreth all true Devotion absolutely impossible to the Hearers For in hearing a Prayer before unknown and unheard of even an understanding Man and of quick Apprehension can do no more than singly examine every Sentence of the Prayer he heareth whether he may safely joyn in it least perhaps any Blasphemy or Folly or Indecency should be contained in it As soon as one Sentence is thus examined a second Presents it self and then a third so that an intelligent Auditor attending only to examine by parts the Prayer he heareth hath no leisure to pray to God or in praying to adore him And if the Devotion of a knowing Man be thus defeated an Auditor of lower Capacities will never be able to form in his Mind such a rational Devotion as becometh the Soul of Man and will wholly employ himself in diverting his Fancy with some new and surprizing Sentence and expecting what next shall follow Whereas in set and known Forms of Prayer the devout Hearer is before assured of the Lawfulness and Decency of the Prayer and his Mind being at rest upon that account attends wholly to form all those Acts of Devotion and Worship in the Soul which the words of the Prayer express and therein receiveth extraordinary Assistance in that the Mind being accustomed to that Form of Prayer hath through long use formed noble Conceptions of God upon the hearing of some words and raised intense Affections upon others conceived an hearty Sorrow of sin upon these and been excited to a most profound Reverence of God by the hearing of those words The Soul having affixed all these Thoughts and Acts to those several Words and Sentences of the received Form of Prayer the same affections and
Worship that is in the Church All which put it beyond all doubt that St. Paul doth in this place treat of the publick worship of God and of publick Prayer to be used in Churches In the first place then if all Prayer be an Act of Worship publick Prayer is more eminently so The intention of private Prayer is in the first place to obtain Supplies to the wants of the Petitioner and then to worship God Whereas in publick Prayer on the contrary the worship of God is the chief design and the supply of Necessities but a Secondary intention So that to intermit the use of publick Prayer and pray only in private is for Man to worship God only in Subordination to his own designs It cannot be denied that publick Worship and Prayer do far more effectually tend to the Honour and Glory of God when Men do openly and in the hearing of all others confess their Subjection to God magnifie his Benefits deprecate his Anger and acknowledge their own unworthiness This is truly and properly to give Glory to God Whereas he who confineth his Devotion to a Closet may perhaps be allowed to have a just Esteem of the Divine Benefits but seems ashamed to confess so much to other Men that he is the Creature of God as well as others that he equally depends upon him that he hath also violated his Commands and wants his Mercy The Psalmist therefore upon the receiving of great and eminent Benefits is wont to affirm that he will praise God in the Congregation as well knowing that such a publick acknowledgement of them did far more contribute to the Honour of God and was also more pleasing to him It is not enough to say that God receiveth no increase of Honour from our Praises For neither doth he receive any such advantage from private Worship yet it would be impious to say that the worship of God is not the Duty of Man But by publick worship Men do more evidently manifest their gratitude to God and the Sense which they have of his Benefits and their own Obligation than by private Prayer and Adoration And upon this account the former is more acceptable to God who delights in the good of his Creatures which good can be no otherwise procured or maintained but by an exact discharge of their Duty one part of which is a just return of Gratitude and Worship to himself God receiveth not increase of Honour from the Praises of Angels any more than from those of Men. Yet all the Descriptions which we find of Heaven represent them as incessantly singing Praises to their great Creator Who not content to retain a reverent Conception of the Divine Majesty in their own thoughts communicate them to each other and publish them to the whole World And indeed to what purpose can we imagine that God should both under the Old and the New Testament found Churches that is separate Societies of Men united by certain Laws and under one common Form of worship if it be not the Duty of all the Members of those Churches to meet together at certain times and places and adore him by one common Form If God had intended to rest satisfied with private Worship in vain did he contrive and found Churches by wonders of Providence as he hath that both of the Jews and Christians in vain hath he given to them particular Laws and annexed many Priviledges and Promises to the whole Society and to the Members of it as such Under the Old Law he required every Male to appear before him in the publick Place of worship three times in the year and commanded publick Worship to be continually paid to himself in daily Sacrifices Yet as he declared altho' he cared not for ten thousand Bullocks nor for Rivers of Oyl he would not remit the Duty and adjoyned Rewards to it because it publickly declared the Subjection of the devout Sacrificers to himself In these publick Forms of worship in the Jewish Temple our Lord while one Earth constantly gave his Attendance at appointed times After his Ascension and the Gift of the Holy Ghost the Apostles as we find in the III. of the Acts frequented the Temple at the usual hours of Prayer and joyned in the common Forms of Prayer there made use of altho' by the Operation of the Holy Ghost then received by them they could have poured out Extempore far more excellent and devout Prayers than those received in the Temple which were of humane Composition If then God so strictly exacted the Practice of publick Worship in all times if Christ and his Apostles so exactly performed it if for this very Purpose God hath gathered and united a Church under common Laws and the hopes of a common Reward what account can they make who either lay aside all publick Worship as superfluous or decry the daily Sacrifice of prayer and praise to God offered up in the Church or when themselves meet once a week to worship God place the Religion of the day in hearing a Sermon which is properly no part of Worship but only an Exhortation to and direction how to worship God In the next place as the Obligation of publick Prayer is greater than that of private so the Promises made to the one are far greater than to the other Our Lord hath promised That wheresoever two or three shall be gathered together in his name wheresoever there shall be an Assembly of Christians joyned together to offer up Prayer and to worship God he will be in the midst of them He will watch over them with his Providence he will own them as Members of his Body he will excite and render effectual their Devotion by the Operation of his Holy Spirit he will intercede with God for the Grant of their Petitions And how effectual must those Prayers be wherein our Lord himself concurrs Or what doubt can remain of the acceptance of our Worship and the grant of our Desires when he is present with us All the glorious Promises of Assistance Pardon Favour and Protection which were anciently made to the Jews worshipping God at the Temple in Jerusalem are now translated to the Christian Churches The only difference is that whereas among them the publick worship of God was confined to one place in the Christian Religion which was given not to one Family or Nation but to the whole World the same Priviledge is made common to all places of publick Worship in all parts of the World wherever Christianity doth prevail To Worship offered up from publick places alone the Promises of the greater and more illustrious Blessings of God are annexed And no wonder since by this alone the publick Religion of any Nation doth appear by this alone the publick Honour of God is maintained in the World While the Tabernacle made by Moses and afterwards the Temple at Jerusalem stood while daily Sacrifices and Worship were performed therein it was an undeniable Evidence that the Jews worshipped the
true God that he was their God and they his people When the people generally forsook the publick Worship thought it sufficient to perform the Duties of Religion at home to worship God upon every high Hill and under every green tree there then remained no farther Evidence of the publick Belief or Religion of the Nation While therefore Worship was duly paid by them in the place appointed by God all the Promises Blessings and Rewards mentioned in the Jewish Covenant took place they enjoyed Peace security and abundance their Sins were expiated their Petitions granted no publick Calamity did attend them When this publick Worship was intermitted by them God was no longer ingaged by Promise to protect them Since they did not now any longer appear to be his People the only Evidence of which was publick Worship All this doth fully appear from the whole History of the Old Testament where we find the publick Prosperity or Misery of the Jews to depend upon the regular Observation or general Intermission of publick Worship In like manner and for the same Reasons in the Christian Church the more eminent Promises and Benefits of God are affixed to publick Worship since by this alone the Honour of God is preserved and maintained among us If Men should content themselves to worship God in Private and proceed no farther it could never appear what Religion any Nation professeth what God they worship No publick Honour could be said to be paid by that Nation to him and consequently no National Blessings could be expected But when in any Countrey places are solemnly Dedicated to the true God when in them Divine Worship is constantly paid especially if this Worship be daily renewed if the Body of the Nation joyn in the Profession of the same Religion in paying the same Worship as they have opportunity then such a Religion appears to be National then all those Expressions so frequent in the Old Testament For my names sake For my Temples sake and Least my name should be blasphemed among the Heathen will take place among us For Example what greater Evidence can there be of the Profession of Christianity in this Nation than that in this Sacred place Prayer hath been daily offered up to God through Christ for many Ages together Such Sacred places are the standing Monuments and the undeniable Testimonies of the Piety and Devotion of any Nation by these we know that our Forefathers worshipped the true God and by these our Posterity will know that we continued the same Worship By this the Honour of God is chiefly kept up in any Countrey and since he hath affirmed That those who Honour him he will Honour then only can we rationally presume to receive from God publick and national Blessings while such a publick Worship is duly maintained amongst us Thus I have passed through the first Branch of my Text the Duty of Prayer The present time will not permit me to proceed to the Consideration of the rest but give me leave to apply what hath been already said From hence it appears to be the indispensable and constant Duty of Men to worship God that the best and most significant way of worship is Prayer that publick Prayer best answers the end of Worship and is also most acceptable to God Such is the Duty of Man and such are the Reasons of it Let us now look upon the general Practice of Christians and more particularly those of our own Communion who are better instructed and have greater Advantages in the exact Discharge of their Duty than any other Society of Men. I would not be so uncharitable as to affirm yet I much fear it that great numbers of Christians never worship God in private altho' no Necessities of Life can be so urgent as not to permit every one to address himself daily to God in that short Form of Prayer which our Lord taught us of those who have more leisure and Knowledge much more is required But to pass to the publick Worship of God how few are there of those which frequent it who perform it as they ought to do Education Custom and the Laws of the Countrey oblige Men to cease from Labour upon those days which are dedicated to the worship of God I wish I could add that the same Considerations obliged them to frequent duly the publick Place of worship upon those days but from them who do frequent it as many as have not given themselves up to Irreligion we expect a true constant and humble Devotion But instead of that we cannot but observe and deplore the great Negligence and stupid Carelessness of many who are present at the publick Prayers Many suppose themselves to have discharged the Duty of this day if they have heard a Sermon Hence they are not at all concerned if they enter after the Prayers are begun after the Confession is made and the Absolution pronounced by the Priest in the name of God When they are present at them they seem Irksome to them They joyn not in them far from any Devotion in the Soul they will not be perswaded to pay any Bodily Reverence they refuse to kneel and some even presume to sit still at the time of Prayer We want that cheerful Concurrence in the Congregation in which the ancient Christians so much glorified saying that an Amen pronounced by the whole multitude was like a clap of Thunder which pierced Heaven In our Assemblies how small a part joyn in repeating the common Forms of Confession Praise and Adoration of God and not many vouchsafe to add an Amen to the end of the several Prayers Such is the State of publick Devotion at this time lamentable indeed to be considered but such as cannot be denied To such therefore let me address my self Do not you believe your selves equally obliged to worship God with others Were not you also created by him and still depend upon him Why then do you refuse to do Homage to him to profess publickly your Subjection by such an humble Posture of Body as may declare it If an Heathen should enter into our Churches in the time of Prayer and examine our Devotions give me leave to put the Case for St. Paul before put it to the Corinthians what would he say when he should behold some kneeling the greater part standing and many perhaps sâ—tting He could say no other than that little Decency is observed in the religious Assemblies of Christians that in them many Persons are present but few of those worship God that the greater part express a strange unconcernedness in a Lazy posture of standing and that some seem designedly to affront the Majesty of God by sitting in his immediate Presence and when he is invoked Let not these Reproaches any longer be said of Christians who want no means of Instruction and whose Religion teacheth them the contrary Assure your selves that it is not listning to a Sermon which can suffice this is not to worship God but only
Prayer which maketh this whole Observation concerning the Veneration due to Churches not improper in a Discourse concerning the place of Prayer III. I pass now to the third Branch 〈◊〉 the Text that is the Posture that is 〈◊〉 be used in Prayer which is expressed in those Words Lifting up holy Hands Nor is the Posture of Prayer a Matter so indifferent as deserveth not our Enquiry It is indeed the Error of some that all external Modes of Worship are indifferent but to them who are no professed Enemies to Order and Decency it appears far otherwise For since God is the Creator both of Body and Soul since the Existence of both is derived from him and continued by him since he hath provided for the Body as well as Soul both in this Life and in the next it follows that both ought to make Returns of Praise and Worship to God This the Soul the sole Fountain of Reason doth by loving honouring obeying and submitting to him The Body indeed is not capable of such noble Operations yet is it enabled to give Praise and Glory to God by Gestures implying Adoration Submission and Subjection to him To worship God only with the Body were to make no returns of Gratitude for the Faculties of the Soul received from him and to worship him only with the Mind were to deny the Subjection of the Body to him Both thereâ—â—â— are alike necessary The Worship 〈◊〉 the Soul is indeed more acceptable because the Faculties of it are far more noble but the Worship of the Body is no less the Duty of Man and that especially in publick Worship where the chief Design being the Glory of God the Worship of the Body is the only visible Testimony of the internal Honour pay'd by the Soul to God and that not only because the Words of publick praise and adoration are expressed by the Organs of the Body but also in that the very Gesture of the Body is a Mark of Subjection paid to God since such Gestures used in sacred Places and to an invisible Being are notoriously known to be intended in Honour of God Bodily Worship therefore is absolutely necessary and that such as may express the greatest Submission and deepest Humility The most intense Operations of the Soul are due to God and so are the most significative Humiliations of the Body That posture therefore which expresseth the most humble Submission ought to be employed in Prayer the principal Act of Worship and is indeed an essential Part of Worship Only the particular posture is not determined in Scripture because the Expressions of Civility Honour and Subjection vary in several Ages and Countries So that it was impossible to determine any one Gesture since what was very expressive of Worship in one Nation might be contrary in another The external Mode of Worship therefore was left indifferent to the whole Church because such Modes varied in the several parts of it but in any particular Church it is not indifferent but that it be esteemed absolutely necessary essential and commanded by God which according to the received Customs of that Nation is most expressive of Humility Submission and Subjection If Kneeling be the most humble posture of Respect which obtains in any Nation that ought to be employed in the Worship of God and in that Case to pretend to pray to God standing is not only indecent but unlawful a detaining from God the Honour due to him and offering to him an inferiour degree of Worship when a more exalted degree is possible If by the Custom of the Country Prostration be the most significative posture of Humility that then becomes necessary in Divine Worship If neither Prostration nor Kneeling be in use neither ought it to be employed in Prayer but the same infallible Rule is always to obtain that whatsoever Posture by Custom Institution or Prescription is most significative of Honour and Subjection that ought to be made use of in adoring God and in Prayer which is always accompanied with Adoration To apply this Rule to our own practice It is notorious and undeniable that in the Nation wherein we live Kneeling is the most humble posture that whereof we should make use were we to do Homage to our Prince or to beg his Pardon This posture therefore becometh our indispensable Duty in Prayer wherein we adore God and implore his Mercy In this Nation therefore or in any other where Kneeling is the most submissive Gesture to practise Standing in publick Prayer is in truth to deny that the supream Honour is due to God to refuse to pay that Homage to him which Men are content to pay to earthly Princes as if either he were not worthy of it or themselves were too great and noble to condescend to it In many Eastern Countries Prostration hath been in use and there it was necessary in the Worship of God for the same Reason In others Standing with either spreading forth the Hands or gently inclining the Body and laying the Hand upon the Breast In all these Cases the Custom of the Country was to give Directions to the posture of Religious Worship To enquire which of these is the best and most significative posture is wholly vain since no posture signifieth any Respect in that Country where it is not used and what in one place includeth the highest Honour and Reverence in another may signifie none at all Among the Jews Kneeling with Hands lifted up or spread abroad was the most reverential Gesture as might be proved from innumerable places of Scripture Psal. CXLI 2. Dan. VI. 10. Luk. XXII 41. Acts IX 40. XXI 5 c. and so also among the Grecians St. Paul therefore writing to both of them joyned in one Church in Corinth expressed in this place the posture of Prayer to be lifting up of Hands because that Custom did prevail among them not that he intended to oblige us to the same posture in Prayer who for the same Reason are left to be directed by the Custom of our particular Nation amongst whom the most submiss and at the same time most civil posture is Kneeling with clasped Hands and that if I be not mistaken was always the most received Gesture in the Western World but most certainly was in use from the very beginning of Christianity in the Western Church vid. Tertul. Cypr. It hath been indeed received in all Ages and in all Countries as far as we can find that in Sacrifices the Priest who offers them up should do it standing In Compliance with this universal Custom our Church hath most certainly directed that the Prayers presented to God from the Altar where the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ the great Sacrifice of the Christian Religion is celebrated should be offered up by the Priest in a standing Posture which I would not omit to observe to you lest that Practice should be any Objection against the necessity of Kneeling in time of Prayer since it is founded
upon the same reasons for which Kneeling is necessary to the Priest at other times and to the People at all times in praying that is upon the universal Consent and Custom of Nations and Countries concerning the most proper and significative Postures of Humility Subjection and Duty in any Action whatsoever I have gone through the second and third Heads of my Text It remains that I consider the last Part of it viz. The Conditions of Prayer but that God willing shall be the Subject of another Discourse The Seventeenth SERMON PREACH'D 1690 At LAMBETH CHAPEL 1 Tim. II. 8. I will therefore that Men pray every where lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting HAving before discoursed at large concerning the Duty the Place and the Posture of Prayer laid down in the former part of the Words I proceed now to treat of the Conditions of Prayer expressed in the latter part of them How necessary and useful the serious Consideration of these Conditions is doth partly appear from the precedent Discourses For if Prayer be a principal Duty of Man the chief Act of Adoration which he pays to God requisite for the Supply of his Wants and the Conveyance of all necessary Benefits and Graces to him he ought to be well instructed in the nature of those previous Qualifications without which his prayer will fall short of all the Ends and Designs of it and not only so but also become a Sin and an Occasion of a Curse to him If the determination of the place and posture of prayer not universally designed by God be in all Cases so useful and in some necessary to us much more will those constant and unalterable Conditions of prayer be so which ought to accompany it in whatsoever place or posture it be to be performed and without which it is at no time accepted by God The more general and necessary of these Conditions the Apostle hath in the latter Words of the Text subjoyned to his Exhortation of Prayer which are these Three I. That it be offer'd up with holy Hands II. Without Wrath and III. Without Doubting Of the Reason and Necessity of these three Conditions in their Order First it is required that Prayers be offered up with holy Hands that is with pure and clean Hands defiled with no Rapine or Uncleanness innocent from all Rebellion towards God and Injustice towards Men. A Condition not first introduced in the Christian Religion but of universal and eternal Obligation allowed both by Jews and Gentiles Among them Prayer was directed to the same use which it obtaineth among us that is in the first place to worship God and in the next place to deprecate his Anger or procure his Favour Upon either of these Occasions the Jews and Gentiles were wont to add Sacrifices to their Prayers whensoever they intended to pay a more solemn Act of Worship or more signally to engage the Favour of God in their behalf Yet at the same time even the Gentiles placed the Efficacy of the whole Act of Worship rather in the Prayer than in the Sacrifice as appeareth by those many nice and superstitious Rules and Cautions used by them in reciting the publick Forms of Prayer at the time of Sacrifice So fully were they convinced that Prayer alone was that whereby Men could truly worship God and at the same time no less perswaded that without purity their Prayers would be ineffectual Hence proceeded that ancient and constant Institution of preparing themselves to sacrifice by Washings Lustrations and other Signs of Purity An Institution received also among the Jews by the express Command of God who as we read Exod. XL. 32. commanded that the Priests should wash and cleanse themselves whensoever they approached to the Altar Consonantly to which Institution David saith Psal. XXVI 6. I will wash mine Hands in Innocency and so will I compass thine Altar O Lord. It is so well known to all the Professors of Christianity that the external purity practised under the Law did typifie the internal purity to be received under the Gospel that I will not insist to evince it to you I will only desire you to consider that this purification of the Body was chiefly required in order to Prayer which will instruct you in the necessity of internal Purity at the same time and to reflect with what Care and Constancy both Jews and Gentiles purified themselves before their Sacrifices that so Christians may be ashamed if with the same Diligence they cleanse not their Souls in preparing them for Prayer The same Argument perswadeth in both Cases namely the Sense of Obligation arising from the Rules of that Religion which either do profess Yet although we never find that either Jews or Gentiles presumed to sacrifice with unwashen Hands it is but ordinary to observe that Christians pray with impure Minds It may be pretended indeed that external Purity is an easie Imposition but internal Holiness a difficult Duty A Difference indeed not inconsiderable but infinitely outweighed by the greater Certainty of Truth by the promises of more glorious Rewards by the constant pleasure of Mind attending internal Purity all which were wanting to the outward Ceremonies of Purification and lastly by that Conviction which every one may have of the reasonableness of it whereas the Reasons of external Holiness were either obscure as among the Jews or none at all as among the Gentiles Some of these reasons I will now insist on And first that the Prayers of Men be accepted by God it must be supposed that they are at Peace with him which cannot be without innocence and purity Every Sin is an Act of Rebellion against God by which Man withdraws himself from his Obedience pretends to be independent from him and proclaims Enmity to his Laws and Government It is easie then to conceive that while the Soul of Man is detained in any Vice contrary to the Commands of God his Prayers will be ineffectual and offered up in vain If we look in the ordinary Actions of Life we hold it to be absurd to beg any Favour of him whom we profess to hate whom we declare our Enemy whom we revile affront and despise All this we do to God by every deliberate sin and himself professeth Hatred and Abhorrence of sinful Men. But that the Prayers of Men should obtain any Benefit from God it must be supposed that they are dear and well-pleasing to him As among human Benefactors a Kindness is always supposed to precede the Benefit But far be it from a rational Man to believe that Sinners can be dear to God or receive his Favour Or if Man could flatter himself into such a Belief yet the express Denunciations of God will not suffer him to entertain it who far from allowing any kindness or favour to them proclaims that there is no peace unto the wicked Eminent and innumerable promises of Favour are indeed annexed to the Prayers of penitent Sinners but for this reason because by
Trespasses as we forgive them that Trespass against us that so as truly sincerely and unfeignedly as we desire Pardon so truly and really we may Pardon others and not only profess Pardon to others in using this form of words but also renounce all hopes or claim of Pardon from God if what we then profess we do not indeed intend All the Benefits of God which we implore by Prayer proceed from his own Beneficence and are undeserved by Men. If he vouchsafes to grant them he may well be allowed to affix what Conditions himself pleaseth to them He might have commanded some very difficult Preparation some extraordinary return of Thanks but when he hath resolved all into a Condition so easie so agreeable to our Nature so much conducing to the Happiness of Mankind as the mutual remission of Injuries he hath left Men without excuse and manifested that all the Duties exacted by him are designed rather for their Benefit than the increase of his own Glory If it seems a hard Condition to forgive those many Provocations and Injuries which one Man may receive from another without any Compensation or Satisfaction we ought to consider how much greater Provocations and more numerous Injuries the best of Men have offered to God and how much more they stand in need of his Pardon We are injured by others who are our Equals who possibly have no Dependence on us have received no Obligations from us and may have been provoked by us but we by our Sins offer violence to our Creator by whom we subsist on whom we depend who hath conferred on us already eminent Benefits and intends yet greater We may have been injured once or twice but whoever calls to mind the wandring Thoughts the impure Desires the vain Imaginations and perhaps the more flagrant Sins of any one day will find that he hath more grievously offended God in that little time than by all the Injuries of other Men he can have been provoked in his whole Life If then it be necessary to deprecate the Anger of God for the Sins of any one day and much more for the sins of a whole Life and Pardon be offered by God upon no other Condition than Freedom from wrath and hatred it will be no less our Interest than our Duty to lift up holy hands in Prayer without wrath III. To this Condition the Apostle adds in the last place that Prayer ought to be offered without doubting The word in the Original signifieth a Disputation and reasoning in the Mind concerning an Opinion and in this place concerning that Opinion which all true Believers ought to entertain of the Efficacy of Prayer This doubting may relate either to the whole System of Religion or to the peculiar Promises concerning Prayer or to the particular worthiness of the Supplicant In the first Case it is evident that doubting overthrows the Success of Prayer He that cometh to God must first believe that God is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him that is he must be fully perswaded of it If he doubts he dishonoureth God and cannot perform the Essential parts of Prayer For shall he be said to commit himself entirely to God who questions his Existence Or can he rely upon God who is not satisfied that he is Infinite or Almighty The least mixture of doubt herein taketh off so much from that Submission Reliance Subjection and Devotion which ought to intervene in every Act of Worship and more particularly in Prayer which thereby ceaseth to be perfect and sincere So also in the Articles of Christian Religion upon which the Efficacy of Christian Prayers are chiefly placed in vain doth he plead in the Name of Christ who is not well assured of the Dignity and the Merits of Christ. Audience of Prayer is promised as a Reward of Faith which cannot consist with doubting It is the confidence and assurance which we have in God and Christ which procureth Acceptance to our Prayers if we firmly believe it because he hath said it if for the sake of his Authority we esteem things future as present to us which is the Condition laid down by our Lord Mark XI 24. Whatosever things ye desire when ye pray believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them This made the Prayers of the ancient Saints and Patriarchs so successful as is at large described Hebr. XI that having seen the Promises afar off they were perswaded of them and embraced them and as a sure Testimony of their perswasion quitted their present Pleasures and Possessions in exchange for future Rewards It is said of our Lord while conversant on Earth that he could not do many mighty works among the Galileans because of their unbelief and himself required it as the previous Condition of his miraculous Cures believe and thou shalt be made whole Not that it was impossible to his Almighty Power to have wrought Miracles without the concurrent Belief of Men but that he wrought not upon them as upon so many Machines but dealt with them as with rational Beings and therefore distributed his Favours in proportion to their Faith And herein an imperfect Faith or a cold perswasion will not suffice St. Peter demonstrated much more when he adventured himself upon the water at the command of Christ yet because he still retained some doubt and fear our Lord permitted him to sink that so he might reprove the imperfection of his Faith O thou of little Faith wherefore didst thou doubt A Second sort of doubting is a Diffidence concerning the peculiar Promises of Success and Advantage consequent to Prayer when the Existence or the power of God is not called in question but his Will disputed and it seems incredible that such an Almighty and most perfect Being having no need and receiving no benefit from the Service or Prayers of Men should condescend so far as to bestow such eminent Favours and so readily at the Petition of mean and unworthy Creatures To overcome this doubt it is sufficient to manifest that God hath indeed promised such favourable Audience to the Prayers of Men and for the truth of this because I speak to those convinced of the Authority of Scripture to remit you to those many Promises contained in the Gospel The places are numerous and evident I will now insist but on one of them namely the Parable of the unjust Judge Luk. XVIII delivered as the Evangelist saith for this end that Men ought always to pray and not to faint not to doubt of Success There the unjust Judge is represented as granting that to the importunity of a poor Widow which neither the Justice of her Cause nor the fear of God nor the regard of Men could obtain from him And this inference drawn from the whole Verse 7. And if so shall not God avenge his own Elect which cry day and night unto him though he bear long with them To allure us to the practice of Prayer Christ proposeth the
Efficacy of it with an unjust Judge It had been sufficient to have introduced the Person of a just and benign Man that so his Justice if compared with the Divine Clemency might demonstate the force of Prayer For if a good Man receives those kindly who address themselves to him how much more will God the Greatness of whose Bounty exceeds our comprehension It had been enough as I before said to have proposed the Person of a just Judge but to represent a cruel impious inhumane Judge unmerciful to others but kind and easie to Supplicants instructeth us that even a wicked Nature may be by Prayer inclined to Lenity and Mercy This therefore our Lord chose to do more lively to express the force fo Prayer When in the next place he carrieth us from the Consideration of this severe Judge cruel by Nature but mollified by Prayer to the Consideration of God the Father most good kind gentle merciful slow to anger and forgiving sins bearing with insuperable Patience the daily Affronts of Men the Honours paid to his Adversary the Devil and the Contumelies therein offered to his own Son what Success may we not then hope to our Prayers made to him if they be presented with a due Reverence and necessary Preparation The unjust Judge although he feared not God nor regarded Man yet did Justice to the Widow for her importunity What Fear could not do Prayer obtained Neither Threats nor the Fear of Punishment could incline the Man to Justice yet the Cries and Supplications of a poor Widow softned his Nature and made him tractable If she could obtain so much from a rough ill-natur'd Man how much greater Kindness Goodness and Love may we not expect from God who always desires to shew Mercy but never to exercise Severity whose very Threats and Punishments are intended for our good and directed to deterr us from Disobedience Let us once more review the effect of Prayer upon this unjust Judge that we may the better discover the infinite kindness and love of God to Men. If he who never willingly and of his own accord did any good changed on the sudden by the Petitions of a poor Supplicant and was moved to Compassion much more will the importunate Prayers of Men be prevalent with him whose Nature includeth an infinity of Goodness and who dispenseth the Emanations of that Goodness in vast and constant Benefits even without intreaty For who doth not see that the Light of the Sun the influences of Heaven the Fruits of the Earth Riches Life and Health are given by God to all Men to the good and to the bad and that only for his immense Kindness to Mankind but if he so favours cherisheth and maintaineth those who ask him not and are not perhaps so much as sensible that the Benefit proceedeth from him what will he not bestow on those who spend a considerable part of their Lives in Prayer and Supplication The last Reason of doubting in Prayer is the Conscience of unworthiness in the Supplicant which Conscience is either founded in the natural unworthiness of Man or arises from the Sense of his want of these Qualifications of Prayer which are required to make it acceptable The former falls in with that doubt which I last spoke of and the latter is in the Power of every Man to remove and to perswade the necessity and convenience of that removal hath been the Subject of this days Discourse I shall therefore add no more upon this Head Upon the whole it doth appear that the Duty of Prayer is necessary the place of it to be regarded the posture not to be neglected the Conditions indispensable and the Success certain The Eighteenth SERMON Preach'd on May 4. 1690. At LAMBETH CHAPEL Acts X. 40 41. Him God raised up the third day and shewed him openly Not to all the People but to Witnesses chosen before of God THE Resurrection of our Lord from the Dead being so illustrious a Confirmation of the Truth of that Religion which he taught so undeniable an Argument of the Divinity and Authority of his Person so firm an Assurance of those Hopes which we conceive of our own Resurrection deserveth at this Season more than a single Consideration It is the knowledge and conviction of that which chiefly Establisheth the Faith of a Christian continueth his Expectations of enjoying hereafter a better State and after a serious Meditation of the Actions of his Saviour here on Earth wrought for his sake compleats his Joy In the ancient Church therefore all the time between Easter and Whitsunday was dedicated to the Memory of this wonderful Mystery as was manifest by the particular expressions of Joy during that whole Season in the publick Offices and Ceremonies of the Church And as the benefit of Christs Resurrection doth no less extend to the Christians of these Times than to those of more ancient Ages so our Gratitude and Rejoycing in Memory of it ought to be no less intense It may be pretended that those ancient Christians living nearer to the time of Christ had more certain assurance of the Truth of the Fact related than we now have at so great a distance and that the Will of Man always acting agreeably to the perswasions of the Understanding cannot now be so much affected by the consideration of an uncertain Interest as they were then when the Experience of frequent Miracles rendred it most certain Or that however the Apostles and those Five hundred Disciples who were blessed with the presence of Christ after his Resurrection had no less just Cause of Joy than Admiration Yet that others who were not convinced of the same Truth by the report of their own Senses could not but be less concerned at the relation by how much the less they were ascertained of the reality of it And as the Mind of Man is fruitful in inventing Arguments opposing the Obligation of Religion some have been brought to doubt of and others even to deny the Resurrection of Christ upon this consideration that after he is said to be risen from the Dead he appeared not in Publick conversed not in solemn Places and among the Multitude as before but only shew himself to some few Disciples of his own whom he had chosen for that purpose To take off this Objection and assert the Truth of our Lord's Resurrection I will endeavour to manifest the reasonableness of that conduct of Christ related in the Text Whom God raised up and shewed openly not to all the People but to Witnesses chosen before of God To this purpose I will divide my designed Discourse into these three parts I. That to have shewed Christ after his Resurrection to the whole unbelieving Multitude of the Jews was unbecoming the Majesty Justice and Wisdom of God II. That it would have failed of creating an universal Conviction III. That God hath notwithstanding offered to Mankind sufficient Arguments of reasonable Conviction First then neither the Wisdom Justice and Honour
sharpened in Consideration of the unhappy influence which their Actions had to dispose othen Men to sin The Duty of Exemplariness and the excellent Design of our Lord in requiring it of his Followers being thus cleared I pass to the Second Head to consider the manner which he hath fixed whereby to raise this Example that is by good Works Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works None but these will have any influence upon the Minds of those who are without the Church or who judge rightly and none but these will avail such as are within the Church or make little use of their Judgment To become a light and a glorious Example in the World it is necessary to be eminent in those Actions which are acknowledged by the World to be good excellent and of intrinsick worth Such are all Actions of Moral Vertues but more especially such as are positive as Justice Truth Zeal for the Honour of God Kindness and Charity to Men. Such are in many places of the New Testament and in common Speech also called good Works which whosoever doth illustriously perform all other Men although of a different or no Religion will bear him Witness that the Lawgiver whose Precepts he therein obeyeth is good and just that his Example deserveth Praise and Imitation And what Effect must we not believe this Example had upon the Jews and Heathens before the brightness of it was obscured by the prevailing wickedness of latter Ages when the Church could challenge her Adversaries to produce from among her Followers an unclean or an injust an intemperate or a prophane Person when their Piety was so undeniable in the constant frequenting of the publick Prayers and Sacraments of the Church even in the midst of Persecutions when their Charity appeared so conspicuous not only in relation to their own Members but now even to their Enemies in feeding the Hungry in clothing the naked in redeeming Captives in communicating to all When an Heathen Governour and he the most Learned Man of his Age employed by his Emperor to examine the Doctrine and Conduct of the Christians made this report to him That they were a sort of men who injured no Man defrauded none abstained from Murder Lust and Perjury gave frequent Demonstrations of admirable Charity and meeting once every Week in the publick Service of God bound themselves by religious Ties and Sacraments to do all this When a Learned Adversary after a full Search could make no other report than this what remained but to conclude that God was indeed among them So wisely Christianity contrived to draw in unbelieving but unprejudiced Spectators by the Beauty of its Example the force of which none could withstand while its greatest Adversaries dared not to deny that the Exercise of good Works was the Primitive Religion of the World and if not the Duty yet at least the Interest and the Ornament of Mankind Our Lord proposed not to form this Example by extreme Austerities and Macerations by Paradoxes in Doctrine or Practice by Raptures or Extasies which might easily raise the Amazement but not the Reverence of other Men. Judicious Men would esteem them Follies if proposed as matters of intrinsick Excellence and entertain them with Scorn and even ignorant Persons might be astonished at them yet could they never discover any real worth in them or the Reason of them It is the unhappiness of latter Ages to have introduced such gross Conceptions instead of what our Lord directed the Practice of good Works and thereby have in a great measure defeated those excellent Ends which he intended Thus the Church of Rome in her latter Saints hath chiefly respected extravagant Austerities and the Report of foolish Miracles and some others have made the Indications or Signs of Saint-ship to be unaccountable Raptures or internal pretended Consolations or union to God and Christ which have no necessary external Effect or cannot be discovered by unbelievers or if discovered would not affect them With them no Example but of such Actions as are universally allowed to be Excellent namely of good Works will be of any Power and therefore our most wise Saviour hath appointed no other and if this be not continued all other means of continuing the Glory of this Light which our Lord proposed will be found wholly ineffectual And as to those without so also to those within the Church but needing the Direction of Example no other will be of any advantage The benefit in relation to them consists in leading the way to such who are inclined to imitate the Actions of those whom they admire or respect or to whom they are subject which Actions if they be such as are here required good Works the Design of our Lord is happily effected the Duty of such Persons promoted their Salvation secured the Reward of those who give the Example increased But if the Actions be of any other Nature they are either unlawful or indifferent not worthy Imitation and without any Promise of reward In the third Place our Lord in the Text proposeth the end towards which these exemplary good Works should be directed which is that others may see them and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven that is in seeing them may glorifie God Least Men should be betrayed into Pride or Arrogance through an Opinion of their own good Works they are commanded to refer all not to their own but to the Divine Glory Least they should swell with the Conceit of being a Light to the World of giving a Rule to the Actions of other Men by their own Conduct they are taught that all this ought not to be employed to promote their own Esteem in the World but to advance the Honour and Worship of God While good Works are indeed directed to this end it is impossible that any thing of Pride should intervene And if notwithstanding peevish and morose Men will detract from them as done for sinister Ends and vain Glory our Lord hath provided for this a Remedy in the 11th Verse of this Chapter immediately preceding this Exhortation to a good Example Blessed are you when Men shall revile you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake Nothing indeed is more odious and distasteful than Ostentation in Religion or more to be avoided This raised the Indignation of our Lord against the Pharisees and still exciteth the Scorn of all judicious Men when Acts of Religion are formed on purpose to be seen by Men when their Praise and Applause is thereby courted and studiously contrived But in this Duty of being exemplary in good Works as there is no Command of contriving the ordinary performance of them in such a manner as may be most taken notice of by other Men so there is for the most part no necessity of it in Order to their being observed by them Many of them are of such a Nature as cannot but be observed whether he who performs
are quick and knowing Spirits they could not but immediately perceive their Unhappiness and make a just Estimate of the Greatness of it The Sense of this indeed could not but make them lament their Folly and repent also if a violent Sorrow only for past miscarriages could be called Repentance For that the Devils have such sorrow cannot be denied since in this consists their Torment but an unsuccessful Sorrow a Sorrow without submission to the just hand of God a Sorrow which God will not accept and which therefore will continue for ever heightened by the greatest Aggravations as being the result of an unspeakable and which is more irrecoverable Loss not to be ended by Death nor diverted by a stupid inconsideration but placed in a knowing active always thinking and immortal Spirit Such a Spirit endued with such active Faculties and tormented with such dismal Thoughts of Unhappiness may well be supposed to conceive the utmost Degree of Rage and Malice The Disappointment of Pride naturally produceth those Effects in Men which Effects could not but be so much the stronger in the fallen Angels by how much their Faculties were more lively and capacious In Men indeed there are many sins which they are not capable of as all those which arise from the inordinate Appetite of the Body as Lust Intemperance and Covetousness but there are others which are purely immaterial and take place only in the Soul as Malice Hatred Envy and Revenge These those unhappy Spirits possess in their full Perfection which they continually exert either aganist God who inflicted that Unhappiness as a Punishment upon them and altho' he might have annihilated them in their first Attempt yet continues their Existence to them and therein their Misery or against Man who by the Favour of God is made capable of attaining that Happiness which they lost and placed in Dignity above them who had endeavoured to set themselves above their fellow Angels and even equal to God himself Inspired with these wicked Thoughts they employ themselves continually in opposition to the Will of God and because this Opposition can take place only in hindring the Happiness of Man designed and desired by God use their utmost Endeavours to effect it The Disposition of all inanimate Bodies and the Course of the material World God hath determined by fixed and certain Laws of Motion which it exceeds their Power to reverse or change but Man being left to the use of his own Free-will and not determined by the Power of God to any certain Actions admits the interposition of evil Spirits It is true they alleviate not their own Torments nor gain any real Advantage hereby yet ought not this to make us believe that they do not busie themselves in tempting of us since it cannot be denied that Man reaps no real Profit by his sins and yet it is too sad a Truth that Men do often sin and that false satisfaction which Men receive from gratifying their Lusts the Devils obtain by serving their Revenge and Envy So then that the Devils should desire to draw us into the same Unhappiness with themselves is no wonder It is only somewhat difficult to conceive how they should effect their Desires and have any influence upon our Wills To satisfie this Difficulty many have entertained false Notions of things which it will be adviseable to remove before I enter into the direct Consideration of the manner whereby evil Spirits tempt us And first It were needless to refute the Errour of the Manichees or Valentinians who gave to the Devil an independent Existence from God and uncontrolable by him nay all the Attributes of God save that of Goodness allowed him an infinite Power whereby he could force the Wills of Men and bind them to the Observation of his wicked Counsels It is not much to be feared that any Christian would at this time be guilty of such an absurd Heresie Yet many perhaps from the frequent Experience of their own yielding to the Temptations of the Devil may be so far corrupted in Judgment as to believe them irresistible or at least plead this in excuse of their Impenitence To such it may not be amiss to observe that it exceeds the Power of any finite Being to force the Will of Man for that were to overthrow the very Essence of Man and thereby change the ordinary Laws of Nature to which all Creatures and amongst them Devils also are subjected Add to this the many Exhortations in Scripture to resist their Temptations which would have been vain if these had been irresistible the Promise of God also that we shall not be tempted above what we are able to bear which would not have taken place if we could not overcome all Temptations and the Experience of good Christians who daily resist and surmount them Even the worst of Men might baffle them if they would use the natural Power of their Souls assisted with that common Grace which is denied to none So that what the Aposte saith of some Men 2 Tim. II. 26. That they are taken captive by him at his Will is not to be understood without their own Consent yielding up themselves to his Conduct and voluntarily following his Suggestions which also appears from the Apostles command to Timothy in the precedent words of instructing them That they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil A second Errour in this Matter is that God giveth to the Devil an extraordinary Power of tempting Men a Mistake which may be observed in many of the ancient and even modern Writers who hence take occasion to magnifie the Grace of God and the Merits of Mans obedience the First in that God hath graciously contrived this impediment of obedience to Man that so his obedience might become the more meritorious and the latter in that Man performs his Duty notwithstanding so great Impediments This opinion altho' received would not in the least clear our doubt since it would still remain to be enquired in what manner the Devils exercise this delegated Power but that it should not be admitted it is enough to say That it is injurious to the Honour of God If it were is God might justly be said to tempt us contrary to what the Apostle teacheth Let no man when he is tempted say that he is tempted of God For God tempteth no man It is impossible that so excellent a Being should be guilty of such double Dealing as to command the Observation of his Laws and at the same time tempt us to the Violation of them to allure and enable us to obey him by Promises by Threats and by the assistance of his Holy Spirit and to divert us from it by the interposition of evil Spirits employed by him This were to ascribe no less Injustice to him than to the Devils themselves Nay to blacken Him and to clear them in the matter of Temptation For if the Devils herein act by the extraordinary Power of God they act