of fervency striving endeavour to goe on though thou feelest but litle or no comfort these be true flames of the Spirit which were never kindled in the least measure in the breast of any Hypocrite will an Hypocrite with all his painted flames hold out No they will murmure if God heare them not but the godly will trust in him though hee slay them Let every one then stirre up the gift that is in him whatsoever it be and the Lord will be with us ere we be aware The sixt evidence of the Spirit of Prayer is that godly traine of all-saving graces garding it strengthning it and attending upon it Hee that can doe an errand to God is destitute of no gift as Paul saith of the Corinthians that Embassie is guarded with all the graces of God in some measure as first it ariseth from that impregnable pallace of faith which ascendeth like a Cloud with Prayer in it never ceasing but still increasing the motion till it come to heaven In and from this Pallace Prayer is armed with an irresistible violence and commeth forth like a valiant Champion beating all down-right before it that standeth between God it Innumerable instances of this in Gods servants put that immediate principle of the Spirit out of all Question Whatsoever yee shall aske in Prayer believing yee shall receive David and all the Saints make ever this foundation of their Prayer Vnto thee will I pray Iehovah thou shalt heare my voice Secondly as Prayer is grounded from faith so it is under-propped by Hope I will looke unto the Lord saith Micha and I will waite for the God of my Salvation My God will heare me This place expresseth also the Christian patience wherewith the Prayer of the Saints is seasoned and also that perseverance whereby the Charriot of faith is drawne These set the soule upon the watch-Tower as Habacuk speaketh and maketh her waite and hearken what the Lord will answer David's Praier in his distresse was thus qualified I will looke out saith the Prophet Further Prayer made in the Spirit is attended with Preparation Opportunity and Diligence Preparation maketh ready the Charriot of faith awaketh Prayer attireth it with a holy disposition of heavenly position Opportunity as a guide taketh it the nighest way and Diligence as the driver of the Charriot driveth more nimbly then Iehu the sonne of Nimshi All these attend David's Prayer I will direct my Prayer unto thee or I will orderly addresse unto thee there is his Preparation In or at the morning that is early there is his opportunity I will looke out or else espy there is his diligence or I will pray that is still doe pray and cease not Try then or let thy Prayer be tried by these clouds of witnesses whether it be of the spirit or no for the Prayer of the Hypocrite hath none of these witnesses or attendants as it is said of faithlesse hearers that the Word heard did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith They may make a faire shew in seeming to lay hold on God deceiving others their own hearts they will leane upon the Lord saith the Prophet and say is not the Lord among us c. But they build upon the sand and hence are their ruines neither is their hope any better then Hypocrites hope which shall perish as for their patience wherwith their Prayer should be seasoned If God attend not their pleasure in answering of their desires it is quickly turned into murmuring In this they are like that gracelesse servant of that godlesse King because this evill is of the Lord why should I waite for the Lord any longer As for the attendants of Prayer namely Preparation Opportunity and Diligence the Hypocrite is not acquainted with them the counterfeit shews or shadowes of these he may have but the things themselves in the true nature of them he neither hath nor desireth to have The Hypocrite rusheth into Gods presence without premeditation of Gods most glorious presence and without consideration of his own vilenesse and unworthinesse to speake to so glorious and great a God His best Preparation is but a vizard of Prepation or outward shew of seeming holinesse in the position of the body Their best opportunity is base and by respect and their diligence carrieth the duty no further then customary performance or so farre as it is in request with the times So never an Hypocrite you see can be an Embassadour to God for he wanteth both the Commission of the Spirit and that traine of attendants that doe accompany the Commission It is no-wonder then that their Prayer be converted into sinne for they are Traytors to God in taking upon them his Embassie without his Cōmission Let them pray then that can pray yea it standeth us all upon to looke to it whether we pray or prate or bable For Lord Lord a multitude of faire words and faire shewes will not serve An Embassadour with a gilded coach of temporary faith will not serve the turne yea though it were full of miracles attended with a many imbrodered Lackeyes of smooth words courtly complements and eare-pleasing musick shall never have admittance to God nor audience of God look to it then that thou be an Embassadour indeed that thou hast thy Commission sealed and art sent by the Spirit and that thy traine be such as may be heartily welcome to God and make thee welcome In the first place make triall of thy faith and that by the inward acts of purifying the heart uniting it to God by victory over temptations casting thy selfe upon the Lord by contentment of thine estate also by the extensive worke of love first to God for himselfe then to thy neighbour in him and for him The heart so purified by faith is a fit lymbeck for Prayer Out of this the Prophet David was bold to presse his Prayer upon God Hearken to my Prayer that goeth not out of feigned lips or without lips of deceipt by which is meant the syncerity of the heart agreeing with the words of the mouth Nothing so much adorneth the heart as faith nothing commendeth faith more then Prayer and nothing graceth Prayer more then syncerity This with the proud Pharisee all Hypocrites want drawing nigh God with their mouth and honouring him with their lips but their hearts be far from him or as the Psalmist they flatter or flatteringly allured him with their mouth with their tongue lied to him for their heart was not right with him or not firmly prepared with him And this especially maketh the Praier of the Hypocrites of an evill savour in Gods Nostrills for as he is the hearer of the heart as one saith and not of the voice so he loveth the syncerity of the heart and hateth the hollownesse and rottennesse thereof in Prayer above all things because they
commander routs all those rebellious thoughts yea and taking them on a sudden reserveth them in chaines for execution then he brings up or rather beateth up these disordered forces or faculties of the soul with sorrow shame enough to their neglected service which service being done then hee sheweth them what base slaves had caused them to recoile from so glorious and gainfull a service of so great a God what a commander they had forsaken and what dangerous and shamefull hazard they had brought themselves into at the consideration whereof their hearts smite them they abhorre their owne soules they weep bitterly till they leave a Bochino or place of weeping behinde them to set their feet upō their necks and doe execution upon those slavish Canaanites to whom they had shamefully inslaved thēselves which I doubt not but many have a care to doe yet when they have done all they can some will escape in a corner starting out now and then to doe them a mischiefe at unawares As they pray therefore so let them watch But with the unregenerate man it is nothing so for hee can draw nigh to God with his lips but keep his heart far enough off and yet his heart never smiteth him hee is content to have a Dove in his hand and a Hog in his heart thought is free with him and that is the mark of a slave It is one thing to let Traitors and plaguie Rogues in at doores by negligence so to bee troubled with getting them out and another thing to keep open house for them The fayrest sun-shine may bee over-clouded but darknes it selfe can never be light As for the interposition of Sathans suggestions let that be set on Sathans score Last of all some will say they are so far from the aid and assistance of the spirit in prayer that they neither can pray nor dare pray nor have they any minde to pray can those bee the children of God I answer though they bee in an exceeding great strait yet they may bee Gods children for al that for though they cannot neither dare pray yet they desire to pray though they have no desire yet they wish they might desire But we must learn to distinguish between parties in a due temper both of body and soule and themselves distempered in one or both sometimes through the distemper of black fumes of melancholy the imagination is corrupt sometimes the conscience is wounded with the sense of sin the want of grace or with the trouble of some blasphemous or wicked thoughts sometimes the Lord is pulling a sinner as a brand out of the fire leaveth sparkles of his terrible wrath in him for his greater humiliatiō sometimes the Lord may seal the heart and close up the mouth for the trial of the party himselfe the example of others and the manifestation of his owne power in keeping of thē in that case and his mercy in the inlarging of their hearts according to the time of restraint In all these cases the soule may be clear of the things the exercise of prayer barred and yet the spirit of prayer remain which may be evidenced by the fruits of the spirit which are a tendernesse of conscience a hatred of sin love to the Saints and obedience to God So much for the fourth note wherein I have been the larger by reason of the power of the spirit herein The fift evidence of Prayer made by the spirit is that spirituall vigor or fervency of it which as a consuming fire from heaven causeth the odours of the prayers of the Saints to ascend like incense To this effect is that of the Apostle The spirit maketh request for vs with grones that cannot bee expressed By these unpressible grones is meant the vehemency or fervency of Prayer being the work of the spirit which worketh after an unspeakable maner in the hearts of all that pray this is that wrestling that prevaileth with God this is that which stirreth up a man to lay hold on God this is that which layeth violent hold on him whom the soule loveth This was the practice of our Saviour Christ who in the daies of his flesh offered up prayers and supplications with strong cryes and teares Against this his own practice Christ cannot stand out witnesse that parable of the importunate prevailing widow and shall not God revenge his elect that cry day night The want of this wrongeth Gods cause maketh the enimie prevaile and our prayers to be forceles and fruitlesse yea our courses uncomfortable whereas on the fervency of prayer all the contrary effects attend This fervency was Luthers excellency and in this hee and many others found most good This smiteth and overturneth both the inward outward Amalakite If thou wilt sacrifice take fire with thee the want whereof may justly invert the saying of Abraham to thy disadvantage here is the sacrifice but whereis the fire The golden Censer receiveth no Odours without fire more or lesse to consume them and according to the height or lownesse of the fire the motion of prayer is the swifter or flower The lazie cold frozen prayer prevaileth nothing with God but by weeping and making earnest supplication we may finde God in Bethel and speak to God and prevail with God as Iacob did Let us then as Paul saith labour fervently in prayer that the power thereof may bee an evidence of the spirit in us but herein wee must take heed of the deceitfulnesse of strange fire in the heart for as a burning feaver or the fit of an intermitting Ague or a hecktick disposition may manifest more heat outwardly to the touch yea inflame the inward parts with more ardency or scorching consuming heat begetting an unquenchable thirst by drinking up the radical moisture of the Spirits then is to bee felt in a due temperature So a feverish heat or counterfeit zeale may exalt an hypocrite high in the outward action yea he may have a deceiving tast of the power of God seeming thirst of the glory of God and a preposterous desire of honour and immortality yea all this may be like to the former heat and thirst in nature an unnaturall adventitious heat not truly inlivening maintaining the life of prayer but consuming and devouring the supposed spirit of prayer Of these two if you desire to know the essentiall difference I take it to consist in these particulars First this fervency is a sanctifying saving fruit of the spirit wrought immediatly in the heart and affections whereby the understanding faculties are much sublimated and refined whereon followeth a more pure conception with a swifter directer motion of prayer because both heart and understanding are quickned and agitated by true celestiall heat Neither must you conceive that the fervency of affection must carry the understanding without information from it this were zeal without knowledge w ch the spirit
peremptorily condemneth but this sacred fire of fervency cleareth the clouds of the understanding so that the formes of divine motions are more quickly and purely framed in the passive faculty thereof and are more soundly and judicially wrought on by the active faculty so the fire be compact so that you see this fire is of a heavenly operation and from heaven well may it bee compared with that divine fire which came out from before Iehovah and consumed the burnt offering upon the Altar But the strange fire in the seeming zealous hypocrite is nothing like for first it is but a supernaturall cōmon gift of the spirit at the most againe it is rather an inflāmation of the brain arising from the rapture of some vainglorious conceipt deceiving the heart and running all along like a devouring wild-fire rather I say then any true fire warming and quickning the life of supplication Secondly this true celestiall fire hath no fuell but the spirit but the strange fire hath either private injury or publike applause for the fuell Thirdly this true fire hath for the end or object Gods glory and the salvation of those that are heated with it cōsuming every thing that stands in the way of either of these The spouse speaking of the nature of this zeale telleth us that the coales thereof are coales of fire which hath a most vehement flame Of this David saith the zeale of thy house hath eaten me up and in another place my zeale hath consumed me or suppresseth me because mine enimies have forgotten thy words But counterfeit zeale in prayer hath for its end or object the ravishing of mens conceipts the glory of applause the gaining of some worldly commodity so far as the sun shine of Gods glory is adored by the times and state so much will hypocrisie seem to advance it like cloudes they will follow the Sun and seem to carry Gods glory right on before them but when the current crosseth it they goe no further with it but like a running hound they cast up and with an open mouth they run another way Fourthly this true fire though it set all on fire within and without and turneth all that it toucheth into the nature of fire carrying all upward with it according to the proportiō of fire yet it humbleth the soul exceedingly and maketh it vile in its own eyes for by this true fervency the stubble and rubbish of mens corruptions and interposition being removed and consumed Gods excellēcy mans meanes Gods mercy and mans misery the more appeareth which be the meanes and motives of mans humiliatiō But with the strange fire-workmen it is not so for as Cookes by unnaturall heat of the fire extinguishing the naturall heat and exhausting the radicall moisture and by excesse of drinking become hydropicks so these are puffed up with a swelling conceipt of themselves by the unnaturall or adventitious heat of this strange fire crying in effect with Iehu come with me and see my zeale for the Lord yea if these counterfeits of true zeal be not admired they are all off the hinges they count their charges and paines to be lost Their zeale is like to the vertues of the Heathens from which if you separate as one saith the splendor of glory vertue it selfe will goe bitter to them So take from the zeal of seeming zealous Hypocrites the swelling cloud of puffing up applause their fervency falleth presently into an atrophie or pining away under abūdance of means so that their pride not maintained with applause either like a handfull of gun-powder carrieth fire and fuell and all that lieth in the way out of the chimney top or like a dropsie by peecemeale it consumeth the naturall heat and drinketh up the radicall moisture But the heat of the truly zealous is like the harth of the Altar hallowed by humility for the receit of Gods fire and for the keeping and increasing of the heat thereof Fiftly and lastly the true fire of fervency is never extinguished it is for divers causes more intense or remisse higher or lower in the best of Gods children yea the sparkles may lye very low overlaid with ashes notwithstanding it is true fire though it be never so litle or never so weake in nature alwaies like the fire upon the Altar which burneth continually and shall not bee put out to the which the spirit affordeth the fuell stirring blowing it up for the consuming of the sacrifice But the strange fire is but a flash quickly out and unorderly kindled like a fit of an Ephemera or diary feaver and is as quickly extinguished either by the oyle of prosperity or by the water of adversity yea like a rotten sulphurous fiery squib it cracks and flashes stinks and dieth Let every soule examine its own fervency in prayer by the particulars by which examination if they can finde in the least measure these notes of fervency they may assure themselves to their exceeding great comfort that they can pray in the holy Ghost But some distressed soule will say they can finde no life of fervency in their prayers they are takē in the duty with syncopes or many fainting and sounding fits of the heart many a cold sweat goeth over them they are taken with many Lethargies of the understanding mad melancholy aberiations in the imagination much forgetfulnesse in the memory yea with a cold astonishing stupefaction of the whole man what fire of the Spirit can be here Surely say they none at all Conclude not so for true fire may be raked up in the ashes of neglect or distemper though it doe not appeare Againe the sence and sorrow of and for the overswaying suppressmēts must needs arise from the light and heat of true fire be it never so weake or litle for the common gifts and most glorious excellency in counterfeit Prayer cannot truly and ingeniously discover an essentiall defect in Prayer Againe the sparkles of life that the most distressed and daunted of Gods people finde in Prayer now and then make the strongest kind of demonstration that the Fire of Gods Spirit inlivens their Prayer For where there is action there is life and where is life there is heat for life consisteth in heat As the Spirit of faith in the Disciples was very weake when they counted the relation of the Resurrection but as an idle tale so that they would not believe it yet the Spirit of faith was not extinguished witnesse the burning of their hearts within them while he talked with them in the way to Emaus which arose from the quickning of the Spirit which lay as it were quenched in them even so the fervency of the Spirit of Prayer may seeme to be quenched yet the flames bursting out now and then in sighs and Groanes that cannot be expressed argueth heavenly fire to inspire thy Prayer howsoever thou wilt not be perswaded of it Lastly observe thy earnest desire
thē in this particular The cōceit of the proud Pharisee amongst the rest of his faults that he could pray and none like him spoiled him for ever from praying To men so conceited that saying of the Physitian well agreeth When the minds of men are once takē up with fals opinions they make them not only deaf but also blind against the truth it selfe yea further saith hee there is no tincture so indelible staining the judgement of well ruled reason for their arrogancy and ignorance combine themselves together Even just so it is with men in this particular yea I dare avouch that this conceit maketh such further off from prayer then prophane Infidells that never offered to pray in all theit lives It is related of a skilfull Musitian that hee tooke twice as much for teaching those that were evill taught as for those that were not taught at all because a false position in a science is a greater hinderance to the attainment thereof then the pure privation of it if ever then thou desirest to pray confesse ingeniously that thou canst not pray at all know that thou art stark blinde and lame that thou maist receive thy limbs and sight In the next place thou must lay to heart and bee sensible of thy miserable and wretched condition through want of this precious gift of prayer this well considered will make thee at thy wits end and it will shake the sandy foundation of all thy endeavours it will batter take the fort of all thy vain confidence it wil cut the sinews of all thy selfe deceiving policy it will faint the heart and dead the very soule of all thy pale-faced hopes it will imbitter the sweetnesse of al thy rats-bane pleasures it will mar the market of all thy possessions treasures it will bring off the hooks all thy jollity and mirth it will make thee behold as in a true glasse all thy jollity and madde mirth it will let thee see the vanity of all thy great friends favorites supporters lovers acquaintance yea the Ioviall companions In a word if thou wilt hold to it it will give thee no rest till thou hast found some other footing for thy soul to rest on To make all good let me a litle expostulate the matter with thee What canst thou doe in the day of thy distresse when trouble comes upon thee like paine on a woman in child-birth When thy cōscience begins to roare thy soul to faint thy state to wast or bee taken from thee by violence Whither canst thou goe Wilt thou know what thou canst doe I know thou shalt know it thou canst doe just nothing for thy selfe that good is If thou canst not pray thou canst goe no where at all out of thy selfe to him thou canst not goe that hath eternall life for thou art not acquainted with him thou hast no odours to fill the Censer and therefore hee hath nothing for thee but a Censer full of fire from the Altar to cōsume thee here thou maist know if thou wilt that thou art blind and naked miserable and wretched But what is the remedy where is the refuge who is thy shelter in this thy distresse Surely if thou canst not pray thou maist look about thee within thee aboue thee beneath thee and finde no remedy refuge or helpe For thou hast no promise of all these in calling upon God no promise of deliverance as I have shewed yea instead thereof thou hast the arrow of the Lords wrath drawn even to the head against thee witnes the Psalmist powre out thy wrathfull heat against the heathen that know thee not and upon the kingdomes that cal not upon thy name The very same phrase hath Ieremy calling them the Families that call not on thy name whether it be family kingdome or person all is one Further what canst thou doe for thy family if famine fire plague or fearefull sicknesse come amongst thē If thou canst pray just so much as thou canst doe for thy selfe yea if they were all running to hell which is worse then the former thou neither canst nor wilt stay them but rather hasten them thither Observe this I beseech thee as thou art husband or wife parent or childe master or servant what canst thou doe for thy country when the dismal day of calamity thickens in upon it as a cloud and the evill threatned maketh hast Though thou art the most civiliz'd formalist in all the world the closest hypocrite the most glistring moralist yea the most potent grandie for state and puissance in all the land and yet canst not pray thou makest many breaches and openest many gaps to the betraying of the state and kingdome but thou canstnot for thy heart by sword or counsell protect the State frō the least ensuing danger An evill man may by Gods imployment bee a fort or Cannon yet hee hath neither the promise nor any good by it It is the poore wise man that by his wisdome delivereth the City though no man regard him for fools can doe no good fooles are all such as cannot pray for they spend all time in learning strange language but have never a word of the language of Canaan Lastly what canst thou doe when sicknesse seazeth on the and death the last enimy looketh gastly in thy face Then all thy worldly confidence policy hopes pleasures profits possessions joviallity mirth favourers freinds and what not shall forsake thee then one groane or sigh from the spirit would bring thee better newes from God then if all the Princes Embassadours in in the world should salute thee Master or their Soveraign and sole Monarch of the world But this Embassie of prayer being wanting what woe will be wāting yea thou maist wish the hills and mountaines to overwhelme thee and cover thee from the presence of him that sitteth upon the throne but all in vaine if the Lord put not words in thy mouth whereby hee may be entreated thou shalt either dye desperately like Iudas or with thy heart dying within thee like Nabal So consider this strait wherein thou art this may put thee further on to set thine eyes towards the Lord. But some desperately may object for such there bee if the sense of ones state that cannot pray set him so upon the rack it were better for such a one to content himselfe with such prayers as have served him hitherto then by medling after a new strain of prayer to make life uncomfortable and death intollerable For answer the remedy is worse then the disease for if such a one see it not in time he shall see it will be one time or other yea it may bee out of time greater horrour I have been the larger in this particular that the terror of a non-suppliant estate might hasten him out of it yea I think verily if such men would look well upon it it might be a meane to bring many out of it Thou must resolve in