lost to himself lost to his right wits because he hath no knowledge or no good opinion of the comfort of Prayer Which is my purpose to make him learn by that which follows looking upon the Substance or Matter of Prayer The Qualification of him that Prayeth and the fitness of Time when Prayer is to be made I. The Matter of Prayer is as copious as all occasions that can be named it shall suffice for my purpose to treat of three Heads Glorifications with Thanksgivings Supplications and Intercessions 1. The first is bent to magnifie the Almighty to extol his Name to praise him for his Goodness This is the Hallelujah of David and of the Saints in Heaven that is give glory to Jah or the great Jehovah which is followed with a rare variety in the Song of the three Children O all ye works of the Lord bless ye the Lord praise him and magnifie him for ever It is a ditty that is balsamed all over with a perfusion of delight to praise God from all things that he hath made from the centre of the Earth to the top of Heaven And this is most divinely exprest in that which is called St. Ambrose his Hymn in our Common-Prayer We praise thee O God we knowledge thee to be the Lord And let the servant of God that will listen to me repeat it often and often For it is a piece of devotion so sweetly spread out into the branches of Heavenly praise Confession of Faith and devout Petitions that the like did never come forth since the time it was penn'd Let me speak to others out of the sense of my own heart and I may safely profess that in the service and worship of God I find nothing so delightful as to continue in the praise and honour of the Lord. If another contradict it and say that there are some means more aptly calculated as I may speak for the high Meridian of Comfort He is He and I am I and I appeal from him to my self what I find in my own motions and feelings And what man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of a man which is in him 1 Cor. 2.11 And I observe that in the prudent institution of our Church to hold forth the Consolation we have in Christ after the participation of his Body and Bloud in the blessed Sacrament it teacheth us to break out all together into a Jubilee Glory be to God on high We praise thee we bless thee we glorifie thee c. For when we are full of that holy Feast and have eaten Angels food we fall into the tune of Angels and signifie immediately before we depart how much our Spirit rejoyceth in God our Saviour But who knew better the mind of the Lord than the Spirit it self in those admirable exstacies of David Sing praises unto God for it is pleasant Psalm 135.3 Sing praises unto our God for it is pleasant and praise is comely Psalm 147.1 Sing aloud unto God our strength make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob Psalm 81.1 Every furrow in the book of the Psalms is sown with such seeds I know nothing more certain more constant to expel the sadness of the world than to sound out the praises of the Lord as with a Trumpet and when the heart is cast down it will make it rebound from Earth to Heaven This was the wisdom of the holy Church throughout all the world till distempers put us out of the right way not long since to solemnize the praise of our Saviour upon the Feasts of Christmas Easter c. that we might celebrate the great works which God hath done for us with the voice of joy and praise and with a multitude that kept Holy Day Psalm 42.4 O give thanks unto the Lord be telling of his mercy and salvation from day to day Give thanks unto him with chearfulness for a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful Who is a just man and fair condition'd that would not pay a debt and be exonerated of it He that can say he hath paid what he ow'd is it not a quietness to his mind to be discharg'd It goes further a great deal and brings more advantage when we offer up the sacrifice of retribution the incense of Thanksgiving unto the Lord for we draw on more benefits when we declare the goodness of the Lord upon the receipt of the old And the gratuitum which God gives is a thousand fold greater than the present which we bring This proposed to them that will fly high from the pinacle of the Lord's Prayer the first Petition Hallowed be thy Name 2. Neither let them faint that stoop low in Supplication for mercy will embrace them on every side Two things being put together are of much weight we pray with God's Spirit and by his Word He invites us in his Word to pray and he gives the gift with which we pray I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of Grace and Supplications Zach. 12.10 Did He pour upon us his Grace and have we received a Commandment the outward sign of his Will and can we suspect after all this that He will put us off and deny us Is his Grace given in vain or hath He sent his Word to delude us He hath kindled a fire in our breasts and it is an Heavenly flame that burns within us Lord though we are vile and despicable thou canst not despise the acting of thine own Spirit nor frustrate thine own operations Or do we come unbidden when we cast our selves down in thy presence Nay Lord thou hast beckned and called us Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden Hold fast to these two and who can forbid us to be comforted the Lord bids us pray and he gives us a heart to pray For it is not strange to his mercy perhaps it is strange to mans conceipt to give us strength to bring forth that obedience both to will and to do which himself hath commanded As he gave the Blessed Virgin strength to bring forth the Babe who was conceived and formed in her womb by the Holy Ghost This I do the rather enforce because we can see no comfort in our selves therefore as I derive all the vertue and spirituality that is in Prayer from the efficacy of Grace So I refer all the success to Christ in whom we are blessed with all spiritual blessings Eph. 1.3 Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my Name he will give it Jo. 15.16 But He and his Father are one therefore he says If ye shall ask the Father any thing in my Name I will do it Jo. 14. verse 14. If we had no better means to God than our selves and our own merits there were no hope to speed nay our hearts would be as faint and dead as if we heard our selves denied before we had opened our lips But we conclude as it is to
Christian Consolations Taught from FIVE HEADS IN RELIGION I. Faith II. Hope III. The Holy Spirit IV. Prayer V. The Sacraments Written by a Learned PRELATE Isaiah 40.1 2. Comfort ye comfort ye my people saith your God Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned LONDON Printed for R. Royston Bookseller to his most Excellent Majesty 1671. TO THE READER THIS Manual of Christian Consolations derived from Five Heads of great importance in Religion was written by a late R. Prelate of our Church and is now Printed according to his own Copy The Papers were presented by him to a Person of Honour for whose private use they were designed But as the Noblest Spirits are most communicative that Noble and Religious Lady was pleased to impart them for the good also of others We read in the Evangelists how that the Holy Jesus who went about doing good that 's the short but full Character which * Acts 10.38 Saint Peter gives of him did by a Miracle of Mercy bless five Loaves to the feeding of a very great multitude And may the same Almighty Goodness bless and prosper whatsoever Spiritual good is contained in these Five Helps and Directions for a Christian's Comfort to the refreshing and strengthening of such Souls as truly hunger and thirst after God May the serious and devout Readers taste and see how good the Lord is that his Loving kindness is better than Life and that the Light of his Countenance the sense of his favour is infinitely more Heart-cheering and brings with it a truer and larger satisfaction than the encrease of Corn Psal 4. and Wine and Oil doth to the men of this world who only or chiefly mind Earthly things and unwisely place their felicity in the fading and empty enjoyments of this present life It is good then that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord Lam. 3. for he is good to them that wait for him to the Soul that seeketh him He who is the God of Love and even * 1 Jo. 4. Love it self He who is the ever-flowing Fountain of Goodness will not fail to fill the hungry with good things Such a Christian hath meat to eat which the world knows not of he feeds on the hidden Manna he hath as S. Austin said of S. Ambrose occultum os in corde ejus and with this he doth sapida gaudia de pane Dei ruminare The Father of the World who openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing Psal 145. giving to all their meat in due season he is as ready to fulfil the desire of them that fear him he will give grace and glory Psal 84. and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly And here from the character and qualification of the Persons them that fear him and them that walk uprightly it highly concerns us to observe and to lay it to heart That a Sincere desire and Serious endeavour to fear God and walk uprightly is a necessary and indispensable Condition to qualifie and make us meet for the receiving of the best of Divine favours and blessings We must first walk in the fear of the Lord if we would walk in the Comfort of the Holy Ghost as these two are set together in Acts 9.31 If we would have the Spirit to be our Comforter we must follow the Spirit as our Guide and Counsellor If we would find rest unto our Souls we must take Christ's yoke upon us Matth. 11. the yoke of his Precepts which are all holy and just and good A state of inward Comfort and true Tranquillity of Spirit can never be secured and preserved but by a continued care to walk before God in a faithful obedience to his Will in all things For there is no peace to the wicked as is * Chap. 48. 22. Chap. 57. 21. twice exprest by the noble Prophet Isaiah But Great peace have they that love thy Law Psal 119.165 saith the Royal Psalmist the man after God's own heart who herein spake his own experience and elsewhere Psal 37.37 Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace While he lives he lives in peace his Soul dwells at ease he feels an unspeakable joy and pleasure within upon the sense of his doing his duty and being faithful in obedience to his Lord and Master in Heaven And when he dies he departs in peace and shall * Isa 57. enter into peace and ‖ Mat. 25. into the joy of his Lord. Here he tastes how sweet the Lord is but there he shall be abundantly satisfied with the plenty of God's House Psal 37. and made to drink of the River of his pleasures The meek shall eat and be satisfied and their heart shall live for ever Psal 22. And so full and compleat shall be their joy and satisfaction that they shall neither hunger nor thirst any more Rev. 7. for the Lamb shall feed them and shall lead them unto living Fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes This is the happy Portion of those Souls who have the Lord for their God with whom there is fulness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures most pure and permanent for evermore The Contents of the Chapters THe Introduction CHAP. I. Of Faith That Faith is the Ground and Foundation of a Christian's Comfort Several doubts and scruples about Believing answered Page 1. CHAP. II. Of Hope That a Christian's Comfort flows from the Grace of Hope The object of Hope is 1. That which is Good 2. A Good absent 3. Though absent yet possible and that for Three Reasons 4. Though possible yet difficult An account of two sorts of difficulties with particular encouragements against them Pag. 13. CHAP. III. Of the Holy Spirit How a Christian's Comforts flow from the Inhabitation and Testimony of the Holy Ghost as also from the Sanctification of the Spirit unto all Obedience and the fruits of Righteousness Pag. 67. CHAP. IV. Of Prayer Prayer is the great Instrument of a Christian's Comfort Concerning Prayer three things to be considered I. The Substance or Matter of Prayer in three Heads 1. Thanksgivings 2. Supplications 3. Intercessions II. The Qualification of them that Pray III. The fitness of Time for Prayer Pag. 99. CHAP. V. Of the Sacraments How the Sacraments minister to a Christian's Comfort A general Survey of Sacraments Five Reasons why God ordained Two Sacraments under the Gospel What Comforts flow from the Grace of Baptism What Comforts flow from the Lord's Supper Pag. 155. Christian Consolations taught from five Heads in Religion THE INTRODUCTION THE work of the Ministry consists in two things in Threatnings or Comforts The first is useful for the greatest part of Christians who are led by the Spirit of bondage and
God and of Christ compassed with innumerable Angels St. Paul says no less Rom. 8.23 We that have the first fruits of the Spirit groan within our selves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of the body Here are groans and sighs indeed but we shall never be Sea-sick with that easie tossing having Hope as an anchor of our Soul Heb. 6.19 Hope of the right stamp looking for the appearance of God and the reward that he brings with him hath a good Mate that goes together with it and that 's Patience In the saddest book of the Scripture Lamen 3.26 it is written It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Which that it may not be wanting we must contend for it in prayer as it is 2 Thess 3.5 The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and the patient waiting for Christ And it is no difficult thing to be perswaded For when we are held off for a while from the inheritance of Heaven do we not attend God's leisure and will the handmaid wait for her Mistress being in some degrees of place above her and shall not the Creature stay the leisure of the Creator so infinite above us Beside the patient expectation of the recompence will increase the recompence and make it more superlative therefore let not him that believes make haste Isa 28.16 Nay so your Spirit will be patient the Lord will allow you your importunity to call upon him to hasten My strength haste thee to help me Psal 22.19 Finally stay for that contentedly which when it comes it comes but once and shall abide for ever III. Another degree upon which Hope steps higher is this that her aim is possible I have said how that which is proposed to it is good that it is not disconsolate though it be in futurition and not yet obtain'd for it is too good to be yet obtained if patience have its perfect work it can attend chearfully My soul wait thou only upon God for my expectation is from him Psal 62.5 Strike we therefore pleasantly upon this third string that the past object of divine Hope is to be accomplisht For I run not as uncertainly I fight not as one that beateth the air 1 Cor. 9.26 Paul did do all things and suffer all things for that which is seizable and might be atchieved The covetous is a projector for so much wealth as can never be gotten The Epicure longs for so much pleasure as can never be enjoy'd Great Clerks and Philosophers seek for so much knowledge as can never be found which in Isaiahs words is to spend mony for that which is not bread and to labour for that which doth not satisfie Chap. 55.2 This is able to break the brain and to break the heart for there is no labour to lost labour But the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life Prov. 11.30 His Hope stands upon a sound bottom it is all comfort for three Reasons First it is possible because it comes from an Infinite power 2. Because it is derived from Infinite love and goodness 3. It hath abundant satisfaction from long and constant experience and what can we desire more 1. The first pillar that props it up is the Almightiness of God Abba Father all things are possible to thee says our Saviour Mark 14.16 Talk not to me how the Seas should be turned into dry Land or how the poor can be raised up to be set with the Princes of the people or how stones can be raised up to be children of Abraham or how palsies and fevers can be cured with a word I will stop all gaps of infidelity with this one bush That God is able to do it He that is made by no Cause cannot be confined in his Being and he that hath no bounds in his Being can have no bounds and restriction in his Power And if any fancy start out of our weak brain to cavil that somewhat is impossible to God it is soberly spoken by one that it were better to say that this could not be done than that God could not do it There is no possibility therefore for Christian Hope to despair because all things are possible to God There is no Horizon under Heaven or above Heaven that Hope cannot look beyond it For that comfort that is commensurable with the strength and power of God is as large as can be contained in the heart of a creature But if you lean upon the help of men and hosts and Angels they are slender reeds and will give you a fall as God said of the vain trust of the Jews They shall be ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation Isa 20.5 How many do I see to sink under a little sorrow because they have too much temporal comfort the world is too liberal to them it hath given them of all things so largely that they have not the patience to want any thing As God told Gideon that he had too much of Man in his Army to depend upon the Almighty for victory and he bad him retain but the thirtieth part and his foes should flye before him Jud. 7.4 Throw all the miserable comforts of the world out of doors for rubbish and cast your self upon the strength of God and upon that alone and then say Lord receive me for I have driven all other solace from me that I might enjoy thee alone now I am ready for my Saviour for there is none to help me but only thou O Lord. 2. Secondly That which holy Hope hath in its prospect is possible not only for the Infiniteness of power but for the Infiniteness of the mercy of our God 'T is easie to get the favour of a gracious and a gentle nature among the sons and daughters of men and the most generous are the most reconcilable Then what possibility nay what readiness will Hope find to be reconciled to God merciful gracious long-suffering abundant in goodness and truth Exod. 34.6 The Devil is not more frequent nor more strong in any temptation than to undermine Hope in this point that it is too forward and too peremptory to expect remission of sins fain he would have a tender Conscience stick in this mire and never get out of it Some Reverend writers go so far to teach that Satan himself at first when he began his mischief in Paradise was of opinion that sin could not be forgiven it being his own case and that he would never have tempted Eve to disobedience if he had imagin'd the eating of the forbidden fruit could be pardoned not suspecting that God would have given his only Son to die for our redemption Which I pass by because it depends upon a grave question whether God could pardon sin by his absolute power without satisfaction made to his Justice Deep disputings will yield but shallow comforts Of this we are assured that the means which the Father appointed are excellent into which 1 Pet.
them with whom God is well pleased No sin is forgiven to him that is not in Christ and against him that is in Christ there is no condemnation They are the sons of God to whom the Lord doth graciously remit any fault but where any fault is not remitted they are his enemies He that is justified from any sin must be truly penitent but a true penitent is sorry for all sins together hates them eschews them all alike Then follows a plenary absolution from all iniquity through Christ our Lord. And beware that you over-look not these multitudes of sins of the under size as if little grief or anxiety would serve for them are they not numberless corns of sand and may not a weight of too much sand sink a ship as soon as a burden of too much iron The dailiness of sin must be bewailed with the dailiness of sorrow And then when thou liest down thou shalt not be afraid yea thou shalt lie down and thy sleep shall be sweet Prov. 3.24 Now tell me if this balm be not enough to heal the bleedings and bruisings of despair Talents of sin and sins in small mony you may hide them all in the wounds of Christ It is possible for God to do the benefit and possible for thee to receive it Let Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities Psalm 130. verse ult 3. It must now be added how that which Hope waits for is possible since it may find satisfaction from long and constant experience In the yonger days of the world somewhat might be said to excuse the backwardness of Hope they wanted proof and demonstration in those times Even Cain was the sooner overtaken with despair crying out My sin is greater than can be forgiven me He had not lived so long to be taught the contrary by experience But every age hath given advantage to Hope to be satisfied better and better O God we have heard with our ears and our fathers have declared unto us the noble works that thou didst in their days and in the old time before them Psalm 44.1 The records of God do tell us how the Armies of aliens have been discomfited before his Children how the rocks have given them drink and the barren wilderness bread how the Church hath been scattered and recollected the righteous continually supported either with deliverance or patience that the dead have been raised up to life nay that Enoch and Elias were taken up alive into Heaven to implant into our minds that both they that are in the graves shall hear the voice of Christ and come forth and that such as shall be found living at that day shall be caught up in the clouds and be translated into Heaven And I challenge Hope to instance if it can surmise that any thing is impossible to be brought to pass since there is a president in every thing to demonstrate that the right hand of the Lord hath brought mighty things to pass There is one thing I confess for which there is no example neither can be evidenced till all things be accomplisht that is the coming of the Lord Christ with the new Heavens and the new Earth and yet to confirm us in that mystery to come St. John did see the Idea or glimpse of it in his Revelation The use of all this is to remember the transactions of God in the times that are gone before Who ever saw the righteous forsaken or the wicked flourish long was there ever any persecution of the Church which hath not ended in its triumph But stay for it and pray for it and condole for the delays of God's providence till you may say in earnest My soul fainteth for thy salvation Psalm 119.31 How easie is it for a Christian that hath any nostril to run after God in the odour of his sweet ointments and trace his steps from point to point and then to say with David I have remembred thy judgments of old O Lord and have comforted my self Psalm 119.52 and from another Prophet Ezek. 14.22 Ye shall see their way and their doings and shall be comsorted concerning all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem The great store-house of Consolation is Hope therefore all this and more must be said to keep it fresh like a green Olive-tree having never a sear or withered bough upon it I come now to complete it I have shewn it aims only at good and that which is only and excellently good at such a good whose harvest is not brought in all in a year but still there is more and more to be had and the most to come It is possible through the greatness of Gods power and mercy as all ages have witnessed IV. But lastly that which may seem to pinch is that it is Bonum arduum a good not easily attained but with great labour and diligence to give warning against sloth and security It were not worth our longing to say we hope for petty things easie and at hand but for things of value for which we must struggle with many lets and impediments to possess them No man need to hope to find Cockle-shells on the shore but to find Pearls in the Sea that 's an object for the adventure of a Jeweller Neither is the Jewel of Christian Hope easily purchast But as Elijah said to Elisha Thou hast asked a hard thing nevertheless if thou see me when I am taken from thee it shall be so unto thee 2 Kings 2.10 Much after that sort I commune with my heart and say It is good to seek for eternal life pursue it as the Hart brayeth after the rivers of waters there will be much a-do to get it for many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able Luke 13.24 Nevertheless if thou canst see the Lord as if he were continually before thee thou shalt not miss of that thou desirest for all things are possible to him whose eyes are ever toward the Lord. These difficulties upon which I strike are either in our selves or in our adventure in our selves partly through natural imbecillity partly through contracted impotency 1. Our natural languor is that of original contagion which makes us so weak that there is none that doth good no not one Which is not to be extenuated as if the malignity of it might be supprest with a little resistance It is good to know the power of so strong an enemy that we may be fortified against it It is a root of bitterness never to be digg'd up out of corrupt nature a coal of fire spitting out sparks of temptations continually as inward to us as the marrow is in our bones Yet there is hope in Christ to slake this fire though not utterly in this life to quench it It is a body of death a whole body consisting of all the members of sin yet a body is but
the first enticement no nor upon the second or third assault Resist the Devil and he will fly from you quit your self like a man fight like a Christian The flesh is weak but the Spirit is willing ready able to assist you Matth. 26.41 Thus Hope waxeth valiant and assures it self of victory against customs habits and all contracted impotencies 2. Lay now our adventure the toil and peril of our labour wherein we are employ'd in another balance and more difficulty will appear For Hope is wise and doth not flatter it self as if the Kingdom of Heaven were accessible with little pains What carefulness ought this to work in us what self-denial what fear what zeal what unblamable conversation I run I fight I keep under my body and bring it into subjection 1 Cor. 9.27 For Christ Jesus I have suffered the loss of all things Phil. 3.8 Christ having overcome the sharpness of death hath opened the kingdom of Heaven to all believers yet to put us to our skill and labour to follow mark what he hath taught us Matth. 7.14 Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there be that find it And therefore is it so strait and narrow a question worthy to be resolved to teach us and to comfort us First a very religious life is said by a Metaphor to go in at a strait gate because it is our master-piece to find the door or to begin well therefore it is call'd to be born again For as to be born into the world needs more art and skilful Midwifery than to bring us up so to be regenerate to begin to live the life that is in Christ is exceeding irksom to flesh and bloud so many are the enticements that throng about the way to keep us from the door and to hold us in love with those sins which have been our companions As an Orator will be more timorous to deliver the first period of his speech than all that follows so we stick long at the first on-set to reform to be strict to pass away with so much vanity as must be forsaken The penitent thief could not find the door till he was going out of the world St. Paul as some compute was twenty eight years old before he left to be a blasphemer But rush on and make way through all resistances he that hath one foot over the threshold and hath cast the world behind him is well advanced into the courts of our God Secondly A Heavenly mind gathers it self up into one wish and no more One thing have I desired of the Lord which I will require Psal 27.4 Grant me thy self O Lord and I will ask no more The new creature asks nothing of God but to enjoy God give me this O Lord and for the rest let Ziba take all I will part with all to buy that one Pearl the riches of Heavenly grace The servant of sin hath all manner of pleasures under Heaven to trade in Can he ask for a shop with more variety of ware why may he not have these you will say and life eternal to boot Some of them are inconsistent with life eternal but all are not so they be added and not sought for as our Saviour distinguisheth First seek the kingdom of God and these things shall be added Matth. 6.33 But if you seek them which is to love them for themselves and above the kingdom of God it is like a man that carries a piece of timber at bredth upon his back there is no door wide enough for a man to get in with such an impediment upon his shoulders It is not the gate that excludes him but he thrusts himself out with his own improvidence Thirdly There are thousands of scandals millions of errors to be avoided but truth and holiness are in the middle in a little compass and happy is he that shuns extreams and falls perpendicularly upon the golden mean The Commandments of God are but ten words Deut. 4.13 the inventions of men and the forms of will-worship are innumerous Pray Fast give Alms Christ comprehends much external duty under those three Heads but the Traditions of men are more than can be put into a Catalogue Call upon God in the time of trouble that and no more is the Pole-star of Faith in Prayer but what a compass doth Monkishness take in to drop beads in the invocation of Angels and Saints Profaneness neglects the honour of God Superstition falls into needless excesses about it the true fear of God is in the centre as far from the one extream as from the other As in an accurate Song you must keep Minim-time or else you will put the whole Quire out so look that you sing the new song of the Lord with trembling and accurate observation miss neither Cliff nor Note that is neither sound doctrine nor pious practice These are the Reasons why it is so hard to get access to Christ in a narrow way and through a strait gate If these difficulties be not discern'd by some it is because they take up Christianity as it is in use among men and as they are born to it But they that came to it in their years of understanding and were trained up in Church-discipline many years before they were baptized and all that time were put to exact trial what they would prove and were taught it over and over how the Laws of Christ were far stricter than any other Laws in the world these were preacquainted with the Covenant which they must perform and then received it with the largest and hardest conditions Yet they were brought on with two special comforts First that God did behold from Heaven the mightiness of the task which we took upon us the troubles of persecutions the dangers of temptations the infirmities of man to resist them He knows whereof we are made he remembreth we are but dust it puts him to admire the performances of his Saints as Jesus marvelled at the Centurion's Faith Matth. 8.10 Secondly when we are under our hazards we shall have an answer from the Lord as St. Paul had My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness 2 Cor. 12.11 Therefore as the Lord said of David when he had chosen him I have laid help upon one that is mighty Psalm 89.19 So we casting our selves upon the help of God upon one that is Almighty though of our selves we have gathered little into our Omer the blessing of God upon it will not let us lack Every hard matter that rose among the people was to be brought to Moses Exod. 18.16 so in every hard cause desire the Lord to plead it and to judge it bring it to him leave it in his Court and he will end it These are the Cordials to revive Hope touching the difficulties it finds in the way to obtain that Good which is set before it CHAP. III. How a Christian's Comforts flow from the
Eternity I dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble Spirit to revive the Spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Isa 57.15 Let the comparison between the Publican and the Pharisee remain for ever in our memory Luke 18. The Prayer of the poor destitute the contrite the penitent the bleeding heart is a sacrifice well season'd with the salt of anguish and misery Away with high looks and high words Lord thou dost hear the desire of the humble and dost prepare their heart Psalm 10.17 And God comforteth those that are cast down 2 Cor. 7.6 Put your self back who are but dust and ashes in a great distance from the Lord that you may behold him the better in his infinite greatness And a lowly heart will never spare to deject the body O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker Solomon pray'd upon his knees 1 Chron. 6. so did Daniel Chap. 6. so did Peter when messengers came to him from Cornelius Acts 9. so St. Paul For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Eph. 3.14 And not only men upon Earth but the glorious Spirits in Heaven cast themselves and their Crowns down before him that sitteth on the Throne Revel 4. Nay the Son of God fell down upon his knees and pray'd unto his Father Luke 22.41 And Fasting which is a pregnant circumstance of humiliation was much in use with Prayer the instances are innumerous to signifie we had no part in any comfort nor any delight in the Creatures till we were reconciled to the Lord. So was Sackcloth used and all apparel of beauty all ornaments of riches and pride were put off for that time Let them be no more than outward circumstances yet they are significant But that which is a sure companion and most intimate to humility in Prayer is Patience It breaks not away in a pet because it is not answer'd at the first or second asking that 's disdainful and arrogant It holds on and attends and cries till the throat is dry I waited patiently for the Lord Psalm 40.1 And there must be patient continuance in them that seek for Glory and Immortality Rom. 2.7 Faith is the foundation of Prayer and to continue the Metaphor Patience is the Roof The winds blow look to the foundation or the building will fall Rain and storms will descend but if they light upon a Roof that is close and compact they run aside and are cast upon the ground He that expects God's pleasure from day to day will neither faint nor fret that his suit hangs long in the Court of Requests such storms as proceed from murmuring cannot beat through a solid Roof Says Habbak Chap. 2. Verse 3. A great thing will the Lord bring to pass but not presently says the Lord The Vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end it shall speak and not lye though it tarry wait for it because it will surely come Many diseases will never be cured well unless they be long a curing and many deliverances will never be throughly setled unless they be long a preparing and many mercies are hid like seed in the ground and will be long a growing I give God thanks that every blessing of worldly Comfort that I Pray'd for the longer I was kept from it and the more I pray'd for it I found it the greater in the end Observe that there is nothing of moment yea be it of lesser and vulgar size with which the Providence of God hath not interwoven a thousand things to be dispatcht with it which requires time perhaps seven years to finish them Expect therefore from the Divine wisdom to do all things in their order and give honour to the Supream Majesty to wait his leisure For yet a little and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Heb. 10.37 3. The third thing which gives assurance of Comfort to Prayer is Zeal Devotion Fervency which will pluck on Patience further and further For he that is zealous in any thing will not easily give over till he have brought his ends to pass Zeal is a continual and an earnest supplicant it Prays without ceasing 1 Thess 5.17 Prays exceedingly 1 Thess 3.10 Asks with confidence seeks with diligence knocks with perseverance A swarm of Bees that is many thousands must gather into a Hive to fill it with Hony-combs and a swarm of Prayers is sweeter before the Lord than the Hony and the Hony-comb Likewise it is as vehement as it is assiduous labouring fervently for you in Prayers Coloss 4.12 Stir up your wit and diligence and memory and meditations when you come to spread out your wants before your Father but if you yawn out heedless heartless petitions you shall depart with discouragement as it is Psalm 80.4 O Lord God of hosts how long wilt thou be angry with the Prayer of thy people The Laodiceans were lukewarm neither hot nor cold in the worship of God therefore the Spirit said to the Angel of that Church Be zealous and repent Revel 3.19 Zeal is defined to be a vehement and inflamed love There must be an ardour and a flame in Prayer as if we would mount it up like fire to Heaven Then we may say that a Seraphin hath laid a coal from the Altar upon our mouth and touched our lips Isa 6.7 Zeal takes away the Soul for a time and carries it far above us I write to them that have felt it that it darts a mans Spirit out of him like an arrow out of a bow This is it which infallibly begets Hope Comfort Patience all in a Sheaf as they are divinely put together Rom. 12. verses 11 12. Fervent in Spirit serving the Lord rejoycing in Hope patient in Tribulation continuing instant in Prayer The transportment of Zeal will excuse or rather commend some Ejaculations of Prayer which seem to be too bold with God as Psalm 44. How long wilt thou turn away the face from us O Lord and forgettest our misery and trouble So Jer. 14.9 Why should'st thou be as a man asleep and as a mighty man that cannot save us And we do but follow our Saviour's pattern in it upon the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Tell not a troubled heart that is in anguish tell it not of modesty it is a complement it will not be tied to The Shunamite swallowed up in sorrow for the loss of her child runs to mount Carmel to Elisha and before she said any thing she catcht him fast by the feet Gehazi thought it irreverent and unwoman-like behaviour and laid hold to thrust her away Let her alone says the Prophet for her Soul is vexed within her 2 Kings 4.27 The passions of an afflicted Soul have much indulgence to break out far They are not in good compass till vehemency of Zeal carry them beyond ordinary rule and fashion Mary Magdalen did
more than this the first time she came to our Saviour Luke 7.37 she came into a strange house without leave and admittance into the house of a Pharisee and those hypocrites would not admit suspected sinners she takes opportunity to come at dinner-time being a guest unbidden she gives no salutation to the company but falls down at our Saviours feet and lays her kisses thick upon them says a holy writer to it it is Gregory the Great Hast thou no forehead woman hath modesty quite lest thee And he answers himself Minimè pudor intus erat That which she was asham'd of was within her she was so ashamed of her sins that she forgat all other shamefac'dness You see that Zeal will pardon boldness and will give authority to prayer to expostulate with God and hath a toleration as it were to quarrel with his mercy Now a Christian sensible of many imperfections will cry out O that I could attain to some degrees of Zeal I am no Shunamite no Mary Magdalen no Paul fervent in Spirit I am carried away with distractions when I speak unto the Lord in Prayer and through the multitude of various thoughts I forget what I am about O Christ help our frailties and keep our minds fixed upon thee when we ask any thing in thy Name One body cannot be in two places at once and one heart cannot be in Heaven and Earth together O let us cover our faces with the wings of the Cherubims Isa 6.2 that we may not see enticements to distract us Watch and Pray watch this wandring heart that it may not be stoln away by fancies that move in our mind continually like motes in the beams of the Sun Defie Satan and bid him abandon As they that have committed a robbery run away from a Hue and Cry so the Devil will run away from the noise of your Supplications when you challenge him for sacriledge that he hath robb'd you of your Devotion To do more yet I will assay to prescribe a remedy to a disease I fear not quite to be cur'd But first feel your own pulse and your fitness for the Heavenly work of Prayer before you begin it See that you be not drowzy and slothful for a sluggard will be incumbred with various and recurrent thoughts Neither would I have you to protract Prayer to that length which otherwise you would have done when your mind and devotion fail you Short and pithy Prayers Collects well fill'd with words and matter and not protracted till they may be censur'd for babbling are more prevalent with God when Zeal doth manage them than to spend out time without a fervent and well fixt intention The Prayers of the great Saints in Scripture are compendious they are strong in sense and speak home A rose is sweeter in the bud than in the blown flower and what your abate at one time in length to anticipate distraction you may fill up the measure when you will by using them the oftner I have known some servants of God very circumspect in their ways that use for the most part to read their Prayers either Printed or Written that seeing the matter of them before their eyes they might the better contain themselves from all extravagancies To which end it is prescribed in the Church of Rome though a Priest can say the Mass by heart yet he must read it out of his book to keep the closer to the intention of his duty But when all is said happy are they that offend least in this kind for all offend And who can we blame but our selves that are remiss and not half so earnest as we should be to prevail with God which I demonstrate thus Let there be any thing in our Prayers which we are more eagerly set upon to obtain than all the rest we will never start aside nor run out of our circle when we come to that petition Animus est ubi amat The mind is with that and in that which it loves If we did long for every member of our Prayer as much as for that special thing which we did so eminently desire we would continue from the beginning to the end of Prayer with little or no diversion This bottom is not wound up till I give a warning to Zeal as it is Gal. 5.18 It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing Look that your petitions be modelled into such things as the Word and Spirit do appoint and stir you up to ask and you shall not be ashamed of your sacrifice Hos 4.19 But if you be frivolous the Prophet will tell you again Ye have sown the wind and ye shall reap the whirle-wind Hos 8.7 or the Apostle tells you plainly Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss James 4.3 Ask for the kingdom of Heaven for the maintenance of God's glory for newness of life and obedience to the will of God ask for pardon of sins in Christ Jesus for grace in the Holy Ghost to resist temptations ask our offended Father for mercy to be delivered from the wrath which we have deserved and let the seventh part of our Prayer be for the things of this life and for them with moderation according to that port and person which we bear in the world and be contented with the portion allotted to you aim by this level and you hit the mark What mighty blessings did fall upon Solomon because he desired not the advantages of pomp and luxury when God put it to him in a dream what to ask he desired an understanding and a wise heart and the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing 1 Kings 3.10 3. Intercessions that is Prayers wherein we mediate to God for others must now be thought of and the Comfort redounding from them The duty is strictly commanded to Pray for one another James 5.16 And I will that Intercessions be made for all men for Kings and all that are in Authority 1 Tim. 2.1 when we do so we have done what we are bidden and having done that albeit we are unprofitable servants to God we are not uncomfortable to our selves For it is the first part of the reward of a good deed that we can say to our Conscience we have done it Beside the work of love is delightful to the Spirit and to help others in our Prayers is the largest and widest work of Charity willing to do good to all upon the face of the Earth and stretching forth its hands that the whole world may be the better for the calves of our lips Chiefly commending the whole state of Christs Church to Gods mercy yet also as may be seen in our Collect used on Good-friday not forgetting to remember Christ for Jews Turks Infidels Hereticks to take from them ignorance hardness of heart and contempt of the Word not only that the Sheep of Christs pasture might be blest but that it might be well with Nero and such as he that were
committing Treason against God that is repossession of mercy endanger'd to be forfeited But were it a new Covenant we should have some new visible Sign for it which never was Therefore this is the very Soul of mine and every ones Baptismal Consolation that being once done it Seals pardon for all our sins through Christs bloud unto our lifes end BUT as if many Spouts should open into one Cistern so all Comforts conspire to meet in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Nothing else but the actual enjoying of Heaven is above it The Church which dispenseth all the mysteries of salvation can bring forth no better Children that are come to Age can ask no more than the whole portion of their Father's goods that come unto them and what is that but the Bloud of Christ and this is the New Testament in that Bloud Christ is mine his Body is mine his Bloud is mine all is mine O be glad and rejoyce and give honour to the Lord God Omnipotent for the marriage of the Lamb is come Revel 19.7 And the Spirit saith write Blessed are they that are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb Verse 9. It is much to be received into a Covenant with God by the former Sacrament is it not more to be kept in Covenant by the other It is much in Baptism to be brought from death to life but what is life without nourishment to preserve it This keeps us in the Lease of the old Covenant that the Years of it shall never run out and expire This is food to keep us in health and strength that we never decay and faint By it we lay hold of the promise Isa 54.10 My kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee Then why should I not embolden my heart with holy security against all fears for the Lord hath put himself into my hand and into my mouth and into my Spirit of what then should I be afraid This is that courage which our Liturgy sounds forth as with a shrill Trumpet to all that come to this Banquet well prepared It begins that it is a comfortable thing to all them that receive it worthily it bids us come with a full trust in Gods mercy and with a quiet Conscience it proclaims aloud Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all that truly come unto him So God loved the world c. Come unto me all ye c. This is a true saying c. It hath gathered the Sallies of spiritual joy as it were into a bundle of Myrrhe It adds Christ hath instituted and ordained holy mysteries as pledges of his love and for a continual remembrance of his death to our great and endless comfort And if all this put together will not blandish our Conscience and stablish our joy we would be dull and spirit-broken though an Angel from Heaven should come and say unto us as he did unto Gideon The Lord is with thee thou mighty man of valour Jud. 6.12 For an Angel of the Lord cannot plead so much to the solace of the heart as the great Angel of the Covenant hath done in these great demonstrations of love as followeth 1. First As Baptism was the former so this is the second visible publication of God's apparent mercy It is not a bare message but a lively apprehension of them by palpable means not in a vision or a dream but in a real Object Call to mind that the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel who had appeared unto him twice 1 Kings 11.39 Once the Lord hath appeared unto us in the token of his love by Water and once again he appears unto us in the Elements of his Holy Table Twice he hath appeared to bless thee Therefore eat thy Bread with joy and drink thy Wine with a merry heart Eccles 9.7 For if you turn away from Comfort when the Lord hath appeared twice unto you to give it you he will be angry and leave you to a thick darkness of sorrow such as fell upon the land of Aegypt 2. Secondly The Lord can appear Comfortably unto us though with a Sword in his hand and in the midst of a Camp as he did to Josuah Jos 5.13 Or in a flame of fire as he did to Manoah Jud. 13.20 Or in a tempest upon the Sea as he did to the Apostles Matth. 14.27 Or at the Graves mouth as he did to Mary Magdalen Jo. 20.14 But here he appears unto us in a Feast which is a time of innocent delight The glory of God which we look for is set out unto us in that which our senses apprehend for sweetness and pleasure as Luke 22.29 I appoint unto you a Kingdom that ye may Eat and Drink at my Table in my Kingdom which is translated from bodily pleasure to spiritual that in the Heaven of blessedness the Soul shall feed continually as at a Banquet of which we have now a taste in the Kingly provision of Christs Supper It is a Kingly Feast although imparted in a little pittance of Bread and Wine yet it is more costly and precious to that which it signifies than Solomon and all his Court had for their diet day by day 1 Kings 4.22 We are brought to Eat at the King's Table as Mephibosheth was like one of the Kings Sons 2 Sam. 9.11 To Eat together is a Communion of more than ordinary acquaintance do you note the endearing favour of God in that And what are we that are not thrust as our kind might look for it to gather up Crums under the Board but to Eat our portion before the Lord with the Lord out of the hands of the Lord For he that brake Bread and gave it to the Apostles gives it to Us as our High Priest though he be in Heaven I exhort you therefore to enter into the Guest-chamber with a quiet and unshaken heart for the Lord hath not invited us as Absalom did Amnon to kill us nor as Esther did Haman to accuse us but as Melchisedech brought forth Bread and Wine to Abraham to bless us He gives us Asher's portion Bread that shall be fat and Royal dainties Gen. 49.20 Only the case is alter'd if Christ shall say the hand of him that betrays me the hand of him that loves me not the hand of him that believes not in me the hand of him that will not keep my sayings is on the Table That wretch shall be thrown out and be fed with Bread of sorrow and Water of affliction nay where there shall not be a drop of Water to cool his Tongue Thirdly That which astonisheth the Communicant and ravisheth his heart is that this Feast affords no worse meat than the Body and Bloud of our Saviour Those he gave for the life of the world these are the repast of this Supper and these we truly partake For