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A45346
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A sermon preach'd before Her Majesty the Queen Dowager in her chappel at Somerset-House, upon the fifth Sunday after Easter, May 9, 1686 / by William Hall.
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Hall, William, d. 1718?
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1686
(1686)
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Wing H447; ESTC R30723
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19,128
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42
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of Sin take from my sight your evil Cogitations The great St. Augustine to this purpose addresses himself thus to a Sinner in Prayer If God should say to a Sinner Behold you have call'd upon me I come but whither Where will you provide a place fit to entertain me Do you think I can brook Tantas sordes conscientiae tuae such an unclean such an unsanctifi'd Soul Should you invite a Servant of mine to your House would not you to save your Credit take care to remove whatsoever is disgustful out of his sight Would not you make it clean set it in order Certainly you would Yet you have the confidence to invite me to your Soul in the manner I now behold it full of Rancour and Malice full of Fraud and Rapine full of Pride and Ambition full of Anger Lust and Blasphemy to your Soul the Center of Iniquities If you have a mind God should enter to inhabit there provide for his coming cease to offend implore his Pardon for your past Transgressions begin to love him as the Seraphins do Love is the Soul of a Seraphin Love ought to be the Soul of your Prayer Secondly Consider the Grandeur the Majesty of God Consider your self how little how like to nothing Consider what God is Consider what you are The Wings before the Face and Feet of a Seraphin are these or the like Considerations That Seraphin upon Earth St. Francis Pray'd in this manner Quid es tu dulcissime Domine Deus meus quid ego vermiculus pauper servus tuus What art thou my Lord my God! What am I A worm thy poor and wretched Servant With what Patience with what Humility do's an innocent and poor Wretch wait at the rich Man's Door With what Submission do's he appear before him With far more Respect with greater Awe should we beg an Alms at the Gates of God's Mercy As the Eyes of a Handmaid or Slave are fix'd upon the Hands of her Mistress as she reads from thence her Instructions what to do Sicut oculi ancillae in manibus Dominae suae So should our Eyes stedfastly regard the Grandeurs of the Almighty and from thence take an occasion to plead for our selves till he is graciously pleas'd to condescend to the relief of our Infirmities Thirdly The Seraphins never Intercede for us at the Throne of Mercy but in Matters that redound to their Maker's Honour and the Good of us Happy were the Christian Soul that would thus state her Petitions Ah unfortunate mistake of many that with the Sons of Zebedee know not what they ask Some desire Health some Riches others to be disencumber'd from the Burden of their Afflictions some Preferments Dignities or Honours But never consider with profound Submission to the inscrutable Secrets of Divine Providence whether the Sickness they labour under the Poverty they are in the Troubles they are oppress'd with their low or mean Condition be not more suitable to the Will of God more conducing to the Salvation of their Souls How many now are tortur'd with unquenchable Flames for the abuse of that Health the Almighty in anger conferr'd upon them For through a just Indignation he grants many Petitions which he according to the Dictates of his infinit Mercy had most graciously deny'd How many with Dives want Water to cool their burning Tongues who had they been contented with a less sensible Poverty then that of Lazarus would now have been Lodg'd in the Bosom of Abraham How many have faln headlong like those Morning Stars Lucifer and his Associates have set in an eternal Night because with the Pinions of an irregular Ambition they endeavour'd to mount above their native Sphere How many had exchang'd the Burden of their temporal Miseries or Afflictions had they born them with Resignation and Patience for an Eternal Weight of Glory Many times the everlasting Happiness or Misery of a Soul is annex'd to a Good or Bad Petition We ought not therefore to square our Requests according to the Dictates of our own inordinate Appetites we ought to render them conformable to the Will of Heaven But whatsoever we importune the Almighty for let it be desir'd with profound Submission in the Name through the Merits of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus Fourthly Si quid petieritis Patrem in nomine meo dabit vobis If you ask the Father any thing in my Name he will grant it you He says we can do nothing without him Sine me nihil potestis facere We can expect Salvation upon no other Account then his Our own Merits avail us nothing but by vertue of his Passion and precious Blood shed for us upon the Cross Quicquid ex me mihi deest saith St. Augustin usurpo ex visceribus Domini mei Jesu Christi quoniam misericordiae affluunt nec desunt foramina per quae Effluant Whatsoever is defective in me is supply'd from the Bowels of my Saviour's Mercy His Blood wants not Channels to convey it self to my Soul It streams yet in greater abundance through his Wounds upon the Cross then through his Pores in the Garden Hence it is that our Holy our Unerring Mother the Church concludes her Prayers Through Jesus Christ our Lord. 'T was he that Redeem'd us from the Slavery of Sin He is the Door of Heaven through Him we must enter which we shall certainly do if Perseverance crowns our Prayers Lastly Perseverance represented in those Wings of a Seraphin with which he is constantly upon Duty Christ many times grants to our Perseverance what he denies to our Prayers The Apostles ran to the Sepulchre of our Lord as well as Magdalen but She only had the honour and happiness of seeing him in Person because She stay'd Had the Cananean left our Blessed Saviour at that sharp Repulse she first receiv'd her Daughter had never been Dispossess'd Neither had Jacob the Patriarch been bless'd by the Angel had not he struggl'd with him till the dawning of the Day God denies us many times or seems not to hear us to try our Patience to make proof of our Constancy and Perseverance to experience the Faith we have in him He seems not to hear us at all Times or upon all Occasions to convince us of our own Misery of what we are our selves if left to our selves Grace would lose its estimate or value Heaven would sink beneath our Care or Consideration if every Sigh or Tear if a few Words altho' the faithful Interpreters of a sincere Intention could obtain what they ask at every turn Coelum vim patitur violenti rapiunt illud We must storm the Empyreum if we have a mind to gain it We must endeavour to take Happiness by force by force of a constant Prayer None will ever have their Temples empal'd with a Crown of Glory that have not persever'd in the Combat Nemo coronabitur nisi qui legitime certaverit We have had an Idea D.
Christians of the Excellency of Prayer of the Advantages we may reap from the constant Exercise of Prayer We are convinc'd I suppose of the Necessity of Prayer We have been furnish'd with the Conditions requisite for Prayer If we admire it for its Excellency we should embrace it as an Advantage Nay we ought to comply with so necessary an Obligation since we are not ignorant of the Manner how to discharge our selves I was not Master of Ceremonies my self when I plac'd Prayer amongst the Seraphins A Learned Author tells us That a Person constantly addicted to so pious an Employment has not only the Love of a Seraphin but likewise enjoys the Perfection of each Hierarchy of every Quire He is a Cherubin in his Knowledge a Throne inasmuch as his Soul is the Seat or Residence of God the Temple of the Holy Ghost A Domination in the Government of his Passions A Power in the Dominion over the Infernal Spirits A Vertue in his miraculous Life in his Life of Miracles An Archangel in his Heroick Enterprizes An Angel in his Prompt Obedience to the Commands of his Sovereign A Person in fine devoted to Prayer is a wonderful Epitome of all Heaven Who would not after this addict themselves to Prayer That holy Bishop of Geneva St. Francis Sales taxes those that will not of the want of common Sense But the foolish and unwise shall perish saith the Psalmist Simul insipi ens stultus peribunt Men may be asham'd of their supine Neglect in a Business of such Moment and Concern while they shew themselves so eager in the pursuit of Toys and Trifles If its charming Excellency do's not invite us let its Advantages engage us let its Necessity oblige us For its Advantages saith St. Ambrose Vberior est gratia quam precatio semper enim Dominus plus tribuit quam rogatur God is more liberal of his Grace then we of our Prayers he always confers more upon us then we require then we look for or expect Abraham desir'd a Son and obtain'd over and above the Measure of his Petition a numerous Progeny from his Loyns a Progeny as numerous as the Stars Obtain'd a Blessing never to be mention'd but with Joy The Redeemer of the World came from the propagation of his Seed Jacob the Patriarch beg'd God would be pleas'd to furnish him with Necessaries with Aliments for the Body and was stor'd with Riches in abundance was honour'd with the Company of Ascending and Descending Angels Solomon Pray'd for Wisdom and receiv'd Omnia bona pariter cum ea An affluence of all good things with it Ezechias Pray'd for his own Recovery when sick to death which was granted with an addition of Fifteen Years and the Promise of a glorious Victory over his Enemies The Samaritan desir'd Water but obtain'd Grace The Centurion beg'd of our Blessed Saviour to restore his Servant's Health Our Lord cur'd the Body of the Servant and the Soul of the Master The Thief upon the Cross desir'd only to be remembred when our Saviour came to his eternal Kingdom whereas our most gracious Lord promis'd him on that very Day to place him in Paradise Add now to these Advantages with those above mention'd the strict Obligation the pressing Necessity A Soul without Prayer is like a City in time of War without Guards without Walls without either Food or Ammunition which the Enemies may take and Plunder as they please S. Augustin and St. Ambrose the greatest and Learnedst Doctors of the Church both center in this Opinion That a Person stands in as much need of Prayer as of Grace to attain Salvation St. Ambrose farther assures us That Prayer is as much the Life of the Soul as the Soul is the Life of the Body Hence I rationally and evidently conclude That as the Soul is essential to the Life of the Body Prayer is as essential to the Life of the Soul The Body without a Soul is but a foul and ugly Carcass the Leavings of a Man the Food of Worms and the Grave The Soul without Prayer is dead detestable in the sight of God and his Angels whose Grave will be the nether Hell whose Worms those Stings of Conscience which shall never die As we take all Care possible therefore to preserve Nature the union of the Soul and Body since we are not ignorant of the Means we ought to take all Care possible to preserve Grace by a constant Exercise of Prayer Should you deny your Body its necessary Food the Soul takes Wing and leaves the Skeleton Should you deprive your Soul of the Sustenance of Prayer Grace quits the barren the unhospitable Soil the roaring Lion the ravenous Wolf the infernal Serpent each from Hell every Beast of Prey Omnes bestiae sylvae do not pass through only but inhabit there Let us Pray therefore always D. Christians as our Blessed Saviour has enjoyn'd us Sempe rorare not always upon our Knees with Hands erected with Eyes lifted up to Heaven that Ceremony at all times is neither necessary nor convenient Let us Pray always by a constant union of our Souls always with God Let us Pray always by doing what we do for the sake of God Let us Pray always by bearing our Sufferings for God Let us Pray always by desiring what we desire may redound to the Honour of God Let us Pray always by loving what we love for the love of God Let us Pray always in fine by rendring our Thoughts Words and Works constant Effects of Faith Hope and Charity Prayer then and Grace will be individual Companions Grace will be acquir'd at the Instances of our Prayers Glory will be the due Reward of Grace Gratiam enim Gloriam dabit Dominus For the Lord says the Psalmist will give Grace and Glory Which God of his infinit Mercy grant to the Prayers of your most Sacred Majesty to my Prayers and to the Prayers of all that hear me In Nomine Patris Filii Spiritus Sancti Amen FINIS Jo. 13.34 Matth 19.25 Chrysost Hom. 23. in Matth. I. Part. Matth. 21.18 Job 22 14. Joan. 13.15 Luc. 6.12 Luc. 23.34 Luc. 23.46 Joan. 4.14 Cant. 2.16 8.13 Cant. 2.14.4.3 Exod. 32.10 II. Part. Job 14.1 Matth. 10.36 Psal 49.15 Rom. 7.24 Rom. 6.6 2 Cor. 12.7 2 Cor. 11.26 Psal 41.5 Eccl. 35. Chrysost Hom. 5. de Incompr Dei Natura Acts 9.4 Acts 9.1 Aug. Ser. 1. de Sanctis 4. I. Condition 1 Joan. 3.21 S. Greg. Mor. l. 17. c. 11. Joan. 15.7 Isa 1.13 S. August Conc. 3. in Psal 30. II Condition Psal 122.2 III. Condition IV. Condition Joan. 15.5 August in Manual cap. 21. V. Condition Matth. 11.12 2 Tim. 2.5 Psal 43.11 Luc. 18.1 Psal 18.1