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
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
there is not only the visible reception of the outward Signs but an invisible reception of the thing signified There is far more than a shadow than a type than a figure Christ did not only propose a Sign at that hour but also he gave us a Gift and that Gift really and effectually is Himself which is all one as you would say Spiritually himself for Spiritual Vnion is the most true and real union that can be That which is promised and Faith takes it and hath it is not fiction fansie opinion falsity but substance and verity Being strengthened with power by the Spirit in the inward mind Christ dwelleth in our hearts by Faith Ephes 3.17 As by a Ring or a meaner instrument of conveyance a man may be setled in Land or put into an Office and by such conveyances the Ratification of such Grants are held to be real How much more real is the gift and receipt of Christ's Body and Bloud when conveyed unto us by the confirmation of the Eternal Spirit For observe it is the same Spirit that is in Christ and that is in Us and we are quickned by one and the same Spirit Rom. 8.11 Therefore it cannot chuse but that a real Union must follow between Christ and Us as there is a Union between all the parts of a Body by the animation of one Soul But Faith is the mouth wherewith we Eat his Body and Drink his Bloud not the mouth of a man but of a Faithful man for we hunger after him not with a Corporal appetite but a Spiritual therefore our Eating must be Spiritual and not Corporal Yet this is a real a substantial partaking of Christ crucified broken his flesh bleeding his wounds gaping so he is exhibited so we are sure we receive him which doth not only touch our outward senses in the Elements but pass through into the depth of the Soul For in true Divinity real and spiritual are aequipollent although with the Papists nothing is real unless it be corporal which is a gross way to defraud us of the Sublime and Soul-ravishing vertue of the mystery A mystery neither to be set out in words nor to be comprehended sufficiently in the mind but to be adored with Faith says Calvin lib. Instit c. 17. Sect. 5. But herein we pledge Christ in the Cup of love herein we renew the Covenant of forgiveness strongly assured by the sprinkling of Bloud the life is in the Bloud and without shedding of Bloud is no remission of sins Because death is the wages of sin Sin is the greatest dishonour that can be done to God and death in Christ's person is the greatest satisfaction that can be made He died and gave himself for me he died and gave himself to me as he was dead in his gored and pierced body that his sacrifice might be in me and in all those that are redeemed by it We read of some Mothers that in a great famine have eaten their own Children 2 Kings 6. but what Mother in the time of famine did ever give her own flesh to save the life of her Child But Christ hath given himself for us that we might not perish O Lord I owe all my life to thee because thou hast laid down thy life for me O let me bleed out my sins that thy Bloud may fill all the veins of my Spirit O let my Body be transfigur'd to be Heavenly by cleanness and chastity by being used only for thy worship and service that the Body of my Saviour may come under the roof of it Then when the King shall let forth his Table and give himself to me in his wonderful Feast my Spicknard shall send forth a sweet smell Cant. 1.12 My Soul shall magnifie the Lord and my Spirit shall rejoyce in Christ my Saviour We have found the Messias says Philip to Nathaniel And where have we found him at a Feast a Feast of his own Body and Bloud but set out with no more cost and shew than a piece of Bread and a sip of Wine In this manner it is brought to pass by the Omnipotency of God's pleasure to institute it with the efficacy of a strong Faith concurring to receive it The Church had done very ill if of its own head it had made so mean a representation of Christ but the Lord must be obeyed and ought to be admired in the humility of his Ordinance who hath not given us rich Viands and full Cups but made the Feast out of the fragments of the meanest Creatures Let them understand this that will make themselves fit to be his guests bring a preparation of humility suitable to the exility of those oblations The meek shall Eat and be satisfied they shall praise the Lord and seek him Psalm 22.26 And at that season let the riotous remember his fulness of Bread and excess of Wine God is honour'd in a little and his liberality is abused in the excess of his creatures And it is worth the noting that the Elements which we are invited to take are of fruits that grow out of the Earth to shew that the Earth which was cursed for Adam's sake is blessed for Christ's sake As it brings forth Thorns and Thistles to call to mind our rebellion so it brings forth Bread and Wine to call to mind our redemption Neither doth God supply us with Bread only out of the furrows of the Earth but sometime it hath fallen out of the clouds of Heaven Behold says God I will rain Bread from Heaven for you Exod. 16.4 This was Manna called the Corn of Heaven Psalm 78.24 This was the Spiritual meat or Angels food in which the old believers in the Wilderness did Eat Christ with an implicit Faith Our outward Sign is the Bread of the Earth true Bread that grows in the Fields yet the Bread signified is that which the Father hath given us from Heaven Jo. 6.31 Bread is a great part of mans nourishment so Christ crucified is the sole refection of Faith Bread is champed in the mouth to make it fit for the stomach so the Body of Christ was ordained to be slain before it could profit us If the Corn of Wheat fall not into the ground and die it abideth alone but if it die it bringeth sorth much fruit Jo. 12.24 By his life we learn to live and by his death we are made alive Bread when it is grounded between our teeth and eaten is turn'd by concoction into the substance of our Body which explains our mystical union with Christ that we are made one Spirit with him by Faith as this sensible food is converted into our flesh and bone Beside in the several parts of the outward Signs it is God's meaning we should conceive how he loves the gathering together of many into one which is thus to be qualified At a common Supper or any Meal all that are at the Board feed of the same Meats yet every one feeds to himself and to none beside So