a gracious heart therefore think not much that God stayes with a greater summe For as God deals with the wicked in the way of justice so he deals with godly men in a way of mercy He lets wicked men go on a great while he comes not to judgement for sin but stayes till all come together till a great summe of wrath and judgement come together So he deals with the saints he comes not with lesse mercies but he stayes till abundance come and when Gods time is come mercies will come to the full indeed Further it may be God hath so much mercy that thou hast not a vessell capable of it Onely know that heaven and earth and all are working for thee Is the plowing and the sowing of the husbandman and all the showers in vain because the corn is not in the barn we account it not so so we must not account our prayers in vain because the thing is not attained we pray for There are many other answers but the time is so much gone I come briefly to the application First if it be so that God saith not to the feed of Jacob seek my face in vain certainly there are great things for the Church that we may build on God is to do in these latter dayes Why because all the seed of Jacob ever since Jacobs time have been seeking God not onely for their own times but for the Church to the end of the world all their prayers are upon the fyle and must be answered one day O what a glorious harvest will it be blessed are they that shall live to partake of it We have a little but certainly there are glorious things for the Church because every prayer shall be answered Secondly you that are of the seed of Jacob know your honour though you be never so poore otherwise God hath given you that which makes you rich you have the key of heaven you may open the treasures in heaven and it shall never be in vain Gods people are such as are exceeding honourable in the eyes of God and in this regard that they have credit in heaven that they shall never seek God in vain Bathsheba saith to Solomon 1 King 2.20 I desire one petition of thee I pray thee say me not nay It is translated by some Ne confundas faciam confound not my face Indeed the denying of a petition it is a dishonour and a confounding of the face but God will not confound the faces of his people he never saith to them seek ye me in vain they are honourable ones Now as it is said of their father Jacob he prevailed as a prince with God so it may be said of the seed of Jacob they prevaile as Princes with God they can do great things with God it may be they cannot do other things that vain spirits can do but they can do much with God in prevailing O here see your priviledge and your riches all the prayers that you have made in your life time they are all trading in heaven they are not lost If a man have ventured a stock abroad to the Indies and do not hear of it in a great while he thinks it is lost and gone but if he hear certain news that all his stock is safe and in the place where he would have it and those that are there faithfully improve his stock he is revived by this it rejoyceth his spirit and he can say blessed be God I hope to be a rich man for all this I say to thee be of good comfort thy stock is not lost it is trading in heaven and every prayer that thou hast put up is there We should account our prayers as riches as adventures sent to heaven and not as children that shoot arrows and do not mind them And then learn this it is a great priviledge to have a praying friend a praying companion Many of you love friends that are delightfull of a cheerly nature and merry but are they praying ones praying friends are the speciall friends because prayer can prevail with God To have a friend in the Court that can obtain any petition we think it a priviledge to have one great friend in heaven is a great priviledge Many people when they lie on their sick beds they send to such and such to pray for them why do they not send to their companions that they did drink with and swear with to pray for them O they dare not Here is enough to convince any mans conscience who are the best men whatsoever they say Suppose thy condition were thus that thou diddest lie on thy death-bed and thy life did depend upon the prayers of foure or five men If God should speak thus from heaven thou art at the brink of destruction onely this favour thou shalt find thou shalt have leave to choose where thou wilt foure or five men to pray for thee and according as they pray so it shall be with thee thou hast liberty to choose through the world whom thou wilt I appeal would a drunkard choose foure or five drunkards or a swearer choose swearers or unclean ones that they most delighted in all their life time If all should depend upon it thou wouldest not choose such therefore thou art convinced in thy conscâ—ence thoâ— knowest that those are not precious in Gods eyes however thy lust have prevailed but that the other are better men that are gracious and have more credit in heaven Learn to prize praying friends that can prevail with God And let us set the crown upon prayers head in the mercies we have from God in publick mercies and private deliverances of friends attribute it not to second means to fortune and chance take heed of denying God his glory It is a sign of a carnall spirit when God hath glorified himself in answering the prayers of his people to attribute it to any other means As I remember I read of the Porphirian atheists that followed the atheisme of Porphirie they darkned the work of God in delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt thorough the red sea They say that Moses had learned of the Egyptians and they were great Astronomers and Moses knew when it would be a low tyde and what constellations there would be at that time and that the tyde would prove low then more then ever in the age of man and Moses took the nick of time and lead them through the sea Thus atheists would darken the works of God and put them of to naturall causes So I find it related of the old Prophet in Jeroboams time Josephus hath it related of him he sent to Jeroboam to stretch out his hand he tells us that this was by accident he was wearied all the day long and now he had the Palsie and after it was restored again that which was done by prayer he would have it by naturall means Just thus it is when God hath so magnified his mercy to England and wrought such
onely tell them that they should seek me but I shewed by what way and means they ought to seek me in a right manner that my speaking to them might not be in vain For if a Minister come in Gods name to put you upon any duty and exhort you to do such and such a thing and barely tell you what you should do without showing how you should do it where you shall have strength and in what manner you should do it he shall speak in vain There are abundance of Sermons in vain when onely good things are commended to people and they are taught what they should do but not the way how and the manner and where they should have strength to do it then the word is in vain But saith God I said not unto you in vain that is I did not onely bid you seek me but I taught you the way how and in what manner you should seek me Thirdly and lastly I suppose that the principall scope of the holy Ghost is that which the words plainly present to our view I required not the seed of Jacob to seek me to no purpose that nothing should come of it but I required that they should seek me and they have found abundance of good by seeking of me So then this point ariseth plainly out of the words When God requires a people to seek him he will make it good to them that it shall not be in vain Before I open this point I will give you a Scripture or two one in the old Testament and another in the new Deut. 4.7 For what Nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for Here is an experiment of the fruit of seeking God and it is spoken to shew the honour of Gods people the priviledge of the seed of Jacob and the eminent condition they were in God is nigh to them in all things they call upon him for therefore they are not required to seek God in vain So Matth. 21.22 And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing ye shall receive A very strange expression Here might seem to be a tautologie One would think that it had been large enough to have said Whatsoever ye shall ask ye shall receive but here is all things whatsoever We would not speak so in ordinary language I will give you all things whatsoever Yet it may be this may be intended and I believe it is And all things here is the generall promise that all things that ye ask ye shall receive and whatsoever may referre to particulars every particular thing that ye ask ye shall receive You will say Any one that understands reason or Logick knoweth that particulars are included in the generall But there is this illogicall reasoning of unbelief that though we agree to the premises in generall yet when we come to particulars we think they will not be made good to us I suppose you find your unbelieving hearts so irrationall that though they believe the generall promise yet when it comes to particulars and you cannot but say that such a particular is in the generall yet your hearts will not come up to it Therefore our Saviour saith not onely all things in generall but also whatsoever in particular So Jam. 5.16 The effectuall fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much There is but one word in the originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the working prayer but it is translated by two effectuall fervent Surely then prayer and seeking of God is the ordinance which he hath appointed for the turning about of the great affairs of the world This is the engine that doth it inwardly There are indeed a great many outward wheeles used but the spring of all is within prayer turns all about God never made use of any created power so much as of this He never did such great things by any created power as by the ordinance of prayer The Word is appointed for the converting of souls but a great part of the blessing of the Word dependeth on prayer In the opening of this point I will First give you some evidences of it Secondly shew you what great things prayer will do Thirdly wherein the efficacy and power of it lyeth Fourthly the objections of troubled unbelieving spirits against it And then come to apply all The evidences hereof are first the many famous records in Scripture of the noble and glorious exploits of prayer If any of you should come to me to ask as that King did of the prophets servant 2. Kings 8.4 What great things hath thy master done so what great things hath prayer done in the world truly we might spend houres and dayes in returning you an answer a great part of holy Scripture being spent in this very argument And it is a very good exercise for you in the night when you cannot sleep or at other times when you are troubled to do as that King did Esther 6.1 call for the book of the Records of prayer You that reade the Scriptures mark what you reade The word of God will tell you how prayer hath stopped the Sunne in the firmament opened heaven and shut it again raised from death to life opened the prison doores and what not Secondly all Gods people are able to tell you great stories of what they have gotten by prayer This poor man cryed saith David of himself Psalm 34.6 and the Lord heard him Who is it that cannot tell histories of Gods gracious dealing with him upon his seeking of him To be sure our Nation hath many things to say this way and every particular godly soul hath many things to say they would not lose their income of prayer for all the world Thirdly surely it is not in vain to seek God for there was never any faithfull seeker of him that ever would leave off but would continue as long as he lived seeking him he would seek his face evermore if it had been in vain he would have left off When we see a Bee stick on a Flower and will not be driven off or if she be driven off she will come again we conclude certainly it finds honey there So all the Saints of God that have ever sought God truly they would never be beaten off this way Let the world do what it will persecute them set spies to watch them in their meetings of prayer let it punish and imprison them let all the malice and rage of men be against them yet they cannot hinder them either from praying in their closets or from injoying the benefit of the communion of Saints in prayer Daniel had rather lose his life then be kept from his prayers though but for a day but pray he would and that openly yea three times a day as he was wont he would not forbear one time He did stick to prayer finding honey and sweetnesse in it Oh how unlike are we to Daniel
in mans body is warm but the breath that comes from bellows is artificiall and cold some mens breath in prayer is artificiall and cold but the prayer that comes from life is warm breath that comes up to God Again vanity is this when all is eaten out with vain thoughts thy heart roves in prayer thou knowest not where thou art thou canst not call that which thou makest a prayer A prayer with vain thoughts is like bear or wine that is dead and hath lost the spirits Vain thoughts are worms that eat out the strength of a duty would you present a dish to your superiour that were worm-eaten or that were gnawn on before when we let out our thoughts in duties and present them to God they are worm-eaten and torn the strength of them is quite gone And after you have prayed take heed that you make not your prayers vain by not looking after them for the accomplishment of them or by being proud of your prayers and gifts by resting in them And it is vanity when thou undoest all as soon as thou hast done by going contrary to thy prayer in thy life not adding watchfulnesse to prayer If a man take pains to weave a web and spend so many hours in it and then ravell it out this man spends his time in vain So do most people with their prayers they pray for mercy and grace and as soon as they have done they go quite contrary and ravell and undo all is not this vanity No marvell if thou think it in vain when there is nothing but vanity in thy prayers And take heed that you make not the prayers of others vain Luther writes to Melancthon angerly in regard of his fear of the power of his adversaries saith he You make our prayers void So it may be said of many that are cold and luke-warm and dead-hearted and do not take to heart the cause of God that fear the displeasure of this body and that body you make our prayers void You that have praying friends it may be fathers and mothers that are dead whose prayers are put up in heaven take heed that you make not their prayers void that you give them not cause if they should come to live again from the dead to weep and cry out O how are our prayers made void by the prayers of such and such But you will say Lord what will become of us we have abundance of vanity in our prayers Therefore that you may not be discouraged know that though there be many vain thoughts in prayer yet if there be sighing and mourning and humbling of the soul and panting of the heart after God in groning and sighing and though there be a mixture of vanity yet there is a working of the Spirit of God and of grace in the heart after God know that the Lord will not charge this vanity on thee the Lord will do away thy sinne therefore let not that discourage thee The efficacy lies not in the excellency of thy prayer but in the merits of Christ and his mediation Onely Christ will have somewhat of thy self in thy prayer he will haue thy heart pant and work after him but there may be abundance of vanity thou drawest a line and makest a blot and another line and another blot Christ draws all fair again and presents it to his Father But another question is this you say it is in vain to pray Can you make good that you are one of the seed of Jacob this priviledge belongs to them it may be you are of the seed of Esau The seed of Esau what is that The Apostle speaks of Esau what his guise was Heb. 12.6 and saith Take heed that none of you be such as Esau lest there be any fornicatour or profane person as Esau who for one morsell of meat sold his birth-right Now if thou prove a fornicatour thou art of the seed of Esau or a profane person what is that for one morsell of meat he sold his birth-right that is to please and satisfie and consent the flesh he sold his birth-right that was the land of Canaan and so typified the priviledges of the Church of Gods and even a type of heaven it was His birthright had a spirituall meaning is had reference to the spirituall priviledges that the Saints of God have to this day in all the ordinances of God That man or woman that prizeth any carnall contentment before spirituall priviledges they are of the seed of Esau and not of Jacob. Thou thinkest there is some favour in money and in a good trade and in good chear and such a day as this November 5. is better then a fast-day because of the good chear but for the spirituall duties of this day to come and magnifie God and to attend upon his word thou thinkest they are circumstances and by-matters and thou art troubled if the Sermon be too long to hinder thee of thy dinner thou art a prophane Esau all that I have said belongs not to thee thou dost not belong to Jacob but to Esau that preferrest carnall things for the flesh before the spirituall priviledges of the Saints But how shall I know that I am one of the seed of Jacob How do you know such an ones child but by his likenesse to his father One that hath the spirit of Jacob is of the seed of Jacob. There are many things that the Scripture speaks concerning Jacob and see if you do answer them First Jacob was a mighty man in prayer he was a wrestler with God and he wrestled till the day broke and was as strong at the last as at the first hast thou the spirit of thy father Jacob art thou not discouraged in prayer though mercy come not presently yet dost thou wrestle all night and resolve whatsoever come if thou die thou wilt die wrestling here is a child like the father therefore thou art of the seed of Jacob. Secondly Jacob was one that feared God when God appeared to him he looked on the presence of God as dreadfull How dreadfull is this place Genesis 28. because God was there So dost thou look on the presence of God as dreadfull that thou canst say the fear of the great God is on thy soul when thou comest into his presence mark for this is that expression in the Psalm Ye that fear the Lord praise him all the seed of Jacob glorifie him and fear him all ye seed of Israel Psalm 22.23 If you will be sure not to seek God in vain but that you may praise him in seeking him fear the Lord all the seed of Jacob. Hence we reade that when there was an oath between Laban and him the oath that he took was he swore by the fear of his father Isaac God was the fear of Isaac and Isaac so feared God that he had his denomination from his fear Now Jacob swearing by the fear of his father Isaac that notes that the fear of God was upon
polititians work never so craftily though Gods hand be on us and we have conscience accusing us and say I this is for your sins that God leaves you thus in the hands of your enemies that God gives them such power that they find such favour with the Prince as they do though this be for our sinnes yet let us seek to God to turn the counsell of Achitophel to folly It shall not be nor hath not been in vain we have found it so that in our affliction and affliction for sin yet crying to God to turn the counsell of Achitophel to folly God hath done so graciously and hath incouraged us more and more to cry unto him for that end But what need I seek to God God hath decreed and determined what he will do what God intends to do he hath decreed from eternity therefore whether we pray or not it shall come to passe if we do not pray it shall come to passe If God have intended to deliver me out of a sicknesse it shall be done whether I pray or no and when any ones time is come they shall die and so when the time of a Kingdome is come it shall be destroyed and not till then therefore what good can prayer do Though I suppose you cannot but be satisfied and think that this objection hath little weight yet for answer I will give you a Scripture or two Psalm 2. I will declare the decree The decree of God concerning the advancement of Christ in his resurrection and so of the successe of the work of Christs mediation I will declare the decree the Lord hath said thou art my son this day have I begotten thee Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession Gods giving of Christ the heathen for his inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession it was decreed of God yet Christ must ask it of his Father notwithstanding Gods decree And another text remarkable is in the prophesie of Daniel where the text saith Dan. 9.2 In the first yeare of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the Prophet that he would accomplish 70. years in the desolation of Jerusalem And I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications Mark Daniel understood by books what God had determined concerning Jerusalem what need Daniel go further he knew Gods mind what he would do whether he did pray or no but mark vers 3. I set my face to seek the Lord. After he knew what God had decreed and what he would do and what he had promised Now we know not Gods decree but if we did certainly know the decree of God in shewing mercy to the Land yet it could no way hinder us but encourage us to set our faces to seek the Lord and to seek him more earnestly therefore that is a vain objection Again it is not in vain to seek the Lord if we examine all we have had already though we have not all we would have yet if we consider the supporting mercies the preventing mercies and the guiding mercies that God hath granted us we shall find that it is not in vain that we have sought him There are abundance of mercies that thou hast had already It is an evil thing to complain of Gods grace when God hath bestowed such mercies thou thinkest thou hast nothing because thou hast not all thou wouldest have as a froward child because it hath not every thing to its mind casts away all God hath been exceeding gracious to us other souls would have adored God and have blessed him with their faces to the ground if they had had but the hundreth part of those mercies that we have yet because we have not all we desire we are ready to think it is in vain O let us take heed of dishonouring the grace of God Again further thou thinkest it is in vain because God sometimes denies in granting and grants in denying Many times God grants that we pray for in denying it and denies that we pray for in granting it our denyals are grants to us Wo to us if all were granted to us that we pray for Much good may be gotten out of Gods denyalls and God denyes us to do us good and to prepare us for mercies therefore it is not in vain that thou hast sought God because it is not in vain that thou art denyed But further it may be God delights more in thy praying then in thy praising voice therefore though thou have not that thou hast sought for give leave to God to delight in thee which way he pleaseth There is the praying and the praising voice of Gods people thou delightest that God should hear thy praising voice it may be God delights to hear thy praying voice and is may he should not if thou haddest what thou wouldest have Saith God to the Church Let me hear thy voice for it is sweet There is no man that will think the King denies his petition as long as thâ— King loves to reade it If one present a petition to the King he doth not say he will presently do it but if he reade it and when he hath read it calls for it again and again will any man think it in vain that he hath put up that petition as long as the King hears it and delights to reade it it is not in vain So as long as God loves to heare thy voice and to reade thy petition it is not in vain As for thy praising voice God shall have enough of that in heaven but he shall have none of thy praying voice therefore why shouldest thou not be willing that God should have more of thy praying voice here All that ever God shall have of thy praying voice it is in this world and after a little time God shall never heare us pray more Therefore let us be willing to go on and continue in prayer and not to wonder why God keeps us on in a way of praying because all the time that ever God shall have to delight himself in the praying voice of his people it is in this world and for our praising voice we would fain spend all our dayes in praising God for his mercies but that is reserved for another world Further it may be Gods way to stay till he bring a great deal of mercy together and not by bitts and drops As when men deal with great merchants they expect not to have payments by six pences or shillings or Crowns at once but though there be two or three or ten pounds due they stand not on that but stay for a greater summe Now little traders that deal by retail they take it in by pence and little summes Christians that are to deal with God they deal for great things and there are great transactions between God and
wonders yet many carnall atheisticall spirits say this was an accidentall thing and the policie of such men brought it to passe they attribute all to naturall causes it is a sign of a wretched profane heart For if God ever magnified prayer he hath done it in these dayes There are 2 or 3 Scriptures that since the world began were never more magnified then by Gods working at this day One is in Exodus 13. In the thing wherein they dealt proudly God was above them Never since the world began was that more fulfilled A second is that in the 10. Psalme The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands If ever there were a fulfilling of that Scripture since the beginning of the world it is at this day A third is this in the text I said not to the seed of Jacob seek ye my face in vain God as I said hath raised a spirit of prayer among the seed of Jacob more then ever any in the world knew there was never the like spirit of prayer raised nor never the like things done for prayer And the Lord the rather honoured the ordinance of prayer now because men so dishonoured it before and persecuted it that the people of God could not meet and assemble to fast and pray but presently it was a conventicle and they were persecuted as factious people Because God saw this way despised he hath honoured it and the former and the latter mercies that we have received we are to attribute to the goodnesse of God by prayer they were obtained by prayer Let us still be incouraged to seek God for what we would have for God hath said it is not in vain to seek his face There are many of us now that can do little else if God have delivered you from sicknesse and other evils know that God hath delivered you to pray the lesse you can do otherwise the more you should do in prayer I have read of a heathen Numa Pompylius that he would never go about any thing but he would go to the temple and pray you that are instruments intrusted with our lives and liberties you had need to pray much go into your closets and sanctifie all your thoughts and resolutions by prayer that your help and assistance may not be in vain to us And all others had neeâ— to assist you in seeking God in prayer This incouragement we have that there is not any of us that seek God alone but we joyn with thousands why should our place be found empty why should not our prayers joyn with the rest We shall meet many prayers in heaven the prayers of our forefathers the prayers of those that are dead and gone that did not live to enjoy the fruit of their prayers yet when we pray for mercies our prayers meet with theirs in heaven therefore let us be incouraged to seek the Lord. And if mercies should come what a daunting would this be to our hearts that mercies are come but we have not sought them and if mercies come not conscience wil flie in our face that we have been sensuall carnall creatures it is for our neglect of seeking God that God hath denyed us the mercies that we expected And then it should be a use of rebuke to those that begin to seek God and continue not O wretch why hast thou left whether wilt thou go Is it in vain to seeve the Lord certainly thou wert never acquainted with God and his wayes thou wilt find it a dreadfull change when it shall appear that thou hast left God the fountain of living water and hast sought after vanity forsaken thine own mercy But the main of all should have been for the applying of it to the present occasion The Lord hath made good his word this day that he hath not said seek ye me in vain This day testifies it to be true that they are great things that prayer hath done I have heard many years ago by credible testimony that on this fifth of November when we had such a great mercy so many years ago that very day it was known that a great many godly people in the city kept it in fasting and prayer so as it was eminently known and delivered from hand to hand of them in the city at that time and you know what God did But what hath he done of late If our fathers should rise out of their graves and we should tell them that now the high commission that they were so troubled with is down that there shall be no more star-chamber that cutting off of ears is gone they would wonder how this should come to passe And whereas Parliaments were wont to be snapped in sunder that this Parliament is to continue by as firm an Act as any thing in the land is made by And for oppressours all the Courts and Bishops Chanceries they are down and gone God hath extirpated them they were first cast out of the house and now out of the kingdome And though an army did rise and seek to bring us into slavery yet God hath given us victory though some have suffered hardly and brought the adversaries very low to surrender their towns and castles and arms And here we are to rejoyce in God and to blesse him for all If many of our ancestours should rise and heare what we speak how we hold up our hands and blesse God with what hearts would they joyn in the praising of God and wonder that ever such things should be done Let not the grace of God be in vain as God hath not said to us seek my face in vain What use shall we make of it Let us give him reall praise and not onely come to repeat it and tell God of it but make his praise glorious put a glory on it and then we do it when we make a right use of his mercies when we receive not his mercies in vain What is it to make use of the memoriall we celebrate First the remembrance of these mercies must humble us that is a sweet humbling it is better to be melted by the beams of the Sunne then by the scorching of the fire You will say humbled for what There are three things that we have cause to be humbled for upon the consideration of the mercy of God towards us First the sinne of unbelief consider when we were straitned at any time when we heard ill news that our armies fled and came to danger how our spirits were down as if all were gone Let us check our hearts God rebuked us in a kindly manner we might have had a furious rebuke Secondly be humbled for all our murmuring and repining and discontent O we did not think that the warres would have held so long and O what taxations are upon us and all our estates are rent away And how many are there that had rather that all the good that God hath done for his people since these times should never have been done then
us Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage he retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy Mic. 7.18 Another thing that rendreth prayer so effectuall is Gods Covenant and promise to his people It was the speech of Archimedes Give me a place te set my Engine in and I will shake the whole earth Let prayer have a sure foundation to set foot on and it will do mighty things Now the promises are the foundation of prayer whereof we have great abundance Numb 23. you shall find abundance of promises to the seed of Jacob under the name of Jacob when Balaam was brought to curse the people But in Deut. 33.26 c. there are admirable promises to Jacob. There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun who rideth upon the heaven in thy help and on the skie in his excellency The eternall God is his refuge and underneath are the everlasting armes and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee and shall say Destroy them Israel then shall dwell in safety alone the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of Corn and Wine also his heavens shal drop down dew Happy art thou O Israel who is like unto thee O people saved by the Lord the shield of thy help and who is that sword of thy excellency and thine enemies shall be found lyars unto thee and thou shalt tread upon their high places Here is the promise to the seed of Jacob the fountain of Israel so he is called he shall have all things that are good and God will manifest himself especially against his enemies Let any of the seed of Jacob go and plead this with God and it cannot be in vain there must be a mighty efficacy in such a plea when there are such large promises So in Isaiah 14.1 there are diverse promises to the seed of Jacob. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will yet choose Israel and set them in their own land and the stranger shall be joyned with them and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob And the people shall take them and bring them to their place and the house of Israel shall possesse them in the Land of the Lord for servants and handmaids and they shall take them captives whose captives they were and they shall rule over their oppressours And it shall come to passe that in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow and from thy fear and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve c. I make no question but some of the seed of Jacob have been pleading this promise in prayer where the Lord hath promised to have mercy on Israel and to give him rescue from his sorrows and fears and hard bondage It was hard bondage that we were made to serve in not long ago here is a promise that God will give us rest from it upon the pleading of this promise God hath made it good to the seed of Jacob. And in Isa 41.8 there are large promises in that Chapter to the seed of Jacob. But thou Israel my servant Jacob whom I have chosen the seed of Abraham my friend Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth It is no matter though they be a poor despicable people of themselves it is but a few of the poor people do thus the Gentry and Nobility go another way Vers 10. I have called thee from the chief men of the earth I left them and called thee and said unto thee thou art my servant I have chosen thee and not cast thee away Vers 10. Fear thou not for I am with thee be not dismaied for I am thy God I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousnesse Here are five things five times I I will strengthen thee I will uphold thee I I I I I look up to those five l's together and there are severall expressions of help and strength and upholding How with my hand with my right hand that is with my right hand I am ingaged I have given thee my hand to help thee and that shall be the hand of my righteousnesse Some men give their hand to their friends when they make promises but the hand that they give it doth not alway prove a hand of righteousnesse but many times a hand of deceit but when God gives his hand to his people it is a hand of righteousnesse I will uphold thee with the hand of my righteousnesse And what follows Vers 11. Behold all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded O God make this good this day our enemies are incensed they are mad and rage and swear and blaspheme and stamp and fret and would have their will and they would do such things All that are incensed against thee shall be confounded Some of the seed of Jacob have been with God and have pleaded this promise and that is the efficacy of their prayer that the enemy is confounded They shall be as nothing and they that strive with thee shall perish Thou thinkest they are a great army and have great strength they shall be as nothing v. 12 Thou shalt seek them shalt not find them Where is the army now it is so scattered that you cannot tell if you seek it you cannot find it even them that contend with thee they that war against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of nothing Enquire where the Army is now you shall not find them For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee Fear not I will help thee v. 13. O but we are weak and poor Fear not thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel I will help thee saith the Lord v. 14. thy redeemer the holy one of Israel v. 15. Behold I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small and shalt make the hills as chaff v. 16. Thou shalt fan them and the wind shall carry them away and the wherlwind shall scatter them and this we should labour to make good Thou shalt rejoyce in the Lord and glory in the holy one of Israel when I have done all this here is the fruit not to rejoyce in our Armies or in outward strength but to rejoyce in the Lord and to glory in the holy one of Israel Here are promises for prayer to set foot upon no marvell it hath so much power and efficacy There are divers others and many things behind of the efficacy of prayer as it depends upon the promise and covenant that God hath made with his people for every promise is but a severall branch and expression of the covenant of God therefore we are to referre them all to the Covenant I will give you but one Scripture Jer.
30.10 11. Therefore fear thou not O my servant Jaoob neither be dismaied O Israel for lo I will save thee from a far and thy seed from the land of their captivity and Jacob shal return and be in rest and quiet and none shal make him afraid For I am with thee saith the Lord to save thee though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee yet will I not make a full end of thee but I will correct thee in measure will not leave thee altogether unpunished There is somewhat that God doth but yet still he remembers his promise in the middest of affliction that he will leave nothing of that undone therefore though his people be under great afflictions the Lord will be good to them according to his promise Now again the Lord will regard the prayers of the seed of Jacob the efficacy of their prayers depends upon this because it is Gods own work That which is the work of God is not in vain God made none of his works in vain Now all their seeking of God It is from God it is Gods own work and a most glorious piece of the work of God Every prayer that comes from the poorest of the seed of Jacob every gratious and faithfull prayer it is a glorious piece Gods work It is a work of the holy Ghost and therefore it is not in vain Again as their prayers come from God they seek God from God so they seek God for God they seek the Lord for himself If the seed of Jacob did seek God onely for Corn and Wine and Oyle if they did seek him onely for their own ease and outward liberties and accommodations and for the lives of their enemies perhaps they might seek in vain No but when they seek God they seek God for God and thence they prevail so much with God Ye ask amisse that ye may spend it on your lusts James 4.3 You pray to God oft to be delivered from enemies and you think your prayers if it be in such a time as this they come in vain No marvell if so you pray that you may have liberty to trade and deliverance from taxations these may be sought but the house of Jacob seeks God for his name that that may not be dishonoured and for his Gospel that that be not taken away and the power of godlinesse trodden as dirt in the street when they seek God for God no marvell if it be not in vain But the great efficacy of prayer is this it is part of the purchase of the bloud of Christ that God might hear the prayers of the Saints it comes from the merits of Christ it is a part of his purchase that God should regard them it is in his name that we pray so we are taught It is by Christ that we have accesse to the throne of grace our priviledge of seeking God is that which Christ hath purchased by his bloud So that our seeking of God is not onely a duty and beneficiall to us but it is a high priviledge purchased by the bloud of Christ by him we have accesse with boldness the word is with liberty of speech liberty of speech is by the bloud of Christ that we may come before the Lord and open our minds fully certainly there is a great deal of efficacy in prayer Whatsoever our prayers are as they are from us though they be vain as they are from us yet take them as Christs purchase here lies the great efficacy of prayer Think not that the efficacy of prayer lies in earnestnesse or enlargement though it be a comfort and an evidence that God enlargeth us by his Spirit it is not parts that enlarge but the Spirit but the virtue of prayer lies not here the strength whereby prayer doth great things it lies in the engine lower in secret in the purchase of Christ Again Christ takes all the prayers of the seed of Jacob and renders them up to his Father for acceptance We have a more glorious way of coming to God then Adam had in innocency yea in some respects then the Angels themselves by having such an Intercessor that takes all our prayers and carries them to his father Yea not onely so but he joynes with us to the Father There is a place in the Hebrews quoted out of the Psalms that shewes that Christ praiseth God in the congregation it is not onely the Saints that praise God but Christ himself Heb. 2.12 I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the middest of the Church will I sing praises unto thee Christ in the middest of the Church sings praise to God When people meet to praise God Christ praiseth him It is a mighty encouragement in praising God So in prayer when we meet to seek God Christ seeks him for he is at the right hand of the Father making continuall intercession for the Saints Christ himself joynes with them in the work that they seek not in vain Again it is the stile and title that God glories in to be a God hearing prayer therefore he will not let it be in vain Again prayer is the pouring forth of the spirit to God the spirit that is so beautified with the graces of his own spirit now the pouring forth of such a precious spirit to God so beautified and principled with the graces of the holy Ghost certainly this cannot be in vain Indeed the Scripture saith of the heart of the wicked that it is little worth Let their heart be poured fourth God doth little mind or regard it but the heart of the righteous is much worth it is very precious before God therefore when their hearts are poured out and God sees the beauty and glory of his graces on them it is exceeding delightfull to him and such pouring out of their hearts cannot be in vain If God have a bottle for all their tears he hath a bottle also for all their expressions and pouring out of their hearts in prayer Further the exceeding delight that God hath in the seed of Jacob must needs cause God to regard their seeking that it be not in vain They are his darlings now there is no man that loves to deny a suit to any that he delights in We have a notable expression concerning the seed of Jacob when they pray Thou art my King O God command deliverance for Jacob. Psal 44. There comes a commanding power from God for the deliverance of Jacob when Jacob comes to sue to God Lastly it were not for the honour of God to send away his people empty that they should seek him in vain It is reported of Titus though he were a heathen Emperor yet he would not that any man should go sad out of the presence of the Prince God accounts it an honour that none should go sad out of his presence Therefore those are called on to rejoyce that seek the Lord. Let the hearts of them rejoyce that seek the Lord
him in this to serve with all thy power though thou have a froward master or mistris as Laban was though they use you hardly yet shew godlinesse in that relation And for servants to seem godly he must go hear this Sermon this man and the other man and be very earnest I blame them not for loving the word and desiring it but for servants to be earnest in hearing the word and injoying the ordinances and crying out against superstition and Antichristianisme and yet be sluggish and unfaithfull in their service and so as to give just offence to their governours it is a dishonour Shew your godlinesse in your relation certainly there is no man or woman godly but those that are so in the relations and places that they are set in therefore manifest your selves thus to be the seed of Jacob. Again the seed of Jacob is a taught seed God teacheth them Psal 147.19 He hath not dealt so with other nations he gave his law to Jacob and his word to Israel So in Deut. 33.10 Levi is appointed to teach Jacob. There is never a one of the seed of Jacob that is ignorant that is a fool in matters of religion he is taught And then one of the seed of Jacob is one that hath a care of his family so we reade of Jacob Gen. 35.1 God said to Jacob Arise go up to Bethel and dwell there and make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother Then said Jacob to his houshold and to all that were with him put away the strange gods that are among you and be clean c. When he was to go into Gods presence he laboured to reform his family When God calls you to fast dayes and to the Sacrament do you cleanse your families do you look what evils are in your families and put out your power to cleanse them But there is one more that I may not omit that is Jacob when he was to die though he himself was to go the way of all flesh yet this was his great comfort and the comfort of those that he left behind that God would make good his word to his Church and people Gen. 48.21 and Israel said to Joseph Behold I die but God will visit you and bring you again to the land of your fathers Behold I die but I die in faith of the promise because I am taken away shall I think the promise shall be of no effect no God shall bring you to the land of your fathers Now when God shall cast you on your sick beds can you say Behold I die but go you on God will make good his word I die in faith that it shall go well with the Churches of God there will be a time when they shall get the victory when Christ shall reign and the Saints shall be delivered from their oppressours Here was the spirit of Jacob if you be such a seed of Jacob you shall not seek Gods face in vain But you will say it is not in vain for some men to seek God but I am a poor wretched creature and it may be in vain for me to seek the Lord. That place in the Psalme fully answers any objection against our poverty or the poverty of our prayers Psalm 102.17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute and will not despise their prayers The prayer of the destitute the word signifies a poore shrub in the wildernesse a contemptible shrub that is trodden on by the feet of beasts and none regards it God regards such prayers If I could make an excellent prayer it were somewhat No he doth not despise thy prayer It may be thy prayer is such as thou despisest and that others would despise but God will not despise it But this was spoken perhaps to some in those times Mark what follows This shall be written for the generations to come This Scripture this promise of God it is written for the generations to come And the people that shall he created shall praise the Lord. We that were not made them but were created since let us praise the Lord for this Scripture that God will regard the prayers of poore shrubs and not despise them But they are great things that I stand in need of and it may be in vain for me to seek such great things at Gods hands perhaps if I did seek for ordinary things there might be hope but I am to seek great things mercies for the Church and for the Kingdome and people of God is it not in vain for such a poore wretch as I to seek such great things We may think that the things we seek at Gods hands are too great for us to beg but they are not too great for God to give It is observed of Perilla when Alexander would have him ask a dowrie for his daughter Alexander presently promised him 50. tallents it is too much saith he 10. tallents are sufficient Alexander answered him if it be too great for you to ask it is not too great for me to give God loves that his people should ask great things of him yea he loves that the poorest and meanest of his people should ask him great things and there is a gracious promise for that Jer. 33.3 Call unto me and I will answer thee and shew thee great and mighty things that thou knowest not This is a promise to every one of the seed of Jacob. But when I pray in the time of affliction and Gods hand is on me will it not be in vain to seek him then It is true to neglect God in former times and then to pray onely in affliction it is a dangerous condition but this temptation comes upon such as have sought God before I now you seek God but this is in your affliction and will God regard you now I speak it onely to comfort such as are carefull to seek God in the time of their health yet if thou have been negligent it is possible that God should regard thee in the time of affliction Jonah prayed and said I prayed and cryed by reason of mine affliction to the Lord and he heard me Jonah 2.2 But suppose it be affliction for sin for so the objection may arise It is true if I did seek God in the time of affliction that God did send for tryall it may be God would hear me but suppose Gods hand be on me for sin will God hear my prayers That one notable example of David may help the people of God against such a temptation Gods hand was on him for his sin when he fled before Absolom God threatned that warre should not depart from his house yet David then prayed against that wicked politition and counsellour that the Lord would turn his counsell to folly and God heard Davids prayer in his affliction that was for sinne And the Lord turned the counsell of Achitophel to folly Let us not be discouraged though
we provoke not God now but attend upon the word more then ever we did Lastly doth God say to us we shall not seek him in vain Let not God call to us in vain If when we seek God our seeking is not in vain then when God seeks us let it not be in vain There is all the reason for it in the world If God be so gracious to poor base worms sinfull creatures that if we do but chatter our prayers are not in vain is it not reason when God calls that he should not call in vain When God calls out of his word to perform such and such duties God seeks thee then make use of this text I have called upon God and I never called in vain and now I go to heare the word and out of the word he calls me and seeks me let him not seek in vain but say Lord what sayest thou to thy servant The Lord is ready to heare your cry be you ready to heare his and go on go on with incouragement the Lord hath incouraged us this day And let all your prayers and indeavours break through all difficulties and the Lords mercy shall break through all oppositions for he hath not said to the seed of Jacob Seek ye me in vain Psalme 16.3 But to the Saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight IN the beginning of this Psalme David prayes to God for preservation and for deliverancc out of some great evil that it seems was upon him or that he was in danger of The argument that he useth is First his trust in God In thee do I put my trust And it was not an ungrounded and unwarranted trust but that which proceeded from his interest he had in God O my soul thou hast said unto the Lord thou art my Lord thou art mine But what if David should now perish in his distresse should God be any looser by it David seems to acknowledge this that though he should not be preserved yet God was bound to preserve his own name and his own cause my goodnesse extendeth not to thee Though I should live yet it is little that I could do for thee But to the saints that are in the earth Though my goodnesse extend not to thee yet I may be usefull to thy people unto thy Saints while I live it extends to them and they are they that my soul closeth with O I desire to live and to be preserved that I may be of use to them It is a great argument to prevail with God when any of you are in danger and seek for preservation if your hearts work thus to God that the desire you have to be preserved is that whatever you are and what ever you can do may extend to the Saints that you may live to be of use and service in the world to Gods people Many of you when you apprehend your selves to be in danger you cry to God to be preserved but to what end wherefore would you be preserved wherefore would you live If we may judge of your ends according to your practise you would live that you may have more time to satisfie your lusts that you may have more time to dishonour God that you may have more time to do mischief in the places where you live There is this in the heart and God sees it God sees whatsoever will be after in your lives God sees before what was in your hearts when you cryed to be preserved But now one that is gracious he desires therefore to be preserved O that I might live to be of use in the place where God hath set me If God should take me away now my conscience tells me that it is little service that I have done for him I have been of little use in the place where God hath set me O that I might be preserved for this end that what I am or have might extend to the Saints in earth even the excellent in whom is all my delight Thus you have the scope of the words and the dependance of them And in them there are these two things First the high esteem of the Saints they are the excellent of the earth And secondly the sweet delight that Davids heart had in them in whom is all my delight For the first the high esteem that David had of the Saints and that Saints that were on earth the excellent The point is this that The Saints of God those that are godly are the excellent in the earth Then secondly from this that he saith in whom is all my delight Observe this that A gracious heart takes the most contentment in the Saints of God he is much delighted in them The first is but a preparation to the second therefore I shall passe it over briefly They are the excellent in the earth therefore my delight is in them They are the excellent in the earth Let them be what they will in regard of their outward meanness yet there is an excellency in them Job scraping upon the dunghill and Jeremy sticking in the mire in the dungeon yet they had more glory and beauty upon them then the great ones of the earth when they sate upon their thrones Though they lie among the pots as the Psalmist saith yet are they as Doves their wings are the wings of Doves whose feathers are of gold and silver Psal 77.13 beautifull and glorious You know the judgement that the holy Ghost passeth upon the Saints in old time that were outwardly mean enough there was as much meanness on them as the malice of the world could put the text saith they had tryalls of mockings of scourgings of bonds and imprisonments they were sawen assunder they were tempted they wandred in sheepskin and goats skins destitute aflicted tormented What kind of creatures were these surely they were some wretched men and women that were thus hunted up and down to wander in sheeps-skins and goats-skins destitute afflicted and tormented No such matter they were sâ—ch of whom the world was not worthy v. 38. that is the judgement of the holy Ghost upon such the world was not worthy of them The men of the world would have thought did think that they were such as were not worthy to live in the world but the judgement of the holy Ghost was such that the world was not worthy of them I remember Chrysostome hath this interpretation of the phrase they are such as are worth more then all the world more then many thousands of the world one of them is worth more then all the men of the world besides It is a truth so one Saint of God though never so mean one poor youth one servant that is truly gracious is worth more then all the men of the world besides that are not so All the Monarchs and Princes on earth have not that excellency in them that one poor child or servant hath that is gracious But the ordinary interpretation