to bribe Gods justice or engage mens charity to purchase favour with God or man or his own clamarous conscience but he prays because he wants and loves and believes he wants the fuller presence of that God whom he loves he loves the presence which he wants he believes that he that loves him will not suffer him to want any good thing that he prays for And therefore he do's not bind up himself severely and limit himself penuriously to a morning and evening Sacrifice and solemnity as unto certain rent-seasons wherein to pay a homage of dry devotion but his loving and longing Soul disdaining to be confin'd within Canâ—nical hours is frequently soaring in some heavenly raptures or other and sallying forth in holy ejaculations He is not content with some weak assays towards Heaven in set and formal Prayer once or twice a day but labours also to be all the day long sucking in those Divine influences and streams of grace by the mouth of faith which he beg'd in the morning by the tongue of prayer which hath made me sometimes to think it a proper speech to say the faith of Prayer as well as the prayer of faith for believing and hanging upon Divine grace doth really drink in what Prayer opens its mouth for and is in effect a powerful kind of praying in silence By believing we pray as well as in praying we do believe A truly godly man hath not his hands tyed up meerly by the force of a National Law no nor yet by the authority of the fourth commandment to keep one in seven a day of rest As he is not content with meer resting upon the Sabboth knowing that neither working nor ceasing from work doth of itself commend a Soul to God but doth press after intimacy with God in the duties of his worship so neither can he be content with one Sabboth in a week nor think himself absolved from holy and heavenly meditations any day in the week but labours to make every day a Sabboth as to the keeping of his heart up unto God in a holy frame and to find every day to be a Sabboth as to the communications of God unto his Soul Though the necessities of his body will not allow him it may be though indeed God hath granted this to some men to keep every day as a Sabboth of Rest yet the necessities of his Soul do call upon him to make every day as far as may be a Sabboth of communion with the blessed God If you speak of Fasting he keeps not Fasts meerly by vertue of a civil no nor a divine institution but from a principle of godly sorrow afflicts his â—oul for sio and daily endeavours more and more to be emptied of himself which is the most excellent Fasting in the world If you speak of Thansgiving he do's not give thanks by laws and ordinances but having in himself a law of thanksulness and an ordinance of love engraven upon and deeply radicated in his Soul delights to live unto God and to make his heart and life a living descant upon the goodness and love of God which is the most divine way of thank offering in the world it is the hallâ—lujah which the Angels sing continually In a word wherever God hath a tongue to command true godliness will find an hand to perform whatever yoke Christ Jesus shall put upon the Soul religion will enable to bear it yea and to count it easie too the mouth of Christ hath pronounâ—'d it easie Mat. 11. 30. and the spirit of Christ makes it easie Let the commandment be what it will it will not le grievous 1 Joh. 5. 3. The same spirit doth in some measure dwell in every Christian which without measure dwelt in Christ who counted it his meat and drink to do the will of his Father Joh. 4. 34. 2. And more especially the true Christian is free from any constâ—aint as to the inward acts which he performeth Holy love to God is one principal Act of the gracioâ—s soul whereby it is carryed out freely and with an ardent lust towards the object that is truly and infinitely lovely and satisfâ—ctory and to the enjoyment of iâ— I know indeed that this springs from self indigency and is commanded by the soveraignty of the supream good the object that the Soul eyes but it is properly free from any constraint Love is an affection that cannot be excorted as sear is nor sorâ—â—d by any external power nor indeed internal neither the revenues of the King of Persia or the treasuâ—es oâ— Aegypt cannot commit a rape upon â—â— Heb. 11. 26. neither indeed can the soul it self raise and lay this spirit at pleasure which made the Poet complain of himself as if he were not sole Emperour at home Non amo te Sabidi nec possum dicere quare c. Though the outward bodily Acts of Religion are ordinarily forced yet this pure chast virgin-affection cannot be ravished it seems to be a kind of a peculiar in the soul though under the jurisdiction of the understanding By this property of it it is elegantly described by the spirit of God Cant. 8. 7. if a man would give all the substance of his house for love it would utterly be contemned It cannot be bought with money or money-worth cannot be purchased with gifts or arts and if any should offer to bribe it it would give him a sharp and scornful check in the language of Peter to Simon Thy money perish with thee love is no hireling no base born mercenary affection but noble free and generous Neither is it low-spirited and slavish as Fear is therefore when it comes to full age it will not suffer this Son of the Bond woman to divide the inheritance the dominions of the Soul with it when it comes to be perfect it casteth out fear sayes the Apostle 1 Joh. 4. 18. Neither indeed is it directly under the authority of any law whether humane or Divine it is not begotten by the influence of a divine law as a law but as holy just and good as we shall see more anon quis legem dat amantibus ipse Est sibi lex amor the Law of Love or if you will in the Apostles phrase the spirit of love and of power in opposition to the spirit of fear 2 Tim. 1. 7. doth more influence the godly man in his pursuit of God than any law without him this is as a wing to the Soul whereas outward commandments are but as guides in his way or at most but as spurs in his sides The same I may say of holy delight in God which is indeed the flower of love or love grown up to its full age and stature which hath no torment in it and consequently no force upon it Like unto which are holy confidence Faith and Hope ingenuous and natural Acts of the Religious Soul whereby it hastens into the Divine embraces as the Eagle hastneth to the prey swiftly and speedily
should take their communion with God to consist in an overly acquaintance with him profession of him performances to him I am confident it is not possible that men should have any true feeling of happiness in such acquaintance no more than a man can be really filled with the seeing or carving of meat which he eats not Before I apply the Doctrine give me leave to lay down some rules or positions tending further to explain and clear it 1. This must be held which I toucht upon before that there can be no communion between God and man but by a likeness of nature a new a divine principle implanted in the soul A beast hath no communion with a man because Reason the ground of such communion is wanting Of all the Creatures there was none found that could be a meet help for Adam that could be taken into the humane society till Eve was made who was a humane person So neither can there be any conjunction of the soul with God but by oneness of spirit 1 Cor. 6. 17. He that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit 2. There can be no communion with God but by a Mediator no Mediator but Christ Jesus who is God-man Two cannot walk together nor hold communion except they be agreed And there can be no agreement made between God and man but by Christ Jesus Therefore it is said here our communion is with the Father and the Son q. d. with the Father by the Son And faith whereby the Soul and God are united is still said to be faith in Christ as we find up and down the Scriptures 3. There can be no perfect communion with God in this life Ouâ— communion with Heaven whilest we are upon earth is imperfect our resemblance to God is scant and dark in comparison of what it shall be We know but in part love but in part enjoy but in part we are but in part holy and happy There can be no perfect communion with God till there be a perfect reconciliation of natures as well as persons and that cannot be whilest there is any thing unlike to God in the soul whilest any impure thing dwells in the Soul which cannot truly close with God nor God with that The Holy Spirit can never suffer any defiled thing to unite it self with it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is not lawful for any impure thing to mix it self with pure Divinity so Socrates the Heathen What communion hath righteousness with unrighteousness saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 6. 14. and so far as a righteous man is in any part unrighteous so far he is a stranger to God The unregenerate part of a regenerate man hath no more communion with God than a wicked man than the devil himself hath no more than darkness hath with light 4. Our communion with God must be distinguished from the sense and feeling of it Many have run upon sad miscarriages and those indeed extreams whilest they place communion with God in the sense and feeling of it in raptures of joy extasies and transports of soul which indeed if they be real are not so much it as the flower of it something resulting and separable from it Communion with God cannot be lost in a Saint for then he is no Saint for it is the proprium quarto modo of a Saint to have communion with God and a Saint under desertion hath communion with God even then as reaâ—â—y though not so feelingly as at any other time so far as he is sanctified But the sense of this communion may be very much if not altogether lost and oftentimes is lost 5. A souls communion with God cannot be interrupted by any local mutations It is a spiritual conjunction and is not violated by any confinement the walls of a Prison cannot separate God and the godly soul banishment cannot drive a soul from God Coelum non animum mutant c. The blessed Angels those ministring spirits when they are dispatcht into the utmost ends of the world upon the service of God are even then beholding the face of God and do enjoy as intimate communion with him as ever The case is the same with all godly souls whose communion with God â—os not depend upon any local situation It is not thousands of miles that can begâ—t a distance between God and the soul Indeed nothing but sin dos it or can do it Your iniquities have separated between you and your God Isa 59. 2. nothing but sin is contrary to this divine fellowship and so nothing but that can interrupt this spiritual society To speak properly sin dos not so much cause the souls distance from God as it self is that distance Man and Wife remain one though at a hundred miles distance and believing souls do maintain a certain spiritual communion one with another though in several parts of the world The society and communion of godly souls one with another so far as it is spiritual cannot be interrupted by bodily distance much less then the fellowship of God with the godly soul who carryes about with him and in him a divine nature the image of God a holy godlike disposition whither soever he goes 6. This communion with God which I have been speaking of is much better than all outward acts and enjoyments duties and ordinances whatsoever though they be never so many or specious God himself long since decided this matter that a broken and contrite heart is better than all Sacrifices Psal 51. 17. that to obey was better than Sacrifice 1 Sam. 15. 22. that mercy was better than Sacrifice Hos 6. 6. that to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with God was to be preferred before thousands of Rams and ten thousands of Rivers of Oyle Mie 6. 7 8. It holds in reference to Gospel duties though they may seem more spirituall than the oblations of the Law A real soul-communion with God a communion of hearts and natures of wills and affections of interests and ends is infinitely more excellent than all hearing praying celebration of Sabboths or Sacraments Jam. 1. 25. as the end is more excellent than the means For so stands the case between them Yea I will add though some proud and wanton spirits have made strange work with it yet it is a sure and most excellent doctrine that this spiritual communion is a continual Sabboth a Sabboth of communion is much better than a Sabboth of rest this is the Sabboth that the Angels and Saints in Heaven keep though they know no such thing as a feast day in the week have no reading preaching or praying amongst them This is a continual praying an effectual way of praying in silence A right active sucking faith dos vertually contain a prayer in it Right believing is powerful praying The knees eyes and tongues bear the least share in prayer the whole of the work lyes upon the soul and particularly upon faith in the soul which is indeed the life and soul
meditation reading administration of our callings as the Apostle intimates in the body of that forequoted Epistle But perhaps there will a question arise concerning some other things which may seem to lay a constraint upon the spirits of men I deny not but that the seemingly religious motions of many men are meerly violent and their devotion is purely forc'd as we shall see by and by but I affirm and I think have confirmed it that true and sincere Religion is perfectly free and unconstrain'd This being premised now if you ask me what I think of afflictions I confess God doth ordinarily use them as means to make good men better and it may be sometimes to make bad men good these may be as weights to hasten and speed the Souls motions towards God but they do not principally beget such motions If you ask me of temporal prosperity commonly called mercies and blessings of promises and Rewards propounded I confess they may be as oyle to the wheels and ought to quicken and encourage to the study of true and powerful godliness but they are not the spring of the souls motions they ought to be unto us as dew upon the grass to refresh and fructifie the Soul but it is the root which properly gives life and growth Secondly It may be granted that there is a kind of constraint and necessity lying upon the godly Soul in its holy and most excellent motions according to that of the Apostle 2 Cor. 5. 14. The love of Christ constraineth us and again 1 Cor. 9. 16. Necessity is laid upon me to preach the Gospel But yet it holds good that grace is a most free principle in the Soul and that where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty For the constraint that the Apostle speaks of is not opposed to freedom of Soul but to not acting Now although the Soul so principled and spirited cannot but act yet it acts freely Those things that are according to nature though they be done necessarily yet are they done with the greatest freedom imaginable The water flows and the fire burns necessarily yet freely Religion is a new nature in the soul and the religious Soul being toucht effectually wiâ—h the sense and imprest with the influences of divine goodness fulness and perfection is carryed indeed necessarily towards God as its proper centre and yet its motions are pure free generous and with the greatest delight and pleasure conceivable The necessity that lay upon Paul to preach the Gospel is not to be understood of any external violence that was done to him much less of â—odily necessity by reason of which many men serve their own bellyes in that great function more than the Lord Jesus for though he preacht the Gospel necessarily yet did he preach freely and willingly as he oft professeth The godly Soul cannot but love God as his chiefest good yet he delights in this necessity under which he lyeth and is exceeding glad that he finds his heart framed and enlarged to love him I say enlarged because God is such an object as do's not contract and pinch and straiten the soul as all created object do but ennoble ampliate and enlarge it The sinful soul the more it lets out and lays out and spends itself upon the creature the more it is straitned and contracted and the native freedom of it is enslaved debased and destroyed but grace do's establish and ennoble the freedom of the Soul and restore it to iâ—s primitive perfection so that a godly soul is never more large more at rest more at I berty thâ—â— when it finds itself delivered from all self confining creature-loves and lusts and under the most powerful influences and constraint of infinite love and goodness By this that hath been said of the free and generous spirit of true Religion we may learn what to think of the forc'd devotion of many prest Souldiers of Christ in his Church militant that there is a vast difference and distance between the prest and the imprest Christian Though indeed the freedom of the will cannot be destroyed yet in opposition to a principle many mens devotion may be said to be wrung out of them and their obedience may be said to be constraiâ—ed I shall explain it briefly in two or three particulars 1. Men force themselves many times to some things in Religion that are besides yea and against their nature and genius I need not instance in an overly conformity to the letter of the law and some external duties which they force themselves to perform as to hear pray give almes or the like in all which the violent and unnatural obedience of a pharisee may be more popular and specious than the true and genuine obedience of a free-born disciple of Jesus Christ If going on hunting and catching of Venison might denominate a good and dutiful Son Esau may indeed be as acceptable to his father as Jacob but God is not such a father as Isaac whose affections were bribed with fat morsels he feeds not upon the pains of his children nor drink the sweat of their browâ— I doubt not but that an unprincipled Christian that hath the heart of a slave may also force himself to imitate the more spiritual part of Religion and as it were to act over the very temper and disposition of a son of God Therefore we read of a semblance of joy and zeal which was found in some whom yet our Saviour reckons no better than stony ground Mark 4. 16. and of great exâ—asies in some whom yet the Apostle supposes may come to nothing Heb. 6. 5. and what appearance of the most excellent and divine graces of patience and contempt of the world many of the sowrer sort of Monastical Papists and our mâ—ngrel breed of Papists the Quakers do make at this day all men know nay some of these last sort do seem to themselves I believe to act over the temper and experiences of the chiefest Apostles rejoycing with Peter and the rest that they are counted worthy to suffer shame Act. 5. 41. and keeping a catalogue of their stripes with Paul 2 Cor. 11. 24. and in these things I am confident to use the Apostles words that they think themselves not a whit behind the very chiefest Apostles nay they are not ashamed to lay claim to that grace of graces self-denyal which they have forced themselves to act over so artificially that even a wise man might almost be deceived into a favourable opinion of them but that we know that whilest they profess it they destroy it for it is contrary to the nature of self-denyal to magnifie and boast itself And indeed it is very evident to a wise observer that these men by a pretence of voluntary humility and counterfeit self-denyal do in truth endeavour most of all to establish their own righteousness and erect an idol of self-supremacy in themselves and do really fall in love with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or self-sufficiency