in this Case we plead and which some phrase a stinting or limiting the Spirit For the clearer understanding of this Matter I will first set down what Influence upon our Words in Prayer we challenge for the Holy Spirit It lieth as I said in the former Chapter in two things 1. In bringing to remembrance the Word of God What Acts are contrary to it and have been our Sins and so are Matter of Confession what things the Word of God gives us leave to ask and under what Circumstances and what we have need of what Promises God hath made for giving them to us Now this is no more than Christ promised Iob. 14. 26. The Holy Ghosts shall bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you We challenge no such thing for the Holy Spirit as dictating new Matter not contained in the Word but bringing to our Minds what Things are in the Word fit for Confession Supplication or Thanksgiving as to us or others 2. Nor Secondly must that Power be denied the Holy Spirit which any of our Brethren have they can whisper such things in our Ears and so bring them to our Minds tho' it may be we were not aware of them or had forgotten them we believe the Holy Spirit can make immediate Impressions upon our Spirits proportionate to the Sounds Creatures can make in our Ears from which Impressions are made upon our Souls Those who deny this must deny all Spiritual Motions from the Blessed Spirit of God 2. We also challenge for the Holy Spirit a Power to excite and inflame the Affections which so beated thrust out Words in a natural Course This is all we plead for in the Case and say That if in Prayer we be limited by a Form of Words such kind of Impressions as these cannot affect us nor have any Effect upon us suitable to the Nature of them and the Holy Spirit 's Design in making of them and this we think is not lawful for us to allow because it is a quenching of the Spirit Our Casuist tells us That he will also examine What the Scripture attributeth to the Spirit in Prayer 2. What it is to stint or limit the Spirit He saith The Scripture attributeth something to the Spirit in Prayer which was extraordinary and temporary and something ordinary fix'd and standing That which he mentions as extraordinary is the Inspiration of the Matter of Prayer together with an Ability to express it in known or unknown Languages To which I answer There is thus much Truth in this That it is sufficiently probable that before the full Revelation of the Will of God in Scripture God did extraordinarily inspire his Servants as to some particular Matter of Prayer how otherwise could they know what was his Will And that also upon the first going of the Apostles to the Gentiles it pleased God also to inable the Apostles to pray with divers Tongues nor was this only for a Sign to them that believed not but as a necessary Mean by which the first Messengers of Christ to the Gentiles were inabled both to pray with and to preach to several Nations But that after the full Revelation of the Divine Will in the Holy Scriptures God at any time more than other hath revealed the Matter of Prayer unto his People more than the Matter of Preaching is more than I know or any can prove nor can any Reason be given for such an Assertion he had in his written Word told his Ministers and People what they should pray for nor might they pray for any thing but what was according to that his revealed Will. 2. If by revealing the Matter of Prayer this Author means no more than bringing to Ministers and Peoples Minds such things as they stand in need of and God in his Word hath declared himself ready to give it is no more than God yet doth every Day 2. If by it he meaneth his exciting them at this or that time to pray for some particular Good either for a Nation or Church or a particular Family or Person which he had only generally promised in his Word and left them at Liberty to pray for conditionally and with a reference and Submission to his Divine Will and Wisdom neither can this be called extraordinary with reference to any Period of Time it being no more than what God hath by his Spirit done in all Times and yet doth tho' in another Sense this be extraordinary such more-than-ordinary Impressions being but at such particular Times when God intendeth to give out such Mercies other extraordinary and temporary Revelations of the Matter of Prayer after the Sealing of the Canon of Scripture are such as nothing in Scripture guideth any to expect And to assert any such thing is but to dictate without Shadow of Proof eithe r from Scripture or Reason Nor is it more true that there ever were any extraordinary Assistances of the Spirit at any time as to the Words used in Prayer further than the inabling the first Ministers and Christians to pray and preach in other Tongues than they had learned Nor can it be proved that as to praying in their own Language the Holy Spirit ever was further promised or given to any than to bring to their Remembrance the Things they stood in need of and which God had given them leave to pray for and promised to give and the like and exciting their Affections and inflaming them which being heated they spake with their Tongues which Assistance we do say is an ordinary and standing Influence communicated as to former Ages so to our present Age and will be communicated to Believers to the End of the World Let us hear what Reason our Casuist hath to the contrary He pretendeth to give us Four P. 6 7 8 9 10 c. to 21. 1. His First Reason is Because there is no Promise of any such Gift which were it true were indeed a strong Reason tho' not against the thing for God may give what he hath no where particularly promised yet against our Expectation of any such thing But this is very far from being Truth For 1. There are general Promises of all good things and of his Spirit 2. There are particular Promises of the Holy Spirit to help us in the Duty of Prayer So that if this Influence be a good thing and what is possible without any Derogation to-the Honour of God there are Promises enough for it He who looketh for a particular Promise for every thing will deprive himself of the comfortable Expectation of much Good and disable himself from praying in Faith for most things he prayeth for God hath promised Psal. 84 11. No good thing will be with-hold from them that walk uprightly He hath promised to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him and he hath told us that by this Spirit we cry Abba Father Rom. 8. 15. Gal. 4. 6. and told us Rom. 8. That the Spirit helpeth our
Infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought He gives his Spirit to his People they are joined to the Lord and one Spirit and his Spirit dwells in them as we often read in Scripture He hath promised that his Spirit shall bring to remembrance the things we have heard of him Joh. 14.26 But it may be he will say There is no Promise of Assistance as to Words in Prayer What should be the Meaning of that There is no Promise indeed of the Holy Spirit standing by and dictating to us what Words to speak nor yet of the Spirit 's so possessing us as the Evil Spirit doth a Demoniack so as to lay our Soules asleep while he useth our Tongue But there are Promises of his teaching us to cry Abba Father of his bringing to our remembrance what the Scripture hath of his making Intercession for us c. These are enough for us and to prove all that ordinary Assistance as to Words in Prayer which we plead for Nor doth our Casuist say any thing of Force to perswade us That such Influence and Assistance of the Spirit is not within the Latitude of the Promises in saying That there are many good Christians who would never pretend to any such Inspiration but are some of them beholden to their own Recollection and Invention for the Matter and Words of their Prayer and others for want of a sufficient Quickness of Invention to be beholding to Forms of Prayer of other Mens Composure P. 6. Now there are no such Blessings of the New Covenant to which good Christians may have no Right and Title and of which they may never actually partake which is utterly to destroy the Nature of the Covenant c. That there are no Blessings of the New Covenant to which every true Believer hath no Right or Title or which they may never actually partake of is most freely granted But that there are some Blessings of the New Covenant which every good Christian doth enjoy tho' he lieth under other Apprehensions and which he may have a Ius Remotum a Right and Title to which pro hic nunc he doth not actually enjoy and some Blessings of the Covenant which a Christian might enjoy if indeed he did not by his voluntary Fault deprive himself of the Benefit of them and some Blessings which a young Christian doth not at present enjoy must be denied by no Considerate Divine For who ever saith it must deny both the Quickening and Consolatory Influences of the Holy Spirit and many more also indeed for the Promises relating to Iustification and Regeneration as every Believer hath a Right to them so he actually partakes of them as he shall do of Eternal Life But for those Branches of the Covenant which concern further Grace or Gifts the Case is otherwise Every good Christian hath a Right and Title to the Spirit of Adoption teaching him to cry Abba Father influencing him in the manner I have opened as to Words in Prayer But yet it is very possible 1. That by his own voluntary Fault he may shut out these Influences by tying himself up to Forms of Words 2. He may want them through his own Default in not studying the Scriptures and gaining a full Knowledge of them 3. He may deprive himself of them by wilful Sinnings which may make the Holy Spirit withdraw himself in those arbitrary Manifestations 4. He may have them and not know it but take them to be meer Humane and Natural Recollections to which the Holy Spirit hath assisted by bringing to remembrance what Christ hath said Our Casuist's Second Reason p. 7. is Because there is no need of any such immediate Inspiration This indeed were it true were a great Argument and would Prove what he said before That there are no Promises of any such Tendency But how will he prove this He saith 1. As to the Matter of Prayer it is sufficiently revealed in Scripture 2. He saith For Words if we have not Quickness enough of Fancy and Invention to express our Wants and Desires in our own Words we may readily supply that Defect by Forms of other Mens Composure which with very short Additions and Variations of our own we may easily adapt to all our particular Cases and Circumstances This is the Summ of what he saith P. 2. p. 8 9. If the Matter of Prayer be sufficiently revealed in Holy Writ there neither is nor ever was since the Apostles Time any need of any extraordinary Assistance of the Spirit to dictate that But admitting this which we freely grant is there yet no need of the Spirit to bring to remembrance the things we have had of Christ's Our particular Violations of the Divine Law our particular Wants or the Promises warranting us to beg a Supply To assert no need of the Spirit 's Help we must not only assert the Perfection of the Rule of Prayer but the Perfection of an Human Memory too which I suppose our Casuist will not 2. As to Words our Casuist talks as if he thought we pleaded for the Spirit 's dictating formed Words to us or made use of our Tongues to speak Words not formed in our own Hearts What else doth he mean by Words immediately inspired Alas we mean no such thing but only a bringing into our Thoughts the Matter of Scripture relating to Things forbidden commanded promised c. From which our Souls by a natural Power form Words and warming and heating our Affections which also contribute to them and then thrust them out at our Lips as the Psalmist speaks Psal. 39. 3. Now how it can be that Forms should not shut out this Assistance and Influence poseth me to understand 3. Our Casuist's Third Reason is p. 9. Because there is no certain Sign nor Testimony of it amongst us By Signs as he expounds himself p. 10. he means Miracles He gives his Pretended Reason for this Because without such Signs to distinguish it from false Pretences we were better be without Inspiration than with it because we shall be left under an unavoidable Necessity either of admitting all Inspirations which pretend to be Divine or of rejecting all that are truly so According to this rate of Arguing we must conclude nothing to be the Effect of the Spirit of God but what we can confirm to be so by working some Miracle Alas how should Christians if this had a Grain of Truth in it ever be able to satisfie themselves that they truly believe in Christ or love or fear God or exercised or had any Habit of Grace God indeed gave the Gift of Miracles to confirm new Doctrines or some Prophecies or Persons extraordinary Missions But did ever any Divine make Miracles necessary to confirm every Manifestation of the Spirit And why are they necessary for this more than any other Is it not Sign enough to him who believeth the Scriptures to be the Word and Revealed Will of God that the Inspiration is from
doth not desire them or upon such Persons Desire It was in a publick Assembly and Prayer that Ezra confessed and bewailed the Sins of those that had married strange Wives Ezra 9.12 13 14. For v. 4. They were assembled all them that trembled at the words of the Lord God of Israel yet that Sin was not the common Sin of all the People Ezra 10. they are numbred and it appears they were but 100 Priests 17 Levites 6 1 Singer 3 Porters and 73 Israelites who may be called Laicks He who consulteth Ezra 1. will find the whole Number was v. 64. 42360. besides 7337 Servants the Priests alone were above 4000 v. 36 37 38 39. and these were but the first Companies came out So that it seems that excellent Scribe thought that in publick Prayers Confession was to be made of other Sins than what were the Sins of every Individual of the Congregation More Instances might be given but this is enough Besides that our Saviour's Prayer upon the Cross was publick enough Father forgive them for they know not what they do yet he knew that all there present were not guilty of crucifying him The like might be said of Stephen's Prayer Acts 7.60 So that this new Notion is quite contrary both to the Practice in the Old Testament and New 2. Secondly It must necessarily deprive all private Christians of the Benefit of publick Prayers in all their particular Distresses whether respecting their outward or inward Man and leaves them only to Family and Closet-Prayer of their Friends and to what Prayers they can make for themselves 3. It is directly contrary to the Apprehension of the Generality of Christians who have used to send to their Ministers to pray for them in the publick Congregation and to the Practice both of our Church and I believe all others 4. Whoso looks into Scripture will find that the Ministers of God never thought it enough in the Case to make general Confessions of Sin or general Requests for good things or to give Thanks for Mercies in general but have descended to particular Confessions of the particular Sin regnant or committed lately and to particular Petitions for specifical Mercies and to particular Mercies in their Thanksgivings 5. Our Author p. 5. of P. 2. hath given us a good Account of such things as are the common Wants of all Persons and at all Times viz. 1. Forgiveness of Sin Peace of Conscience the giving or preserving of it the Assistance of Divine Grace to deliver us from the Power of Sin and Satan and make us meet to be Partakers of the Saints in Light Redemption from Death and Hell Protection and Success in all our Honest Concerns and Vndertakings the Daily Supply of our Bodily Wants and Necessities and in general the Preservation and Direction of our Governours the Peace and Welfare of our Native Country the Prosperity of the Church the Propagation of the Gospel and the Success of its Ministers in the Work of the Lord. Our Reader must also remember how much our Author hath reflected upon conceived Prayers for having in them the same things over and over again Part. 2. p 17 18. as contrary to the Order of our Saviour who expresly forbids us vain Repetitions Matt. 6. 7 8. Now unless this be only Faulty in conceived Prayers not in Forms also and we ought in Publick only to pray for things which a whole Congregation in common wants and to confess Sins which a whole Congregation not some Persons only in it are guilty of one single Collect is enough Here are but eleven or twelve Lines made comprehensive of all this nor must any particular Confession of Sin be made but only in the general That we have all sinned and come short of the Glory of God for there are few Sins that every individual Person in a Congregation is guilty of 6. Supposing that none but the same Sins and those the Sins of the whole Congregation ought to be in publick Prayer confessed and none but the same good things and those such as are the Wants of the whole Congregation ought to be petitioned for yet neither are such Sins nor such Wants always the same much less such Mercies as refer to a whole Congregation God's Mercies to Congregations as well as Persons are new every Morning So as the same Forms will not serve 7. I therefore conclude That altho' this be the best Argument I know can be brought for the constant Use of a stated Form of Words in Prayer if it could be maintained yet the Hypothesis is in no degree true and the Argument built upon it must needs be very weak supposing what is far from Truth Prayer is the Communion of the Church wherein the Members of it are not only to confess their joint Sins but the particular Sins tho' not all the particular Sins of which some may not be sit for publick Notice of each Member or any Number of Members and to beg not only a Supply of such things as they all want but as any Member of their Body or Number of their Members are guilty of and known to be so or stand in need of This is enough to have spoken to the first thing said by our Author as to this first Case 2. He tells us Secondly That such Alterations of the common Cases of Christian Churches as could not be foreseen and provided for at the first Forming of their Liturgies may for the most part be provided for in new Forms To which I say 1. That this proceedeth upon the former Supposition That no Sins are to be confess'd in publick Prayers but such as are the common Sins of the Congregation no good things to be begg'd but such as all Persons in the Congregation want no Thanksgigivings to be made but for Mercies affecting the whole Congregation which is not true and contrary to all Reason and Practice as I have already shewed and therefore I need not here inlarge again on that Discourse But supposing what I have before proved That the more notorious and publickly-noticed Sins of any Member or Number of Members in Congregations such as Swearing Cursing Drunkenness noted Vncleanness c. are Matters of publick Confessions and the Wants of any Member or Number of Members in a Congregation known to the Minister and better part of the People are Matter of publick Petition and any noted Deliverance or Mercy bestowed on any Member or any Number of Members of a Congregation is also Matter of publick Thanksgiving These are so frequently renewing so often varying that our Casuist could hardly have said New Forms were likely to be made sufficient for them and proper to them Especially considering Publick Forms are not ordinarily made by the respective Ministers of Congregations who alone by watching over his Flock is like to know its State 2. Secondly There may be and ordinarily is so great a Variety in the State of particular Congregations as to Sins Wants and Mercies that it