those to whom we acknowledge a civil respect to be just and due this being only an estimation expressed by outward signs and gestures suitable to their beings and degrees of perfection And however men of contrary perswasions especially the Romanists who pretend to proportion their practice suitable to the conceptions of their minds may save themselves in this particular from the imputation of Idolatry by stating curiously the termination of their worship yet they cannot free themselves in this particular from error and presumption from a voluntary humility and will-worship when they pay such acts of Religion to creatures in glory as approach so near to the worship of the Deity that betwixt it and Idolatry there hangs no more than a small cobweb a very nice and thin distinction But we dare not constitute Mediators of our own when God has appointed one for us One even as God is so and consequently must exclude others There is one God sayes the Apostle and one Mediator betwixt God and man the man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 Nor will any distinction here serve because our Mediator intercedes in vertue of his Sacrifice and therefore if there are more Mediators for us in Heaven more must have shed their blood on earth We desire indeed the prayers of men living among our selves as S. Paul did when he beseech'd the Brethren to pray for himself but we do not invocate them by acts of Religion when we beg this charitable office from them Not do we intrench upon the great Intercessor in the highest Heaven when we desire these intercessions upon the earth but only that the incense of other mens prayers ascending through the Skies to the supream Palace of the Most High may be presented unto God by the hands of our High Priest resident there not only as a token of his triumphs and victories whilst he was upon the earth or reassuming the right belonging to his God head but on purpose also to make intercession for us If the Saints above could receive notices of our desires and we knew how to signifie our wants to them and present our grievances to their apprehensions as we do to those who converse with us here It is then probable that many men would think it reasonable to make that their desire to them though not by a religious act of prayer which now they conjecture to be vain and fruitless Because their own necessities themselves being not yet compleatly glorified might incline them to pray for men whom they left in this lower world in relation to those things especially that may tend to the fulfilling the number of Gods elect and the hastning that Kingdom which shall be compleated hereafter that all partaking in a glorious translation or resurrection they themselves may have the compleatment of that happiness which they now desire but shall not fully possess till the re-union of their bodies to their souls which death yet keeps in a state of separation Besides this seems reasonable to be allowed that the charity of souls now in Heaven cannot but be advanced and extended far beyond the possibilities of this world and therefore as it is very probable unless we suppose their understandings and memories to dye with them that they may be now so mindful of the necessities of men in general that are left behind them in a miserable world as to exert some acts in common that may be proportionable to prayer for us So could men who are yet resident on the earth know any method of signifying their particular desires to them they might perhaps insert them in their wishes and make such petitions their own For if the rich Glutton in Hell was so sensible of his Brethrens danger as to beg Abraham to send Lazarus to them to assure them of the truth of a future torment and to warn them to flee from the wrath to come much more may we suppose the Saints in Heaven to carry away with them such notices and remembrance of the hazards and miseries of mankind in this world that their enlarged charity may cause them in general to petition for their relief But it does not at all from hence follow that the Saints above can be sensible of all the particular accidents in this world which now happen since their departure Nor does Bellarmine's making a Looking glass of his Maker at all help the contrary assertion the viewing all things in God tanquam in speculo being as unintelligible by the reasons of men as it is invisible to those who have no eyes to see it 'T is true indeed God may reveal to them the necessities of the world and somethings which happen here and there is joy in Heaven for the conversion of a sinner Luke 15.10 But that he does these things to Saints departed we have no evidence but the contrary is asserted in Sacred Writ For Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel acknowledges us not Isa 63.16 And therefore nesciunt mortui etiam sancti quid agunt vivi etiam eorum filii sayes S. Austin in curâ pro mortuis The Saints that are dead know not what the living do nay their very Children In vain therefore would it be though it were not mixed with any impiety nor done in the way of prayer and religious invocation to desire any help from those who are not acquainted with our wants nor any where appointed to convey blessings to us Nay if we were assured that they knew all our particular needs as they have been acquainted with the infirmities of mankind it could not be an argument to incline us to implore their aid and assistance especially with such solemnity and devotion as is used in prayer Because God from whom we receive directions for the substantials and essential methods of our devotion has no where commanded such circular prayers that by the mediation of these we should at any time address our selves to him We are directed only by our Blessed Saviour to ask in his name and to this we have the promise of an answer Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name sayes Christ he will give it you John 16.23 And the Author to the Hebrews plainly exhorts that since we have so great an High Priest who is passed into the Heavens Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Heb. 4.6 Here is no need of similitudes from Courts below to teach us methods of address to him by whom Princes reign Or if there were what man that may himself present his petition to an earthly King and discourse his affair freely with him would use the mediation of a Master of Requests especially if the King himself had committed the care of this business to his Son We need not argue our selves to reverence and humility in our addresses to God when we consider the distance and disproportion betwixt him and our selves that he is our Creator and we the
therefore has shone bright warming a Chaos into an orderly Creation and brought us forth to be subordinate Governours over the works of Gods hands 'T is no wonder that it enlightens us to a sense of duty and heats our zeal to worship and adore since we cannot chuse but pay our esteem unless injustice checks ingenuity to men amongst our selves suitable to the excellencies inherent in them Thus far I suppose mankind are agreed and I may modestly challenge the universal vogue to vouch the assertion But now the thoughts of men will differ and temperament or interest will sway their minds with reference to the modes of address For the discourses of men being oftentimes as different as their complexions and the sentiments and dispositions of the mind being very servile in attending upon the temperament of the body besides the power of custom and education it is very difficult to disentangle the soul from those fetters in which prejudice has chained it that it may be free in its inferences and conclusions Hence is it that though we all agree upon the Being of a God and that adoration and worship are due to him Yet the acts compounding and the ceremonies attending it have raised so many Schisms and Contentions among men that they seem to agree in nothing but resolutions always to differ That we may say therefore to these winds be still and rebuke the storms which disturb the world that some serenity may at last appear when the clouds are scattered I have taken the subject of Prayer to discourse on it being a duty that ought to attend the course of our lives to which our own necessities prompt us our dependance upon God reasonably requires and his command renders it indispensible But yet because the variety of mens apprehensions and interests which controvert every thing have perplexed this I would willingly be as instrumental as I can in setling your minds in a point of such universal concernment especally at this separated time of Lent in which our publick devotions are more frequent and with a greater solemnity injoyned and praictis'd accompanied with fasting and Alms-giving those mighty resignations of our selves and estates as sacrifices well pleasing unto God And therefore I shall endeavour 1. to explain this duty 2. draw some inferences from the discourse In the explication I shall shew you these seven things First What it is to Pray Secondly What may be the import of some Precepts and Phrases in Sacred Writ which seem to set forth this duty of Prayer as if it were to be continued without interruption Thirdly What is the object of our Prayers or to whom we ought to make this religious address Fourthly In what manner we ought to pray And this 1. in relation to the intentions of our minds 2. with reference to the gesture of our bodies 3. in relation to words and expressions Fifthly For what we may lawfully and ought to pray and this particular will involve persons and things Sixthly Whether this duty of Prayer is injoyned so that it is expected from all men or only such as are good and vertuous And Lastly I shall consider whether it be so necessary or no since God already knows our wants and we cannot break the links that chain causes to effects nor alter the Almighties decrees or providence by any of our wishes or Prayers From the stating and resolution of which particulars I shall at last infer three things First That the service or prayers of our own Church are so framed and performed that God does accept them and are a proper method of addressing to him Secondly That the Church of Rome is most irrational and abominably peccant in hers Lastly That such as live among our selves and yet separate from us under the pretence of greater Reformation and a more Pure and Evangelical worship do not perform their services to God in such manner as is suitable to his Attributes mans dependence and the infinite distance 'twixt their Creator and themselves CHAP. I. HAving thus exhibited my designed method I address my self to the first particular to shew what it is to pray And because many may conjecture that my labour may be excus'd in this since common practice will justly supersede this scruple I shall be very brief in the resolution Prayer then is no more than the offering up our desires unto God In which the Soul has the honour and advantage too of breathing forth its wishes to our Maker lodging them in the bosom and heart of our Intercessor and through him petitioning relief to supply all its necessities and wants Now although this when compleat is joyned with confession and thanksgiving yet I shall not exceed the bounds of prayer those being duties distinct from this and each requires a different explication Various men conceive divers definitions of prayer but yet they are distingished by words and phrases more than sence One tells us 't is a discourse or a converse with God Another an ascending of the Soul to him and men exemplifie this duty by a multitude of Metaphors that rather obscure than explain the thing Nay some set up Jacobs Ladder in this case for Angels to make their descent from Heaven that they may obtain again a sensible and direct passage upwards mount into the Regions above carrying mens Petitions under their wings and then convey the blessings of God down to them This may indeed be allowed for Rhetorick but it neither explains or argues the thing We may better guess at our Prayer unto God by reflecting on our petitions to men in which we always signifie our desires which we earnestly wish for and humbly beg the grant of And this I think to be the common notion we have of Prayer which noâ—man that at all considers can refuse to give his assent to Now this is made when directed unto God either in the inflamed and ardent desires of our minds when devoutly fixing our intentions upon him we secretly wish what we do not express with our tongues And we may easily suppose this method available when the actions of our Souls are performed to him who as well understands the affections of our minds as the language of our mouths and discerns our hearts as well as hears our words But our Prayers to God are also express'd by those instruments of speech which he has framed as well for his service as our own When we put the wishes and desires of our souls into suitable and expressive language rehearsing this with the due and humble intention of our minds and affection correspondent to our petitions And this is of two sorts either private or publick 1. Private and this either of Husband and Wife who being in a sence but one flesh have some necessities betwixt themselves but yet being distinct from others require different and more secret petitions 2. There is a private praying most properly so which every man does or ought to perform singly by himself when first examining his
manifested to the World or the reason of men have lawfully and by good consequence concluded to be most excellent and glorious in themselves He must be endow'd therefore with all knowledge power goodness impassibility justice truth mercy faithfulness and the like with self existency and eternity crowning and adding an ornament to the whole To this God then under such glorious notions adorned with such transcendent Attributes and all possible perfections imaginable To this King Eternal Immortal Invisible the only Wise God we are to give all honour and glory adoring those Attributs of which we are transcribing the Copy as far as frail humane nature will permit and by which only we can declare his essence To this transcendent Being we ought to pray without pretending to form an Idea or similitude of his living substance which we cannot make any likeness of nor frame a due Image of his being without notions attending that are unworthy of him and such accidents as would be blemishes and imperfections at once leading us into impiety and a snare And to such a Being when we have once setled a notion of him before we enter upon our devotions to him we may address our lawful petitions and direct all the intentions of our minds without framing any similitude and worship him who is and was the Maker of all things sustains the Creation by his Almighty power and influences the whole by his daily providence Who as I believe cannot be drawn otherwise by the most accurate judgment the most towering phancy or sublimest and most retired contemplation because he is invisible To this universal Being who is the cause and parent of all others if we thus direct suitable petitions we shall worship God in spirit and in truth and the Father seeketh such to worship him John 4. 23. And thus I have done with the first part of the manner of our address in relation to the intention of our minds I proceed now to the second particular to make inquiry into that manner in which we ought to pray with reference to the gesture of our bodies Now this in general ought to be such as is most expressive of our humility reverence profound devotion and dependence on God and therefore such as is used to these ends and purposes in the Regions and Countries in which we live For prayer testifying our religion to others and by our outward example for they cannot know our inward thoughts drawing them into the same acts of devotion with our selves as well as according to the expectation of our Maker to raise and signifie our own dispositions and affections to him since therefore other men can no way be made sensible of the intentions of our minds but by those representations which they receive from the external acts and gestures of our bodies we ought to use such in prayer as may best signifie those to them which can be no other than those by which we represent both our humility and affection to those persons with whom we converse 'T is true indeed I cannot say that the sacred Scriptures have commanded any one gesture in prayer so strictly as to exclude all others For in these things an absolute necessity at any time becomes a reasonable dispensation A man may be enseebled in his limbs lay stretch'd upon a bed of languishing be moved to ejaculations when he is imployed in his Trade or occupation He may be inclined to pray when he is walking in the field or travelling on a journey and may often be lifting his thoughts to God when he is sitting at his ordinary meals In such cases and others like them he is not obliged to alter his posture but God will accept of his secret whispers or more outwardly express'd language nay the humble breathings and wishes of his mind with or without the words of his mouth And further yet sometimes even in publick Assemblies a man or woman may be in a Croud or his Knees so benum'd and his body wearied with the length of his devotions that any one posture may be so uneasie and painful too as to blunt the sharpness of his affections and hinder the most acceptable intention of his mind And God forbid that the more noble part of our devotions should be slackned or interrupted by the necessary attendance on the frailty and weakness of our own bodies for this would render them not only the restraining prisons of our souls but their Jaylors too And certainly he to whom our prayers are directed being gracious and merciful will not injoyn any burden upon men who are humble and devout which neither they nor their Forefathers were able to bear I cannot therefore sufficiently admire the piety and prudence of our own Church whose Service is so admirably contrived that the frequent intermixtures of praises and thanksgivings readings and confessions of our faith with our prayers and the confessions of our sins give frequent relief to the aged or wearied bodies of men by injoyning suitable though uniform postures that by their variation become easie and delightsome and advance the fervour and affections of the mind But that I may not deviate from this duty of Prayer We find goodmen in Sacred Writ sometimes worshipping by prostration on the ground sometimes adoring by bowing their heads and without doubt kissing their hands as the act of adoring properly signifies sometimes standing upon their feet and sometimes kneeling upon their knees But in the New Testament the latter is more frequent though prostration is a posture more lowly than this When Saint Stephen had the honour to become the first Martyr to the Faith of Jesus next to himself and like his Master signaliz'd his charity in praying for his enemies the Text tells us that he kneeled down and prayed crying out with a loud voice Lord lay not this sin to their charge Act. 7.60 When Saint Paul prayed amongst the Bishops at Miletus he kneeled down and prayed with them all Acts 20.36 When Saint Peter sealed the truth of Christianity by that eminent miracle of raising Dorcas from the dead we are given to understand that he kneeled down and prayed Act. 9.40 And the blessed and holy Jesus himself who was more worthy than all mankind because he was accepted as a just and proportionable sacrifice for them and redeemed those who were prisoners to Death and Hell yet that he might testifie the great humility and submission of his mind did not only fall down upon his knees but prostrated himself with his face to the ground when with a reserved submission to his Fathers will he prayed saying O Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me Matth. 26.39 When Saint Paul prayed for the Ephesians that they might not faint in the midst of their tribulations he bowed his knees to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ Eph. 3 14. And when in his voyage towards Jerusalem he landed at Tyre at his departure from thence himself with the disciples their wives 〈◊〉
â—hildren kneeled down and prayâ—◠〈◊〉 though they were upon the shore â—â—ct 21.5 And certainly we cannot possibly offend whilst we imitate such holy and primitive examples 'T is true indeed it was a custom amongst the Jews especially towards the period of their Oeconomy to pray standing in the Synagogues and therefore we read that the Pharisees like some among our selves loved to pray standing in their Synagogues as well as in the corners of the streets Math. 6.5 But because these did it that by the elevation of their bodies they might be seen of men you may not perhaps think it fitting to take such for an example But howsoever it is no less but more certain that the primitive Christians did sometimes pray standing on their feet as well as kneeling upon their knees For besides the posture in their devotions on the Lords day it is notoriously known that they did not kneel in their publick worship from Easter to Whitsuntide But then they gave these two reasons in excuse of their posture 1. That they might by some outward gesture and significant ceremony express their joy for the resurrection of our Saviour 2. That it was in token also of their confident expectation of the descent of the Holy Ghost Both these things were lawful and proper whilst Christianity was contemned by the Rulers of the world and such great temptations were given to the proselytes to this religion to apostatize That I may draw then towards the conclusion of this particular since the gestures of the body have been differently used in prayer unto God suitable to the various wayes of signifying respect in divers Countries and the constitutions of those Churches to whose customs men subjected themselves and since all such things are still to be used in subordination to a greater and more lofty end the raising and testifying the affections and faith of mens minds I shall leave you to practise Saint Austins rules That in private prayer ye so frame the gestures of your bodies as may best conduce to the elevation of your minds and the continuance of great devotion in your prayers But in publick that ye conform to the commands and practice of that Christian Church which imposes nothing sinful as a condition of her communion within whose pale you are inclosed that ye may not become factious and schismatical divide from substantials for a ceremony nor rend the Church and make a separation for what is really in it self indifferent Humility and reverence do certainly become such as address themselves to God and he that has lived here among us that upon the view of our usual approaches to our superiours and the custom of the nation in their addresses to one another can find another gesture more aptly and decently expressing these things than bowing the body uncovering the head and bending the knee may if our superiors please who have authority to order indifferent matters use it and recommend it to others Nay obtain a Law to force it upon all Yet this will be but little to their profit since I know none that upon such slender terms will relinquish their own right to make way for others to enter their possessions because they will not make religion to consist in the use or forbearance of things that are indifferent in themselves But howsoever till this time of tryal comes we were in my judgment better fulfill what God once confirmed by an Oath That unto him every knee should bow and every tongue should swear by his name Isai 45.23 Which Saint Paul thought good to express the subjection of mankind to the supream Being by in the New Testament As I live saith the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God Rom. 14.11 And truly when any good Christians pretend to express their real and devout subjection to God 't is not so well to forsake the ceremony which God himself the command of the Church and the reason of men using the ceremonies of this Nation especially when it is conjoyned with custom may render not only lawful but expedient But yet I must proceed farther That with the former circumstances supposed kneeling at prayers will become a duty where the formentioned impediments do not plead for a necessary and unavoidable dispensation 'T is true indeed that bodily exercise profiteth little yet something it does if not conjoyned with the devotion of the mind and does not tend to the improvement of the soul in the habits of vertue and true religion But when this accomplishes the ends to which it is most rationally designed it then becomes such a sacrifice with which God is well pleased I beseech you therefore brethren as St. Paul exhorts by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable divine service Rom. 12. 1. Nay we do not worship with the whole man when we neglect Gods service with a part Moreover it seems not to be a reasonable service when the actions of the body do not accompany the affections of the mind when both are joyn'd together in this world We think it to be rational to express the petitions conceived in our hearts by the language of our tongues Why should we not then signifie our humility that must accompany such prayers as God accepts by those gestures that represent and express it 'T is exceeding natural to mankind to make shew of their inward affection by external signs and the kindest demonstrations that the actions of their bodies are able to represent and we put a force and restraint upon our selves when our hearts are full of fervour and devotion and yet we will not manifest it by our actions and deportments But certainly he who has created the bodies of men as well as their souls has an equal right to the service of both and he that made the whole man will not be satisfied with a partial sacrifice we must worship therefore and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker Our redemption also no less calls for the homage of our bodies than it does for the reverence and devotion of our souls The Apostle sayes Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodies and your spirits which are Gods 1. Cor. 6.20 Nay if we expect the final glorification of both 't is but equal that they should both conspire in all the demonstrations of vertue and religion where both may contribute their several parts That so since their interest is united they may in conjunction work out their salvation with fear and trembling Lastly The humble and decent postures of our bodies when we address our selves to God do not only demonstrate the internal devotion and reverence of our minds but according to the observation of all excepting such as are unwilling to make the experiment they excite and continue our internal affections recall our wandrings and put us in remembrance of what we are about if
we find after an excursion of our thoughts that we are yet in the posture of prayer when otherwise we might by the inadvertency or diversion of our souls or an unusual heaviness and oppression in our bodies forget the duty which we are conversant about But especially in our publick devotions the devout gestures of others about us mind us of what we should do our selves and we cannot remain cold and stupid when we see others express the affection and ardour of their minds by those actions in which we commonly represent them when by the gestures of their bodies they seem to pour out their very souls in prayer How do we see the eyes of men sparkle with zeal when void of all passion or Hypocrifie How does humility and some mens low conceits of themselves cause their bodies to stoop and their knees to bend How does faith and hope again lift up the most feeble hands at once to beg and receive Gods favours And such devout actions if they are not hypocritical will raise and evidence our own affections however must certainly inflame others To conclude this particular then I cannot but speak of the external gestures of our bodies and the inward intention and fervour of our minds what the Poets said of Castor and Pollux That when they are only single they portend mischief and are the fore-runners of a Storm But when they appear both together they presage a fortunate passage to the Church declaring piety in whom they shine and a solid and well grounded devotion And thus I have done with the second particular referring to the manner of our prayer which relates to the deportment and gesture of our bodies The third and last enquiry about the manner of our prayers is to make a search into our words and expressions and to determine what is fitting to be done in this matter when we speak to so great and glorious a God especially in our joynt and common petitions There are not more frequent extravagancies among men exposed to the cognisance of others than what usually proceed from the slipps or designed actions of our tongues These are so nimble when the body becomes heated and chafed as if all our spirits flew thither that 't is difficult for some warm constitutions to afford them any rest at all they are so talkative when we are awak'd that they are tatling too whilst we are asleep Therefore the skilful and prudent Government of the tongue is the most difficult task of the Empire within our selves and needs the prescription of a multitude of Laws and a great and wary caution to be given us that we may be very vigilant to stop the sallies of it that our words may be guided with discretion The tongue saies St. James is a little member but boasteth great things and he compares it to fire a spark of which often turns Cities into ashes such is this among our members that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature when it self is kindled by the flames of Hell And therefore if any man offend not in word saies the Apostle the same is a perfect man and able to bridle the whole body James 3.2 5 6. Now as this is so peccant in our conversation with men so is it apt to err in our converses with God when it assumes too much familiarity with him becoming pert and rude in our prayers and devotions As some men whom a Prince honours with his daily converses are so sensibly blown up with the reception of his breath that their former Acquaintance must not know them so oftentimes they become saucy to him that has advanced them and blow his breath back upon himself when they have first poysoned it in their own bodies And thus is it with many men in reference to the great God that made them uttering such language in their addresses to him as would cause men to scorn and reject their petitions and all for want of due consideration and impressing themselves with a just aw from the distance and disproportion betwixt their Maker and themselves 'T is true indeed we are exhorted to come with an humble boldness to the Throne of grace since we have an acceptable person to intercede for us Heb. 4.16 But who can think that such a Text gives incouragement to dust and ashes to fly against the face of their great Creator and advance their priviledge into a confident rudeness Rather surely the same Apostles sober advice must give a check to extravagant presumptions and cause us to serve God in an acceptable manner with profound reverence and a godly fear because he is a consuming fire Heb. 12.28 29. To manage therefore our prayers unto God in such language as may be suitable to our Maker and our selves we may take if we are willing these following directions 1. That our words must be plain and intelligible 2. They ought to be grave and serious 3. They must be expressive and full 4. They ought to be as brief and short as may consist with perspicuity And therefore Lastly they must be premeditated and fix'd First our words and expressions in our solemn prayers must be plain and intelligible Because it is impossible that a man should mind however be affected with that which he does not understand or if he is 't is without reason and he does not act like a man We have indeed too melancholy and woful experience of some that being taken with musical stroaks and any thing which makes curious and grateful percussions upon their ears are extreamly delighted with such sounds of words as are void of sense But 't is a great mistake if we think that the gratification of our senses becomes a reasonable service unto God Prayer requires that our apprehensions and wishes keep a parallel with our words in which we utter our wants and necessities we may otherwise beg a Serpent when we intend a Fish and ask for a stone instead of bread If in publick we understand not the language of him that offers service in our behalf he may curse us in the name of the Devil when we think he blesses us in the name of God It cannot at the bare mention of it but appear to be a strange and ridiculous service when we offer to God we know not what And if we could trust any man with his bundle of infirmities in a business of so great importance as our prayers so as to leave him either to his quick or dull invention as his body or his mind is either vigorous or disturbed so that we might with any tolerable knowledge or due consideration say Amen to what is uttered or composed for us by some men to be delivered by our selves yet sure I am we can never proportion our affections or the intention of out minds suitable to those expressions which we do not understand Prayer especially what is publick should be a plain thing and worded so as to be understood by all
that have been duly educated in the Christian religion and therefore it must be stripped of all the gaudy luxuriances of an Orator not welted with Metaphors nor darkned by any figurative allusions but it ought to be as naked as truth as clear as the light and as plain and open as innocence it self This must not be spoken like the answers of the Oracles in words that may beguile and deceive the simple but it ought to be as plain as the questions of the inquirers were otherwise let the language be what it will 't is but like a prayer in an unknown tongue amusing only but not edifying the Church nor can any person who does not apprehend it rationally pronounce Amen to it because he sets his seal to a blank which men will not do in other cases nay for all that he knows to that which binds him to his own ruin And such prayers S. Paul both redargues and condemns 1 Cor. 14. Secondly our words in prayer must be grave and serious not intermixed with the levities of a Stage as if our words and actions were to be theatrical in prayer and a man were to make a raree shew in religion we must not turn our devotions into a canting burlesque nor cause the weighty conceptions of our souls to be breathed forth in air and fancy as if we were courting a Mistress or a common Hall But our prayers must be wise and grave the business of thought and careful premeditation and our words must be suited to the weight and grandeur of the matter of our petitions What a strange thing is it to hear a man beg by a Romance and to adorn his rags with joques or flowers This better proclaims his madness than his wants What an odd thing is it when a person comes to beg an alms and yet rants aâ— and tears his benefactor who should be stow it This may be expected at Bethlem only but not in a Church Certainly therefore it must startle and amaze us to see and hear bold men thuâ— acting towards God Almighty himselâ— To find persons raving in their prayerâ— as if they would hector the greâ—â— Maker of heaven and earth and scaâ—â— him into a compliance with their dâ—sires by a loud noise bold words 〈◊〉 too confident importunities woulâ— make a rational and wise man woâ—der where they had learned the Trade Or to hear a man ridiculouâ—ly groaning and yelping out his prayers in tones unbecoming solemnity making grimaces and wry faces as he had the gripes in his belly 〈◊〉 would think he walked the fields oâ—ten and had taken notes from the very Cripples Nay to a stranger that had seen and heard both it would admit of some consideration to guess which was the inventor of the faculty and he would conclude both to be artificial but neither to be fitting in the publick service of God Almighty Nay though we pray upon the foundations of promises and Jesus Christ has died for us yet to urge Gods gracious and free promises in such daring and strange language as if it had not been his kindness to make them or our obedience were so compleat that he could not suspend the favours that we petition for destroys that free grace which at other times we magnifie and extol in such a manner as to leave our selves little or no duty to perform As if God must presently be unjust to us if he does not when we please answer our petitions and give us our reward Strange that men in their addresses unto God should no better consider their distance and dependance but assume to themselves such familiarity with their Maker as if they were either his equals or superiors thus robbing him of his glory that they may the better cloath themselves with shame But shall the potsherd fly at the Potters head or dust and ashes endeavour to cloud and obscure heaven shall we do thus who are formed out of the clay whom one word from him to whom we thus rudely address can sentence to an everlasting silence and make the shades below our habitations Nay shall he that can cast our bodies into a grave and our souls into most horrid darkness in the twinkling of an eye and both at last into everlasting burnings who has the disposal of all the blessings and miseries of this life and the eternal rewards and punishments of the next shall he be addressed to in such a manner as if we were his familiar acquaintance Certainly the most high and lofty one the great God of heaven and earth is not so small and inconsiderable a thing as some mens prayers seem to make him Let us hear himself arguing with such rude and careless men Mal. 1.6 A son sayes he honoureth his Father and a servant his Master If I be then a Father where is mine honour And if I be a Master where is my fear saith the Lord of Hosts unto you O Priests That despise my name and yet say wherein have we despised it The Psalmist gives excelent advice in such a case as this Serve the Lord with fear nay our very rejoycing must be with reverence Psal 2.11 And if the great Kings and Judges of the earth to whom David there speaks must thus perform their duty and service to him who is higher than the highest much more ought those who are of a meaner allay to be admonished not to be malepert with their Maker lest instead of favour they receive vengeance and he gives no other answer to their prayers but a speech of Hailstones and coals of fire Let men therefore use such expressions in their addresses to God as may evidence some dread and awe upon their minds and declare such humility and reverence as become those that draw nigh to God Saint Paul justified himself to the Ephesian Bishops by his deportment among them at all seasons but more especially in that he had served the Lord with all humility of mind which they could no otherways discern but by the outward agreement of his words and actions Act. 20.19 And since our words in prayer are only to express our inward sentiments the thoughts and desires of our souls 't is as requisite that they should be grave and serious as they ought to be modest and humble and as necessary too as that our minds should be qualified and adorned with such vertues when we come to speak or present our selves before the great Majesty of the whole world Nay one is so natural a sign of the other that when gravity and humility are planted in the soul they will sprout forth and spread their branches in the words of mens mouths and deportment of their bodies so that where these last things are wanting we have just cause to suspect nay conclude the profession or affirmation that men have the other to be nothing else but a sham and a pretence Thirdly Our words in prayer must be expressive and full because otherwise they answer not the end for which
they are uttered For since all our expressions in prayer are not only to raise our devotions suitable to the conceptions of our minds but they are also designed to signifie the wishes and desires of our souls 't is reasonable that both should run parallel and our expressions equal our wants and necessities or else our language cannot answer the design of uttering words in prayer I cannot deny but that sometimes the inward conceptions of men in private may be too big for their mouths to express and there a sigh or a groan may prevail with God for what the tongue is not able fully to utter There as the Reverend Dr. Owen more clearly expresses it they may mourn as a Dove or chatter as a Crane and he sayes 't is sufficient in that condition But in publick prayers when one becomes the Orator for the rest petitions ought to be framed so as to express the general wants of those that are present as Christians united into one body being members in particular of that society of which Christ himself is the head that all may be concerned in such common requests and joyn together with one heart and with one soul and with undivided affections say Amen at the close and period But yet Fourthly Our words in prayer must be as few and our petitions as brief as may consist with plainness and perspicuity Not only because what is over and beyond this seems redundant and to no purpose and therefore unreasonable nor only because a tedious protraction and unnecessary length in devotion dulls the spirits and makes our affections unactive and stupid it quenching the fervor and intention of our minds and turns much of our prayer all whilst we remain thus indisposed into meer babble and effusion of words when our minds cannot accompany our expressions or the language of another uttered in our behalf But as we have no example of a tedious and long prayer in the Scriptures so have we prohibitions and arguments against it Solomon exhorting to external signs of reverence and devotion when men go to the house of God Be not rash with thy mouth sayes he and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in heaven and thou on earth therefore let thy words be few Ecclesiast 5.1 2. And if any one should unreasonably restrain this Text only to the subsequent vow yet the argument urged why men should be then sparing of their words will as well conclude in prayer as in vows in both which things we speak to such a God as is in heaven whilst we stand at a distance on the earth Our Saviours advice in his Sermon on the Mount is when thou prayest use not vain repetitions as the heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking And he presently gives his own Disciples the form of a full and most expressive prayer Mat. 6 7. Nay if we will be inclined by his own example which any would think that Christians ought even then when by the circumstances he was in an enemy to his religion would conclude him to be devout being fill'd with pain and fear of farther tortures that attended him when he was in an agony so great that his sweat was as it were large glutinous drops of blood when as S. Matthew sayes his soul was sorrowful even unto death and S. Luke tells us that he prayed more earnestly Even then we find his words to be no more than these Father if thou be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done Luke 22.42 Nor did the earnestness of his strong desire force his thoughts to break out into a flood of expressions but allowing himself some small intervals continuing his devotion he returned to his prayer repeating again the same words Matth. 26.44 But I shall speak more of these Texts hereafter To proceed therefore to shew that brevity is an ornament to our prayers the very nature and usual custom of petitions will bring a sufficient convincing testimony to all those who have not very odd conceptions of the object to whom they make religious addresses These by the reason of men are then judged to be best drawn when they include brevity and fulness of matter and the shorter do we usually frame them by how much the greater the person is to whom they are to be presented And the reason of this may possibly be not only because the serious affairs of great men that are in publick employments will not permit much diversion but for that they are presumed to be wise and discerning able to understand quicker than those who are placed in a more vulgar station A breviat may be sufficient to inform some men when others must be largely instructed from point to point and must have things variously diversified and often reiterated before they will suit with their apprehensions And shall we think the Omniscient God who knows our wants before we petition to be less intelligent or compassionate than men that he stands in need of so many words and variety of expressions to cause him to understand or to incline him to grant what is convenient for us But this will be treated of in a larger manner in the Inferences from the whole discourse And therefore this head shall be concluded with a brief answer to one plea which may be made for a long continued prayer The objection is that our Saviour was engaged all night in prayer Luke 6.12 and some other expressions and examples too we have in the Scriptures that may import and signifie some length in prayer But if we consider them and were either upon extraordinary occasions or so circumstantiated that they differed exceedingly from our present state and cannot be a pattern unto us Or else when Christ or his Apostles continued long in prayer by giving themselves short respits and allowing some intervals between they returned to the same prayers again which might be short enough for all the objection Yet when we have the same Spirit and measures of assistance with such authority and revelations as the had and fall under their circumstances which can never be their extraordinary practice may become a copy for our imitation In the mean time since it is most suitable to the reason of prayer with reference to God a greeable to our natural and unavoidable infirmities and that infinite distance betwixt our Maker and our selves it is fitting that our prayers should be as brief and short as may consist with plainness and perspicuity And therefore Lastly Upon the view of all this it is convenient and for the most part necessary too that both the matter and expressions of our prayers should be fixed and premeditated For if our words in prayer ought to be plain and intelligible if they must be both grave and serious if they ought to be full in the expression of our wants and if they must be as brief and short
Secrets of Princes and administer occasion to disturb the Order and Government of the World Which they indeed ought to introduce who undertake to be so particular and nice in confessing the sins of other men or praying for the things individuals stand in need of But to proceed By our absolutions the true penitent is only incouraged and that authority which our Saviour left with his last Commission to the Ministers of his Gospel is kept up and maintained in pursuance of what Christ said to his Apostles after his Resurrection when the state of his humiliation ceased and he was ready to ascend with triumph to his Father Joh. 20.23 Whose sins ye remit they are remitted and whose sins ye retain they are retained Furthermore we are directed by the Order of our Church to say our prayers day by day that so we may in the sence of the Apostle pray without ceasing and continue instant in prayer and by vertue of our adoption cry Abba Father And this because the prescription of our blessed Lord himself gives us both a pattern and direction for when he teaches us to pray for bread which is the staff and support of our lives day by day As to the object of our prayers we make our Supplications to God alone through the Merits and mediation of Jesus Christ and admit no creature to partake in the honour due to either The matter of our publick prayers is such as includes our general wants we always beg the pardon of sin to be delivered from temptations and evils we petition also for Grace to assist us it being the influence of the Spirit of God And in particular we ask those Theological virtues of Faith Hope and Charity without which we cannot be saved We pray more especially as the Ancients did even when they were persecuted for Kings and all that are in authority that under them we may lead godly and quiet lives Nay we petition for men of all sorts and in all circumstances that none may be shut out from the benefit of our prayers and we beg all things that may be needful for our bodies and our souls We pray for happy seasons of the year for prevention of and deliverance from all Plagues that may hurt the body and all evils that may assault the soul We pray against all the bad accidents and misfortunes of our lives and that we may escape violence and sudden death Because notwithstanding the notions some have of Predestination death may be too surprizing to the best and if not prevented by the Providence of God may advance towards and seize us too before we are prepared to receive it and therefore we further petition Heaven that we may be fitted for our last encounter and that we may submit with Christian comfort and courage to and have a safe deliverance at the day of Judgment We pray not indeed for the Souls of men after their departure out of this lower world Because we believe according to the Scriptures that as the tree falls so it lies and as death finds us so will Judgment too Nor do we know and how can we unless it were revealed of any middle place where the souls of men may suffer to their improvement and be purged by any material fire If we could suppose it to operate upon an immaterial being Yet we pray as far for men departed this life as the Primitive Christians ever did and the form of our blessed Lord teaches us in that Petition Thy Kingdom come viz. That in order to the coming of the Kingdom of Glory God would bring the just that are departed this life to an happy and a blessed Resurrection that so Christs Church which is Militant on Earth may finally become Triumphant in the Heavens And we always give thanks for the examples and triumphs of those who have died in the true faith of Christ that we may rejoice with them whose joy is now full according to their capacity and shall at the great day be much more enlarged Our Liturgy is so excellently framed that as there is no sort of men but what we have some petitions for So there is no condition we can be cast into but the whole community who join in our Service share with us in sympathy and affection because they must remember us in our common Church prayers And of this the Litany is so full and expressive that particular Collects seem to be redundant when this is used yet we have even these too very suitable to the state of any that would desire that their grievances may be expressed to Almighty God by him who offers up the prayers of the Congregation As far as modesty and cleanness of language is able to present them though not in those terms in which they were formerly pitch'd up with a fork to load a Pulpit and the Ministers hearty wishes are assisted by the devout affections and consent of the people In a word our Church directs and her true obedient Sons practise what the Apostle advises the Philippians to do Chap. 4. ver 6. In every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God And as they whom the Apostles first converted to the Christian faith we continue stedfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayer Our Creeds in which we make the publick profession of our faith contain all Articles but yet no more than the purest Christian Churches of the world have in all Ages of their Religion declared They are neither stuffed with the additions of the Council of Trent nor have we abated by the omissions of ancient Hereticks or any that bear a newer date nor do we receive any point of faith but what is plainly evident in the Scriptures And for these we own neither spurious nor generally doubted Books Our fellowship or society is upheld as all others must be by those whose business it is to govern and those whose duty it is to obey And in the quality of our Rulers we have the advantage of some other Churches that are yet Protestant in that we are governed by Bishops for whose order in the Christian Church notwithstanding any personal failures to which all that is called man is subject or the malicious imputations of any wicked and unreasonable men we have the same evidence if this word too is not in disgrace and consent among the Antients for fifteen hundred years as we have for the Baptism of Infants for the abolishing of the day of the Jewish Sabbath and instead of it for the establishment of the observation of the Lords Day And as far as I can yet learn all the three seem to stand upon the same foundation and if they fall they must be ruined together Our Sacraments are no more than what our blessed Saviour instituted and commanded also to be used in his Church that we might have some visible signs which by vertue of his blessing might
Reader that there is one part of their worship in the Eucharist which is the adoration of the Host that Coster the Jesuit in Euchrid controv Cap. 8. Sect. 10. says cannot escape this charge upon it if the foundation of it be not true For says he if the true substantial body of Christ be not in that Sacrament but what we receive is in substance only bread and wine Christ dealt unworthily with his Church who by occasion of his own words This is my Body left it for 1500 Years together in so great an error and such Idolatry as was never seen or heard of in the world And moreover he delivers in the proof of this last assertion That their error was much more tolerable who worshipped a Gold or Silver Statue or any Image of other matter for God as the Gentiles in time pass'd worshipped theirs or such as worship a piece of red Cloth lifted up on the top of a Spear as is reported of the Laplanders or living creatures as anciently the Egyptians did than the error of those who worship a bit of bread which hitherto says he but very falsely the Christians have done supposing Transubstantiation not true So that according to their own confession if the sense of this Doctor renders his own opinion probable If our Saviours substantial and corporeal flesh and blood be not in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper But Christs words are to be understood Figuratively according to the expressions used before in the celebration of the Passover in which Protestants have an apparent advantage in their proofs and arguments then any man may safely say that the Papists are Idolaters when they worship a wafer instead of God Nay the worst sort of Idolaters in the world as the Jesuit says in the forementioned place And this deserves not in reason any severe censure among themselves because upon their Doctrine of probabilities the opinion of any one allowed Doctor among them may be safely followed without peril of damnation And upon the same principle it may be very lawful to shift opinions when these Doctors contradict one another This I am sure when urged home by one that has more skill in Controversie than I will take off that by which they endeavour to charge those Protestants with great uncharitableness who draw this impeachment high against them when they accuse them of Idolatry in their adoration of the Host And invalidate the best answer they have upon the supposition that Transubstantiation is false viz. That 't is true to them because they believe it and therefore although adoration of the Host would be Idolatry in another of a contrary persuasion yet they cannot be guilty of such a crime Because they worship not the Bread which they believe upon the words of consecration to be absent but the Divinity of Christ which they suppose to be present together with his body and his soul And If it be so then after they have conjured him into the accidents of bread and wine so that these hide him from any discovery by the bodily senses of mankind they seem first to make him present then adore what they have so made and at last eat up and devour him unless they can again slip him away betwixt their fingers and their teeth together Yet if Transubstantiation which is the foundation of all this be false then we may still charge the Papists with Idolatry according to the probable opinion of the Jesuit But what have we dull Protestants to do with this or their Doctrine of probabilities by which they only innocently design to serve their own turns To enter upon such points too far will overdo my present purpose And I may in the winding up of the bottom be accused for charging the Romish Church with the Doctrines and conclusions of particular men and causing all the excellent orders among them to speak by the mouths of the Jesuits which some Papists for designs best known to themselves will readily and not without cause considering all things confess to be the most pernicious Order or rather Sect that ever was established in the Roman Church i. e. the worst in the Christian World Let us leave this then and come out from among them and meddle no longer with the nice affairs of particular Societies It will be sufficient for my present purpose if from my precedent Discourse of prayer I may justly and by due consequence infer that the Publick Service of the Church of Rome is such as is repugnant to Gods revealed Will that it may justly be branded with Superstition according to the proper signification of the word that it is such as the greater number of those who are commonly present at it cannot accompany with due and proper intentions of their minds that their prayers are such as God has no where promised to hear and their methods of address such as Christianity never prescribed nor were by any Church in the first times ever practised nay not by their own till they had debauched the best Religion in the World to advance themselves corrupted good Manners and caused the principles of the Gospel to truckle to their fancies and began to Sacrifice to their own net and made St. Peters Successors at Rome such cunning Fishermen as catched only such Fish as brought money in their mouths making merchandize of mens souls that they might gain a Temporal advantage by the traffick These are Heads sufficient for a Protestant to Discourse upon But I must omit such and many more if I dilate coherently to what I have confined my self And therefore I shall not now make discovery of that apparent Sacriledge in the Church of Rome depriving the people nay the Priests too unless they consecrate of half their Communion in the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper whilst they think a pretty invention of concomitancy will excuse their theft when our Saviour instituted and gave the signs of his body and blood distinct from each other that his real death might be the better signified since his blood was actually separated from his body Nor shall I write at this time concerning the villany of their Confessions and Absolutions which as they use them to base and bloody and Secular advantages are most intolerable nor of all the ridiculous indefensible and burdensom Ceremonies with which they usually so load their devotions that baffling all true Evangelical worship confound the intentions of mens minds turn the reasonable service of their bodies into Pageanty and Stage play make their prayers which they pretend to offer nothing but an external shew the labour of the lips and outside devotion turning their Priesthood into such a trade that all the preparation of Learning and Divinity can enter them but Novices into the Schools of Exercise and they had need serve another Apprentiship to teach them the postures and Giggombobs of action Though these and many other things as vain and bad are prescribed and commanded in their Books of Offices
expressions could not certainly be stopt by the Clouds but must dart themselves clear through them and ascend above the Moon Sun and more lofty Stars and lodge themselves in the highest Heavens Nay they themselves who by rubbing and chafing and other implements have been advanced to this height of carrying their souls out of their bodies like the Heathen Enthusiasts who divined in a fury have caused other men to believe that to be inspired from above which takes its original from mens own indisposition and madness Such things being the fruits of a warm constitution and the effects of an odd temperament in mens bodies pass frequently for the perfection of the mind and an airy soul when it breaths forth extraordinary fancy is supposed to be blown upon first by that which bloweth where it listeth And yet this may be the fruits of passion and the effects of an ill temperament of body that passes for the perfection of an inspired mind and many things are supposed to proceed from the communication of Spirits which are nothing but a disease of the body nay oftentimes the product only of craft and subtilty This may imitate some primitive inspired extraordinary worship when the Prophets spake by turns and others were to hold their tongues But though it resembles some kind of worship to God 't is now no more than an unreasonable service And 't is no wonder that error and falshood being fairly varnished with a shew of truth should be embraced by many Proselytes who either will nor or cannot give themselves time and retirement to consider and search diligently into causes and effects And this is too apparent and troublesom also to many men who find these things much operating on the weaker Sex who are usually more guided by affection than reason and so are led captive to divers lusts Yet that which causes error to be courted instead of truth is some resemblance it bears to it because it has as Plutarch reports of the Egyptian Fables 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some faint and obscure representations of truth and these things are very often promoted by a persons education predisposition and temperament of body in which a soul is imprisoned and locked up but at last breaks loose by the strength of the disease through the pores of the body and obtains an unusual vehicle to carry it We read of some in Tully de Divinat lib. 1. who affirmed and we need not go so far back for them ad opinionem imperitorum fict as esse religiones That Religion was fitted according to the opinions of those that were unskilful and not able to make inquisition into the nature and truth of things But if ever there were the Being and Attributes of God so stated as we consent in here and yet a worship given to that Being as unsuitable to him as it is almost possible which imposed a cheat upon mankind Then considering the principles the favourers pretend to be their conduct an odd sort of Dissenters among us apparently practise it Nay their way of worship is suited to the dispositions of the weaker and more infirm judgements and this appears in very many of the Proselytes to it who really believe what they profess and their Religion is not weighed by their advantage For we find by experience and more converse than they were willing formerly to have with us that Women are wonderfully devoted to Separation and though their Husbands are prevailed upon to come to Church the Wives are yet addicted to a Conventicle But few men who do not make secular interest their God of any briskness and strength of parts embrace those methods Yet some there are that permit themselves to be bound hand and foot with their wives apron-strings or follow the paths and allurements of a Mistress or the custom of their Trade or the advantage of an Office and the same Motives when Religion is so low will bring them back to Church again or equally incline them to Geneva or Rome And truly I have observed in my time though I wish not for the opportunity again that the numbers of Sexes are extremely disproportionable among them Which has created some wonder but no astonishment For I quickly found that it had been the method of the great Deceiver of mankind to gain an interest in the weaker Sex that he might the more easily entangle the stronger Thus the old Serpent began with Eve and proceeded afterwards by Miriam the Sister of Moses and still persisted by the wife of Job Nay after the Revelation of the glorious Gospel when his power and craft was ebbing and must abate the Jews by his instigation stirred up the devout and honourable women to expel Paul and Barnabas out of their Coasts Acts 13.50 Thus also Simon Magus that bewitching Father of the Gnosticks accomplished his designs by the help of Helena Montanus by Maximilla the French men by their Pucelle de Dieu and our English Anabaptists by their Maid of Kent I mention not these things to undervalue the glory of that Sex although it may serve to abate their pride and stop their mouths when they are troublesom and censorious since not only the sin of man but the propensity and inclination to it came at first by the means of a Woman But I urge this to abate our zeal and affection to such a worship in which the weaker sort become the great Devotionists and not to espouse wayes of Religion by the example of those whose airy thoughts will not settle long enough upon one object to consider it well And though this be not a sufficient argument to conclude against the worship of those with whom we have now entered into debate yet it is enough to raise suspition and make us inquisitive about such matters But if we approach nearer to the worship of our Dissenters we shall find their prayers many times to consist of such expressions as are too often unworthy of the Deity whilst they assume too great familiarity with God and the persons that utter them in their peoples behalf are more bold with him than a well bred person will pretend to even among such as are not much his superiours Cotta in Tully De natur Deor. lib. 3. having severely disputed against the Grecian and the Roman Gods says Omnis igitur talis à philosophiâ pellatur error ut cum de diis immortalibus disputemus dicamus digna diis immortalibus When we speak of the Immortal Gods let us speak things worthy of them The Heathen may here instruct the Christian or at least some that pretend to it who in spight of confutation would be accounted the best of that denomination that bold expressions uncouth clamours and loose incoherent and many times insignificant sentences which are the effects of inconsideration sudden inventions and the extempore raptures of a nimble fancy do not suit with the wisdom and greatness of that God to whom all our prayers are addressed nor the reason and understandings
able to blast us in a moment and destroy us with a word and scatter abroad dust and ashes with the breath of his nostrils and can when he pleases cause an hasty word uttered before him to choak the person who is bold to speak it nay without pointing the arrow backward cause either it self to perish upon the string or him that is shooting it to drop down dead before him And is this God with a ruder confidence to be address'd to The Egyptian Gods were figured with their fingers in their months to command awe and forbid clamours to those who came nigh to worship them And shall the true sensible and living Being who is infinite in all glorious perfections be more confidently dealt with by those who pretend to a pure worship than the deportment of men durst testifie before those who indeed were no Gods Shall the common nature and reason of men in a land of darkness give rules to render devotion strict and no limits be imposed to the rudeness of Gods creatures in a land of light When a society of men agree together to desire any boon or favour from one that is their superiour on Earth how cautious are they in wording their Address How do they chuse such as they are able to confide in to draw it up With what a critical seriousness and grave consideration is it afterwards review'd by the whole body How strict are they in the most minute circumstances And when they have passed it through many objections and amendments how choice are they in pitching upon one that has a good tongue a quick apprehension and is most powerful both in Argument and Rhetorick to present it in writing and if need be to speak in relation to the heads of it And shall the great God of all the World in comparison to whom the tallest Cedars are but shrubs who can drive all mankind before him like dust before a storm who can cause Kings and Emperors too to vail their Crowns and lay their Scepters at his feet Shall this infinite Majesty be address'd to so carelesly and inconsiderately as if he were our familiar Companion Cannot he discharge the Artillery of Heaven and cause his Lightning to consume the World or the voice of his Thunder to make us afraid Is not he able to recall our breath in as short a moment as that in which he first gave us life and make us a prey to rottenness and Vermin The great Maker and Preserver of the World is not certainly so small a thing as the hasty and rude devotions of some men might cause others to believe that he is Nay that we may not conjecture that because he needs not adoration and homage from any even his most rational creatures because he wants nothing to render him eternally happy neither the outward respect of the bodies of men nor their internal acts of reverence and devotion to make additions to his own glory he neither regards the one nor minds the other See himself attesting his own Dignity and declaring what he expects from those who being the workmanship of his hands he has caused by his favour to become related to him and rebuking those Priests that were too bold either with himself or such things as were dedicated to his Service A Son saies he honoureth his Father and a Servant his Master If then I am a Father where is mine honour and if I be a Master where is my fear unto you O Priests that despise my name And when they confidently ask wherein have we despised it His answer is Ye offer polluted bread upon mine Altar and say that the Table of the Lord is contemptible And for that they offered the blind and the sick and the lame Offer it now saies he to thy Governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person first Chap. of Malac. That lofty one who inhabiteth Eternity whose we are and whom we serve will not accept of such services to himself as are not worthy enough to be given to men And how indeed is it possible that he can either in justice or honor Unless he should relax the reins of Government and cast things into an eternal confusion by a voluntary departure from his own Glory which yet he has resolved not to give to another But yet omitting other Arguments if our own reason when divorc'd from passion will conclude that we ought to pay deference to others either distinct from or of the same natures with our selves suitable to that dignity they obtain in the universe or the several degrees that some of our own species are justly advanced and exalted to by any regular and commanded motion and if we are when we depart not from our own Inferences obliged to be cautious in our-deportment to other men rendring honour to whom honour is due Certainly if we have a true notion of the Deity and that the God whom we worship is self-existent and includes all possible perfection There is much more reason that we should be very circumspect about the actions and homage which we devote to him The Apostle informs us that the worship that is expected under the Gospel must be such as comports with the principles of right reason and therefore he does exhort when he might have commanded and beseech the Romans when he might have Canonically injoin'd them I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable Service Rom. 12.1 And as he draws an Argument for such an invitation from the mercies of God in this place So he infers in another from the price of our redemption that we must glorifie God in our bodies and our Spirits which are his 1 Cor. 6.20 And since both were Created and Redeemed by him 't is but equal that he should have the Services of both And because we with faith and hope expect that future Glory should as well reward our Bodies as our Souls it is but reasonable that both should join in the discharge of those duties which our Creator and Redeemer too has commanded for us not only as testimonies of our gratitude for all but as conditions too to qualifie us for the possessions of Eternal life and prepare us both to enjoy and relish the Glorious and everlasting refreshments above which are only to be had in such a gracious and transporting presence as the great God in his Glorious Trinity makes accompanied with his trains of Angels and the Spirits of just men made perfect CHAP. XII NOw from all the foregoing Discourse at large we may without prejudice or severity charge our Brethren who upon the false pretence of greater Reformation separate from us and become our Adversaries with these following particulars in which they are either defective in or over-do those rational and Divine acts of worship to God which discharging our Tribute and Homage to him become a service acceptable and well pleasing Whilst
in the mean time these wilful or at least ignorant Separatists pretend still with the greatest confidence to be the best if not the only worfhippers in Spirit and in truth But this assertion is vain and fond Because First They usually separate what the great God has joined and accepts together Nor do they worship him or at least they account it not necessary with their outward man as well as with the hidden man of the heart 'T is true indeed bodily worship profiteth little yet something it does but nothing at all when it is divorc'd from the intention and affections of the mind because it is a perfect demonstration of Hypocrisie which is very odious both to God and man But yet men cannot well pretend the devotion of their minds especially so as to convince others when it is not accompanied with humble and suitable deportments of their bodies For if there were no regard to be had to mens bodily gestures when they pretend to pay homage and worship to God then if we argue like men that have reasonable souls given them to discern betwixt good and evil it must be because our Maker knowing the designs of our hearts does not expect external demonstrations of what he concludes to be lodged within us But then we need no other pains to address our selves but only to raise our conceptions to the strongest and most fixed thoughts nimble apprehensions would be enough to compose a prayer and it would be utterance sufficient if we did but only temper our lips cough and raiseflegm into our throats nay without any action of our bodies at all if our prayer were composed or rather intended within our selves without the delivery of our own inventions or any signification of the purports of our hearts by the language of our tongues And if this were right Women themselves might bring forth too without any travail or pains to them if they could but keep their own counsel But alas such notions as these in those prayers which are in common do not signifie so much as a man that gapes when he ought to speak For even words in prayer serve only to utter our minds and are no more than an external sign and representation of what we had before inwardly conceived And since this is by all men of sence accounted to be a service acceptable to God why may he not receive the signatures and impressions of our souls by any other corporal demonstration Why cannot the lifting up of our hands to our mouths and kissing them as in old time be proper adoration Why cannot inclining our heads or bowing our bodies still continue to be a certain token of reverence and submission and of worship too Why cannot kneeling or prostration upon the ground Religiously signifie the humility devotion and the most profound lowliness of our minds Especially since 't is as old as David to worship and fall down and to kneel also before the Lord our Maker But if such reasoning may not be admitted by those who account all reason carnal from the experience of their own especially when it contradicts themselves If men can at all be brought to themselves nay but so far as not to think that Adams Fall has not beaten out the brains of his Posterity If we approvedly use words in our devotions to God although he knows our conceived petitions when no expressions are uttered by our mouths discerning our thoughts a far off Nor do I desire that even this plain position may be precarious or granted by Adversaries without proof since if they will but yield God to be a Spirit they may easily conjecture that he can be more quickly sensible of the thoughts of our souls especially if they account him to be infinite too by a certain near and prying intuition the mode of which is not so adapted to our apprehensions than having not the organs of sense by which we understand and express things he can be said in a literal sence to hear our prayers But for all this in publick prayers we having others to join with us as we use words to signifie our petitions which express the sentiments of our minds So do we also by habits and gestures represent our devotions and conceptions to others to raise their affections in proportion to our own that they by all means possible understanding what we are about may be inclined to assent and say Amen and be prevailed on to frame themselves into the same resemblance of mind and body that there may not only be an unity in our common worship but Uniformity too And if these other signs besides words in the postures of our bodies or both in conjunction may effectually conduce to the same end which is the raising and signifying our devotion I see no reason why the actions of other members of our bodies besides the articulate motion of our tongues that notoriously declare profound humility and present our devotions and signifie in the eyes of all the world unless it be to those who are resolved to shut them in their prayers to avoid the Argument our homage to and dependance on God should not be used in worshipping our Maker as well as words which an absolute necessity of understanding one another has improved and made copious by custom and art and a long time since were rendered fashionable in the world as being more ready than other signs and representations from any different members of the body For these are also the action and labour of the tongue and lips It will appear to all men that in prayer and devotion the body ought to accompany the mind they being such intimate and united friends that both make but one man because any that in private address themselves to God when they are in different appartments from one another and when they enter into their Closets and are still if they pray with any earnestness and affection being moved to it by the consideration of that great God to whom they address their own meanness when compared to him or the absolute necessity of obtaining those things which they petition for they express their minds with such servor and humility as affect their bodies and cast them into postures that customarily signifie and represent these things to other men However methinks they who dissenting from the Service of our Church are advanced to be the mouth of others ought in justice to declaim for the worship of mens bodies since commonly the motions and activity of their bodies in all even their publick devotions is that which more recommends them to their people than the sense of their petitions or the decency of the words by which they express it But let us argue this thing fairly with our selves and then can any man who has stript himself of prejudice and prepossessions in his enquiries about the worship of his Maker do otherwise than conclude that we nearer arrive at the perfection of that homage due to him by how much
the more we employ our bodies in decent expressions of gravity humility and apt affection to declare the inward intention of our minds which are full of all vigor and fervent desire and the most awful thoughts of that great Majesty whom we adore For this deportment gives to God a whole Sacrifice when others who in their prayers only hide their minds in their bodies as if they were confined as the Heathen Gods to an immovable and stiff Statue separating the inward actions of their souls from any correspondent gestures of their bodies if they worship God at all which they seem not very fond to declare Yet they devote only half of themselves and honor him in such a manner as other men can neither see nor know unless men had Casements in their Breasts that being opened others might look into them But that the worship of mens bodies ought to accompany the devotions of their minds is so apparent from Gods Injunctions under the Law that it cannot admit of any contradiction And if we argue for it under the establishment in the Gospel from those Commands we sind in the Law we have nothing returned but that the Jews were a dull and stupid people in comparison to our selves and men thus boast instead of having much cause of triumph For notwithstanding all the Invectives we have heard against the pitiful carnality and dulness of the Jews it appears too often to our great loss that they are as witty and more cunning than our selves We indeed having received helps and advantages by the Gospel and a greater proportion of the Spirit of Christ in whom they refused to believe are better instructed in the methods of a more spiritual Religion than they could be under the Law But yet what was then established which reason inforced being agreeable to the natures of mankind that was never yet repeated under the Gospel nor ever can I may confidently affirm may remain still without any check or controll for using it And therefore I cannot come to any damage in affirming that the worship of mens bodies in all their publick addresses unto God ought to accompany that of their minds till better arguments are brought against it than any which I have yet heard or seen 'T is true indeed our Saviour acquaints the woman of Samaria that the hour cometh and now is when those who are of the true Christian Church shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth because he seeks such to worship him John 4.23 Yet all this though when 't is interpreted according to the opinions of some men makes others stagger that are so weak as to desert their reason that they may become wise and go out of themselves to possess their souls and forsake the conduct of their own understandings guided by the rules of Gods Word that they may be frighted into the follies of others All this I say may when justly enlarged on rebuke Schism or Idolatry or false worship But this Text cannot authorize any detraction from external decency in the service of God nor abate from those orderly Rites and Ceremonies that promote Uniformity in the worship of him or tend to the sixation and establishment of true Religion under the Gospel nor such circumstances of devotion which are not in particular and directly abolished by the Messiah having been before Types and Prefigurations of him to come If any of that external worship of our bodies were of this kind which is injoyned by our Christian Superiors our practice would contradict our faith and deny Christ to be come in the flesh and justifie the Jews in the expectation of a Messiah But the truth is the conference betwixt our Saviour and the woman of Samaria is so far from prohibiting publick places of worship or external gestures of our bodies in devotion adapted to the inward reverence of our minds that it establishes a spiritual rational and Evangelical worship in opposition to the Mosaick Constitutions and the Samaritan Schism and Idolatry too and briefly declares that the Christian Religion was now to be established to abolish all other that were in the world that mankind being united in one faith and hope and consenting in one common principle and worshipping God through the mediation of their Redeemer having lived in this world with true devotion to the God that made them and in charity and peace among themselves might at last dye with comfort within their own breasts and then enter into the joy of their Lord. But if all this were largely controverted to a victory what shall we think of that Text of Solomon when he delivers points of a moral and perpetual establishment and of an universal concernment to mankind Eccles 5.1 Keep thy foot when thou comest into the Sanctuary of the Lord c. It was an usual custom amongst the Jews according to the fashion of those Eastern Countreys to signifie their reverence in a sacred place by putting off their Sandals before they entered that they might not prophane or which is all one render common by a defilement an holy place or what was separated from vulgar use to such as was sacred and related unto God From whence with reference to the reason of the thing was that Injunction more ancient than this Text Pull off thy shoos from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground Exod. 3.5 The place being before mean and inconsiderable a toft of ground on which bushes grew yet because God consecrated it by his own presence making it holy for Divine Offices to give Moses his Commission and to declare his Law therefore the signs of reverence were to be used there and external demonstrations of devotion to be exhibited Now this particular action of making bare the feet being an outward testimony of respect in those Countreys where this was commanded it sufficiently instructs all subsequent posterities of men that external signs of humility and submission must be given in the service of the Deity especially such in which we pretend to converse with him and in those places that are devoted to his honour And since divers Countreys use distinct modes of reverence and respect according to their customary signification and acceptance as the inhabitants of Japan salute by pulling off the Shoo when we do the same by pulling off our Hats and uncovering our Heads we may therefore fairly conclude that if Solomon in the forecited Text had spoken to persons used to our Customs and subject to the Constitutions of our Nation he would have said Pull off thy Hat when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools for they consider not that they do evil And then the inference from this will be That we ought in all places dedicated to God on which his Name and Honour are inscribed where we pretend to offer our Christian Sacrifice to testifie the inward devotion of our minds by the outward
behaviour and deportment of our bodies And this will justifie the bowing our Neâ—ks by a reverent inclination the bending our Knees or an erected posture of our bodies when our supplications and prayers may require the one or our praises the other Thus when Ezra had mourned for that affinity which the Jews had contracted with Strangers by mingling Gods heritage with the people of the Land contrary to the Injunctions of him who was their Divine King and Supreme Legislator he not only rended his own garment and tore his mantle and pluck'd off the hair of his head to represent the sorrow and lamentation of his mind by such outward signatures and actions of his body but the guilt and the punishment which he might fear would attend it caused him to fall down upon his knees and spread out his hands unto the Lord his God Ezra 9.5 Such demonstrative symbolical and significant actions of his body accompanied the lowly humility of his mind when he made his afflicting confession to his Maker Thus we find also that when the most impious and prophane Decree was signed by Darius as full of cruelty as it was of irreligion That whosoever asked any petition from God or man excepting only from this King himself for the space of thirty dayes he should be cast into the Den of Lions Daniel notwithstanding fell upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks to his God as he did before the decree was pass'd Dan. 6.10 Nay we have not only Old Testament examples for joyning the worship of our bodies with our souls and by outward gestures signifying the inward devotion of our minds but we find in the New Testament too besides our Saviours kneelings prostrations and lifting up his eyes and hands to Heaven mentioned with other Canonical patterns before in this Discourse that S. Paul when he prayed that the Ephesians might have courage and strength to persevere in the profession and heroick duties of Christianity notwithstanding the threats and persecutions of their adversaries bowed his knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Eph. 3.14 He might surely have petitioned God for the same blessings when for ought we know he was in private by himself without any such external ceremony which some men so disregard in publick where the influence which our deportment has on others becomes the great argument for its necessity But nature it self would have provoked him to this which men forsake when they bid defiance to such outward testimonies of respect As if God because he has no bodily eyes can neither see nor understand But who is the man that is truly devout and does not chuse his Religion as it best suits with his secular advantages that can look upon the Levites under the Law standing up to bless the Lord their God and calling upon others to put themselves into the same decency of posture and when all were uniform crying out with a loud voice Blessed be thy glorious Name which is exalted above all blessing and praise Nehem. 9.5 and yet under the larger blessings of the Gospel fit fast and refuse to stand up at the Gloria Patri and other Hymns of the Christian Church or who could have seen the Primitive Christians laying upon the floor and knocking their breasts and fasting themselves almost into Skeletons wanting little more to dissolve their bodies into dust and ashes and yet obstinately conclude that their zeal transported them beyond their knowledge and that groans and sighs might more compendiously have expressed their sorrow and repentance And that 't is better now to have no external demonstrations at all But I shall not pursue such arguments any farther nor any men with whom no reason can prevail who seem to take such great care for the ease of their bodies whatever pains their souls must at last endure From what has been said it will readily be inferr'd by all who are inclin'd to piety and devotion that when we meet with a people who pretend to worship the Great and only Supreme God and yet deny the signs of reverence and due respect so universally paid by all serious and religious men we may well conclude that they do not perform their service and homage with such humility and regard as must properly be due to so great a Majesty as God is when their own reason might prompt them to it since it naturally concludes for obsequiousness and ceremony to be due to men suitable to their worth and grandeur in the world Nay will not these very persons themselves who are so scrupulous in giving bodily worship to God and so loth to use care in composing Prayers or to joyn in those that are composed to their hands when they desire and expect kindness from men use more than ordinary sawning expressions and bend their bodies into the most obliging postures to advance their designs by pretending a large inward respect which they thus endeavour outwardly to express And can they really think that the great God ought to have less honour and regard when we petition him for the largest Boons and greatest Kindnesses that can possibly be bestowed upon the Sons of men even such as will render them as fully happy as their natures in perfection are capable to receive Let any mans reason judge in this case And let him make a fair appeal to himself And upon a just retirement and examination of the matter if he puts not a bar against his own conviction he will yield that a tribute ought to be paid by the bodies of men as well as their souls unto that infinite Being which made both And consequently he must condemn the worship of those who to support their Schsm separate their very souls from their bodies Unman themselves to ungod the Deity Pay more respect to a man on Earth than to the Supreme Lord of the whole Universe and crouch to his Footstool when yet they will not bow to his Throne CHAP. XIII I Proceed now to a Second Argument whereby we prove that those who under the pretence of greater Reformation separate from us whilst they yet live among us do not pray to God in such a manner as is suitable to his Attributes their own dependance on the object of their devotions and the infinite distance that is betwixt their Maker and themselves Because their prayers are commonly a very rude indigested heap rashly conceived and uttered extempore Fraught too frequently with impertinency and nonsence And hast too often becomes the cause of blasphemy also And how indeed can it well be otherwise When their principle will not give them time to think nor mind well what they utter So that if at any time they sail betwixt these rocks and dash themselves against neither the wind and tide are their only friends and their safety is not owing to the steeridge of the Pilot nor to be attributed to their own pains and skill when they allow not themselves time to employ either
neither Especially when we reflect on the meanness of our selves and the greatness of that Majesty to whom we address and consider well that reverential fear and awful trembling that becomes those who worship at his footstool who has life and death at his disposal If any thing requires a thoughtful consideration certainly our prayers may command it from us Nay suppose him who assumes the Title of a Gifted man to have the quickest conceptions and the most voluble tongue that any among the numerous race of Adam can be presumed to be endowed with Yet considering too that the dispositions and activity of mens minds are very obsequious to the temperament of their bodies That this often alters with the weather and distempers create such changes in them that a man who is one day lively and brisk having his apprehension quick j his conceptions nimble his judgement clear and does all things with a sprightly fancy a ready invention and utters all with very neat full and significant expressions Yet perhaps on the morrow or oftentimes the same day this ingenious person is dull and unactive his faculties do in a manner forsake him as if his soul were earth'd in some thick matter or were about to leave its habitation I say when we conclude such changes possible as all know it by their own experience we must also yield that if the time of prayer then happens rashness and indecency must frequently attend the matter method and phrase too of those who utter their unpremeditated inventions But besides these indispositions of our bodies which affect our minds The cares and accidents which raise commotions whilst we remain in this world that relate to Oeconomy Trade and converses with others become such as unsettle our minds and render our thoughts volatile and unfix'd So that our souls are not in temper for the matters of Religion But are raging and foaming like the Sea in a storm Our conceptions and thoughts become as nimble as the swiftest arrow We shoot at one mark and hit upon another and hasten from the first object to a second And when we are in this condition like a running stream passing from one place to another How unfit we must be to keep our thoughts and conceptions to any one Theme to invent matter and suitable words to express it in any person that will allow himself time to consider may easily determine without any assistance from another Now private prayer 't is true might be defer'd till our troubles and distempers were over And time or physick had reduced our minds to their former consistency by withdrawing the causes of our indisposition and distractions But our publick devotions being necessarily appointed at certain times and seasons cannot admit such prudential remedies And then perhaps the hours of prayer in a large Congregation may come upon our gifted men when they have these troubles fits or diseases upon them and what will be the consequence of these things one that has but half an eye may discern For the people must either be openly dismiss'd without any publick service at all or they must offer unto God what is unfit to be presented unto men and all must suffer for the personal infirmities of one man But this does not happen amongst those who use a Form and Liturgy prepared for them because a Minister although something indisposed may read it before the people and though his own mind may be ruffled and discomposed yet the people if they please may be affectionate and devout And to confirm this charge in matter of fact as I think no man who in publick has used extempore and conceived prayer can deny this observation upon his own experiment So I have often in the late times and since too heard persons who were addicted to this extempore delusion begin their addresses to God Almighty methodically and well whilst they have been informing him what he was and what they were in themselves and yet the prayer before they have arrived at the conclusion either through weariness of invention or some other infirmity has been fraught not only with weakness and indiscretions but with what seem'd to me to be a great deal worse unless mystical nonsence may demonstrate inspiration and turning in a Parenthesis so long that the first half sentence was forgotten and had nothing in the end to join to it becomes an ornament to a petition Now what awe and dread of the Divine Majesty can possess such men who present to him such impertinent uncivil and nonsensical prayers Nay how suitable such deportment is to the God whom we all pretend to worship I willingly leave to all sober and wise men seriously to consider And I hope the Adversaries to our established method of addressing our selves to God in publick will never so far desert themselves nor depart from their own Policy and Craft in provoking any of our Church to instance in particulars Since they well know that there is more than enough evidence to be had I have heard of a person who was accounted a man of no mean gifts before Major Weir's staffe blossom'd who when he had a view of his own prayer taken by another from his own mouth on a Fast-day would not believe without great difficulty that he ever uttered it But when he was convinced by such a testimony as he could not with any modesty or reason refuse he was presently abash'd and for the future betook himself to a safer method However if men consider what has been said upon this point that extravagancies of this nature almost necessary to extempore prayers cannot possibly be suitable to the Great God nor any way comport with his Nature and Attributes who is a Being Infinite in Glory and Perfection The meanest person and the lowest capacity may reasonably determine and without a prompter easily judge in this affair CHAP. XIV I Shall now go on to a third Argument against the prayers of the Separatists as being unsuitable to the Nature of God their own dependance on him whom they adore and the infinite disproportion betwixt the Deity and themselves Because they are frequently fill'd with Tautologies and vain repetitions And the matter of fact cannot be questioned by any that have been strict or loose observers of those crude and indigested prayers which have proceeded from the mouths of these extempore devotionists who have undertaken thus to be the mouths of others what ever forms they might reserve for themselves But our blessed Saviour gives a most grave and serious caution to those who are admitted to present homage and worship to the great God who is the Father of us all When ye pray saies he use not vain repetitions as the Heathen do Matth. 6.7 And though Christ might speak Syriack at the delivery yet the Evangelist from whom we receive the prohibition whose language becomes the Original unto us by whom also our Saviours words and actions are conveyed to posterity having written in Greek we must