must have or else they are not capable of medling with the affairs and the negotiations of their master And therefore God hath furnished Jesus Christ with powers with ample and compleat authority for the Embassage he hath sent him in All power is given to him without any limitation You see he hath a large Commission and consequently what he doth concerning what he hath received in Commission is as valid and effectuall to all intents and purposes as if God the Father did it He hath not only set his seal to Christs Commission but he hath sealed Christ himself Him hath God the Father sealed Iohn 6.27 So that he came into the world with the stamp and with the seal of God upon him that all men might receive him as sent forth from him As God hath qualified him with authority so he hath qualified him with ability for the effecting of the business and the delivery of the errand which he sent him in He hath made him fully able to go through with it and to that end hath furnished him with a fulness of Merit and a fulness of Spirit A fulness of Merit to make Peace and a fulness of Spirit to preach Peace First as God hath sent him so he hath furnished him with a fulness of Merit to make Peace Made him able to the utmost to satisfie his justice and to obtain his pardon for his people For he is God as well as man in him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily God that his Merits might be valuable for us Man that his merits might be applicable to us Secondly as he hath furnished him with a fulness of Merit to make Peace so of Spirit to preach Peace The Spirit of the Lord is upon me saith our Saviour Luke 4.18 and by this Spirit he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel as it is added there in that place As he hath sent and appointed me to preach so annointed me to preach And therefore grace is said to be poured into the lips of Jesus Christ Psal 45.2 so that he spake as never man did Iohn 7.46 That some were astonied at his doctrine and all men bore him witness and wondered Luke 4.22 JOHN 17.3 And Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent Use 1 NOW is it so that Jesus Christ is Gods Apostle a Messenger sent c. This then may teach us in the first place to admire the mercy of the Lord both of the Father and of the Son in this business The mercy of the Father in sending Jesus Christ and the mercy of the Son in that he would be sent by him In both of these the grace of God is eminent to admiration Let us here observe and wonder at the mercy of the Sender There was rich grace in this that God the Father sent his Son into the world for our sakes He is his Son his only begotten Son a Son that is extreamly like him the very picture of his Father the express image of his person a Son that never did displease him a Son that he dearly loves in whom his very soul delights in which respect he layes him in his bosom next his heart as a choice and precious thing And yet this Son of his he is content to part withall in some respect that he and we might come together To send him out of his bosom and to dispatch him down into this lower world there to continue for a while that when he returned again he might bring us up with him Had God any need of us that he should send his Son for us Ah my Beloved he is self-sufficient there is enough in him to make him happy everlastingly without us But we must be for ever miserable without him And therefore it was nothing else but free mercy that made him send down his beloved Son to us Herein is love saith the Evangelist 1 Iohn 4.10 not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son Here is love and here is mercy to be spoken of and to be wondered at in all ages Let us here take notice of the mercy of the Son in that he would submit himself so far as to become the Fathers Messenger in this business Though he be man he is the Fathers fellow notwithstanding so he stiles him Zach. 13.7 Awake O sword against the man that is my fellow saith the Lord of hosts Though he be found in fashion as a man he thinks it no robbery to be equall with God every way as good as God Philip. 3.6 And was it not an admirable condescention that when the Father had a Message to dispatch into the world for the recovery of lost creatures Jesus Christ should say to him as once the Prophet in another case Here I am send me I am very well content to be sent of this errand Especially if we consider where and whither he was sent from heaven to earth yea to the lowest parts of the earth as the expression is Ephes 4.9 In a sense to hell it self From the bosom of the Father if not into the place into the state and the condition of the damned In which respect he saith Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell Psal 16.10 He was sent to make peace to reconcile us to his Father as you heard before in Explication of the point and this he was to do by the blood of his Cross as the Apostle shews us Col. 1.20 By his extream and bitter Passion by suffering death it self yea such a shamefull and accursed death upon the Cross accompanied with such ingredients as made him roar and sweat and faint under it And was it not a miracle of mercy that Jesus Christ should yield himself to be sent on such an errand as this is That he should willingly submit himself to be the Fathers Messenger in such a business We need not wonder that he whose love and kindness was so full of wonder should be called wonderfull Isa 9.6 But you will say perhaps Object that this indeed was rare and admirable mercy if Jesus Christ had willingly exposed himself to this for us But it seems he was constrained it was against his will For he was afraid of it Heb. 5.7 Yea more then so he prayed against it Mat. 26.39 Father if it be possible saith he let this cup pass from me To this I answer my Beloved Answ that Christ must be considered in a double notion and respect either as a private man or as a Mediator and a surety for his people Take him as a private man who had assumed a nature to which death was an enemy especially so bitter and so sharp a death as he was now about to undergo and so he justly feared it and declined it Take him as a publick Surety and a mercifull high-Priest and so he willingly submitted to it And this his willingness by reason of his Office was the greater because his will by reason of his nature could not choose but shrink from
duty you do to him can be accepted 4. You can hope for no pardon of sin 5. Cannot come to God with boldness 124. What meant by the only true God p. 126. viz. the whole Essence of the Godhead 3. Doctr. That the Father Son and Holy Ghost is the only true God p. 128. Reason For he only hath being of himself 2. He is the living God 3. None can do that which he doth 4. He only is Eternal 1. Vse Be stirred up to confirm your faith of this Motives 1. For then the more and better we shall walk with him 2. Serve and obey him p. 130. Direct 1. Give full assent to the Scriptures 2. Know him to be above all other Gods 3. Be resolved not doubtful of this point 4. Pray for faith in this particular p. 133. 2. Vse Obey serve and honour him as the true God p. 134. 3. Vse Let us have no other God but him only p. 135. Serve the Lord and not Idols p. 136. Times p 138. Lusts neither your own nor that of others p. 139. 2. Fear none but him 3. Trust in him alone p. 140. 4. Vse Learn from hence to be at unity among our selves 5. Learn to see our happiness of having chosen him for our God p. 141. 4. Doctr. That Christ is the Apostle or Messenger of God p. 142. Explication 1. Sent from God and from heaven How possible p. 143. 2. Into the world 3. The errand on which he was sent viz. to make peace preach peace 4. Therefore fitly qualified with 1. Authority 2. Ability Fulness of Merit to make peace p. 145. Spirit to preach peace p. 145. 1. Vse Admire the mercy of the sender 2. Of him that would be sent Void of fear and constraint p. 147 2. Be all intreated to receive and entertain him For 1. His errand is your business 2. It 's for your good and advantage 3. The Father expects you should honour his Embassadour and Son 4. He will avenge the refusers of him 5. This Messenger can prevail with God for you p. 149. Direction 1. Receive him so as to hearken to him 2. To believe in him 3. To obey him p. 150. 5. Doct. Whoever wil be glorified with God in heaven must glorifie him first on earth p. 152 Reason It is the everlasting counsel and decree of God Vse 1. Against vain expecters of future glory p. 153. 2. Vse Learn to glorifie God here 1. By a vocal declaration 2. By a real representation in what you 1. are p. 154. 2. do p. 154. Gods glory how to be our aim in all Ver. 4 1. Doctr. That Christ was ordered by his Father in the work he did in this world p. 156. Expl. Christ was so ordered in his works of Satisfaction His obedience Active p. 157. Passive p. 158. Application p. 158. As by the 1. Promulgation of the Word 2. Internal operation of the Spirit p. 159. Reas 1. Christ was the Fathers creature 2. The Fathers servant p. 160. 1. Vse Admire the humble condescension of Christ 2. Learn to be humbled in like manner and to suffer willingly p. 161. 3. Vse Some do the good others the evil which God hath not given them to do p. 162. Danger of neglecting Gods order p. 164. How Christ had finished the work before his Passion p. 165. 2. Doct. Christ did not do his work by halves but went through with it p. 166. Sufferings of Christs body Natural Mystical 1. Vse Who guilty of adding to the works of Christ 2. Let us persevere in our work and finish it Five Motives hereunto p. 169. Ver. 5 What glory Christ prayed for Doct. Christ as Man in some measure partaker of the divine glory 1. By the grace of union 2. By the grace of dispensation from the Father p. 173. 1. Vse Know the advancement of our nature in the Person of Christ 2. Their personal advancement that belong to Christ partly in 1. Fruition 2. Assured expectation 3. This should make us despise the shame of this world 2. So to walk as not to be a shame to Christ p. 174. Ver. 6 How Christ had manifested Gods Name Doct. Christ made an absolute and compleat discovery of his Father to the people 1. By his Personal appearance in the flesh 2. By his Word and Gospel 3. By his Spirit p. 178. 2. Q. Why Christ only makes this discovery R. 1. None but he is able 2. None but he is fit to make this discovery p. 180. 3. Q. Why the discovery he makes is so full and absolute R. 1. As being the faithful Prophet of his Church 2. That the discovery may be effectual 1. Vse The ignorant inexcusable 2. Learn to bless his Name for this discovery 3. Grow up in the knowledge of this Name made known p. 182. 4. Vse Be satisfied with the discovery which Christ hath made search not beyond it Pride Sin Danger vanity thereof p. 184. 5. Vse Walk worthy of this discovery i. e. Despair not under sin or misery p. 185. 2. Doct. Some the Father giveth to Christ out of the world 2. A certain number of them 3. Being once the Lords they are no longer of the world Confirm 1. The actual members of Christ are dead with Christ and of another world as are their kindred and alliance p. 190. 3. Their habitation is spiritual so is their action and traffique 1. Vse Therefore the world storms and rageth at mens being given up to Christ 2. Examin Are we given up to Christ p. 192. Marks 1. They are not conformable to this present world 2. They speak the language of another world p. 193. 3. They dearly affect their Countreymen 3. Vse Think not strange of ill usage in the world p. 194. 4. Vse Regard not the things of this world 5. Follow not a multitude to sin It s safe and honorable to be retired 6. Be not troubled at worldly troubles 3. Doct. All Christs people were first belonging to the Father p. 197. 1. The Father essentially taken 2. All belonged to God 1. By Creation 2. By Election 3. Christs people not so his as not the Fathers 1 Vse Christ will tenderly keep those that are so given him Word of God Inward and Essential p. 202. Outward and Declaratory p. 202. 4. Doct. They whom the Father gives to Christ keep his word p. 203. Christs Word is kept In the memory by retaining In the heart by believing In the affections by loving In the life by obeying with obedience Active Passive Vse Exam. Are we so given up to Christ that we keep his Word p. 205. 2. Vse Direct For helping memory 1. Be intent and fix your mind on the Word 2. Get a good understanding 3. Value the Word 4. Strengthen the memory by meditation repetition conference 5. Set instantly to practice the truth you hear 6. Pray for the Spirit to do his Office 3. Vse of Examination Do we keep Christs word by Faith Some believe none of it 2. Some but part of it
was desirous to be gone and to return to him that sent him And therefore this he urgeth very hard when he enrreats his Father to receive him to him self I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do Joh. 17.4 q. d. If I had not done the work for which thou hast dispatched me down into this lower world I should be willing to continue here But I have gone through with it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have made an end of it so that I have no more to do in this world and therefore I beseech thee let me come away to thee Jesus Christ as he is man is gone c. because as he hath no more to Reason 3 do here so he hath very much to do there and therefore is gone thither where his business lies He is called his Fathers servant very often in the Scripture And truly my Brethren he is a diligent and faithful one assoon as he hath done his work in one place away goes he unto another he doth not love to stay and idle there where he hath no work to do but where his business and employment is there is the place that he desires to be And hence it is my Brethren that he went away into the other world because he had much work to do there But you will ask me what that work was I answer 1. He was to triumph there over his Enemies and ours This was a necessary and important business and it was not to be done compleatly here in this world at least not till and in the very act of his departure and this is that which the Apostle pointeth at Ephes 4.8 When he ascended up on high he led Captivity captive He did it not before or after but in that article of time when he ascended when he returned to his own Countrey then he led his Captives with him Even as those Conquerers of old among the Romans when they returned back to Rome after some glorious victory were wont to bring their Captives with them which they had taken in the wars and to lead them by their Chariots in a victorious and triumphant way So Jesus Christ when he had conquered Sin and Death and Hell and was returning out of this world to the immediate presence of his Father to the Country whence he came he did it in a glorious and triumphant way He did not steal away out of the world as if he had ashamed of that which he had done or suffered there as if he had been overcome No he went away triumphing as one that having absolutely conquered and beaten all that stood against him brings along his prisoners with him 2. Jesus Christ is gone away c. that he might send down his Spirit to his people That was another work he had to do the Spirit was not to come down till he came up and therefore he ascended that the Spirit might descend abundantly upon his people And this is that of which he mindeth his Apostles and Disciples when he was about to leave them Joh. 16.7 It is expedient for you that I go away and why so For if I do not go away the Comforter the Holy Spirit will not come While I am with you in the flesh you are so taken up with carnal and fleshly apprehensions of me that you are made incapable of great degrees measures of the Spirit And therefore I must even go away from you that I may send the Spirit to you And so accordingly he did as the Prophet David takes notice Psal 68.18 He ascended upon high and he received gifts for men gifts to bestow on men that the Lord God might dwell among them A strange expression he ascended from them to this end that he might remain and dwell among them Yes he ascended from them in his body that he might dwell among them by his Spirit or by those gifts which he received for men in the preceding words Well then you see he is departed from us not to forsake us but to dwell among us He hath withdrawn the presence of his Body that he might dwell among us by the presence of his Spirit According to that sweet and pretious promise made to his Disciples when he was ready to depart from them Mat. 20.28 Behold I am with you always c. 3. Jesus Christ gone away c. that he might intercede for his people Why you will tell me so he might and so he did while he was resident in this world he offered up strong cries to God and that not for himself alone but for his Church and members too Yea the Chapter we are handling is the Prayer of our Saviour in the behalf of his people so that he might have interceded for them by vocal supplication had he remained still in this world and had he never gone hence Yea but he could not then have interceded for them by personal appearance as he doth now And therefore he is gone to heaven that he may appear in the presence of God for us Heb. 9.24 And is it not a comfort to us to consider that we have such a choise and pretious friend there That we have such an Advocate in Court continually at all times and in all causes That he is always by his Father in his Body and his humane Nature wherein he suffered for his people You know he bare our sins in his body on the tree and in that crucified body he appeareth in the presence of his Father So that he is at hand on all occasions to shew his Father all his wounds and all his scars all the prints and all the marks of his bitter bloody sufferings Oh Father may he say when there is any thing in agitation for his people any supplication for them or any accusation laid against them remember what I have endured for them in this flesh of mine what I have suffered for them in this body here before thee look upon these wounds and scars and for my sake be gratious to them do not deny them their Petitions do not reject them for their unallowed and bewailed imperfections 4. Jesus Christ is gone away c. to make heaven ready for us that so we may be presently admitted when we come And this our Saviour Christ himself who best knows yeelds as the reason of his departure from his Apostles and Disciples when he was about to leave them saith he I go to prepare a place for you Joh. 14.2 when our Saviour Christ entred heaven and passed into the immediate presence of his Father he took possession of it in our name and stead and left it open after him to all his Members He hath in this respect prepared it for us that he hath made it ready to receive us And when we are ready too he will come and receive us to himself that where he is there may we be also as it is added in the fore-alleadged place Joh. 14.3 5. Jesus Christ is gone away
c. that in the mean time till he take us up to him to heaven personally he may draw us up to heaven virtually That till we follow him in person we may follow him in heart and in affection that may set them on the things that are above where Christ also fits on the right hand of God If Christ were still among us in the body and in a visible and fleshly way you are not able to imagine how much it would detain us here We should not care much to look higher then the place where Christ is But now he is departed from us into heaven this draws up our affections after him who is so infinitely dear pretious to us for where the treasure is there will the heart be also This makes us to desire with the Apostle to be with him to be dissolved and to be with Christ This makes us keep him company though at a distance It makes us heavenly in our discourses meditations conversations as the Apostle was Phil. 3.30 Our conversation is in heaven from whence we look for the Saviour even the Lord Jesus Christ JOHN 17.11 And now I am no more in the world IS it so that Jesus Christ as he is man is gone away out of this Vse 1 lower world c. Then let us not expect to see him here till he return again from heaven It 's true he shall so come again from heaven as the Apostles saw him going into heaven as you may see Act. 1.11 He shall come down again in a remarkable observable and visible way Behold he cometh with the clouds and every eye shall see him Apoc. 1.7 And in the mean time my Beloved the heavens must contain him or confine him as to his bodily or fleshly presence he must be comprehended there Act. 3.21 I say then as our Saviour Christ himself upon the like occasion Mat. 24.4 Take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ And though it seem so gross a business that there can be no danger in it yet it is added presently and they shall deceive many so that there may be need of this Caveat And therefore I beseech you my Brethren lay it up against the time of trial come if it ever come upon you For there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets as the true Christs tell us Mat. 24.24 insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very Elect. And therefore if they say unto you Lo here is Christ or there believe them not If they say he is in the Desert go not forth he is in the secret chambers believe it not as Christ addes in that place If a seducing spirit tell you Christ is in such or such a place such or such a one is Christ as some have been so grossly impudent in these times believe him not If a Papist or Ubiquitary tell you Lo here is Christ lo he is corporally present in the Sacrament the bread is really and truly chang'd into his body believe him not No my Beloved do you depend on that which Christ himself affirmeth in my Text and now I am no more in the world as to my bodily and fleshly presence untill you see him come again as the Apostles saw him go away for every eye shall see him when he comes be confident he is not here in this world I say as Christ in the fore-alleadged place Take heed I have foretold you Vse 2 Is it so that Jesus Christ as he is man is gone away c. and that he hath withdrawn his corporal and fleshly presence from us Then let us make the more of the presence of his Spirit by which he is still among us If he be absent from us one way it is good reason that we should the more improve his presence with us in another The chief comfort of the soul consisteth in Communion with the Lord Christ in having fellowship with him Now Christ as he is man is ascended into heaven and so in that respect he is no more in the world We cannot yet go up to him though we would gladly die and be dissolved that we might be with Christ yet it cannot yet be But which way then shall we enjoy Communion with him Why my Beloved because we are not able to go up to him the Spirit will do so much for us that he will bring him down to us and thus though he be absent from us in the body yet he is present with us in the Spirit and will be to the worlds end according to his own promise Matth. 28.20 Lo I am with you always to the end of the world They are the last words of the Chapter and the last words of the Book and there is nothing added but Amen Let it be so and sure it is a sweet close Well then my Brethren let our work and business be to consider with our selves how we may the more enjoy him in the Spirit because we can no longer now enjoy him in the body How we may make the most of that we have And I shall give you the best advise that I am able in this great business If you desire to make the most of the presence of your Saviour in the Spirit now he is absent from you in the body you must be infinitely cautious that you do not grieve that Spirit by which he is present with you If you grieve and trouble him he will withdraw and hide himself from you and then Christ is wholly gone both in the Body and the Spirit too you do not sensibly enjoy him neither one way nor the other and so are in a very sad case Since the presence of the Spirit is all that you enjoy of Christ so that if he be gone my Brethren all is gone you must be very wary that you do not vex the Spirit and cause him to depart from you But you will ask me Which way do we vex and grieve the Spirit we would know it that so we might be careful to avoid it I might speak much of this Subject and draw out my discourse into abundance of particulars but I will say it in a word you grieve the Spirit when you deal unkindly with him any away This is the specal thing that grieves friends when one of them deals unkindely with another and so it is between the Spirit and the soul He comes to us from Christ in much love and much kindness to supply his absence from us and we are unkind to him and this grieves him out of measure Now we are unkind to him especially two ways and that is either when we slight him or resist him 1. When we slight him this is a very great unkindness and that which friends can very ill bear He makes tenders of himself and we take no notice of him he stands knocking at our doors or rather Jesus Christ by him and we let him knock still He would be
opinion But you will interpose and ask me then What are not private Christians to imploy their gifts for the common benefit Yes to the very utmost my Beloved As every man hath received the gift so let him minister the same one to the other as good stewards of the manifold graces of God 1 Pet. 4.16 Their gift they have received to profit withal and that not themselves alone but others also But still within their own sphere within compass of their own calling They may and ought as they are able to teach c. as the Apostle speaks Col. 2.12 in a way of conference and this lies as a duty on them all in some degree For this is no Evangelical counsel but an Evangelical precept it is not permitted only but required But none of them may take upon him to be the publick Teacher of the whole without a due Vocation and Ordination thereunto How shall they preach except they be sent saith the Apostle Rom. 11.15 How shall they do it lawfully He doth not say except they be gifted but except they be sent Qualification is not enough without mission he must not go forth of himself but must be sent forth by Christ Is it so That the Apostles and Ministers of Christ are sent by him Vse 2 This then may serve to let us see how far the power and the authority of Ministers extends in binding and in loosing and in proclaming either war or peace They do it but as servants in a ministerial way and by a delegated power and in the execution of it they must exactly keep them by the rule and the directions which they have received from him that sent them They may not act according to their own discretion and as it seemeth good to them but must proceed in every thing according to the orders and instructions of their Master Or if they swerve a jot from these they stray beyond the bounds of their Commission and their authority is void So that the power of Ministers in this regard is Ministerial and declarative Yet this I add because they do it by Commission from the Lord and as Messengers of Christ it comes from them by reason of his Ordinance with more assurance to the Conscience then from any private person Vse 3 Is it so that the Apostles c. This then may serve to mind them what their duty is and I shall give it you in two words 1. They must do his work and deliver his message the errand which he sends them in They must not bring their own devices to the people their own fancies and conceits the issue of their own brains the froth of their own spirits as many do in these times No they must speak the words of Christ and speak them fully and compleatly They must fulfill the word of God as the Apostle speaks Col. 1.25 They must without respect or fear deliver all their Masters message to any man to whom he sends them how great soever he may be They must not out of base and servile dread of any suppress or mince their errand in the least degree or deal so mannerly with men that they become unfaithfull to the Lord Christ No they must seriously consider that though themselves be mean and despicable persons yet they are Ministers and Messengers of Christ himself who is higher then the highest among men And therefore as the Noble Roman said non ita memor sum dignitatis vestrae ut obliviscar me esse consulem So they must say when they are dealing with the great ones of the world I am not mindfull of dignity so far as to forget that I am the Embassador and Messenger of Jesus Christ They must be bold and resolute with this assurance that he that sendeth them will bear them out according to his many pretious promises which he hath made for their encouragement to faithfulness in his service 2. And as they must deliver Christs errand and not their own so for Christs ends and not their own they must not seek their own profit or their own honour but the honour of their Master As Christ who was the Fathers messenger glorified not himself as the Apostle speaks but him that sent him Heb. 5.5 so they that are the messengers of Christ must not glorifie themselves but Christ that sent them They must act for him and wooe for him and win the souls of men to him Their work must be to set him up and to advance him that he may appear They must with John the Baptist be contented to decrease to wither in their reputation and esteem so Christ may be in the increasing hand They must not endeavour to take such a course in the work of the Ministry that they may seem witty and learned and eloquent that men may admire them and applaud their abilities but that they may admire Christ that the thoughts and affections of men may be carried to him They must not preach themselves but the Lord Jesus Christ as the Apostle did 2 Cor. 4 5. Vse 4 Is it so that Apostles Ministers c. Then let the Church be here directed and advised to prove those that pretend they are the Ministers of Jesus Christ whether they be sent by Christ or no. The Church of Ephesus is much commended for her care and diligence in this regard Apoc. 2.2 I know thy works saith Christ there and thy labour and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil c. And thou hast tried them who say they are Apostles and are not and hast found them lyers They said they were the Messengers of Christ and that they were sent by Christ for that 's the meaning of the word Apostle but indeed they were not The Church did not give them credit till she tried them and so discovered them to be impostors and deceivers And truly there are many such in these times who say they come from Jesus Christ when indeed he never sent them They are Messengers of Satan and not of Christ and therefore it concerns the Church to prove them well who come with these pretences and to sift them to the bottome that they may know not the speech of these men only but the power as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 4 19. And here you are not only to consider whether they have obtained the election and ordination of the Church or no for many reach to this who are never sent by Christ But there are other things to be observed I shall lay them down in order They that are sent by Jesus Christ are furnished with competent ability at least for the delivery of their message You must not think that Christ will send by the hand of a fool No if there be a Messenger of Christ he is one of a thousand for gifts and abilities In the time of the Law when he raised up Prophets what spirit what power what understanding was there in them And is his hand shortned
Christ will have none neither We have two Advocates and Intercessors to the Father An Intercessor or an Advocate within us an Intercessor or an Advocate without us An Intercessor to plead in us and to plead by us and an Intercessor to plead for us In the first sense the Spirit is our Intercessor so the Apostle calls him Rom. 8.20 In the Latter Christ only Now these two Advocates or Intercessors are agreed you get not one of them without the other Christ will not be your Lawyer unless you make the Spirit your Attorney And as the Father never grants that which Christ doth not present and plead before him So our Saviour never pleads that which the Spirit doth not frame and draw up If the Petition which you tender be of the Spirits forming in you Christ entertains and urges it without any more ado and so the Father gives assent to it If then you would have Christ to be your Advocate you must engage him by his Spirit your Supplications and Petitions must be the voyce of his Spirit in your hearts the Holy Ghost must raise and frame them there you must take heed they be not barely natural desires as the Petitions of abundance are which seek for nothing else but that which nature craves for on natural principles and for natural ends And that they be not only the voyce of your own spirits but that they be the voyce of Christs spirit and if Christs Spirit make you prayers if he make Intercession in you with sighs and groans Christ will make Intercession for you and then the Father will be sure to hear you For if he deny you he must deny Christ too that pleads for you and that he never doth as you have heard His will is as it were a law with God the Father he may have what he will of him JOHN 17.24 Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me AND thus far I proceeded on the last occasion to discover to you how we may have Jesus Christ to be our Spokesman and our Advocate in all Petitions that we make to God We must walk by his Rule and we must act by his Spirit But now because the thing is weighty and of very great concernment and it is no easie matter for every one to judge and to determine whether in his supplications he walk by Christs Rule and act by Christs Spirit I shall give you some directions in reference to both these And in the first place I shall shew you how you may discover whether in the Petitions that you make you walk exactly by the Rule of Christ or no whether you pray according to his will or no. And to this end my Brethren you must search the Scriptures in which the will of Christ is manifested touching this as well as other points of duty And then compare your prayers with the Rule in all particulars to see whether they agree with it or dissent from it as the Apostle stirring up the Romans to offer up acceptable service to the Lord Rom. 12.1 to this end in the following verse advises them to prove and to find out what the will of God is the same advice I give you See what the will of God and what the will of Christ is and then examine how your prayers suit with it whether they be framed and ordered by your own invention or by his direction And here you must take notice what the will of Christ prescribes touching the preparation to them the matter and the manner and the ends of them it regulateth all these Well then the first thing that you are to do is to consider what the will of Christ is in reference to preparation and how your practice suits with it For you must know that Christ will have you pray with preparation You must not rush into the presence of the Lord like the Horse into the battel not remembring where you go nor what you are about to do No you must set about it seriously and with much deliberation so is the rule of Christ Eccles 5.2 3. Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before the Lord. Our hearts must be prepared to the duty as the Prophet Davids was And this consists in divers things I will name a few of them 1. That our hearts may be prepared they must be purged they must be washed and cleansed from every known sin If thou prepare thine heart saith Zephar Job 11.13 which preparation is to prayer as it is apparent by the following words and stretch out thine hands towards him Well if thou so prepare thy self what must thou do then Why If iniquity be in thine hand put it far away from thee and let not wickedness dwell in thy Tabernacle as it is added in the next words And hence saith David If I regard iniquity in my heart any known iniquity if I do not commit it only in my life but regard it in my heart my heart is not fit to pray the Lord will not hear my prayer Psal 66.18 The promise of acceptance with him is made to such and none but such as fear him so far at least as to desire and to endeavour to depart from evill He will fulfil the desire of such as fear him he also will hear their cry and save them Psal 145.19 2. That our hearts may be prepared they must be humbled both in the sense of the transcendent Majesty and Glory of the Lord and of our unworthiness We must endeavour to possess them with an awful apprehension of the greatness of the Lord whom we are making our approaches to that we may pray in reverence and holy fear according to the Psalmists exhortation Psal 2.11 Serve the Lord with fear saith he and according to his practice and example Psal 5.7 in thy fear will I worship towards thy holy Temple And hence the Saints in the beginnings of their prayers when they have buckled to the duty have been wont to set the Lord upon the Throne and there to represent him in his greatness by reckoning up his glorious attributes And then to vilifie and to abase themselves exceedingly before him That they might bring their hearts by this means to a frame and temper fit for prayer In such a disposition was the heart of the Centurion when he sought to Christ for mercy Luk. 7.6 7. He did not think himself worthy that Christ should once come under his roof And so the prodigal that said to his Father I am not worthy to be called thy son Luk. 15.21 3. That our hearts may be prepared they must be fixed They must be setled upon God and on the words we utter to him They must not rove and wander up and down as they are very apt to do They must attend the business that they are about In such a disposition was the heart of David when he was about to praise the Lord My heart is fixed O