formed in our own Hearts and whether that Prayer which is such be not more spiritual than other That is 1. Whether there be not more of the Work of our own Spirit in it which I think no modest Man will deny 2. Whether there be not in such Prayer more room left to the Spirit of God to bring to our Remembrance what we have to confess to supplicate and give Thanks for No Words diminutive of spiritual Prayer become a Divine who ought to know that God is a Spirit and will be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth What if some Iesuites have discoursed for this kind of Prayer under the Name of Oratio acquisita acquired Prayer So they have discoursed very well for the Divine Nature of Christ the Trinity the Love of God c. All Sober Divines will grant that this acquired Prayer is the most perfect Prayer The Iesuites never discoursed for it but in Private They agree with some others that are no Dissenters as to Publick Prayer There was a Time when many can bear both the Dean and our late Casuist Witness that they both approved and practised this kind of Praying if they see better now they must Pardon others that cannot see by their Spectacles still acquired Prayer or free Prayer is what it was in the same Degree of Goodness and Praeference I know nothing that Spiritual Prayer can be opposed to but either carnal or meer formal Prayer from both which the good Lord deliver the whole Generation of those that seek his Face But this is enough to deliver free or conceived or acquired or if they will have it so spiritual Prayer from the false and fordid Calumny of being brought in by Iesuites 3. The Third is yet worse That the Devil may have a Causation in it The first that I remember I have met with who hath taught the World this new Imputation was the Author of Ravillac Redivivus proving it from the Instance of that prodigious Hypocrite in Scotland Major Weier The next that approved his saying was Dr. Falkner in his Vindication of Liturgies p. 41. who speaking how the faculty of Expression in Prayer may be procured faith It may be procured as he hath read in some particular Instances by Diabolical Contracts What his Answerer replieth to him see p. 43 44 45. Our Casuist hath improved the Notion Part 2. page 13. But then Secondly As for Diabolical Inspirations of Matter and Words in Prayer we have sundry very probable Instances such as Major Weier who is said to have received his Inspirations through a Staff Hacket David George and that Monster of Wickedness Iohn Basilides Duke of Russia who were all of them possessed with such a wonderful Gift of Prayer as did not only charm and ravish those that heard them but seemed in the Opinion of the most wise and impartial to exceed the Power of Nature which renders it very probable that the Matter of their Prayers was for the most part agreeable to Scripture otherwise it is hardly conceivable how they could have procured to themselves so many Admirers and abused so many honest Minds into a belief that they were immediately inspired by God For Answer to our Casuist his probable Instances of the Devil his inspiring ill Men with Matter and Words in Prayer I shall only desire the Reader to consider these few Things following First Consider That it is worth the observing how unreasonable this Casuist and his Liturgical Brethren are while they find a Difficulty to allow the Holy Spirit who is called The Spirit of Grace and Supplication Zech. 12.10 The Spirit of Adoption by which we cry Abba Father Rom. 8 15. Gal. 4.6 The Spirit that helpeth our Infirmities because of our Selves we know not what we should Pray for as we ought Rom. 8. 26. any influence on our Words in Prayer which is a good and Holy Action and yet find no difficulty to yield the evil Spirit such an influence who abhorreth Prayer and will leave the Room where he is molesting Men when they go to Prayer as we are assured in good Histories of such Molestations by the Devil such as that of the Devil of Mascon Published by Dr. Peter du Moulin and others Is not this very unfair dealing and an horrible Derogation from the Dignity and blessed influences of the Holy Spirit Secondly Consider That as for us we freely grant the possibility of all that our Casuist and his Brethren can reasonably demand and rightly infer from the foregoing Instances That is we grant it is possible that by Gods Holy Permission Satan may suggest many Things to ill Men he may represent various Objects to the Imagination and inward Sense he can impress the ideas of Objects upon Mens Fancy and Imagination and by means of those ideas he can raise their Passions and excite their Lusts and corrupt Affections He cannot only imprint new Idea's upon their Imagination but he can also revive in them the Memory of Things past and restore to them the Ideas of Things which they had forgotten and seemed to have lost and by the one or the other or by both these Means he can influence their corrupt Affections and put them into Motion These are his venemous Darts wherewith he agitates their Blood and Spirits and fixes their Lusts and Passions He can also suggest to them Thoughts that it is Gods good Spirit who thus moves them and makes those Impressions upon them and then their own wicked Hearts inclining them too readily to believe the Truth of his Suggestions because of the agreeableness of some of the things suggested to the Vanity of their Minds out of the abundance of their Hearts their Months naturally speak and that with such defining and flourish of Words as bears Proportion to the natural volubility of their Tongues or to that readiness of Speech which by Use and Exercise they have acquired Thus it is granted that without bodily Possession the evil Spirit might Work in those Children of Disobedience Ephes. 2.2 and so doing might furnish them with Matter of Discourse and thereby so excite and inflame their corrupt Affections and Passions that their wicked Hearts so warmed should readily prepare Words for their Tongues to utter by a natural or acquired volubility of Speech But now Thirdly Consider That in all this there is nothing of that truly spiritual vocal Prayer which is the proper and genuin Effect of Gods Holy Spirit influencing the Souls of true penitent Believers For that vocal Prayer as such consists of gracious Words proceeding from and reverently and aptly expressing the inward workings of Grace the gracious devout Affections of the Heart and the Holy and humble Desires of the Soul towards God through Christ. But the Words spoken from the aforesaid wretched Men were no such gracious Words they proceeded from no such Good and so were expressive of no such gracious Affections of no such holy and humbly Desires The utmost that with any colour of
Infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought He gives his Spirit to his People they are joined to the Lord and one Spirit and his Spirit dwells in them as we often read in Scripture He hath promised that his Spirit shall bring to remembrance the things we have heard of him Joh. 14.26 But it may be he will say There is no Promise of Assistance as to Words in Prayer What should be the Meaning of that There is no Promise indeed of the Holy Spirit standing by and dictating to us what Words to speak nor yet of the Spirit 's so possessing us as the Evil Spirit doth a Demoniack so as to lay our Soules asleep while he useth our Tongue But there are Promises of his teaching us to cry Abba Father of his bringing to our remembrance what the Scripture hath of his making Intercession for us c. These are enough for us and to prove all that ordinary Assistance as to Words in Prayer which we plead for Nor doth our Casuist say any thing of Force to perswade us That such Influence and Assistance of the Spirit is not within the Latitude of the Promises in saying That there are many good Christians who would never pretend to any such Inspiration but are some of them beholden to their own Recollection and Invention for the Matter and Words of their Prayer and others for want of a sufficient Quickness of Invention to be beholding to Forms of Prayer of other Mens Composure P. 6. Now there are no such Blessings of the New Covenant to which good Christians may have no Right and Title and of which they may never actually partake which is utterly to destroy the Nature of the Covenant c. That there are no Blessings of the New Covenant to which every true Believer hath no Right or Title or which they may never actually partake of is most freely granted But that there are some Blessings of the New Covenant which every good Christian doth enjoy tho' he lieth under other Apprehensions and which he may have a Ius Remotum a Right and Title to which pro hic nunc he doth not actually enjoy and some Blessings of the Covenant which a Christian might enjoy if indeed he did not by his voluntary Fault deprive himself of the Benefit of them and some Blessings which a young Christian doth not at present enjoy must be denied by no Considerate Divine For who ever saith it must deny both the Quickening and Consolatory Influences of the Holy Spirit and many more also indeed for the Promises relating to Iustification and Regeneration as every Believer hath a Right to them so he actually partakes of them as he shall do of Eternal Life But for those Branches of the Covenant which concern further Grace or Gifts the Case is otherwise Every good Christian hath a Right and Title to the Spirit of Adoption teaching him to cry Abba Father influencing him in the manner I have opened as to Words in Prayer But yet it is very possible 1. That by his own voluntary Fault he may shut out these Influences by tying himself up to Forms of Words 2. He may want them through his own Default in not studying the Scriptures and gaining a full Knowledge of them 3. He may deprive himself of them by wilful Sinnings which may make the Holy Spirit withdraw himself in those arbitrary Manifestations 4. He may have them and not know it but take them to be meer Humane and Natural Recollections to which the Holy Spirit hath assisted by bringing to remembrance what Christ hath said Our Casuist's Second Reason p. 7. is Because there is no need of any such immediate Inspiration This indeed were it true were a great Argument and would Prove what he said before That there are no Promises of any such Tendency But how will he prove this He saith 1. As to the Matter of Prayer it is sufficiently revealed in Scripture 2. He saith For Words if we have not Quickness enough of Fancy and Invention to express our Wants and Desires in our own Words we may readily supply that Defect by Forms of other Mens Composure which with very short Additions and Variations of our own we may easily adapt to all our particular Cases and Circumstances This is the Summ of what he saith P. 2. p. 8 9. If the Matter of Prayer be sufficiently revealed in Holy Writ there neither is nor ever was since the Apostles Time any need of any extraordinary Assistance of the Spirit to dictate that But admitting this which we freely grant is there yet no need of the Spirit to bring to remembrance the things we have had of Christ's Our particular Violations of the Divine Law our particular Wants or the Promises warranting us to beg a Supply To assert no need of the Spirit 's Help we must not only assert the Perfection of the Rule of Prayer but the Perfection of an Human Memory too which I suppose our Casuist will not 2. As to Words our Casuist talks as if he thought we pleaded for the Spirit 's dictating formed Words to us or made use of our Tongues to speak Words not formed in our own Hearts What else doth he mean by Words immediately inspired Alas we mean no such thing but only a bringing into our Thoughts the Matter of Scripture relating to Things forbidden commanded promised c. From which our Souls by a natural Power form Words and warming and heating our Affections which also contribute to them and then thrust them out at our Lips as the Psalmist speaks Psal. 39. 3. Now how it can be that Forms should not shut out this Assistance and Influence poseth me to understand 3. Our Casuist's Third Reason is p. 9. Because there is no certain Sign nor Testimony of it amongst us By Signs as he expounds himself p. 10. he means Miracles He gives his Pretended Reason for this Because without such Signs to distinguish it from false Pretences we were better be without Inspiration than with it because we shall be left under an unavoidable Necessity either of admitting all Inspirations which pretend to be Divine or of rejecting all that are truly so According to this rate of Arguing we must conclude nothing to be the Effect of the Spirit of God but what we can confirm to be so by working some Miracle Alas how should Christians if this had a Grain of Truth in it ever be able to satisfie themselves that they truly believe in Christ or love or fear God or exercised or had any Habit of Grace God indeed gave the Gift of Miracles to confirm new Doctrines or some Prophecies or Persons extraordinary Missions But did ever any Divine make Miracles necessary to confirm every Manifestation of the Spirit And why are they necessary for this more than any other Is it not Sign enough to him who believeth the Scriptures to be the Word and Revealed Will of God that the Inspiration is from
in this Case we plead and which some phrase a stinting or limiting the Spirit For the clearer understanding of this Matter I will first set down what Influence upon our Words in Prayer we challenge for the Holy Spirit It lieth as I said in the former Chapter in two things 1. In bringing to remembrance the Word of God What Acts are contrary to it and have been our Sins and so are Matter of Confession what things the Word of God gives us leave to ask and under what Circumstances and what we have need of what Promises God hath made for giving them to us Now this is no more than Christ promised Iob. 14. 26. The Holy Ghosts shall bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you We challenge no such thing for the Holy Spirit as dictating new Matter not contained in the Word but bringing to our Minds what Things are in the Word fit for Confession Supplication or Thanksgiving as to us or others 2. Nor Secondly must that Power be denied the Holy Spirit which any of our Brethren have they can whisper such things in our Ears and so bring them to our Minds tho' it may be we were not aware of them or had forgotten them we believe the Holy Spirit can make immediate Impressions upon our Spirits proportionate to the Sounds Creatures can make in our Ears from which Impressions are made upon our Souls Those who deny this must deny all Spiritual Motions from the Blessed Spirit of God 2. We also challenge for the Holy Spirit a Power to excite and inflame the Affections which so beated thrust out Words in a natural Course This is all we plead for in the Case and say That if in Prayer we be limited by a Form of Words such kind of Impressions as these cannot affect us nor have any Effect upon us suitable to the Nature of them and the Holy Spirit 's Design in making of them and this we think is not lawful for us to allow because it is a quenching of the Spirit Our Casuist tells us That he will also examine What the Scripture attributeth to the Spirit in Prayer 2. What it is to stint or limit the Spirit He saith The Scripture attributeth something to the Spirit in Prayer which was extraordinary and temporary and something ordinary fix'd and standing That which he mentions as extraordinary is the Inspiration of the Matter of Prayer together with an Ability to express it in known or unknown Languages To which I answer There is thus much Truth in this That it is sufficiently probable that before the full Revelation of the Will of God in Scripture God did extraordinarily inspire his Servants as to some particular Matter of Prayer how otherwise could they know what was his Will And that also upon the first going of the Apostles to the Gentiles it pleased God also to inable the Apostles to pray with divers Tongues nor was this only for a Sign to them that believed not but as a necessary Mean by which the first Messengers of Christ to the Gentiles were inabled both to pray with and to preach to several Nations But that after the full Revelation of the Divine Will in the Holy Scriptures God at any time more than other hath revealed the Matter of Prayer unto his People more than the Matter of Preaching is more than I know or any can prove nor can any Reason be given for such an Assertion he had in his written Word told his Ministers and People what they should pray for nor might they pray for any thing but what was according to that his revealed Will. 2. If by revealing the Matter of Prayer this Author means no more than bringing to Ministers and Peoples Minds such things as they stand in need of and God in his Word hath declared himself ready to give it is no more than God yet doth every Day 2. If by it he meaneth his exciting them at this or that time to pray for some particular Good either for a Nation or Church or a particular Family or Person which he had only generally promised in his Word and left them at Liberty to pray for conditionally and with a reference and Submission to his Divine Will and Wisdom neither can this be called extraordinary with reference to any Period of Time it being no more than what God hath by his Spirit done in all Times and yet doth tho' in another Sense this be extraordinary such more-than-ordinary Impressions being but at such particular Times when God intendeth to give out such Mercies other extraordinary and temporary Revelations of the Matter of Prayer after the Sealing of the Canon of Scripture are such as nothing in Scripture guideth any to expect And to assert any such thing is but to dictate without Shadow of Proof eithe r from Scripture or Reason Nor is it more true that there ever were any extraordinary Assistances of the Spirit at any time as to the Words used in Prayer further than the inabling the first Ministers and Christians to pray and preach in other Tongues than they had learned Nor can it be proved that as to praying in their own Language the Holy Spirit ever was further promised or given to any than to bring to their Remembrance the Things they stood in need of and which God had given them leave to pray for and promised to give and the like and exciting their Affections and inflaming them which being heated they spake with their Tongues which Assistance we do say is an ordinary and standing Influence communicated as to former Ages so to our present Age and will be communicated to Believers to the End of the World Let us hear what Reason our Casuist hath to the contrary He pretendeth to give us Four P. 6 7 8 9 10 c. to 21. 1. His First Reason is Because there is no Promise of any such Gift which were it true were indeed a strong Reason tho' not against the thing for God may give what he hath no where particularly promised yet against our Expectation of any such thing But this is very far from being Truth For 1. There are general Promises of all good things and of his Spirit 2. There are particular Promises of the Holy Spirit to help us in the Duty of Prayer So that if this Influence be a good thing and what is possible without any Derogation to-the Honour of God there are Promises enough for it He who looketh for a particular Promise for every thing will deprive himself of the comfortable Expectation of much Good and disable himself from praying in Faith for most things he prayeth for God hath promised Psal. 84 11. No good thing will be with-hold from them that walk uprightly He hath promised to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him and he hath told us that by this Spirit we cry Abba Father Rom. 8. 15. Gal. 4. 6. and told us Rom. 8. That the Spirit helpeth our