and if Christ is honour'd with such a Worship it follows that Christ must be truly God But nothing can be worship'd with Divine Worship but God himself For every act which signifies an Honour peculiar to God signifies also an Excellence which belongs to none but him and to ascribe Divine Honour to any Object is at the same time to attribute Divine Perfections to it The Command of worshiping the Lord our God and of serving him only was not a Temporary Command which as some pretend Volkel de ver Rel. l. 5. 6. 29. oblig'd purely under the Old Testament but is a standing Rule for Divine Worship under the Gospel as well as under the Law For our Saviour did not abrogate any Branch of the Law but what was meerly Typical But how could a Precept for Divine Worship be a Type What could it represent or figure out in the Evangelical Occonomy But 't is farther reply'd That in worshiping Christ we worship the Father by whom he was endued with such a Power and that this is the difference between the Worship of God and of Christ That the Worship of the former is circumscrib'd and bounded within Himself whereas that of the batter is only relative or as others term it God is worship'd as Jo. Lud. Wolzogen on Matth 4. 10. p. 189. the supreme cause of All things as the first Author of our Salvation but Christ only as the Means which God had appoinied to bring about that miraculous Work But this way of reasoning does not only conclude for the worshiping of Christ but of any other extraordinary Instrument of Man's Salvation The Apostles themselves on this account might have been ador'd as well as their Divine Lord and Master And St. Peter was not justly acquainted with the Privileges annex'd to his Apostleship when he reprimanded the devout Centurion for falling down at his feet and worshiping him The chief Objection which can be form'd against this Argument is That Angels have had Divine Smalc Hom. 1. in 1 Job Worship paid them by the Patriarchs and therefore Divine Worship may be given to others besides God To this the Orthodox Junius Piscator and others reply and even the Socinians themselves grant that these Angels were God or the Messias himself That he on some great design assum'd an Angelick Form as he did afterwards for Man's Salvation an Human Nature and therefore the paying of Divine Worship to Him was no alienation of it from God But upon a due enquiry it will appear that this is more than the Orthodox ought to have said or than the Socinians had reason to have allow'd For these Celestial Beings mention'd in Scripture if ever yet certainly were not always the Messias but sometimes at least as they are expresl Angels For as the Messias never took on him the Nature of Angels so neither did he in all these places of Seripture their Appearance For the Apostle St. Paul with a great deal of Elegance and equal Passion recommending the Virtue of Hospitality in allusion to these Texts of Scripture says That some of the Patriarchs in practising it had entertained Angels unawares But would not his Reason have had much more force as well as beauty if they had entertain'd God or the Messias himself unawares What cause had he to dissemble the dignity-of the Person who vouchsafed to visit these hospitable Roofs and do an injury if not to the Truth at least to his Subject But to return Why should this Veneration which was paid to the Angels be any thing more than a Civil Honour and Deference exprest indeed after an extraordinary manner on account of the greatness of the Persons and the glorious import of their Message So that from hence cannot be deduc'd any Worship due to Angels nor have we hence any reason to conclude that any thing is to be worship'd besides God alone As it is thus plain that God only is to be worship'd so is it equally so that Christ may be honour'd with Divine Worship For it is made part of the terms of Salvation to worship him â—â— for Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved Where Lord can only be apply'd to our Saviour Jesus and not to God the Father since it agrees only to Him who in the former part of the Discourse was by the Apostle styl'd a stumbling stone and a rook of offence which cannot fute with God the Father who was own'd by all Nations without the least scruple And it is farther to be observ'd that these words are cited from the Prophet Joel where the word Lord is Jehovab God by Nature Being and Essence not a Creature invested with Divinity according to the new fancy of our Adversaries Secondly St. Paul ushers in most of his Epistles with this Prayer full of Charity Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christs combineing Jesus with God the Father which had been the highest injury to the former had the latter only been a Creature how exalted soever his Rank might have been to have jointly petition'd him to have given Grace and Peace to the Saints And tho' to this it is return'd That St. John in the Revelation might by the same reason be said to pray to the seven Spirits which were before the Throne of God and so have equal'd them with God Yet this objection will rather support our Reasons when we consider that by the seven Spirits are to be understood the Holy Ghost and its seven-fold Gifts as they are brancht out by the Prophet Isaiah into The Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding the Spirit of Counsel and Might the Spirit of Knowledge of Piety and of Fear of the Lord. For otherwise why should St. John place any other Spirits between God and Christ Why should he omit the Holy Ghost the Giver of Grace and address himself to Angels who are but Ministring Spirits So that this instead of overthrowing what was before laid down will be a new Instance of joyning nothing with God but what is God Farther St. Stephen a Man full of Faith and the Holy Ghost recommends his departing Soul to our Saviour as equal to the Father of Spirits with this solemn Invocation Lord Jesus receive my Spirit And tho' to this it is reply'd That this act of St. Stephen ' s can be no Precedent to us because he saw the Heavens open'd and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God yet why should the sight or concealment of the object of our Adoration make it more or less adorable God tho' He is a God who hides himself who tho' He inhabits Regions of Eternal Light is invisible to our Eyes of Flesh yet is He still to be worship'd with the most humble Devotion And as long as we are convinc'd by Faith that Christ is ready to succour us in our Necessities and give us what we ask we have reason enough to Pray to Him tho'
there is no miraculous opening of the Heavens nor the glorious Scene withdrawn to discover the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God Farther At the Name of Jesus is not every knee to bow of things in Heaven and things under the Earth Are not all the Angels to worship him So that since nothing is to be worship'd but God and Christ is to be worship'd it follows that Christ is God But to make a short Reflection on what has been said on this Argument There is no occasion to prove to the strict Followers of Socinus that Christ ought to be worship'd for they are as zealous Patrons of his Worship as they are artificial Underminers of his Divinity For Socin ad Praefat. Vujek p. 8. Edit 1624. Socinus expresly Excommunicates all those who denied our Saviour's Worship He declares that If Christ is not to be invok'd then is he Christ only in Name That such Praefat. ad Respons F. David a Notion is a manifest tendency to Judaism and to exalt Moses above Christ That Tom. 1. pag. 656. they who are against the Worship of Christ cannot be Christians because tho' they dare not openly yet do they really deny Jesus to be Christ. But that which made it necessary in this Argument to insist on the Worship due to Christ is the Position of the modern Socinians who finding how hard it was to reconcile the Worship of a God Made with the Divine Prohibitions against Idolatry have thrown off our Saviour's Worship with his Divinity I shall only quote the words of one of their own Party There are says he no acts of Worship Answer to Milbourne p. 50. requir'd to be paid to the Lord Jesus Christ but such as may be paid to a Civil Power to a Person in high Dignity and Office to Prophets and Holy Men and to such as are actually possest of the Heavenly Beatitudes But to proceed Secondly Christ or the Word is God because of his Co-partnership with God the Father in those Actions which could only be perform'd by his Substantial union with the Divine Nature These Actions are the Creation of the World the Inspiration of the Prophets the Exercising all power in Heaven and in Earth Raising the Dead out of their Graves Judging them according to their Works the Destruction of the World First Christ is God because of His Co-partnership with God the Father in the Creation of the World For to Create is an act proper to the Deity For he spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast He hath made the Earth by his Power he hath established the World by his Wisdom and hath stretched out the Heavens by his Discretion Nor had he any Creature to assist him in his miraculous Production for He is God even he alone he made Heaven and Earth But 't is very plain that all things were Created by Christ For all things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made He was in the World and the World was made by him and the World knew him not 'T is true the Socinians understand this Creation not of the Mosaick forming every thing out of Nothing but of the New Gospel-Creation by which the Reasonable World if we may so style it was put into a capacity of recovering its original Rectitude and Uprightness But this is a forc'd sence and quite different from what the ancient Fathers understood the words in Nay the very Arians themselves apply'd them to a proper Creation and to obviate the stress of them made Christ God's Instrument or subservient Power only in the Creation But as to the Socinian sence if Creation in these places is wholly Figurative and Metaphorical why may it not be so in the first Chapter of Genesis too Why may not the Creation of the visible Heavens and the Earth in the Old Testament be no more than the Foundation of the Jewish Common-wealth since it is own'd that by New Heavens and new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness in the New no more is understood than a renew'd state of things under the Gospel Why should the darkness which was upon the face of the Earth signifie more than that State of spiritual Darkness which blinded the whole World before the Mosaick Law Why might not the Sun be the Law the great Guide of the Jews the Moon and the Stars the Laws and Directors of other obscurer Nations Why may not the Firmament amidst the Waters be the Jewish Polity struggling with oppositions as the Earth appearing out of the Waters the settlement of that State since Waters in Scripture-Language often denote Troubles And thus a new Face might be put upon the whole Scripture But farther to overthrow this novel and over-refin'd sence of Creation St. Paul remarks to the Colossians that By Christ were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible whether they are Thrones and Dominions or Principalities or Powers Where it is to be observ'd first That All in Heaven and Earth things void of Reason and so not liable to Error or Sin and so uncapable of this New Creation were made by Christ Secondly That Dominions and Powers Angels whether Good or Bad were form'd by him But the Good had no need of this New Gospel-Creation They never stain'd those Robes of Glory with which they were made and so had no need to be washed by the bloud of the Lamb. The Bad as falling from the very Throne of God and descending cheaply and foolishly into Darkness contracted such a Guilt as the greatest Mercy of the Gospel could not reach And so were unfit Subjects for this New Creation Thirdly That it was the aim of this Epistle to oppose the Heresie of Simon Magus Menander and Basilides v. Epiphan p. 56. Edit Pet. â— whose Error it was That the World was made by the Angels To confront which S. Paul not only shews that Angels themselves were created and so could not be Creators but that they and the whole World were made by God and Christ and the Holy Spirit Three Persons and One God So that this place can never be understood of this New Creation or Gospel Renovation As Christ is God because he Created the World so is he God Secondly Because he Inspir'd the Holy Prophets For he by whom the Prophets spake was God For the Word which came by them was the Word of the Lord and the Scriptures which they wrote is said to be given by Inspiration of God For Holy Men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost But he who speaks by the Holy Ghost speaks by the Spirit of God the Son as well as by the Spirit of God the Father 'T is true Schlictingius answers That the Holy Ghost is term'd the Spirit of Christ not because he proceeded from Christ but because he spake of Christ But in this sence the Holy Ghost might be call'd the Spirit
would make a sober Heathen blush First because the Christian Religion is only a Law for our Actions which can invite and perswade alone but cannot force an Observance And the ill Actions of Christians ought no more to be imputed to Christianity it self than the Disorders of any Persons who live under Civil or Municipal Laws ought to be charg'd upon those Laws Secondly Tho' these Persons Lives are an open contradiction to Christianity yet it does not follow but that they may be convinc'd of the Truth of it in their Minds and Understandings For we may easily see that Men are not always determin'd by the dictates of their Reason but frequently by the biass and relish of their Senses and Passions Nor can we conclude that because Persons live as if Christianity was an Imposture that therefore they are fully perswaded that it is so Farther we find that they have often Remorses and sad Reflections on their Actions which can only rise in Minds satisfy'd of the Truth of that against which they practise For only the fear of being call'd to Account hereafter can make us sorrowful and amaz'd for having done amiss here under temporal Impunity Thirdly Morality Philosophy and the noblest Institutions which ever were lie under the same blemish with Christianity For the Lives of their Professors have seldom answer'd their refin'd Rules And it is scarce possible that they should do so till Man is subtiliz'd into a pure Spirit and rescued from those Passions and Inclinations which at present checquer and discolour our Natures As to the Zeal of these Persons it is false and counterfeited if their Actions are not conformed to their great Pretensions Thirdly 'T is no just Objection against Christianity That several Professors of it embrace it not out of Reason or Conviction but out of a supine Credulity and walk blindly on in the Christian Religion only because it is the Worship of their Country For the Christian Religion does not demand any such credulous Temper of Mind from its Professors All that it requires is an Understanding free from Prejudice and which is ready to pay attention to Reason Our Saviour at the Establishment of this Religion did not desire to be believ'd on his own Testimony If I bear witness of my self says he my witness is not true He appeals to his Miracles as the most glorious Credentials of his Celestial Mission for the Works which the Father had given him to finish the same Works that he did bore witness of him that the Father had sent him These Miracles he proposes to the Examination of the Spectators and if they could discover any Imposture in them that they were perform'd by the power of Nature or of Magick as was * Celsus apud Origen p 340. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz Christum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. ab Aegypto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 afterwards urg'd then he refus'd to be believ'd He does not fix the guilt of Unbelief purely in the Jews rejecting his Religion but in refusing to pay an Assent to it after that it was made suitable to Reason prov'd out of the Prophecies of the Old Testament supported by Miracles greater than every thing but their Infidelity If I had not done among them Works which none other man did they had not had sin but now have they both seen and hated me and my Father As our Saviour so his Apostles addrest to the Reasons of their Followers in order to excite their Faiths Thus St. Paul Prove all things hold fast that which is good And that Apostle which our Saviour lov'd after a most passionate manner advises the Church Not to believe every Spirit but to try the Spirits whether they are of God So that the Christian Faith does not consist in an implicit Credulity and blind Assent but in a well-founded and rational Belief arising from just Information and exact Reasoning on Things The saving Principles of Religion indeed are few and lie in a small Compass though not within so little Bounds as the Author of The Reasonableness of Christianity and * Hobbes de Civ Relig p. 386. c. par 6. c. Dico autem alium Arti culum Fidei praeter hunc JESUM HSSH CHRISTUM hommi Christiano ut necessarium ad salutem requiri nullum c. Mr. Hobbes contend for And tho' every one ought to give the true Reasons for his Belief yet the Saving Truths of Religion in many illiterate Persons if attended with a Moral Life Humility of Spirit and Fervency of Devotion may be as acceptable to God as in the most eminent Critick in Theological Matters who can give the nicest Resolution for every thing relating to them Yet notwithstanding this every one is oblig'd as far as lies in his power to examin and try the Articles of his Religion and to be a Christian not by Education Custom or Example but by Reason and Conviction So far is Religion that is the Reform'd Religion such as was taught by our Saviour and his Apostles from encouraging a supine Credulity or blind Belief Nor is the Sceptick's Fourth Objection valid That Christianity has been propagated by God only in a small part of the World and even where it has been promulg'd it is found but an indifferent Expedient to work any such extraordinary Effects on Men's Minds as might be expected from a Religion which God himself came down from Heaven to preach and to seal with his Blood As to the first part That Christianity is only known to a small part of the World it may be reply'd First That tho' God has been graciously pleas'd to promise that he will by his good Providence so order things that the sound of the Gospel shall be heard in the uttermost parts of the Earth yet has he not limited the Time when it shall thus be universally promulg'd Secondly That it is the fault in some measure of Christians themselves why their Religion is not diffus'd among the unconverted Nations because Voyages to these barbarous Climes are only undertaken upon Motives of Interest or Prospects of Commerce without any design to promote the Truths of Religion Thirdly The Christian Religion has been communicated to almost all the Civiliz'd World Most of the Territories of the four famous Empires have had the Gospel preach'd amongst them besides other Parts more lately discover'd While good Morals and Humanity while Humility Chastity Honour and Probity flourish'd so long the Christian Religion continued but when these were deâ—ac'd by Violence Ambition Pride Lust and Ill-nature it was time for Religion to take her flight up to Heaven or to some more hospitable Regions upon Earth For how could she subsist when her foundation Morality was remov'd Fourthly As to those places where the Christian Religion has not been heard of God will deal with them as a God of Mercy He who lives up to the Light of his own Reason up to a true Sence of the Dignity of his own Nature
an imperfect Holiness which might be dispens'd with in some points but was to be a compleat universal Holiness inconsistent either with the least Sin or the want of the least Virtue was to be like their Sacrifices not only without spot and blemish but also perfect in every part for Be ye holy as I am holy says God The Holiness of the Divine Nature was to be the measure of their Holiness and since no Law could enjoin any thing which tended to a greater Holiness than this it follows That no Law could be superadded to this nor the Law which exacts such Holiness be extended to any other Duties the Law was then incapable of receiving an addition of New Commands or of having the Old ones extended to New Duties Thirdly Our Saviour did not attempt to do what was both thus against the Nature of the Thing and besides his own Character to extend the Old Commands or impose New ones He did not new extend the Old Commands he did not reach them out to New Duties which they did not inforce before And this may be made out from a short view of the divine Commands and the measure of their Obligation as they were given by Moses and explain'd by him and the succeeding Prophets And in the first place the Duties of the first Table which regard God were advanc'd to the highest pitch before our Saviour's coming neither did the first Command of having no other Gods before the true one receive any addition by divine Worship being paid to our Saviour because he is God of the same Nature with the Father God over all God blessed for ever The object of divine Worship was not multiply'd by Worship given to him because He and the Father are One. The second third and fourth Commands were observ'd by the Jews even to the greatest Superstition to the thinking that their exactness in their Duties towards God might atone for the omission of their Duties towards their Neighbour and that the abundance of their Sacrifices join'd with their Zeal for the Worship the Name of God and his Day might excuse for their want of Mercy Charity and Compassion So that our Saviour rather seems to regulate their mistaken Zeal on this Head to try to make their Social Virtues consistent with their Religious than to have added any thing New The Pharisees indeed had perverted the design of the fifth Commandment by teaching the lawfulness of defrauding Parents of what was due to them by a consecrating it to God yet this is not the intent of Moses who seems to be more particularly careful for the keeping of this Command in its utmost eâ—tent than for any of the rest by annexing the promise of long life in the land which the Lord their God should give them But the great difference lies in the five last Commands of the second Table and here our Adversary the Racovian Catechist says That the Command against Murder Racov. Câ—l p. 127. was enlarg'd by our Saviour to the forbiding of all kind of Anger and Revenge That against Adultery to the restraining p. 129. all impure Desires That the Command against p. 130. Theft was extended to the restraining all Avarice That against false Witness p. 133. to Detraction That against Coveting to the Ibid. curbing every Inclination after what was unlawful how unlikely soever to break out Edit Racov. An. 1609. and dedicated to King Yames I. into act which Anger Revenge impure Desires Avarice Detraction and evil Inclinations were under no Prohibition from the Laws which Moses and the Prophets receiv'd from God But the contrary to this will appear if we consider in the first place that our Saviour has laid no new restraint on Anger and Revenge for moderate Anger is no more oppos'd to the mild and gentle Spirit of the Gospel than it is to the more rough Dispensation of the Law Be ye angry and sin not is the Apostle's direction to manage this Passion which shews that it ought to be govern'd not destroy'd and that it is criminal not in its Nature but its Excess But immoderate Anger springing from a desire of Revenge is as much against the Morality of the Law as of the Gospel Or else why should the Psalmist advise to cease from Anger and forsake Wrath or why should Solomon describe Anger as outragious and Wrath as cruel why as only resting in the bosom of Fools if there was no inconformity in it with the divine Law As to Revenge Private was as unlawful before the Gospel as under it Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people was God's Law by Moses and no more is his Law by Christ But as for Publick Revenge by the Sword of the Magistrate it is as much allow'd by the latter as by the former for the Magistrate under the Gospel too is a Ministar of God a Revenger to execute Wrath on him that does evil Secondly All Impure Desires are directly against the last Command Thou shalt not Covet where all evil Desires or Covetings in general are condemn'd But what other measure can there be of the Evilnese of any Desire but the Illness of the Action to which it tends And what other Rule can there be given of the Sinfulness of any Imagination than that when it has conceivâ—d 't will most certainly bring farth Sin 〈…〉 Thirdly Avarice was criminal before the Gospel as well as under it and therefore cannot derive its Sinfulness from any subsequent Institution of our Saviour's For the Prophet Amos pronounces a Wo to him that Covetâ— and David prays that God would incline his heart to his Testimonies and not to Covetousness pointing at the irreconcile a bleness of the latter with the former Fourthly Detraction was made equally Vicious by the Mosaick as by the Christian Oeconomy For the Psalmist makes it the finishing stroke in the Character of the Wicked That he sits and speaks against his Brother and slanders his own Mother's Son And lest it might be thought in this Case that the nearness of the Person against whom the Offence was committed was the only Reason which made it a Sin Solomon imposes a general Restraint on all Detraction against whomsoever practic'd Put away far from Thee a froward Mouth and perverse Lips put far from Thee Lastly That all Evil Inclinations not only impure ones but from whatsoever Cause they deriv'd their Malignity were forbidden by the Law was before shewn So that from this short View of the Divine Commands and the Measure of their Obligation both before and under the Gospel we may conclude That our Saviour did not new extend the Old Commands did not reach them out to fresh Duties which they did not enforce before did not make any Novel Prohibition as is imagin'd against Anger or Revenge Impure Desires Avarice Detraction or Evil Inclinations but â—â—fâ— these Vices in the State in which he found them prov'd guilty indeed by the
nor have its Being This is the chief Branch of the Worship of God requir'd of all who acknowledge Him to Be and most reasonable for all who own the World to be govern'd by His Providence and themselves to stand in need either of His Grace or His Pardon or who hope for His Rewards or fear His Punishments in a future State And as it is thus a very necessary Duty so if exactly practic'd is it a difficult one too For it is a Discoursing with God and for Man who is but of yesterday to correspond with the Almighty who inhabits Eternity must employ the utmost force of all his Powers and Faculties For if the Cherubim and Seraphim who were always without Spot or Blemish and in whom was never found any Guile cover their Faces while they are Praising and Adoring the infinite Perfections of God what Gesture can be humble enough for Man who composes himself to Pray to Him laden with his Sins and whose Iniquities have gone over his Head If those glorious Spirits are describ'd in Scripture as shifting from place to place while they are worshiping their Creator as conquer'd and overpower'd by the Purity of His Nature with what Confusion must Man appear before Him who was conceiv'd in Sin and born in Iniquity What attention and application of Thought What modesty of Expression What submissiveness of Behaviour What Love and Admiration What warmth of Affection must be us'd to make our Sacrifices acceptable to our Maker And certainly as it had been the highest Presumption to have offer'd to have entertain'd any Entercourse with the Almighty had not He Himself encourag'd it so since He has vouchsafed to do it it is our most excellent Glory that we can address our Supplications to Him But still the Obligation abides to put them up with all the Devotion and Fervency of Spirit which our Imperfections are capable of to prepare our selves with the nicest diligence that we may Pray always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit By Praying always is not meant a constant or continued Exercise of the Act of Prayer so as to be always invoking the Name of God For this would be inconsistent with our other relative Duties for there are Virtues to be practic'd which more immediately regard our Neighbour and our selves as well as those which solely respect God and we are oblig'd to Justice Charity and Humanity as well as to Pray Praise and Adore But by Praying always is to be understood such a Godlike Frame and Temper of Spirit accompany'd with such an Innocence of Life and relish of Heavenly Things that we may be ever dispos'd for this Duty when fit opportunities shall call for it By Praying in the Spirit whatsoever the Enthusiasts pretend seems to be only imply'd that our Prayers ought to have the Qualifications before mention'd so that they ought to be put up rather for things Spiritual than Temporal for God's assistance to enable us to persevere in Goodness for the removal or averting of Temptations for all Graces needful for us and Means for the securing or encreasing of them which are styl'd the Gifts or Privileges of the Holy Spirit And this too falls under the former Head and is a Qualification necessary to make us Pray aright since there can be no better Argument that we are well qualified for Prayer than that we pray for Blessings of the most noble Importance the most momentous Concern So that in the Text are couch'd the Qualifications requir'd to make us successful Petitioners at the Throne of Grace For the reason why so many Prayers are not heard by Heaven after those Promises which are annex'd to the Performance of this Duty is because we are not duly accomplish'd to be Candidates for its Mercies And it is easy for us in this Case to vindicate the Faithfulness of God and to make an Apology for our Maker in our Maker's own Words which are that We ask and receive not because we ask amiss In order therefore to make us fit Supplicants to the God of Glory and to put our Souls into such a Temper that they may be constantly and habitually fitted for the Discharge of this Duty there are several Qualifications needful I shall therefore consider First What Qualifications are necessary to prepare us for Prayer or before we Pray and in order to it Secondly What is requir'd in the very time or act of our Praying when our Devotions are on the Wing and our Lips are touch'd with a Coal from the Altar Thirdly What must be done after we have Pray'd to make our antecedent Prayers duly effectual Fourthly What Acts are to be continued and extended through each of these both before in and after our Prayers First therefore What Qualifications are necessary to prepare us for Prayer or before we Pray and in order to it Now the First Qualification necessary to prepare us for Prayer is the Purity of our * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Menander Hearts or the Direction of our Lives by the Commandments of God For if our Affections are impure or our Ways unrighteous it is in vain to make our Applications to God for we know that God heareth not Sinners but if any man is a worshipper of God and doth his Will him he heareth For The Eyes of the Lord are over the Righteous and his Ears are open to their Prayers alone For without Godliness whatsoever Antinomian Schemes some Persons may draw whether it consists in Innocence or sincere Repentance our Prayers can never mount up to the presence of God because the Burden of our Sins will certainly keep them from ascending to that Holy Place where nothing but what is compleatly so can appear And it would be Presumption to hope that our spotless Saviour should present so unacceptable a Sacrifice to his Father as the Petitions of a Supplicant who declares himself to be in a State of Hostility against both of them by an avow'd complying with what they most abhor Nay it is the most unwarrantable Insolence for him who still retains a Love for his Sins and yields to them upon the general returns of Temptation to approach his Maker in any Holy Office For it is only an honouring Him with his Lips while his Heart is far from Him and seems to be what the Apostle calls a Lying to God a professing himself his most devoted most obedient Servant while his own Conscience by a reflection on his Actions will tell him that he is his open and inveterate Enemy 'T is a colluding with Him who tries the Heart and the Reins and to whose Eyes all things are nâ—ked and open as if Omniscience could be impos'd on by Pretences or a Religious Pageantry was tantamount to Solid Virtue and Piety or saying of Lord Lord would excuse for the not doing the Will of our Father which is in Heaven So that till we are free from all known and willful Sin 't is to no purpose to make any
in pursuit of this universal Charity our Saviour according to * De Orat. St. Cyprian's pious Observation has taught us to say Our and not My Father only which art in Heaven that mindful of our divine and common Original and of that glorious dependance on which we stand related to God we might unite our Prayers for all those who bear the same illustrious Character of the Sons of God The Fifth Qualification of Prayer is That our Prayers ought to be short not abounding with an excess of Words For Prayer is the Language of the Heart rather than of the Tongue of the Affections more than of the Lips and great and rais'd Passions such as make up the most perfect Devotion are seldom attended with a copious fluency of Words For the Soul is too much employ'd within to love leisure to exercise it self about Flourish or tedious Harangue Of this concise Nature are most of the sacred Hymns and Prayers which are extant suitable to the Majesty of God for the most short is also the most solemn and stately Method of Address and agreeable to Mankind's Infirmities which hinder us from enlivening with a due Spirit a long and tedious Prayer Of this Nature are our Saviour's own Prayers one of the last of which in his Agony is so short and yet so pathetical that it seems according to the History to be accompany'd with more dropâ— of Blood than Words The Last Qualification in the act of Praying is Perseverance Persevereance not as the Messallians from the Apostle's Command in the Words of Praying always thought by an unbroken continuation of the acts of Prayer but by a constant Preparation for and Exercise of them as opportunities and freedom from other Duties demand For this is the Perfection not only of Prayer but of all Virtues Without this they are only faint efforts and attempts to please God which shall never be accepted of nor rewarded by Him But it has a most especial force in Prayer â— for if the Unjust Judge in the Gospel who neither fear'd God nor regarded Man yet granted the Widow's Petition mov'd purely by her resolute Perseverance how much more shall God who is the Just Judge of all Mankind and whose Goodness inclines Him to be kind and beneficent to His Creatures grant our Requests if we cry day and night to Him I tell you as the Gospel has it He will grant them speedily Humility therefore Attention Fervour Charity Brevity and Perseverance are Qualifications necessary in the time of Prayer But there are Thirdly Qualifications necessary after we have pray'd to make our antecedent Prayers duly effectual As First an observation of God's returns to our Prayers an eyeing the tendency of his Providence whether he does grant our Petitions or not especially as to spititual Concerns And there is an infallible Marâ—â— to measure our Success by for we may assuredly conclude That God has heard our Prayers as to Pardon of Sins for Instance if we find our solves free from voluntary Transgressions But if after our Prayers we are as much Sinners as over this is a sign that God has not heard our Petitions and that our Sins are not pardon'd and the fault must be our own because we did not truly repent of them before we pray'd for their Remission So that we must renew our Repentance as well as our Prayers and if the former is sincere and the latter duly qualify'd we shall certainly be successful Thus we may know that God has granted our Prayers as to spiritual Graces if we find our selves improv'd in Virtue after our Prayers otherwise the fault is our own we have not endeavour'd vigourously after Grace So that we must reinforce ouâ— Endeavours as well as our Prayers and if there is no deficiency on our part it is certain there will be none on God's for He is always more ready to Give than we to Pray He is prepar'd to prevent with his Blessings even our first Wishes for them and to reward our pious Desires even before they have time to cloath themselves with Words The Second Qualification after Prayer is a returning God Thanks for His Grants and Denials that is His Denials of temporal Advantages For this is often as great a Proof of His Fatherly Goodness and Concern for us as any of His most Merciful Indulgences 'T is a mysterious Method of Kindness which obliges us against our Wills and makes us happy in contradiction to our most passionate Desires depriving us of what would prove to us only a more agreeable Ruine a more pleasant and beautiful Destruction And how severe soever Disappointments may appear to us at first yet the event and close of Things will shew that we had good reason to be thankful to God for His crossing us in our Wishes and for visibly frustrating us in the success of our Prayers and we shall at last find the satisfaction of consigning our choice over to Omniscience and that God to use our Sauiour's familiar but expressive Words with some alteration when we pray'd for a 〈…〉 has given us a Fish and when we petition'd for Stone has blest us with Bread The Third Qualification after Prayer is a due Value of our great Privilege That we may pray to God For hole great is the Prerogative of a Christian that he â— may discourse and converse and prevail with God That there iâ— no difficulty of Access no doubt of Acceptation That there is no hinderance of his Entercourse with the Almighty but his own â—ins which are no longes Impediments but as far as they are persisted in and not broken off by true Repentance The Fourth Qualification is a learning by God's Denials to make fitter Addresses for the future For if my Prayer's are not granted there must be some fault in me Till that is amended Heaven will be 〈…〉 to my Petitions and neglect my most solomn Addresses Either I do not pray for what I ought or not after that manner which I ought therefore in the Language of the Psalmist my Words are only like the Chaff before the Wind and the Angel of the Lord will certainly scatter them The Fifth Qualification is Alms-giving For it is â—wet that we should express our Gratitude for God's Mercies by our Bounty to our Brethren which ask of us and need our relief This is all the Return we can make to Providence for the innumerable Bounties which it shatters upon us with open hands This is a kind of relieving our Saviour in his suffering Members and he tells us that he will look on it as if done to himself And there can be no greater Inducement for God to bestow temporal good things on us than if we consecrate a part of them to him by our Alms. We render him if I may so speak our Debtor and pardon the boldness of the Expression we may in some measure according to the Promises made to this Duty appeal to his Justice as well as to his