him and to Obedience and Duty The Angels that sinned were not spared nor called to attend upon God in order to their recovery after their Apostasie Indeed we find Satan an Intruder among the Sons of God who came to present themselves before the Lord Job 1. 6. but it was not to beg Grace for himself his Chains of Darkness hindered his Hope of finding any he comes as an Accuser of Job and with a desire of a Permission to do him a Mischief But Man though departed from God is called to come backagain Hos 14. 1. O Israel return to the Lord thy God for thou hast fallen by thy Iniquity Man is sought after as well as saved or sought that he may be saved And if the Lord did not seek him but leave him to his own Imagination and Inclination his Imaginations are so vain his Inclinations so perverse and wicked he would never cease going astray till he died without Wisdom The Call of God is loud and earnest that Man would turn from his Disobedience and do his Duty Prov. 8. 4. Vnto you O Men I call and my voice is to the Sons of Man Prov. 1. 23. Turn you at my reproof behold I will pour out my Spirit unto you I will make known my words unto you Prov. 8. 34. Blessed is the Man that heareth me watching daily at my gates waiting at the posts of my doors 6. Man must look upon God as accessible in Christ When Adam fell into the first Transgression shewing a Contempt of God and of his Covenant and the Life that was there promised he was turned out of Paradise and a flaming Sword was placed to hinder his re-entring and access to the Tree of Life Life was impossible to be had by the first Covenant therefore he and his Faith were directed to the promised Seed who should bruise the Serpents head and in time would be manifested to destroy the Works of the Devil 1 John 3. 8. This Work of the Devil was Sin whereby Man had departed from his Maker Now Christ the second Adam suffered once for Sins the Just for the Vnjust that he might bring Man to God and make up the Breach that Sin had made between them 1 Pet. 3. 18. As God is but One so there is but One Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus Who gave himself a Ransom for all 1 Tim. 2. 5 6. no access to God by any other But says the Apostle In Christ Jesus our Lord we have boldness and access with confidence by the Faith of him Eph. 3. 12. Under the Old Testament there was but one Temple one Altar for Burnt offering and Sin offering to make an Atonement An Heathen thought it a dishonour to the Lord Jehovah that Hezekiah had taken away his high Places and his Altars and had commanded Judah and Jerusalem to Worship before one Altar 2 Chron. 32. 12. But the mystery and meaning of this was that Jesus Christ alone is the Way the Truth and the Life and that no Man cometh to the Father but by him 7. Man must plainly discern his Ignorance and Impotence to give a right Attendance upon God without the Direction and Aid of his Word and Spirit Nay as Man does want both Skill and Strength to serve the Lord so he has no Will to it there is an Indisposition and an Ill disposition in him which plainly shews that the Light and Grace of the Word and Spirit is of absolute necessity unto an Attendance upon God that is acceptable to him When Man is off from God and betakes himself to himself in Matters of Religion he rangeth infinitely like a Sea-faring Man who has lost his Compass in a Mist moving swiftly but to no purpose Now there shall be more words than that which is written more Articles than what God has put into our Creed more Commands than the Law-giver ever gave nay more Gods and more Mediators than One Mans Invention will be fruitlesly Fruitful and himself restless and endless in his own ways We should see our need of Instruction and Help from the Spirit of the Lord Both Light and Liberty Strength and Liveliness in all Holy Duties is from Him 'T is through the Son as Mediator and 't is by the Spirit as our Helper that we have access to the Father Eph. 2. 18. The Apostle acknowledges We know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit helps our infirmities the holy and gracious desires of the Saints are the breathings of this spirit in them acceptable Petitions that will find Audience are of his drawing up and enditing He maketh intercession for the Saints according to the Will of God Rom. 8. 26 27. He is the instructer of all those who are taught to profit Ordinances Gifts Administrations which are so useful are from the Spirit and the benefit and success of them is owing to him his Aid is earnestly to be implored and thankfully to be accepted Preparation to Attendance upon God is necessary Psal 10. 17. Thou wilt prepare their Heart thou wilt cause thine Ear to hear and this preparation is the work of the Spirit 8. Man must not doubt but be thoroughly perswaded that God is ready to be found of such as attend upon him and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11. 6. Satan affects to be the Representer of God to Man and he represents him contrary ways and both are false and indeed misrepresentations from secure Souls he does endeavour to hide the Wrath of God his Holiness Justice and Jealousie that he may heighten presumption from awakened and humble Hearts he does endeavour to conceal his Mercy and Grace in Christ that he may kill their Hope and discourage them from engaging in the work of God But 't is Wisdom in Man to hear what the Lord speaks of himself for he best knows himself and the Revelations he makes of himself are most certainly true Now as he has told us that he will wound the Head of his Enemies and be accounts those Enemies who go on still in their trespasses Psal 68. 21. so he has assured us that he is good and ready to forgive those who are troubled because they have offended and see their need of pardon and he is plenteous in Mercy unto all that in Truth do call upon him Psal 68. 5. 'T is a mighty encouragement to attend upon God when we see the door of Hope standing open and that the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear his displeasure and hope in his mercy together Psal 147. 11. The Tables of the Law were put into the Ark and the mercy-seat was above it a plain intimation that the Lord who sits upon this mercy-seat will not enter into Judgment with his Servants nor mark the iniquities but be merciful to the unrighteousness of them that turn to him this should raise Hope in dejected Spirits and cause it to abound Psal 130. 7 8. Let Israel hope
be One yet in the Unity there is a Trinity This one God is Father Son and Holy Ghost Nazianzen an ancient Greek Father thus expresses his apprehensions of God when he came to worship him I am not able says he to apprehend One but I am presently struck with the brightness of Three I am not able to distinguish Three but I am presently brought back to One again Regulate your Apprehensions of God by that Revelation he has made of himself in his own Word and pry no farther than what is written that so you may undistractedly worship God himself and not the fruit of your imagination instead of him 3. To attend without distraction implies the greatest intention of mind As all the Lines from the circumference of a Circle meet together in one point of the Center so the Thoughts of the Mind should center upon God and the Duty that is done to him God should be so minded as that all other things should be out of mind Though the Soul is united to the Body yet it should be in a sense separated as risen with Christ and with him ascended and sitting in heavenly places Eph. 2. 6. And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus How intent upon God and his Praises are the Spirits of Just Men made perfect And the Spirits of Saints Militant should imitate those that are Triumphant It is storied of that famous Mathematician Archimedes that when Syracuse was taken by Marcellus he was so intent in making Figures upon the ground that he minded not the taking of the City and was slain by a Soldier that knew not who he was for Marcellus had given a Commandment to save him If such a danger could not disturb the intention of Archimedes for the saving of a City the saving of a Soul does justly challenge a greater intention in every Duty we perform to God 4. To attend without distraction implies the highest concernedness of Soul Faith should be strong and constrain the Mind to be serious things invisible should be represented so evident and substantial as if they were most visible and apparent God should be addressed as if he appeared to us as he did to Abraham as if he talked with us as he did to the Children of Israel from Mount Sinai With humbleness of Mind and self-abasement considering our distance guilt and vileness we should cry out Let not the Lord be angry if we intreat the forgiveness of Sin and that our Souls may live before him Now we should stir up our selves and take hold of God Isa 64. 7. Now his Strength and his Son and his Covenant may be laid hold on within a little while it may be too late and impossible to do it We should be concerned in all Duties and perform them with such a solicitous care as if we saw the Dart of the last Enemy ready to pierce us and the Grave open for us as if we saw the Judge upon the great white Throne and all both small and great standing before God and the Books opened that they might be judged according to their Works Rev. 20. 11 12. There should be a concernedness of Spirit as if we saw the World in a flame Hell naked before us and we beheld the flashings of eternal fire as if we saw Heaven opened and all that Glory that is there Weight and Worth and Necessity command Concernedness now when we attend on God we draw nigh to him about those things that are of most absolute necessity and of the greatest worth and weight imaginable 5. To attend without distraction implies the fullest bent and inclination of heart there must be intensivum velle a strong propension of the Will towards God and this is expressed by longing by panting Psal 42. 1. As the Hart panteth after the Water-brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God 'T is the Lord himself that thus determines the Will towards himself and this he doth without compulsion for he alters the Nature and Inclination of it so that the Will being made free by Divine Grace uses its liberty aright and chuses God as its end and the way of his Testimonies Such an end such a way is most worthy to be chosen The Heart now designs and desires the injoying Fellowship with God as infinitely more valuable than all other Enjoyments And this full bent of the Heart mightily fixes it so that the stream of the Affections is kept the better in one undivided Channel When the Psalmist said there was none on Earth he desired besides God it plainly shewed that his desire after God swallowed up his desire after worldly things and when he says Whom have I in Heaven but God! He signifies that he should not count Heaven it self to be Heaven indeed without the Enjoyment of God there 6. To attend without distraction implies a sincere care to please the Lord in that attendance his Approbation being principally minded Man's good thoughts and word are more easily gained but the Jew inwardly his praise is not of Man but of God Rom. 2. 29. And indeed all other Commendations are insignificant unless the Lord commandeth 2 Cor. 10. 18. The undistracted Attendant studies to approve himself to God With what confidence does David speak before his all discerning Judge that he had walked in his integrity Psal 26. 1. and Psal 17. 3. Thou hast proved my heart thou hast visited me in the night Thou hast tried me and shalt find nothing He was not conscious to himself of regarded sin or of allowed guile and negligence in the Lord's Service Care to please that God whom we serve is a necessary ingredient in every Service that is acceptable This care commands the heart into the presence of God and keeps it there and he loves to see Hearts before him set on him and seeking after him 7. To attend without distraction implies resisting all attempts to draw away the heart from God Satan and Mammon will be knocking at the Door of the Heart while 't is attending upon the Lord and the flesh which lusts against the spirit will be apt to shew its treachery and to open the Door Undistracted Attendants do use great Vigilancy for they are full of Jealousie over themselves They bid Satan to get him behind them for they are worshipping the Lord their God and 't is wickedness and boldness in him to disturb them in the Lord's Service and when the Affairs of the World would crowd in upon them they reply They have some greater and more important affairs to mind and therefore those worldly matters must be regarded only at a convenient season At all times it should be our care to keep unspotted from the World to keep our selves that the wicked one touch us not 1 Joh. 5. 18. but this care should be greatest when our approaches to God are nearest For if the World and the God of it should all bespatter and defile us even while
it Heb. 10. 7. Lo I come to do thy Will O God and as willing to finish it therefore in his greatest Agonies he said Not my Will but thine be done His Holy Will notwithstanding the reluctancy of innocent Nature perfectly submits to his Father's Pleasure Joh. 18. 11. The Cup which my Father giveth me to drink shall I not drink it How undistracted and fervent was our Lord in praying for his Church whom his Father had given him out of the World And now he is in Heaven his Heart and Thoughts and Care are upon and for his Members Militant below His intercession for them is incessant his Life now in Heaven is a Life of continual interceding and the end of his intercession is that the Blessings he has purchased by his Sufferings may be bestowed upon Believers whom he suffered for Now what a Slight is put upon this great High Priest who is passed into the Heavens where he is so serious to intercede if we are not serious in petitioning If we hardly think what we are doing when we are asking for those Blessings which it cost him not only strong Cries and Tears but his Blood and Life to purchase They were not small things that the Blood of God was a price to purchase They are not small things that a glorified Redeemer is continually praying to the Father to bestow If these things are scarce thought of when we ask for them they are most sinfully undervalued Christ himself his fulness his satisfaction and intercession are despised altogether 4. In distraction there is a grieving and vexing the Holy Spirit of God by not valuing his proffered assistance When Christ ascended into Heaven and was glorified there he sent the Spirit to abide with his Church for ever And one great work of the Spirit is to aid and assist us in our Supplications He urges us to attend upon God and is most ready to help us in that attendance He is ready to fix our Minds to incline our Hearts aright to enlarge our Desire to make intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered Rom. 8. 26. He offers us his mighty Grace which will enable us to pray prevailingly to hear profitably and fruitfully to improve the Ordinances of God But distracted Attendants are a grief and vexation to this good Spirit they had rather be without his help and grace than have it They chuse rather to lose all their Duties by a wretched heartlessness and formality than be assisted to take pains in these Duties that they may fare the better for them for ever 5. In distraction there is an undervaluing of all promised Mercies and Blessings which God is ready to bestow on them that seriously attend upon him The Promises of the Gospel are made by him whose faithfulness never fails and the surety of the New Testament stands engaged that they shall be accomplished if they are by a true and lively Faith applied These Promises are of things which we cannot be without but we must needs be beyond conception miserable Peace with God through Christ and that Peace within which passes all Understanding Grace sufficient to succour support strengthen and establish the good things of this Life with a Blessing from Heaven upon them and endless Blessedness in the World to come These are the things that are promised and who besides God can make Promises so exceeding precious and so great Now in our attendance upon him he would have us expect what he has promised for he keeps truth for ever and what he has promised he is able to perform Rom. 4. 21. Distracted Attendants upon the Lord look upon these Promises with a strange Eye they believe not the truth of them or are not perswaded of the worth of them and are very careless in pleading of them and having no serious thoughts and desires after the promised Blessings the threatned Curses fall upon them 6. In distraction there is great carelesness of our selves and of our main concerns those of our immortal Souls In attendance upon God our Souls are principally concerned Now these Souls themselves are of more worth than the World and so are the Blessings we request for them and to be heartless and trifling here what Apology can be made for it What is come to the Soul of Man that it should be so mindless of it self That it should have so few Thoughts about it self Distracted Duties argue an indifferency what becomes of the precious Soul to eternity and an indifferency must needs cause a miscarriage and ruine since striving to enter in at the strait gate is necessary Luk. 13. 24. and Heaven will be miss'd of there be not an holy violence to take it In distracted Services Men put a cheat upon themselves they only seem to run and so they will really miss the prize and in this Distraction there is great Hypocrisie which is most hateful to God and which our Lord has denounced so many Woes against Mat. 2. Hypocrites Duties are a most provoking Mockery and tho Hell will have all the Wicked at last turned into it yet in a special manner 't is called the portion of Hypocrites as well as Unbelievers Mat. 24. 51. compared with Luk. 12. 46. 7. Distraction exposes us to Satan Distracted Attendants are Servants of the Lord only in shew but Satan is really served and gratified by their Duties They expose themselves to this Enemy both as an Accuser and a Tempter When their Hearts are absent from the Lord's Work in which they engage Satan s Mouth is open against them He boldly charged Job with being a Mercinary Servant and yet there was no ground for it Job 1. 9 Doth Job fear God for nought But put forth thy hand now and touch what he hath and he will curse thee to thy face v. 11. And if he charged so good and upright a Man without ground surely he will be forward to accuse when there is abundant ground for the Accusation See will Satan say how such and such do serve the Lord with Duties that are things of nought and good for nothing See how they mock the God of Heaven to his very Face And upon such distracted Service as he is forward to be an Accuser so he has great advantage as a Tempter Such Duties bring in no strength from above to withstand him Nay the Lord is provoked to withdraw further and those whom God leaves to themselves how easily does Satan lead them Captive at his pleasure All Strays are seized by the God of this World how close should we cleave to the God of Heaven 8. Distraction is a great obstruction to the efficacy and success of Ordinances If we pray as if we prayed not shall we speed If we hear as if we heard not shall we profit Will doing the Work of the Lord deceitfully be encouraged by the vouchsafing of Grace or rewarded with Glory Carefulness is one effect and fruit of godly Sorrow 2 Cor. 7. 11. For
assistance The looking upon the Defects in our Services should make us look unto our Lord in whom we are compleat Col. 2. 10. and with a more intire dependance to rest upon his righteousness hereby Christ is honoured and the Father pleased and a multitude of faults will be cover'd But help against them must be desired from the Holy Ghost A gracious heart still desires renewed strength and aid from the Spirit to serve the Lord more acceptably but a lazy reliance upon Christ with an allowance of defects and distractions in the Duties we perform must needs be a very great provocation CASE VI. What course are Melancholick Persons to take in their Attendance on God when Distractions arise from the prevalency of that Distemper I answer 1. They should take heed of prolixity and length in holy Duties It is not length but life in these Duties that God looks at It is a thought that may lodge in the Breast of an Heathen but is unworthy of a Christian's heart that he shall be heard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for his much speaking Mat. 6. 7. Christians should not think much of the time they spend with God yet overdoing in this regard is doing less than if less were done When Melancholy hinders Duties from being extended as formerly with vigour and fervency they were they that more briefly now perform them should be the more frequent in short and holy Ejaculations And they must be sure to take heed of taking more pains to fix their thoughts than their heads will bear for when their Heads are out of order the more they labour to be intent the further they are off from it the disorder increases and so does their discouragement The Lord pities in such cases and allows them to spare their pains which are not only fruitless but hurtful and to pity themselves and not to attempt what a distempered Brain is unfit for 2. Melancholick ones must look unto Jesus in the due use of means for the cure of Head Distempers How many corporal Maladies did our Lord heal in a miraculous manner when he was here on Earth And he has not put off his Compassions towards the Bodies of Men now he is in Heaven Though the skill of the Lutist be never so great he can never make good Musick if the Lute it self be out of tune Satan has great advantage by prevailing Melancholy to hinder Devotion by the disorder of the Head though the Heart be never so honest and well inclin'd And our Lord very well knows this and being a merciful and faithful High-priest he is ready to succour in this case also Heb. 2. ult All power is given to him in Earth as well as Heaven all judgment committed to him Joh. 5. 22. so that all Distempers and Diseases come and go at his Command and though Miraculous Cures are not now to be expected yet something like them sometimes has been wrought in answer unto Prayer and Faith and where there has been a stedfast looking to Jesus there has been a mighty Blessing that has attended the means that have been used for the bringing of Blood and Spirits and Brain into better order 3. There are two great Duties which those that are under the power of Melancholy are not so sit for The one is Meditation and the other Self examination A distemper'd and disordered Head will make but sorry work of solemn Meditation the Head will ake the Mind will be lost in a cloud and mist of Confusion and the evil one will be ready to strike in and make the Melancholick Man turn self-accuser and consequently self-tormenter Such an one therefore should be wary of attempting the Duty of set Meditation but that and reading should be joyned together A short consideration of what is read there should be as the Head will bear a desire that the Heart may be affected and by the Grace of God a resolution to act and walk accordingly and those should be the Petitions Incline my heart unto thy Testimonies and make me to go in the path of thy Commandments Psal 119. 35 36. And as for self-examination Melancholick ones being now not so well themselves they should not be forward nor peremptory in passing Censures and Judgment upon themselves and they should be aware that Satan is now busie about them and he being a lying Spirit his Suggestions that they are Hypocrites and have no Grace that they are cast away and utterly forsaken by the God of all Grace should in no wife be credited Satan's Suggestions may be known by the design of them which is not to quicken Souls to Duty as the motions of the holy Spirit are but to drive them away from God and to make them say as he did in another case since the case is desperate and all hope of Salvation gone Why should I wait for the Lord any longer 2 King 2. 33. 4. Melancholick ones in the midst of their Distractions should grieve that neither head nor heart are so disposed to serve the Lord as they desire That 's proper language to be used which came out of the Mouth of holy Job chap. 10. 15. I am full of confusion see thou my Affliction And since they cannot actively glorifie God by the exercise of strong Faith and vehement Love and Joy and Delight in God they should glorifie him by an humble and patient submission to his Will When a melancholick Soul is quite emptied of all self-confidence and self-conceit is in a manner annihilated when under a great sense of its own guilt and vileness it looks unto Jesus and desires by his Blood and Spirit to be justified and washed and made clean when 't is ready to acknowledge that if ever 't is saved and brought to Heaven Grace will be free and superabundant because one of the lowest places in Hell has been deserved how far is flesh from glorying and hereby glory is given to the Lord. When melancholick ones are ready in their greatest Distractions and blackest darkness to justifie the Lord as righteous in all his Ways and holy in all his Works Psal 145. 17. and to condemn themselves because formerly when their Heads were in better order their Hearts were no better disposed and inclined to the Lord's Service they please and glorifie him more than they are aware of The more there is of self-distrust self-dislike self-condemnation humility and patient bearing of Divine Indignation because of sin that has been committed Mic. 7. 9. the more honour by all this does really redound to God 5. Let Melancholick ones take heed of being quite staved off from Duties and Ordinances though their performances are but mean and sorry The Lord can discern sense in the Soul when perhaps there is hardly sense in the words he takes notice of the gracious bent and good inclination of the heart towards himself when the Thoughts against the Will do wander Hezekiah had a most remarkable answer and prayed to good purpose when his Petitions
encouraging promise of Divine Aid and strengthning Grace Psal 27. 14. Wait on the Lord be of good Courage he shall strengthen thy Heart wait I say on the Lord. Psal 37. 34. Wait on the Lord and keep his way this way is true walking in it is holy and safe and the end is Peace In the handling of this Doctrine I shall First Shew you what is supposed in Man's Attendance upon God Secondly I shall tell you what is implied in this Attendance Thirdly I shall speak of several sorts of Attending upon the Lord. Fourthly I shall assign the Reasons why the Children of Men ought to give their Attendance upon God Fifthly Make Application In the first place I am am to shew you what is supposed in Man's Attendance upon God There are several pre-requisites unto this for Man is not easily perswaded to this Duty though the performance of it prove never so beneficial to him Now that there may be this Attendance 1. Man must firmly believe that there is a God Heb. 11. 6. But without Faith 't is impossible to please him for he that cometh unto God must believe that He is As God is to everlasting so he is from everlasting If he had not ever been and that of himself he would never have been neither could any thing else ever have had a Being Creatures Existence supposes there is a Creator and Attendance upon God supposes there is a God to be attended on The stronger the Assent to this is the greater will be the care to understand how the Attendance may be acceptable The Being of a God there are few that deny in words but there are abundance who deny him in their works even among them who profess to know him Tit. 1. 16. And being so foolish as to say in their Hearts there is no God No wonder that with their hearts they refuse to seek him Man should look upward and see how the Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy-work Psal 19. 1. The Visible Creation is not more obvious to the Eye than the Eternal Power and Godhead of him who made all things is clearly to be seen by the Mind of Man Rom. 1. 20. And if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Man will but look into his own Heart he may find this Truth deeply ingraven there that God is therefore the Apostle speaks thus of the Gentiles who had only the Light of Nature Rom. 1. 19. for that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them Let not any go about to obliterate this Truth concerning the Being of a God but undoubtingly credit it for 't is the first Stone in the Foundation of all truly Religious Service and Obedience 2. Man must have a sense that he had his Being from God and was made for him and truly he is made such a Creature that he will never be quite unmade so as to become nothing He is capable of knowing and serving his Maker and enjoying him for ever God has made all Men for himself and some way or other he will secure his own Honour and have Glory from the very worst But as for his own People he has formed bought and new made them for himself that they might shew forth his Praise Isa 43. 21. Man should Eye the Hand that made him and the End for which he was made Our Bodies will be found a curious piece of Divine Workmanship if the contexture variety and use of their parts are considered But though our Flesh is of God's Forming yet in a more immediate manner he is called the Father of our Spirits And wherefore have our Souls a thinking Faculty but that God may be thought of Wherefore have we Memories but that our Creator from our Youth may be remembred And if we live to Gray-hairs he in no wise is to be forgotten Wherefore are we capable of loving desiring and taking delight but that God may be the chief Object of these Affections In him we live and move and have our Being Acts 17. 28. that we might live to him move according to his Will and be indeed his Servants 3. Man must be perswaded that God is rightfully his Ruler and has given him a Law and Commandments by which he is to be governed Mammon and Satan are meer Vsurpers and where they reign they ruin The evil One is to be resisted not obeyed and Man was made to have Dominion over the Creatures not to be enslaved by them But God is Man's Sovereign by Right and may lay upon Man what Commands he pleases but has given them none but what are holy just and good Rom. 7. 12. And the better these are obeyed Man becomes more holy just and good himself and partakes more of the Divine Nature Would we attend upon God We must have respect unto his Commands David plainly intimates the gain of Obedience when he says more are they to be esteemed than Gold yea than much fine Gold He signifies the pleasure of Obedience when he adds sweeter also than the hony and the hony comb Psal 19. 10. 4. Man must be convinced that by sin he has departed from God and has justly incurred his displeasure The natural distance between God and Man as a Creature must ever remain God is and will be for ever infinitely above and superiour even to those that are in Heaven he humbles himself to behold the things that are there Psal 113. 6. But the moral distance that is between God and Man or the enmity that Sin is the cause of may be made to cease When Man attends upon God he should come with deep sense how he has provoked him that he is by Nature a Child of Wrath Eph. 2. 3. and in his practise a Rebel and as he has acted like one so he deserves to be dealt with as an Enemy When the Syrians came to the King of Israel they had Sackcloth on their Loins and Ropes on their Heads 1 Kings 20. 32. They had newly been in Arms against him and now they declare how ill they deserved to be treated by him For offenders to approach unto God without any trouble for their offences 't is not to Attend upon him but to Affront him Those are his own words Wo to them for they have fled from me destruction unto them because they have transgressed against me Hos 7. 13. And hear the Language of the penitent Church Lam. 5. 16. The Crown is fallen from our Head wo to us that we have sinned When we come for Mercy we must be sensible that Mercy is undeserved and that confusion of Face belongs to us Dan. 9. 8. A penitential Acknowledgment there should be that we have been foolish disobedient deceiâ—ed that we have served divers Lusts and Pleasures and in our selves are so hateful to God that we are unworthy to be admitted into the number of his Attendants 5. Man must hear the Call of God to return to
be struck with godly Fear Thus was the Psalmist Psal 104. 1. O Lord my God thou art very great thou art cloathed with Honour and Majesty who coverest thy self with light as with a Garment Psal 96. 4 6 9. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised he is to be feared above all Gods Honour and Majesty are before him Strength and Beauty are in his Sanctuary O worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness fear before him all the Earth Now that you may the better understand with whom you have to do when you attend upon God You must know 1. God is Lord Creator of whom are all things The Man of God Moses with wonder and adoration cries out Psal 90. 2. Before the Mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the Earth or the World even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God The Lord was before all and he was all of and in and to himself from Eternity The Father is of himself alone the Son is necessarily and eternally of the Father and the Holy Ghost as necessarily and eternally from both the Father and the Son And these Three are that one living and true God whom Christians believe in and in whose Name they are baptized But though God necessarily is yet Creatures are not so but have their being at his pleasure Rev. 4. 11. Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created It is the Lord whose Word of Power and Command brought all things out of nothing at first Heb. 11. 3. Through Faith we understand that the Worlds were framed by the Word of God Though some have imagined that Angels were created and many of them fell long before this visible World was made in Scripture there is not sufficient ground for such an Imagination It is probable those excellent Creatures were made the first day when 't is said Gen. 1. 1. In the beginning God created the Heaven The Heaven may take in the highest Heaven and the Host of Angels there Oh what a powerful Word was that which commanded Angels to be which before were nothing and gave them Spiritual and Immortal Natures indued with such mighty Strength and Understanding And when the Lord laid the Foundations of the Earth and stretched the line upon it these glorious Angels called Morning Stars sang together and all these Sons of God shouted for joy Job 38. 4 5 7. This Lord Creator did but say Let there be Light and there was Light The Sun the Moon the Stars the Earth and Seas and all their Hosts were what his Word made them And Man who was to have Dominion over this lower World God did make in his own Image his Body indeed was formed of the Dust of the ground but to shew that his Soul was not of earthly Original God is called the Father of Man's Spirit he breathed into his Nostrils the Breath of Life and Man became a living Soul Gen. 2. 7. This great Creator whom we attend upon made all things very good Gen. ◠31. and though Sin entring into the World spoiled much of his Workmanship he can easily new make what Sin has marred and he can easily and will certainly destroy those who are finally unwilling to be made new Creatures 2. God is Lord Preserver of what himself has made The word of his power sustains all things Heb. 1. 3. it continues things in those beings into which at first it brought them Psal 148. 5 6. Let them praise the name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created He hath also established them for ever and ever He hath made a Decree which shall not pass The same Lord who called things out of nothing by his word hinders their returning into nothing by the same word of command Psal 33. 9. For he spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast There is so much power exerted in upholding the Creation that the Preservation of the Universe is rightly called a continued Creation of it If God should totally draw back his supporting hand all the Luminaries in Heaven would presently lose their Light the Earth and Seas would become a Chaos of Confusion nay Men and Angels and all things else would immediately lose their beings and become nothing As the Creation so the Preservation of all things is of the Lord alone Neh. 9. 6. Thou even thou art Lord alone thou hast made Heaven the Heaven of Heavens with all their Host the Earth and all things that are therein the Seas and all that is therein and thou preservest them all How worthy is he to be worshipped by the Host of Heaven and by the Sons of Men the Inhabitants of the Earth God is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Almighty or All-sufficient and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Mamma a Pap or Breast all Creatures from the mightiest to the very meanest do hang and depend upon God as Children do upon the Breasts that he may nourish and sustain them And if God thus upholds all things surely he will not fail to preserve his Church and Saints they may with Confidence attend upon him for defence no Humane nor Hellish Force shall prevail against them 3. God is Lord Proprietor and Possessor of Heaven and Earth So Melchizedek called the most high God when he blessed Abram the Father of the Faithful Gen. 14. 19. Blessed be Abram of the most high God the Possessor of Heaven and Earth Psal 24. 1. we read The Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof the World and they that dwell therein All Persons and things are properly God's own and he may do with them what he pleases By Creation the Lord began and by Preservation he continues to be the Proprietor of all things Propriety is the ground of Power and Power of Government now a most absolute and universal Propriety and Power the Lord does rightly challenge to himself he is accountable to none not to be resisted by any none can stay his hand or say to him What doest thou It was a good answer that Elihu made to Job Ch. 33. 12 13. God is greater than Man Why dost thou strive against him For he giveth not an account of any of his matters It is a wise part to attend upon God who has a Propriety in us and in all things besides and all things are really in his Hands and Possession so that he can with-hold or bestow them according to his own Will If God be for us he can make all things for us if he be against us nothing shall be for our help and benefit There is nothing which we need but a superabundance of it is in God's hand The Possessor of Heaven and Earth has the Blessings of Heaven and Earth to give forth Every Beast of the Forest is his and the Cattle upon a thousand Hills Psal 50. 10. All Sheep and Oxen yea and
thee of the evil Therefore now O Lord take I beseech thee my life from me for 't is better for me to die than to live Sometimes distraction and deadness and a carnal worldly frame of Spirit may hinder a Duty from doing any good to the performer of it though he be good in the main The perfection of sincerity may be so much wanting in some Services as that they may prove altogether unavailable Rev. 3. 2. Be watchful and strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die for I have not found thy Works perfect before God 3. I add further that Duties may be so performed by Believers themselves that the bad manner of doing them shall cost them very dear A true Saint may do his Duty in a way so displeasing to God that his Duty shall be his Death Thus the Corinthians came together to the Lord's Table not for the better but for the worse there was not that care to keep their hearts fixt upon God and fit for Communion with him and the Holy Supper was profaned by a prevailing of sensuality and Divine Displeasure broke out against them 1 Cor. 11. 30. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep and they were thus chastned of the Lord and some with stripes that proved deadly that they might not be condemned with the World v. 32. With what Intention Vigilancy and godly fear should the Lord's People engage in his Work and Worship He will be sanctified by them that draw near to him or he will be sanctified upon them he will manifest to their cost what an Holy and Jealous God he is Therefore says the Apostle Do we provoke the Lord to Jealousie are we stronger than he 1 Cor. 10. 22. CASE V. What Distractions are they which are mercifully overlookt and that hinder not the success of our Duties nor the benefit of them I answer 1. The Lord in much Compassion overlooks those Distractions in his Service that are grievous to us and which we heartily lament He passes by the greatest sins for the great Propitiations sake if there be Contrition in him that has been guilty of them Psal 51. 17. The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit a broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise And if the heart be broken because religious Duties are so broken and interrupted by vain imaginations he will not withdraw his Presence because of these weaknesses that are bewailed but according to his Promise He will be nigh to them that are of a broken heart and will save such as are of a contrite Spirit Psal 34. 18. 2. Distractions shall be pass'd by that are prayed against before they come and are resisted when they are come He that would worship God with great intention of Soul 't is a sign his heart is good and honest and that very Will is wrought in him by the Lord 's own Grace and is pleasing in the Lord's Eyes and 't is further pleasing to him when he beholds a Soul checking these Distractions as often as they do occur and manifesting a constant dislike of them The Psalmist tells us That he hated vain thoughts but he loved both the Word and the Work of God Psal 119. 113. His hatred of vain thoughts was well taken the intruding of them though they were hated was overlookt in Mercy And this hatred of them and perpetual conflicting with them is a good way to be rid of them And certainly those Distractions shall not be imputed to us which by checking of them and crying to Heaven for help we do in some measure prevail against 3. Distractions shall be overlookt the causes of which we endeavour to remove when we are upon our guard against the Cares of this Life deceitful Riches and those Lusts and Pleasures that would command our thoughts and entice away our hearts from God and cause them to be absent when our Bodies are before him 'T is meer self-deceit to pretend we are desirous to be freed from the effect if we like the cause to say we dislike Distraction if we are pleased well enough with those things whereby Distraction is caused The Psalmist who sighed and said Oh let me not wander from thy Commandments Psal 119. 10. certainly he was watchful against and groaned to be delivered from every thing that might make him wander Therefore he wishes that his heart might not be inclined to covetousness and that his eyes might be turned away from beholding vanity ver 36 37. He knew very well that coveting this World's Wealth would eat out his Desires after God and that eying and affecting vanity would deaden and distract his heart in the Lord's Service 4. Distractions though very horrid shall not hinder the success of Duties which the heart trembles at and utterly detests and abhors Satan sometimes apparently shews himself Devil indeed he roars like a Lyon he speaks like the old Dragon Hideous blasphemous Injections and thoughts are with hellish violence born into the mind of a Believer while attending upon God and the heart seems to be overspread with the blackness of darkness and with the wickedness of Hell it self But when these Satanical Injections are disowned and the Believer crys out Lord I am oppressed undertake for me And his Eye is unto Jesus for succour who is so ready to help 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those who by force are ready to be run down by the Devil Act. 10. 38. Satan shall not prevail against the Believer but the Believer shall prevail with God for that Grace which the evil one is so busie to hinder him from partaking of 5. Distractions shall in pity be covered that are occasioned by the prevailing indisposition of the head or other corporal Maladies that are the effect of excessive pain or of Melancholy which causes great confusion in such cases the Lord's compassion is drawn forth rather than his displeasure provoked We read Psal 103. 13. Like as a Father pittieth his Children so the Lord pittieth them that fear him for he knows their frame They are subject to much bodily indisposition as well as to spiritual Infirmities Now what earthly Father is angry with a Child because he does not those acts of Obedience in sickness which he could and would readily do were health continued The Lord is infinitely beyond the tenderest earthly Parent in pittying and sparing his Children He observes the Spirit 's willingness when the Flesh is weak and indisposed Distractions by sudden Accidents also shall not hinder Duties acceptance God will have mercy and not sacrifice Mat. 9. 13. It will not displease him neither shall Duty be lost if we leave off Prayer to help one by us fallen into a Swoon and that may expire without present succour in such cases his own Providence calls us off from a Duty of Religion to an act of Mercy 6. Distractions shall be past by that drive us to Christ for acceptance and to the Spirit for greater
the God of Love Our Lord presses our reconciliation to our Brother before we offer our Gifts unto God Mat. 5. 24. Go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift Whilst thou refusest to be reconciled to thy Brother how canst thou expect that God should be reconciled to thee Mat. 6 15. But if ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses As Charity thinks no evil so Uncharitableness thinks nothing else It is severe in censuring forward to judge not fearing what is threatned to be it self judged Mat. 7. 1. It hopes and believes nothing that is good it bears and endures nothing that it pronounces to be bad or in the least injurious to it Nay sometimes in Prayer instead of the acting of Grace uncharitableness will be expressed before the Lord himself there are most unseemly Complaints impious Imprecations and Desires vented that Divine Wrath may fall upon those whom the passionate are angry with But if they were so severely punished that offer'd strange fire before the Lord and fire come forth from the Lord and consumed them those that offer this hellish fire of furious and revengeful desires may well fear the vengeance of that fire that is eternal If you give way to this sinful anger you give way to the Devil and in this Chariot he will drive furiously your Hearts away from God in the Duties you perform but the more meek and composed and sedate your Souls are the Holy Ghost will the more delight to dwell in them and to vouchsafe his assistance to you 5. Another cause of distraction is the prevalency of infidelity Faith is a coming to God by Christ Jesus Unbelief is a rejecting of this Mediatour and the Hearts departing from the Lord Take heed of unbelief as that which strikes at Religion in the very root and blasts and withers all the Fruits of it Doubt not of the being of God who gives being to all things that are and who gave and upholds you in yours to this day Doubt not of his all-seeing Eye who fills Heaven and Earth with his presence Doubt not of his being ready to be found all the true seed of Jacob are witnesses for God that they have sought his face and that they have not sought him in vain Isa 45. 19. Doubt not of the promises in the Word which thousands of Saints have found accomplished unto their strengthning supply and satisfaction Doubt not of the Threatnings which have so often taken hold of them who have boldly ventured upon the sins threatned so that they have been forced to say Verily he is a God that judges in the Earth and like as the Lord of Hosts thought to do unto us according to our ways and according to our doings so hath he dealt with us Zech. 1. 6. If unbelief has place in you and the great truths of the Gospel are questioned or not firmly assented to how can you be serious in any Religious Service How distracted must your thoughts needs be when you question whether the Lord has any regard what you do or how you do it This unbelief the great spoiler of your Performances the Father of Lies endeavours to promote He will indeed inject unbelieving thoughts into Hearts that have much Faith and Grace But as Bernard well says Latrat solum cum suggerit mordet cum ad consensum trahit Satan does only bark when he does suggest he bites when he gains the Hearts consent Oh never entertain such Injections never give the least consent that they should lodge in you Look upon them as errant falshoods which an Enemy pesters you with out of a pernicious design firmly believe the quite contrary truths that that Belief may influence your Spirits and make you more serious when you are before the Lord. 6. The workings of spiritual pride in the heart are another cause of distraction which you are to beware of It was a good observation of Augustine that other iniquity discovers it self in the doing of evil Superbia vero bonis operibus insidiatur ut pereant Pride lies in wait as it were about your good Works to spoil the doing of them that they may be lost labour This sin shews it self several ways and upon all occasions is apt to stir to puff up and swell the Mind with high and touring thoughts and imaginations The Pharisee fasted twice a Week which implies Prayer and other Exercises of Religion Luk. 18. 12. hereupon he became self-conceited and pride hindred his justification for he placed his confidence in his own righteousness What a dangerous distraction is that when these thoughts are fixed in thy Heart that by thy Prayers and other Duties thou canst make an atonement for thy sins which can indeed be made alone by the satisfaction and intercession of the Lord Jesus When the Heart is enlarged in Prayer and good expressions come with great fluency from the Lips how apt is he that prays to have high Conceits of himself and of his Performances His Mind is prone to wander and to think what others think of him and is sinfully pleased in the imagination that they are mightily pleased and taken with him thus Pride draws off the Soul from God to contemplate its own excellent Gifts and others Admiration of them Enlargements in holy Duties are very encouraging and comfortable when we are humble under them when we acknowledge the Spirits Grace in them and though never so much enlarged despair of acceptance but in Christ alone But when these Enlargements are so advanced and put into Christ's place that we reckon those Blessings owing to enlargements which are the fruit of Christ's merit and purchase here is distracting Pride which draws off from Christ and is very displeasing to the Father Such Thoughts as these How well do I pray How broken for sin do I appear How fervent in Spirit do I seem What credit and applause shall I get by this Performance What a choice and precious Saint shall I be accounted Such Thoughts are apt to hover about an enlarged heart but if they are not kept out with an utter detestation of them the Heart will be distracted with hellish Pride how heavenly soever the expressions of the Mouth are And as you are to take heed of the Workings of Pride so of every other sin which does easily beset you If when you are confessing any fleshly or worldly Lust it stirs in you and your Hearts have some regard to it and delightful Thoughts about it this will distract your Prayer and deafen God's Ear. Oh 't is an ill thing to have the Heart resolve to spare the sin which the Hypocritical Tongue does cry aloud that it may be slain That sin which your Constitutions Callings or the Times in which you live make you most prone to commit Satan may in a special manner endeavour to invigorate that it may be a great distraction and disturbance to you in your
less will your Thoughts be drawn away from him 6. Be very poor in Spirit A pressing sense of your spiritual Necessities will make you very intent and serious in begging Supplies from above for 't is from thence alone you can be supplied They that are pinched with Poverty how much do they think how poor they are They have such a smart feeling of their Needs they can scarce think of any thing besides The condemned Malefactor when he cries for a Pardon and has hopes to speed surely the apprehension of his danger makes his Words and his Thoughts to go together When the Man almost famished asks for Bread no doubt his Mind is very much upon that Bread which may prevent his starving Be you but sensible how great the Needs of your Souls are and that 't is the Father of Spirits only who can give you the mercy and grace which you need and the more of sense you have the less distracted will you be in your Applications to him Our Lord pronounces the poor in Spirit blessed Mat. 5. 3. their Petitions come from an inward sense of their want and of the worth of Blessings and being earnest Petitioners they shall be successful ones You that feel your guilt and fear Divine Wrath must needs think of a Pardon and the desirableness of it when you ask for it You that are sensible of your Maladies how intent will your Minds be upon the Lord the healer of his People And you will have little list to think of something else when you are begging to be cured True poverty of Spirit will constrain to an undistracted seeking of that Gold tried in the fire to enrich you and that white Raiment to cover you Rev. 3. 18. without which you must needs be wretched and miserable because you will be poor and naked 7. Let Conscience be very tender vigilant and faithful Such a Conscience will be very helpful to prevent distraction or quickly to put an end to it It will observe and fetch home the Truant and straying Thoughts and bring them to your Duties * I distinguish between a tender Conscience and a scrupulous one for a scrupulous Conscience is a great cause of distraction for Scruples are most apt to run in and pester the Mind when holy Duties are performing Conscience acts in God's Name by his Authority and urges Obedience to his Laws and much insists if it be truly enlightned and faithful upon the right manner of obeying Conscience takes strict notice of the whole Soul and all the actings of it and this Officer of God especially does this in the Souls approaches to the Lord a sense of being under God's Eye makes the faithful Consciences Eye more strict and ready to spy all faults that they may presently be amended In holy Duties such a Conscience will be very busie it will earnestly protest against vain and distracting Thoughts and it will say What make such thoughts here when God and his Work ought only to be minded The presence of evil when good is doing such a Conscience cannot brook with Patience it stirs up the lustings of the Spirit against those of the Flesh that the Law of the Mind may prevail more against the Law in the Members Rom. 7. 23. If Conscience is asleep in your Performances how sorry and sinful will they be The Heart will be dead the Thoughts will be gone far away no holy Affections will be stirring Pray hard for a good Conscience a Conscience not only purged by the Blood of Christ from all the guilt which by dead Works you have contracted but also by the same Blood healed of its Sleepiness Stupidity and all other faults of it And that Conscience may more effectually check your Hearts from roving and trifling in attendance upon God look before you with the Eye of strong and steddy Faith and see as far as Death and Judgment and into Eternity and then do you judge whether for your carelesly performed Duties your Lord will say Well done true and faithful Servants The Apostle having lookt as far as his own and also the World's last Day wherein the Heaven shall pass away with a great noise the Elements melt with fervent heat and the Earth and the Works therein shall be burnt up rationally infers that Christians Conversations should be very well ordered Duties of Godliness most undistractedly and seriously performed Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of Persons ought ye to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness 2 Pet. 3. 10 11. 8. Another Remedy against Distraction is growing in Grace and in the knowledge of Christ 2 Pet. 3. 18. This will keep you from being led away by errour and will make you more stedfast in Duty as well as Truth When Grace shall be perfected in Glory distraction will be perfectly cured and here on Earth the Cure is advanced as Grace is augmented The more Grace you have you will set the higher value upon Communion with God and this will fill your Hearts with holy Zeal and Indignation against every thing that may divert your Minds and be an obstruction to this Communion The more Grace you have the more you are filled with the Spirit and when you pray in the Holy Ghost your Prayer will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in-wrought Prayer Jam. 5. 16. How much of the Heart and Soul will be therein And the same Spirit in hearing and other Ordinances will keep your Hearts with God when they are about to turn to the right hand or to the left Isa 30. 21. The more Grace you have the more your Treasure will be in Heaven and you are told Mat. 6. 21. Where your treasure is there will your hearts be also Now that there may be an increase of Grace Christ must be better known for 't is from him that the first Grace is derived and all additional degrees of it Study him more and understand his fulness who fills all in all Eph. 1. 23. Desire with the Apostle that you may know him and the power of his Resurrection and the fellowship of his Sufferings being made conformable to his Death Psal 3. 10. If you conform to the Death of Christ and are crucified and dead to the World and the World to you the things of the World will appear without form and comeliness and will be less able to distract your Minds and ensnare your Affections And if you feel the Power of Christ's Resurrection your Hearts and Thoughts will rise with him and at what a rate will you seek those things that are above The Angels when here on Earth they are doing what God commands them and are in Heaven still as to their Thoughts and as to the Happiness they enjoy You should be heavenly when about your earthly business but especially when you are attending upon the God of Heaven And the more experimentally you understand Christ risen the less will things on Earth be minded and the higher will
that crawl upon the ground How should you look to the frame of your Spirits when you are before him The Passion of fear calls in the Blood to the Heart that the Vitals may be fortified and truly the Grace of fear will call in the Thoughts of the Heart that Duties performed to so great a Majesty may not be an heedless trifling with him 2. Sequester your selves from other business to intend Prayer the more you are disentangled from your Secular Affairs the more free and fit your Hearts will be to be poured out before the Lord in your supplications The further you step out and off from the World when you come to knock at Heaven Gates the more certainly will the Door be opened to you If Mammon has your Thoughts and Desires when you are praying to God you have a jealousie provoking Idol in your Hearts while in his Presence and how offensive must this needs be to him to see an Idol there where he chuses to dwell One thing says the Psalmist have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after Psal 27. 4. Other things were esteemed worthless comparatively Let not other matters distract you when you are calling upon God that you may pray in Prayer and do nothing else but pray Remember distracted Confessions increase Guilt and Wrath distracted Petitions ask for a denial and distracted Praises will tend very much unto the stopping of the Current of Mercies 3. Be perswaded that the Lord will attentively mind what you pray if you intently mind what you pray for your selves He takes pleasure in uprightness and this Heart-searcher well knows who are sincere and not so much as a Sigh or Groan from a sincere Soul shall be disregarded If you from your Heart cry for Mercy Mercy shall compass you about Psal 32. 10. The Prophet tells us That the Lord hearkned and heard Jer. 8. 6. Indeed most speak not aright they repent not of their wickedness saying what have we done But those who do speak aright and being truly sensible of the evil of their doings fervently pray to have their sins covered and all their defilements purged away The Lord who hearkens so attentively will surely hear all such Cries and in no wise deny what is cryed for Believe the mighty efficacy of fervent Prayer and what rich returns this Trading to Heaven brings in and what Treasures Prayer is a Key to unlock that you may be enriched thereby A sacred coveting these unsearchable Riches will make you mind what you are doing when you are praying to partake of them and the Apostle tells you for your encouragement Rom. 10. 12. There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him 4. Cry earnestly for the holy Spirit of Promise You will never pray aright or to any purpose without his aid The Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of Grace because all true Grace is from him and so are all gracious desires and actings He is also called the Spirit of Supplication all acceptable Confessions Petitions and Thanksgivings are of his enditing And this Spirit is promised and how ready is our heavenly Father to give the Spirit to any that ask him Now we read that he which searcheth the heart knoweth what is the Mind of the Spirit for he maketh intercession for the Saints accorning to the Will of God Rom. 8. 27. Saints Prayers are called the Mind of the Spirit he makes them to be according to the Will of God and that not only as to the matter of them but also as to the manner The Spirit of God at first moved upon the face of the Waters and how many useful Creatures did he produce out of a Chaos of Confusion And if that Spirit move upon your Hearts in Prayer he can keep your Thoughts that they stir not from God and cause Faith and godly Sorrow and Hope Humility and Love to be in actual exercise and the more Grace is exercised Prayer will be the less distracted and more successful 5. Let Vigilancy and watching go before keep pace with Prayer and follow after it Why has a Christian new Eyes and Light but that he might watch with the one and by the other Our Lord joyned watching and praying together Prayer without watching will be heartless watching without Prayer will be insufficient for your security Watching with Prayer makes it more serious and to succeed the better The Apostle says The end of all things is at hand be ye therefore sober and watch unto Prayer 1 Pet. 4. 7. Watching unto Prayer summons the whole Soul with all its Faculties to attend upon God and to prepare to meet him We also read Col. 4. 2. Continue in Prayer and watch in the same with Thanksgiving Watching in Prayer is a mighty help against the Heart's straggling This straggling is the sooner observed and the straggling Thoughts presently reduced And he that watches after Prayer diligently and with all thankfulness observes the Answers of Prayer And thus to do will strongly induce you to give your selves more to Prayer in good earnest and to wrestle with him with whom you do so often prevail The fourth and last Duty I shall mention is Communicating at the Lord's Table and that this may be done with less distraction 1. Let there be more serious self-examination before you engage in that holy Ordinance 1 Cor. 11. 28. But let a Man examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup. Look into the State of your Souls and your State is good if you know the true God so as to love him and prefer him in your choice before all things besides and if you know Christ so as to rely upon him with consent to be ruled by him as your Lord and Saviour Joh. 17. 3. This is life eternal thus to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent Take great notice also of Remember that Christ himself is really present at his Table and his Eye which is as a flame of fire observes the frame of every heart Fix your Eye upon your own Hearts since Christ's Eye is upon them the present frame of your Hearts that you may know in what Graces they are weakest and what kind of Lustings of the Flesh are aptest to prevail and what things they are which are most likely to distract your Minds and draw away your Hearts when at the Table your watch hereupon will be the stricter and your thoughts will run the more upon the particular Graces that are to be strengthened and upon the sins too which are to be struck more dead by the power of the Death and Crucifixion of Christ Jesus 2. Let the Death of Christ put you in mind what you were and would have been still if he had not died for you you would have been dead in Law under the damnatory Sentence of it and you would have been dead in
33. 31. There is a Greediness after Gain no hungring and thirsting after Righteousness Iniquity though so hateful and hurtful is regarded in the Heart but there is no regard unto God there How can there be a worse Distraction than for the Heart to forsake Fullness and Goodness it self and to embrace and fix upon meer Emptiness and Evil In this Distraction there is Phrenzy in the highest Degree 7. The Heart is distracted when carnal self and interest in attending upon God is the great end designed The end is that which directs an action and the eye and heart of him who acts is upon the end which he pursues If the end be wrong the action cannot be right Without a sincere aim no religious Duty can sincerely be performed Now if we look no higher than our carnal selves in those Services we pretend to do for God our selfish design will be in our Thoughts and distract them Acceptance with God and the Enjoyment of him will not be at all minded The Captives in Babylon were blamed in their Fasting and Mourning that God was not in their Eye his Approbation his Glory not regarded Zach. 7. 5. Did ye at all fast unto me even unto me They minded returning to Canaan more than returning to God and to their Duty If indeed we are truly selfish God will not be angry with us for there is an inseparable connexion between God's Honour and our truest interest When we seek and eye him most we most truly eye and seek our selves God has the highest Honour from us when we look for the highest Happiness in him and love him for himself and delight in him and bless and magnifie him to eternity But when God himself is not our end but his Service is made use of that we may the better bring about our earthly and worldly designs and projects Our Duties then are Hypocrisie and Distraction Such were those whom the Prophet so severely taxed Jer. 12 2. Thou art near O Lord in their Mouths and far from their Reins They gave good words but their Hearts were far off from that God to whom they spake It was outward Prosperity and Plenty which they sought and this Plenty and Prosperity was most wickedly abused 8. The Heart is distracted when the worship performed is Will worship of Man's Invention not of God's Institution How can there chuse but be Distraction if there be a wandring out of the Way in which he has appointed us to serve him The Jews of old were very culpable in this respect Isa 29. 13. Their Fear towards me says God is taught by the Precepts of Men When Man aspired to be like unto God in Wisdom he deprived himself of the Knowledge of God and grew unacquainted with his Will so that he is utterly unfit to be his own Instructer in Religion there is a necessity of a Revelation from Heaven that God may be known and the right way of serving him may be understood The vilest Impurities the greatest Cruelties have been practis'd under the Name of Devotion when Man has been contriving how God should be served Nay Will-worship is condemned by the Apostle though there be never so great a shew of Wisdom and Humility and neglecting of the Body Col. 2. 23. The Will of God is to determine what Worship pleases him not the Will of Man and whatever Mortifications and Austerities some may fancy God allows an honour and satisfaction to the flesh as long as the Lusts of it are not fulfilled Worship that is not of God's Institution is meer distraction labour to no purpose unless it be to ill purpose When God is represented by Images he is grosly misrepresented the Glory of him who is an incorruptible Spirit is changed When other Mediators in Heaven are made use of besides that great High Priest who is passed into Heaven Jesus the Son of God worship becomes carnal sinful and the mind of the Worshipper instead of drawing near to God is distracted and drawn away from him In the second place I am to tell you what it is to attend upon the Lord without distraction 1. To attend without distraction is to set God just before us and our selves just before God When our Eye is fixt upon his Eye and we behold him looking most stedfastly upon us He searches the Hearts and weighs the Spirits of the Children of Men. Nothing can escape his finding out for he knoweth the Secrets of the Heart Psal 44. 21. Doth not he see my ways says Job not only the ways of the Feet but the ways and Workings of his very Soul were open to God's View We are all here present before God says Cornelius Acts 10. 33. I have set the Lord always before me says David Psal 16. 8. This is undistracted Attendance when the Lord is still kept in our view and we keep and behave our selves as just under the inspection of the all-observing Eye of his Holiness 2. To attend without distraction is to have right apprehensions of God whom we attend upon God is a Spirit and as such he must be apprehended when we worship him that we may worship him in spirit and in truth and that our Conceptions of him may be spiritual and sutable unto his Nature As he is without Passions which Men are subject to so without those bodily parts which Men have Indeed metaphorically Eyes and Hands and Feet and Heart are in Scripture ascribed unto God but by these is signified his Knowledge his Working his Accesses and Departing his Will and Pleasure We must take heed of entertaining gross Idea's and Images in our Minds concerning God Act. 17. 29. We ought not to think says the Apostle that the Godhead is like unto Gold or Silver or Stone graven by art or Man's device Such kind of Representations are very improper of him who not only fills the Earth but the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him Our worship is distraction and the heart is drawn away from God unto a meer Vanity and Idol if God is conceived in the likeness of any Creature How severely are the Gentiles censured and how dreadfully were they punished and left to their vile Lusts and Affections to dishonour their own Bodies because they glorified not God as God but changed his Glory into the Image of corruptible Creatures Rom. 1. 21 22 23. Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkned professing themselves to be wise they became Fools and changed the Glory of the incorruptible God into an Image made like to corruptible Man and to Birds and fourfooted Beasts and creeping things In our Attendance upon God we must think of him as an incomprehensible Spirit of infinite Wisdom Power Truth Holiness Mercy and Goodness ready in Christ to receive returning Sinners but full of displeasure against those that go on still in their Trespasses God must be believed to