the little things which did speak the unsoundness of their hearts so what shall we think of them who spend all or the greatest part of their care and heat about those things which come not under any express command of the Divine Law They that are most curious about their Bodies are as it is to be feared most careless about their Souls they spend so much time at their Glass that they have none for the Bible they are so careful that a Pin be not stuck amiss in their Cloaths that they leave every thing amiss in their Hearts by the Garbs and unreasonable Dresses in which some sillily proud persons come into the Assemblies it is easie for Spectators to determine how they spent and profan'd the Morning of the Sabbath at home and we may apprehend and fear the same in the present case that those persons who are so much set for such things as this are at least very apt and prone to bestow none of their care about that which deserves most they are so much for the place that they forget and neglect the heart they are so thoughtful where they pray that they do not mind how they pray they are so set for a form they do not mind nay possibly they hate the Power But by the way letâ—me whisper this in the ear of these persons That the Altar will not Sanctify a corrupt thing If you bring dead formal lifeless Prayers though you offer them up in your Consecrated Churches nay at your adored Altars they will not come up with a sweet smelling favour and acceptance before God I would not have any body think that I do God forbid that I should say A Form of Prayer and Formality of Heart are inseparable Companions I do not doubt but meer formal Professors are most for forms but I dare not affirm that all those who make use of Forms are meer formal Professors I do not doubt but some looking upon Forms as lawful and out of modesty and an humble sense of the lowness of their own parts do make use of Forms when they pray with others and are conscientious in the use of them and they do accompany the Petitions Confessions and Thanksgivings contained in them with sincere affections and do meet with a gracious acceptance with God and do enjoy a communion with his Holy Majesty But this I will also be bold to say and if any be offended at it upon them be it That constant stated forms of Prayer and Formality are borderers upon one another they live at no such great distance but that they frequently yea commonly meet together in the same Service and in the same Persons And really I am of the mind that it stands them in hand who make use of forms to be very cautious and look warily to themselves lest they do even before they are aware fall into formality that indifferency and lukewarmness of Spirit which God cannot endure When in the forequoted Scripture the Woman of Samaria fell into discourse with Christ about the place of Worship whether it ought to be at Ierusalem or in that Mountain viz. Gerizim our Saviour did wisely and graciously take her off from that as a matter not so momentous as to deserve either her Enquiry or his Resolution and fell to acquainting her with directing her to and putting herâ— upon the Spirituality of that Worship which is to be performed as that which she and every one ought principally to attend unto because it is that which the heart of God is most for and upon which his pure eyes are chiefly set 4 Iohn 23 24. The hour cometh and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth Spiritual Worship is most congruous and agreeable to God Childish Toys please Children who have no more wit outward Pomp and Ceremonies please vain men who have not so good hearts as they should but spiritual Worship is acceptable to that God who is himself a Spirit such Worshippers he seeks others he rejects when he finds them therefore you must be such if you would find favour or receive a Blessing And to shut up this particular I will only add That if men were once set as they should be for the spirituality of Worship they would not be so unreasonably eager as they are for nor so tetchy froward and contentious about Places Modes and Forms which can fetch their pedigree and original no higher than meer human Invention and Appointment Enough of that and it will be well if some persons do not think this a little too much VSE In the third and last branch of this Use of Reprehension my work will be to awaken rouze and startle to convince and bring those to judge and condemn themselves who live without secret Prayer I hear from some and I do more than partly believe it That there are many Professors and those too of some Name and Eminency who live under the dreadful guilt of this sinful omission and if there be some such how great may we suppose the total number to be of them who are this way chargeable tho' let them be never so many every one of them Man Woman and Child is known to that God who observes our down-lying and our up-rising and is acquainted with all our ways There are those that will come to publick Ordinances that they may not be counted Heathens nor suspected to be Papists which Party now blessed be God is under great infamy and reproach tho' not greater than they do deserve upon account of the very Principles of that cursed Religion which they have embraced and do profess Yea and they will attend upon those Ordinances which they think are most purely administred and also join themselves in Communion with those Churches which they look upon as being of the most Scriptural Constitution that so they may be reckoned among Christians of the highest Form and chiefest Rank yea and peradventure they will set up Family-duties they will call their Children and Servants together and all under their â—oof and Charge to seek the Lord lest upon a discontent or remove some-body within doors should tell tales by means whereof their reputation should be blasted and the truth of their Religion called in question by any of those to whom they are desirous yea ambitious of approving themselves But wretches as they are as for Prayer by themselves either in Chamber or in Closet or any where else they do lay it aside altogether God himself will be a swift Witness against them that He and they never so met together They find much other work and can do many other things when they are alone They can spend a great deal of time at the Glass viewing and dressing themselves they can tell their Money and read over their Bills and Bonds but as for Soul-searching
of thy heavenly Father I am confident if thou wilt begin it in good earnest thou wilt not easily give it over I do not indeed know what interruption the Devil may give thee who hates all the Work of God and good of Man but if by temptation thou shouldest for a time be taken off from it thou wilt not be well nor able to enjoy thy self till thou dost return to it again I dare say in an humble holy and beliâ—ving performance thou wilt experience such incompâ—rable sweetness and so much benefit and advantage accruing to thee that thou wilt go on and call upon God as long as thou livest and then expire thy Soul in the same manner as Stephen did whose last words were Prayer Acts 7. 59. Lord Iesus receive my spirit and Lord lay not this sin to their charge and when he had said this he fell asleep That which I have further to do will be in these two things 1. Lay down Motives to the work 2. Give Directions for managing it I shall begin with the Motives for the alluring and drawing you to this excellent work who have hitherto been altogether strangers to it or very backward and by consequence inconstant off and on and I shall most heartily rejoice if the Lord would graciously please to succeed these endeavours so that what I shall suggest to you may bring you upon your knees that there may be more of this Chamber-practice more of a Chamber-fellowship and Closet-communion with your God The Motives are these First Do you pray in secret because that God who is the proper Object of Prayer seeth in secret as trusting in him you do at no time and in no condition trust in a God that cannot save so directing your Prayers to him you do in no place pray unto a God that cannot hear When Hagar had in a fear fled from the face of her incensed Mistress God found her out in the Wilderness where she was absconded and appeared and spake unto her there whereupon it is said in Gen. 16. 13. That she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her Thou God seest me for she said Have I also here looked after him that seeth me We may as some do reckon these words to be words of reprehension as relating to herself and words of admiration as referring to God Have I also looked after him Here I am but how stupid and foolish have I been I have been looking back to the Comforts which I had when in the Family and under the wing of my Master Abraham and I have been looking to the displeasure and severity of my Mistress Sarahâ—â— and I have been looking to the desolate place and distressed condition into which I am now brought but have I here minded God and looked after God I have been so afflicted with my loss and have pored so much upon my troubles that I have been unmindful of God did find neither heart nor leisure to think of Him or look after Him a Case it is too common among the children of men yet here he â—eeth me and minds me here he looks upon my person and upon my affliction and sorrow And maist not Thou my Friend say the very same when thou art alone and in thy Closet-recesses Thou God seest me When no soul living is by when no mortal eye seâ—th me then Thou God seest me Now let me desire thee after that serious consideration to propound this as a serious Question to thy self Have I also here looked after him that seeth me God's eyes have been here upon me but have mine eyes been again upon God and unto God It may be thou art able to say In the publick Congregation I have looked after that God who seeth me there I have had many frequent repeated and raised thoughts at him there I have waited for him more than they that watch for the morning yea more than they that watch for the morning But when thou art in thy Chamber canst thou make thy Appeal to God and say O Lord thou knowest and art my witness that even here I have looked after thee that seest me here mine eyes of Faith and Prayer have been toward the Lord that seeth me This is an Argument which our deâ—râ—st Lord Jesus maketh use of in the Text That your Father seeth in secret The Royal Prophet saith Psalm 139. 7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence The Question speaks it a thing impossible to be done His eye is fastned upon thee and follows thee whithersoever thou goest look to thy self and ponder all thy actions thou art under the pure and piercing and all-discerning eye of the infinitely Great and Glorious Majesty when thou art in the Congregation and in the Street and in the Shop and in the Kitchen yea and when thou art in the Closet too And since he doth see thee there what wouldst thou have him see thee doing wouldst thou have him see nothing but vanity in thy mind and corruption in thy heart wouldst thou have him see nothing done by thee but looking into thy Glass and into thy Chests and Bags or turning over thy Fineries and Fooleries and so feeding thy Wantonness and Pride or making provision for a perishing Carkass to deck and adorn it or gratifie a bruitish and sensual Appetite but never see thee upon thy knees seeking his face and favour or the good of thine own precious and never-dying Soul Oh that His Eye might affect your Hearts That Divine Eye which is upon all your ways and looks you thorow and thorow That Eye which is ten thousand times yea inconceivably more than the eyes of all the Angels in Heaven and of all the Men upon Earth The Eye of God should among others have these two effects upon us and upon all men that know and own him First It should awe us Seâ—ondly It should quicken and animate us It should awe us when we are in secret and be an effectual curb to those Lusts and Corruptions which would otherwise break loose and grow rampant When no body is by do not dare to sin because God is by This preserved young Ioseph from falling before a great temptation When he might have procured the savour of his Mistress and as some would have thought have done himself a kindness this thought brake the neck of the temptation How shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God Again the Eye of God should animate and put life into you it should as a golden Spur quicken you to the careful and lively performance of Duty when you are in secret and no body at hand to take notice of it and make report Let it be enough for you enough alone that God seeth your love to him and the desires of your Souls to his Name and a remembrance of him and communion with him and He needs none to inform him of your unmindfulness and neglect of him no no He
and thy countenance is comely When she is most retired and absconded Christ loves both to see her and hear her tho' she be Sun-burnt with Persecution and sooted with Infirmities yet her Countenance is comely in the eye of Christ because there he seeth his own and his Father's Image and tho' her Prayers be broken and as the chatterings of a Crane yet the voice is sweet in the ear of Christ because it is the language of his own Spirit And although our Lord spake this to his Spouse the Church yet it may be applied to particular Christians who are Parts and Members of the Church and may take the comfort of it to themselves When Elijah was as you heard and we noted before under the Juniper-Tree God was pleased to come and join himself to him and would have from his own mouth an account of his Case and the reason of his withdrawing himself What dost thou here Elijah what was it that brought thee hither and what is it that thou wouldst have of me Know O holy Soul thou standest in the same relation to God and hast the same interest in him and maist promise thy self the same kindness God will not think it too much for his Majesty to come to thee alone when desired and when he comes to bring with him a blessing for thee though thou takest none here to back thee hast not a Friend on Earth to join in the Suit yet do thou go and state thine own case draw up thy Petition and present it unto God with an hand of faith setting the name of Christ to it and God will presently add his fiat his Amen though it may be the answer shall not presently be given in to thee yet the grant shall be past in Heaven thy Father will say Be it unto this soul even as it will Nay he will not only give the thing if it be good for thee but more too and while thou askest like a Child he will answer thee like a God A most gracious assurance hereof you have in the words of the Text from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself who is the faithful and true witness Thy father which seeth in secreâ— shall reward thee openly He sees the sincerity of thy heart and the importunity of thy desires he seeth how thou labourest at the Oar and what pains thou hast taken and with what great wrestlings thou hast wrestled and having seen he will reward the work is done and the reward is to come So then if thou wilt believe Christ thou shalt not lose thy labour thou shalt not have pangs and throws of Soul and after all bring forth nothing but wind never did any one Holy Prayer fall short of Heaven and drop by the way the great God is not wont to set his Children about any unprofitable work Paul I am sure was of that mind when he said in 1. Cor. 15. last Be stedfast immovable always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. As their grievous sufferings turn them to a very good account so shall all their holy actions There is never an appointment of duty for them but it carrieth in its Bowels a design of Mercy He saith not to the seed of Iacob seek ye my face in vain the preparing and engaging of their hearts to pray speaks his readiness and resolution to incline his ear to hear When he bids them open their mouths it is that he might fill them He would not have them give a knock at his door to no purpose but hath promised when they do it shall be opened to them and when he opens his door he will open his heart and hand too and not send them away empty When he bids them seek it is in order to their finding and that which they find shall be worth their while and pay them for all the pains they took to be sure they shall not have cause to complain as those that sit down losers and have a disappointment of their expectations Nay further our Saviour tell us that he will reward us openly He will not be ashamed that the World should see how he useth his Servants they shall see there is a reward for the Righteous and though the Devil was a Fool in going about to charge rotten sordid designs and a mercenary selfishness upon Iob yet he himself was forced to acknowledg that Iob did not serve God 〈◊〉 nought He will reward thee openly both here and hereafter before Angels and Men as you have compassed his Altar with your Supplications so will he compass you about with Favour and with Songs he will make it manifest he will convince his enemies a foolish wicked and ungrateful World of all the hard speeches which they had spoken against him they themselves shall see it false That it is a vain thing to serve God he will by his liberal rewards given them extort from them this acknowledgment That the Lord is good to them that wait upon him and to the soul that seeks him especially it shall be thus at the last and great day which will be the day of recompences the day in which God will make up his Iewels and set them not in Gold but in Glory Then as you have it in Mal. 3. 18. yea then indeed shall ye discern between the righteous and the wicked betweem him that serveth God and him that serveth him not between him that seeketh God and him that seeketh him not between him that prayeth and him that prayeth not Then there shall be an apparent and manifest difference the stone-blind World those that are wickedly wilfully blind shall see it to their vexation and torment These are the motives by which I did design and do hope to work upon your hearts these the Silken Cords of a Man the Rational Arguments with which I would alluâ—e and draw you to the conscientious chearful performance of this excellent necessary and Soul-chearing Soul-fattening Duty of Secret-Prayer and oh that I might hear you have been wrought upon by them and prevailed with Now that you might do this work well and not fail as to the right management of it and so not miss and fall short of those singular benefits and advantages which come by it I shall afford you what assistance I judge needful in the case and in silence passing over those Directions which refer to Prayer in general I shall give you up some that do particularly concern and relate to Secret-Prayer they are these I beseech you mind and Practise them First Make thy secret approaches to God with the greatest solemnity of Spirit that thou canst though thou goest in the multitude of mercies and with faith in Christ and with hope of finding Grace yet be sure that in his fear thou worship toward his Holy Temple though thou art alone and without any here to be an eye-witness do thou draw nigh unto him with as great an â—we
and dread upon thy spirit with as great â—umility and reverence in thy carriage and deportment as if thou hadst the eyes of all the World upon thee though thou mayest in thy retirements be more free and open in giving an account of thy self and thy condition thy burthens wants and desires because no body sees thee yet thou must not be rude unmannerly and sawcy because God sees thee When thou art in a Corner God is in Heaven upon a Throne of Glory attended by innumerable Angles who in his presence cover their Faces with their Wings as knowing their distance their inability and unworthiness to behold him Remember thou hast to do with Majesty yea with an Infinite and Glorious Majesty and Shall not his excellency make you afraid and his dread fall upon you Job 13. 11. And indeed then are we most excellent when we do most fear God's Excellency David began Psalm 8. with the admiration of God's Excellency O Lord our Lord how excellent is thy name in all the earth And then in the same Psalm he fell to humbling and vilifying thoughts and expressions of Man What is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him Abraham was the Father of the faithful and the Friend of God yet how low was he in his own eyes and how much fill'd with an awe of God when he alone stood before him pleading for wicked Sodom Observe how he carried and what he said Genesis 18. 27. Behold now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord which am but dust and ashes And vers 30. O let not the Lord be angry and I will speak And yet again verse 32. O let not the Lord be angry and I will speak yet but this once By all this you see how much he was afraid of offending God and this is that which God expects from his creatures yea from his dearest Children he stands upon his honour and looks to be treated like himself Levit. 10. 3. Moses said unto Aaron This is that the Lord spake I will be sanctified in all them that come nigh me See then that you have grace to serve him with reverence and godly fear as knowing that your God is a consuming fire Heb. 12. 28 29. Nadab and Abihu found him so when destroyed by fire that came from his presence upon their not observing his order in matter of worship they brought with them strange fire and met with devouring fire Therefore do you fear before him when you pray to him and though no-body be by remember and consider that God is by as to hear your Prayers so curiously to observe both the frame of your spirits and the manner of your deportments before him as he is of pitiful eyes so of pure and piercing eyes which cannot indure to behold iniquity and from which nothing can be hid all is naked and open before him with whom you have to do Secondly When thou settest about the work of Secret-Prayer study and endeavour secrecy to the utmost and be as secret as ever thou canst do not tell others the business thou art taking in hand What though none know of it let it be enough for thee that thy Father doth for that is enough he alone is sufficient to be thy witness and to do for thee all that thou desirest Never go to it with a design nor in such manner that others may take notice of it for thy commendation A Christian indeed may do Alms and pray so as to be taken notice of and let his light shine before Men in order to the alluring of others and drawing them to the like acts of piety and charity But to give others by any means an item of our private Duties in order to our own applause that we might have praise with Men and be by them accounted in the number of serious strict and eminent Christians is too low a pitch for the Children of God to fly it is Pharisaically wicked and abominable And sure I am you your selves will find it true at the last That a name thus obtained will not pay the charge but cost you a great deal more than it is worth It is far better for us to take care of our duty and leave it to God to take care of our names If we can please God and get to Heaven we shall be glad to be there though no-body knew all the steps we took in the way thither When thou art in the work and warm at it when the Fire burns speak with thy tongue it is thy friend in Prayer and thy glory in Praises but command it to keep a due decorum be not so loud that others may hear do not like some make the street ring I readily grant that the lifting up of the voice is sometimes the effect of an oppressed spirit whom speaking will not serve there must be crying and that aloud sometimes it is the effect of a soul fir'd and inflam'd with holy longings and it may be allowed to be an help to the raising up of the spirit and affections Only when thou dost make use of it get as far as thou canst out of the hearing of others that thou mayest not be as the hypocrites are If thou hast not conveniency for that neither within doors nor without then go to God as he came to Elijah in a soft and still voice Thy Father can hear thy whispers for thou always speakest in his ear yea more Romans 8. 27. He that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the spirit He had in the Verse before spoken of groans that could not be utter'd desires that are in the Soul which it knoweth not how to express but though thou canst utter neither sighs nor groans nor words God knoweth your minds what your spirits are working out after when you say nothing he can tell what you would have All my desire is before thee He understands the language of thy sighs yea thy very tears are to him articulate when he doth not hear the words of thy mouth We do not find that Woman said any thing who washed Christ's Feet with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head but in those tears and actions Christ saw love and thankfulness much is forgiven her therefore she loveth much yea he doth know what you have a mind to by your very looks Hence it was that when the floods compassed Ionah about and all the billows and waves passed over him and he looked upon himself as being in a perishing condition he resolved upon giving God a look before he was quite lost Ionah 2. 4. Then I said I am cast out of thy sight yet I will look again toward thy holy Temple and that look saved him Verse 6. Thou hast brought up my life from corruption O Lord my God He looks pitifully up to God and God looks graciously down upon him do thou so act the Saint as carefully to avoid every