there is no miraculous opening of the Heavens nor the glorious Scene withdrawn to discover the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God Farther At the Name of Jesus is not every knee to bow of things in Heaven and things under the Earth Are not all the Angels to worship him So that since nothing is to be worship'd but God and Christ is to be worship'd it follows that Christ is God But to make a short Reflection on what has been said on this Argument There is no occasion to prove to the strict Followers of Socinus that Christ ought to be worship'd for they are as zealous Patrons of his Worship as they are artificial Underminers of his Divinity For Socin ad Praefat. Vujek p. 8. Edit 1624. Socinus expresly Excommunicates all those who denied our Saviour's Worship He declares that If Christ is not to be invok'd then is he Christ only in Name That such Praefat. ad Respons F. David a Notion is a manifest tendency to Judaism and to exalt Moses above Christ That Tom. 1. pag. 656. they who are against the Worship of Christ cannot be Christians because tho' they dare not openly yet do they really deny Jesus to be Christ. But that which made it necessary in this Argument to insist on the Worship due to Christ is the Position of the modern Socinians who finding how hard it was to reconcile the Worship of a God Made with the Divine Prohibitions against Idolatry have thrown off our Saviour's Worship with his Divinity I shall only quote the words of one of their own Party There are says he no acts of Worship Answer to Milbourne p. 50. requir'd to be paid to the Lord Jesus Christ but such as may be paid to a Civil Power to a Person in high Dignity and Office to Prophets and Holy Men and to such as are actually possest of the Heavenly Beatitudes But to proceed Secondly Christ or the Word is God because of his Co-partnership with God the Father in those Actions which could only be perform'd by his Substantial union with the Divine Nature These Actions are the Creation of the World the Inspiration of the Prophets the Exercising all power in Heaven and in Earth Raising the Dead out of their Graves Judging them according to their Works the Destruction of the World First Christ is God because of His Co-partnership with God the Father in the Creation of the World For to Create is an act proper to the Deity For he spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast He hath made the Earth by his Power he hath established the World by his Wisdom and hath stretched out the Heavens by his Discretion Nor had he any Creature to assist him in his miraculous Production for He is God even he alone he made Heaven and Earth But 't is very plain that all things were Created by Christ For all things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made He was in the World and the World was made by him and the World knew him not 'T is true the Socinians understand this Creation not of the Mosaick forming every thing out of Nothing but of the New Gospel-Creation by which the Reasonable World if we may so style it was put into a capacity of recovering its original Rectitude and Uprightness But this is a forc'd sence and quite different from what the ancient Fathers understood the words in Nay the very Arians themselves apply'd them to a proper Creation and to obviate the stress of them made Christ God's Instrument or subservient Power only in the Creation But as to the Socinian sence if Creation in these places is wholly Figurative and Metaphorical why may it not be so in the first Chapter of Genesis too Why may not the Creation of the visible Heavens and the Earth in the Old Testament be no more than the Foundation of the Jewish Common-wealth since it is own'd that by New Heavens and new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness in the New no more is understood than a renew'd state of things under the Gospel Why should the darkness which was upon the face of the Earth signifie more than that State of spiritual Darkness which blinded the whole World before the Mosaick Law Why might not the Sun be the Law the great Guide of the Jews the Moon and the Stars the Laws and Directors of other obscurer Nations Why may not the Firmament amidst the Waters be the Jewish Polity struggling with oppositions as the Earth appearing out of the Waters the settlement of that State since Waters in Scripture-Language often denote Troubles And thus a new Face might be put upon the whole Scripture But farther to overthrow this novel and over-refin'd sence of Creation St. Paul remarks to the Colossians that By Christ were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible whether they are Thrones and Dominions or Principalities or Powers Where it is to be observ'd first That All in Heaven and Earth things void of Reason and so not liable to Error or Sin and so uncapable of this New Creation were made by Christ Secondly That Dominions and Powers Angels whether Good or Bad were form'd by him But the Good had no need of this New Gospel-Creation They never stain'd those Robes of Glory with which they were made and so had no need to be washed by the bloud of the Lamb. The Bad as falling from the very Throne of God and descending cheaply and foolishly into Darkness contracted such a Guilt as the greatest Mercy of the Gospel could not reach And so were unfit Subjects for this New Creation Thirdly That it was the aim of this Epistle to oppose the Heresie of Simon Magus Menander and Basilides v. Epiphan p. 56. Edit Pet. â— whose Error it was That the World was made by the Angels To confront which S. Paul not only shews that Angels themselves were created and so could not be Creators but that they and the whole World were made by God and Christ and the Holy Spirit Three Persons and One God So that this place can never be understood of this New Creation or Gospel Renovation As Christ is God because he Created the World so is he God Secondly Because he Inspir'd the Holy Prophets For he by whom the Prophets spake was God For the Word which came by them was the Word of the Lord and the Scriptures which they wrote is said to be given by Inspiration of God For Holy Men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost But he who speaks by the Holy Ghost speaks by the Spirit of God the Son as well as by the Spirit of God the Father 'T is true Schlictingius answers That the Holy Ghost is term'd the Spirit of Christ not because he proceeded from Christ but because he spake of Christ But in this sence the Holy Ghost might be call'd the Spirit
of Abraham or of Lot as well as of Christ because he spake of them too Nay there is no Being so evil which is ever mention'd in Holy Writ but the ever-blessed Spirit might be said to be their Spirit according to this wild and uncouth Hypothesis St. Barnabas styles the Spirit of the Prophets the Spirit of God who should appear in the Flesh Justin Martyr says that the Prophets were not Self-inspir'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apolog. 2. p. 76. Irenaeus against Marcion as expresly that it was Jesus Edit Sylburg lib. 4. c. 21. Advers Haeres p. 337. Edit F. Ardent Christ who spake to Abraham and Moses If it was God therefore who spake by the Prophets and Christ was Co-partner with God the Father in this speaking Christ must be God of the same Nature with the Father Thirdly Christ is God because of his Exercising all power in Heaven and in Earth For the Government of the World is a Branch of the Divine Prerogative He rules over all Kingdoms of the Earth He whose Name is Jehovah is the highest over all the Earth But Volkelius himself as refin'd an Author De Ver. Rel. Book 3. c. 21. as any that Party can boast freely owns that Christ exercises Jurisdiction over all things to use his own words which are contain'd not only in the vast compass of the Earth but also of the Heavens Christ therefore must be God Fourthly Christ is God because He is to raise the Dead from their Graves to Life and a new State For none but He who breath'd a living Soul into us can restore it None but One whose Understanding is infinite who knows every Atome of our Bodies every Dust and Particle which belongs to us He who is conscious what Dust appertains to each Body what Body to each Soul None but One whose Power is as unbounded as his Knowledge in regard of whom all Creatures must suffer and do what he will have them Who can summon and re-assemble our scatter'd Atomes from the Earth and from the Waves and reconcile our long estrang'd Parts to their ancient familiarity Whose Voice can awake the sleepers of Thousands of Years some to Peace and Joy but some to Misery and everlasting Contempt But Christ is the Person who must raise the Dead For the Dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live All that are in the Graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done Good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done Evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation Fifthly Christ is God because He shall Judge the World For it is necessary for him who shall Judge the World that he should be intimately acquainted with the Consciences of all Mankind that all their Thoughts should be laid naked and open to his view and that all the devices of their Hearts should be manifest to him But none besides God can have such a Knowledge as this for Lo he that declareth unto man what is his thought that maketh the morning darkness the Lord the God of Hosts is his Name But Christ is ordain'd by God to be Judge of the Quick and Dead and to this end Christ both died rose and revived that he might be Judge both of the Dead and the Living and so for that reason must be God Lastly He who shall destroy and change the World who in the Prophet's Language shall roll the Heavens together as a Scrowl the Heavens which like a wide stretched Scrowl are written over with beauteous Characters by God's own hand he is God For this is one of the peculiar Actions of God that he shall destroy the Heavens For as a Vesture shall he change them and they shall be changed But Volkelius owns that our Saviour has such a power and that he shall roll them up together like a Scrowl and burn them And therefore on that account must be God which may be farther made out Secondly From the ill Consequences of the contrary Assertion For how open does the Socinian Christ lie to the Exceptions of the Jews or the more rational sort of Deists who own a God a Providence and a future State and to any who maintain the Unity of the Godhead yet deny the Divinity of Christ And is it not very sutable for the Jews to reason against Christianity from the Socinian Principles after this method We are convinc'd from Scripture that there is but one God we know that there is no other besides him or with him for Who is God save the Lord and who is a Rock save our God But now you introduce one Jesus as God who was neither God from Eternity nor by Nature and Essence This new this created God we look upon as a Fiction we can pay him no Homage no Adoration till we have renounc'd Moses and the Prophets and offer'd violence to the Principles of Reason and Natural Religion Farther our God has taught us by his Prophet Isaiah that He even he is the Lord and besides him there is no Saviour and this is spoken Prophetically with regard to the times of the Messias How then can we own this Jesus for our Saviour who is by Nature different from God We are commanded to worship the Lord our God and to serve him only How then may we worship and serve Jesus who is a God different from the God of Israel How can we give him equal Honour with the Lord Jehovah without provoking his Wrath and forcing him to repeat all those Inflictions on us which our Fathers justly suffer'd God has expresly declar'd that He withnot give his glory to another but by worshiping your Jesus is not God's Glory given 〈…〉 Object distinct from God The Scriptures solemnly inform us that God alone â—â—â—â—'s the Heart and the Reins and is conscious to all the Thoughts of Men If we as you do should apply these Actions to the Man Jesus we should be guilty of advancing a false God into the Throne of the Almighty and making a Creature rival the Deity Farther Has not God taught us to address to him alone in the time of our Distress and promis'd his succours to encourage our Prayers Can we then pray to your Jesus whom you your selves deny to be the true God of Israel The Scripture threatens that Gods which have not made the Heavens and the Earth even they shall perish from the Earth and from under the Heavens Can we then honour him for God who was so far from making the Heavens and the Earth that he himself had no Being when they were form'd Or can God at the last Day be angry at us for not receiving and worshiping him as God who according to Scripture was to perish from the Earth and under the Heavens Lastly The Idea which we have and always had of God represents him to our Minds as present every where Omniscient and Almighty If therefore he who is offer'd to us
and if Christ is honour'd with such a Worship it follows that Christ must be truly God But nothing can be worship'd with Divine Worship but God himself For every act which signifies an Honour peculiar to God signifies also an Excellence which belongs to none but him and to ascribe Divine Honour to any Object is at the same time to attribute Divine Perfections to it The Command of worshiping the Lord our God and of serving him only was not a Temporary Command which as some pretend Volkel de ver Rel. l. 5. 6. 29. oblig'd purely under the Old Testament but is a standing Rule for Divine Worship under the Gospel as well as under the Law For our Saviour did not abrogate any Branch of the Law but what was meerly Typical But how could a Precept for Divine Worship be a Type What could it represent or figure out in the Evangelical Occonomy But 't is farther reply'd That in worshiping Christ we worship the Father by whom he was endued with such a Power and that this is the difference between the Worship of God and of Christ That the Worship of the former is circumscrib'd and bounded within Himself whereas that of the batter is only relative or as others term it God is worship'd as Jo. Lud. Wolzogen on Matth 4. 10. p. 189. the supreme cause of All things as the first Author of our Salvation but Christ only as the Means which God had appoinied to bring about that miraculous Work But this way of reasoning does not only conclude for the worshiping of Christ but of any other extraordinary Instrument of Man's Salvation The Apostles themselves on this account might have been ador'd as well as their Divine Lord and Master And St. Peter was not justly acquainted with the Privileges annex'd to his Apostleship when he reprimanded the devout Centurion for falling down at his feet and worshiping him The chief Objection which can be form'd against this Argument is That Angels have had Divine Smalc Hom. 1. in 1 Job Worship paid them by the Patriarchs and therefore Divine Worship may be given to others besides God To this the Orthodox Junius Piscator and others reply and even the Socinians themselves grant that these Angels were God or the Messias himself That he on some great design assum'd an Angelick Form as he did afterwards for Man's Salvation an Human Nature and therefore the paying of Divine Worship to Him was no alienation of it from God But upon a due enquiry it will appear that this is more than the Orthodox ought to have said or than the Socinians had reason to have allow'd For these Celestial Beings mention'd in Scripture if ever yet certainly were not always the Messias but sometimes at least as they are expresl Angels For as the Messias never took on him the Nature of Angels so neither did he in all these places of Seripture their Appearance For the Apostle St. Paul with a great deal of Elegance and equal Passion recommending the Virtue of Hospitality in allusion to these Texts of Scripture says That some of the Patriarchs in practising it had entertained Angels unawares But would not his Reason have had much more force as well as beauty if they had entertain'd God or the Messias himself unawares What cause had he to dissemble the dignity-of the Person who vouchsafed to visit these hospitable Roofs and do an injury if not to the Truth at least to his Subject But to return Why should this Veneration which was paid to the Angels be any thing more than a Civil Honour and Deference exprest indeed after an extraordinary manner on account of the greatness of the Persons and the glorious import of their Message So that from hence cannot be deduc'd any Worship due to Angels nor have we hence any reason to conclude that any thing is to be worship'd besides God alone As it is thus plain that God only is to be worship'd so is it equally so that Christ may be honour'd with Divine Worship For it is made part of the terms of Salvation to worship him â—â— for Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved Where Lord can only be apply'd to our Saviour Jesus and not to God the Father since it agrees only to Him who in the former part of the Discourse was by the Apostle styl'd a stumbling stone and a rook of offence which cannot fute with God the Father who was own'd by all Nations without the least scruple And it is farther to be observ'd that these words are cited from the Prophet Joel where the word Lord is Jehovab God by Nature Being and Essence not a Creature invested with Divinity according to the new fancy of our Adversaries Secondly St. Paul ushers in most of his Epistles with this Prayer full of Charity Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christs combineing Jesus with God the Father which had been the highest injury to the former had the latter only been a Creature how exalted soever his Rank might have been to have jointly petition'd him to have given Grace and Peace to the Saints And tho' to this it is return'd That St. John in the Revelation might by the same reason be said to pray to the seven Spirits which were before the Throne of God and so have equal'd them with God Yet this objection will rather support our Reasons when we consider that by the seven Spirits are to be understood the Holy Ghost and its seven-fold Gifts as they are brancht out by the Prophet Isaiah into The Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding the Spirit of Counsel and Might the Spirit of Knowledge of Piety and of Fear of the Lord. For otherwise why should St. John place any other Spirits between God and Christ Why should he omit the Holy Ghost the Giver of Grace and address himself to Angels who are but Ministring Spirits So that this instead of overthrowing what was before laid down will be a new Instance of joyning nothing with God but what is God Farther St. Stephen a Man full of Faith and the Holy Ghost recommends his departing Soul to our Saviour as equal to the Father of Spirits with this solemn Invocation Lord Jesus receive my Spirit And tho' to this it is reply'd That this act of St. Stephen ' s can be no Precedent to us because he saw the Heavens open'd and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God yet why should the sight or concealment of the object of our Adoration make it more or less adorable God tho' He is a God who hides himself who tho' He inhabits Regions of Eternal Light is invisible to our Eyes of Flesh yet is He still to be worship'd with the most humble Devotion And as long as we are convinc'd by Faith that Christ is ready to succour us in our Necessities and give us what we ask we have reason enough to Pray to Him tho'
other Creatures of God are yet are they noâ— in any capacity of paying Obedience to his Commands inasmuch as they neither have any Knowledge of God's Commands nor any freedom of Will to comply with them tho' they had From hence it follows that we must look out for other Agents as the Doers of the Divine Will here spoken of so that it is indispensably necessary to resolve the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nyssen in Orat. Dom Serm. 50. Holy Angels and the Spirits of Just Men made perfect to be they Those who ought to be Actors of God's Will in Earth and ought to follow the Doing of it in Heaven are Men who are the only Beings on Earth capable of a reasonable Compliance with it those who are strangers to that Will and Kingdom as well as those who are acquainted with it and are Parts of it So that the force of the Words is this That the Holy Angels and Blessed Saints are a just Pattern and an adequate Model for Man to form his Obedience upon insomuch that the Perfection or Impâ—â—fection of Man's Obedience may be duly measur'd by its approach to oâ— distance from that of the Saints and Angels To clear which Aâ—â—â—â—tion I shall First Shâ—w â—haâ— the Obedience of the Blessed is a just Rule for our Obedience as to the Matter about which it is employ'd because that their Duâ—iâ—s one towards another and their Religious Worship towards God as to the main and substance of them are the same with what we are obâ—â—g d to Secondly That their Obedience aâ— to the Manner Method and Circâ—mstances of performing them are the same with what we ought to do So that the Divine Will pâ—â—â—â—â—h'd in Heaven is a just Standard for the performing it in Earth And First That the Obedience of the Blessed is a just Rule for ouâ— Obedience as to the Matter about which iâ— is employ'd because that thâ—â—â— Duties â—nâ— towards another and their Religious Worship towards God as to the main and substance of them are the same with what we are oblig'd to And First I shall shew that the Blessed in Heaven practice the same Graces the same Religious Acts of Worship towards God and of Charitâ—â— one towards another which we are oblig'd to on Earth Secondly That they practice them by a Rule Thirdly That this Rule is the same with that by which we ought to regulate our Actions First That the Blessed in Heaven perform the same Religious Acts of Worship towards God and of Charity one towards another which we are oblig'd to on Earth Tho' some have faâ—cied that the Ever-blessed Saints and Angels employ their happy Eternity only in Admiring the Divine Perfections and in those Transports which rise from the Contemplation of so glorious a Being as the Deity Yet upon aâ—just Enquiry it will appear that their endless Life is spent in Action as well as Contemplation and that Heaven is a State of fulfilling God's Will in a vigorous Practice of those Graces which he has enjoin'd as well as in Adoring his Divine Nature For the Virtues and Graces which God has commanded here are not only Means to arrive at Happiness hereafter but to retain it also In this present Life they are suited to God's Obedience but in the next to his Enjoyment so that no Virtue is necessary to compleat a Christian which is not equally requir'd to perfect a Saint And tho' the present Necessiries and Imperfections of this Life demand the Exercise of some Actions which are useless in the next yet even those Actions shall not be so much abolish'd as chang'd into Graces of a nobler Extraction †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oecumen in 1 Cor. c. 13. v. 9. They shall be refin'd and exalted and apply'd to Objects of a purer Nature and shall sharâ— in the happy Change of that Creature to whom they belong Man advanc'd into Heaven shall retain his Virtues as well as his Nature but they too shall be made more pure more spiritual as well as that It must be confest that some of the * v. Gr. dâ— Valent â—om 2. disp 5. q. 7. puncto 4. Schoolmen are of a different Opinion particularly as to Faith and Hope These Virtues they banish from Heaven and exclude from the Practice of the Blessed Their Reasons are First Because these are imperfect Virtues and therefore are not suitable to a perfect State and when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away Secondly Because St. Paul when he draws his Parallel between Faith Hope and Charity says that the Last shall abide in a future State which he does not affirm of the Two former Thirdly Because these two Virtues are employ'd about Objects not yet seen or obtain'd when therefore their Object shall be seen Face to Face and when with these Eyes with which we now see thro' a glass darkly we shall view God even as he is in all his Robes of Glory then surely Hope and Faith must cease for that which a Man has why does he yet hope for And Faith since it is an Evidence of Things not seen must certainly be done away when the Vision of God is immediately communicaâ—â—ditous But none of these Reasons are truly Conclusive Not the First for if the Imperfection of a Virtue was a sufficient Ground to exclude it out of Heaven thâ—n even Charity it self would be exil'd thence for our present Charity is an Imperfect one The most spotless and pure of Human kind could never practice it up to that Height to which it obliges Nor is there more strength in the second Reason for tho the Apostle asserts that Charity shall abide in Heaven yet he does not deny but Faith and Hope may remain too â— nor from his Silence about them ought we to conclude the contrary As to the Third Reason Our Hope shall not be abolish'd in Heaven tho' we enjoy that there which we hope for here nor our Faith tho' our Eyes then behold that Glory which is at present only the Object of our Belief for our Faith shall be exalted into clear and distinct Vision and our Hope into full and firm Comprehension Nor shall they lose their own Natures by this exaltation any more than the first strictures of the Morning are lost in full Day or the light of a Man 's own Reason in that of Revelation For Faith and Knowledge are the same kinds of Acts in our Understandings Hope and Love are the same Motions of our Wills for what we hope for absent we love present If therefore we shall know God and love him in a future State our Hope and Faith by our Translation into Heaven shall not perish but be compleated For tho' the Gifts of Tongues and Prophecy those pompous Instruments of Religion shall be useless in a future State where theâ—e shall be but one Tongue tun'd to the Eternal Praises of God and Vision shall disappoint Revelation yet
nor have its Being This is the chief Branch of the Worship of God requir'd of all who acknowledge Him to Be and most reasonable for all who own the World to be govern'd by His Providence and themselves to stand in need either of His Grace or His Pardon or who hope for His Rewards or fear His Punishments in a future State And as it is thus a very necessary Duty so if exactly practic'd is it a difficult one too For it is a Discoursing with God and for Man who is but of yesterday to correspond with the Almighty who inhabits Eternity must employ the utmost force of all his Powers and Faculties For if the Cherubim and Seraphim who were always without Spot or Blemish and in whom was never found any Guile cover their Faces while they are Praising and Adoring the infinite Perfections of God what Gesture can be humble enough for Man who composes himself to Pray to Him laden with his Sins and whose Iniquities have gone over his Head If those glorious Spirits are describ'd in Scripture as shifting from place to place while they are worshiping their Creator as conquer'd and overpower'd by the Purity of His Nature with what Confusion must Man appear before Him who was conceiv'd in Sin and born in Iniquity What attention and application of Thought What modesty of Expression What submissiveness of Behaviour What Love and Admiration What warmth of Affection must be us'd to make our Sacrifices acceptable to our Maker And certainly as it had been the highest Presumption to have offer'd to have entertain'd any Entercourse with the Almighty had not He Himself encourag'd it so since He has vouchsafed to do it it is our most excellent Glory that we can address our Supplications to Him But still the Obligation abides to put them up with all the Devotion and Fervency of Spirit which our Imperfections are capable of to prepare our selves with the nicest diligence that we may Pray always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit By Praying always is not meant a constant or continued Exercise of the Act of Prayer so as to be always invoking the Name of God For this would be inconsistent with our other relative Duties for there are Virtues to be practic'd which more immediately regard our Neighbour and our selves as well as those which solely respect God and we are oblig'd to Justice Charity and Humanity as well as to Pray Praise and Adore But by Praying always is to be understood such a Godlike Frame and Temper of Spirit accompany'd with such an Innocence of Life and relish of Heavenly Things that we may be ever dispos'd for this Duty when fit opportunities shall call for it By Praying in the Spirit whatsoever the Enthusiasts pretend seems to be only imply'd that our Prayers ought to have the Qualifications before mention'd so that they ought to be put up rather for things Spiritual than Temporal for God's assistance to enable us to persevere in Goodness for the removal or averting of Temptations for all Graces needful for us and Means for the securing or encreasing of them which are styl'd the Gifts or Privileges of the Holy Spirit And this too falls under the former Head and is a Qualification necessary to make us Pray aright since there can be no better Argument that we are well qualified for Prayer than that we pray for Blessings of the most noble Importance the most momentous Concern So that in the Text are couch'd the Qualifications requir'd to make us successful Petitioners at the Throne of Grace For the reason why so many Prayers are not heard by Heaven after those Promises which are annex'd to the Performance of this Duty is because we are not duly accomplish'd to be Candidates for its Mercies And it is easy for us in this Case to vindicate the Faithfulness of God and to make an Apology for our Maker in our Maker's own Words which are that We ask and receive not because we ask amiss In order therefore to make us fit Supplicants to the God of Glory and to put our Souls into such a Temper that they may be constantly and habitually fitted for the Discharge of this Duty there are several Qualifications needful I shall therefore consider First What Qualifications are necessary to prepare us for Prayer or before we Pray and in order to it Secondly What is requir'd in the very time or act of our Praying when our Devotions are on the Wing and our Lips are touch'd with a Coal from the Altar Thirdly What must be done after we have Pray'd to make our antecedent Prayers duly effectual Fourthly What Acts are to be continued and extended through each of these both before in and after our Prayers First therefore What Qualifications are necessary to prepare us for Prayer or before we Pray and in order to it Now the First Qualification necessary to prepare us for Prayer is the Purity of our * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Menander Hearts or the Direction of our Lives by the Commandments of God For if our Affections are impure or our Ways unrighteous it is in vain to make our Applications to God for we know that God heareth not Sinners but if any man is a worshipper of God and doth his Will him he heareth For The Eyes of the Lord are over the Righteous and his Ears are open to their Prayers alone For without Godliness whatsoever Antinomian Schemes some Persons may draw whether it consists in Innocence or sincere Repentance our Prayers can never mount up to the presence of God because the Burden of our Sins will certainly keep them from ascending to that Holy Place where nothing but what is compleatly so can appear And it would be Presumption to hope that our spotless Saviour should present so unacceptable a Sacrifice to his Father as the Petitions of a Supplicant who declares himself to be in a State of Hostility against both of them by an avow'd complying with what they most abhor Nay it is the most unwarrantable Insolence for him who still retains a Love for his Sins and yields to them upon the general returns of Temptation to approach his Maker in any Holy Office For it is only an honouring Him with his Lips while his Heart is far from Him and seems to be what the Apostle calls a Lying to God a professing himself his most devoted most obedient Servant while his own Conscience by a reflection on his Actions will tell him that he is his open and inveterate Enemy 'T is a colluding with Him who tries the Heart and the Reins and to whose Eyes all things are nâ—ked and open as if Omniscience could be impos'd on by Pretences or a Religious Pageantry was tantamount to Solid Virtue and Piety or saying of Lord Lord would excuse for the not doing the Will of our Father which is in Heaven So that till we are free from all known and willful Sin 't is to no purpose to make any