comfort it for the loss of that famous Man Your Learned Predecessor which that You may long adorn with those Virtues and Excellencies which shine in Your Lordship shall always be zealously wish'd for by My LORD Your Lordships Most Humble Most Obliged and Most Obedient Servant JA. BUERDSELL THE CONTENTS DISCOURSE I. Concerning our Saviour's Divinity On 1 Joh. ver 1. The Word was God pag. 1 DISC. II. Concerning our Saviour's Satisfaction On 1 Epist Joh. Chap. 2. V. 2. And he is the Propitiation for our sins p. 25 DISC. III. Concerning Miracles On Heb. 2. 4. God also bearing them witness both with Signs and Wonders and with divers Miracles p. 57 DISC. IV. Shewing that the Moral Law of Moses is the same with that of Christ against the Racovian Catechism and others On Luk. 10. 25. A certain Lawyer stood up and tempted him saying Master What shall I do to inherit eternal life He said unto him What is written in the Law How readest thou p. 83 DISC. V. Proving that the Celestial Law is the same with the Moral or that the Moral Law is a Rule for the Angels and Saints to act by in Heaven being a Sequel of the former Discourse On Mat. 6. 10. In Earth as it is in Heaven p. 110 DISC. VI. Concerning the Qualisications of Prayer or A Method to Pray in the Spirit against the Enthusiasts On Ephes 6. 18. Praying always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit p. 137 ESSAY I. Vpon Melchizedec or A Parallel between the Priesthood of Christ and Melchizedec p. 169 ESSAY II. Vpon the General Resurrection p. 185 ESSAY III. Against Scepticism in Matters of Religion p. 205 ERRATA PAg. 11. in the Margin join Tom. 1. p. 656 with Praesat ad Respons F. David p. 17. in the Margin join Edit Sylburg with Apolog. 2. p. 76. p. 51. l. 3. for eexcute read execute p. 86. l. 14 15. instead of the purport of the Lawyer 's Question a preparation to which Answer is made c. read the purpoâ—â— of the Lawyer 's Question and our Saviour's Answer a preparation to which Answer is made c. p. 92. in the margin for Mor. Nov. read Mor. Nev. p. 156 l. 21. for on read in p. 167. l. 22. dele Yet A DISCOURSE Concerning Our Saviour's DIVINITY 1 JOH ver 1. The Word was God WHERE Christ is not styl'd the Word purely in a Figuratiue Sence as the Door the Way Valentia Smalcius Paraphr in 1. cap. Job p. 107. because he discover'd to us the Will of God as Men by Words reveal their Sentiments one to another For at this rate the Prophets or Apostles or any Person who was ever furnish'd with God's Authority to make known his Will might be term'd the Word of God But since this glorious Character is not given to any but to our Saviour it seems to follow That it must be given to him in such an extraordinary manner as could not sute with any one besides must imply Christ Incarnate God made Man sutable to Plato in Philebo p. 30. c. the manner of speaking us'd by Plato and others who make the Divine Word to be the Former and Contriver of the World Tho's as to their making it a Person distinct by peculiar acts from the Nature and Mind of God seems only a new Fancy started by Modern Divines particularly by two excellent Persons of A. Bp. Tillotson p. 590. our own Nation the one the strongest as well as justest Reasoner the other the Dr. Scott Vol. 2. p. 51. Christ Life and in his Notes at the end most delicate Thinker which perhaps it ever produc'd For Plato makes the Wisdom Power and other Attributes of God to be as much personally distinguish'd as the Nature or Fountain of the Deity the divine Word and the divine Mind and from his Writings we may as well conclude That all the divine Attributes of which he had any Idea were personally distinguish'd as the three before mention'd This Divine Word or Christ Incarnate is by St. John call'd God not as Smalcius imagins because Eomil 1. in Joh. 1. 1. p. 12 13. all things which appear'd in his Prophetick Function were full of Divinity and far surpassing what was discoverable in the former Prophets For every Prophet who at any time produc'd the divine Credentials came into the World after an extraordinary singular and miraculous manner a divine Lustre spread it self through all their Actions and whether we regard the Will of God which they reveal'd or the Power of the Almighty by which they supported their Doctrin there was something Heavenly in both And according to this Standard of Divinity they too might put in their pretensions to it in some measure as well as our Saviour Nor is the Divine Word styl'd God because he was born after a Divine Val. Smalcius ibid. manner above the Laws of Nature of a spotless Virgin For then S. John Baptist who was born after as wonderful a manner in some sence as our Saviour might be said to be God For the Nativities of both being miraculous and Miracles as springing from an equal Power being equal it cannot be lookt on as a greater Miracle that Mary should Conceive than Elizabeth Nor is he God because he was Smalc Ibid. taught by God after a divine way For since God cannot be taught since infinite Knowledge can admit of no enlargement there can never from any communication of this kind between God and something else result a likeness to much less an equality with God Nor lastly is he God because He was endued with Divine Smalc Ibid. Innocence For from whence does this Innocence arise but from an uniform Obedience to the Will of God But now if to obey God makes the Person obeying capable of being call'd God the holy Angels who always preserv'd the most exact conformity to the divine Will may as justly challenge the divine Attributes as our Saviour So that by God is meant God by Nature and Substance God who had a Subsistence and that Subsistence from his Father of whom he was together from all Eternity and was Himself Eternal God So that the sence of the words will be that the Word the divine Word which assum'd Flesh is God not by Office or any other foreign denomination but by Nature Essence and Substance In order to prove which I shall First Shew that the Nature and Essence of Christ is truly Divine Secondly I shall reflect on the ill Consequences of any Assertion different from this The Nature and Essence of Christ is truly Divine 1 st Because he is justly honour'd with Divine Worship and 2 ly 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 First The Nature of Christ is truly Divine because he is justly honour'd with Divine Worship For if nothing can be honour'd with Divine Worship but God himself
are Eternally punish'd for this sinning were ty'd to the Observance of this Law If they were oblig'd to it once so are the Angels which stand at present for the blessed Angels are just the same now which they were once Tho' now the Objects of God's Eternal Vengeance yet were they once his chief Ministers as much his Favourites as the most spotless most unstain'd of all the Angels ty'd to no other Rules no other Terms of Obedience The Blessed Angels are therefore at present rang'd under the Occonomy of the Moral Law as well as the Cursed were immediately after their Creation and before their Fall which may be farther prov'd by the Analogy that there is between the Moral Law and the Celestial There is the nearest Resemblance and Analogy between the Moral Law and the Celestial whether we consider the Moral Law as it may be reduc'd to One Precept to Two or to Ten. It may be reduc'd to One to that of Love for Love is the fulfilling of the Law But the most perfect Love is display'd in Heaven in the most perfect Charity for tho' Prophecies shall fail tho' Tongues shall cease tho' Knowledge shall vanish away yet Charity never fails but is compleated in Heaven 'T is the bond of Perfectness and in it as in a Center all Duties meet and are accorded The Moral Law may be farther combin'd into Two Precepts Thou shalt love the Lord thy God and Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self for on these Two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets But the Law remains in Heaven under this Character For first The Saints and Angels love their Ever-blessed God with the purest Transports of Devotion they adore him with the most profound Veneration and they serve him with the most faithful Homage Secondly They pursue one another with the most sincere Love and unfeign'd Charity they rejoyce at one another's Happiness and are as unanimous in their Affections towards one another as they are in their Adoration of God But Lastly The Moral Law is dilated into Ten Precepts and under this latitude they are practic'd in Heaven with the utmost vigour Eight of these Precepts are Negative and there is no doubt but that they are observ'd by the Saints and Angels with the greatest accuracy Far be it from those pure Spirits to lift up their Eyes to any God but the True One to detract from or to envy one another to desire what belongs to another no not another's Happiness As to the Affirmative Commands tho' they do not abide literally yet they remain mysteriously because they are chang'd into better The Fourth of the Sabbath or the Lord's Day shall be alter'd into a more noble one for in Heaven there shall be no distinction of Days but all the Rounds of an happy Eternity shall make up one Day which shall not know a second and that wholly appropriated to the Lord one Everlasting Sabbath one Eternal Rest As to the * Affirmativorum sc Praeceptorum erit in beatltudine summa observatio nisi forte illius de Honoratione parentum quia non erit necessitas impendendi hunc actum Scot. l. 3. Sent. d. 38. q. 1. Fifth it shall not be abolished but perfected for tho' all Carnal Relations shall cease as only subservient to the Necessities of this Life yet shall that Honour that Reverence that Obedience which are by the Fifth Commandment peculiarly attributed to Parents become due to all the Saints The force of all is That the Obedience of the Blessed is a just Rule for our Obedience on account of the Matter of it because they practice the same Virtues and practice them by the same Rule which we are oblig'd to God's Will perform'd in Heaven is therefore on this account a just Standard for our accomplishing of it on Earth So is it on account of the Manner of its Performance by the Blessed Saints and Angels which was the Second General So that I shall very briefly shew that they perform God's Will after that Manner as to be just Patterns for us For First They perform it with all possible Chearfulness and Alacrity The Word is no sooner out of God's Mouth but it is also executed and these Ministers of his stay not so long as even to promise Obedience There is not among them any demurring to the quality of the Command or any delay put to the Execution of it by an over-modest representing their own unfitness for their Task They question not at all with God about the suitableness thereof nor yet debate with themselves whether or no or with what Vigour they shall apply themselves to the Execution of it Secondly They perform God's Will uniformly For an imperfect Obedience is in strict speaking no Obedience at all for he who only obeys so far as himself pleases only does God's Will as far as it complies with his own There is this more extensive Proof of the Uniformity of the Angel's Obedience That the greatest part of it is employ'd in discharging such Commands as subject them in some proportion to those Creatures which are plac'd below them Such are those Commands which demand their attendance upon us who are by Creation made somewhat lower than they yet have made our selves much more so by our Sins and Frailties So that it is easy to be imagin'd That had not their Obedience been truly uniform it would not have carried them to a compliance with such Branches of it as seem not fully consistent with the Dignity and Grandeur of their Order and Station Thirdly Their Comportment with the Divine Will is constant and settled and they always discharge the Will of God as well as chearfully and uniformly That Establishment which is destin'd to their Piety by the Election of God will most certainly produce this Constancy Besides this the Scripture displays them as always looking on the Face of God expecting as it were and inviting his Commands or travelling about his Messages as continually descending from Heaven about their Earthly Ministrations or ascending up thither after the Execution of them Fourthly The Obedience of the Angels is as compleat as it is chearful uniform and constant and reaches to every Branch of their Injunction as well as to all God's Commands because as there can be no doubt of their sufficiency for such a Compliance who are so near to the Divine Influences and so gloriously adorn'd by them so the same Reason and Obedience which move them to have a respect to all God's Commands will incite them to have a regard to every the minutest Punctilio as having the same Impress of the same Divine Will stampt upon it A DISCOURSE Concerning The Qualifications of PRAYER Or A Method to Pray in the Spirit Against the Enthusiasts EPHES. Chap. VI. ver 18. Praying always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit AS Religion is the Life of the Soul so is Prayer the vital Spirit of Religion without which it can neither live nor move
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
Supplication to God He will not hear will not regard our Prayers They are like unballowed Fire offer'd to Him and are an abomination in his sight for of him who is not resolv'd to part with his Sins the very Prayers are sinful That Duty which draws others nigher to God casts him at a greater distance from him That Ordinance which sanctifies others serves only to aggravate his deplorable Stare and to render his Condition more insufferable But neither on the other hand is he less criminal if he does not Pray at all for he is not excus'd from this Duty by being unqualify'd for it but he becomes guilty not only of those Sins which are the hindrances of his Devotion but of that Inability to Devotion which they have caus'd and so hard are his Circumstances that he is likely to suffer not only for making his Duty impossible by sinning but even for not discharging it while it is thus impossible And this justly enough too because this Impossibility was wilfully superinduc'd an Act of his own choice and free election and for which he has none to blame besides himself and his own wild Passionâ— So that while his Case continues thus he is on all accounts unqualify'd for Prayer and yet is guilty too if he does not Pray till by hearty Repentance he has freed himself from his Sins So indispensibly necessary is Purity from Sin to prepare us for Prayer But as there are different kinds of Sins so is there the greatest necessity that we should be innocent of those Sins which are most oppos'd to the Spirit of Prayer for they are not all of them equally destructive of it But these are Malioe Ill-will or Hatred of our Brother Now as these Vices commence two manner of ways either by Injuring our Brother or by receiving an Injury from him so we may be suppos'd in either Case to be guilty of them and therefore on all regards unqualify'd for Prayer if we do not contribute our utmost towards the suppressing of them As for Instance If I have injur'd my Brother and given him any umbrage to hate me I am in a great measure guiley of the Sin and therefore am unqualify'd for Prayer if I do not endeavour a speedy Reconcilement with him For if my Gift is before the Altar and I there remember that my Brother has ought against me any just cause of complaining that I have injur'd him I am oblig'd to leave my Gift before the Altar and go and first be reconciled to my Brother So on the other hand when we are injur'd by our Brother we are guilty of the Malice and the Sin lies at our door and so our Prayers become ineffectual if we express an eager Desire to revenge our selves if we shew an Aversion and Unwillingness to forgive him if we neglect his Proposals of Peace and Accommodation For how can we expect that God should pardon our Sins of the blackest Character if we will not forgive our Fellow-servant the least Offence And has not our Blessed Lord taught us that we cannot Pray to God to forgive us our Trespasses unless we forgive them that trespass against us And as often as we use this sacred Prayer of our Saviour's if we do not forgive those who have offended us from the bottom of our Hearts we desire that God would not forgive us that He would remember and revenge ouâ— Sinâ— against Him as we 〈◊〉 to revenge those which our Brother hâ—â— commiâ—â—â—â— against us So that in effect we 〈◊〉 the best Prayer that ever was into Sâ—â— and use the Words of ouâ— Saviour who spake as never Man spake to our 〈◊〉 Damnation So that Purity from Siâ— especially from Malice Hatred or 〈…〉 will is 〈◊〉 First Qualification in â—â—â—er â—o prepare us for Prayer The Second preparatory Qualification for Prayer is 〈…〉 the Nature of our 〈…〉 s and 〈◊〉 the Manneâ— by which 〈◊〉 has pro 〈…〉 to supply them that we may 〈…〉 what to pray for and 〈◊〉 Method â—â— take to have our Prayer 〈…〉 do And in taking an Est 〈…〉 Wants we are to consider 〈…〉 aâ— Creatures whose chief Interest 〈◊〉 on a future Stâ—â—â— wh 〈…〉 Necessities aâ—â— those which 〈…〉 Soul As to what concerns this Life we are to resign that over to â—â—â— Heavenly Father 's good Providence with a Father not my Will but thine be done But as to spiritual Wants concerning these we arâ— to sâ—e with the greatest and most unconditionate Importunity and a pious Violence is to be done to Heavâ—â—â—â— till we 〈◊〉 our selâ—es suocessful in what we pâ—â—y for But then Secondly we must reflect on the Terms on which God has undertaken to assist these Wants and to resolve to comply with them are they never soâ—â—â—neasy Thus do we ask for Pardon for Sins we know the terms on which this â—â—ust be granted are provided we repent and forsake them We are therefore to resolve to set our selves abouâ— this Repentance and Amendment before we pray for the Pardon Thâ—s because 〈◊〉 and Virtue can 〈…〉 compast without the use of good and wiâ—e Endeavours we are to resolve oâ— these before we petition for those For the Promises of God thoâ— infallible in regard to any Grace ought nevertheless to encourage us to travel with more Aâ—doâ—â— and Fidelity to merit the Effects of them And if we ask after this manner iâ— shall be given us for every one who asketh in this wise receiveth The Third Qualification preparatory to Prayer is Faith or a Trust in God that He will gran 〈…〉 pray for according to our 〈…〉 All thingâ— whatsoever yâ— shâ—ll â—â—â— iâ— Prayer believing â—e shall receive Now we may be said to be qualify'd 〈◊〉 this Grace when sensible of our own Wantâ— we commend our selves to God by Prayer relying on his Divine Goodness and Power that he will give â—â— what â—â— sue for that is as 〈…〉 hinted if we are careful of performing the Conditionâ— on which â—e stipulated to give if we ask for Pardon for Sins iâ— reforming them for vir 〈…〉 Endowments in industriously seeking after them for the assistance of God's Spirit in concurring with it and making good use of it for Health or 〈…〉 other prosperous Turns of Providence and outward things with a due submission to God's Will join'd with the use of lawful Means to attain them For â—o trust that God will hear us without these is not Faith but â—â— un warrantable Considence not Hope but Presumption The Fourth Qualification preparatory for Prayer is a good Intention to use what God shall bless us with to excellent Ends and Designs to the Glory of God and the Advancement of our own and Brother's Salvation Otherwise if we only ask for God's Blessings to consume them on our Lusts we petition Heaven to contribute to our Undoing and beg of the Almighty Materials for our Sins and for Occasions to provoke Him God is oblig'd to deny us out of Love and Compassion â—i forâ—
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'
Goodness to make suitable Requitals which he will most certainly perform tho' not in Kind yet in what will be much more for our Advantage and will consult tho' not our present Satisfaction yet our lasting Benefit An Observation therefore of God's returns to our Prayers Thanksgiving for his Grants and Denials a due Value of the Privilege of Prayer a Correcting our Prayers for the future by our past disappointments and lastly Almâ—giving are necessary aâ—ter we have pray'd to make our antecedent Prayers duly effectual So that I shall proceed to enquire into Lastly What Acts are to be continued and extended through each of these both before in and after our Prayers And First We ought to be possest with a great sence of our imperfections in the discharge of this weighty Duâ—y This must nun through all the parts of it but ought more particularly to be exprest both before and after our Devotions At both these times we ought solemnly to entreat God's Pardon son the Errors that we have or may commit for the stragling of our Thoughts which the best of Men can more easily bewail than prevent since the most watchful and steady Mind cannot hinder all the disorders of a roving Fancy in the midst of our most serious Devotions for our over-earnest begging of Blessings of a trivial Nature or for our want of any of the former Qualifications in that measure which is expedient The next Qualification is a very comprehensive one and which takes in all the rest yet withal a very necessary one too and that is universal Holiness and Sanctity For our Praying in a short time will make us loave off our Sins or our Sins our Prayers So that this will be an Effect as well as a Qualification of our Devotion For tho' the former Qualifications may be sufficient for a new Convert and for one who has but lately had the sence and conviction of Religion upon his Mind yet from a Proficient in this Duty nothing will be accepted less than a general a compleat and uniform Obedience to all God's Commands For tho' the Prayers of one who begins to leave his Sins and yet sometimes upon the prevalency of Custom or the surprize of a violent Temptation relapses into 'em may be heard upon his Repentance yet this state of Sinning and Repenting must not continue longin Aâ— general Piety must be super induc'd oâ— else iâ— is a sign that his Prayers have not â—ad their due efficacy if they do not conquer all Sin at least so that it may noâ— reign in us if they do 〈◊〉 give us some sort of fore-tast of the Joys of that Place to which they are directed and make 〈…〉 Soâ—is Sympathize and conform themselves with the Virtue and Innocence of its blessed Inhabitants So that the summ of â—ll is â— That Purity a Consideration of â—ur Wants a Trust in God a good Intention are necestsary to prepare us for Prayerâ— Humility Attention Fervour Charity Brevity and Perseverance in the time of Praying An Observation of God's Providence â— Value of our Privilege to Pray a Reforming of our Prayers by our Disappointments and Almsgiving are requir'd after we have pray'd And a Senâ—e of our Imperfections and an Vniversal Piety are to run through all the Periods of this Duty A Prayer which is put up to Heaven after this Method is surely more suitable for a reasonable Creature to present before his Almighty Maker than what is utteb'd by or rather impress'd upon a Soul cast into a purely passive State or Posture into a State of Expectations of the Divine Emanations to enlighten the Mind as that Duty has been model'd by some late foreign Mollnos Madame de Bourignon c. Enthusiasts Which is but what had been before advanc'd by Enthusiasts of our own Nation for thus an †James Naylor's Love to the Lost p. 13. Author of great Character amongst the most irregular Sect which ever oppos'd this Church allows of no use of our own Intellectual Powers of our Passions Imaginations or Wills in the exercise of this Duty Because says he God will be serâ—'d with his own alone and not with any thing in Man which is come in since the Fall so the Imaginations Thinkings and Conceivings are shut out And these Qualifications before hinted at seem much more intelligible more adapted to the Oeconomy of our Devotion than * â— Horris's Resteâ—â—ions on the Conduct of Humane Life c. Sect. 11. The taking hold of essential Truth nakedly as it is in it self than the applying the Mind to the intelligible World the World of Truth than the addressing to the Ideal World than †Entretiens Christiâ—nnes de la Recherche de la Verite de P. Malebranche l. 3. ch 6. the union with God the seeing of all things in God Terms in some measure invented by two refin'd and curious Thinkers the one of our own the other of a Neighbouring Kingdom And here I cannot but reflect on a dangerous Error of a Mystick * Monsieur Francis de Salignac Fenelon Archeveque de Cambray Maximes de Saints ou sur la vie interieure Writer of more who seems to exclude Virtue from the Staâ—e of transform'd Souls as he styles them and those wrap'd up in the highest transports of Devotion But that Virtue is not only a preparation for Devotion but also a compleating of it has been shewn in this Discourse and not only so but that it is practic'd by the Blessed by whom Devotion is exercis'd in its most exalted flights was made out tho' far below the Majesty of the Subject in the preceding Essay But to close all Furnish'd with the former Qualifications we may be justly said to Pray always and in the Spirit Yet such Prayers as were before describ'd will never fail of Success till God shall cease from being True and our Almighty's Strength from being Merciful Such Prayers as these will be acceptable Sacrifices to the Heavenly Altar will procure Pardon for Sin and Encrease of Grace and â—t length Eternal Life and will at last expire into Everlasting Thanksgiving When we shall need to Pray no more but this Duty as some fancy of Faith and Hope shall cease and we shall have nothing to do for ever but to give Thanks Adore and Praise AN ESSAY UPON MELCHIZEDEC OR A Parallel between the Priesthood of CHRIST and Melchizedec THERE are scarcely any purely Historical Passages of Scripture which carry the appearance of greater Obscurity or have had more various Sences put upon them than those which regard Melchizedec Tho' who this Person was has been a Controverted Point and perhaps ever will be so for Controversies do not end with the first Authors of them yet that Christ is parallel'd with him in his Priestly Office is as evident as the other part is dark and intricate I shall therefore endeavour to give a view both of the obscure and bright side of this Subject by making