Psal 103. 4. We are then stirred up to sing forth the praises of God and every part of man makes up the Consort the eye looks up with joy the tongue sets the tune the hand claps with triumph Psal 47. 1. The heart is the Organist which sets all the rest on going that bosom instrument begins the songs of praise Secondly Bishop Davenant expounds with grace viz. with gracefulness with a gracefull dexterity which brings Et prodesse volunt delectare both profit and pleasure to the hearers When we sing Psalms we must sing seriously and solemnly not lightly or sensually to gratifie a curious ear or a wanton spirit Psalms they are not the Comedies of Venus or the jocular celebrations of a wanton Adonis but they are the spirituall ebullitions and breakings forth of a composed soul to the holy and incomprehensible Jehovah Therefore David Psal 96. 1. will sing a new song to the Lord Psal 96. 1. i. e. in the Hebrew dialect a most excellent song a song tuned with suavity composed with piety and warbled forth Psal 137. 4. with real sincerity Thirdly This phrase with grace may most properly signifie the acting of grace in that heavenly duty Not only our heart but Gods spirit must breath in this service in it we Cum in conspectu dei Cantus sit hoc considera in mente Bern. must act our joy our confidence our delight in the Lord. Singing is the triumph of a gracious soul his unconstrained exultation which is not penned up in the mind by meditation nor confined to the ear in attention nor yet chained to the tongue in prayer and supplication but flyes abroad in a more solemn Ovation praising him who causeth him to triumph in Christ as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 2. 14. In singing 2 Cor. 2. 14. of Psalms the gracious heart takes wing and mounts up to God to joyn with the celestial Quire We must sing with understanding We must not be guided by the tune but the words of the Psalm and must not so much mind the melody as the matter we must consider what we sing as well as how we sing The tune may affect Psal 47. 7. the fancy but it is the matter affects the heart David in 1 Cor. 14. 15. the Old Testament Psal 47. 7. And the Apostle in the Spiritum intelligentiam opponit Apostolus ut causam effectum docens psallendum esse spiritu ut non modò à psallentibus sed ab audientibus intelligatur Quia secus fructu illud totum carebit Par. in Cor. New 1 Cor. 14. 15. call for understanding in singing otherwise we make a noise but we do not sing a spirituall song and so this duty would be more the work of the Chorister then the Christian and we should be more delighted with an Anthem of the Musicians making then with a Psalm of the spirits enditing We must therefore sing wisely that not only our own hearts may be affected but those who hear us Alapide observes that the word understanding mentioned by the Apostle 1 Cor. 14. 15. it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Hebrew which signifies profound judgment and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Septuagint which signifies the acuteness of understanding the sharpness of it the mind of the understanding if there be any more spiritual and freed from the body And thus we must sing our Psalms and spiritual Psallite diligentèr ut nimirum vos intelligatis sapiatis ea quae psâ—llitis et alii qui vos audiunt ea quae vos psallitis intelligant Alap Prâ—ces Pontificiorum linguâ ignotâ non tam Oratio sunt quà m murmur songs A learned man observes We must rellish what we sing Now the understanding must lead the way to the taste and the gust Let me superadde one thing more The Apostle in the forementioned place 1 Cor. 14. 15. saith He will pray with the spirit and with understanding he will sing with the spirit and with understanding So then we must sing as we must pray Now the most rude and ignorant Petitioners will understand what they pray rather then they will Petition in the dark they will confine themselves to a form or to the Lords prayer None so ignorant as not to understand what they ask Unknown prayers are the soloecism of Religion they are only a vain muttering a troublesome noise Children know what to ask of their Parents and their minority doth not speak so Luke 18. 13. much ignorance as to wrap up their requests in a cloud Luke 11. 13. that they cannot understand their meaning It is well observed by a learned man That the prayers of the Papists in an unknown tongue are not so much a supplication as a murmur Now ignorance in singing falls under the same condemnation with ignorance in praying and is as great a soloecism when we understand not what we sing it speaks the harshness of the voice the hardness of the heart and the impertinency of the service We must sing to the Lord In singing of Psalms the direct intention of our minds must be to God And we must be Deo laudes et hymnos in gratiarum actionem canamus Ansel Psalmus est signifer pacis spirituale thymiama exercitium coelestium luxum reprimit sobrietatem suggerit et lacrymas movet Aug. affected as the matter of the Psalm is and our present condition doth occasion Singing is part of divine worship a piece of Gospel service The Apostles counsel is That in singing we should make melody in our hearts to the Lord Eph. 5. 19. And least we should omit this circumstance which is the substance of the whole duty the Apostle repeats his counsel Col. 3. 16. and adviseth us to sing with grace in our hearts to the Lord. A learned man observes That the right singing of Psalms is an evidence of the holy spirit inhabiting the heart and a spirit of joy breathing in the Saints And if the spirit of the Lord be in us he will be aimed at by us in all our duties The spirit will mount service upwards will Psal 7. 17. lift up the soul in prayer Psal 25. 1. Isa 37. 4. will lift Psal 30. 4. up the hands in request Psal 28. 2. will lift up the head Cantare in corde domino non vocem excludit sed cordis affectionem cum voce conjungendam monet Dav. with joy Psal 110. 7. And will lift up the voice to God in singing David saith Psal 111. 1. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart Deborah and Barak sing their triumphal song to the Lord Judge 5. 3. And the Psalmist calls the songs of Sion the songs of the Lord Psal 137. 3 4. Singing of Psalms properly is nothing else but the lifting up the voice and the heart to God One gravely tells us Our In eo rectè sentiebant qui hunc spiritualem cultum
we are contracted as a ship becalmed the Spirit fills our sails which is that VVind which bloweth where it listeth John 3. 8. Spiritus sanctus postulat i. e. postulare et gemere facit est hebraismus quo kal ponitur pro Hiphil Ansel When we are sad and dejected the Spirit consolates and chears us and flushes us with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1. 8. Oftentimes we cannot lanch forth in a duty the Spirit then helps us off from the sands Many times we are dull in hearing and then the Spirit opens the heart Acts 16. 14. and makes us vigorous and attentive And when we are at a loss in Prayer the Spirit puts life into our dead duty and makes us groan a sign of Sex modis in orando erratur primò si bonum temporale petimus animae nociturum Secundò si à malo aliquo quod prosit nobis liberari oremus Tertiò siquid petamus ex ambitione ut filii Zebedaei petebant primus in regno Christi quartò si quid petamus ex zelo indiscreto ut filii Zebedaei optabant ignem de caelo manasse in Sâ—maritanos Christum respuentes quinto si petatur ardentius quod utilius est differri sextò si petamus statum nobis incongruum life and furnisheth us with suitable petitions to accost and lay siege to the throne of Grace And when we are weak and stagger in a holy duty the Spirit takes us by the hand and sets us with fresh strength to finish our service the Spirit corrects all our errours in holy duties A learned man observes there are six great errours in Prayer 1. When we petition some temporal good to the disadvantage of the soul 2. When we earnestly desire the removal of some affliction which conduceth much to the good of the soul 3. When we ask something out of ambition as the sons of Zebedee that they might have a primâ—cy in the Kingdome of Christ 4. When we petition any thing out of an indiscrete zeal as the sons of Zebedee requested fire from Heaven to consume the Samaritans who would not entertain Christ Luke 9. 54. 5. When we are earnest for that which it was better it was delayed that by this delay our prayers may be more importunate and our perseverance may be more fully discovered 6. When we beg that state of life in this World which God sees inconvenient for us Now the Spirit correct all these errours and is the Censor of our miscarriage in duty He maketh us more wise more humble more heavenly more self-resigning more patient in duty The guidances of the Spirit are the Pole-star to direct us in every Ordinance and holy service The Spirit is our advocate within us John 14. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so the Greek which fits us with holy pleas to sue with when we address our selves to God and carries out the heart to urge its case with greater earnestness with great weight and authority The Spirit is the President of our duties to guide the soul that it write fair without blot In a word The Spirit helpeth our infirmities in duty Not a good Angel as Lyra Not a spiritual man a Minister as Chrysostome Not spiritual Grace as Ambrose Not Charity as Chrysost tract in Joan. Augustine But it is the Holy Ghost as Pareus And this blessed Spirit helpeth us as the Nurse helpeth a little Child holding it by the â—â—â—eve As the old man is stayed by his staffe or rather â—â—â—peth together as that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8. 26. seems to imply being a Metaphor taken from one who is to lift a great weight and being too weak another claspeth hands with him and helps him So the Spirit is ready to relieve us in all our spiritual duties The holy Spirit succeeds and prospers our holy duties It makes our duties prevalent with God God attends when we sing in the spirit God hears when we pray in the spirit Ephes 2 18. as the Apostle speaketh 1 Cor. 14. 15. VVhen this Dove moanes within us Rom. 8. 26. God understands the groans of his own Spirit and will give seasonable answers God Donum et efficacia orationis non in verbis sed in gemitâ— desiderio affectu et suspiriis ignitis consistit Alap gives his Spirit to assist in these duties which he fore-determines to accept Man speaketh words in prayer but the Spirit raises groans Alapide observes God is not so pleased with locution as affection in that holy duty not so much with expressions as inexpressible sighs which are as incense in his acceptation As the smoak of that Cloud a sign of Gods smile and favour Isa 4. 5. A duty spirited by the Holy Ghost shall never fail an expected end for God knows the mind of his Spirit as the Syriack reads it Rom. 8. 27. As the Mother knows the groanes and cries of her tender Child and presently runs to help it and to give it what it wants and cries for The Spirit is our intercessour within us as Christ is our intercessour above us whose pleas shall 1 John 2. 1 2. not meet with a denial The Spirit moving upon the waters Gen. 1. 2. produced a World and brought forth living Creatures The Spirit moving upon the Word the dispensations of the Gospel causes the New Creation and makes living Christians O then when we come under the Word and are in the midst of the waters of the Sanctuary let us wait for the good spirit of the Lord Other Birds drive away but let the Dove come in Pareus observes Suspiria perturbata semper exaudiuntur Primó Quid sunt suspiria spiritus Secundò Quia semper spiritus interpellat juxta placitum et voluntatem dei Pat. that the groans of the Spirit within us shall not vanish into ayr and that upon a double account 1. Because the Spirit comes from God John 15. 26. and is his Commissioner in a gracious soul and he will not deny his Leiger in a Saint 2. The Spirit always intercedes according to the good will and pleasure of the Lord And pleasing petitions shall not meet with a repulse what suits with the heart of God shall open the hand of God Congruous desires shall be conquering desires The Spirit makes duties effectual to us That Prayer which is animated by the Spirit shall not onely gain upon Gods heart but melt ours If the Spirit open our heart in hearing we shall attend to the Word and savingly entertain it When Christ by the Spirit opened the understanding of the Acts 16. 14. two Disciples Luke 24. 45. then they dived into Gospel mysteries and understood fully what was fulfilled concerning the death of the Messiah When the Spirit brings home a Sermon he makes it fire to burn up the dross of the soul Jer. 5. 14. he makes it a hammer to break the hardness of the soul Jer. 23. 29. he makes it
he had not looked on Bathsheba with such a wanton Psal 1. 2. eye Holy meditation would have quenched the fire of that lust This heavenly duty hath this advantage in it it presses the thoughts for the service of Christ nor will permit them to wander in a sinfull liberty Meditation it puts life into Ordinances and makes them sweet and savoury to the soul Ordinances they are like The third advantage of meditation cloaths which have no warmth in themselves but as they are heated by the body which wears them and so Ordinances have no energy or quickning power in themselves but as the divine spirit co-operates with them and our serious meditation makes them fruitfull and effectual If we canvas an Ordinance or two we shall find this more apparent and manifest Shall we instance In Prayer Meditation before prayer is like the tuning of an Instrument and the fitting it for melody and harmony This holy duty of meditation doth mature our conceptions excite our desires and screw up our affections what is the Preces non tam verbis quam animo aestimantur Chemnit reason there is such a discurrency in our thoughts such a running of them to and fro when we are in Prayer like dust blown up and down with the wind but onely for want of meditation And what is the reason that our desires 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in prayer are like an arrow shot out of a weak bow that they do not reach the mark but onely upon this account we do not meditate before prayer He who would but consider before he comes to prayer the pure Majesty of God the holiness of his Nature the quickness of his Eye the strength of his Hand and that he will be sanctified by all Acts 1. 14. who draw near to him as likewise those things he is to pray Ipsa majestas dei est origo et fundamentum gloriae Gloria ex Majestate emanat sicut radius â sole Alap for the pardon of Sin the spirit of Grace the assurance of Gods Love an inheritance with the Saints in light Col. 1. 12. How would this cause his prayer to ascend as incense before God David expresses prayer by meditation Give ear to my words O Lord consider my meditation Psal 5. 1. In hearing the word the benefit of it much depends upon meditation Before we hear the word meditation is the plough Dum terra labori et agriculturae respondet ipse deus novas pluvias et novas solis caelique influentias immutit which opens the ground to receive the seed and after we have heard the word meditation is as the harrow which covers the new sown seed in the earth that the Fowls of the air may not pick it up Meditation makes the Word full of sap and juice life and vigour to the attentive hearer What is the reason that most men come to hear the word as the beasts came into the Ark they came in unclean and they went out unclean it is because they do not meditate on the truths they hear they put truth into shallow and neglective memories and they do not draw it out by serious meditation It is said of the Virgin Mary that she pondered Luke 2. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tanquam semen in agro those things in her heart A steddy and considerate meditation on divine truth would produce warm affections zealous resolutions and holy actions If we will profit by the Word let us conscionably meditate on the Word In receiving the Sacrament Meditation puts a taste upon that divine feast Examination is commanded before we approach this Supper now this duty of Examination is best managed by meditation He who meditates aright concerning 1 Cor. 11. 28. him who is the Author the Object the end of the Haec 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in tribus pâ—rtibus consistit 1 In agnitione miseriae et peccatorum magnitudinis reatus gravitatis 2. In fide et fiduciá mediatoris ne desperatione absorbeamur 3 In serio resipiscentiae et novae obedientiae proposito Par. Luke 22. 15. Sacrament and considers with himself what rich testimonies of Grace there are to the worthy receiver how will this dispose the soul to that holy Ordinance And he who meditates of his infinite misery out of Christ and of his happiness in a dear Redeemer how will this encourage and sharpen his desires to come to the Lord Jesus and meet him at his own table And in receiving we should meditate on the sufferings of Christ for the Sacrament is onely the abridgement of Christs agony And we should likewise meditate on the affections and loves of Christ for the Sacrament is a Copy of his love The Sacrament is food and so we must receive it with an appetite and strong desires but this food must be carefully concocted by meditation The fourth advantage we receive by meditation is the strengthning and recruit of our Graces Indeed grace The fourth advantage by meditation and meditation are reciprocal causes of each other meditation maintanes grace and grace exercises meditation A gracious heart with Moses ascends the mount of meditation Exod. 24. 15. to meet with God and then his face shines his graces are more illustrious and resplendent Meditation feeds three royal Graces with supply and support First Faith receives recruit from this heavenly duty Fides est quasi columnâ— et fundamentum in terrâ jactum fides inter omnes res est solidissima certissuna et firmissima Chrysost Heb. 11. 19. When our faith languisheth and our thoughts are ready to terminate in despair then meditation brings a cordial it fixes upon the power of God which is faiths great supporter in all our temptations When the soul shall meditate thus that God by his own Fiat his own Word gave being to the World and raised this glorious superstructure where man now inhabits and that his power is no less then infinite reducing into act and being whatsoever the Divine Will shall command how doth this underprop our faith and preserve it and secure it against the quick-sands of unbelief Haec suit invicta illa fidei 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 et basis in mandato et promissionibus dei radicaâ—a Thus Abraham meditates on Gods power and this meditation so steels and backs his faith that it breaks through the most rigorous and fierce onsets of tryal and temptation and so becomes laureat and victorious Another grace which flourishes and thrives on the Mount of meditation is Hope Faith is confirmed and hope is enlarged 1 Tit. 1. 1. Tit. 2. 13. Col. 1. 5. Quaerat aliquis quando perâ—eniam ad speratum gaudium respoâ—dendum cum deus dederit nullae sunt lâ—ngae morae ejus quòd certò donabit Tert. Psal 103 5. by meditation the hand of faith is strengthned and the wing of hope is plumed by this excellent duty If a Christian should consider by
Exod. 17. 10. hands they are apt to faint and fall down but a continued violence and force must keep our affections in their highest sphere The Bird cannot stay in the Air without continual flight and motion of the wings nor can we persist in affectionate prayer without constant toil with our own hearts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin Mart. Apol 2 affections faint and thoughts scatter weariness makes way for wandring so that we must take pains to keep our affections sailing towards heaven we must keep the wind of the spirit and row at the Oar that we be not sinfully becalmed and so miss of the end of our voyage Justin Martyr observes That the prefect of the assembly in his time used to pray with his utmost strength So then our prayers on the morning of the Sabbath must be cordiall and affectionate Our prayers must be cloathed with humility we must pray in a sense of divine purity and of our own unworthiness Luke 18. 23. Not only the bended knee but the submissive Isa 66. 3. spirit becomes prayer Christ himself kneeled down and prayed Luke 22. 41. On the morning of a Sabbath we Quatuor sunt gradus humilitatis Primus est contemptibilem se esse cognoscere Secunduâ— de hoc dolere Tertius hoc confiteri Quartus Aequo animo ferre se contemptibilitèr tractarâ— Ansel have great things to beg and we our selves usually give our charity not to the sturdy but to the stooping beggar If we look for blessings from Gods hand it is fit we should lie at Gods feet Christ himself melted Heb. 5. 7. and shall not we stoop and be humble in prayer Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed Isa 38. 2. as being conscious of his own unworthiness covering his face with blushes which the world must not see and so confounded in himself he pours out his soul before God In this holy duty we lie at the allowance of Gods mercy and most rationall it is we should lie at the foot-stool of Gods Throne The Publicans stroke on his breast which was an evidence of his humility and self-abhorrency made his way to that acceptation the Luke 18. 13. proud Pharisee could not attain unto Our closet and family prayers on the morning of the Sabbath must be sharpened and spirited wirh the sense of want and with hungrings and desires after supplies The Mat. 5. 6. Neh. 1. 11. Luke 11. 13. Non frigidè à deo petere debemus beneficia sed affici nos oportet sensu et vehementi desiderio illarum rerum quas à deo petimus Daven beggar cryeth loudest his rags make him roar we are cloyed in our apprehensions and we are cool in our Petitions Necessity inflames importunity Were we but sensible on the morning of a Sabbath to come to our case in hand what need we have of sins pardon of an understanding heart of a hearing ear of a holy and suitable frame of spirit for divine Ordinances and to run profitably through the duties of the whole Sabbath surely our hearts would be like coals of Juniper Psal 120. 4. we should burn with ardency and importunity We pray most fervently when we pray most feelingly want is the bellows of desire Let In petendo panem nostrum quotidiunum egestatem mendicitatem nostram agnoscimus us therefore study a sense of our spiritual wants and that will set the wheel of prayer on going with the greatest speed and eagerness Let these introductory prayers on a Sabbath be animated with faith That grace makes every duty weight and every service without it if it be put into the ballance will be found too light In our prayers we must be perswaded of the Heb. 11. 6. 1 John 5. 14. Psal 10. 17. mercifulness of Gods nature to encline and bow his ear to them of the riches of his promises to encourage them of the infiniteness of his power to fulfill and accomplish them Olea Arbor pinguedine suâ fertur nunquam deficere sed folia sub aquis manere possunt virentia Par. or else all our requests are like the bird with clipt wings they may flutter up and down the ground but they can rise no higher We must believe that God can fill every chink of our desires and that he will send home the Dove with the Olive branch in his mouth These annexed Scriptures will further evince this truth 1 John 5. 14. Mat. 21. 22. Psal 141. 2. Jam. 1. 6. Psal 55. 17. Where David saith He shall hear my voice O rare act of vigorous faith In a word Then Jude v. 20. we pray aright when we pray in the Holy Ghost His concurrence is necessary God will own nothing in prayer but Rom. 8. 26 27 what comes from his spirit any other voice is strange and barbarous to him God delights not in the flaunting of parts and in the unsavory belches of a carnal heart nor in the tunable cadency of words which is only an empty ring in Gods ear But the method of the Lord is to prepare the 1 Kings 18. 38. heart and then to grant the request Psal 10. 17. Our heart is opened first and then God opens his ear Fire from Potentia ad precandum non est ex nobis metipsis sed ex spiritu sancto Psal 147. 9. Vt adjuetis me in Orationibus i. e. ut concertetis in agone mecum graeâ—è est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heaven to consume the sacrific was the solemn token of acceptation heretofore 1 Kings 18. 38. Fire from heaven is the token still even an holy ardour wrought in us by the Holy Ghost Indeed prayer is a work too hard for us we can babble of our selves but we cannot pray without the Holy Ghost we can put words into prayer but the spirit must put affections without which prayer is but cold prattle and spiritless talk Our necessities may sharpen but they cannot enliven our prayers The carnal man may cry unto God as young Ravens and as the rude Marriners did in Jonahs ship but now gracious affection is quite another thing There may be cold and raw wishes after grace in an unbeliever but Jonah 1. 6. serious and spiritual desires after the same blessed gift these Hos 12. 4. we must have from the Holy Ghost Quest Did we consider what prayer properly is we should then easily see the necessity of the spirits assistance Prayer is a Qui precatur debet esse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 certans et luctans etiam cum ipso deo Daven work which will cost us travel of heart Acts 1. 14. a working spirit Jam. 5. 16. an earnest striving Rom. 15. 30. and contending with God himself Col. 4. 12. It is very observable that the party Jacob wrestled with Gen. 32. 25. is called a Man an Angel nay he is called God a man for his shape and the form he assumed an Angel to denote the
second person in the Trinity who is the messenger of the Covenant Mal. 3. 1. and this party is called God Gen. 32. 30. It was such an Angel as blessed Jacob which was a work proper to God But now if it be demanded what it is to pray in the holy Ghost Answ It may be answered First The spirit helps us in prayer in a way of gifts Alludit Paulus ad illud Psal Psal 46. 8. Psallite sapienter pro quo hebraicè est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut intelligentio quod septuaginta vertunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut nimirum intelligatur quod canitur et quod precatur that the heart may not be bound up and that we may have necessary words to give vent for our affections It is the spirit which bestows the gift of prayer that we may enlarge our selves to God on all occasions 1 Cor. 14 15. But this gift is much bettered by Industry Hearing Meditation Reading Conference nay by prayer it self such holy exercises may be auxiliary to this excellent gift for the spirit worketh by means as the Sun shineth in the air in which it maketh its glittering ascents Secondly There is the gracious assistance of the spirit which is either habitual or actual First Habitual grace is necessary to prayer Zach. 12. 10. where there is grace there will be supplications as soon as the Child is born it falls on crying Acts 9. 11. Prayer is the Zach. 12. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gratia et supplicatio in uno comprehenduntur kindly duty of the New Creature the regenerate person is easily drawn into Gods presence when once we are renewed by the Holy Ghost we shall certainly and sweetly pray in the Holy Ghost we shall offer up spiritual devotions acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Secondly There is the actual assistance which we have from the spirit when a man is regenerate yet he cannot pray as he ought unless he be still moved and assisted by the blessed spirit Now these actual motions do either concern First The matter of prayer which is suggested by the spirit Jam. 1. 17. of promise for let a man alone and he will soon run into Eph. 1. 13. a temptation and cry for that which is inconvenient and it would be severity in God to grant it and therefore the direction of the Holy Ghost is necessary that we may not aske Rom. 8. 27. a Scorpion instead of a Fish a stone instead of bread We take counsel of lusts and interests when we are left to our private spirit now the Holy Ghost teacheth us to ask not onely what is lawfull but what is expedient for us so that the will of God may take place before our own inclinations Or Secondly These actual motions of the spirit concern the manner of our prayers now in prayer we have immediately Quid resert gemere Suspiria confusa ad deum mittere fortè evanesâ—unt in aere sed interpelâ—atio spiritus certò exauditur â— deâ— Par. to do with God and therefore we should take great heed in what manner we come to him The right manner is when we come with affection with confidence with reverence First With affection Rom. 8. 26. It is the holy Ghost sets us on groaning words are but the out-side of prayer sighs and groans are the language which God will understand we learn to mourn from the Turtle from him who descended in the form of a Dove Mat. 3. 16. He draws sighs from the heart tears from the eyes and moans from the soul Parts may furnish us with eloquence but the spirit inflames us with love that earnest reaching forth of the soul after God and the things of God That holy importunity that spiritual violence which is often used in holy prayer comes onely from the spirit Many a prayer is neatly ordered musically delivered and gravely pronounced but all these artifices they are the curiosities of man and savour nothing of the holy spirit then it speaketh the spirit to be in a prayer when there is life and power and the poor suppliant sets himself to wrestle with God as if he would overcome him in his own strength Secondly With confidence In Prayer we must come as Children and cry Abba Father Rom. 8. 16. usually we do Suprema essentia spiritus dei qui orare facit orantibus promittit promissum largitur testimonium nobis intus perhibet quisnam dubitationi locus Chrysost not mind this part of the spirits help in prayer we look to gifts and enlargements but not to this Child-like confidence that we may be able to call God Father without reproach or hypocrisie not seriously considering it is the language of a Child which will onely prevail upon the affections of a Father Thirdly With Reverence That we may be serious and awfull God is best seen in the light of his spirit the Heathens could say We need light from God when we speak of or to God That sense of the Lords greatness and those fresh Non loquendum dâ— deo sine lumine and awful thoughts that we have of his Majesty in prayer are stirred up by the Holy Ghost He uniteth and gathereth our hearts together that they may not be unravelled and Devotio et pius in deum affectus debet semper viam aperire ad particulares nostras petitiones sive pro aliiâ— petimus necessaria sive pro nobis Daven scattered abroad in vain and impertinent thoughts Eph. 6. 18. And therefore to wind up this particular which hath been more copiously handled then usual when we go to pray at any time and so consequently in our Closets or Families on the morning of the Sabbath let us cast our selves upon the Holy Ghost as appointed by the Father and purchased by the Son to help us in this sweet and serviceable duty Rom. 8. 26. We are often tugging and labouring at it and can make no work of it but the spirit cometh and contributes his assistance and then we launch forth and our sails are filled and we go on prosperously in that omniprevalent duty A good Expositour gives this gloss on Rev. 1. 10. John was Arch. in loâ— in the spirit on the Lords day i. e. he was in prayer upon the Lords day the spirit mightily assisting us in prayer makes strange and glorious impressions upon us As it is reported Greg. Orat. de Laud. Basil of Basil That when the Emperour Valens came in upon him while he was in Prayer he saw such lustre in his face as struck the Emperour with terrour and he fell backwards Prayer can make a great change in us and work Luke 9. 29. great things for us and therefore the management of this duty must be dispatched with the greatest care and exactness We must not onely take our opportunities for prayer on the morning of a Sabbath and see to the qualifications of Psal 5. 3. of that duty to
direct our requests that they may not miss Sicut in perperam dictis parum aut nihil momenti est sed ad irritandum deum contigit sic commodè et opportunè dictis nihil ferè bonitatis abesse creditur Cartwr the mark of a blessing But we must see to the matter of our prayers that our devotions be not onely sweet but seasonable not onely fervent but pertinent there may be petitions which are lawful which are not so expedient for the season of a Sabbath and therefore to secure us against such mistakes we must be informed what seasonably to beg of God as the boon of the instant opportunity We must put up our prayers for the Minister who is to be Gods mouth to us in the publick worship of the Sabbath we must pray that God would give him a door of Acts 16. 14. Eph 6. 18 19. Col. 4. 3. 2 Cor. 1. 11. 1 Thes 5. 25. utterance He that must open the hearts of the people to receive the word savingly must open the lips of the Minister to preach the word effectually How often doth Paul intreat the prayers of the people that Seraphick Apostle would not set sail without fresh gales of the peoples prayers Indeed Preces sunt arma sacerdotis Ambr. the preaching of the Word is an arduous affair and cannot be success fully managed without divine help and supplement which must be begged by prayer and importunity Ambrose saith That prayers are the weapons of a Minister Rom. 15. 15. It may be truly added that prayer must put weapons into the hands of a Minister for the killing and slaughtering of Eph. 6. 20. the lusts and sins of the people We must therefore pray on Audacitas et animositas Ministros decent et in Evangelio praedicando et in praedicatione defendendâ Theophil the morning of a Sabbath that the Minister may open his mouth boldly and publish freely the mysteries of the Gospel that he may speak the Word truly sincerely powerfully and profitably delivering what is suitable to our present condition For he that guided the arrow to kill a wicked Ahab 1 Kings 22. 34. must guide the truth to hit and destroy a cursed lust and corruption A learned man tells us we must pray for three things for the Minister That God would give him the Faculty the Liberty and the Efficacy of preaching That God would open the door that he may come out in the fulness of the Gospel of Christ to our souls That God would give him dexterity and wisdome to improve Petendum est pro Ministris 1. Vt facultas siâ— illis libertas et efficacia predicandi 2. Vt sit praxis hujus facultatis 3. Vt sit modus debitus in eadem exercenda Daven his gift and faculty Every one which takes a Lute in his hand cannot make sweet musick on it There is a holy Art in the Ministry and this we must beg for that God would give it to the Minister who plies at our souls The Word is a Sword Eph. 6. 17. We must pray that the Minister may weild it to the highest advantage and that he may do the greatest executions upon our carnal hearts That the Minister may speak as becomes him with that gravity affection zeal and soul-awakening power which may render him a faithful Ambassadour of Jesus Christ And we should consider the weightiness of a Ministers work Heb. 13. 18. Est â—fficium omnium piorum assiduè et enixè deum orare pro pastoribus et Evangelii ministris Dav. how tremendous and formidable it is The larger the Ship is the more strength is required for the lanching of it Prayers are more then needfull that the Minister may do the work of God in the strength of God One saith A faithful Minister is the treasure of the Church our prayers should be that this treasure may be spent in the enriching of our souls Surely preachers are much carried out upon the peoples prayers It is prayer fetcheth the coal from the Altar to touch their tongues and causeth these fishers of men to cast the Net on the right side of the Ship We must pray for the Congregation which associates with us Our Saviour saith Luke 22. 32. When we are converted Luke 22. 32. we must strengthen the Brethren The Apostle avers we must prefer others before our selves Rom. 12. 10. And surely Rom. 12. 10. then we must strive to advantage others as well as our selves Totus populus Christianus unum sunt Cyprian saith All Christian people are one thing but there must needs be a greater unity in the same society and congregation which is as a large family In our heavenly Sabbath Cypr. de Orat. Domin it will be our joy to see one another there the assembly of the first born shall congratulate the happiness of one another and then surely on our Sabbath here below it must be a gratefull service to pray for one another Thy Acts 16. 14. prayers may prevail with the Lord who alwayes hath the In nostis orationibus oportet nos esse memores non nostrae conditionis solummodò sed fratrum et aliorum à nobis key in his hand to open anothers heart as well as thy owne Some sympathy thou shouldst have with the members of Christ who joyne with thee and prayer is the best evidence of this fellow-feeling Christ prayed on the Cross for his adversaries Luke 23. 34. and wilt not thou pray in the Closet for the flock with whom thou art to mingle Let the miraculous workings of Christs heart be attractive to the meltings of thine that a showre of the spirit may fall upon all that hear the word with thee Acts 10. 44. God can 1 Cor. 13. 1. give a showre as well as a drop of his spirit and let me add this will be charity which may speak thee to be more then sounding brass or a tinkling Cymbal As we must pray for persons so we must pray for things too on the morning of Gods holy day We must pray that the Gospel may run and be glorious and that that sacred leaven may leaven the whole lump Let 2 Thes 3. 1. us consider Rom. 10. 17. First The work of the Gospel is glorious it begets grace which is the seed of glory it is instrumental to bring to glory 2 Cor. 4. 4. The glorified Saints which are now in their triumphs Pauli armâ— fuere preces suae et suorum quibus omnes hostes devicit Haec nobis imitanda sunt hisce Armis Hezechias vicit Assyrium Moses Amalekitas Samuel Askalonitas et Israel 32 Reges Chrysost are eternally praising God for the blessed and glorious Gospel Secondly The work of the Gospel is necessary where there is no vision the people perish Prov. 29. 18. It is by the Call of the powerful and divine Gospel souls are brought home to Christ who is the great
the Gospel We might likewise fall into the thoughts That there are many opposites to the Gospel as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses 2 Tim. 3. 8. And thus Stephen in preaching Christ was opposed by the Sanedrim of the Jannes Jambres duo suerunt magi qui Mosi restiterunt cum eo miraculis et portentis edendis concertarunt Jews and truth was buffeted by Cryes Storms and Stoning of the Preacher Acts 7. 57 58. The building up of souls like the building of Jerusalem will meet with Sanballats and Tohias to race the very foundation Neh. 4. 3. Satans instruments will hinder Christs work The worlds persecutions are ready to obstruct the progress of the Gospel Threats and flames like the Angel which stood with a flaming sword Gen. 3. 24. are ready to keep the soul from entring Paradise And when persecution Josh 6. 20. arises for the Gospel sake mens fear often shuts out mens faith and few will close with a persecuted Gospel It may be hinted how the Sun of the Gospel is often clouded with reproaches Paul was called a Babler a setter forth of strange Gods Acts 17. 18. The Gospel is often Acts 17. 18. reviled where it cannot be rooted out and it must wear the habit where it doth not endure the execution of a Malefactor it is often wounded by the sword of the tongue where it escapes the sword of the hand Nay the evil lives of those who preach and profess the Gospel put no small stop to the enlargement and progress of Sicut Foetor apes ita peccatum bona abigit Hier. it and therefore what need of strong and numerous prayers to God That he would give the Gospel a free and uninterrupted passage into the hearts of all that hear it seeing it is encompassed with so many impediments and obstructions We must pray in our closets and in our families on the morning of the Sabbath that the Ordinances of Christ may accomplish their designed events that God would cloath them with his own power and that they may be mighty in operation for the bringing in and building up of many souls Psal 63. 2. and that the Saints may see the power and the glory of God in the Sanctuary There is no greater reproach to a Congregation or a people then barren Ordinances that they Hos 9. 11 14. should be clouds without water and breasts without milk and that God should give them a miscarrying womb pray Durum fuit maximè apud Hebraeos vulvam esse sterilem apud quos simulier esset infaecunda apud omnes infamioe stigmate notabatur Riv. therefore earnestly before thou comest to the publick Assembly that God would take away this reproach Indeed it is a mournful consideration that the blossoms of holy Ordinances which promise hopefully to bring forth fruit should on a sudden be blasted either with divine withdrawings or our own neglect Prayer is necessary for the success of Ordinances as a right wind is for the Ship which sets forth and a fresh wind to fill the sails to carry it to it s desired Port. And we are the more comfortably induced to pray for that Hos 9. 16. which is most consonant and agreeable to the Divine Will Now nothing can be more pleasing to the Lord then that Isa 45. 19. our prayers should not be in vain but return fraught with Mat. 13. 8. success and advantage and that the seed of the Word Luke 22. 19. should fall into good ground and so we should not hear in vain Let us therefore lie at Gods feet for that which is so according to Gods heart But as we must pray for other persons and other things on the morning of a Sabbath so more especially must we pray In 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est metaphara à rebellicâ translata ad cogitationes ordine miâ—itari animo digestas instructas Cartw. for our selves The wise man saith Prov. 16. 1. The preparations of the heart of man are from the Lord And he that makes provisions of grace must prepare the heart for grace we must make our approach to the God of Ordinances before we come to the gate of Ordinances he that gives us the priviledge must teach us how to use it Let us then earnestly beg Eph. 6. 17. First That God would enlighten our minds let us begin Quanta fuerit caecitas gentilium in gentilismo etiam quoad illa quae ratio naturalis lex naturae dictat Persae sorores matres filias suas nefandis sibi matrimoniis jungebant Humanis carnibus vescebantur Scythae filios suos immolabant Mossagetae cognatos senes comedebant Hircâ—ni senes avibus Caspii canibus devorandos objiciebant Lacedaemones furtum laudabant tanquam rem solertem ingeniosam Alii conjuges suis hospitibus tanquam symbolum hospitii adulterio polluendas concedebant Euseb lib. 6. de prepar Evan. at the head The Apostle saith Eph. 5. 8. That in our selves we are darkness Not dark in the concrete but darkness in the abstract which shews our own incapacity to understand Gospel-mysteries of our selves we are as Paul when he was first unhorsed by Christ Acts 9. 8 9. blind and had need to be led by the hand Nature's eye hath a mist before it and cannot of it self see the glorious things of the Gospel 1 Cor. 2. 14. But it is the blessed spirit must scatter this mist must take away the scales from the eye of our understanding and make way for an apprehension of the glad tidings of Salvation which spirit saith our Saviour is obtained by prayer Luke 11. 13. And if we have any feeling of our own blindness and not as Prisoners in a dungeon laugh at the Sun or if we have any high esteem of the great things of the Law Hos 8. 12. if we see the word with the eye of the Psalmist Psal 19. 7 8 9 10. First To be perfect in its nature Secondly Predominant in its effects converting sinful making wise simple and rejoycing sadned souls Thirdly Various in its operations rellishing the soul rejoycing the heart opening the eyes pleasing the taste enriching the believer all which are attributed to it nay if the word be everlasting in its duration which the Psalmist strongly avers Psal 19. 91. and is likewise attested Rev. 14. 6. we should then be importunate for that directive spirit which can lead us into the right understanding of this most glorious word This manuduction of the spirit was the summe of that precious promise which Christ when about leaving the world made to his drooping Disciples Joh. 16. 13. And how earnestly doth the Psalmist importune this very mercy That God would open his eyes that he might behold wondrous things out of his Law Psal 119. 18. Psal 119. 34. God must give us the prospect of the glories of Divine truth Psal 119. 73. This eye-salve we must beg of the
Prophet Jeremy adviseth us Lam. 3. 41. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens The soul is principally interested in all holy duties First Not only because in all holy services God principally eyes the heart Prov. 23. 26. Or Secondly Because Gospel Ordinances chiefly influence and aim at the heart But Thirdly Likewise because the welfare of the soul is the only Port we sail to in all our attendance upon Gospel opportunities It is the souls conviction the souls conversion the souls edification and building up in its most holy faith which is the grand design in every Evangelical administration Now for the composure of our inward man in Eph. 3. 16. holy Ordinances Let us apply our understandings to the word and the work we are about The wise man saith Prov. 20. 27. The spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord and when we Haec lux in intellectu in tenebris micans sovenda est studio et diligenti operum dei commentatione et experimentis et otio veluti rubigine corrumpitur Cartw. come to holy Ordinances it is both our duty and our wisdom to snuff this candle that it may burn the brighter to see the mysteries of the Gospel and this is suitable to the Apostolical Counsel 1 Pet. 1. 13. Gird up the loâ—ns of your mind A metaphor taken from travellers who gird their garments close that they may not be impeded and hindred in their journey When we draw nigh to God in Ordinances we must bend our minds and be intent on the word and drink in truth as the parched ground doth the rain we must screw up our minds to an acurate observation of what ever is revealed unto us from divine Writ If the Gospel John 3 19. be light it is the eye of the understanding must behold this light If the Gospel be a day it is the eye of the mind must Rom. 13. 12. discern this day Some hear the word and understand it Isa 6. 10. not and this is Gods judgment But some hear the precious truths of God and entertain them not and this is mans sin Men shut the eye of their understanding by carelesness and neglect We should hear the word as condemned men their pardons as Legatees the Wills wherein their Legacies are set down with that intenseness of minde Preaching if we spur not up the minde to pursue it is a noise Pater nobis deâ— illuminatos oculos cordis nostrâ— ut ejus lumine illustâ—ati Christum plenè agnoscamus Ambr. not the word an inarticulate sound not soul-saving Doctrine And that our understanding may discharge its office prayer must precede That God would open the eyes of our minde that we may see the wonderfull things of the Law Psal 119. 34. and we must beg eye-salve Rev. 3. 18. and that God would give us the spirit of Revelation Eph. 1. 18. to shed a light upon our understandings Luke 24. 45. that we may dive deep into the profound Mysteries of the Gospel We know not what ardent prayer and a diligent minde may Christus solus operit intelleâ—tum Scripturarum Chemnâ— Mel in Ore melos in Aure. Bern. accomplish towards Scripture knowledge Indeed the Gospel is proportionate to every thing in man it is honey to the taste and Gold to the interest of man Psal 19. 10. It is musick to his ear Ezek. 33. 32. light to his eye John 19. and comfort to his heart Rom. 15. 3. And pity it is the shutting of an eye a little rareless remisness and not bending the minde should rob the soul of such unsearchable treasure We must deal with our hearts to embrace the word in the dispensations of it The Gospel is not only to be let in by Prov. 23. 23. Verbem dei sâ—t domesticus non peregrinus non forâ— stare sed in domo cordis continuò versari Daven our apprehensions but to be lockt in by our affections and we are to entertain it not only in the light of it but in the love of it The Apostle complains 2. Thes 2. 10. That many did not entertain the truth in the love thereof that they might be saved The truths of God must have the heart and we buy them not by our audience but our espousals The word must dwell in us Col. 3. 16. and not as a transient guest but as an inmate Scholars may understand the word but Christians embrace it It is a rare speech of the holy Psalmist Psal 119. 20. My soul breaketh for the longing it hath to thy judgments at all times The word is the Mat. 13. 23. seed the heart the ground where this seed must be thrown John 5. 40. David calls the Law not his light but his love Psal 119. 97. and his delight Psal 119. 35. When we come to Ordinances we must resolve to treasure up truth and entertain it as Lot the Angels Gen. 19. 3. Or the Virgin Mary the wonders of her time Luke 2. 19. A refractory will renders all opportunities of grace abortive The two Disciples Luke 24. 32. which came from Emmaus question one with another Whether their hearts did not burn within them when Christ had opened the Scriptures to them intimating to us that the heart is properly the Altar upon which the fire of the word is to be laid to the sacrificing of our lusts and the inflaming of our graces And it is the glorious promise of God to write his Law upon our hearts Jer. 31. 33. Let us meet this blessed promise in bringing our hearts to every Gospel dispensation We must put our memories upon employment when we come to holy Ordinances The memory it is the Secretary of the soul and as at Council boards the Secretary cannot be absent so at Ordinances which are the Council table Acts 20. 27. where soul-concernments are agitated and transacted the memory must not be absent We must not write the word when preached to us in dust but in marble not in a heedless neglect but in a faithfull remembrance We do not throw Pearls into sieves to drop out The paradox is greater Memoâ—ia ignis gehennae est â—emedium apâ—rimè utile contrà omnes tentationes Chrysost Rev. 14. 6. when we put the eternal Gospel into a treacherous and faithless memory Surely we shall never practice that truth we cannot remember if we do not mind the word we shall never live it We cannot read blotted lines or understand torn papers and if the word lie onely upon the surface of the memory it will never get within the bark of the life That Sun-dyall will never give us the time of the day which wants the gnomon to cast the shadow charge thy memory to retain every truth thou hearest Let it pick up the filings John 6. 12. of divine Truth that nothing may be lost The richest Fringes are so many several threads wrought together We do not Agnoscamus
a two-edged sword to divide between sin and Heb. 4. 12. the soul Ordinances are kindly Physick and work the cure sweetly and effectually if this Physick be given by the hand of the Spirit if the third Person in the Trinity be our Physician how then should the necessity of the spirits assistance inflame our importunity to sue out that precious John 15. 5. Promise for the attainment of it recorded in Luke 11. 13. In Ordinances without the Spirit we can do nothâ—ng Christ 1 Cor. 9. 26. must work by his Spirit or else in all our holy duties we onely beat the ayr to use the Apostles phrase Let us study to be under the impressions of the Spirit on Gods holy day The earth stands not in so much need of the beams of the Sun as the soul doth of the influences of the Spirit The Spirit is a Spirit of Truth to guide the Understanding John 15. 26. It is a Spirit of Counsel to enrich the mind Isa 11. 2. and fill it with knowledge How naked Eph. 5. 18. is mans understanding if it be not covered with the covering John 14. 17. of Gods Spirit Isa 30. 1. 1 Cor. 12. 8. The Spirit is a good Spirit Neh. 9. 10. to sanctifie the will It is a holy Spirit Ephes 1. 13. in relation to its effects and productions it cures the will of its pertinacy and Rom. 1. 4. stubbornness and melts mans will into Gods We may take 1 Cor. 12. 9. an instance in Paul Acts 9. 6. The Spirit is a Spirit of Grace Zach. 12. 10. to beautifie the heart and fructifie it with all the sweet fruits of Righteousness It is more then the Sun to the Garden It not 2 Thes 2. 13. Phil. 1. 11. onely blows the flower but it plants The graces of the Spirit are those stars which shine in the firmament of the heart 2 Thes 2. 17. those vigorous principles which carry out the soul to every good word and work It is the spirit of Glory 1 Pet. 4. 14. to sublimate the affections and raise them as high as heaven Col. 3. 2. The spirit discovers glorious things to us shews the soul its treasury 1 Cor. 2. 12. Eph 3. 8. 2 Cor. 5 21. Rev. 1. 6. Cant. 7. 8. 13. Col. 3. 11. 1 Pet. 2. 7. where its riches lie It opens Christ to a believer who is the Wardrob of our Robes the Exchequor of our wealth the fountain of our honour the paradise of our delight or to speak in the Apostles language who is all and in all to the believing soul It is a spirit of life to quicken the whole man Rom. 8. 2. God breaths into man and so he becomes a living soul the Spirit breaths into man and so he becomes a living Saint Gen. 2. 7. Nay God works all his works upon us and in us in Christ by the spirit it is the spirit makes us upright and sincere 1 Cor. 6. 11. and so rectifies our obliquities Psal 51. 10. It is the spirit snuffs the understanding which is the candle of the Lord Eph. 1. 17. Prov. 20. 27. and so enlightens our darknesses It is the spirit 2 Thes 2. 1â— fixes and establisheth us and so settles our inconstancies Psal 78. 8. It is the spirit softens and suples us Isa 32. Sapientia hominis est quâ res difficillimas scrutatur et pervestigare conatur Cartwr 15. and turns our barren hearts into a fruitfull field and so fills our vacuities It is the spirit conducts us in our straights John 16. 13. and so prevents our miscarriages It is the spirit takes us up Ezek. 3. 12. nay lifts us up Ezek. 3. 14. and so cures us of our pedantick and dreggish succumbencies for Man is the worm Jacob Isa 41. 14. and will naturally grovel on and immure himself in the Earth The spirit of God is an excellent spirit Dan. 5. 12. and will create in the 1. Cor. 12. 11. believer those excellencies which will make him more excellent then his neighbour Prov. 12. 26. The irrigations and pouring forth of the spirit Isa 44. 3. will make the soul fresh 1 Cor. 12. 13. Corroborari in interiore homine est intellectu voluntate caeterisque animae partibus suffulciri and green and be in a spring of grace which is most pleasant to the eye of God and Man This holy spirit upon us Isa 59. 21. is not so much our covering as our Crown our strength to encounter every temptation Eph. 3. 16. Let us then not as Sadduces mis-believe the spirit Acts 23. 8. But cry out Lord evermore give us of this spirit And to set our selves under these various and rare impressions We must purifie our selves The spirit is a holy spirit which will dwell onely in a clean heart flesh and spirit are combatants and not cohabitants they oppose one another Gal. 5. 17. then grace triumphs when flesh is subdued and chased out of the field We must supplicate our God The spirit is given to the Petitioner and not to the professor How much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him Isa 63. 11. Eph. 4. 30. 1 Thes 4 8. 1 Cor. 6. 19. saith our Saviour Luke 11. 13. Earnest prayer is the means to obtain the good spirit whose works are so many and so marvellous and whose operations are so secret and so soveraign But secondly as this duty must look upwards for the assistances and the impressions of the spirit So this duty must look inwards we have not onely to do with heaven on the Lords day and to look up to Gods spirit but we have to do with our own hearts too and seek the spirit to proportionate Prov. 4. 23. them to the holy services of the Sabbath and here our duty is two-fold 1. We must be in the graces of the spirit and that too in a double sense We must be in grace habitual We must come as Saints to the duties of a Sabbath That of the Apostle is highly observable Our communion is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 1. 3. Observe the terms of Relation Sancti est in spiritu vivere i. e. internam habere vitam et animum gratiâ spiritu etjustitiâ imbutum sancti est in spiritu ambulare i. e. secundum spiritus et gratiae dictamen ductumque incedere conversari agere operari et Graecum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat certo ordine serie et normâ incedere Alap the term Father speaks us to be Children It is not our communion is with God but with the Father and his Son Saints properly are the guests of the Sanctuary Christ in us is not onely the hope of our glory hereafter Col. 1. 27. but our hope of acceptance here We must bring Benjamin we must bring Christ if we will ever see the face of God in Ordinances wicked
to bind conscience Others have raised the Jewish Sabbath out of the grave of Christ to walk as a Ghost up and down the world when the Lords day hath for more then sixteen hundred years been its peaceable successor And thus Satan hath every way endeavoured to invalidate the power and ecclipse the glory of the blessed Lords day the holy observation of which he is the greatest enemy of And to this day this Apollyon and Abaddon a destroyer in any language attempts Rev. 12. 9. nothing more industriously then to draw men into a sluggish and sinful frame either to idle away Sabbaths or to spend them profusely in riot and prophaness How many proud persons waste the Sabbath at a Glass or dressing box How many intemperate persons drown their Sabbath Eph. 5. 18. 1 Pet. 4. 3. in luxuries and excess and are fill'd with wine instead of the holy spirit How many are catched at the bait of a Procul abjiciamus impura carnis opera et insanum voluptuandi studium Wal. mad eagerness after pleasure and delight as Walaeus calls it But let us watch against all these wiles and depths of Satan And indeed we should double our guards for there is not an Ordinance but Satan attempts to evacuate and make it a barren womb and a dry brest to the soul If Joshua stand before the Lord Satan will be at his right hand Zach. Rev. 2. 24. 3. 1. He cursedly â—nvies all our converses with God and would raise a cloud and thick darkness to hinder the transmissions of divine love Now he cannot beat life out of the Ordinance prayer will be a prevailing duty maugre Satans malice and therefore he would beat love out of us he would take us off by his snares and enticements either he would disturb us by his temptations or charm us by his perswasions or disengage us from holy and close communion with God by his flatteries and insinuations This Serpent for his subtilty and Lion for his cruelty will like Tertullus Gen. 3. 1. 1 Pe. 5. 8. Luke 22. 31. to Paul Acts 24. 5. attempt us most forcibly when we are pleading the cause of our souls in holy Ordinances on Gods holy day If the Sons of God present themselves before the Lord Satan comes among them Job 1. 6. If we attend in hearing the word the wicked one comes and is Mark 4. 15. ready to catch away the seed which is sown in the heart Mat. 13. 19. Satan enters Judas at the Passeouer John 13. 1 Thes 2. 18. 27. and some Divines assert at the Sacramental Supper How often doth Satan raise noise and disturbance to divert our thoughts and damp our desires when we are engaged in holy prayer that so our distractions may sower and disaffect our most melting devotions And therefore let us cast our selves upon this threefold experiment Let us Petition the Lord to fetter and chain up this roaring Lion so to muzzle him that he may be a Lion without a paw and a Serpent without a sting God cannot only tread Satan non deponit Odium sed vertit ingenium et cruentas inimicitias ad quietas convertit insidias Leo. Satan under his own but under our feet Rom. 16. 20. He can pinion Satan with a check and a rebuke Zach. 3. 2. He can chase him away with the prohibition of a word Mat. 4. 10. He that can bind Satan for a thousand years Rev. 22. can shackle him for a few Sabbaths Satan is a cruel but a conquered enemy Heb. 2. 14. He is a wolf in a chain Now prayer cannot only obtain the good spirit but Apostolus ait Deus conteret satanam sub pedibus nostris ut indicet infirmitotem nostram et salutem can restrain and bind up the evil one and bridle both his injections and disturbances and if thou prayest that thy enemy strike not Christ will pray that thy faith fail not Luke 22. 32. to shield off the fiery darts of the Devil Eph. 6. 16. And to stand against the wiles of the evil one Eph. 6. 11. Brayer can exercise the evil spirit fasting and prayer can Acts 26. 18. 2 Cor. 2. 11. cast Satan out of our bodies Mark 9. 29. much more out of our duties Resist the Devil It is the Apostles counsel 1 Pet. 5. 9. and the benefit will be He will fly from thee Now this Satan vetus hostis est cum quo praeliam gerimus sex mille annorum complentur ex quo hominem Diabolus oppugnat omni genere tentandi et artes atque insidias deficiendi usu ipso vetustatis addidicit Par ex Cypr. lib. de Exhort Martyr ad Fortunat resistence must be made by resting upon Christ by faith so taking in Christ as our second in the encounter and being fixed in holy resolution as the Apostle hints in the fore-cited Text. It is true as Paraeus observes out of Cyprian Satan is an old and experienced enemy but the shield of faith can secure us and the sword of the spirit can subdue him Christ put him to flight with a Scriptum est It is written Satan only batters yielding combats The bird is easily caught which flies into the snare His fiercest stroks are avoided by repulse We best resist him when we will not admit him into parley Let us remember he is the God of this world and so cannot interpose for hurt in spirituals unless we give him the advantage If he be a Prince it is of the Air 2 Eph. 2. And so by his own power cannot endamage us in things heavenly and divine He never conquers but when we let fall the weapons We never lose but give away the Victory and his insultation is the reward of our pusillanimity Let us not tempt the tempter by a frothy and slight spirit Indeed corrupt hearts are his territories and claim Satan maketh his greatest rapes on wandring and light spirits he Gen. 34. 1 2. is Beelzebub a God of flies who buzzes about vain dispositions Psal 108. 1. with his troublesome assaults and therefore on Gods Luke 11. 15. blessed day let us say with the Psalmist our heart is fixed Psal 57. 7. our heart is fixed Psal 57. 7. If our hearts are centerd in God we are above the attachments of the evil one Foolish men usually meet Satans temptations but being immured in Ordinances and onely minding Christ in our devotions this common enemy chained at Christs Cross as Origen speaks will leave us as he did our Master and dear Redeemer Mat. 4. 11. We must watch our Corruptions they are never so violent in their sallies as on Gods own day Pride will go in the most garish dress on the Sabbath and many happily will study more to bring a new fashion then a new heart into the Congregation Vlcerous consciences on this day will quarrel with divine truth or at least with the messengers of it Corrupt wounds will not endure the
Rom. 11. 16 17. should look greener and sprout more then that which is grassed in Let us be earnest with God for Ministers that their success may be great and that they may see of the travel of their souls Praescrip 5. and be satisfied The Ministers work upon a Sabbath may Interior vita vigor gratiae ad crescendum adolescendum in fide charitate et Christianismo hoc solius dei est Alap be painful from himself but it is prosperous only from the Lord the Minister throws the net it is God brings the draught nay he may cast the net but God directs it to the right side of the ship The Apostle assures us It is God gives the increase 1 Cor. 3. 6. That Gods work prospers in the hands of the Ministers and in the hearts of the people is from Gods smile not from the Ministers sweat The Minister may have skill to open the Text but God only hath power to open the heart Let this God therefore be sought to that he would fill the Ministers sail with a prosperous wind and that every Sermon they preach and every Sabbath they celebrate may be as the bow of Jonathan and the sword of Saul which returned not empty 2 Sam. 1. 22. And we have a rare and rich promise to build and bottom our prayers upon which is mentioned Isa 55. 10 11. As the rain comes down and showers from heaven and return not thither but Isa 55. 10 11. water the earth making it bud and bring forth seed to the sower and bread to the eater so saith God shall my word be that goes out of my mouth it shall not return to me void Let us heartily sue out this blessed promise in holy prayer to the Lord Strong prayers are the readiest method to make successful Sabbaths Ministers might do great things upon the prayers of the people they might convince conscience they Acts 2. 37. might prick to the heart and fasten truth upon the soul and go off in the evening of a Sabbath crying victory ovor captivated Converts and lead many lost sheep home to the great shepherd of their souls we have many still-born Ordmances because previous prayers did not put life into them It is prayer that can give a good Minister to a people Philem. ver 22. And it is prayer can bless a good Minister to a people How frequent and pathetical is the Apostle Paul with Ingens est orationum virtus potentia ut Paulus talis tantusque vir illarum ope subsidio indi geat Theopil those to whom he writes to beg and importune their prayers so Rom. 15. 30. Now I beseech you Brethren for the Lord Jesus Christ his sake and for the love of the spirit that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me We may see the great Apostle of the Gentiles though resplendent with such rich gifts enriched with such eminent grace and conducted by the guidance of an infallible spirit yet he stood in need of the people prayers Nay this blessed Apostle not only sollicits the prayers of the Church of the Romans but he addresses himself to other Churches to that at Thessalonica 2 Thes 3. 1. Finally Brethren pray for us that the word of the Lord may have a free course and be glorified even as it is with you Thus Gospel victories are usually the issue of wrestling with God And thus again Paul importunes prayers 1 Thes 5. 25. Brethren pray for us And again Heb. 13. 18. Pray for us This holy Apostle rests not so much upon his own pains as others prayers knowing that the gales of the spirit by which we hoise up sail for heaven are promised to earnest and importunate prayer Luke 11. 13. And indeed as the Minister must row with one Oare by powerful and painful preaching to the people so the people must row with the other by frequent praying for the Minister Dispensator domus dei curam hobet in eâ omnia regit omnia ordinat distribuit They must strive together as the Apostles phrase is Rom. 15. 30. In a word one piece of service which we owe to the Sabbath is that we beg of God that the Ministers who are stars Rev. 1. 20. may fructiferously shine upon who are light Mat. 5. 14. may be a safe conduct to who are Salt Mat. 5. 13. may throughly season and preserve who are Stewards 1 Cor. 4. 1. may feed and refresh the people of God on his own blessed day Let us be much in prayer that Magistrates would take care Praescrip 6. of Gods holy Sabbath Magistrates are called shields Psal 47. 9. Let us pray that they defend the Sabbath from sin and Lev. 19. 17. prophanation Magistrates are called Gods Psal 82. 6. Let us pray that they would remember their own title and commend Gods day to a holy and strict observation And Qui non vetat peccare cùm potest jubet Senec. surely as children for the most part are as the Nurses are so Sabbaths in Nations and Kingdoms are as the Magistrates are we may feel the pulse of the Magistrate in the observation of the Sabbath And therefore let us pray for Magistrates because the eye of the people is fixed more stedily on the Magistrates Sword then on the Scholars pen or the Ministers tongue Magistratical severity more awes and influences then Ministerial intreaties That weapon gives us the deepest wound which is sharpned by civil Authority When a Ministers zeal is insignificant In Sabbati observatione non Ministros verbi tantùm sed et Patres familias iâ—primis Magistratus versari decet Wal. the Magistrates heat will be effectual a Magstrates frown shall operate more throughly then a Ministers check When Nehemiah threatned the strangers to lay hands upon them they came no more upon the Sabbath day Nehem. 13. 21. The soft bowels of a Minister may be abortive when the sure force of a Magistrate may put life into the reformation of the Sabbath Besides the fourth Commandment is retinaculum caeterorum the bond of obedience both to God and man in the duties Custodire Sabbatum per Synechdochen accipiatur pro observatione totius legis praesertim primae tabulae quae religionem cultum dei spectat Alap of the first and the second table this Commandment is the golden clasp which joynes both the Tables together and therefore it is much to be observed that keeping the Sabbath from polluting it and keeping the hands from doing any evil are both coupled and joyned together Isa 56. 2. The pollution of the Sabbath is the usual introduction of all other sin It may be added if Magistrates let the reins loose to connive at vanity and prophaneness on the Lords day the Nation will be filled with evil subjects the Church will be filled with corrupt members and private families will be filled with stubborn children and licentious Servants and