common People of Christians nor ever been the means of that Idolatry which at length spread it self over the whole visible Church of these parts of the World had not this Device of prescribed Forms of Prayer wherein those Abominations were not only expressed but graphically represented and acted so violently affecting the carnal Minds of men superstitious and ignorant imposed them on their practice which gradually hardened them with an obdurate credulity For although they saw no ground or reason Doctrinally to believe what was proposed unto them about Transubstantiation and the Sacrifice of the Mass and might easily have seen that they were contradictory unto all the conductive Principles of men and Christians namely Faith Reason and Sense yet they deceived themselves into an obstinate pretence of believing in the notion of Truth of what they had admitted in practice Men I say of corrupt minds might have disputed long enough about vagrant Forms Accidents without subjects Transmutation of substances without Accidents Sacrifices bloody and unbloody before they had vitiated the whole Worship of the Church with gross Idolatry had not this engine been made use of for its introduction and the minds of men by this means inveagled with the practice of it But when the whole matter and means of it was gradually insinuated into and at length comprized in those Forms of Prayer which they were obliged continually to use in Divine Service their whole Souls became leavened and tainted with a confidence in and love unto these Abominations Hence it was that the Doctrines concerning the Sacraments and the whole worship of God in the Church as they became gradually corrupted were not at once Objectively and Doctrinally proposed to the minds and considerations of men to be received or rejected according to the Evidence they had of their Truth or Error a method due to the Constitution of our Natures but gradually insinuated into their practice by Additional Forms of Prayer which they esteemed themselves obliged to use and observe This was the gilding of the poysonous Pill whose operation when it was swallowed was to bereave men of their Sense Reason and Faith and make them madly avow that to be true which was contrary unto them all Besides as was before intimated the things themselves that were the ground-work of Idolatry namely Transubstantiation and the Sacrifice of the Mass were so acted and represented in those Forms of Worship as to take great impression on the minds of carnal men until they were mad on their Idols For when all Religion and Devotion is let into the Soul by Fancy and Imagination excited by outward spectacles they will make mad work in the World as they have done and yet continue to do But hereof I shall speak in the next place It had therefore been utterly impossible that an Idolatrous Worship should have been introduced into the Church in general had not the Opinion of the necessity of devised Forms of Prayer been first universally received At least it had not been so introduced and so established as to procure and cause the shedding of the blood of thousands of Holy persons for not complying with it By this means alone was brought in that fatal engine of the Churches Ruine from whose murderous efficacy few escaped with their Lives or Souls Had all Churches continued in the Liberty wherein they were placed and left by our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles it is possible that many Irregularities might have prevailed in some of them and many mistakes been admitted in their practice Yet this monster of the Mass devouring the Souls of the most and drinking the blood of many had never been conceived nor brought forth at least not nourished into that terrible form and Power wherein it appeared and acted for many Ages in the World And upon the account thereof it is not without cause that the Jews say that the Christians received their Tephilloth or Prayer-books from Armillus that is Antichrist It is true that when the Doctrine of Religion is determined and established by civil Laws the Laws of the Nation where it is professed as the Rule of all outward Advantages Liturgies composed in compliance therewithal are not so subject to this mischief But this ariseth from that external cause alone Otherwise where ever those who have the ordering of these things do deviate from the Truth once received as it is common for the most so to do Forms of Prayers answerable unto those deviations would quickly be insinuated And the present various Liturgies that are amongst the several sorts of Christians in the World are of little other use than to establish their minds in their peculiar Errors which by this means they adhere unto as Articles of their Faith And hereby did God suffer contempt to be cast upon the supposed Wisdom of men about his Worship and the ways of it They would not trust unto his Institutions and his Care of them but did first put the Ark into a Cart and then like Uzzah put forth a hand of force to hold it when it seemed to shake For it is certain that if not the first Invention yet the first publick Recommendation and prescription of devised Forms of Prayer unto the practice of the Churches were designed to prevent the insinuation of false opinions and corrupt Modes of Worship into the publick Administrations This was feared from Persons infected with Heresy that might creep into their Ministry So the Orthodox and the Arians composed Prayers Hymns and Doxologies the one against the other inserting in them passages confirming their own profession and condemning that of their Adversaries Now however this Invention might be approved whilest it kept within bounds yet it proved the Trojan Horse that brought in all evils into the City of God in its Belly For he who was then at work in the Mystery of Iniquity laid hold on the Engine and occasion to corrupt those Prayers which by the constitution of them who had obtained Power in them the Churches were obliged and confined unto And this took place effectually in the constitution of the Worship of the second Race of Christians or the Nations that were converted unto the Christian Faith after they had destroyed the Western Roman Empire To speak briefly and plainly it was by this means alone namely of the necessary Use of devised Forms of Prayer in the Assemblies of the Church and of them alone that the Mass with its Transubstantiation and Sacrifice and all the Idolatrous Worship wherewith they were accompanied were introduced until the World inflamed with those Idols drench'd it self in the bloud of the Saints and Martyrs of Christ for their Testimony against those abominations And if it had been sooner discovered that no Church was intrusted with Power from Christ to frame and impose such devised Forms of Worship as are not warranted by the Scripture innumerable Evils might have been prevented For that there were no Liturgies composed no imposed Use of them in the Primitive
of Scripture wherein these things are expresly revealed and proposed unto us for to insist on them all were endless This we principally labour in as that whereby not only must the controversy be finally determined but the Persons that manage it be eternally judged What is added concerning the Experience of them that do believe the Truth herein claims no more of Argument unto them that have it not than it hath Evidence of proceeding from and being suited unto those Divine Testimonies But whereas the things that belong unto it are of great moment unto them who do enjoy it as containing the principal Acts Ways and Means of our Entercourse and Communion with God by Christ Jesus they are here somewhat at large on all occasions insisted on for the Edification of those whose concernment lyeth only in the practice of the Duty it self Unless therefore it can be proved that the Testimonies of the Scripture produced and insisted on do not contain that sense and Understanding which the words do determinately express for that only is pleaded or that some have not an Experience of the Truth and Power of that sense of them enabling them to live unto God in this Duty according to it all other Contests about this matter are vain and useless But yet there is no such Work of the Holy Spirit pleaded herein as should be absolutely inconsistent with or Condemnatory of all those outward Aids of Prayer by set composed Forms which are almost every where made use of For the Device being antient and in some degree or measure received generally in the Christian World though a no less general Apostasy in many things from the Rule of Truth at the same time in the same Persons and places cannot be denied I shall not judge of what Advantage it may be or hath been unto the Souls of men nor what Acceptance they have found therein where it is not too much abused The substance of what we plead from Scripture and Experience is only this That whereas God hath graciously promised his Holy Spirit as a Spirit of Grace and Supplications unto them that do believe enabling them to pray according to his Mind and Will in all the circumstances and capacities wherein they are or which they may be called unto it is the Duty of them who are enlightened with the Truth hereof to expect those promised Aids and Assistances in and unto their Prayers and to pray according to the Ability which they receive thereby To deny this to be their Duty or to deprive them of their Liberty to discharge it on all occasions riseth up in direct opposition unto the Divine Instruction of the sacred Word But moreover as was before intimated there are some generally allowed Principles which though not always duely considered yet cannot at any time be modestly denyed that give Direction towards the right Performance of our Duty herein And they are these that sollow 1. It is the Duty of every man to pray for himself The Light of Nature multiplied Divine Commands with our necessary dependance on God and subjection unto him give Life and Light unto this Principle To owne a Divine Being is to owne That which is to be prayed unto and that it is our Duty so to do 2. It is the Duty of some by vertue of natural Relation or of Office to pray with and for others also So is it the Duty of Parents and Masters of Families to pray with and for their Children and Housholds This also derives from those great Principles of natural Light that God is to be worshipped in all Societies of his own erection and that those in the Relations mentioned are obliged to seek the chiefest good of them that are committed unto their care and so is it frequently enjoyned in the Scripture In like manner it is the Duty of Ministers to pray with and for their Flocks by vertue of especial Institution These things cannot be nor so far as I know of are questioned by any But practically the most of men live in an open neglect of their Duty herein Were this but diligently attended unto from the first instance of natural and moral Relations unto the instituted Offices of Ministers and publick Teachers we should have less contests about the Nature and Manner of praying than at present we have It is holy practice that must reconcile differences in Religion or they will never be reconciled in this World 3. Every one who prayeth either by himself and for himself or with others and for them is obliged as unto all the uses properties and circumstances of Prayer to pray as well as he is able For by the Light of Nature every one is obliged in all instances to serve God with his Best The Consirmation and Exemplification hereof was one end of the Institution of Sacrifices under the Old Testament For it was ordained in them that the chief and best of every thing was to be offered unto God Neither the nature of God nor our own Duty towards him will admit that we should expect any Acceptance with him unless our design be to serve him with the Best that we have both for matter and manner So is the mind of God himself declared in the Prophet If you offer the blind for Sacrifice is it not Evil and if you offer the Lame and the Sick is it not Evil Ye brought that which was torn and that which was Lame and Sick should I accept this at your hands saith the Lord But cursed be the Deceiver who hath in his Flock a Male and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing For I am a great King saith the Lord of Hosts and my Name is dreadful among the Heathen 4. In our Reasonable service the Best wherewith we can serve God consists in the Intense sincere actings of the Faculties and Affections of our minds according unto their respective powers through the use of the best Assistances we can attain And if we omit or forgo in any instance the Exercise of them according to the utmost of our present Ability we offer unto God the Sick and the Lame If men can take it on themselves in the Sight of God that the Invention and use of set Forms of Prayer and other the like outward modes of Divine Worship is the best that he hath endowed them withal for his service they are free from the force of this consideration 5. There is no man but in the use of the Aids which God hath prepared for that purpose he is able to pray according to the Will of God and as he is in Duty obliged whether he pray by himself and for himself or with others and for them also There is not by these means perfection attainable in the performance of any Duty Neither can all attain the same measure and degree as unto the usefulness of Prayer and manner of praying But every one may attain unto that wherein he shall be accepted with God and according
possible when they are left to work naturally towards God however unskilled and rude their Expressions may be a deep sense may be left upon their minds with a Reverence of God and Remembrance of their own Error which may be of use to them But the bounding and directing of the workings of Natural Religion by a form of words perhaps little suited unto their Occasions and not at all to their Affections tends only to stifle the operation of an awakened Conscience and to give them up unto their former security 2. Others such as by Education and the Power of Convictions from the word by one means or other are so far brought under a sense of the Authority of God and their own Duty as conscientiously according unto their Light to attend unto Prayer as unto other Duties also Now the Case of these men will be more fully determined afterwards where the whole of the use of Forms of Prayer will be spoken unto For the present I shall only say that I cannot believe until further Conviction that any one whose Duty it is to pray is not able to express his Requests and Petitions in Words so far as he is affected with the matter of them in his mind and what he doth by any Advantage beyond that belongeth not to Prayer Men may by Sloth and other vitious distempers of mind especially of a negligence in getting their Hearts and Consciences duly affected with the Matter and Object of Prayer keep themselves under a real or supposed disability in this matter But whereas Prayer in this sort of Persons is an effect of common Illumination and Grace which are also from the Spirit of God if Persons do really and sincerely endeavour a due sense of what they pray for and about he will not be wanting to help them to express themselves so far as is necessary for them either privately or in their Families But those who will never enter the Water but with Flags or Bladders under them will scarce ever learn to swim And it cannot be denyed but that the constant and unwearied use of set forms of Prayer may become a great occasion of quenching the Spirit and hindring all progress or growth in Gifts or Graces When every one hath done what he can it is his best and will be accepted of him it being according unto what he hath before that which is none of his CHAP. VIII The Duty of External Prayer by Vertue of ae spiritual Gift explained and Vindicated WHAT we have hitherto discoursed concerning the Work of the Spirit of Grace and Supplication enabling Believers to pray or to cry Abba Father belongeth principally unto the internal spiritual nature of the Duty and the Exercise of Grace therein wherein we have occasionally only diverted unto the Consideration of the Interest of Words and the use of set formes either freely or imposed And indeed what hath been evinced from Scripture Testimony herein doth upon the matter render all further dispute about these things needless For if the things mentioned be required unto all acceptable Prayer and if they are truly effected in the minds of all Believers by the Holy Ghost it is evident how little use there remains of such pretended Aids But moreover Prayer falleth under another Consideration namely as to its external Performance and as the Duty is discharged by any one in lesser or greater Societies wherein upon his words and expressions do depend their Conjunction with him their Communion in the Duty and consequently their Edification in the whole This is the Will of God that in Assemblies of his Appointment as Churches and Families and occasional meetings of two or three or more in the name of Christ one should pray in the name of himself and the rest that joyn with him Thus are Ministers enabled to pray in Church-Assemblies as other Christians in occasional meetings of the Disciples of Christ in his name Parents in their Families and in Secret every Believer for himself There is a Spiritual Ability given unto men by the Holy Ghost whereby they are enabled to express the matter of Prayer as taught and revealed in the manner before described in words fitted and suited to lead on their own minds and the minds of others unto an Holy Communion in the Duty to the Honour of God and their own Edification I do not confine the use of this Ability unto Assemblies every one may and usually is to make use of it according to the measure which he hath received for himself also For if a man have not an Ability to pray for himself in private and alone he can have none to pray in publick and Societies Wherefore take Prayer as Vocal without which Adjunct it is not compleat and this Ability belongs to the Nature and Essence of it And this also is from the Spirit of God This is that which meets with such Contradiction and opposition from many and which hath other things set up in Competition with it yea to the Exclusion of it even from Families and Closets also What they are we shall afterwards examine And judged it is by some not only to be separable from the Work of the Spirit of Prayer but no way to belong thereunto A fruit they say it is of Wit Fancy Memory Elocution Volubility and readiness of Speech namely in them in whom on other Accounts they will acknowledge none of these things to be at least in no considerable degree Some while since indeed they defended themselves against any esteem of this Ability by crying out that all those who thus prayed by the Spirit as they call it did but babble and talk non-sense But those who have any sobriety and modesty are convinced that the generality of those who do pray according to the Ability received do use words of Truth and soberness in the exercise thereof And it is but a sorry relief that any can find in cavilling at some expressions which perhaps good and wholesom in themselves yet suit not their Palats or if they are such as may seem to miss of due order and decency yet is not their failure to be compared with the Extravagancies considering the nature of the Duty of some in supposed quaint and elegant expressions used in this Duty But herein they betake themselves unto this Countenance That this Ability is the effect of the natural Endowments before mentioned only which they think to be set off by a Boldness and Confidence but a little beneath an intolerable Impudence Thus it seems is it with all who desire to pray as God enables them that is according to his mind and will if any thing in the Light of Nature the common Voice of mankind Examples of Scripture express Testimonies and Commands are able to declare what is so I shall therefore make way unto the declaration and Confirmation of the Truth asserted by the ensuing Observations 1. Every man is to pray or call upon God according as he is able with respect
private or publick whereof we speak is the uttering of our Desires and Requests unto God called The making of our Requests known unto him Phil. 4. 6. This Utterance is a Gift of the Holy Ghost so also is Prayer as to the manner of the performance of it by words in Supplication And if any one say he cannot so pray suitable unto his own occasions he doth only say that he is a stranger to this Gift of the Holy Ghost and if any one will not by him it is despised And if these things are denyed by any because they understand them not we cannot help it Thirdly It is the Holy Spirit that enables men to discharge and perform every Duty that is required of them in a due manner so that without his enabling of us we can do nothing as we should As this hath been sufficiently confirmed in other Discourses on this Subject so we will not always contend with them by whom such Fundamental Principles of Christianity are denyed or called into question And he doth so with respect unto all sorts of Duties whether such as are required of us by vertue of especial Office and calling or on the more general account of an holy conversation according to the Will of God And Vocal Prayer is a Duty under both these considerations For 1. It is the Duty of the Ministers of the Gospel by vertue of especial Office Supplications Prayers Intercessions and Giving of thanks are to be made in the Assemblies of the Church 1 Tim. 2. 1. Herein it is the Office and Duty of Ministers to go before the Congregation and to be as the mouth of the Church unto God The nature of the Office and the due discharge of it with what is necessary unto the Religious Worship of publick Assemblies manifest it so to be The Apostles as their Example gave themselves continually unto Prayer and the Ministry of the Word Acts 6. 4. It is therefore the Gift of the Holy Ghost whereby these are enabled so to do For of themselves they are not able to do any thing This is one of those good Gifts which is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights Jam. 1. 17. And these Gifts do they receive for the perfecting of the Saints for the Work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ Eph. 4. 12. Utterance therefore in Praying and Preaching is in them the Gift of the Holy Ghost with respect unto their Office And that such a Gift as those who are utterly destitute of it cannot discharge their office unto the Edification of the Church Let men pretend what they please if a spiritual Ability in praying and preaching belong not necessarily unto the office of the Ministry no man can tell what doth so or what the office signifies in the Church For no other Ordinance can be administred without the Word and Prayer nor any part of Rule it self in a due manner And to deny these to be Gifts of the Holy Ghost is to deny the Continuance of his dispensation unto and in the Church which at once overthrows the whole Truth of the Gospel and the sole Foundation that the Ministry of it is built upon 2. The like may be spoken with respect unto Duties to be performed by vertue of our general vocation Such are the Duties of Parents and Masters of Families I know not how far any are gone in ways of prophaneness but hope none are carried unto such a length as to deny it to be the Duty of such Persons to pray with their Families as well as for them The Families that call not on the name of the Lord are under his Curse And if this be their Duty the performance of it must be by the Aid of the Spirit of God by vertue of the general rule we proceed upon Fourthly The Benefit Profit Advantage and Edification of particular Persons of Families but especially of the Church in its Assemblies in and by the use and exercise of this Gift are such and so great as that it is impious not to ascribe it to the operation of the Holy Spirit Men are not of themselves without his especial Aid Authors or Causers of the principal spiritual benefit and Advantage which the Church receiveth in the World If they are so or may be so what need is there of him or his Work for the Preservation and Edification of the Church But that it hath this blessed effect and fruit we plead the experience of all who desire to walk before God in sincerity and leave the determination of the question unto the Judgment of God himself Nor will we at present refuse in our Plea a consideration of the different condition as to an holy Conversation between them who constantly in their life and at their death give this Testimony and theirs by whom it is opposed and denyed We are none of us to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ nor of any effect of his Grace It must therefore be said that the Experience which Believers of all sorts have of the spiritual benefit and advantage of this Ability both in themselves and others is not to be moved or shaken by the Cavils or Reproaches of such who dare profess themselves to be strangers thereunto Fifthly The Event of things may be pleaded in Evidence of the same truth For were not the Ability of praying a Gift of him who divideth to every one according unto his own will there would not be that difference as to the participation of it among those who all pretend unto the Faith of the same Truth as there is openly and visibly in the World And if it were a matter purely of mens natural Abilities it were impossible that so many whose concern it is in the highest degree to be interessed in it should be such strangers to it so unacquainted with it and so unable for it They say indeed it is but the meer improvement of natural Abilities with confidence and exercise Let it be supposed for once that some of them at least have confidence competent unto such a Work and let them try what success meer Exercise will furnish them withal In the mean time I deny that without that Illumination of the mind which is a peculiar Gift of the Holy Ghost the Ability of Prayer treated of is attainable by any And it will be a hard thing to perswade Persons of any ordinary consideration that the difference which they do or may discover between men as to this Gift and Ability proceeds meerly from the difference of their natural and acquired Abilities wherein as it is strenuously pretended the advantage is commonly on that side which is most defective herein Some perhaps may say that they know there is nothing in this Faculty but the exercise of natural endowments with boldness and elocution and that because they themselves were expert in it and found nothing else therein on which ground they have left it for that which is