the little things which did speak the unsoundness of their hearts so what shall we think of them who spend all or the greatest part of their care and heat about those things which come not under any express command of the Divine Law They that are most curious about their Bodies are as it is to be feared most careless about their Souls they spend so much time at their Glass that they have none for the Bible they are so careful that a Pin be not stuck amiss in their Cloaths that they leave every thing amiss in their Hearts by the Garbs and unreasonable Dresses in which some sillily proud persons come into the Assemblies it is easie for Spectators to determine how they spent and profan'd the Morning of the Sabbath at home and we may apprehend and fear the same in the present case that those persons who are so much set for such things as this are at least very apt and prone to bestow none of their care about that which deserves most they are so much for the place that they forget and neglect the heart they are so thoughtful where they pray that they do not mind how they pray they are so set for a form they do not mind nay possibly they hate the Power But by the way letâ—me whisper this in the ear of these persons That the Altar will not Sanctify a corrupt thing If you bring dead formal lifeless Prayers though you offer them up in your Consecrated Churches nay at your adored Altars they will not come up with a sweet smelling favour and acceptance before God I would not have any body think that I do God forbid that I should say A Form of Prayer and Formality of Heart are inseparable Companions I do not doubt but meer formal Professors are most for forms but I dare not affirm that all those who make use of Forms are meer formal Professors I do not doubt but some looking upon Forms as lawful and out of modesty and an humble sense of the lowness of their own parts do make use of Forms when they pray with others and are conscientious in the use of them and they do accompany the Petitions Confessions and Thanksgivings contained in them with sincere affections and do meet with a gracious acceptance with God and do enjoy a communion with his Holy Majesty But this I will also be bold to say and if any be offended at it upon them be it That constant stated forms of Prayer and Formality are borderers upon one another they live at no such great distance but that they frequently yea commonly meet together in the same Service and in the same Persons And really I am of the mind that it stands them in hand who make use of forms to be very cautious and look warily to themselves lest they do even before they are aware fall into formality that indifferency and lukewarmness of Spirit which God cannot endure When in the forequoted Scripture the Woman of Samaria fell into discourse with Christ about the place of Worship whether it ought to be at Ierusalem or in that Mountain viz. Gerizim our Saviour did wisely and graciously take her off from that as a matter not so momentous as to deserve either her Enquiry or his Resolution and fell to acquainting her with directing her to and putting herâ— upon the Spirituality of that Worship which is to be performed as that which she and every one ought principally to attend unto because it is that which the heart of God is most for and upon which his pure eyes are chiefly set 4 Iohn 23 24. The hour cometh and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth Spiritual Worship is most congruous and agreeable to God Childish Toys please Children who have no more wit outward Pomp and Ceremonies please vain men who have not so good hearts as they should but spiritual Worship is acceptable to that God who is himself a Spirit such Worshippers he seeks others he rejects when he finds them therefore you must be such if you would find favour or receive a Blessing And to shut up this particular I will only add That if men were once set as they should be for the spirituality of Worship they would not be so unreasonably eager as they are for nor so tetchy froward and contentious about Places Modes and Forms which can fetch their pedigree and original no higher than meer human Invention and Appointment Enough of that and it will be well if some persons do not think this a little too much VSE In the third and last branch of this Use of Reprehension my work will be to awaken rouze and startle to convince and bring those to judge and condemn themselves who live without secret Prayer I hear from some and I do more than partly believe it That there are many Professors and those too of some Name and Eminency who live under the dreadful guilt of this sinful omission and if there be some such how great may we suppose the total number to be of them who are this way chargeable tho' let them be never so many every one of them Man Woman and Child is known to that God who observes our down-lying and our up-rising and is acquainted with all our ways There are those that will come to publick Ordinances that they may not be counted Heathens nor suspected to be Papists which Party now blessed be God is under great infamy and reproach tho' not greater than they do deserve upon account of the very Principles of that cursed Religion which they have embraced and do profess Yea and they will attend upon those Ordinances which they think are most purely administred and also join themselves in Communion with those Churches which they look upon as being of the most Scriptural Constitution that so they may be reckoned among Christians of the highest Form and chiefest Rank yea and peradventure they will set up Family-duties they will call their Children and Servants together and all under their â—oof and Charge to seek the Lord lest upon a discontent or remove some-body within doors should tell tales by means whereof their reputation should be blasted and the truth of their Religion called in question by any of those to whom they are desirous yea ambitious of approving themselves But wretches as they are as for Prayer by themselves either in Chamber or in Closet or any where else they do lay it aside altogether God himself will be a swift Witness against them that He and they never so met together They find much other work and can do many other things when they are alone They can spend a great deal of time at the Glass viewing and dressing themselves they can tell their Money and read over their Bills and Bonds but as for Soul-searching
of the Child In Psalm 18. we find that good Man in his distress called upon the Lord and cried unto his God and God heard him Divine Love is quick of hearing He heard my voice out of his holy temple and my cry came before him even into his ears And now observe what haste God made to his Servant Vers. 9 10. He bowed the Heavens and came dewn He rode upon a Cherub and did fly yea he did fly upon the wings of the wind When Holy David wanted his God God would be with him presently I dare assure thee O Saint if thou wilt but get thy Soul upon the Wing and by the hand of servent believing Prayer knock at Heavens door thou shalt to thy comfort find that thy beloved will not be long from thee no no he will be sure graciously to return thy Visit he will come and drop some sweet smelling Myrrh upon the handles of thy lock Secret Prayer is the nearest and readiest way to secret and intimate Communion with God as it is an opening of the heart to God so it makes way for God's opening of his heart to the Saint and when that is opened what blessed discoveries are made what treasures appear and riches of Grace what counsels of Wisdom and thoughts of good and great designs the very sight of which is ravishing and may well put the Soul into a transport When guilty but convinced Ephraim got alone and made his reflections and thereupon bemoan'd himself for his former folly stubbornness and obstinacy and begged hard for converting turning Grace God presently turned toward him and with yearning Bowels spake his love this resolution was immediately taken up I will surely have mercy upon him In a word God doth sometimes in displeasure withdraw from his sinning Children but it is with a resolution to be found of them when they seek him and to return to them when he is sent for Hos. 5. 15. I will go and return to my place till they acknowledg their offence and seek my face I will stay away I will not come near them I will have nothing to do with them till they do this but let them do it as soon as they will and they shall meet with acceptance I will rise out of my place and visit them with Salvation He will be sure to come at Prayers call if some crying sin or other do not drown the voice of it and his Presence and Beams will effectually scatter the thickest and blackest Clouds the light of his countenance when once lifted up will make it a day of gladness to the most benighted Soul Whenever he comes he will be sure to bring a blessing along with him and so appear unto its joy These particulars to which I have largely spoken are I hope sufficient to prove that Secret Prayer is both your Duty and your Interest and so I have done with the Doctrinal part and shall now proceed to the improvement of it by Application which will be twofold 1. For Reprehension 2. For Exhortation The use of Reprehension or Reproof shall be directed to three sorts of persons who do indeed deserve to fall under it and oh that it may come with such power as to make them fall before it and issue in their amendment of those things which by the light of Truth breaking in upon them they shall see to be amiss First They are sharply to be reproved for they are deeply guilty before God who instead of making Conscience and living in the performance of Secret Prayer are altogether strangers to and live in the total neglect of all Prayer They do not know what it is to approach unto the Throne of God and to pour out their Souls before him they go to their Beds at night like Swine to their Sty not begging Divine protection and rise out of them in a morning and go about their business without paying any acknowledgments to their great Benefactor under the Wing of whose careful Providence they were secured yea sit down to their Tables without asking God's Blessing as if they had no dependence upon him and when they have eaten and are full rise up to work or play without giving God Thanks as if they were not at all beholden to him And thus they live Prayerless lives in the World They have passed many days and escaped many dangers and received many mercies and committed many sins but never set themselves at least in good earnest to put up one Prayer Oh how do they tumble out by wholesale an innumerable company of execrable Oaths and tremendous Curses which speaks their Tongues the Devils Instruments set on fire with the fire of Hell but no body ever saw them upon their knees before God nor heard a word of Prayer drop from their Lips They have had many Dangers prevented but never sought refuge nor took shelter in God They have every day received multitudes of Mercies but did never solemnly beg one God did in the time of the Old Testament order that the Fire of the Altar should never go out and appointed the morning and evening sacrifice but poor creatures these have no fire their hearts are as cold as Ice they know not what true love to God means and having no fire in themselves God shall have no sacrifice from them his Altars shall be empty they have nothing to lay on from the beginning of the year to the end of it How many are there that never made an attempt this way never tried to Pray never went about the work They in the pride of their countenances will not seek after God He is not in all their thoughts Ps. 10. 4. In all of them He is but in few of them and when he is in any when he forcibly breaks in upon them and makes his own way for they never invite him nor study to think of him he is not welcome nor grateful to them I fear if a man should come and ask some of you such a question as this Friend Neighbour what intercourses are there between God and you what converse and fellowship have you with God do you pray a-days do you pray by your selves in your Chambers or with your Families are you some of that blessed wrestling Generation who seek the face of the God of Jacob if you would speak the truth and not cover your sin and shame with a lie you must answer No not I God knows I cannot pray I do not know how to pray I never went about it I see no need of it I have no heart to it may we not say of these what Agur said of himself Prov. 30. 2. Surely they are more bruitish than any man they have not the understanding of a man they have not learned wisdom nor have they any knowledg of the Holy Let them be reckoned for Beasts in human shape Some have written as if they did not look upon Reason but Religion as the thing which makes the specifical difference
hence when Sickness Arrests you and you find that the King of terrors is at your very door that will be a dismal time and it will cause many thoughts and tremblings of heart and then if ever you will stand in need of Cordials and happy the Man that hath his comfortable Reflections and Prospects to support his Spirits who can look back to his Life past with peace and look forward to Eternity with hope When a Child of God that hath maintain'd a close and intimate Communion with his God and given himself unto Prayer comes to lie upon his Death-bed he is so roughly handled by that last enemy that he cannot pray his heart is so faint within him and his pains are so strong upon him that he hath not any leisure for that work in which he hath found so much sweetness and for which he hath so dear a love Alas then his case his weakness his agonies his tumblings and tossings are such that he cannot pray as he was wont only sigh and groan and lift up an eye and give a look toward God's Holy Temple and dart up a short ejaculation Poor Soul that is the utmost length he can go and it is no small grief to him that he is so straitned and confined Holy Asaph put this among the Reasons of his bitter complaints Psal. 77. 4 That he was so troubled that he could not speak But at that very time he can relieve and comfort himself with his former praying and former walking and Communion with God his former seeking of God and conversing with him When there was a message of death by the Prophet brought to Hezekiah he could send this short Petition up again to Heaven Isa. 38. 3. Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight He could do but very little then his strength was gone and his breath was short but he could with comfort remember and desire God himself to remember how he had walked and what he had done in his Halcion and healthful days So when a gracious person is disabled for his work he can think thus There is a stock of Prayers which I have laid up in Heaven against such a time of need as this is and the thought thereof will be a singular support and comfort to him But what do you think will become of you at such a time you that have been all your days strangers to this work When you come to dye you cannot pray your distempers and pains will not lâ—t you and you do not know how to go about it nor how to do one stroke at it and it will then be a sting and horrour to you to think that when you were in health and strength and all things well with you you would not pray You were called upon often by your godly Ministers and by your gracious Friends and Relations but you would not At a dying hour you will have no fitness for that work and all the time that you lived before you had no heart to it But possibly you will comfort your selves with this that when you are sick and full of fears and inward disquiets and you are not in a capacity of praying for your selves then you or some of your Friends for you will send for some godly Minister or other and desire him to pray for you Well suppose that is done and the Minister sent for comes if he knows what a wretch thou hast been and how much thou hast neglected God and thy Duty all thy days What straitnings of Soul must he of necessity be under as to thee With what holy confidence and hope may we go to God in Prayer on the behalf of a godly person when sick if we can say to God as they did to Christ on the behalf of Lazarus John 11. 3. Lord he whom thou lovest is sick But what a damp must it needs be to us when we think we are going to God for a sick and dying Man but such an one as neglected God and hated him and lived without him and in open rebellion against him I fear I fear there are too many among us that befool and deceive themselves with this That if they can get a Minister to Pray by them especially if it be such an one as will give them the Sacrament too oh then all is well and their Souls go immediately to Heaven without any stop by the way and the Gate of Glory is opened to them and entrance granted but it is probable that will not do and that these Men build their high hopes upon a Sandy-foundation that will fail them And I would fain know what great encouragement or what sufficient ground we have to believe that we shall carry them in the Arms of our Prayers safe to Heaven who would not themselves take one right step in the way that leads thither would never be humble Petitioners for the pardon of their Sins or for the Life and Salvation of their own Souls That I look upon as exceeding worthy of your observation and repeated thoughts which we meet with in the 1st of Samuel chap. 12. After that good Man had faithfully reproved the people for their great wickedness in asking a King and likewise put them into a great consternation by a Storm of Thunder and Rain in the time of Wheat-Harvest which was unusual in that Countrey they became humble Suitors to him saying in verse 19. Pray for by servants unto the Lord thy God that we die not That request he was most freely wilâ—ing to grant God forbid saith he that I should sin in ceasing to pray for you He had prayed for them and would continue to pray for them But now mark and remember that which followeth in vers 24. Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart Which is as if he had said I will not be wanting to my Duty you are a people that I dearly love and heartily wish welfare and prosperity to I will speak for you and plead for you and wrestle with God for you but do not you lay too great stress upon my Prayers look to it that you be not found sinning against God whil'st I am praying to him for you left you do your selves more mischief than I can do you good My Prayers will not prevail on your behalf unless you will resolve to fear God your selves and to seek and serve him your selves and pray and honour and obey him your selves By warrant of that Scripture I do now say to you when you are sick and in distress and fear you shall dye you will call the Ministers to pray for you and we are ready to do it when you send for us we will come only I wish that we may be sent for sooner than we are by some of you viz. while you are able to give us an account of your selves and in