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
not seek his face where you sin to his face Oh! look carefully to it that as there are secret Faults so there be secret Prayers and Tears as secret Sins so secret Services Fourthly There are special and momentous Causes and Reasons for secret Prayer Surely there is not that Man nor Woman to be found upon the face of the earth but hath something or other which he would by all means have a Mantle of privacy thrown over something or other which he may be free and willing to whisper in the ear of a prudent intimate Friend and lock up in his bosom but he would not have it divulg'd and come abroad to the knowledge of every body Now let me ask thee Hast thou nothing to speak to God in his ear something which thou wouldst not have any person in the world acquainted with something it may be that doth greatly oppress thee and whilst thou dost smother it altogether in silence thy heart is almost broken within thee There is an absolute necessity of giving vent and thereby some ease to thine over-burden'd mind and where canst thou do it with more freedom and greater hope of relief than when thou art alone before a gracious God whose mercies are everlasting and his compassions do not fail Will that which they call Common-Prayer râ—ach thy whole Case doth it contain in it all that is in thine heart dost thou find every one of thy wants mention'd there every one of thy groans form'd there every one of thy desires drawn up there is there nothing singular and peculiar in thy Case is it exactly stated by others in all the particularities of it I am sure the Wise Man tells us Prov. 14. 10. The heart knoweth his own bitterness and a stranger intermedleth not with his joy These things are so lock'd up in the heart of a man that no body else hath a key to let him into them I think it is most proper for a poor diseased Patient to tell his Physician how he feels himself indeed if he be so disturbed in his reason or so much enfeebled that he cannot do it then it is necessary for some other to do it that hath been about him and curious in his Observations but I am of the mind that the wise Physician will like that account best which comes from his Patient 's own mouth supposing him capable of giving one Do thou go and do so to thy great and ever-blessed Physician the holy God and to that end study both his Word and thy Heart that by studying his Word thou maist come to know how it should be with thee and by studying thine own heart thou maist know how it is with thee and then go and tell him Again will Publick-Prayer at all times become thee and in every one of thy concernments Hast thou so much of an unspotted innocency or such a large measure of confidence as that thou wilt not blush to tell the whole story of thine heart and life upon the House-top Hast thou been so undefiled in the way that thou needest not care who knows what thou hast been and what thou hast done Indeed when a proud and self-conceited Pharisee makes it his business to display his glory and to trumpet out his own commendations to tell God that he is a Phoenix a kind of none-such in the World one that is so free from common defilements so abundant in goodness and acts of goodness that his fellow is scarce to be met with it is no wonder to find him ambitious of having Auditors enough and to see him in the pride of his countenance and with his hand by his side strutting it to the Temple where he doth expect a great confluence of people who might go and inform others what great things they had heard concerning him from his own mouth and so raise to him Thousands of admirings among such as would be credulous and believe him upon his bare word But methinks when a poor Publican that groans under an heavy burthen of sin and guilt who knoweth himself unable to answer for one of a Thousand and who hath had often and often the sentence of death in himself pronounced by his own awakened and wounded Conscience when I say he is to draw up an Indictment against himself and to read it in the presence of his righteous Judge and then having so done to beg upon his knees and plead hard for his Life Lord be merciful to me a sinner He may stand a great way off and get alone by himself as a person ashamed and even confounded When thou goest to acquaint God with thy diseases foul loathsom diseases of Soul and to open thy Artery Sores and those wounds in thy Conscience which as poor David found and owned stink and are corrupt it speaks an humble modesty and doth highly become thee to do it between him and thee alone Now Christian give me leave to deal particularly with thee and to come as close as I can and to propound some few Questions to thee and to desire thee to propound them to thy self when I have done 1. Hast thou not some secret sins to confess to God Hast thou been all thy days so sober and righteous and godly so circumspect and exact that no action of thine troubles thee or will reflect dishhonour upon thee or in the least put thee out of countenance is there no blot in thy Escutchion no dead Fly in thy Box of Ointment Are there not some things done by thee which nobody doth know of and which thou wouldest not for more than I will say have any body know of Let this bring thee to Secret Prayer for they must be confest Indeed unless it be in some cases thou dost not need to do it unto Men there is no necessâ—â—y for thee to proclaim and publish thine own shame Auriculaâ—â—onfeâ—â—â—on which the Popish Priests do require is an abomination But a Confession there must be else the wound of Conscience will not be healed the oppressed Spirit will not be relieved the Sâ—ain will not be taken out the Sin will not be pardon'd The Promise is He that confesseth and forsakes his sin shall find mercy as much as he needs or can desire And the word of Truth gives us this assurance I Iohn 1. 9. That if we confess our sins God is just and faithful to forgive us â—u sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Blessed be God for those words from all Pardoning Mercy and Justifying Grace will make thorow work where-ever it comes it takes away iniquity transgression and sin all sorts and sizes sins of all kinds and degrees But where doth this take place Only in them that Confess Where there is no Confession you cannot with reason hope for a Remission Add this You may very well spread before God those sins which you have committed in secret because it is not in your power to hide them from him they are all in the light of his
thing of the Pharisee Thirdly When thou art alone in prayer make it thy great desire and care to be with God In all thy approaches to him and in all thine appearances before him make sure that thou be with him The Psalmist could say Psal. 139. 18. When I awake I am still with thee this some understand of the constancy of God's kindness Though the most vigilant of the Saints sometimes fall into sleepiness and drowsiness of spirit that they perceive not God's presence with them nor care over them nor love to them yet when the Lord awakeneth up their Souls and reneweth their spiritual senses they are made to see and acknowledge that the Lord doth never leave them no not when they least perceive his presence But others do by this understand the gracious frame and workings of David's Spirit He was every morning with God as soon as ever he opened his eyes he directed them to God God was the excellent and endeared Object that he would first converse with and bestow his morning visit upon I am still with thee by meditation Oh that thou couldest say the same in truth as to this duty of Prayer Lord when I am at prayer I am still with thee I am often upon my knees and I am as often with my God I Iohn 1. 3. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Iesus Christ. Do you press after that a fellowship with God do you enquire for that as Elisha when he had got the Mantle which his Master had dropt he cried out Where is the Lord God of Elijah so do you here is the Prayer but where is the fellowship Truly that Person is both wickedly and miserably alone in his duty who is not with God in duty He sins greatly in it and he shall get nothing by it That is an accursed privacy out of which the great and ever-blessed God is excluded He is indeed with thee in all places in thy greatest retirements Psal. 139. 8. If I ascend up into Heaven thou art there if I make my bed in Hell thou art there So if thou art in the Congregation God is there if in the Chamber God is there if in the Field God is there He fills all places and he takes notice of all persons and of all their Actions but that is not enough no gracious Soul that doth indeed love him will sit down satisfied with that While God is with thee by his Omnipresence observing thee and all thy ways what duties thou dost and how thou dost them it must be thy great care to be with God in a way of holy meditation and affection to have the thoughts dwelling with God the desires running out to God and the delights feasting upon God Have a care that when you pretend to be alone in your duty you do not lay the reins upon your necks and allow your minds in their loose and vain exâ—ursions Christian go to thy duty and go to thy God too So that good man wisely resolved Psal. 43. 3 4. O send out thy light and truth let them lead me let them bring me unto thy hill and to thy tabernacles then will I go unto the altar of God unto God my exceeding joy He would not stop at the Altar but get up to the God who was worshipped there and when thou art with him keep with him as close as thou canst let no temptation draw thee away Fourthly Whensoever thou art in secret before God reveal all thy secrets to him deal plainly and openly with him anatomize thy Soul in his presence tell him all that is in thine heart and all that thou remembrest hath been in thy life and do not hide any thing from him whatsoever thine own Conscience preacheth to thee do thou go and repeat it all to God confess to him those evil Actions thou didst in a corner and under the covert of darkness though no mortal eye saw them nor can any body charge thee with them The keeping back of part of thy sins may be thy ruine as well as keeping back part of the price of the Land and covering the fraud with a lie was the death of Ananias and Sapphira Acknowledge to him those heart-corruptions which did never come into act the law in the members that warreth against the law in your mind the sin that dwelleth in you that cursed root of bitterness which lieth under ground the vicious fountain that is continually boiling and bubling up in filthy thoughts and vile affections though it never sent forth such muddy and abominable streams as run in an impetuous and rapid manner in the lives of others overflowing all the banks that Religion and Reason do set them In a word Do thou thy self acquaint God with the plague of thine heart which threatens the life of thy Soul though there be no spots to be seen by others upon thee though it doth not shew it self in botches and boils I have already told you that though you need not let men know not your dearest intimate and most faithful Friends know all that you are chargeable with yet you are bound to do so to God and it is indeed no other than a giving of him the glory of his Omniscience and if you do it as you ought in a believing way the glory of his Mercy and Goodness too as being a God ready to forgive and multiply pardons Besides as I have said it is in vain to hide any thing from him because he seeth all searcheth the hearts possesseth the reins and hath our most secret sins in the light of his countenance He that covers his sins shall not prosper not in that action when men go to eover God will come to discover Adam having sinned went like a guilty Malefactor to hide himself but God knew where he was and fetcht him out with a word Achan having stoln the wedge of Gold and two hundred pieces of Silver and a goodly Babylonish Garment went and hid them in the earth in the midst of his Tent but God made him fetch them out again When all is done plain-dealing is best specially when you have to deal with God And let me here add That freedom and openness of heart in a way of humble confession unto God is a very good argument of a gracious frame of heart and speaks a person acted by an ingenuous filial spirit that he is no friend to sin no admirer of himself but willing to load himself that so he might the more loath himself and work his heart into the greater admirings of that patience which notwithstanding so many affronts hath so long born with him and that grace which notwithstanding so great provocations doth yet open to him a door of hope And take one thing with you further this freedom and openness of heart in confessing your sins to God is a singular