1. But men of more refined belief and practice are yet concerned
in this unlawful self about religion.--2. It is the rise of
the performance of worship God regards.--3. True worship is
only from a heart prepared by God's Spirit.--4. The soul of man
is dead without the divine breath of life, and so not capable
of worshipping the living God.--5. We are not to study what
to pray for. How Christians should pray. The aid they have
from God.--6. The way of obtaining this preparation: it is by
waiting, as David and others did of old, in holy silence, that
their wants and supplies are best seen.--7. The whole and the
full think they need not this waiting, and so use it not; but
the poor in spirit are of another mind, wherefore the Lord
hears, and fills them with his good things.--8. If there were
not this preparation, the Jewish times would have been more holy
and spiritual than the gospel; for even then it was required;
much more now.--9. As sin, so formality, cannot worship God:
thus David, Isaiah, &c.--10. God's own forms and institutions
hateful to Him, unless his own Spirit use them; much more those
of man's contriving.--11. God's children ever met God in his
way, not their own; and in his way they always found help and
comfort. In Jeremiah's time it was the same; his goodness was
manifested to his children that waited truly upon him: it was an
inward sense and enjoyment of him they thirsted after. Christ
charged his disciples also to wait for the Spirit.--12. This
doctrine of waiting further opened, and ended with an allusion
to the pool of Bethesda; a lively figure of inward waiting and
its blessed effects.--13. Four things necessary to worship;
the sanctification of the worshipper, and the consecration
of the offering, and the thing to be prayed for, and lastly,
faith to pray in: and all must be right, that is, of God's
giving.--14. The great power of faith in prayer; witness the
importunate woman. The wicked and formal ask, and receive not;
the reason why. But Jacob and his true offspring, the followers
of his faith, prevail.--15. This shows why Christ upbraided
his disciples with their little faith. The necessity of faith.
Christ works no good on men without it.--16. This faith is
not only possible now but necessary.--17. What it is, further
unfolded.--18. Who the heirs of this faith are; and what were
the noble works of it in the former ages of the just.
I. But there be others of a more refined speculation, and reformed
practice, who dare not use, and less adore, a piece of wood or
stone, an image of silver and gold; nor yet allow of that Jewish, or
rather Pagan pomp in worship, practised by others, as if Christ's
worship were of this world, though his kingdom be of the other,
but are doctrinally averse to such superstition, and yet refrain
not to bow to their own religious duties, and esteem their formal
performance of several parts of worship that go against the grain of
their fleshly ease, and a preciseness therein, no small cross unto
them; and that if they abstain from gross and scandalous sins, or if
the act be not committed, though the thoughts of it are embraced,
and that it has a full career in the mind, they hold themselves safe
enough within the pale of discipleship and walls of Christianity.
But this also is too mean a character of the discipline of Christ's
cross: and those that flatter themselves with such a sort of taking
it up, will in the end be deceived with a sandy foundation, and a
midnight cry. For said Christ, "But I say unto you, that every idle
word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the
day of judgment." (Matt. xii. 36.)
II. For first, it is not performing duties of religion, but the
rise of the performance that God looks at. Men may, and some do,
cross their own wills in their own wills: voluntary omission and
commission: "Who has required this at your hands?" (Isa. i. 12,)
said the Lord of old to the Jews, when they seemed industrious to
have served him; but it was in a way of their own contriving or
inventing, and in their own time and will; not with the soul truly
touched and prepared by the divine power of God, but bodily worship
only: that, the apostle tells us, profits little. Not keeping to the
manner of taking up the cross in worship as well as other things,
has been a great cause of the troublesome superstition that is yet
in the world. For men have no more brought their worship to the
test, than their sins: nay less; for they have ignorantly thought
the one a sort of excuse for the other; and not that their religious
performances should need a cross, or an apology.
III. But true worship can only come from a heart prepared by the
Lord. (Prov. xvi. 1; Rom viii. 14.) This preparation is by the
sanctification of the Spirit; by which, if God's children are led
in the general course of their lives, as Paul teaches, much more in
their worship to their Creator and Redeemer. And whatever prayer be
made, or doctrine be uttered, and not from the preparation of the
Holy Spirit, it is not acceptable with God: nor can it be the true
evangelical worship, which is in spirit and truth; that is, by the
preparation and aid of the Spirit. For what is a heap of the most
pathetical words to God Almighty; or the dedication of any place
or time to him? He is a Spirit, to whom words, places, and times,
strictly considered, are improper or inadequate. And though they be
the instruments of public worship, they are but bodily and visible,
and cannot carry our requests any further, much less recommend them
to the invisible God; by no means; they are for the sake of the
congregation: it is the language of the soul God hears, nor can that
speak but by the Spirit, or groan aright to Almighty God without the
assistance of it.
IV. The soul of man, however lively in other things, is dead to God,
till He breathe the spirit of life into it: it cannot live to Him,
much less worship Him, without it. Thus God tells us, by Ezekiel,
when in a vision of the restoration of mankind, in the person of
Israel, an usual way of speaking among the prophets, and as often
mistaken, "I will open your graves," saith the Lord, "and put my
Spirit in you, and you shall live." (Ezek. xxxvii. 12-14.) So,
though Christ taught his disciples to pray, they were, in some sort,
disciples before he taught them; not worldly men, whose prayers are
an abomination to God. And his teaching them is not an argument that
every body must say that prayer, whether he can say it with the same
heart, and under the same qualifications, as his poor disciples
or followers did, or not; as is now too superstitiously and
presumptuously practised; but rather as they then, so we now, are
not to pray our own prayers, but his: that is, such as He enables us
to make, as He enabled them then.
V. For if we are not to take thought what we shall say when we come
before worldly princes, because it shall then be given us; and that
"it is not we that speak, but the Spirit of our heavenly Father
that speaketh in us;" (Matt. x. 19, 20;) much less can our ability
be needed, or ought we to study to ourselves forms of speech in our
approaches to the great Prince of princes, King of kings, and Lord
of lords. For be it his greatness, we ought not by Christ's command;
be it our relation to him as children, we need not; he will help us,
he is our Father; that is, if he be so indeed. Thus not only the
mouth of the body but of the soul is shut, till God opens it; and
then he loves to hear the language of it. In which the body ought
never to go before the soul: his ear is open to such requests, and
his Spirit strongly intercedes for those that offer them.
VI. But it may be asked, how shall this preparation be obtained?
I answer: By waiting patiently, yet watchfully and intently upon
God: "Lord," says the Psalmist, "thou hast heard the desire of the
humble; thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear
to hear:" (Psalm x. 17:) and, says wisdom, "The preparation of the
heart in man is from the Lord." (Prov. xvi. 1.) Here it is thou
must not think thy own thoughts, nor speak thy own words, which
indeed is the silence of the holy cross, but be sequestered from
all the confused imaginations that are apt to throng and press upon
the mind in those holy retirements. It is not for thee to think to
overcome the Almighty by the most composed matter, cast into the
aptest phrase; no, no; one groan, one sigh, from a wounded soul, a
heart touched with true remorse, a sincere and godly sorrow, which
is the work of God's Spirit, excels and prevails with God. Wherefore
stand still in thy mind, wait to feel something that is divine, to
prepare and dispose thee to worship God truly and acceptably. And
thus taking up the cross, and shutting the doors and windows of the
soul against everything that would interrupt this attendance upon
God, how pleasant soever the object be in itself, how lawful or
needful at another season, the power of the Almighty will break in,
his Spirit will work and prepare the heart, that it may offer up
an acceptable sacrifice. It is he that discovers and presses wants
upon the soul; and when it cries, it is he alone that supplies them.
Petitions, not springing from such a sense and preparation, are
formal and fictitious: they are not true; for men pray in their own
blind desires, and not in the will of God; and his ear is stopped to
them: "but for the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the
needy," God hath said, "I will arise;" (Psalm xii. 5;) that is, the
poor in spirit, the needy soul, those that want his assistance, who
are ready to be overwhelmed, that feel a need, and cry aloud for a
deliverer, and that have none on earth to help: none in heaven but
Him, nor in the earth in comparison of Him: "He will deliver," said
David, "the needy when he cries, and the poor, and him that has
no helper." (Psalm lxxii. 12, 14.) He shall redeem their soul from
deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in His sight.
"This poor man," says he, "cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved
him out of all his troubles." (Psalm xxxiv. 6-8.) "The angel of the
Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivers them,"
and then invites all to come and taste how good the Lord is; "yea,
He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great." (Psalm
cxv. 13.)
VII. But what is that to them that are not hungry? "They that be
whole need not a physician:" (Matt. ix. 12;) the full have no need
to sigh, nor the rich to cry for help. Those that are not sensible
of their inward wants, that have not fears and terrors upon them,
who feel no need of God's power to help them, nor of the light of
his countenance to comfort them, what have such to do with prayer?
their devotion is but at best, a serious mockery of the Almighty.
They know not, they want not, they desire not what they pray for.
They pray the will of God may be done, and do constantly their own:
for though it be soon said, it is a most terrible thing to them.
They ask for grace, and abuse that they have: they pray for the
Spirit, but resist it in themselves, and scorn at it in others: they
request mercies and goodness of God, and feel no real want of them.
And in this inward insensibility, they are as unable to praise God
for what they have, as to pray for what they have not. "They shall
praise the Lord," says David, "that seek him: for he satisfieth
the longing soul, and filleth the hungry with good things." (Psalm
xxii. 26; cvii. 8.) This also he reserves for the poor and needy,
and those that fear God. Let the spiritually poor and the needy
praise thy name: ye that fear the Lord, praise him; and ye the seed
of Jacob, glorify him. Jacob was a plain man, of an upright heart:
and they that are so, are his seed. And though (with him) they may
be as poor as worms in their own eyes, yet they receive power to
wrestle with God, and prevail as he did.
VIII. But without the preparation and consecration of this power, no
man is fit to come before God; else it were matter of less holiness
and reverence to worship God under the gospel, than it was in the
times of the law, when all sacrifices were sprinkled before offered;
the people consecrated that offered them, before they presented
themselves before the Lord. (Numb. viii., xix.; 2 Chron. xxix. 36;
xxx. 16, 17.) If the touching of a dead or unclean beast then made
people unfit for temple or sacrifice, yea, society with the clean,
till first sprinkled and sanctified, how can we think so meanly of
the worship that is instituted by Christ in gospel times, as that
it should admit of unprepared and unsanctified offerings? Or, allow
that those, who either in thoughts, words, or deeds, do daily touch
that which is morally unclean, can, without coming to the blood of
Jesus, that sprinkles the conscience from dead works, acceptably
worship the pure God: it is a downright contradiction to good sense:
the unclean cannot acceptably worship that which is holy; the impure
that which is perfect. There is a holy intercourse and communion
betwixt Christ and his followers; but none at all betwixt Christ and
Belial; between him and those that disobey his commandments, and
live not the life of his blessed cross and self-denial. (2 Cor. vi.
15, 16.)
IX. But as sin, so formality cannot worship God; no, though
the manner were of his own ordination. Which made the prophet,
personating one in a great strait, cry out, "Wherewith shall I come
before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come
before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? will
the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands
of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath showed, thee,
O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but
to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
(Micah, vi. 6-8.) The royal prophet, sensible of this, calls thus
also upon God; "O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show
forth thy praise." (Psalm li. 15-17.) He did not dare open his own
lips, he knew that could not praise God; and why? "for thou desirest
not sacrifice, else would I give it:" if my formal offerings
would serve, thou shouldst not want them; thou delightest not in
burnt-offerings. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise:" and why?
because this is God's work, the effect of his power; and his own
works praise him. To the same purpose doth God himself speak by the
mouth of Isaiah, in opposition to the formalities and lip-worship
of the degenerate Jews: "Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my
throne, and the earth is my footstool, where is the house that
ye build to me? and where is the place of my rest? For all these
things hath my hand made. But to this man will I look, even to him
that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."
(Isaiah, lxvi. 1, 2.) O behold the true worshipper! one of God's
preparing, circumcised in heart and ear, that resists not the Holy
Spirit, as those lofty professing Jews did. Was this so then, even
in the time of the law, which was the dispensation of external and
shadowy performances: and can we now expect acceptance without the
preparation of the Spirit of the Lord in these gospel times, which
are the proper times for the effusion of the Spirit? By no means:
God is what he was; and none else are his true worshippers, but such
as worship him in his own spirit: these he tenders as the apple
of his eye; the rest do but mock him, and he despises them. Hear
what follows to that people, for it is the state and portion of
Christendom at this day; "He that killeth an ox, is as if he slew a
man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he
that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that
burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen
their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations."
(Isaiah, lxvi. 3.) Let none say, we offer not these kinds of
oblations, for that is not the matter; God was not offended with the
offerings, but offerers. These were the legal forms of sacrifice
by God appointed; but they not presenting them in that frame of
spirit, and under that right disposition of soul that was required,
God declares his abhorrence, and that with great aggravation; and
elsewhere, by the same prophet, forbids them to bring any more vain
oblations before him; "incense," saith God, "is an abomination to
me: your sabbaths and calling of assemblies I cannot away with; it
is iniquity, even the solemn meeting." And "when you spread forth
your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; when you make many
prayers, I will not hear you." (Isaiah, i. 13-18.) A most terrible
renunciation of their worship; and why? Because their hearts were
polluted; they loved not the Lord with their whole hearts, but
broke his law, and rebelled against his Spirit, and did not that
which was right in his sight. The cause is plain, by the amendment
He requires; "Wash ye," says the Lord, "make you clean, put away
the evil of your doings from before mine eyes: cease to do evil,
learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the
fatherless, plead for the widow." Upon these terms, and nothing
short, He bids them come to Him, and tells them, that "though their
sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; and though they be
as crimson, they shall be white as wool."
So true is that notable passage of the Psalmist, "Come and hear, all
ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul:
I cried to him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. If
I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. But verily
God hath heard me: he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy
from me." (Psalm lxvi. 16, 20.)
X. Much of this kind might be cited, to show the displeasure of God
against even his own forms of worship, when performed without his
own Spirit, and that necessary preparation of the heart in man,
that nothing else can work or give: which above all other penmen of
sacred writ, is most frequently and emphatically recommended to us
by the example of the Psalmist, who ever and anon calling to mind
his own great slips, and the cause of them, and the way by which
he came to be accepted of God, and to obtain strength and comfort
from him, reminds himself to wait upon God. "Lead me in thy truth,
and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I
wait all the day long." (Psalm xxv. 5.) His soul looked to God for
salvation, to be delivered from the snares and evils of the world.
This shows an inward exercise, and a spiritual attendance, that
stood not in external forms, but in inward divine aid.
And truly, David had great encouragement so to do; the goodness of
God invited him to it and strengthened him in it. For says he, "I
waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard
my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the
miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock." (Psalm xl. 1, 2.) That is,
the Lord appeared inwardly to console David's soul, that waited for
his help, and to deliver it from the temptations and afflictions
that were ready to overwhelm it, and gave him security and peace.
Therefore, he says, "The Lord hath established my goings;" that is,
fixed his mind in righteousness. Before, every step he took bemired
him, and he was scarcely able to go without falling: temptation
on all hands; but he waited patiently upon God: his mind retired,
watchful, and intent to his law and Spirit; and he felt the Lord
to incline to him. His needy and sensible cry entered heaven, and
prevailed; then came deliverance and rescue to David, in God's time,
not David's strength to go through his exercises, and surmount all
his troubles. For which he tells us, a new song was put into his
mouth, even praises to his God. (Psalm xl. 3.) But it was of God's
making and putting, and not his own.
Another time, we have him crying thus: "As the hart panteth after
the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul
thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear
before God?" This goes beyond formality, and can be tied to no
lesson. But we may by this see, that true worship is an inward work;
that the soul must be touched and raised in its heavenly desires by
the heavenly Spirit, and that the true worship is in God's presence.
When shall I come and appear? Not in the temple, nor with outward
sacrifices, but before God in his presence. So that souls of true
worshippers see God, make their appearance before him; and this
they wait, they pant, they thirst for. O how is the greater part of
Christendom degenerated from David's example! No wonder therefore
that this good man tells us, "Truly my soul waiteth upon God;" and
that he gives it in charge to his soul so to do; "O my soul, wait
thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him." As if he had
said, None else can prepare my heart, or supply my wants; so that my
expectation is not from my own voluntary performance, or the bodily
worship I can give him; they are of no value; they can neither help
me, nor please him. But I wait upon him for strength and power to
present myself so before him, as may be most pleasing to him; for
he that prepares the sacrifice will certainly accept it. Wherefore
in two verses he repeats it thrice; "I wait for the Lord--My soul
doth wait--My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch
for the morning." Yea, so intently, and with that unweariedness
of soul, that he says in one place, "Mine eyes fail while I wait
for my God." (Psalm lxix. 3.) He was not contented with so many
prayers, such a set worship, or limited repetition: no; he leaves
not till he finds the Lord, that is, the comforts of his presence:
which brings the answer of love and peace to his soul. Nor was this
his practice only, as a man more than ordinarily inspired; for he
speaks of it as the way of worship, then amongst the true people
of God, the spiritual Israel, and circumcision in heart, of that
day: "Behold," says he, "as the eyes of servants look unto the hand
of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her
mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until he have mercy
on us." (Psalm cxxiii. 2.) In another place, "Our soul waiteth for
the Lord; he is our help and our shield." (Psalm xxxiii. 20.) "I
will wait on thy name, for it is good before thy saints." (Psalm
lii. 9.) It was in request with the truly godly in that day, and the
way they came to enjoy God, and worship him acceptably. And from his
own experience of the benefit of waiting upon God, and the saints'
practice of those times, he recommends it to others: "Wait upon the
Lord: be of good courage, and he will strengthen thy heart: wait,
I say, on the Lord." (Psalm xxvii. 14.) That is, wait in faith and
patience, and he will come to save thee. Again, "Rest in the Lord,
and wait patiently upon him." That is, cast thyself upon him; be
contented, and wait for him to help thee in thy wants; thou canst
not think how near he is to help those that wait upon him: O try
and have faith. Yet again, he bids us, "Wait upon the Lord, and keep
his way." (Psalm xxxvii. 34.) Behold the reason why so few profit!
they are out of his way; and such can never wait rightly upon him.
Great reason had David for what he said, who had with so much
comfort and advantage met the Lord in his blessed way.
XI. The prophet Isaiah tells us, that though the chastisements of
the Lord were sore upon the people for their backslidings, yet in
the way of his judgments, in the way of his rebukes and displeasure,
they waited for him, and the desire of their soul, that is the great
point, was to his name, and the remembrance of him. (Isaiah, xxvi.
8.) They were contented to be chid and chastised, for they had
sinned; and the knowledge of him so was very desirable to them. But
what! did he not come at last, and that in mercy too? Yes, he did,
and they knew him when he came, a doctrine the brutish world knows
not, "This is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us."
(Isaiah, xxv. 9.) O blessed enjoyment! O precious confidence! here
is a waiting in faith which prevailed. All worship not in faith is
fruitless to the worshipper, as well as displeasing to God: and
this faith is the gift of God, and the nature of it is to purify
the heart, and give such as truly believe victory over the world.
Well, but they go on: "We have waited for him; we will be glad,
and rejoice in his salvation." The prophet adds, "Blessed are all
they that wait upon God:" and why? for "they that wait upon the
Lord shall renew their strength;" they shall never faint, never be
weary: (Isaiah, xxx. 18; xl. 31:) the encouragement is great. O hear
him once more: "For since the beginning of the world, men have not
heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God!
besides thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him."
(Isaiah, lxiv. 4.) Behold the inward life and joy of the righteous,
the true worshippers; those whose spirits bowed to the appearance
of God's Spirit in them, leaving and forsaking all it appeared
against, and embracing whatever it led them to. In Jeremiah's time,
the true worshippers also waited upon God: (Jer. xiv. 22:) and he
assures us, that "The Lord is good to them that wait for them to
the soul that seeketh him." (Lam. iii. 25.) Hence it is, that the
prophet Hosea exhorts the church then to turn and wait upon God.
"Therefore turn thou to thy God; keep mercy and judgment, and wait
on thy God continually." (Hos. xii. 6.) And Micah is very zealous
and resolute in this good exercise: "I will look unto the Lord, I
will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me." (Mic.
vii. 7.) Thus did the children of the Spirit, that thirsted after an
inward sense of him. The wicked cannot say so; nor they that pray,
unless they wait. It is charged upon Israel in the wilderness, as
the cause of their disobedience and ingratitude to God, that they
waited not for his counsels. We may be sure it is our duty, and
expected from us; for God requires it in Zephaniah: "Therefore wait
upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I arise," &c. (Zeph.
iii. 8.) O that all who profess the name of God, would wait so, and
not offer to arise to worship without him. And they would feel his
stirrings and arisings in them to help and prepare, and sanctify
them. Christ expressly charged his disciples, "They should not stir
from Jerusalem, but wait till they had received the promise of the
Father, the baptism of the Holy Ghost," (Acts, i. 4, 8,) in order
to their preparation for the preaching of the glorious gospel of
Christ to the world. And though that were an extraordinary effusion
for an extraordinary work, yet the degree does not change the kind;
on the contrary, if so much waiting and preparation by the Spirit
was requisite to fit them to preach to man; some, at least, may be
needful to fit us to speak to God.
XII. I will close this great Scripture doctrine of waiting,
with that passage in John about the pool of Bethesda: "There is
at Jerusalem, by the sheep-market, a pool, which is called in
the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches; in these lay a
great multitude of impotent folks, of blind, halt, and withered,
waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a
certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever
then first after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was made
whole of whatsoever disease he had." (John, v. 2-4.) A most exact
representation of what is intended by all that has been said upon
the subject of waiting. For as there was then an outward and legal,
so there is now a gospel and spiritual Jerusalem, the church of God;
consisting of the faithful. The pool in that old Jerusalem, in some
sort, represented that fountain, which is now set open in this new
Jerusalem. That pool was for those that were under infirmities of
body; this fountain for all that are impotent in soul. There was
an angel then that moved the water, to render it beneficial; it is
God's angel now, the great angel of his presence, that blesseth this
fountain with success. They that then went in before, and did not
watch the angel, and take advantage of his motion, found no benefit
of their stepping in: those that now wait not the moving of God's
angel, but by the devotion of their own forming and timing, rush
before God, as the horse into the battle, and hope for success,
are sure to miscarry in their expectation. Therefore, as then they
waited with all patience and attention upon the angel's motion,
that wanted and desired to be cured; so do the true worshippers of
God now, that need and pray for his presence, which is the life of
their souls, as the sun is to the plants of the field. They have
often tried the unprofitableness of their own work, and are now
come to the sabbath indeed. They dare not put up a device of their
own, or offer an unsanctified request, much less obtrude bodily
worship, where the soul is really insensible or unprepared by the
Lord. In the light of Jesus they ever wait to be prepared, retired,
and recluse from all thoughts that cause the least distraction and
discomposure in the mind, till they see the angel move, and till
their beloved please to awake: nor dare they call him before his
time. And they fear to make a devotion in his absence; for they
know it is not only unprofitable, but reprovable: "Who has required
this at your hands?" "He that believes, makes not haste." (Isaiah,
i. 12; xxviii. 16.) They that worship with their own, can only do
as the Israelites, turn their earrings into a molten image, and
be cursed for their pains. Nor fared they better, "that gathered
sticks of old, and kindled a fire, and compassed themselves about
with the sparks that they had kindled;" (Isaiah, l. 11) for God told
them, "they should lie down in sorrow." It should not only be of
no advantage, and do them no good, but incur a judgment from him:
sorrow and anguish of soul should be their portion. Alas! flesh
and blood would fain pray, though it cannot wait; and be a saint,
though it cannot abide to do or suffer the will of God; with the
tongue it blesses God, and with the tongue it curses men, made in
his similitude. It calls Jesus LORD, but not by the Holy Ghost; and
often names the name of Jesus, yea, bows the knee to it too; but
departs not from iniquity: this is abominable to God.
XIII. In short, there are four things so necessary to worshipping
God aright, and which put its performance beyond man's power, that
there seems little more needed than the naming of them. The first
is, the sanctification of the worshipper. Secondly, the consecration
of the offering; which has been spoken to before somewhat largely.
Thirdly, what to pray for; which no man knows that prays not by
the aid of God's Spirit; and therefore without that Spirit no man
can truly pray. This the apostle puts beyond dispute; "We know
not," says he, "what we would pray for, as we ought, but the Spirit
helpeth our infirmities." (Rom. viii. 26.) Men unacquainted with
the work and power of the Holy Spirit, are ignorant of the mind of
God; and those, certainly, can never please him with their prayers.
It is not enough to know we want; but we should learn whether it be
not sent as a blessing, disappointments to the proud, losses to the
covetous, and to the negligent stripes; to remove these, were to
secure the destruction, not help the salvation of the soul.
The vile world knows nothing but carnally, after a fleshly manner
and interpretation; and too many that would be thought enlightened
are apt to call providences by wrong names, for instance,
afflictions they style judgments, and trials, more precious than
the beloved gold, they call miseries. On the other hand, they call
the preferments of the world by the name of honour, and its wealth
happiness; when for once that they are so, it is much to be feared
they are sent of God a hundred times for judgments, at least trials,
upon their possessors. Therefore, what to keep, what to reject, what
to want, is a difficulty God only can resolve the soul. And since
God knows better than we what we need, he can better tell us what
to ask than we can him: which made Christ exhort his disciples to
avoid long and repetitious prayers; (Matt. vi. 7, 8;) telling them
that their heavenly Father knew what they needed before they asked:
and therefore gave them a pattern to pray by; not as some fancy,
to be a text for human liturgies, which of all services are most
justly noted and taxed for length and repetition; but expressly to
reprove and avoid them. But if those wants that are the subject of
prayer were once agreed upon, though that might be a weighty point,
yet how to pray is of still greater moment than to pray; it is not
the request, but the frame of the petitioner's spirit. The what
may be proper, but the how defective. As I said, God needs not to
be told of our wants by us, who must tell them to us; yet he will
be told them from us, that both we may seek him, and he may come
down to us. But when this is done, "To this man will I look, saith
the Lord, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and
that trembleth at my word:" (Isaiah, lxvi. 2.) to the sick heart,
the wounded soul, the hungry and thirsty, the weary and heavy laden
ones: such sincerely want a helper.
XIV. Nor is this sufficient to complete gospel-worship; the fourth
requisite must be had, and that is faith; true faith, precious
faith, the faith of God's chosen, that purifies their hearts, that
overcomes the world, and is the victory of the saints. (1 Tim. i.
5; Acts, xv. 9; Tit. i. 1; 2 Pet. i. 1; 1 John, v. 4.) This is that
which animates prayer and presses it home, like the importunate
woman, that would not be denied; to whom Christ, seeming to admire,
said, "O woman, great is thy faith!" (Matt. xv. 28.) This is of the
highest moment on our part, to give our addresses success with God;
and yet not in our power neither, for it is the gift of God: from
him we must have it; and with one grain of it more work is done,
more deliverance is wrought, and more goodness and mercy received,
than by all the runnings, willings, and toilings of man, with his
inventions and bodily exercises: which, duly weighed, will easily
spell out the meaning, why so much worship should bring so little
profit to the world, as we see it does, viz. true faith is lost.
"They ask, and receive not; they seek, and find not: they knock, and
it is not opened unto them:" (James, iv. 3:) the case is plain;
their requests are not mixed with purifying faith, by which they
should prevail, as good Jacob's were, when he wrestled with God and
prevailed. And the truth is, the generality are yet in their sins,
following hearts' lusts, and living in worldly pleasure, being
strangers to this precious faith. It is the reason rendered by the
deep author to the Hebrews, of the unprofitableness of the word
preached to some in those days; "Not being," says he, "mixed with
faith in them that heard it." Can the minister then preach without
faith? No: and much less can any man pray to purpose without faith,
especially when we are told, that "the just live by faith." For
worship is the supreme act of man's life; and whatever is necessary
to inferior acts of religion must not be wanting there.
XV. This may moderate the wonder in any, why Christ so often
upbraided his disciples with, O ye of little faith! yet tells us,
that one grain of it, though as little as that of mustard, one of
the least of seeds, if true and right, is able to remove mountains.
As if he had said, There is no temptation so powerful that it cannot
overcome: wherefore those that are captivated by temptations, and
remain unsupplied in their spiritual wants, have not this powerful
faith: that is the true cause. So necessary was it of old, that
Christ did not many mighty works where the people believed not;
and though his power wrought wonders in other places, faith opened
the way: so that it is hard to say, whether that power by faith,
or faith by that power, wrought the cure. Let us call to mind what
famous things a little clay and spittle, one touch of the hem of
Christ's garment, and a few words out of his mouth, (John, ix. 6;
Luke, viii. 47, 48,) did by the force of faith in the patients:
"Believe ye that I am able to open your eyes?" (Matt. ix. 28;)
"Yea, Lord," say the blind, and see. To the ruler, "only believe;"
(Matt. ix. 23;) he did, and his dead daughter recovered life.
Again, "If thou canst believe:" I do believe; says the father, help
my unbelief: and the evil spirit was chased away, and the child
recovered. He said to one, "Go, thy faith hath made thee whole;"
(Mark, x. 52; Luke, vii. 48, 50;) and to another, "Thy faith hath
saved thee; thy sins are forgiven thee." (Matt. xxi. 21, 22.) And
to encourage his disciples to believe, that were admiring how soon
his sentence was executed upon the fruitless fig-tree, he tells
them, "Verily, if ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do
this, which is done to the fig-tree; but also, if ye shall say unto
this mountain, Be thou removed, and cast into the sea, it shall be
done: and all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing,
ye shall receive," (Matt. xviii. 19; Luke, xviii. 27.) This one
passage convicts Christendom of gross infidelity; for she prays, and
receives not.
XVI. But some may say, It is impossible to receive all that a man
may ask. It is not impossible to receive all that a man, that so
believes, can ask. (Mark, ix. 23.) The fruits of faith are not
impossible to those that truly believe in the God that makes them
possible. When Jesus said to the ruler, "If thou canst believe," he
adds, "all things are possible to him that believeth." (Matt. xix.
26.) Well, but then some will say, It is impossible to have such
faith: for this very faithless generation would excuse their want
of faith, by making it impossible to have the faith they want. But
Christ's answer to the infidelity of that age, will best confute
the disbelief of this. "The things that are impossible with men,
are possible with God." (Heb. xi. 6.) It will follow then, that it
is not impossible with God to give that faith; though it is certain
that without it it is impossible to please God: (1 Tim. i. 5; iii.
9:) for so the author to the Hebrews teaches. And if it be else
impossible to please God, it must be so to pray to God without this
precious faith.
XVII. But some may say, What is this faith that is so necessary
to worship, and gives it such acceptance with God and returns
that benefit to men? I say, It is a holy resignation to God, and
confidence in him, testified by a religious obedience to his holy
requirings, which gives sure evidence to the soul of the things
not yet seen, and a general sense and taste of the substance of
those things that are hoped for; that is, the glory which is to be
revealed hereafter. As this faith is the gift of God, so it purifies
the hearts of those that receive it. The apostle Paul is witness,
that it will not dwell but in a pure conscience: he therefore in one
place couples a pure heart and faith unfeigned together: in another,
faith and a good conscience. James joins faith with righteousness,
(James, ii.) and John with victory over the world; (1 John, v. 4;)
"This," says be, "is the victory which overcomes the world, even our
faith." (Rom. iv. 1, 2.)
XVIII. The heirs of this faith are the true children of Abraham,
(John, xvi. 9, 10,) in that they walk in the steps of Abraham,
according to the obedience of faith, which only entitles people to
be the children of Abraham. This lives above the world, not only in
its sin, but righteousness: to this no man comes, but through death
to self by the cross of Jesus, and an entire dependence by him, upon
God.
Famous are the exploits of this divine gift; time would fail to
recount them: all sacred story is filled with them. But let it
suffice, that by it the holy ancients endured all trials, overcame
all enemies, prevailed with God, renowned his truth, finished their
testimony, and obtained the reward of the faithful, a crown of
righteousness, which is the eternal blessedness of the just.