mercy as a wonder: it is the assured Christian that crieth out,-I am less than the least of all thy mercies. There is not a mercy he meeteth with, were it but a drop of cold water, but if he can read this on it, that it came from my Husband, and from my Father, it will be better to him than the sweetest wine.

Lastly, Assurance doth exceedingly help us to cheerfulness in obedience: O! that is a remarkable connection that Paul hath, Acts xxvii. 23, The Lord, whose I am, and whom I serve. That passage also, 2d Cor. v. 14, is very observable, The love of Christ constraineth us, &c. Why art thou so painful a minister, Paul? Why, knowest thou no man after the flesh, art not led by carnal interests nor affections? Art so busy and diligent, that all the world counteth thee mad? Why, saith he, love will not let me rest; if I would be lazy, or carnal, or fold my hands to sleep, the love of Christ doth always sound that in my ears, That I was dead, and he hath died for me, that henceforth I should not live unto myself, but unto him that died for me.-Now unto him who is the first, and the last, who was dead, and who is alive for evermore, we give praise.

DIRECTIONS AND INSTIGATIONS

TO THE

DUTY OF PRAYER.

SERMON I.

1ST THESS. v. 17.-Pray without ceasing.

GODLINESS is so sublime and divine a thing, and doth so highly elevate the believer that is endowed with it, that by it he is admitted unto that high pinnacle of honour, and inconceivable pitch of dignity, as to be made like unto God, and to have a glorious participation of his divine nature; so that we need not much rhetoric to commend this unto you, who have tasted of the sweetness of it; for wisdom will be justified of her children, Matth. xi. 19. But there are some of who you savour not the things of God, and to whom these things do appear but as some Utopian fancy, and notions of a man's brain, who are not much in contemplation of these things. So that, though we could speak upon this subject in such a manner that the glorious light of it should surround us, yet the blind heart cannot see it because there is a dungeon within ; and till Christ open our eyes, as well as reveal his light, we cannot be enlightened by it. But had we once as much divine understanding, as to take it up in its beauty and necessity, in its advantage and dignities, in its comeliness and equity, we should esteem it the principal thing which we have to do in all our life-time, and should dig for it, as for hid treasure, Prov. ii. 4. And there is no part of this royal and beautiful ornament of Godliness, but may commend and ingratiate itself to any who do not close their eyes. And amongst all the beautiful effects and parts of godliness, this duty and grace of prayer is not the least, and doth not a little commend it; and though it appear sometimes little among the thousands of the graces of the spirit, yet out of it have come excellent things, and it hath not counted it presumption to compare itself with the highest and chiefest. It is that, no doubt, by which a soul is elevated to converse and talk with God, with the holy and blessed Trinity; yea, and that as often and freely as the Christian pleaseth: for there is a door of access standing always open, by which we may enter in and communicate and impart our thoughts to God, and have him making known his mind to us. O ! this is a dignity and a privilege

:

that hath been purchased unto us at an infinite rate and value, even the precious blood of Christ; for, no doubt, the door of our access unto God is through the veil of his flesh and were this more deeply engraven upon our spirits, we should improve this dignity more; did we once believe the unspeakable highness of this duty of prayer, and the incomprehensible essence of God, that which we now neglect through ignorance, we should fear to meddle with, through a sort of reverence and fear, being afraid to touch the mount, lest we should be shot through, and looking upon ourselves, as unworthy to lift up our eyes to heaven, because we have reproached him so often.

Now, there are these two comprehensible and cardinal evils which do exceedingly mar and intercept the obedience of Christians unto this great and precious command of praying without ceasing, and they are these two, atheism and idolatry; too much confidence in ourselves, and too much leaning to our own understanding, which is idolatry,—it being a visible breach of the first command, Thou shalt have no other gods before me, Exod. xx. 3; and too little confidence and trusting in God, which is our atheism, employing ourselves in all, and employing God in nothing: so that our blessed Lord may propose that unanswerable challenge and question to many of us, Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name? John xvi. 24. And what is this practice, but involving of ourselves in that woeful curse,-Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, whose heart departeth from the Lord: should the living seek the dead, and not their God? who giveth to all men liberally to enjoy, Jer. xvii. 5. Were we dwelling more under the spiritual impression of our inability and impotency to save ourselves, and that complete ability and infinite power which is in him to help us, we would bind this precious command of prayer as a chain of gold about our neck, and make it an ornament of grace to our head, Prov. iv. 9. We should certainly be constrained to cry forth, All that the Lord hath commanded us, we will do, Deut. v. 27. And pray that there may be such a heart given to us, as to have our practice correspondent unto our resolutions.

O! what a glorious and unspeakable dignity suppose you it to be, to be daily having your walk in heaven, in those beautiful streets that are all paved with transparent gold; and to be conversing with him, whose fellowship is of more infinite worth than all imperial dignities. A Christian that is much exercised in prayer may have this to say when he is passing through the gates of death to long and endless eternity, that he is now to change his place, but not his company; heaven may be to him but a blessed transition to a more constant and immediate enjoyment of God. O! what a blessed day suppose ye it to be, when ye shall be altogether without the reach of the necessity of this duty, and whole exercise of the grace prayer? For though it be a blessed and most divine exercise, yet it involves an imperfection in its bosom ; and so it must needs pass away, when that which is perfect shall come, 1st Cor. xiii. 10. O! to be much in correspondence with him, and in maintaining communion and fellowship with him! Ask of him, and were it to the

of

half of his kingdom; yea, more, Whatsoever ye ask in his name, according to his will, and what he sees fit in his wisdom for your good, believing, he will grant it you, Matth. xxi. 22, and will not at all deny you: we conceive, there is not such a comprehensive promise annexed to any duty as this; in a manner, it is the sweet compend and epitome of all Christian promises. What is included here? All things, no doubt, for your good are here included, and nothing of that kind excluded. We confess, if our enjoyments were regulated according to our desires, they should come far short of that which we stand in need of, and much more they should come short of that which he is willing to give: and therefore we are blessed in this, that he walketh not in dispensations to us by the rule of our desires, but by that precious rule of his free and condescending grace; for he is able to give unto us exceeding abandantly above all that we are able to ask or think, Eph. iii. O! if ye would ask, what is the great and eminent exercise which a Christian ought to have while he is here below? Believe it, I could give no answer so suitable as prayer. And if it were asked, secondly, What ought to be the great and eminent exercise of a Christian while he is here? It is prayer. Pray above all things, and above all things prayer,—I mean, true, serious, sincere, and not hypocritical, prayer; a pleasant retiring and diverting ourselves from all other things, to wrestle with God; to leave our servants and our asses at the foot of the mount, until we go up and worship God, and bury our idols under the vale of Shechem; and to wash ourselves from our pollutions, when we go up to Bethel ; to return from the confused noise of the multitude of our affairs unto the pleasant delighting ourselves in God. A Christian, (the sound of whose feet is much heard in the streets of the New Jerusalem, who, in a manner, is anticipating the time of his endless enjoyment of it; and who is daily bringing down heaven unto earth, or rather elevating himself towards heaven, hearing of such an endless command as this, Pray without ceasing, Rom. xii. 12,) is constrained to cry forth, Lord, what is man that thou shouldst be mindful of him, or the son of man that thou shouldst visit him, and that thou hast so highly magnified him? Psalm viii. 4. I conceive, if a Christian would look upon all the duties of religion under a right notion and apprehension, certainly he will rather take them up as his dignity, than his duty, and rather as the singular tokens and significations of the infinite respect and love of God towards him, than any ways given and commanded him. Seeing by the practice of them, we shall testify our thankfulness and obedience towards him, surely it were our servitude, and not our liberty, to be freed from this blessed and glorious work of his commandments. O! what a bondage were it for an immortal soul, not always to be living in a direct line of subordination to him? But a natural man, hearing of this decree and command of God coming forth, Pray without ceasing, will cry out, This is a hard saying, who can hear it? John vi. 60. We ought to study to be subordinate to God, and in subjection unto nothing which may hinder our subordination unto him: and he who counts the service of the Lord a weariness, and doth snuff at it, as it were, and never knew what

it was to be bound in the spirit, till he go to prayer-believe me, that man is not much taken up in the obedience of this noble and most excellent commandment, Pray without ceasing.

Now, being come to the words, having spoken at large of that radical and noble grace of faith, we are come to speak of this excellent grace of prayer, and I would have none of you mistaking the nature of this command or excellent grace; or to conceive that the apostle doth here so compendize and abridge Christian duties, as to confine them within this one duty and grace of prayer, so that we should constantly and perpetually be taken up in this exercise, and so neglect the exercise of all other duties. No, surely this is not the meaning of the words; for the words going before the text may remove this mistake, Rejoice evermore, 1st Thess. v. 16. But we conceive it holds out these things to us :

First, That in all our lawful diversions and interruptions from the divine exercise and employment in this noble duty and grace of prayer, we may be keeping ourselves in a praying frame and disposition, so that, when occasion presents itself to us, we may retire ourselves from the noise of our secular affairs, and converse with him,—-a practice unknown to the most part of the Christians of this generation, who, betwixt the time of their conversing with God, and their address to his throne, give leave to wander after many vain impertinences, and to rove abroad in the path of their idols, and to entangle themselves with the affairs of this world; so that, in a manner, they are incapacitated for this holy and divine exercise of the duty of prayer, which doth require much divine abstractedness from the world, and the things thereof, and much composedness of spirit, which our involving of ourselves too much in our affairs, that do but by the way belong to us, doth so much interrupt and hinder; and this observation, pray without ceasing, holds forth unto us, there is no condition nor estate of life, wherein we can be placed, that exempteth us from the necessity and obedience of being much in the exercise of this noble and excellent duty of the grace of prayer for if we be under bonds, we must pray that we may be enlarged; and if he lift up the light of his countenance upon us, we must pray that we may be helped to walk humbly with God, and to erect to ourselves a dwelling in the dust, when he erecteth to us a throne in heaven, and to be enabled not to stir him up, nor awake him before he pleases. God hath in the depth of his infinite wisdom and unsearchable love towards man, so ordered it, that continual dependence upon him is both our duty and dignity.

And then, secondly, It holds out this unto us, that, in the midst of all our business, and other affairs that we go about, we ought to be sending forth secret and divine ejaculations toward God, which practice was no mystery unto Jacob, for in the midst of his testament, having blessed six of his sons, and having other six to bless, he breaks forth with that divine thought, I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord, Gen. xlix. 18. Neither was this a mystery unto godly Nehemiah, who, while he was standing before the king, with the cup in his hand, did pray unto the Lord in his secret and silent way, Neh. ii. 4, He prayeth unto the God of heaven.