The Amendment of Life, Book 2 · Chapter 5
Of our dutie to aſsist at publique Prayer. Chap. 5.
AS concerning publique or common prayer,Gen. 17.7. Act. 9.14.21. 2. Tim. 2.19. Pſal. 14.4: Eſa. 56.7. Mat. 21.13. Ioh. 16.23. Mat. 18.19. conſidering that thereby the holy Scripture ſignifieth the whole ſeruice of God, alſo that his ſeruants are called people calling vponupon God, it alreadie appeareth that ſuch as deſpiſe the ſame, do cut off themſelues from the degree of Gods ſeruants. Where God calleth the temple the houſe of prayer, he ſheweth that the principall part of that ſeruice which he requireth of vsus, is that wee ſhould aſſemble to pray and call vponupon him, as indeed theſe publique praiers are of great efficacie. For albeit all priuate praiers directed to the heauenly father in the name of Ieſus Chriſt, hauehave promiſe to be heard: yet is it not without cauſe that Ieſus Chriſt aduertiſeth and promiſeth vsus, that if two faithfull doe agree vponupon earth, whatſoeuer they demaund of their heauenly father, it ſhall be graunted. This is a fauour, as it were peculiar to the Church, and noted by Dauid, where he ſaith. Praiſe waiteth for thee in Sion, Pſal. 65.2.and vntounto thee ſhall the vow be performed. Herein he ſheweth that the praiers of the Church ſignified by Sion, are ſo ſure to bee heard, that God who heareth them, looketh for praiſe in thē, as indeed it is his dutie whoſe prayers are heard to yeeld thankes & praiſings to God. And truely as when a whole Burgeoyſie of a Citie doe come before their Prince and with one voice craue pardon for ſome offence, or begge ſome grace or fauour, the Prince will be more moued, then if they being abſent, ſome one mā ſhould ſpeake for the whole: Euen ſo whē the whole Church aſſembled together doth with hart and minde in the preſence of God accōpanie the praiers which the preacher, as the mouth of the congregation, poureth forth, let them be aſſured that thoſe praiers do penetrate the heauens, and that God is moued to heare them. Not that he is ſubiect to paſsions (as we) but that by the feeling of our affections hee vouchſafeth to aſſure vsus of his mercy & goodnes toward vsus. Whē,Amb. de paenitent. diuers how few ſo euer ſaith S. Ambroſe are aſſembled together, being vnited, they are great. And the praiers of a gret multitude cannot poſsibly be cōtemned.
2 Likewiſe all people and nations in the world, euen the Idolaters hauehave euermore had their aſſemblies, & therein publique prayers: This ſence or feeling being grauen in all mens harts that hauehave any religion, that they ought to call vponupon their God: that it is an honour that God requireth at their hands: and the true meanes to purchaſe his bleſsings toward them. But in Chriſtian Churches there is alſo this farther reaſon: That their publique praiers are as it were a publique renouncing of all ſects and ſocietie with Idolaters and prophane people: an acknowledgement and confeſſion of the true God, & a publique ſanctification of his name to his glory. And therefore,Act. 16.13. as the Iewes in old time, ſo ſince hauehave the Chriſtians euermore very carefully obſerued this dutie of pietie and ſeruice to God, as appeareth by the writings of the Apoſtles & Prophets, and by al Eccleſiaſticall hiſtories. And to this purpoſe doth S. Luke rehearſe that Paul and his companions being at the towne of Philippos, came forth vponupon the Sabaoth day, and went to the riuers ſide where they vſed to pray. This vndoubtedly was ſome out corner where the faithfull vſed ſecretly to meete to call vponupon God. So that albeit eueryevery man priuately might hauehave prayed in his houſe,Act. 21.5. and ſo hauehave auoided both the paine and daunger, yet knowing that in dutie they were to ſeparate themſelues from Idolaters, and the efficacie of the praiers of the congregation, they ouercame the feare of the danger, & met in that place eſpecially to pray, and with one conſent to poure out their praiers to the Lord. When S. Paul and his companions departed from Tirus, all the congregation with their wiues and children brought them out of the towne, and kneeling with them on the ſhore, prayed. Shall wee in theſe daies find this zeale among Chriſtians? No: men will bee aſhamed to imitate it and to kneele downe vponupon a ſhore to pray to God publikely. And yet the faithful of thoſe times neuer did it without both reſon & fruit. It is therfore a holy ordināce of God & a moſt profitable exerciſe to come together to call vponupon the Lord. As alſo it is yt …uty of al faithful carefully to come to ſuch praiers, that they may be pertakers of the fruits of the ſame: eſpecially in time of gret calamities, or vpō feare or liklihood therof. We ſhould euē extraordinarily come together to call vponupon God, as we read that the prophet Ioel in the name of God cōmaunded Blow the trumpet in Sion ſanctifie a fast, Ioh. 2.15.cal a ſolemne aſſemblie, gather the people ſanctifie the congregation, gather the elders, aſſemble the children, and together cry vntounto the Lord in praiers feruent and extraordinarie, old and young, none exēpted. And as eueryevery one in reſpect of himſelf is therto bound ſo is it not enough that he faithfully employ himſelfe only, vnleſſe he ſollicit & exhort others, according to the propheſie of Zacharie ſaying. The enhabitants of one Cittie ſhall ſay to another. Ʋp, let vsus goe and pray before the Lord, and ſeeke the Lord of hoaſts, I will go alſo.Zach. 8, 21.
3 Neither is it inough that in body we be preſent at praiers, vnles we alſo lift vp our minds to heauen.1. Cor. 14.16 For if when the Paſtor ſpeaketh in the name of the Church, eueryevery man at each petition ſaith not in hart Amen, feeling a feruent deſire to hauehave his petitiō granted, then is ther both vanity & hypocriſie, & euē in this point may we find great corruption & infirmitie in many. For how many are ther who all the time of praiers do ſtād as men without life, thinking vponupon nothing? How many be there whoſe minds are wandring? How many that hauehave no feeling or deſire of the benefits that wee craue at Gods hand? To be ſhort, how many be ther whoſe harts & minds are entangled & buried in earthly affaires, euen when their hands are lifted vp to heauen? As this vanitie therfore is odious in the ſight of God, ſo for the amēding therof, let vsus be both diligent comers to common praier, and ſo touched with a liuely feeling of the ſame, that we may reape the fruits thereof. And to this purpoſe let vsus remēber that the deuil feareth nothing more thē the praiers of the Church, & that ther is no exerciſe of godlines wherin we are more often, more feruently or more attentiuely to employ our ſelues. For albeit the deuill be alwaies at hand, ready to induce vsus to wickednes, yet is his readines moſt whē he ſeeth vsus diſpoſed to pray, that then intruding himſelfe into our harts, & drawing away our cogitatiōs, he may hinder the ſanctificatiō of the word of God & the moſt excellēt fruit of our praiers. Let the experience of this corruption & vanitie in all praiers, both publique & priuate, with the difficulty in amending the ſame, albeit it be troubleſome vntounto vsus, yet make vsus more wary, & the better to ſtand vpō our gard, to the end that ſo ſoone as we feele our ſelues amiſſe & our thoughts otherwiſe diſtracted, we may remember that Sathan is at hand, & among other our praiers, beſeech God to driue him from vsus, & to giuegive vsus grace to lift vp our minds to heauen, & with one hart call vponupon him, that finally we may receiue the fruit of our praiers.
4 By this deduction of the titles & markes of the Church afore mentioned, it doth manifeſtly appere, yt they which refuſe to ioyne therto & become mēbers therof, are not in the kingdome & houſe of God: that denying to take the Church for their mother, they cā not call God their father: that they deſerue as cōcerning the ſoule, to languiſh & die, becauſe they reiect the food therof, & that they are worthy to incur the vengeance pronoūced by Chriſt, importing that in the day of iudgement he wil denie them before God his father, becauſe they would not cōfeſſe him before men. We can with S. Auſten confeſſe that there be wolues in the ſheepe-fould and ſheep without:Mat. 10.32. neither muſt we deny but ther be many hypocrites in the Church, whom God will finally diſcloſe and reiect, to their confuſion, or caſt headlong into grieuous damnation, becauſe they prophaned the honour & graces to them preſented by the Lord in his Church.2, Tim. 2.19. Likewiſe God forbid wee ſhould ſay that all that are out of the viſible & externall Church ſhould be reprobates in the ſight of God. God knoweth his, he waiteth, he beareth with them, & finally he calleth them: touching their harts, he maketh them to feele their fault, either inſerting them into his viſible Church, or euen in the middeſt of the Idolaters, through his great mercy and power, ſauing them in his kingdome & glory, when vntil the very houre of their deaths, there is no ſhew or appearance that they be the children of God, as it happened to the theeſe that was hanged by Chriſt Ieſus. But as by the iudgement of louelove we are bound to thinke all to be elect that are ioyned to the Church, vntil they miniſter occaſion either by reuolt or bad cōuerſation to think otherwiſe, ſo hauehave wee no ground to accompt thoſe that refuſe to ioyne therto to be members of Chriſt, becauſe they beare not his marks or tokens, vntill by amendement they renounce the kingdome of Sathan, which is without the Church, and ſettle themſelues in the houſe of God, as his children, there to call vponupon him and to be fed with his ſpirituall food to life euerlaſting. And in deed, Sith in hart we beleeue to righteouſnes & with our lips do make confeſsion to ſaluation, Rom. 10, 10.as S. Paul ſaith, it is in vaine for vsus to boaſt of faith whereby to be iuſtified, vnleſſe we confeſſe Ieſus Chriſt, that we may obtaine ſaluation by true faith iuſtifieng vsus in Chriſt.
5 Sith therfore that the Church, called the kingdome of heauen, is like vntounto a precious pearle,Mat. 13.44. and a treaſure hid in a garden, which when a man findeth, he ſelleth al that he hath to buy & enioy it: Let vsus accompt nothing ſo deare or precious, but that we may be ready & reſolued to leaue it, to get into the Church of Chriſt. To this purpoſe let vsus remember the zeale of Dauid, who being depriued of this benefit, bitterly complained ſaying. As the hart brayeth for the riuers of water ſo panteth my ſoule after thee O God: My ſoule thirſteth after God, ſaying: When ſhal I come & appeare before the preſence of God? Pſal. 42.1 Pſal. 84.1 Pſal. 26.8.In another place alſo, what a deſire ſheweth hee to bee in the temple of God? O Lord of hoaſts, ſaith he, how amiable are thy tabernacles? My ſoule longeth, yea & fainteth for the courts of the Lord: for my heart and my fleſh reioyceth in the liuing God: Bleſſed are they that dwellin thy houſe & praiſe thee continually. And in another Pſal. O Lord I hauehave loued the habitations of thy houſe, & the place where thy honour dwelleth. If Dauid a man, yea a Prophet, ſo excellent in faith & vertue, ſo plainly & ſo often doth confeſſe how needful it was for him to be in the Church of God, feeling himſelfe as it were rauiſhed with a feruent deſire to enioy ſuch a benefit: What may we feele, euen we who are ſo ignorant, ſo weake, ſo corrupt, & among ſo many dangers and aſſaults? Will we how health-ſome & neceſſarie this grace for vsus to be in the Church of Chriſt is, ſo far would we be from retiring therefro, or deferring to ioyne thereunto, that contrariwiſe, we would euen run chearefully to get a roome therin. Yea we w…uld reioyce & boaſt of ſuch a benefit and ſauour,Eſa. 44.5. ſaying with the Prophet Iſay. One ſhall ſay, I am the Lords, another ſhall be called by the name of Iacob, and another ſhall ſubſcribe with his hand vntounto the Lord, & name himſelfe by the name of Iſraell. When therefore we heare Ieſus Chriſt and S. Iohn crying Amend your lines. Let vsus know that the principall point wherin we are to Amend, conſiſteth in renouncing and denying both in hart & body al Idolatry & ſuperſtition, & in adioyning our ſelues to the Church of Chriſt, ther to hear his word attentiuely: to participate in his ſacramēts holily & deuoutly & with our whole affections to aſsiſt at cōmon praiers.