A Godly and Learned Treatise of Prayer, Chapter 9
CHAP. IX. Who are to perform the dutie of prayer.
ANd thus you have heard that it is required of all to call upon God: Now let us considerThat the righteous onelyonly are admitted to pray. what is required in all those that do call upon him. That I expressed in the definition, when I defined prayer to be a speech of the faithfull, or, as the holy Ghost styleth them also, the righteous, the godly, the Saints of God. Where by the way note, that all faithfull and true Christians are righteous, are godly, are the Saints of God. And thus are they to be qualified who will either pray unto God or praise him. For prayer, the holy Ghost saith, that every one that is godly shall pray unto God, Psal. 32. 6. and the prayer of a righteous man availeth much, Jam. 1. 16. For praise and thanksgiving; unto God be glory in the Church, saith the Apostle, Ephes. 3. 21. that is, in the company of the faithfull. And so David, Sing unto the Lord, O ye Saints of his; give thanks at the remembrance of his holinesse, Psal. 30. 4. It is true that all the works of God do praise him, as the matter of his praise; but the Saints do blesse him, as the instruments of his praise, Psal. 145. 10. For both, see Psal. 50. 14, 15, 16. where the Lord, as he commandeth the faithfull (to whom his speech is directed v. 5, 7.) to offer unto him thanksgiving, and to call upon him in the day of trouble; so he taketh exception against the wicked: But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldst take my covenant in thy mouth, seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee?
But here we are carefully to consider who are the godly and righteous, lest we exclude from hope of being heard those whom the holy Ghost doth not exclude. There is therefore a twofold righteousnesseThere is a twofold …: Legall; mentioned in the Scriptures; the one Legall, the other Evangelicall. According to the legall righteousnesse none can be said to be righteous who doth not perfectly and perpetually perform whatsoever the law (which is the Divine rule of perfect righteousnesse) doth prescribe: For if a man do not abstein from all things forbidden, if he do not also the things commanded, if he do not all, and that in that manner and measure which the law prescribeth, if he do not continue in doing all the things required, but breaketh the course of his obedience by any one sinne, though but of omission, though but in thought, he is notwithstanding all his obedience by the sentence of the law not onelyonly a sinner but also accursed, Gal. 3. 10. By this righteousnesse no man since the fall of Adam could be said to be righteous, Christ onelyonly excepted: but we had all need to pray with David, Psal. 143. 2. Enter not into judgement with thy servant, O Lord; for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified: viz. by the works of the law, Gal. 2. 16. For there is not a just man upon the earth that doth good and sinneth not, Eccles 7. 20. Yea, in many things we offend all, saith S. James, chap. 3. 2. And if we say we have no sinne, saith S. John, 1. epist. 1. 8. we deceive our selves, and the truth is not in us. Wherefore the law concludeth all under sinne, and consequently under the curse, Gal. 3. 22. So that there is no man so godly and righteous, but in himself by the sentence of the law he is a sinner. Which serveth notably to confute the Popish hypocrites, which teach that none are justified but such as are formally just by a righteousnesse inherent in and performed by themselues (that is, habituall and actuall) according to the law of God; and that no man who is a sinner in himself, by reason of sinne inherent can be said to be justified. But whatsoever Pope-holy men do conceive of themselves, we must confesse with the forenamed Apostles, that we are sinners in our selves, and had need daily to pray as our Saviour taught them, for the forgivenesse of our sinnes, and so to appeal from the sentence of the Law to the promise of the Gospel: for the law hath conclud…d all under sinne, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe, Gal. 3. 22.
The Evangelicall righteousnesse is that whichEvangelical: what it is. without the Law is revealed in the Gospel, whereby men that are sinfull in themselves, I mean believing sinners, and penitent sinners, are accepted of God as righteous in Christ. And it is twofold: For it is either imputed to a believing sinner, as the righteousnesse of justification; or infused and so inherent in a repentant sinner, as the righteousnesse of sanctification. The former is perfect and not inherent, being the righteousnesse of Christ apprehended by faith: The other is inherent but not perfect, being our new obedience wrought in us by the spirit of regeneration. In respect of the former it is said, that the righteous Hab. 2. 4.man shall live by his faith: In respect of the latter, that he is a righteous man which worketh righteousnesse. And this twofold righteousnesse must of necessitie concurre in the same partie, &c. By the doctrine therefore of the Gospel he is a righteous, a godly man, a Saint of God, who doth believe and repent. And this is to be understood not onelyonly of those who are indued with perfect faith and repentance, or the higher degrees thereof, but even of the lowest degrees of true faith and unfeigned repentance. So that whosoever truly assenting in his judgement to the promises of the Gospel concerning salvation by Christ, doth earnestly in his heart desire to be made partaker of Christ and hi… merits, and unfeignedly resolveth in his will to acknowledge Christ to be his Saviour, and to rest upon him alone for salvation, he doth believe to justification. And whosoever being displeased with himself for his sinnes doth unfeignedly desire and truly purpose amendment of life, he doth repent to sanctification. And he that but thus believeth and repenteth is within the latitude of those faithfull and righteous men whose prayers are acceptable unto God, and whose persons are accepted, yea, blessed of him; Matth. 5. 3, 4, 5. and 11. 28. Psal. 34. 18. Examples, of Manasseh, 2. Chron. 33. 13. the Publicane, Luke 18. And these beginnings of faith and repentance do alwayes concurre in our regeneration or conversion unto God. For in regenerating us the holy Ghost doth ingenerate in us the grace of faith; and contrariwise.