The Sinners Sanctuary, Sermon 39
SERMON XXXIX.
Rom. 8.15.
—Whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
AS there is a light of grace in bestowing such incomparably high dignities and excellent gifts on poor sinne…s, such as to make them the sons of God, who were the children of the Devil; and heirs of a kingdom, who were heirs of wrath; so there is a depth of wisdom in the Lords allowance and manner of dispensing his love and grace in this life; for though the love be wonderful that we should be called the sons of God; yet as that Apostle speaks, It doth not yet so clearly appear what we shall be, by what we are, 1 Joh. 3.1. Our present condition is so unlike such a state and dignity, and our enjoyments so unsuitable to our rights and p…iviledges, that it would not appear by the mean, low, and indigent state we are now into, that we have so great and glorious a Father. How many infi…mities are we compassed about with? How many wants are we pressed withall? our necessiti…s a…e infinit, and our enjoyments no wayes proportioned to our necessities: Notwithstanding even in this, the love and wisdom o… our Heavenly Father shews it self, and oftentimes more gloriously in the theatre of mens weaknesse, infirmities and wants, then they could appear in the absolute and total exemption of his children from necessities: strength perfected in weaknesse, grace sufficient in infirmities, hath some greater glory then strength and grace alone. There…ore he hath chosen this way as most fit for the advancing his glory, and mo…t suitable for our comfort and edification, to give us but little in hand, and environ us with a crowd of continued necessities and wants within and without, that we may learn to cry to him as our Father, and seek our supplies …rom him, and withall he hath not been sparing, but liberal in promises of hearing our cryes, and supplying our wants; …o that this way of narrow and hard dispensation, that at first seems contrary to the love and bounty and riches of our Father, in the perfect view of it, appears to be the only way to perpetuat our communion with Him, and often to renew the sense of His love and grace, that would grow slack in our hearts, if our needs did not every day stir-up fresh longings, and his returns by this means are so much the more refreshing. There is a time of childrens minority, when they stand in need of continual supplies from their Parents, or Tutors, because they are not entered in possession of their inheritance; and while they are in this state, there is nothing more beseeming them then in all their wants to addresse to their Father, and represent them to Him, and it is fit they should be from hand to mouth, as you say, that they may know and acknowledge their dependance on their Father. T…uly this is our minority, our presence in the body, which because of sin that dwells in it, and its own natural weaknesse and incapacity, keeps us at much distance with the Lord, that we cannot be intimatly present with him. Now, in this condition, the most natural, the most comely and becoming exercise of children, is, to cry to our Father, to present all our grievances, and thus to intertain some holy correspondence with our absent Father, by the messenger of prayer and supplication, which cannot return empty, if it be not sent away too full of self-conceit. This is the most natural breathing of a child of God in this world, it is the most proper acting of his new life, and the most suitable exspiration of that Spirit of Adoption, that is inspired into him: since there is so much life as to know what we want, and our wants are infinite; therefore that life cannot but beat this way, in holy desires after God, whose fulnesse can supplie all wants: this is the Pulse of a Christian, that goeth continually, and there is much advantage to the continuity and interruptednesse of the motion, from the infinitenesse and inexhaustednesse of our needs in this life, and the continual assaults that are made by necessity and temptation on the heart. But ye have received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry, &c. He puts in his own Name in the latter parr, though theirs was in the former part: When he speaks of a donation or priviledge, he applies to the meanest, to shew that the lowest and most despised creature is not in any incapacity to receive the greatest gifts of God; and then when he mentions the working of that Spirit in way of intercession, because it imports necessity and want, he cares not to commit some incongruity in the Language, by changing the Person, that he may teach us, that weaknesse, infirmities, and wants, are common to thebest and chiefest among Christians; That the most eminent have continual need to cry; and the lowest and obscurest believers have as good ground to believe the hearing and acceptance of their cryes; that the highest are not above the weakest and lowest ordinance…; and that the lowest are not below the comfort of help and acceptation in him. Nay, the growth and increase of grace, is so far from exempting men from, or setting them above this duty of constant supplication, that by the contrary, this is the just measure of their growth and altitude in grace: as the degrees of the hight of the Water of Nilus in its overflowing, are a sure sign of the fertility or barrennesse of that year; so the overflowings of the spirit of Prayer in one, gives a present account how the heart is, whether barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, or fruitful and lively and vigorous in it. It is certain that contraries do discover one another, and the more the one be increased, that is, not only the more incompatible and inconsistent with the other, but gives the most perfect discerning of it. When grace is but as twi-light in the soul, and as the dawning of the day only, grosse darknesse and uncleanesse is seen; but the more it grow to the perfect day, the more sin is sin, and the more its hated, wants are discovered that did not appear; and therefore it exerciseth its self the more in opposition to sin, and supplication to God. To speak the truth, our growth here is but an advancement in the knowledge and sense of our own indigencey: Its but a further entry into the idolatrous Temple of the heart, which makes a man see daily new abominations worse then the former; and therefore you may easily know that such repeated sights and discoveries, will but presse out more earnest and frequent cryes from the heart, and such a growth in humility, and faith in Gods fulnesse, will be but as oyl to feed the flame of supplication. For what is Prayer indeed, but the ardency of the affection after God, flaming up to him in cryes and requests?
To speak of this exercise of an holy heart, it would require more of the spirit of it then we have; but truly this is to be lamented, that though there be nothing more common among Christians in the outward practice of it; yet that there is nothing more extraordinary and rare even among many that use it, then to be acquainted with the inward nature of it. Truly, the most ordinary things in Religion, are the greatest mysteries, as to the true life of them: we are strangers to the soul and life of these things, which consists in the holy behavior and deportment of our Spirits, before the Father of Spirits.
These words give some ground to speak of some special qualifications of prayer, and the chief principle of it. The chief principle and original of prayer, is, the Spirit of adoption received into the heart: It is a businesse of a higher nature, then can be taught by precepts, or learned by custome and education… there is a general mistake among men, that the gift of prayer is attained by learning, and that it consists in the freedom and plenty of expression. But O! how many Doctors and disputers of the world, that can defend all the articles of faith against the opposers of them; Yet how unaquainted are they with this exercise, that the poor and unlearned, and nothings in the world, who cannot dispute for Religion, yet they send up a more …avory and acceptable sacrifice, and sweet incense to God dayly, when they offer up their souls desires in simplicity and sincerity. Certainly this is a spiritual thing, derived only from the fountain of Spirts, this grace of pouring out our souls into him, and keeping communication with him, the variety of words, and riches of expression, it is but the shell of it, the external shadow; And all the life consists in the frame of the heart before God; And this none can put in frame, but he that formed the Spirit of man within him: some through custom of hearing and using it, attain to a habit of expressing themselves readily in it, it may be to the satisfaction of others, but alas! they may be strangers to the fi…st letters and elements of the life and spirit of prayer. I would have you who want both, look up to heaven for it: many of you cannot be induced to pray in your family, (and I fear little or none in secret, which is indeed a more serious work) because you have not been used, or not learned, or such like. Alas! beloved, this cometh not through education or learning, it cometh from the Spirit of adoption: and if ye cannot pray, ye say ye have not the Spirit, and if ye have not the Spirit, ye are not the Sons of God. Know what is in the inevitable sequel of your own confessions.
But I haste to the qualifications of this divine work, fervencie, reverence, and confidence; Fervencie in crying, reverence and confidence in crying, Abba, Father; for these two suit well towards our Father: the first, I fear, we must seek it elsewhere then in prayer, I find it spent on other things of lesse moment. Truly all the Spirit and affection of men runes in another channel, in the way of contention and strife, in the way, of passion and miscalled zeal, and because these things whereabout we do thus earnestly contend, have some interest or coherance with Religion, we not only excuse but approve our vehemency. But O! much better were that imployed in supplication… to God that were a divine channel. Again, the marrow of other mens Spirits is exhausted in the pursuit of things in the world, the edge of their desires is turned that way, and it must needs be blunted and dulled in spiritual things, that it cannot pierce into Heaven, and prevail effectually. I am sure, many of us useth this excuse, who are so cold in it, that we do not warm our selves, and how shall we think to prevail with God, our spirits make little noise when we cry all the loudest; we can scarce hear any whisper in our hearts, and how shall he hear us? Certainly, it is not the extension of the voice pleaseth Him, it is the cry of the heart that is sweet harmony in his ears; and you may easily perceive that, if you but consider that he is an infinit Spirit, that pierceth into all the corners of our hearts, and hath all the darknesse of it as light before him, how can you think that such a spirit can be pleased with lip-cryes? how can he endure such deceit and …alshood, (who hath so perfect a contrariety with all false appearances) that your heart should lye so dead and flatt before him, and the affection of it turned quite another way? There were no sacrifices without fire in the Old Testament, and that fire was kept-in perpetually; and so no prayer now without some inward fire, conceived in the desires, and blazing up and growing into a flame in the presenting of them to God.
The incense that was to be offered on the Altar of perfume, Exod. 30. it behoved to be beaten and prepared; and truly, prayer would do well to be made out of a beaten and bruised heart and contrite spirit, a spirit truly sensible of its own unworthinesse and wants: and that beating and pounding of the heart will yeeld a good fragrant smel, as some spices do not till beaten: The incense was made of divers spices, intimating to us, that true prayer is not one grace alone, but a compound of graces. It is the joynt exercise of all a Christian graces; seasoned with all▪ every one of them give some peculiar fragrancy to it, as Humility, Faith, Repentance, Love, &c. The acting of the heart in supplication, is a kind of compend and result of all these, as one perfume made up of many simples. But above all, as the incense, our prayers must be kindled by fire on the Altar, there must be some heat and servour, some warmnesse conceived by the holy Spirit in our hearts, which may make our spices send forth a pleasant smell, as many spices do not till they get heat. Let us lay this engagement on our hearts, to be more serious in our addresses to God the Father of spirits, above all, to present our inward soul before him, before whom it is naked and open, though we do not bring it. And certainly frequency in prayer will much help us to fervency, and to keep it when we have it.