The Zealous Christian Taking Heaven by Holy Violence, Sermon 12
LUKE 11. 8.
Though he will not riſe and give him, becauſe he is his friend: yet becauſe of his importunity, he will, &c.
VII. SERMON.4. MErcies that are the fruits of prayer, are known by this, He that hath them, aſcribes them not to his own induſtry, but to the grace and mercy of God. Thus it was with Sampſon, Judg. 15. when hee was ready to dye for thirſt, he prayed unto the Lord, and God clave an hollow place in the jaw-bone, and gave him water. Now Sampſon calls the name of the place Enhakkore, the well of him that prayed: he aſcribes foreignit to the return of his prayers; to that aſſiſtance that God gave him to pray. So Hannah aſcribed her mercy to God, not to her ſelf. But now a wicked man that receives mercies from Gods general providence, his language is, This I have laboured for; this I have ventured my life for; this my friends left me; this I got by my forecaſt, providence, & induſtry: thus they ſacrifice to their own nets; but ſeldom ſay, This is the return of prayers, this is the gift of God.
5. That mercy that is given as a return of prayer, is enjoyed with more inward quiet, and contentment of minde, then when it is given in by general providence. When Eli told Hannah that ſhe ſhould have a ſon, and that her prayer was heard, ſhe had ſo much inward joy and contentment of minde, that is ſaid, Hannah went away rejoycing; and her countenance was no more ſad: The conſideration of that made her very much to rejoyce. The reaſon is, becauſe mercies that are given in as returns of prayer, they are given in with a bleſſing, and inward quiteneſs and contentment of minde. The mercies that God gives his own people, he gives them with joy and comfort, Prov 10. Prov. 10. 22.22. The bleſſing of the Lord maketh rich, and he addeth no ſorrow to it. You read, 1 Chron. 4. 10. And Jabez called on the God of Iſrael, 1 Chron. …. ….ſaying, O that thou wouldeſt bleſs me indeed, and enlarge my coaſts, and that thy hand might be with me, and that thou wouldeſt keep me from evil that it may not grieve me. Jabez knew that it was the manner of God, when he gave bleſſings as returns of prayer, not to add grief to it. Iſaac he prayed for his wife, and God gave her to him to be a great comfort to him. It may be wicked men have wives and no content with them, but ſorrow added to them, becauſe they did not pray for them as Iſaac did; they have children, but ſorrow with them; and abundance of riches, and ſorrow added to that; and all becauſe they have not the mercies as returns of prayer. The mercies that are given in a way of general providence, uſually are accompanied with vexatiouſneſſe and diſcontent, ſnares and ſorrowes mingled with the mercies. So it was, Pſal. 106. 15. He gave them their requeſts, but he ſent leanneſs into their ſouls. God Pſal. 106. 15.gives wicked men indeed their requeſts; but how is it, with a bleſſing and with content? No, no ſuch matter, they have a curſe with it. You know Saul gave Michal to David to be a ſnare to him, a croſſe and diſcontentment. So doth God many times, in juſt judgement, give his bleſſings to wicked men, to be ſnares, and curſes and croſſes to them.
6. Mercies that come as returns of prayer, may be known by this, If they are given in the time, when God doth draw out thine heart to ſeek him in holy duties. An inſtance of this you have, Act. 12. While the Church was met to pray for Peters enlargement, Act. 12.the priſon-doors were opened; and he came and knocked at the door of the houſe, where they were aſſembled. This was an evident ſigne, that God gave in Peter to them as a return of prayer. So Acts 4. 31. When they had prayed, the place was Act. 4. 31.ſhaken where they were aſſembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghoſt,—You read, Joh. 4. 52, 53. That the Noble man Joh. 4. 52, 53.enquired diligently, concerning the time wherein the child began to recover; and when he underſtood that, he knew it was a return of his prayer, and a fruit of Chriſts love. God tells his people, Iſa. 65. 24. Before Iſa. 65. 24.they call I will anſwer, and while they are yet ſpeaking I will hear. Thus we read in the Book of Martyrs, That the people of God did make it a ſigne of Gods anſwering our prayers, when God was pleaſed to give in mercies to them, at the time wherein they prayed. Thus we read of Luther; That there was a young man that had made a Covenant, and ſealed a Bond with his own blood, to give himſelf, ſoul and body to the Devil; onelyonly to live in pleaſure, and to do and have whatſoever he did deſire. And when the time of the Bond was almoſt out, he being much troubled in his minde, came to Luther and told him what he had done, and what was like to befal him upon it. Whereupon, Luther called the Church together, and kept a ſolemn Faſt in the behalf of the young man: And whileſt that Luther was in prayer, being earneſt with God, there was a great noiſe heard amongſt them, and the Bond was caſt into the lap of Luther, in the midſt of the Congregation. And ſo for time to come, the young man did lead an holy and godly life.
7. And laſtly, Mercies are given as anſwers of prayers, in caſe you make care and conſcience, to perform to God thoſe vowes which you made to God before you did enjoy the mercy. But when we promiſe God largely before we have the mercy, and when we have them, do not perform our vowes, it is an argument we have the mercies by general and common providence: Job 22. 27, 28. Thou ſhalt make thy prayer unto him, and he ſhall hear thee; and thou ſhalt Job. 22. 27, 28.pay thy vowes: thou ſhalt alſo decree a thing, and it ſhall be eſtabliſhed unto thee; and the light ſhall ſhine upon thy wayes. When thou begeſt a mercy, and ſaieſt, Lord give me ſuch a mercy, and I will do thus and thus; I will walk ſo and ſo before thee, I will improve them to thy glory. Now when thou ſhalt thus ask for mercy, and make vowes to God, he will hear; but then thou muſt be ſure to perform thy vowes. This frame of heart we finde to be in David, Pſal. Pſal. 66. 13, 14.66. 13, 14. I will go into thine houſe with burnt offerings, I will pay thee my vowes which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath ſpoken when I was in trouble. You ſee David was in trouble, and he prayed to God, and made ſome promiſes and vowes, in caſe God would deliver him. Now God did deliver him out of trouble, and hee did make good his vowes. Now here was a return of prayer. David you ſee did not grow ſecure and careleſſe, but he made conſcience to pay what he had promiſed to God. And ſo you ſee how you may diſcover, whether the mercies you receive from God be returns of prayer, or onelyonly fruits of common and general providence. And ſo much for Anſwer to that Queſtion.
Another Objection, or caſe of conſcience is this; How can this be true, that God gives Object. 1.his people more then they need, ſeeing it is the complaint of Gods people many times, that they have been a long time begging mercy, and God doth not give them ſo much as they deſire. Many ſay, I pray for pardon of ſin, and I cannot get it pardoned, and the pardon ſealed: I pray daily for power againſt my corruptions, and yet I cannot get my luſts ſubdued? What then ſhall I think of my prayers, may ſome poor ſoul ſay?
Now to this I ſhall lay down ſeveral things, by way of anſwer.
Anſw. 1 1. It muſt be conſidered, that God many times gets glory by the denials of his people; yea, he gets more glory by denying, then by the granting of a mercy. And if the denying of a mercy to thee, be the way to advice. Gods glory; it is better that God ſhould have his glory, and thou be without the mercy, then that thou ſhouldſt have the mercy, and God want his glory. An eminent inſtance of this you have, Joh. II. There was a prayer made by Mary and Joh. II.Martha for their brother Lazarus; And they came unto Jeſus and ſaid, he whom thou loveſt i… ſick: But Jeſus ſaid, This ſickneſſe is not unto death, but for the glory of God. When Jeſus Chriſt heard that he was ſick, yet he ſtaied two dayes in the place where he was, though he loved Martha, and he loved Lazarus, yet he ſtayed two dayes and would not go to him: but in the 14. verſe, Chriſt ſaid plainly, Lazarus is dead: And I am glad for your ſakes, that I was not there, to the intent that you might believe. But they ſaid unto him, Lord, if thou hadſt been here, he had not dyed. Chriſt came and commanded them to role the ſtone away, Martha anſwered, He hath been four dayes in the grave, and by this time be ſtinketh. This was that that Chriſt aimed at: Chriſt knew that it was greater glory to him, to raiſe the dead out of the grave, then to raiſe him out of the bed of ſickneſſe: The power of his Godhead did more appear in the former then in the latter. And when Martha told him, He ſtinketh; Jeſus anſwered, Said I not unto thee, if thou didſt believe, thou ſhouldſt ſee the glory of God? that is, thou ſhouldſt ſee the power of my Godhead. This was the end of Chriſts denying of mercy, though it was earneſtly deſired.
2. I anſwer, It may be thou doſt not hear God in his commands, and then it is no wonder God doth not hear thee in thy prayers. If thou doſt not hearken to the call of God, it may be expected that God ſhould not hearken to thy call. See Prov. 1. 24. Becauſe I have called, and ye refuſed, I have Prov. 1. 24.ſtretched out my hand, and no man regarded. Compared with verſe 28. Then ſhall they call Verſ. 28.upon me, but I will not anſwer; they ſhall ſeek me early, but they ſhall not finde me. Mic. 3. Mic. 3. 4.4. Then ſhall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them; he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themſelves ill in their doings. Zach. 7. 13. Therefore it is come to paſſe, that as he cryed and they Zach. 7. 13.would not hear, ſo they cryed, and I would not hear, ſaith the Lord of Hoſts. It may be God hath been calling upon thee this many years to believe and to repent; to be reformed, to forſake the evil of your doings; and thou haſt not heatd his calling; his mercies have not drawn thee; his judgements have not affrighted thee: and is it not juſt with God to let thee call, and he not hear thee?
3. It may be thou doſt ask but ſleightly, and therefore thy prayers are not ſucceſsful: As it is with a man, that asketh any thing of another man ſleightly and coldly, he doth, as it were, deſire him to ſay him nay. So when man askes mercies of God, careleſsly and indifferently, this provokes God to give no anſwer. It may be thou prayeſt ſleepily and drouzily, and with a wandring heart: And doſt thou think God will hear that prayer, that thou doſt not hear thy ſelf? Doſt thou think that God will accept of that prayer, when thou knoweſt not what thou ſayeſt?
4. God may give thee a mercy, and thou through thy incredulity, impatiency, and inobſervancie, not minde the returns that God gives. God may hear thy prayers, and yet thou not take any notice of it. This you may ſee in Job, Job 9. 16, 17. If I have called and God anſwered, yet I will not believe Job 9. 16, 17.that God hath heard me, becauſe thou breakeſt me with thy tempeſt—Job was in a fit of impatiency and unbelief. And though God did give him returns of prayer, yet hee would not, did not obſerve them.
5. God may deny thee the mercy, not that he is unable, or unwilling to hear thee or relieve thee; but to make thee the more deſirous of, and ſo the more fit for mercy. It may be yet thou art not fit for an anſwer. The Philoſopher beg'd ſome mony of Antigonus, he gave him a Drachme: He ſaid, It is not for a King to give ſo little, a Talent had been a more ſutable gift. The King replied, Though a Talent is fit for me to give, yet thou art not fit to receive. So though God is alwaies fit and ready to give an anſwer to our prayers, yet we are not alwaies fit and ready to receive it. God bids us open our mouths wide, and I will fill it. God denies us, that we may open our mouths the wider, and enlarge our deſires the more after mercy. The Lord doth by his people, as a father by his child; a father may ſeem to withdraw and hide himſelf from his child, to try its love to him; and the child begins to mourn and cry, yet the father comes not to the child; but when he hears the child cry aloud, then he comes to it and takes it up in his arms. So the Lord many times, ſees his people pray, but he ſeems to withdraw from them, to hide himſelf from the prayers of his people; and goes as it were out of their ſight, until they begin to cry aloug, to be very earneſt and importunate in their prayers, till their deſires be enlarged towards God; and then God graciouſly returns their prayers into their boſom. Now this is a very good reaſon, why God denies the prayers of his people. Deſires defer'd, Deſideria dilata creſcunt at cito data vileſcunt.grow the ſtronger; but if the mercies be ſoon given, the deſires grow cold, and the mercy growes contemptible. Mannah lightly come, is lightly ſet by. God doth by us as a Fiſher-man doth, he drawes back the bait, that ſo the Fiſh may come after it the more eagerly, and bite the harder. God ſeemes to draw back a mercy, that wee may more earneſtly purſue it.
6. Conſider this that Gods people have prayed and waited a long time, before God hath given them the mercy they have asked, before God hath given them an anſwer of their prayers. God promiſed Abraham a ſon, that from him ſhould proceed ſuch an one, in whom all the families of the earth ſhould be bleſſed, that his ſeed ſhould be multiplyed as the ſtarres in the firmament; and yet it was fifteene yeares betweene the time of Gods making him that promiſe, and the accompliſhment of it. So likewiſe you finde it in Zacbariab and Elizabeth, they prayed for a Childe at the firſt beginning of their marriage, now God did heare their cryes and prayers; yet he did not give them a returne till they were old and ſtricken in yeares. So likewiſe it was with the Church, Lament. 3. verſ. 8. Alſo when I cry and ſhout be ſhutteth out my prayer. And ver. 44. Thou haſt Lam. 3. 8.covered thy ſelfe with a cloud, that our prayers Verſe 44.ſhould not paſſe through. So alſo it was, Hab. 1. Hab. 1. 2.2. O Lord, how long ſhall I cry, and thou wilt not heare? It was alſo the complaint of holy David, Pſal. 22. 1, 2. My God, my God, why Pſal 22. 1, 2.haſt thou for ſaken me? why art thou ſo far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God I cry in the day time and thou heareſt not, and in the night ſeaſon, and am not ſilent.
7. God may not onelyonly deferre or deny to heare his peoples prayers, but in ſome times and caſes be angry with the prayers of his people. Pſal. 80. 4. O Lord God of hoſts, how Pſal. 80. 4.long wilt thou be angry againſt the prayers of thy people. So Job 30. 20, 21. I cry unto thee, and Job 30. 20, 21.thou doeſt not heare me. I ſtand up and thou regardeſt me not; thou art become cruell to me with thy ſtrong hand, thou oppoſeſt thy ſelfe againſt me.
8. Conſider this for thy comfort, that thy perſon may be accepted and thy prayers heard, and yet the thing thou prayeſt for not granted to thee. An inſtance of this you have in Chriſt himſelfe, he prayed, Father if it be poſſible let this cup paſſe from me, Mat. 26. Mat. 26.yet this cup did not paſſe from him, but he did drink of it, and yet it is ſaid that Chriſt was heard in all that he prayed for, Heb. 5. 7. Heb. 5. 7.Deut. 3. ver. 23. I be ſought the Lord at that time (ſaith Moſes) and ver. 26. But the Lord Deut. 3. ver. 23.was wroth with me for your ſakes, and would not heare me: and the Lord ſaid unto me, let it ſuffice thee, ſpeake no more to me of this matter. Moſes did importunately deſire that hee might ſee the Land, and goe over Jordan to poſſeſſe it. Moſes was a godly man, and here he prayes for this mercy, but yet God was angry with him, & bad him pray no more. God bad him goe up into the Mount and ſee the Land, but told him he ſhould not goe over. So when thou askeſt a particular mercy at the hand of God, God may deny them that mercy, and yet heare their prayers and accept their perſons.
9. God may deny thee the mercy thou askeſt, and give thee a better in the roome of it, he makes you to open your mouthes the wider, that he may give you the greater mercies. Abraham prayed that Iſhmael might live. Now God did not heare his prayer in that as Abraham did deſire it, but he gave him Iſaac, and with him he eſtabliſhed the Covenant, which was a better mercy. Moſes was denied in his requeſt to go into Canaan, but he was tranſlated into a better place, into the true Canaan, the Kingdome of heaven.
10. God may denie what we pray for in mercy, which ſhould he grant it would be a token of his wrath; as if a man ſhould aske that which was ſinfull, or that which would be an unavoydable occaſion of ſin, or if he ſhould aske it for ſinfull ends, or in caſe a man ask that that would be a monument of his ſhame; all which caſes I have ſpoken to before, and therefore ſhall now ſay no more.
11. God may heare another mans prayers for thee, though he will not heare thine owne. This is a great comfort to every poore weake Chriſtian in the world, they have a ſtock of prayers going for them to the throne of grace. You reade in Job, chap. Job 42.42. that God forbad his three friends to pray, but bad Job pray for them, and told him, that he would heare him for them, ver. 8, 9.—goe to my …, and offer verſ. 8, 9.up for your ſelves a burnt offering, and my ſervant Job ſhall pray for you, for him will I accept, leaſt I deale with you after your folly, in that you have not ſpoken of me the thing that is right, like my ſervant Job. And they did as God commanded them, and the Lord accepted Job. It may be there be times when you can not pray, or when God will not heare your prayers, but remember you have a ſtock of prayers going for you. And thus much ſhall ſuffice by way of anſwer to this objection; I now come to make application.