parrot : but to say Clirist is Lord bclievinglv, with thouglits and atfections com- porting with the greatness and sweetness thereof, requires the Spirit of (lod to be in his heart. Now it is not the bare naming of C"ln-ist in prayer, and saying, For the Lord's sake, that procures our welcome with God ; but saying it in faitli ; and none can do this without the Spirit. Christ is the door that opens into God's presence, and lets the soul into his bosom, and faith is the key that unlocks the door ; but the Spirit is he that makes this key, and helps the Christian to turn it in prayer. In the law it was a sin, not only to offer strange incense, but also to bring strange fire. Lev. x. 1 : by the incense, which was a composition of sweet spices, appointed by God to be burnt as a sweet perfume in his nostrils, was signified the merit and satisfaction of Clirist, who being bruised by his Father's wrath, offered up himself a sacrifice toCiod for a sweet-smelling savour. The fire that was put lo it (which was also appointed to be taken from the altar) signified the Spirit of God, by which we are to oifer up all our prayers and praises, even as Christ offered himself up by the eternal Spirit. To plead Christ's merits in prayer, and not by the Spirit, is to bring right incense, but strange fire, and so our jjrayers are but smoke, offensive to his pure eyes, and not incense, a sweet savour to his nostrils.
Section IL — What is it to pray by the Spirit of God? We must know, there are two ways the Spirit of God helps persons in prayer. First, The Spirit of God helps in prayer by his gifts ; now those gifts with which he furnisheth a person for prayer, are either extraordinary or ordinary. The extraordinary gifts of the Spirit in prayer were in the primitive times shed forth, whereby the apostles and others were able in a miraculous manner to yrny, as well as preach, on a sudden, in a language that they never had learnt. ' I will pi-ay with the Spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also,' 1 Cor. xiv. 15 ; that is, (as interpreters understand it, ) he will make use of this extraordinary gift Christ had furnished him with, so as he might edify the church by it. This extraordinary gift was fitted for the infancy of the gospel church, and ceased with it. The ordinary gift of the Spirit in prayer is that special faculty whereby persons are enabled, on a sudden, to form the conceptions of their minds and desires of their hearts into apt words before the Lord in prayer ; this is a common gift, and bestowed very often on those that are none of the best of men; the hypocrite may have more of this gift than some sincere Christian. It is a gift that com- monly bears proportion to natural endowments, a ready apprehension, fruitful fancy, voluble tongue, an.d audacity^ of spirit, which are all gifts of the Spirit. Now we see that the head may be ripe, and the heart rotten ; and, on the contrary, the heart sound and sincere, where the head is defective. Secondly, The Spirit helps in prayer by his grace. His gifts help to the outward expression, but his grace to the inward affection. By the gifts of the Spirit a person is enabled to take the ear and affect the heart of those that hear him ; but by the grace of the Spirit influencing a soul in prayer, he is enabled to move his own heart, and the heart of God also ; and this is the man that indeed prays in the Spirit ; the other hath the gift, but this the spirit of prayer.
Now there is a twofold grace necessary to pray thus. First, There is necessary to this praying in the Spirit, grace to sanctify the person. Before the creature is renewed and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, it can neither apprehend nor desire things aright; 'The carnal mind perceives not the things of God, nay, it is enmity against God :' and how is such a pei-son fit to pray acceptably? First, then, the Spirit renews the creature, by infusing those supernatui-al qualities, or habits of his saving, sanctifying graces, which make him a new creatiu'e ; by these he comes to dwell and live in him, and then he exerciseth his own graces thus infused. The soul is in the body before it actuates and moves it ; we read of living in the Spirit, and walking in the Spirit, Gal. v. 25; walking supposeth life. To pray or perform any holy action in a holy manner, is to walk in the Spirit; but we must live in the Spirit, or the Spirit live in us (which is all one) before we can thus walk in the Spirit. There ai-e some acts the Spirit of (Jod puts forth upon souls, that are not thus sanctified; acts of common illumination, re- straining grace, and assisting also ; thus many hypocrites are enabled to pray in excellent expressions, but he never did assist an hypocrite, or any imsanctified person, to perform the inward part of prayer, to mourn sincerely for sin, to pant after Christ and his grace, or to cry, 'Abba, Father,' believingly ; these are vital
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7.^50 IN TTIE SPIRIT.