hearts, and that have brought worldly hearts, but returned with heavenly hearts. God sometimes hears prayers for his own sake, and for his Son's sake, and for his glory's sake, and for his promise sake, when he will not hear prayers for the sinner's sake. But,
(7.) Seventhly, Sinful omissions lead to sinful commissions, yea, sometimes they lead to ruin ; as you may see in the angels that fell from the highest heaven to the lowest hell, and in Adam, who fell in paradise from the highest pinnacle of glory to the lowest step of sin and misery. Those reprobates in that 25th of Matthew did not rob the saints, but only omitted the relieving of them, and this proved a damning to them ; rich Dives did not rob the poor, but his not relieving of them was his ruin, Luke xvi. Moab and Ammon were banished the sanctuary to the tenth generation for a mere omis- sion, because they met not God's Israel in the wilderness with bread and water, Deut. xxiii. 3, 4, 6. Look, as the omission of good diet breeds natural diseases in the body, so doth the omission of good duties breed spiritual diseases in the soul. All sinful omis- sions make work for hell, or for the physician of souls. 0 man ! thou dost not know what deadly sin, what deadly temptation may follow upon a mere single omission. Origen, going to comfort and encourage a martyr that was to suffer, was apprehended by the officers, and constrained either to offer to the idols or to have his body abused by a blackamoor that was ready pressed for that service. Being thus hard put to it, to save his life, he bowed to the idols ; but after- wards, when he came to himself, he sadly bewails his sin, and con- fesseth that he went forth that morning without making his prayers unto God, which sinful omission God did so severely punish, by leav- ing of him to fall into so great a sin, which pierced his soul through with many sorrows. I am apt to think that many a sin, many a snare, and many a faU might have been prevented, if such and such reli- gious duties had not been omitted. Sinful omissions prepare the way to sinful commissions, and both prepare the way to a fatal destruction. I believe many men had never been so abominable vicious, if they had not first cast off religious duties. He that lives in the neglect of ♦ prayer, tempts more devils than one to beset his soul, yea, to destroy his soul, &c. But,
(8.) Eighthly and lastly, There are several iveiglity arguments tJiat may be produced to prove that it is the duty of wicked and unconverted men to perform religious duties, as to pray and seek the Lord, &c. Among the many that may be brought forth, I shall only give you these six:
[1.] First, This is evident from divine commands, as you may clearly see by comparing of these scriptures together, Isa. Iv. 6, 7 ; Acts viii. 21-23 ; Ps. Ixv. 21. 1 Thes. v. 17, ' Pray without ceasing,' is an inde- finite injunction ; and who art thou, 0 man, that darest to prohibit what God commands ? Are not his commands obliging ? and may not disobedience to the least of them cost thee thy life, thy soul, thy all ? God's commands are neither to be slighted, censured, nor ne- glected. Woe to him that looks upon great commands as little com- mands, and little commands as no commands, Mat. xxiii. 0 sirs, it is a very dangerous thing to act or run counter-cross to God's ex-
234 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [Heb. XII. 14.
press command ; it may cost a man dear, as you may see in that sad story, 1 Kings xiii. 24. The heathens, indeed, would frequently run cross to their gods' commands, for when their gods commanded them to oflfer up a man, they would offer up a candle ; and so Hercules, when he was to offer up a living man, he offered up a painted man ; but does it become Christians to deal thus with the great Grod, with the living God, with the God of gods, as the heathens did by their gods ? Surely no. God's commands are not like imto the commands of the heathens, that might be contradicted and changed, but they are like to the commands of the Medes, that cannot be reversed nor changed ; they must be evangelically obeyed, or you will be eternally destroyed. The Rechabites were very rigid observers of their father's commands ; and will you make slight of God's commands ? Jer. xxxv. 2, 5-7. And ' the angels that excel in strength do his commandments,' Ps. ciii. 20 ; and will you despise them ? Why should the peasant scorn that work in which the prince himself is engaged ? But,
[2.] Secondly, Prayer is a viatural worship, and is incumbent upon all men, as they are created by God, Prayer is a duty which the very law of nature, as well as the law of the word, lays upon men. And this you may see in those pagans, Jonah i. 5, ' The mariners cried every man to his god.' That there is a God, and that this God is to be called upon, are lessons that are taught in nature's school : Isa. xlv. 20, ' They pray to a god that cannot save,' For any man to say a wicked man ought not to pray, is to say a wicked man ought not to worship God, nor acknowledge him to be his maker ; and who but such who are either blind or mad dare speak such language ? Cer- tainly they that live in the neglect of prayer under the gospel sin against a double light, the light of nature and the light of the gospel, and therefore they shall be double-damned. There is no heU to these men's hell who sin against a double light, &c. But,
[3.] Thirdly, The neglect of prayer is charged upon wicked persons as their sin ; as you may see by comparing of these scriptures to- gether, Ps. xiv. 2, 4, and x. 4 ; Jer. x. 21 ; Hosea vii. 7 ; Zeph. i. 6. Now doubtless if it were not a duty for unregenerate persons to pray, it could never stand with the holiness, justice, and righteousness of God, to charge the omission of prayer upon them as a sin, and there- fore, without peradventure, it is their duty to pray. But,
[4.] Fourthly, Wicked and unregenerate persons are again and again imprecated against for not calling upon the Lord: Ps. Ixxix. 6, ' Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name ; ' so Jer. X. 25, ' Pour out thy^fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not upon thy name.' Now certainly if prayer were not a duty incumbent upon wicked men, they would never be thus imprecated against for the omission of it. To imprecate that vials, that full vials, that full vials of wrath and fury should be poured forth, as water is poured forth, suddenly and plentifully, upon those kingdoms and families that do not call upon the name of the Lord, is so dreadful a thing, that it had never been mentioned in the Scripture, had it not been to alarm the worst of men to the work of prayer. But,
Heb. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OP HOLINESS. 235