1 "fl/Ttftp T« ffdi/jtwri <pu; '/jXio;, ovtoo ■^vyyn <?rpofftv%-/i- u cvv tvQXw fyftia to fth opav rov HXisv, Toia Z,nf&ia Xpi?Tiavii to fjiri <xpoaivxlitr6u.i trv\>i%co; not.) oia rrj; •prpocrivp^tii to tov Xpitrrov $us us tyiv ^w^v utrayuv ;— Okrys. Horn, Ixvii. de Prec. 1.
CHAP. IX.] DUTIES INFERRED FROM PRECEDING DISCOURSE. SI 9
and just seasons of prayer? How shall we answer for the contempt of this gracious aid offered us by Jesus Christ? Do others go from day to day in a neglect of this duty in their closets and families? Blame them not, or at least they are not worthy of so much blame as we ; they know not how to pray, they have no ability for it. But for those to walk in a neglect hereof who have received this gift of the Holy Ghost enabling them thereunto, making it easy unto them and pleasant unto the inner man, how great an aggravation is it of their sin ! Shall others at the tinkling of a bell rise and run unto prayers to be said or sung, wherein they can have no spiritual inte- rest, only to pacify their consciences, and comply with the preju- dices of their education, and shall we be found in the neglect of that spiritual aid which is graciously afforded unto us? How will the blind devotion and superstition of multitudes, with their diligence and pains therein, rise up in judgment against such negligent persons! We may see in the Papacy how, upon the ringing of a bell, or the lifting up of any ensign of superstition, they will some of them rise at midnight; others in their houses, yea, in the streets, fall on their knees unto their devotions. Having lost the conduct of the Spirit of God, and his gracious guidance unto the performance of duty in its proper seasons, they have invented ways of their own to keep up a frequency in this duty after their manner; which they are true and punctual unto. And shall they who have received that Spirit which the world cannot receive be treacherous and disobedient unto his motions, or what he constantly inclines and enables them unto? Besides all other disadvantages which will accrue hereby unto our souls, who can express the horrible ingratitude of such a sin? I press it the more, and that unto all sorts of prayer, in private, in families, in assemblies for that end, because the temptations and dangers of the days wherein we live do particularly and eminently call for it. If we would talk less and pray more about them, things would be better than they are in the world ; at least, we should be better enabled to bear them, and undergo our portion in them with the more satisfaction. To be negligent herein at such a season is a sad token of such a security as foreruns destruction.
(2.) Have any received this gift of the Holy Ghost? — let them know that it is their duty to cherish it, to stir it up and improve it. It is freely bestowed, but it is carefully to be preserved. It is a gospel talent given to be traded withal, and thereby to be increased. There are various degrees and measures of this gift in those that do receive it; but whatever measure any one hath, from the greatest to the least, he is obliged to cherish, preserve, and improve. We do not assert such a gift of prayer as should render our diligence therein unnecessary, or the exercise of our natural abilities useless; yea, the
320 WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN PRAYER. [BOOK VII.
end of this gift is to enable us to the diligent exercise of the facul- ties of our souls in prayer in a due manner. And, therefore, as it is our duty to use it, so it is to improve it. And it is one reason against the restraint of forms, because there is in them too little exercise of the faculties of our minds in the worship of God. There- fore, this being our duty, it may be inquired by what way or means we may stir up this grace and gift of God, so at least as that if, through any weakness or infirmity of mind, we thrive not much in the outward part of it, yet that we decay not nor lose what we have received. The gifts of the Holy Ghost are the fire that kindleth all our sacrifices to God. Now, although that fire of old on the altar first came down from heaven, or "forth from the Lord/' Lev. ix. 24, yet after it was once there placed it was always to be kept alive with care and diligence; for otherwise it would have been extin- guished as any other fire, chap. vi. 12, 13. Hence the apostle warns Timothy, dva^wrupsTv rb ^dpiff^a, 2 Tim. i. 6, to excite and " quicken the fire of his gift," by blowing off the ashes and adding fuel unto it. Now, there are many things that are useful and helpful unto this end; as, —
[1.] A constant consideration and observation of ourselves, our own hearts, with our spiritual state and condition. Thence are the matters of our requests or petitions in prayer to be taken, Ps. xvi. 7. And as our state in general, by reason of the depths and deceitful- ness of our hearts, with our darkness in spiritual things, is such as will find us matter of continual search and examination all the days of our lives, as is expressed in those prayers, Ps. xix. 12, cxxxix. 23, 24, so we are subject unto various changes and alterations in our spiritual frames and actings every day, as also unto temptations of all sorts. About these things, according as our occasions and neces- sities do require, are we to deal with God in our supplications, Phil. iv. 6. How shall we be in a readiness hereunto, prepared with the proper matter of prayer, if we neglect a constant and diligent obser- vation of ourselves herein, or the state of our own souls? This being the food of the gift, where it is neglected the gift itself will decay. If men consider only a form of things in a course, they will quickly come to a form of words.