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<DATE>5-8-08</DATE>
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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="Parliamentary order">
<PB REF="1">
<OPENER><DATELINE><DATE><HI>Die Mercurii April.</HI> 30. 1645.</DATE></DATELINE></OPENER>
<P>_ORdered by the <HI>Commons</HI> A&s;&s;embled in Parliament, that Sir <HI>William Ma&s;|&s;am,</HI> do from this Hou&s;e give thanks to Mr. <HI>Mar&s;hall</HI> for the great paines hee took in the Sermon hee Preached this day at the intreaty of this Hou&s;e, at St. <HI>Margarets We&s;tmin&s;ter</HI> (it being the day of publique hu|miliation) and to de&s;ire him to Print his Ser|mon. And it is Ordered, that none &s;hall pre|&s;ume to Print his Sermon, not being authorized under his hand-writing.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>H. El&s;ynge Cler. Parl. D. Com.</SIGNED>
<POSTSCRIPT>
<P>I appoint <HI>Stephen Bowtell</HI> to Print my Sermon,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Stephen Mar&s;hall.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</POSTSCRIPT></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE STRONG HELPER OR, The intere&s;t, and power of the Prayers <HI>of the de&s;titute, for the building up of</HI> Sion. Opened in A SERMON BEFORE The Honorable Hou&s;e of <HI>COMMONS</HI> A&s;&s;embled in Parliament, upon the &s;olemn day of their Monethly Fa&s;t, <HI>April</HI> 30. 1645.</P>
<P><HI>BY Stephen Mar&s;hall,</HI> B.D. Mini&s;ter of Gods Word, at <HI>Finching-field</HI> in <HI>E&s;&s;ex.</HI></P>
<Q><BIBL>JER. 29. 12.</BIBL>
<P><HI>Then &s;hall yee call upon me, and yee &s;hall goe and pray unto mee, and I will hearken unto you.</HI></P></Q>
<Q><BIBL>PSAL. 10. 17.</BIBL>
<P><HI>Lord thou ha&s;t heard the de&s;ire of the humble, thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cau&s;e thy eare to hear.</HI></P></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>Richard Cotes,</HI> for <HI>Stephen Bowtell,</HI> and are to be &s;old at the &s;igne of the Bible in Popes-head Alley, 1645.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE HONORABLE HOVSE OF COMMONS A&s;&s;embled in PARLIAMENT.</HEAD>
<P>_THE Lord that now makes it his great work to build up <HI>Zion,</HI> and &s;ettle his Arke there, in its place, hath made it your great honour, that hee hath taken you into a partner&s;hip in &s;o ble&s;|&s;ed a work; <HI>Hee</HI> make it your happine&s;&s;e,
<PB REF="3">
that your Faithfull indevours being crown|ed with a ble&s;&s;ed &s;ucce&s;&s;e, both the pre&s;ent and after Ages may de&s;ervedly call you the <HI>Repairers of the breach, and re&s;torers</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;a. 58. 12.</NOTE> <HI>of paths to dwell in.</HI> It is pity &s;uch buil|ders &s;hould want either fair weather, or a &s;ure Scaffold to build on; but you will not be di&s;couraged, while&s;t you think how in great repaires, all u&s;e to lie on heaps, and remem|ber, what the able&s;t of Gods Ma&s;ter-build|ers in this kind have met with, it is enough that <HI>Jeru&s;alems</HI> Wall may <HI>be built in trou|bleous times. God</HI> can <HI>lay the beams of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 9. 25. P&s;al. 104 3. Luk. 17. 6.</NOTE> <HI>his Chambers in the water,</HI> and <HI>Faith</HI> can <HI>plant Sycamines in the Sea;</HI> it was a con|fu&s;ed <HI>Chaos,</HI> without form and void, full of darkne&s;&s;e, which this goodly Fabrick of Heaven and Earth was at first made out of, and there were <HI>Evenings</HI> as well as <HI>Morn|ings</HI> all along in the Work, however it went on, each day adding di&s;tinction and beauty, and the la&s;t, perfection, &s;o that <HI>God beheld
<PB REF="3">
all and &s;aw it to bee very good.</HI> It is the &s;ame creating God, that must order our pre|&s;ent confu&s;ions, and rai&s;e up our ruines, in which your humble and faithfull <HI>Prayers,</HI> will be more u&s;efull then your able&s;t <HI>Coun|&s;els. Mo&s;es, Elias,</HI> our <HI>Saviour,</HI> the great builders and repairers of the Church, are every one of them recorded to have fa&s;ted forty daies and nights, when they were upon that Worke, it much commends Prayer and Fa&s;ting to all who are at any time ingaged in a like &s;ervice; that was your bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, when this Sermon was Preached, which, if either in the delivery it did any whit help your Spirits then in prayer, or in the pub|li&s;hing, it may now or hereafter, ingage you, when you mo&s;t diligently look to your Work, more earne&s;tly to look up to God in it, it will bee the joy, as it is the prayer of</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Servant in this great Work,
STEPHEN MARSHALL.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB REF="4">
<PB N="1" REF="4">
<HEAD>A SERMON PREACHED To the Honorable Hou&s;e of <HI>COMMONS</HI> at their Monethly Fa&s;t, <HI>Aprill</HI> 30. 1645.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>PSAL. 102. 17.</BIBL>
<Q>Hee will regard the prayer of the de&s;titute, and not de&s;pi&s;e their prayer.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_I Began the handling of this portion <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Intreduction.</HI> Shewing the &s;cope of the Text to bee a Circum&s;tance which highly magnifies the work of Gods bullding up of <HI>Sion.</HI></NOTE> of Scripture the la&s;t publique &s;olemn Fa&s;t, before the Honourable Hou&s;e of Peeres, and I then &s;hewed, that the&s;e two Ver&s;es doe containe two &s;uch remarkable circum&s;tances, which al|wayes accompany the building up of <HI>Zion,</HI> as doe ju&s;tly render it the mo&s;t glorious and excellent work in all the world, mo&s;t wor|thy
<PB N="2" REF="5">
of all mens ob&s;ervation and admiration, &s;o that <HI>all the Kings</HI> and <HI>all the Nations</HI> might well &s;tand amazed at it, and it de&s;erves to bee writen, that all the Generations to come may prai&s;e God for it; the fir&s;t is, that when ever the Lord doth build up <HI>Zion, hee doth appeare in his glory,</HI> hee never &s;hews him&s;elf more like him&s;elf, never more magnifies tho&s;e excellent perfections of his Wi&s;|dom, and Power, and Mercy, and Holine&s;&s;e, and Truth, then hee doth when hee builds up his Church; This I handled before that Honourable Hou&s;e the la&s;t day, at large, and now this Honourable Hou&s;e having comman|ded my poore labours, to bee a furtherance of your hu|miliation, and prayer, that you may be the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of God be carryed on the better in your great work of help|ing the Lord in building the Church, while like &s;o many <HI>Nehemiahs,</HI> you are building with the Trowell in one hand and the Sword in the other; I could not think of any more fitter, more &s;uitable, or &s;ea&s;onable Theame, then to goe on to open the &s;econd Circum&s;tance, which ac|companies the building up of <HI>Zion,</HI> which you have in the&s;e words, <HI>When the Lord doth build up</HI> Zion, <HI>hee will re|gard the prayer of the de&s;titute, and not de&s;pi&s;e their prayer;</HI> All the prayers that his forlorn and de&s;olate people had been offering up many yeeres before, when (it may bee) they de&s;paired of ever meeting with any comfortable re|turn, <NOTE PLACE="marg">And containes I a plomi&s;e of Gods regarding his peoples prayers.</NOTE> they &s;hould now finde their Jubilee, they &s;hould now have a full crop, of all their &s;eed gathered in with joy; when the Lord doth build up <HI>Zion,</HI> hee regards his peoples Prayers: The &s;umme of the Text is, <HI>A grati|ous promi&s;e of Gods hearing his peoples Prayers;</HI> Hee will <HI>regard</HI> the prayers of the de&s;titute, or hee will <HI>turn to them,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">What it is for God to regard prayer, what not to de&s;pi&s;e.</NOTE> or hee will <HI>looke upon them,</HI> hee will behold them; the meaning plainly is, hee will grant them thus, that is, fir&s;t
<PB N="3" REF="5">
po&s;itively laid down: &s;econdly, it is al&s;o laid down nega|tively, Hee will not de&s;pi&s;e them; and in this negative, there is another affirmation, rather &s;tronger then the for|mer; for when God is &s;aid <HI>not to de&s;pi&s;e,</HI> the meaning is, <HI>hee doth highly value it;</HI> with God, <HI>non &s;pernere</HI> is <HI>magni|facere,</HI> as <HI>An humble and a broken heart, O God, thou wilt not de&s;pi&s;e,</HI> that is, thou do&s;t <HI>highly e&s;teem it;</HI> &s;o al&s;o here <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm. 51. 17.</NOTE> however the&s;e poore afflicted ones had imagined, becau&s;e God had made them no return that hee did &s;corne them and their prayers, hee would now let them to their com|fort know, that all their prayers lay before him, and were very highly regarded by him; They had &s;own in tears, they mu&s;t now reap in joy, now they &s;hould finde that their prayers were like &s;o many Talents put into Gods bank, which they &s;hould receive into their bo&s;ome with advantage, hee would no longer cau&s;e their heart to faint with deferring their hope, hee would <HI>now regard the pray|er of the de&s;titute, and not de&s;pi&s;e their prayer.</HI></P>
<P>Which gracious promi&s;e of God, to regard the pray|ers <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 This promi&s;e re&s;pects,</NOTE> of his people, hath in this place a threefold a&s;pect; Fir&s;t,</P>
<P>Wee are to con&s;ider it in relation to the <HI>per&s;ons, who&s;e</HI> prayers &s;hall bee regarded, and that you have in this <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The per&s;ons, who.</NOTE> word, hee will regard the prayer of the <HI>de&s;titute;</HI> And Secondly,</P>
<P>This regarding of prayer doth re&s;pect the <HI>Time, when</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The time, when.</NOTE> hee will regard it; <HI>When the Lord doth build up</HI> Zion, hee will regard the prayers of the de&s;titute; And Thirdly,</P>
<P>This regarding of the prayers of his people, hath an <NOTE PLACE="marg">3 The matter, wherein their prayer &s;hall bee regarded.</NOTE> a&s;pect upon the <HI>matter,</HI> wherein hee will regard them; when hee <HI>builds</HI> up <HI>Zion,</HI> hee will regard their prayer, that is, (as God willing you &s;hall heare anon) that their prayers &s;hall be the means of building <HI>Zion,</HI> he will build
<PB N="4" REF="6">
<HI>Zion,</HI> as that which their prayers have been the means of, and have drawn from him; when the Lord &s;hall build up <HI>Zion,</HI> hee will regard the prayers of the de&s;titute; I begin with the fir&s;t of them:</P>
<P>The <HI>per&s;ons,</HI> they are here called <HI>the de&s;titute;</HI> hee will <NOTE PLACE="marg">The Per&s;ons, who:</NOTE> regard the prayer of the de&s;titute: the Hebrew word, which is here tran&s;lated de&s;titute, doth properly &s;igni|fie <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> <HI>Myrica,</HI> a low &s;hrub, <HI>humile&s;que Myricae,</HI> low &s;hrubs <NOTE PLACE="marg">The de&s;titute who they are.</NOTE> that grow in Wilderne&s;&s;es, &s;ome think they were <HI>Juni|per &s;hrubs,</HI> &s;ome a kinde of wilde <HI>Tamyris,</HI> but a ba&s;e low &s;hrub, that grew no where but in a de&s;olate forlorn place; and &s;ometimes the word in the Text is u&s;ed, to &s;ignifie the De&s;erts of <HI>Arabia,</HI> the &s;andy de&s;ert place of <HI>Arabia,</HI> which was a mi&s;erable wilderne&s;&s;e; Now when this word is applyed to men, it always means, &s;uch as were <HI>for&s;aken</HI> men, <HI>de&s;pi&s;ed</HI> men; &s;uch men as are &s;trip|ped of all that is comfortable to them, either they never had children, or el&s;e all their children are taken away from them, and all comforts bani&s;hed, and them&s;elves left utterly forlorne, like the barren heath in a de&s;olate howling Wilderne&s;&s;e; the&s;e are the people of whom my Text &s;peaks, that the Lord will regard the prayer of <HI>the de&s;titute:</HI> and this was now the &s;tate of the Church of God, when they offer'd up this prayer, and yet by faith did foretell that God would grant &s;uch a gratious an|&s;wer.</P>
<P>And this promi&s;e as relating to the&s;e per&s;ons, affords <NOTE PLACE="marg">Hence two le&s;&s;ons.</NOTE> us two excellent le&s;&s;ons.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Into what a <HI>mi&s;erable low and forlorn condition, God often lets his Church fall, before hee doe appear for their de|liverante;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ob&s;ervat.</HI> 1. The Church of|ten brought very low before deliverance. P&s;al, 102, 6, 7, 8, 9.</NOTE> They are de&s;olate and for&s;aken, left like the De&s;erts of <HI>Arabia,</HI> like the broken &s;hrub of a tree, that no body regards: Such was their pre&s;ent condition; you
<PB N="5" REF="6">
have it in all the former part of the <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> Like a <HI>Pelican,</HI> like an <HI>Owle,</HI> as a de&s;olate <HI>Widow,</HI> they eate their meat with <HI>a&s;hes,</HI> and mingle their drink with <HI>weeping:</HI> to this condition did God let his Church come, before hee did appear as a &s;uccourer, and a helper of her; I confe&s;&s;e God doth not always &s;o, &s;ometimes hee doth keep the feet of his people from falling: &s;ometimes a&s;&s;oon as e|ver they fall, hee &s;natches them up with his right hand; &s;ometimes hee lets heavine&s;&s;e fall upon them for a night, and &s;ends them joy and deliverance the next morning; but frequently, yea, and ordinarily, before the greate&s;t mer|cies, he lets them be brought into a mo&s;t mi&s;erable con|dition, &s;o that they &s;hall have no humane hope ever to come out of it; So they were in <HI>Egypt</HI> wa&s;ted out in an iron fornace; &s;o they were in <HI>Babylon,</HI> when their bones <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 141. 7.</NOTE> lay &s;cattered upon the earth, as Chips in a timber-yard; and it was ordinary for the Church to complain before her deliverance, that &s;he was like a bird in the fowlers &s;nare, as a Lamb falne into a Wolves, or Lions den; and <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 124. 7.</NOTE> ordinary for God to acknowledge, that when hee comes to deliver them, he chu&s;es them, and findes them in a <NOTE PLACE="marg">Efa. 48. 10.</NOTE> furnace of affliction. And this is true not onely of the Church in generall, but you may read the &s;ame of abun|dance of Gods deare&s;t Saints, who have been brought and reduced to extremity of mi&s;ery, before ever he appear|ed for their &s;uccour: Thus it was with <HI>David</HI> and <HI>Daniel,</HI> and the three Children, and <HI>Paul,</HI> and multitudes of o|thers. And this the Lord doth for the&s;e two cau&s;es: Fir&s;t,</P>
<P>It u&s;ually thus betides Gods people through their <HI>own</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rea&s;on</HI> 1. From their own folly. P&s;al. 38&punc;5.</NOTE> <HI>fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e;</HI> them&s;elves are the cau&s;es why they come &s;o low; <HI>David</HI> in the name of the Church, confe&s;&s;ed, <HI>I am brought into great heavine&s;&s;e, I lie roaring all the night long,
<PB N="6" REF="7">
my wounds &s;tink and are corrupt,</HI> becau&s;e of my <HI>own fooli&s;h|ne&s;&s;e;</HI> for fir&s;t they offend God, their gratious God, and when they have offended him, they continue impenitent|ly in &s;in; and when God appeares, and begins to correct them, they kick with the heele again&s;t him, and will not take notice of his hand, but goe on ob&s;tinately; They impute it to any thing rather then Gods di&s;plea&s;ure, will not confe&s;&s;e their &s;in, their uncircum&s;ized heart is not humbled in them, when they lie as a wilde bull in a net, <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;a 51. 20.</NOTE> full of the fury of the Lord; they kick and fling, fret and vex them&s;elves, &s;uffer and murmure, &s;mart and re|pine, but will not renounce their own coun&s;ell, nor lay down their arms of rebellion; and thus like fooli&s;h &s;ons, they &s;tay longer then they need, in the place of the break|ing forth of children; and this God will not beare from them, but now by long and tedious trials, and by being thus brought to great extremities, their hearts are &s;oftned and melted, the pride of their &s;pirits broken; they &s;earch and try their wayes, their foule &s;tomachs are emptyed of that glut which lay upon them, they ca&s;t off their carnall confidence, and &s;elf-conceitedne&s;&s;e; when they have been bound in fetters, and holden in cords of affliction, then they &s;ee their own works, then their ears are opened to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 36. 8, 9, 10</NOTE> Di&s;cipline, when with the Prodigall, they have eat husks with the Swine, and are ready to dye with hunger, then they think &s;eriou&s;ly of returning to their Fathers hou&s;e, and &s;o hereby are made the fitter for their deliverance. <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 15. 17.</NOTE> And Secondly,</P>
<P>Hee likewi&s;e doth it for his own glory; for the lower they are before hee appeare for their &s;uccour, the more <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rea&s;on</HI> 2. For Gods grea|ter glory in their delive|rance. Joh. 11. 34.</NOTE> honour doth he gain to him&s;elf in their deliverance: This rea&s;on Chri&s;t him&s;elf gave it, in the 11 of <HI>John,</HI> when they told him that <HI>Lazarus</HI> was &s;ick, and Chri&s;t knew he
<PB N="7" REF="7">
was &s;ick to death, yea, that hee was dead, but <HI>This &s;ick|ne&s;&s;e</HI> (&s;aid Chri&s;t) <HI>is not unto death, but that the Son of God might bee magnifyed;</HI> as if he had &s;aid, <HI>Lazarus</HI> &s;hall dye, and goe to the grave, and lie while he is ready to &s;tink there, not that I delight to have <HI>Lazarus</HI> brought low, and looked upon as a dead man, but that my glo|ry might the more appear in rai&s;ing him up; &s;o when the Lord hath brought his people into &s;uch a low, for|lorn condition, that all help and &s;trength &s;eems to be gone, then for him to come in and &s;uccour, this advan|ces his glory many wayes, the glory of his <HI>wi&s;dome,</HI> and of his <HI>love</HI> and of his <HI>power,</HI> &amp;c. for &s;uch cau&s;es as the&s;e doth God let his Church come to be de&s;titute, before he &s;eems to regard their prayers.</P>
<P>I note this onely to this end, that it might teach you all <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;&s;e.</HI> To teach us to judgeour &s;elves of our pre&s;ent di&s;tre&s;&s;es.</NOTE> to be charitable Judges of the &s;trange and various admi|ni&s;trations of our God towards almo&s;t all the Churches in Chri&s;tendome at this day: indeed if we look upon the &s;tate of almo&s;t all the Chri&s;tian world, we cannot but &s;ay it is very low: <HI>Germany</HI> hath now for &s;ix or &s;even and twenty yeers been an <HI>Aceldama,</HI> a field of blood; in <HI>Ireland</HI> the <HI>&s;lain not to be numbred, their widows multiply|ed</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 15. 8.</NOTE> <HI>like the &s;and of the Sea &s;hore; Scotland</HI> been <HI>&s;haken, and harra&s;&s;ed,</HI> mi&s;erably; and <HI>England</HI> which hath been as a Garden of God, now is conflicting with the <HI>&s;adde&s;t of all judgements,</HI> and bleeds and melts away, and &s;inks dee|per into the quick-&s;ands of de&s;olation every day then o|ther; All our Phy&s;itians have hitherto proved of no va|lue: no balm yet found to cure our wound, no plai&s;ter will as yet cleave to our &s;oare, the &s;torm &s;till increa&s;eth, our Anchors all come home, and we are even at our wits end, and every where the di&s;plea&s;ure of the Lord &s;eems to bee on all the Churches, as if he would bring &s;uch a <NOTE PLACE="marg">Nahum 19.</NOTE>
<PB N="8" REF="8">
de&s;olation upon them, that affliction &s;hould not ri&s;e up the &s;econd time. Now (beloved) in the&s;e deep and de|plorable extremities, learn to judge wi&s;ely of the &s;tate of Chri&s;ts Church and people, think it no more &s;trange to &s;ee the Church of God to&s;&s;ed and afflicted, then it is to &s;ee the Sea to&s;&s;ed with waves, or the lower region to be full of &s;torms, and tempe&s;ts; but when you do &s;ee the&s;e things, be you withall a&s;&s;ured, that the Lord loves his Church, and all his Saints too dear, to be lavi&s;h of any one drop of their blood; he prefers the meane&s;t of his people be|fore all the Kingdoms of the world, and will give them for ran&s;omes for his redeemed ones, he thought it not too much to redeem them with the blood of his own Son; <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;a. 43. 34.</NOTE> be you therefore fully a&s;&s;ured that it is not out of any &s;lighting of them, that the&s;e troubles are upon them, but rather that in all the&s;e conflicts hee hath holy aimes, and ends, which it may be we cannot yet dive into; and let us not look too much upon the dark &s;ide of the cloud of Gods providence, when we cannot &s;ee the bottome of his Coun&s;els; let us not hang down de&s;pairing hands; Let us be contented that we are of his <HI>Court,</HI> though we be not admitted to be of his <HI>Privy Coun&s;ell;</HI> and let us &s;et this down for an a&s;&s;ured conclu&s;ion, That how low &s;o|ever the Lord brings his people, he <HI>will bring them back again from the depth of their mi&s;eries;</HI> let us in the mean <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 68. 22.</NOTE> time, as the Prophet &s;aid, he would doe, <HI>Search and try our wayes,</HI> and be humbled before him, but let us al&s;o be|leeve upon plain tru&s;t, and <HI>waite upon God, who at this day</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Lam. 3. 40.</NOTE> <HI>hides his face from the hou&s;e of</HI> Jacob, <HI>and let us look for him untill</HI> hee plea&s;e to return again.</P>
<P>Secondly, As the Lord &s;ometimes makes them de&s;ti|tute before hee regards them, &s;o hee will <HI>regard the pray|ers of the destitute;</HI> this &s;ad title, that they are <HI>de&s;titute,</HI> is
<PB N="9" REF="8">
&s;et downe here as an <HI>argument</HI> that God would <HI>regard</HI> their prayers, which affords us this in&s;truction.</P>
<P><HI>That the prayers of the mo&s;t forlorne, and de&s;pi&s;ed, and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ob&s;er.</HI> 2. <HI>The prayers of the de&s;titute are highly regarded by God.</HI></NOTE> <HI>aba&s;ed, of all Gods people, are in the highe&s;t regard with him:</HI> Who&s;e petitions &s;oever are laid a&s;ide, God will be &s;ure to regard and read over the petitions offered up by the <HI>de&s;olate,</HI> their prayers are mo&s;t prevalent, and mo&s;t acceptable with God. I might give you an hundred places, where God &s;aith it expre&s;ly, <HI>he heares the poore, he regards</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 49. 13. Job 34. 28.</NOTE> <HI>the de&s;pi&s;ed, he will &s;ave the afflicted, he will comfort the di|&s;tre&s;&s;ed, his eares are open to their cry. David,</HI> who well un|der&s;tood all the topicks of Prayer, all places from whence any argument might be drawne to prevaile with God in prayer, made this his u&s;uall argument, <HI>Heare me Lord, for I</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 18. 4, 5, 6. P&s;al. 143. 1, 2.</NOTE> <HI>am de&s;olate; attend to my cry, for I am brought very low; heare me &s;peedily, my &s;pirit is overwhelmed;</HI> as if he could lay &s;uch a claime to be regarded when he was <HI>de&s;titute,</HI> that God mu&s;t faile of his word, if he failed then to regard his pray|ers. And there is good rea&s;on why they above all others &s;hould have their prayers regarded by God.</P>
<P>Becau&s;e they pray in their prayers: Prayer is the pow|ring <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rea&s;on</HI> 1. <HI>They pray in|deed.</HI> P&s;al. 101. title.</NOTE> out of <HI>the &s;oule</HI> to God; &s;o &s;aith the title of this P&s;alm, <HI>A prayer of the afflicted when he powres out his &s;oule.</HI> Now even Gods owne people, when they have ea&s;e and liber|ty, and are in no &s;traits, it's too ordinary with them to powre out words, when they doe not powre out prayers, and to be in a bodily po&s;ture of prayer, when the inward man is little affected; they often pray without a heart; but <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 18. 22.</NOTE> the poore and de&s;titute &s;peak <HI>&s;upplications</HI> before God, they poure out their &s;oule and &s;pirit, and that is prayer in|deed. And &s;econdly.</P>
<P>The de&s;titute and for&s;aken have no other to flye to but <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rea&s;on</HI> 2. <HI>They look for help from God onely.</HI></NOTE> <HI>God onely,</HI> all other &s;uccour failes them, and he hath much
<PB N="10" REF="9">
engaged him&s;elfe in his Word, never to de&s;ert the &s;oule that betakes it &s;elfe to him; <HI>He &s;hall deliver the needy when he cryeth, the poore al&s;o, and him that hath no helper:</HI> Now <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 142. 4.</NOTE> this forlorne and de&s;olate wretch looks on his right hand, and none will know him, other refuge failes him, no other cares for his &s;oule, he hath onely a melting heart, and a mourning eye, and the&s;e are fixt upon God alone; and therefore no wonder though he be regarded. And then thirdly,</P>
<P>The de&s;olate, of all others, will value an <HI>an&s;wer</HI> of pray|er; <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rea&s;on</HI> 3. <HI>They will prize an an&s;wer.</HI></NOTE> let God doe any thing for a poore for&s;aken wretch, it's highly prized: any almes to a Begger at the door, who is ready to &s;tarve, if it be but a cru&s;t fit for the dogges, yet (I &s;ay) to a &s;tarving Begger it's a greatefull thing: <HI>When the poore and needy &s;eek water, and there is none, when their tongue</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;a 41. 17, 18.</NOTE> <HI>faileth for thir&s;t, and the Lord plea&s;eth to open rivers to them in the wilderne&s;&s;e,</HI> O how acceptable and welcome is it! And fourthly,</P>
<P>God will regard the de&s;titute, becau&s;e in truth his fa|therly bowels know that there is <HI>more need</HI> that he &s;hould <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rea&s;on</HI> 4. <HI>They mo&s;t &s;tand in need of fa|vour.</HI></NOTE> &s;uccour them, then any other: he hath put tho&s;e bowels into earthly parents, that if any of them have many chil|dren, the &s;icke&s;t, the weake&s;t, the &s;imple&s;t, the mo&s;t de|&s;picable of all the re&s;t, hath the greate&s;t care from the fa|ther, and from the tender-hearted mother; among all the te&s;t of the children, there is not &s;uch an Orator to pre|vaile for them&s;elves or others, as the &s;icke&s;t babe: And even &s;o it is with our good God, he knowes the condition of the poor, how every one treads upon a worme, he well con&s;iders, that he who is &s;o weak that he <HI>is ready to &s;lip with his feet, is as a lamp de&s;pi&s;ed in the thought of him who</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job. 12. 5.</NOTE> <HI>is at ea&s;e:</HI> he knowes that few will look to the de&s;titute, unle&s;&s;e it be to &s;corne, de&s;pi&s;e them, brow-beat them, and
<PB N="11" REF="9">
turne the back upon them; and therefore he him&s;elf will regard them: he commands us to deale our bread to the hungry; to bring the poore, who are ca&s;t out, to our hou&s;e; when we &s;ee the naked, that we cloath him; that we draw out our &s;oule to the hungry, and that we &s;atisfie the afflicted &s;oule; yea, he commands his very enemies to regard his out-ca&s;t and afflicted; let my out-ca&s;t dwell with thee <HI>Moab,</HI> be <HI>thou</HI> a <HI>covert</HI> to them from the face of <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 18. 7 10.</NOTE> the &s;poiler; how much more will his owne tender bowels yerne towards them?</P>
<P>This al&s;o is a le&s;&s;on of &s;ingular comfort to every affli|cted <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 2. <HI>To encourage &s;uch to pray.</HI></NOTE> &s;oule, to a&s;&s;ure them their prayers and &s;upplications are tenderly regarded before God: I have often ob&s;erved &s;uch poore for&s;aken ones, who in their owne eyes are brought very low, that of all other people they are mo&s;t de&s;irous to begge and obtaine the prayers of their friends, when they &s;ee any that hath gifts, and peace, and cheer|fulne&s;&s;e of &s;pirit, and liberty, and abilities to performe du|ties, O how glad they are to get &s;uch a mans prayers! <HI>I be&s;eech you, will you pray for me, will you plea&s;e to remember me at the throne of grace?</HI> whereas in truth, if we could give a right judgment, all &s;uch would rather de&s;ire the <HI>poore,</HI> and the <HI>de&s;olute,</HI> to be <HI>mediators</HI> for them; for certainly, whom|&s;oever God neglects, he will li&s;ten to the cry of tho&s;e that are for&s;aken and de&s;titute. And therefore, O thou afflicted and to&s;&s;ed with tempe&s;ts, who thinke&s;t thou art wholly rejected by the Lord, continue to poure out thy &s;oule to him, thou ha&s;t a faithfull promi&s;e from him to be rewar|ded, he will regard the prayer of the de&s;titute.</P>
<P>Why then doe they &s;o long goe without their an&s;wer? <NOTE PLACE="marg">Que&s;t.</NOTE> why are they and their prayers de&s;titute?</P>
<P>To this you will have a &s;atisfying an&s;wer in the next branch of my Text, which is the a&s;pect that this promi&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg">An&s;.</NOTE>
<PB N="12" REF="10">
of Gods regarding prayer, hath unto the <HI>time, when</HI> he will doe it; when the Lord doth build up <HI>Zion,</HI> he will <HI>then</HI> regard the prayer of the <HI>de&s;titute.</HI></P>
<P>At another time it may be he &s;eems not to regard them, while he lets <HI>Zion</HI> lie wa&s;te, he &s;eemed to de&s;pi&s;e their <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Con&s;ider this text in relation to the time, when God will regard his peo|ples prayers&punc;</NOTE> prayers; but when once the time is come, that the Lord will build up <HI>Zion,</HI> he will <HI>then</HI> regard the prayer of the de&s;titute; then it &s;hall well appeare hee will not de&s;pi&s;e their cry any longer: There you will have a full an&s;wer to this doubt, and I conceive the&s;e words, <HI>not de&s;pi&s;e,</HI> are added purpo&s;ely to prevent or an&s;wer this doubt; poore afflicted ones are ready to &s;u&s;pect Gods good will, and to think they are de&s;pi&s;ed, becau&s;e they have not a &s;pee|dy an&s;wer, but in that day, it &s;hall appeare how farre God is from it.</P>
<P>And this circum&s;tance of the time, when God regards them, affords us two other notable le&s;&s;ons, which becau&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg">And thence,</NOTE> they are exceeding &s;ea&s;onable, I &s;hall (the Lord a&s;&s;i&s;t|ing me) enlarge my Di&s;cour&s;e upon them; whereof the fir&s;t is this.</P>
<P>That <HI>the prayers of Gods afflicted people, which may &s;eem for a long time to bee &s;lighted, and de&s;pi&s;ed by the Lord, are</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ob&s;erv.</HI> 1. That prayers which &s;eem long de&s;pi&s;ed, are yet highly regarded, and will bring a timely an&s;wer.</NOTE> <HI>yet highly regarded by him, and will bring a timely an&s;wer.</HI></P>
<P>This I think lies plain in the Text before you in the <HI>be|ginning</HI> of the <HI>P&s;alme;</HI> There was crying for audience, and that his face might not continue hid, that he would incline his eare, but there was no audience to be obtain|ed; but <HI>now</HI> when the Lord builds up <HI>Zion,</HI> he will re|gard them, he will de&s;pi&s;e their prayers no longer, that is the <HI>fir&s;t:</HI> And in this Le&s;&s;on there are two branches <NOTE PLACE="marg">Cleared in two branches. 1 The prayers of Gods people may &s;eem to be de&s;pi&s;ed.</NOTE> to be cleared before I come to apply it.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That the prayers of Gods own &s;ervants may for a <HI>long time &s;eeme to bee de&s;pi&s;ed.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="13" REF="10">
Secondly, However they may &s;eem &s;o to be, yet they are <HI>highly regarded,</HI> and will bring a timely an&s;wer.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, they may &s;eem to be de&s;pi&s;ed: <HI>de&s;pi&s;ing,</HI> e&s;pe|cially from God, is a very &s;ad word, and &s;inks very deep, it implies three things, which all may betide the prayers of Gods own people.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, A &s;ilence in God, a &s;itting &s;till, taking no notice of their prayers, to let them powre out their &s;oules, and the Lord be as if their prayer never came to his eare; that is one thing in de&s;pi&s;ing, and the be&s;t of it &s;o the Church complains, <HI>O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou heare&s;t</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al 23. 2.</NOTE> <HI>not;</HI> and el&s;ewhere, Keepe &s;ilence no longer, le&s;t if thou be as one that heareth not, I become like unto him that goes down into the pit: very often &s;hall you heare the people of God complaining, that they pray, and pray, and the Lord regarded not; this is very &s;ad, as if a childe &s;hould lie &s;ick, mourn, and cry to the Mother, and &s;he &s;it by it, and not &s;o much as ca&s;t an eye towards it; enough to break the childes heart; But</P>
<P>Secondly, In de&s;pi&s;ing, there is more and wor&s;e, when their prayers are entertained with a di&s;ta&s;te and di&s;plea&s;ure, expre&s;&s;ing a manife&s;t di&s;like again&s;t them; and even that &s;ometimes betides the prayers of Gods peo|ple; &s;o <HI>A&s;aph</HI> complained in the name of the whole Church, <HI>How long Lord, wilt thou bee angry with the prayer</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 80. 4.</NOTE> <HI>of thy people?</HI> And this the Lord &s;ometimes &s;hews, by bringing upon them the very thing which they pray a|gain&s;t; as if a Childe &s;hould beg pardon, and then the Mother take it up, and whip it; when <HI>Retro omnia,</HI> when all things goe cro&s;&s;e to their prayers, when they ask bread and God gives them a &s;tone; <HI>Job</HI> found it &s;o, the very thing that he feared and prayed again&s;t, came upon him; Thus al&s;o it proved to <HI>I&s;rael</HI> in <HI>Egypt,</HI> when they cryed
<PB N="14" REF="11">
to God, becau&s;e of their burthens, their burthens were increa&s;ed upon them: but in de&s;pi&s;ing, there is a third thing which is &s;adder then all this.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Not onely &s;ilence, or expre&s;&s;ing &s;ome di&s;ta&s;t, but doing this with &s;corn and indignation; as he did to <HI>Miriam,</HI> when he &s;pit in her face; &s;o the Lord doth of|ten &s;eem at the prayers of his own people, not onely to be angry, but even with &s;corn to &s;hut the doore again&s;t them; This <HI>Heman</HI> felt, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 88. who cryed day and night before God, when his Soule was full of trouble, and <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 88. 17. 14.</NOTE> yet then God vexed him, and afflicted him with all his waves, and &s;eemed to abhorre and ca&s;t him off; As a man would take an unwelcome gue&s;t by the head and &s;houlders, and turn him out of doores, and bolt them af|ter him; and thus the whole Church of God complains, that &s;he did cry to the Lord, and complained of her &s;in and &s;orrow, and the Lord then &s;et her as a <HI>But</HI> to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Lam. 3. 44.</NOTE> &s;hoote his Arrows at; and &s;o al&s;o <HI>Job</HI> profe&s;&s;ed God did unto him, not onely bolt the doore again&s;t his pray|er, but when he mourned and complained, the Lord did then take his Arrowes of indignation, and &s;hoote at his very heart, and gna&s;hed his teeth upon him; and &s;o did our Saviour Chri&s;t to the poore woman, when &s;he came and prayed, <HI>Lord helpe mee; thou Son of</HI> David <HI>helpe mee.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">h. 15. 26.</NOTE> At fir&s;t he &s;eemed not to regard her, would not an&s;wer, the next time he &s;tayed, and when &s;he had delivered her petition, he called her Dog, to her face; enough to have cut the womans heart in peeces: This is wofull indeed, this cuts to the quick, and comes near to one of the &s;ad|de&s;t judgements threatned again&s;t his enemies: <HI>You &s;hall call and I will not an&s;wer, but will laugh at your calamity, and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 1. 26, 27.</NOTE> <HI>mock when your fear cometh.</HI> So you &s;ee the prayers of Gods own people may for a long time &s;eem de&s;pi|&s;ed:
<PB N="15" REF="11">
But then the &s;econd branch is:</P>
<P>That even <HI>then</HI> are they <HI>highly regarded,</HI> and will bring <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Yet then they are highly re|garded.</NOTE> a timely an&s;wer. That they are &s;o, I might give you abun|dance of proofe; <HI>David</HI> ob&s;erved it in the 31 <HI>P&s;alme,</HI> one time he prayed, and God gave him &s;uch an an&s;wer, that he thought him&s;elf de&s;pi&s;ed, <HI>I &s;aid,</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>I am ca&s;t out of the &s;ight of Gods eyes,</HI> when he prayed, God turned <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 21. 23.</NOTE> him out of his pre&s;ence, yet follows: <HI>Neverthele&s;&s;e thou hearde&s;t the voyce of my prayer, when I called upon thee.</HI> And &s;o in <HI>Egypt</HI> how long did Gods people mourn there? and their burthens increa&s;ing, it is like they thought God had wholly rejected them, yet <HI>God</HI> told <HI>Mo&s;es, Exodus</HI> 3. I have heard the cry of my people in <HI>Egypt;</HI> But this will abundantly clear it, that the prayers of the afflicted are &s;aid to be upon <HI>Gods</HI> file, before <HI>God, Let the&s;e my prayers</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kin. 8. 59.</NOTE> <HI>bee nigh unto the Lord night and day,</HI> they lye leiger be|fore <HI>God,</HI> they are called a <HI>memoriall,</HI> they are alwayes in his &s;ight, and he is therefore called in the Scripture, <HI>The</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 10. 4. Luk. 1. 13. Gen. 19. 29. 30 22. P&s;al. 20. 3. P&s;al. 65. 2. And will bring a timely an&s;wer</NOTE> <HI>God hearing Prayer, God</HI> hearing Prayer is one of his at|tributes, hearing is a participle of the <HI>pre&s;ent ten&s;e,</HI> as if you cannot &s;peak to him, under the notion of <HI>God,</HI> but you mu&s;t conceive him hearing prayer; hearing the pray|ers of his people <HI>at all times:</HI> he is &s;aid likewi&s;e to remem|ber the prayers of his people, to carry them in his minde, to have them in his thoughts, and which makes all more <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;a. 49. 8. 2 Cor. 6. 2.</NOTE> clear, he hath promi&s;ed not onely to heare, but in the be&s;t time to an&s;wer them, <HI>in an accepted time I have heard thee;</HI> The Lord would thereby intimate that hearing is one thing, and an&s;wering is another thing, and there of|ten is a di&s;tance between them, but all that di&s;tance of time, <HI>God</HI> is but con&s;ulting as it were of the fitte&s;t op|portunity, and the be&s;t way to an&s;wer the prayers of his people.</P>
<P><PB N="16" REF="12">
The examples are not to be numbred, of the timely an|&s;wer of &s;uch prayers: <HI>David</HI> in the 22 P&s;alme in his owne name, in the per&s;on of Chri&s;t, in the name and per&s;on of the whole Church, begins with a &s;ad complaint, <HI>O my God I cry in the day time, but thou heare&s;t not;</HI> but in the &s;ame <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 22. 2. with ver&s;e 24.</NOTE> P&s;alm concludes as comfortably, <HI>he hath not de&s;pi&s;ed nor ab|horred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hid his face from him, but when he cryed unto him he heard. Abraham</HI> had long prayed for a &s;onne before any an&s;wer came, yet when in all probability he had given over praying, he re|ceived a full an&s;wer: So did <HI>Zachary</HI> and <HI>Elizabeth, Luk.</HI> 1. &s;o did <HI>Cornelius, Act.</HI> 10. and tho&s;e &s;laughtered &s;oules, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 1. 14.</NOTE> <HI>Rev.</HI> 6. who cryed, <HI>How long Lord, holy and true, &amp;c.</HI> at la&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 10. 3, 4. Rev. 6. 10, 11. with Rev. 8. 3, 4.</NOTE> received a full returne. The building of the Temple after the 70 yeares captivity, was a work long on the wheele, even the time of 7 Princes reigne, yet the prayers for the accompli&s;hment and perfecting of it, were all an&s;wered and fulfilled in their &s;ea&s;on, and came (as God promi&s;es the returne of prayer &s;hall be) like the former and the lat|ter <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;ea 6. Joel 2. 2, 3. Jer. 3. 3.</NOTE> raine in due &s;ea&s;on. And you will grant that this is &s;o, and mu&s;t be &s;o, that their prayers mu&s;t be thus regarded, if you con&s;ider but the&s;e five things which meet in them.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, when the afflicted people of God doe powre out <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rea&s;ons of it.</NOTE> their prayers to the Lord, they doe that which he com|mands <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> them to doe, they have his expre&s;&s;e commande|ment <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>They doe his commandements herein.</HI> P&s;al. 50. 15.</NOTE> to doe it, <HI>Gall upon me in the day of trouble,</HI> now that which Gods people do in obedience to his command, cannot be de&s;pi&s;ed by him: it would reflect upon his ho|nour, if duties and performances of his owne will &s;hould not be regarded.</P>
<P>Secondly, when the afflicted &s;oule prayes, Gods owne <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> Spirit prayes in them; for they <HI>know not how to pray as they</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>His Spirit prays in them.</HI> Rom. 8. 26.</NOTE> <HI>ought, but it is the Spirit of God in them that makes interce&s;sion;</HI>
<PB N="17" REF="12">
and however the Lord might be thought to quench the &s;pirit of his poore &s;infull ones, he will never quench his owne &s;pirit, he mu&s;t needs regard that.</P>
<P>And thirdly, when ever Gods people doe thus pray, <NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE> <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t intercedes for them,</HI> as his Spirit makes inter|ce&s;&s;ion <NOTE PLACE="marg">Chri&s;t mediares for them. Rev 8. 3.</NOTE> within them upon earth, &s;o Chri&s;t makes inter|ce&s;&s;ion for them in heaven; <HI>Hee is the Angel of Gods pre|&s;ence;</HI> and the Lord cannot but regard that which is pre|&s;ented unto him, by the hand of one whom he alwayes loves. And fourthly,</P>
<P>They them&s;elves are very dear to God, they are in|finitely <NOTE PLACE="marg">4.</NOTE> beloved, even tho&s;e de&s;pi&s;ed ones; he hath none <NOTE PLACE="marg">They are dear|ly belo<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">ed of God.</NOTE> in heaven or earth dearer to him, then his afflicted ones are: This argument Chri&s;t him&s;elf u&s;es to a&s;&s;ure them their Prayers will be regarded; in the 16. of <HI>John,</HI> You <NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 16. 26.</NOTE> &s;hall ask in my name (&s;aid he) and I &s;ay not unto you that I will pray the Father for you, <HI>for the Father him&s;elf lo|veth you:</HI> when you come to pray to him, you come not as to an enemy; and though I be your Mediator, it is between you and a friend, not between you and an ene|my, <HI>My Father loves you dearly:</HI> we that are evill can give <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 18. 7.</NOTE> good things to our Children, becau&s;e we love them; how much more will our heavenly Father doe it? This argument our Saviour al&s;o pre&s;&s;eth mo&s;t &s;weetly in the parable of the unrighteous Judge, who through impor|tunity did right to a poore Widow, and &s;hall not God much more do it for <HI>his Elect</HI> ones, his beloved ones? And fifthly, <NOTE PLACE="marg">5.</NOTE></P>
<P>He hath ingaged him&s;elf by innumerable promi&s;es, to <NOTE PLACE="marg">He hath pro|mi&s;ed to heare them. P&s;al. 50. 15. I&s;a. 49. 1 King. 8. 33. <HI>ad finem.</HI></NOTE> the poor, the de&s;olate, and the afflicted, that they &s;hall be an&s;wered by him, Call upon me, and I will an|&s;wer thee, in an accepted time I will an&s;wer thee; many a time hath God engaged him&s;elfe for
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it; and he that commands his own &s;ervants, if they look <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 15. 4.</NOTE> for his favour, that they keep their promi&s;es, <HI>though it be to their hinderance,</HI> though it &s;hould be to an enemy; cer|tainly <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 89. 34.</NOTE> him&s;elf will never alter the thing, <HI>the word that is come out of his mouth,</HI> to them who are &s;o dear to him, as his Saints are; and therefore their prayers mu&s;t needs be before him: But it may bee demanded, Why then do they &s;eem to be de&s;pi&s;ed? and why doth the Lord de|fer <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> Why then doth he deferre and &s;eem to de&s;pi&s;e them?</NOTE> to an&s;wer them?</P>
<P>I An&s;wer, Fir&s;t, God doth not alwayes defer them; &s;ometimes <HI>before they call hee doth an&s;wer them,</HI> and <HI>while</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>An&s;w.</HI> He doth not alwaies &s;o. I&s;o. 65. 24. Gen. 24. 45. Dan. 9. 23.</NOTE> <HI>they are &s;peaking hee doth heare;</HI> and as <HI>Abrahams</HI> &s;ervant noted of him&s;elf, even while he was praying <HI>Rebekah</HI> came: &s;o have many of Gods &s;ervants found; &s;o did <HI>Daniel,</HI> as &s;oon as he had done praying, about the time of the Evening Sacrifice, the Angel <HI>Gabriel</HI> being cau&s;ed to fly &s;wiftly, brought him a gratious an&s;wer, and told him that in the beginning of his &s;upplication he re|ceived his an&s;wer: &s;ometimes the harve&s;t overtakes the &s;eed-time; e&s;pecially, when their prayers are offered up <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 29. 11.</NOTE> when Gods appointed time is come, or when their need is in&s;tant and extream, when the <HI>fluctus decumanus,</HI> when the tenth and terrible wave is ready to overwhelm them, <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 143. 7.</NOTE> he gives them leave to &s;ay, <HI>Heare me &s;peedily,</HI> and he will not fail them: when <HI>Peter</HI> is ready to &s;ink, he no &s;ooner cryes <HI>Lord &s;ave me,</HI> but Chri&s;t pre&s;ently gives him his hel|ping <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 14. 30.</NOTE> and &s;aving hand.</P>
<P>But, &s;econdly, it is not alwayes <HI>aske and have,</HI> after asking mu&s;t be &s;eeking and knocking, and &s;eeking and knocking again; and when it is &s;o, God defers them for two excellent ends: The one is his own glory, the other <NOTE PLACE="marg">When he doth it's for the glory of his Soveraignty.</NOTE> is the good of his people.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, his own glory is exceedingly advanced by it; for
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in dealing after this manner he doth a&s;&s;ert; Fir&s;t, his own <HI>Soveraignty</HI> in di&s;pen&s;ing his mercies, &s;o as it may appear that it belongs to him to di&s;po&s;e of things and times at his own plea&s;ure. You know great Lords and Princes make it a great part of their Soveraignty, to have Suiters wait upon them; and it is the great glory of the Lord Jehovah to have his people lie long before him, with their petiti|ons in their hands: and withall it a&s;&s;erts his <HI>free-Grace,</HI> it manife&s;ts, that whenever he doth an&s;wer the prayers of <NOTE PLACE="marg">His Free-grace.</NOTE> his people, that it is free favour, were it their due; his Ju|&s;tice would not let him keep the labourers hire an houre from him; he commands us not to doe it, but that wee <NOTE PLACE="marg">Lev. 19. 13.</NOTE> may know that all is free, he will have us wait his lei&s;ure; And thirdly,</P>
<P>Herein he likewi&s;e manife&s;ts his own wi&s;dome, that he <NOTE PLACE="marg">And his Wi&s;|dome.</NOTE> can and will make both the prayers of his people, and his an&s;wers to them, when they come together, each of them appear beautifull in their &s;ea&s;on, that as his wi&s;|dome is manife&s;ted in giving them an heart to pray in their &s;ea&s;on: &s;o you &s;hall &s;ee it manife&s;ted, in giving <HI>his</HI> an|&s;wer in his be&s;t &s;ea&s;on. But be&s;ides, in the &s;econd place,</P>
<P>Hereby he doth marvailous good unto his people who <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 For their good many wayes.</NOTE> thus wait upon him. For, fir&s;t,</P>
<P>He doth hereby prepare them for their an&s;wer. And &s;econdly,</P>
<P>He thereby prepares the an&s;wer to be the better for them.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, he prepares them to be the fitter for an an&s;wer: hee traines them up in the&s;e three or foure excel|lent things, while he &s;eems to de&s;pi&s;e their prayer. Fir&s;t, <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Hereby hee teacheth them to pray.</NOTE></P>
<P>Hereby they grow marvailou&s;ly dexterous in the art of prayer, he teaches them to pray by &s;u&s;pending his an&s;wer to prayer; you &s;hall find in the Scripture, that tho&s;e
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men, who have been the greate&s;t wra&s;tlers with God, have been &s;uch, whom God hath longe&s;t put off, before <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 88. Mat. 15. 22. Gen. 32. 24, 25. 1 Sam. 2.</NOTE> he hath an&s;wered them; <HI>Heman, and David, and Hannah,</HI> and I know not how many of them that have offered up mo&s;t &s;oule ravi&s;hing prayers, were &s;uch as have prayed till their throats have been dry, and their voyce hoar&s;e, and complained from years end to years end; God here|by makes them skilfull, and excellent Arti&s;ts at it. And then, Secondly,</P>
<P>Hereby doth the Lord train them up in humility; there <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Trains them up in humility.</NOTE> is nothing in the world humbles a Soule more, then to be long mourning before the Lord for a mercy, and the Lord not to relieve him in it; nor is any Soule &s;o fit for any thing, as an humble Soule; <HI>David</HI> that had been long without his Kingdome, when he came to have it, <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 131. 1, 2. 2 Sam. 6.</NOTE> could &s;ay, <HI>O Lord, my Soule is like a weaned childe,</HI> and very vile and ba&s;e in his own eyes: by being long de|layed, they come to be privy to the wickedne&s;&s;e of their own hearts; even as a hor&s;e that hath any infirmity, he will &s;hew it in a long journey; a leg that hath any im|perfection will di&s;cover it in a long walk, and &s;o will the &s;ecret corruptions of our hearts di&s;cover them&s;elves when God delayes us, hereby we &s;hall di&s;cover the pride, murmuring, di&s;content, &s;elf-i&s;hne&s;&s;e, and what ever el&s;e is naught in our &s;pirits, and thereby come to be made wondrous low in our own eyes: and Thirdly,</P>
<P>Hereby the Lord likewi&s;e traines them up both in Faith <NOTE PLACE="marg">3 Exerci&s;e their Faith &amp; Hope.</NOTE> and Hope: he hereby exerci&s;eth; and thereby increa&s;eth both the&s;e excellent Graces in them. Thus was it with <HI>Abraham, Rom.</HI> 4. Thus with the poore woman, <HI>Mat.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 4. 19. Mat. 15. 2 Cor. 1. 8. E&s;a. 8. 17.</NOTE> 15. Thus with <HI>Paul,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1. brought even to de&s;paire of life, brought under the &s;entence of death, that he might learn to <HI>tru&s;t and hope</HI> in God. Thus <HI>E&s;ay,</HI> in the
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name of the whole Church, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 8. and innumerable o|thers, have learned both to beleeve and waite, when God hath &s;eemed to hide his face from them. And then, Se|condly,</P>
<P>By this long delaying of them, as he fits them the bet|ter <NOTE PLACE="marg">Makes the an&s;wer of their prayer more comfortable.</NOTE> for the an&s;wer; &s;o he fits his an&s;wer the better for them, for then is the mercy alwaies both the greater, and the &s;weeter: great &s;hips that goe long voyages, be|fore they come home, are u&s;ually mo&s;t richly laden; an Oak is long growing, but proves a great tree, and long-lived, whereas a Gourd which grows up in a night, in another night is &s;mitten with a worm and dyeth; a ble&s;|&s;ing that is long a comming, is ordinarily a great one when it doth come; The <HI>Lord</HI> makes the mercy the &s;wee|ter when it comes. <HI>I&s;aac</HI> that hath been begging many a year, when he comes, he is an <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> a Son of laughter; When <HI>Hannah</HI> had long wept for a Childe, when he comes, he is a <HI>Samuel,</HI> and he proves a very &s;weet childe to her; <HI>Solomon</HI> was a childe of teares, a &s;on of his Mo|thers <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 31. 2.</NOTE> vowes, but was a plea&s;ant Childe indeed; &s;o was <HI>John Baptist,</HI> to his Parents, who were pa&s;t children be|fore he was born: much prayer, many tears laid out for <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 1. Prov. 13. 22.</NOTE> a mercy before it comes, are all abundantly repaid in the greatne&s;&s;e and &s;weetne&s;&s;e of it, when it doth come, <HI>Hope deferred, maketh the heart &s;ick, but when the de&s;ire commeth, it is a tree of life.</HI> But whether I have an&s;wered the ca&s;e of Con&s;cience fully, or no, &s;ure I am, the Le&s;&s;on is mo&s;t plain, that though God may &s;eem to de&s;pi&s;e his peoples prayers, they are all before him; and will bring an an|&s;wer in due time.</P>
<P>This is a mo&s;t comfortable Doctrine.</P>
<P>And I &s;hall onely make a comfortable u&s;e of it in two <HI>Branches.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Application.</NOTE>.</P>
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The one is to our &s;elves, in re&s;pect of our pre&s;ent di|&s;tre&s;&s;es. This pre&s;ent le&s;&s;on may more refre&s;h and e&s;tabli&s;h <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Con&s;olation in relation to our pre&s;ent work and trou|bles.</NOTE> our hearts, in a&s;&s;urance of a good i&s;&s;ue in this great work wherein we are ingaged, then a million of Gold, or the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of a potent Army. We have a huge conflict, we grapple with enemies, that are &s;trong, wi&s;e, vigilant, that are many, who have all the Antichri&s;tian, and Ma|lignant part of the Chri&s;tian world joyned with them; and be&s;ides all this, I am per&s;waded, we now grapple with the revenging hand of God, for the &s;ins which this Na|tion hath lien in, this hundred years; God doth now re|member them, and vi&s;its the Kingdome for them, the idolatry, the blood, the Apo&s;ta&s;ie, and innumerable o|ther evils, and abominations, our troubles are very great, and the event may &s;eem very difficult, and doubtfull; but let me tell you, here is that, may counterpoi&s;e all, and &s;up|port us again&s;t all di&s;couragements, and make us comfor|tably conclude of a good i&s;&s;ue; We &s;hall over-ma&s;ter all that are again&s;t us, we &s;hall over-match them, becau&s;e the &s;pirit and power of prayer is on our &s;ide; we have had (the&s;e three or foure years e&s;pecially) the &s;pirit of prayer powred out, (I am per&s;waded) in the greate&s;t mea&s;ure that hath been, &s;ince the Apo&s;tles of Chri&s;t li|ved upon earth; and our prayers have not been in vain, though the full return be not yet made, we have had the fir&s;t fruits, many a &s;weet in-come we have had already; But know (Honorable and beloved) they are all filed up before God, there is not one of them lo&s;t; they will bring another manner of return then yet they have done. And not <HI>our</HI> prayers only, but the prayers of <HI>all the Chri&s;tian world</HI> are before God in our behalf, our cau&s;e is Gods, the work we are ingaged in is the building up of <HI>Zion,</HI> and therefore there is not a good man in the world,
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no not at <HI>Oxford,</HI> who prayes, <HI>Thy Kingdome come,</HI> but prayes for us, who are indevouring the rai&s;ing up of Chri&s;ts Kingdom; now the&s;e prayers are all before God, and mu&s;t bring a comfortable an&s;wer in due time; Nay, this comfort reaches yet further, not onely wee that are now alive, and our prayers, but all the Worthies who are now with God, <HI>their Prayers</HI> pray for us; Though we mu&s;t &s;ay of them as the Church did of <HI>Abraham,</HI> they know us not; they are ignorant of our condition, yet their prayers which they offered up while they were on earth, and longed to &s;ee this work proceed, are now really a&s;&s;i&s;tant to us; <HI>Daniel</HI> and <HI>Jeremiah</HI> did as really build the Temple and City, as <HI>Zerubbabel,</HI> and <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> though they were dead long before; That look as the blood of the Martyrs cryed for vengeance from <HI>Abel</HI> to <HI>Zacharias,</HI> and thereby reach a pre&s;ent per&s;ecuting gene|ration; &s;o the prayers of tho&s;e who loved <HI>Zion,</HI> do ble&s;&s;e and reach all the workmen now imployed in the rearing up of the Church, their prayers &s;peak as <HI>Abels</HI> Faith did when he was dead, and rotten, in&s;omuch that I may con|fidently conclude, that the two Hou&s;es of Parliament, and our Armies (as unworthy as we are) are daily car|ryed upon the wings of many millions of prayers, that have been offered up to God the&s;e many years, they are all before God night and day; God is only waiting the fit time; and therefore, I be&s;eech you bear up your &s;pi|rits again&s;t all other di&s;couragements, the Lord will in the mo&s;t accepted time let you know, that all that have ever &s;aid to him, <HI>Lord, remember England; Lord, purge thy Church in England; Lord, &s;et it up there; down with Prelacy; &s;tabli&s;h Liberty; make way for Chri&s;t;</HI> they are all before God, and mu&s;t prevaile; and therefore cer|tainly our comfort may be greater, ten to one, then our
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di&s;comfort need be, though all the Nations of the world were &s;worn again&s;t us: You &s;hall, God willing, have more of this before I di&s;mi&s;&s;e you, let this ta&s;te &s;uffice at the pre&s;ent. And Secondly,</P>
<P>It is al&s;o a mo&s;t comfortable le&s;&s;on to poore, afflicted, dejected &s;pirits, who mourn and wra&s;tle with God for <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;&s;e.</HI> 2.</NOTE> their own di&s;tre&s;&s;es: There may be many &s;uch in this A&s;|&s;embly <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Con&s;olation to particular di&s;tre&s;&s;ed &s;oules</NOTE> this day, who pray every day, it may be with <HI>Da|vid</HI> &s;even times in a day, ten times in a day, but the heart &s;inkes for want of an an&s;wer; as wicked men think, they &s;hall never be reckoned with for their &s;ins, becau&s;e di|vine vengeance &s;eems to &s;leep, &s;o do poore &s;oules con|ceive <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 50. 21.</NOTE> that becau&s;e God at pre&s;ent &s;eems to &s;light them, he will never regard them.</P>
<P>I have oft heard many a &s;ad &s;oule lament after this man|ner: Did but God heare my prayers, did he but accept me, I would with <HI>David,</HI> call upon him as long as I did live, might but my prayer come up before him, and <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 116. 2.</NOTE> be lookt upon; but to be thus as a de&s;pi&s;ed reed, a &s;cor|ned poore creature, (as I confe&s;&s;e I de&s;erve to be) this daunts my &s;oule, that I dare not pray, I am even ready to give over; O (&s;aith the &s;ad heart) I beg mercies, and I ta&s;te wrath, I beg grace, and I feel corruption, I beg ea&s;e, and I indure torment, I beg love, and I finde di&s;plea|&s;ure, all goes backwards; God ca&s;ts my prayer out, &s;huts it out from him, and this, this wounds the &s;oule; let me to &s;uch a &s;ad &s;oule &s;peak a few comfortable words from the Lord; I take this for granted, that the things thou do&s;t beg, are according to Gods will; thou dare&s;t not beg an unlawfull thing; I take it al&s;o for granted, that thou that do&s;t call upon God, do&s;t indevour to depart from iniquity, that thou dare&s;t not call upon the name of God, and walk in &s;infull waies, but thou woulde&s;t
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be his &s;ervant; and I likewi&s;e take it for granted, that thou do&s;t not expect or de&s;ire audience for any ones &s;ake, but for Chri&s;t Je&s;us thy Saviour, to whom thou look|e&s;t; this I hope God witne&s;&s;es with thee: Why, if &s;o, then it &s;eems the onely evill that oppre&s;&s;es thy &s;pirit, is, God doth not an&s;wer thee, he doth not give thee &s;uch a return of thy prayer, as thou de&s;ire&s;t: But know thou, Gods an&s;wering of thy prayer mu&s;t not be mea&s;ured by thy &s;ad apprehen&s;ions, but by his own word, which word a&s;&s;ures me that all thy prayers are before God night and day; and for his pre&s;ent an&s;wering of thee, it is no to|ken of his di&s;plea&s;ure, that he does not give thee a &s;udden an&s;wer; his forbearance is no deniall, the be&s;t of all his Saints have cryed and prayed, till their throate hath been dry, and God hath &s;eemed not to an&s;wer: <HI>David</HI> had prayed long for an an&s;wer, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 69. 3. when he com|plained, <HI>Hee was weary of his crying, his throate was dry,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 69. 3. &amp; 119. 123. Cant. 3. 4. 2 Cor. 12.</NOTE> <HI>his eyes failed while hee did waite for his God.</HI> The whole Church long &s;ought him whom her &s;oule loved, and found him not; and <HI>Paul</HI> thrice, that is, many times be|&s;ought God to remove the me&s;&s;enger of Satan, which was &s;ent to buffet him, and was fain to wait &s;till, &s;o that thou art not alone in being thus delayed: Nay, I tell thee fur|ther, God hath many wayes of regarding and an&s;wering Prayer; Sometimes he may regard a prayer, which he ab|&s;olutely denies, when the thing would not be good for him that begs it; So he peremptorily denyed <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his prayer to goe into the Land of <HI>Canaan;</HI> But if the thing be good, and according to his will, deferring of it, is no denying of it; if in the mean time, while before God an|&s;wer thee, he vouch&s;afe to <HI>uphold</HI> thy heart by his Spi|rit, as he did <HI>Davids, P&s;al.</HI> 73. 22. <HI>I was as a bea&s;t before thee, neverthele&s;&s;e thou upholde&s;t mee by thy right hand.</HI> If he
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now and then dart in a <HI>beam of love,</HI> which is as the fire from Heaven to a&s;&s;ure thee thou art accepted, if he &s;ta|bli&s;h <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 7. 1. P&s;al. 35. 13.</NOTE> thee, nay, if he doe but draw thy heart out to con|tinue to pray to him, if he make thy Soule more hum|ble, and vile in thy own eyes, if he more wean thee from the creature, and train thee up to wait upon him, truely (friend) it is ten thou&s;and times better, then all the time that thou &s;pende&s;t, thou ha&s;t a large recompence in Gods doing thus much for thee; this is to be preferred be|fore thou&s;ands of gold and &s;ilver: but I tell thee more, not one of thy &s;uites will be lo&s;t, no they are all before God, he reads them over every day, and what thou ha&s;t been begging this &s;even years, this twenty years, he dayly remembers them, and in his heart an&s;wers them all; Whatever thou ha&s;t &s;own in tears, thou &s;halt reap in joy; be content, though at pre&s;ent thou &s;ee&s;t nothing but darkne&s;&s;e, doe as <HI>Elia's</HI> &s;ervant did, who went &s;even times to look for rain, till the &s;eventh time he &s;aw no|thing, and then but a very little, yet that little &s;oon pro|ved a great deale.</P>
<P>It may be thou &s;halt not &s;ee the an&s;wer a great while; po&s;&s;ibly not till thy death come; Old <HI>Simeon</HI> a good gra|tious man had many years begged of God, that he might &s;ee his Salvation, yet he never got Chri&s;t in his arms, till he was ready to depart the world, then he got his full an&s;wer; &s;o it may be when thou come&s;t to die, thou &s;halt have ho&s;ts of an&s;wers &s;tand round about thee, nay, peradventure the greate&s;t returns of thy prayers &s;hall be when thou art dead and rotten in thy grave; what thou ha&s;t begged for Gods Church, thy prayers &s;hall produce it, when thou art gone; what thou ha&s;t begged for thy husband, wife and children, it may be God will give thee the greate&s;t return of them when thou ha&s;t no being in
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this world; and for thy &s;elf while thou live&s;t, when it may be, thy heart is dull, and thou art unfit for prayer, and can&s;t not pray; the quickning prayers which thou did&s;t offer up many years agoe, God is then remembring them, when peradventure thou feare&s;t he is taking advan|tage of thy pre&s;ent dulne&s;&s;e and di&s;temper.</P>
<P>Therefore goe thy wayes on, and waite upon him, trea&s;ure up thy &s;uits, be it again&s;t corruption, again&s;t tem|ptation, for thy Family, for the Church, waite Gods time, the vi&s;ion is for an appointed time, it will come in the end, that is certain; every tear, every &s;igh, every &s;hort ejaculation, is continually before him, he hath a bottle for thy tears, as well as a bag for wicked mens &s;ins, a trea&s;ury for thy prayers, as well as for their bla&s;phe|mies: let his pre&s;ent an&s;wer be what it will, beleeve any thing of him rather then a rejecting of the &s;upplications of the poore who &s;eek him in his Sonnes name, hee hath promi&s;ed it, and is faithfull and cannot deny him|&s;elfe.</P>
<P>Another thing I ob&s;erve from this circum&s;tance <HI>the time when,</HI> the time of regarding them, is, when he builds up <HI>Zion,</HI> and that affords us another le&s;&s;on as &s;ea&s;onable for this pre&s;ent auditory, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P>That <HI>when the Lord doth build up his Church, hee doth</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ob&s;er.</HI> 2. The Lord an|&s;wers all his peoples prayers when he builds up <HI>Zion.</HI> Jer. 14. 11. Rev. 6. 10.</NOTE> <HI>then an&s;wer all his afflicted peoples prayers.</HI> Sometimes God will not be prayed to, or if he doe, his an&s;wer &s;hall bee, <HI>waite a while;</HI> but when he builds up <HI>Zion,</HI> then the Lord an&s;wers his peoples prayers, then he &s;its in his Court of Reque&s;t to heare petitions, then he holds out his golden Scepter to every poore &s;upplicant.</P>
<P>There are three things that God is laid in the Scripture to remember when he builds the Church; Hee then re|members his enemies, when the new <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> comes
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downe from heaven, then great <HI>Babylon</HI> comes into mind before God, that &s;he may be repaid: then &s;econdly, God u&s;es to remember his Covenant, <HI>hee remembred for them his Covenant;</HI> and thirdly, then al&s;o doth God re|member the prayers of his people, and this God willing I &s;hall make good to you, for the truth of it, you &s;hall finde it fully expre&s;&s;ed in the 29. of <HI>Jeremiah</HI> 10. 11. &s;peak|ing of the time when he would bring them back to build <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 29. 11.</NOTE> the Temple, <HI>then</HI> (&s;aith the Lord) <HI>&s;hall you call upon mee, and I will an&s;wer you; then,</HI> it may be, now he would not, but <HI>then</HI> I'le an&s;wer you; then you &s;hall &s;eek mee with your whole heart, and you &s;hall find me: &s;o in the 25. of <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> in the day that God builds up his Church for that <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay 25. 9.</NOTE> is the great promi&s;e of that Chapter, the Prophet tells you that his people &s;hould <HI>then</HI> &s;ing a &s;ong of prai&s;e, whereof this is one part, <HI>Loe, this is our God, we have waited for him, loe, this is our God, and he hath &s;aved us;</HI> wee have waited, that is, we have prayed, and attended his lei&s;ure, now wee have an an&s;wer of all. To make this le&s;&s;on more cleare I &s;hall indeavour to cleare the&s;e two things. <NOTE PLACE="marg">Cleared in two branches.</NOTE></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, when the Lord doth build up <HI>Zion,</HI> he doth then remember <HI>the particular wants,</HI> the <HI>particular reque&s;ts,</HI> which his Saints have offered up to him; the Lord ca&s;ts it &s;o, as <NOTE PLACE="marg">Then God re|lieves their par|ticular wants.</NOTE> to make <HI>Zions</HI> refre&s;hing time, concurrent with the re|lieving of the wants of his particular people, that as in executing of vengeance, when he is to execute vengeance upon a nation, he will remember particular malefactors, what they have done in their per&s;ons; &s;o when he comes to build up his Church, hee remembers the particular fuites, that his holy ones have offered up to him; and of this I could give you many te&s;timonies; In that day he will let every pri&s;oner out of pri&s;on, he will binde up the wounds of every wounded &s;oule; he will make the blinde <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;a. 61. 2, 3.</NOTE>
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to &s;ee, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear; In that day, in the 31 of <HI>Jeremiah,</HI> the Lord will &s;atiate every wea|ry <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 31. 25.</NOTE> &s;oule, and repleni&s;h every &s;orrowfull &s;oule, in that day when the Lord erects his new <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> there &s;hall be a tree of life, the leaves of it &s;hall heale the di&s;ea&s;es of all the Nations; In that day he gives &s;trength to the <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;a. 25. 4. E&s;a. 35. 3.</NOTE> needy in his di&s;tre&s;&s;e, a &s;hadow from the &s;torm, then he &s;trengthens weak hands and confirmes feeble knees, then every wilderne&s;&s;e is filled with pooles of water, then Chri&s;t will powre out abundance of his Spirit, as <HI>David</HI> at his Coronation remembred all his friends, and dealt to all the people every one a bottle of Wine: So the Lord at that day delights to make their per&s;onall com|forts joyn with the publick and Common weale of his Church and Kingdome. This is one way how this Do|ctrine is true, that then the Lord regards the prayers of his people, when he builds up <HI>Zion.</HI> But the &s;econd is the main.</P>
<P>Secondly, The Lord doth then an&s;wer the prayers of <NOTE PLACE="marg">This building up of <HI>Zion,</HI> is the &s;um of all their prayers.</NOTE> his people, when he builds up <HI>Zion,</HI> becau&s;e in truth the building up of <HI>Zion, is the all in all,</HI> of all his peoples prayers; that is, as <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Money an&s;wers all;</HI> &s;o what&s;oever particular &s;uites Gods people have offe|red up, the building up of <HI>Zion</HI> hath been &s;uch a reque&s;t, that the an&s;wering of that, <HI>an&s;wers all others;</HI> what&s;oever he denies them, it skils not, they have enough, they are abundantly &s;atisfyed, they will clear all books, and break all Tallies with God, they will give in all other bills what&s;oever, if this be but done; that this is &s;o, ob&s;erve I be&s;eech you, where&s;oever in the Scripture you read of the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 32. 1 Kin. 8. 2 Chron. 20 E&s;a. 62. Dan. 9. Ezra 8. Neh. 1. 12. 14.</NOTE> prayers of Gods people, (as by the way, you &s;hall hard|ly read of any godly man, but you &s;hall read of his pray|er) you will finde that the &s;train and the &s;tream of all
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their prayers runs for <HI>Zion,</HI> read <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his prayers, <HI>Jo|&s;huahs</HI> prayers, goe on to <HI>David,</HI> to <HI>Solomon,</HI> to <HI>Ezra,</HI> to <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> and the &s;everall Prophets; read all their pray|ers, and you &s;hall finde that <HI>Zion</HI> is the bulk of them all; <HI>In thy good plea&s;ure doe good to</HI> Zion; and though there are many particular &s;uites to them&s;elves, yet what they beg to them&s;elves, is only begged as a <HI>means,</HI> but when they beg for <HI>Zion,</HI> they beg it as <HI>an end: Thy Kingdome come,</HI> to Gods people, is next to <HI>Hallowed bee thy name;</HI> It is more to them then all the re&s;t of the <HI>Lords Prayer, Give us our dayly bread, Forgive us our tre&s;pa&s;&s;es, Leade us not into temptation, Deliver us from evill:</HI> They are all infe|riour to <HI>Thy Kingdome come;</HI> the building up of Gods Church, is that which hath &s;wayed all with the Saints in all their prayers; And it mu&s;t be &s;o, it can be no o|therwi&s;e with true godly men, if you con&s;ider either the relation that the Church hath to God, or that which they have to the Church.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that of the Church, to Chri&s;t, it is his <HI>Love,</HI> his <HI>Dove,</HI> his <HI>Fair one,</HI> his <HI>Spou&s;e,</HI> his <HI>Jewell,</HI> that which he hath laid all his own glory upon; one to whom he &s;tands in all relations, which argues intimative dearne&s;&s;e, and tenderne&s;&s;e, what-ever is done to them, is done to him|&s;elf, <HI>Yee did it to them, therefore yee did it to mee.</HI> The Churches cau&s;e is his; Her ri&s;ing is his glory, her reproach <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 25.</NOTE> is his di&s;honour: <HI>Ari&s;e, O Lord, plead thy own cau&s;e, re|member how the fooli&s;h people reproach thee, forget not the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 74. 22 2<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> <HI>voyce of thy enemies,</HI> when the Synagogues of the Church was pulled down, when the Church was wa&s;ted; And to them&s;elves likewi&s;e, it is their Mother, in who&s;e womb they have laine, who&s;e brea&s;ts they have &s;ucked, it is the Magazine wherein all their trea&s;ure is laid up, a ve&s;&s;el wherein all their wealth &s;inkes and &s;wims, if the Church
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be &s;afe they are &s;afe, and no thought of &s;afety if it mi&s;|carry; <HI>&s;alva Eccle&s;ia &s;alva omnia,</HI> as they were wont to &s;ay of <HI>Rome, Salva Roma, &s;alva patria, &s;alva omnia;</HI> &s;o next un|to God the Church is their all, and therefore the building up of <HI>Zion,</HI> the welfare of the Church of God, mu&s;t needs be the an&s;wer to all their prayers. Give me leave to pre|&s;ent you with a twofold U&s;e of this Le&s;&s;on, and then I ha|&s;ten to that which I chiefly intended.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, this Le&s;&s;on may &s;erve to every of you for one of <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 1. For examinati|on, a notable di&s;covery who&s;e hearts are right with God.</NOTE> the greate&s;t di&s;coveries of your owne &s;pirits that can be, whether in truth your hearts be right with God? thinke how you could an&s;wer this one que&s;tion, <HI>Would the Lords building up of the Church,</HI> the &s;etling and e&s;tabli&s;hing of Religion in purity and peace, would that be to thy &s;oule <HI>the an&s;wer of all thy prayers?</HI> art thou able to &s;ay it before God, <HI>Build but up Zion and I have enough?</HI> No man under heaven can &s;ay it but a Saint, and there is not a Saint upon earth but may &s;ay it, I know it lies in the bottome of his &s;oule. But how &s;hall we know it? Ile give you but one way of tryall; If the welfare of <HI>Zion,</HI> the building up of the Church be the &s;umme of all thy prayers, then it is likewi&s;e the &s;umme of all thy endevours, thy &s;tudies, thy time, thy wit, thy parts, thy intere&s;t, what ever may be called thine, are mainly laid out in promoving, in helping forward the welfare of <HI>Zion.</HI> This you &s;hall finde cleare in the book of God, that as all the prayers of Gods people run upon <HI>Zions</HI> welfare, &s;o now (I &s;ay) in the &s;econd place, all the endevours of all that prayed for <HI>Zion</HI> run to help it forward, <HI>Zion</HI> was the &s;umme of all their prayers, and of all their joyes, and cares; no joy to them, like the joy they had in the pro&s;perity of <HI>Zion,</HI> when the Lord at any time <HI>turned back the captivity of his people, they were like men that dreamed, their mouth was filled with laughter, and their <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 126. 1, 2.</NOTE>
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tongue withjoy;</HI> and no &s;orrow like that which was cau&s;ed by the affictions of <HI>Jacob,</HI> then they would even dye with <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 4 13, 18 19. Neh. 1. 4. Dan 9 P&s;al. 13. 7. E&s;a. 22. 4.</NOTE> griefe, then they would name their children <HI>Ichabod,</HI> then they would <HI>mourne and not be comforted;</HI> and con&s;equently all they had or could contribute was mo&s;t readily affor|ded. The Prophets and Apo&s;tles cold <HI>preach</HI> as well as <HI>pray,</HI> and all their Sermons were for <HI>Zion;</HI> Kings could <HI>plot, project, coun&s;ell, &amp;c.</HI> as well as pray, all their <HI>plots</HI> and <HI>projects</HI> were to build up <HI>Zion;</HI> Souldiers could <HI>fight</HI> as well as <HI>pray,</HI> all their <HI>warres</HI> were the warres of God; Rich men could <HI>lay out money</HI> as well as pray, all their wealth was a <HI>Sacrum</HI> to God, a devoted thing to him, when the Church needed it, their <HI>penny</HI> went as willingly as their <HI>Pater no&s;ter:</HI> other learned men, if any man could <HI>write hi&s;tories,</HI> if any Poet could <HI>make &s;ongs,</HI> all was laid our about the Church, about furthering the welfare of it; or if any were found among them who would profe&s;&s;e love to it, and joine in prayer for it, yet mind their own affaires, build their owne hou&s;es, and let Gods hou&s;e lye wa&s;t, they are branded for degenerate, hypocriticall, ignoble &s;pirits, <HI>The&s;e were the Potters, and tho&s;e who dwelt among hed|ges, there they dwelt with the King for his work;</HI> a ba&s;e peo|ple, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Haggai 1. 4. 1 Cllto. 4 23.</NOTE> who would tarry in <HI>Babylon</HI> to get wealth, and not go up with their brethren to build the hou&s;e of God; and even thus may we judge of our &s;elves. And therefore I &s;ay to you, <HI>Honourable Senators,</HI> that are Noble-men and Gentlemen engaged in this great work, the pre&s;ent &s;ervice you are called to, if really you doe make the building of <HI>Zion</HI> to be the an&s;wer of your prayers, it is the great <HI>Par|liament project</HI> this day, to &s;ettle the Church; I know when <HI>Nehemiahs</HI> work was to build the walls of <HI>Hieru&s;a|lem,</HI> one halfe of his &s;ervants were faine to carry the Arms <NOTE PLACE="marg">Neh. 4. 16, 17.</NOTE> while the other built, and many times tho&s;e that built
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were faine to have a &s;word in one hand, as well as a trow|oll in the other hand, but the &s;words and atmes were to defend the trowell, the work of the trowell was the great project: So will it be with you, you will with that Empe|rour, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezra 6. 7, 8.</NOTE> <HI>Ezra</HI> 6. 7, 8. provide that all things &s;hall be provided &s;peedily and care fully for this hou&s;e of God, that govern|ment be &s;etled, Mini&s;ters provided, encouraged, maintai|ned, the Sacraments and other Ordinances kept pure, and not be at quiet till the Cap-&s;tone be &s;ot upon the head of this building. I know Armies mu&s;t be provided for, and Garri&s;ons &s;ecured, yet they will be looked upon but as meaner; Religion, the e&s;tabli&s;hing of it, will be the end, yea your Liberties will be but as meanes, Religion will be the Cap-&s;tone, the Creame, and Oile, which &s;wims on the top of all, if your hearts be but right with God: Therefore (I be&s;eech you) con&s;ider in &s;ecret what an&s;wer you could make, whether you can call in your &s;oules to witne&s;&s;e, that after all your combu&s;tions, labours, &amp; lo&s;&s;es, if God would but e&s;tabli&s;h <HI>England</HI> a beautifull habitati|en, the people made holy, that the Lord might own them, and the three Nations joyned in a Covenant might be one &s;tick in the hand of the Lord, in a holy, plous, religious <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;a. 4. la&s;t.</NOTE> way, that the flocks might have every one their &s;hepheard, and the glory of God the defence on every congregation; if for the&s;e things you &s;weat, and toile, and care, it is an evident token your hearts are right with God.</P>
<P>And if any of <HI>you,</HI> the re&s;t of the A&s;&s;embly, do make account that the building of <HI>Zion</HI> is the an&s;wers of all your prayers, then if it have your prayer it will have your penny, you'll goe, ride, run, and travell, and nothing will &s;tick with you, if this be your main &s;uit: Indeed in the true notion and interpretation of prayer, it is nothing but the craving of Gods ble&s;&s;ing upon our endevours in tho&s;e
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things which he hath appointed us to do, toward the ob|taining of any mercy, we little better then mock him, if we onely pray, and &s;et not our &s;houlder to the wheele. And were this carried clo&s;e to mens con&s;ciences, how &s;ad|ly would it &s;peak to many, who can abundantly &s;atisfie them&s;elves with joyning in a few dry prayers for the Church, and in the meane while they grudge the be&s;tow|ing of any other co&s;t? they can find work enough to build their owne hou&s;es, and drive on their owne projects, let God (if he plea&s;e) take care to build his hou&s;e, and do his owne work him&s;elf; let all &s;uch hypocrites know, that God will indeed doe his work without them, and their formall prayers will returne, not with comfort into their bo&s;omes, but with vengeance upon their heads. But much more &s;adly doth it &s;peak again&s;t tho&s;e, who&s;e lives and &s;ubtle machinations retard this work, who to their utmo&s;t hinder the work of reformation, and would not have it goe on, for feare their lu&s;ts &s;hould be yoaked, and yet &s;et out Prayers, and them&s;elves &s;eeme to joyne with them, that God would build up <HI>Zion;</HI> this is mo&s;t abomina|ble hypocri&s;ie. I remember I have read of one of the Empe|rours of <HI>Germany,</HI> that had taken the Pope pri&s;oner, who commanded throughout the Empire &s;olemne prayers to be made to God for the Popes deliverance out of pri&s;on, and he him&s;elf kept him in pri&s;on at the &s;ame time: &s;o the&s;e wretched men &s;ay, <HI>O pray for the peace of Zion, pray that God would build up Zion,</HI> and them&s;elves wa&s;te it, &s;ome by their wicked lives, others by their pernicious coun&s;els, &s;ome by their lu&s;ts, &s;ome for feare the Word of God and Ordinances &s;hould yoke them; they pretend to build the wals of it, and yet endevour to undermine the foun|dations of it: God in mercy grant that no &s;uch be found among our &s;elves; but if in truth this be our great
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care, and &s;tudy, and endevour, to &s;ee the work goe for|ward, that we count nothing of ours &s;o well di&s;po&s;ed of, as what is ca&s;t into this common trea&s;ury, it &s;peaks the heart indeed to be right with God.</P>
<P>Is it &s;o, that when God builds up <HI>Zion</HI> he an&s;wers all his peoples prayers, even <HI>their private prayers,</HI> as well as <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 2. Exhortarion to all to pro|mote this work</NOTE> this great one? then (I be&s;eech you) let this move every one of you to help forward this work, even <HI>out of holy &s;elf-love;</HI> you doe not know what a water'd Garden God may make your &s;oule and family, when he builds up his Church. Certainly, if a man were &s;ure not to get any good to his owne &s;oule, yet if he might &s;ee the pro&s;perity of <HI>Zion</HI> and <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> he &s;hould think it a very ble&s;&s;ed &s;ight; &s;o thought he who pen'd the 106 P&s;alme, <HI>Remem|ber</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 106. 4, 5.</NOTE> <HI>me, O Lord, with the favour thou beare&s;t unto thy people, that I may &s;ee the good of thy cho&s;en, that I may rejoice with the gladne&s;&s;e of thy Nation, that I may glory with thine inheri|tance:</HI> So thought <HI>John</HI> the Bapti&s;t, though he was &s;ure he &s;hould decrea&s;e when Chri&s;t did increa&s;e, yet to him it <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 3. 29, 30.</NOTE> was the fulfilling of his joy, to &s;ee the people flow in un|to Chri&s;t, when (as the Bridegrooms friend) he could heare the Bride-groomes voice rejoicing with his Bride: But, which is more, thy peace &s;hall be concurrent with <HI>Zions</HI> peace, the Lord will &s;atiate every afflicted &s;oule, in the day when he refre&s;hes <HI>Zion;</HI> let this therefore draw out all your hearts and bowels. Remember an argument God u&s;es in the 29 of <HI>Jeremy,</HI> to them that were captives in <HI>Babylon, Seek the peace of the City whither I have cau&s;ed you</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 29. 7.</NOTE> <HI>to be carried captives, and pray unto the Lord for it, for in the peace thereof ye &s;hall have peace&punc;</HI> What, mu&s;t they pray for <HI>Babylons</HI> peace? for <HI>Nebuchadnezzars</HI> peace? that like a Dragon had &s;wallowed them, and like a Lion had cru&s;hed their bones? Yes, <HI>pray for the peace of that kingdome, becau&s;e
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in the peace of that Kingdome you &s;hall have peace.</HI> O how much more &s;hould every one help forward <HI>Zions</HI> peace, thy mothers peace, the Spou&s;e of Chri&s;ts peace, becau&s;e thy &s;oule &s;hall never have &s;o much grace, thou &s;halt ne|ver be &s;o holy, thy children never &s;o ble&s;&s;ed, all about thee never made &s;o happy, as when the Lord God &s;hall build up <HI>Zion;</HI> therefore <HI>O pray for the Peace of Zion, they</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 1. 32. 6, 7.</NOTE> <HI>&s;hall all pro&s;per who love her,</HI> as he &s;aid there, <HI>For my brethren and companions &s;ake, I will now &s;ay, Peace be within thee:</HI> So &s;ay thou, for my owne &s;ake, for my children and compa|nions &s;ake, <HI>I will &s;eek to doe thee good:</HI> e&s;pecially let it pre|vaile with you, Honourable and Beloved, you noble Pa|triots and Parliament men, further it with all your might, <HI>Go up into the mountain, cut downe wood, build the hou&s;e, that</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Haggai 1. 8. Mal. 3. 10.</NOTE> <HI>God may take plea&s;ure in it,</HI> and prove God, whether upon your &s;elves and families he poure not out a ble&s;&s;ing with|out mea&s;ure: you little imagine what a ble&s;&s;ing the Lord will give, when once this work is done; it may &s;hatter and hazzard &s;ome things, carnall friends and &s;ecret enemies may fall off from you, but your labour will be rewarded abundantly. I humbly commend this to your wi&s;doms and faithfulne&s;&s;e, God hath called you to this work, it would be your great glory to have it done in your hands, and it would not be for your honour to have it done by other hands, but done it will be, I a&s;&s;ure you, the Church will be reformed; <HI>If you &s;hould altogether neglect it, &s;it &s;till and hold your peace,</HI> or if you &s;hould make but a halfe worke of it, a patched reformation, help and <HI>deliverance will come</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">He&s;ter. 4. 14.</NOTE> <HI>from &s;ome other place:</HI> No &s;tone great enough could be laid in the mouth of Chri&s;ts &s;epulchre to keep him from ri&s;ing, nor can any power prevent the building of <HI>Zion,</HI> when the appointed time is come, no not though all the Nati|ons of the earth &s;hould be gathered together again&s;t it,
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<HI>The remnant of</HI> Jacob <HI>&s;hall bee as a dew from the Lord, as the &s;howers upon the gra&s;&s;e, that tarryeth not for man, nor wait|eth</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach, 12. 3. Micah 58.</NOTE> <HI>for the Sons of men;</HI> the work is upon the wheeles, and there is one engine at work that will effect it, if all others faile, and that is the &s;pirit of Prayer; which what efficacy it hath for the building of <HI>Zion,</HI> will appear in the la&s;t branch of my Text.</P>
<P>And that is the <HI>matter</HI> wherein God will regard their <NOTE PLACE="marg">3 Con&s;ider this promi&s;e of <HI>Gods</HI> regarding the prayers of the de&s;titure, in re|&s;pect of the <HI>thing</HI> wherein they &s;hall be re|garded.</NOTE> prayer, When the Lord builds up <HI>Zion,</HI> he will regard the prayer of the de&s;titute, that is, hereby it &s;hall ap|pear, that he regards their prayer, becau&s;e at their pray|er he will doe it; it &s;hall be done as the fruit and effect of his peoples prayers: which affords us this Doctrine.</P>
<P>That the <HI>Lord will have the building of</HI> Zion, <HI>the refor|ming,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>La&s;t Doctr.</HI> The building up of Zion, the fruite of Gods peoples pray|ers, proved,</NOTE> <HI>and repairing of the Church, to bee the fruit of his peoples prayers;</HI> this is the main &s;cope, then God regar|ded their Prayers, when he makes all the world know that at their reque&s;t, and for their prayers &s;ake, he did now ari&s;e in glory to build up <HI>Zion;</HI> the truth of this ex|cellent le&s;&s;on will appear, even to a demon&s;tration, if you plea&s;e but briefely to con&s;ider the&s;e three things:</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Gods <HI>Providences</HI> &s;peak it &s;o. Secondly, and &s;o doe his <HI>Commands.</HI> And Thirdly, his <HI>Promi&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, His <HI>Providences</HI> &s;peak it; there are two Provi|dences <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 From Gods Providences.</NOTE> of God, u&s;e to appear at the building of <HI>Zion;</HI> which alone were &s;ufficient to &s;hew that Prayer is the great builder on our part, that it is indeed all that we can doe; God u&s;ually lets it come to &s;uch irrecovera|ble ruine, that nothing we can do, be&s;ides prayer, is able to doe any thing, that it may appear that on our part prayer doth all, <HI>Nil ni&s;i vota &s;uper&s;unt.</HI> When all other Anchors are come home, when all other Cables are brok, when all other friends have for&s;aken, and all props
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&s;napped apeeces, that either prayer mu&s;t doe it, or they have nothing; that is the time he ordinarily chu&s;es to build up <HI>Zion,</HI> as him&s;elf &s;aid <HI>Deut.</HI> 32. <HI>When hee &s;aw</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 32. 36.</NOTE> <HI>their &s;trength was gone, there was none &s;hut up or left,</HI> who might be a helper, <HI>then hee him&s;elf would judge his people and repent h<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">m for his &s;ervants.</HI> So when they were as a woman with childe, near the time of delivery, the children come to the birth, and no &s;trength to bring forth, not any in the earth to be a deliverer, then they cry unto the Lord, and he delivers them; this is &s;o plen|tifully <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;a. 16, 17, 18.</NOTE> to be found in the Scripture, that I may forbear (e&s;pecially in the&s;e &s;traights of time) to produce particu|lar in&s;tances.</P>
<P>Secondly, The other providence is this:</P>
<P>That when God builds up <HI>Zion,</HI> he then u&s;es to powre out the Spirit of Prayer upon his people, more then at any other times, he then fils them with his Spirit, which inclines their hearts to be vehement, and earne&s;t with him for that very thing. <HI>Zephyrus vere flat,</HI> this gale ne|ver blows &s;o &s;weetly as at &s;uch times, <HI>Jer.</HI> 29. Then you <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 29. 11.</NOTE> &s;hall pray, and I will an&s;wer; In that day he powres out the Spirit of &s;upplication and mourning upon all his peo|ple; Then he makes all his people &s;ay with them, <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 62. 1. <HI>For</HI> Zions <HI>&s;ake I will not hold my peace, and for</HI> Hie|ru&s;alems <NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach, 12. E&s;a. 62. 1.</NOTE> <HI>&s;ake I will not rest, untill the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e thereof goe forth as brightne&s;&s;e, and the &s;alvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.</HI> And this is &s;o &s;ure a note of it, that Gods people dur&s;t make Propheticall conclu&s;ions out of the Spirit of Prayer powred out, as in this very <HI>P&s;alme, The</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 102. 13.</NOTE> <HI>time to deliver her, the &s;et time is come;</HI> How know you that? <HI>Thy &s;ervants pity the du&s;t of it, thy &s;ervants are weeping and mourning before thee;</HI> therefore the time of <HI>Zions</HI> deliverance is come; take all the times of building
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the Church, and you &s;hall &s;ee that great builders have been great praying men; <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> the great builder could fall down before God forty dayes and forty nights to|gether; <NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 9. 8.</NOTE> <HI>David, Solomon, Elias, Ezra, Nehemiah,</HI> all their prayers built more then their hands did; <HI>Luther</HI> a migh|ty man in it, and the Mini&s;ters who joyned with him, in|defatigable and potent in prayer; yea, the Spirit of Prayer u&s;es to ebbe and flow in the Church, according as God purpo&s;es to retard, or ha&s;ten the work of the building of the Church; in&s;omuch as the Spirit of God, drawing out the hearts of his people, to doe that which he would have done, doth Prophe&s;ie or foretell what God means to doe.</P>
<P>There u&s;es to be &s;uch a concord and harmony between Gods &s;ecret purpo&s;es and his peoples Prayers, their pray|ers as &s;uch expre&s;&s;ions of his &s;acred will, that they e|ven &s;eem to decree a thing by Prayer, and God e&s;ta|bli&s;hes it in Heaven: the prayers of Gods people for the building of <HI>Zion,</HI> is as a <HI>John Bapti&s;t</HI> before Chri&s;t, on|ly makes way for him, as the Morning &s;tar, which a&s;&s;ures you the morning is at hand: Now the&s;e two Providen|ces, Gods doing it at &s;uch a time, as they have nothing left but prayer, and this powring out the Spirit of pray|er at that time, do &s;ufficiently tell us, that God will have prayer to be <HI>the great Builder</HI> on our part.</P>
<P>Secondly, His <HI>Commands</HI> &s;peak it as plainly; this is a good rule in Divinity; Look what&s;oever God Almigh|ty <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 From his command.</NOTE> commands us chiefely to doe in reference or relation to &s;uch a work, that would he have us look upon as the great in&s;trument on our part, to effect it: as when God commands us to <HI>beleeve,</HI> for the forgivene&s;&s;e of &s;ins, you may thence conclude that <HI>Faith</HI> is the great in&s;trument of our Ju&s;tification; So when God commands us to attend
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upon the word, for our Spirituall life, for our comfort, for our edification, you may boldly conclude, that the mini&s;tery of the Word, is to be the great in&s;trument of all the&s;e things; And therefore becau&s;e God above all that we can doe, commands that his people &s;hould pray for the building of <HI>Zion,</HI> you may conclude that he will have prayer the great in&s;trument on their part, for the building of it. And God hath abundantly injoyn|ed his people that they call upon him for it; <HI>You &s;hall call upon mee,</HI> Jeremiah 29. <HI>Then you &s;hall call upon mee,</HI> and I will doe it at your call; and the 36 of <HI>Ezekiel; All</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 29. 11.</NOTE> <HI>this will I do,</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>but for all this, you &s;hall pray to mee, I will bee &s;ought at your hands for them;</HI> So again, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 122. <HI>Oh pray for the peace of</HI> Hieru&s;alem, and <HI>Jer.</HI> 51. 50. <HI>Let</HI> Hieru&s;alem <HI>come into your minde,</HI> and <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 62. <HI>You</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 122. 6. Jer. 51. 50.</NOTE> <HI>that make mention of the Lord, give him no re&s;t till hee e&s;ta|bli&s;h, and till hee make</HI> Hieru&s;alem <HI>a prai&s;e in the earth.</HI> And then&punc;</P>
<P>Thirdly, His <HI>Promi&s;es</HI> are innumerable, he hath &s;aid <NOTE PLACE="marg">3 From his promi&s;es.</NOTE> directly, when they do pray for it, he will not faile to perform it to them; <HI>then you &s;hall call, and I will an&s;wer,</HI> and then, <HI>you &s;hall &s;eek mee, and I will bee found of you,</HI> &s;aith the Lord, <HI>Pray for the peace of</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>They &s;hall pro|&s;per.</HI> 1 <HI>King.</HI> 8. 46. If Gods people bee carryed away captive, &amp;c. and in their bondage pray to him, hee will hear, hee will return them, <HI>His eyes &s;hall bee open night and day, to their &s;upplication, to hearken unto them in all that they call for.</HI> In&s;omuch that by vertue of the&s;e pro|mi&s;es, which God hath made to prayer, for the building of <HI>Zion,</HI> wee may conclude a kinde of Omnipotency in prayer; becau&s;e it can rule that hand that is Omnipo|tent; Prayer can wra&s;tle with God, and by his own <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;e. 12. 4 <HI>with</HI> Gen. 32. 26.</NOTE> &s;trength prevaile over him, and (with reverence wee
<PB N="41" REF="24">
&s;peak it) hee cannot &s;tand before the power of it, hee could not wa&s;te his Church unle&s;&s;e <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> would give <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exo. 32. 10. 14</NOTE> over praying, <HI>Let mee alone that I may destroy them,</HI> and when hee would not let him alone, hee yeelded to him. And therefore him&s;elf &s;aith, if it concern my Sons and Daughters, <HI>command mee,</HI> ask mee any thing. The time would faile, and I might weary you with delight, to tell you what admirable effects prayer hath had in this kinde, what Armies it hath overthrown, what unexpect|ed ble&s;&s;ings it hath &s;ea&s;onably brought in, what dry bones it hath rai&s;ed, what weak builders it hath helped, when they have been reforming the Church; how it hath &s;tay|ed the Sun, turned the Sea backward, chained Kings and their Nobles, with fetters of iron; There is nothing that the hand of God can doe, but when the &s;pirit &s;tirs his people to pray, in relation to the Church, all &s;hall bee done; in&s;omuch as it is noted of <HI>Luther,</HI> that when once in great danger, God powred upon him, and the re&s;t of his company, a &s;pirit to pray in&s;tantly and &s;ervently, when they had done praying, hee cryed out, <HI>Vicimus, wee have got the day;</HI> for hee knew that God was ingaged; &s;o that if you lay the&s;e things together, the Providences of God ordering it &s;o, that there u&s;es to bee no other means left but prayer, and furni&s;hing them with abundance of the &s;pirit of prayer, and commanding them to u&s;e it, and ingaging him&s;elf to doe it, you may boldly conclude that the Lord will have prayer the great meanes of the Churches building.</P>
<P>Now if you demand, Why, or wherefore is it that pray|er &s;hould be able to doe &s;o much?</P>
<P>I an&s;wer, The truth is, it is God alone doth all, and he takes none in to help him, <HI>propter indigentiam,</HI> but <HI>pro|pter mun-ficentiam,</HI> it is not for his need, but for his glory,
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that he will have any helpers: Now be&s;ides all you heare before, concerning the prayers of the afflicted, that it is Gods <HI>Spirit</HI> prayes in them, and they are his <HI>Children,</HI> and <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> their <HI>Mediatour,</HI> and his <HI>promi&s;es</HI> are made to them, I &s;ay, be&s;ides all the&s;e, there are two other great Rea&s;ons, why God hath made over the building of the Church, unto Prayer; &s;o far as the Creature &s;hall have any thing to doe with it.</P>
<P>One is, becau&s;e this way onely is &s;uitable with his glory, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rea&s;on</HI> 1. This way God provides, that him&s;elfe alone &s;hall have the glory.</NOTE> he cannot take any to be partners with him in any work, with pre&s;ervation of his own Maje&s;ty and glory, &s;ave on|ly humble &s;upplicants, any partner but prayer would le&s;&s;en him; But this well-becomes the Maje&s;ty and great|ne&s;&s;e of God to take in &s;uch helpers.</P>
<P>For fir&s;t, it magnifies his free grace wonderfully, that he will plea&s;e to doe it, when his partners in the work &s;hall not be able to plead any thing they have contribu|ted, but tears and &s;upplications; And whereas &s;ome de|mand whether freegrace would not be more magnifyed, if God did it without prayer?</P>
<P>I An&s;wer, Gods free grace is many wayes manife&s;ted, and magnifyed in his regarding of his peoples prayers, &s;ometimes his free grace prevents our prayers, vouch&s;a|fing us what we never prayed for or thought of, <HI>Hee doth above what wee are able to ask or think,</HI> &s;ometimes in exceed|ing our prayers, <HI>Hee asked life of thee, and thou gave&s;t him</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 3. 20. P&s;al. 21. 3. 1 Kin. 3. 12. 13.</NOTE> <HI>length of dayes for ever and ever, Solomon</HI> asked wi&s;dom, and God gave him wi&s;dom, riches, and honour, &s;ome|times he as much magnifies his free grace in cro&s;&s;ing our prayers. So he did <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in his &s;uite to goe over <HI>Jordan,</HI> and <HI>Pauls</HI> in being delivered from the me&s;&s;enger of &s;atan, it being be&s;t for them both to be denyed. But oftentimes God manife&s;ts and magnifies his free grace more, by do|ing
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it at the prayers of his people, then if he did it with|out them; becau&s;e he doth thereby &s;hew his free grace as well to their reque&s;ts, as to their need; As if a friend &s;hould &s;upply my need, it is a great favour, but if he will plea&s;e to &s;hew his love to my petition, as well as his compa&s;&s;ion to my need, it is a double favour; So God &s;hews a double free grace, when he is plea&s;ed to let &s;uch a great work be done at the reque&s;t of poore contemptible &s;inners, that are fit for nothing but death and de&s;tructi|on. With men (it may be) he who asks oft and long for &s;uch things as men can give, payes very dear for them, but it is not &s;o betwixt God and man: the lea&s;t favour which God can give (though granted upon long &s;uite) mu&s;t needs bee acknowledged a free favour to &s;uch ill-de&s;erving creatures as we are, and to have his favours conveighed in a way of prayer, no wayes derogates from the freene&s;&s;e of the mercy, e&s;pecially becau&s;e our pray|ers are &s;o weak and poore, and the mercies of God (e&s;pe|cially this of building up of <HI>Zion)</HI> &s;o great, that I can|not &s;ay whether he be a more &s;illy or proud foole, that will not confe&s;&s;e that <HI>God</HI> ca&s;ts in the mercy <HI>gratis,</HI> though <HI>hee</HI> have ca&s;t in his <HI>prayers:</HI> yea, that the mercy is the grea|ter, when it is done with any re&s;pect to his &s;upplicati|ons.</P>
<P>And then be&s;ides, God provides for his glory herein for time come; for you &s;hall finde, the Lord is wonder|full jealous of u&s;ing any in&s;truments, who will be prone to come to &s;hare with him in his glory; he loves not to &s;et &s;uch in&s;truments a work, as will ingrave their own name into the work that &s;hall be erected: and therefore when <HI>Gideon</HI> had an Army of two and thirty thou&s;and, I will not u&s;e the&s;e, (&s;aith God) they will be like enough to &s;ay, Our own hand hath &s;aved us; He will have &s;uch in|&s;truments
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of whom he will be &s;ure they &s;hall not offer to lay claime to his glory; Now brethren) God is wholly confident of Prayer, that it will never undermine him in his glory, he hath no jealou&s;ie of it; but what he doth to the weeping eye, and the mourning heart, at their hum|ble reque&s;t, when they have got the thing, all the glory which they will de&s;ire is, to come back again, and cry, <HI>Grace, Grace,</HI> all was grace, all was favour. Thus pray|ing <HI>David,</HI> when he had dedicated one thou&s;and three hundred cart load of &s;ilver and gold, toward the buil|ding of Gods hou&s;e, all the glory he took to him&s;elf, was but to admire Gods goodne&s;&s;e in giving him a heart to offer it, and that God was plea&s;ed to accept it at his hands. <HI>who am I Lord, that I &s;hould have a heart to give any thing to thee? of thy own have I given thee;</HI> Thus will Prayer give God all the glory; But when mercies are not fetched in by prayer, ordinarily God hath little prai&s;e for them, either they are imputed to chance or indu&s;try, friends, or wit, or one creature or other, the&s;e rather wears the glory then God, but mercies wone by prayer, are worne with thankfulne&s;&s;e, it alwayes layes the creature low, and exalts free grace highly: This is one rea&s;on why prayer is &s;o effectuall in this great work. Ano|ther is,</P>
<P>Hereby hee doth greatly honour his people, hee puts a great deale of glory upon his Servants, when he <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rea&s;on</HI> 2. For his &s;ervants glory.</NOTE> is plea&s;ed as at their reque&s;t, to lay the foundation of a new Heaven, and a new Earth: This is a great honour to them, to be thus owned by him to be &s;uch powerfull advocates; When <HI>Job</HI> friends came to make their peace with God, and God would not accept them, untill <HI>Job</HI> prayed for them; <HI>Goe to my Servant</HI> Job, <HI>and he &s;hall pray</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job. 42. 8.</NOTE> <HI>for you, for him will I accept, el&s;e I &s;hall deale with you ac|cording
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to your folly.</HI> Was not this a mighty honour put upon <HI>Job?</HI> When God told <HI>Abimelech</HI> that he and his <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 20&punc; 7.</NOTE> hou&s;e were but dead men, unle&s;&s;e <HI>Abraham</HI> prayed for them, did he not thereby highly honour his &s;ervant? When <HI>Aha&s;huero&s;h</HI> takes Queen <HI>E&s;ther</HI> to him, and bids her ask to the half of his Kingdome, and at her reque&s;t grants her her life, and the lives of all her people, it was a great honour he put upon her; So God hereby magni|fies his love to his: that they may have his eare, and be able to doe &s;uch great things with him.</P>
<P>And be&s;ides, as it is a glory to them, &s;o it makes the building up of <HI>Zion,</HI> infinitely more comfortable and u&s;e|full <NOTE PLACE="marg">And benefit.</NOTE> to them; any thing that a gracious heart hath ob|tained by prayer, it prizes &s;o much the more, we will know how wee part with what wee came hardly by; When <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> could tell the people, &s;uch a time I fell down before God for you, forty dayes and forty nights, and &s;uch a time I be&s;ought the Lord for you; hee knew the worth of tho&s;e mercies, and ta&s;ted the comfort of them; When the Saints can &s;ay: this we begged at Gods hands, and this wee &s;ought God for, it will infinitely ingage their &s;pirits to value it, and walk worthy of it: And not onely &s;o, but their &s;weetne&s;&s;e and comfort in the u&s;e of it, will be the greater when they &s;hall &s;ee the travaile of their &s;oule, it is a great &s;atisfaction to them; <HI>Bath&s;heba</HI> much rejoyced in <HI>Solomon,</HI> and <HI>Hannah</HI> in <HI>Samuel,</HI> and <HI>Sarah</HI> in <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> becau&s;e they were the Sons of their vows, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 31. 2. 1 Sam. 2.</NOTE> of their prayers, as well as of their womb.</P>
<P>Many excellent U&s;es may be made of this Doctrine, I &s;hall indevour to pre&s;&s;e two or three which are mo&s;t &s;ea|&s;onable, and then I have done.</P>
<P><PB N="46" REF="27">
Is the building up of <HI>Zion</HI> the fruit of Gods peoples <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Application.</HI> 1. In&s;truction, what under God hath been our greate&s;t help, even the prayers of Gods people.</NOTE> prayers? Is prayer the great Ma&s;ter-builder on earth? then I be&s;eech you learn to whom and what under God, we may mo&s;t of all attribute the &s;everall mercies and deli|verances which we have received. It is true, God only hath been our help, every &s;tone which hath been laid into this building is an <HI>Eben-Ezer;</HI> we may write upon every &s;tone, <HI>Hitherto God hath helped us,</HI> but among all our friends on earth none to be compared with prayer. God hath poured out a Spirit of prayer upon his people, Old men, Maids, and Servants, as well as Mini&s;ters, and Gen|tle-men, and Noble-men, all that feare God, have been knocking at heaven gates with all inten&s;ene&s;&s;e of Spirit, with all earne&s;tne&s;&s;e, that God would &s;ave poor <HI>England,</HI> and build up his Church among&s;t us; and give me leave to &s;ay it, without derogating from any of your worth, un|der God we have been mo&s;t beholding to prayer: Mi&s;|take me not, I know there are worthy ones among&s;t us, that have done excellently; many of our Nobles have done worthily, many of this honourable A&s;&s;embly have been excellent in&s;truments, many of our Souldiers, Coun&s;ellors, Mini&s;ters, Citizens, and Commons, have willingly put all they have into this great Lottery, and when the Lord comes to reckon up his helpers, not one of them &s;hall be forgotten, not a night they have wat|ched, not a journey you have took, not a drop of blood they have &s;pent, not an e&s;tate any of you have hazzarded, not any paines you have took, which the Lord God will forget, but he will remember all; and your &s;elves in hea|ven, and it may be your po&s;terity on earth, &s;hall know that God hath a&s;&s;ociated you with him&s;elf to help for|ward this great work; but for all this, when all is done, let us &s;ay, <HI>Saul hath &s;laine his thou&s;ands, but David his ten thou|&s;ands;</HI>
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All the&s;e have done worthily, but among all pray|er hath done the greate&s;t of all the re&s;t: How often hath prayer fetched God into our Armies, and rallied them againe after they were routed, and given us the day after we had lo&s;t it? How often have <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hands lift up upon the Mount, helped <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> fighting in the valley, and <HI>co|vered his head in the day of battell?</HI> How often hath prayer brought God among&s;t our Coun&s;ellours, when they have been at a lo&s;&s;e, and directed them, and di&s;covered &s;ome de&s;perate plot, turned the coun&s;els of <HI>Achitophel</HI> into foo|li&s;hne&s;&s;e? How many in every place (who have &s;erved the Lord in this great work) hath prayer helped at a dead lift? Prayer hath hitherto &s;aved the kingdome. I remember a proud boa&s;t of our enemies, when we had lo&s;t <HI>Bri&s;toll</HI> and the <HI>Vies,</HI> they then &s;ent abroad even into other kingdoms, a triumphant paper, wherein they concluded all was now fubdued to them, and among many other confident ex|pre&s;&s;ions there was one to this purpo&s;e, <HI>Nil re&s;tat &s;uperare Regem, &amp;c.</HI> which might be con&s;trued two wayes, either thus, <HI>There remaines nothing for the King to conquer, but one|ly the prayers of a few fanatick people;</HI> or thus, <HI>There is no|thing left to conquer the King, but the prayers of a few fanatick people,</HI> every thing el&s;e was lo&s;t, all was now their owne: And indeed we were then in a very low condition, our &s;trong holds taken, our Armies melted away, our hearts generally failing us for feare, multitudes flying out of the Kingdome, and many de&s;erting the cau&s;e as de&s;perate, making their peace at <HI>Oxford,</HI> nothing almo&s;t left us but <HI>preces &amp; lachrymae;</HI> but ble&s;&s;ed be God, <HI>prayer was not con|quered,</HI> they have found it the harde&s;t wall to climbe, the &s;tronge&s;t Brigade to overthrow, it hath hitherto pre&s;erved us, it hath rai&s;ed up unexpected helps, and brought many unhoped for &s;ucce&s;&s;es and deliverances; let us therefore
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under God let the Crowne upon the head of prayer, ye Nobles and Worthies, be ye all content to have it &s;o, it will wrong none of you in your de&s;erved prai&s;e, God and man will give you your due, <HI>Many of you have done wor|thily, but prayer &s;urpa&s;&s;es you all:</HI> and this is no new thing, prayer hath alwayes had the preheminence in the building of <HI>Zion,</HI> God hath re&s;erved &s;everall works for &s;everall men and &s;everall ages, but in all ages, and among all men, prayer hath been the chiefe&s;t in&s;trument, e&s;pecially in the building up of <HI>Zion.</HI></P>
<P>Let me in the next place &s;hew you what e&s;teem you &s;hould all have of prayer, and praying men, who have li|berty <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 2. In what high e&s;teem prayer and praying men ought to be.</NOTE> to have the Lords eare, who have the Spirit of pray|er powred downe upon them; while you live have them in high e&s;teem: what <HI>David</HI> &s;aid of <HI>Goliahs</HI> &s;word, <HI>There is none to it,</HI> is true here, No helpe like the help of prayer. There are foure things wherein prayer is beyond all other <NOTE PLACE="marg">Foure things wherein prayer is more excel|lent then all other helps.</NOTE> helps what&s;oever: The one is,</P>
<P>It is the mo&s;t ab&s;olute, the mo&s;t <HI>univer&s;all</HI> medicine in the World, it is a <HI>Catholicon,</HI> it is good for every thing, it is offen&s;ive and defen&s;ive, it will do good in the Army, in <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> the Parliament hou&s;e, in the A&s;&s;embly, in the City, every <NOTE PLACE="marg">It is a mo&s;t univer&s;all re|medy. 1 Kings 8 33, ad fir em.</NOTE> where: <HI>Solomon</HI> teacheth this 1 <HI>Kings</HI> 8. from the 33 to the latter end of it: what&s;oever plague, what&s;oever &s;ick|ne&s;&s;e, what&s;oever other evill, of pe&s;tilence, war, famine, if they pray, help will come; it is of &s;uch a large extent, there is no enemy but it will conquer, no &s;ore but it will cure, no mi&s;ery but it will heale, no danger but it will pre|vent or remove; the healing tongue of prayer is like the Tree of Life, which healeth every di&s;ea&s;e: Others may <NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 15. 4.</NOTE> be good for &s;omething, but Prayer for every thing.</P>
<P>Nay, &s;econdly, it is not onely a help in any evill, but in <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> any extremity of evil: A man, a State, a Church, a Peo|ple, <NOTE PLACE="marg">It will help in any extrem<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ty.</NOTE>
<PB N="49" REF="28">
can be in no &s;uch extremity, as to be pa&s;t prayers help; if prayer takes them in hand there is helpe for them: if God poure out the Spirit of prayer, if <HI>E&s;ay</HI> can lift up a Prayer, when <HI>the child is come to the birth, and no &s;trength to bring forth,</HI> prayer will doe it. I have read of a &s;tone, I think they call it <HI>Dio&s;cordis,</HI> that if it be put into the mouth of one newly dead, it will revive him again: I know not how true that is, but certainly there is no extremity &s;o great but prayer may help, if any help may be found in heaven or earth. And then thirdly,</P>
<P>It will help at any <HI>di&s;tance:</HI> They talk of &s;ome kind of Weapon-&s;alve, that will cure at a great di&s;tance, but <NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE> <NOTE PLACE="marg">It helps at any di&s;tance.</NOTE> prayer will doe any thing at any di&s;tance. Look what is &s;aid of God in the 139 P&s;alme, <HI>If you goe into heaven, or</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 139. 8, 9.</NOTE> <HI>hell, or the utmo&s;t parts of the &s;ea, or any of the corners of the earth, Gods hand reaches there,</HI> and el&s;ewhere; he is a God afar off as well as a God at hand: the &s;ame may we &s;ay of praier, it wil pa&s;&s;e through &s;ea and land, relieve any di&s;tre&s;|&s;ed garri&s;on, &s;trengthen any of our Armies. They &s;ay <HI>Ar|chimedes</HI> could &s;it in his Study, and with his Engins defend <HI>Syracu&s;a</HI> both by &s;ea and land; this may a praying man do upon his knees in his Clo&s;et, he may bring helpe unto the uttermo&s;t parts of the world. And then</P>
<P>It is &s;peedy, it will help at an in&s;tant; it is like <HI>Elias</HI> his <NOTE PLACE="marg">4.</NOTE> cloud, which his man &s;aw when he was at prayer for rain, <NOTE PLACE="marg">It is the mo&s;t &s;peedy help.</NOTE> a little cloud like a hand, which pre&s;ently &s;pread over all the heavens: the Angel <HI>Gabriel</HI> could not flye more &s;wift|ly, then prayer will flye to help at any extremity, at any di&s;tance. O that the&s;e things were &s;tudied and beleeved, how highly &s;hould we then e&s;teeme it! what encourage|ment then &s;hould we give to prayer and praying men! how much would we then endevour to have our Armies
<PB N="50" REF="29">
furni&s;hed with praying Mini&s;ters and Souldiers? all your Garri&s;ons, A&s;&s;emblies, Committees, well &s;tocked and &s;to|red with praying Saints? nothing would be too hard for them: you would, if you rightly con&s;ider this, be more carefull to keep them all in a po&s;ture of prayer, then in a po&s;ture of defence.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, with which I &s;hall end, becau&s;e God will have prayer the great means of building up the Church, I mo&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 3. Exhortation to all who can pray, to ply the throne of grace</NOTE> earne&s;tly be&s;eech you that this means may never be wan|ting in any of you, who have it to contribute: O, pray, pray, pray, do not with-draw from it, u&s;e it as the fir&s;t, and la&s;t, and be&s;t remedy of all others, turne not your back up|on it: O doe not as (men &s;ay) &s;ome great ones doe, make the dayes of prayer, and the times of prayer, the times they chu&s;e for their owne plea&s;ures, or bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, and thereby plainly di&s;cover them&s;elves to be of <HI>Machiavels</HI> religion, who coun&s;els a Prince to &s;et up a &s;hew of Reli|gion <HI>ad captandum populum,</HI> to awe their people, but them|&s;elves not to be under &s;uch rules: let us really attend it, and give God no re&s;t night nor day, untill he <HI>e&s;tabli&s;h our Jeru&s;alem a prai&s;e in the earth;</HI> and <HI>this</HI> every one of you who are godly may doe: Every one hath not money to contribute, nor &s;trength, nor wi&s;dome, but every graci|ous heart can pray; there is not a Maid, not an Appren|tice, not a Servant, not the meane&s;t in the Congregation, that hath the Spirit of God in them, but is this thing, you may come in to be Ma&s;ter-builders; you may do as much as any Parliament-man, or A&s;&s;embly-man, or any what|&s;oever, if the Lord give you but a praying heart; therefore I be&s;eech you follow this work. Two Motives I pro|pound to quicken you, the one is, <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE></P>
<P>We may ju&s;tly &s;ay, our prayers hitherto have not had <NOTE PLACE="marg">Motives there|unto.</NOTE>
<PB N="51" REF="29">
a mi&s;carrying wombe, nor dry brea&s;ts, we may &s;ay with the P&s;almi&s;t, <HI>Verily God hath heard us, he hath attended to</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1.</NOTE> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prayer hath done much al|ready. P&s;al. 66. 19. Jonah 2. 7.</NOTE> <HI>the voice of our prayers:</HI> and with <HI>Johan, When our &s;oule fainted within us we remembred God, and our prayer came in unto him.</HI> Never had an unworthy people more experi|ence of the power of prayer then we have had: The <HI>Ro|mans</HI> once in a great di&s;tre&s;&s;e, took the weapons out of the Temple of their God, and with them got a glorious victo|ry over their enemies; O how many victories have the&s;e Sanctuary-weapons obtained for us! he is a blind man who &s;eeth not vi&s;ible returnes of prayer; and God hath &s;o ordered our affaires, that what the noble Generall &s;aid at the fir&s;t victory we obtained at <HI>Edge-hill, That there was never any thing wherein there was le&s;se of man, and more of God:</HI> So in mo&s;t of our bu&s;ine&s;&s;es we may truely &s;ay, <HI>Man hath failed, and God hath helped,</HI> that is, prayer hath prevai|led: you have a good hand&s;ell; a good encouragement to goe on. Secondly,</P>
<P>And truely our extremities and difficulties are &s;uch, which yet remaine to be conquered, as can be overcome <NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Our need as great as ever.</NOTE> by nothing but prayer: All your Learning, Coun&s;ell, Strength, your Wi&s;dome, your Trea&s;ure, and what ever el&s;e you have to contribute, are not like to deliver us, un|le&s;&s;e prayer bring God in for our helper. You know the Kingdome is brought low, and though we have a con&s;i|derable &s;trength both in the Armie, the Citie, and the Navie, yet you know divided Kingdomes doe not &s;tand, and God hath for our &s;ins brought this great judgment up|on us, that we are divided and &s;ubdivided into <HI>minutula fru&s;tula,</HI> into the lea&s;t bits of all, in Church and State, every where there are heart-burnings, divi&s;ions among our &s;elves, and a potent enemy very vigilant to take ad|vantage,
<PB N="52" REF="30">
and many Malignants every where, ready to blow up and encrea&s;e our di&s;tractions; many mens e&s;tates undone, and brought to poverty and beggery, and if the&s;e bloudy wars continue, ere long famine and de&s;ola|tion will come upon us, be&s;ide all the guilt of our former and later provocations: the&s;e all are vi&s;ible before your eyes, and all your helps are not like to doe it &s;uddenly, unle&s;&s;e God come in, unle&s;&s;e prayers fetch him downe: Therefore <HI>pray</HI> (I be&s;eech you Noble-men, Gentle-wo|men, and all other) pray, pray, follow the Lord, and re|member this is the <HI>Strong helper,</HI> which mu&s;t &s;ave, or we peri&s;h; we have as much need of prayer as ever we had, therefore you who are the Lords remembrancers, and have his eare, ply the Throne of grace diligently, let not your heart grow &s;luggi&s;h, remember what the Prophet &s;aid unto the King, who &s;mote with the arrows three times, and then &s;tayed, <HI>Thou &s;houlde&s;t have &s;mitten five or</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 King. 13. 19</NOTE> <HI>&s;ixe times, and then thou &s;houlde&s;t utterly have &s;mitten Syria, till thou had&s;t con&s;umed it:</HI> Say thou &s;o to thy owne heart, Thou &s;hould&s;t in the&s;e dayes have prayed 10000 times more then thou ha&s;t done, go on now with it, humbly &s;pread our &s;ad condition before him, plead with him dai|ly, thou can&s;t not want arguments; tell him it is his owne cau&s;e, we are engaged by him, and for him; tell him how long, and how much his people have &s;uffered under their oppre&s;&s;ors, and how violently they ri&s;e up &s;till to &s;poile all; that there are abundance of his Saints engaged in this work, and they will never give him re&s;t, till he have &s;et up <HI>Jeru&s;alem to be a prai&s;e upon the whole earth:</HI> and when the unworthine&s;&s;e of the Kingdome comes in, and ob|jects again&s;t us, that we are a &s;infull wretched Kingdome, fit to be de&s;troyed, you may &s;till find an&s;wers and argu|ments
<PB N="53" REF="30">
enow in Gods grace and favour: He hath begun to build, and &s;urely he will not be like the fooli&s;h builder, that begun and then gave over; he him&s;elfe blames them who goe about a work and not goe through with it; tell him, we will give him all the glory of it, and &s;erve him better if he will give us grace; that if our enemies pre|vaile it will be wor&s;e with his people then ever, his name will be more di&s;honoured then ever. Thus follow him with a mourning heart, &amp; a melting eye, &amp; do it con&s;tant|ly, doe it daily; I confe&s;&s;e the&s;e monethly Fa&s;ts are grown to a mo&s;t wretched formality in many places, the Lord of heaven teach us how we may be more quickned in this great work of prayer; and let every one who hath any in|tere&s;t in heaven, remember <HI>Bradfords</HI> u&s;uall Motto and ex|hortation, <HI>Pray, pray, pray.</HI></P>
<P>But before I di&s;mi&s;&s;e you, I mu&s;t put in this caution; <NOTE PLACE="marg">A caution to be remembred, not every man, not every prayer will doe it.</NOTE> You mu&s;t not thinke every man, and every prayer will be thus effectuall; Alas, no: here are (it may be) three or foure thou&s;and people at Church, God onely knowes whether every fourth man hath a praying Spirit; It is <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Not every Man.</NOTE> not every man who will pretend to pray, whom God will accept: <HI>When they fa&s;t</HI> (&s;aith God of the wicked <HI>I&s;|raelites, Jeremy</HI> chap. 4.) <HI>I will not heare their cry; when</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 14. 12.</NOTE> <HI>they offer an oblation I will not accept them, but I will con|&s;ume them:</HI> Doe not (I be&s;eech you) thinke that the prayers of Bla&s;phemers, and Drunkards, and Whore|ma&s;ters, and Scorners of God and Religion, of tho&s;e that pretend to be for him and are again&s;t him, doe not (I &s;ay) imagine that God will regard &s;uch as the&s;e are, though they cry, <HI>Ari&s;e and &s;ave us;</HI> I will not &s;ay to the&s;e men, <HI>Pray not,</HI> but I will &s;ay to them as <HI>Pe|ter</HI> did to <HI>Simon Magus, Pray, if it may be po&s;sible, that
<PB N="54" REF="31">
the thoughts of thy heart may be forgiven thee, for thou art in the gall of bitterne&s;&s;e;</HI> but be you a&s;&s;ured that the&s;e mens prayers will not come into the &s;hot of tho&s;e that &s;hall build Gods Church, or deliver us; No, no, the Phi|lo&s;opher could teach thus much, who when they were at Sea in a Tempe&s;t, and all went to their prayers, and among the re&s;t a profligate wicked wretch among&s;t them went to <HI>his prayers,</HI> the Philo&s;opher called to him, <HI>Hold thy peace, le&s;t the Gods heare thee, and drown us all for thy &s;ake.</HI> He who would be one of this num|ber who&s;e prayers &s;hall come before God, mu&s;t be acquainted with God; <HI>Acquaint thy &s;elfe with God, be at peace with him, then thou &s;halt make thy prayer to</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job. 22. 21, 27.</NOTE> <HI>him, and he &s;hall heare thee,</HI> but the&s;e men have no ac|quaintance with him, he will &s;ay to them as the evill Spirit &s;aid to the &s;onnes of <HI>Sceva, Paul I know, but who are ye?</HI> &s;o the Lord will &s;ay, Prayer I know, but what are ye? Doe you whore, and drinke, and &s;weare, and lye, and abu&s;e my Name and Ordinances, and think you of praying? No, no (beloved) the&s;e are not the people, beleeve it they are not, they are the prayers of his Saints, and of his Saints <HI>onely,</HI> which he regards. <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Not every Prayer.</NOTE> And then &s;econdly, as it is not every man, &s;o it is not every prayer will doe it; I know it may be a <HI>weak</HI> prayer, a prayer where there may be very weak <HI>utterance,</HI> weak <HI>gifts,</HI> and weak <HI>judgement</HI> and <HI>memory,</HI> yet it may be ac|cepted, God knowes how to interpret the meaning of his owne Spirit in them; but they mu&s;t not be <HI>dead</HI> prayers, <HI>livele&s;&s;e, formall, &s;light, perfunctory, cu&s;tomary</HI> prayers, not the &s;aying over of prayer, as if a Le&s;&s;on were onely read out of a book, without &s;pirit, under&s;tanding, devoti|on; but prayer mu&s;t be <HI>prayer,</HI> it mu&s;t be the pouring out
<PB N="55" REF="31">
the &s;oule, it mu&s;t be <HI>fervent</HI> prayer, it mu&s;t be <HI>humble</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 102. Title Jam. 5. 6. 1 Tim. 2. 8. Heb. 10. 22. P&s;al. 66. 19. Ezek. 14, 4.</NOTE> prayer, it mu&s;t be from a <HI>pure heart, and faith unfained,</HI> it mu&s;t be prayer offered up in the name of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> in the &s;trength of the <HI>Covenant</HI> of grace; the&s;e things mu&s;t at lea&s;t be aimed at and endevoured in prevailing prayers. The&s;e things de&s;erve to be pro&s;ecuted more fully, but I feare I have already tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed upon your patience by the length of my Sermon, I commend it to your thoughts, and let us by prayer commend it and our &s;elves to God, that we may joyne with them, and be num|bred among them who&s;e prayers he will heare for the building up of <HI>Zion.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
