And though at prefent this fort of Difcipline is well nigh loft among us, it is nevertheless a Difgrace to a Man to pass among his Neighbours for a Heathen, and will be fo, till evil Cuftoms have wrought out all Senfe of what is fit and decent. You will fay, perhaps, that to join in publick Worship merely to avoid Cenfure, is not Religion, but Art and Policy; and you will fay very right. But if the Motive begins here, it is not fuppofed to end here too. He that comes to Church at first only to fave Appearances, may, by Degrees, fee the Reasonablenefs, and feel the Benefits of it; and will do so, if no great Vices stand in the Way. It is by this kind of Management in other Cafes, that we are often led as it were by the Hand to do reasonable Things, and all Mankind fee the Neceffity of it; which fhews, indeed, the Weakness of our Natures, but is no Difparagement to our Virtues, when fuch Means are followed by real Improvements. 2. It is likely to have a more general Effect. Few befides ourselves are the better for what is done in our private Retirements, but many may profit by a publick Example; and there is that Force in thofe Virtues which others learn from us, which feldom fails to minifter back an Increase of our own. Examples work reciprocally, as we fee in War, where each Man, by brave and gallant Actions, breathes Courage into his Companion, and is again inspired by him. This is what St. Paul feems to allude to, when he exhorts us to PROVOKE one another to Love, and to good Works; which indeed is the natural Effect of every good Example. But never is the Force of Example fo experimentally felt, as among thofe who are devoutly met together in God's Houfe, to join their Prayers and Thanksgivings to him; where Zeal catches like Fire, and from fmall Sparks rifes up into a mighty Flame. The Solemnity of the Place, the Awfulness of the Affembly, the Voices and Gestures of those about us, are all of them Circumstances which help to raise Devotion, and leave ftrong and lafting Impreffions upon our Minds; and no Man can, with any Heart Heart, think of returning back to his Sins, who remembers, that in the Prefence of God. and in the Face of fo many Witneffes, he hath made fuch folemn Profeffions of Duty. I fpeak not of what might reasonably be expected, not of what is always found in Fact and Experience. It is but too common for Men to come to Church and join in the publick Worship, and to go Home again not one Jot the better Chriftians. The Caufe is; they take it as a Thing of Course, that they have been always ufed and bred to, and do not come with that Preparation of Mind, which is neceffary to give it Force and Virtue. But these no doubt, are the Ends of publick Worship, and reasonable Ends they are, how foever, through human Defects, they may, in many Instances, prove unfuccessful. And this fhews one Thing very plainly, which will be of great Use to be obferved, viz. That the Ends of publick Worhip can never be fully anfwered by private Devotion, how frequently foever it may be performed. For private Prayer yields no publick Example, and publick Example was the Thing intended by publick Worship. Many are wont to excufe themselves in an habitual Neglect of publick Worship, by alledging that they fay their Prayers at Home. I am always, I confefs, fufpicious of fuch Pretences; for if a Man is devout in his Clofet, it is not very natural to fuppofe that he will think publick Prayer a Burthen. fuppofe the Thing done, I fay it is by no Means an Equivalent. You may be the better for your private Prayers, but no Body elfe can. They are the Exercise of your Piety, but they are not the Profeffion of your Faith, or the Evidence of your Virtues. But Let us now confider the Efficacy of Prayer with refpect to God. God hath not the Paffions of a Man, and therefore he is not to be moved by Prayers and Intreaties, as Men are. But though he hath not the Faffions of a Man, he hath the Wisdom of a wife and good Governor; and as he hath commanded us to pray, in refpect of our Weakness, fo, for our Encou ragement ragement to do it, he hath annexed to the due Performance of this Duty, Bleffings both Temporal and Spiritual. That we are directed to pray for Bleffings of both Kinds is moft evident. For when we pray for our daily Bread, we pray for Temporal Bleffings, as for Rain and fruitful Seafons, for Succefs in our Occupations and Callings, and the like. So it is when we pray for Deliverance from our Enemies, from Afflictions and Calamities, for all which there are Directions in Scripture. We pray for Spiritual Bleflings when we pray for God's Holy Spirit to enlighten our Minds, or to correct our Wills; for thefe Things have Reference to the good of the Soul, as the other are fubfervient to the Welfare of the Body. Now it feems a natural Inference from our being commanded to afk thefe Things of God, that our Prayers will do fomething towards our obtaining them, and the Style of Scripture imports as much. Afk and it shall be given you, feek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that afketh receiveth, and be that fecketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it fall be opened, Luke xi. 9. But it is most exprefly afferted by St. James, Chap. iv. ver. 2. Te have not, BECAUSE ye afk not. And Chap v. ver. 16. The effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous Man AVAILETH much. Thefe Paffages, with others that are easy to be met with, fhew plainly, that Prayer is strictly and properly effica cious with God; and it hath the Efficacy of a Condition, by which God hath determined, in the Wisdom of his Providence, to grant many Things to thofe who ask him, which he will not grant to thofe who afk him not. It is not easy to make Sceptical Men enter into this Notion. For they obferve that People live and profper, and get Eftates, who never go into a Church, or into their Clofets to pray: And the Scripture tells us that God is kind to the Unthankf:l and the Evil, and Jendeth Rain upon the Juft and upon the Unjust. That there is one Event to the Righteous and to the Wicked, to him that facrificeth, and to him that facrificeth not. This D This Obfervation, no doubt, will fhew that God hath not left every Thing to depend upon the Prayers of Men (which he could not do, without refigning the Sovereign Authority out of his own Hands into the Hands of his Creatures) but that nothing depends upon them, or that it will in all Cafes be equally the fame Thing, whether we pray, or whether we let it alone, no Experience can poffibly fhew. For there are a thousand Ways in which the Hand of God may be employed in fending Good or Evil, which do not fall within our Notice; and amidst all that Inequality which is obfervable in God's Dealings with refpect to this World, there may be ftill fo much Regard paid to Virtue, as to verify the Promifes of God, and make it worth every Man's while to serve him faithfully. The main Strokes of Providence which lie moft within the Compafs of our Observation, may be determined by fettled Laws refpecting the general Syftem of Nature, which the Behaviour of Men cannot alter. And yet there may be other Acts of it, serving only as Under-parts to fill up the Harmony of the whole (but of the greatest Importance to the Happinefs of particular Perfons) which admit of Variety, and leave God at Liberty to determine this Way or that Way, as particular Reafons fhall direct. We cannot point out thefe Inftances; but it is not therefore the lefs probable that there are fuch Inftances. If we had the fame fenfible Evidence, when God hears our Prayers, and when he rejects them, as we have when we deal with Men, this would yield the Conviction which fome Men feem to want. But as we have to do with an invifible Being, we cannot have fuch Evidence without a ferpetual Miracle, and therefore it is unreasonable to expect it. But tho' we have not the Evidence of Senfe that God hears the Prayers of good Men, we have the Evidence of his Word; and his Word is not the less to be relied on, because he fulfils it in fuch a Manner as to leave Room for the Exercife of Faith and Truft in him, which is the proper Work of a Chrißian in this State of Trial. As. As to Spiritual Bleffings, it will be more eafy to conceive that they may depend upon our Prayers, because they are more fpecial in their Nature, and have not (fo far as it appears) that Connexion with any general Syftem which Temporal Bleffings have. God cannot, without a Miracle, make his Sun to rise upon the Good, but the Evil alfo will feel its Influences; nor can he fend Rain upon the Juft, but the Unjust also will have a Share in the Advantages of it: But he may give the Graces of his Spirit to them that ask, and deny it to thofe who afk it not. The Gospel teaches us to expect that he will do fo, and there is no Evidence from Experience to fhew the contrary. God will give fo much Help to all, as to leave Sinners without Excufe, and juftify himself in their Condemnation. But he is in a more particular Manner nigh unto all that diligently feek him; which fhould make us cautious, and fearful to neglect our Prayers, which is removing ourselves out of the Protection of God's Providence, and expofing ourselves naked and defenceless to thofe Temptations, which furround us in this miferable and naughty World. But the great Difficulty here is to make Men understand that there are, or can be, any fuch Influences of the Spirit upon our Minds as the Scripture speaks of. I have no Concern with this Queflion at prefent; for I am arguing with Chriftians, who must be fuppofed to believe their Bibles. And yet I will fay thus much to Unbelievers, that in treating this Doctrine with Ridicule and Contempt, they fhew no great Sign of their good Senfe. Do they believe that the Soul operates within the Body, and directs its feveral Motions? Why is it not as easy to conceive, that there may be another Principle working within the Mind, and directing its Motions likewife? They will answer; We feel it not. Hold off your Hands, and try if you can f.el your Heart beat. We grow in the Womb, and feel not the Fingers of him who fashioneth us; and whilft we increase in Wisdom and Stature, the Degrees by which we increase are imperceptible. Why may it not be D 2 thus |