There are two extremities here we love on the one hand;1 the barbarous opus operatum, the literal deed done in praying; the charm of the external work is by hand, if God sell not the blessing: yet I have blown words of praying up to Heaven, and told down the price: It's heavenly wisdom to go about praying and other means not as acts of trading for our nighest ends, but as acts of serving and glorifying of God, though no thing should redound to us: but we use praying, and hearing, as a man doth his horse, or his ship, all for self-use and self-ends. Ah, can the man charm the blessing of the Holy Ghost with bare words, when scarce the literal attention goes along? and here our Idolatry saith, I buy, and God will not sell; I plough, and God binds up the clouds: the Lord pays not the reward of a ⟨p. 358⟩rich harvest, 2to the merit of ploughing on the other hand: let ordinances, reading, praying, and hearing of the Bible sleep until the spirit blow: and we forget it is not the Spirit of the Father, which works without the word and the testimonies, the tools of the Father; is this God's Spirit or a delusion? plough not, sow not until it be first harvest; blow not at the fire until it first flame boldly: pray not until the Spirit breath strongly, but first give words, I pray you, to be a lodging to the spirit to breath in: Let nature stir first in the using of means; First bow the knee, stretch out the hands; should the Spirit from above first bow the knee? and first physically act upon the hands to lift them up? nay, nature begins in its order before the heat and fire of the spirit come; flaming goes not before smoking, but contrarily smoking leads the way to flaming: the flaming of faith, of love, of paining desires in their spiritual vigour, go not before stirring of the lips, and lifting of the eyes to Heaven to pray: that is no more true then refreshing and cooling of the heart go before eating and drinking: will ye say, I will not pray, while first the spirit flame, I will not hear, while first I believe, and I will not lay up the promises in the heart, while first the heart burns in heat of love with the promises: You then say, I will not throw about the key until the door be first opened; I will not hear the word until the Lord give me faith; whereas the way of God is, that faith as the end, comes by hearing, as the means leading to the end; Rom. 10. and Gal. 3.
There are two extremities here we love on the one hand;1 the barbarous opus operatum, the literal deed done in praying; the charm of the external work is by hand, if God sell not the blessing: yet I have blown words of praying up to Heaven, and told down the price: It's heavenly wisedom to go about praying and other means not as acts of trading for our nighest ends, but as acts of serving and glorifying of God, though no thing should redound to us: but we use praying, and hearing, as a man doth his horse, or his ship, all for self-use and self-ends. Ah, can the man charm the blessing of the Holy Ghost with bare words, when scarce the literal attention goes along? and here our Idolatrry saith, I buy, and God will not sell; I plow, and God binds up the clouds: the Lord pays not the reward of a ⟨p. 358⟩rich harvest, 2to the merit of plowing on the other hand: let ordinances, reading, praying, and hearing of the Bible sleep until the spirit blow: and we forget it is not the Spirit of the Father, which works without the word and the testimonies, the tools of the Father; is this God's Spirit or a delusion? plow not, sow not until it be first harvest; blow not at the fire until it first flame boldly: pray not until the Spirit breath strongly, but first give words, I pray you, to be a lodging to the spirit to breath in: Let nature stir first in the using of means; First bow the knee, stretch out the hands; should the Spirit from above first bow the knee? and first physically act upon the hands to lift them up? nay, nature begins in its order before the heat and fire of the spirit come; flaming goes not before smoking, but contrarily smoking leads the way to flaming: the flaming of faith, of love, of paining desires in their spiritual vigour, go not before stirring of the lips, and lifting of the eyes to Heaven to pray: that is no more true then refreshing and cooling of the heart go before eating and drinking: will ye say, I will not pray, while first the spirit flame, I will not hear, while first I believe, and I will not lay up the promises in the heart, while first the heart burns in heat of love with the promises: You then say, I will not throw about the key until the door be first opened; I will not hear the word until the Lord give me faith; whereas the way of God is, that faith as the end, comes by hearing, as the means leading to the end; Rom. 10. and Gal. 3.
- 1Our formality in praying and in going about other means.
- 2How nature begins, and the spirit acteth on, and with our literal acting.
