all them that call upon him in truth; who are hearty and fincere in their requests unto him; and fuch may, and should, use an holy importunity with him. Our Lord has given us two inftances of importunity, on purpose to encourage the fame in prayer; the one is of a man that had a friend come to his houfe late at night, and he without provifions, upon which he calls up his neighbour at midnight, to lend him fome bread, but he excufes rifing on account of his door being fhut, and his children in bed with him; nevertheless, continuing to folicit him, he rifes, and gives him what he would have, not on the score of friendship, but because of his importunity: the other inftance is that of the unjust judge, who neither feared God, nor regarded man, yet being preffed by a poor widow, time after time, to take her case in hand, and do her juftice; he at length did undertake it, not for the fake of doing justice, but left he should be wearied by her continual coming; which our Lord applies thus, and shall not God avenge bis own elect, that cry day and night unto him? fuch as, Jacob-like, lay hold on the Lord, and will not let him go without the bleffing, always fucceed; God cannot deny them any thing that afk in faith, fervently, fincerely, and importunately; and therefore a man that neglects this duty and privilege, must be greatly wanting to his own interest. 4thly, Many are the fcripture-arguments, exciting and encouraging the faints to call upon the Lord; I fhall do little more than name the paffages in which they are the Lord himself, whofe name is to be called upon, bids, invites, and encourages men to call upon him; Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee; afk, and it shall be given you; feek, and ye shall find"; what more can be defired, than to ask and have? The Lord is nigh to all that call upon him in truth; he draws near to them in a way of grace and mercy, that draw nigh to him in a way of duty: he is rich unto all that call upon him; that is, he liberally bestows on such the riches of his providential goodness, the riches of his grace here, and the riches of glory hereafter he is plenteous in mercy to all that call upon him; he largely and plentifully bestows his grace and mercy on fuch; he abundantly pardons their fins, which, as it is an encouraging argument with fenfible finners, to turn unto the Lord, fo it is a no lefs powerful one, to engage faints to pray unto him for fresh discoveries of pardoning grace and mercy. To add no more; it is faid, that whofoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, fhall be faved; faved from all afflictions and diftreffes; faved out of the hands. of enemies; faved with a temporal, and with an everlasting salvation. And now how great must the fin and folly be of fuch profeffors, that neglect to call upon the name of the Lord! not to call upon the name of the Lord is heathenish; and of heathens nothing else is to be expected; for how shou'd they * Pfalm cxlv. 18. Pfalm cxlv. 18. call y Luke xi 5-9. and xviii. 1—8. 2 Pfalm 1. 15. Matt. vii. 7. b Rom. x. 12. call on him, in whom they have not believed? they know not God, and have no faith in him, and therefore it is no wonder they do not call upon him; and yet the wrath and fury of God are imprecated on the heathen, that know him not, and on the families that call not on his name; and even these, in time of distress, will call upon those they take to be God, as did Jonah's mariners. Not to call upon God, is to do as hypocrites do; who, though they may pray openly and publicly before men fometimes, that they may be seen of them, and feem outwardly to take delight in approaching to God; yet as Job fays', will be, the hypocrite, delight bimself in the Almighty? will be always call upon God? No, he will not; he may for a time, but not always; nor does he ever take any real delight and pleasure in it. Now, for a profeffing people not to call upon God, is to do as heathens and hypocrites do: and fuch must be under great decays and declenfions, if truly gracious perfons, that restrain prayer before God; fo to do is highly refented by the Lord; it is a charge he once brought against his church of old, she drew not near to her God": fuch act very unbecoming the names of Jacob and Ifrael, by which they are called. Jacob had the name of Ifrael given him, because, wrestling with God, he had power as a prince, and prevailed; but how unfuitable is this name to fuch who call not on the Lord? or how disagreeable to their name and character do they act? the Lord complains of it, Thou baft not called upon me, O Jacob, but thou hast been weary of me, O Ifrael1: and this is the first branch of the complaint here in our text. I proceed to confider the other part of it. II. That there were none, or few, that beftirred and aroufed themselves to lay hold of the Lord. Here I fhall briefly fhew what it is to lay hold on the Lord; and then, what it is for a man to ftir up himself to do this; the neglect of which is complained of. 1. It is to exercise faith upon him, as to lay hold on Chrift is to believe in him; Wisdom, or Chrift is a tree of life, the Author and Giver of fpiritual and eternal life to them that lay hold upon him, that is, that exercise faith on him; by faith men look to Chrift, go to him, and lay hold upon him ; the believer lays hold on Chrift as his Saviour; and fays, be alfo fhall be my falvation, and none else; and, though he flay me, yet will I trust in him'; this is laying hold on Chrift to a purpose: believers come to Chrift as the mediator of the covenant, and to the blood of fprinkling, and deal with it for pardon, peace, and cleanfing; they lay hold on his righteousness, the skirt of him that is a Jew, as their juftifying-righteousness; they lay hold on him as the strength of the Lord, and fay, furely in the Lord have I righteousness and strength"; this VOL. I. Gg is Job xiii. 15, 16. is laying hold on him for themselves, and exercising faith upon him: and fo to lay hold on God, is to exercise faith on him, as a covenant-God and father; it is to avouch him to be our God. It was a noble act of faith in David, when he faid, I trusted in thee, O Lord; I said, Thou art my God": Job wished to find him, that he might come even to his feat; and what would he have done there and then? why, lay hold on him as his own God. And fuch believers as these. will lay hold on the covenant itself; for this is one of the characters of a good man, that he chufes the things that please God, and takes hold of his covenant; claims his intereft in ir, and which is his fupport in life and in death; as it was to David in his last moments, who could fay, Although my house be not so with God, yet bath he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and fare; this was taking faft hold of the covenant for himfelf: and fuch will claim all the bleffings of it as theirs, even all spiritual blessings, which are in Christ ; he being theirs; and alfo all the promises of it, of which they are heirs, and fo have a right unto them; and who, when they find them, take them to them felves, and rejoice at them, and plead them with God; for there is not a promife in the covenant, but the meaneft believer has a right unto: promises as well as bleflings are common to all; as may be observed from that peculiar promife made to Joshua, I will never leave thee, nor forfake thee; which every believer may take hold on for himfelf, and take the comfort of, as appears from Heb. xiii 5, 6. 2. To lay hold on God, is to exercise faith on him, particularly in prayer: prayer is a wrestling with God; and in wrestling, perfons lay hold on one another; faith lays hold of God in prayer, as Jacob did on the angel he wrestled with, and will not let him go, without having the bleffing he is earnest for: and when this is the cafe, whatever men ask in prayer, believing, they shall receive. The Lord fometimes feems to be departing from his church and people: as the glory of the Lord in Ezekiel's vifion went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the houfe; and then departed from the threshold of the houfe, and stood ever the cherubim, threatning a removal from the temple; fo the Lord fometimes feems to be taking his leave of his people; which, when observed by truly gracious fouls, they lay hold upon him, and most earnestly folicit his continuance with them; as the two difciples that traveled with Chrift to Emmaus, when he seemed as if he would go further, they constrained him'; they moft earnestly intreated him to ftay with them; they held him from going further; and thus faith in prayer lays hold on a departing God to retain him. Sometimes the Lord does really depart from his people; their fins and iniquities separate between God and them, and cause him to hide his face from them; when they feek after him, and seeking find him, and having found him, they Pfalm xxxi. 14. Job xxiii. 3. Ezek. x. 4, 18. P Ifai. lvi. 4. 92 Sam. xxiii. 5. hold hold him faft, and will not let him go, until he returns to his church again; their importunate request to him is, Return, we beseech thee, and behold and vifit this vine, and the vineyard thy right hand bath planted". Sometimes the Lord, being offended with his dear children, lifts up his hand to correct and chastize; when faith in prayer steps in between, and lays hold on his hands, when he is just going to strike the blow; even as when a father, difpleafed with his child, lifts up his hand to ftrike him; and a friend that is by him, lays hold on his hand, and will not fuffer him to give the blow: this might be exemplified in the case of the Ifraelites, when they had made the golden calf, and worshipped it; the Lord was greatly provoked by them, and thought to destroy them, or fignified his defire to do fo; and therefore fays to Mofes, who he knew would intercede for them, Let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may confume them; and I will make of thee a great nation". But Mofes would not let him alone, nor fuffer him to do what he seemed defirous of doing; but interceded for the people, and, as it were, held the hands of the Lord from defroying them. What amazing condefcenfion is this, that the infinite and tremendous Being, fhould fuffer himself to be held by a creature from doing what he fhewed an inclination to! See here the force of prayer, and the strength of faith and what encouragement faints have to ftir up themselves to lay hold on him and what that is, I fhall next confider. 2dly, To stir up a man's felf to lay hold on God, is to be diligent in the ufe of means in seeking after him; as Job was, when being at a lofs for him, he ·went backwards and forwards, on the right hand, and on the left, in order to find him; and as the church, who fought her beloved in the streets of the city and broad-ways, and inquired here and there, of one, and of another, till the got tidings and fight of him, and then laid hold upon him: it is to feek the Lord, where and when, and while he is to be found; and to call earnestly and importunately on him, where and when, and while he is near; and even when afar off, not to quit the pursuit of him, and inquiry about him, until he is pleafed to appear and fhew himself. This stirring up a man's felf, is no other than a frequent ufe of the gift of prayer: gifts, like fome metals, if not ufed grow rusty, but the more they are used, the brighter they are; yea, gifts may be loft, though grace cannot; the gift of preaching, through difufe, may come to nothing, and therefore thould be tirred up; that is, not neglected, but diligently cultivated, and frequently exercised: hence that advice of the apostle to Timothy, Stir up the gift of God which is in thee; just as one would ftir up coals under afhes, and embers u Pfalm 1xxx. 14. * Sic tenebat Mofes Deum; il'æ enim voces, demitte me, ut irafcatur furor meus, &c. quid aliud fonant, nifi quod a Mofe fortitur teneretur? ut ad hanc retentionem putem poftea factum allufionem quoties prophetæ hoc verbo utuntur, & de Deo & nobis eft fermo. y Job xxiii. 3, 8, 9. Cant. iii. 1-4. w Exod. xxxii. 10. Gg 2 Forerius in loc. z Ifai. lv. 6. embers which seem to be dead', and would go out if not stirred; and is the fame with neglect not the gift that is in thee: fo to itir up the gift is not to neglect it, but frequently to use it; and in like manner the gift of prayer fhould not be neglected, but be often used; and so to do, is to stir it up: and this is not only to be stirred up, but a man should ftir up himself to it; which he may be faid to do, when he exerts himself, when he calls upon his foul and all within him; as to blefs and praife the Lord for favours bestowed on him, so to pray unto him in faith, for what he stands in need of; as the church resolved to do; With my Spirit within me will I feek thee early; that is, with my whole heart and foul, in the most earnest and preffing manner, will I pray unto thee, and feek thy face and favour. Stirring up a man's felf is opposed to slothfulness in business, and is expreffive of that diligence which becomes the people of God; who fhould be diligent in the exercife of grace, and discharge of duty; and as they should be diligent to add one virtue to another, as to the exercise thereof, and to make their calling and election fure and manifest to others, and to be found of Chrift in peace; fo they should diligently feek the Lord, who is a rewarder of all fuch: the frame of spirit here complained of, is a backwardness to prayer; a remiffness in the performance of that duty; a doing this part of the work of God negligently, or in a cold, lukewarm, fleepy, drowsy manner; being like the difciples of our Lord, who were sleeping whilft he was praying; whom he thus rebukes, Could ye not watch with me one hour? It becomes chriftians to bestir, awake, and arouse themselves, as the word here used * signifies, from their spiritual ftupor and lethargy, at least, to implore the spirit and grace of God to enable them fo to do. The church of Chrift and its members are fometimes as it were afleep; the wife as well as the foolish virgins all slumbered and flept; and this is the case with them, when grace lies dormant, or there is a non-exercise of it; an indifference to the duties of religion, or at most a contentedness in the outward performance of them; an unconcernednefs about fins of omiffion and commiffion; and little or no regard to the glory of God, and the interest of religion. Such a fpirit arifes from the prevalence of the flesh, or corrupt nature; from the heart being overcharged and furfeited with worldly cares; from a weariness in fpiritual exercises, and a ceffation from religious ones; from keeping carnal company; and from its being a night-feafon : great and many are the dangers fuch are expofed unto, and the church of God by their means; which is liable to be filled with hypocrites, and over-run with errors and herefies; for while men fleep, the enemy • Verbum avage-fignificat autem ignem cineribus tectum excitare, fopitam favillam in flammam proferre. Aretius in 2 Tim. i. 6. d Matt. xxvi. 40. b2 Tim. i. 6. 1 Tim. iv. 14. evigilare, opponitur עור ab מתעורר • • Ifai. xxvi. 9. |