41. Mr. Jenkin's Prayer at Christ Church

41. Mr. Jenkin's Prayer at Christ Church
Most blessed and holy Lord God thou art infinitely beyond our apprehensions, who wast infinitely happy before the world was made and wantest none of thy creatures nor their services to make thee more excellent than thou art in thy self: we daily want thee, thou never wantest us: thou art pleased to make use of ordinances, Ministers, Sabbaths, as thy Institutions to accomplish and bring about the great work of thy Glory, and mans Salvation: yet Lord thou dost not need them, thy Spirit is not made efficatious by these things, but it is that that makes these things efficatious: though thou art pleased to tie us to them, when we may have them and duly enjoy them, yet thou dost not tie thy self to them. We desire in these our addresses to eye the happiness of Saints that depends upon him that depends upon none: we are here in thy presense by thy goodness and grace: O whither should we go but to thee? and how should we come but by thee? Oh strengthen our faith, kill our corruptions, inflame our love, give us assurance of thy love to our souls oh that God would teach us how to pray, that we may taste and see how good the Lord is this day, that our souls may be filled as with marrow, that we may by our own experience be able to say, It is good for us to draw nigh to God, and that a day in his house is better then a thousand elsewhere; that there may be a communion between us and God let there be a disunion between us and sin: we confesse we brought sin enough into the world with us, to cause thee to with-draweth, blessed self from us: and to cast such unproffitable servants as we are into utter darkness; we have been a long time in thy school, and yet how dull are we? we might have been teachers of others, but we need our selves be taught which are the first Principles of the oracles of God: we love less than we know, and we do less than we love; we have neither done that good, nor received that good which we should, or might have done and received: We have been trees that have cumbred the ground in thy orchard, but we have brought forth no fruit. Wo unto us that we have not known the day of our visitation: many of us have one foot in the grave, and yet we have lived without God in the world; we are wise in everything but in our own Salvation; we live as if Hell were a priviledge: those of us that have some knowledge of thee, have great cause to repent that we have walked so unworthily of God. Which of us pray continually, and fervently, or live the life of saith? we confess we neither take our afflictions humbly, nor our mercies thankfully nor want our comforts contentedly, nor fill up our relations fruitfully: We live as if Hell were a scare-crow, as if all the threatnings of thy word were an empty noise, as if there were neither sweetness in Heaven, nor bitterness in Hell. When we come into thy presense, where are our hearts? what earthly dispositions do we bring along with us? the sins of our Prayers cry louder then the Supplications of our prayers; what hypocrisie and formality cleaves unto us? If thou dost not look upon the iniquities of our holy things with an eye of pitty, what will become of us? O Lord be pleased to smell a sweet savour of rest and peace through thy dear Son. O Lord, it is only his precious Blood that can sprinkle our hearts and quiet our Consciences, and no other thing: We do renounce our own Works, and we cry out in ourselves, Undone, undone.
It is through thy beloved Son that we are accepted: and therefore to that end bring us to him by a saving operation on thy part, and by our lively trust through the Covenant of Grace on our part: let there be such a unity between Christ and us, that all the powers of Hell may not be able to separate us from thee: speak peace to our hearts, still our consciences, say I have received a sacrifice for you, I shall befriend you, I will be just and faithful to forgive your sins; my Law is sully fulfilled by another, though broken by you: my Justice is fully satisfied by another, though provoked by you: my wrath is ceased by the means of another, though incensed by you.
Oh Lord what a cordial would this be! canst not thou amongst this great multitude of people espy some that through the Spirit of thy Son would worship thee in thine own way? speak peace to every such soul.
Is there any soul before thee, O Lord, to whom thou hast given the grace of desire? O lord give them grace according to their desire: and thou which didst regard us when we were running from thee, do not reject us now we are drawing near thee. And thou which bidst us believe by the command of thy Word, help us to believe by the operation of thy Spirit; draw us that we may be able to follow thee: thy loving kindness is better than life.
Some do say, who will shew us any good? But Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us, and thou wilt glad our hearts more than in the time when Corn, or wine, or Oil increaseth. Let it be fair above head when it is dirty below; let us see one contrary in another; let us confute an eye of sense with an eye of faith; and when we come to see nothing here that can gratifie our senses, let us have something to quiet our souls.
We would fain be at war with sin, that we may be at peace with thee though we cannot return as much as we have received, yet help us to return as much as we can: give us repentance unto life, repentance from dead works; a mourning fat greater for the remembrance of sin, than we have pleasure in the committing of sin: those secret distempers in our souls, that no eye sees but thine, let us cry out, Wretched men that we are, who should deliver us from this body of sin? And as the fear of condemnation doth decrease, so set the fear of transgression increase. And because O Lord, thou hast not made us to bleed with thy greatness, O Lord make us to blush with thy goodness; let us as truely desire that Heaven would enter into us into a way of holiness here, as we desire to enter into Heaven in the way of happiness hereafter.
Let us see that our kindness to sin is cruelty to our Saviour; let net that live quietly one minute with us, that would not let Christ live: let us see there is nothing small by which the great God is offended, and an immortal soul is damned. We are to be in the world but for a while, to take a turn or two and be gone: Oh that we might make it the business of our life to get into Christ; though it be the scorn of men, and burdensome to nature; yet this is that which will bring us peace at last. Let us be what we profess ourselves to be: let us love Christ, and evangelically keep his commandements: let us live by faith, let us keep thy Commandements, let us be above the world in the world; above the love of life, and above the fear of death: let not the smiles of the world allure us, nor the frowns thereof affright us from thee, but in all these things let us be more than conquerers through Jesus Christ: Let us love him much whom we cannot love too much: Help us to be above the power of Hell; let us ever say, My soul, it is good for me to draw nigh to God. Let us be willing rather to be faved with a few, than go to Hell in a crowd: let us live as if Eternity were long, and life but short; let us thrive in holiness, and be brought nearer to thy self by every dispensation; let us in this our day know the things that concern our peace, before they be hid from our eyes, and know the time of our visitation; and though God suffer long, he will strike at last O Lord, bow the heavens and come down among us at this time, and be with the unworthiest of thy servants, and give unto him a door of utterance, and to thin great people a door of entrance, and let them be all taught of God; and let them truly find that the great God is teaching to the heart, when that a weak worm is speaking to the ear; let all the work be done by thee, and let all: he praise redound unto thee; and let him that is with us be greater than he that is in the world: behold us in the Son of thy love, smell a sweet savor of rest on these our poor prayers speak peace to our consciences, rebuke the tempter, tread him under our feet shortly, raise us up to newness of life: let us remember when that which is perfect is, that which is imperfect shall be done away. Hear us, and help us, through our dear Redeemer: let us live for him here, and with him hereafter, and all for his sake, whom not seeing, we love, in whom believing we rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory: to whom, with thee, and thy Sprit, be Glory and Honour, now and forever. Amen.