A cordial for Christians traveling heavenward being the substance of some sermons upon the eight chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Romans / preached in the city of Edinburgh by a minister of the Gospel there.

Verse 27.

And he that searcheth the Hearts, knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit because he maketh Intercession for the Saint•• according to the Will of God.

HEre the Apostle adds the Consolation, th•• God accepts the indistinct and confused Pray∣ers of the Saints, and he gives the reason of this ac∣ceptance, 1st. He knows, what in these Prayer•• flowes from his Spirit; men in confusion cannot tak•• up what is the good, and what is the bad of thei•• Prayers, but God can take it up, because he search∣eth the Heart, and by searching knowes what i•• perfectly in it, and so can accept the good and refus•• the evil in them. 2d. Cause of acceptance is, Th•• good of these Prayers comes from his Spirit, and therefore he cannot, and he will not refuse the good desires that are excited by his Spirit sent into thei•• Hearts. A 3d. Cause is, these good Desires an•• Intercessions are made for the Saints, for their Spi∣ritual and Eternal Good, whose Felicity God intends to bring to a Perfection. A 4th. Cause is, that this Intercession made by the Spirit, is according to the

Will of God, that is, according to his Promise, for the Spirit excites no desire in a Saint for any good but what is promised of God. 2ly. Thir desires are according to the revealed Will of God, which is the Rule of Duty, and agreeable thereto, the De∣sires excited by the Spirit are all lawful Desires. 3ly. Thir Desires are according to Gods Will, because attended with submission to his disposeing Will.

Observe 1st The Designation that God gets in the Text, he is called the Searcher of Hearts, and one, that by searching, perfectly knowes the Heart; man by Reflections can but know his Heart imper∣fectly, for the Lusts of his Heart are deceitful, and darkens his mind, that he cannot see all the evil that is in his Heart perfectly; and the number and great∣ness of the evils, that is in the Heart of the best marrs the mind of man from taking up the good that is mixt with these evils. Next Satan does not per∣fectly know what is in the Heart, he only can con∣jecture by the external Conversation and Tempera∣ture of the Body what is in it, but God has the per∣fect knowledge of it, he framed it, and therefore knows it. 3ly. The Heart of Man, as to its act∣ings, depends on Gods Influences, the Heart of man is in the hand of the Lord, and he turneth it whe∣thersoever he will. 3ly. The internal Acts of a Mans Heart and Soul; is regulate by the Divine Law, and the Sum of the Law is to love the Lord with all our Heart, alse well as to give him external Service, and therefore he being Judge of them, he must know them: In a Word, his Immensity and Omniscience makes him perfectly know all the Good and al the Evil that is in the Heart.

Use of this is first, to exhort Folks to look well to the Heart, that it be right, for God knows it; we should look to this, that the Heart hate the Ill and love the Good. 2ly. This is very comfortable to these that are sincere, for let the World calum••¦niate as they please, God sees the contrary. 3ly. It may terrify the Hypocrite, who professes fair and neglects the Heart.

Observe next, That God accepts and hears the sincere Prayers of the oppressed Saints, The Tex•• says, he knows what is the mind of the Spirit, tha•• is, he approves and hears the Desires excited by the Spirit in the Hearts of the Godly; This is cle•• from the returns he gives to those Prayers, b•• giving Spiritual and Temporal Mercies, This Go•• doth to keep his promise, for he has promised t•• hear the Prayers of his People. 2ly. To convinc•• the Atheistical World of a Providence. And 3•• To testify his respect to Prayer, and to endear th•• Exercise to the Saints. 4ly. To testify his respect t•• Christ for whose sake he hears them. 5ly. To testi•• that Blessed Harmony, that is amongst the Persons 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Trinity, in carrying on the Work of our Salv••¦tion; The Father hears these Prayers that are d••¦ctate by the Spirit for the Saints Good. 6ly. Th•• he may sweeten our Mercies, as coming to us th•• way, and intimate his Love to his Saints thereb•• see Dan. 9. And 7ly. That he may put a note o•• respect on his Saints, and shew the view of the moyen with him, as he did to Moses and Daniel.

Use, Seing this is a priviledge of the Saints, L••¦bour to win to these Prayers, that prevails with God and for this effect, First, Labour to be renewed,

be Saints, for it is only the Prayers of such, that prevails with him. 2ly. See that your Prayers come not so much from the gift of Prayer, as from the Grace of Prayer, let them come from an Holy In∣clination to promote your spiritual good, they must come from the Spirit, 3ly. They must be lawful, desires agreeable to his will. 4ly. They must be attended with submission. 5ly. They must be foun∣ded on the the promise. 6ly. They must be single Desires, we must not regard Iniquity in our heart. Psal. 66.18. 7ly. They must be fervent, groanings unutterable. 8ly. They must be attended with Breathings after the publick good of the Saints Eph. 6, 16 9ly. They must be in faith, Ja: 1, 3. 10ly, They must be free of resentment and revenge; see 1 Timothy 2, 8.

Use 2d, Of Tryal, Since the great reason why the Lord hears the Prayers of his People, is because they flow from his Spirit, ye would try whether your Prayers come from the Spirit or not, And 1st. ye would try by the matter of your Prayers, whether they be spiritual things or no these Prayers that are from the Spirit are for spiritual things, Rom. 8, 5. 2ly, Try the subject that Prayer is seated in, if it be in the Heart, God by searching the Heart finds the Prayers raised by the Spirit there, see the Text, The mind is right∣ly attentive, both as to the matter and manner of Praying, the intention is found to use Mercies to Gods Glory, the Affections have something of Purity and Heavenlyness in them, see 2 Sam: 7, 18. Isai: 26, 8. 3ly, Try it by the abundance of Prayer in the Heart, see Eph: 6, 16, where the abundance of Prayer is there will be these several parts of Prayer: First, as

Confession, Thansgiving Supplications for Good and Deprecations of Evil. 2ly, In this abundanc•• there will be fervour of the Desire, Groanings u••¦utturable, see the preceeding Verse. 3ly. In th•• abundance there will be strong spiritual Reasoning from the promise, see Neh: 1. A 4th, Mark of th•• Spirits Prayers is, the frequency, of them they wil•• Pray always, Eph. 6, 17. A 5th. is, Delays and Re∣pulses will not discourage them, they will continu•• therein with all perseverance, see Eph. 6.17. A 6th is, They will be for all Saints, see ibid. A 7th. The•• will be attended with a Holy constancy in the Chri∣stian profession; this lays by the Prayers of those that are guilty of Fundamental Errours in their Judgement. An 8th. Mark is, There will be tender∣ness in their conversation, see for these two last th•• 20 Verse of the Epistle Jude. And an 9th. is, The•• will be attended with Repentance, see Zach 12.1••

The 3d. Use of Tryal, since God hears the Prayer of his People, We would try if God has heard us or not. And 1st. Try it by this, whether God h•• given us that which we desired or no. 2••. Mark is, if he hears us he intimates his pardon to us, Psa. 85.8. A 3d. is, He gives us a farther degree 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Reformation of our Life, Psal. 85, last. A 4th. Mark is, He gives us strength and support to be•• our Tryals, Psal. 138. In the day I cryed, he an∣swered me, and strengthened me with strength in my Soul. A 5th. Mark, He gives them the faith of ac∣ceptation, he makes them joyful in the house 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Prayer, Isai. 57. A 6th. Mark is, he disposes their heart to improve their Mercy for their advantage, he hears the desire of the humble, he prepares their

heart and hears their cry, Psal, 10, 17. A 7th. is, He removes their distrustful Anxiety, see Han••as case. Phil. 4, 6.

A 5th Use is, An 2d Use of Exhortation, Since God hears the Prayers of his People, we should wait for God, and expect the Answer; we should direct our Prayers to God, and look up, Psal. 5, 2••y. We should observe Providences, and see what Answer we get, 3ly. We should not abuse the Answer of our Prayers, to be proud of them, but we should improve them to our best advantage, for the confirmation of our Faith, for the exciteing of our Love, and for the en∣dearing of Prayer more to us.