The spiritual sacrifice, or, A treatise wherein several weighty questions and cases concerning the saints communion with God in prayer are propounded and practically improved by Mr. Alexander Pitcarne.

Sect. 2. Who once were, but now are not capable of, nor called to offer up this spiritual Sacrifice?

Whether the Angels and Saints in glory do pray; and whether the devils and damned, may pray and call upon God?

That Angels and Men while viators, and before they were stated into an unalterable condition, might have offer∣ed up their desires to God, and so were capable of, and fit to be employed in this spirituall exercise, will not, I think, be denyed by any; and it is no less certain that devils, and the(a) 1.1 spirits in prison, the souls of the damned now in torment dare not, they may not now look up to God, they dare not now draw nigh to him who is a(b) 1.2 consuming fire to them, they will not worship him and present their sup∣plications to him, and though they were able and willing, it were to no purpose, God would not accept of them who have let the acceptable time pass away: It is to no purpose to supplicate the Iudge after the sentence is pro∣nounced.

But it is more dubious whether or not good Angels, and the(c) 1.3 spirits of just men made perfect do pray, that there is no unfitness in the thing, is granted on all hands; but the question is, whether now de facto, they are thus em∣ployed, or if all their work be to behold, enjoy, admire and praise him who hath put an incorruptible(d) 1.4 crown upon their heads. 2. If the Church triumphant doth in the gene∣rall pray for the Church militant, that God would preserve them from the rage, and malice of devils and men, that he would comfort, and strengthen them under all their trials and temptations. 3. If also in particular, such and such Saints, do pray for such and such mercies, to such and such particular persons.

As for the two first branches of the question, orthodox

Divines do not deny, that the Angels and Saints in glory do, 1. pray, and 2. in the general, offer up their desires for their brethren, while they are standing in the open field exposed to the violence of so many and potent enemies, that the Lord would pity, uphold and strengthen them; albeit they call to Papists for some evidence from Scripture, before they determine that as a point of faith and indubitable truth. Hence the learned(e) 1.5 Chamier doth bring all the arguments alledged by Papists unto the triall, and hath discovered their weakness; yet not denying, but on the contrary granting that there is much(f) 1.6 probability in the thing; only he doth(g) 1.7 deny that the Saints in glory do know our particular exi∣gences and straits, and that peculiarly they pray for such and such mercies to such and such persons: But of this more when we come to speak against our invocating of, and pray∣ing unto them.

But it may be askt, whether the souls in glory do now pray for any thing to themselves? And here(h) 1.8 Thomas speaks more sparingly then the later Papists, affirming that they only pray for the resurrection and glory of their bodies, since they stand in need of no other thing to compleat their happiness: But Al.(i) 1.9 Alensis will have them, not only to pray for what they want, but also for what they have, that their happiness may be continued with them. And the com∣mon opinion amongst them, though it be not so gross, yet it hath a most fabulous foundation, viz. that the(k) 1.10 Saints in glory, as to the measure, degree and increase of their happiness, are yet, as it were, on the way, and are subject to some mutation, and thus are capable of a farther measure of happiness which they do pray for, and for all the means whereby this their accidental happiness (as they call it) may be promoved.

We will not digress to confute that conceit, and to shew that after(l) 1.11 death we are judged, and stated into an un∣alterable condition, that the tree must ly as, and where,

it falleth, that this day of our life is the time we have to run the race, to fight the good fight, and that with our dayes we must finish our course, that we must be judged according to the deeds done in the body, after the night of death cometh, no man can work any more; the long day of eternity is for wearing, and not for purchasing the crown, or any pearl to be added to it: And why should I prove what the Lord by a voice from heaven hath attested, that these who die in the Lord are blessed, and that their works done on earth do follow them? but in heaven they rest from their la∣bours, Rev. 13.14. I did think that heaven was our home and(m) 1.12 resting place; and if after the Saints be come thither, they be yet in viâ, I would ask when they shall come to their journeys end? For I see no reason why unto all eternity they may not alwaies be panting after, and endea∣vouring for some new addition to their happiness (according to their principles who plead for this accidental felicity, to which they ascribe so great a latitude) for, if after the crown is put on their head, it be lyable to so many changes, I know not when it wall be so fixed, that it will suffer no new altera∣tion and addition: If the particular(n) 1.13 judgment after death doth not state us into an unchangable condition, why should the generall Judgment do it?

2. As for Alensis his(o) 1.14 conjecture, it doth suppose that the Saints shall never be secure of their happiness which they enjoy, and that we shall be still under the Ordinances; and that we must use the means after we have attained the end, that the state of glory is alterable, and the sentence of the great Judge revocable.

3. As to Thomas his opinion, it is more probable; but the souls in glory, being so fully satisfied with the beatifieal vision and fruition of God, they can have no anxiety, fear, unquietness, or dissatisfaction with their present condition; and though their bodies be in the dust, and they may be said to long for the consummation of their happiness, in the ri∣sing

again of their bodies, and their partaking (according to their capacity) of the Crown of felicity; yet since they are sure that the day of Coronation (when both soul and body, being united, shall be filled with glory) is approaching, it may be questioned, whether or not they pour out these longings and desires prayer-wayes to God? For they being now above Ordinances, and faith being changed into vision, and hope into fruition, it seemeth most agreeable to that state, that prayers also should be changed into continual praises.

As for that place, Rev. 6.9, 10. which is mainly urged for their praying for the consummation of their happiness, (albeit the prayer there mentioned, is intended against their persecu∣tors; and only in the return made, ver. 11. there is a word which may aime at the Resurrection, which though it be there promised by God, yet it was not askt by them; and it is mentioned there rather to design the period of time, and date of the return of their prayer, then as a part of it.) I do not deny that some of our(p) 1.15 Divines do seem to say, that it is a proper prayer; yet we rather think with Tironius (whom Ribera on that place citeth, and though a Papist doth not re∣ject) that the souls of them who were slain for the Word, are there said to cry for vengeance on persecutors; not that they did truly, and properly pour out any such complaint against them, unto whom, while on earth they prayed for mer∣cy and pardon, but that their sufferings and their blood (like(q) 1.16 Abels) did cry against ••••e murtherers, and such as suc∣ceeded to them in their cruelty and persecution.

As for the souls in hell, they are to come to their (as it is said of Judas, Act. 1.25. that he went to his) own place; that place of torment, of weeping and gnashing of teeth; that place of dispair, cursing and blasphemie (and so cannot be a place of hope, supplication and prayer) they know how false that fancy is, which commonly is ascribed to(r) 1.17 Origen; and that they shall never come out of that

prison untill they have(s) 1.18 payed the very last farthing; and they not being solvendo, and never able to satisfie for the least offence (but must still contract new debt) therefore can conceive no ground of hope that ever they shall escape; and thus in dispair they continually belch out cursings and blas∣phemies.

We do indeed read of a conference between a rich man in hell, and Abraham, Luk. 16.24. &c. Where Dives be∣moaneth his sad condition unto Abraham, but dare not look up to God and present his supplications unto him: But it was for no purpose to him to run to the empty Cistern, after the fountain was stopped; its folly to run to the Saints for help, when the Lord himself doth hide his face. And the scope of this parable (so its conceived to be rather then a History) is to show how hopelesse and remedilesse the condition of the damned is, and that they need not look either to God or man, for help and relief.

You will say,* 1.19 Is it not their duty to call upon God? are they not as his creatures obliged to worship him?* 1.20 Their pri∣son and bonds, cannot discharge them of that debt. Ans. Every part of immediate worship, should rather be considered as the creatures priviledge then duty; though Subjects must wait upon their King, yet they may not approach the Throne without a call; Whosoever, whether man or woman, did thus come unto Ahasuerus into the inner Court, he must die, none was to be spared but he to whom the King held forth the gol∣den Scepter, Esth. 4.11. And now the damned are(t) 1.21 chaffs, and God to them is a(u) 1.22 consuming fire, and he hath told them he will never stretch forth the golden Scepter to them; and therefore they may not, they dare not draw nigh to him, they have lost that priviledge, and prayer can be no more a mean to them of good, whatever may be said of it under some subtile abstraction, and the naked consideration of it as a duty, which they little mind, or regard; and therefore the very thoughts of a communion with God, and drawing nigh to him in any Ordinance, must be a torment and abhorring unto them; and though they may not, yet it leaves not off to be their sin, that they do not draw nigh to God, because through

their own fault they have brought upon themselves that cur∣sed incapacity, which now is(x) 1.23 both their sin and their misery.

You will say, did not the devil pray to God,* 1.24 and ask a licence to plague Job; Job 1.11. and 2.5. And did not the devils beseech Christ to suffer them to enter into the herd of Swine?* 1.25 Mat. 8.31. Ans. Its one thing to(y) 1.26 ask from God, another thing to pray unto him; though he who pray∣eth must ask, yet every sort of asking is not a prayer, unless it be a religious asking, by way of adoration and worship; it is a religious offering up of our desires to God, as a part of that homage and service we owe to him, and that thereby he might be glorified: But Sathan did not thus ask from God, whose worship and service he abhorreth, and whom in all his wayes he laboureth to dishonour: and therefore he cannot be said to pray unto him, whatever he may ask from him. Though Papists dare(z) 1.27 dispute, yet none of them are so im∣pudent, as to deny that Oratio est actus Religionis, and that it doth import a religious adoration of God.

If you enquire how Sathan dare ask any thing of God, whom he laboureth to dishonour in all his wayes? Ans. Though Sathan be already sentenced, and sent to prison; yet that sen∣tence will not be fully executed, as to his torment and con∣finement, till the great and generall Judgment; and there∣fore, though now he be in everlasting chains of darknesse, yet he is said to be reserved unto the Judgment of the great day, Jud. ver. 8. And therefore during this time of hard repri∣vall, some links of this chain are now and then loosed, and this(a) 1.28 prisoner is permitted to ascend out of the bottomlesse pit, as an executioner of Gods wrath, to deceive, insnare, and plague a wicked, secure and rebellious world; and he thirsting after mans ruin and misery, and the dishonour of God, may be permitted to ask a licence to plague sinners, and to chastise the godly (though he intend their ruin). And the Lord in wrath to him and the vessells of wrath, and for the tryall of his servants, may give to him, as his Lictor and Offi∣cer a commission, and grant his desire, and yet make his work become a(b) 1.29 snare to himself, and in that great day

reckon with him for all his snares and temptations laid before the sons of men.

O! ye who are yet in the land of the living, and under the use of the means; when ye consider the case of the devils and damned, praise God that your case is not as hopelesse and irrecoverable; as theirs, that the door is not yet shut upon you, that ye may draw nigh to God; that the King is yet on the Throne of mercy, stretching out the golden Scepter unto you, so that you need not fear to approach and present your supplications unto him: O! Be of good courage (may I say as they unto blind Bartimeus, Mark 10.26.) rise, he cal∣leth thee, and if thou answer his call, he will not, he cannot in(c) 1.30 any wayes reject thee. O! But take heed that thou mispend not and squander away the market day: What knowest thou O man! how soon thy glasse may be turned? it may now be the evening of thy day; O! then run, that night surprize thee not: O! run to the King for a pardon before this short day of thy reprivall be past. I have read of one, who being askt why he prayed so much; O said he, I must die; O! remember this, all ye that forget God, that forget your selves, and do not consider what ye have lying at the stake, if you do not present your supplications to the King, while he holds forth the golden Scepter unto you; if thou make not thy peace with him whom thou hast provo∣ked, while thou art in the way, thou wilt be sent to the prison, from which there is no out-coming; Mat. 5.25, 26. Oh! draw nigh to God in time, and consider your wayes before he come against you as an enemy to tear you in pieces, when there will be none to deliver you, Psal. 50.22.15, Though ye would then cry to him, it would be to no pur∣pose; he will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction as a whirle-wind, Prov, 1.26, 27. Though thou wouldst howl to God to all eternity, though streams of tears; yea, though of blood should continually drop from thine eyes, it should do thee no good. O! that ye(d) 1.31 knew in this your day, the things that belong to your peace, before they be hid from your eyes; this is the

acceptable day, this is your day of prayer, and the day of Gods hearing; come then with confidence unto the throne of grace, and he will give you an answer of peace.

Notes

• (a) 1.1

  1 Pet. 3.19.
• (b) 1.2

  Heb. 12.29.
• (c) 1.3

  Heb. 12.23.
• (d) 1.4

  1 Cor. 9.25.
• (e) 1.5

  Dan. Chamier panst. tom. 2. lib. 8. cap. 3, 4.
• (f) 1.6

  P. Mar∣tyr grants that they desire the good of the E∣lect: but he doubts if they offer up these desires prayer-wayes to God Quanquam ego facile ad∣misero san∣ctos in patriâ votis arden∣tissimis salu∣tem electo∣rum optare, non tamen ausim dicere cos pro illis orare, praeser∣tim cum scri∣ptura id nus∣quam doceat. loc. com. cl. 3. loc. 13. sect. 16.
• (g) 1.7

  Cham. loc. cit. cap. 5, 6, 7, 8.
• (h) 1.8

  Tho. 2.2. quaest. 83. art. 11. ad 1. sanctis in patriâ nihil deest beatitu∣dinis nisi glo∣ria corporis pro qua cr∣ant,
• (i) 1.9

  Apud Swar. in 2.2, tract, 4. lib. 1. de or cop. 11. Sect. 9.
• (k) 1.10

  Vid. Swar. loc, cit. Sect. 11.
• (l) 1.11

  Heb. 9.27. Eccles. 11.3. 1 Cor. 9.24.25. 1 Tim 4.7, 8. Rom. 2, 6. &c. Joh. 9.4.
• (m) 1.12

  Heb. 4.9, 10.
• (n) 1.13

  Quod e∣nim in die ju∣dicii futurum est omnibus, hoc in singulis die mortis im∣pletur. Hiero∣nym. in Joel. cap. 2.
• (o) 1.14

  Yet Me∣dina his con∣ceit is more grosse, who af∣firmeth that neither Gods Word nor works, can be a ground of confidence. Deus potesta∣tem suam non alligavit Scripturis & promissis quae in Scriptura continentur. Jo. Med. cod de orat. quaest 6. But of this more part 2. and part 4. where we shall hear Mendoza (though a Papist) blush at such abominable doctrine.
• (p) 1.15

  As Dio∣dat. on the place, and Seb. Mayer apud Marlo∣rat. in loc. &c. But M. Tho∣mas Good∣win loc. cit. sect, 5. ch. 7. pag. 109. speaketh most expresly, affir∣ming that this is not spoken metaphorical∣ly of them, but truly done by them, that not only their blood, but themselves did cry.
• (q) 1.16

  Heb. 21.24. Thus also the English Divines, and Dr. Hamond interpret the place; and Mr. Durham. and Da. Pa∣raeus, grant that here is an allusion to the cry of A∣bels blood. Heb. 12.24.
• (r) 1.17

  Mr. Rosse〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 sect. 7. quaest. 22. pag. (mihi) 202. à Castro adver. haer. lib. 8. de inf. 2. haer. pag. (mihi) 620. August. de haeres. cap. 43. But its though that Origens writings have been miser ably corrupted by hereticks.
• (s) 1.18

  Luk. 12.59. Mat. 5.26.
• * 1.19

  Obj.
• * 1.20

  Ans.
• (t) 1.21

  Luk. 3.17.
• (u) 1.22

  Heb. 12.29.
• (x) 1.23

  Peccatum & paena pecca∣ti.
• * 1.24

  Obj.
• * 1.25

  Ans.
• (y) 1.26

  Petitio est quid commu∣nius & quas•• genus precati∣onis, unde recte Swarez loc. cit. lib. 1. cap 2. sect. 10 In hâc vero materiâ (in∣quit) oratio sumitur pro specie quâdam perfectissimae petitionis quae religiosa fit & ad cultum Dei pertineat, & ideo per petiti∣onem tanquam per genus defi∣nitur.
• (z) 1.27

  Cum Thom. 2.2. quaest 83. art. 3.
• (a) 1.28

  Rev. 20.7, 3.
• (b) 1.29

  Some think that Sathans torment shall be the greater the moe be bringeth to hell; and thus in some respect they are yet Viators, and are reserved unto an addi∣tional sen∣tence.
• (c) 1.30

  Joh. 6.37.
• (d) 1.31

  Luk. 19.42.