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Show ,.h,, tJoice of the spo11[e J>romif es roade to it : This is a doleful voice, but a voice which God defires to hear. i be ftcond voice of the Spoufi in FrAyer, is her begging voice,bywhich (he craves thihgs needful for berfelf or others, lor hrr Soul or Body. 1 (hall not muluply words her~, there is none who knows not, how chen the Lord calls ~o us In SCJipture for this, and by how many promifes he hath incouraged us thus to fptak unto him. He hath faid unto us,[eek,my face; As/t and yau fluB have ; {eek,. and you fh•U fin.S; lel•c/t, and it JhaU be •pmea "nto you. She hath alfo another tonein prayer,and that is giving rhan'k• for rnerciu received, and praifing God : 1 will deli• er thee and thou ]halt prazfe me, Hal. 50. 15, you read of the 11oicr ofthank!giving, Pfal. 26. 7· That I may publijhrPith the vaiee •f tbankJgzving; and teU of aU thy wondrous workJ. Thus fa_r r.ow I have opened to you, and alfo proved the tir!l branch of the Propo!ition, 1hat tbe Lord Cbri}i de!ireth to hear his Sp.,[es 11oice, the voice of every bond\ heart, every believing Soul, whe- - rher fpeaking of, and for him; in the profetlion, publick owning and acknowledgment of his truth, or coofefling him before men; or to him, confefliog her fins, begging of him things needful for a herfclf or others; or fioging, or fpeaking his pratfe. But it is further added in the Text ; and I added it in the Doc-trine, · 'Ibat the Lord accauntetb the voice of his. Spaufi {JPetl, 'Ihy voice (faith he) is frPcet. That is, acceptable unto me •. I delight in them; according to that, Mal. 3• 4• 'lbenfhaU tbr· •ffiringH[]udabandRier•folembe pleafant to the Lord, I[. 56.7. 'Ibeir Sacrifices (haU bt aecepttd upon mine Altar. This a>cepting of fervices performed to God, isexprdfed under the old Law, under the phrafc of{meNing a [il>eet fovoHT; which the Apol\le followeth, 2 Cor. 2. •5· and Epbej. 5• 2. The wife man faith, the Praytr of 1be upright is his delight. But how hard a thing is this to an awakened finful Soul to believe? A carnal heart thinks God will be pleafed with any thing, any lip-labour, any' foomar Hypo~riti· cal fervice. On the other fide the awakened Soul finds a difficulty, to perfwadc:it felf that God can be plea fed with any fer vice which it can perform. It will therefore be neceffary that 1 (hould for the further confirmation of your Faith in this momentous bufintfs ; . (hew you upon what grounds, the voice of the Spoufe is fw.eet unto Chrifi, yea and necelfarily mufi be fo; if we confider the uttering of this her voice. t. A'S How tle Spo~tfu f!oice isfrPeet to the LorelJefus. J. As an act of obedienct Ia the divine rvi/1. Hath the Lord ( faith Samuel to S •rr~,) as much plea fore in Sacrifict as in Obedi- 1 Sam. is.u; t~e of bu wzll, lo obey ubetttr than Sacrzfict. Obedience is in all thmgs a? acceptable thing to God, and hence we (hall lind God contemmng thofe Services which himfelf infiituted, when not performed as he commanded ; for it was not the Sacri fice but the Obedience in it which God looked at. A man mufi have very low thoughts of God, that can think, that any act olhich mao did as .an homage to God, lhould be pleating to him upon the account of t~e worth or dignity of the thin g. Look upon the J,w;p. Sacrtfices of old ; they brought a Heiler or a Lamb, or a Turtle- Dove, or a young Pigeon; what worth what dignity could be in thefe things, part ofthefe were burnt upon the Altar. God fpeak> of [mrUiHg a fwut favour from them; from what? from the beal\ or part burned,that fent out a Hench; the fweet favour was from the obedimce,.which in this Act the Jrws Chewed to the will of God. God requtreth of us, to let him hear our voice, in all thofe fenfes I have lhewed ; he tells us our voice is frPetl : Whence arifeth the fJPettnefi, from our Souls Obedience to the revealed wiU •fGol· > Hence by. the way we may obferve that no homage we pay t~ Go~, in which· there is no Obedie~ce, can poflibly be accept• ble ~ to htm ; ~e mull be able to ·anfwer that Q:!eflion, Who bath re-qu~ red thts a~ your hands? This well digefied may confirm our Fa!th,as to t~1s,that the voict of the Spaufe it [weet Ia Chri(!;becaufc It IS ~hat wh1ch he hath required at our haods, it is the Obfllztnct •f b?s. rvz/1 :. And by the way it is of wonderful ufe to fatisfy a <:hrtfhan, d1fcouraged at his reflection upon the imperfedioo of hts Pq'formances; Or upon the viewing ol the perfection of God, and hts glory and excellency; and the poverty and nothiognefs of what he hath done. When a Chrifiian is thinking with himfelf A hi wha.t a P?O~ (battered prayer have I now made! what a pi~itu~ fervtce this IS fo~ fuch. a glorious God as I ferve! I fay this Owuld wonderfully fa~tsfy htm: Ah,but I have done the will of God ; 1 have done as he hath bidden me, therefore he will accept it. Suppofe a poor man had brought under theJewifh Hate,a pair ofTur~ e·Doves, and two young P1geons,and in the finceri ty of his or er heart offered them to God ; had he, or lhe, think you,any !Cafon to have gone home and fate down difcouraged · and faid Ah! what a pittiful offering have I offered, others ha~e offered: lluiiQl:ks, G'oats, Rams, what is my Turtle-Dove ? might not Aaa2 they |