Of God's Omniprefonct. Fiyft, Be~aufe Heaven is the moft glorious place; there God efpccially bath cfi:abhfhed hts Throne of Grace, and fits upon it. Now, becaufe it is moft Glorious and Majeftic.k, and fince God is there to hear Suits and receive Petitions that arc tend red up by all hisServo~mts here onEarth,therefore theScriptt~tre direfrcth ~s to that moft glorious and celeftial place, He aY thou in Heavm. Hence we have that E.xpreffion, Affs 10. 4· Thy Prayers and thine Alms are come ttp for tt Memorial before God. Certainly, if our Prayers fuould not be heard till they come to Heaven, they arc fo weak and faint, that they would be out of breath hy the way, and not be able then to fpeak for the~?felves: But yet God fpeaks in us by his Spirit, and keeps alive the Senfe of his MaJcfty upon our Hearts, that he would not have us think it to be a mean and trivial thing to have our Prayers heard; therefore he rcprefcnts himfelf to us Arrayed in all his Glory. Secondly, Our Prayers are dirctrcd to God in Heaven, becanfc though he hears them where-ever they be uttered, yet he no where hears them with accepta tion but in Heaven only. Our Prayers are accepted by God becaufc they are heard in Heaven. Thy Prayers arc not accepted by God beca11fe God hears them upon Earth, as they are heard in thy Clofu, or as they are heard in thy Heart, but only as they are heard in Heaven ; and the rcafon is, becaufe that Prayers arc acceptable only as they are prefented before, God in the Meditation and lntcrceffion of Jefus Chrift. He muft mingle them with the lncenfe of his Merits, before they can afcend up before God as a fweet Savour. Now Chrift performs his Mediatory Office . no where but in Heaven; for though, as God, he be every where prefent, as the Father is, and therefore hears your Prayers whercfoever they be put up; yet, as Mediator, they are only heard in Heav!!n by him; and he hears no Prayers, but the Prayers of his People, as he is Mediator; and therefore it is no comfort to you, that Chrift hears your Prayers, as he is God only, for fo he doth, and cannot but do it, unlefs· he hears your Prayers likewife as he is Medrator. Now Chrift, as he is Mediator, he is God-man, for as he wrought out oui· Salvation in both Natures, fo he ftill continues to mediate for us in both Natures: And fince theHumaa Nature is only in H~avcn, therefore it follows, he performs the Mediatory Office only in Heaven. Now it is the Mediatorlhip of Chrifi: alone that makes all our Prayers· and Duties acceptable to God 8imfelf, therefore it concerns us !till to pray, Lord, hear tu in Heaven. It is in vain that thou heareft me on Earth, unlefs thou heareft in Heaven too. My Prayers cannot be heard acceptably, unlefs thou heareft them twice; thou heareft my Prayers on Earth; not a Word of my Tongue but thou heareft; but what will it avail thy Servant, unlefs thou heardl my Prayers a fecond time repeated over to thee in the lnterceffion and Mediation of Jefus Chrift in Heaven? And therefore, faith So/amon, 1 Kings 8. 3+ HeAr thou. in Heaven, and forgive. When God fhall only hear on Earth, he will be.fo far from forgiving, that he will be avenged; but when he hears our Prayers in Heaven, through the Mediation of Chrift, then he is inclined to forgive and pardon us. Hence we find, that the Jews prayed towards the Temple, which was a Type of Heaven, and the .Altar and Incenft and Mercy· Seat in this Temple were Types of . Chrift, who is now in Heaven. And therefore DAniel, when in Babylon, he prayed, hU Window being open towards 'Jeruflllem, towards the Temple; as if no Prayer we~e acceptable to God, but what was heard in Heaven. So 'Jonah, when he was m the Belly of the Whale, Jonah 2. 7· My Prayer came in unto thee, into thine Holy Temple. Jonah was a ftrong Orator when he was in the fiimy Paunch of the Whal~ ; yea, but God was there, and G~d heard him there; but yet his Prayer would have been as filthy as his Perfon, if God had not heard him elf~where than in the Belly of the Whale. My Prayer came in u,nto thee, into thine Holy Temple. That is, God heard him in Heaven. And therefore, though the Breath of 'Jfmah could have no fweetnefs, yet tbe Prayer that he breathed forth, came UP, as lncenfe and a fweel Perfume before God as it came into the Holy Temple. Thus God hears the Prayers of his in Heaven; but the Prayers of the Wicked he hears only upon Earth; he hears them when they fpcak them, bu~ G'od never hears their Prayers iu the Mediation of Chrift; but the Prayers of his own People he hears on Earth, as he is an omniprefent and omnipotent God; and he hears ~hem in Heaven as he is a gracious and reconciled Father. If thou doft: b_ut ~h1fper ,thy Prayer, God will hear it; that which is but whifpered on Earth, It rmgs and eccho's in the Court of Heaven; and if Chrift fpeaks our Prayers over to God, they
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