will not suffer mee to paint them out to the life yea I know how many large volumes have beene published already on this subject by worthy and learned men only by the by as it were and in so farre as the vvords here shall offer us occasion I will point at them and from their weake considerations speake some words of comfort and instruction to your soules It is certaine that the chiefe and arch enemy of mans salvation is Sathan the devill who hath beene a lyer to man and a murtherer of man from the beginning But because he is a spirit therefore invisible that man cannot know him whilst hee fights with him he suborneth two souldiers against man the world from without man the flesh the lusts thereof within man that man having fightings within terrors without may fall and never rise againe But that I may make you senfible of these his assaults and temptations know that whilst I speak of the world I do not understand this great and majesticke frame of the world composed of these foure elements fire aire earth and water for by these man is not tempted all and every one of these Sathan hath imployed to punish man for sin but by none of these hath hee at any time tempted man for sinne But by the world I understand the children of disobedience and wicked ones that are in the vvorld and that not simply or absolutely as they are flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones but conditionally and as they are either cloathed with prosperity and wealth or else as they are stripped naked in the day of their want and misery And that the wicked of the world are called of God the world it is cleare out of that prayer of our Saviour Christ whilst hee saith I pray not for the world but for those whom thou hast given mee out of the world Now these as they stand either invested or cloathed with prosperity or stripped naked with calamity and want do prove a stumbling blocke and snare or temptation to the children of God For in the day of their prosperity by their carnall joy wherewith they are overjoyed in their pleasures by their carnall security whereby they cry peace to themselves when God mindeth them no peace and by their proud trampling upon the weake and despising of them that want what do they but invite us to runne with them in the excesse of their riot and by their temporall felicities labour to draw away if it were possible the very elect of God from the search and purchase of that felicity which is immortall and undefiled Againe in the day of their adversity what do they but cry to us with Iobs wife Curse God and die With Iehoram I will wait no longer on the Lords leisure And with Israel in the wildernesse Would God wee had dyed by the flesh pots of Egypt But brethren vvith these things let us not be moved let neither the prosperity of the vvicked draw thee to a carnall rejoycing or love of the vvorld for the prosperity of the vvicked is but like cracking of thornes under a pot nor let the calamity of the godly vvho suffer justly for their sinnes dravv thee to apostacie and back-sliding from the faith for it is better to suffer affliction with the children of God then to enjoy the perishing pleasures of sinne for a season Heb. 11. And it is more honourable for us to imbrace the Crosse of Jesus Christ then all the treasures of a corrupt and perishing Egypt Againe Sathan in the second place hireth our flesh to fight against us and here by the word flesh I do not understand this body of ours alone which is composed of flesh blood but also that naturall corruption which we have drawne from the loynes of our first parents who have infected us both soule and body and dwelling in us fighteth desperately and maliciously against us This corruption the Scripture expresseth by many names and titles as The old man The old Adam The naturall man The law of our members and The lusts of the flesh which fight against the soule Thus wee see that the flesh is also our enemy and so much the more odious by how much it is traiterous For of it wee may say what David said in Psalm 41. My familiar friend whom I trusted and hee that lay in my bosome and did eate bread with mee hath lifted up his heele against mee To this Iudas who betrayeth us wee may justly say It were good for thee thou hadst never bin borne To this Dalilah wee may say If thou hadst not plowed with my heyfer thou couldst not have read my riddle To this wife of Iob wee may say Thou speakest like a foolish woman And lastly to this unadvised counseller wee may justly say Get thee behinde mee Sathan for thou knowest not the things that are of God but the things that are of man Now wouldst thou know O man why thou shouldst so encounter thy flesh I answer because it is thy deadly enemy and that in three respects In respect of malice of power and policy In respect of malice for it is written In mee that is in my flesh there dwelieth no good Rom. 7.18 Now that wherein there is no good must of necessity bee exceedingly malicious and fully replenished with evill Tucaro saith a Father cunctis virtutibus denudata es ideo diceris caro a carendo quia cares omni bono And would you have a true anatomy of the flesh looke to St Paul Rom. 3. Her eyes are full of adultery her throat an open sepulcher her mouth the mouth of deceit the poyson of aspes is under her lips her feet are swift to shed blood destruction and calamity are in her wayes and the way of the Lord shee hath not knowne Secondly the flesh is a powerfull enemy both in respect of the unregenerate and also in respect of the regenerate In the unregenerate it is a mighty King in the regenerate it is a cruell tyrant In the unregenerate I say it is a mighty king for as a King in his kingdome swayes the scepter enacteth lawes forceth obedience and subdueth rebells So is it in the unregenerate man sinne beareth dominion giveth a law to the members and leadeth all the affections captive to disobedience And from this it is that the Apostle exhorteth us not to suffer sinne to raigne in our mortall bodies And as the flesh is a King in the unregenerate so in the regenerate it is a cruell tyrant for howsoever by the grace of God in Jesus Christ wee are set free from the law of Sinne and of death yet so long as wee dwell in the body it dwelleth in us and both tormenteth us with the torture of a wounded conscience for sinne past with continuall molestation to sinne in time to come So that the best of Gods Saints have deeply sighed and groaned under the yoke and bondage thereof David could say I dwell too long in
in Essence although distinguished in Persons in the world nothing but union the heavens giving light the clouds giving raine the fire giving heate the windes giving breath and refreshment after the world what shall bee but union Gather my Saints together from the foure Corners of the world that there may bee but one shepheard and one sheepfold and that may be over all and in all yet because this doth not satisfie the question let us see where in our union with Christ doth consist I answere our union with him standeth manifest in foure things 1. We have an union with him which giveth us love 2. By his union wee have Sympathie 3. By his union we have influence 4. By his union wee have a share and fellowship in riches I have said that by his union we have love as the husband hath with the wife wee have sympathie as the members have with the head we have influence and sappe as the Branches have from the root finally and we have a share in riches three wayes an union in his Essence an union in his Office and an union in his vertues In his essence for he that was God became man that man might become the sonne of God In his office for in him wee are made to the Father Kings Priests and Prophets In his vertues for hee of God was made to us wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption But that the words may be a little more cleare let me tell you that the word Our looks with a threefold aspect for our eyes are sometimes exercised per visionem reflexam sometimes per visionem collateralem and sometimes per visionem transcendentem Our reflected looke beholdeth our selves and therefore wee say Ours by application for it is but a cold and miserable comfort to say ours when we have no private application like Thomas The collaterall looke lookes on our brethren either à dextris in the sonnes of Gods love dealing with them in faith hope and charity or à sinistris in the children of disobedience pulling them out of the fire or heaping coales of fire on their heads The transcendent look lookes on God himselfe who in Christ Iesus is become our father and wee his sonnes Whilst wee looke to the words with a reflected contemplation we are taught humility for we make great reckoning of our parentage if it hath pleased God to distinguish us in any degree from beyond our brethren Oh but how foolish is our rejoycing for there is nothing in nature that respecteth greatnesse but man not our bitth not our sife not our sicknesse not our death not our grave nothing in grace respects greatnesse but man not the preaching of the Word for wee all doe heare not our effectuall calling for there are the things that are not preferred to the things that are not our administration of the Sacraments for by water we are baptized and by a sacramentall bread wee are fed nothing in glory for if this be a true position that we must reape according to that which wee have sowne then he who soweth sparingly shall reape sparingly and hee who soweth in plenty shall reape in joy 2. Whilst we looke on our brethren visione collaterali if they bee of the houshold of faith I meane the Church and the members therof see that thou rejoyce with them that rejoyce and weepe with them that mourne and remember thē that are in bonds as if we our selves were afflicted in the body but especially and above al to mourne for the divisions of Ioseph If they bee from without brethren I meane by nature and not by grace let us pity their misery with patience waite for their returne and in sincerity pray for their cōversion for howsoever it be not as yet seene to the world that God is become their father in Christ Iesus yet how soon it may be we know not for the time is at hand wherin all Israel must be Israel Whilst we thinke therefore that wee stand let us take heed that we fall not and let us pray for their restitution for we know not when wee our selves shall also be tempted 3 Lastly whilst we look on the words with a transcendent speculation let us know aright from whom by whom we have the liberty of this prerogative viz. in Christ Jesus And let us labour to become his fellow brethren that God may be our father in him for having him wee have all things and without him wee have nothing for all things are ours whilst wee are Christs for Christ is Gods I have heard talking of fraternity the rejoycing of the begging Friers is vaine they are fratres mendicantes the rejoycing of the Jesuites is vaine they are Fratres societatis Iesu an arrogant fraternity the rejoycing of the Chymeck or judiciall Astrologues is vaine they are Fratres roseae-crucis a foolish fraternity for they evanish in the vanity of their imaginations No no there is no fraternity in the world answerable to a Christian fraternity wherein God doth become our father for so wee have hope against all the feares of the naturall man such as want sicknesse death judgement hell and Sathan Which art in Heaven Having spoke of our familiarity and assured welcome that God is a father and of our interest in him and by him to the world to the Church and to our selves Let us now see what dwelling places hee hath Heaven For understanding hereof learne to know that man may be described by many things and God but by a few Forma figura tocus stirps nomen patria tempus are incident to the description of man but not to the description of God hee hath no form nor figure for he is invisible place cannot circūscribe him for hee is infinite progenie he hath not for he is not begotten nor time cannot measure him for hee is eternall onely by two things is he knowne to us by his name and by his habitation by his name he is our father by his habitation he is in heaven But let us remarke yet further I pray you Our Redeemer pointing out unto us his father in termes of familiarity and appropriation before that hee tell us where his habitation is he telleth us his essence and what he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee was hee is and hee is to come before time in time after time yesterday to day and for ever he was to Abraham before Abraham was I was he is to Moses I am that I am hee is to come Iohn in the Revelation Behold I come quickly Vse Is hee the selfe same without alteration or shadow of change yea and that three manner of wayes Objectively subjectively and effectively Objectively in his word for heaven and earth shall passe away but one jot of his word shall not fall to the ground Subjectively in his operation making governing and judging the world Effectively in his mercie yesterday to the fathers to day to our selves
of prime honour to the subject of name for it is said Hallowed be thy name For understanding whereof let us remember that the Pronoune thy is possessive and pointeth out to us the chiefe and prime person to whose name honour and glory do chiefly and most duely belong For though there bee many names or rather many things named in heaven in earth and under the earth yet is there not any name to which honour and glory doth of debt and duty belong but onely to the name of God and that in three respects First because by him is named all the family that is either in heaven or on earth Secondly because by his sufferings and victorious triumphs over his adversaries he hath obtained a name farre above all other not onely that is in this world but also in that which is to come Thirdly because there is no other name by the which we can bee saved but by the name of Jesus Christ the just Now then since by the Pronounce thine is understood the name of the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost the whole Trinity whose actions ad extra as they are undivided so their honour quoad nos should bee undivided also For as their essence is one and their majesty coeternall so should their glory bee coequall according to that which is written My honour is mine and my glory I will not give to another Let him bee ashamed that in any wise doth ascribe that which is due to God either to Angell or Saint departed The distinctions of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will be no shelter of their errour wee reverence their memory wee blesse God in behalfe of them and wee wish from God the consummation of their glory but to beleeve in them to call upon them or to bow before their images or to adore their relicts as wee have no warrant for it so let us abhorre to doe it lest it be enquired of us Who hath required these things at your hands Esai 1.12 They have already entered in their Masters joy Requiescant in pace Let us labour to follow their example and let us sigh for their consummation as they crie for our addition for they cannot bee perfect in full perfection without us Amen LECTIO 5. Thy kingdome come IN handling of this Petition I will observe the order proposed in the last first I will looke on the reference of the words both with the preceding and subsequent petitions and then on the matter comprised and contained in them The site and posture of this Petition is worthy of remarke first because of the reference it hath with the preceding petition And secondly because of that reference it hath with those petitions which succeed The dependance it hath with the former Petitions is That in the last petition wee craved that Gods name might be hallowed that is to say that the Majestie and holinesse which is in himselfe and is Himselfe for whatsoever is in God is God that Justice Mercy and power that is in his workes that truth righteousnesse and equity which is in his word may not only be knowne and manifested to man but also received honored and obeyed by man in such manner as is fit and due to so great a Majestie and so dread a name So now in this Petition hee sheweth us the way how to doe it Namely by submitting our selves as members of his Kingdome to his supreme Soveraignty for then chiefely and ever till then is the name of God duely honored by man when man by his due and lawfull obedience testifieth himselfe to bee a subject in his Kingdome and a member of his incorporation Againe as this is the reference it hath with the precedent Petition So hath it also a necessary dependance with that which immediately succeedeth For in the words next following we crave that Gods will may be done But it is certaine no man can doe Gods will but hee who is a member of his Kingdome Nor can any man keepe the law of God but by his grace Iohn 3.24 Psalme 119.32 For though our workes should be accomplished from the beginning of the world yet are they all but abomination in the presence of God till our persons be first acceptable unto him in Christ Jesus 1. Cor. 13.3 here then is the true reason of this position he that would either hallow or honor the name of God or desire to performe his will must have a care first to be devised and made a member of his Kingdome for the name of God can never bee truly honored nor his will truly obeyed by any but those who are true members of his Kingdome But it may bee enquired cannot a wicked man doe the will of God I answere that a wicked man may doe the thing that is good as Ioab may give good counsell Iudas may remember the poore A Hypoerite like Achab may be humbled A vicious man may cite and speake Scripture but all is abhomination for two causes First their persons are not acceptable they have no portion in David nor inheritance in Iesse Secondly whatsoever they doe they doe it not in that sincerity nor right intention towards the honor of God as doth become but what they doe is in hypocrisie to be seen of men and to procure honor and glory to themselves and for this cause God casteth backe the dust of their sacrifices in their faces and manifesteth their wickednesse both to men and Angells Then O man if thou dost desire that the name of God may be hallowed and honored by thee Or desirest that his will bee done in thee or by thee Labour then I pray thee that thou maist be made a member of his Kingdome for as many as are called by the Spirit of God are the sons of God and if the Spirit of him that raised JESVS from the dead doth dwell in our mortall bodies our mortall bodies shall then also be raised by it But if this incorporation shall bee wanting though we should give our bodies to be burnt in the fire yet shall it not availe us For as we live strangers from the life of God strangers shall wee likewise die and rising strangers to his Grace we shall be thrust out as strangers from his Glory to the suffering of that worme that dyeth not and of that fire that never is extinguished Now let us come to the words and consider what is contained in them I finde in them three things a Subject an Attribute and a Copulation The Subject is a Kingdome the Attribute is a comming and the word of Copulation Thy. Kingdome For understanding of this we must know that there is a threefold Kingdome Of man of Sathan and of God The Kingdome of man is that preheminency and soveraignty which God in his wisedome hath established amongst men giving to some authority to command and to others a commandement to obey and that for shunning of confusion and disorder amongst
the sonnes of men and the children of nature And to testifie that God is the God of Order and not of confusion he hath in his wisedome set a distinction amōgst his creatures by way of soveraignty three manner of waies 1. He hath given a Kingdome and soveraignty to the celestiall bodies 2. He hath given and established a Kingdome and soveraignty in man 3. Hee hath given a Kingdome and soveraignty to man The soveraignty and Kingdome given to the celestiall bodies is two-fold Of influence and of dominion The soveraignty of influence is acknowledged in nature and by all the children of nature For not only doe these celestiall bodies expresse their influence on the earth the sea and the fruits thereof But also on man and the naturall body of man For man having his body composed of the temperature of the foure Elements Fire Ayre Earth and Water it doth sensibly feele the influence of these celestiall bodies in the mutation and alteration of his health and constitution And as God hath given a soveraignty of influence so hath he likewise given a soveraignty of dominion For it is written Gen 1.16 Hee made two Great lights the Sunne the greater light to rule the day and the Moone the lesser light to rule the night As he gave a Kingdome and soveraignty to the celestiall bodies So did he also establish a soveraignty and Kingdome on man For hee gave unto him soveraignty and dominion over the fishes of the Sea the fowles of the Ayre and over every living thing that moveth on the earth Neither did hee alone subjugate the unreasonable creatures unto him But what is more hee did by his wisedome establish a soveraignty to man amongst men and the sonnes of men For amongst them he hath in his wisdome appointed some to be Masters some to be servants some to be Parents some to bee children some to bee husbands some to bee wives some to bee Judges some to be people some to bee Ministers some to be hearers some to bee Princes and some to bee subjects And in all of these what hath hee done but imprinted in man the Characters and vestiges of his owne primacy and authority For as he is God ouer all and in all blessed for ever So hee hath given unto man as the chiefe and soveraigne of his creatures a chiefe and soveraigne authority not only over his fellow creatures but also over his fellow Brethren that in man as the little world man might perceive the soveraignty of God the creator and Soveraigne of the whole world Last of all he hath set and established a Kingdome and soveraignty in man and that was the Kingdome and soveraignty of the image of God in man For as some celestiall bodies have a Kingdome over the inferiour bodies As man hath authority over the creatures and his fellow Brethren So God hath a Kingdome in man wherein the soule of man is that throne whereon he doth sit The conscience is Gods immediate deputy his assessors are the light of knowledge and understanding writing out a law his Sheriffe or Justice of peace is the will The common people whom he ruleth are the affections Now in all of these being composed and drawne up to an universall bulke and incorporation the image of God stood in man For as man was created the immediate King of the world So God did let him see that hee was his immediate King and Superiour And least that at any time hee should waxe proud and evanish he established a spirituall Kingdome in man Both that he might bee subdued to him that made him and that he might learn to rule aright the Kingdome concreded unto him This then is the Kingdome of man a Kingdome over his fellow creatures a Kingdome over his fellow Brethren a Kingdome over his innated affections Sathan also hath a Kingdome now will you enquire what that Kingdome is It must be answered it is no true Kingdome it is but a tyrannick usurpation like that of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebot who made Israell to sinne or like that of the Bramble who became King of the trees of the forrest That it is no true Kingdome it is cleere out of these severall instances And the instances of his usurpation are foure 1. His inauguration 2. His Vassalls 3. His government 4. His remuneration or reward His inauguration in the first place doth cleere this For he is neither borne to bee a King nor chosen to bee King Not borne a King for hee is but a creature and there is no true King but the Creator who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords And as he is not a King by birth so also he is not a King by election for none have chosen him to be King over them Yea all that he possesseth he doth possesse by Tyranny Hee said to Christ in the day of his temptation All these are mine But he lied for the earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof in it Sathan hath not one foot breadth but what hee either robs or usurpes 2. His Vassalls shew also his illegitimation for as it is in the Kingdome of God so is it also in the true and lawfull Kingdomes of men In Gods Kingdome as he giveth a law so they obey and say Thy Will be done in earth as it is in heaven He is the shepheard they are the flock His sheep heare his voice and they will not follow a stranger In the Kingdome of Sathan it is otherwise they are all children of disobedience howsoever conspiring an evill yet unto every good worke they are reprobate Of whom the true Christian may say as Iacob said of Simeon and Levi They are brethren in evill but in their secret let not my soule come and my glory be not thou joyned with their Assembly 3. In his government how ruleth he I pray you Not as a true soveraigne but as a trecherous usurpator Hee hath no part in man but that which he hath stolne For he steales First light out of the understanding then true desire out of the affections and thereafter full authority and commandement out of the will Where I pray you had hee ever place since his fall but what he stole He stole away by a lie the heart of Eve from God the heart of Cain from his brother the heart of Cham from his father the heart of Esau from his blessing the heart of Ieroboam from his God and the heart of Iudas from the Saviour of the world Yea now he is amongst us and he is likewise stealing either our hearts from the word by sleepe or the seed of the word out of our hearts that it may not take root and bring forth increase to our peace 4. His usurpation is knowen in his remuneration and reward A true King rewards answerably the service of a good subject and when hee findes his coffers emptie hee will coyne occasions to gratifie his faithfull servant God acclaimes this to himselfe as a
As we are weake in judgement to understand so are we weake in power how to mannage not only the things that are of God but also the things that are of men That wee cannot mannage the things that are of God it is cleere out of this example David and Israel did purpose to bring up Gods Arke out of the house of Abinadab in a new cart 1. Chronicles 15.13 But because they thought themselves able enough to follow that businesse without Gods direction Looke to Perez Vzzah by the way Looke also to Israel fighting against Benjamin And as it is in things concerning God so is it in things concerning us for howsoever we have understanding to know what they are yet we want wisedome to mannage them aright Looke to Israel who did sow much and reaped little who did eate and were not filled who earned wages but could never get a purse to keepe them in And in a word except wee get both judgement to discerne of the creature aright and power to make a right use of it Wee may say concerning the first our counsells are caryed headlong for wee meete with darknesse in the day And for the second we may justly say with Peter Wee have fished all the night and yet have caught nothing In the last roome whilest wee are commanded to goe to God and to say to him Give Wee are taught to know how to use the creatures aright and that three manner of wayes First by travell secondly by prayer thirdly by charity By travell because man must eate his bread in the sweate of his brow In his innocency he was ordained to delve in the garden of God When hee fell the earth was accursed for his sake And let him travell as he liketh yet in the sweat of his brow hee shall eate his bread and in the use of a lawfull calling he hath only reason to expect an answerable blessing I say secondly hee must pray for let him toile never so much except he pray he shall not speed For it is written Nisi Iehovah frustra and these two are surely knit together labour and prayer For as sighing without expectation and expectation without sighing as prayer in a tempest without toiling and toile without prayer and as in a Sermon information of the understanding without working on the affections and travell on the affections without information of the minde is all in vaine So also in things temporall neither will our travell alone nor our prayer alone serve our necessities but travell and prayer conjoyned together make up the worke of our reliefe Thirdly it teacheth us how to commiserate others in their necessities For there are many who like Nabal cannot yeeld to David or like to the rich glutton cannot pity Lazarus or like a Iezebel feeding foure hundred false Prophets and yet can suffer Eliah to starve But in this O man thou art deceived For thou canst not get it till thou say to God Give And when hee giveth it thee it is to this end amongst many that thou maiest not refuse him who saith to thee Give nor that thou hide not thy eyes against thy owne flesh For a cuppe of cold water shall not want a reward Adde to these our owne use in sobriety neither pampering our bodies to surfeit like the rich glutton nor disrespecting them by nigardice but using them in sobriety For the belly is for meate and meate for the belly but God will destroy them both Vse Now having spoken a little concerning the person of whom wee crave these things and the reasons thereof make wee some few uses thereupon which are foure First it serves to confute the common opinion of Chance Secondly of merit Thirdly it treades downe our pride And fourthly it rebuketh our distrust and dispaire I say first it confuteth chance For howsoever the greater part of the world bee ignorant of the wayes of the most high and attribute either their prosperity or adversity to chance or fortune yet let the Christian know that this proceeds from the ignorance that is in them For there is neither chance nor fortune in the world but that God who by the word of his power made the world by the word of his providence governeth it and by the word of his good pleasure shall ruine it hee dwelleth in the heavens and doth upon the earth whatsoever hee will that man may know that he it is who woundeth and bindeth up againe who killeth and maketh alive and who having exalted bringeth down againe to the dust and to the dung hill and that beside him there is no God even besides him who is the God of Jacob and the holy One of Israel Secondly it confutes merit for who art thou O man that darest bee bold to bragge of thy merit canst thou by thy merit or the power thereof make one haire of thy head white or blacke canst thou make the Sunne to shine or the raine to fall upon the earth to give her increase No thou canst not How much lesse art thou able to pay a ransome for thy owne soule No no alas thou canst not It may be thou saist that thou art rich and increased with goods c. but Lord open thy eyes to see thy pouerty and nakednesse and with a temptation the Lord give the issue to beare it I say thirdly that this word serveth to tread downe our pride for of all the creatures of the world man is borne the weakest and the most wretched Other creatures fall no sooner from the belly of their damme but they can goe eate and are covered Man is borne weak wretched unable to walke unable to eate and unable to cloath himselfe And when he hath gotten all that hee can possesse under the Sunne what hath hee but what he borroweth He borroweth food from the earth clothes from the beasts riches out of the Mynes of the earth wine and oyle from the trees And yet hee is proud as though all were his owne But foole that thou art why art thou so miscaryed Naked thou camest into the world and naked thou shalt returne againe If thou have therefore food and rayment waxe not proud for it is but a borrowed spoile thou art proud of and if God shall strippe thee naked of them thou shalt know that all was but vanity and that it is a foolish thing for man to rejoyce in any thing but in this that his name is written in the booke of life Last of all it rebukes with a moderate griefe for the want of the things of this life We are to day strong to morrow weake to day beautifull to morrow deformed to day honourable to morrow despised to day rich and to morrow poore And in all these our estates no further changed then our minds are As long as the Halcyan dayes of our ease and prosperity do last we over-joy our joyes and we say with David Our estate shall never bee moved But if God change our portion our minde is straight
sole title and precinct of his endowment but also the title and sole reciprocation hee craves of us and that both in the matter of his obedience and of our content and desires In the matter of our obedience hee will have it to day To day if you will heare his voice harden not your hearts And of our desires Give us this day our daily bread and reasō good it is that it should speake so for by so saying first hee pares the covetous mans nailes Secondly hee bindeth up the prodigalls hands and cutteth downe the Epicures vaine hope I say First by this word hee pares the covetous mans nailes for hee will pare them himselfe hee lets them grow that hee may scrape and scratch and gather together without satisfaction of desire without wearying in travell He riseth early in the morning and goeth late to bed at night and all the day long eates the bread of sorrow as if his belly was like his heart triangular and uncapable of satisfaction but foole that he is what is this he doth knoweth hee not that wee are but here to day and away to morrow for All flesh is grasse Care not therefore for the morrow but let the morrow care for it selfe for this day hath enough of its owne griefe Et magno apparatu breve iter vitae non instruitur sed oneratur Secondly God by this word bindes up the prodigals hands for it is the desire of many men in the world to have God giving them not one peece this day and another peece to morrow as we stand in need of it but wee will have al our portion together as the prodigall child said Father give mee my portion that befalls mee and when hee got it you know what became of it God therefore being wiser then wee will not cast all our patrimony in our lap together but like a wise father will give us our estate but peece peece and will see how we imploy the little hee lendeth us that hee may make us Lords over much and wee may every day honour him in the suit and request of his supply Lastly hee cutteth the vaine hope of the Epicure who like an atheist makes covenant with death and an agreement with hell and saith with the whore in the Revelation I am a Queene and shall see no mourning To this man God cries here as hee cryed to the rich man in the Gospell saying Foole this night they shall take thy soule from thee so here hee cryes to the Epicure This day thou shalt dye and shalt not see the morrow by one dayes disease I will beat that soule of thine out of her cittadell Watch therefore and pray for yee know not at what houre the theefe will come One day is too long to dwell in the tents of Kedar but in the presence of the Auncient of dayes there is fulnesse of joy and at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore LECTIO 14. And forgive us our trespasses IN handling of this Petition wee have two things to consider the coherence or dependence of this Petition with the former and next the tenour and force of the Petition it selfe The coherence is evident in the conjunctive particle and. For whilst in the last petition Our Redeemer Christ Jesus teacheth us to begge of him things meete for the maintenance of this our naturall life hee packed up the Petition in some few words of necessitie so here knowing that man is too much addicted to set his heart and fixe his affections upon the earth and the things thereof in a snatch as it were hee recals us againe to the consideration of the soule and teacheth us to hunger and thirst for righteousnesse and the life and well being of the soule For what shall it availe a man if hee winne the whole world and lose his owne soule In a word by the conjoyning and tying of this petition to the former I can resemble our Saviour to nothing better then to a wise and skilfull Pylot who seeing his company sicke and weary with continuall stormes at sea when he knoweth hee is neere any land letteth his sick and faint hearted company go on shore to refresh themselves to get the aire of the land to take in new victuals and provision to serve the necessitie of their succeeding voyage but if hee finde them to begin to be enamored with love of the land and the pleasures thereof straight wayes hee sendeth a boat on shoare reclaimes them frō the surfet of their pleasures telling them that if any amongst them would bee at home at his owne Countrie hee must come aboard againe for it is not the dallying with the pleasures of a strange country that will bring him home to his owne soyle It is even so with our Saviour in these words for in the first three Petitions wee were set to sea and commanded to saile home to heaven for whilst man honours Gods name advanceth Gods kingdome and doth Gods will what is hee doing but sailing through a stormy sea to a good harbour and a quiet haven of rest now because while men have lanched out to the sea of the world and are sailing homeward many crosse windes and boisterous stormes hinder them by the way Christ like a discreete and mercifull pylot and master of our ship in the last Petition giveth us this day our daily bread sets us on shoare and lets us play a while in the free aire and refresheth us with the pleasures of nature giving us leave to satiate and satisfie our selves with such provision as the necessity of this our naturall life required at our hands but knowing very well the nature of man that when hee getteth leave to play with the world hee will take a large inch to the ell and that in stead of satisfying his necessitie hee will inebriate and surfet himselfe therefore in this Petition And forgive us our trespasses hee shootes a boat after them and calls them to come home and to come aboard againe for feare that by playing too long with the world and the pleasures of the shoore they lose the opportunity of their voiage homeward for as the wisdome of the world is foolishnesse with God so the love of the world is enmity with God and whosoever is a friend of the worlds is an enemie of God Iames 4. vers 4. And this I take to bee the reason of the coherence of this Petition to the former Vse Let us now looke upon this tye and particle of conjunction that wee may learne something from it The uses and observations which arise here-from are these First it teacheth how to use the things of this world Man since the fall of the first Adam hath brought nothing into the world with him but an uncircumcised heart and a body of sinne dwelling in his flesh and from thence as from a bitter roote of corruption floweth nothing in all his conversation but fearfull and rebellious transgressions amongst the which
but overcoming evil with goodnes may bee perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect Now this being spoken concerning the persons for whom we offer up this our supplication we must come consider the reason wherfore we must pray so and the reason is because our sins are ours Our Take heed I pray you to this my brethren The reason why wee crave pardon of our sinnes is because sinnes are ours and besides these nothing else in the world is ours I have said that sinne is truly ours This shall serve for the doctrinall part And that nothing in the world is ours besides sinne this shall serve for the morall part First then sinne is truely ours in three respects first in respect of patrimony secondly in respect of practise thirdly in respect of purchase In respect of patrimony The sinnes of our first parents Adam and Eve are ours In respect of practice our actuall sinnes are ours In respect of purchase the sinnes of our neighbours are made ours The sinnes of our first parents are ours for they not onely sinned for themselves but for us also they before us wee in them and after them Do wee not impute the bitternesse of the streame to the fountaine the rottennes of the branch to the root yes surely so is it with us hee was the root wee are the branches he the fountaine we the streames and to expresse this more clearly let me aske you that are acquainted with the art of numbers if that any figure in the first place doth signifie any more but it selfe onely yet by the addition of a cypher 1.2.3 or 4 multiplyeth the signification from ten to hundreds from hundreds to thousands and from thousands to millions It is even so with us Adam Eve sinned and being considered in their own place sinned alone for thēselves but being considered with our addition as being in their loines wee as cyphers have multiplied their burthen they as figures have made us significative they then have not sinned alone but we also in them and with thē their sins are not theirs alone but ours also by copartnership Secondly sin is ours by practise for as our first parents sinned and by their sinne made sinne ours originally so wee also by walking in the footsteps of our fathers and sinning after their examples have made that which was ours by descent from our fathers to be ours actually for as by one man sinne entred into the world and by sinne death so death hath universally runne over all men in respect that in one man all men have sinned yea further because wee have actually built up the sepulchers of our fathers therefore tribulation and anguish is upon the soule of every man that doth evill to the Jew first and also to the Grecian Lastly I say sin is ours by purchase by drawing on us the guilt and punishment of ours neighbours sinne And now thou shalt enquire of mee how a man can bee guilty of his neighbours sinne I answer it may bee done five manner of wayes 1. By connivence 2. By negligence 3. By assent 4. By example 5. By provocation By connivence winking at other mens faults when wee should reprove them to this effect it is written Levit. 19. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbours sinne lest thou beare sinne for him By negligence in not correcting such for sin as are under our authority This was the sinne of Eli in sparing his sonnes and this is the threatning of Ezechiah in case of silence at the sinnes of his people Ezec. 3. By assent Thus Aaron was guilty of Idolatry when he assented to make the golden calfe By example thus Ieroboam is marked that hee made Israel to sinne And David that hee made the name of God to bee ill spoken of amongst the Gentiles Last of all by provocation this was the sinne of Lots daughters to their incestuous father and Baalams sinne to Israel with the daughters of Moab This then being the doctrinall part shewing how sinnes are ours the morall part succeedeth in which we must cleare this That nothing is so really ours as sinne That wee may the better understand this we must know that there is no creature on earth so naked and indigent as man for naked hee was borne and naked shall he returne againe and hee hath no peculiar or proper thing in the world that hee can justly call his but sinne and infirmity To prove this let us take a survey of all the things in the world Is wealth ours No for riches are painfully gotten carefully kept and wofully lost and yet when we have most adoe with them like an eagle shee takes her wings and flies away so swiftly as she cannot bee recovered and though they bide with us till the end of our dayes yet then they take their leave and wee reserve nothing saving a wounded conscience for the abuse of them Is beauty ours No surely let but a dayes sicknesse take thee by thy hand and loe thou shalt find nothing but age wrinkles the lineaments of death the characters of deformity which shall make thee affraid of thy selfe Is honor thine no surely it vanisheth as the morning cloud as the smoake of a chimney is liker to nothing then our Sun dyalls which point out the houres so long as the Sunne shineth but if a cloud shall intervene serve for nothing but are a dimme statue Is strength thine No let God but write one line of toleration and put it in the hand of thine and straight like Beltazzer thy knees shall beat one against another And with Iob thou shalt scrape thy sores with a potsherd on the dunghill Finally is that breath that wee draw into our nostrels ours no surely it is but sucked up and borrowed from the next aire If God lend thee power thou canst both exhale and evaporate it but if he say not Amen it shall choake thee in the passage Or is this body that thou bearest about thee thine No surely it is of the dust and to the dust it shall returne againe Pittifull wretched man that thou art what is thine nothing but sin and a wounded conscience for sin these are ours by patrimony by practice and by purchase of the which we can never be freed till we put off and change our patrimony practise and purchase Our patrimony by shewing our selves heires not to the first Adam but to the second Our practise by walking no more after the flesh but after the spirit for if wee walke after the flesh we shall dye but if wee walke after the spirit wee shall live Our purchase whilst wee crucifie our selves to the world and the world to us that the life of Jesus may bee made manifest in our mortall bodies and whilst wee forget the things that are behind us c. and account all things as dirt and dung to us in respect of the advantage that wee have in the crosse of Jesus Christ The
What is thy mercy in respect of mine but a moat in respect of a mountaine a sparke in respect of a fire a drop in respect of the Ocean and nothing in respect of that which is more then all things So that if thou wouldst have mee who am infinite invisible eternall and incorruptible opening to thee the rich treasures of my incomprehensible and unsearchable mercies it first must bee thy care who art a finite corruptible and worme-eaten creature to extend the bowels of thy compassion and to bee mercifull to thy fellow brethren else how shall I forgive thee thy thousand Talents if thou forgive not the hundreth pence owing to thee Matth. 18 well then the proposition is plurall and indefinite comprehending all sexes and conditions of men Vse Since it is that the commandement is so strict in severity and so large in extent whence comes it that we obey not When Naaman in disobedience to the Prophet went home and his leprosie cleaving to him hee was re-advised by his servants and following their counsels obtained a sweet and desired purgation from his disease When Balaam the false prophet had twice smitten his Asse unjustly at the third time his rebuke made him wise When the Centurion invited Christ to heale his daughter in protestation of his unworthinesse hee confessed that when hee said to this servant goe hee goeth and to this come and hee cometh Now I say since all these have found obedience how is it that our Redeemer Christ Jesus commanding us to forgive our brethren can never finde obedience O what a rebellious thing is man and how deafe are the passions and purturbations of his heart Whilst Jesus Christ walked in our flesh hee spake to the windes and they were still to the seas and they were calme and to the devills themselves and they were dispossessed When hee was upon the crosse hee cryed with a loud voyce when hee gave up the ghost and loe the Sunne was darkened the Moone refused to shew her light the rocks were rent asunder the graves opened the dead arose and the vale of the Temple was rent from the top to the bottome when hee rose the third day the earth shooke trembled the stone was removed from the doore of the grave and the Angels of God came and ministred to him when hee ascended on high he led according to his promise captivity captive hee gave gifts to men and sent the Comforter to the world to convince the world of sinne of righteousnesse and of judgement and yet behold notwithstanding all this royall power and super-eminent Majestie by the which hee was acknowledged to bee the Sonne of God in the estate of his humility Now when hee is exalted to the Throne of his glory and sits at the right hand of the Majestie of God the Father behold hee calls and wee will not come hee stretches out his armes and wee refuse to bee imbraced hee commands and wee disobey hee requires that as wee would bee forgiven wee should forgive and wee refuse the grace of the covenant because of the condition But what shall I say to thee O man I will say with St Augustine by way of interrogation Sub imperio Christi mare audit tu surdus es Have the windes and seas obeyed him and art thou deafe to his commandements It had beene better for thee that thou hadst never beene borne for if under the Law of Moses hee that sinned under the mouth of two or three witnesses suffered death of how much a greater judgement shall we be found worthy if wee despise him that speakes from heaven and neglect so great a salvation It were better for us brethren to run another course to do as the disciples did in the 8. of Matthew the 20. when the storme of the sea waxed violent in such measure that the ship was almost covered with waves the disciples ranne to Christ and awoke him saying Master helpe us for wee perish The danger for the time was theirs they were in perill of drowning but the spirituall morality is ours Wee are all in the world a turbulent and tempestuous sea Christ hath severed us from the world by his ship his Church while wee are in the world though not of the world wee shall not want stormes and tempests ready to overflow us Christ Jesus is our skipper and sits at the helme so long as hee a wakes and watches over us by his providence wee are safe and secure but if hee fall asleepe and seeme but to winke at our perturbations eminent passions wee perish except wee awake him Whensoever thou findest therefore the tempest of thy naturall and corrupt passions as of avarice lust or revenge arise within thee as thy tempest ariseth so let alwayes the steeres-man arise or else the storme will grow so proud that none can heare what thou sayest Mercy was the last legacie that thy Saviour bequeathed to thee upon the crosse Father forgive them they know not what they doe And what O man wilt thou not labour to bee perfect as thy Father who is in heaven is perfect It is not with thy conscience as with the day A redde evening prognosticateth a faire day but if the evening of thy life bee red or dyed with discoloured blood the morning of thy next life when thou shalt rise to judgement shall looke pale and lowre upon thee nor shall any sound but of judgement and horrour awake thee arise thou that lay downe a stranger to mercy and subjugate thy selfe as a slave to judgement for as thou hast hated peace so shall it bee farre from thee and as thou hast loved a curse it shall draw neere unto thee like water it shall be poured out on thy head and like oyle it shall drinke up the moisture of thy bones LECTIO 18. And lead us not into temptation IN handling of this Petition two things are chiefly remarkable the introduction and the Petition it selfe The introduction is in the word And The petition hath two parts the first containes a deprecation the second a supplication the deprecation is in these words And lead us not c. the Supplication in these words But deliver us c. In the handling of these I will first looke on the word or particle of introduction which is conjunctive And by this particle this Petition is tyed to both these precedent Petitions which concerneth man and his necessities whether bodily or spirituall And first it is remarkable that by this particle the Petition is tyed to that wherein wee represented to God our bodily necessities for whilst wee said Give us this day our daily bread wee confesse three things to God the first was that wee had our life on him for in him and in him alone wee live wee move and have our beeing The second was that wee had the meanes of him and him alone by which that life was maintained in us for unlesse hee of his mercy should send a blessing
mee unlesse it were given thee from above Unto this the Apostle Paul subscribeth Rom. 13.1 There is no power but of God and the powers that are ordained of God Now this title of Gods power Christ bringeth in here as an attribute by which hee may underproppe our weakenesse And his meaning is O man why doubtest thou and why art thou fearfull to come to God and pray to him How many evidences hast thou of his power manifested to thee for thy protection Is it not by him and by his power that thou livest movest and hast thy beeing was it not by him by the word of his power that all things were made of nothing Is it not by him and by the might of his power that all things are preserved in that state order and frame in which they now are Was it not by him and the might of his power that fire came downe to destroy Sodome That the seadrowned Pharo the earth swallowed up Corah Dathan and Abirom That Ieroboams hand was dryed up that the mercilesse fire had mercy on the children and the hungry lyons fed not on Daniel That the windes and seas are stilled and calmed and finally that the very devills of hell are curbed that they cannot goe beyond the chaine of his power and good pleasure These things are all evidences of his power But his power is yet not knowne in things that are spirituall Looke to our eternall election our temporall redemptiō our effectuall calling the resurrection of our bodies and upon the glory bestowed both upon soule and body and from thence let us never doubt of his power Hee of himselfe is able to do all things and by his power wee are able to do all things and hee hath manifested his power towards us that by it wee may be instructed by it comforted and by it corrected In a word it serveth for our instruction correction and consolation For our instruction in the path of charity for our correction in the way of our presumption and for our consolation in the day of our trouble First for our instruction in the path of charity For wee do no sooner see our neighbour fall but straight way we are precise and prejudicate censurers not remembring our selves lest wee also bee tempted Nor yet remembring the power of God who is able to ingraffe those againe Rom. 14.4 Secondly it serveth for our correction in the way of our presumption for wee thinke if man can befriend us wee are safe and sure but as fooles wee vanish for the Egyptians are but men not gods and their horses are but flesh not spirit When Ephraim saw his wound and Iudah felt his soare they ranne to Iacob and Ashur but their wound was not healed for there is no helpe but in the Lord And whosoever shall seeke helpe beside him may aske counsell at his stocke but his staffe shall answer him for the Lord shall meete him as a lyon and as a lyons whelpe shall teare him in peeces and none shall deliver him Last of all it serveth for our comfort in the day of trouble Man beare thou the crosse that God hath laid upon thee for thy haires bee numbred thy teares be put in his bottle be thou assured that the Lord will deliver thee in the day of trouble when thou art incompassed with the waters of affliction The second attribute of his kingdome is glory which hath many severall significations in Scripture First it is taken for the majesty of God which whilst man doth celebrate it is said they shew forth his glory Thus did the sheepheards heare that sweete Haliluiah sang by the Angells Glory bee to God on high And David Psalm 8. The heavens declare the glory of God Secondly by the glory of God in the time of the Law was meant the Arke of God 1. Sam. 4. The glory is departed Thirdly it signifieth the visible testimony of Gods presence in a cloud Exod. 16.8 Fourthly it is taken for the light of the Gospell 2. Cor. 4.4 Fifthly by the glory of God is understood the image of God according to which man was created Rom. 3.23 All flesh have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God Vse First bee carefull of the glory of God that his name bee not ill spoken of because of thy bad conversation Secondly suffer for him For all the sufferings of this life are not worthy of the glory that shall be revealed in us Thirdly sigh and groane for Christs appearing for it is the day of the revelation of thy glory For ever and ever Amen THis is life everlasting to know thee to bee the onely true God and whom thou hast sent thy Sonne the Lord Iesus This is the absolute excellencie of mans knowledge But to attaine hereunto the way is hard for No man hath knowne the Father at any time save the Son and he to whom the Sonne hath revealed him And till the Sonne hath revealed him in his beeing by delineating to them the back-parts of the Father for No man can see God and live It is true indeed if wee shall compare our knowledge of God who live under the Gospell with those who went before us under the Law wee cannot but confesse that our light in regard of theirs is before the light of the Sunne compared to the morning starre for it is written They saw but from a farre and under a vaile but wee behold his glory with open face And yet notwithstanding this our illumination we are imperfect our perfection may bee full in respect of parts yet is not in respect of degrees For our helpe therefore whilst wee dwell in the valley of Meseck tents of Kedar he is pleased to manifest unto us though not absolutely what he is that is to say his nature yet who hee is that is to say what are his attributes for by this hee teacheth us to know both who hee is in himselfe and how he carries himselfe to us Now thus we may know him in his wayes and dispensations towards us Hee hath revealed himselfe three manner of wayes Per viam negationis per viam causationis per viam eminentiae By way of negation by way of causation and by way of excellency By way of negation or denyall hee makes himselfe knowne to us while hee denies the imperfections of the creatures to appertaine unto him as creator and therefore it is said of him that he is immortall invisible immutable that hee cannot lie that hee cannot repent By way of causation while hee makes himselfe to bee knowne to be the cause of all things that are for it is written By him were made all things and without him was made nothing that was made And againe In him wee live wee move and have our beeing And againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By way of excellency while as we looking on the excellencie of the creature are lead to consider the supereminent excellencie of the creator in his wisdome power strength