sonnes of God and not only in humane affairs conuerse but in diuine dueties communicate with them as in hearing the word preached in the sacraments and in publique prayer They are yet but bastards no children they neuer truely tasted of the milke of Christs spouse nor euer drew the life of grace out of her breasts no more then did Cham in the Arke with Noah Ismael in the house with Abraham Esau in the company of Iacob who inwardly did not partake of their fathers vertues of obedience faith and continual praier vnto God the God of their fathers CHAP. VII Naturall fathers cannot beget children good or euill of their owne wils but they that are begotten anew of God are only good and like vnto God before whom the vnregenerate howsoeuer seeming holy are hypocrits EArthly fathers coÌ„monly beget childreÌ„ of their owne corporall likenes but the godliest father cannot propagate in his children the graces of the spirit neyther can profane fathers by their sinnes make their children sinners For it is found by experience that good fathers haue often wicked and wicked fathers godly children But the children of God begotten anew by the holy Ghost can neuer fall from being like vnto him that begat him And therefore doe they much dishonour God who in wordes professe they are his sonnes and yet in their actions they resemble the image of Sathan It were a great blemish vnto a godly man to be wrongfully supposed the father of a wicked sonne much more is God dishonoured by such as would seeme to be but are not of his seed For they that are of God indeed cannot but in some measure resemble him in being righteous as he is righteous that is By casting off the olde man which is corrupt through deceiueable lust and to put on the new man which after God is created in righteousnes and true holines This casting off and putting on doeth teach vs that there is in vs somthing that befits vs not to retaine if we will be the true sonnes of God not by reputation among men but by imputation in Christ. What is to be cast off and what to bee put on is plainly expressed in the Apostles wordes before mentioned namely to cast off all deceiueable lusts which includeth all things forbidden and to put on righteousnesse which implieth a spirituall indowment of al heauenly graces among which none is of that singular force vertue and effect as is zealous and heartie prayer in faith vnfained which none can effectually make but such as haue put on this new man for the olde man knoweth not how to pray being clothed with corruption and blinded with the mist of ignorance The new man only shaped in holinesse knoweth to whom when in whom for what and how to pray all which circumstances are duly to be considered in prayer and yet neither of these dooth the naturall that is the old man truly apprehend and consequently the lip-labor that he pretendeth to bestow in prayer is not onely not profitable but sinfull CHAP. VIII Carnall wisedome hath not chiefe place of counsell in the regenerate man he dependeth on God and not on the meanes in any enterprise FRiends we obserue do most vsually communicate together not by way of dissimulation but by sincere affection and one is ayded and comforted of another according to the occasions each propoundeth to other And shal we think that that man that loueth God will estrange his occasions from the counsaile of God Will hee deliberate of any matter of importance but will first consult with the Oracle of Gods mouth And will hee not impart his occasions by powring them forth vnto him in praier assuring himselfe that God againe will answer him by his holy spirit and by him certifie his spirit what he shall doe and what course hee shall take both for the atchieuing of the good he desireth for the auoyding the danger he feareth No carnall counsel whatsoeuer not warranted by the word shall be admitted to that consultation or resolution he will abandon all carnall respects and onely holde himselfe to diuine direction hee will not vse humane wisedome but as it were a hand-maide to diuine prudence It may serch and find out such wants and corporall necessities as are fit in spiritual vnderstanding to be supplied but leaueth the execution to diuine wisdome which produceth faith and faith prayer for the obtayning thereof at the hands of God And as Abraham left his seruants and Asses behinde him when he went to offer vp his sonne so doth this heauenly wisedome leaue all carnall respects behinde when it approcheth towards God to offer the sacrifice of prayer or praise Contrariwise it is too manifest that the most carrie their carnall vanities with them eueÌ„ to the Altar making their petitions partly in the flesh and partly in the spirit in part beleeuing and in part doubting halting before God and yet seeming to walk vprightly before men who iustifie or coÌ„demne the outward action not seeing the inward heart To pray vnto God with the lippes for any corporall benefit and yet to haue the eye of the hart fixed in confidence vpoÌ„ naturall means is a kinde of spirituall adultery For what man is hee that hauing a wife outwardly affable vsing wordes of loue vnto him and yet her heâ—rt set vpon another man will not thinke her a faithles and vnchaste wise And is God lesse iealous think we who craueth our hearts when we shall worship him in words and outward shew of works when our consciences cannot but tell vs that we aske that of God which we inwardly beleeue more probable and possible to be obtained by meanes without him Is not this a falsifying of our faith and dissembling of our prayers Is not this a manifest breach of the law that saies we shal haue no other Gods but Iehouah as also not to take his name in vaine as they do that call vpon him with the lips their hearts farre from him The Iewes thinking to make themselues strong by the Egyptians and other carnall meanes left their dependancie on God therfore did God denounce his iudgements against them Cursed is the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh any kind of carnal meanes his arme and withdraweth his heart from the Lord hee shall not see when any good commeth How can he then attribute praise or prayer vnto God for whatsoeuer successe when he groundeth his hope on earthly meanes and not on God Nay though hee pray vnto God and yet dependeth more and puts more hope on secondarie meanes if he find that come to passe that hee desired how can hee but yeeld part of the praise vnto the mediate cause wherein hee in part trusted and so derogate the praise due vnto God who is eyther all or no part of the cause of that wished successe For although God vse naturall instruments to effect his will not onely in relieuing his children when they pray vnto
against these spirituall enemies reade Eph. 6. 16. 17 18. CHAP. XXXII The presence of God himselfe is promised in publike praier how he is present which the carnall man apprehendeth not the discontinuance of prayer publique or priuat dangerous AS touching publique prayer our Sauiour giueth vs such an encouragement to moue vs thereunto both of his owne presence and of the assurance of obtaining what we ask as it is more then wonderfull that meÌ„ should shew themselues so baâ—kward as not to desire to meete Christ in such holy Assemblies as are graced with his owne presence Where two or three are gathered together in my name saith Christ I will bee there in the middest of them And whatsoeuer they shall aske with one accord in my name it shall be granted vnto them No man is so impious as to bring in question whether this can or will prooue true or not that Christ should come downe and be in the society of men For we may assure vs that God the father God the sonne and God the holy Ghost being all one the Father is where the sonne is the holy Ghost where the father and the sonne are And Christ promising to send the Comforter the holy Ghost after his departure performed it in clouen tongues and he is with vs namely with his Church to the end of the world and consequently the father and the sonne the Trinitie in Vnitie I will pray the Father saith Christ and he shall giue you another comforter that he may abide with you for euer euen the spirit of truth so called because hee inspireth the truth into vs and teacheth vs to crie Abba father whether in priuate or publike assemblies gathâ—red together in the name of Christ. Hee then being the spirit of Christ and being all one with Christ being with vs and dwelling in vs it can not be denied but Christ is with vs according to his promise namely with the faithfull assembled in his name whoÌ„ the world namely carnall men of the world know not But yee saith Christ to the faithfull know hum for he dwelleth in you I will not leaue you comfortlesse but I will come to you Againe he saith I am in my father and I in you and you in me Seeing then that all holy assemblies gathered together to heare God speake vnto them and againe that they together may speake vnto God are not left without the glorious presence of God himselfe how are they to be condemned that frame vnto themselues or rather â—orge by the suggestion of Sathan cases as it were of conscience to abiure the companie euen of Christ himselfe Sathan beleeueth the word of God to be true and yet laboureth the contrarie in men inclinable to doubt and causeth many to misconceiue of the sense which he himself knowes to be otherwise then he would haue them to beleeue And as he can make no vse of any part of the word of God to his owne neyther would hee that any should eyther heare the word truely expounded or assemblies to concurre rightly in prayer to their saluation And therefore whosoeuer findeth in himself the lest motion of doubting of Gods performance of his promises made vnto the faithfully praying or an vnaptnesse and vnwillingnesse rather then a zealous inclination to pray either in priuat to himselfe in publique with the Congregation or with his family priuately assembled may iustly feare that Sathan hath wouÌ„d himselfe into his affections and if he preuent him not speedily and resist him faithfully by prayer he will not leaue vntill hee haue gotten command of the whole house of his soule and will expulse all godly cogitations holy affections and sanctified desires and will suffer none to be entertained but infidelity sinne and fearefull apostacie Will not these daungers mooue men to repaire vnto the house of God with diligence and zeale there faithfully to ioyne in prayer with Gods children and attentiuely to heare the word preached which begetteth faith the fountaine whence doe flow all holy and spirituall exercises of the godly soule There is no other way to seeke saluation but in and by the word of God nor any other in and by whom we can be saued but in and by Christ who hauing so louingly called vs and by promise of his own presence intreated vs to communicat in holy exercises with him and his elect who wil or can rest so carelesse of his owne saluation as wilfully or negligently to estrange himself from this holy communication with God himselfe in prayer publique or priuat Publique prayers are so called because they are pronounced distinctly with an audible voice in the hearing and to the vnderstanding of a whole Congregation assembled And these praiers commonly tend to publique and common ends as for the obtaining of some generall good to the whole Church preuenting of some generall daÌ„ger or remouing of some generall euill And this although it be properly meant of parochial CongregatioÌ„s who assemble themselues by course on the Sabbath and other set dayes making their supplications publiquely for themselues and others according to generall occasions after a common manner yet are houshold assemblies said to pray publiquely wherein the Master of the Family is to conuent such as are vnder his charge and publikely together with them to pray vnto God as well for the vniuersall good of the Church whereof they are members for the Common-weale wherin they liue as subiects as for themselues And the promise of Christs presence holdeth true as well in this latter wherein two or three onely gather together in his name as where infinit numbers are assembled CHAP. XXXIII Priuat prayer in som respects at som times more comfortable to a priuate man then publique The neglect of publique praier in priuat families condemned for where God is not there Sathan is serued THe same that hath been formerly said of priuate prayer may bee affirmed of publique although the first bee more ordinary then the second not being limited to times certain but attendeth all occasions and yeeldeth more comfort to the troubled spirit of some priuate man that dareth to vnfolde that vnto GOD in secret which hee would blush to reueale vnto man were hee neuer so neere and deere vnto him much lesse would he publish it in a publique assembly willingly And this kind of prayer also is of that condition that where it is enkindled and cannot haue free vtterance by the lips by reason of company but is pent vp in the breast it laboreth with such spirituall violence in the sanctified soule as it makes the very heart within a man as it were to ake and rent in sunder thorough the ardent eleuation of the spirit vnto God And it is the surest trial of true religion In publique assemblies sometimes hypocrisie beareth a farre greater sway then it can doe in the priuat man who knoweth that the weight of spirituall ioy it bringeth vnto and leaues in his soule through prayers
inflamed by the holy spirit of Christ and powerfully vttered priuatly vnto God in Christ whether in silence in sighes or words cannot be expressed to the capacity of a carnall man and therefore it may seem that priuat praiers in priuat cases somtimes work more effectually to the comfort of the soule then the publik But in cases more generall when the more faithfull soules conioyne in effectuall prayer so much the more auaileable is their prayer with God Fathers of children and Masters of families who content themselues onely with a bare seruâ—ng of God in shew once in the week on the Sabbath day are to bee reproued who seem to hold it a needlesse and superfluous worke to trouble themselues their families morning or euening in prayer and exhortation to the feare of God and dehorting them from sin which times they haue assigned in their opinions to more profitable vses both for themselues their seruants forgetting or not vnderstanding that in euery Christian family eyther God or Sathan is serued Christ or Belial obeyed sanctity or sinne embraced For there is no priuat person but is or holdeth of one of these coÌ„sequently no societie but partaketh of the fruits arising of good or euill If then either priuat man or publike assembly be it prouinciall parochiall or domesticall do forget this most high dutie of seruing the liuing God it followeth of necessitie that a contrary power hath there the command and nothing more discouereth to which any of the former lend their obedience then the fruits that eyther of them produceth if carnall effects as louing the world the pleasures of the flesh and the vanities of this life it argueth that priuat man or that society to be profane If it were sufficient to serue God on the sabbath what needed the Apostle to aduise vs to pray coÌ„tinually and the commandement of Christ Watch and pray that yee enter not into temptation to loue righteousnesse and to slie sinne How doe they awakeâ—or watch that slumber from Saboth to Saboth Are they not all that time in darknesse not vsing the duties of the light Christ is the light in whome whosoeuer liueth not hee is in darknesse And hee that hath but one day of light in seuen How great is his darknesse It is true this day the Saboth was set apart by God that in it men should imploy themselues to serue and to glorifie him And in that day they shuld not only not doe but also not thinke of anie Worldly affaires But are not some so far from celebrating the name and seruice of God that day as they prophane it aboue all other dayes doe they not turne the glorie of God into wantonnes to banquetting dicing dauncing drunkennesse gluttonie and to what sinne not This commonly is the day that many appoint for merrie companie to laugh and to be jouiall as they call it without meane or modestie And yet this day is sufficiently kept holy as they thinke if they spend an houre in the fore part of the day and halfe an houre in the after-noone in the Church though all the rest be consumed in most lasciuious vanities and carnall occasions How can this discharge the duty of a Christian that hath no care to serue God any other day in the weeke Doe we not credit the premonition of the Apostle Saint Peter that the end of all thinges is at hand And how follow wee his counsell namely to bee sober watching in prayer To whom speaketh the Apostle this to his Countrimen the Iewes only no euen to vs that are come as it were to the Worlds period And therefore high time it is for vs to looke vp to watch pray to liue religiously and soberly least that the Master of this great family come suddenly and find vs buffeting one another blaspheming swaggering drunken faithlesse insolent couetous and few or none doing the seruice of our Master It wil bee a dreadfull sight to see him come with his iron rod in his hand to crush his enemies in peeces The salt of the earth hauing lost it saltnesse shall bee cast to the dung-hill The Tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewen downe and cast in the fire The Magistrates saltnesse is profession of the Gospell and the execution of Iustice. The saltnesse of the Minister is the true preaching of the word and example of godly life The saltnesse of Fathers is their sincere conuersation before their children and the educating them in the feare of God and holy life The saltnesse of Masters of Families is to liue honestly religiously aud gouerning their charge in the feare of God And vnder these four estates of men are all conditions comprehended subiects vnder Kings children vnder fathers and young men vnder tutors and gouernours Euery of these in their places of superioritie and inferioritie haue their seuerall duties and all vnder one God whome they ought all to obey Superiours in rightly commanding and inferiors in duly obeying Neyther of these duties can bee rightly performed without knowledg of the wil of God by his word This knowledge is not perfect without practise This practise is imperfect without faith And faith is known by the fruits the chiefe whereof is loue And this loue most shineth and sheweth it selfe in doing good to all but especially to them of the family of faith The greatest good that can bee done to the Church of God is Prayer And therefore Saint Paul willeth to pray continually not for our selues onely but for Kinges al the members of Christs mysticall bodie Kings and Magistrates ought to imitate Dauid to accompanie the people to the house of the Lord Fathers and Masters ought to pray with and for their Children and Families not on the Saboth day only but with all perseuerance Some refer the duty of praier only to the Minister and thinke it a kinde of vsurpation of the Ministers office to pray for or with any but for himselfe contrarie to the precept of Saint Paul Who willeth that all men make prayers in all places heauing vp pure handes without strife or enuying vnto the Liuing God Where it appeares that vnder the word all Men Kings Princes Nobles and men of all degrees faculties and functions are comprehended and because they shall not thinke there is no place but the materiall temple he commands that dutie to bee performed in all places euen in euery particular house with caution that it bee done without strife and enuying free from vaine ostentation and desire of popular glorie CHAP. XXXIIII The true vse of the Lords Prayer about which friuolous questions haue risen It is the rule of all other prayers and euery petition ful of high matter of instruction THE most absolute praier and the most ordinarie which not only the Primitiue but the Moderne Christian Churches their members haue in vse is the Prayer that Christ taught his Disciples But wee must take heed wee doe not take this
Prayer into our mouths vnreuerently inconsideratly and without faith or feeling and without due conceiuing and rightly vnderstanding what euery Petition concerneth and importeth as some doe But wee must especially in priuate or publike Prayer vnto God and aboue all other vse this most heauenly Prayer with a sincere and truely sanctified zeale About the vse of this praier there hath beene of late a friuolous needlesse question raised by men of too precise an opinion who affirme it not necessarie to vse this praier in the bare words as Christ set it down A conceit without reason or religioÌ„ Others hold it verie sufficient of it selfe without eyther any other Prayer or enlarging the same according to the measure of the spirit that the man that praieth hath Which last opinion although more tollerable then the first I holde erronious For we know that the Apostles themselues the Disciples of Christ after they had learned this Prayer prayed often in other words albeit the Lords Prayer bee the rule and the sum of all other Prayers And so no doubt it is not only not vnlawfull but an especiall fruit and effect of faith to pray according to our occasions and to frame words as the Spirit of God shall giue vtterance who although we know not teacheth vs how to pray but this must alwaies be done according to the tenour of the Lords Prayer And therefore howsoeuer weake and imperfect our Prayers may seemâ—e to bee vnto our carnall part in respect of the phrase yet our spirits being directed by Gods Holy Spirit powreth forth Prayers truely vnderstood of him by whose spirit wee are enabled to pray And GOD granteth our requests according as hee seeth fit for vs. The vse of this Prayer of Prayers is farre more common then commonly rightly vnderstood For euery word therein implieth matter of great importance yet passeth the lips oftentimes before it come at much lesse before it bee truely digested in the heart and therefore witâ—ereth without fruit as plants without natural soile and van sheth in the aire euen with the sound Others in like sort like Parrots patter forth Pater noster c. know no more what the words import theÌ„ the senselesse Parrot And yet they thinke it a worke of great deuotion to tumble out a set number of such fruitlesse faithlesse prayers not vnderstood as were the time spent in cordiall and heartie prayers indeed could not be but much profitable Such are to be pitied and prayed for if they would but yeilde their eares to heare their hearts to vnderstand and indeuour to practise CHAP. XXXV The summe of the lords prayer briefly explained HOW many doe duly consider the efficacie of the word Our And yet it carrieth in it as it were the seale of our adoption in Christ for if God bee our Father then are we his children but by adoption If his children then are we to loâ—â— and obey our faâ—â—er If we obey him we acknowledge his Commaundements iust who hauing commanded vs to loue our brethren how can we come vnto our Heauenly father but bee put in mind by this word Our that our brethren haue also an interest in oâ—r Prayers whom if we forget we cannot but acknowledge that wee also forget who is our Father Againe how can children loue their father and not hate what he loueth not If wee loue what hee misliketh as the workes of the flesh the vanities of the World and the pleasures which our Father hath forbidden how and with what face can wee come cal him Our Father Or beg any thing with hope to receiue it at his handes whom wee cannot but confesse wee rather flatter then feare or loue The wordes which art in heauen intimate vnto vs that we call not vpon any earthly Prince or mortall Monarch but vpon the inuisible and immortall God whose dwelling is in the Heauens at his hands only we seeke whatsoeuer we need both heauenly and earthly thinges And as hee our Father is in Heauen whome wee loue so should â—ur minds and cogitations mâ—unt vp aboue the earth vnto the heauens where our beloued sitteth in glorie And although we bee in bodie in the earth our soules in an earthly Tabernacle yet should that our spiritual part be euermore conuersant as it were with him in the heauens as children of our heauenly Father For hee that findeth not here in himselfe such spirituall motions as may assure him that hee in some measure partaketh of a kind of felt heauenly blessednesse shall neuer hereafter partake of our heauenly Fathers glorie And therefore as we are bold in Christ our elder brother to present our selues before his Maiestie rendring vnto him his owne namely the lesson that he himselfe taught vs let vs not come to him as Trewants nor able to yeeld a reason vnto our selues of euery branch of the lesson hee gaue vs to learne But let vs set it before the eyes of our vnderstandings eyther as a glâ—sse to see our ignorance and deformities or to make it a law vnto our selues to shape all our prayers to him and our conuersations thereby to Gâ—ds glorie and our owne internall comfort What a lesson doe these words Hallowed bee thy name teach vs what occasion may wee hereby take to reproue our selues for many with the â—lippâ—s pronounce Hallowed be thy name that thinke or doe nothing lesse profaning the name of God by their sinnes which they should seeke by all meanes to glorifie as by obedience to his lawes by louing him for his own sake by praying vnto him and beleeuing in him But contrarily we disobey his will wee loue not his word we beleeue not his promises wee seeme to pray vnto him with the lips our hearts farre from him Also wee pray that his Kingdome may come namely that his Word may worke and take effect in euery mans heart to the sauing of their soules And yet most of vs are as farre from regarding it as wee rather contemne it and resist it seeming as it were vnwilling that the Spirit of God should dwell and rule in our heartes as may appeare by our common disobedience vnto the Scepter of his Kingdome the Gospell of Christ. Wee pray likewise Thy will be done And yet we do nothing lesse then obey it We begge our daily bread at the hands of God And yet wee trust him not but rather our owne prouisions our wit and policies our friendes and carnall meanâ—s coueting to lay vp in store for many yeares as the rich man did mentioned in the Gospell Arguing thereby that wee thinke in our hearts that if our owne care in getting were no surer meane of prouision of our daily necessaries then the promise and prouidence of God wee should want manie thinges and not obtaine sufficient meanes to maintaine our estate leaue vnto our children merely contrarie to the counsell of Christ who willeth vs not to be ouer-carefull for tomorrow