for ever to our children Let this disswade and perswade us Disswade us from the world for all things in it are changeable as time honour wealth pleasure and beauty perswade us to perfection as our father which is in heaven is perfect standing stedfast in the faith holding fast what wee have received and continuing constant to the end that wee may receive the crowne in heaven LECTIO 3. In Heaven HEre it may be enquired and not amisse how it is that the presence of God is tyed to the heaven Seeing hee is every where so filling all things that hee is comprehended of nothing and so without all things that hee is excluded of nothing For answer hereof it is requisite that wee know that the dispensation of the presence of God is manifold and diverse There is a generall there is a particular there is a personall and there is a locall presence of God By his generall presence hee is present with all his creatures For in him wee live wee move and have our beeing By his particular presence he is present with man and because the sonnes of men are of two sorts therefore the dispensation of this presence is twofold with the child of disobedience hee is present by his providence his power and his justice by his providence maintaining his life by his power ordering his wayes to their appointed ends and by his justice binding him up in the secret of his soule with chaines of darknesse to the judgement of the great day with the child of his free love he is present by his providence maintaining his life by his power keeping him that he dash not his foot against a stone and by his mercy keeping him through faith to eternall salvation By his personall presence hee is present with his Sonne the Lord Jesus by his locall presence he is said to bee in heaven not that the heaven of heavens is able to containe him who is infinite but that there chiefly he manifesteth his glorious presence and his glorious essence to the Angels who have kept their originall integrity to the Soules of the Saints departed and to all of us both in soule and body in the day of our last and finall refreshment In a word God is said to be in heaven as the soule is said to be in the head or heart of man The soule we know animates the whole body and by her presence in every member thereof communicateth life thereto yet by way of preheminencie and excellencie it is said to be in the head and in the heart of man Because in these two parts and from these two parts shee exerciseth her chiefest fnnctions communicateth and deriveth her chiefest influence So is it with God for howsoever by his infinite essence he be every where and filleth all his creatures yet by way of preheminencie and excellencie he is most specially said to be in heaven because there it is that the rayes and glorious beames of his Majestie are chiefly seene and from thence it is that he maketh the steps and impressions of his power knowne to the sonnes of men It is true indeed wee can no where cast our eyes on the creatures but wee do straight perceive the characters of his wisdome power and Majestie For will we looke on the naturall course of the world we see init foure several sorts of creatures The first bare naked and simple substances without either life sense or reason of this sort are the Heavens the Sun the Moone and the Starres The second sort have substance and life but not sense or reason such are the trees plants herbs of the field all which have a vegitative life but no sense nor reason The third sort have life and sense but no reason such as the fowles of the aire the beasts of the field and the fishes of the sea The fourth and last sort hath all of these substance life sense and reason and that is man Now every one of these severall sorts of creatures do exceed one another and serve one for anothers use for wee see the first which are but mere substances serve for the use of them who have life These who have life do serve for the use of them who have reason and man who hath reason hee doth serve hee should serve and shall serve for the use of that God who dwelleth in the Heavens above Now who can looke on the beauty of these creatures Who can consider the reference or who can contemplate aright their correspondence but must straight know and confesse both that there is a God and that hee both made himselfe visible and palpable in his creatures and yet that the full streine of his glory is in Heaven for here wee see but in part wee know but in part and all that we either can see or know of him is but imperfect our perfection is hidden up with him in the Heavens and when wee shall by his power be brought thither wee then shall fully see him as wee are seene and know him as wee are knowne and be changed into his image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord. Now brethren having laid this for a foundatiō that is immoveable that howsoever the Lord is every where yet chiefly hee is in heaven the habitation of his holinesse and that howsoever hee be made visible in all his creatures yet the full and accomplished vision of his glory wee shall not have but in the heavens It resteth that from the consideration hereof wee learne to make use of the same for our spirituall advantage The use that wee make of this is threefold Vse First it teacheth us to whom we should pray Secondly how wee should pray And thirdly how wee should live when wee have prayed First to whom should wee pray but to God and to him who is in heaven There are but two motives which direct man in the time of need to have his recourse to another for helpe The first is affection the second is power who but a foole will in the time of need run for helpe to any man whō hee knoweth doth not love him for it is madnesse for a man to become a suiter where love pleadeth not as a mediator it is for this cause that Christ Jesus our Redeemer hath in the frontispice of this prayer given us the assurance of Gods love to wards us whilst he calls him Our Father that from the assurance of his fatherly love wee may draw neere to the Throne of Grace with boldnesse and there poure out our supplications before him with assurance to be heard in that which we feare The other motive why men in the time of need have their recourse to another is the assurance of his power For though hee were never so wel affected if he be not able our petitions are all in vaine The Lord liveth let the people tremble hee sits betwixt the Cherubins let the Earth be moved let the people imagine vaine things and
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
or permanency Hence it is that by way of eminent excellency above the creature hee hath made amongst many his other attributes himselfe known to us by his eternity an attribute so absolutely proper to him that it cannot properly be attributed to any creature beside him It is true indeed the decrees of God are truly called eternall in their act but not if wee consider them in their execution for howsoever they were decreed from all eternity yet they are finite in respect of time for in time they receive their accomplishment The soules of men are truly called eternall yet not properly for howsoever they be eternall essences induring for ever yet had they a beginning in time for till God breathed in mās nostrels man was not a living soule The Sacrament of Circumcision was called the eternall covenant Exod. 17. yet it is but catachrestically termed so for properly it was not so it had a beginning in the dayes of Abraham Nothing then can be properly called eternall but God himselfe in respect of his eternall essence and the blood of the Sonne of God in respect of the eternall value thereof God in respect of his eternall essence trinity of persons is from everlasting to everlasting for this is his name I am that I am The value also of the blood of the Son of God is eternall though not in respect of the incarnation yet in respect of the operation thereof for by the blood of that immaculate lambe slaine before the foundations of the world in time wee have received peace attonement 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and after all time a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conformity vnto his image and establishment in the grace wherein we stand But thou wilt enquire if God onely bee truly and properly eternall how is eternity according to his kingdome and that his kingdome is for ever and ever The answer is easie whatsoever is in God is God and his attributes are like unto himselfe for as hee is in himselfe eternall so is his kingdome his power and glory The consideration of these things serves us for a manifold use First our God is eternall and so is his love to wards us Who shall separate us from the love of God shall tribulation or anguish famine or nakednesse c. No in all these things wee are more then conquerers Secondly the vertue of the death of Jesus is eternall Who shall lay any thing then to the charge of Gods chosen It is God that justifies who shall condemne It is Iesus Christ who hath died for us and now in the heavens makes intercession for us at the right hand of the Majesty Thirdly God is eternall and his kingdome is for ever what need wee then to feare what man can doe unto us they can but kill the body but Let us feare him who can cast both soule and body in hell fire where the worme dyes not and the fire goes not out Fourthly our God is eternall and his kingdome for ever and ever Why should wee then seeke the things of this life that perish No no it becomes us not to set our eyes on things that are seene and are temporall but on those things that are not seenand are eternall Finally since our God is eternall his kingdome endureth for ever why should we weary or murmur under the rod of our visitation for all the afflictions of this present time are not worthy of the glory to be revealed for our afflictions are but light and endure for a moment but it is an eternall weight of glory passing in excellency that is laid up for us who are kept by the power of his Sonne through faith to eternall salvation Amen THis is the last gaspe and breath of this prayer many such ejaculations have the servats of God breathed in the last period of their extremities Iacob said O Lord I have waited for thy salvation Old Father Simeon could say Now let thy servant depart in peace The righteous say in the 8. to the Romans That they having received the first fruits of the spirit do sigh in themselves waiting for the adoption and redemption of their mortall bodies and the soules of the Saints under the Altar in the Revelation can say O Lord how long Our Saviour Christ Jesus in place of all these things teacheth us to say Amen And for understanding hereof let us first learne what it is or how it must be said As to the first Amen is a word taken in Scripture three manner of waies nominally adverbially and verbally Nominally it signifies to us Jesus Christ the second person of the Trinity for it is thus written Revel 3.14 These things saith Amen the faithfull and the true witnesse Neither this alone but what is more it gives a reality to what hee hath spoken or promised for it is written his promises are not yea and nay but yea and Amen Adverbially it is a word of earnest asseveration for so useth our Saviour Verily verily I say unto you whose primitive is Amen Amen dico vobis Verbally and so it is equivalent to so be it whether it be in the matter of thank esgiving of praise or of prayer In the matter of thanksgiving 1. Cor. 14.16 That Amen may be said In the matter of praise Psal 41.13 Blessed bee the Lord from everlasting to everlasting Amen and Amen In the matter of prayer and then it hath a double use for then it is vel signaculum consensus nostri vel votum desiderly nostri To all of the former Petitions it is not only signaculum consonsus nostri but also votum desiderij nostri for in these we do not onely acknowledge that our Father dwells in heaven that his name must bee hallowed that his kingdome must come that his will must be done in earth as it is in heaven but withall it is votum desiderij nostri our earnest desire Give us this day our daily bread Forgive us our sinnes Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from all evill And in all of these wee are taught not onely to assent but also to desire to assent and acknowledge the glory power and soveraignty of his dread essence to desire and begge from his all-sufficiency the support of our infirmity that his strength may be knowne in our weaknesse and his power may be made manifest in our infirmity Thus then knowing that all things are of him and by him and for him what rests but that in respect of his all-sufficiencie and eternall kingdome power and glory wee should draw neare unto him begge of him that he who is only able may keep us that we fall not and that he would present us without spot or blemish before the presence of his glory with joy who is God only wise immortall and invisible in whose presence is the fulnesse of all joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore Amen God of his infinite mercy and goodnesse make us all carefull of his glory whilst wee are in this life that in the day of Christs appearance we may be made partakers of that eternall glory which is laid up for us in the heavens and purchased to us by his blessed merits Amen FINIS
that move mee to undergoe this Theame 1. Time and the present opportunity 2. Your necessities 3. The dignity of the Author 4. The perfection of the worke First the time and present opportunity leads us to it for wee have beene busied these many dayes in manifesting to you the estate of your misery by nature the estate of grace to which you are exalted the truth of God confirming the Covenant of his Grace by the seale thereof his Sacrament And the recompence thereof in the duty we owe him for the manifestation of that his rich grace unto us In the first we have a lamentable spectacle of our owne weaknesse In the second and third wee have had a view of Gods undeserved love In the last wee have had a taste given us of the bounden duty we owe to God for that his so rich and underserved a favour made manifest unto us The consideration of al these premisses being joyntly knit together leadeth us to the knees of our soules by praier to say Da domine quod petis pete quod vis Secondly besides the consideration of the oportunity of the time your necessities doe not a little perswade mee to this course for howsoever we live in the middest of a cleare and so uncontrouled a light that no flesh can bee excused by reason of ignorance yet I must be bold as the Servant of God not daring to belie his truth to say that the condemnation of this age is that light hath shined into it and yet your darknesse is palpable and that you have loved darknesse better than light because your workes are evill Thirdly the dignity of the Author of this Prayer being duly considered will not a little breed your respect and regard thereof For as it was said of Iohn the Baptist that amongst the sonnes of women a greater than hee did not arise so it shall be more truely said of the Author of this Prayer Amongst the sonnes of men there can bee found none so great as he Adam the first man was great made to the Image of God Enoch was great and walked with God Abraham was great and walked before God Salomon was great and was called the sonne of God for it is written I will bee his father and hee shall bee my sonne but amongst all these none was answerable to the second Adam to the true heire of David to the true Salomon yea to him who speaking of himselfe was bold to affirme A greater then Salomon is here for he is not onely the Image of the invisible God as Adam nor walked hee with God as Enoch nor before God as Abraham but hee was the eternall Sonne of the eternal God in whom the fulnesse of the Godhead did bodily dwell that out of his fulnesse wee might receive grace and plenty and grace for grace If then the servant bee not above his Master nor the Disciple above his Lord who amongst the sons of men shall be his parallel who was God of himself Sonne of the Father Man of the Holy Ghost God and Man in one person God that he might satisfie and Man that hee might suffer for man that man might be againe exalted to the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God Fourthly shall we looke to the perfection of the worke it selfe how can it bee but perfect being the worke of him who is not onely perfect but perfection it selfe It is reported by Plinius in his lib. 35. cap. 10 that Apelles upon a time seeing a Tablature of Protogines wherein for a Master-piece he had onely drawne a line of such finenesse subtilitie that in his opinion none could match it Apelles taking the Pensell in hand within the bounds of the same very line drew another more subtil than the first that Protogines at his returne espying it was forced to say Nisi in Apellem non potuit cadere tam absolutum opus So may I justly say of the worke and frame of this so excellent a Prayer that save from the hands of the Sonne of God so neate and accomplished a worke could not have beene produced and that both in respect of the brevity of the plainenesse and perfection thereof The brevity is cleare for the words are few and given unto us as an enchiridion in forme it is plaine for in it there is no riddle which any having the heyfer of the Spirit may not unfold And finally it is perfect for in it there lacks nothing that can either redresse our misery or reveale the riches of Gods mercy Thus have I in these foure considerations cleared unto you the reason of my proposed intent In handling of this Theame the Prayer shall be divided into these three parts a Preface some Petitions and a Conclusion This dayes taske shall lead us to consider the Preface in these words Our father which art in heaven For the understanding of the words first their inference secondly their tenour and matter Their inference is one way reported by Matthew another way by Luke Matthew maketh it a part of his Sermon Luke maketh it an answer or reference to a demand whilst Matthew coucheth it in the bosome of his sermon he maketh the preventing grace of God manifest whilst Luke maketh it a reference to a desire he sheweth us that the hungring and thirsting desire of Gods Saints shall not goe away unsatisfied The consideration of the inference being past wee come now to lay hold on the words of the Preface I compare the Preface to the Gate or entry of a building and I think not without reason for as it is amongst the sonnes of men whilst they invite their fellowes or friends to their houses I doe verily thinke that without error they may receive them by three severall courtesies they may meet them at the gate and say welcome friend they may assure them of the state and condition of their company and lastly if they have no such fare as they would they may promise their friend at least a good hansome roome In all these three you shall finde that our God doth prevent us for he meets us at the doore and tels us that he is not onely our friend but what is more our father if we be ceremonious and enquire concerning the company hee answers there are none within but those who are ours and therefore it is written Our father according to that of Christ Iesus I goe to my Father and to your Father and to my God and your God And last of all if we shall be loath to enter he will yet further satisfie us by assuring us of the hansomnesse of the roomes for the house is not a house made with hands but a house that is glorious and eternall in the heavens yea farre above these visible heavens the dwelling place of God yea the Heaven of Heavens The first word of invitation is Father That we may the better know that God is our father we must doe as those who not daring to looke
knowne by his name to Adam to Moses to Abraham Isaack Iacob and the Prophets And by these his names point out to them the fulnesse of his grace in Jesus Christ I answer thee It is true indeed but the differēce of the revelatiō is great for God in the manifesting of his name unto us hath now done it more neerly more cleerely more fully and more familiarly First more neerly for what is neerer to us then our nature which he did assume hee became flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone yea like unto us in all things sinne onely excepted that wee might bee made to God in him flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone in a spirituall regeneration Secondly more clearely for they saw but darkly and under a veile but wee have seene him in the prime and strength of his light for it is written All these things were but shadowes of things to come but the body was Christ Iesus Galat. 2. Thirdly more fully for he hath kept back no part of the counsell of the Father from us which was necessary to our salvation Fourthly more familiarly for what could be more familiar then to have the Sonne of God walking in our flesh amongst us thirty three yeares and an halfe And what greater familiarity then to make both Jew and Gentile who were estranged from God to bee one in himselfe Let us therefore boldly looke upon him in the revelation of his name and learne in every thing in heaven or in earth on the which we set our eyes to reverence this great and mighty name the Lord our God This being spoken concer-cerning the subject of the petition the Attribute now followeth in order to bee considered and it is laid before us in a word of sanctification or hallowing Hallowed bee thy name For understanding hereof wee will first looke what it is to hallow or sanctifie Secondly in whose power it lyeth to sanctifie Thirdly how Gods name is hallowed or can be sanctified of us First to hallow or to sanctifie any thing is to vindicate the same from any absurd or profane use to its owne holy and proper end and therefore to hallow Gods name is to vindicate it from all abuse whatsoever and to attribute to it the due honour and glory thereof But let this be made a little more cleare Secondly God sometimes halloweth man sometimes halloweth and God and man both do sometimes hallow God hallowed man by creation making him to his image God halloweth man by regeneration in the day of his new birth and God shall totally and finally hallow man in the day of his totall and finall redemption so that whatsoever God halloweth it is positively hallowed Man halloweth God not by making him blessed for what can a finite creature adde to the felicity of the great and infinite Creator Man therfore halloweth Gods name but declaratively when hee confesseth to the honour and glory of God that hee hath nothing but that which hee hath received and when hee giveth praise unto him for the same So that the hallowing and sanctification of God to man in respect of mans to him back againe is as the cause to the effect or as Gods election knowledge love to us from eternity causeth our election knowledge love of God back againe in time Finally there be some things that God and man both halloweth and these are persons times places i. his Ministers his Sabbaths and his Churches for these God hath hallowed and consecrated to himselfe Man halloweth them by observing and keeping them holy without prophanation and sanctifying himselfe in them and by them To speake then in a word Gods name is hallowed two wayes notionally and practically Notionally when wee acknowledge him aright and in the thoughts of our heart do yeeld unto him that due reverence which becommeth the creatures to give to the Creator Practically when in the tenour of our lives we do rightly acknowledge the truth of his word the riches of his mercy the equity of his justice and the majestie of his workes Vse Now that wee may make use of this Petition let us call to minde a little what hath beene said that under the name of God was understood his essence his word and his worke his essence we cannot hallow for wee can adde nothing to that which is infinite neither can we declare it sufficiently for here wee know but in a part and see but in a part Gods name is honoured in his word First when it is reverenced Secondly when it is trusted Thirdly when it is obeyed First when it is reverenced not as the word of man but as the word of God for this cause the Apostle St Paul at Corinth preached not in the vaine inticing eloquence of humane wisdome lest the crosse of Christ should be of no effect Secondly when it is trusted for want of this trust the old world was drowned and Moses debarred the land of Canaan and mockers in the last time shall receive a judgement that lingers not Thirdly when it is obeyed and men walke worthy of the calling wherunto they are called The wāt of this made Eli his house desolate and Shilo a mockingstocke The want of this made the sword to stay on the house of David surely the want of this shall one day beare witnesse against the children of this generation One thing resteth to honour God in his workes and this sort of sanctification is threefold according to the threefold estate of his creatures for some of them wee contemplate onely some of them wee acquire with toyle and much travell and some of them wee use with freedome and true liberty Wee contemplate the Sunne the Moone and the starres all made for the glory of God and the praise of his name we possesse the earth the seas with toyle difficulty and paine wee use with liberty and freedome our meate our drinke and our apparell In the first wee honour God if from the excellencie of the creature wee looke up to the admirable glory of the Creatour In the second we honour God whilst we care for them not with a thornie but a sober care 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the last wee honour God whilst wee sanctifie their use by the word by prayer and by sobriety But shall not man honour God in the words of his mouth also Yes surely but because hee who honoureth God in his heart doth also honor him with his mouth è contra by the one wee shall easily judge of the other For this it is that the wicked man is reproved Psalme 50. And that Christ commandeth Sathan to be silent speaking out of a possessed man for hee knew that his name would be dishonoured whilst it was named out of the mouth of the father of lyes let our speech therefore bee powdered with salt Now onely resteth the word of appropriation Thy which is set as a band and tye knitting the Attribute
his young infant to come the child cannot goe but creepeth to him He calleth on him by his name the child cannot speake but he bableth Hee biddeth him stand upright and alone but he straight fals Yet the father doth not measure his obedience by the perfection but by the endeavour It is so with God Hee calleth upon us to come to him wee cannot come unlesse wee bee drawne He biddeth us stand stedfast but wee fall till he strengthen us He biddeth us call upon him but wee cannot till he first call upon us and say as to Mary Mary then straight we answere him Rabony Finally hee biddeth us doe his will on earth as it is in heaven and be perfect as he is perfect But we cannot till he first give us the thing that he craveth of us What shall wee then doe shall wee languish because wee are weake or retire because we are faint No let us creepe and bable and struggle We are acceptable not because of our practise but because of our endeavour Not because of our action but because of our affection Coll. 3.2 LECT 10. Give us this day c. HAving spoken of the first three Petitions which concerne the honour and glory of God It resteth now that we looke on those Petitions which concern man and his utility either bodily or spiritually It is bodily wants are poured out here in this Petition and the support and reliefe thereof petitioned In handling hereof wee shall observe the very same order and Method which we observed in the former For first we will looke to the coherence of this Petition and next to the matter comprehended therein The coherence is remarkable For the Petition lookes with a twofold aspect viz. a reference to the former Petitions and a relation to the ensuing The reference it hath to the first three Petitions is that it serves for a touchstone to try the right and true title which wee have to the things of this life For wee live in a world wherein there is nothing which men doe so much affect as plenty and abundance And there is no man so much abhorred and despised as the poore man and hee that wants Howsoever it be absolutely true that the felicity of man consists not in the possession of the earth or earthly things for the Kingdome of God standeth neither in Meat Drinke nor Apparrell but in Righteousnesse peace and joy in the Holy Ghost But wouldest thou know O man whether thou hast a true title and right to the things that thou possessest or not and wouldst thou know whether or not thou enjoyest and brookes them with a good conscience Then for thy resolution looke to the first three Petitions and see how farre they have taken root in thy heart and how farre thy heart hath beene set on their obedience So farre thou hast right and true title to the things of this life and no farther For I will assure thee unlesse Gods honour hath beene deare to thee and dearer then thy owne Unlesse Gods Kingdome hath beene dearer to thee then all the world besides Yea and all the world in thy accompt hath beene but losse to thee in respect of it And finally unlesse Gods will have beene so deare to thee that thou hast denyed thy selfe and undergone the Crosse patiently captivating thy will to Gods I will tell thee thus much an use of the creatures of God thou mayest have had but a true title or right to them thou never hadst And to speake it in one word an usurper of Gods creatures thou maist bee but a true owner thou never wast No I must tell thee more There is never a bitt of bread that goeth downe into thy belly nor one drop of water that goeth into thy mouth but shall one day accuse thee of the wrong and tyranny that thou hast done unlesse thou canst shew by thy charter that thou art a member of Gods Kingdome And that for thy Reddendo thou hast honored his name and captivated thy will to his obedience For as all things are ours whilst wee are Christs So without Christ nothing in the world is ours No they are so farre from being ours that they sigh and groane against us Rom. 8. And woe bee to us if when they sigh against us wee cannot sigh for our selves But this is not all For as this hath a respect to the former Petitions by way of tryall so doth it also carry a reference and relation to the subsequent and that more wonderfull and observable then the former For it may bee enquired whence it commeth that hee who was the Son of God and thought it no robbery to bee made equall with God himselfe Againe whence it was that he who laid downe the life of his body that hee might save the life of our soules And finally whence it comes that hee who did forbid us to care what wee should eate or what apparrell we should put on should in this measure be so carefull of our bodies and the naturall life thereof that he should preferre a petition concerning the body before that which concerneth the soule Is not the soule of much more worth then the body and are not the things that concerne the soule of farre greater excellencie then those which concerne the body How is it then that hee who is the Prince of our salvation should bee thus preposterous in his Alphabet as to recommend to us the care of our bodies before the care of our soules and the worth of a peece of bread before the worth of the remission of our sinnes To this I answer Wisdome is justified of all her children and therefore it becomes us not to judge any thing before the time for hee is the wisdome of the Father who hath thus taught us and as there was no iniquity found in his wayes so there was no guile found in his tongue Hee hath then suffered us to prefixe the Petition which concerneth our body before those that concerne our soule not for dignities but for necessities sake For behold as hee made us so hee knoweth our frame and of what mould wee are made and for this cause hee submitteth himselfe to our infirmities that by doing so he may gaine us for wee have not such an High-priest as cannot bee touched with the sense of our infirmities but who was made like unto us in all things sinne excepted Will any man then aske the reason of this order I answer God hath done it wisely for three causes First to shew us the infirmity of our flesh or fleshly nature Secondly to shew us the riches of his mercy Thirdly to shew us the true refuge to the which wee should runne in the day of our bodily wants I say first it is done to shew us our naturall infirmity and the weaknesse of flesh who live by sense and not by faith For it is with man walking in the way to heaven as it is with little children walking in their parents families
wee know this to be the defect and weaknesse of our children that hardly or seldome can they bee brought to put on their apparell or say their prayers till first they get the promise of their breakfast it is so with us in the way to heaven all the promises of God concerning our felicity there which in themselves are so large and infinite that neither hath the eye seene them or the eare heard them or can the minde of man understand them Yet all of them of what quality or number soever they bee can never lead a man to the earnest pursuit of those things that are eternall unlesse hee get a palpable possession of those things that are temporall But as David said This is our death I saysecondly he hath done it for a demonstration of the riches of his mercy towards us letting us see that hee will passe by many of our infirmities and overlooke many of our weakenesses ere hee want us So pretious a thing in the eyes of the Lord is the Soule of a man that hee will give much for it ere hee want it looke to the Father looke to the Sonne to the Holy Ghost looke to the elect angels to the Saints departed to the senselesse creatures and looke to sathan himselfe and all shall teach you that nothing on earth is so pretious as the soule of man And if our soules and the redemption of them bee a matter of so great excellencie doe you thinke that God will want it for a meale of meat no no farre bee it from us to thinke so for will hee that feeds the fowles of the aire and clothes the lillies in the field be forgetfull of us No surely a haire of our head shall not fall to the ground but by his providence and if any shall fall it is not for want of his favour but for the weaknesse of our faith I say thirdly it is done to shew us the true refuge unto the which we should all leane in the day of our want whether bodily or spirituall and that is onely to God For will wee looke to the things of this earth in the day of our bodily want from whom shall we seeke them but from God for it is hee that heareth the heaven and maketh the heaven to heare the earth and the earth to heare the come and the come to heare Israel If hee heare thee all shall heare thee but if hee stop his eare all shall bee deafe and dumbe to thee For the eyes of all things do wait and depend on him While he openeth his hand they are filled with his blessing But if hee over-cloud his countenance they are sore affraid and perish Now this being the reason of the coherence I come to the Petition wherein six things are remarkable First what we crave Bread Secondly of whom wee crave it of God for wee say Give Thirdly to whom wee crave it and it it not in the singular number to mee or to thee but in the plurall number Vnto Vs Fourthly what a bread it is that we crave a Daily bread not a dainty bread Fifthly whose bread is it that we crave not our neighbours bread but our owne Our And sixtly for what time it is that wee crave it not for the morrow but for to day Give us this day our daily bread Whilst I looke on the thing that is petitioned Bread It is requisite that I search what is meant and understood by it The Ancients and Fathers of the Church have thought diversly of it Tertullian lib. de Orat. Cap. 6. will have by this bread Christ himselfe to bee meant and saith that there is nothing can have a more orderly progresse then that after we have sought the honor of Gods name the advancement of his Kingdome and the obedience of his will to seeke also the bread of life by the which wee may bee enabled to do those things And this is Christ himselfe saith hee for of him it is written I am the bread of life Ioh. 6. Athanasius lib. De humana natura suscepta Tom. 1. doth by the word bread understand the Holy Ghost and for proofe thereof bringeth the words of this very Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our daily bread for hee saith God hath taught us in this present time to seeke that bread for our entertainment whose first fruits shall preserve our soule in life to the life to come Augustine writing of the sermon of Christ in the mountaine Tom. 4. lib. 2. cap. 7. pag. 349. by bread doth understand the bread of the Sacrament or else the bread of Gods word by the which our soules are kept in life to the obedience of his statutes But with reverence let me say that Tertullians opinion meaning by bread Christ cannot stand with the due order of this prayer for then it were tautologick for that was sought in the petition Thy Kingdome come Againe Athanasius his interpretation cannot bee received whilst by bread hee meaneth the holy Ghost for of him wee receive but the first fruits in this life But of this bread we many times receive both satiety and surfeit Last of all I cannot subscribe to Augustine in this his opinion nor to the Rhemists his followers who by bread here understand the bread of the Sacrament for if it were so I see no reason wherefore they should debarre the laicks from eating thereof one licenciating the use thereof to the Priests whilst God calleth it our bread and our daily bread and alloweth to us both the use and the daily use thereof It resteth then that the truth bee cleared and so it shall by taking the words literally and under the name of bread by understanding bakers bread yet not so strictly but that figuratively also under it we may cōprehend all things requisite for the maintenance of this our naturall life such as are strength of body by nourishment health by Physick warmnesse by apparell sufficiencie and correspondencie to our labours and finally all the meanes and helpes that leads to these things as Christian magistracie peace in the land and seasonable weather So that Ambrose looking on the large extent of the word bread sayeth of this Petition Haec postulatio maxima est corum quae petuntur For since as man cannot live without bread so his bread cannot quicken him except he have a stomack to disgest and when his stomack is able hee cannot get it unlesse the earth afford it and the earth doth not afford it except it be laboured and it cannot bee laboured except there bee peace amongst men and in the very time of peace mens travels cannot be profitable unlesse God send both the first and the latter raine Therefore saith hee in this one word of bread many things are couched yea all things that are requisite for the entertainment of our life The meaning of the words being thus interpreted let us make some use of them Their use is twofold Vse For the word serves first for rebuke and
with never so meane a portion of estate it is a wonder to see how farre hee that hath dispiseth him that wanteth as if either wee had procured that of our selves which wee have or that they were not of our mould that want But foole why should thou bee so miscarried All the power that thou hast cannot make a white haire of thy head blacke nor a graine of seed that thou castest in the ground to grow up againe nor thy clothes to keepe thee warme or thy meat to feed thee except God adde a stasse to thy bread Why shouldest thou bee proud then or why shouldest thou misknow thy neighbour knowest thou not that a short time can make thee equall with the poorest begger that goeth abroad Iob in one day was rich in posterity ere Even he had not one to pisse against the wall the Sunne at his rising saw him rich in Asses Oxen and Sheepe ere night he had none of them In the morning hee was strong and vigorous in his health ere night hee scraped his sores with a potchard In the morning hee had a wife to lye in his bosome ere the noone-tide in the day shee is turned to a rocke of offence Curse God and dye God bee mercifull to us how uncertaine and transitory are the things of this life Why should wee either bee proud and overjoy in them or niggards or sparers of them not lending to the necessities of the poore The Lord teach us humility and commiseration that our soules may be safe in the day of our Lord Jesus Now in the fourth place wee have set downe to us a word of conscience whilst wee call it Our bread For in so doing wee crave of God that hee would so accompany our travels with his blessing that wee walking and travelling in our calling for our necessities may have rather to be helpefull unto others then burthenable to any But here there would a doubt seeme to arise wee have confessed already that we are indigent and have no power of our selves to procure any reliefe of our necessities unlesse it bee given us from above how is it then since wee have nothing but what wee receive of God that we should be bold to rejoyce and call it Our I answere it is no vaine rejoycing to call that which God giveth us Ours For the blessings of God communicated to us are ours in three respects first as they are given to us in Christ Secondly as they are acquired by us in our lawfull calling Thirdly as they are sanctified to our use by the Word and Prayer I say first they are Ours as wee are in Christ for if wee bee living and true members of the mysticall body of Jesus Christ then all the things in the world are ours for it is written All things are ours whilst wee are Christs for Christ is Gods Get once a gripe of Christ by faith and thou may boldly call the world and all that is in it thine It is true indeed many men in the world have a better gripe of the world then the Christian Looke to the Apostles Yet none had so good a right to it for though they wanted the use yet they had the onely title And though they possesse nothing yet had they true title to all things Secondly the creatures of God are ours and we acquire them in our lawfull calling not robbing not spoiling nor deceitfully or trecherously living on the sweat of another mans brow and eating the bread of violence Prov. 14. Thinkest thou O man or woman that there is no more required of thee but that thou shouldest rise in the morning and having washed thy hands sit downe to thy dinner and from thy dinner to thy supper and from thy supper to thy bed No no this life is too easie to bee honest Thou must eate thy bread in the sweat of thy brow Art thou a Magistrate goe to the bench exercise there justice and judgment defend the innocent and relieve the widdow and fatherlesse Art thou a Mariner get thee to the helme and travell through the deepe Art thou a Minister get thee to thy booke reade meditate and pray and look to whatsoever calling God hath called thee to that therein thou bee exercised or else cover thy table as well as ever the rich gluttō did It shal be turned to a snare and thy prayer to sin except thou can say that this bread is my bread being won in a lawfull calling and procured by the sweat of my brow Thirdly it cannot be called thine except thou hast sanctified it by the word and prayer The children of Israel had a table prepared for them in the wildernesse but for want of this grace of sanctification it turned to their ruine for whilst the meat was in their mouth it came out at their nostrels and they perished in the wildernesse having fat bodies and leane soules It was not so in the dayes of our saviour Christ Jesus in the dayes of his flesh hee had five thousand people to feed with five loaves and two fishes but hee lifting up his eyes to his father did not onely procure satisfaction to the eater but also superabundance Thus then the creatures of God are justly called ours when wee get any right to them in Jesus Christ Secondly when wee eate them in the sweat of our brow And thirdly when they are sanctified to our use by the word and by prayer Vse Hence wee have these lessons to learne first Labour O man to be ingrafted in Jesus Christ for all things in heaven and earth are his and submitting themselves to him acknowledge him their onely Lord. It is hee by whom the Sunne giveth his radiation light It is hee that covers the earth with fertility and plenty It is he that commands the windes and they blow he speakes to them peace againe and they are hushed and still It is hee lastly who sayeth to raging waves of the sea here shall ye come and go no further and behold they obey him with feare Since reines of all things are in his hands and the dispensation thereof in his power labour thou to get a gripe of him by faith and nothing shall be defective to thee it may be that he can sometimes out thee short of these things that he gave thee house wife children prosperity or health what matters it of all these give him his will therein and let it bee seene to the world that thou art in him by thy patience I will promise thee in the name of the living God Hee shall either restore thy captivity seaven fold or else hee will give thee something better then all the world even himselfe It is a pitty to see so carefull as the men of the world are to get the things of this world and so carelesse as they are to get him without whom they can never have true title nor right to the world or to any thing in it Can a house stand without the
this is one and the chiefe that his heart is become earthly and muddy in the beginning hee had a body earthly and from the earth but his soule was celestiall and from above not onely in respect of essence but also in respect of the faculties and the qualities of these faculties now by his fall his soule is made like his body though not in essence or faculties for they are still spirituall yet in respect of the qualities of these faculties for the understanding of the naturall man knoweth nothing but the things of the earth his affections delight in nothing but that which is earthly and his will practiseth nothing but that which is of the earth and in the earth but these things ought not to bee so wee are come from home and are returning thither againe Doth it become a pilgrim whilst he is in the way to be overtaken with the pleasures of the way no certainly for if hee bee in love with the pleasures of the way hee shall never attaine to his journeyes end Do you not remember what is written in prophane stories concerning Theseus and Atalanta a woman of exceeding swiftnesse who being overtaken with the love of the golden balls which Theseus let fall by the way lost the race and the reward of it But why do I cite a prophane story looke to the word of God and the truth therein contained there you shall finde Iudges 7. That the Lord chosing out an army for Gedion to overthrow Midian he first sent away the fearfull and faint hearted which were two and twenty thousand then hee sent away those who fell downe on their knees and dranke water which were nine thousand and seaven hundred so that there remained of all the host of Gedion but three hundred to overthrow their enemies and these were such as stooped not downe to inebriate themselves with the waters of the river but snatched at them onely with their hand refreshing onely the tip of their tongues and continuing their journey It should bee so with us in using the things of this life wee should use them as though wee used them not hee that rejoyceth should not bee over-joyed in his rejoycing and hee that is in griefe should not bee over-grieved in his sorrow He that hath should not be proud hee that wanteth should not dispare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and moderation should bee showne as men knowing that the fashion of this world perisheth Let us therefore bee like Iacob Gen. 28.20 And like Christs disciples Ioh. 6. Labour not for the meat that perisheth And like Israel Hos 2. Secondly wee have here a second lesson which serveth for our instruction and I pray you consider it Man if hee want he murmures he grudgeth and repines It was the errour of Israel in the want of water to murmure against Moses in the want of bread and of flesh So that his heart was grieved Rachel in the want of children could murmure and say to Iacob Give mee children else I die And Abraham himselfe in his barrennesse could say to God Eliazar my servant shall bee my heire So hard and indured are the hearts of men till God both make them see and feele the force of his care and providence towards them neither is the discontentment and grudge of men cleare in the example of these Fathers but also in our own daily and quotidian practice the poore man is no sooner fallen from his estate then through distrust of the providence of God hee must steale the sick man is no sooner in the bed of his disease but hee sends for a wisard to see if hee can recover The man that is wronged hath no sooner received his affront or word of reproach but straight his sword must bee his judge and decider of his quarrell and his owne hand must censure that which hee can neither digest nor cast up againe But tell mee O man from whence proceeds this thy folly wantest thou is there not a God in heaven of whom it is said The eyes of all things do looke up and trust in thee O Lord. Art thou sicke is there not a God in Israel in whose hands are the issues of life and death Art thou wronged knowest thou not that vengeance is the Lords and he will repay For it is a righteous thing with the Lord to render tribulation to them that trouble us and peace unto us in the day of rest Why do wee then in the day of our trouble wrong both our selves and our sufferings by our precipitations Knowest thou from whence this thy precipitation floweth because thou knowest not I will tell thee It floweth absolutely from the want of the sight of thy sinne If thou knewst wherefore thy goods were taken frō thee wouldst thou murmure No. If thou knewst wherefore thy health was taken from thee wouldst thou grudge No. if thou knew from whence thy wrong came wouldst thou repine No. All the distemper cōmeth from this thou knowst not the cause of it Thy sinnes that are not forgiven thee are the cause of all thy calamity If thou hadst but truly repented thee of thy sinnes and by faith gotten the assurance of thy pardon I will assure thee thy captivity should have bin redeemed thy righteousnesse should have shined as the Sun at the noontide of the day but as long as thou hast neither gotten thy sins pardoned thee nor hast pardoned others their sinnes against thee it is no wonder though thou say to God Give mee this day my daily bread and get it not for it is sure that the Lord heareth not nor accepts of sinners for as it is true that the seede of the righteous man was never seene to beg his bread for want so on the other part it is as true The candle of the wicked shall be put out and another man shall take his charge The evidence hereof is cleare in Israel in the dayes of the Judges Looke to Sheba and Iesabel Thirdly and lastly as it rebuketh us for the dirty and muddy quality of our hearts and instructeth us in the true cause and occasion of our wants so it teacheth us how to use the creatures aright or rather how wee should examine our selves aright after the use of the creatures when man sitteth downe to use the creatures of God Three things are required of him Premeditation sobriety examination Premeditation in acknowledging his unworthinesse of them for in themselves they are the good creatures of God as well as thou art yea in some respect they are better then thou for though thou wert created to a more glorious image yet by their innocency they have kept a more glorious station for thou hast sinned and not they and they subject to vanity not because of themselves but because of him who hath subdued thē under hope Sit never downe therefore O man to thy dinner without preponderatiō Whē thou seest the creatures of God set before thee know and remember they lived once as thou
many malicious powerfull and politick And like the sons of Zerviah too mighty for us unlesse that hee who commandeth us to fight fight in us and for us wee cannot be victorious Secondly when hee is called to battell let him not bee a coward for hee hath more then good company his God for a Captaine watching over him his Redeemer his elder brother fighting for him the holy Ghost his comforter fighting in him his fellow brethren standing on his one hand and all the Angels of heaven on the other and who would not fight with so good company No no my brethren let us lift up our faint hearts and strengthen our weake knees though the conflict be hard the conquest is honourable for God will shortly tread Sathan under our feet through Jesus Christ out Lord. Amen LECTIO 20. Lead us not into temptation c. ACcording to the tenor of of our first proposed method wee have already spoken unto you of the first three things that were remarkable in this Petition to wit of our calling temptation of our enemies the world the devill and the flesh And thirdly of our fellow souldiers Jesus Christ in the dayes of his flesh our fellow brethren now Saints in heaven and our fellow brethren here militant on earth It resteth now that wee consider and ponder aright the fourth and last thing remarkable in them to wit who is our Leader and it is God for to him and to him alone it is that we put up supplication and say Lead us not into temptation Now in handling of this point three things are chiefly remarkable First who it is that is our Leader and why it is that hee is so called Secondly how it is that hee leads us into temptation And thirdly whilst hee leads us into temptation whether hee be guilty of sinne or no The first thing observable is Who is our leader I answer God and that very God who being one in essence is three in persons the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost God the Father is our leader and therefore hee is called the Lord of Hosts God the Sonne is our leader and therefore tooke upon him our flesh that in it hee being first a souldier might thereafter become our leader Finally God the holy Ghost is now by deputation become our leader and therefore it is written That as many as are led by the Spirit are the Sonnes of God God the Father is our leader and for that cause is stiled the Lord of Hosts Dominus exercituum this is his name for ever and this is his memoriall unto all ages Of all the titles that God hath in scripture there is not one so often used by God himselfe as this For shall wee looke but upon two Prophets Isayah and Ieremiah and in them alone this title is attributed to God above an hundred thirty times It is not a title then likely to bee looked upon but with deepe and due consideration let us then looke upon it Our leader God is called the Lord of hostes in these respects first in respect of the generall frame of all his creatures who being viewed and considered in a masse together are nothing else but a pitched field and a battell set in aray fighting for the honour of God and the obedience that is due unto him For in the heaven of heavens there is an host of blessed Angels covering their faces and bowing their knees before his Throne singing a deepe Halleluiah and casting their crownes downe at his feet And this company is called an host for Luke 2. whilst they appeared to the sheepheards at the birth of Christ it is written of them There was a multitude of Angels and an heavenly host praising God and saying Glory be to God on high and to men on earth peace and goodwill Let us from that place looke a little lower and behold the starry firmament that is above our heads and there wee shall finde that hee is the Lord of hosts also for there the Sunne moone and Starres are his souldiers they fight for him and against his enemies as it is cleare out of the history of Ioshuah and Iudges and of these the Prophet Isayah saith 45.12 speaking of God I even I have stretched out the heavens and their host I have commanded but let us come a little lower and looke to the cattle that walke and the creeping things that move on the face of the earth and all of these are both the host and army of God fighting for his obedience and treading under foot those that rise up against him as is cleare from the dust and ashes of Egypt fighting against Pharo Againe if wee shall withdraw our eyes from the unreasonable creature to man who is indued with reason What I pray you are all the battells armies conflicts and skirmishes of nation against nation of kingdome against kingdome of country against country of people against people but the armies and battells of the Lord the rods of his indignation and the staffe of his wrath punishing the land because of the sinnes of them that dwell therein and man by the sword of man for his iniquity for the sword of a stranger is the revenger of the quarrell of Gods covenant Thirdly will wee looke on these our native and domesticke armies of flesh that are in these our mortall bodies I meane the ague the webbe in the eye the paine in the tooth the consumption of the lungs the shortnesse of the breath the stone in the reines the tympany of the belly and the gout in the feet what are all these but the armies of God and host of the Almighty fighting in man against man because man hath fought against God who was his leader Last of all hee is Lord of hosts also in a spirituall sense for he is our Captaine and leader in our spirituall warfare against the devill the world and the lusts of our owne flesh For it is by him and by his grace alone that wee have either courage to encounter strength to stand fast or patience to persevere unto the end And as in this hee is our leader and Captaine so doth he also hold the reines of our enemies chariots it was hee that made the wheeles of Pharoes chariots to fall off It was he that threw the stone at the fore-head of Goliah It was hee that smote the Philistines with the jawbone of an Asse It was hee that thrust the dart through Achabs brigandine and it was he alone that put a bridle in the lips of Zenacharih and a hooke in his nostrels and finally it is hee and hee alone who for our sakes by death hath destroyed him who hath the power of death that is the devill and hath put into our mouth that tryumphant song of victory O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory Blessed be God the Father through Iesus Christ our Lord in all these things we are more then Conquerers because our leader hath
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
let the Kings of the earth assemble themselves together yet hee that dwelleth in the Heavens shall laugh them to scorne and hee that is powerfull above all gods shall have them in derision The knowledge hereof is of great use for the troubles of the righteous are many and unlesse that God was both willing and able to deliver them they of all men in the world should bee the most miserable But blessed be God through Jesus Christ our Lord hee to whom wee runne for helpe is both kinde to acknowledge us for his and powerfull to deliver us It was the knowledge hereof that made Abraham strong in the faith hee knew that hee who had promised was able to performe It was this that wrought Nebuchadnezars cōversion it was this that was the ground of the three Childrens constancy it was this on the which Iohn the Baptist built his rebuke from this St. Paul did beate downe the vaine glory of the Gentile against the Jew and finally it was this upon which the same Apostle built his perseverāce I know whom I have beleeved and that hee is able to keepe that which I have concreded unto him Blessed is the man that in the time of need can build himselfe and the assurance of his deliverance on these two foundations the unchangeable love of God and his unresistible power surely that man hath built himselfe upon a rocke against which the gates of hell cannot prevaile But woe be to him who draweth neere unto God doubteth in any of these points surely that mans glory shall bee shaken and his best refuge shall prove but a broken reed or a house built on the sand whose fall shall be both great and irrecoverable The second that wee remarke from the words is How wee should pray And that is with a distance for God is in the heavens and we are upon the earth It is fitting therefore that our words should be few I have many times told you from this place that the children and sonnes of men doe impede and hinder the successe of their prayers so as when we aske we receive not when we seeke wee finde not and when we knocke it is not opened unto us But the fault is not with God it is alwaies with us for sometimes wee doe erre in the matter of our prayers preferring the things of this life to those of the life to come sometimes in the manner of our prayer begging pardon when our crying sins prevaile Sometimes in the time of prayer whilst we call upon him in the time of our calamitie whom we forget in the day of our prosperitie But chiefely we impede the successe of our prayers and hinder their due correspondence when our approaches are void of due consideration and distance It is wonderfull to see what respect distāce is observed amongst the sons of me whē we enter into the courts of Princes wee come no sooner within the Presence chamber but straight we are uncovered and give wee present a petition or supplication it is done with a bended knee and reason too for true Majestie requireth true distance There is a distance observed betwixt the noble and ignoble betwixt the father and sonne betwixt the master and servant betwixt the rich and poore and betwixt the wise man and the foole And shall there be no distance kept betwixt God and man God a mighty strong immortall and eternall Essence Man a poore miserable weake and corruptible creature O man wouldst thou have thy prayer heard come never in the presence of that dreadfull Majestie but with feare and trembling for he is in the Heaven and thou art but on earth yea a worme of the earth The Heavens are not pure enough in his presence and hee hath found no stedfastnesse in his very Angels How much more abominable art thou before him whose Tabernacle is in the dust whose dwelling is destroyed before the moath and the worme and who continually drinketh up iniquity like water but out upon the lourde and abominable misregard of this time It is long ere we can be awaked to come to this house of prayer our pinnes and dressings are so many And when wee come oh with what unreverence doe wee present our selves before that dreadfull Majestie In a moment without consideration wee clappe downe upon our knees wee mumble out some weak faint-hearted miscaryed thoughts before him we are no sooner set thus on work whē straight our eyes are gazing on our neighbors our hearts carried captive with the vanities and cares of the time so that in effect we turn the house of prayer to a den of theevs Alas my brethren these things ought not to be so we doe not learn this at our fellow Brethren Abraham David Gedion and the Virgin Mary We did not learne this at Christ himselfe for in the daies of his flesh he offered up strong cryes and supplications wee doe not learne this at the holy Angels who stand before him nor at those crowned Kings who cast their Crownes at his feet No no all of these acknowledge their unworthinesse and pondering the same with his incomparable glory they lick the dust before him But wee out of the senselesse stupidity of our soules have said wee are rich and increased with goods and that we doe stand in need of nothing notwithstanding that wee bee altogether poore wretched naked and blinde The Lord open our eyes to see the true distance that is betwixt the heaven and the earth and in the due consideration thereof to carry our selves answerably For when wee shall bee truly better then wee are is it shall be our best to think least of our selves and more of him and to give him his due honor in our greatest abasement The third and last thing is how we should live and carry our selves before him when we have prayed and this also is very worthy of our remark it is our custome for the most part in the sense of our sinne to runne to God and to cry for mercy But wee can no sooner say Lord forgive us our sinnes when straight with the dogge wee returne to the vomit of our iniquities and with the sowe to the puddle of our transgressions and what else is this I pray you but a scorning of God and in effect a begging of his leave to sinne against him what a prayer is this Doth the schoole man pardon the ignorance of his scholler that he may afresh returne and play the trowant or doth the Master of a family winke at the deboarding of his servant that he may of new play the wagge No sure it is to another purpose that they manifest their mercy wilt thou O man be angry with thy contempt and shall not hee who chastiseth the Nations correct No no deceive not thy selfe he whom thou callest thy father and whose habitation thou dost confesse to be in heaven shall laugh thy project to scorne for he desireth not thy sacrifices nor thy burnt
offerings he abhorreth thy solemne feasts and thy new Moones All that he requireth of thee is a new borne creature for a broken and contrite heart the Lord never despised Wouldest thou then have thy prayer to bee heard I pray thee take heed to whom thou praiest if thou invokest thy Father that is in heaven let thy conversation be with him also in heaven and remember that counsell given by the Apostle to the Colossians If you bee risen with Iesus Christ seeke those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of the Father But thou wilt say to me O man how shall I seek those things that are above since they are unsearchable the eye hath not seene them the care hath not heard them and the minde of man cannot understand them I may answere with the Apostle in that same place Though thy hand be short that thou canst not reach to them yet thy heart and the desires thereof are not so Set thy affections saith the Apostle upon them But for the more particular information I will teach thee how to attaine unto them If thou wouldest seeke thy Father that is in heaven and in seeking finde him then bee carefull of three things Seeke him where hee may be found seeke him how hee may be found and seeke him whilst he may be found It is a lamentable pity to see the toile and travaile of men in this time for they weary themselves in searching and seeking out the heavens the ayre the sea the earth and when they have found them the more that they know of them the greater fooles they become As it is written Rom. 1. O but that industrious search that hath the promise of satisfaction and true content is only to seeke God and his Heavenly kingdome To the atchievement whereof wee must first seeke him where he may bee found and where is that I pray you Gregory in his moralls lib. 16. cap. 15. telleth us In Sinu matris Ecclesiae Not in St. Dennis in France not in St. Iaques or Compostella in Spaine not in St. Patricks Purgatory in Ireland nor at the holy Grave in Jerusalem No no if at any time he was found there made manifest unto them hee hath now withdrawue his presence to the Heavens And out upon their folly that weary themselves in seeking him by such sublunary Pilgrimages I may and will bee bold justly to say what the Angells said to Mary Magdalen Why seekest thou the living amongst the dead But if thou wouldest seeke him seek him in his Church in the ministery of his word in the participation of his Sacraments and in the sweet Quire of the praises and prayers of his Saints And surely if thou findest him not there in the smell of his garments thou shalt never finde him in the fulnesse of his glory For it shall be with all of us as it was with the two Disciples going to Emaus whilst hee talked with them and opened unto them the Scriptures their hearts did burne within them by the way It shall bee so I say with thee O man if thou gettest not thy heart inflamed with a sparke of his love in the way when thou hearest his word it is a fearefull testimony that thou shalt not bee satisfied with the fulnesse of his joy in the life to come For it is the sweet smelling relish of those drops that we get in his word that maketh us to follow after him and with our heart to pant and pray till wee see him in Sion that is invisible 2 As wee must seeke him where hee may bee found so wee must also seeke him whilst he may be found For there is a time appointed for all things under the Sunne A due time wherein if we seeke we shall finde and a preposterous time wherein although we knocke it shall not be opened unto us This precious time is to day for to day wee must heare his voice This is the acceptable time this is the day of our visitation Remember Esau the Foolish virgius and the Spouse in the Canticles 3. Lastly let us seeke him how he may be found and as for this know that though he be sought of many yet hee is found but of a few because that they seeke him not after this fashion For hee that would finde God must seeke foure manner of wayes saith Augustine 1. Caste unice for himselfe and his owne sake seeking nothing but in him and for him knowing that the fashion of this world perisheth 2. Verè sine hypocrisi truly and without dissimulation For if wee draw neere him with our mouthes when our hearts are farre from him he will cast backe the dust of our sacrifices upon our faces and make open our nakednesse in the sight of our enemies 3. Fervidè cum zelo For the Kingdome of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it perforce and if our prayers want audience it is because they want heart 4. Perseverantèr continuo For it had been better for us never to have knowne the way of truth then after that wee have knowne it that we should looke backe with Lots Wife or desire a returne with Israel to the Flesh-pots of Aegypt And now Brethren I hope I have made the first part of this prayer cleere unto you in some condition For in it I have shewed you the love of the inviter God who is become Our Father I have shewed you the communion and fellowship of your society they are all our owne Brethren and Sisters yea fellow members with us of that mysticall body whereof Jesus Christ is the Glorious head Thirdly I have shewed you the Glory of the habitation to which wee are invited it is the heaven of heavens wherein he dwelleth that is al-sufficient What now resteth but as those parts have beene severally touched and in them you instructed So now for conclusion we binde them up againe and learne you in a composed frame to say aright Our Father which art in Heaven And to the effect you may doe so and bee heard in so doing let mee request you for Gods sake to follow his counsell who hath directed you thus to pray Whensoever thou commest before God to intreat him as thy Father which is in heaven learn to deny thy selfe and to follow him Deny thy selfe for thou art altogether unsufficient and follow after him for in him doth all fulnesse dwell Thou art insufficient in a threefold respect 1. In respect of Judgement to resolve aright 2. In respect of wisedome to mannage aright 3. And in respect of power to bring to passe In respect of Judgement for we are blinde and know not the things of God In respect of wisedome to mannage for with David and Israel wee are in bringing up the Arke and therefore many times our Vzzah perisheth In regard of power to bring to passe things that are spirituall wee can neither will nor performe For Paul may plant and Apollos water but God